Baby Talk

Hi! I gotta by the name RogueDratini but you can call me Joe.  I've been working on getting back into writing for the last year and I could use some help getting my stories to the next level of quality. If anyone has any advice or criticism please don't hold back. A few things I've noticed that I need to work on would be my editing skills and my pacing. Things can get a bit long winded at time. Any advice helping with those would be lovely, and of course anything else as well. The earliest story I've put on dd so far. Tommywaddlers, an abdl riff on Stephen King's Tommywalkers. For this story I was focused on adding themes and exploring several characters POV.     I had just finished Tommywalkers and had been given advice, Melody's story was my attempt in taking the lessons I've learned from that and putting them into application. A focus on character growth and a wide range of different setting. Shorter than the others I've posted on here. Mostly just for fun (wait this is all supposed to for fun lol) but if anyone is strapped for time this is an easy one to jump into and knock out. Almost like a bottle episode in the Diaper Dimension. My current writing project. A blend of fantasy and a modern setting. Putting a big weight on world building on this one. I was stepping out of my comfort zone for kinks with this. In particular, if there's anything that you would suggest to modify with this story I'm all ears.   For anyone that takes time to help me out I wholeheartedly thank you, it means a lot to me for anyone who reads my work and anyone that's willing to put their thoughts out there I appreciate so much.

Happy wet and poopie saturday morning. Laying here on the floor of my baby room, waiting for Niece/Mommy to come and change my very stinky and wet diaper. She has to get my wife ready for the day so she left me with a baba of breastmilk, checked my diaper and said i was good for a little bit. Sooooooo I know that i will poopie again while drinking my baba( I usually do this early in the morning). Have a great Saturday, I know i will

Ballad of the Baker and the Ice Queen (Incomplete) By RogueDratini Chapter 1   Above a city teeming with traffic of flying carpets topped with metal, in a sky where wondrous magical monsters and beasts soared. The likes of griffins swooping through the sky like eagles, wyverns flapping their bat wings screeching for dominance through a flock chimeras with their borrowed body parts, couatl cutting through the blue with radiant rainbow scales with orange colored wings that made the air look as though it were burning with fire. And in the midst of all this, suspended in the air on translucent blue rails, a train with clear walls for its carriage Inside one of these cars, slumped in the seats a half-elf blew a strand of frizzled hair half listening to an argument between a surly gnome and increasingly agitated wizard heating up about a dragoness that had decided right in front of the train’s path to migrate her flock of children that clumsily hovered with tiny wings that had yet to grow to their full potential.   In the center of the ‘cozier’ cabins was ten large seats, comfortable enough for anyone to sit in, the half-elf in a pristine white coat that she had swore to herself wouldn’t get wrinkled today of all days. The young half-elf, a fresh faced 65, tucked the stubborn frazzled brown curl behind a pointed ear waving away a cloud of mana pixies, tiny creatures that looked until it got close enough for the eye to distinguish their ugly, snarling faces with pointed teeth, swarming in pockets like the walls of the force windows of the train car, or the time protected racks that stored the girl’s tireless of hours of pristine pastries, but to her dismay, seemed overjoyed in trying to snack on the costly glamour the half-elf had spent trying to make herself not only presentable but beautiful.   Meredith Stills having spent nearly the entirety of yesterday in one of the most prestigious beauty salon in Gobloid Town after only 3 months of waiting on a reservation list, only for all of their wonderful green hands’ hard work to be foiled by the combination of a delay, humidity, and the hideous mouths of these damnable tiny sprites. It had been easy to keep her mind busy while the train had been on its way, now however, her only distraction from the appointment that was wracking her nerves was swatting away pest and listening to her head chef bicker with a wizard.   At the front of the car, a gnome wearing a coat similar to Merri’s, sporting a white mushroom-esque cap in the loudest, most booming voice she could manage, and in Merri’s experience, that voice can get up there in decibels, reiterated her point. “GET THIS BLASTED THING GOING!” Screamed master Daffodil Pumpernickel.   The untidy frumpled looking man who looked as though he hadn’t seen the good graces of the sun in over a decade, in Merri’s expert opinion the typical case of wizards were that they were shut-ins who haven’t socialized in anything other than the odd tabletop game or over a Manat crystal call. Both Merri and Daffodil looked unimpressed at the man’s continued explanation that he ‘Can’t do anything about the migration habits of dragon’s’ or his worried remarks about the mana pixies keep chewing at the force walls keeping everyone in the pressurized car from getting sucked into the stratosphere.   “FOR THE LAST BLOODY TIME I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE PITHING GNATS DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE STUPID DRAGON!” Merri almost felt bad for the man, Daffodil was not the sparring partner to cut your teeth on after years of only talking to books, scrolls and crystal balls, she knew from her own two decades of Culinary Guild’s work how much of a pain Daffodil could be when she wasn’t getting her way.   For the 4th time, the pair went around in a circle over whom can do what or who cares about who’s problem, the half-elf couldn’t help feeling like the tedious argument was more of a way of killing time than anything done. Her boss though, the spit fire of a gnome was decidedly too busy to keep an eye on her subordinate, and did something that she knew would get her yelled at if the gnome had any mind to pay to Merri.   Carefully eyeing her coworker over her shoulder, Gretchen, the orc sous chef that had decided the wait was a good time to catch up on her beauty sleep, slumped in what had to be an uncomfortable way over three of the large seats and the metal rails in between them, Merri pulled her Pear brand mark XIII Wise Crystal Ball out of her pocket.   Before powering it on, Merri frowned at her appearance in the glass ball’s reflection. Her pointy, angular looks that the glamour had borrowed for her already chipping away from the irritating pixie’s, her natural, rounded, chubby after decades of working with sweets, looks she had inherited from her father were screaming out from under the spell. Sighing, the first thing Merri did when the ball lit up was go over to a list of default spells that were preprogrammed on to all crystal balls and pressed a button on the interface. A wave of personal dispel magic swam over her skin, goodbye gorgeous potentially full-elf Meredith Stills, hello to the undoubtedly common half-elf Merri. Cursing herself for spending all that money on a silly one-day glamour, she swiveled the screen over to her destination. Myr’r.   About to click into the app, she gave one more cursory glance at the orc and the wizard and chef fighting, and with a lecherous glance at her crytal ball gave into her indulgences. She was signed in automatically, a habit of staying logged in that could be dangerous if Merri’s friends and family ever had her crystal in their hands, her eyes were met with the sight of deviant pleasures.   The first post she saw was of a wealthy djinn and his current lover, a young, cheetah tabaxi with a strangely enticing barbed penis making love on a manticore. The djinn, very durable, loved to do dangerous erotic activities with races that were considerably less so. Making sure the sound was off, Merri watched the first 15 seconds of the fun video, before the manticore’s scorpion tail went right through the djinn’s mostly gaseous body and into the back of the tabaxi, shooting the laughing djinn a look of betrayal. She swiped away, hating when the Firewalker675 posted his more snuff-y content.   Below that showed was a post with more promise. A drow dressed in what was either her sunday best or dominatrix gear, it was difficult to tell with Under-Elves, whipping a trio of males, one human, one goblin, and finally a half orc, while her magically obtained cock stood tall under her leather corset. Liked. Merri would have to study SpyderGode55’s work later on, when she had more privacy. Maybe she only used the one spell to give her a man’s appendage, but Merri really hoped the ‘spider’ in the drow’s name wasn’t only for show, she could picture the white haired drow riding her subs with the bottom half of a spider. Maybe she would accept the gift of a transformation scroll along with a suggestion paired with a generous donation.   A notification popped on the top of the page. RoilSubs: Commission for LiLMerryMarry.   Merri pursed her lips at the sight of her Myr’r handle. The commission she had waited weeks for. A little sample wouldn’t hurt, no? She of course had already seen the sketches of her four page comic strip with her Little half-elf OC (which was NOT her, no matter how many physical traits they shared) getting babied by a tall, blond elf Mommy. The brunette laying down on a bed, insisting that she was a ‘big girl’ and didn’t need a diaper, the Mommy calmly explaining that compared to her own 1200 years, the little half-elf girl at 55 was definitely a baby compared to her, and that after that last accident, they really couldn’t take any more chances-   “Meredith!” Daffodil snapped at Merri, she reflexively switched off Myr’r adopting a neutral expression. “You’re still on guild time, NO BALL.” Gretchen behind Merri rocketed up with a snort.   With a voice of pure innocence, Merri calmly explained while tapping on the ball without looking, “We’ve just been hear for awhile, I was just conjuring some coffee. You know, to keep some of us awake…” She gave a side eye towards Gretchen while a carrying container of four cardboard cups materialized in her hand at the cost of 12 pieces of virtual silver and 5% of her ball’s life.   Daffodil rolled her eyes, but stomped forward nonetheless and snatched a coffee out of the holder. While the head chef took a sip, Merri mouthed ‘Sorry!’ At the sleepy eyed orc who she had just thrown under the carpet, her sous’ eyes telling Merri that she owed her one, taking the offered beverage. Grabbing her own cup, Merri held out the contained towards the haggard looking wizard. She pitied the man, not used to the gnome’s explosive temper, but not enough to actually walk over to him, holding out her arm as far as she could reach in an attempt to avoid the wizard’s powerful, let’s call it a ‘musk’.   Pulling out her own crystal ball, Daffodil conjured two more full carriers of coffee, passing one to both Gretchen and Merri before waving them off. “Go make sure the minions are staying awake too.”   “Thank you,” Gretchen said in a gruff, sleepy voice, adding, “Don’t call them minions. Treat your subordinates with respect, chef.” Gretchen wasn’t much for words, but no pantheon of Gods could help a person who disparages any of Gretchen’s baby birds, as the orc likes to call who ever she’s trained, no matter how significant her role in the matter was.   No one who didn’t know the gnome wouldn’t be able to tell, but she faltered at the remark, the ever so subtle twitch of the eye, Daffodil let the comment slide. She’s seen the orc rage in the kitchen before, and Gretchen was one of the few people that genuinely terrified her. Daffodil didn’t acknowledge it and went back to her back and forth between the lizard.   “Just how many kids does that stupid lizard have anyways?” The exasperated chef asked rhetorically.   The wizard, in an automatic tone helpfully dispensed his trivia, “A dragoness can have a clutch of between 500 and 3000 eggs.”   “ARRRGH!”   Merri and Gretchen walked past the racks of pastries and desserts out of the train car before either let out their snickering.   Stifling a yawn, Gretchen offhandedly mentioned, “I hear dragons love to do this stuff in front of trains all the time.” Through the clear panes of force windows, the cooks saw the two coming and immediately started looking busy, putting away their balls and pretending to check the platters of food that were suspended in time, steam frozen above the plates and bowls waiting for their chance to get out.   Holding open the door for Gretchen, “Oh? Why would they do that? There’s an entire sky to fly through and they just decide to go through train paths?” They started passing out coffee to their workers and the wizards that were monitoring the spells on board.   “I think they just like to annoy people.” Gretchen said while handing out a coffee to one of her baby birds, thanking her before turning back to pretend to check the temperature of the stasis holder that was no doubt the same as it had been an hour earlier.   Merri snorted, “Relatable. I’d go around being a nuisance to whatever I’d want if I was a five ton fire breathing monster.” She gave one of the cups to a frumpy looking half-elf who looked like the flowery robes she wore were made before the Scroll Revolution. The wizard didn’t say anything to Merri, looking at the cup like the contents were toad stool.   The Culinary Guild had contracted out the spell slingers for the event today, unfortunately it was more of a pain hiring workers who weren’t under a guild. Wizards tended to be highly sought after specialists that were grabbed by large corporations or became guild pets as soon as they learned their higher tier magic, thus, the need to contract people who haven’t felt the need to socialize since before the dark ages.   The pair headed to the last car, Merri took a look at the clouds and the city below them. “Don’t sell yourself short, Merri, you’re still a nuisance at your size, too.” Gretchen smiled, looking down at the glittering city as well, swarms of flying carpets filled the skies looking ants from this height just above the pillars of rocks and metal jutting out of the ground in all shapes, sizes, and colors stabilized by magical means, shimmering patches scattered around making entrances to pocket dimensions where smaller ‘towns’ kept most of the population, some guarded by grated metal orbs and watchmen patrolling on mounts of hippogriffs, wyverns, and griffins, while other rippling tears through reality, like Merri’s that she could spot near an obsidian monolith, was left free for whoever felt like wandering inside.   In the final car, where the least at risk of temporal spells misfiring, was the soups and salads and their three least experienced cook watching over them. Or, they would have been watching over them, only the trio was being held captive by this car’s wizard, a stuffy looking man that reeked of mothballs, who’s gray hair, both from his head and beard, went right past his waist which must’ve been compensating for his shiny bald dome.   “-The flux of chronomical mechanical influence is then kept at equilibrium by the Soldumn principle,” The man waved a bony finger with each utterance of jargon at the three cooks, each wearing a rather concerned look on their face, “Which I’m sure you’ve each learned in school, but your teacher’s were probably wrong. How it really works is-”   “Ahem!” Merri coughed into her closed fist. “Coffee?”   The wizard looked shocked, then perplexed, and finally pleased, “Oh! Yes, yes, please, thank you.” He took a large gulp of the piping hot coffee, his audience looking relieved at the break. “Now that the two of you are here, I’ll have to start my whole lecture on the qualities of stasis fields over, unfortunately.” Merri could barely see the hint of a smirk under the man’s bushy mustache.   ‘That’s quite alright,” Merri tactfully lied. “I’m afraid we’re quite busy.”   “Ahh,” The wizard took another long gulp of the drink that had to burning his esophagus. Looking down at the now half empty cup in his hand, “You know- The kobold initially cultivated the coffee bean in the south by-”   Looking at the fearful faces of her least experienced peers, Gretchen interjected. “Smoke break! It’s been far too long since the kids got a break. Come along, Rupert, Agnis, Merv, right out here, come on, there ya go!” She gave each of the three’s identical white shoulders a little shove towards the backdoor. “   The wizard started pawing through his robes, “Goodness, yes, now where did I leave my pipe. Did you know that the tobacco-”   “Sorry, sir, you have to stay and watch the stasis spell. You know how important it is that it stays supervised,” Gretchen gave the half-elf a pointed look, “Merri, come on.”   Cocking her head, Merri said simply, “Smoking is nasty.”   “Great! You can stay here and keep Mr-” She looked over at the wizard, who had been staring at the steadily empty cardboard in his hand until he sensed attention once again.”   “It’s Rumplestiltsprigganmacdougal, esquire.”   Gretchen studied her feet then the ceiling, rapidly, over and over, “Right. Merri keep Mr. Esquire company.”   The wizard, facial hair dripping with coffee and a renewed energy to express his ego, smiled at her. “You know, there’s actually a really cute new couple on Viewver that have the most adorable recipes, they made a pegasus cake last week with moving, edible wings. I’ve been meaning to show you.”   A serious look mixed with curiosity passed over Gretchen’s face. “Is there really?”   “Yeah…” Damn, now she’d actually have to pull up the video… Merri hated showing her crystal to people.   “Great!” The orc exclaimed in a chipper tone. “Come along, team.” Like a shepherd, or a shepherd’s dog, led the trio and Merri out the back door.   The sight of the city far below was dizzying now. The wind blew strong through the clear sky, sounds of tiny wings in droves from Merri’s left and right. She looked towards the sounds of the mother dragoness hovering in the distance, but even far away the gigantic lizard looked too close. Her scales mostly red with a scattering of blue, lines of black scales racing across her body that colors danced on like oil on water.   Gretchen leaned on the metals rails lining the back of the train, pulling out a metal cigarette case with a rose stenciled into the front and taking out a cigarette, before she was given the chance to get bombarded with questions, she passed them out to the three young cooks. Merri fondly looked at the rose on the case, vaguely remembering the night of drinking where she herself had drawn that rose, and the joy she felt the next day when she found out Gretchen had made it a permanent feature.   Rupert, a tenku who went to great lengths to keep his feathers covered, lit up a smoke before passing his fire over to Agnis the orange and tabi tabaxi, very carefully pushing back her whiskers to keep from burning them, again, then over to the shifter Merv, who’s gender Merri was never entirely certain on.   “You’re a bad influence.” Merri pointed out, not for the first time. Gretchen’s ‘baby birds’ had a bad habit of developing a smoking habit, Gretchen’s favorite way to step out of the kitchen for half a minute or 5.   Shrugging, “Shut up baby, I know it.” Merri made great pains to not react to being called baby. In the past, she had wondered about sharing her love of being an adult baby with her coworker, there was a certain appeal to the thought of the naturally muscular orc cradling Merri in her arms and Gretchen had a special way of mothering those around her that made her seem like an amazing fit.   Gretchen a ‘come out with it’ motion with her hand, “Make with the horse video.”   The crystal ball gleamed in the light of day as the acrid odor of smoke bloomed through the air. Holding the ball close, ready to swipe away any appearing notifications away. Pulling up the app, the Viewver logo showed for a second before a wide array of cooking and baking videos showed up, mixed in with a steady amount of ‘drama’ Viewsters and romantic book discussions and reviews popped up.   A red faced succubus appeared on the screen next to a dwarf with a wide grin and an intricately braided beard that the succubus had done the previous week. “Hello, everyone!” The succubus flashed a pointed smile at the camera. “Scary Kerry back again, joined by scrumptious little honey bun, Garrus,” The dwarf waved a stout hand. “Today we’re going to be making…” She pulled a plate from below, “The devilishly delicious edible white chocolate Pegasus,” the winged horse that was hand sized neighed and whinnied on the plate. Garrus acted like he was about to pick at the horse’s wing only to get playfully slapped away by Kerry. “Now for this recipe you will need to have one scroll of food golem on hand that you can get from our sponsor ScrollShare! With Scrollshare you can…”   “Huh, I didn’t think couples like that really did things like this,” Gretchen commented while taking a drag from her cig. “Don’t succubus usually stay on HornHub?”   Merri’s eyes never left the screen. “I think they started on their, but then Kerry did a cooking video and it got super popular. So now they do like lifestyle and cooking videos. I follow her on Myr’r and she sometimes posts links on Hornhub, they still sound like cooking but with nudity involved.”   Gretchen shook her head. “That can’t be hygienic. Does he get naked too?” She asked, pointing at the dwarf.   A little box dashed on the video. RoilSubs: Commission for LiLMerryMarry got the Comment: LalaBunny says, “Moar???” Followed by pleading emoji, crying emoji, pleading emoji, crying emoji.   In half a second Merri swiped it away. Without missing a beat, “I think they actually eat off each other in the videos, so it probably doesn’t matter too much to them.”   Whether she saw what the notification said and was too polite to say anything, or she just ignored it, Gretchen just said, “Hmm. Do food golems have a stable shelf life? I wouldn’t mind having one around but I’m worried my cat might get to it…”   Agnis the tabaxi turned around, “Owning cats is wrong. Its basically slavery.”   Gretchen rubbed the bridge of her nose, “Agnis, I swear to Gods, I’m not having this conversation again. Why don’t you go ask Mr. Esquire his opinion on the domestication of cats, I’m sure he has plenty to say.”   Undeterred, Agnis started pointing at her claws while listing, “You make them hunt, you make warm you, you decide whether they stay or go.”   “My cat gets fed out of a tin can, Agnis and I clean up her shit. Seriously! If anyone is the slave in that relationship its me-”   Before the conversation went any farther, the train began to putter ahead. They were on their way again. Sighing, Gretchen put out her cigarette, “Finish it up,” She told the youngsters, “Get ready to unload everything, tell the old coot you’re busy if he says anything.”   The ball in Merri’s hand jingled. Looking down, she saw a message from LalaBunny: Roilsubs sed the characters in the new comic were urs. Can I plz draw them?   LittleMerryMarry: Sure smiley emoji.   LalaBunny: thnk u thnk u thnk u!!!   Merri hadn’t really expected anyone else to want to do anything with her Ocs, but she wasn’t about to turn down free content. She’d just have to remember to check out LalaBunny later, see if he was worth a follow. Speaking of following, she hurried off to meet with Gretchen, leaving the three kids out there to finish their ‘breaks’.   “Sorry, can’t talk right now!” She said as she hurried past the old wizard with his mouth open. Past the frumpy wizard who was still eyeing her cup suspiciously, waving a little at the journeymen in the middle, Francois the dwarf, Heckle the goblin, and Nala the half orc, each getting their pallets of the main course ready to move, only giving a courtesy acknowledgment of her presence.   In the middle car, Daffodil was sitting down, doing her best to ignore the wizard still worrying about the pixies. The head chef had ceased all communication with the wizard once her problem had solved itself, no longer in the mood to argue.   Gretchen was already working on loading a levitating pallet with racks, Merri jumped at loading a different one. Glass chalices of mint ooze, a dish that would literally dance on your tongue. Cinnamon fire apple pie, apples coming from the elemental plane of flame, each bite warming the tongue. A tricky milk chocolate coated cake with a the essence of a hydra, a snake like head coming from the delicate wrapping of each bar that its chopped or bit off will have two grow out of the stump, a sure way to please anyone with tough to fill belly, Merri was rather proud of that one, hydra essence was not only costly but difficult to blend in a way to taste right with sweets. And the final dish, Merri’s specialty, elderstar berry cupcakes, an admittedly much more mundane treat, but held sentimental value to the half-elf, she had mastered the recipe, making it thousands of times, plus, she added just a pinch mermaid tears salt to each top to make it a little more spectacular.   Through the force windows, Merri could see their destination fast approaching. The floating fortress Havenport, the country’s greatest military accomplishment. The size of a small mountain, a tower flying through the air with dozens of small keeps the could detach and become their own military base during war time, around each keep was their own platoon of airships, and on the very top of the tower, the castle of Havenport, where each commander of the tower was to have an important meeting today. A wonderful opportunity for the Culinary Guild, if they manage to impress the brass, there was a possibility they may contract them instead of using non affiliates, for officers anyway.   Merri had only seen the legendary fortress once before, when she was very small. Far in the distance, it still seemed to take up the horizon. Now, she was approaching Havenport herself. Looking down, she saw the parts of the city the tower hid from the sunlight. A morbid thought occurring to her, how many enemies of the country had seen that very shadow and lost their lives in the darkness. Merri felt insignificant, a tiny speck compared to the tower’s military might.   Quickly, the pinnacle of Havenport approached. On top of the tower, fields of artificially tended to grass as far as Merri’s eyes could see, occasionally the sea of green parted way for an ugly gray humps, pathways to the lower sections, and in the center, the fortress of the fortress, the castle of Havenport, an impenetrable stone building surrounded by thick walls, it’s said that each brick used to make the castle at the peak was imbued with the strongest wards available 300 years ago to keep any enemies of the state from scrying or teleporting inside.   A legion of finely dressed cadets where waiting for the train at parade ready, lined up in rows and columns. They wore gray uniforms, silver colored tassels on their square shoulders, a lime sash running through the center of each that lay bare except for a single medallion, round metallic buttons clipping the sides together at the bottom, leaving just enough open on top to create a window. Each used this window to display dog tags, though a few had things like spell focus attached to a necklace or religious symbols, a tiny uniqueness in the conformity. A scabbard for their curved sabers was at the intricate belt of each, and beneath every left arm a shoulder holster with a series of identical wands. Each of the cadets wore a similar look, a firm neutral look standing ahead that made everyone of them look like they were cut from the same cloth. From the grayish blue and olive green skins of orcs, to the dark brown and fair tones of the humans and half-elves, with a smattering of the other taller races mixed in, as long as they wore that look and that uniform, they might as well have been brothers and sisters.   One half-orc stood in front of the rest, not looking toward the train or at the cadets, instead staring into the nothing in between. A few medals on his sash signified the rank of sergeant. He raised a single bare hand as the train came to a halt, Merri wouldn’t have thought possible but each of the cadets stood straighter at the hand like trained dogs.   The wizards released the force windows and the sounds of training all came pouring in from the fields around them, even at a distance, the dual forces of echo and multitudes let it ring into the car like Merri was standing right next to a grunt getting screamed at to keep running, practicing, moving, the sounds of wands and staves ringing out at firing practice. The air burned with the scent of sweat, spent scrolls, fire and lightning.   At the wave of a hand, the front row of cadets ran ahead into the train, grabbing the nearest pallet and moving it towards a series of enclosed carpets. Organized chaos. To Merri’s untrained eye, it seemed like the cadets were grabbing the nearest pallet without thought, but there seemed to be a particular set of topless cargo carpets each pallet of racks was deposited on to. After fully loading a carpet, the cadets would stand on the edges of the carpets as they flew away.   Merri was glad she didn’t have to do that work. Suddenly being this high up, where the air was so much thinner without time to adjust, she was beginning to feel light headed. Another row of cadets were waved forward as Merri sat down in the car, trying to be out of everyone’s way.   Gretchen gave a little greeting at one of the half-orcs as he passed by her. A subtle nod the only thing she got in return. “Someone you know?” Merri asked as the orc sat down next to her, it wouldn’t be long until the long hassle of work reared its ugly head again, Gretchen had learned long ago to enjoy the small breaks of peace.   “Ornismar, boy from my clan. Feels like it was just yesterday he was digging up bones in the family woods, and now he’s all grown up. Small world, big place. I wouldn’t have expected seeing him during our little visit.”   “Lucky you have such a large family.”   Gretchen nodded, it was a conversation the two had numerous times in the past. “But its just you and your dad.” She concluded forward.   Merri said Gretchen’s next piece for her. “A big family is just a big headache. I would hate the constant stream of people coming and going, its a nightmare, and no privacy.”   They watched in silence as the last of the cadets took the last of the pallets out, the soldiers began to drive towards the looming structure in the center of the field. The sergeant saluted the chefs as they disembarked the train, the slanted upwards pointed arm crossing the sash over the heart more a sign of courtesy than respect. None of the members their guild reflected the gesture, feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing as they were lead towards the three remaining carpets.   A cadet stood at attention at the back door of the carpet, holding it open for Gretchen, Daffodil, and Merri, who entered it in that order. The interior of the carpet was certainly roomy, not many carpets she had gotten into with Gretchen had this much elbow room, especially with someone else inside of it, even if they were the size of Daffodil. It was strangely pristine, with no new carpet smell, Merri hadn’t been in floor models at dealerships that had been this clean. Reflexively, Merri pulled the seat belt over her shoulder and into the buckle in between her and the gnome as the cadet entered the front and began to drive forward.   Outside the window, Merri watched the troops do their drills, seemingly random sections of grass converted into tracks and obstacle courses. A little ways up, she saw a mounted air division run what was either a team training exercise, or an exceedingly dangerous game of capture the flag.   “Isn’t it a bit cruel to make the animals do training like that?” Merri asked the driver, more out of conversation than genuine outrage.   “Ma’am,” The driver spoke roboticly, “Air mounts require battle training before seeing combat, otherwise they will panic during their first combat. Ma’am.”   Daffodil piped up, “And where are the cooks in the facilities? I wouldn’t mind seeing our,” She snorted, “’Competition’.”   “Ma’am, you will be authorized to use Havenport Castle private kitchens, anywhere else will be considered a breach in security and a breach in contract. Ma’am.”   Clenching her jaw, Daffodil went on, “Alright, I guess, no need to be so stuffy, I’m just an old lady. Not like I could do anything ‘breach in security’ worthy.”   “Ma’am.”   The intimidating structure of Havenport Castle loomed above them, falling into its shadow as they crept towards it, like field mice compared to a farmhouse. The stone bricks in the wall made way to just let the caravan of carpets in, seemingly melting to give them passage.   If not for the cadets unloading racks, the courtyard would be eerily quiet. Here, there was no grass to break the monotony, just stone brick on the ground and on every wall. Above, the blue sky parted only for the clouds so close Merri could feel the heaviness of their vapors, the tallest towers of the castle cutting through the fluffy white puffs. Along the tops, several flags hung, coat of arms of countries and the royal families who ruled it along with a collection of allied nations, waving their colors in loyalty to the fortress.   A concierge waited for the Culinary Guild, a prim and proper elemental made out of blue wisps of wind that seemed more at home this far up than anyone else they had seen so far, wearing a uniform much like the cadets. It seemed to take on a feminine appearance, though Merri knew that such elementals only took on gendered appearances as a formality, it had sex as much as rocks, water, or the very air it was made of.   “Welcome, honored quests.” The elemental ‘spoke’, it sounded like the wind whispering into their ears personally, as intangible as a spirit haunting the night.   Through great double wooden doors large enough to fit a dragon through the party was led into a series of corridors wide enough to fit the entirety of the dragon’s brood. The 9 members of the guild followed the weightless, bouncy steps of the air elemental without a word, in a line of seniority, with Daffodil heading the pack with steps too quick for someone her size, and Merv at the end, unconsciously shaping their body to be like the elemental.   Many doors stayed closed among the barren, everyone’s footsteps (except for the elemental’s) cried out in a symphony, joined by the clunk clunk of officers’ leather boots somewhere in the distance. A subtle noise begun to grow, like hushed words in a library, growing until it was the sounds of idle chatter. Two large doors leading into a grand hall with three large tables filled with the top brass talking among themselves, the event they were here to cater to. Well dressed young people in red vests and white shirts wearing fez hats shuffled around the table, offering the majors, colonels, admirals, and generals fizzy clear liquid in champagne flutes and hors-d’oeuvres, dishes supplied by the military’s own. Everyone in there well known and respected in their respective circles.   But only one had Merri’s eye.   Sitting alone, a glass untouched in her gloved hand, scribbling something in a leather notebook, was the elf of Merri’s dreams. She had spent countless amounts of gold and silver on commissions to bring a blonde elf to page when here she was sitting their in the 3rd dimension. The creature so many of her (quite possibly self-insert) OC’s had called Mommy. Sure, Merri had imagined her in everything under the sun except a military officer’s uniform, but such trivialities would be remedied as soon as she had five minutes alone with her crystal ball and could contact a friend or two who could draw the elf in such a costume, after all, she looked amazing in it.   Her hair pulled back in a neat bun, her expansive bosom making her jacket work to keep together, the way her arms wanted to rip out of those sleeves. Merri couldn’t see the elf’s legs, but that was fine, in her imagination Mommy either wore lingerie or nothing at all. She could keep the boots that all like wise dressed officers wore, all the better to step on her sub with.   The elf blinked, her pointed ear twitched adorably like a deer sensing it was being watched. Slowly, she looked up, towards the door. Her fist raised, hiding the subtle red of her pretty lips, eyes scanning, towards the door, towards their party.   Those eyes, a piercing icy blue, locked in a frown, fell one after the other of her cooks, until she locked eyes with Merri. It felt as though she were stuck in one of the stasis fields, those seconds filled an eternity. When those pretty blues met her chocolate browns, Merri felt like a bunny locked in the sights of a great bird of prey, mere seconds before that falcon swooped down to tear that bunny off the face of the earth and do what it will to it. Merri was ready to be that bunny. Thoughts so loud she was sure the elf must’ve been able to hear it from this distance.   Come get me, Mommy.   I’ll be your bunny, Mommy.   Step on me, make me whine and beg, come, Mistress, your pet is ready, Mommy.   Time cruelly began again with a nudge on her back. Merri dropped back into her body like a boulder hitting a lake, falling from the height of her fantasies back into the pitiful depths of reality by Francois, and to Merri’s disappointment, her feet trudged forward. When she turned her head again, to get one final glimpse as the elf, Merri found that she was still staring at her.   Alas, Merri had no time for whimsical fantasies about elves who would make her squirm. The feast was about to begin, and her hands needed to do a different job than what Merri wanted to. At least, at first, she wished she could go find a closet somewhere and ‘process’ the new thoughts of her dream girl that wore the military colors, but the familiar feeling of routine was a welcomed distraction. Chapter 2   The bulk of the work had already been done, but now it was time for the final preparations. They were brought to a magnificent large kitchen area, separated into three wings, two lines of ovens, stoves, with a rotating window that hovered in the air above a counter per wing, with a large holding area in between each where their racks where situated, . It was the cleanest kitchen Merri had every stepped into, if not for the scent of food her people hadn’t made clinging to the air, she would have thought this place was untouched, like the shuttle carpet she was ridden on.   Wish she would ride me…   Shooing intrusive thoughts away, Merri fell into line where Daffodil pointed her towards. One side of the line while Gretchen manned the other, Merri took the fresher workers, while Gretchen got the seasoned crew. The bags of personal gear already waiting for them, meticulously inspected by Havenport’s security and MP.   Agnis grabbed a plate with a bowl of salad from a rack, Francois grabbed a bowl from another, the steam from the soup in his hands resuming it journey through time. Rupert garnished the salad coming towards Merri with freshly cut herbs, while Merv with stand on Merri’s right preparing cups of dressing. Merri would get the tedious job. Agnis would be her side’s gopher.   Reaching towards a brown box in front of her, it’s head sealed in a plastic bag, was what looked like a cherub made of roots. Merri ripped the bag off the head of a mandrake, for a half a second it’s deafening scream filled the kitchen before Merri twisted it’s head off. With a microblade, she shaved tiny flakes of the mandrake’s skin on to the salad, alchemists and potion crafters insisted that the skin of a mandrake encouraged healthy breathing and digestion in the people who consumed it, Merri suspected that the nutty, earthy flavors of the mandrake just hid more unpleasant flavors in whatever was in their concoctions. She handed it off to Merv to put it’s sides on the plate and passed it down to Daffodil, after an inspection dropped it on the platter of a red vested servant in a fez.   Gretchen’s team was busy infusing soup with last minute alterations using a salamander then melting a chunk of smelly, expensive cheese of a minotaur on top. Merri had met a few of the minotaurs who had provided milk for such delicacies, fun loving country gals who could get a little rigid during their months of milking.   Merri dropped a used up mandrake into a basket. The skin may be gone, but the bodies would still fine their way into a stockpot. The repetition helped keep Merri’s mind off of distracting ideas on who she would ask to draw what.   One of the servers whispered something to Daffodil, nodding, she called out while still making sure the dishes in front of her looked presentable. “Hors-d’oeuvres finish in five! That stupid dragon has us behind schedule, crank it out!”   Murmurs of ‘Yes, chef,” rang out throughout both sides of the line.   “Soups are all prepared…” Gretchen called out.   Seconds later. “Salads are ready…”   The main event. Gretchen’s specialty, flank of gorgon, a difficult to cook cut, each flank has a bottom of the creature’s tough armor on some part of it, pieces of the meat are rarely uniform. As the meat cooks, the metal becomes extremely hot as well, making it incredibly easy to overcook, and with the different amounts of armor, no two pieces have the same cook time. If prepared correctly, as Gretchen has mastered over the years. Or the officers may have a quasi-vegetarian dish dominated by the fungal Shrieker, blanched before coming to Havenport, it gets seared by Merri with a flaming wand, given a quick douse of red wine reduction, then a drop of dryadberry puree smeared across the plate.   Plate. Sear. Plate. Mommy holding her down. Sear. Plate. Sear. Mommy wiping her down with a wet wipe. Plate. Sear. Plate. Mommy telling Merri she’s not big enough for big girl panties anymore, and wrapping her up in a thick, white diaper. Sear. Plate-   “Stills! Focus!”   “Hmm? Huh?”   Daffodil starred through Merri. Nothing more needed to be said, get your head in the game. Sheepishly, Merri put herself back into the job. No distractions, no thinking about, other stuff.   Merri didn’t know how people comfortably used a wand all the time. It was so awkward to her. Keep the tip pointing towards the brown stalk while keeping a firm grip on the handle, watch the fire spout out while waving her hand. Knives and spatulas just made more sense. To Merri, holding a wand like this was on par with holding a man’s penis clumsily while he’s peeing. Not that there wasn’t a clumsily way to perform that action. After 20 minutes of the repetitive action, Merri had to let go of the wand and give herself a shake to loosen up the wanker’s cramp she had coming on.   “Almost ready for the main course. How we looking?” Daffodil barked at Gretchen and Merri after another of the servants whispered in her ear.   “5 more plates.” Merri informed the chef.   “Nearly there too,” Gretchen said while ladling a gravy made from the gorgon’s juices on to the steak.   Nodding, Daffodil motioned for the servants to begin the rounds once again, sending them out to the great hall.   The final plate on both sides was sent out, and the journeymen let out a sigh of relief. It was true, the most stressful part of the job was over, Merri’s desserts were ready to go right off the racks, ready to be set on a platter and sent out, but that wouldn’t be for awhile. Daffodil would have no idle hands at this juncture however, ordering everyone to make the kitchen as pristine as they had found it.   Agnis and Francois retrieved some buckets of hot soapy water and passed it out to everyone while Gretchen and Merri pushed the racks of sweets to the front of the room.   Grumbling, Rupert looked at his sudsy feathers after reaching into the bucket to retrieve a dropped towel. “I just don’t understand,” He complained, “Animate object is a very easy spell, why can’t we make them clean all this on their own.”   “Can’t,” Gretchen said pushing a rack of chocolate cake hydras. “They’ll start dancing and nothing will get done.”   Merri, pushing her own rack, watched the ooze jelly start to quiver at the word ‘dance, “Actually, the dancing is fine, they pretty much clean as the move, and it’s kind of cute. The real issue is they have a penchant for summoning demons. Once had a dishwasher who animated a sponge, left to grab a glass of water for 2 minutes, when he got back, a balrog was wrecking havoc.”   Daffodil swore under her breath, “It was a good location too. In between quite a few other guilds and had a shopping complex next to it. Can never use it again, the land is completely tainted.”   Nodding, Merri dropped her rack off in front of Daffodil and began to make her way back to grab another. “Some of my friends in those buildings tell me they still can’t use the bathrooms. Go to pop a squat and voices in the pipes start bargaining for their souls.”   “Demons,” Daffodil rolled her eyes, “Always feling up a place. Just wipe down the counters, it builds character.”   By the time the servants were ready, the bulk of the cleaning had already been finished, save for the floors that they were waiting for the racks to leave before they could bring out the mops and the scrubbers. It was tedious waiting while Daffodil finished putting desserts on platters. They were standing in a little designated section by the door, away from the work station, shuffling their feet and getting antsy.   Merri tried to do anything to anything to keep herself from pulling out her crystal, while Gretchen growled under her breath, a tale tell sign that she was ready for a smoke break, the other 6 looking like they were in the same boat.   After Gretchen had started pacing, Daffodil was beginning to get annoyed. The servants had told the head chef the desserts had all been distributed out. “Good, would one of you show these layabouts where they can smoke?” She pointed at antsy cooks being led by Gretchen.   “Very well, ma’am. As well, the Generals would like a word with you. Discussions of future events I believe.”   “Ahh, good, good, Merri!” She pointed a finger at the girl who had been daydreaming about a certain somebody. “Get some mops ready. After we get back we’ll knock the rest of this out and get out of here in 30.”   “Yes ma’am,” Merri said, the servants and her coworkers milling out of the room, leaving her alone. She unbuttoned her chef jacket and hung it up near the door leaving her in a sleeveless white shirt tucked into her loose slacks, it had been a particularly good day on keeping it clean and stain free, no need to temp fate and need anything more than a simple wash. Stain remover wands could get pricey when one had to use them everyday after all.   There was something haunting about an empty kitchen, especially an unfamiliar one. The hum of the equipment, the sounds through the vent, paired with Merri’s own clicking heels of her leather shoes. She found the little mop closet the gophers had retrieved the buckets from and grabbed three mop buckets. On a dingy little shelf was a few cardboard boxes with faded scrolls in them. Merri grabbed one of the scrolls, rolled it up into a loose tube, and ripped the end off. A torrent of warm, soapy water came tumbling out of the ripped end of the scroll.   A moment of peace. Her hand slipped into her pocket and her hand glowed as the ball in her pocket activated. Just a minute to check out her comic. The Myr’r app took an agonizing few seconds to turn on, and after a couple of presses on the glass, there she was, in all of her majesty. Her waifu. She would need some adjustments now, eyes more narrow, the blue in them lighter, the chin just a little more pointed. She was holding down the half-elf (which, might have been Merri), the girl’s tiny wrists in the elf’s fist after she tried to fight back, fruitlessly trying to get away form her. All for naught as her Mommy pulled out her secret weapon, a little scroll with a powerful spell on it that affected the mind, sending them straight back to baby days mentally. The still image showed the scroll inching towards the girl’s forehead and…   “Damn it!” The last sputters from the scroll in Merri’s hand went splashing into her top, and a bit on her pants. She grimaced at the sheer fabric clinging to her belly, the material becoming see through. The outline of a tattoo of heather could now be clearly seen from her left hip. “Always gotta happen…” She whined, tossing the used scroll into a nearby trash and went to fill the other buckets, her crystal tucked away safely in her back pocket.   Her mind began to wander without the focus of someone else’s pictures. A new array of possibilities was opening up to her fantasies. Maybe her Mommy would make her run so much her knees would be jelly and she’d have to carry Merri home. Maybe her Mommy would pull one of the wands out of her holster and an energy whip would come out, punishing Merri for imaginary transgressions. Maybe her Mommy… Was standing right there.   In front of the doors to the kitchen, was the blue eyes elf, staring at one of the racks filled with leftover cupcakes with her intense, falcon like gaze, the rim of her cap casting a shadow over her eyes. One hand gripped the other behind her back, the ornate hilt and handle of her saber glinted in gold and silver on the belt at her hip (Merri hadn’t incorporated the sword into her fantasy, what would she do?? Smack her rear with the flat edge? Put the curved scabbard inside of her and twist it around while Merri was on all fours? Hold it to her throat while she licked between her Mommy’s thighs, threatening to cut her pretty little throat if she dared to stop? The scandalous possibilities were endless!). Her trousers so tight on her it could’ve been a second skin, the elf’s rump was a bit flatter than Merri liked, but that could be fixed…   The elf’s lips twisted adorably, she looked towards the door, then the other way and froze as she saw Merri. Her twisted fantasies came crashing down around her as those chilling blue eyes hers. With a sudden, horrifying realization, Merri became acutely aware of how she looked, holding a dirty mop, drenched shirt that showed off her skin, reeking of sweat and work.   She seemed to be frozen as well, her body going stiff at the sight of Merri. The distance between the two became paradoxically too close and too far, the few yards feeling like a vast canyon and yet close enough that she could see every imperfection of Merri’s skin.   Her eyes looked away first, looking uncertain, she opened a mouth, revealing rows of perfect teeth. Nothing but air came out.   Merri found her courage and spoke up. “H-Hello?”   “Hi,” Her voice came out in a high squeak, before she corrected herself. “Umm, excuse me,” She said in more of a baritone, more to Merri’s liking, a voice that was as rock steady as the walls of this castle, but had undertones of that gentle tenderness beneath.   That awkward silence returned with a vengeance. The elf looked towards the ground. Merri looked up, studying her face, before the panicked, intrusive thoughts finally slipped in. Oh Gods! Am I supposed to be saying something? Am I taking too long? She thinks I’m an idiot, doesn’t she? Damn you Meredith Stills, open your mouth and SAY SOMETHING! What should I say? Should it be sexy? No, you fool! You don’t even know her, you can’t come on too strong! Should it be something professional? Like, ‘did you enjoy your food’? That’s safe! Maybe too safe. Blast it all, Meredith Valerie Stills, SAY SOMETHING!   “Can I help you?” Merri said, lamely to her ears. She frowned at Merri like a teacher being given the wrong answer by a student. A poor choice of words for Merri, suddenly locked in a fantasy about the elf bending her in a school girl uniform over a desk belt her behind with a ruler.   “I liked the cupcakes!” The elf blurted out suddenly, a tad too loudly. Her lips clamped shut immediately afterwards, realizing either what she was stupid or how she said it was stupid. Her eyes looked away, find the tips of her boots fascinating.   Wait is she… Nervous? Why is she nervous?   Bravery filling her chest that she puffed out, Merri took a step forward, leaving the mop to flop in the bucket while she grabbed her hands behind her back, mirroring the elf. “Really?” She asked, her voice going fluttery. “Well… I made those cupcakes…” She shot the increasingly nervous elf a sly smile, reaching, pulling the hair tie that kept her curls trapped behind her head, sending them flying with a shake of her head in what she thought was seductive. Oh Gods, was she TALL! Merri’s head fell short just below the elf’s chest. She’d have to crawl up her just to be at eye level. The prospect thrilled the little half-elf.   Tell me I did good. Take me to that dirty closet and show me I did good. Call me your pretty, good little girl and take me home and let me live under your kitchen sink.   Merri’s thoughts were getting deliriously silly.   “Y-you made them? Of course-” The elf added in a smaller voice. “-You did…”   Pausing her advance, Merri was rapidly trying to untangle the meaning behind those words. It felt like there was a few pieces to this puzzle she was missing. “Beg pardon?”   She straightened her posture, and like she couldn’t stop herself, she did that funny salute Merri had seen done since she got there, “Colonel Svetlana Lark.” The colonel looked just as surprised as Merri did at the strange introduction. Svetlana froze in the middle of her salute, as if her actions were just becoming apparent to her.   Mommy… looked kinda dumb. Kinda really dumb… Half of her wanted to toss her daydreams in the trash. The other half, the half that staring at those bulging muscles in those sleeves thought, I can work with dumb.   Merri shot her a small smile with worried eyes, rubbing the back of her neck as she realized her ‘seductive’ strut might have looked similarly stupid. Was she being stupid? Was she blowing this? Was there anything to even blow?   “I’m Merri.”   “M-Merri?” Svetlana looked away quickly, in a flash, so quick that Merri would’ve missed it if she hadn’t been staring at those bright red, plush lips. The little curl at the corner of her mouth, in a smile.   There WAS something to blow! Merri screamed in her mind. All hands on deck! Do NOT mess this up!   “Everything ok, Merri?” Gretchen asked, returning with her retinue of fowl smelling smokers, ready to finish cleaning and get off this ugly rock.   Merri and Svetlana froze in place. “Everything’s good!” Merri hastily said. “The colonel here just wanted to compliment dinner!”   “Actually, I just wanted to know about the cupcakes…” Svetlana half yelled, losing control of the volume of her voice. Her hand still locked over her chest in a salute Merri wasn’t certain she was aware of any more.   “Oh…” Gretchen and Merri said at the same time, both giving the colonel odd glances. “So then… You didn’t like dinner?” Gretchen folded her arms indignantly.   Merri didn’t say anything, her eyes, and each of her 7 coworker’s were studying the face of the colonel.   “It was… alright. It was fine…”   “My gorgon flank was just ‘fine’?” Gretchen asked, frowning. The orc was typically pretty grounded, a strong head on her shoulders and firm feet on the ground, but two things really set her off her good natures, insulting her steaks, and insulting her baby birds. And to do both at the same time was like asking her to go into a blood rage, pretty please, with a cherry on top.   It was like watching a carpet crash, “Gorgon is always dry and overcooked. I had the shtrieker.”   “My gorgon is not dry OR overcooked!” Gretchen bellowed.   “Wait, so my shrieker was just ‘fine?” Merri piped up, ignoring the fact that the only thing she did to the dish was burn it with a wand. It was still hers.   Svetlana shot Merri a look, processing what was going on.   “Why’s she still got her arm up?” One of the peanut gallery asked.   Merri had been rather curious about that herself. “Yeah, what’s up with that?”   “I- you- We’re not supposed to stop until it’s done back…” Svetlana addressed Merri specifically.   Gretchen cleared her throat. “That’s great, but no one here is going to do that.” The 6 behind her started snickering.   Svetlana blinked. “You have to… I’m a colonel…” She said annoyed, though she was shooting her hand a dirty, as if it had a mind of its own and it was acting like a naughty puppy who was peeing on her rug in front of company. Merri fought with herself to keep from imagining herself getting that look while Merri was naked with her leg raised.   “No one here is going to do that in our kitchen.” Gretchen growled defiantly.   Trying to keep her own humiliating thoughts out of her imagination, Merri spat out, “You look like a Faerie Scout.” Damn you, Meredith Valerie Stills! You cock blocking little twit!   The elf in the gray uniform made a little pop sound with her mouth in surprise, glancing down at her attire. There was some truth to the statement, the color was right, make the jacket a polo shirt and switch the pants out with a green skirt then yeah, straight up a Faerie Scout, out selling cookies and popcorn earning merit badges. Svetlana’s arm dropped.   Gretchen took the thought and ran with it, “Sorry sweetie, we don’t need any cookies today, go back to your Mommy and try next door…”   Meredith Valerie Stills, I swear on Mom’s grave if you open your mouth… “Are you lost honey?” Merri heard herself say, now firmly in the driver’s seat of the other carpet in the crash. “Is this your first sale? You poor thing,” Svetlana looked down at the leering Merri, her face finally showing some color as her cheeks became flushed. Meredith, you bitch, her inner monologue cursed her.”Don’t cry, why don’t you go back home with one of those cupcakes you like so much?” Merri pointed at the sweets on the rack with a saccharine voice.   Looking like she was about to say something, Svetlana was interrupted. “What the Hell is everyone just standing around for?” Daffodil reappeared, flanked by a series of cadets who dutifully began grabbing mostly empty racks and carting them back towards the cargo carpets and back on to the train.   In a series of ‘eeps!’ the cooks jumped to work, half of them started grabbing racks without thinking, the other half speed walking to the mops to finish the floors.   Svetlana, hiding her blush under the rim of her hat, muttered something like, “I gotta go…” Stomping off, though, to Merri’s surprise, stopped by the sweet rack, and her gloved hand did snatch up one of the purple capped mini cakes with the mermaid tear salt. Briefly, her eyes went back to Merri, snapping forward when she saw Merri was still looking at her.   With no time to dwell on that, and with little energy to do so too, Merri went to work packing up her stuff and jumping into a project, grabbing a deck scrub and began going at the floors like the sounds of scrubbing would drown out any internal voices that were screaming at Merri for being so stupid, or voices that were loudly wondering what Svetlana would do to her or her butt if she got Merri alone in a room.   Brushing a bead of sweat off her brow, Merri and her crew looked at their handy work, the floors looked clean enough to eat off of. She threw her coat on without buttoning it, and slung her work gear bag over her shoulder, and her merry band set off to get off Havenport, led by the air elemental that had returned just to see them off.   Into their shuttle, Gretchen, Daffodil, and Merri piled in, and they headed towards the train depot. Tiredly, Merri rested her head on the window, where she spotted a makeshift firing range set up near the castle’s walls.   A long staff of dark oak nestled on her shoulder, the colonel Svetlana Lark shot at a target down range, a spent scroll case ejected out of a slot on the staff, a blast of heat coming from the tip and a small fireball went sailing towards a metal, partially slagged suit of cheap armor. Her dress jacket replaced by a black short sleeved t-shirt, Merri saw that the white gloves she had on went all the way past her elbows. She barely flinched as the recoil bounced the long wooden shaft went flying into her weight.   Turning towards Daffodil, suddenly very invested in the day, “Hey boss, what’d the generals have to say about today?” Merri asked.   “They’re not too sure about having staff on site for an extended period of time, not for the price we demand per head. They’ll keep us in mind for future events though…”   “Hmm…” Merri bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, looking back towards the elf on the firing range, who seemed to pause her target practice when the shuttle carpets came into view. Merri could just barely see the shrinking dot of her face, but could feel those icy blue eyes on her. Chapter 3   Light in the sky faded slowly on the peak of the world. The horizon turned orange and pink, but the sun still kissed Merri’s skin. A fear bounced inside of her, as they approached the train, it’s walls empty for now, the wizards waiting inside. She worried that she’d never come to this place again. It was silly, she only met the colonel once, besides a few looks and a conversation that was more of a disaster than an ogre in ballet, but she sensed wanting in the elf, the same way she felt inside of herself.   Was she jumping to conclusions? Was she seeing things that weren’t there? Was she imagining things just because a pretty girl coincidentally looked like a picture that was ripped out of her fantasies? Merri didn’t like the heavy reality these questions weighed on her.   Merri moved automatically, barely existing mentally or spiritually in the moment. She sat down in a seat in the middle of the train, this time, with no concerns of keeping an eye on everything, she was surrounded by her peers. Talking was around her, her tired brain tuned it all out, keeping her eyes towards the city that was coming towards her.   “Merri? Hey!” There was a touch on her shoulder and Merri glanced up. “I said, ‘Wanna do drinks tonight?’” Gretchen was looking down at her.   A hand stretched her face out, “Nah, I think I’m going to go home and relax. Have a couple of days of. Maybe tomorrow?”   Folding her arms, Gretchen looked Merri up and down. “You’re looking… Off? You getting sick?”   “Hope not. Would be pretty typical to end up bedridden on my time off… I don’t know, I’m just not feeling it….”   Gretchen nodded, understanding, turning around to talk to the others, though keeping one eye Merri.   The skyscrapers, giants that loomed over Merri all of her life, seemed small today, as they came pulling into the train station. The pillars of stone and metal, and now that she was close to the ground the enormous trees that had been shaped by druids, Merri’s favorite, glinted with the lights in the windows. Voices from everywhere in the distance blanketed over her. A fowl smell of life that lived and grew too close together assaulted her nostrils. Even the air felt thick, coating her skin in a strange way, an abundance of magic stuck to the wind and made it feel unnatural, almost grimy.   Waving goodbye to the others, Merri stayed in the area for a second, watching Daffodil handle the wizards’ payment for the day with Merv and Agnis staying behind the bring the racks back to the guild HQ, a job the apprentices had been volunteered for, while Gretchen led the rest away for a night out.   Other than them, the depot only had a few wizards and conductors hanging around the wooden building, most people typically relied on the teleporters that were stationed around the city to get from place to place. A century ago, a building like this would have been packed with folks from every walk of life, from the wealthy moguls to the beggars trying to pinch coinpurses, now, it was a fading memory, as teleportation circles became more advanced, more widespread, and all around larger, train stations like this would become antiquated, only used for operations like the military who didn’t allow teleporting rings inside their bases or for novelty. Come see what life was 500 years ago.   For a moment, Merri tried to imagine what it must be like to be someone who’s lifespan was measured by millennia. Seeing the brand new became a relic. One day, perhaps very soon, she would have to deal with that, though not to the degree of some. On average, half-elves lived to around 400, some times 600, while it wasn’t unheard of for elves to make it to 3000, an impossible scale for the 65 year old to wrap her head around. It was hard to imagine why someone would choose to make a child you knew you would bury one day, with a creature you knew would barely be a speck in the life of both yourself and the child.   Merri didn’t dwell on the thoughts, and walked into a ring, a metal platform lined with a slanted lip with shining runes carved into it, resembling a crater. Blue light colored the air and the magic around the ring, a map right next to it told passerby which color led to where, a twin ring sat next to the one Merri was in front of, one coming and one going.   Stepping into the blue, in seconds, everything that made Merri her was ripped apart and sent to another location.   Standing in a huge room made out of granite, tall columns of marble holding up the roof, Merri was suddenly surrounded by people. Thousands of people of different races, shapes and sizes going about their business, going from one portal to another. Most were in transit, walking from one ring to another without giving their surroundings a lick of notice, while a few had made this place a hub for business, little carts that sold fast food to business folks with no time, others selling souvenirs to tourist, or florist selling something pretty and smelling nice to a couple on a night out or to a lover who made a mistake. Just one of several of the teleportation circles littered around town.   Merri wondered if there would come a day when this place resembled the train station and if she would be around for it.   In one hand, Merri held her crystal ball, while carrying her bag in her arms. She walked through the crowd, keeping mind every person who bumped into her, the inconsideration of strangers an everyday occurrence especially in crowded locales like this one, but more than that, hidden in plain sight, using the cover of crowds with no thought towards others were the predators. Clever rogues with nimble fingers who could pick a pocket clean without the victim being wiser until much later, using the instantaneous transportation to nick valuables then vanish a great distance away.   It wasn’t unlikely one or two thieves had already rummaged through Merri’s pockets without her noticing during her walk to the next ring, but she had grown far too used to the casual invasion of privacy. If she came home missing something expensive, at this point she would only have herself to blame, and it was far easier to blame her than the faceless pickpocket.   Walking into a ray of yellow light, Merri was in a much less packed locale, a street corner, a little elevator on the corner with a few people on it. She debated with herself whether to wait for the next trip when she could be alone, deciding against that as flames flickered to life on the black street poles, sending out a warm light.   On the stone platform, a young halfling was eyed his crystal ball without a care, his sweatshirt declaring him either a student or graduate of a local university. A dragonborn was holding the hands of her spawn in one hand and an armful of groceries in the other, listening to the hatchling make plans on what they would do when they got home. Some tiefling in an expensive suit was talking to his pinky using his thumb as the receiver, Merri had seen a lot of people get that expensive spell permanently tattooed to themselves, apparently it was a very practical spell but looked ridiculous and gaudy to the half-elf, she watched as the tiefling twirled his barbed tail into a corkscrew like a pig as he talked to the other person on the line.   The platform slowly ascended, rails rising as it did. The mother stepped away from the rails and told her child to stay away from the ledge, its body still small enough to slip through the gaps between the metal. Merri and the other two passengers just leaned on the rails, Safe from thieves at the moment, Merri let herself relax, dropping her ball in her pocket and letting her bag sling naturally on her shoulder while she stared off into the city.   The air thrummed, vibrating. The platform met a larger floor hanging in the air, at the center of which was a rip in space. A gate to a pocket dimension, a bright white hole in the fabric of the plane, rippling with shades of black and gray that pulsed, it wanted to grow, consume the space around its competition until it was the plane and not a little pocket, the spells that brought it to life saw that it would never have the chance.   Strangers stepped towards the bright light, Merri took a second to glance towards the dark tower in the sky, before walking into the hole.   The sky went from dusk to midday, pocket dimensions rarely conformed to any one time. Hills of endless houses stretched from the hole to the outside world off to the distant horizon. Each plot of land looked nearly identical, a two story house with four windows to a side, a small storage shed just off it, a lawn, a one tree in the front lawn, two in the back. There were a few options to customize, of course, house colors were easy, and some people kept gardens as a hobby regardless, but other more complicated alterations where made. The trees would go from the default oak to a pine or maple. Some people had a preference for the weather, going to great lengths to pay someone to set up a personal cloud to always have a rainy day or keep their houses in perpetual darkness. Many had their eccentricities, no matter what, the bones of the plot were the same.   Yawning, Merri pressed a button on her crystal, standing on the street waiting. A yellow bodied carpet came out of the distance and landed next to her. A name printed before the door said, ‘Stills Taxi Service’, a little business her father had set up decades ago. Merri zoned out, the homes zoomed by in the windows, until the carpet landed in front of a white house with a willow tree in the front, a little pond with dragonflies zipping on top.   Merri took a second at the door. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. Opening up the door, she called out, dropping her bag on a long table, her work jacket on a coat rack next to a tweed jacket, old photos hanging above it, pictures of an elf woman with curly blonde hair holding the shoulders of a shorter human, the elf beaming down at the little wrinkled pink thing wrapped in a blanket, and pictures of that pink thing growing up, somewhere in the middle of that process, the elf was no longer in the pictures, “Dad, I’m home!”   The first floor was a mess, it always devolved into a mess between her off time. Little golems were scurrying among the ground. An old, musty recliner sat in the living room next to stack of old newspapers stacked from the floor up to the chair’s arm, it wasn’t alone, many stacks just like it were strategically placed around the living room, covering up the couch, knocked over by the golems, completely covering the couch.   The old man with a cane and wispy strands of hair covering his head was looking out the side window, towards an empty doghouse then scanning the backyard. “Merri?” He gasped out, a twinge of panic seeping into his voice. She went over to the old man and bent down just slightly to give his wrinkled cheek a peck, it used to be that he stood just a little bit taller than him, interlocking her arm around his to coaxing him towards his chair. “I- I can’t find Tarry, I-I been looking everywhere all day but can’t find him…”   Merri knew it was futile to try and explain that Tarry had been two dogs and 20 years ago. She quickly changed the subject. “Did you eat today?” She asked him gently, helping him into his recliner. Merri forced a smile as she knelt down and patted his liver spotted hand.   “I had- Pancakes for dinner?” He said, looking towards Merri like he was making sure that was the correct answer.   “Mhmm,” She nodded, “That’s what I made for breakfast before I left…”   Simon Stills got a lost expression on his face. “Merri? I was looking for Tarry b-but I think he ran off… I tried to use a scrying spell but it wouldn’t work.”   “I’ll… Do something about that soon, Dad,” Merri lied. “Golem, bring Dad his evening medicine.” She commanded three of the stumbling clay figures   Stepping away, the golems went to her Dad’s side with a tray of elixirs and pills. “Merri…” The man croaked, “I don’t like this stuff. It burns…”   “You have to take it, Dad…” She said while reaching into the ice box and pulling out a disposable bowl, setting it down on a cluttered counter top while filling up a kettle and setting it on the stove.   “Ugh!” He painful groaned as he took it.   Sitting down at the kitchen table, Merri pulled out a large scroll from a basket on the middle of the table, unrolling it using her forearm to keep it in place, the brush that sat next to the basket and begun to do her evening ‘chore’.   Dad called out, “How was school today?”   30 something years had past since the last time Merri had stepped into a school, but she choked out a lie, “It was good, Dad. I had a… test and did really well...”   Next to the spot where she drew on similar scrolls every night, there was a picture of the runes, by now, she had the glyph memorized, but didn’t see the harm of keeping it around for reference. The kettle started hissing by the time she was done.   Merri whispered an incantation, mustering every ounce of magical energy she had and imbuing it into the scroll. She had to use all of her day’s reserves of power on this task, some days were better than others, slight inconveniences during the day warranted using a low tier spell that made the scroll just a tad weaker, but the physicians told Merri it would be fine as long as she still continued to do it everyday.   The runes glowed brightly as it greedily sucked up all of Merri’s offered essence. Sitting back in the chair, she heaved a sigh, feeling exhausted. There was only a few seconds to let weariness get the better of her before she forced herself up, going over the kettle, pouring its hot contents into the disposable bowl.   Snatching the scroll, she went over to her Dad’s side, “Alright Dad, time to roll over…” Not waiting for him to move on his own, she pushed him on his side and lifted his shirt up, he groaned and whined. On the small of his back was yesterdays scroll, she peeled it away, grabbing a wet rag one of the golems routinely gave her, and cleaned up the spot. Flattening the replacement, Merri’s pressed it against her father’s bony spine, the runes burning through the back of it.   Rightening the shirt, Merri turned him back around, squeezing his hand slightly. “Hey Dad.” She greeted him again with a sad smile.   Merri saw lucidity flood back into him. He breathed a sigh of relief, magic forcing his mind to untangle. “Hey honey…” He weakly returned the smile.   “I made some dinner for you. We have to go to the doctors tomorrow so-”   Simon nodded, “I’ll go pick out something for the golems to put me in for the morning.”   “’Kay…”   Standing up, Merri went to go grab the bowl, her hand stayed where it was, her Dad having grabbed it, “Love you.” He said affectionately.   “Love you too, Dad.” Merri replied warmly, kissing his forehead and holding his hand for a second, feeling its cold, papery texture, trying not to remember back when it was warm and full of life.   “Do you think you liked that book I had on for you, today?” Merri called out from the kitchen, returning with a steaming bowl with a platter that she sat on the lap of the old man.   He stopped her from pushing a napkin into the front of his shirt like a bib, “Please, honey, don’t coddle me, now, when I can really think.” She took a step back, nearly tripping on something, whether it was a stack of papers or one of the golems she wasn’t sure. “Do you think I could have a few short stories instead of a book?” He asked, blowing into a spoon, his hand shaking sending little droplets of broth back into the bowl. “The one book today got boring, it was tedious to listen to.”   Merri went and made herself a cup of tea with the leftover water, “Got it, I’ll make you a playlist. Anything in particular you’d like?” She asked, returning to the living room and brushing away a spot on the couch.   “No, I trust you. Just a little more variety, you know?”   “I know.”   The full force of the scroll only lasted two hours at best, the rest of the day it only served to keep the man’s condition from deteriorating any further. Two hours, some times more, some times less. The time Merri had to spend with her father with his full mental faculties.   They would chat, talk about how the managers of the taxi service was faring, listen to any new music Merri had found or listened to something Dad had remembered, chat about her day while Dad read a paper she had just conjured up. For just a little while, she would take off the silencing spell the old man had to have on during the day, a senior fighting with senility could be dangerous if he could cast fireball after all.   “Havenport? Huh…” Dad murmured thoughtfully. “Did you see anyone cute there? I heard its not bad being a military wife.” He playfully grinned.   Merri sipped at her nearly empty cup. “Dating isn’t really in the cards right now.” A familiar topic. Merri sensed that her Dad felt some guilt in her not finding anyone, though there was some truth that caring for him to keep her from pursuing someone, it was more complicated than that. “Some day, maybe.” She spoke with uncertainty.   Dad made a face as he set today’s paper on top of the stack next to him. Merri had tried to get rid of them, free the place of clutter, but the old man would get wild and outraged at the thought of throwing things away. It worried her greatly, but Merri didn’t have the heart to force the issue. “Do you think we could get a new dog? It gets lonely here, when it’s just me and them,” He cocked a thumb at the voiceless golems lumbering about.   Wincing at the thought of what a puppy would do in the midst of all this chaos, Merri let out a diplomatic, “I’ll think about it.” It brought her no joy to utter the words her father had said to her in her long forgone youth, only a bit of appreciation in why her Dad had said it to her.   “It would be nice, I’m just saying, if instead of spending the day looking for Chomper or Tarry, there was a little thing around to keep me company, give me a companion.”   “I’ve heard this one before,” Merri cracked a smile, “You’ll feed it and walk it everyday? Make sure you do all your chores?”   Dad sighed, reclining back in his chair. “I guess it does sound a little childish. Animals really do have a way of helping people like me, though.”   Sighing, Merri stood up. “Like I said, I’ll think about it…” She took a few steps towards her father.   “Please, Merri, can’t I keep my magic on for just a little while longer.” The man pleaded with her, knowing what she was about to do.   She rubbed her face. This was the toughest part of the night. When the specter came through the cracks of the spell, his feebleness asserting itself through the sound voice. In his right mind, Dad would know why he had to stay silenced, its now, when the transition between his stability became tainted by his illness, when he asked her irrational things in a rational voice.   Adopting a condescending smile and a gentle tone, Merri took his hand, “It’ll be ok, Dad. I promise.” While rubbing his hand, looking into his eyes that were beginning to muddle with concern and confusion again, she triggered the silence spell.   His breathing took on an erratic rhythm, he tried to cast a light spell, muttering words under his breath. He attempted to cast something else, but Merri was already walking away, towards his room on the first floor.   “Merri?”   Looking back with tired eyes, “Yes?”   “Y-you’ll think about the puppy, right?”   “Yes, Dad, I’ll think about the puppy…”   Going into his bedroom, Merri forced herself not to tear up. 1 hour and a half. 90 minutes. 5400 seconds. All the time she got to actually spend with the man who raised her today. Tomorrow would be different, she promised herself. She would make sure to save every spell she had in the day, make sure she’d get extra time. As she pulled clothes out of the drawer for him, she debated pulling a little out of the savings to get an amulet, use that up, get an extra couple of hours, she usually only did that for rare occasions, do something special for a birthday, or holiday, or that anniversary, but any day could be made special, right?   Arranging the clothes on a nightstand short enough for the golems to reach them, Merri turned out of the room, making great effort not to look at the man staring out the window. Up the staircase, keeping a hand on the bannister as she crept up. There was a door separating the staircase and the second floor, Merri turned the knob and shoved it closed, twisting the lock as she entered her own personal sanctuary.   Some nights, it was a necessity, as Dad wanted to drop into his old bedroom that Merri had taken over long ago. Others, the golems wanted to wander into her quarters. More than once before she installed the lock Merri had woken up to beady yellow eyes staring at her in the dark. Beyond anything else, it was just nice to have a modicum of privacy.   Stepping into her bedroom, she was met with its comfortable familiarity. Trappings she gathered up in her 6 and a half decades. An old metal shelf next to her door with pictures of old friends and estranged and lost family members, mementos of days long past, odds and ends reminding her of trips abroad, a shelf dedicated to her collection of books. A dresser that was cluttered with make up, boxes, and use beautifying scrolls. Her bed with the overly plush white comforter, an assortment of pillows, and a couple of favored stuffed animals that had made it through with her over the years. Her desk in the corner with a display mirror and her old beast of a warmachine, mouse, keyboard, headphones, and gaming controller connected to it, through either wires or cordless. Posters on the walls, flight of fancy or of franchises she gave allegiance to, like flags on a castle’s ramparts.   She reached up habitually to pull her hair tie off, only to pause mid motion, realizing why her hair was down. Cringing internally, she nearly jumped on to her bed and screamed into her pillow like a school girl, dying of embarrassment at the idea of ‘sexily’ strutting up to that poor elf. In Merri’s imagination, the looks Svetlana had given her turned into pity.   “You made them? Of course, you did-” Merri could picture a look of disgust on Svetlana’s when she realized the chef she came to praise turned out to be this simpering simpleton that was trying to flirt with her.   Audibly, Merri muttered to herself, “Nope, nope, nope!” She grabbed her crystal ball out of her pocket and made it play some boppy music, jumping into the master bathroom and stripping out of her day old work clothes, firing up the hot water.   Oh Gods, she had made fun of the sexy elf in the uniform. “Nope, nope, nope!” She hopped into the shower before it had warmed up.   The thought of Svetlana sighing with relief as the shuttle took the weird half-elf out of her life forever.   “And you can dance! Bard-ic inspiration!” Merri madly sung along to the music, trying her damnest to keep out of her own head, the water temperature rising not the cause of her face warming up.”Go on! Let’s slaa-ay!”   Try as she might, she couldn’t get Svetlana out of her head. Though, thankfully, she stopped dwelling on how badly she messed up the meeting, instead, she started imagining in great detail just what the elf would do to the silly little half-elf who thought she could mock her.   Svetlana wore a far more revealing version of her uniform in her daydream, sleeves rolled up, her cleaves pouring out of the gap on top, long stockings holding together a garter belt with a flimsy excuse for panties only just hiding what she had between her thighs. Slapping one of her hands with a riding crop. A malicious smile on her face, silently ordering Merri forward to receive her punishment.   Merri was on her knees, in her fantasy and in the shower, working out her pent up feeling with two fingers rubbing herself.   “Mmmm…” Merri let out a sigh of satisfaction, and filed that image of dominatrix Svetlana in the ‘For Later Use’ category.   Feeling much better about herself, humming as she wrapped a towel over her wet form, Merri stepped away from the tub, wiggling her toes on a fuzzy bath rug as her feet, letting the bulk of the water drip off of herself. Clean, feeling and smelling like a new elf, Merri went into the master bedroom with her crystal ball in her hand, shutting off the music, and tossed the towel on the bed and went to get the preparations for getting ‘cozy’.   Out of a mini fridge, she took out a bottle of wine, filling up a baby bottle with it. She nursed the red liquid lightly as she retrieved a small box from under her bed. Placing a bottle of powder, box of wipes, lotion, and rash cream out of it and on the edge of the blanket. Next, she turned to the box on a desk and flicked it on, the mirror attached to the box booting up and the computer roared to life. With a few seconds to spare, she merrily skipped over to her dresser, retrieving a onesie with a white body and pink sleeves and lining, cupcakes and cookies and sweet treats covering the body. The final and most important touch, a plastic packaging, ruffled and nearly empty.   “Tsk- Just two left… Guess I’ll go so Olga tomorrow and get some more…” Merri murmured to herself, retrieving her second to last “Lil-Corn’s Adult Baby Diaper”. An adorable pink unicorn pranced on the front of it, a rainbow of the back, the pictures stylized like a child’s crayon drawing. Merri tossed her evening wear, giving her baba a tiny sip as she grabbed the computer mouse.   The bright desktop on display, she clicked a program, Spellbook, loading up the appropriate files, and Merri’s personal spells she had downloaded popped up in a stylized window resembeling yellowed pages. She went to the ‘M’s’, in the middle of it, ‘Mommy’s Mage Hands’ in big bold letters, in the tagged description in all caps, the word [ALTERED] in brackets.   The Mage Hands spell has been a classic since the dawn of spellcraft, invisible hands that could lift and move up to 5 lbs. In the modern era, little has changed from its initial imagining, some iterations fiddle with the weight limit, others change the visibility of the hands, but the most common changes involve programming the hands to automatically act on a set command. Tired mothers, and fathers, over the years saw this spell and decided to make one chore they had to deal with several times a day easier. The ‘altered’ version came from the abdl community.   Two pinks hands appeared in the air in front of the mirror monitor, Merri slid on to her bed, parting her legs apart, tucking a pillow under her head. bottle in her mouth, grabbing her stuffed octopus with one hand and snuggling her between an arm and body (if she was in the mood she might later use a different spell on her computer to make the toy more lively and squirmy).   One hand grabbed the folded diaper, shaking it, fluffing it up, the other, lifting her legs up while the diaper got tucked under her, the edge scratching and tickling her lower back. She didn’t need to use the wipes after a shower, but it was a big part of the experience, the magical hand grabbing a wipe, probing her undercarriage, deeper than the spell would allow with a real child. Merri let out a moan as she was manhandled.   Of course, it would be better with a caregiver, preferably one of the tall, muscular elven variety, but the Mage Hands worked marvelously in a pinch. It was even nice to have it make the lotion vanish right after apply it to. Every. Inch. Of. Her. Same with the cream, which in of itself was more of a precaution, she didn’t plan on having any messy accidents tonight, but then, who plans on having accidents? Merri was covered in a cloud of lovely smelling powder, the hands programmed to use an over abundance of the stuff to Merri’s preference, lightly smacking it firm on her slick skin. Finally, the front of her diaper was brought up and between her thighs, tightly and perfectly taped on her body.   Crinkling adorably, the Mage Hands pushed her up, silently and gently taking the stuffie and baba out of her hands. She whined dramatically, all just part of her own personal show. Raising up her arms, her onesie was threaded through one arms at a time, then her head, laying her back down and lifting the other end up so the hands could grab the back snap and fasten it to the front.   The last touch, a tender pat on her head, and the one sound the spell was programmed to make.   “Good girl…” A ghostly voice whispered in her ear, and the hands vanished, transforming Merri from a neurotic, overworked jobber, into the carefree innocent girl she was deep inside.   There was a strange habit the body tended to create for people who enjoyed wearing diapers. It was like sitting on a toilet without needing, or knowing that one needed, to go. Within seconds, the muscles and organs inside Merri made an agreement, and appropriately a dribble warmed the inside of Merri’s fresh diaper in the matter of seconds of her putting it on.   Pleased with herself, Merri sat up, grabbing her bottle and octopus she had named Kranky, and waddled over to her computer. She flipped on Myr’r, noticing a message from the user earlier.   Lalabunny wrote: Hope it ok: Picture included.   Merri had to laugh. The picture was a backgroundless sketch of her Mommy elf OC on her hands and knees wearing a Faerie Scout unifrom, looking bashful and close to tears.   LilMerryMarry: LMAO you have NO idea how appropriate that is!   To Merri’s surprise, three little dots instantly appeared on the bottom of the chat page.   LalaBunny: u liek??   LilMerryMarry: omg yes, only way it’d be more appropriate is if she was in an army uniform.   The three dots appeared again, then stopped.   Merri saved the picture and put it in her collection of ‘Mommy’ pictures. She had a few like that already, some people just liked seeing the shoe on the other foot, and a free picture of her OC was still a free picture. She went through her feed on Myr’r, scrutinizing some videos and drawing in much finer detail than she would in a public setting.   One session of scrolling through Myr’r and a baby bottle and half of wine, and Merri was feeling handsy. Button snaps undone, feeling the squishy padding on the underside of her diaper, Merri found a story that would help her feel inspired. Scrolling down the page, she spread her legs, slipping her fingers past the leak guards on her leg holes to find her hole, teasing herself with light brushes and pulling at her lips, finding just the right spot to probe.   Her eyes closed, images of Svetlana looking over her, whispering nothings in her ear.   It wasn’t enough. She groped blindly with her unused hand while playing with herself, not willing to pull away in fear of losing her momentum, multitasking was truly a girl’s best friend, she found a handle for a drawer, inside a velvety box. Twisting the hinge, she withdrew a hand from herself and ripped the carefully placed tape away freeing one leg. In the other hand, a sleek wand made of rubber gripped in fist.   A low buzzing hummed in her hand. She lifted a hand towards her mouth, licking it, imaging the taste on her tongue was someone else. Her thumb found its way between her lips while another set was penetrated by her toy.   The blonde elf was in front of her again. Smacking her. Squeezing her diaper in just the right spots. Making her beg. Making her thank. Groping her chest, and in real time her thumb left her mouth and pushed her onesie up to thrust a hand up it, pretending it was her.   The phantom leaned down and asked Merri, “Who’s my good girl?”   “Mmm, I am, Mmommy,” Merri whispered to the empty room. She opened her eyes, the white screen in front of her the only company she had, her climax fading away as quickly as it came and leaving her with the mess in that instant.   Pulling out the toy and holding it in her offhand, she retaped her diaper back on, figuring she would give it one last good wetting before tossing it in the trash, it wouldn’t have to wait long.   Switching the screen back over to her Spellbook, she looked under the ‘S’s, clicking on one that said ‘Sanitize’. A red light radiated from the mirror. It slowly drifted and grew from its starting point, moving its way outward towards the entirety of Merri’s room. She held out her toy in front of the light, the light would eventually touch everything into the room, but it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to things that went inside of you. After the wave basked over the rubber wand, she slipped it back into its case and safely back into its drawer.   After the red light had parsed every inch of the room, it was left smelling faintly of disinfectant and alcohol. Raising the nipple to her lips, her bottle now had that taste of disinfectant, leaving a fowl flavor on Merri’s tongue. She tried to wash it away with the flavor of the wine, it helped, a little.   The rest of her evening was spent with little distractions. A few rounds of a game that’s been hyped up. Chatting with some friends, making requests with some new ideas for her characters. Watching Viewver videos while enjoying the squish of her now fully used diaper.   Bottle empty, head buzzing, Merri debated herself, switch into a fresh pair for the night, or go to bed a big girl. It was a very long debate. She switched on Mommy’s Mage Hands, and went to bed with her legs raised up in the air, cuddling her Kranky. Chapter 4   Late afternoon, down a shaded alleyway, Merri strolled past the miscreants and bums without giving them a second look. Dressed in baggy cargo pants and a brownish t-shirt that said, “I Roc You” with a picture of a huge bird swooping down with its talons out on her chest, wings on the back of it, a black thermal shirt under it. A tattered bag of holding was strapped over her shoulders and behind her, magically locked that could only be undone by her, or someone who would be expecting some share of the loot. Hair done up in a ponytail and striding down the alley like she owned the place.   The shady fellows hanging out like wise didn’t give her much thought. They had seen her here before, many times in fact. Merri had spent more time than most of the people on this street with shoddy scroll dealers, ‘totally legit’ magical arms traders, and a few scantily dressed people who would gladly show you the way to the cheap hotel on the street for an hour or two, even the whole night if your pockets were deep enough. She had the advantage of being here not for potentially life threatening or incriminating ill gains or items, consumable and otherwise.   Ju-Ju street, the safe haven for everyone who’s business didn’t need to be public knowledge. Merri had spoken to a few of the folks who wandered this road, from time to time. Passing a copper the way to the homeless on a path you tread regularly was a good way to make friends who walked your back. One of the girls on the corners gave her a wink, her fingers dancing in a wave, Merri may have spent some time with her after a trip to her destination.   Near the end of the street, in between an open air bar who’s forward facing wall was little more than a tarp and a ‘used’ treasures store that was just a fancy way of saying a Thieves’ Guild unofficial fence, was Olga’s.   Olga was a lovely old cyclopes that back in her day was quite the star, in certain circles. A dancer during the day, a porn star by evening, many a man and lady and everything neither and in-between had seen the goods Olga had, either in person on stage or on their lap, or on screen. She did it all, topped, bottomed, played the playful babysitter and the stern headmistress, but her more personal videos shared a side of her that resonated with Merri personally. Anyone looking Olga’s videos would find that more than a few of them had her padded and playing a babyish role, enough that it couldn’t just be a coincidence. During her younger years, she had made hundreds of videos of her wetting, squirting, messing, and fucking in diapers, as she grew older, the videos slowed down but never really stopped, as age showed in her face, she switched to a Mommy act in quite a few, infantilizing the younger generations, until even those had to come to a pause.   Twilight years in full bloom, Olga had retired to Ju-Ju street, setting up a less than moderately successful business selling all things kink, but specializing in adult baby gear. More than half of her store was dedicated to baby clothes that mostly wouldn’t fit real children (more than once, Merri had imagined Daffodil in a few of the smaller options), diapers for those with and without tails in all shapes, sizes, and designs, furniture on display that Olga would happily let you try so long as you could get yourself out. There was a particular baby swing Merri had her eyes on, but couldn’t find anyone who could help her out. A selection of scrolls and wands were displayed on the counter that Olga was usually leaning on, from making a person incontinent for a day, to making them smaller temporarily, to the more extreme ones that would really make a person think and behave like a baby, next to more mundane things, scrolls that would make someone last far longer than they should (consult a physician or cleric if it lasts over 6 hours), full body glamour spells to make someone look from a particular star, and magic that would make the end of a fun time multitudes more extreme.   Other than that, it had the typical kink store fare, vibrators, bondage gear, dildos that may come with a strap at the buyer’s please, chains, whips, riding crops, and Merri’s personal favorite, paddles. Hanging up from the ceiling were mannequins in all kinds of precarious situations in leather gear and costumes. If you wanted your lover to screw you or get screwed by you as a doctor, school girl, pet, guard, or anything that was a tag on a porn site, you go to Olga’s.   Of course, Merri could always order a discrete box to her home, or even just magic up some of her wants or needs, though magically obtained items had a bad habit of failing or just poofing out of existence, Merri had learned that lesson the hard way. But there was something more personal and fun going to her favorite store in person.   For one, Merri had been a fan of Olga since her early days, when she first found out Olga had set up a store she had been one of her first customers, going on about how big of a fan she was of the cyclopes. It was a wonder how the two were technically the same age, or just about, Olga was 2 years older than Merri, just goes to show time was a cruel mistress. Merri would look the same as the day she had met Olga when she eventually pass. Since the grand opening, Merri would make semi regularly weekly trips to the store, to at least say hello to Olga, have a cup of coffee and chat with her, bring her some treats, ask how the grand kids were.   Another nice benefit to going to in person was getting to try things on and feel things before she bought them. Never know when that cute print of diaper actually felt rough or cheap, or if the company that sold that new adorable bodysuit had funny ideas on what a medium should be. And one just didn’t know if a toy was too big until it was in their hands.   Merri needed the trip, after her morning. Dad had been a mess waking up, and peeling off her evening wear was a struggle in more ways than one to get him out to his appointment in time. After a trip to the doctor’s, which was unfortunately more of the same kind of news Merri always heard from the doctor’s regarding her father’s health, they had gone out to grab a light lunch. Merri had turned around for two seconds and the blasted old coot had wandered off. For twenty minutes had raced around the block they had been at, pushing people out of the way, getting nearly driven to tears, when she found him, lost in a hardware store he ‘thought’ he recognized the owner in.. Then on the way home he got sick all over her She didn’t have the heart to be angry at him, its too much energy.   Dropping him off with the golems and putting him to bed for a nap, Merri was ready for a bit of ‘me-time’. One quick shower and change of clothes she was on her way. Do a little shopping, catch up with Olga, maybe she’d try out that bouncer, get that one girl to help her…   Merri’s train of thought was completely derailed.   Coming out of Olga’s shop was her.   She was incognito, doing her utmost best to be as inconspicuous with a large, wide brimmed black hat and oversized sunglasses that shamefully hid those pretty eyes, despite only seeing her once, Svetlana Lark was coming out of the door of the fetish store. To her credit, just taking off the uniform did drastically alter her appearance, her grey slacks replaced by black shorts and black and white striped stockings that ended at the thighs, the formal jacket gone and in its place a blue shirt with poofy sleeves that showed off her midriff, the definition of her abs apparent below it. The white gloves going past her elbows gripping the strap of spaghetti string handbag and the handle of one of the larger bags Olga sold.   Merri blinked. Surely she wasn’t seeing what she thought she was. Her eyes opened, and Svetlana was still there. Worst of all, even behind those thick, shaded lenses, her eyes were burning a hole through Merri. There was definite recognition.   The colonel was standing as though she had just met a medusa. Merri couldn’t help but stare right back at her, the little bits of exposed skin her outfit showed, her red lips parted partially making a small o in surprise, her silky blonde hair draped over her shoulder that was so cute it was unfair. Body, acting on its own accord, took a few steps forward. That got Svetlana to move, her head pointed down then back at Merri, in a somewhat futile gesture, hid the bulky black shopping bag behind small frame and gave an awkward smile.   “Hi,” The word tumbled out of Merri’s mouth before she had the chance to grab the stupid sound and shove it back down her throat where it belonged.   A sort of high pitched wheeze came out of Svetlana’s mouth when she opened it. After clearing her throat,”H-hello…” Then, a quick stream of words poured out of the tall, gorgeous elf mama’s face that made Merri so distracted she could barely process them. “I wasn’t in there,” She nudged her head towards the door she was standing in front of, “I don’t even know what’s in there, it’s probably- I’m lost! I don’t know the city very well! I- urk- I don’t know if you remember but we met before I’m S-”   “Svetlana, yeah I remember…”   “You do!” The trill of excitement was hard to mistake in her voice, “I mean, you do? I just thought, it was a busy day, and you’re probably a busy lady, it’d- it’d be easy to forget… Forget- you know. A lot going on-”   There was a lot going on, this moment seemed to have sped right past Merri and she was sprinting to keep up with it. “I was going to go in there.” She dumbly admitted, pointing to the door behind Svetlana.   She glanced to the door behind her, looking stumped, turning her head back towards Merri, her sunglasses creeping down the bridge of her nose. “You were?” Quietly, she took a step away. “You were going to go- in there?”   Merri nodded, looking down like a child caught in a lie, “Mhmm!” Her face shot up, “I’m Merri by the way!”   Svetlana looked down at the little half-elf, “I- remember.”   Flashes of their previous conversation flashed before Merri. “Right,” She heaved, “Of course you do. Listen, I’m really sorry for making fun of you. It’s pretty uh um insensitive to make fun of your uniform.” When you look so hot in it, she silently added.   She looked taken aback by the statement, then, cracking a forced smile started bellowing out a loud laugh, “That? That’s just trolls under the bridge! What’s a joke or two among friends?”   Merri could not find the breaks on her mouth, “We’re friends?” She awkwardly rubbed her arm.   A hand crept from behind Svetlana’s back and started playing with her hair, “I mean, yeah, we. Could. Be?”   Studying the hand that was twirling a lock of golden strands between gloved fingers, the nervous excitement in her voice, pieces of a puzzle Merri didn’t know she was putting together were falling into place. “We could be?” She repeated, starting to smile, a person who knew Merri might worry about the crazy look her eyes were starting to get, but the elf had no such advantage and meekly looked into them.   “Y-yes?”   Merri’s small smile blossomed into a coy grin. Side eyeing the door, she asked knowing the answer, “And you bought something from Olga’s?”   The answer was a too quick, “Maybe.”   The piece de resistance, like the checkmate of a grand master, Merri grabbed an elbow with one hand and started curling her hair, mirroring Svetlana. As if suddenly realizing what she was doing, Svetlana’s dropped to her side like it was made of lead. “Maybe.” She repeated. She fluttered her eye lashes a bit, “You could show me what you bought, later?”   It took a second, but Svetlana’s head bobbed up and down. It looked like she wanted to say something but words were failing her.   Not only were the breaks missing, but Merri’s mouth was going down hill at full speed and she lost all desire to slow down. “Maybe you can show me tonight?”   “T-Tonight?” Squeaked Svetlana. “I can do tonight. Your place?”   “Yeah, for sure, my place.”   Reaching into that little handbag, Svetlana pulled out a crystal ball that only barely fit the opening, much too big for the bag without some kind of enchantment on it. Merri maneuvered her satchel around her body, squeezing the magical clip that only reacted to her fingers, grabbing her own ball. Both of them reached out and tapped them together with a little klink and a tiny bolt of electricity passed between the two.   A formal picture showed up on Merri’s ball next to a box of public information about her, usually the description would be a tad more robust but in Svetlana’s case it only showed a rank, name, and number, showing a partial image of Svetlana in her uniform, not a hair out of place, staring off into the distance with a frown, face too neutral to be a scowl. Now, Merri felt insecure about what she knew was on Svetlana’s ball, a 20 year old picture of her on the beach with some friends in a one piece blue swimsuit with a beer in her hand, along with a novel of information compared to the colonel’s, all her associated guilds and businesses, personal, business, and private numbers (the last one appearing as a blank box until Merri contacted that person through it), and a small introduction Merri had wrote.   A message appeared on Merri’s ball. Svetlana: Hiiiiii!   Merri sent her back a location.   “Girl number,” Merri muttered.   “It’s happening!” Svetlana muttered.   They both looked up from their balls, well, Merri did, in Svetlana’s case she just moved the ball out of the way, both of them asking, “What?”   When neither made a sound to explain themselves, Merri stammered out, “9?”   “9? 9 is good. 9 is fine with me. 9 it is.”   “Good! Good, when you get to my pocket, this service will take you to my house.” She sent over the contact info for the Stills Taxi service.   Svetlana was only half paying attention. Soundlessly, her lips were mouthing ‘Mer-e-dith,” a few times while looking at the screen, testing how it felt on her mouth. Again, an internal thought popped out of Merri’s head, Mommy was stupid, so was that grin on her face, and so was the grin on Merri’s face.   Merri looked at Svetlana expectantly, the elf was lost in her own little world before suddenly being called back, realizing she was in the middle of a conversation. “Right! So 9?”   “9.”   “Heheh, yeah, great!” Her hand rose to play with her hair again.   There was a sense that this could go around for awhile. “So, I’ll see you then?”   “Yes!”   Putting the ball back into her sack, Svetlana realized she still had hers in her hand and quickly shoved it back into her purse. Merri’s eyes, seemingly with a mind of her own, drunk in the tall, muscular, pretty elf in front of her. It seemed to dawn on Svetlana then what Merri was doing, her cheeks becoming bright under the sunglasses, she shrunk into herself, arms folding together, legs going rigid and tight against their neighbor.   “I’ll uh dress more appropriately when I come over.” She promised..   “You look incredible.”   “I do?” She excitedly rubbed the side of her thighs, Merri could help but notice the elf’s chest bounce a little with the movement. “Yeah well, so do you.”   Merri’s eyes shot down to her own attire, the holey shirt that showed the undershirt in small patches, the thread worn cargo pants that looked like they had one wash left before they became undone, the scuffed, dirty shoes on her feet. Compared to the perfectly put together elf in front of her, Merri would call her out for lying if not for the sincerity in her voice.   “T-thanks… But, when you come over, I can wear whatever you’d like.” Merri smiled, imagining showing off her collection of babyish outfits to Svetlana. Maybe she would make fun of her, maybe she would insist she wore them all of the next days, maybe she would make her silly little sub get down on all fours and model them for her while cooing at her. She was making herself giddy and tingly.   Svetlana seemed to dwell on this thought as well, silent for a moment. “Yes.” She mumbled quietly under her breath.   The elf was staring off into space, lost in her thoughts. Merri could only imagine what was going through that head, but they would just end up standing there until 9 if they did that. “Well,” She said, hating herself for needing to say anything, “I was gonna go, in there.” Merri pointed at the door.   “Oh! Right, yeah, you probably have stuff. You. Want. To. Grab.”   “Right, for tonight.”   “Tonight!” Svetlana chirped in agreement.   When the elf didn’t make a move to walk away, Merri offered, “If you, need help getting back I could show you the way to the station?”   “Huh?” The question seemed to puzzle Svetlana, “I know my way back.”   “Oh, I thought you were lost?” Merri teased.   Catching on to the joke, “Ahh, I may have come here a time or two.” She admitted.   Before Merri could point in the direction of the cheap hotel, she forced herself to say, “Well, ok, see you tonight.”   “Tonight!” Then she came to the appropriate conclusion, “Right! Then uh, I’ll see you later. Bye…” It seemed like the elf couldn’t stop herself from saluting, jutting her arm over her chest. Chuckling, Merri returned the favor and wished her goodbye.   She watched the elf walk away, half skipping, her rear wiggling with each step. Merri saw Svetlana’s head turn, and seeing the half-elf still watching her, spun it back around quickly.   A cloaked figure came out of the shadows, approaching Svetlana. They were pulling something from underneath their robe. Without hesitation, Merri watched as a wand twirled out of seemingly thin air from her wrist and into her grip. Her arm was a blur, the tip barely touching the person and a spark of lightning shot through them, dropping the figure to the ground.   “Hey!” A buddy of the downed cretin ran forward. Merri didn't see when the wand appeared in Svetlana's left hand, only that she whipped it around to point at the other approaching figure, a bolt of lightning bursting from its tip flying towards the miscreant's chest. Then Merri watched as the wands appeared to vanish from the elf’s hand and resumed skipping down Ju-Ju Street.   Merri was conflicted. Those two people Svetlana had just zapped were actually rather friendly beggars, probably seeing a nice, clean lady as someone who probably had a copper she could spare. She could see old Miller’s cup dangling in his hand under his cloak, wincing as another beggar ran over and grabbed the contents of it. Moral quandaries aside, that was the hottest thing Merri had ever seen, and she thought about diplomatic ways of asking the scary elf lady of hitting her with the wand later.   With a flourish of her own, Merri twirled on a heel and walked into the fetish store glowing like a tazed beggar. The sight of Olga’s impressive stock of merchandise catered to her own likes caused Merri’s mind to dither. The possibilities were endless. Would it be too much to ask Svetlana to put on a strap-on for their (hopefully not last) meeting? Surely it wouldn’t be an outlandish request to bind Merri in a set up locking mittens and booties? Something like a whip? What if she wasn’t sadistic? Maybe a few jars of baby food?   “I haven’t seen you so worked up in awhile!”   Merri was knocked back into the moment by the voice of Olga at the counter, wearing a knitted shawl, a set of bifocal reading glances under her one large eye wrapped around her head with a chain, resting her elbows next to her cash register and videos on a rack displaying her in her younger years doing some rather suggestive poses on the boxes.   Looking as gay as a fool, Merri approached her friend with a wide grin, grabbing a mannequin in a onesie and spinning around with it to Olga’s half bemused, half disapproving look. Giddy as a goat, Merri dropped on her arms and head on the counter top, unable to hide her excitement.   “I got a date!”   Olga nodded. “Is that what that was? I saw you talking with that nice young lady outside. Did you set up a little playdate?”   “Olga, I think I’m in love...”   “She’s a very pretty girl, I’m sure you two will have a lovely time! Maybe, don’t get too far ahead of yourself-”   “She’s gonna be my Mommy and she’s going to plow me every night till I’m dust,” If this were anyone else, Merri would never dream of letting her stream of conscious thoughts out like that, but this was Olga’s, if there was anywhere she could say such a thing, it was here.   When one has a mono-brow and singular eye, its hard to tell when its raised incredulously, unfortunately for Merri, she missed the gesture. “Oh? You’re talking about that elf that just walked out of here, right?”   “Her name is Svetlana,” Merri said dreamily, drunk on her own fantasies and lust.   The wizened cyclopes just gave her a funny look. “Right, I’ve actually met her and…”   “Yeah!” Merri’s head popped up. “What do you think she’ll like?” She ran over to a shelf on the wall, “Do you think she’s more into girly girls?” She showed Olga a print of diapers Merri’s size with princesses and castles on it. “Or do you think I should go tomboy?” She grabbed a blue print with colorful caricatures of animals. “Maybe something neutral? Do you think white would work best?”   Olga rubbed her chin in thought. “Sweetie…”   “You’re right! Hedge my bets!” She stomped over with three packs of diapers in her arms awkwardly, dropping them on the counter. “And umm… Toys! Clothes! I have to be ready! I need options! Only get one shot, it has to be perfect!” Rushing over to more shelves, grabbing clothes, barely giving sizes a cursory look, and by the handful dropping them in a crumpled ball in front of Olga, who’s annoyance was beginning to show.   Merri ran through the store like a kid in a candy store, or toy store, considering she was now grabbing more playful items. Over sized rattles, teethers, a tube of soft blocks, and more started getting added to the pile. “Merri, dear-” Olga said to deaf ears, before Merri started going for more adult items. Anal beads, a remote vibrator, gloves with special fingers that were ribbed with special textures and features. “Merri!”   “Huh?” Merri stared into Olga’s one eye, jittery, one foot thumping on the soft carpet over hard wood, mind racing with possibilies.   “I’m not selling you any of this.” Olga said bluntly.   “What?! Why not?!”   “Sweetie, I know you aren’t made of gold, I’m not going to let you go bankrupt buying all this for a date that-”   “Arrgh!” Merri clutched at her strands of her hair that weren’t tied back. Her face darted back and forth over all the items in between her and Olga. “Damn it, you’re right! I should get… This… Maybe that… I already have something for…” Hurriedly, she arranged toys and clothes into piles of what she couldn’t afford, what she could, and what she might be able to get in theory, if she went a week or two without eating or silly unnecessary things like that. A wrinkled hand stopped her.   In a stern voice, Olga declared, “Go put everything back, NOW.”   “But…”   “You can have, these,” She said, putting aside the plain white medical briefs aside. “On the house. Trust me.”   “But!”   Holding a single finger up, Olga pointed at the items then the shelves. She seemed amused by her friend’s enthusiasm, but not enough to go restocking everything Merri’s impulsive nervousness had driven her to haphazardly declare to be a necessity. “Go, put it back. Everything. Calm down while you’re at it.”   Merri looked like she wanted to argue her point so more, but heaving a sigh, gathered handfuls of her hastily chosen selections, walking around the shelves and racks and returning them. “I get it,” She said as she worked, “I must look crazy right now- But you? You got to experience it all, got to have people baby you, play with you, love you…”   “If you’re talking about the videos, it really wasn’t like that…”   Merri shook her head, “No, I mean, you had caregivers, Mommies, Daddies, real relationships!”   Olga sighed, “I suppose, not like they were all like that, but sure, sweetie.”   “Ok, yeah, but for me, this is all just been in my head-”   “That’s kind of the problem-”   Smoothing out the wrinkles of a onesie before she turned back to Olga, “No, yeah, I get it, it’s not really going to be what I imagine… But that elf? She’s what I’ve been dreaming of for years. She’s exactly what I think of when I thought Mommy and… Then I see her again coming out of your store!”   “Sweetie…”   “No, I get it-”   “I don’t think you do.”   “Olga, please, I saw her yesterday, at her work, and the second I saw her it was like bam! Instant connection, we couldn’t take our eyes off of each other! And then, running into her today…” She rambled off. “I can’t get her out of my head, she’s my dream girl…”   Olga tried again, “You don’t really know this girl-”   Again, Merri cut her off, “I know she’s like this badass soldier lady, how hot is that?” Her voice started getting quicker, she paced in front of the counter, the last of the objects in her hands, ready to be dropped off but Merri was going off, “Did you see her arms? Those muscles! And those legs! Legs for days! And those eyes that look right through you…”   The cyclopes let out an irritated huff, “You’re literally just describing physical traits. Merri, you’re attracted to this girl but you know literally nothing about her. Honestly, I think you’re being really shallow right now.”   “I-!” Merri frowned, looking down, her racing thoughts slowing down long enough for everything to sink in.   “I won’t say that I haven’t been there,” Olga continued, Merrif groaned to herself, resuming her trips around the store, “Just… Tamper your expectations. This Svetlana? She’s not your fantasy, she’s not that drawing you post on Myr’r, she’s a real person, and… Well, she probably has her own idea of how your next ‘date’ will go, okay?”   Merri paused, standing in front of an adult sized crib, a mannequin wearing a set of pink fluffy feetie pajamas inside. For a second, she was in the crib and Svetlana was standing in her place. She shook the thought of her head. “Yeah, you’re probably right…” She found her foot still tapping in anticipation. “I’ll try to be more, realistic, thanks Olga, I should probably get going.”   Turning to walk out of the store, Merri was stopped before she could take a step. “Merri?” She turned to look at Olga tapping on the plastic case. “On the house, remember?” Giving the friendly shopkeep a weak smile Merri walked back up to the counter, grabbing the pack of diapers of shoving it into her sack, the opening of the bag growing just large enough for her to get the case into the impossible space.   “Thanks,” She said again, her face starting to furrow with uncertainty and doubt.   “You’re welcome, next time you come in, you can tell me all about it.”   “Yeah, I will. See ya later!” Merri stepped out of the store, seeing the unconscious beggars still on the ground. Her frown deepened as she thought about what Olga said, a seed of worry digging into her brain. Still excited about the prospect, lingering doubt was lodged into her, she really didn’t know this Svetlana, maybe it would turn out she wouldn’t want to know her at all.   The next few hours dragged by. Her evening rituals with her Dad were a nice distraction, but her heart wasn’t quite in it. Her fingers never strayed too far away from her crystal ball, tapping on the smooth glass surface.   There was a debate in her head. Call it off or take the chance? She could always post pone, Merri could easily admit to herself that deciding to meet that night was overly hasty. A rash impulse, totally understandable heat of the moment mistake, right? They could just reschedule, give it more time…   But the time had gone past the point of no return, Merri’s indecisiveness became inaction when her ball chirped. A message flashed across.   Svetlana: On my way!!   Merri: Can’t wait!   She resigned herself, thoughts of what could be and what could happen warring in her mind. The imagination ran rampant, Merri kept it at bay long enough to find a cute outfit, a short red cocktail dress, ruffles coming out of the skirt, a row increasingly larger decorative bows going down the back, a single strap on the right shoulder, something somewhere between adorable and sexy, easy to slip on and off, a pair of black flats to complete the look. Holding up a scroll, Merri ripped the end and let the smoke pouring out morph her face into something more appealing to the eye.   And then, Merri sat on the bottom steps of the staircase, the bottom level only lit up by a light over the door to the second level, letting her nervousness get the better of her. Tapping on her crystal ball, looking at her new reflection, it was more elven like, not the round look of her natural appearance, she wondered if it was overkill.   Shaking, she listened to her Dad’s snores coming from the room close by, in the peripheral, she saw the scattered mess of the living room, of the kitchen. Her anxiety shot through the roof.   What if she doesn’t like me? What if this goes horribly? What if she’s crazy? What if I’m crazy?   Knock-knock-knock.   Taking in a deep breath, Merri got off the step, and opened the door.   Svetlana was just as ravishingly gorgeous as Merri had seen and imagined her. Her golden hair let down except her bangs braided framing her face. A long black overcoat covering most of her body, legs of her dark brown pants sticking out just below, her hands hidden in her pockets. First seeing Merri, her face burst into a smile, only for it to falter when she noticed the altered face.   “H-hi! You look cute!” Svetlana said, her eyes darting around, starting to look uncertain when she saw the outlines of the living room, her nose flaring as it was hit by the musk of old person. She glanced to the other side, where her gaze fell upon family photos.   Merri was quick to get her attention off of, well everything. “Is something the matter?”   Svetlana studied Merri’s face, looking uncertain, only to then blurt it out, “Sorry, I was just- I really like your real face.”   The comment put Merri off, she was prepared to offend the beautiful elf in so many other ways the thought never occurred to her that glamour magic might be one. “O-oh, I can take it off- If you want.”   “Is that ok?” She looked embarrassed suddenly.   “That’s ok!” Merri insisted, feeling foolish. Of course, she wanted Merri’s real face, the elfish look the glamour gave her probably looks too ‘grown-up’ for a little. Babies don’t wear make up or spells after all, it was all natural adorableness. “Let me just…” She fumbled for her crystal ball.   Reaching a hand out of her pocket Svetlana bent down in the light that shadowed the half-elf’s body, Merri noticed it was gloved like the last two times she had seen her, Svetlana lightly touched Merri’s face, the cold leather of her gloved palm caressing the side of her face, a thumb pressing her cheek, “Let me.” A wave of disenchantment ran across her face, the layer of illusion fell off. Svetlana warmly smiled, one so wide it crinkled her eyes. “Perfect,” She purred.   “Thank you,” Merri looked down, seeing Svetlana’s feet in sandals, toenails painted a light blue that reflected off the light slightly as her toes curled, “My Dad is asleep right now, we can talk upstairs.” She felt childish admitting she still lived with her Dad, though through circumstances she couldn’t really help, its not like Svetlana knew that. The elf, either through good grace or simply uncaring, didn’t mention it or make a face in any sort of way. She simply raised a hand out.   When Merri took the offered hand, Svetlana made a tiny giggle, letting herself get led up the stairs. The steps creaked and groaned with their weight, and Merri felt awkward leading the taller elf, but when she looked back, Svetlana looked quite pleased.   The door firmly closed behind them, Merri explained, “I’m going to lock the door, I- I don’t want to be creepy or anything,” A dark thought dawned on her feeling like just saying the word ‘creepy’ was incredibly creepy, especially the first time meeting like this. “I-its just,” She stumbled over her words, “My Dad, he’s sick, we have golems, and well, sometimes either Dad or the golems will try to get up here…” She trailed off.   “Just, if you need to get out, give the lock a little wiggle, it gets stuck sometimes.” She demonstrated.   “Trust me, if I need to go, I will.” Svetlana said with nonchalant confidence.   That reminded Merri, “Yeah, I kinda saw that earlier with those guys on Ju-Ju street.”   Svetlana got shy, “Oh? You saw that, huh?”   “Yeah, those guys, they weren’t actually trying to hurt you or anything. I know them, they were just asking for change…” Merri hated herself then, everything that was coming out of her mouth was the worst possible thing to say at that moment. But then, to Merri’s surprise:   “Was I a bad girl? I’m sowwy?”   Merri looked up, seeing the blushing cheeks of Svetlana as she twirled a braid.   She wasn’t quite certain how to take the comment. Merri was putting her foot in her mouth and in spite of her worst efforts, Svetlana seemed to take it well, only the feeling was growing that Merri wasn’t getting the full picture.   Svetlana watched Merri side step towards her bedroom door like a majestic bird of prey. The elf followed her inside. Merri wished she had more of better location to take Svetlana, it felt much less grandiose then she deserved. Svetlana didn’t feel the same way, apparently.   With a squeal, and to Merri’s bafflement, Svetlana lunged towards the bed, next to the pillows where the octopus stuffed animal lay next to his brethren. “He’s soooo cuuute!” Across the lap of the overcoat, she started to ‘walk’ or maybe ‘dance’ the octopus over herself, going, “Do-do-do-doo!” With every step, then she squeezed the toy in a hug.   Still blushing, Svetlana grinned up at Merri from her position on the sat up on the side of the bed. One hand still holding Kranky, the other going towards her cheek, “I’ve never done anything like this before,” She told Merri, “Just, when I saw you in the hall at Havenport… It was insane, I’ve always dreamed of meeting, well, you! Or, umm, pretty much like you.” In a look that said Svetlana knew she had too much, she inflated her cheeks in an effort not to say anything else.   Merri didn’t know what to say. How could she? Svetlana had taken the words out of her mouth. “And the way you looked at me… No one’s ever looked at me like that before,” Svetlana went on, “When you belittled me… Oh Gods, I was ready to cry right there in that kitchen! I never felt so little before!”   Wait…   “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I know I’m rambling.” She squeezed her knees through the overcoat and pants, Kranky still on her lap. “I- Probably jumped the gun, you probably wanted to put it in me, but I couldn’t resist, especially after seeing you at Olga’s, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head!”   Svetlana Lark, decorated colonel, the most attractive person Merri had ever seen, a girl who radiated sex appeal and danger, unbuttoned her overcoat revealing a dark blue onesie with bright pink butterflies all over it, tucked into dark brown khakis with a very telling bulge at the waist, looking up at Merri with pleading eyes.   “Mommy, can you change me, pwease?” Chapter 5       There was a delicious irony to the moment. Well, not to Merri, to her, the past few minutes left a bitter taste on her tongue, the taste of her own medicine. But to someone else, maybe they could’ve seen the humor in it.       Merri always had the image of a strong, confident elf, wrapping Merri up in her arms, treating her tenderly, with care, some times. Other times, the elf would be stern, some might say harsh, but anyone with that idea Merri would call prudish. Merri had long ago considered such a person that could love Merri the way she wanted them to a figment of her imagination, as real as the monster under her bed as a child, as nonfictional as Santa Claus or the Tarrasque.       She thought she had finally lucked out, found the one in a million, found the elf to love her the way she oh so dearly desired. And yet, here she was, at long last, only it wasn’t Merri sprawled out on her bedspread asking her Mommy to change her, it was Svetlana, quivering in anticipation, open and vulnerable, trying to look cute and charming only eyes shone with an eagerness that could only be seen by a person who had waited too long for this moment.       Seconds past, and Svetlana’s face faltered. Merri could practically hear the overthinking that was happening behind those vibrant blue eyes, sensing something was amiss, cluing into the strange sense of humor the universe had, guessing that she had made a misstep, done something wrong to ruin the moment. Assuming she was wrong but hoping against all hope that it was this, this tangled of thoughts screaming at her to flee, to run out of here before the trap was sprung.       Its how Merri would’ve felt. Though, Olga’s thoughts ran through her head, she didn’t know this person. How could Merri know exactly what the elf was thinking right now. The nagging feeling of guilt in the back of Merri’s thoughts as she sheepishly realized even now, after Svetlana had opened up to her and revealed that the half-elf truly did not understand the situation she had put herself in, she was still making assumptions with a certainty.       “Svetlana…”       The girl’s smile bad been fading in the seconds of silence, renewed in an instant with her own name. “P-please, will you call me Lala?” She asked in a pleading voice, ready for this long awaited moment to finally get back on track.       Gears in Merri’s head that were slowed down, covered in a molasses that left the thinking process slow, cumbersome, and a little bit dirty, sprang to life. “Lala?” Merri could see Svetlana melt at the utterance, she eased her body back, her overcoat draping her arms, giving the illusion that she was small and delicate. Or maybe she was small and delicate, and it was only Merri’s warped perception of her that was the illusion.       “Are you LalaBunny?” Merri was jumping to conclusions, but hey, that seemed to be a theme of her and Lala’s interactions.       It wasn’t hard to see the surprise in Svetlana’s face. “On Myr’r? Y-yeah, that’s me… Why?”       “I’m LilMerryMarry.”       “Oh! That’s so funny! We were just talking and never even knew,” Svetlana said in a halfhearted ‘I’m so interested in what you’re saying now hurry up and take my clothes off’ kind of way.       “Did you happen to see a lot of what I post? The commissions I get?”       “Of the elf and the half-elf?” She said confused, then sitting up suddenly, “Actually, I did a lot of drawings of the two. I know I’m not the best, but, I wouldn’t mind showing you…” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a little leather bound notebook with magically bound lock.       “Yeah, yeah, with the elf and half-elf!” Merri said quickly, before things could derail further. Svetlana stopped flipping through pages and looked up with a trusting smile. Horrible was an understatement, Merri didn’t feel horrible in the way one might feel if they step on their cat’s tail, for instance, it was more like taking the calf they born and raised to the slaughterhouse. That smile made Merri feel vile. “Did you notice that- in my pictures, it’s always the elf babying the half-elf?”       Svetlana’s ears twitched, the deer in the woods not only knew she was being watched but now she knew she was in danger. “I…” Svetlana tried to begin, only to trail off in thought as this new consideration let her in on the implications.       The initiative was ripe for the taking, only Merri didn’t want to grab it, but knew she should. “Yeah, I kinda thought that you- you would be- that I would be-”       Both her and Svetlana shattered in that instant. Both now aware this evening, this chance meeting, were all for not. Merri watched as Svetlana’s face fell, her despair and self doubt poisoning the air around her.       The kenku have a method of repairing pottery. When a priceless vase breaks, they delicately take the pieces and mold it back together with gold.       “I- I should go…” Svetlana said, voice heavy with the tears of foolishness, of sadness, pulling her coat back together and jumping off the bed, toppling Kranky over to his side.       The kenku mix the gold together with a lacquer and carefully put the pottery pieces together, filling any destroyed pieces spaces with wood or other ceramic.       Merri’s heart was breaking, her mind racing. She couldn’t just leave it like this, she had waited so long for Svetlana, and Svetlana had waited so much longer for her. Merri had waited what, 30, 40 years? How long had Svetlana been waiting?       The vase, now repaired, shines with its cracks, not hiding that it was broken but emphasizing them.       Svetlana’s arm was grabbed. She looked around, showing Merri the hurt in her eyes, sniffling. “I…” Merri began, thinking. “Y-you said you needed a change right? I can’t just let you walk out of here wet like that.”       There is a beauty in the imperfections, the kenku say, there is little point in pretending the object in question was never broken, the naked eye can see the cracks and seems were put together, so then why not celebrate its history?       “I don’t want to… You don’t want to…”       Merri raised her arm, putting a single finger up to Svetlana’s lips. “Shhh…” She took the taller elf by the hips, shaking under Merri’s touch, turning her away from the door. Merri didn’t realize she was shaking too, until she reached up and touched the exposed arm just under the sleeve of the overcoat, pulling her free of its confines one arm at a time.       “B-but…” Svetlana’s voice trailed off, her objections mute and moot.       The overcoat fell to the floor in a clump by the door. Svetlana didn’t notice, her attention squarely on the hand that brushed her shoulder, down her arm, her wrist, until it finally found its destination. Led by the hand, Svetlana was placed back in her spot on the bed, her lower back just barely on it. Merri pulled apart the sides of the khaki’s she wore, the bulk of what the elf wore underneath flaring forward without its resistance. The pants were shimmied down, as an after thought Merri took off the sandals and gave the soles of Svetlana’s feet a tickle as she did, she didn’t know what to do with the trousers so dropped them to the floor.       Onesie held together by the snaps at Svetlana’s crotch, it was obvious she really did need a change, but that wasn’t on Merri’s mind at this second. She drunk in Svetlana’s form like a tribal that had just trekked a grand desert and Svetlana was a pitcher of water. Her eyes glossed over every inch of her, from the curves of her hips, to the way her nipples poked out of the thin fabric of the onesie, to the border of flesh and leather where the gloves met.       “M-m-mm…” Svetlana was on the verge of saying something.       Eyes alone weren’t enough. Merri reached out, starting at the top. Brushing aside a wayward braided strand, the texture feeling like fine silk, Svetlana’s lips pouted, her eyes urging Merri on. A shiver ran through Svetlana as she brushed the delicate skin of her neck and down to the shoulders, tense muscles rippled underneath, bubbling below the skin at Merri’s touch. Her other hand found its way to Svetlana with very little input from Merri, as she descended down, below the armpits to discover the wonders of the elf’s torso.       Merri felt too vice grips clamp on to her thighs, working their way up. Smiling, Merri moved closer, until she was hovering over Svetlana. Leading her mare to water, Merri took one of Svetlana’s hands and brought it up, towards the sole strap of her dress, pushing the hand’s fingers under and giving a suggestive tug. It was strange, Merri had expected some strong resistance from Svetlana’s well toned body, but taking her left hand was different, there was no give to it the way flesh would. Svetlana took the suggestion and ran with it, pulling the dress away with the eagerness of a child pulling the wrapping off a gift on Candlemas.       For a second, Merri’s insecurities weaseled their way into her heart, above the elf in just her underwear, a matching set of pink bra and panties, her blobish bits flopping out, but she took her personal criticisms and shoved them. The look Svetlana gave her, like a dog frothing at the muzzle for a juicy steak was all the self-assurance the half-elf needed. Her hands became wild, finding every soft morsel to squeeze and feel. At the hands urging, Merri bent her arms backwards and undid the clasp of her bra and letting her modest girls loose. Svetlana let out a grunt of approval and appreciation as the gloves came to Merri’s breasts.       The groping had Merri feeling just a tad left out. The snaps of the onesie came undone with a pop! The weight of the sagging padding hefting out, finally freed from its confines. Merri went to work relieving Svetlana from the outfit immediately, pulling it away. Discovering with delight, Merri the diaper exactly matched the print of the onesie, lovely pink butterflies fluttering on a navy blue background. Putting that thought away for the moment, Merri inspected Svetlana’s bare torso.       She could’ve been sculpted out of marble and Merri would be none the wiser. The abdominal muscles well defined, powerful, Merri ran a hand down them and brushing over the belly button. The large orbs on her chest sagged whichever way they and gravity pleased, no longer bound by confinement. Scars and old wounds littered all over her, the largest an ugly, jagged red line that went under her sternum. Svetlana winced and withdrew her hands from her own explorations when Merri’s cold finger felt the line.       “Sorry!” She apoligized.       Svetlana’s face eased back into relaxation, “It’s alright.”       When the gloves reached back towards her body, Merri asked, “Do you want to take these off?” She asked, motioning towards the white leather. A tiny shake of her head was her only answer. “That’s okay, baby girl,” Svetlana’s face beamed with pleasure at the phrase while Merri traced the elf’s side, down the ribs, to the tummy, over the bony hips, and finally landing on Lala’s diaper. Merri rapped her fingernails on the plastic, the music it made serenading both of their ears. “Let’s get my baby cleaned up, shall we?”       “Mmm-hmm!”       Merri pulled away from, Svetlana’s fingers writhing towards her still wanting the feel her, Stepping over to a drawer, Merri retrieved one of the plain white diapers she had been given, feeling a little bad replacing a pretty print with something so mundane. The size would be fine, Merri thought, she probably wore a medium.       “Sorry, whites all I have.”       “Let me see,” Svetlana held out a hand, when Merri was close, Svetlana placed a hand over Merri’s hand covering the folded plastic. “Now,” Svetlana said in a lithe voice, “Close your eyes, imagine what you’d like to be on it…”       Merri did as she was told, closing her eyes, “Huh, well let’s see it-”       “Don’t tell me!” Svetlana pleaded, “I’d like it to be a surprise.”       “Heheh, alright…”       “Tell me when you’re ready…”       Merri nodded, “Ok… I’m ready.” A mad giggle came from the elf, warmth flooded over Merri’s hand, a tingling, almost sizzling sensation pulsing from Svetlana’s hand, there was an aroma of ozone and melting wax, the room filled with popping bubbles.       “Ok, ok, let me see! Let me see!” Svetlana demanded excitedly.       When Merri opened her eyes, she saw the diaper colored the way she imagined it would. Unfolding it, the top edge white with a lighthouse shining a yellow light, below, a light blue (that may be the color of someone’s eyes that Merri can’t get out of her mind) with a cartoonish depiction of Kranky on the bottom, fishes swimming around him, the back all blue with fishes, a sandy yellow with a treasure chest and a sunken vessel in the background. Merri dutifully held it out for Svetlana who peered at it in both hands.       “You like it?”       “It’s my new favorite!” Svetlana assured her, holding it to her chest, rustling it, giving Merri a huge grin.       “Good… Now you be my big helper and hold that for me…”       “Yes Mommy…” She cooed.       Merri wasn’t sure how she felt about being ‘Mommy’, but the way Lala’s musical tongue said the words did give it a delightful ring. Retrieving the box from under her bed, Lala looked down, curiously asking:       “What’s that?”       Shrugging, “Just my box of changing supplies, oh that reminds me, I should probably grab a towel or something…”       “Oh! I got you…” Lala jumped up, waddling over to her coat, Merri admiring her bent over frame wishing she had removed the diaper before such a show muttered a few arcane, she noticed Merri staring and gave her a coy smile. “Tada!” Proudly she reveals an ornate handle, much like one you would find on a dresser.       “Yup, that sure is something…”       Lala rolls her eyes playfully, “Just wait, silly,” She shuts her eyes and mutters a few arcane words, holding the handle out and pulling it away, with it, a trunk with a platinum and gold sheen rolls out of nothing. “Let’s see…” She tosses out clothes of varying maturity, books of the normal and chewable cardboard varieties, plushies and… “Aha!” She presents Merri with a roll of cloth while making a smug face.    “Thanks…?”       “It’s my first changing mat!”       “Your first?” Merri eyed it closely, unrolling it and noting the size. It let a fowl smell into the air, like eldritch mothballs. “Oh Gods, it reeks! How old is this?”       “Ok, it’s my first ‘adult’ changing mat!” She pointed her face out, wincing at the odor. “Sorry! Haven’t used it in awhile… That’s why they make presta- prestige- presto…”       “Prestidigitation?”       “Yeah! That’s the bitch!” Lala cast her difficult to pronounce spell on the fabric, clearing the air of the offending aroma.       A harsh slap met Lala’s thigh. “Youch!” Lala stood at attention, frowning, rubbing her thigh.       “Listen, little Lala…” Merri snatched away the changing mat, shaking it out on to the bed, giving Lala a shove on to it. “If I’m going to be playing ‘Mommy’ tonight, there’s going to be a few rules, got it?” A nervous smile plastered on her face, Lala nodded. “First rule, you gotta listen to Mommy… Second, no swearing… Third…”       Merri searched the vast, vacant recesses of her thoughts. What rules do I give her? Shit! I’ve never done this before! She’s looking at you idiot, say something!       “Third you always wear a diaper around Mommy… Fourth ahh umm…”       Lala let out a laugh. “It’s alright! You don’t have to try so hard, Mommy, you were doing just fine without spontaneously coming up with rules.”       “It was spontaneous!” Shit! “Wasn’t! I meant wasn’t spontaneous.”       The elf splayed her legs on the bed, crinkling the diaper as she grabbed it off the bed. “Can we talk about ‘rules’ later, Mommy? I’m starting to get itchy.” She laid on her cutesy voice thick, and though Merri would rather hear a low sultry tone come out of those sweet, kissable lips, that high whine did set something off in her. Something that Merri would’ve never guessed she had, the maternal feeling to tend to this elf’s needs.       “Well, then, baby girl, let’s fix that.”       With a ripping sskrtch the tapes came undone, the smell of lavender and ammonia soaked plush wafted in front of Merri as she pulled the front away, and in spite of the smell, basked in the treasure in front of her. There wasn’t a trace of hair to be found underneath the diaper just was, the delicate slit in the center of Lala’s pubic mound barely unfolded even with her legs splayed wide. She could’ve stared at it for hours, the small bubbles of fat that made Lala’s cheeks, the untanned stretches of skin that wrinkled in places and lay taut at others, even as it sat on top of the yellowed lining of her diaper, but…       “Mommy, its cold…” Lala whined.       But, that. This wasn’t a picture or video to be paused on the Manat. Lala was here, in front of her, comfort failing and becoming more bashful as she becomes more aware of the half-elf staring.       The box opens, a wet wipe pulled from its case. The elf shivers as the sanitizing cloth cleans her. Perhaps, Merri spent too much time giving Lala’s lips the attention they oh so deserved, but unless those moans coming out of her were complaints, she didn’t think she objected. The half-elf holds a hand out, Lala gives the unfolded diaper to her, only to hold on to it when Merri tried to pull it away. Lala got a devilish look as they played a game of tug of war.       “I thought you were cold?” Merri teased. She was met with a giggle before she gave up the battle and let Merri best her. “Good girl.” Another trill, music to Merri.       Merri pushed the legs together and lifted them up, with more than a little help from Lala, and made the switch. One soiled diaper in the trash, and one fresh with a custom coat of paint under the bum. “Oooh, the baby getting a little rashy, better take care of that!” A hand full of thick cream rubbed into Lala’s folds, wiggling and squirming with the touch and gentle application of her caregiver.       Making a face, Merri noted the sticky cream clinging to her fingers, not even wearing any clothes to rub them off on. She wasted a wet wipe on cleaning off her hands. Freed from the cream, Merri picked up the canister of baby powder and coated Lala with it, patting it down on to her.       Lala bit her lip, waiting, The front was pulled up, using a forearm to hold it in place, Merri fastened the bottom tape on one side, and then the other, then the top, and then the other, adjusting the tapes until they hugged the elf’s skin perfectly. Merri stepped back, admiring her work, not knowing if she did a good job or if Lala just wore the diaper exceptionally well, either way a feast for her eyes.       “All done!”       “All done…” Lala parroted. She made a sound of contentment, feeling the edges of the padding as she sat up, “Better than I’ve had in years..” Looking up, happy eyes glittering like star light, Lala opened up her arms.       It wasn’t quite the way Merri had imagined it, but still, she fell into Svetlana’s arms. Pulled into the embrace, a warmer welcome than Merri had ever dreamed. Merri would’ve jumped back if she was put into this precarious place any other way, but Lala pushed her Mommy’s face into the space between her breasts, leather moving on the small of her back. Face coming to rest and nestle into Merri’s hair, breathing in deep the scent of Merri’s hair, vanilla apricot, and Merri felt the ghost of a perfume clinging to Lala, nothing she could name but it faintly reminded her of spices.       “Thank you.”       Time lost meaning, for awhile, they clung to each other like buoys in a stormy sea. Eventually, even sharing each other’s warmth, Merri noticed the shivers of chill on the elf’s skin.       She suggested, “We get some clothes on you, Lala.”       “Just another moment.” She begged, as though someone were trying to wrest her back into the waking world, and maybe Merri was, trying to wake the two of them up from this dream they shared. And so, Merri gave her that moment, deciding responsibly to pull away even as Lala greedily tried to keep the embrace going.       “Hmmph!” Lala crossed her legs up on to the bed, ears twitching behind the frame of braids, grabbing Kranky and clutching him to her chest, a meager replacement for Merri, The air felt frigid compared to the furnace that was Lala’s arms. Taking the onesie off the floor, Merri moved to dress the elf, “Wait!”       Holding out a hand, Lala made a gesture out to Merri, fingers curling and uncurling in rapid succession, an unspoken ‘gimme’. A devious expression glued on her face, Lala turned her body away, performing some transformation magic on the garment. Ye Gods, even her scarred back was a sight for sore eyes, how could this beautiful wonder been in so many battles? Burns, deep gashes, and the twin of the jagged red line covered the elf’s back, each telling a story but keeping their secrets from Merri.       Proudly turning around, Lala presented the onesie to Merri. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?” Merri asked wryly.       Lala shrugged, though her proud smile smugly said she did. “You’re the one who said I looked like one…” Said innocently.       In her hands, Merri held the onesie version of a Faerie Scout uniform, though the badges probably weren’t anything a real Faerie Scout would earn, plastic medals of teddy bears, baby bottles, and blocks on the green sash matching the peter pan collar around the neck, the rest gray with a few decorative black buttons that pretended to hold it all together.       “Arms up,” Merri said with a sigh. “Do you ever buy your clothes as is or do you just make everything whatever you want?”       Smirking, Lala held her arms up as high as she could. After a second of a tight lipped look, she lowered them. “Its just my baby stuff mostly, plain onesies, white diapers, its cheap and I can make them as pretty as I want. Would you like me to change something of yours? I can do it a few more times today.” Lala offered as arms and then head were pushed through holes.       “Aww,” Merri cooed, snapping the buttons on the crotch over the thick diaper, “My cute Faerie Scout, off to her first club meeting! You make lots of friends and sell more cookies!”       Lala posed, hands on her hips and swinging back and forth to show off her sides, “Heehee! I never been to a Scout meeting before, do you really think I’ll make friends?”       “I dunno, I never made any friends in it. Hmm…” Merri went through drawers, looking for something for Lala to change for her, curious what she’d put on Merri.       “Wait did you really?”       “Did I really what? Say, is the change permanent or is it just like a day thing? And is it actually changing it or is it an illusion?”       Lala puffed out her chest, “Go on, try pulling on the sash.” Merri turned away from the open drawer, once neatly folded clothes ruffled in place. She gave the sash a tug, finding it gave way a little but the center sewn into the onesie.       Merri nodded impressed, concluding, “It’s real.”       “Lasts for 30 days, my diapies don’t usually last that long, obviously, and by the time I get relief from work I want something different anyway.” Without asking or waiting for permission, Lala stood and looked into the open drawer. Merri would feel an invasion of her privacy, but then, she did just have a finger nearly inside the elf not that long ago, rifling through her unmentionables was rather mild comparatively. She simply stepped over, pulling open another drawer and began looking again.       Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Lala’s hands pause, when Merri looked up, she found the elf looking at her, eyes tracing the half-elf’s curves, a little smile on her face. They both blushed as they realized they were looking at the other. Lala cleared her throat, “Did you really go to the Faerie Scouts?”       “Huh? Oh, yeah. My Mom signed me up. Not much to say.”       “Your Mom? I was wondering-”       Curtly, Merri replied quickly, “I’d rather not talk about her.”       Sensing a need to change the subject, Lala held out a long sleeve shirt that Merri could easily wear as a dress, one she used as a nightie, black with gray sleeves on the front in large red letters ‘Finger of Death’ below that in a smaller font, ‘The Speak With The Dead tour’, on the back, a list of venues and dates. “Can I change this one?”       “It’ll for sure change back?” Lala nodded solemnly. “Go ahead. That was a good show. Do you like necro-metal?”       “Not my thing, I was always into azures.”       Merri burst out laughing, “Azures? That’s old people music!”       Sticking out a tongue at Merri while she cast her spell. “’Back in my day…’” Lala began in her in a mocking old man voice, “It was the rebellious music back in the day. Probably like it more for nostalgic reasons now, but it was an easy way to set myself apart. From the family. Ta-da!”       Holding out the the shirt, it was now closer to a dress, lolita style with lots of lacey black ruffles and bows, the red letters of the band and tour still displayed, only in a fanciful flowing font.       An appreciative whistle blew from Merri’s mouth. “That’s really well done!” She took the dress, shoving it over her head. Pulling on the hem, Merri found the dress quite sturdy. “This would’ve sold pretty well at that concert too.”       “I think I’ve seen some pictures of the singer in something like that. What’s her name, Esmeralda Vicna?”       “Esmeralda Vex is her stage name, Victorious is her real name.” She pirouetted on a toe, arm raised pointing up, ruffles flapping as the spin came to a completion. To her surprise, her hand in the air was taken, another taking her hip. “Oh!” Merri was spun again, this time not on her own accord, Lala leading her in an impromptu dance neither knew the steps to. What a sight the pair must be, the lolita doll led by the oversized baby. “Shouldn’t I be leading?”       “I don’t mind, do you?” Merri shook her head. “’Victorious’? Why does that name sound familiar?”       “They’re a famous metallurgy family. Up and coming goblin clan, supply ingots to most of the guilds if they use it.” Merri was bent over backwards, Lala leaning forward.       “Hmm…” Lala seemed much more interested in their dance than the conversation. Picking Merri up, the tinier girl yelping in surprise, Lala brought her body to her middle, Merri wrapping her legs around her, whipping her in a circle. Merri closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, raising her hands out to feel the wind and-       “Oww!” A sharp pain in her wrist, banging on the side of the dresser.       “M-Merri!” Lala yelped in surprise. Gently, Merri was dropped on to the bed, holding her swelling wrist. Pursing her lips, Merri fought the urge to cry out.       Lala’s hands snaked up towards Merri, “Do you need healing? Is it broken?” She asked in a serious, businesslike tone.       “Mmm- Do you have healing magic?” Merri asked hopefully.       “No, I have some potions, I’d have to summon them but….”       Merri winced at the idea of drinking that foul tasting medicine. “It’ll be fine, just give me a moment.”       The elf stared at the wrist, willing the pain to subside. Slowly, methodically, whispering to the half-elf, “I do have one healing magics,” She admitted, leaning in towards red wrist, planting a light kiss with soft lips, ruffles on the sleeves of Merri’s new dress tickling Lala’s chin. An initial pain on contact, then pain faded, if only slightly.       “Was that actual magic?” Merri asked dryly, but not unamused.       “Not traditionally,” Lala said, laying down on the bed, resting one of her gloved hands under a cheek.       Merri mirrored the action, resting on her good hand, staring into those beautiful eyes. “Hmm, it might be the oldest of them all though…” She mused in a hushed voice.       “Maybe… It works though. If I wouldn’t get court martial, I’d go around doing it to me soldiers.” Merri snickered at the image.       A tiny strand of braided hair succumbed to gravity, falling on Lala’s nose, it twitched at the contact. Merri’s hurt hand moved towards the immaculate face of the elf, her eyes locked on to it as it moved towards her. Tenderly, she tucked the errant hair behind one of those long ears, flicking at the half-elf’s tickling touch. Lala watched as the hand moved away, back to its owner’s side, then her eyes fall back on Merri’s face.       It felt as though there were a maelstrom of thoughts and feelings in Merri’s head, what to do with and to this gorgeous specimen laying beside her, watching her. Possibilities were endless, but hesitation crept its ugly head in the matter, not wanting to startle and scare off Lala, while another voice told Merri to settle down, enjoy the serenity of this silent, still moment.       “Would you like a bottle?”       “Would you hold it for me?”       “Sure, baby.” Merri got up, popping open the minifridge she used as a nightstand. “Wine? She asked, pulling out a bottle of red.       Lala stuck her tongue out, “Icky grown up juice! I don’t drink.”       “I thought I saw you drinking champagne yesterday…”       “Sparkling water.”       Merri eyed the other options. “I have… rangerade and water.”       Perking up, Lala asked, “What color?”       “Blue.”       “That one, please.”       Lala kicked her legs up and down as Merri poured the sports drink into her clean bottle, the blue liquid nearly emptying the bottle, Merri draining the last drops. Crawling back on to the blankets, she sat with her back against the wall, Lala positioning herself with her head on her lap, toy octopus finding his way back into her arms.       Eyes half shut, Lala opened her mouth with a, “Ahh. Clamping down when the nipple brushed the inside of her lip. Adult elf sucking a bottle she held, running her fingers through that pretty hair, Merri didn’t know what compelled her, but a half remembered song come from her mouth.       Her grasp on her mother’s tongue was never strong, but Merri remembered the words from over 6 decades ago, Lala’s eyes lit up at the song, even when the bottle was done and dropped, forgotten, and tiny burps erupted from her mouth, her head stayed still on that lap.       “That was a beautiful rendition.” Lala commented after the final note. “The best I’ve heard someone sing it.”       “Y-you’ve heard it before?” Merri rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. “I just remember my Mom singing that to me. I don’t even know what the words mean.” She admitted.       The elf laughed, long and hard, sitting up and bringing Merri into a tight hug. “It’s an old tale,” She explained. “In common, a queen on a sleigh of white horses travels the lands, spreading sleet and snowstorms. Any who feel the frostbite of her ice fall to her charms, following her to the ends of the earth and beyond, no joy will warm their hearts, no song will sway them, doomed to tread the Ice Queen’s trail. Many perish following their dreams of being with her.”       “My mother sang that to me as a baby!?”       “It’s a good song, an important lesson, guard your heart, don’t follow the love of someone who would leave you behind. In our tongue, it’s much more beautiful, don’t you think?” Lala entwined their fingers together, and pushed them to head of the bed, resting themselves on pillows.       Like their fingers, both soon found themselves tangled in each other, legs wrapping around the other, torsos interlocking, noses barely grazing. Somewhere, a plastic bottle clattered to the carpet, it could’ve been on a different planet to how much it meant to Merri now.       A knuckle reached out to rub Merri’s face, studying her with touch and sight. “I really enjoyed your cupcakes…”       Merri took the elf’s hand touching her face and led it down to her chest. ‘I meant your other cupcakes!” Though Merri noticed Lala didn’t remove her hand. “You’ll have to show me how to make them, some time.”       “I will…” She promised, and the two drifted off to dreams with the other in it. Chapter 6   Merri’s arm found nothing beside her the next morning, clasping for anything with her eyes shut tightly. In surprise she opened them, finding no trace of the elf. Half asleep, the question of whether it was all a dream was asked, her eyes fluttering back asleep. The lace tickling the skin of her arm as she set it back down on her sheets telling her the truth.   With a sigh, she twisted herself under the covers, the quiet stillness of her lonely room oppressive after an evening spent with someone else breathing next to her. Staring at the ceiling, alone with her thoughts.   Did she like what happened last night? Merri hadn’t imagined herself on the other end of the dynamic before. It wasn’t bad, it didn’t feel wrong, like wearing a dress that isn’t your style but was surprisingly comfortable and looked good. Ideas of her getting babied by Svetlana and babying Lala swirled together in her mind in confusing turmoil. She came to a conclusion that surprised her, she’d rather be with the elf regardless of how they spent their time. It was ridiculous in a way, Merri only knew the bare basics of the elf, barely more than physical attraction, though something deep inside Merri could feel there was more to their connection than that, her mind just couldn’t put it in rational words, an enticing urge to just fall into pool that was her feelings and ignore all reason boiled inside of her.   It was dangerous, she knew that, Merri knew that going into this could lead her hurt, or she could hurt Svetlana. The most likely place this leads, Merri morosely thought, was that Svetlana would end burying Merri, or worse, that once again fate would decide that she would have to bury an elf that by all rights should outlive her…   Merri hopped out of bed and stomped away as fast as she could. She kicked the bottle on the floor. The drawers still open. The imprints in the carpet from where Svetlana’s trunk had stood. The crumpled up changing mat on the bed, kicked off by someone’s long legs in the middle of the night. Reminders of reality. Knocking away Merri’s distressingly dark thoughts on the ‘what-ifs’ away, but thrusting the immediate overwhelming of the ‘now’ on her in its place.   The door in the hallway leading to the stairs was closed but unlocked. Stepping onto the first step, the first thing she noticed was her Dad talking, the next, the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting into the air. She crept down the flight of steps, cautiously peering into the living room. With a gulp, her fears affirmed.   Among the scattered stacks of old, musty newspapers, there was her father, a withered husk in a worn bathrobe and nightgown, excitedly showing a somehow immaculately put together Svetlana in sweatpants and a hoodie, hair tied back in a ponytail, flipping through a familiar looking thick book on her lap.   With a bony finger, the man pointed at a picture on the elf’s lap, “And that’s little Merri on her first unicorn ride. She was so cranky that day.” Svetlana made an ‘aww’ sound before her attention was drawn towards another. “That was her on the first day of school. 10 years old.” Again, Svetlana made a cute sound. “Still boggles my mind how slow she grew up.”   “At that age, I would’ve been taking my first steps,” Svetlana pointed out helpfully. “Humanity really does like to rush the rearing part of childhood.”   “I suppose its a matter of perspective. When I was 10, I was helping out in the family’s butcher shop, Merri still needed her hand held to cross the street, and you had to be watched every hour of the day.” Dad reached over to point at another picture, “Agh! My back!” His hand whipped around to hold the aching part of his body.   Merri, ignoring the surreal, embarrassing situation, chose now to rush down the stairs. “Dad!” Rushing past the stacks of papers, she went over to her father’s side. “Dad,” She spoke in a mixture of hurry and patience, “Did you take your morning medicine?” She looked over at one of the golems shambling in the living room. “Go get Dad’s AM meds.” She ordered the little figure made of clay while helping the old groaning man back into his recliner.   Shooting a glance back towards Svetlana, sitting in Merri’s usual spot, the only seat on the couch that wasn’t cluttered, her lap still covered with the open photo album. Her face was unreadable.   “I made some coffee.” Svetlana offered awkwardly. “I… Didn’t know how you like it but I was gonna wake you up with some…” Merri helped the groaning man take the platter of elixirs and pills while the elf looked on sympathetically yet helplessly.   With a hand on her father’s back, Merri’s focus was entirely on taking care of her Dad, only giving, “I’ll get some in a sec, do you wanna talk about- stuff up stairs?”As an answer.   With a sputter, Dad weakly grabbed Merri’s arm, “W-well hold on, Merri. Don’t be rude. Your friend was enjoying our talk.”   Her face lighting up with a smirk, without a word Svetlana held up the photo album with an adolescent Merri flipping off the camera, hair dyed black, face painted a stark and messy white with black make up over her mouth and eyes wearing the same ‘Finger of Death’ concert shirt she currently wore, albeit transformed. Merri pursed her lips, not at that photo, but of the one next to it, where a small Merri gave the camera a joyful smile in a pink smock that did nothing to cover her padded underwear, a long hand of the elf who’s lap she on played with her pigtails.   Merri cleared her throat, Svetlana taking the hint rather well, “Oh, well Mr. Stills, we can talk more later, ok?” She coolly told the man, getting up and walking by, squeezing Merri’s arm briefly before walking past the stacks of newspapers littered on the floor.   After making sure Dad was alright, and ordering the golems to get him something to eat, Merri stepped past Svetlana, who was about to walk up the steps with her cup of coffee until Merri took her hand and led her into the kitchen. “We’ll step up in just a second. Let me make a plate for Dad, are you hungry?”   “I suppose. I usually go for a run when I wake up, I was gonna see if you wanted to come with?” Svetlana offered while Merri poured three bowls of cereal with dried fruit into mismatching bowls.   “Oh, sure, sure,” Merri agreed, barely registering what she was saying, just an idea forming in her head, adding the milk to each before passing one bowl to a golem and the other two into Svetlana’s hand. Quickly she poured herself a cup of coffee, with a smirk, she smacked the elf’s ass to hurry her along, and confirm a suspicion Merri had. Svetlana let out an, “Ooh!” At the smack, hurrying out of the room and up the stairs.   Back in the bedroom, Svetlana began looking unsure of what to do with the two bowls in her hand, “S-sorry, I shouldn’t have, um, gone through your home like that. Your Dad seems… nice.”   Gracefully, Merri took the two bowls away from Svetlana and set them aside for the moment. “That’s not important right now, sweetheart.” Merri pointedly looked down at Svetlana, who mirrored the gesture with a look of confusion. “I couldn’t help but notice you changed this morning.”   “Yeah? I told you, I go for a jog first thing…”   “I mean, baby, you’re not wearing your diaper any more.”   Svetlana blushed. “O-oh, yeah, it was a little, uh, wet, when I woke up…”   Merri, with a devilish grin pushed Svetlana down on the bed. “Tell me, Lala honey, do good girls get to touch their diapies without their Mommy’s permission?”   Now, fully on board, Svetlana had her ponytail in a hand and was nervously playing with it, “I guess not? I mean, it’s not like we really decided on rules or anyth-” Svetlana’s sweatpants were dropped to her ankles, leaving her crotch covered by a pair of white cotton panties.   “Just what I thought. Lala, do these look like the undies of little girls who wake up with wet undies?”   A tinge of excitement entered Lala’s voice, “No, Mommy, they don’t…” She added, theatrically, “I was just trying to be a good girl and make Mommy coffee before she woke up.”   Acting like an elf possessed,“That’s very sweet of you, baby girl, but Mommy would rather you wake up,” Merri pulled the underwear away from the taller elf’s hips with two thumbs stretching the elastic sides out, “With her little one being safe and protected.” She finished by yanking the panties down.   “I sowwy, Mommy…” Lala slipped a finger in her mouth, sucking on it until a harder palm reached the slim fat of her butt. “Ouch!”   “Let that be a reminder, Lala. If Mommy puts you in a diapie, she expects to take you out of it, understand?” Lala nodded solemnly, another spank met her rear, “Do you understand?’   “Y-yes ma’am!”   Merri turned around and grabbed a diaper from a drawer, smooshing it between her hands making it crinkle loudly. “Good girl. Baby won’t be doing that again, will she?”   “No-oh, Mommy…” Lala wiggled in anticipation for her change.   “You just lay back and let Mommy do everything, legs up, little girl.”   Lala made lots of cooing sounds during her second ‘official’ diaper change with her Mommy, and Merri in turn spoke gently and decidedly to her baby girl, making sure to give Lala lots of kisses and tickles in between every step. Firmly taped up, Lala eyed the white diaper, before tapping it with touch of magic and making it multicolored with what looked like a children’s crayon drawing of a Mommy and little girl on the cover.   “Very cute, but…” Merri said, with pulling Lala’s pants and panties up over her diaper, “There’s something else getting soggy…” Turning around and grabbing the bowls.   “Should we go back downstairs, Mommy?”   Smiling, Merri lowered Lala down to the floor, “No, I think…” She said, taking a spoonful of cereal and bringing it towards Lala’s mouth. “I should feed my baby in peace.   “Oh-” Lala let out her surprise before the cereal and fruit was brought into her mouth.   Merri nodded, “What a good eater!” She complimented, though she added when a dribble of milk came from the corner of Lala’s mouth, “A bit messy… Sorry, baby girl, I don’t have a bib on hand for you…” When Lala made a face, looking like she was about to say what she had, Merri put out, “I’m sure you have lots and lots of special accessories and clothes for just this kind of occasion, dear, but we’re in the middle of breakfast. You can show off later.”   Looking a little dejected, Lala carried on opening her mouth for her Mommy in between chewing. The bowl left mostly empty, Merri scarfed down her own food, letting Lala cuddle at her side while she made her own breakfast and coffee disappear.   Lala brought her head away from Mommy’s side as she set down her coffee for the last time. “You ready to go for a run now?”   “Oh!” The bubble of control Merri felt while mommying Lala burst. “I…” Merri tried to recount just when the last time she ‘ran’ anywhere was, paling at the fact the last time she didn’t any strenuous exercise was back in high school. “I’m not sure, baby, d-do you really wanna go out in a diaper? Aren’t you worried people will see?”   Standing up, Lala taps on her waistline, the papery edge of her diaper sticking out of her pants, and whispers and few magic words. The diaper didn’t poof out of existence, it was as if a layer of blur effects stacked on top of each of over and over again until her crotch looked flat, as though there weren’t a thick absorbent pad underneath her gray sweats. “There! Can’t even tell, can you?” She turned around and wiggled her butt in front of Merri. “Feels like I’m wearing nothing at all.” An image that would forever be burned into Merri’s psyche.   Merri lifted her hand up, feeling the illusory space that hid the padding. “Oh!” Lala blushed.   Pulling her hand away, Merri peeped out a tiny, “Sorry!”   “It’s alright…” Lala pulled her hair, “You just… Kinda rubbed me the right way.”   “You rub me the right way,” Merri blurted out.   Turning away, but not before Merri caught the beginning of a self satisfied smile, Lala got on to bed, looking at Merri with her head and body side ways. “This isn’t quite how I thought this would all go down.” Lala told her.   “Same. For one, I thought I’d be the one diapered up and getting fed. Count yourself lucky I didn’t ask you for a surprise change.”   She cringed at that. “Yeah sorry, I can imagine that being shocking.”   Merri shrugged, “Could’ve all went down completely differently if I had only thrown on one instead of you… A girl can dream. But, kinda seems like it played out well for you, so how did you imagine it?”   “Hmm… I thought you’d be more, dominating?”   “Really? Do go on.”   “Well, you do a good job of it, mostly.”   “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”   Lala gave her a look, “So there will be a next time?”   “Of course! If you want there to be…”   “I do…” Lala purred the words out, letting them draw out in long syllables.   “Then I guess… I can think up some fun things to do. Do you have any limits?”   Sitting up, Lala declared, “Mommy can do whatever she wants to me.”   Puffing her chest out, Merri stood up, “Oh, I’m sure I can come up with a few fun things.”   “I can’t wait, but…” Lala gestures at the lolita style dress Merri wore, “Are you going to go out to this jog in that?”   Merri groans, “I’m not getting out of this, am I?” Lala shakes her head. “Listen, I haven’t ran since I was in my 20’s so, just be gentle, okay?”   With a face made out of granite, “I’ll think about it…”   With a sigh, Merri turned around, going through her drawers, taking out a pair of shorts, t-shirt, underwear, sports bra, and socks, all black except the last one. Stepping into the bathroom, Merri did her morning business before getting dressed,   “Are all of your clothes black?” Lala asked when Merri stepped out, setting aside her crystal ball she had been fiddling with.   “You went through my drawers,” Merri reminded her. “Some of my clothes are pastel, thank you.”   Picking up her discarded sandals from the previous night, Lala transformed them into sneakers, “Momma, will you tie my shoes, pwease?” She asked in an overly cutesy voice.   “Does my widdle girl not know how to tie her shoesies?”   “It hard Momma,” Lala playfully whined.   Merri took the shoes and placed them over the plain white socks Lala had on. “Thank you, Mommy,” She said after they were on.   Leading Lala out of the room, Merri called out, “Dad, I’m stepping out, be back in a bit!” The man, standing in front of the window, didn’t seem to hear her, simply staring at nothing but an empty doghouse. Regarding the man sadly for a moment, she sighed and let her and Lala out.   Lala shielded the artificial light away from her eyes with a palm. Looking left then right, peering at the nearly identical plots of land and houses, she asked, “Does it matter which way we go?”   “There’s a park to the east,” Merri pointed to the right.   “That sounds nice.”   Within minutes, Merri was already having a bad time. Lala’s idea of a ‘jog’ was more of a light sprint, even with the slight waddle her unseen underwear was making her gait, Merri was having a hard time keeping up at what Lala saw as a leisurely pace, visibly holding back. Her eyes kept on the people and places they passed rather than the already huffing half-elf a few steps behind her.   A person made of vines passed them, taking a three headed hound with white fur and black spots, one of her heads turned to give the pair a sniff that the plant man had to gently tug her away. Looking for an excuse to stop, Merri let out an, “Aww, are they friendly? Mind if I say hello?”   “Oh sure,” The vine person paused, “Just give rightie a wide berth, she’s still ‘nibbly.” He explained, whenever he opened his mouth, it smelled like flower pollen, Merri sneezed.   “Who’s a cute puppy? You is! And you is! And you is from afar!” Merri gave two of the heads pats and scratches. The cerberus, wagging their two tails that occasionally whipped into each other with a whup-whupp-whup, the beast that came up to Merri’s chest gave her a wet lick. “Who’s a good girl? How old are they?”   “Still a pup, me and the missus are working on getting her off of chewing the furniture, she can’t seem to keep her mouths away from the couch. It’s a pain, but she’ll be a good guard dog one day.” He explained. “Glad you stopped us, I’m trying to get her accustomed to people. Eventually, want the wife to be able to take her into the city but she’s too protective of her right now, getting her used to the idea of other people.”   Lala stepped over, letting the dogs sniff her hand before rubbing the center’s head. “What’s her name?”   “Kibeleous, but we’ve just been calling her Kibbles.”   “Such a sweetie! It was nice chatting with you,” Merri told the plant person, “If I see you guys around, I’ll come say hello.”   “You ladies have a good day. Come along Kibbles.” The puppy dogs made a whining noise as they were tugged away from their new friends.   Having caught her breath, Merri went on her way, a little ahead of Lala who quickly overtook her in stride. Not that Merri was complaining, she really didn’t mind watching Lala’s rear jiggle about.   It had been a long time since Merri had stepped this far into the dimension pocket, and saw some new houses. One house had burning coals instead of grass, a flame elemental wearing khaki shorts and a yellow polo sprayed an exotic plant with a blackish liquid from a hose. In each window of another home, several raptors lounged about on soft surfaces, staring at everything that passed their home like cats that basked in the sun. An entire property was surrounded by a cube of water, kelp and seaweed for grass, a merfolk pushed a strange aquatic lawnmower over the bed of sea grass.   The ground shook, small tremors reverberating through Merri’s body, a giant woman with skin of a stony texture pushing a stroller large enough for Merri or Lala came into view. Merri felt a pang of jealousy at the sight, and from Lala’s head snapping towards their direction, she assumed she did too. The stone giant pulled into a normal looking plot, like an optical illusion, she and the stroller seemed to shrink as they approached the home until she appeared to be a medium size creature.   Merri imagined Lala pushing her down the street in an oversized stroller in nothing but a diaper and a shirt, then the image shifted until she was pushing Lala in the buggy.   They stood outside a gate, fields and trees laying beyond this point. This park was the furthest one could go in the pocket dimension, after passing it, there was only streets leading back towards the portal to the ‘real’ world.   A perverse thought occurred to Merri then. She looked around, making sure no one was looking. Lala was taking a look past the gate, over by a playground where some kids frolicked around a gym set, not paying attention to Merri, without warning or provocation, stuck her hand down Lala’s pants.   “H-hey!” The elf turned beat red, hands flying towards her waistline.   “I was just checking to make sure my girl was dry, that’s all,” Merri informed her.   “I-I’m dry…” She said, looking around making sure no one was looking their way.   Merri patted her back reassuringly, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, honey, you’re just too small to notice things like that.” Merri watched as the elf turned into jelly, her relaxed posture melting at Merri’s words.   “Ohh… Do I need a change, Mommy? I can’t tell, ‘m too li’l.”   “You’re not too wet.” The half-elf sounded so sure, Lala did a quick squeeze on her front to see if she really was wet.   Merri started jogging once more, now with a smug smirk on her face at the little mind game she played on the elf. Lala fell a few steps behind, lost in thought that seemed to make her giddy. Looking around to make sure no one was in ear shot, the closest people around were a few kids, a pair of goblin twins burying their orc friend in a sand box while a tiny gnome girl cheered them on, Lala leaned into ask, “What if… I did need a change? Would you do it here?”   “Oh Lala… Are you really such a baby you can’t hold it like a big girl?”   “Maybe… Would you though?”   “Maybe… Why don’t you try it and see?”   Lala’s pace slowed to a crawl, looking anxiously around. Merri, happy that they weren’t running any more, fell back, a strange look came on to Lala’s, concentration and relaxing, her face scrunching as she tried to ignore the sounds that surrounded her, nearly stopping completely until Merri took her hand and started walking her forward.   “Eheheh,” Lala let out a giggle. “Momma, can you change me please?”   “When we get home baby.”   “What?!” Lala lowered her voice when a few park goers looked in her direction. “I thought you said-”   “Ah bup bup!” Merri raised a finger in objection, “I said ‘maybe’. I didn’t even bring any changing supplies with me. You’ll have to forgive me, I’ve only been a mother for less than a day.”   Urgency grew in her voice, “I can summon whatever you need!” She pleaded.   “Sweetie,” Merri spoke with an air of command and superiority, “You’re going to have to get used to your wet diaper, you’re going to be spending a lot of time dirty.”   Lala stuck her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, as mortified as she was thrilled to be placed in this position, before the wet mass cooling in her pants started making some unwanted friction. “Mommy, I can’t run like this. I’ll get all rashy.” She whined.   “Shush baby,” Merri wrapped an arm around one of Lala’s arms. “Unless you want me to hush you with a pacifier.   “I don’t think you brought a pacifier with you.” Lala accused.   Confidently, Merri explained, nuzzling the taller elf’s arm with her head, “I didn’t need to. You’ll summon one for me, if I tell you to.” Merri could feel Lala quiver at that, completely overjoyed and complacently by the control the half-elf had over her, it made her feel drunk with the power, warping her view, but also, a tender fondness for the girl who’s vulnerability she was entrusted with, a staggering mix. She suspected, Merri could easily convince the elf to go get undressed in the grass and get her diaper changed for any and all to see, more than that, Lala would happily comply. Add humbling to the list of feelings.   A couple rode past them, a drow on his bicycle, a long visor on his bike helmet with thick sunglasses over his eyes, bright green, reflective spandex covering his body, side by side with a purple toned tiefling on her broom, her long blue dress flying in the wind revealing riding shorts beneath, a witch’s hat bent and folding between her goat like horns. When the pair were safely out of ear shot, Lala leaned down and whispered, “Merri?”   “Yes?”   “Umm, the illusion is working right? You can’t see or hear my diapie?” She inquired in a hush voice.   “No, you’re perfectly ok… Do you wanna go home?”   “Yes please.”   They turned around, Lala flush in her walk of shame, avoiding eye contact with anyone who crossed their path, a stark contrast to her indifferent disposition before. Their strides were slower, Merri enjoyed the pace this time, though her sweat had already started pouring and like a leaky faucet it was hard to twist shut. Also like a leaky faucet, at least one more time Lala stopped in her tracks and whimpered, her hand reaching towards her crotch and looking worried. Merri gave her quiet words of comfort and trotted her along.   Entering her home, Merri called out, “Dad, we’re back!” She barely gave her Dad a passing glance until he said something that stopped her in her tracks.   “G- Gladice?”   Merri stopped pulling Lala up the stairs. Not looking towards the confused old man, her voice came out a harsh croak, “No-” She took a deep breath and corrected herself, “No Dad, this is Svetlana. You met her earlier.”   “Oh. Is is she a friend from a school?”   Grimacing, Merri said, “Yeah Dad. A friend from school.” Merri couldn’t look back at Lala’s face. The look of pity she knew she would see, it wasn’t something she could bear right now. With a desperation, she marched up the stairs with the elf in tow, suddenly needing that feeling of control to be reasserted. She needed to feel like she had a handle on things.   Safely behind closed doors, Lala softly touched Merri’s arm as they stood before the door in the hall, among closed doors and dusty picture frames with old family photos that Lala did her best to ignore, her leather fingers gliding off the sweaty skin. Sensing, a need for a moment of reprise, the elf left the silence still the air around them.   Licking her lips, wetting her throat, Merri said, “Do you want to take a shower together?” She was feeling icky, and the warm steam had a way of clearing the mind, and perhaps, a little bit of closeness could throw some kindling on to the fire of this romance.   A hand crept over to her left wrist, holding it tightly, “I’m sorry, I’m not comfortable with that.” Merri eyed the gloves, curious, but the elf honored Merri’s privacy, she could give her the same respect.   “You ready for a change then?”   “Yes, Mommy.”   Taking a step towards the bedroom, Merri forced a jovial tone, “What do you want on your diapie this time?”   “What do you think would be cute on me, Mommy?”   Merri took the crumpled up pile that was the changing mat, with a hand on two corners flung it out on to the floor. She took a fresh diaper out and set it down on the floor, pulling the box of supplies out from underneath the bed.   As Lala sat down, ready to lay back, she was surprised by Merri crawling on to her lap and pulling her into a tight hug. For a second, she did nothing, not making the smallest movement, even breathing came to a pause, then, her arms rose and wrapped around the half-elf. No words, either they would only get in the way, or the understanding would make them even closer than being in the other’s arms, either way, they were exactly where the other needed them to be.   “The cerberus.” Merri said quietly.   “Huh?”   “You know, the three headed doggie we past on the way to the park. I think she would be cute on your diapie.”   “Oh!” Lala touched the diaper, the picture forming in her mind’s eye and let it flow through her finger tips. She held up the underworld themed diaper with cerberus guarding the gates of ‘Heck’ as a gray, flaming sign on the top of the diaper said.   “I like it,” Merri said readjusting herself on Lala’s lap, her knee rubbing into the squishy illusory part of her attire.   “Ooh!”   “Sorry!”   Moving to get off in a more tactful way, Lala’s hand grabbed Merri’s arm. “Wait- Don’t stop.”   “Yeah?” A welcomed distraction. “Does my baby like it when I do this?” She lowered a hand down to the seat of the sweatpants. Feeling the bulging part of Lala’s diaper and pressing into it, massaging it with two fingers, she watched Lala’s face crumble into unadulterated pleasure. Merri began rocking back and forth applying pressure with her weight as Lala leaned away from the bed and on to the changing mat down below.   “Mmm… Mommy, that feels so good…”   A finger slipped through Merri’s shirt, Lala pulling it off, leaving just the sports bra on that she started working on until Merri took her hand away ripped it off for her. Lala felt up Merri, her rising until reaching her chest. Merri was pulled down, Lala greedily licking and sucking on Merri’s tit. The tip of Lala’s tongue dancing around the nipple, the light pressure causing just the right amount of pain in the delicate balance of excitement and hurt shutting Merri’s brain off.   “Ahh!”   “Mmmph!”   Merri shimmied the sweatpants down to the middle of Lala’s thighs, her hands working behind her. Lala moaned when Merri pulled away, turning around to untape the sodden diaper to give access to what she wanted. Lala’s sex mixing in with the aroma of pee, Merri delved deep into the elf with her middle and ring finger, thumb outside of her teasing her clit. For a moment, Merri was relentless, not caring how fast or rough she was with Lala’s most sensitive part, wanting, no, needing to hear the sounds of her lover’s climax for the first time. Leaning down to give the slit a lick before letting her fingers to the brunt of the work. Each thrust of her digits making the work faster as Lala’s cavity grew wetter, the sounds of insertion becoming more rapid.   A final lick and, “Ahh! Uhh! Oh…” Merri tumbled off of Lala, side by side with her the opposite way, feet to head, head to feet, or as close as Merri could get with her head reaching Lala’s ankles and her feet reaching the elf’s shoulders.   “Alright…” Merri said raising herself with her elbows. “Now that that’s out of our systems, let’s get my girl properly dressed.” She grabbed the ‘Heck’ themed diaper, lowering the sweatpants some more.   Lala made a whining noise. “But Mommy, you didn’t finish.”   Already working on wiping Lala clean, Merri told her, “That’s fine baby. My Lala girl was taken care of, that makes me a happy Mommy.”   “But- mmm!” Her words were cut short by a particularly deep brush with the wet wipe. “Ok… Next time, though?”   Pushing aside the ‘Mommy and Me’ diaper in its place the ‘Heck’ padding, Merri promised, “Next time.” The little took this in stride, resting her head over her folded arms while her Mommy finished her job.   “And there!” Merri said patting the red and black diaper, sending a cloud of excess powder into the air. “Clean as a whistle.”   “Clean as a whistle.” Lala agreed in a small voice.   Merri surprised Lala as she raised herself off the floor. Pressing her lips against the elf’s, initially shocked, she eased into the gesture, closing her eyes, letting her tongue do that talking. Disentangling from each other, Merri pressed her brow against Lala’s, their noses touching tips.   “Mommy’s gonna take a shower, little one, you get dressed for the day and keep yourself preoccupied, ‘kay?” She told her as she gave the elf a kiss on the forehead, winking her eye as she dropped her shorts and underwear on the floor and strutted into the bathroom. Chapter 7    Draping a towel over her dripping form, Merri stepped out of the steamy bathroom. Waiting for her, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed was a much more put together Lala. A brown vest over a long sleeve black blouse, the cuffs folded over showing off her white gloves, her long legs covered by a dark blue jeans, riding boots crossed over one another, fitting her legs so well they looked poured into the footwear. In the short time apart she had cast a glamour on her face, her lips had a dark red sheen to them, eyelids smokey, lashes fluttering with a bold color on them, a rosy blush on her cheeks. Merri felt under dressed and she wasn’t even wearing anything.       Stepping over, just to make sure, Merri reached over to prod at Lala’s crotch. “Mooommy! Stoop! I was trying to look sexy for you!” She whined in a voice that didn’t match her look.       “Had to make sure you were still wearing your diapie, baby girl.”       Pouting, “Hmmph! I am! You told me I can’t take it off without you.”       Holding up her towel with one hand and scratching Lala’s chin with the other, Merri asked, “Are we being bratty? Don’t you know what we do to bratty little girls around here?”       Eyes lighting up, Lala informs Merri, “No? I don’t know what we do to… bratty little girls. Why don’t you show me, Mommy?”       Dropping the towel, Merri reached out and grabbed the elf’s wrists and pushed her down on to the bed, kissing the nape of her neck. “Well… One thing we like to do to misbehaving girls…” She kisses further up the neck, then the cheek, up to the ear, sticking the tip of it in her mouth and running her tongue over it.       “Hmm!”       Taking the tip out, Merri leans down and whispers sweetly, “We get them all hot and bothered, and leave them wanting.”       “Hmph!” Lala sticks her lip out, “That’s no fair!”       Merri turned away with a triumphant giggle. It was all a game, just a little bit of teasing, but leaving Lala in a state of nervous smiles and hair twirling was an incredible confidence boost. No one ever called Merri ugly, not in good faith in any case, not once, though, had she ever considered herself attractive enough to leave someone like Lala in a tizzy like that.       She hummed as she got dressed, making much more exaggerated movements than she would have without an audience. Her hips wiggling as her blue lacey panties went up her legs, as they did when pulling on a similarly colored long sleeve shirt, perhaps taking a tad longer than she usually would have as she methodically rolled the sleeves up.       Pulling on a pair of socks, Lala caught sight of Merri’s tattoo on the side of her waistline as her shirt rode up slightly. Maybe her mind was on other things the last few times it had been completely revealed, maybe some things grow more interesting when they’re trying to hide, like a the difference between a jungle cat lounging in the sun compared to when they’re stalking through the leaves. In either case, now was the moment she brought it up.       “I like your tattoo, heather, right?” Lala commented.       In the middle of pulling up some olive slacks, Merri replied, “Yup. They were Mom’s favorite. The backyard is covered with them.” She quickly moved the topic off of herself. “Why don’t you have any tattoos?”       “I do.”       Merri thought back from when she was exploring every fold of Lala’s body. “I don’t remember s- Oh.” Her eyes on to the gloved hands.       “Yeah…”       Trying to cut away the uncomfortable silence the moment had turned into. “Well… I usually wait until later, but if you want I can introduce you to my real Dad.” Merri suggested.       Looking puzzled, Lala repeated, “’Real Dad’?”       “Yeah, come on, pillow butt,” Merri offered a hand to Lala, after an uncertain second, she gave the half-elf her right hand,       At the kitchen table, Merri grabbed a scroll from the basket, pulling an ink well with a brush towards her. Lala stood over her shoulder, studying her work and the picture of the glyphs she was using as a reference. In spite of herself, Merri felt like she was back in school, working on a test with a teacher standing over her. She found herself spending much more time making sure her swooping gestures with the brush were precise and neat.       “May I have one of these?”       Merri was taken aback by the question. “I… Kind of need them. They’re expensive.”       “I’ll replace it, promise. Trust me, you’ll appreciate what I make.”       With a sigh, Merri nodded. Lala took a spot next to her, like the wand that had appeared in her hand the other day, a personalized brush appeared in her hand. Up close, Merri saw it look like came straight from her wrist, pulling the handle straight from the space between her hand and arm with her middle and ring fingers.       “How do you do that?” Lala looked at the appendage and her tool in her hand. It looked like she was considering something carefully. Setting the brush on the inkwell, ensuring that no excess ink wouldn’t drip off of it, assuming that if scrolls were considered a pricey purchase, then magical ink would be as well. Using her left hand, she pulled off a finger on her right glove, one after the other freeing herself until she slipped out of the glove completely.       Her arm was covered with runes and magic circles, in many different shades of colors with seemingly no rhyme or reason, the little patches of skin considerably paler than the rest of her complexion. Turning her arm around, she showed Merri the underside of her forearm, equally patterned with colorful runes and circles that Merri didn’t have the knowledge to make heads or tails except a few that she was familiar with, like three identical circles on the outside of the arm with runes inside that said ‘fire’. Lala drew Merri’s attention towards a larger circle on her wrist.       With her left middle finger, Lala ran the tip over the outer rim of of the circle, the lines making it up lighting up with her touch. She squeezed the empty space above it with a finger and thumb, the air growing blurry where she pinched, and pulled out a wand, different than the other two she had seen the other day.       Proudly, Lala explained, “Inter dimensional sheath. That’s what I call it anyway, not that anyone else has a name for it, I designed the spell myself.” The look of pride Lala wore reminded Merri of how she felt when a pastry she learned came out perfectly. “It’s basically a little wormhole to my inner sanctum, my armory, but there is a neat twist I gave it to set it apart from similar spells, here.” She offered the wand to Merri. She held the wand, looking at Lala confused, until her hand’s grip clenched on nothing.       Gaze darting towards the empty hand, Merri asked dumbfounded, “Where’d it go?”       Eyes squinting, smile smug, Lala held out her wrist, out of the circle she pulled out the same wand. “I can loan out anything that comes out of this spell, or if I get disarmed, even if its just lost like-” She let the wand slip out of her hand, rolling under the table unseen, then pulled the same wand out of the circle. “If I will it to return to my sanctum, it returns.”       “And you made that spell?”       “Sure did!”       Merri snickered. “You’re a nerd!”       Lala’s proud disposition dropped like a weight, with a panicked, “N-no! I’m not a nerd!”       “You’re just like those other wizards, aren’t you? Spend long nights up in a tower or dungeon never seeing anyone or socializing.”       “It wasn’t a tower!”       The elf’s bug eyed insistence brought on a fresh bout of laughter from Merri. “Stop! Please stop…” Merri looking up, quieted down when she saw real tears starting to form, misting Lala’s piercing blue eyes.       With a cough, Merri changed the subject. “So uh, what kind of wand is that?”       The question seem to give Lala pause, very carefully she asked, “Do you really want to know?”       Thinking that it was a case of nursing hurt feelings, Merri gave her answer with enthusiasm, “Yeah! Really do.”       Taking a deep breath, the look of hurt vanished from the elf’s face, “This is a Walnut XJ-9, developed by the Obsidian co. circa 3826 for the Under army during the 2nd Lich Wars. It’s sturdy grip was composed for both the rugged hands of druegar and the nimble drow, making it very versatile. It can hold up to 7 tier 6 scrolls, a rather awkward number to me, but given the high caliber of spells you can shoot out of it with such a low failure rate and the decreased chance to splinter, its well worth it, but the Under army had such a large number of infantry, having someone cover you while you reload probably wasn’t an issue. In spite of the general public disposition of the drow and druegar, the comradery was incredible, a real brotherhood down in the Hive’s front lines, which honestly you needed that kind of trust when your soldiers were tossing out cloudkills, walls of ice, chain lightnings… I’m not boring you am I?”       Sensing she had made a mistake of some kind, caught between sparing a new lover’s feelings and boredom, Merri busied herself with the scroll, “No, babe! I’m listening.”       “Right, anyway, the XJ-9 was particularly innovative in it’s disposable cylinder clip. Semi-disposable. You see, because the XJ-9 was manufactured in such large numbers, a soldier could reliably get replacement clips of the same model. Before that, if you needed to reload a wand or a staff you would remove the bottom and manually insert each scroll, a nightmare in a firefight, a few older models even tried to use revolving chambers to combat this, but even then-”       “Weren’t you gonna write something on that?”       “Oh!” Suddenly reminded of the unfurled scroll in front of her, Lala quickly went to work filling it up with runes. Merri thought this would get her out of her impromptu Wand History 101, only underestimating Lala’s ability to multitask. “I know what you’re thinking, ‘revolving chamber’?! Why bother? Might as well stick with single spell wands at that point. Many agreed, but the versatility could not be discounted so easily. Although, the single spells have come quite a long way too.” She pulled out the white wand she had used the other day in one fluid movement with her left hand in the middle of a brush stroke.       “The T-1000, sleek, modern, and if I may say, sexy. Primarily used by law enforcement, specifically riot control. Back in the dark ages, a wizard, sorcerer, or artificer would load up a similar wand with somewhere between 6 and 20 charges, possibly quite a bit more compared to 10 charges this wand in my hand carries. The difference is the Manat. Before the web of magic and information became widely used, after a wand’s charges were used up it basically amounted to fancy kindling. Now? I can connect to the Manat several times a day and reload. Not that there’s not drawbacks. Like firmware updates. Tell me this,” Lala swung the brush around dramatically, “Why do I need to update a wand? It still holds the same amount of charges, it does the same thing it did yesterday! During combat too! And it’s not like there’s a display on a wand! Or a voice tells you what’s going on, though I suppose thank the Gods for that. Can you imagine? ‘5 minutes until fully updated’! Might as well say come and get!”       The explanation was swiftly turning into a rant. “You done with that?” Merri pointed at the scroll in front of Lala.       “Hmm? Oh yeah…” Lala put a finger on the scroll, imbuing it with power lighting up the glyphs.       “What is it?”       Smiling, Lala told her, “It’s a surprise! The next time we meet, go ahead and use this. Some where private.” She rolled it up and passed it to Merri. “What about you? What are you working on?”       Merri looked down at the nearly finished scroll before her. How was Lala so fast? And going off on a rant at that! “It’s for Dad. It helps clear his head, I guess.”       Lala looked over at it, studying the circle carefully. “Arcane medicinal magic? Interesting. Looks rather advanced. Probably, what? Tier 7?”       “I don’t know, I just pour everything I have into I can, let’s Dad think clearly for a couple of hours.”       “Just a couple of hours? And you have to use everything you have? What tier are you?”       “2, why? What are you?”       “I’m 8. If I took a year off of studying I’d be 9, at the rate I’m going I’d say I’ll hit it in about, hmm… 5-10 years?”       Merri looked aghast, “Tier 8?! You really are a nerd!” Lala furrowed her brows. “Wait, wait, it’s not like its a bad thing or anything. You’re just like one tier away from being one of the strongest casters in the world.”       “Not really. That would still only get me one tier 9 spell a day, the top casters can perform around three, I think. May I try?” She gestured at the scroll.       Shrugging, Merri nudged it towards her. “Be my guest.” Though her magic might be insignificant compared to Lala’s, still, she couldn’t remember the last time she had each of her casts for a day.       Concentrating, Lala lightly caressed the scroll in front of Merri, letting her powers flow into the scroll. It shined as the runes on the paper became more than ink, they became orders to change the nature of reality. The time it took was longer than it took Lala to do her own scroll, whether it was because of familiarity, complexity, or difficulty Merri couldn’t say. When she finally pulled away, Lala wiped a bead of sweat away from her face.       “I think, and I’m not entirely sure I don’t mess with arcane healing often, but that should make it last for a few days now.”       “A few days?!” Merri leapt from the chair excitedly, grabbing the rolled up scroll greedily. “That’s incredible!” She pulled the elf in for a kiss, Lala blushed and her eyes twinkled.       Playing with her hair, Lala admitted, “That may have been a little strenuous. I may have had an accident in the middle of that...”       “Do you think you can come back when it wears off and do it again?”       Lala looked down after hearing the request. “Uhh, actually, no I can’t. I have orders and, well, my men and I are getting shipped out towards contested territory. Don’t know when I’ll be back in the city.” Merri’s face darkened at the news. “But, I can do it on my own time, send you a scroll. I still owe you one, I suppose.”       Merri’s mind was on another matter, sighing, she dejectedly returned to her seat, looking troubled and thoughtful. “So, how long are you going to be away? When’s the next time we can meet?”       “It’ll be a few months at best but…” She tapped on the scroll she had made in front of Merri. “Give me just a few days and I think we can arrange something.”       They left the subject at that for the moment. Merri showed Lala how she applied to the magic to her father and gave the two a proper introduction. The look on the man’s face was sheepish when he realized fully that they had a guest in the house. For once the home was filled with music and conversation, laughter lighting up the air, as well as the smell of food Merri made for lunch. They spent most of their time talking with the old man, until Lala needed a few moments to refresh herself and the two absconded away to Merri’s bedroom for a quick change and cuddles.       The time came for Lala to leave sooner than Merri had hoped, in trying to savor the moments she had with her new companion, she went with the elf to the teleportation station. A chill was growing on the wind, Lala had summoned her long black jacket, her padded secret safely hidden behind a layer of illusory magic, while Merri had found a tan coat lined with faux fur around the cuffs and collar.       Merri imagined the two of them looked quite a pair, the elegant Svetlana in her long black evening coat with a face reminiscent of nobility hand in hand with the graceless girl who looked like she was about to go out shoveling snow.       She had to admit, though, no one paid them any attention. In the hustle and bustle of the big city, they were just faces in the crowd. So many more interesting things to look at and listen to. The armored dragonborn officer getting into a yelling match with a trio of warlocks riding brooms on the streets over speeding tickets and at what speed a broom gets classified as a road and street vehicle. Hags in rags dropping items into a steaming cauldron in a dark alley way lethargically, whispering and cackling as the potion brewed. As the final office hour came to an end, a row of modrons came pouring out of buildings, a race of mechanical shapes, robots made of cogs and spindly metal limbs their bodies taking the shape of orbs, cubes, pyramids, each wearing a suit and tie ill fitting on their bodies, marching in neat single file lines.       Feeling her arm pulled back, Merri looked at Lala, who stopped dead in her tracks, her ears twitching and body going stone still. Following the trail of sight, Merri found that Lala was staring at a dark figure in a smooth black mask, their blond hair pulling away showing a pair of pointy ears, beneath the black cloth of trench jacket, the figure wore gleaming, pristine silver armor, they held a pointy spear of copper with it ending in a pointy crescent. An air of menace hung around the figure, though all the intimidation the person needed lie on the insignia of their back.       The royal insignia of the elfish clan of Glaedrehal, one of the four groups that made the backbone of the government that ruled the country. The person wearing it was one of the royal bodyguards. There was no chance the person the guard was making a perimeter for was King Glaedrehal, the elf was almost never seen off the property of his estate, always in the company of his dozens of wives, concubine, and children. Merri wondered then why Lala had such a dramatic reaction to the sight of the bodyguard.       A female elf came into view, followed by two servants that carried arms full of paper, expensive looking shopping bags. In her hand, Merri felt Lala relax at the sight of the elf, only to stiffen, tighten to the point it hurt Merri when another elf went and stood next to her.       Merri would be hard pressed to admit to ever seeing anyone as beautiful as Svetlana, though the elf that they now saw would be more than a contender. The trademark fine angles of the elves that seemed chiseled into their perfect jawlines and cheek bones were there, fine golden hair that seemed to emit a glow as the strands reflected all but the dimmest of light, her icy blue eyes and smile seemed locked into a sneer. Wearing a glittering emerald green dress that couldn’t have been warm to wear, Merri thought might actually be made up of emerald scales. On her left arm was an intricate tattoo that emitted a glow in the shape of the royal insignia, burning a golden color reminscent of the elf’s radiant hair.0 The pair almost walked into another building, but the fair creature stopped, looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw Svetlana, and began to approach her like a tiger quietly pursuing its prey.       Lala bowed her head, motioning for Merri to do the same with just the tug of a hand. “Princess Elin.” She coolly greeted the elf. Merri watched as a dozen of the guards created a circle around her, Lala, the Princess and her companion, as well as the handful of servants that walked with them. It was a claustrophobic feeling, surrounded by the blank faces of a ring of armed elves, in front of them two nobles and their posse of flunkies.       Elin’s lips curled unpleasantly, “Lala, I thought that was you! I had no idea the army let their dogs out of the trenches! And here I thought you’d be bleeding out in the dirt somewhere.” She turned her head and gave a pointed look to the elf she had been shopping with who let out a forced laugh.       Eyes lowering to the ground, Merri watched as Lala took a deep breath, doing her best to ignore the harsh jabs. “Mother told me you had gotten engaged. Congratulations.” Her tone came out mechanically, but Merri heard the underlying plea of the courteous words. Please just leave.       “Mother still talks to you? Hmph.” Her face was still curled into a smile, but the icy blue eyes so similar to Lala’s own glared into the elf.”But yes.” Elin revealed a large gemstone encrusted ring. “Harold Ichor and I will be arranged to be wed in just three months.” The name Ichor rung a bell in Merri. Marshal Ichor was the current chairman of Des L’Bow, originally starting out creating children’s cartoons before turning into a juggernaut of a multimedia empire.       Elin smugly examines her own ring as she says, “I would invite you but, you know,” Her eyes point up, glaring daggers at Lala. “Family only.”       “Excuse you? Just who do you think you are?” Merri found herself saying stepping between Lala and Elin. The princess at first regarded her like a particularly large roach, grimacing in disgust, until, a look of recognition of her emasculate face.       “No.” Lala whimpered quietly trying to pull Merri back with a hang on her shoulder.       Merri merely gave the hand on her shoulder a squeeze before stomping closer to Elin, grinning madly at Lala. “How dare you come over here sneering like a playground bully with that insulting tone, I have half a-”       “Lala, do you know who she reminds me of?” Elin interrupted Merri as though she weren’t there, add insult to injury as she was clearly the subject of conversation.       “Noo…” The sound out of her mouth came out like a mournful echo.       “Hey! I’m talking to you!” Merri was just about to jab a finger into the princess’ chest, until she heard a schwing as 12 spears cut through the air and she acutely became aware that that a dozen pairs of sharp metal point were pointing at herself.       Elin clapped her hands, “She even sounds like her!” Leaning down until she was at eye level with Merri, “Do you know what happens to little commoner half breeds who make threats to royalty? Why don’t you finish what you were saying and find out?”       Lala pulled Merri back, she was about to turn around and tell the elf to let her handle it, but the stalwart look on her face made Merri keep the comment to herself.       Voice heavy with a resolution Merri had yet to hear from Lala’s mouth, she asked the princess, “Are you certain you want to be make threats yourself?” Her gloved fists were clenched into tight bricks.       Noticing the gloves for the first time, Elin guffawed, “And you still wear those? You truly are pathetic!” Her expression noticeably shifting when she saw the jeer had no effect on Lala. “You know… Maybe I do want to start making threats.” She said as intimidatingly as a show dog barring her fangs, making the same motion as Merri did with her left arm, the gold light cast from the princess’ tattoo lighting up Lala’s still face, sternly neutral, looking unimpressed by the motion.       “Did you know, Princess Elin of House Glaedrehal, that law becomes rather gray when it comes to the nobility inciting violence on military rank? It first came up in courts when a dwarven lord, I believe his name was Ironpick, stood in the was of an operation led by Brigadier General Vastoof. The lord took personal offense at Vastoof trying to tread on his land in pursuit of a target and threatened to bombard him. Vastoof took Ironpick’s entire hold before he took his life. In Vastoof vs. Ironpick, the court sided with the military, axiomatic courts tend to side with whomever seems more reasonable. So, I’ll ask you again, are you certain, dear sister, would you still care to threaten me and my party?”       Elin’s face remained passive, uninterested, through Lala’s explanation, until the word ‘sister’ came out of her mouth, then rage burned in her eyes, going from mocking to hateful. “You’re no sister of mine, Svetlana of no House, you’ve seen to that yourself. You’ve lowered yourself to the smallest ranks of people, a dog, and House Glaedrehal recognizes no dog as any kind of authority. Cower before me or feel my wrath.”       Nonplussed, Lala sighed, “Very well, I refuse to debase myself, but I wouldn’t harm you unless you truly force my hand. It would make Mom sad.” Elin rolled her eyes at this. “Name a champion among your guards and we’ll settle this.”       Seemingly randomly, Elin pointed at one of the blank faced guards, who stomped in between her and Lala.       Lala looked at the elf pityingly, “Remove your helmet, please.” The elf stood ready with his spear. Sighing again, “Tell me, faceless minion of Elin of Glaedrehal, how many battles have you fought, have you won? Have you ever had to fight in contests other than sparring or pushing away would be suitors?” Again, no answer. “Very well, do you at least have any opinion on how your remains shall be sent to your family?”       By now, a crowd had formed around the circle of guards, passerby straining to see what the commotion was about, and now sensing the hostility in the air, desperately trying to see what was going on.       The guard, not as mute as he seemed a second ago, finally spoke up, “I have no family, I gave it up to serve a higher power.”       “As have I, yet your mistress would look down on me for that decision. A pity, that you protect one who would look at you the same.”       Words no longer came from the guard’s mouth, and Lala shrugged, stepping forward. Readying his spear, the masked elf sprung forward to attack Lala, only for her to grab the head of the spear and shatter it in her left hand, grabbing the elf’s head with her other hand.       Locking eyes with Elin, Lala glowered at her, whispering a chant under her breath. The head in her hand, briefly struggling, stopped suddenly, as a thin sheet of frost covered his body starting at the point of Lala’s hand. Slowly, he became encased in a shell of blue ice, when he was fully entombed in his makeshift frozen coffin, she dropped him.       The ice and the elf inside shattered on the side walk, red and white chunks flying everywhere like glass breaking on the ground. Lala’s eyes never turned away from her sister, who’s expression never shifted away from venomous.       “Merri, let’s go.” Svetlana Lark held her left hand out to Merri, taking it thankful that it wasn’t the one just holding the former guard.       Merri paused for a second, pointing at Elin’s dress. “You uh, you have some of… him on you.” She pointed at a red glob of… something Merri didn’t want to put into words on the emerald scales of Elin’s gown.       Elin turned her attention towards the half-elf. Pulling her head back, snorting, she spat at Merri.       “Ugh!” She cried out in disgust, wiping off her coat with a sleeve with her hand withdrawn inside. “Pig!”       “Dog fucker.” The princess swore at Merri. Lala tugged Merri away while Merri pointed a rude gesture at the princess.       It was hard for Merri to collect her thoughts on everything that just happened as the pair pushed their way through the crowds of pedestrians on the way to the waystation. Lala walked forward with a confident stride, looking forward with a steely gaze as Merri observed her out of the corner of her eyes with a look of dumbfound.       A few blocks away from the waystation, Lala turned into a deserted alleyway between a building of salt and one made of a large tree. The air glittered with loose salt that shook free from the building on the right, leaving its odor in the air, it stung the eye. Patches of white littered the ground and trash as the salt fell into piles, giving the alley an almost snowy look. The tree building, bright and lively on the front side, appeared dryer in such close proximity to the salt building, it was a wonder how the mineral monolith allowed such a towering tree to remain alive, but as evidenced by the leaves that still coated the ground, it still clung to this mortal coil.       Lala’s grip slipping away from Merri as she walked deeper into the shadows of the two buildings, away from the waves of people on the streets. Merri let out a sound of relief. “Yeah, I need a moment too…” She said as Lala crouched down, leaning on a wall of salt, pushing her head into her knees and letting out a muffled sob.       “Why is she so meeean!?”       “Huh?”       “Just because she’s a hundred years older than me she’s always acted like she was soooo much better than me! When we were kids she would come into my room and break my things, call me a baby when I cried and went to Mom. But then, she had broke her stuff too and told her I was the one doing it! She was always so cruel! Elin,” She said the name like one would speak a curse, “She just can’t bear to see me happy, or content, or just walking the streets. It’s like she gets off on seeing me miserable!”       “And you just killed that guy.” Merri replied, still trying to wrap her head around that, the image of chunks of body flying everywhere.       Lala stopped sobbing and studied Merri’s face for a moment before saying, “Uh yes. Merri, you do know what I do, right?”       A growing concern started gnawing in the back of Merri’s heart. “N-no? You’re like a colonel or something, you’re like in some kind of administrative role, right? Like you give orders?”       Lala took a second to speak. “Riight. I… Give orders.” She pursed her lips. “We can leave it at that…” She pursed her lips. “I guess its immature to let childish spats from a thousand years ago mess with me so much.”       Sitting down next to Lala, Merri wrapped an arm around her back, “But you justta widdle baby, you can’t help it if you’re upset by a bully-wully!” She said in a cutesy voice, “A thousand years ago? How old are you?”       “Justa widdle baby, Mommy.”       She was about to put her right thumb into her mouth while make pleading eyes at Merri before she was stopped. “No. Not that hand. I never want to see you use that hand again for anything with your mouth. Or my mouth. Or really anything.”       “Yes Mommy. I sowwy.” She snuggled into Merri’s shoulder.       Merri cried out as a realization fully hit her, “You’re a freaking princess?!”       Coughing to return to her normal voice, “Not technically. I gave up my claim to the throne when I started pursuing my career in the military.”       “Oh.” Merri looked at Lala’s left glove, now knowing what really lay underneath. She had heard what royals who give up their spots in line had to go through. There was a glint of green in the shredded leather in the palm of the glove.”Buuut, you’re still a princess!”       “No, I can’t legally claim that title. Can we get back to my sister?”       “That smelly pig? I don’t care about her at all, and neither should you. My baby girl is a princess!” Merri’s eyes went sparkly with excitement.       Lala laughed at the idea of Elin as a pig. “Yeah but… She’s still my sister, you know?”       “Why? She doesn’t seem to think so, neither does ‘the law’ either. Why does it matter?”       Letting out an annoyed huff, “You just don’t understand.”       Merri opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. “Sorry.” She pulled in Lala’s head into a hug, humming and brushing her hair between her fingers. Though still irritated, Lala let Merri do it for awhile, settling into it, sniffling a little while fresh tears streaked down her face. “Come on, princess.” Merri said standing up, helping Lala stand as well.       “Please, don’t call me that,” She said, though the hint of a smile was on her mouth.       “What, Princess? Princess, what shouldn’t I call you? Does my widdle bitty pwincess not like when I call her Princess?” She brushed a white streak of salt off of the back of Lala’s coat.       “Mooommy! It’s embawwassing!”       Righting the front of Lala’s jacket, “Can’t help it, now I know you’re my Princess, officially. You can’t just say,” She said in a mock low voice, “’I’m not technically a Princess I’m gwumpy gwump and I can’t be a Princess.’”       “I am noooot a gwumpy gwump!”       “Ok, you’re a fuddy-duddy. Lala, Mommy says you’re a Princess, and Mommy is always right. Right?”       “I suppose… In private, ok?”       “I’mma need to hear you say it.”       “What? I’m a Princess, happy?”       “No, no, no, what is Mommy?”       Teasingly, she replied, “Mommy is Mommy?”       “Nope, try again.”       “Fiiiine. Mommy is always right.”       “That’s right! Though… I’m not sure I like that tone…” She smacked Lala’s rear, feeling the padded resistance beneath the coat and her pants, a rustling sound on impact. “Can’t believe you fought like that in a diaper. Isn’t it hard to move?”       “Oh, I… Kinda got used to it awhile ago, you’d be surprised how often I wear in combat.”       “Wouldn’t be that surprised fluffy pants. Come on baby.” Merri held her baby’s hand and led her out of the alleyway.       “Sorry Mommy. I’m going to have to take this off without you.” She said motioning towards her groin as they walked towards the end of the alley, towards light and people.       Raising a brow, Merri asked, “Why?”       “Well, you know, I can’t just stay in one diaper for days until I see you again.” Her voice became hushed as they entered the crowd.       “Sure you can!’       “No, really, I can’t. I’m gonna have to change eventually.”       “Hmm. But if I’m not there to do it for you then… I guess you’re breaking the rules and will need to be punished.”       “Come now, seriously? Isn’t that a tad unrealistic?”       “Ahh, ahh, ahh! What is Mommy?”       Whispering, “Mommy is always right.”       “What? I can’t hear you, speak up Princess.”       As they walked towards the waystation, hand in hand, just a little bit louder, Lala said, “Mommy is always right.” (Explicit warning, this chapter includes futanari, pregnancy, cucking, of course abdl, and copious use of unfunny references, readers discretion is advised)       Chapter 8               Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock.               A counter full of timers, each ticking down different sets of time. Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, varieties of fruits in bowls, spices, tools, scattered everywhere. The sweet smell of syrupy sauces filling the air, chocolate bubbling in a double boiler as it finished melting down, bread ready to be pulled from the oven. Many projects all come to a head all at once. And only one half-elf to handle them all.               Merri stirred her sauces splattering her apron with little dots of red, created her pastry dough sending clouds of flour and sugar into the air, piped a frosting on a layered cake from on top a ladder with the precision of a sculptor, was pulling sheet trays of bread out of the oven. All at once.               A second Merri tended to the chocolate, a fourth was wrapping the pastry dough and putting them through a stasis spell to seal them till she was ready to make use of them, a sixth, seventh and eighth Merri decorated all the layers below the fifth on the ladder, while her final three clones were pulling the sheets of buns and rolls out of the oven, covering them, loading them on to racks and getting them ready for whatever the Culinary Guild needed them for.               Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!               The timers went off in synchronization, one after the other with only seconds in between.               The original Merri poured her red sauce into a pan to cool, frowning at the splatters on her apron. Messy, random splotches of red seemed to be reminding her over the last few days of chunks of elf on the pavement, her mind recalling that very moment when she watched that elf split apart and scatter everywhere. She saw it happening in the shower, in the silent still moments to herself, when she closed her eyes right before slipping off to sleep, and in her dreams after that.               “Ahem.” Gretchen stood in the doorway to the bakery, the clattering of pots and pans and yelling coming from the main kitchen behind her In her large hand she carried a brown paper bag. She squinted across the room where a dozen identical half-elves were busy manning various stations in front of mixing bowls, stoves, ovens.               “Hey! Which of you is the real Merri?” Gretchen called out.               Without looking up from their tasks, each one said in unison, “I am!”               Gretchen rolled her eyes.”Which one of you is the original?”               In front of the pan of cooling red sauce, Merri pointed a finger straight up into the air. “Yo!” Quickly, she gathered up an identical paper bag to the one in Gretchen’s hand. Gretchen dropped the bag in front of Merri and was passed over the other one like a shady under the table deal.               “As agreed, two garlic roasted shambling mound, a clover salad, owlbear gravy, and half-foot mashed potatoes.”               “It’s crazy. Like its just a potato, it shouldn’t taste any different, but boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew, no matter what half-foot potatoes are better.” Merri passed the bag to one of her dopplegangers who started loading her bag up with bread and cupcakes.               “Yeah, we all know how it goes.” Gretchen peeked into her bag.               “It’s all there!” Merri said, defensively. “Two dozen enchanted golden apples. Like I promised.”               “And?”               “I made sure that they weren’t treant apples. Triple checked.”               “Good.” Gretchen closed the bag. “Some of the family still uses outhouses and you have no idea what a shock it is to start hearing treespeak when you’re trying to go.”               The bag was passed back to the original Merri. “I take it that bag means you have plans, so no going out for drinks tonight?” Gretchen inquired, tucking her bag of apples under an arm and looking over the organized chaos that was Merri’s work.               A big smile plastered on her face, Merri grabbed a Clone spell scroll out of a drawer triumphantly, pulling her sack from a pocket and letting it grow to its full size, tucking the scroll into one of its smaller pockets and the food into the main one. “’Fraid not, I have a hot date tonight!”                Gretchen snorted, “You’re swiping a Clone?” She hid a hand over her face, which Merri thought was a sweet thought only her friend’s laughter was not something that could really be hidden. Gretchen’s chortling came out in a loud room shaking bellows. “Where I come from, we don’t call the things you do with one of those a ‘hot date’.”               “No, no!” Merri started, flustered, “I’m gonna do things with the Clone of someone else!”               This just made Gretchen laugh louder, a possibility that never crossed Merri’s mind. “Identity theft is not a joke, Mer-bear.” She started walking out of Merri’s ‘dungeon’.               Hurrying to keep up with Gretchen, Merri desperately tried to explain herself as they dodged the obstacles of a busy kitchen, two journeymen carrying a 20 gallon pot with writhing tentacles trying to escape the lid, carts of platters getting pushed by unseen servants, small goblinoid porters carrying stacks of dirty dishes that towered over their heads towards the dish washing area.               “But I really do have a hot date!”               “You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Gretchen said as she pushed a heavy metal door outside. “I don’t care if you’re summoning an incubus, making a copy of Henrietta Cavil, or if you’re ‘skinning the boar’ with your carving knife you hide under the bed-”               “I keep it in a drawer actually.”               Gretchen looked at Merri wryly as she lit up a cigarette and was about to join a group of her baby birds. “Right, babe. In any case, if the battery dies or your spell runs out or whatever and you’re still up, you know where I’ll be.”               “Wait!” Merri grabbed on to Gretchen’s jacket before she got too far away. “Listen, there’s one more thing I have to grab, but the shop is gonna close soon, so, can you cover me? Just make sure my copies are still working?”               Shrugging while taking a drag of a burning cigarette, Gretchen said, “Sure, I got you. Seriously though, if you’re summoning an incubus wear protection. Something with protection from evil, And plan b.”               Merri waved her off, “I already have pills of blessing but thanks.” Pulling out her crystal ball, Merri ordered an Icarus, and after a few minutes a blue carpet pulled up and Merri crawled into the back.               A large troll sat in the front, with his seat set very far back, the dirty tank top he wore doing little to hide the patches of hair that had migrated over the years from his head down, revolting pimples that threatened to pop at any given moment, his monstrous odor fighting with some kind of perfumed spray for territory in the air only made worse when he opened his tusked mouth to grunt out a greeting. Merri saw his face in the rearview mirror, and was fairly certain she wasn’t getting kidnapped.               Taking off at speeds Merri and the breakfast churning in her stomach weren’t quite comfortable with, the carpet fled into the sky, heading deeper into the inner city. The traffic above the skyscrapers was always congested like a nose when spring’s flowers started pollinating. Dashing and weaving in front of other carpets, Merri’s driver soon was at her first destination.               The troll stuck his bulbous face out of the window to leer at some of the streetwalkers of Ju-Ju street. They waved friendly hands at him with welcoming smiles as Merri crawled out of the carpet to run into Olga’s.               “Hey Olga!” Merri said running up to counter, uncharacteristically ignoring the littered adult baby supplies, furniture, and paraphernalia, the warm cyclopes. “You got my stuff? Sorry, I don't have a lot of time to talk!”               Olga gave Merri a knowing smile as she conspiratorially passed over one of her small black bags. “Are you sure, dear? I think your friend out there might be willing to wait a minute or 10.” Merri looked back to see two scantily clad cuties trying, and succeeding, to get their hustle on, the driver’s face several inches out of the window grunting at them.               Checking the contents of the bag, two small bottles with some rather suggestive decorative stoppers, one long, one stubby, a roll of paper with a lacey pink bow tie binding it tightly, and a discrete, unassuming box.“Yeah, no, I better get out of here.” Merri said, hastily pulling out her crystal ball and waving it in front of the till to transfer the owed funds, while watching one of the streetwalkers jiggle seductively in what could only under very generous terms be called a shirt while pointing in the direction of the hotel.               With a knowing smile and squinting eye, Olga said, “Not your usual fair. I take it your little playdate went well?”               “Umm, didn’t go quite as planned-”               “I could’ve told you that. A lesser person may even have said ‘I told you so’, but then I don’t think I was really given the chance to tell you anything.”               Blushing and looking down on the floor, “Yea, sorry about that! But it all worked out in the end.” Her crystal ball buzzed in her pocket, “But I really gotta go, I’ll catch up soon!” Olga waved at her as she ran off while tucking the bag into her handy haversack.               As fast as she entered, Merri made her exit, jumping into the carpet and telling the driver to move, pulling out her ball to check her message. The troll groaned and grunted, not quite ready to leave, only for Merri to snap impatiently, “Come on! They’ll be here all day!”               LittleLala: Ready?           LittleLala: 14 hours, I’m allllll yours!               Merri messaged back, ‘Heading home now!’               Resting her head against the window on the door of the carpet, Merri wistfully stared outside, spotting some pegasus riders in the distance flitting in and out of the traffic of the carpets. Her mind started to delve towards the encounter her and Lala had the other day. Flecks of red in the cityscape, creatures and carpets alike moving quickly in the air reminding her of…               She shook her head out of it.               Getting dropped off at the rift to her pocket dimension, running into it and ordering her family’s cab to take her the rest of the way, tapping her foot during her short waiting time. Its not the Icarus drivers wouldn’t drive into a pocket dimension, though there was a known issue with frequent trips to a different plane wrecking havoc on the navigation devices that were in use during a portal trip. Not to mention it was significantly cheaper to just use Icarus for city trips. Merri also may have wanted to get out of the troll’s impressive aura of stench, but he had kept the conversation to a minimum and hadn’t leered too much at her, so that was a 5 stars in her book.               During her wait, she did see a timid looking half giantess getting pulled along by a familiar looking three headed dog. Merri waved and yelled a greeting at Kibbles and her owner, who returned the gesture with a mixture of confusion and bashfulness while the great beast wagged her twin tails and let out a chorus of ‘woofs’ in her own way of saying ‘hi’.               A yellow carpet bearing her own surname pulled up in front of Merri, and she headed home.               She let out a sigh of relief hearing the soft snores of an afternoon nap coming from her father’s room. The last few days have been difficult. For two solid days, he had been up and fully cognitive of everything, with full access to his magic. Going back to the normal routine of being silenced for all but two hours of the day was hard for him to wrap his head around, in his fugue state he didn’t know why he wasn’t allowed to use his spells, and Merri had a hard time explaining it to him.               One nice thing about her and Lala’s meeting today, she’d get another scroll to get him through a couple of days, though she wondered if it was a good idea to give it to him again. If he couldn’t have every day of full control, was it cruel to give him a taste of that life just to pull it away?               Questions for another time. She quietly slipped up to the upper level of her home and locked herself inside. She sent a message to Lala. ‘Ready’.               LittleLala: EEEEEEEEE               LittleLala: I’m so READY!!!!           LittleLala: k the scroll I made you, use it, need at least a 4x4 square free.               Easy enough, Merri just had to move her computer chair to give her room enough space. Unrolling the scroll Lala had given her the other day she began to funnel her powers through it. The scroll burned in her hands, the mana sealed inside flickering the air as it spun around the space in front of her, glinting as it whirled. The magic had a woodsy smell, like fresh rain on trees and earth, the space in front of her made a creaking sound as an outline of a plain door appeared in front Merri with a round arch. The door handle was curved and ornate, groves etched into the brass that felt warm under Merri’s grip as she pulled it open.               The door was only opened by a crack before it swung open and muscular hands grabbed Merri and pulled her in. Merri was pulled into a world of black velvet curtains and red satin rope hanging from the middle of the curtains, flowing up and down like waves seemingly clinging to the curtains by their own will. And in the center of it all, in a sleeveless red dress, black tights that seamlessly blended in with the curtains, was Lala, her hands clasped together, a manic expression on her face, bending her knees up and down in jittery, infectious excitement.               “Hey.” Merri awkwardly smiled, swearing at herself for not changing out of her work clothes before coming here.               Lala didn’t seem to mind, bouncing towards Merri and grasping a hand in both of hers, “Eeeee! I’ve been waiting so, so, so, SO long to show someone this- show you this.” She quickly corrected herself. Leaning to pull the curtain behind her, Merri’s hand still tightly in one of hers.               “So where are we?” Merri asked, wincing a bit at the vice-like grip Lala had.               “Oh!” Lala seemed to catch herself. “Right, this is my sanctum. My own pocket dimension where I keep my things and study and umm… play. I should probably give you the grand tour before showing off the- well you’ll see, you’ll see.”               Lala had never been so peppy as she marched Merri through the corridor of halls that seemed to be all black curtains, practically skipping along on her red heels that matched her dress bounding on the hard wood floors that made a satisfying click-clack that echoed in the hallway, her braided hair jumping from its place on her shoulder.               Merri looked down at her stained red coat, could feel the dried flour in her hair and hardened on little patches on her face. The dirty shoes she wouldn’t have even thought of wearing in her home if she wasn’t in such a rush to get to the meeting sticking to the floor in here, each step she took a painful reminder of how unclean she was. “Lala? Do you think you could cast a spell, you know? Get me changed?” It was an odd request, she felt, Mommy’s didn’t usually ask their Littles to change their clothes, did they? In all the stories she’s read, the videos she’s watched, the pictures and comics she’s seen, no caregiver ever asks their charge to give them a makeover.               Turning a corner, Merri saw a passage leading off the path, and Lala stopped. Turning to Merri, Lala got a bit red in the face, “Well, I kinda thought that since you liked to be babied maybe I’ll be the Mommy today, give you the chance to have some fun. So like,” She twisted her heels in consideration, teasing her braid with the hand that didn’t hold Merri’s, “If you wanted to, I could get you dressed ‘properly’.” She offered.               The suggestion was tantalizing. Merri wasn’t certain in her role in this dynamic yet, and here was her ideal partner offering to make her dream of a strong, beautiful elf pamper and care for her. She was surprised to find her answer came automatically, needing no thought. “Some other time, Lala. You’re my baby, tonight, the next night, and every day after that. And, I have plans for you, little one.”               The beam on her face was well worth whatever disappointment sat in the back of Merri’s head. Lala’s face brightened up the room like a beacon from a lighthouse, and its rays of illumination were focused entirely on Merri. “Alright, Mommy.” It seemed like it shouldn’t be possible but her smile was wider than ever after uttering that word. “Right, then.” She laid her hands on Merri’s jacket.               Nothing happened. Merri realized Lala was waiting on her for her transformation spell. “Sweetie, you pick. Whatever you want Mommy to wear is fine.” The elf grew thoughtful and quiet, eyes going up towards the ceiling as though staring into the dark tent like top of the corridor towards the unseen source of magical light would prod some ideas.               The hand against Merri’s top started tingling through the fabric, and in an instant her work clothes turned into a rather conservative outfit, a lime green blouse, jeans, and sneakers. The shirt wasn’t even low cut, not the sexiest thing Merri could imagine, but Lala seemed pleased with her work. It did feel a bit costly to go without a whole uniform for 30 days, but it was the price she paid for her oversight and eagerness. It was nice to feel the caked on flour on her skin seemed to have gone away, and her hair felt clean as well, done up in a ponytail instead of a bun. There was a real weight to those changes, it didn’t feel like a glamour.               Lala started walking again, leading Merri down the passage where among the curtains a small set of steps led up to an enclosure of shelves and books. A single desk made of fine wood lay in the center, floating among a series of blue lights that glowed almost like fireflies were books suspended in the air, a few hanging open for quick and easy reference. The shelves towered towards the top of the ceiling, there had to be well over a thousand tomes in the space. Quills in ink lay on the desk, scrolls ready to be crafted laid in wait to be filled.           “And this is my study. Nearly every book I’ve ever read is here.” Lala said proudly walking up the steps.               Looking up with a smirk, Merri asked, “Every book? Baby these books look a little too ‘big’ for you. Where are your picture books? I can’t very well read you the-” She looked at one of the books in the air, “’The Army of Darkness: 100 Necromancy Tricks to Bolster Your Undead’? Yikes! What kind of bedtime story would that be? If I read that to you, you’ll have nightmares for sure!” And so will I, Merri added silently.             Poorly suppressing a giggle, “Eheheh, would you really read for me? I have some more ‘age-appropriate literature elsewhere. Oooh! I can’t wait!”               In a flash, Lala was hurrying back through the corridor, the path forking off once more before a corner. This time, a set of steps descended down towards a platform of suits of armor, weapons of all kinds, wands, and staves.               “I take it this is where your quiver takes your gear from?” Merri asked as she was taken down, eyeing a suit of armor that held a fanciful scimitar that was permanently lit on fire.               Lala nodded, taking Merri to a jewelry case. “Yes, that’s right.” She said while peering at rings, amulets, brooches, and crowns, each on a large purple pillow, the golds, silvers, and gemstones popping out of it. “Aaaand… There we go.” She picked up a silver chain with a small sapphire hanging in a bead. Without warning, she started putting it on Merri.               “Oh! That’s really sweet, Lala, but don’t you think it’s a bit early to start giving away jewelry? It is pretty though…” Despite her objection, Merri pushed away her hair and straightened her neck to allow Lala to wrap the pendant around her neck.               “Silly Mommy!” She said in a light voice, before becoming serious, “It’s an amulet of anti-psionic power,” A matter of fact tone entered her voice, “Prevents anyone from reading your mind, while also giving soome protection from mind altering effects, though that’s more of a side effect. I’m a little paranoid about people peering into my head and I’ll be sharing a lot of secrets with you, I’d rather they didn’t incidentally learn any of them by getting to you.”               “Ahh, I see. You’ve never been accused of being a romantic, have you?” Merri teased.               The elf blinked, “Umm, heh, it’s still very pretty on you.”               Merri let it slide and took the compliment. “Thanks,” Walking over to a display of wands, “You aren’t going to offer me one of your wands? What if the big bad people that wanna know your secrets come after me?”               “Do you really want one?” Lala asked, interested.               “I’m still kidding, sweetie.”               “Are you sure? Because I’d be happy to take you to the firing range and help you shoot, find one that’s just right for you.”               Merri imagined Lala’s arms around her, helping her aim the wand. “Let’s put a pin in that.”               Back down the hall they went turning the corner Merri found herself staring directly into a doorway. It led into a room completely different than the endless feeling space of black curtains. The pair stepped into a room of eggshell white walls with three doors, the one they came in from that looked like what Merri had entered with, another one identical that they were facing, and one to the left, made up of a dozen colored panes of glass that depicted a sunrise making the bottom orange, red, and yellow, a crescent moon on top, making the glass blue and purple, with white dots to represent stars. A chandelier hung from the ceiling that looked like it was made of the same floors. Pictures hung up, showing battles, some on the ground with infantry fighting, another with pegasus cavalry swooping down with their weapons outright, soldiers on the deck of a boat with a looming creature just below the surface of the water.               Merri was about to comment how nice this area was before a knock on the door came out before she had the chance. Lala shot the door a dirty, muttering darkly under her breath as she walked across the entrance way, looking cross. Lala swung open the door revealing a lizardman and kobold in the gray military uniforms, who both gave the customary salute that the elf returned. They both looked uncomfortable at the sight of Lala, Merri couldn’t say whether it was her informal attire, or whether it was because as soon as she saw the men, the jittery excitable elf she knew had vanished, replaced by a stern elf with a menacing aura.               Seeing nothing but the back of her head, Merri couldn’t see the expression on Svetlana’s face, but by the sound of her voice she could only guess that it was glaring as the soldiers in front of her shrank into the stone floor that encompassed the room outside the door, an impressive feat given they didn’t dare move an inch. “I’m not to be disturbed during my rest time.” Svetlana growled at the pair.               The kobold, the braver of the two, stepped forward, looking like someone was trying to melt him into a puddle with their gaze, “Message for you ma’am.”               Svetlana snatched it out of his hand, ripping away the red wax seal, leaning against a wall, tapping the toe of her shoe against the floor. As she read, the two gave Merri a glance, she offered the two a little wave. The lizardman was raising his hand but it shot to side when Svetlana shot him a look.               Huffing out her annoyance that her soldiers flinched at, Svetlana folded the letter. “Tell him I’ll be back in 10 hours. Wait,” She said as the two turned around taking this as dismissal, “You two, latrine duty, immediately after the message is returned, you will make every single speck of dirt vanish and you won’t stop until I personally come to relieve you of your duty.”               “Ahem,” Svetlana shot Merri a glowering look that she happily returned until Lala remembered who she was looking at, “Isn’t there a saying like, ‘Don’t shoot the messenger’?”               “Hmmm… Scrub the floors of the mess hall after you return the message.” Merri was satisfied with the grateful look the two soldiers shot her as the door was shut in their faces as they were dismissed.               “So… I don’t get my 14 hours of Lala time?”               Grimacing at that, Lala apologized, “Ah, sorry! I didn’t… They need me out there…” She gestured towards the door.               “No, it’s ok, I know how you can make it up to me…” Merri pointed towards a painting of the winged cavalry. “I’d like to ride one of the pegasus. I think that’ll make up for 4 lost hours.”               In spite of the teasing Merri’s words were laced with, Lala winced, “I’m sorry, I can’t let you ride a pegasus,” Before Merri could get the chance to tell her she was joking, Lala continued, “But you’re more than welcomed to ride my unicorn if you’d like.”               Any thoughts about whether Merri was kidding or not were swept under the rug, “You have a unicorn?”             “Yeah, it’s at a ranch in the countryside. I visit him whenever I get the chance.”               “And I can ride him for however long I want?!” It was Merri’s turn to get excited, her face lighting up like a girl’s on Candlemas.               Her enthusiasm returning, Lala pulled out her crystal ball and gleefully showed Merri an image of a cow spotted bronco with a black mane and a golden horn with herself on a saddle. “That’s my boy. Julius Czar Rex. He looks like a beast, but you’ll have to trust me, he’s an absolute doll once he knows you.” Merri had to agree he did look like a beast, riding on top of Julius, Lala looked like Merri did the last time she rode a unicorn when she was a small child.               “But yeah… I suppose you could call this my waiting room, or my front door, I always come in through this one.” Lala continued on with her tour as Merri half listened only offering a blush when Merri asked if that meant Lala made her come through her back door, swiping through images of the unicorn, occasionally seeing some more promiscuous images of half-elves that bore a striking resemblance to herself, some drawings, others not, a few differences, like the color of the eyes, hair darker or lighter than her brunette, different faces, some wearing more mundane underwear or bikinis and others wearing leather get ups that certainly weren’t wearing them for their comfort or how well they protected them in combat.               “You certainly have a type, don’t you?” Merri commented, swiping through a few more pictures. Lala let out a shocked little noise and snatched the crystal ball out of Merri’s hand. Laughing, Merri reminded her, “Hey, it’s okay, I have a type too, remember?” She said, putting a comforting hand around Lala’s arm.               “Yeah…” Lala said with a look of embarrassment.               “Come on,” Merri entwined her arm around Lala’s and rested her head against it, “Show me the rest.”               The next space Merri was brought into was a kitchen and dining area. Her eyes immediately fell on the round table, with three regular chairs and a high chair, that was certainly going to be big enough for Lala; three magnetic hooks on the side hung a collection of colorful bibs.               “Ohhh, that is perfect,” Merri murmured to herself, pulling out her sack and grabbing her bag of food out of it. She started taking out the takeout containers, clear plastic tops on a plastic black bottom and laying them out on the table.               Lala lit up seeing the shambling mound entree. “That’s my favorite!” She said seeing the spaghetti like strands of green vines, glistening with a buttery sheen, chunks of fresh white clinging to the strands like thorns on a rose.               “Not yet, Princess, Mommy has to get you dressed up before she starts feeding you.”               “You’re going to feed me too?”               “We can try letting you feed yourself, but hands only…”               “Right…” Lala looked down at her gloves, thinking. “So… You know how I told you I gave up my claim to the throne?”               Merri’s eye fell to Lala’s left arm as she said that. “I do, baby.”               It took her a second to go on, gathering her courage. “D-do you know what they do to us when we give it up?”               “I’ve heard about it. Svetlana,” Merri pulled her into a hug, “If its tough for you to talk about, its ok, you can bring it up in your own time, baby.”               Shaking her head, “No, I want to talk about it…” She started pulling off her left glove, showing Merri what she already knew was underneath.           Dividing her arm, just below the elbow was a prosthetic made of jade glass, opaque and marked with similar tattoos that the right head, but also a reversed royal insignia. The jade arm moved the same way an arm made of flesh and bone would, the long, slender fingers just as dexterous as the ones Lala was born with. Lala frowned at the arm, like it was a great shame to her.               “When we’re born, each prince and princess is given a tattoo of the royal insignia. Its some form of divination magic, it lets us track each other, tells us when another is around. Supposedly it tells us when one of us harms another, its like a deterrent for trying to take out others for a shorter line to the king. “ Lala took a deep breath. “Personally I think its more to keep us from going after Father, but that’s neither here nor there. When one of us gives up their claim, they remove the tattoo… and the whole arm its on. They give us these false one with a similar spell like the original divination, only it goes one way. The inheritors can sense us, but we can’t sense them. We’re ostracized from our family.”               “I’m sorry baby.”               “It’s fine.” She lied, pulling off her other glove, showing the litheness of her green fingers, bending in a way the material had no right to move without breaking. Merri studied the arm for a moment, all one unnatural color down to the false nails at the tips of the fingers, the ‘tattoos’ seemed to be burned on to the skin, unlike the right each one was just black, an actual imprint instead of ink. Merri ran a hand over the arm, feeling the groves of each mark, the mineral skin twitched, it wasn’t body temperature but wasn’t cold either. “That tickles,” Lala said numbly.               Merri planted a kiss on Lala’s upper arm, letting her actions speak for her, running a hand down her back as she hugged the elf.               They stood like that for some time before Merri suggested, “Come on, baby girl, let’s finish this tour so we can get you ready and eat, ok?” Still hugging each other, Merri was brought back into the main corridor. It was strange, seeing Lala without her trademark gloves, almost like she was more naked than when she was actually nude. She looked sad, Merri decided, without them. Like the visible green sheen was a constant reminder of her family. Merri was suddenly glad of her decision to refuse the Mommy offer from Lala, noting that she needed the affection more than Merri did at this moment, and nuzzled her, the elf appreciatively rubbing Merri’s shoulder.               “And this is the bedroom.” Lala announced as they stepped into a fairly open space. A large bed frame stood in the center of the room, downy purple blankets with matching pillows, a hard oak frame that led up into a canopy of mauve privacy sheets that were see through. It looked like a nice place to sleep, except… Three mannequins wearing one of Lala’s uniforms, another with her long black coat and similarly subdued ensemble beneath, the final wearing a simple white sundress with yellow dots speckled across it ending in a yellow wide brimmed hat on top. Merri couldn’t help but feel they were creepy, staring directly at the bed.               “Hmm, I like it. Looks comfy, but, I don’t know, I kind of imagined you using a crib.” Merri admitted, stepping away from Lala and testing the firmness of the bed. This would do nicely, she thought to herself.               “You do, do you?” Lala said, in a dramatic tone as she stepped near the curtain. “Then allow me to show you the best part of Casa de Lark.” She brushed pulled away the curtain with a flourish, and Merri’s eyes went wide.               The central enclosure of Lala’s sanctum was an enormous playroom. Closest to them was a large crib with white bars, bigger than any of the ones at Olga’s, bigger than even the bed Merri was next to. It was filled with stuffed animals, some bigger than Merri herself, with just enough free real-estate for three of Merri or two of Lala. She stepped closer to get a better look.               Carnival-esque was the closest way Merri could describe it. Instead of the black curtains, the walls were striped red and white, the top was covered with a rainbow’s worth of colors in balloons, each emitting their own source of light through the thin rubber, a soft lullaby played from an unseen source. There was a train going around in a circle, with a plush elephant as the conductor wearing blue and white pinstriped overalls and a matching cap. A pink bouncy castle lay nearby to that, doubling as a ball bit with large balls lazily hopping inside. A corner with a shelf much shorter than the one Merri had seen earlier covered in soft picture books with comfy looking beanbags around the padded floor. What looked like a jungle gym with slides, swings that were more like the baby bouncers that Olga had on display, a sandbox that already had what appeared to be an intricate castle permanently affixed in it, the main jungle gym made up of long tubes that Merri could see herself getting lost in. An area dedicated to toys of all shapes and sizes, with an activity gym for tummy time in the center, in the back of it a dollhouse mansion pulled apart with a town's worth of little people. Instruments soundlessly played by phantom hands dominated a section of the area.               Nearby to Merri and Lala was a rotating rail of outfits, onesies, short and skirtalls, dresses that were closer to shirts in length, each in simple or pastel colors. Merri had to wonder why an elf who made whatever she imagined as her outfit needed so many options, though she couldn’t say it wasn’t charming next to the trio of mirrors that stood by.               A changing table with an ethereal servant in a pink smock waited for a command, holding a white diaper and behind it, an outrageous amount of diaper designs laying flat in glass displays with white frames. It seemed to be a giant book of frames standing behind the servant, a page having two dozen designs.               It looked like the collection of a Little’s lifetime, or maybe two or three lifetimes. Merri was struck with a feeling of envy, the little girl in her screamed at her to run and play in this giant toy box. She restrained that side of her for the moment. For now.               “Welcome to Lala’s Little Land!” The elf said, hands on her hips staring at Merri expectantly, basking in a prideful glow.               “W-wow!” Merri was at a loss for words, everything in the vicinity demanding her attention. “It’s incredible…”               “I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to show someo- hey!” Merri grabbed Lala by the arm and pulled her towards the changing table. “W-what are you doing?” Lala asked excitedly.               “First things first, my petite Princess. Strip.” Merri commanded, keeping her delight out of her voice and adopting a more authoritative attitude. Lala didn’t need more than that to start pulling her shoes off, followed by her tights that she tossed to the side. Merri helped her out of her scarlet dress, neatly folding it and setting it to the side. Lala was left in a smart pair of white and black underwear, matching bra and panties, both with a bow, one in the center of her ribs and the other just below the elastic on her waistline, she was just about to tear those off of her as well before Merri stopped her. “Wait just a second…”               Going into her handy haversack, Merri retrieved the bag she got from Olga’s before starting to disrobe herself.               Lala put her right hand over her mouth as she watched Merri undress. “Oh, Mommy! Why are you undressing? Were you maybe thinking we both could have some baby time?”               Merri flashed her a devilish smile, “You’ll see…” She told her as she folded her clothes and tucked them away in a pile, leaving herself completely nude. “Next, please use them on yourself.” She said, handing a scroll over to Lala.               “What is it?”               Coyly, Merri asked, “Do little girls ask questions or do they do what Mommy says?”               “No.” Svetlana said in a serious tone. “I’m going to need full disclosure. I’ll be perfectly willing to obey you but there are limits.” Wagging the scroll at Merri. “I need to know if this will impair me if I need to be called for duty.”               “Oh! Yeah, understandable…” Merri said, partially in shock from the 180 in attitude. “That’s a clone scroll, and after you take that…” She pulled out a little vial with the small member stopper. “This is going to give you a penis for a short time. About an hour. Full disclosure then, you’ll be really, really sensitive, and it’s going to make you pretty horny.”               Lala pursed her lips as she accepted the elixir. Studying it, she nodded. “Thank you for telling me. Sorry I had to get all serious for a second.”               “No need to apologize, should’ve brought it up first thing. So you ok with that?”               “Hmm…” Lala mused to herself, “I always… I wondered what it would be like to… have one. Have you tried it?”               “No,” Merri admitted, “But I went with Olga’s recommendation and I trust her.”               Nodding, Lala looked at the scroll, it started to burn in her hand, the smoke from it billowing next to her taking on her form until a second nearly nude Lala was by her side. “Is this-” The original spoke.               Then the duplicate carried on the sentence, “This what you-”               “Have in mind-”               “Mommy?” They both spoke the last word in unison, starting to feel each other in a seductive way while staring at Merri.               “Double the fun?” One asked, twirling around with the other.               “Was I not enough for you?” Another playfully pouted.               “Trust me, Princess, one is plenty enough for me. Now the potion, dear.”               They looked at each other. “But which one is the real me?”               “You’ll have to shoot us both, it’s the only way to be sure!” One suggested.               Merri folded her arms. “Someone lost us 4 hours of play time with her ‘responsibilities’ otherwise I would happily play the whole 'which twin is which’ game, you two know which is the original. Take your potion, now, miss.”               The true Lala picked up the potion, wriggling her nose at the little dick member and quaffing it as the other one stuck her tongue at Merri, she gave a pointed look at the clone. It didn’t take long for Lala’s hands to shoot down to her groin. “Ahh, ahh, ahh, panties down, young lady. Mommy wants to see.” With a flush, Lala stripped down, just as the growth above her hole started standing up.               “Oooh.” Lala moaned as the hormones started pulsing through her, squirming. “I didn’t… Mmm…” She licked her lips. “That kicks in fast…” Lala was lost in the throes of her horniness as her freshly grown member stood erect. “I- Kinda thought it was going to be bigger…” She pouted as it reached its full height of 3 inches.               “Babies get a baby dick, sweetie.”               “No matter…” Lala shrugged. “So how should we do this? Am I going to fuck-”               “Language!” Merri said harshly.               “Sorry! Are we gonna… Or me and her?” She gestured towards her clone, the real Lala blushed as she realized her copy was giggling at her size. “Or all of us together?”               Merri pointed towards the changing table. “Next step, Lala. Butt up on that table.” She turned towards the copy as the original did as she was told, the gassy servant hovering nearby, “Be a dear for Mommy and pick out something for your ‘little’ sister to wear.”               The clone smiled and said, “Yes, Mommy.” She looked over at the frame, settling on a baby blue one with a yellow duck on the cover. “This one Mommy. Its blue cause she’s a boy.”               “’M not a-”               “Hush sweetie, the adults are talking.” Merri rubbed a comforting hand on Lala’s thigh. “Now, can you change it or…” She asked the clone Lala.               “Madam Margaret, if you would, please.” The clone pointed at the blue diaper in the frame. In the ethereal servant’s hand, the white diaper transformed into the one she was pointing at.               It moved to started changing the Lala on the table, “Thank you, but I’ll change her.” Merri told the servant, holding her hand out for the disposable underwear, readying something else in her hand. “Now sweetie, I’ve been told that new penises are very, very, very sensitive. You’re not allowed to make any stickies unless I tell you to, understand?”               Lala nodded on the table, looking confused, “Alright… I’ll try.”               “Do or do not, Princess, there is no try.” Merri told the prone elf as she took a bottle of lotion and started lathering her hands with it, rubbing it all over Lala’s crotch.               The order immediately seemed impossible to follow as Merri ran a hand over the small wick of a dick. After only a few strokes, Lala was moaning. “Ohh, M-m-mommy… I’m g-gonna…” A cold clasp of metal covered her newest part of her body. It was like a cold shower focused entirely on her new cock. “Huh?” She looked down as Merri strapped a brand new stainless steel chastity cage. “What’s that Mommy?” She asked dumbly.               Applying powder to Lala’s underside as she spoke with a neutral tone, “I told you the other day, Princess, you’re going to get a punishment for taking off your diaper without Mommy. This is it.” Merri looked over at the clone. “Sweetheart, pick out an appropriate set of pj’s for the baby.”               Walking towards the rack of clothes with a devious grin, the clone affirmed, “Right away Mommy.”               Merri taped Lala up as tight as she could, giving her a thorough look. “Not quite right… Babies don’t need these.” She took off the girl’s bra. “Better but… Madame Margaret, will you please pass me another diaper? I think my baby is going to be quite leaky, and handsy tonight.” The servant dutifully passed over another layer of diaper, and then another when Merri decided that still wasn’t thick enough.              Lala squirmed on the changing mat as her libido stole all of her attention, squirming, trying to press her legs together but the thickness of her layers offered her no clearance. Her hands might as well be pawing the changing table for all the good it did to her little caged penis. Merri giggled at Lala’s desperate attempts. It was like trying to feel a pea through 10 mattresses, an impossible task, even for a Princess.              "Ma-ma puh-puh-puh-please! I gotta... Please!" Her pleads got no answer, all Merri did was wipe away the line of drool that was dripping down the corner of the elf's mouth.              The clone returned with a set of fuzzy blue feetie jammies that Merri nodded approvingly of. The two helped Lala off the table, though she fell on her jellied legs, still squirming to get to the source of her frustration.              Pulling the last two items from her bag from Olga’s, a potion similar to Lala’s only with a stopper considerably longer, Merri drank it and a scroll that she gave to the clone, after Merri whispered into the copy's ear she used it on herself, then they started helping Lala into her new wardrobe.               "Mmm!" Lala whined as she felt something hard pressing into the small of her back as Merri stood behind her, helping her stand with her hands on her hips while the copy threaded her legs into the jammies. Thinking was coming easy. Her mind was on a single track now. "M-Merri, please, I don’t care, you d-don't have to p-play with i-it, j-just put yours inside of me!"              "Thank you baby, that's a very, very tempting offer." Merri told the elf as she helped her arms into the onesie. "Honestly, its hard to resist, I can feel myself going a bit crazy already." Merri spun her around where Lala could see her new penis already growing larger than her own by three times the size, Lala leered at it both jealously and with desperate need. "But..." She zipped the front up of the fuzzy blue jammies. "Mommy already has a dance partner for the evening." Lala looked over at her clone who wiggled her fingers and the babied elf. "Don't fret, Princess! I'm giving you front row seats!"              Lala could only let out a whimper as Merri and her clone pushed the crib closer to the bedroom. Merri could only keep control of herself just long enough to get Lala inside before she was all over Lala’s twin.              Merri’s urges could not longer be contained as she grabbed the copy of Lala and brought her down to her level. Sense left her as her tongue and lips felt the soft touch of the elf's kiss, wandering not long after. Lala could only whine as she watched her lover's face drift down to her counterfeit's chest, making the fake moan as Merri’s hand clench the bars of her crib. Hands started reaching down, breathy whispers exchanged.               As far as Merri was concerned, there was no time for foreplay. Just as her Mommy had promised, Lala had the best spot in the house to watch Merri pushed her reflection face down into the mattress and start thrusting into her from behind. Sense seemed to abandon the half-elf, hands manhandling the body Lala had worked so hard to maintain, Merri’s nails digging into the other Lala.               "Ah ah ah! Merri! You're so rough! You're hurting me! Harder! Harder!"              "You're the, ha, toughest, ha, person I know, Svetlana my sexy queen. No little, ha, cry baby could compare, ha, to you my sweet." Merri groaned as she pounded into the Cody's supple insides.               "Ahh!"              Lala knew they were putting on a show for her, but the knowledge did nothing to soothe a bruised ego or quell the burning in her loins. In desperation she grabbed one of the larger stuffed animals, a fluffy pink unicorn with a plastic saddle that dhe could almost, if she pretended really, really, really hard she could almost think she felt it through the diapers, and started humping it, trying to get some kind pleasure through the metal and thick diapers. She felt the ghost of a tingle, and she could almost tune out what her lover and doppleganger were up to not that far away...              Lala heard her own voice say, "Oh Gods, is she doing what I think she's doing?"               "It's kind of sweet." She heard Merri say between fits of laughter. "She's trying to be like her Mommy."              Trying to ignore them, Lala tried to go on in spite of the laughter. Only for it to stop suddenly and be replaced by more grunting. Lala tried not to look up, tried to not give into the temptation, but...              Lala saw herself riding on top of Merri, thrusting and bouncing her hips while Merri had her hands filled with Lala’s cups. Lala didnt know who she was more jealous of, only knowing one thing for certain: she wanted out of this damn crib. An image of herself that she had had for a long time but never truly got to live out became a reality for her.              Gripping the bars if her crib, Lala, tears pouring out of the side of her eyes waited, "Mooommy! Wan' my Moooommmy! Get off her you cow! Give me back my Mooommmy you skank!!" Lala didn't care that she was essentially insulting herself, she wanted Merri here right this second. More laughter filled Lala’s ears and that only made her scream louder.              "One more minute baby, then I'll come get you..." The other Lala said. The real Lala glared at her. She didn't want the fake she wanted her Mommy!              Then, before Lala’s eyes, she watched Merri make a final grunt, the clone sighing in satisfaction as she was filled with the real Lala’s Mommy’s cum... and the clone's belly to start ballooning out, her breasts growing fatter than Lala’s ever had, starting to drip with milk that dribbled on to Merri’s chest.              Objectively, Lala knew that it was just some spell, a little trick, only... This was the cusp of betrayal. That should be her. She should be over there right now and it wasn't...              "Not fair! Not fair! Not fair!" Lala screamed as she shook the bars of the crib she had made herself with utmost care, never dreaming she would ever treat one of her prized pieces of furniture with such disrespect.               The tears had made the world around Lala blurry, when she heard footsteps approaching her, all she could do was make pathetic, "Eh! Eh!" Sounds as she demanded attention and affection. She jumped at who ever opened the door to the crib.              With shock, Lala fell into familiar well toned arms and a fat belly. "I know what baby Lala needs..." Her own voice said, as Lala's mouth was pressed into a wet nipple and she was fed milk from her counterfeit, between the precum that was coming out of the tip of the cage, Lala could feel herself uncontrollably wet herself as the reality of the situation dropped on her.

Deeply moving interaction. Sally shines in her meaningful encounter with Colt. Love the impromptu sleepover - Mambo is a charachter. The shooting range is an awesome contrast to whoever thinks Sally is dragging some sense of vulnerability. A deeply satisfying chapter! Looking forward to Katrina and Clara’s birthdays!

Tommywaddlers By RogueDratini Chapter 1 The dog trotted far ahead of Roberta Harris in the woods around her home. A recluse by nature, Robbie had been like that since before grade school, the first time she tried to become friends with a group of playing girls when she was 5, getting told ‘Robbie’ was a boy’s name, and was relentlessly made fun of the way kids with unlimited free time and inexperience with anything different from their narrow world view could. Like a turtle with the first sign of danger, Robbie had withdrawn herself from the world, after 20 years of living her life like that, with just enough friends that she could count them on one hand, Robbie had become accustomed to her life of solitude. It was better that way.   “Scruffles!” She called out to the wiry haired mutt she called her own, “Don’t go too far!” The dog looked back at her and gave a little woof, then continued to run ahead of her. Robbie didn’t give chase, if she made it a competition, the game wouldn’t end for some time, and she’d rather stay alone in her thoughts. These little expeditions were more than just exercise for her and Scruffles, these walks gave her time to think, time to dream.   With an eye out for her mutt, Robbie went back to her imagination, letting the images and pictures form in her mind. Through her inner eye, she went back to the land she had been drawn to over the last few weeks, in Niscoria, where the elven Princess was being held captive by the brutish barbarian, that the Princess was beginning to learn had a softer core that he kept secret from his tribe. They were in the throes of passion, under the twin moons of Niscoria, drenched in sweat in stables where the tribe kept the animals they had taken from villages nearby, the Princess was expecting to see more of the softer side of the barbarian, but no, instead she got the rough treatment, tossed into the hay the way the savage only knew how, his rough hands groping and nails digging into her soft, yielding flesh…   Robbie was taken out of the scene by a bark. She shook her head, Scruffles had a bad habit of distracting his owner at the worst times. Shrugging, Robbie put the thought on the back burner, the love of the savage and the Princess could wait until Robbie was home again, staring at the word document she had been typing out for the past few weeks. She was a writer by trade, and through her books she sold online, she managed to scrape by a modest lifestyle, there was little glamour in it, but Robbie enjoyed her life. She had lucked out when her uncle had passed and left her a little hunting cabin in the woods, near the outskirts of a small town called Kingswood. The man had been an amateur writer too, and she had spent hours of her youth pouring over fantasy books with her uncle, who encouraged her to pursue her passions the way he never could. Robbie wished she could have one more conversation with Uncle Ernie, just one more talk about The Hobbit or The Last Unicorn, she thought of that hypothetical talk often, when she saw the cabin she inherited from him.   “Woof!”   “I’m coming! I’m coming! I swear, Scruffles, it better not be another rabbit!” She shuddered the last time Scruffles found a dead animal, she had to pry his mouth open just to get the disgusting thing out of his mouth and pull him away by the scruff. He found a lot of his ‘prizes’ going through the woods over the years, she rescued him when she was 18 and he was just little over a puppy. It made her sad, in a way, every time she had to pull him away from one of his prizes, it was just a little easier. A little less fight. The skip in Scruffles’ step was less pronounced, these days, he didn’t jump up to greet her any more, preferring to tap his tail on the wooden floor as his hello. Just last year, he would spring away as soon as she took him for his walks in the wood, now, he barely got further than a few yards away.   Today, Scruffles was quite a ways away, Robbie would have to speed up to a jog just to keep up with him, but it was hard to be mad at his burst of energy, it did her heart some good to see him excited. She heard another alert woof farther ahead, and smiled. Soon, she’d probably be cursing up a storm, trying to pry his mouth open, with white and gray lightening up his once golden muzzle, but for now, she just had to appreciate the time she had with the mutt.   The thicket was getting rougher, Robbie hadn’t been out this way before, the hunting trail was overrun with growth, weeds, bushes, trees spread wildly. Robbie idly wondered what drew the dog to this ancient patch of woods, it looked like nothing had been here in a long time. She pushed through the tangle of branches and wines, twigs and thorns catching on skin, the button olive colored shirt she wore getting tiny rips, her hair, blonde tied up in a ponytail, gathering leaves and sticks. Robbie groaned, she would need a shower after this, and hoped Scruffles wouldn’t decide this area wouldn’t become his favorite spot, or else she would have to start bring a hatchet or maybe a machete on their excursions.   Through the brown and green, Robbie heard the sound of digging, paws pushing dirt off the ground, and that may have alarmed her, except, something else caught her attention. A pink, unnatural light shone through. Robbie pushed her way into a small clearing, where she saw her dog going at the source of the light. Under normal situations, Robbie would’ve called him off, grabbed him and ended this walk early, the thing she saw, sticking out of the ground, brought her to the dirt. Robbie crawled towards Scruffles and the thing.   It was metal, a large round disc sticking out of the ground, surrounded by saplings and sprouts, everything around it seemed young despite the ancient grove she had to push her way through, not that that had been on her mind. Nothing was, when she peered at the metal. As the minutes passed, and darkness fell on the woods, the metal was shining bright and pink, a soft glow that reflected off Robbie’s face as she inched closer towards it. She had half an urge to join Scruffles in trying to un-bury the thing, but instead, she reached out and touched it, a light graze with her middle finger.   That was enough. As soon as her skin touched the object, Robbie wasn’t in the woods. She was in a place filled with light, bright white light, with the under tones of pink. In this heavenly place, Robbie heard the most uplifting, calm music she had ever heard, like nothing she had heard before, it was other worldly, and made her feel small, but not unsafe. The music wrapped her up, a blanket of warmth that protected her from everything. A towering figure appeared before her in this place of peace and tranquility. The being must’ve been 10 times her height, a giant. A tiny part of Robbie told her to get away, run before she was in the being’s clutches, but more of her kept her planted, as she reached her hands up, wanting to be picked up and cradled by whatever it was.   The sun disappeared, as Robbie came to, her swallow breathing and sounds of Scruffles digging replacing the soft music as she left the fantasy. The pink light glowed over her, and Robbie wanted to grab it again, only for a sharp pain on her thumb knock her out of it. She looked down, seeing her fist pressed against her lips, her front teeth digging into her thumb, she spat it out, though she couldn’t see the red in the pink glow, her tongue tasted the metallic flavor of blood, it and the spit running down her wrist, glancing down at it, she found her trousers dark, soaked and smelling of pee that she couldn’t remember releasing. Before she could get sucked back into the fantasy again, even though it called to her, she grabbed Scruffles and pulled him away, whining and pawing at the air, wanting to dig at the earth again.   Robbie fled the growth, though she wanted to go back and hear the music again, to see what the giant could offer her, to feel the warm pink glow light up her skin again, the pink fading into the dark as she ran through the woods as quickly as she could while carrying Scruffles.   The memory of that heavenly place didn’t disappear when Robbie burst into her cabin, dropping Scruffles as she shut the door. She was stuck in a haze, half way between reality and the dream. Gasping, she passed by her desk, her computer lighting up when she tripped on her office chair, pushing into the table, the word document forgotten. She went into the bathroom, falling into the bathtub, turning on the shower, blasting her with cold water, giving her just enough composure to turn on the hot water. The music kept playing in her mind, telling her to run back.   Robbie laid back in the tub, staying there till the water ran cold again and a little after until the uncomfortable feeling shook her out of her stupor, and she managed to get up right, in heavy, wet clothing that she shed after shutting off the water. With the faucet stopped, she could hear the whining and scratching at the front door. “Scruffles?” She said in a hoarse whisper, like it had never been used. “Scruffles?” She said again, hushed, experimenting, it was like relearning how to talk, or possibly, forgetting.   She came out of the bathroom, dripping and naked like a newborn, giving the crying dog a forlorn look before she wandered into her bedroom, the only thing on her mind the pink object in the woods and the giant. Crawling into bed, she managed to swaddle herself in her comforter, if only to keep her from running out the door and back to that clearing in the grove. Wracked with fear, she tried to shut her eyes, to let sleep and peace over take her, but it was impossible. Her eyes opened, peering at the nightstand, where her phone lay, charger connecting to it like an umbilical.   In the dark room, Robbie reached out to like a lifeline, fearing if she didn’t distract herself, she’d do something dangerous, something regrettable. Her face lit up with the soft blue glow of the phone, inviting some semblance of normalcy. A welcomed anchor. She went into her text messages, and went to the top message, and only one that was a real person and not just a confirmation of a payment or a text telling her a company had a late bill. Tapping into the message, she hit the call button, and listened to it the dial tone ring.   Brrrrng… Brrrrng… Brrrrng… Brrrrng… Brrrrng… Beep…   “Please leave a voice mail for…”   “Tim?” Robbie said in a shaky voice. “Please, pick up,” She took in a breath. “I- Scruffles found something in the woods- Please, I really need you. Please… Come get me…” The phone was pressed against the side of her face, her thumb making small movements towards her mouth. “Please,” Begging in her voice. “I don’t want to be alone…” The image of the giant lingered in her mind.   The phone dropped out of her hands. She stared at the dark rectangle, exhaustion eventually making itself known to her body, as she fells asleep.   Little Robbie played on the floor in her childhood home, the TV playing Barney, a dolly in her hand, she could hear her Mom talking on the phone behind her. She didn’t need to glance over, Robbie knew her Momma had an eye on her, to keep her away from mischief. The world blinked, and Robbie was floating in the pink space, her pee soaked jeans clinging to her legs and loin, ripped collared shirt messy and coming undone. Then she was back home, in a green sundress, a diaper peeking underneath and dolly in hand, she felt someone picked her up, and she turned around to see her Momma. Whipping around, she was back in the void, the giant holding her. The scene vanished before she could look up at the giant’s face, and she was in a room made of chrome, blinking lights all around her. She saw two figures standing before the giant in shadow, though they were all the same size, Robbie knew it was the giant. The figures stood tall, taller than Robbie, their skin wrinkled and blue, their face was humanoid, a mouth, a nose, but four eyes under two antenna, they had no ears, standing in silver robes.   The metal on the walls began to glow pink, the same pink Robbie had seen in the woods. The world flashed, and she saw where the figures stood, now two blue blobs crawled out of the robes, caterwauling. The giant looked at them, then looked at Robbie, and began to walk towards her, the world around her rumbled and shook.   The dream drifted away just as the giant crouched to pick her up. Robbie was in a different, yet similar room to the last, chrome, lights blinking around her. The blue people, of all different sizes sat in a ring around her. They whispered, only not from their mouths, but through their antenna. Nothing discernible came from the words, only thoughts and feelings. Slowly, after what felt like an eternity, the thoughts began to take shape, an understanding began to dawn to Robbie. She saw things that should’ve been impossible. Energy behaving in ways it shouldn’t, ways to make things into different things, a tree growing from an acorn and then reverting back into an acorn. Time was circular, but in a straight line, a railroad that went from one point but could be reversed.   The blue people faded, and she was back with the giant. Robbie knew now, she was but a child, but ready to learn.             Tim pulled into the dirt driveway up to his friend Robbie’s cabin just a little while before noon. It had been awhile since he had gone up to her place, he had become something of a shut-in since his accident, a few months ago. He parked next to the yellow jeep in front of the hill to the cabin he used to spend countless nights at, back when they were together, together. The nights blurred together, after awhile, when deadlines were far away, he and Robbie would binge on whiskey and wine together, have wild evenings together into mornings filled with pain that could only be fixed with liquid aspirin.   He could still see the look on her face, when she cried that rainy morning, in her messy living room staring at the empty bottle she had spilled on herself, still drunk from the last night, a revelation of being on the brink of despair. Robbie had kicked him out, for awhile, breaking up with him, and the bottle. They hadn’t spoken for awhile after that, but eventually, she invited him back to her life, as long as he didn’t bring any drinks with him. It was slow going, after that, getting their friendship back on track, but they put the work in, and besides, Tim knew that Robbie didn’t have many others to rely on, and did his best to keep his word to not drink in front of her, though, some times, during long evenings when they would chat about writing and their lives, she knew what he was really doing when he went out to his car for a ‘smoke’. Robbie was always kind enough not to mention it, though he saw the look of concern on her face when he came back with his throat burning from the flask in his glove box.   It was never easy to stay away from his mistress, liquor, but the last few months it had become impossible. He was out on the slopes, with some friends, up on the mountain one morning, a few crushed cans of beer around their camp, when Tim had put on his skis, head ringing from his buzz, nobody was paying any attention when he went down the slope, he supposed no one thought much of it when he didn’t come back the first hour, or the hour after that, but eventually, they found him, where he had tripped and fell, his face busted on the boulder painted red.   His hand went up to the scar on the side of his head, his fingers idling at the spot where the surgeons had cut into to remove the cracked bones, replacing it with a sheet of metal. Robbie had apparently spent awhile with him in the hospital, though he only vaguely remembered seeing her when he woke and saw her, he didn’t remember what they talked about, still coming down on the anesthesia. Tim was pretty sure he was happy to see her, though he didn’t see her at the hospital again after that.   There was a call coming from his glove box, where his flask laid. The thirst nearly over took his reasoning, before the words he heard on his voicemail came back to him. No, Tim couldn’t partake right now, not after hearing Robbie pleading for him to come. She had sounded so lost, so small, asking him to pick her up. He felt stressed, and guilty, knowing he was too caught up with drinking to even know his phone was ringing.   With a sigh, he forced himself out of the car, and began to make his way up the hill to the cabin. Tim had half expected Robbie to be waiting for him outside, or at least meet him when she heard the car pull up to the make shift dirt driveway. He once tried to convince Robbie to let him put steps in, though she didn’t like the idea of him putting in the work for free, even when they were dating, she didn’t like being indebted. Neither of them made a lot of money with their work, her fantasy romance sold well enough to get by, and his mystery stories usually made enough for bills and booze, but neither had ever made it big enough to get a large enough savings for projects on a whim.   The wooden door had never felt so foreboding, even the first time he walked up to it after the break up. He was worried what he might find on the other side. He tapped on it a few times, his concern growing to new heights when he didn’t hear Scruffles bark to greet him. “Robbie!” He called out, when she didn’t answer, he walked through the door. He had feared the worst, but what he saw only left him baffled.   Strewn around the front of the one room cabin, were shopping bags every where. Completely random things, he saw, computer parts and wires in one bag, bundles of clothes in another, things like gardening trowel and hammers. “Robbie?” He called out again. “Scruffles?” He looked down, and picked up a package out of a bag. Pacifiers? Tim thought, what the Hell is going on? There was a commotion coming from outside, Tim rushed to it.   Robbie walked out of the woods, rolling a new, but dirty wheelbarrow, a shovel and ax inside. “Robbie!” Tim called out to her.   “Timmy!” He had never seen her face smile that hard and she dropped her shovel and came running at him, grabbing him in a hug that was too tight. He had been expecting something horrible, but instead it was down right bizarre. His former lover, though never concerned too much with her appearance, usually kept herself put together well, dressing like a cross between a school teacher and park ranger, as Tim thought of it, lots of sturdy pants and collared shirts, shaped flatteringly, yet modest in how practical they were. Grinning like a loon, Robbie hugged him in pink denim overalls, a green t-shirt under that, a smiling cartoon flower plastered just below the bib, and ruffled, poofy sleeves, patches of dirt everywhere. With her hair in pigtails, Tim’s ex looked like an overgrown toddler.   “Ronnie?” He began hesitantly. “What’s going on?”   “It’s super cool! Come on! I gotta show you!” Ronnie turned around tugging Tim towards the woods, her voice hyper and eager. “It’s the most incredible thing you ever saw, it’s going to be the biggest thing ever! Come on! Come on! It’s down here!”   “Wait!” Ronnie turned around, eyes big from his harsh tone. “Slow down. I get the weirdest call from you last night, telling me to rush out here to get you, I was expecting cops or an ambulance with how strange you sounded, but I find you…” He wanted to say looking like a kid coming out of a sandbox. “Looking like you just buried a body in the woods!”   “Not burying, digging up! Me and Scruffles been digging it up all morning! Since I got back from town. Oh! That reminds me…” She rushes inside and grabs a water bottle from the fridge, a bewildered Tim trailing behind her. He watches as she chugs down the whole bottle, before his eyes go down, and he picks up what he finds.   “Umm, do you… Have a baby around?” He asks, holding up a bottle with a nipple on it.   She shakes her head, her pigtails swishing back and forth. “Noooo.” Her smile never leaving her face, Tim was beginning to wonder if she fell off the wagon, or worse. “I gotta show you! It’s faster that way!”   Robbie begins to go bounding out the door, when Tim stops her, “You know your boots are untied, right?”   She reflexively leaned down to the dirt encrusted boots to tie them, only to frown and stare at them, “That’s stupid. I gotta show you it!”   Tim puts a hand on her shoulder and stops her. “I’m not going to go running through the woods with you while your shoes are untied you’re going to trip and…” He feels self conscious suddenly about the scar on the side of his head, his red hair may have grown back, still, though, he feels like its the most noticeable thing in the world. “…Hurt yourself.” As he got to his knee, Tim could’ve sworn he smelled a hint of ammonia, like someone had been wetting herself.   Down on his knee like this, Tim thought of a time when he had planned on proposing to Robbie, only for those dreams to go down the drain, due to his mistakes. “I umm-” He tried to think of what to say, as Robbie fidgeted with a nervous energy. “Have you been drinking, again?”   “No,” Robbie said resoundingly, before adding in a quiet voice, much more like her usual self, “Have you?” That was the Robbie Tim had known and loved, the voice of a woman matured beyond her years, concerned for him.   “No.”   Robbie didn’t say anything else, as Tim tied her laces for her, and when he glanced up, he saw her sucking a finger, thoughtfully as she looked at his head. She gave him a smile when she saw him look up at her, patting his head. “Thanks! Can we go now?”   “Yeah, I guess. Show me what you’re so excited for.” Robbie nodded enthusiastically, taking his hand and pulling him towards the tree line. He looked around, listening for the pitter-patter of paws in the woods. “Where’s Scruffles?”   “He’s at the ship.”   “What? Ship, what are you talking about?”   “I toooold you! It’s better if you just saw it yourself. You won’t believe me if you don’t see it.” She said as she pulled him through the woods. He could’ve sworn he heard the distinct sounds of crinkling when her legs went up and down. They came to a path of freshly cut greenery, in the distance, he could hear the sounds of dirt moving.   Scruffles was busy, paws sending earth flying behind him. Tim could see a bowl of water and food next to him, untouched. “Hi Scruffles!” Robbie came running over to him, pulling Tim along. She gave him a pat as he panted. Tim could see now what all the excitement was about. Scruffles was making a large hole bigger, coming out of the center of it was a weird, pink metal, rounded at the tip.   Robbie gave Tim an expectant look, to him then at the metal and back again. “Isn’t it amazing?”   “Umm, sure?” Robbie gave him an odd look at his reaction.   “You.. You’re not doing it right,” She took his hand and pressed it against the metal. The pink glow was warm under his hand, absently, he wondered if it was radioactive. “There! See? It’s incredible!”   He did feel a strange buzzing, he could only describe it as white noise in his brain. “I guess?” Tim said hesitantly.   Robbie looked worried, this wasn’t the elated reaction she was expecting, her lips quivering with stress. “Hey, hey, hey,” Tim pulled her into a hug. “Don’t cry, just tell me what’s going on.”   She swallowed a cry, silent for a moment, “It’s a space ship. They told me.”   “Ok…” Tim said, not believing, or understanding. “’They’?”   She nodded. “They told me, their memories, it’s in the ship. It crashed here, a long, long time ago. Before people.” Her eyes were wistful. “They could do so much, they knew how to make things out of nothing, like magic, and they could make things go backwards.”   Tim could only pretend to get it. “Ok, then why…” He gestured towards the growing hole and dog.   “The stuff inside, it’s amazing! I have to get inside.” She said, petting Scruffles. “He has to, too, don’t you puppy dog?” Tim looked at Scruffles, really looking at him. He had known him for many years now, but this was the first time he really saw him so energetic. He really was like a puppy dog.   “So this thing is why you’re acting…” Tim’s words failed him, he wanted to say crazy, or childish, obsessive, but instead, out of wanting to appear kind, he just let the hang in the air.   “I… I gotta see inside…” Robbie looked down at the pink metal jutting out of the ground, and leaned down and touched it. Her eyes went cloudy, the whites of her eyes gaining a pinkish hue. A giggle escaped her lips, higher than anything Tim had ever heard from Robbie before. In front of him, Robbie’s overalls darkened, yet a her smile only grew bigger.   “Robbie! Robbie!” He grabbed her shoulder and shook her. With a start, she jumped at his touch, and whimpered.   “Robbie? What the Hell was that?! You were in like a trance or something!”   Robbie looked down and poked her crotch, Tim could definitely hear the crinkle now as more of the pink denim grew darker. She looked up at Tim with a pout, saying with a quiet voice, “I leaked…” Chapter 2 Robbie was stuck between a state of embarrassment and feeling stupid. She new she should’ve brought a change with her, then again, getting dressed was hard enough earlier. The diaper around her hips, currently dripping its excess down her legs, took her a good 10 minutes to get on, readjusting the tapes a dozen times before it was as right as she had the patience to give the project, and that was when she had a nice bed to lay on while she worked on it. Note to self, Robbie told herself, get a changing mat, and maybe something soft to lay on while she was outside. There were camping beds, right? Or maybe a sleeping bag. Ohhh, she thought to herself, then she could sleep next to the ship!       “What do you mean you leaked?”       She looked up at Tim, “My diapie leaked. I know, I’m stupid, I didn’t bring a change!”       “Your d-’diapie’? Your ‘diaper’?!” Robbie was beginning to get irritated, rolling her eyes. “Since when do you wear diapers?”       “Uhh, since this morning, I guess? It’s not a big deal, it’s just really convenient!” She lied to both of them. Honestly, Robbie couldn’t really say why she woke up today and decided she needed the diapers, or her new wardrobe that she couldn’t really afford, or the other paraphernalia. Robbie needed them, it was a necessity, and that was all there was to it. The fact that it reinforced her new mental image of herself was little more than a coincidence.       Today, waking up in the soaked comforter she had managed to swaddle herself in after her shower, Robbie had many revelations, too many, she couldn’t keep all the thoughts in her head straight. Two, though, had made themselves apparent. One, the ship she had found had to be unearthed, had to be shown to everyone, and the second, and possibly more important, she was just a baby inside. Robbie wasn’t sure how she could’ve ever missed that fact. It was glaringly obvious now, of course she was just a little girl playing pretend grown up, she wished somebody had reached out and told her before it had gotten this far. That morning was such a confusing time for her, now that she knew the truth, it was so hard to balance responsibilities! She had to get dressed all by herself, feed Scruffles and herself, then had to drive to get all the stuff she was missing, that was the most nervous she had ever been on the road, even when she was first learning how to drive, and then on top of that, Robbie had to go around and do all that confusing shopping stuff all alone! If it weren’t for the ship, Robbie would’ve take a nap as soon as she had gotten padded, she was that mentally exhausted by the end.       Tim gave the pink object a fearful look, one that Robbie didn’t like. He was being so weird about all this. He should’ve gotten the same revelation she had, she was positive about that. Maybe he was going overboard on the drinking, again. Would alcohol affect something like this? She wasn’t sure. “Robbie, honey…” Tim had a sweet tone on now, and Robbie smiled up at him as he offered her a hand to help her up. “Let’s go back to your place and get you cleaned up.” He said slowly.       “Ok,” she said, tempted to ask him to carry her, thinking better of it when she saw Scruffles still pawing at the dirt. “But you gotta carry the puppy.”       “Yea, fine,” he agreed quickly, just wanting to get Robbie away from that thing as quickly as he could, picking up the dog that whined and struggled to get out of his arms, eager to get back to his work, thrashing and scratching the man.       At first, Tim was a good few steps ahead of Robbie, as she toddled behind, regretting her decisions. After a little while, Tim looked back at Robbie, who grinned at him and gave him a wave in her soaked overalls stopped and told her to walk in front of him. She was happy with the arrangement, feeling more secured with a watchful eye on her.       The cabin came into view not long after, Tim keeping a close eye on Robbie as she waddled and tripped on her way on the branches and bushes on the way, worried yet glad that he came out here. He didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if she was left on her own all day.       As soon as they were through the door, Robbie started to undo the buttons on her overalls, and let the outfit fall to her ankles. While at one point, Tim and Robbie were close enough to see all of each other’s bodies, he couldn’t help but feel awkward at this sight. His ex, not caring that she was stripping in front of him and not even thinking to take off her boots. The loose, sagging diaper on her practically fell by its own weight without the overalls to support it, sliding down Robbie’s thin thighs, leaving her pale ass on full display. Robbie groaned as she leaned down and tried to take off her boots, Tim dropped Scruffles on the floor who immediately went over to the door and started pawing at it, leaving the man to grab Robbie just as she nearly tripped on her own feet. With gentle hands around her hips, he lowered her to the ground and helped her pull off the boots, overalls, and the soggy diaper.       “Thanks!” Tim was taken aback by Robbie’s lack of humility, proudly strutting around her home with pee soaked loins like it was a natural part of her day. When she pulled out a fresh, white diaper and laid down on the couch to pull it on to herself, already pulling the tapes away to secure it on to herself.       “Umm, I don’t know how this usually works, but don’t you need to clean yourself first?”       Robbie looked down and gave her thumb a bite. “Hmm, I don’t know…”       “Yeah, you’ll make yourself sore if you don’t clean thoroughly.”       “Oh, that doesn’t matter!”   Tim sighed. “Yes, yes it does. You’ll be complaining soon if you get red and scratchy. Fine, here.” He pulled himself over her and lifted the diaper away and laid Robbie bare. The first thing he noticed was how sparse her pubic hair was. He had always known her to be au naturale, letting her coarse hair around her mound to grow freely, but now, it was thin, wispy, and he noticed neveral light hairs at the bottom of her previous diaper, then noticed her head was looking the same too, her lush, luxurious hair wasn’t quite as full as it should be, but that was a problem to be addressed later, for now, he went through the bags, figuring Robbie had gone through and grabbed more than just diapers for her inevitable changes, and he was right, finding wipes, powder, and lotion.       Robbie squealed and smiled during her diaper change, delighted in how much better it was to be changed then changing oneself. She was grinning like a fool as Tim wiped her clean, even as he grimaced when he saw the remaining hair came off with the wipe. He shook his head and started rubbing the lotion on to her, and Robbie purred like a kitten. “More!” She said delighted with the cloud of powder in the air, “More!” She demanded. Tim just shook his head, clearly not enjoying his role in this game. Finally, he taped her up, and Robbie put her hands up, wanting to be helped up, Tim did as he was demanded, and she sat up.       The woman shook her padded rear, and gave it a playful smack, filling the air with the sweet smelling powder. “Wow! This is way better than doing it myself! Thanks, Tim!” She lifted herself up on her tippy toes and gave his cheek a kiss he was sure she didn’t mean to be so wet.       “Don’t mention it,” He said, wiping his cheek with a sleeve. Tim meant it to, he could really use a nip outside for a ‘smoke’ after that traumatizing experience.       “Oh! I got other stuff to show you!”       “Umm, don’t you want to get dressed?”       She looked down at herself, shirt, diaper, socks, and shook her head. “No? What else do I need to put on?” He shrugged, assuming she wouldn’t understand at this point. She turned towards her shopping bags, producing some computer parts, a light bulb, wire, and a screw driver, beginning to fiddle with them.       While she did her project, Tim really observed her. While she was the skinny sort, the kind of girl who could eat a lot and never put on the pounds, she definitely was smaller, her hips were girlish, her breasts smaller, not by a lot, anyone who only ever seen her dressed probably wouldn’t notice, but Tim had a more intimate familiarity with that part of his ex’s body.       “When was the last time you ate?”       “I had breakfast!” Robbie replied while fiddling with the wires connected to the bulb.       “Alright…” Tim still went through her kitchen, looking for something. “Robbie?”       “Yeah?”       Tim chose his words carefully. “I think you should tell someone else about this.”       “Yeah, silly! I’m gonna tell everyone about the ship!”       “No, I mean, like tell the government about this, or something. Get away from this thing, it’s doing things to you.”       “But I don’t want to!” Her voice was raised, getting irritated. “The ship makes me feel good, and I like it a lot.” She sounded like she was on verge of a tantrum.       “Robbie, look at yourself! This thing isn’t good for you, and you’ve only been around it for a few hours.”       Robbie spun around towards Tim, her eyes watering and lip quivering. “Then just leave! I don’t need you around if you’re just gonna be a butt!”       Tim considered that for a moment, then thought about how irresponsible he’d be if he really just left Robbie to her own devices. Sighing, he said, “Alright, fine, I won’t tell anyone.”       Sniffling, “And you’ll help me dig?”       “I don’t remember saying anything like that.”       Defiantly Robbie added, “Then leave.”       “Jeez, yes fine, I’ll help you with your dig.” He groaned, what had Robbie gotten the two of them into.       “Aaaaand, tada!” Her previous mood faded away, showed the bulb wrapped around with the wires.       “Ahhh, neat?” Tim said, unimpressed.       Robbie gave him a little laugh, “I gotta turn it on, heehee.” She flipped on a switch and a glowing orb appeared above the bulb, it rapidly changed shapes to form a head, and then it opened its mouth.       “Hello, Tim.” It said in a robotic voice.       “What the- How’s it talking?”       “The light emitted from the bulb can also cause vibrations through the air, letting it speak. Pretty neat, huh?”       The head agreed, “Pretty neat.”       “It can talk?”       “Yup! It can think too, and do all sorts of computations. Computers take up a lot of space that can be used for other stuff, like cribs and toys, so why not just keep them in light?”       “That… Makes no sense.”       “Well, not to you.”       “And, just how do you know how to do all this?”       “The ship told me.” Robbie folded her arms, a smug look on her face. “It knows exactly how to teach babies like me the bestest kinds of ways.”       Tim took a seat on an armchair and rubbed his temples. “This is crazy. Robbie, you’re not a baby, you’re a grown woman!”       Robbie shook her diaper bum again, “Do I look like a grown woman, or am I justa widdle girl?” She jumped on to Tim’s lap and gave him a hug, “Stop looking so gwumpy! It’s cute and I’m now super smart! The ship told me how to do lots of stuff like that!”       “This is just…” He held his tongue, not wanting to upset Robbie again and have her insist he leave. “Alright, let’s just… Get this over with. I’ll help you with your dig.” Anything to get this done and over with, he added silently.       “Thanks Timmy!” Robbie wrapped her arms around Tim’s shoulders and hugged him before roughly jumping off his lap and rushing towards the door.       “Wait, wait, where are you going?”       “To the ship! We gotta go, before it gets dark and scary.”       Tim points at her. “Don’t you think you should get dressed first?”       “Huh? Why?” She looks down at her shirt, socks and diaper, not seeing the problem.       Tim shook his head. “Put on some pants and shoes. Do you have your backpack- oh here it is.”       Robbie gasped excitedly. “Are you packing me a diaper bag?”       “Could you not call it that? Please.” Robbie stuck her tongue out. “Just- Go get dressed.”       Robbie hurried along, going through her wardrobe in her room, unable to find anything that suited her current state of mind. She wanted something cute, girly, not these stupid jeans and cargo pants, where’s something flowery? She did some cute clothes earlier, but a lot of the shorts she got wouldn’t fit well over her thick butt. Robbie wished she hadn’t leaked on her overalls, those had been surprisingly perfect. Maybe tomorrow Timmy could help her shop some more. Ohhh, maybe she could find a onesie? In the meantime, Robbie settled for a flowey pink dress.       “How do I look?” Robbie went out of her room and posed for Tim, doing a twirl.       “Adorable,” He said dryly, finishing packing the bag with water, snacks, and a change.       “Oh! Can you bring one of my baby bottles? Pweeeease?”       Tim just nodded, already seeing the rest of the day was going to be long, following behind Robbie and Scruffles as they go trouncing through the woods, towards the ship they would spend the rest of the day digging.                       A few miles away from Robbie’s cabin, closer to the town of Kingswood, Holly Jackson was working on her schoolwork, rubbing her aching jaw. She hated her braces, always got made fun of it in school, and despised the way her reflection in the mirror. Holly and her Mom had spent an entire day at the dentists earlier just to get the stupid things tightened. She could only count the days until they were finally were pulled off.       In the other room, she could hear her Mom and older sister arguing about something. Ever since Carly had come home from college, they constantly argued. Holly didn’t need an excuse to hide away in her room, but avoiding her family was certainly a perk.       “It’s my dolly, Mom, get your own!”       “Well I bought it so nyeah!”       Holly looked up from her textbook. What was going on out there? She poked her head out, seeing her Mom and sister playing tug of war in the living room with a stuffed doll Holly didn’t even know her sister still had. “Mom, Carly, what are you two doing?”       With the distraction, Mom had snatched the doll out of Carly’s hands and ran away, Carly began sobbing and chased after her. “Moooom!” She whined. “Give it baaaack!”       Holly grabbed Carly’s shoulder and gave her a bewildered expression while their Mom sprinted through the house. “Carly, why are you two fighting over a stupid toy? Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, trying to get Mom to give you her credit card or something?”       Carly gasped, “You’re right! If I took Mom’s money, I could just buy new toys! Thanks, Sissy!” And ran off to grab her Mom’s purse. After a moment, Holly heard, “Moooom, I got your puuurse!”       “Hey! That’s mine!”       Holly, still completely confused, retreated back to her room, pulled on her headphones, and tried to ignore the insanity happening beyond her door’s threshold.                   Jeremy Copper was smoking his cigar on the porch, as he usually did, thinking of the past. Of his time in the war, when he got blasted by a shell and needed to get a metal plate in his head that got too cold. Of his early marriage, and how lost he felt without his wife in his life. When his grand daughter was young, and would sit on his knee and beg him to tell her stories.       That grand daughter, Jenny, was inside right now, sure to him that his daughter made her come out here to spend time with her old grampy, before it was too late, or maybe just because she knew old Jeremy needed the company these days. Not that the girl had spent much time with him. 19 years old and she had no time for her grampy any more. Since coming out here 2 weeks ago, she spent more time on her phone or out in town looking for anything to do. Good luck with that, he grumbled to himself, he knew there wasn’t anything to do in this small, backwoods town, that’s why he moved out here after Gretchen passed. Just a quiet place to stay during his twilight years. Maybe that’s why Hannah had sent Jenny out here, keep her out of trouble.       “Grampy?” A quiet voice called from inside. It was ‘grampy’ now? Jeremy chuckled to himself. The past 2 weeks its just been Grampa, and he was lucky to get that, the girl had done her level best to avoid him. Probably wanted something out of the old man.       “What is it?”       The quiet voice came back, “Can you come here, please?”       “Give me a second.” He knocked the reds out of his cigar and gathered himself. It wasn’t always easy for him to get out of his chair these days.       When Jeremy finally got inside, he noticed no light in the kitchen or the living room, no sounds of television or videos from a phone or anything, it was just silence and darkness. He checked the clock ticking away on the wall. 9 pm. Too early for lights out for the young woman. He groaned as he walked upstairs and towards the spare bedroom. He opened it up, and was surprised to see his grand daughter in a flowery pink nightie that used to belong to his late wife, room lit up by an old nightlight that hasn’t been used since Jenny was 5. “Where’d you dig up that old thing?”       Jenny’s face, free of makeup and piercings that usually covered her pretty face, lit up. “I was looking through some boxes in the basement, and found it. It smells like Meemee.” She gave the lace collar a sniff and smiled. “And, its cute.” She gave the old man a little curtsy in it.       “Oh? Feeling a little nostalgic, tonight?”       “I suppose. And look!” Jenny took a weathered, aged gray bunny rabbit from the bedspread and showed it to Jeremy. “I found Hoppers!”       Jeremy chuckled. “Looks like you did, I remember when your Grandma-”       “Meemee.” She corrected in a gentle voice.       He hadn’t heard Jenny call Gretchen that in a long time. It did his old heart some good, hearing his grand kid go down memory lane. “-Your Meemee made that for you. She heard your Ma was having you and she sewed Hopper up for days.” She gave the stuffed animal a hug and sat down on the bed. “You missing her tonight?” Jenny gave him a tiny nod, looking at the toy sadly. “I miss her a lot, too.” He walked over and gave the girl a hug, which she eagerly returned. A little too eagerly. “Hey, hey! A little more gentle, this stallions getting on in years!”       She looked up at him and gave him a wicked grin, tightening her grip on him. “This is nice,” Jeremy said, giving her forehead a kiss. “Did you need anything else, Jenny?”       “I want a story.”       “What?”       “A story.” She said slowly, like he was hard of hearing, which he was, some times, but he simply didn’t understand her request. “Tuck me in and tell me a story.”       “Aren’t you a bit old for something like that?” Vehemently, she shook her head, her ponytail swishing her brown hair she’d inherited from her Ma and Grandma. “Alright, get in bed.” Jenny giggled a bit, and crawled into bed, her purple undies, strangely looking thick, on display for an instant, as the nightie hiked up a bit.       Old Jeremy Copper sat in bed next to his grand kid, smelling of aftershave and cigar, telling her a story he must’ve told her a hundred times when she was small, seeing her eyes light up at each turn, and then, slowly fall, eyelids getting heavy, until he was talking to himself, gave her another tiny peck, got off the bed and tucked her in, laughing quietly as he got out of bed, when something caught his eye, in the dim light of the night light. A ripped open package he hadn’t seen in years. A pack of Pull-Ups that must’ve been in the basement for over a decade, he wondered why Jenny had brought those up, too, shrugging to himself, must’ve just been in the box with the stuffed rabbit, and whispered to her, “Good night, love ya kiddo.”       And was about to shut the door when he heard a little, “Keep the door open, Grampy.”                   As old Jeremy left the door open, down the street from him, Erin Stowski was pacing back and forth, waiting for her husband by the door. When the door fiddled open, she rushed over and ripped it open, seeing Kenny Stowski on the other side, jumped into his arms, the bags in his hands rustling as he shared her embrace.       “Kenny! I was so worried!” She sniffled. “I was soooo alone! The house got all dark and scary and, and… I missed you.”       Kenny Stowski had a funny look on his face when he gave his wife a shy kiss, blushing like a schoolboy. “I missed you too. Work was so long. Do you think I should call sick tomorrow?”       Erin gave him a silent nod, pushing her face into his chest. “Mhmm.”       “Ok, Erin, I’ll stay home, and, and we can play all day!”       Erin looked up with puppy dog eyes, “You mean it?”       “Uh-huh! Look! I got us pressies!” Kenny jiggled the bags.       Gasping with excitement, really looking at the bags in his hands for the first time. “Pressies? Really?” He took a box out of the bag and passed it to her. Erin took the Barbie from his hands and looked at it, a mixture of surprise and delight on her face. “Barbie! I haven’t played with her in soooo long!” She went to work ripping the box open and freeing the toy from the package.       “Yeah, I thought you would like her. ‘Cause, y’know, I like you.”       Blushing a little, the woman looked up at the man and bit her thumb, “I like you too.”       He reached into a bag and showed her his prize. “And I got me a dino! Look, ‘rawr’!”       “Awww, he’s cute,” Erin gave the t-rex in his hands a pat on the head.       Kenny frowned at that. “Nooo, he’s not cute, he’s cool!” She nodded, eyes wide open and taking in the information like it was gospel. “I got a little excited, though,” He said, looking down at the toy, “I opened him up when I got in the car.”       “I would’ve done that with Barbie.” Erin said, understanding completely.       Looking down, Kenny smiled at the other bag in his hand. “I got other stuff too!”       “What’d you get?” Erin asked, hopping down with excitement as he pulled out a two pack of pacifiers, Erin grabbed the package and ripped it open and popped one in her mouth right away, offering the other to her husband, Kenny opened his mouth and let her put it in.       “Ahnd,” He said through the pacifier in his mouth, “I gawt thefe,” He showed her baby bottles, that she nodded approvingly at, “Ahnd thefe,” He pulled out plain white incontinence briefs.       “You got uf pullie?” Erin said, giggling, ripping off her clothes in the middle of their kitchen. “Put it on!” Kenny pulled one out of the package and offered it up for her, putting one leg in then the other. He then took off his clothes and asked her to help him, and Erin helped her husband put his diaper on.       They went to their couch, in just their diapers, playing with their new toys while watching a cartoon, Kenny, always the gentleman, let Erin pick out, even if it was a bit girly, still let the love of his life do what made her happy.       And that’s how the 53 year old Principal of Kingswood High spent her evening with her 55 year old husband, the chief of the fire department. Neither of them thinking anything strange about their childish antics, too absorbed in their play time and love.               Else where, Tim had a sleepy Robbie on his back, who babbled excitedly about what kinds of things she would make when she got back home, though Tim suspected she would be out like a light as soon as she got back to the cabin after a change, Scruffles whimpering in Tim’s arms, half asleep but still wanting to get back to his work in the woods. They wouldn’t know what that ship had done to the sleepy little town until morning. Until then, they walked back through the woods. Chapter 3 Tim woke up with muscles burning, a pounding headache like someone had been knocking at his door all night, and a snoring woman on top of him, her wet diaper pressed against his thigh and her hair leaving a carpet on his chest. Irritated, he pondered how to get Robbie off of him without starting the day with a tantrum, when, stirred by his movement, she opened her eyes and smiled up at him. Her pacifier still puttering in her mouth, she gave him a look and mumbled something.       “What?”       The pacifier fell from her mouth and she repeated herself. “Hungry.” It wasn’t a question, she wasn’t asking if he wanted some breakfast or if he would make her something. It was a statement, almost a demand, she was hungry and it was Tim’s job to do something about it. He nodded, resigning himself to his fate.       “Are you sure you don’t want to deal with that first?” He pointed down past her green shirt and towards the yellowing padding between her legs.       Robbie gave him a quizzical look, repeating herself, with a bit more urgency in her voice. “Hungry.”       Tim nodded and pushed her off of him, brushing off the hair off of him, giving his boxer shorts a grimace when he saw a wet patch on the legs where Robbie had been laying. Robbie budged a little bit, giving him just enough leeway to get up and go to the kitchen, though, much to his chagrin, he found that she was still attached to him, her arms wrapped around his waist and following. He didn’t think she was this attached when they were dating. It had been like this since they got back to the cabin last night from digging, she was glued to him by the hip, even getting into the shower with him when he went to wash the dirt off of him, which he silently relented to, as she needed to get cleaned too, both of them bringing their fair share of dirt into Robbie’s home.       “Do you want some eggs?” Tim asked the woman. She looked up at him and shook her head, and he had to wonder in that moment if she wasn’t shorter than she was yesterday, he could’ve sworn the top of her head ended at his chin, and now seemed to rest at his shoulder height. “Hmm, well I see some cereal.” He said looking through the cupboards, she looked over and saw that it was a plain brain, Robbie made an annoyed sound in her throat and shook her head. “Well, what were you thinking then?”       Robbie rested her head on Tim’s arm and mumbled, “I don’t know.” Very helpful, Tim thought.       “I guess we could go and grab some donuts or something.” Robbie grinned at that and nodded slowly.       “Alright, but you gotta get changed and dressed first, you can’t go out like that.”       She looked down at her soggy padding and dirty, crumpled shirt, giving him a confused look, “But why?”       “Because people will think you’re having a mental breakdown.” Besides the fact you are, he added quietly.       “But why?”       “Because… You’ll feel comfier in a fresh diaper and some new clothes?”       There was a playful smile on her face now, “But whyyy?”       Seeing this wasn’t going anywhere productive, Tim picked Robbie up and brought her to her bedroom, dropping her on the mattress where she lifted her legs up and played with her feet, trying to put some toes in her mouth, fortunately for Tim’s sake, she wasn’t quite limber enough for the feat. In her attempts to imitate a contortionist, Robbie let out a high whistle from her butt, and Tim shook his head. “Please don’t do that to me.” He begged, not mentally prepared for any messy accidents, not at all but certainly not first thing in the morning before he even got the chance to enjoy some coffee. A giggle and another toot was his only response.       Tim went through Robbie’s dressers, looking for anything that he deemed appropriate enough, finally setting on a denim skirt that he thought would be long enough to hide Robbie’s underwear and a long, white sleeveless shirt. He tossed it next to Robbie, who frowned at the choices and threw them away.       “Hey!”       Robbie shook her head, “Not cute enough!”       “Please, Robbie, what if we found something for you to wear for the rest of the day while we’re out?”       “Want it now!” She pounded her fists into the bedding, taking a pillow and throwing it at Tim, opening her mouth to let out a shriek.       This was getting too much for Tim, a grown woman throwing a tantrum first thing in the morning was the last thing he needed. “You have until the count of 3 to cut this out, Robbie!” He warned.       “Reeeee!”       “1…”       “-Eeeeee!”       “2…”       “You stupid, meaniehead!”       “3…” The screaming continued, intertwined with insults thrown his way, Robbie felt two hands around her ankles and she was flipped on to her front side. She managed to take in a single breath, ready to scream again when she slid towards Tim, now sitting on the side of the bed, her crotch resting on his thighs, her behind feeling the cool air as her diaper’s tapes were undone. Robbie let out another scream, and a firm palm came crashing down on her butt cheeks. She gasped in shock, looking up with a pout.       She sniffled a little bit as she glared at him. “Are we going to listen now, Robbie?” Her response was only to shriek again and pound the bottom of her fists into the bed. A resounding smack echoed through the cabin, Robbie let out a sob in response, fresh tears falling down her cheeks, and the palm came down again, and again, Robbie’s backside becoming red, the sobs interrupted with more screams, and the spanking continued.       “Are you going to be a big girl and get dressed?”       “You just mean!” She flipped her head around and spit on him, Tim shook his head and smacked her ass again, looking down to see Robbie peeing, the urine dripping down the open diaper and on to the floor. Tim gave her a harder smack, beginning to feel bad, but as the tantrum kept going, he saw little reason to stop.       Eventually, the screaming subsided into small hiccups, and Tim gave his ringing hand a break and let Robbie off. Free, Robbie ran into a corner of the room, her diaper discarded on the floor, and cried into the corner, rubbing her red bottom. “Robbie…” Tim began. “I’m sorry I had to do that, it’s just…” Tim didn’t know how to continue that sentence, this whole surreal experience had him at a loss for words. Tim let Robbie have her moment of feeling bad for herself, before he called out for her again. “Robbie.”       She looked back at him, her face full of hurt, ready to be angry at him, but something inside of her needed him. Robbie ran over to Tim and jumped into his lap and hugged him, crying into his chest, letting him comfort her, running his fingers into her thinning hair while saying, “Shh, shh, it’s ok, it’s all going to be ok.”       A little more sniffling, before Robbie muttered something into his shirt. “What was that, honey?”       She paused from soaking his shirt with tears and snot, quietly saying, “I’m sorry.”       “I’m sorry, too. Are you ready to get dressed now?” She nodded, letting him lay her back down, wincing a little as her butt rubbed against the blanket and had her weight put on it. Tim’s first order of business was getting a new diaper under the girl, wiping her down, and putting some lotion on her, rubbing some on to the bruised spots. Robbie even let herself have a little giggle as she let out another fart, the smell covered up by the cloud of baby powder, and finished taping her up. With that task done, he helped her up and had her shed her dirty green shirt and replaced it with the long, white one, letting her put her hands on his shoulders for balance as he shimmied the skirt up to her waist.       Robbie frowned at the outfit she was wearing, the shirt covering up half the skirt, and the hemline falling low enough to hide her padding. “I look like a big girl.” She pouted.       Tim sighed, about to tell her she was a big girl, but stopped himself, just in time to prevent another argument. “You’re still very baby, sweetheart.” He told the girl, though, thankfully, in her old clothes she looked very much like her old self, even if they were quite a bit baggier than they should’ve been.       The little white lie was enough to placate her for the moment, and she nodded satisfied. “Do you want a bottle before we leave?” She thought about it for a second, before nodding, and, without asking, grabbed Tim’s hand with both of hers and let him lead her out of the room, crinkling along the way.       While Tim prepared a bottle of milk for Robbie, she fiddled with some of the computer parts she had gotten the previous day, “Can we bring Scruffles?” Tim glanced over towards the door, where the dog whined and scratched on it.       “Yeah, we can. Maybe he’ll let himself eat if he’s away from that thing for a bit.”       “Yaaay!”.       Tim went over to Robbie and gave her the bottle, she looked up expectantly at him. “Hold it for me.”       “No, be a good girl and drink it by yourself, I need to get changed.” She frowned again, but took the bottle without another word. Tim shooed the dog away from the door, who tried to rush through the opening as soon as he could, Tim only barely managing to get out without a runaway.       Tim sighed and shook his head as he made his way down the hill towards his car. This was nothing what he was expecting. How could he? It wasn’t exactly a common occurrence to find an alien space ship that made people babies. He wish he could justify it some kind of way, say that Robbie had just became crazy and that this was all in her head, but no, the way the dog acted told him there was some truth in this insane story.       He opened the back of his car, finding his bug out bag, grabbing a pair of shorts, a shirt, and some fresh boxers, thankful for the trees hiding his indecency. The door was just about closed, when he eyed the glove box, and his mouth was suddenly incredibly dry. Maybe just a little swig would help him get through the morning… But no, he shook the thought away. He had to be sober to take care of Robbie, and made his way back to the cabin.       Tim found Robbie, her legs splayed out and letting her skirt ride up to show what laid underneath, one hand with her bottle in hand, and the other messing with cords. He held Scruffles back as he walked back in, sighing as he took the empty bottle out of Robbie’s mouth that she was still sucking on. “Hey!”       “Hush, I’m not ready to burp you. Go get your bag, I’ll grab some stuff for Scruffles.”       “Grab my diaper bag?”       He sighed, “Yes, your diaper bag.”       “Ok!”       He grabbed a couple of bowls, one for water, the other a tupperware full of dog food, and waited while he listened in on the other room, where he could hear the sounds of commotion. He poked his head where he saw Robbie stuffing her backpack full of diapers, change of outfits, and a stuffed monkey he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before. “You know we’re going to be out for just a few hours, right?”       “Yeah, well, I just wanna be prepared.”       “How about, just a few diapers and your monkey, we were going to look for new outfits for you anyway.”       Robbie took out a shirt with angel wings and cocked her head at it, before tossing it aside. “Okay!” She said. “Scruffles! Get your jacket, we’re going out!” She called out to the pooch, slinging her bag over and a shoulder and skipping past Tim. Scruffles gave Robbie a confused look before scratching at the door again. “That’s right!” Robbie told the dog with a high pitched, excited tone, “We’re going out!” She took a leash off a hook by the door and hooked it on to his collar.       “Sweetie, maybe I should hold on to the dog.”       She stuck a tongue out at Tim, “I got him! He’s my puppy!” She said possessively. He shrugged, standing next to her ready to grab the leash with one hand, the other with the bag full of Scruffles’ food and dishes. As soon as the door was open the dog rushed towards the backyard, towards the ship, nearly yanking the lead out of Robbie’s hand, and Tim had to jump for the handle of the leash. “Bad dog! We going to town, not dig yet!” Robbie said through gritted teeth.       Tim sighed and took the leash from Robbie, yanking her skirt down when it threatened to show off her diaper to the woods and world. She glared at him, “He’s my puppy,” She said with a pout, but didn’t offer anymore resistance when they began down the hill towards the cars. “Can I drive?” She asked him, to which he shook his head. “You’re no fun today.” Robbie complained.       “Wasn’t trying to be,” He replied gruffly.       Tim packed Scruffles and his bag into the back seat, where he saw Robbie stepping into the seat behind the driver’s. “Can you buckle me in?”       Gritting his teeth, Tim told her, “Give me a second.” Coming around the side to do it, Scruffles trying to jump past Robbie to get outside, his owner taking it as him wanting to hug. Struggling to push the dog back, he managed to get Robbie buckled in and shut the door closed.       “Wait!” Tim looked behind towards Robbie.       “Yes?”       “I forgot my paci.”       “Let’s not…” He imagined himself walking through town with Robbie clinging to his arm sucking on a pacifier. “We’re going to play a game, you’re going to pretend to be as big as you can, doesn’t that sound like fun?”       “No!”       Tim sighed, and said, “Well we’re going to play it anyway.”       Robbie gave a sound of exasperation and pushed her knees into Tim’s seat, he did his utmost best to ignore it.       The drive towards town wasn’t long, going past the trees and seeing the cabins replaced by more typical homes, soon, they were in the center of the side by side small stores, people walking on the sidewalks, though Tim couldn’t help but noticed several of the stores were closed for the day, fewer people around, and many of the folks that littered the streets were behaving strangely, grown women skipping down the side walk in hoop skirts, he even saw a couple of them playing jump rope, he saw a grown man with a graying beard running around some trees with toy plane in hand. A lump formed in the bottom of Tim’s throat as he started realizing his problem was growing.       “Hey!” Tim saw Robbie point outside in the rear view mirror. “Those boys have pacifiers, and they’re big! See? I could’ve brought mine, too!” Tim glanced towards where she was pointing and saw a group of older teens crowding around in front of a convenience store passing around a pacifier in a circle. Tim didn’t respond to that, looking around for any other worrisome signs that things were going wrong in town.       They drove past a couple of police officers parked in front of a few stores. Officer Theresa Morgan was popping open her second jar of baby food since she entered the car with her partner Vince Garrison. “How can you eat that stuff?” He asked her.       “Itsh good!” She replied through a mouthful of mush.       “I don’t believe you.”       She gave him a messy smile and pushed a spoon of goop towards him. “It’s true! Come on, just a little bite, it’s ‘nanners and strawberries!” He pursed his lips closed as she pounded the spoon at his lips. “Come ooon!” She coerced, “Here comes the choo-choo train!”       “No, sto-” She plunged the spoon into his lips, he smacked it against his tongue. “Oh, that’s good!” Vince let the baby food rest on his tongue for a minute, thinking. “Let’s go get some more!”       Theresa nodded, “See? I told you it was good! Yeah, let’s get some more! But, could you help me change first?” She poked her full diaper under her uniform. “I a bit soggy.”       Vince thought about it, before asking quietly. “Do you have a spare one for me?” The car took off seconds later.       Tim pulled in front of Kingswood Cafe and Bakery, holding on to Scruffles and helped Robbie out of the car. Her eyes were glued to the girls playing jump rope down the street. “Tim?” He looked at her, and then towards what she was looking at.       “Come on, Robbie, you want some donuts, right? Just a little breakfast.” He tried to distract her away from the question on her mind.       “I was just thinking,” Robbie continued, her thumb drawing closer to her mouth, “Maybe those girls would want to see my puppy…”       Tim didn’t want the excursion to turn into him baby sitting a bunch of grown children reliving their childhoods, and made another attempt to distract her. “That’s ok, I’m sure they all have puppies at home… Do you wanna play some games on my phone?” Her face whipped towards him and beamed. Tim took that as a yes and showed her his phone, tying up Scruffles on the metal railing on the patio, giving him his food and some water out of a bottle. Scruffles started devouring the food with much gusto.       The cafe smelled of warm bread and fresh coffee, and he smiled at the barista with some semblance of normalcy, until he saw she was playing with a wooden roller coaster, and the displays where the bread and pastries would normally be lined up were left empty. The worker looked up with a smile, the name tag on her apron reading April, she gave him a clumsy wave. “Hi! How can I help you?”       “Umm, I just wanted to get a few donuts, but I see you’re out.”       “Oh, I’m not keeping them out anymore, they get all stale and icky. What kind do you want?”       “An apple fritter and an eclair. And a small cappuccino. Where are you keeping them now?”       She glanced over towards the window and saw Robbie and Scruffles outside. “Oooh! Puppy! Can I go say hi? I got some doggie cookies for him!”       “Yeah, that’s fine, I suppose…”       April leaned down and grabbed something behind from below the till, and passed them over to Tim. “Complimentary! I made them earlier and they’re so popular, it’s great branding!” In Tim’s hands there were two lovingly embroidered, identical bibs with ‘Kingswood Cafe and Bakery’ sewed on to it, framed on a white background with yellow and brown outline with a bear in a cloth diaper and a steaming mug in its paws.       “That’s… really good. You made a bunch of them this morning? How’d you do that and…” Tim looked up and saw April playing with a shining silver machine that was on the back counter, he could now see under her apron, below her black shirt the only thing she wore below was a yellow and brown diaper with the bear and its steaming mug, identical to the bib’s design. She pressed a few buttons on the machine and the platform on the machine twinkled and a cup of coffee appeared in a mug that read Kingswood Cafe&Bakery. April passed it over to him with a smile, before turning around and making the two donuts appear on the same platform.       She saw him looking at the machine. “Isn’t it neat?” She asked, beaming proudly. “It’s my matter replicator, it can make anything you want. Lot’s of people asked me how to make them, I can give you my schematics if you want!”       “I uhh- sure.” Tim said, unsure what was going on. April thrust a coffee napkin into his hands with what looked like crayon scribbles with a roundish shape in the middle and equations in another language into his hands. He tried to make heads or tails of it while April gave him a look of pride.       “Oh! Uhh, duh! Money!” April stuck her tongue out and started counting out loud, “So that’s a cappuccino and an apple fritter and an eclair… Umm, that’s…” She held out a hand and started counting on it. “That’ll be… 3!”       “That’ll be $3?”       “Yes! Why? Do you think that’s too much?” She asked with a worried look on her face.\\       “No, no, that’s fine.” He handed her a $5 bill, April opened her cash register and passed Tim his change, a play dollar from Monopoly with the iconic monocled billionaire on it and a $10 bill. Tim was temped to correct her, but April’s pleased face told him just to accept it. He sighed and put the bills into his wallet, gathered up the pastries and coffee, the bibs and napkin under his arm and walked to the door.       “Let me get that for you!” April said excitedly, a handful of dog treats in her hand and rushed to the door. He watched as the woman held open the door, her padded rear exposed to anyone passing by on the streets without shame.       “Thanks.”       Tim walked over to Robbie, still glued to he phone and playing a game involving popping bubbles. “Oh, he’s so cute!”       Robbie looked up, ready to give an indignant cry of ownership over her pooch when her eyes lit up seeing April, bending over to give Scruffles some treats. “Ohmygosh! Your diapie is so cute!”       April looked over at Robbie, as if seeing her for the first time, proudly whipping her apron over to show off the design, on the landing ‘Kingswood Cafe and Bakery’ with steaming cups running down it as wetness indicators. “Thankyou!” She said quickly. “I made it myself!”       “You did? It’s so adorable!” April held the corners of her apron out with a thumb and forefinger holding up each side, spinning around showing off.       She nodded, before saying, “Yup! I made lots and lots of stuff. Show her the bibs!” April demanded Tim. Obligingly, Tim showed Robbie the two bibs in his hands, and she could see the napkin drawing peeking out.       “Timmy! Put it on me!” Sighing, Tim tied the bib around Robbie’s neck, and she grinned up at him, “Do I look cuuute?”       “You the cutest baby around!” April told Robbie. Robbie smiled up at her before her eyes went back to the napkin and took it from Tim.       “You made all this stuff with this?” April nodded. “That’s really smart! I can’t wait to go home and make one for me.”       April bent down and started petting Scruffles again, telling him what a good boy he was. Tim took a bite of his donut while scratching his head, feeling like he was sucked into an episode of the Twilight zone, when the barista made a grunting noise. Tim glanced up at her just as the mugs disappeared from the underside of her diaper and a lump popped out from the back side. Tim looked on in horror as this adult unabashedly filled her diaper in the bright day.       She sighed with relief, giving her rear a pat. “That’s the second time today.” She giggled. “You know how coffee goes right through you!”       Robbie nodded sagely. “It happens. Do you want Timmy to change you? He’s gotten really good at it!” Tim shot her a look of \what are you talking about, don’t volunteer me’.       April laughed again, “No thanks, one of department store workers showeded me how to make a virtual nanny and she can change me.”       “Oooh!” Robbie murmured, appreciating the idea. “Does she hold bottles for you, too?” She asked, shooting Tim a look.       “Uhh, I never thought about it, but probably. That’s a good idea, I think I’ll make a coffee baba and try it out now. It was nice chatting to you, bye bye puppy!”       Tim was left in a state of bewilderment as the barista left him and Robbie to their breakfast. Across the street, holding on to her grandpa’s hands, Jenny Copper was skipping down the sidewalk while Jeremy Copper struggled to keep up with her. After waking up, he was surprised to see his grand kid’s wave of nostalgia didn’t waver over night, he had found her in the breakfast nook in a yellow sundress he could’ve sworn she had last worn before she hit puberty, and even then, her grandma had to coerce her into wearing it, yet here she was, sitting at the table on her knees, furiously coloring pages with crayons with her tongue hanging out.       When she saw him, Jenny had leapt at him, hugging him tightly and sighing. “I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up!”       “’Course I was, kiddo. Now, what do you have all over the table.”       Jenny proudly put a drawing of him, her, and her mother drawn in stick figures in his hands. “Ohh, that’s really good, princess.”       “Yeah, it’s you, me and Mommy!” Jeremy frowned at the word ‘Mommy’, “Can you put it on the fridge? Pleeeease?” She begged.       “Umm, sure, Jen.” He sighed, putting it in between a picture of Jenny at her graduation and a picture of Gretchen and their daughter. He looked at those pictures for a second when a question was asked behind him. “Sorry, hon, what was that?”       Jenny was back on the chair on her knees, know leaning on the back of the chair, looking at him oddly. “I SAID, what was that sound you made?”       “Oh! I’m just grumbling in my old age, never you mind.”       “Oh…” Jenny turned around and started scribbling away on the pages again, before saying, “Meemee used to make weird sounds too… Before…” She didn’t need to finish the sentence for Jeremy to know exactly what she meant.       “Don’t you worry about your old Grampy. I’ll still be kicking long enough to see your own kids one day.” Jenny chuckled at that as Jeremy hugged her from behind, she reached up and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “No piercings today?” He asked, noticing the distinct lack of metal around her nose and eyebrows.       “Noooo, I thought about it but they just look silly. Besides, the holes went away.”       “What? I thought those just stayed there. Or at least, they didn’t heal over over night.       Jenny shrugged, before letting out a sigh of relief. She pulled her dress up, and Jeremy could see the smiling faces of Disney Princesses looking up at them from the Pull-Ups. “I needa change,” Jenny said with a smile, poking at the wet plush. “Grampy? Can we go out and get me diapies?”       “That’s… a little weird, kiddo.”       She did not take that well, within seconds, Jeremy watched as his adult granddaughter became a loud water sprout, tearing up and sobbing at the kitchen table. He tried several times to try and talk her out of the thought, she was a big girl and didn’t need them, people would look at her funny, what would her Ma say, but nothing got through, until he finally relented. “Fine! Fine! We’ll go after I get some coffee.”       The tears dried up and Jenny looked up at him with big eyes. “R-really?”       “Yes, fine, we’ll go to the store, just… I don’t know, get yourself cleaned up.”       Jenny jumped up from the table and ran upstairs. Jeremy shook his head, not understanding what just happened. He looked over at his cellphone, the one his daughter had gotten for him, and looked for Jenny’s Ma’s name and called it.       “Hey, Dad. What’s up?” A voice said from the other line after a few rings.       “Marisa, it’s Jenny…”       “Oh no,” The other end groaned. “What’s she gotten into now? I swear, if police are involved, just let her deal with it. I’ve told her over and over to stop doing those drugs. Damn, I was hoping being out there would settle her down…”       “No, no, it’s nothing like that, it’s more like, she’s acting weird…”       “Like what?”       “Like she’s a kid, last night she was calling me Grampy again and talking about Meemee and…”       “Awww!”       “No, just listen, she had me tell her a bed time story…”       “That sounds really cute, Dad. What’s the problem?”       “Well, I woke up to her doing crayon drawings at the table, and then she wet one of those old Pull-Ups, then had a crying fit asking to get put into diapers again. She’s really acting weird-”       jenny asked behind Jeremy’s back, “Who are you talking to?”       Jeremy looked behind his shoulder and saw Jenny peering at him from the doorway. “I’m talking to your Ma.”       “Mommy?” Jenny looked really excited. “I wanna talk to her!” She held her hand out. Jeremy set the phone to speaker mode.   “Here she is.”       “Jenny?”       “Hiiiii!” She said in a sing-song voice.       From the other side of the line, a teasing replied, “Your Grampy was telling me you were naughty and went pee-pee in your Pull-Ups.”       “Uh-huh! I wet them really good.”       “Oh…” Marisa was driving during the call, completely blindsided by how that went. “I…”       “Grampy said, umm, after he had his coffee he would take me to get diapies.” Marisa had to take the phone away from her ear to keep from going deaf from the squeal of joy coming from the other side. The seeds of doubt and concern were growing in Marisa.       “Jenny, honey, are you feeling alright? Did you hit your head?”       “Umm, my head feels funny, but like in a good way.”       “Jenny…” The voice took a hard tone, “You haven’t been doing drugs again, have you?”       “Nuh-uh! You told me only bad girls do that icky stuff, and I’m a good girl! Oh, Mommy, I was looking through boxes in the basement and I found Hopper! Do you remember him?”       “Uhm. Hmm, I don’t…”       “You don’t remember, I took him everywhere! We had a picnic with him, Grampy and Meemee, and, and, do you remember when you spilled carrot cake on him and a bunch of icky ants got on him?”       “Your toy bunny?”       “Yeah! Yes!”       “I remember now… Jenny, honey, I need to talk to Grampy alone. Can you please put him back on?”       “Ok! I love you, Mommy! When are you picking me up?”       “I love you, too, baby. I’ll come really, really soon, ok? Until then, you have to listen to Grampy, and no more crying to get your way.”       “Ok! I love you!”       “I uh love you, too.”       “I love you moooore!”       “Jenny, please put your Grandfather back on.”       “Not until you say it back.” Jenny played with her hair as she wore a devious, playful look.       “Fine, last time, I love you too, baby, now, put your Grandfather back on.” Jenny could tell Mommy wasn’t enjoying this game.       Jeremy picked the phone back up and turned off the speaker. “Do you see what I mean?”       “Yeah, that was weird. Dad, was she acting weird, like are you sure she’s not on anything?”       “She’s gone out to town a few times, but no, I don’t think she’s on anything.”       “Ok, ok,” Jeremy heard his daughter let out a long sigh. “I’m going to come out there. I don’t know, if it’s not drugs it sounds like she’s having a mental breakdown. I’ll be there tonight, and I’ll see if I can’t get her a doctor’s appointment in the morning. Until then, Dad, just do whatever makes her happy, if she’s going to act like a baby again, just get her the stupid diapers and whatever else, I’ll reimburse you when I get up there.”       “Don’t worry about that, Marisa. I’m just worried about her.”       “Yeah, me too. I gotta go, Dad, love ya.”       “Love you, too.”       And now, here on the streets of town, Jeremy could see the issue going on with Jenny was beyond her. Many of his neighbors that he had known for decades were acting like fools. Old Tracy MacDonald that Gretchen used to play bridge with was chasing after an ice cream truck with pigtails in her hair. His fishing and drinking buddy, Terry Marrow should be out at the construction sight overseeing a project, yet there he was in the sandbox at the playground digging with a plastic spade. And he could’ve sworn he had seen the High School Principal and the Chief of the Fire Department were playing in a sprinkler naked in their backyard, when he caught a glimpse of that, he had covered Jenny’s eyes rushed her along.       “Grampy, look, there’s a puppy!” Jenny pointed at the dog walking between Robbie Harris and her some times boyfriend Tim. He breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the two dressed like adults. Jeremy had known Robbie since the days she was spending all her time over at old Johnny Harris’ place. Before he could stop her, for his own shame just as much as hers, Jenny had wiggled her way out of Jeremy’s grip and ran off to see Scruffles.       “Jenny!” He hollered out for her. “You get back here!”       Robbie smiled at the girl. “I like your dress,” She complimented her as Jenny reached down to scratch the dog’s head. Robbie got a grin in exchange as Jenny did a curtsy, inadvertently showing off her training pants to the two strangers.       “Hey!” Jeremy caught up to her and yanked down the dress.       “Hi Mister Jeremy!” Robbie said to him. He blinked up at her, Jeremy hadn’t been called that by Robbie since she was small. Since she moved into her uncle’s place, it was Mr. Copper until he had told her one night at the watering hole they had known each other long enough to be on a first name basis. It was nice to have the young woman as a neighbor, she would occasionally pop on by to borrow a tool or drop off some stew that she was proud of, neither of them mentioning that she was just making excuses to pop in and check up on him.       He gave her a quick once over, seeing her looking normal, but there was something off. “Tim,” She said as she tugged on the young man’s shoulder. “I wanna dress like that.”       Tim sighed and said, “We’ll see what we can find.” Jeremy eyed him, he seemed to not have the screw loose like so many others in town had.       Robbie smiled at him, turning her attention back to the girl. “He’s a good puppy, isn’t he? His name is Scruffles? What’s yours?”       “My name is Jenny.”       “Ohhhh, you’re Mister Jeremy’s granddaughter! I used to watch you!”       “You did? I don’t remember… You getting cute clothes?”       Robbie nodded, as both Jeremy and Tim looked like they wanted to move on, get what they came here and get out. “Uh-huh! And maybe some toys. And maybe some bubbles for baffs!”       “Oh, I want bubble baths! I’m getting diapies!” She pulled her dress up again before her grandfather could stop her and showed off her training pants. “I like my Pullies, but I want real diapies, so I can be a real baby.”       “Awww, don’t worry sweetie, you a real baby whether you wear diapies or not.” Jeremy blinked at Robbie, not liking that she was encouraging this behavior. “I want some cute diapies too, but all I can find are plain looking.” Robbie hiked up her skirt and showed the slightly soggy padding beneath before Tim could stop her.       “Awww, they don’t have any with Princesses on them?”       “Maybe they do! Let’s go see!” Robbie held out her arm for Jenny, who wrapped her own in it and they happily walked into the department store together, with Scruffles trotting along with them, leaving Tim and Jeremy alone.       Tim sighed towards the old man, “Please don’t ask me to change you.” He pleaded.       “You know, any other day I would sock you for that but…” He looked around where he could see the other townsfolk acting like small children. “I suppose that kind of comment is warranted today.”       “Wait, you’re normal?”       “Normal than most, it would seem.”       “Well shit,” Tim thought about what he should say, before lamely finishing, “I think we better catch up to the girls before they get into trouble.” Jeremy nodded       Jeremy had been to this Walmart not too long ago, getting ready for Jenny to join him at his home, but since then, the store had taken a drastic change. There were displays of toys as far as the eye could see, baby furniture large enough to fit a grown man, stacks of jars of baby food, now in 8 ounce size, going up and down the aisles, and strangest of all, weird piles of technology in boxes that a lot of people were huddled around grabbing them by armfuls and dropping them in their carts. Marty, a graying hair man that’s been the greeter for this Walmart for the past 10 years, normally a bombastic little man with a booming voice and warm demeanor, glanced at Jeremy and Tim, lifted his hand shyly and mumbled something towards his feet. Jeremy gave him a pitiful look as he walked away, trying to ignore the blue diaper that said ‘Walmart’ on the back.       “Let me get that for you.” A robotic voice to Jeremy’s side. He looked over and saw a silvery, 8 foot high woman grab a stuffed tiger from a high shelf and pass it to the waiting arms of Barney Stivvons, a prominent restaurant owner in town, while his wife and son pointed at other toys up high and ask for them. Jeremy stared at the woman, besides the silvery skin, and the inhuman height, she looked just like a picturesque 50’s house wife, complete with prim and proper haircut done in a bob and a dress with floral petals on it, straight out of Leave it to Beaver, he jumped a little when her skin glitched out, revealing a square robot underneath before it reasserted itself.       “My god!”       “Don’t ask me how, but they know how to do that stuff.”       “Do what stuff?” Jeremy asked Tim.       “Build like, weird stuff. Robbie was making holograms out of light bulbs and the cafe owner made a machine that could make something out of nothing. It’s insane, like the woman had a hard time counting and couldn’t keep her pants dry, but could create something that would drive humanity into post scarcity era.”       “That’s… something.”       “That girl you were with hasn’t done anything like that?”       “My granddaughter? No, I don’t think so…”       “Give it time, tonight she’ll probably have a ray gun that’ll turn a pillow into a kitty cat.”       Jeremy shuddered at the thought, when he saw Jenny and Robbie up ahead, going into a new section of store, dedicated to adult baby needs. Jenny looked over at Jeremy and waved him over. “Look! Grandpy!” She lifted up a big box of pink diapers with a girl around Jenny’s age modeling them. “They got princesses on them.”       “Timmy, can I get this?” Robbie showed him a sailor dress covered in pictures of blue bunnies.       “Tammy!” Jeremy looked over and saw a 20 something year old worker getting consoled by another coworker. “Everyone is buying all the good stuffs! I’m not gonna get anything cute, and I’ll be stuck wearing these stupid Walmart diapies.” She pouted.       “Don’t worry, Margie, remember I told you about the nice girl at the coffee place? She told everyone how to make replicators. As soon as we’re off shift, I can help you make anything cute you want!”       Margie sniffled, “Even… A wolf onesie and a matching diapie?”       “Yup! You’ll be the most adorable wolfie ever! I’m gonna be a tiger, and I’ll have Tigger diapies! And we can stay up all night and pway!” Margie hugged Tammy, who continued to reassure her. “Come on, I think our 15 is almost over.”       “Huh? We just got here.”       Tammy looked down at her watch. “Uhh, what does that number mean?” Margie shrugged as Tammy ripped off her watch in a huff. “Stupid watch. Why can’t it just say what it says?” Margie, her thumb in her mouth, took a look at the watch and picked it up.       “Maybe it can…”               While Jeremy and Tim watch over the girls during their shopping expedition, across the town, Holly Jackson was having the weirdest day of her life so far. It all began when her older sister had shaken her awake and asked her for breakfast in nothing but a bra and a diaper leftover from a kid Holly had babysat last week. Holly had taken one look at Carly and hid her head under the blankets.       “Please?”       “Have Mom do it!”       “I can’t! She was being a brat so I sped up the process.”       Holly crept her eyes over the blanket and asked, “What do you mean?”       Carly walked Holly out into the living room and showed her what remained of their Mom. Laying on the carpet was a gurgling, bald, breastless, woman chewing on a pillow with toothless gums, wearing nothing but a diaper.       “Carly, WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Pearl Jackson looked up at the loud noise and started wailing in shock.       “I told you! She was being a brat, and kept touching my stuff, so I made this!” She showed Holly a remote control for the TV, front opened and cords weaving towards the back ending in a big metal block. “It makes people go back to baby faster. And now baby can’t touch my stuff, can she?” She cooed at the screaming baby-woman on the carpet, tickling her feet. “She’ll probably get smaller soon, I think. Then she’ll be easier to deal with. And look, I put a diaper on her so she won’t make piddle on the floor. "What? Don’t look at me like that!” Holly was slowly backing away, hitting the wall of the living room, staring at her sister in abject horror.       “Stop it!” Carly said in a bratty, warning tone, furrowing her brows at her. “You know what, if you can’t help me… Maybe you’re just a brat too…” She pointed the remote control at Holly.       “No! No, I’m not a brat! You, uh, you wanted breakfast, right! I can do that! I uhh, what do you want?”       Carly thought about it for a second, “I want cereal.”       Holly’s eyes jumped away from the remote and back up to Carly’s face. “You want cereal?” She asked incredulously.       “Yup.”       “And, you can’t do that yourself?”       “Noooo, I’ll make a mess.” Carly said with certainty. “Now, come on! My friend Wendy has a show in a little bit, so you gotta feed me and Mom and then dress us!” Holly went into the kitchen, under Carly’s watchful eyes as she continued to point the remote at her. She gulped as she grabbed a bowl from a cupboard and poured some cereal and milk into it and put it in front of her sister.       Holly sat down across from Carly, her eyes never leaving the remote control that was still pointed at her. Holly could see Carly indeed would’ve made a mess, clumsily shoveling milky cereal into her mouth, spilling half of it on to her bra and the table. Carly seemed happy with her meal though. “Is Mom going to get better?”       “I don’t know.”       “Well, can you like, reverse it or something?”       Carly glared at her. “I. Don’t. Know. Why? You wanna find out, baby sister?” Holly dropped the subject as she heard babbling coming from the other room.       Holly started getting up, and Carly jumped, pointing the remote at her. “Where are you going?”       “I’m… grabbing Mom. She needs to eat too, right?”       Carly lowered her weapon. “Just be quick. I don’t like being alone.” Then why did you make something that made people babies, Holly thought to herself.       In the living room, Holly looked down at her Mom sadly, before trying to pick her up. She was much lighter than she expected, her skin completely devoid of hair felt slick also weirdly sticky. Holly was never the strongest girl around, but she found no trouble picking up the over sized infant, besides all the ick factor that went into the act, like her Mom drooling on her shoulder and nape of her neck, and the fullness that was in the seat of the diaper she wore. Holly shuddered at the experience, bring her back into the kitchen, sitting Mom down, leaving her for a second before she saw her leaning one way, that Holly had to jump to grab her just to keep her from toppling over to the ground. Carly giggled at the sight, and Holly had to fight to keep from giving her a dirty look.       “Can you hold her so I can grab her some cereal?”       “Why? She’s got no teeth. She can’t eat solids, stupid!”       Holly wanted to retort to her, but realized her treacherous sister had a point. Holly helped Pearl to the ground and went to work looking for anything she could eat or drink out of. She didn’t find anything close to a bottle, but did settle on a jar of applesauce she thought might do for now.       She sat next to her Mom on the ground and opened the jar and spooned apple towards her mouth. Pearl didn’t do much to help the cause, flinging her weak arms as much as she could and wiggled her head with every attempt, making a game out of feeding her. A few attempts were successful, but most of the sauce ended up on Pearl’s flat chest and around her toothless mouth. Holly sighed as Carly laughed at her again.       “Sorry Mom.” She said quietly towards the woman, for the feeding and for not stopping Carly from doing this to her.       “Are you done?”       “I guess…” Holly replied while cleaning Pearl’s face a wet washcloth.       “Good!” Carly got up. “Now, you can dress us!” Holly looked down sadly at her Mom and picked her up again. Carly looked at her jealous, “Pick me up!”       “Maybe in a little bit.”       “Noo! Now!”       “I can’t carry both of you at once!” Holly snapped at her. Carly looked like she was struck, and about to start bawling, her arm holding the remote slowly raising. “Wait, wait!” Holly said, lowering Pearl to the floor. “Come here…” Carly smiled as she held her arms out for Holly. Holly groaned, expecting the worst, but, much like their Mom, Carly seemed to have shed a lot of weight in the past few hours, her chest didn’t fit the dirty bra she had on, and her arms and legs seemed devoid of fat, though there seemed to be a new pouch of baby fat around her belly. Holly was just thankful for their one story home and carried Carly to her room.       There seemed to be torn apart electronics everywhere, including, much to Holly’s dismay, all the cellphones the home had. Carly didn’t seem to end her creative streak at just the remote control. “What is all of this?”       “Just stuff. You see that one?” She pointed at a black light connected to a laptop’s guts. “Here,” Carly grabbed a diaper out of the mess and put it under the light. A ray ran over the padding, and Carly pulled it away, and let the light trace over thin air, a copy of the diaper appeared next to the other. “It makes copies, but it can do more than that.” She demonstrated by making another diaper, this time larger and blue, then a larger one and purple. “There! Now you have something the change me into. I wan’ the blue one.” She added helpfully.       Holly knelt down to her big sister laying down on the floor and undid the tapes around her waist. She supposed she should just be thankful that it was only wet, she didn’t think her Mom would be so generous. “Do you have any wipes or anything?”       “Umm, I don’t think so, just use this.” Carly tossed a shirt towards Holly, who looked at it strangely, it was a concert shirt that Carly had begged for money for, now it appeared disposable to her. Holly shrugged and did as she was told under threat of being controlled.       Holly tossed the used diaper in a trash can by the door and got the new one on her. “Aaaand, I want this shirt.” She showed Holly a baby blue shirt with a Baby Ducklings logo on it, the daycare Carly had worked part time at last year, now relegated to a big baby shirt. “I made one for Mom too!” She pointed at a purple one close by, as Holly helped her out of the useless bra and tossed that away too, getting her string bean of a sister into it, her arms and waist making her look childlike in the too large shirt. Holly was tempted to try and wrestle away the controller out of her hands while her face was hidden, but didn’t want any wild shots hitting her.       Holly managed to grab a pair of shorts and a shirt out of her sister’s drawers, Carly didn’t seem to mind as she fiddled with more of the electronics on the ground, a180 from how she would’ve been just a few days ago, hating it when her little sister borrowed any clothes from her. They returned to where Pearl had been left, gurgling and cooing at nothing. Pearl wasn’t as kind as Carly, wiggling as much as she could during her change, but eventually the soft mess in Pearl’s pants were replaced by a fresh diaper and her flat chest was hidden by the shirt.       “Is she ready?” Carly asked bored from the couch.       “As much as she ever will… You really want to go out like this?”       Carly looked down, “Yeah, why?”       Holly giggled at her sister’s ignorance, “No reason…”       “Huh, anyway…”       “Are we driving there or something? You know I don’t have my license yet…”       “No! I made a stroller for us!”       Carly led Holly, carrying Pearl, out to the garage, where a she saw several bikes and a tarp mashed together, cords sticking out every where, forming a stroller, except the wheels from the bike were used as a floor, Holly had to marvel at how the ‘stroller’ floated a foot off the ground. “Get us in!” Carly commanded. Pearl and Carly were strapped into the makeshift seats. Holly raised the garage door and walked her and her family out into the daylight. Chapter 4 Maddie looked over her platform, hands on her hips appreciating a job well done. She had the idea for the trick last night, while she and her boyfriend were fooling around on the other side of town. After the inspiration struck her, she had Brad take her to his house nearby and spent the remainder of the night writing out the schematics for her creation to make it work. Of course, over the course of the night, lots of things changed, and she really appreciated how much Brad had helped her, like when he ran out to get her Pull-Ups so she could focus without those needless potty breaks, and the sippy cup of juice was so thoughtful, even with how many times she accidentally spilled the cup she never got a drop on her papers, and the breaks gave her a chance to get her thoughts straight. She never thought any of it was strange, even when she was laying on her back getting her pants changed, or when she was doing the same for Brad.   After sleeping over, she found Brad and her weren’t the only ones in town going through a metamorphosis, finding much of the rest of the town had the same mentality she had now. Of course they were just little kids playing make believe! She was a bit disappointed on her way home, finding the effects didn’t have much hold over the other side of town, her Mom and Dad were just annoying as ever. They only had to say, ‘Where were you last night?’ and ‘Did you apply to that job yet?’ The same boring stuff they always said, they didn’t even ask her if she needed a change or she could use a bottle. So inconsiderate!   Ignoring them, she spent the whole morning getting her new trick ready, and inviting as many people as she could over to see it. Maddie kind of wished she had Brad around to help her change, as she grabbed folding chairs and arranged them in front of the platform, occasionally giving her soiled training pants a tug to keep them from riding up. Maybe she could get Carrie to help her before the show started. Maddie supposed she could just do it herself, but there was just something funny about changing herself. It was… Uncouth.   But then, the first of her audience had appeared. Her aunts, uncles, cousins that lived close by, her Mom and Dad shuffled out to the back, arms folded and grumbling seeing their family drive in and sit down. Not wanting to make a scene, they sat down in the front row, chatting with everyone. It was probably for the best, as folks from the other side started joining the crowd.   Maddie waved as Brad toddled into the yard, wearing a darling pastel blue onesie, his padded crotch filling his girlfriend with feelings of jealousy, why hadn’t she thought to go full on diaper? At this rate she was liable to leak. No time to dwell on that, as a scared Holly Jackson pushed Carly in just a shirt and diaper next to a similarly dressed Pearl, hairless and staring into space. A few of Brad’s friends followed them on to the grass, most of them sucking on pacifiers, wearing shorts that left little to the imagination on what was under, onesies like Brad’s, or shortalls with snaps on the crotch.   With butts, padded and otherwise, filling the seats, and all eyes on her, Maddie announced to the crowd, “Thank you for joining us everyone! I appreciate the turn out on such a short notice!” She called out from the two foot high platform. There were a few polite claps from the front of the audience. “Well, I’m here to entertain you with my…” She pulled a pink wand with a white tip from her sleeve and waved it, a cloud of smoke appeared, from that, Maddie pulled out a chair, sitting down in it backwards, wincing slightly when she felt the squish of her Pull-Up made a line of pee roll down the back of her thigh. There were a few more polite claps, “Magic and subterfuge!” Maddie clapped her hands and the chair beneath her transformed into a flock of doves. She waved her wand with a flourish and it became a sword with a glimmering silver handle, lifted her head up and put the blade down her throat, pretended to choke on it, then shoved the hilt and handle, continuing to ‘gag’ on it, then ‘puked’ up a bouquet of flowers. “And now, if my lovely assistant could join me?”   Carrie rushed from the house in her fancy pink leotard, joining her on stage, smiling at her sister before taking a shocked look at the crowd, especially those in the back, before getting distracted by Maddie thrusting the flowers into her hands. She looked at Maddie, an unsure, nervous smile on her face now, her sister plucked an unseen switch on Carrie’s back, with a flourish, a series of hologram flamingo wings sprouted and unfurled from behind her. “Let’s give a round of applause for my lovely sister, Carrie!”   Another round of polite claps, as Carrie stared at the Littles in the back. She was about to stage whisper something to Maddie, when she spoke again. “Now, I’d like to unveil my new act, the Vanishing stage!” She pulled the curtain and gently pushed her in, returning the shower curtains to their position, waved her pink wand, and a plume of smoke appeared from the center. At that moment, Maddie felt a twinge from her bladder, and let loose in her training pants she was already swimming in, in front of her family and friends, flooded herself, her filled Pull-Ups springing a leak right away, lines of wet rolling down her fishnets.   Her Mom jumped up out of her seat, “Madison Winona Weinen! Did you just pee yourself in front of our whole family?!” She marched up the stage and grabbed her daughter’s ear. “How dare you embarrass me in front of everyone?”   “Mommy! Oww!” Maddie’s top hat fell in the struggle, reaching up to grab her Mom’s wrist. Maddie gave her Mom a glare, retorting, “Well this wouldn’t have happened if you just asked me if I needed a change when I got home!”   “What what what?! ‘Change’? What are you…” Her eyes glanced down at Maddie’s waist, and a light poke told her her concerns were correct. “Why are you wearing a diaper?”   “It’s a Pull-Up, Mom!” Maddie rolled her eyes.   “I- P- You are too much right now. Carrie, you get out here this instant! This show is over!” She pulled the curtain away, revealing an empty stage to everyone. “Carrie! You get out here, now! I swear, your sister better not be wearing a diaper too. This family is well beyond the diaper days! Carrie!” She stomped her foot on the platform. “Well?” She turned towards Maddie, only now really seeing the people in the back seats. “Carrie!” She called out again.   “She’s not there!” Maddie said in between grunts of pain.   “Of course she’s there…” Maddie was released and her Mom banged on the bottom. She saw a hatch and released it, finding an empty space underneath. “Madison, where is your sister?”   “She’s gone. It’s magic!” She put her hands together and slowly pulled them apart, a rainbow forming between the palms.   Her Mom gave her another dirty look. “Where. Is. She?”   “I don’t know. The teleporter…”   “Teleporter? That’s even more ridiculous than you wearing a stupid diaper! Maddie, find her!”   “I really can’t she’s gone.         40 million light years away on a planet in the Omega Sector 8 galaxy… Carrie Weinen found herself on the soft pink carpet in a strange, dark room. A door went vrrrr sliding open. A giant creature came in, standing on two legs, wearing a pink robe, with tentacles for arms, a plumage behind it’s back and its face taken up by an elephant like trunk. It like a loud trumpet sound out of its trunk, and in seconds it was joined by a larger version of it with tusks in a green robe. They made trumpet sounds back and forth between each other, taking glances at a cowering Carrie, shying away from the pair, before hitting a large structure on her back. She looked up and saw a table with long bars stretching towards the sleek, blue ceiling.   [What is it, Trrplt?] The tuskless creature asked her mate in their trumpet speech.   The tusked creature, Trrplt stepped over to Carrie and picked her up in thick tentacles, she cried and screamed, squirming trying to get away from it. [It… looks like a baby, Hhhghl.]   Hhhghl looked over her mates shoulders, [Why does it look like that? It’s nose and arms look so weird…] She put a tentacle over Carrie’s nose, it twitched at the touch, and she screamed again. [At least its gas sacs seem to work.]   [Oh! Arrgh!] Trrplt held Carrie away as she peed in fear. [It leaked all over me!]   Hhhghl took Carrie away from him and held Carrie close to her chest. [Don’t be mad, the poor thing can’t help it!] To Carrie’s terror, the creatures tentacles went towards her crotch and popped the buttons open, revealing her blue panties. [Oh, who would put this little guy in these thin things?] Carrie screeched as the tentacles ripped her underwear away, she’s seen too much hentai to not know where this was going.   [Oh, now it’s {poor thing}, just a second ago you wanted to squash the thing.] His mate let out a high trumpet sound to hush him.   “Please, please, please, don’t hurt me!” Carrie whimpered as Hhhghl laid her down.   [What are those sounds you’re making? Little one? Don’t be sad, Mama Hhhghl will set you right!] Carrie shuddered as she felt something wet wipe down her crevice, looking down to see a white sheet in the tentacles. She only marginally felt better when she saw the thick pillow like thing brought up to her, enveloping her privates. It was soft and squishy, almost marshmallow like. [There, there, child. That’s better! No more leaks on Papa Trrplt!] She picked Carrie up and held her close to her bosom. [Oh its so cute! Can we keep it, Trrplt!]   [I don’t see why not, we have 14 in the egg clutch, what’s one more mouth to feed. Besides, it’s…] Trrrplt rubbed a tentacle up against Carrie’s cheek. [It’s kind of cute. 15 is my lucky number anyway.]   Carrie could only whimper as the strange creatures looked down at her and rubbed their tentacles all over her.     Back on Earth, the Weinen’s and their in-laws were looking around at the Littles in their yard. Maddie’s Mom had grabbed her husband. “Find Carrie, before she turns into one of them!” Maddie’s Dad gathered up the family and had them start searching the neighborhood while he got into his car and drove to the police station.   Maddie went up to Brad and gave him a kiss. “How was the show?” Brad just gurgled and drooled a little. “Oh pooey! I was gonna ask him to change me!”   Carly called up from her stroller. “Oh! Holly can change you!”   “Please don’t volunteer me for this…” Holly said quietly to the back of the stroller.   Maddie’s Mom stomped over to her. “Oh no you don’t! You can stay in your pissy pants until your sister is found!”   “I already told you! She’s gone! I don’t know where she went!” Maddie said, exasperated.   “THEN GO FIND HER!! I DON’T CARE HOW LONG IT T-” The woman’s screams were cut short as a ray came from the stroller, enveloping Maddie’s Mom. Her dark hair rapidly fell out in her hands, her opened her mouth to scream as one by one her teeth fell out. Maddie looked out with mild amusement, as did the rest of the Littles, only Holly stared at the sight of the woman with the deflating chest falling to the grass crying as her jeans became dark with wetness. Before long, the adult baby forgot what she was crying about, and began rolling in the grass, her discarded hair clinging to her shirt.   “She always was a meanie head.” Carly said as she put away the remote in her diaper. “Holly,” She commanded, “Go change Maddie.” Holly gulped and went to do as she was told.       A few hours later, Robbie dropped her bags on top of the shopping bags from the previous day, sighing satisfied with today’s shopping trip much more than the previous day, Walmart carrying adult baby supplies made her trip much more worthwhile. She could hear Tim outside, calling after Scruffles, surely going towards the dig site. His owner just smiled, she’d be with him soon. She dropped the stupid skirt hiding her pretty diaper, her shirt falling to cover half of it.   Robbie was fishing through the bags, looking for an appropriately cute outfit to wear for digging when Tim came in, barely acknowledging Robbie as she pulled out onesie after onesie. Tim collapsed on the couch, his wrist covering his eyes.   “What do you think?”   Tim took his arm away and looked over at Robbie. “Huh?”   “Well, do you think bumble bees on green or bears on blue?” She showed him two onesies, putting them in front of her body one after the other then back.   “I… Don’t know, which ever you want.”   “Hmmph!” Though Tim had closed his eyes again, he knew the pouting face Robbie was making in his direction.   “Don’t give me that… Robbie, come on, this has been, a lot for me. Let me just take a nap, I need a break from all this baby stuff.”   “Fiiine.”   Tim could feel a ‘but’ in there, and looked up. “What?” He snapped.   Robbie pressed the tips of two fingers, suddenly feeling shy. “Can you change me?”   He groaned as he sat up. “Lay down.”   A little while after, Tim was laying down for a nap, and Robbie was skipping through the woods, in her brand new bee onesie and a fresh booty. Her boots crunched over the twigs on the ground as the day’s events so far played by in her head. Jenjen, after her Grampy changed her into her new diaper and clothes, albeit grumbling the whole time, Jenjen had made arrangements for a playdate. She had been really excited when Robbie had whispered to her about the special thing she had found in the woods.   She found Scruffles already at the site, digging away. She admired her work for just a moment, the hole was getting deep, the tip of the ship now hanging above ground as high as Robbie was tall, the oval shape of the rest of the ship emerging from the broken earth. It was beautiful, and made Robbie feel tingly as she got closer. Soon, she felt she would be able to go inside.   The afternoon sky gradually darkened, as the long summer day dragged on, occasionally Robbie could hear yelling out in the woods, but her and Scruffles paid little attention to that. All that mattered was the dirt flying to the woman and dog, trivial matters like the yelling, where Tim was, what that full feeling in the back of Robbie’s pants was. It all just fell by the wayside.   There was some rustling by the edge of the grove as the sunset, and a flashlight beam fell on to Robbie. She looked up, expecting to see Tim, but instead, she saw Mr. Weinen and several people from the Sheriff’s staring down at her, no staring down at the ship.   Mr. Weinen opened his mouth for a second. Almost as if by compulsion, he asked, “Have you seen my daughter Carrie?”   “No.”   “What is it?” That seemed to be the more pertinent question on his mind.   Robbie held up her hand for the man, without hesitation he took it and crawled down into the hole. The Sheriff’s deputy’s all followed down as Robbie guided Mr. Weinen towards the ship, and pressed his palm against the metal, the others following suit, their eyes lit up in revelation, just as Robbie’s had, as she hoped Tim’s would. One by one, they looked back at her. Robbie held out a shovel as the night took over, soon, the woods were filled with the sounds of grunting and shoveling. Chapter 5 Would anyone blame Tim from needing a moment away from this strangeness? Though Robbie seemed like an infant, she was much more independent than what it first might seem. Sure, she might need help changing out of a dirty diaper, and yeah she might have a little bit of a hard time in the dark, but deep down she was still an adult. Who would blame Tim for needing a break from being a surrogate father for his ex? That’s what Tim told himself outside the dive bar on the other side of town. He already drained the last of his whiskey from his ‘emergency’ flask stashed in his glove compartment, and he needed that last few shots to really feel anything, to give his mind a break from this anxiety. He sighed and got out of his car. Who would blame Tim?       Besides Tim of course. As he walked down towards the blinking neon light that told him and everyone else that yes, Mulligans did sell Budweiser, just like every other bar in America. Hazy memories from a life time ago danced in Tim’s head. The countless nights he and Robbie would spend at this bar till they closed it down, the times he and Robbie would pretend to be a yuppie couple from Portland or Augusta and quiz the unamused bartender what spirits and libations they had on tap and stock, only to get the same thing they always did, a tequila sunrise for her, well, a whiskey sour for him, well, that would progressively turn into less sour and more whiskey during the evening, until it would suddenly transform into all sour, the bartender’s subtle hint that it was time to get out of here, and if it wouldn’t be an inconvenience to him, perhaps grab that off-key woman he came in with currently doing a disservice to Billy Joel over at the jukebox. He remembered those nights filled with laughter from him and Robbie. He probably missed that most of all, more than the permanent drinking buddy, or the sex, or the person who would gently nudge him in the morning and remind him he needed to go do such and such, go see so and so, though he had to admit all that was nice. It was the laughter he missed.       Tim came into Mulligans through the perpetually dirty, stickered mark screen door that needed both an oiling and a new hinge, and found himself in an empty bar. He glanced over his shoulder at the blinking ‘OPEN’ sign in the window, and took a few tentative steps towards the bar. “Hello?” He called out.       He heard some shambling from behind the bar, and old Lenny stood up from beyond where Tim could see, his red and black plaid shirt the same as it ever was. “Oh, hey Tim! What can I get for ya?” Tim sighed in relief, old Lenny, always old, in spite of the fact he was what, just a year or two older than Tim himself, new Lenny was a cook in the back. Tim idly wondered if there was a kitchen in the back. He could go for a greasy burger and under cooked fries.       “Whiskey sour. Well… Oh Hell, go ahead and give me a good one. Make it Jameson.” Lenny nodded and made the drink before Tim’s eyes and placed it in front of him.       “Umm, Lenny, I can’t help but notice you just placed a glass of milk in front of me.”       “Ahh, yup, I see the problem.” Old Lenny dropped a lemon wedge into the milk.       Tim pushed the glass away from him. “Lenny, you see that green bottle right there?” He pointed at the space just above Lenny’s head. “I’m going to need you to give me that bottle.”       “Uhh, I don’t know, Tim.” He gave a mock gesture to lift up on his pointy toes and reach up towards the bottle, Tim could know see the plaid diaper, red and black squares marking the drooping padding up and down. “That’s pretty high up there. I need some help getting it. Tim sighed, and got up and went to go around the bar to retrieve the bottle, and probably run out as soon as he can before he ends up changing Lenny. “Oh that’s ok, Tim, you sit down. Mommy! Oh, Mommy!”       Tim heard a whirring come behind the rickety doors separating the front and the back, and bursting through the double doors came a 7 foot tall mechanical horror, one moment looking like an Amazoness and a 50’s house wife had blended together, and then the illusion would fall, revealing the mismatched machinery stacked and bound together with metal clams at the end of its tube arms, and the looking like came straight from hydrolic equipment straight out of a garage, and then the illusion was back, a giant topless woman, with miss Candace Greenbriar, the new server nosily sucking from the teat of the giant in just a sagging brown diaper. Poor Candace, Tim thought, she was from out of town and was just here to make a little extra money before heading to community college. She would get called missing by tomorrow, and maybe her old man or mom would come a callin’ for her in the morning, and end up trapped here, sucking the teat of robot next to their kid, then someone else would come looking for them and end up stuck in the same trap, and then someone else would come, then someone else. The mess suddenly seemed exponential to Tim.       “What is it, dear?” The Amazoness asked Lenny.       “I was just…” Lenny looked at the empty nipple on the other side of Candace and visibly a line of drool fell from the corner of his mouth. “I was jus’ playing bar with my friend and he wants that bottle.” He points at bottle above his head.       “I already told you, that’s grown up juice, no touching, Lenny.” She- It, glanced at Tim and he saw her eyes shine red, scanning him up and down. “And just who might you be, little one? Come here,” It said pleasantly with a smile, “Let’s get you properly dressed.” Tim sighed deeply, backing away towards the door.   Lenny called out to it, “Mommy, Mommy, is it my turn yet?” He motioned towards it’s chest.       “I don’t know if your sister has had enough. But let’s get your new little brother dressed properly first.” It unlatched Candace from the teat and she was gently placed on the ground.       Candace groaned, clutching her head, letting out a milky burp. “Uggh, my head!” She looked down at herself, at just her soggy diaper at her hips and little else to make herself decent, and made an ‘eew’ face. She made a movement as if to pull herself up from the ground, only to look at her legs, “Oh God, I can’t…” She tried to move her legs, only managing to wiggle them a bit. “Oh, God, I can’t walk!” She sobbed out, then looked at Tim backing away from her new ‘Mommy’ and held out a hand towards him, as though he could help her, and let out another burp, this time sending white spittle all over her chin and front, then Tim could see a new look in her eyes, a lost one, as she giggled and let a little more of her bladder out into her padding, a puddle of pee spreading from her center, and the girl playfully put a hand out to it, and put a heavy palm sending it spraying out on the wooden floor.       Tim ran out of there then, and never looked back.           Marisa Copper had been trying to call her Dad over and over again on her way into town, with no luck each time. In between calling him, she haphazardly checked her phone, looking at the confirmation email for the psyche evaluator, making sure it was still there. She felt helpless, like she had when Jenny was first born and had to spend those few days in the incubator while her Mom had gripped her shoulders and told her she wasn’t helping by wearing a foot path in the hospital tiles. But Marisa couldn’t help it, she was a woman of action, she liked to be doing things, and doing nothing just sent her anxiety through the roof. And really, what was driving but a fancy form of waiting, sure, she was ‘technically’ doing something, but she was still just sitting waiting for her destination to be there in front of her.       Marisa only really noticed the town of Kingswood when she stopped at red light. There were a few lights around, but at 8 pm, where was everyone? It was like everyone in town was stuck inside after a curfew. There wasn’t another car on the road, no one in the shops in the small town, no one at the windows. Marisa put her phone down and looked around at the crossroad after the light turned green, and noticed the cars parked crookedly in the parking lots, doors to stores held open to let any riff raff in, she felt eerily alone, looking towards the woods, towards where her father and daughter and waited, and slammed her foot on the pedal and sped through the town.       While her head had been thumping and feeling odd since Marisa had first entered the town, Marisa wasn’t in the state of mind to notice, she was back to being that young mother staring into that damn incubator. During that day, she hadn’t realized she was starving until her late boyfriend had shoved a burger into her hand. Again, the concern of her Jenny overruled her own needs, even when those needs were currently atrophying her mind.       Through the trees, she saw a beacon of light, her parent’s home, her old house. Images of Jenny running through her old room when she was small ran through Marisa, showing her Mom her old toys. Marisa couldn’t help but flavor the memory with jealousy now. She pulled into the driveway, leaving the car running. She knew she had to grab Dad and Jenny and leave right away, but the why of that was fading away.       “Jenny?” Marisa screamed out from the porch, forgetting herself in her excitement.       From inside, she heard a high pitch, “Mommy!” And a pounding going through the well lit house. Marisa’s daughter came tackling her from out the front door, wearing nothing but a onesie covered in pink butterflies, and holding her tight, Marisa could hear the rustling of the diaper she wore under that. Once again, a pang of jealousy hit her again, out of nowhere. “Mommy, Mommy! I missed you soooo much!”       “I missed you, too…” Marisa, with some effort, pushed Jenny, JenJen away and looked her up and down. This wasn’t right, her 19 year old daughter shouldn’t have snot running down her nose and clamoring for another cuddle with her Mommy, she shouldn’t have the scent of pee coming from her or look like she had taken up coloring her forearms with water color paint. She shouldn’t be acting like an overgrown 2 year old, and Marisa should say something about her state, but all that came out was, “You look so cute!” Marisa wasn’t sure why she said that, but it was true. JenJen looked adorable.       JenJen had a funny look on her face then, like an idea was bubbling up inside her. “Do you want me to show you my new clothes?” Marisa found herself agreeing, and being led by the hand into her girlhood home. They stepped into the warm light, and for a second Marisa was expecting to smell her Mom’s cooking coming from the kitchen, but that was silly, she had been gone for many years, for the first time in a long while, that old wound made her feel melancholy.       The kitchen table was covered in bags, fresh clothes that Marisa found adorable, pictures and paints that were, frankly, sloppy, Marisa’s daughter had spent years practicing her artwork, and here, with the loose stick figures, she could see her daughter’s regression on full display, she briefly thought of the oil painting of JenJen’s Dad she had painted Marisa when she was 16 for her Mom’s birthday, a scant 3 years ago and yet it felt like a life time ago. Marisa looked through the clothes, a fluffy, white one piece pajama caught her eye, a hood that looked like a unicorn, the mittens fashioned to look like hooves, if was mesmerizing, and Marisa’s mental image of herself now wore it. “I’ll be right back.” JenJen said, and Marisa simply raised a hand to show she heard. Her gaze was drawn towards the open pack of diapers on the table.       Marisa picked up one of the thirsty absorbent padding, happy safari animals playing on letter, rubbing a finger against the cartoon giraffe that grinned at her. She felt like, maybe, she should step into her Mommy role, call JenJen back and put it on her, the silly girl was clearly ready for a change, and would probably love to have her Mommy give her the baby treatment, and yet…. She thought about putting it on herself, feeling a bit guilty, she was the Mommy not the baby, but the idea of shedding her business skirt and blouse and putting the padding around her was overwhelming. Marisa didn’t realize she was sucking her thumb with the arm with the pajamas wrapped around it, the other hand holding the diaper, when JenJen came back. “Mommy…” Marisa looked up with a dreamy look on her face and screamed.       Standing behind JenJen was her, Marisa, only huge, at least 2 feet taller than Marisa, and wearing an old fashioned dress suited for a house wife. Marisa lost all maternal instincts and fled under the table, away from the horrible uncanny monster. “Oh, she scared. Nanny, would you look like this?”       “Very well, baby.” The room filled with a low blue light, and a familiar voice said, “Come here, little Marsy!” Two hands crept under the table and grabbed Marisa, she cried out in fear until she saw the face of who was holding her.       “Mama?” Marisa looked up at the smiling, youthful face of Gretchen Copper. All thoughts of running away replaced with an unspeakable joy at the sight of reuniting with her Mommy. Her arms fit perfectly around the robot’s neck.       “Let’s get you out of those icky big girl clothes, and get you into something more age appropriate…”       Marsy was laid down on the table, her clothes thrown off, and the safari diaper put under her, only for her to wet it before it was even taped on. Her sister, JenJen, baby Marsy didn’t know if she was the big or little sister, but Mama said JenJen was her sister and Mama was always right, held up some toy keys above her head as she enjoyed getting covered in her new diaper, pajamas, to finish the transition into Marsy’s new life as a baby, side by side, JenJen and Marsy sucked from the chest of her seemingly reanimated Mama.       With the machine distracted, Jeremy crept out of the locked room, where he had been hiding since that crazy machine had appeared and declared herself ‘Mommy’ of the house. He gave himself a second to look forlorn at the state of his daughter and granddaughter, currently lost in the bonding experience that should be reserved for real mother’s and their infants, he went through his home as quietly as he could, seeing Marisa’s car outside, exhaust fuming from behind, ready to drive. Jeremy felt like a coward, leaving his family in the midst of that crazy machine, he could only promise he would be back to save them, one way or the other, as he got into the car and drove away.           Holly Jackson was getting the cherry on top for the worst day of her life. To watching her Mom get reduced to a giant baby that didn’t seem to recognize anything was going on, living under her sister’s threat of getting the same treatment and treated like a slave, to the horrible situation at the Weinen’s place, and now, she watched as a line of robots stomped down the road, their eyes red in the dark, one by one, they separated and marched towards each house. She gulped when she saw one approaching her own home.       Carly was currently at the table, munching down on chicken nuggies and macaroni and cheese, much to Holly’s dismay, mostly with her fingers. Pearl was curled up on the couch, sucking on the corner of the blanket Holly had given her after a diaper change that left Holly feeling depressed, having lost her rock and role model in Pearl. Carly, that brat, was happy to play in her used diaper, and Holly hoped she got a rash. That was a few minutes before she heard the unannounced guest barrel through the door.       Pearl had woken up, giving a rough cry from the startling noise the robot nanny made. Carly came into the room, face, chest, and hands covered in cheese sauce and ketchup. “Huh? Wha’ goin’ on?” She had asked Holly with a mouth half full of food.       The robot’s eyes look at the Jackson family.. In a robotic voice it said, “Scanning: 3 babies. Note: One baby not dressed APPROPRIATELY.” Then its voice softened, “Come to Mama sugah, she’s gonna get you feeling juuust right.”       Before Holly could flee, she was trapped on the floor with the robot looming over her, she tried to call out for help, but on her left was a giggling Carly and on her right was Pearl staring into space, only mildly interested in the commotion was apart of. Holly’s shirt and shorts were shredded off of her, Carly could only laugh at her sister’s embarrassment, the idea that it was her own clothes getting ruined didn’t occur to her. When Holly whimpered, the nanny’s response was the plug her face hole with a pacifier, the rubber bulb pressed against her braces in an uncomfortable way. Holly was down to underwear, her pink panties and red bra ripped away from her shrinking frame, her limbs smooshing against her body as tightly as she could.       Tendrils appeared, slithering out from the belly of the bot wrapping Holly’s wrists and ankles, a blue padding dropped next to Holly’s side, out of the corner of her eye, she saw happy sheep on a field. She tried to scream, tried to object, cry out her protests, “Hush, sugah, you’ll be right as rain in just a second, let Mommy get your dressed.” The padding was unfolded, looking like she could use it as a blanket and placed under her rear, Holly squirmed as a metal prong squirted a cool lotion on her, and colder metal ball rubbed it into her. Carly’s chortles playing as the soundtrack to Holly’s torment. A powder was thrown at Holly’s loins, and the pillow like underwear was taped on. Next, Holly was shoved into a pair of bloomers, spotless white frilly undergarments that Holly was sure her thick padding would rip apart as soon as she moved the wrong way. Holly was stood up and a blue dress was thrown over her head, lacey with a built in apron. Finally, a bonnet was tied around Holly’s head and under her chin. Holly didn’t need a mirror to know she was a dead ringer for Little Bo Peep, and wouldn’t look out of place with staff and a trio of sheep.       “There we go, cute as a button!” The robot complimented the mortified Holly.       “Me next! Me next! Me next!” Carly tugged on the robot’s arm.       “I should say so, messy girl, let’s get a clean diaper on you and get you comfy.”       Holly stood still, looking down at the new clothes attempting to tie a new identity to her, one where all of her maturity was discarded. Her hand raised, to tear off this ridiculous, tight dress, throw that stupid diaper right at that robots stupid face, but lowered her hand, sensing that would only lead to a worse result. She inwardly sighed, and looked around, before noticed the robot’s full attention was on Carly, squirming and giggling playfully as she was cleaned head to toe under a fresh diaper. This was her chance to escape. She could just sneak out the back and get away. A coo from the couch caught Holly’s attention, and she mournfully saw her bald mother wiggling and crying for attention. An idea to grab Pearl and run away came to Holly’s mind, just to be dropped. No, she’d have to make the run alone. She could… come back, maybe with the army, maybe they could reverse whatever Carly had done to Pearl, fix the town and everyone…       She turned, and as silently as she could, crept towards the door in the kitchen. These thoughts weren’t helping anyone, and really, standing still only pushed her escape farther away. A glint on the table caught Holly’s eye. She could spare a moment for a small detour, right? She grabbed the remote control and pointed it at Carly, and hit the button, then turned and ran away. The giggles turned into a newborn’s wailing behind Holly’s back, as she ran into the backyard, the remote tucked into a sash around the dresses hip, and disappeared into the night.               Tim jumped into his car and squealed his tires on the pavement and sped off, not looking back, trying to forget Candace’s face as whatever the robot and that damned ship overtook her. He put a hand over his face, wiping his brow of sweat, glancing back at the road, just in time to come to a screeching halt. In the middle of the road was a miserable looking young woman in a blue dress, barefoot with something metal on her waist.       Holly waved to the driver in the car, calling out, “Help! Help!”       Rolling down the window, Tim stuck out his head and called out to her, “Get in, quick!”       From the brush on the side of the roads, one of the robot nannies came out towards the street. “Oh no! Did widdle baby get lost? Come to Mommy, honey, she’ll get you-”       From the other side of the road, a black sedan came crashing into the robot, leaving a dent in the hood. Jeremy came stumbling out of the car, his hand pressed against his bleeding head. Tim looked at him, then at the girl who seemed shell shocked. He would’ve given them a moment to get there bearings, but from behind Jeremy, who was slowly making his way to the girl to make sure she was alright, or maybe to ask for help, he saw the robot bend the hood away from itself, and turn towards Holly and Jeremy.       Tim drove up to them and opened up the passenger door, “Hurry!” Holly grabbed Jeremy by his side and helped him into the car, slamming the door shut before opening the backseat and jumping in, but before she could close the door, one of the robot’s retractable hands had gripped her wrist, trying to pull her towards it.       The robot’s holographic facade was flickering fast, it’s false face and body disappearing and reappearing showing the machine for what it really was, black ooze dripping from it’s center. “Where ArE y-y-y-you GOING shweeweeweetheart?” It said, it’s voice glitching out, its sweet voice fading in and out.       Tim grabbed Holly’s other arm, and slammed his foot on the pedal. The robot made a hideous sound as it’s body scraped against the pavement as they sped down the road.       “Hold on, hold on!” Holly pleaded, her hands gripping the seat in front of her with white knuckles, Tim wasn’t sure if she was telling that to him or herself. After a few minutes of hearts beating, the resistance outside fell away, and the screeching disappeared behind them. The lost arm of the robot still gripped Holly’s forearm, squirming and leaking black fluid all over the side of her blue dress. She ripped it off of her and threw it out the door before shutting it.       “Holy shit.” Holly breathed a sigh of relief as she slumped into the back seat.       “Jeremy?” Tim asked the man next to him, giving him a shake, only to find him knocked out cold. “Fuck…” He swore under his breath.       He sped down the road, towards out of the town limit, heading to the nearest Hospital around, over in Derry. Chapter 6         Holly nervously looked out the back of the window as the dark trees in the woods sped by in the night before disappearing as the cars lights made them vanish into the shadows. Holly never enjoyed being in a closed off town, the city was always more welcoming to her, with things to do and more than the few dozen people her own age she could hang out with. She vaguely recalled the last time her and her Mom had a fight about her going off to the city for a concert, how vicious she was with her words while Mom was just trying to keep her from being out too late around a bunch of strangers in the middle of the night, she was just trying to keep Holly safe, and her last look of her Mom this evening, cooing and rolling around in just a diaper under the care and whims of one of those machines, only left her feeling worse.       She looked down at the awful outfit she was wearing, the baby blue dress she was adorned in, wanting to rip it all off, but settled on taking off that stupid bonnet on her head, struggling with the knots for a few seconds before finally freeing her chin from the stifling string.       Thinking of her Mom stuck in her diapers reminded Holly of her most immediate issue, she tightened her legs under her dress, the crinkling plastic telling her the easiest solution. Carly hadn’t let Holly out of her sights all day, she never had the chance to use the bathroom, and the burning strain on her bladder was becoming more for the stressed girl to bear.       Up in the front seat, Tim was shaking Jeremy, trying to keep the old man from drifting into unconsciousness that he was bouncing back to only to get shaken up by the driver while they sped down the road towards the nearest city.       Holly wanted to reach out, try to keep Jeremy up, the person who actually saved her from that awful robot, instead of running away and leaving her entire family in its grips, even if one did kind of deserve it, but it was too much for her to keep her concentration intact.       She squirmed and blushed hearing the crinkle her butt made. Was it too much to ask for to keep just this? Already she’s had her family taken from her, Holly’s freewill controlled by an older sister who acted far below her age, and her own dignity was striped away from her. Was keeping her own bodily autonomy too much of a request?       The tiny spurt that warmed the absorbent core on her crotch said yes, she was asking too much.       Holly opened her mouth to ask to pull over, only to shut it as Tim split his attention between shaking Jeremy and keeping his eyes on the road. Her legs pressed together tighter did little to help, those few drops did nothing to alleviate her needs.       A squeak escaped Holly’s lips, as the flooding pee filled the diaper around her legs, she covered her face in the darkness of the backseat, the contents of her bladder too much and coming out too quick for the padding, and tiny trails slipped through the leg guards and drifted down Holly’s thighs, just to get the skirt of the childish outfit damp. Finally it was over and Holly was left in her cooling shame, grinding her teeth, feeling like an immature brat who couldn’t stay dry on a long car ride. For a split second, she wished for the innocence of the rest of the town, just to make herself feel better.       The next few moments were eerily silent. Holly just sat in the back, eyes locked on the dark road ahead only illuminated by the headlights in front of them, occasionally the silhouette of Tim blocking her view as he tried to vain to keep Jeremy up, though he had little luck in the endeavor. And Holly sat in her cooling shame, her diaper quickly becoming ice cold and uncomfortable, and it was officially her diaper now. An idea floated by her mind, to cry and scream, maybe get the ‘grown ups’ up front to pull over and change her, and she’d just stick her thumb in her mouth and pretend she was a baby like the rest of them, but she couldn’t force herself to do that, apparently she still had her pride to lose. Maybe she could just take the diaper off and fling it out the window, but then she would be making the whole car reek of her embarrassment.       So Holly Jackson sat quietly in the back, twiddling her thumbs, as the street lights of Derry, Maine came into view, and she sighed in relief as the ride was almost over. It didn’t take too long for them to park into the hospital parking lot, where Tim leapt out of the car and rushed to the passenger side door to help Jeremy up, who had long since fell silent. Holly got out too, after a second of hesitation, she almost wanted to stay in the car and be alone, not have anyone see that this young adult, just getting out of High School looked more like she was off to a toddler’s birthday party, went to Jeremy’s right side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder while Tim was on the other side doing the same as they walked Jeremy into the brightly lit receptionist area of the hospital, the sticky padding making a horrendous sound that Holly was sure anyone nearby could hear.       The hospital room was a breath of fresh air of mundane, a few people scattered about, sitting in the rock hard plastic filling out paper work or just idly staring at their phones, something Holly was dearly missing at the moment, all just passing by the seconds waiting for their turn to see a doctor in the dead of night. Holly let out a long gulp as the nurse at the desk in front of them gave Jeremy a good once over then what felt like a judgmental glance at Holly and her strange outfit, dressed like Mary looking for her lost little lambs, and for a heart pausing moment Holly was sure the stranger knew that Holly was in dire need of a change, before she pushed the notion away, no, she thought, it was more likely this looked more like some kind of weird sex ritual, an older man coming in with a considerably younger couple, the girl dressed very strangely, the man soaked with sweat. She couldn’t imagine what the receptionist thought as she handed Tim a clipboard with papers while she called over a male orderly to assist Jeremy to the backrooms.       Tim collapsed on one of the many hard chairs that littered the waiting room, glancing at the pages asking for information he had no way of honestly answering, letting it fall down on the chair next to him as he processed what had happened and what to do. Holly looked at the chair next to him, inwardly shuddering at the thought of sitting next to him, not wanting her telltale crinkling behind, or the scent of what she had down in the humiliating garment to become known. She turned away, and began to walk away.       “Wait, where are you going?”       Holly turned around and gave the older man a cautious glance. Holly had occasionally seen Robbie Harris’ boyfriend, a man around 28 and 10 years Holly’s senior, around town, though less lately, she recalled seeing him and Robbie in the grocery store, giving him a quick look while her Mom gave her a gentle nudge and chuckle, easily noticing the way a mother would when her daughter liked the way a man looked. Back then, Holly thought her Mom calling her out on a schoolyard crush was the most traumatizing thing that would ever happen to her. She used to drive past Robbie’s place, stealing a glance at Tim, with his brown, curly locks, his thin, muscular frame, thinking of how he was a writer and probably the sensitive type, which she never considered incredibly attractive but on him it fit well, infinitely more mature then the boys her age, she would fantasize about stealing the man away from her quiet, shy neighbor, and letting the man teach her the ways of love the way an older man could show a young girl, let him strip her of her naivety and clothes. But these were the fantasies of a lonely girl from a small town where her peers were boys she had known since she was in Kingswood Tots Daycare when it was actually natural for her to have accidents under her skirt, never would she have imagined Tim actually sitting down in front of her looking lost and desperate, needing her help. Her eyes fell on the scar on his face, she had never noticed it before, seeing him only from afar, and wondered what it was from.       Briefly, Holly considered asking him to help her with her problem. Maybe he would let her call him Daddy in a supply closet… She shook away that perverse urge and got her head back in the game. “Oh, I just need to use the bathroom.”       “Alright, when you get back, can you help me with this stuff? I only know the guy’s name is Jeremy Hopper-”       “It’s Copper.” Holly corrected offhandedly. “I could maybe tell you his address, not much more than that. I think he has a daughter somewhere?”       There was a look of relief in Tim’s face, and the realization dawned on Holly that Tim probably thought she was just like any other resident in town, based on her outfit. “Umm, yeah, maybe we can ask to see the old dude’s phone and try to get a hold of her, or his granddaughter…”       “The granddaughter isn’t going to be any help. The last time I saw JenJen she was carrying around a handful of crayons and coloring books, excited for a playdate with Robbie.”       “Oh, Robbie is- like them too…” Holly’s hand absently brushed against her hair, pushing it behind her ear.       A long sigh, and Tim looked down. “Yeah…”       “My Mom and sister got like that too… One of those weird robots came into our house and dressed me like this.” She found herself quickly explaining. “They, uhh, my sister- I was taking care of Mom and Carly all day.”       “Oh…” Tim’s face grimaced, before adding. “I’m really sorry.”       Holly shrugged, feeling like she had to play it cool, momentarily forgetting about the itchy fabric on her crotch. “It’s not like it’s your fault.”       His face turned a pale color, “Umm, yeah.” Holly’s intuition was nibbling her brain, telling her something was strange about his response.       “Do you know something about all this?” Holly hadn’t meant to make it sound so accusatory, but her suspicion was rising and didn’t mind the offending tone coming out of her mouth. She took a step towards the sitting man, only for the rustle of the diaper under the bloomers to sound off, Tim gave Holly’s waist a glance, and she blushed realizing he had heard it too. “I-” She turned away quickly. “We can talk about what we know when I get back from the bathroom!”       Holly rushed away, only hearing a small, “Ok,” coming from Tim on her way out. She briefly looked at a hallway with a sign that had stick figures, one plain and one with a triangle for a dress, the universal sign for restroom and headed down there. As she walked down the hallway, the smell of disinfectant and hum of lights over head felt otherworldly, passing by men and women in scrubs, chatting with each other about things outside of work and cases, she glanced down at the feet of the stockings she wore, slippery against the clean linoleum tiles, dark with dirt from her running earlier and her walk on the pavement outside. She felt extremely self conscious of her movements, big and tiny.       Holly passed by some more doctors, nurses, and orderlies, and then one or two more, and then she seemed to be alone in the hallway, a seemingly endless stream of unmarked doors on her left and right, she looked behind, wondering if she had missed the sign for the bathrooms, only to be met by the same sight as what lay before her, nothing but an endless hallway of doors, no one in sight.       The sound of laughter came from ahead, echoing down the uniform hall, making Holly jump in surprise.       Holly looked ahead in a start, eyes looking everywhere for anything that seemed out of the usual against the backdrop of endless identical doors. Cautiously, she took a few steps forward, looking around for anyone, to ask for help, to break the monotony of doors, to not feel like she was going insane. Maybe that was it, maybe Holly had gone crazy, that made more sense then getting woken up by her sister ordering her to change her pants, or see her Mom acting like a newborn, getting attacked by a robot that dressed her like a toddler in a pageant, getting saved by her neighbor that she barely exchanged more than pleasantries with and her crush. This fantasy enveloped Holly like a warm blanket, it was far more comforting than the cruel reality of what she experienced today.       That was it. Holly was out of her mind, and that’s why she was in this hospital now, she was acting crazy and her Mom and sister and driven her to Derry to get her checked into the psychiatric facility at the hospital, she wasn’t really in Little Bo Peep’s dress, sliding around on dirty stockings down this liminal hall, she was in a soft padded room in a hospital gown with the grippy socks, pacing back and forth. That made more sense to Holly’s exhausted mind. But the laughter that echoed down the hall shook her away from that welcomed image. That laugh… It wasn’t something that Holly could make up.       The chuckling came again, longer. It was more than berating, something more than making fun of someone, it was deep and primal, some how, there was a hunger in the notes of the voice that was letting out that laughter, something Holly couldn’t understand or rationalize, and worst of all, though she couldn’t see the source of the laughter, she knew it was aimed in her direction. Whatever was making that sound, it was all for Holly’s sake, like it wanted Holly to be afraid. Suddenly, Holly felt cold and clammy, just like her sodden diaper, she felt heavy, each step was an effort. The lights above her flickered, then one by one turned off, starting from the light farthest from her, turning dark with a spark, the warm coils in the rod ceiling lights glowing red, then orange, then turning to nothing leaving a ghost of its image in Holly’s view. She quickly looked behind, seeing the darkness approach her from both sides. Frozen like a deer in headlights, Holly found she didn’t have the strength to move, until she was taken by the shadows.       Then… She was illuminated once again. Just one light above her lit up, and only one door around her, one that thankfully had a stick figure wearing a dress. She sighed in relief, and let herself in.       It was like any other public restroom Holly had ever been in. A row of closed off stalls, a row of sinks with a nurse in front of one of the mirrors fixing her makeup humming to herself, what sounded like to the tune of ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’, a handryer to her left, and a changing table with large metal dispenser for tampons and pads… and diapers? With every size from newborn up to adult extra extra large. Holly thought that was strange, but told herself it was probably just for geriatric patients. That was it. Though her mind couldn’t help but nag her that any elderly patient probably just got changed in one of the rooms. And who was moving an old lady on to the adult size changing table in here?       She let the worried feeling float away, and walked towards the stalls. Holly was hoping for a little more privacy, a bathroom she could lock and be alone. In her time babysitting, she had learned how loud tapes could be when ripped away. Holly had no interest in the stranger in here knowing what she was doing. But maybe she could hide away until she was done, and then get out and give herself a wash from the sink, already she could tell that she had been in this damp absorbent underwear for too long, her delicate skin feeling raw from the exposure of acidic material the diaper had become. She looked at the first stall, and thought grimly, yup, just like every restroom ever, there was an out of order sign on it. And the next one too. One by one, she went down the doors, each one having the same sign on it.       “Need some help, sweetie?” A soft voice came from behind Holly. She flipped her body around to look around towards the nurse, her face hidden by the back of her head, curls of red locks growing wild like vines behind her, her scrubs not like the rest of the staff in the hospital Holly had seen so far, pink bottoms and the top white with colorful polka dots all over it. Probably just from the pediatric ward, Holly reassured herself. Just from the pediatric ward. The woman picked up a tube of lipstick and began to apply it, making loud smacking noises as she evened it out.       “Yeah, heheh, I guess this bathroom is just for makeup now, huh?” Holly gave an unsure laugh. “Could you show me another bathroom I could use or….” She let her words hang in the air.       “Why, dear?” The question surprised Holly, and before she could answer, the nurse continued. “I could change you out of that wet diaper.” She offered.       Holly looked down, startled. Was it that obvious what she was wearing? Was it the crinkling, or was it that she looked like a lost little girl? How could she have known? She looked down at herself, before trying to save face. “I don’t know what you mean…” Holly said with a face almost as bright as the nurse’s hair.       “Oh, of course you do, ~darling~,” The nurse said with with a sing song lilt, setting aside the lipstick, before swinging her head around. Holly screamed in fright. The woman’s face was made up to be a clown’s face, stars around her eyes, one red the other blue, white face paint plastered all around, round red nose above a black smile around her lips, a widening, open grin revealing yellowing sharp rows of teeth. The lights flickered, and when the room was lit up again, the nurse clown was reaching towards her with claws out stretched.       Holly had never had a fear of clowns, never needed to shy away from them, but this surprise meeting made Holly learn that the term ‘shit myself’ wasn’t just a colorful turn of phrase. Holly felt her bowels let loose as her mouth let out a shriek of fear and confusion. The lights flickered again, the clown growing closer with each illumination, Holly pressed her back against the stall door, lowering herself down, shrinking herself, her knees against her chest and her bottom lowering to the tiles below, the warm mush squishing against herself everywhere that would normally make Holly sick, but she couldn’t focus on that as the creature drew near.       One clawed finger outstretch towards Holly, gripping the collar of her dress, and ripping it down, the sound of fabric tearing filling the room only drowned out by Holly’s own sobs. The creature in front of Holly laughed, the same sound she heard earlier, and it seemed to grow, towering over the quaking girl, taking a finger, starting from her neck, ran it down between her collarbone, down the center of her rib cage running over the bump of her sternum, scratching her belly till it come to her belly button where it fell into the divot briefly before continuing down her soft waist and finally coming down to the soiled diaper, hanging discolored between her thighs, running a nail against the plastic, rustling it, where it fell apart from the center.       It was like falling, letting the despair consume her. Holly Jackson had never before felt so small, so vulnerable. She was like a caged animal, in the grips of this strange clown monster that took over everything in her sight as it ran in claws around her whole body, laughing manically, several more hands coming out of its sides, running down her flesh, leaving small scraps and tears, ripping her skin like it was made of the same cloth the dress had been. This was much worse than the robot. There was a low pounding in the distance, but the low sounds of laughter the monster made, laughter that sounded more like growling with each utterance. The pounding continued, before the creature leaned down and whispered into her ear:       “That was fun, there’ll always be a place down in my nursery for you, down there. Come give us a visit any time. We all float down there. Hahahaha.” The creature gave its nose a honk before licking Holly’s ear as the pounding continued in the distance, before the light turned off a final time, and lit back up, and Holly was alone, sitting on the floor of the restroom with someone knocking on the door.       “Hey! Kid, you in there?” Tim’s voice came from the other side of the door.       Holly closed her eyes, before answering. “Y-yeah!” She did her best to collect herself, tried to tell herself it was all a hallucination, but there was a tug on Holly’s wrist, she opened her eyes to see a red balloon tied to her wrist. She looked down at herself, she was now wearing a pink party dress, short, with tall, white socks ending just below her knees, with polished black Mary Jane shoes buckled on her feet. She could feel it, but Holly took the hand with the balloon tied against and raised her dress up, and saw the pink diaper underneath it, fresh and dry, it might have been a relief if not for the harrowing experience she had go through to get it. The tape on top of the diaper had what looked like a fair, with a circus tent, a Ferris wheel, an elephant, and worst of all a clown that seemed to be juggling. And balloons everywhere. In the picture, running down, or floating up the diaper, colorful dots of yellow and blue and red and green. Holly blinked and for a moment, the Ferris wheel spun, the balloons rose, and the clown waved at her. She violently shook her head and the image went still once again.       Getting to her feet, she heard, “Kid!” Coming from the other side of the door.       “One second!” Holly called out, looking at her reflection in the mirror. With her frown, she looked like a girl pouting at a party, a bright pink cardboard hat ending with a point and a silvery tassel. The weight in her left hand became known to Holly, and she looked down at it in the mirror, seeing the heavy, blue diaper she was just wearing. Her lips curled in a sneer at the discolored brown padding, and chucked it into an open trash can by the door. She went to the sink, turning on the faucet with a wave of her hand towards the automatic sensor and splashing water on her face. From down the pipe, she heard the echoes of laughter, and jumped away from the sink, running towards the door, her hands and face dripping.       On the other side of the door, Tim stood there, waiting, just for Holly to come barreling into him, huffing from shock. “Hey! Hey! What’s wrong?”       “I! Uhh- I-” Holly struggled to put into words what she just went through. She looked around, seeing the waiting area just 10 feet away from the bathroom door she was standing in front of. Nurses and doctors all giving her concerned looks.       “Where have you been? You’ve been gone for 3 hours, I was looking everywhere for- Weren’t you wearing something else? Where’d you get that?” Tim tapped at the balloon.       Holly grabbed the hat on her head and threw it off, giving it a little stomp for good measure, before desperately trying to untie the balloon at her wrist, before Tim grabbed her wrist, and did it for her. The balloon floated up, we all float down there, the words whispered in Holly’s mind as she watched the balloon ascend, before popping at the light, a shower of confetti raining down on her and Tim, the staff of the hospital giving the two bewildered looks.       Tim looked like he was lost for words, before stuttering out, “Uhh, Jeremy is up… We all have to talk. Come on.” With Holly’s wrist still in his hands, he tugged her towards the waiting area, she looked back as the shoes she was given go click-clack on the tile, looking at the confetti on the floor, feeling like she was going crazy once more, as she heard in the distance the cackling of the clown.               Far away from trio, at the Kingswood gym, another person safe from the effects of the ship in the woods, got out from her office. Ginger Ann Thistle had been in the quiet town for awhile, ever since she had gotten done with her tour with the Marines, honorably discharged after a piece of shrapnel flew into the back of her head. The doctors had said that it had been a miracle, any further in, and she would’ve been a vegetable or worse. Ginger would’ve said that it’d be a miracle if she never had the stupid piece of metal lodged into her cranium, she never felt more at home than being on the line, and being among brothers.       She had always been an outsider, too masculine to befriend many women, too feminine to be one of the guys, always stuck in the middle, an outsider, and that was only on the surface, deep down, there was another reason Ginger felt like an outsider.       Ginger had an eye for girls, she loved watching the girls in her gym, but being a lesbian wasn’t what kept her alone, it was what she wanted to do with them. Like when she was a child, playing with her baby dolls, she wanted to take the girls that ran on her treadmills, lifting weights, doing their stretches, sweating while listening to their music, drinking from their trendy water jugs with pleasant affirmations on them, Ginger wanted to grab each and everyone of them and put them on her lap and baby them, replace those water jugs with giant baby bottles, turn off whatever silly ‘big girl’ music they were listening to and make them listen to nursery lullabies, no more yoga just tummy time, and of course, rip off those silly revealing tights each one wore and diaper them, dress them in onesies. It made her drool, just the thought. Some times, Ginger did get a girl interested in her, would lock up the gym for the night and pull the blinds, lay her down on the padded bench her patrons did their weight lifts on and get them diapered up, drag her equipment from the center of the large room and put together a playpen for the girl, oh, Ginger would let her date ‘help’, but she would always tell her little one for the night, “No no, let Mommy do that, that’s too complicated for a baby.” She’d say with a wink and give the girl a bottle. Then she’d have a photo session with the girl. She would tell the girl it was for Ginger’s private use, but it was more of an insurance policy, no one would tell Ginger’s little secret if they were worried about their embarrassing secrets getting out.       Yesterday, it had felt like a dream come true, waking up in her apartment, finding her neighbor, a cute woman maybe a couple of years older than Ginger, drawing on the walls in crayons in just a white, lace nightie top, with a big padded bottom sticking out from under her. Ginger had known the woman for years, seen her boyfriends come and go, come and help her if she needed any help lifting up anything, she was a straight lace girl who would never think about anything adjacent to adult baby, let alone play in the halls with a diaper on full display. Ginger was salivating at the thought of having a new baby girl when she approached her, when her neighbor’s date came out of her apartment, dressed even less than her, the man only wore a diaper and had a handful of markers in his dirty grip. Ginger rarely ever played with baby boys, but Hell, if it meant playing with her neighbor she’d give the man the best day of his life, when a sound from outside distracted her.       Ginger had looked outside, and saw her dreams turn real, streets filled with men and women playing, acting like children, a thick cushion around each of their bottoms. She ignored her neighbor and her play mate for the moment, and went outside, finding so many lost little ones, so many of her friends and neighbors, needing someone to look after them, women Ginger had fantasized about for years coming up to the ‘grown up’ and asking to help change them. Ginger’s cup truly runeth over.       For hours, Ginger had played with them, setting up her playpen in the gym, this time not bothering to pull down the blinds, she let everyone in, the barista down the street came in and wiggled under the baby gym Ginger had set up, a couple of girls just getting off their shift from Walmart asked Ginger to replace their garish Walmart logo diaper off of them then proceeded to play paddy cake with each other for hours, the High school principal and her husband had come in, and Ginger set up a blanket for them to wrestle around with after getting those ineffective Pull-Ups off of them and getting them into something more appropriate. It was the best day of Ginger’s life, and she had the photos to memorialize it.       She had taken a little break in her office, admiring her pictures on her phone, eating a light lunch when they had come. Giant women coming into her gym and collecting the little ones and taking them to God knows where. She wanted to stop them, but something told Ginger if she stepped in fron of them, she’d be the next one modeling diapers and onesies, so she hid away, getting into her office closet when one of the women came in and looked around, a light came from eyes scanning the desk with Ginger’s computer and phone on it before leaving.       When Ginger got out of her hiding place, she crept out of the office and looked outside, seeing a line of the giant women outside, some occasionally flickering and their disguise vanishing to reveal the cold mechanical exterior that lay underneath. Ginger shuddered at the thought of those things having their hands on her little ones. But she hid away again. Stay in for the night, she thought, and maybe come morning, she’d be able to help herself to one or two of the women, get out of town, and have her own little girls to play with and doll up as she saw fit. Maybe she’d even grab her neighbor. Though the barista was pretty cute, the way she had babbled on and on about the little toys she had made. She’d grab both of them and run off, start a new gym somewhere else, somewhere where the winters weren’t so cold. Florida, maybe, she could just imagine her two girls playing in the backyard in the kiddie pool in their swim diapers during the warm summer now. Her fantasies had lulled her to sleep.       A little ways away, Robbie Harris, with a team of excavators around her, looked at the sleek but dirty ship with wide eyes, as the hatch opened up in front of them, pouring warm, pink light around them.       The bell at the front door jingled. Ginger shot up, momentarily fearing the return of those giants, before she heard a quiet, “Hello?” A familiar voice. Ginger raced to the main room of the gym to see a regular standing at the door, staring at the toys and adult baby gear scattered around the floor. Ginger’s eyes went up and down the tight curvature of Alice O’Duff’s form, the purple leggings with a galaxy motif leaving little to the imagination, the black sports bra under the gray hoodie that zipped up. The 24 year old had been coming to Ginger’s gym for years, she hadn’t seen Alice in a few weeks, gone off on a cruise vacation where Ginger could see she had gotten some sun by her tanned skin.       Ginger was about to go off trying to explain away all the strange things around the room, when she saw Alice put a finger in her mouth and kneel down to push a toy truck with her free hand, smiling when the gears inside it made it rush forward by itself, she clapped as it went ahead, not minding one hand was covered in drool.       “Having fun?”       Alice jumped to her feet, hiding her hands behind her back. “Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to play with your toys without permission…” She shuffled a foot nervously, looking like a kid getting caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Ginger drank in the sight of her, Alice, a tall, toned woman with her abs on full display below her small, pert chest, looking like a little girl who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.       “That’s alright, sweetie,” Ginger said, her gaze lecherously going up and down Alice’s form. She gently took Alice’s wrist and lowered them both to the ground. “You can play with anything you want here.”       Alice’s eyes lit up wide and bright. “R-really?”       “Really.” Ginger replied, placing the toy truck into Alice’s hands. “You can do anything you want with them.”       The other woman looked unsure, looking down at the toy in her hand, before saying something that made Ginger melt. “Pwomise?”       Gleefully, Ginger told her, “Promise.” Alice took the truck and began to put it on the rough carpet, rolling just the front half of it before a thought came to her head, then raised it up, looking at it for a moment, before lifting it up to her lips, and biting one of the rubber tires. “You are such a silly head!” Ginger chastised Alice, her fingers jumping towards Alice’s bare sides and begun to tickle her.       “No-o-o!” Alice fell to her back, begging Ginger to stop with little feeling. “Stwoooop!” She said in between fits of giggles. “Stwoooop-oh!” She looked down at her bottom, and Ginger stopped, looking down expectantly too. Between Alice’s thighs a tiny trickle came, before letting loose into a flood. Ginger looked at Alice’s face, seeing the wave of emotions flash on her face, first curiosity, then came the look of concern as phantoms of memories when the girl was potty training and taught that peeing her pants was wrong flooded her thoughts, finally landing on the feeling of disappointment, of being a bad girl. The sobbing came now, as Alice’s face twisted ugly, contorting the lines of her pretty face and furrowing her brow as she let large tears run down her face, messing up the make up the big girl Alice had carefully applied to herself earlier, ready to look sexy while she worked out, ready to show off her tan lines and be the envy of every woman in the building, now relegated to Ginger’s new baby.       Ginger raised the girl up, “Shhh, shhh, honey, oh, it’s ok,” She reassured her, rubbing her back and the tight ponytail Alice’s hair was tied up in. “That’s ok. You’re alright.” Alice, not quite getting control of her emotions, but settling into a calm as Ginger hugged her, Alice returned the embrace, resting her chin on Ginger’s neck, her sobbing hushed when her lips found a lock of Ginger’s hair and begun to chew and suck on it. Ginger felt the tug of her hair. “Now you stop that.” She chastised lightly, pulling away, Alice making pathetic noises, wanting the embrace to last. “I have something for you. Just wait here.”       Alice was left alone, looking around at the colorful toys all around her, idly grabbing the toy truck, and was about to put it in her mouth when strange thoughts came to her. She glanced at the baby gym nearby, and opened up the side where the batteries laid and tore into it, pulling away parts of it and grabbing cords and wires.       When Ginger returned from her office, hiding something behind her back, “Ohhh, Alice doll, I got a surprise for yooou!” She looked at Alice and the broken baby gym. “Oh, you! What did you do baby? I suppose that’s one toy we won’t be taking with us, is it?”       “Look!” Alice showed Ginger the truck, now with batteries tied to the bottom of it with cords.       “Oh yes, you got some batteries on your toy, don’t you?” Ginger said with a condescending tone. “I don’t think it’ll roll very well, though…” Alice let go of the truck, and in midair the lights turned on and hovered in the air before doing a lap around the girl, who clapped and awed at it, the state of her trousers completely forgotten. “I- uh, hmm.” Ginger looked at the truck zipping around Alice thoughtfully. The gym owner thought of the funny stories the little ones had told her yesterday, the barista with the matter making machine, and of the robots that marched through the town. It was all over Ginger’s head, but, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea grabbing some of their toys with them. It might be worth a pretty penny.       “Aaaalice!” Ginger put a pause on that idea, “Do you want to see the surprise Mommy has for you?” Alice stopped clapping and looked at Ginger with wide eyes, giving her a slow, certain nod. “Ta-daa!” She showed the wet woman in front of her the purple, star covered diaper in her hand. “It’s not as pretty as your tights, but they’re cute, don’t you think? Do you want to try them on?”       Alice thought about it for a second, she was supposed to be a big girl, right? But, there was the growing feeling telling her the opposite, she was a baby, and what did babies wear?       Wordlessly, Alice nodded, she did want to wear the diaper. Her diaper. She was putting her hand down her waist line before she was stopped. “Ahh ahh ahh! Do little girls undress themselves, or do good girls wait for their Mommy to do it for them?” Alice nodded, agreeing but… A naughty smile appeared on her lips. With little time to stop her, Alice was shimmying her leggings off, before they got caught on the fashionable tennis shoes, before she started lowering the white, cotton panties with the yellow stain down the center of the bottom below a blue ribbon, all the while giggling like a loon. “Oh my!” Ginger grabbed Alice’s hands. “We have a naughty baby on our hands!” Alice could only let out a devious laugh.       “Bad giwl!”       “Not that bad.” Alice was told, Ginger pulling down the underwear the rest of the way, pulling the tights and panties away from shoes inside out and tossing them, no concern about the mess that would be left in the abandoned gym. For one last time, Ginger lowered a girl down on the bench and unfolded a diaper and stuck it underneath her butt while Alice had her legs splayed. Over the last day, Ginger had discovered the delicious difference between changing the diaper of a woman playing pretend baby and a woman who was genuinely regressed. The pretend babies might playfully cover themselves, make it into a flirtatious ritual, ‘Oh Mommy, that’s cold!’ They would object when Ginger would wipe them down, but Alice just giggled and wiggled as the cold cloth ran down her front, pretend babies would just fold their arms, comfortable with being pampered as Ginger blasted a puff of baby powder on them, but a girl like Alice would look at the powder fascinated, her hands went down to catch the white powder, and would laugh and smile as she smacked herself letting the white stuff fly off of her before clapping her hands trying to get the flying powder to happen from her hands. Finally, diaper changes with pretend babies had little movement other than the girl trying to be sexy as their Mommy worked, wiggling her butt, they had patience and would wait for Ginger to dress them with little movement, Alice on the other hand was electric, while this was fun and new to her now, she still wanted to get up, run and play, just discovering a naughty streak she hadn’t felt in decades, running around nakey had a devious, welcoming feeling to it. Several times, Ginger had to hold on to Alice’s hips and tell her to stay still, only for more wriggling to be her answer.       Ginger helped the baby up as Alice studied her new underwear, poking and prodding it experimentally, standing up and waddling around, trying to press her thighs together as she frowned. Ginger grinned at her handy work, before finding a purple onesie and chasing after Alice with it and shoving her into it. Alice went back to playing as Ginger worked on preparing a diaper bag for her girls. Calling for her new baby to take her hand, they were going to go grab some friends and toys for Alice to play with.       Smiling as Alice gripped her hand, Ginger thought to herself, triplets wouldn’t be too bad…               Lana O’Duff, Alice’s real sister slammed the door, rubbing her sunburned skin, not happy that she was back home, and heading into her work at the Kingwood’s Tots Daycare center. Traffic was nonexistent today, which was a blessing to Lana, her head ached, like she was nursing a hangover, she wished she would’ve skipped work to go to the gym with her older sister, watching over some screaming kids was the last thing she wanted to do, but she sighed and let it go. She needed the job.       Lana was pleasantly surprised to see the spaces in front of the daycare empty, maybe she forgot about a holiday and people would mostly keep their kids home today. A nice, light day of cleaning would be nice, some nice chatter with the coworkers about her vacation would be nice. She might even get to play with the toys! Wait… Lana stopped herself before the double glass doors of the center. Where had that thought come from?       “Noooo,” Lana whispered to herself. “I don’t need to play with any dumb baby toys. I’m a big girl!” Lana reassured herself, while opening the doors and letting herself in. She frowned at unlit front. “Jeez! Gone for two weeks and the place falls apart!” She went into the main hallway separating the class rooms, nearly tripping over a toy truck not dissimilar to the one her older sister was currently chewing on a few blocks away. “Damn!” She kicked the toy away before opening the breaker box at eye level, far above the reach of any of the small kids that usually were running through this place. The power whirred on and the lights above flashed on, the computer turned on up front, and Lana went to check on it.       “Hmmm…” Lana took a look at it thoughtfully, “No one’s been signed in at all yesterday… Did we get shut down?” A sound came from the back, something like blocks knocked over. Lana didn’t like opening, or closing, generally being alone in this building creeped her out. She didn’t believe in ghosts or anything, but still, there was something unnatural being around empty cribs, unattended toys, small tables smelling of freshly applied disinfectant, and more than that, it felt like something was always staring at Lana.       Shrugging, Lana went towards her room. She usually watched over the two or three year olds, though the scheduling was pretty loose, if someone needed a day off, Lana might get shuffled off to the infant to 1 year, or 4 to 5, though she was pretty happy with where she was. 2 year olds didn’t too much minding, sing a few songs with them, do some arts and crafts, maybe show them their colors, make sure they get to the potty in time or change them if not, keep them going until they would for certain drop when nap time came. She entered the room, posters with cartoons telling kids things they certainly wouldn’t be able to read, or recognizable figures, an alphabet that wasn’t really for learning hung up on the wall as foam symbols with upper and lower case that were there more as decoration, Lana dropped her purse on the teacher’s desk, sighing as she sat down, rubbing her head. This headache wouldn’t go away. When she looked down, she saw a Pull-Up sitting on the desk, Ariel with her fish tail smiling out at her.       Lana grinned at the image, tapping on the soft plastic of the training pants. Ariel had always been her favorite Princess. Feeling the texture of the underwear under her nails, a strange impulse took over Lana. It wouldn’t be too bad to try it on, right?       She grabbed the training pants and was about to the bathroom that was attached to each room when she heard more noises from the center. Lana hesitated for a minute, Pull-Up in hand. She gave the childish underwear a look. Would she be a bad girl for trying it on? She thought a big girl like her shouldn’t be wearing things like this.       “No!” She said quietly. “I’mma good girl, I’m just trying them on so I know how the kids feel, that’s being a good daycare worker. Gotta make sure they’re comfy, right?” Feeling justified again, Lana snuck into the bathroom, looking around one time before closing the door.       Inside the small room, Lana looked at her reflection in the low hanging mirror, her dark hair flowing down ending in curls, her soft blue shirt with the center’s logo on the uselessly small breast pocket, under a loose, flowy white skirt, she gave herself an admiring, happy with her tanned skin, though… she doesn’t remember the shirt being so tight, her admiration turned to judgment, putting a hand on her stomach, feeling guilt of breaking her diet on vacation, she definitely should’ve gone to the gym today, certain that she’d pack on an extra two or three pounds on. Then, she looked towards her other hand and saw the Pull-Up and remembered what she was here for.       Before she was interrupted, or found out, heart pounding, Lana loosened the strap on her skirt and let it fall to the floor, hopping out of her pink underwear just as quickly, her bronze skin ending just at the bikini line, and stretched out the Pull-Ups with Ariel’s approving face and slipped one white shoe into a leg hole and the other, pulling the training pants up her thin legs and up the thighs, ending on her crotch, completely hiding her tan lines better than she would’ve thought, letting a sigh of relief out, feeling right as rain. She gave her reflection another look. Though the only thing that really changed was the missing skirt and the absorbent pants that were barely thicker than her actual underwear, the vibe was completely different. The uniformed shirt might as well be telling people she attended Kingswood Tots Daycare rather than worked there, the Pull-Ups fell more appropriate around a girl who spent too much time around the pool or beach, probably running away from Daddy who wanted to put her sunscreen lotion on her, than a sexy young woman trying to catch the eyes of a man she might call Daddy in the bedroom.       Lana grinned at her reflection and put her hands on her hips. “I’m a big kid now!” She smiled, really feeling like it. She wasn’t a silly baby that wore diapers, like Alice, she giggled, Alice probably wore diapers, not Pull-Ups like Lana, cause she’s a big girl, although…       She looked down at the padding, pursing her lips. How could she say she really knew what they felt like if she never ‘used’ them? Just a little wet then she could take them off and toss them in the diaper pail in here without anyone being the wiser. Lana strained, pushing herself, but it was weird, the warm Pull-Ups only felt like it was getting colder. She looked at the potty, duh! Lana thought to herself, she was such a big kid she couldn’t just make herself go standing up like a baby, she had to sit down on the potty to feel comfy. Opening up the porcelain lid, Lana plopped down and tried to wet herself again, but didn’t feel anything happening. That’s weird, Lana said to herself, I was sure I had to go… Oh!       Poking the front of her Pull-Up she found it was drenched. When had that happened? Maybe the Pull-Up was a good idea, and she should find another one… Delicately, she grabbed her skirt and brought it up to her waist and snapped the button on the side. Just gotta grab another Pull-Up before anyone gets here…       “Hi Lana!”       In front of the door to the room stood Mrs. Grayworth, in her tucked in uniform over a black skirt that was much longer than Lana’s. Lana gulped. It was fun playing pretend little girl wearing training pants, or was it big girls who wore training pants? The idea was getting mixed up in Lana’s head, but in either case, she didn’t want the owner of the center to find Lana in a wet Pull-Up. What if she said Lana couldn’t be a grown up teacher any more? Or worse, what if she said Lana wasn’t big enough to wear training pants anymore? Lana imagined her and Alice laying on a playmat gurgling and cooing in messy diapers, and shuddered. Though, another half of her thought that might not be so bad.       “Oh, hi Mrs. Grayworth…” Lana reflectively hid her crotch in behind her hands. “How are you?” She forced a grin.       “It’s Gabie, actually. It’s okay… but no one showed up to play today.” She looked around sadly at the empty class room.       Lana gulped again, keeping her front covered, as though Mrs. Grayworth had x-ray vision and could see the state of her underwear. “I’m sorry, Gabie. I’ll play with you.”       Gabie’s face lit up. “Really?” Gabie took long steps towards Lana and grabbed her hands. “Yes! I know exactly what I wanna play, come up!” Lana found herself dragged towards the 0-1 room, baby dolls were all over the floors, blocks partially stacked with more surrounding askew, soft chewing toys everywhere, and a pile of stuffed animals that Gabie jumped into. She patted her lap while giving Lana an expectant look.       “Umm… What do yo want me to do?”       Gabie rolled her eyes. “Sit on my lap.” She said with a huff.       Lana did as she was told, feeling awkward sitting on the knee of a woman that was her size, but didn’t want to be ‘fired’, whatever that meant. Lana knew that being ‘fired’ was a real threat, maybe it meant she would get set on fire for real for real. She certainly didn’t want that.       “Ok! We’re playing house and I’m the Mama and you the baby!” Gabie explained, smiling from ear to ear.       “Nooooo,” Lana groaned in protest. “I don’ wanna be a baby, I’m a big girl!”       “It’s just pretend! It’ll be fun,” Gabie insisted. Lana thought about it, worried, it did sound fun, but still, she didn’t want to be a baby.       “Fiiine, but I get to be Mama after, alright?”       “That’s okay with me, now…” Gabie grabbed her employee by the waist and lowered Lana into her arms. “Rock bye baby on tree top…” The rocking motion, awkward as it was considering the women’s similar stature, still did feel nice, Lana decided to play along, soon enough she’d be the Mama after all, and plopped her thumb in her mouth.       “Googoo gaga,” she cooed around the digit in her mouth, only playing sucking on it, until suddenly she wasn’t playing, and really sucking on it with enthusiasm. This house game wasn’t too bad at all!       Gabie praised her, “Good baby!” Lana beamed up at her. She liked being a good baby… Big girl, she liked being a good big girl, she corrected herself. “Time to check the baby,” Gabie stuck her hand up Lana’s skirt. “Uh oh! Baby had an accident, time for a fresh diapee!”       Lana sat up and jumped off her boss’s lap. “Nuh-uh!” She slowly backed away, feeling unsure now. “Don’t want diapee!” Her voice was rising as her emotions became more erratic.       “Baby,” Gabie pointed down on the floor. “You lay down for a changey if you don’t want a spankey!”       “I don’ wanna!” Lana stomped her foot as hard as she could, a few toys falling off a shelf from the shuddering floor.       “You being a bad girl!”       Lana opened her mouth and let out a shriek in anger. “No! Good girl! Big girl!” She screamed out in defiance. She stomped one foot then the other and repeated, slapping her open palms against her thighs. “Big girl! I’m… Look!” Lana pulled up her skirt revealing the Pull-ups with Ariel’s saturated body, swimming like a real mermaid. “Training pants! So I’m a big girl!”       Gabie stood up, getting red faced too. “Yeah well I’m wearing diapees and I’m the Mama so even Mama’s wear diapees!” She lowered her skirt, showing the thick padding underneath her uniform onesie.       Taking a deep breath, Lana studied the diaper. She wiped away her angry tears, still puffed up from her tantrum. “You pwomise I stiww be a big giwl if I wear diapee?”       “Pwomise!”       Lana took a few uncertain steps towards Gabie, lowering her skirt with a blush. Gabie grinned, taking Lana’s hand and lowered her down to the ground. “And baby need a bottle!” Lana felt a nipple get thrust into her mouth, she blinked in surprise looking at the bottle cross eyed. Cold air rushed against Lana’s damp nether as the sides of her Pull-Up were ripped away. Irritating, but as the warm cream rushed down Lana’s throat, she found herself ignoring all matters of discomfort. Gulp after gulp, Lana sucked down the liquid, each swallow was easier than the last. Time blurred together, and Lana forgot whatever she was upset about. She felt patting on her bottom.       “All done!” Gabie declared.       “Baby looks like she ready for a nap.” Lana nodded. Baby was feeling sleepy.       The empty bottle she was sucking on was taken away from baby, she whined in protest, wet strings of saliva spat out as she said, “Ma baba!” Baby was just seconds away from crying out when a pacifier was shoved in her mouth.       “Mommy’s special formula is so good, isn’t it Baby?” Gabie lowered the rails to a crib, taking baby and helping her inside. “Don’t worry, all the Mommy’s will be here soon. And you’ll get picked up and brought home, and always be a good baby!” Baby was put in a crib with other babies, Lana’s former coworkers, women who had been working here for years, silently sucking on pacifiers, staring up at the mobile spinning above with dreamy expressions.       Baby had one last big girl thought, what are they all staring at? Before looking up, and seeing the spinning colors becoming baby’s whole world as she watched them twirl around, everything else faded out of existence.                   Maddie Weinen showed her hat trick to her audience, her Mommy turned sister who could do little more than move her head and use her diapers, her boyfriend turned baby brother, and of course, the only one clapping at the mechanical rabbit appearing from the top hat, the robot Mommy that had arrived last night. New Mommy never told Maddie her tricks were stupid or pointless, always clapped and told her they were good tricks and Maddie was a clever girl for thinking of them.       Her old Mommy still let out some protests, some times, or new sister rather, she was always whining about something, but better Mommy assured Maddie that the baby was just cranky, or hungry, or messy, Maddie believed her, of course. When she looked into the eyes of her baby sister, she couldn’t see any remnant of the old mother Weinen in there, still though, Maddie couldn’t help but miss her old baby sister, wherever she was.       Her new brother wasn’t too bad. Her boyfriend was always the first to support Maddie, and even in his current state of mostly trying to suck his toes he had eyes for Maddie, she smiled and waved her hand at him in his fuzzy blue onesie with feeties and mittens. New Mommy said that Maddie had a matching pink one just for her, but Maddie wasn’t quite ready for that, Maddie would have to drink Mommy’s special formula, and something told Maddie if she did that then there’d be no more tricks, just trying to eats her feets and drink more babas, with way more wet diapers.       Speaking of wet diapers, Maddie poked the sodden diaper under her leotard. “Mommy, I needs a changey.”       “Of course, baby girl.” Maddie was laid down right in front of her former Mom and boyfriend, unconcerned as she was revealed right in front of them as the machine took care of her diaper, she was even given a rattle to chew on while Mommy took care of her needs. In the middle of wiping Maddie cleaned, Mommy paused, her eyes flashing red.       In a strange voice, she said. “It’s ready…” Quickly, Maddie’s change was finished, and Mommy gathered up the two little babies and took Maddie by the hand with a third appendage that came from the side. “Be a big girl for Mommy and keep up, dear. Or, you can have your special baba now and Mommy can carry you.” She offered.       Maddie shook her head. “Not yet.”       The robot nodded with a smile. “That’s ok, as soon as we’re there, you won’t need that anyway. Come along, children.”       Maddie and her family were led out of the Weinen home, the streets were covered in the robot Mommies, each one with handfuls of adult babies and holding the hands of others, each one being led in the same direction, towards the woods on the outskirt of town, were it was glowing pink. Maddie and the others were led towards Robbie Harris’ cabin, and what lay past that.               “You bastard!” Holly Jackson slapped Tim’s face as hard as she could, eyes wet with tears. “You knew about all this and you didn’t do anything to stop this!” She spat out, accusingly.       Jeremy sat up in bed. His head still ached, in spite of the pain pills he was given. He gave the young man a pitying look. “Come on, Holly, no one could’ve expected anything like this to happen.”       Holly gave the bedridden old man a glare before looking away quickly. Turning her attention back towards Tim. “You could’ve stopped this before it began!” Her anger was spiraling out of control. Her hand lifted up again, ready to strike Tim again. “My Mom and sister are fucking babies because you let your girlfriend do what she wanted!”       Tim stared between his feet, not sure how to respond. Jeremy had patiently sat and listened to each part of Tim’s story, and while he was angry too, he couldn’t help but feel more anger at himself, for leaving Marisa and Jenny there. He thought Holly felt similarly, having left her own behind. Holly groaned, sitting down, clearly ready to hit something else, but in that party dress she looked more like the birthday girl who didn’t get the exact present she wanted. It was strange, though the car crash was a blur, Jeremy could’ve sworn she was wearing something blue….       “Hurting each other isn’t going to help anything.” Jeremy said decidedly. “We have to do something to fix this.” He began to rise, but quickly two sets of hands were on the thin fabric of the hospital gown, pushing him down.       Finally speaking up, Tim said, “I’m not sure there’s anything to be done, maybe bomb that ship or something, because based on what both of you said those weird robots are all over town, maybe we can call the government and try and get them to drone strike the ship.”       “No!” Jeremy and Holly said in unison. Jeremy went on, “My family is there, there’s no way I’m letting anyone throw explosives while they’re there!”       “Yeah! There has to be something else…” Holly added.       “Well, I don’t know what to do. Even if we get outside help, the second they get into town they’re going to go baby brain anyway, I don’t even know if the skies are safe anyway, for all we know if a bomber flies over that ship they won’t be pissing their pants and asking for a snack from HQ.” Tim looked down again.       “No, no, no,” Jeremy mused, “If anyone official is brought into this, their first thought is going to be how to use that thing in the woods. The three of us, we know we’re not affected by it. What if, I don’t know, sabotage it? Grab some gasoline and burn the fucker to the ground.”       “You mean the two of us,” Holly motioned to Tim and herself. “There’s no way you’re getting out of this bed any time soon, and we don’t have time to wait around.”       “I don’t know if gasoline is going to do anything anyway. That thing apparently crashed from outer space, that thing is built to last.”       “Well, what if we didn’t have to destroy it?” Holly said, rising from her seat, scratching her chin. “I told you guys about that teleporter Maddie Weinen built, what if we threw that in there and sent the ship somewhere else?”       Tim thought for a moment, “That could work, using the stuff the affected made while under the ships effect… That’s probably our best bet but, can we even use that thing? Listen, there’s a bunch of those matter replicators in town, what if we made some bombs with those, real bombs, not gasoline, strap it to the ship and blow it up from the outside.       “Hmmm…” Jeremy rested his face in the palm of his hand.       “No, no bombs!” Holly insisted. “The teleporter is our best bet.”       “Wait,” Jeremy said, “I agree getting that thing out of there as quickly as you can is for the best, but it might be better to have a backup plan. We don’t even know if you can get that thing to work, or if Maddie Weinen is around to help you.”       Holly huffed, “Fine, when we get back to Kingswood, I’ll get the teleporter, and you,” She shoved a pointed finger into Tim’s chest. “You get plan B.”       Tim held up his hands, “Can you even move that thing by yourself?”       She put her hands on her hips, “Just because I’m dressed like a little kid doesn’t mean you get to treat me like one. Maddie Weinen could put it together by herself, how hard could it be?”       Tim bit his lip. “Then… we need… Listen, I hate to say it, but if we don’t do this…”       “We’re going to.” Holly said with determination.       “Yeah, we’re going to try our best but, Jeremy,” He looked towards the bed ridden older man, “If we don’t contact you in a day, you get someone on the phone, get someone to help. If… If Kingswood is a lost cause,” Holly tried to interrupt him, only to be shushed by Jeremy. “If Kingswood is a lost cause,” Tim continued, “You have to get someone to do something about it. We can’t let everyone in the country, or worse, end up, you know,” Jeremy and Holly both thought of all the people, including their families, stuck in a state of perpetual infantilization.       “Alright.” Jeremy agreed. He gave both of them his phone number, and they both took a second to find the hospital number, Tim programming both numbers into his phone, Holly writing them down on scraps of paper, sure that she would find a phone somewhere along the way.       Tim and Holly gathered themselves, preparing to leave, “Good luck, kids.” Jeremy held out a hand.       “Thanks,” Tim said, “Get better old man.”       “Jeremy, thanks for running that bolt bag over for me.” Holly said sincerely. “That was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”       “No worries, kid, stay stay out there.”       Tim and Holly walked out of the room side by side. Holly felt something heavy in her pocket, looking inside, she saw Carly’s remote. Whatever that monster that attacked her earlier and put her in these clothes had apparently decided to let her keep it. She shuddered thinking about using it, thinking of what it did to her Mom and Mrs. Weinen, but, before the end of this, she might have to use on someone herself.       Walking out of the hospital, Tim took in a breath of fresh morning air, walking towards his car, he glanced at the dark stain on the passenger seat. Holly looked at the blood stains Jeremy had left there last night, and decided to sit in the back.       The car whirred to life, and the pair drove towards the city line. As they approached a sign that said, “Leaving Derry, come back soon!” A clown holding a bundle of balloons waved at Holly, pointing at the sign, laughing as the car drove past. Chapter 7 The morning light was bright and blinding on Tim’s eyes as he sped down the alarmingly empty road. As though people instinctively sensed the danger in going to Kingswood, they seemed to be staying away en masse. A sign was approaching.   ‘Kingswood ~ Population 3871 ~ Always Growing’.   More like shrinking, Tim thought grimly as he and Holly passed by the sign. He took a second to glance back at his companion, half expecting to see the young woman asleep, but only saw her staring out the window.   Opening his mouth, he swiftly closed it. Unsure of what to say, what are people supposed to say in situations like this? Sorry your family got turned into over sized infants? My condolences? At least you’re not drooling on a pacifier right now? The silence was heavy now that he was aware of it. He was tempted to turn on the radio just to have some noise, but resisted the impulse.   Turning his attention back towards the road, he stopped thinking about speaking for the moment. Until.   “Ahh…” A quiet sigh came from the backseat.   “You doing alright, kid?” Tim was surprised by the words out of his mouth, he was sure that he had nothing to say.   Holly gave him a look of irritation before looking back outside. “No, obviously. I was going to be out of this town, soon. Y’know?” She watched the trees flash by in the window. “I was accepted to Bates College, I was going to be the first Jackson in my family to go to college in 3 generations.” The brag sounded hollow. “I wasn’t going to be like Mom or Grandma and get knocked up as soon as I got out of high school. But, I guess we’re just destined to deal with babies.”   “Hmm,” Tim said noncommittally.   Another sigh. “Who could’ve imagined I’d just be dealing with my Mom’s and sister as my babies? I kind of wish I could just take off, forget about them. Go live my life, but, I can’t help but worry about them.”   “Yeah-” His eyes went towards the glovebox. “You’re stronger than me.”   “Huh?”   “Well, I just,” Tim could feel his mouth dry as his impulses screamed at him to open the glove box. “I didn’t stay. For Robbie. I ran away as soon as I could.”   There was a hesitation, “So did I.”   “That’s completely different. You took off after a crazy robot busted in and tried to regress you. I ran away because I needed a drink.” As they got closer to the town center, they pass by empty homes, doors crushed open, cars pulled by the side of the road, lights left on to let the batteries die, the streets deserted without even a cat or dog roaming.   “Ha! I could use a drink after all that too.”   “Aren’t you too young?”   Holly scoffed at the notion. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m 18, it’s not like I’ve never had a drink before. Didn’t you party at my age? Besides, I feel like I’ve aged 10 years after all thi- Oww!”   There was a sharp pain in Tim’s head, he closed his eyes, gripping his head with his hand, the other white knuckling the steering wheel. The sensation came suddenly, without warning, a feeling that was like listening to nails on a chalkboard rearing through his mind.   In the back, Holly was clutching her head with both hands, knees raised and crying from the pain inside her, vocalizing her pain much more than Tim, grunting as the pain became unbearable.   It was like worms crawling out of the dirt, wriggling to the surface of Tim’s mind. Words squirmed under his conscious. Words that took root, words that grew into feelings, branching out to belief. The pain was easing back, wrapping him up.   Timmy felt silly. What was he doing? The road looked funny as it sped in front of him, and something else felt funny in his pants, a gurgling sound came from his belly as the front of his undies became warm and wet, pee spurting from his special parts and running down his shaft and balls, soaking his undies and pants. A bubble burst as a fart trumpeted from his backside, causing a silly, muffled giggle coming from the back. Timmy looked back and saw the other baby sticking her knuckles as far into her mouth as she could, her diaper on full display under her party dress with her legs open and her knees up, slouched crookedly in her seat belt.   CRAASH!   His eyes off the road, Tim’s car collided with the abandoned car in front of him. His chest rammed into his seat belt then the steering wheel, and more than that, the pain in his head was back, making his thoughts feel like they were on fire and wrong.   A groan came from Holly. Grunting, Tim looked back, Holly with the bridge of her nose getting massaged by two fingers, “Ohhh, poopie, ugh, I mean shit!” She moaned. She looked towards Tim, “What happened?”   “I don’t know- It’s getting worse,” Tim rested a palm on his trousers, immediately regretting it feeling the wet material. “Damn it, I crapped myself.”   “Yeah, uhh, I don’t feel too fresh down there too,” Holly admitted with a blush.   Tim un-clipped his seat belt, grimacing as he got out of the car, feeling the warm mush ooze down his backside, feeling bruised by the impact. Holly got out the other side, trying her best to pull down the hem of her dress.   “I don’t know how much time we have, we have to hurry.” Tim said, averting his gaze.   Holly nervously chewed on a nail. “Should- should we still split up? Maybe we should stick together, if we get like that again, maybe we could, shake the other out of it?”   Shaking his head, Tim gave his car one last forlorn look before looking around, seeing the Walmart close by. “No, go get that thing, I’ll try and go with me plan.”   Frowning, a look of anger returned to Holly’s face, grounding her a bit, “I still say blowing up the ship is the wrong thing to do. Look around, this place is empty! You know where everyone is? That damned ship! You’d be placing explosives right next to my family, friends, everyone I’ve ever known! Robbie too…” She added, hoping that would jostle Tim out of the plan.   “When you were all baby brained, how did you feel?”   “What?! I- what does that have to do with anything?”   Tim cleared his throat. “I know I felt like nothing, just silly little Timmy without a thought or care in the world. That’s not me, that wasn’t anything like me! I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. I know what I have to do, so- If you disagree with me, you’d better run off and get your teleporter, because if I don’t see you at the ship, that’s the only plan I’ve got.” Tim began to walk towards the large store.   Holly gave a huff in Tim’s direction, then proceeded towards the Weinen house.     The Walmart was as bright as ever, yet ominously empty as Tim scrambled over abandoned piles of adult baby paraphernalia left scattered all over the department store. Even in the quietest hours in the dead of night, Tim had never seen the store so still. Not a soul but his own was in here.   With every movement Tim could feel the squish of the mess in the back of his boxers, hastening his quest to get a fresh pair of clothes. He passed by many piles of toddlerish pants and shorts that would do in a pinch, but had a hard time letting go of his dignity to go that route. He kept going towards the center of the store where the men’s wear would be, having to walk around carts filled with toys, baby food, and changing supplies. It seemed like the last patrons of the store had left in a hurry, and with all the strewn goods all over, not without a few tantrums did they leave.   Tim sighed coming to the desired area, even this section of the store was touched by the warped mind virus that had affected everyone else. Racks that would’ve been filled with hoodies, shirts, jeans, cargo pants have been altered to be more babyish, plain shirts replaced by onesies adorned with trains, cartoons, and dinosaurs going ‘rawr’, pants that had buttons on the crotch and legs for easy changes. Even the signs desplaying the latest fashion had been altered to fit the new reality, models that used to have happy or stoic men now showed them playing with toys on the floor in shortalls or grinning in a onesie and fresh bib in a high chair with a decidedly artificial hand reaching out with a spoon full of goop. He was certain, though he hadn’t given the store too much of scrutiny, those pictures hadn’t been up there yesterday. Tim looked around and grabbed a pair of the least offensive pants that he could find before moving on to hopefully find some new underwear.   He didn’t have too much luck in that area either, where there were once boxers, briefs, and whitey tightys along with everything in between, now his options seemed to be between Pull-Ups and diapers decorated with balls and motorcycles and more masculine subjects, though he couldn’t help but recoil at the sight of a motorcycle with a face smiling at him waving with stick hands, right next to more unisex options that featured teddy bears and happy suns and moons.   A tiny voice inside him whispered, even big boys can wear diapers, Timmy!   He violently shook away the thought, considering just going without underwear, but decided against it as more childish impulses ate away his reservations.   Tim looked over his shoulder one way then the other, before dropping trow then and there, disgusted by the contents of his pants tossed them away. He grabbed a pair of wipes and started to clean his butt and thighs. He thought of the first day Robbie had spent, did she feel as embarrassed as he did diapering herself? He thought about his ex lover as he ripped open the package of the plainest Pull-Ups he could see, a light blue pair with gray thunder clouds all over it that he could at least pretend to just be briefs, only with a bit of extra cushioning, and no dick hole, he supposed the men that wore these weren’t really expected to make it to any potties, of course they weren’t, he thought as he slid them over his sneakers and up his thighs, they’re just there because big boys like him could still run and play!   “Wait, no, I’m not a ‘big boy’,” He tried to reassure himself, “I’m a grown up- an adult!” Though the feeling of it being a lie grew inside him. Feeling a sense of shame, he wrestled up his new pants and made his way out of the store.   As he approached the the exit, a glint caught his eye over in the food section of store. Down a familiar aisle, unmolested by the change, a bottle of cheap whiskey laid on the floor of what used to be the liquor aisle, now changed to be full of pouches of pureed food and yogurts that could be sucked through a straw.   Tim slowly approached the bottle. Looking down at it, he felt his thirst again. Leaning down, he snatched his prize, not minding as his childish underwear was shown to the air, even with no one there, he couldn’t help but feel a little insecure at the top of it peeking just above his waistband. He twisted the cap open, and let the amber liquor fall down his throat, feeling an immense relief. The little voice in his head chimed in again, it wouldn’t be too bad to just sit here for a minute and take a drink, Robbie was with her friends, and they could play soon, and Holly was a big girl, she could do her plan and everything would be fine, and if not, she’d be little soon and would be able to be with her family just like she wanted to-   Tim chucked the bottle down on the hard tile floor, glass shrapnel flying as it shattered satisfyingly on the ground, wiping his chin with his sleeve. Even with that little bit burning his throat, Tim could feel his inhibition etched away by his worst impulses and the growing feeling of being Little.   “Heeellooo?” Tim froze as he heard a sing song voice call out to him. “Is there a lost Little One in heere?” Tim looked over the 8 foot tall giant woman come into view, grinning down at him. It looked down at the shattered bottle on the floor, scanning it. “Did someone try something he didn’t like? Don’t worry honey, Mommy has something much tastier for babies like you, just come here!” It commanded Tim.   For a second, Tim felt like he should just stand there, raised his arms up and accept the inevitable, before turning around and sprinting through the aisle. He heard the machine giggle to itself, “Awww, does Mommy have to chase her little scamp? Come over here baby boy!”   Tim threw down as much as he could into the path of the machine, full carts, displays of jars of baby food that left puddles of goop all over the floor, getting to the end of the aisle he turned left, barely giving the machine a glance to see if it was abated by his attempts to stall it in any way, only to see it stomp through the fallen carts, glide easily through the dropped food without a care for stepping into the glass. “Mommy’s gonna get you!” It called out to him, eyes glowing red briefly.   He sprinted down the back aisle, in between the freezer section and next to an array of cheeses, he was about to turn down the cold aisles when the machine crashed through one of the refrigeration units, sending sparks, glass, and bits of metal everywhere. “Heeeere’s Mommy!”   “Fuck!” Tim did an 180 and sprinted towards the back of the store, he jumped through a pair of double doors towards the employee area looking everywhere for an exit, pallets full of crates and boxes of goods scattered everywhere in between shelves full of stock in the gray, concrete laden floor, his eyes darting around for shutters for delivery, the sounds of stamping metal behind him telling him his time was running out.   A steel door with a dingy window welcomed freedom, Tim hurried over to it, each step the thin padding between his legs an unwelcome reminder that he should just stop running, let Mommy pick him up and take him to all his friends where he could sit down, Mommy would probably even let him have a drink from her boobies like little Candy Greenbriar, he would be happy and not have to concern himself with anything.   Tim was running from this slippery slope just as much as the rampaging machine behind him.   He gripped the metal knob just as the robot entered the back area. “There you are Little One! Are you all done playing chase?” Tim jiggled the knob faster, growing frustrated at much resistance the old and worn door was giving him, given how banged up and worn the sides of it were, it must’ve been decades since it’s been replaced. The sounds of heavy footfall was getting louder behind him. “Coooome heeere!” It was steadily approaching him, he looked over at it, crouching down, ready to lunge like a tiger, with a yelp, he jumped away, letting it crash through the door, leaving a hole in the plaster around the door, like a Looney Tunes character.   Tim side stepped through the hole, as the machine gathered itself and searched around for him. Sprinting, Tim made his way towards the front of the store, his sneakers making splat sounds on the pavement beneath him, soon joined by stamping as the robot began making its way towards him again.   Teeth gritting, sweat was pouring down his face, heart was pounding in his throat, adrenaline was burning through Tim as each move he made was dictated by instinct. Reaching the parking lot, he hopped into a parked sedan, locking the door behind him as the robot reached him. He was climbing over the center console just as the robot ripped the door off it’s hinges and grabbed his shoe. Slipping his shoe off, he jumped out the other side and zigzagged around other parked cars as the robot struggled to free itself from the sedan.   Tim couldn’t help but feel like a toddler running through the parking lot with a missing shoe, like he had lost it during play. Each step lopsided and awkward, his left foot falling lower than the other as he made his way towards a brick wall separating the property from the smaller businesses. He jumped into the first building he ran across.   An old barber shop was what he found as a sanctuary, he cringed as the bell above the door jingled as he came in. He hurried to the back, past the waiting area and the row of chairs through a heavy curtain separating the employee area and the floor. He peeked out the curtain, at the large windows towards the street as the robot came into view, looking everywhere for him outside, calling out and cooing for him.   “Ohhh baaaaby!” It called out, “Come out, come out, where ever you are! Mommy has a treat for you!” It yelled out trying to tempt Tim.   He ducked down, trying to make himself a small target while the machine stalked down the road.   Tim sighed, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, feeling the sweat on the back of his shirt, and with horror, found the padding around his crotch also damp, hoping that it was just the sweat the made his back moist too, or else he was further gone than he thought. He wrestled his last shoe off and left it as he went back to the front, the smell of aftershave choking the air around him. He looked around for anything he could use to defend himself, settling on a straight razor that he knew was really only in his hand to make himself feel better.   The old barber shop had been there for over half a century. Tim had come in here a couple of times while seeing Robbie. The white haired man that ran this place usually taking the customers, occasionally having help rotate in and out over the years was a kindly sort, usually reserving just small talk for Tim, but always had a lot to say to Robbie when she came in. The more practical sort, Robbie had been coming to this barber shop since she was small, preferring it over the newer hair salon down the street, Tim remembered Robbie and the old barber chatting for hours, as she always let other customers go in front of her, as she helped the doddering fella with sweeping while talking about the goings on in town. Tim tried to forget about the woman Robbie used to be while making his plan.   The Kingswood Cafe was only a few doors down from the old barber shop, but he was sure he could still hear the robot outside. He knelt down next to the chairs in the waiting room, his socks getting dirtier and dirtier with every step on the linoleum. Tim had to bite the inside of his cheek to ground himself when he saw the toys in the corner, the buzzing in his head compelling him to pay attention to the toy roller coaster in the corner with colorful wood pegs, the icon of the kiddie waiting area that brought Tim back to walking into doctor’s offices with his real Mom as a kid and playing while they waited.   Sighing, Tim grabbed the bell from above the door, gently and slowly, pulling it away and setting it down on a pile of magazines and newspapers next to the door and let himself out as silently as he could.   He thought about the people playing on the streets he saw, people running around playing tag and catch, the girls skipping and laughing, as he stepped over a lost jump rope. Looking around, he couldn’t help but feel like he was in a ghost town, with the empty cars on the road, stores that would normally be bustling by this time in the day. Kingswood felt like a shadow of its former self, and Tim had a sad feeling that this change would be permanent.   Walking on to the patio of the cafe, Tim could hear the distant trudging of the machine close by, reminding him that the monster on the loose was still searching for him and his time was precious. The bean smell had mixed with a strong odor of baby powder, neither of which would be too offensive on its own but combined like this made it feel perverse in a strange way. On the counter was a free sample of Kingswood Cafe and Bakery diapers, with its mascot bear with a steaming mug plastered on it. There was a horrible impulse to try it on in Tim’s head, but ignoring that, he walked around the counter to his goal.   For a moment, Tim was confused by the sleek silver machine in front of him, trying to remember what April did to make the machine work, until it clicked in his mind. Staring at the matter replicator, he realized that he couldn’t just tell it to make an explosive, he had to show it an example of one first, but there was a short cut he could use. Tinkering with the machine, Tim intuitively knew what to do, incredible secrets were leaking into his brain, stacking up, becoming too much to allocate attention to anything.   Tim wanted to go through everything in the place, take apart every piece of electronic and make it better, bust open the TV take the circuits and make machinery that the Earth has only ever dreamed of. His mind was filling up with ideas and possibilities and would’ve been laughable to him only a few days ago. No, he couldn’t just make a whole sale grenade out of nothing, but when everything is made of an element, of atoms and protons and electrons, life and everything around it was built up of legos.   Fiddling with the machine for a few minutes, he came away with the start of his bomb, a simple detonator in the shape of a silver stylus and a black rod, only for the door to open behind him. “Hello, sweet boy!” The robomommy said, walking towards the counter. “Was baby looking for a sweet drink? You know Mommy has everything you need, baby boy,” Tim looked at the first explosive in his hand, and back to the machine approaching him.   Tim had to think quick and grabbed the diaper off the counter. “Momma,” he said in the smallest, most pathetic voice he could manage. “Timmy needa changie…” He held out the diaper to the machine, metal tendrils came out of the sides of the machine over the counter, grabbing the diaper and continued to reach out for him.   “Mommy is very, very proud of you for telling him, now…” A steel claw gripped his wrist and started pulling him towards it. Tim saw the diaper inch towards the center of the machine, gulping, he dropped to the floor and hit the tip of the stylus, the explosive hidden inside the diaper going KRRRBEWM! In the machines hands, vibrating the whole building, sending dust, wood, and metal everywhere.   Tim got off the floor, coughing, covered in dust and debris. He looked around in a panic at the wreckage of the cafe, scanning for… There! He pulled out the silver machine out of a pile of wood and sighed in relief as he saw it was intact, before a more pressing issue became known to him.   There was an ache, a sharp pain, as Tim looked down and saw a piece of the robot’s arm lodged in his shin, a large metal tube coming out one leg and into the other. He swore. “That’s one bad booboo…”       Holly walked through the empty streets of her town, passing by the same homes and buildings that had become a familiar backdrop all of her life. She had been playing down these streets since she was wearing diapers the first time, went on many playdates on the very road the Weinen house was on.   She tried to ignore the squelching feeling that had been between her legs since the horrible signal had begun to finally affect her, with every step reverberating through her body, her braces tingled between her teeth, and put the memories of childhood out of her head. It wouldn’t do to dwell on thoughts of playing when the urge to skip and sing were increasingly easy to fall to.   Distracting herself, she thought of her future. She could still attend college in a couple of months, go through all that, find a boyfriend (not a Daddy, she firmly told herself), go get a job with real responsibility, start a family of her own. She ran through fantasies over and over again, stopping periodically when some fantasies began to drift towards her getting diaper changes or going to a daycare.   Holly stood in front of the Weinen house, picturesque as it always had, the light blue home the epitome of suburbia, complete with immaculate lawn and beautiful garden Mrs. Weinen had spent countless hours tending to only marred by tacky flamingos and cutesy ceramic garden gnomes, trying not to picture Mrs. Weinen getting turned into the babified version of herself by the remote that hung heavily in sash around his waist. She gave it one last look before walking towards it, stopping dead in her tracks when she heard a giggle.   Turning her head, she saw the owner of the gym in town dragging around a woman in a space themed onesie. Holly studied the woman for a moment, taking in how normal she looked in her tights, and tank top, though she couldn’t help but notice the stretchy material around her crotch looked a tad darker than the rest.   “Oh! I thought we’d never find you a little sister, Alice! Hi, sweetie! Are you lost?” Ginger waved at her, approaching Holly with the girl in tow.   “No, I’m good with whatever- all this is,” Holly motioned with a hand. “Leave me alone.”   “That’s not what your clothes say!” Ginger said with a manic look. “Just come to Mommy and she’ll take you away, she’ll take care of everything from now on!” She promised, her eyes filled with lust.   Holly scoffed, “Seriously?! You’re what? Going to tell me I’m asking to be babied based on what I’m wearing? You’re a creep!” Ginger frowned, not expecting this kind of resistance from the girl in the pink party dress. “I- Come on, princess, Mommy can see you need a change from here. Is your pretty diaper supposed to sag under your cute dress?”   Pointing at the other woman’s crotch. “I’d worry about yourself if I were you. You look like you need a change more than me. Why don’t you go find one of the crazy robots and go get a ‘Mommy’ to change you, hmm?”   The idea put a halt to Ginger’s advance towards Holly. “M-Mommy?” The idea seemed to bounce inside her head. “N-no! I’m the Mommy, and you’re the baby!” She decried the idea shrilly before resuming her approach towards Holly. Alice was looking back and forth between the two.   “Listen, I don’t have time for this. The more time we spend in the place the worse we’re going to get. Just go! I’m busy.”   “N-no… I’ve been waiting for this for too long! I’m going to finally be the Mommy to real adult babies, and you’re coming with me whether you like it or not.” Ginger lunged at Holly, grabbing her tightly.   Struggling, Holly tried to get away from the crazy lady, only to realize the other woman was considerably stronger than her. Pulling a hand away, Holly swung her hand outstretched, digging her nails into Ginger’s face.   “Oww!” Ginger cried, clutching at the scratches on her cheek, “You little bitch!” With no thought, Ginger threw a fist at Holly, impacting at her eye.   Holly fell on to the grass, gathering her wits as she could feel her right eye begin to swell, saying, “T-that’s a bad word!” She pursed her lips for a second. That wasn’t what she meant to say. In the quick tangle and blow to the head, the childish thoughts had begun to take over Holly. She could feel her mind slowing, wanting to give into the baby inside her.   “You little brat!” Ginger glared at Holly kneeling on the grass in front of the Weinen home. “You are going to get such a spanking!”   Yelping, Holly got up and ran to the front door, slamming it shut behind her and quickly latching the deadbolt. Seconds after she could hear the knob jostled then pounding on the door. “Let Mommy in you brat!” Holly let a sigh out, letting herself fall down on the steps on the staircase in front of the door, about to turn away when a garden gnome came flying through the bay windows, a shower of glass raining down on the white couch in front ot it. A shriek came from Holly as Ginger climbed through new opening, Holly could hear the girl in the space onesie cry from the street.   Glowering, huffing, Ginger let our a shriek, “You come to Momma now!” She leapt from the couch towards the stairs that Holly was crawling up as quickly as she could, only for her ankle to be grabbed, pulled, dragging her towards the crazed woman. Holly cried out, banging her chin against the steps. Her dress was pulled up, and the first of many hits came to her butt and thigh, sending a smarting pain up Holly.   Holly had been spanked one time in her life, she had been 3, running after her older sister, laughing and swinging a hard plastic wiffle ball bat around acting like she was going to be beat her big sis (she probably was, but remembering this she couldn’t quite recall her intentions) when wildly swinging she had busted a glass cabinet that had been handed down by her Mom’s grandmother. Her Mom, furious at first, left her alone in her room for an hour while Holly had cried it all out and Mom calmed down, when her Mom finally came, explained to her how important that heirloom had been and how her carelessness had ruined something that Holly or Carly or maybe one of their daughters was supposed to have one day, then, as cooly as she could, Pearl Jackson had put Holly on her lap, and spanked her. Then Holly spent the next hour feeling sorry for herself in her room, rubbing her sore bottom.   That first smack from Ginger brought Holly back into the mindset of that little girl, filled with shame and pain, tears were filling her eyes as Holly brought a knee up and sent her scratched up Mary Jane shoe right into Ginger’s face.   “Ahhh! Bad baby! Bad baby!” Ginger pounded her fists into the carpet, her tantrum telling Holly that she was losing her own fight with the signal from the ship, but as Ginger got up, leaving a new wet trail on the carpet from where she landed.   Holly’s hand went towards the sash around her waist before she fully grasped what she was doing, pointing the remote at Ginger and fired. She watched the beam hit the woman, causing her to stop where she was crawling on the stairs, her hair falling out in tufts, her boobs shrinking to nothing and body filling with fat as she turned into an oversized baby. Ginger wailed out in confusion, while Holly stepped over her, trying to ignore the new warm sensation that was in her diaper.   The bright sunshine outside was dizzying as Holly tried to get her bearings, walking off the multiple sources of humiliation that warmed her under her dress, squinting through her steadily worsening black eye to see the platform that she had seen Carrie Weinen vanish from yesterday, before Holly had known even more shit could hit the fan.   She pulled the parts of the wooden platform away until only a small round dish about three feet in diameter, connected to a bluish steel box with dials and knobs that Holly wondered if they were only for decoration.   “Mommy acting funny.”   Holly turned, seeing Alice standing by the backdoor. Turning back to examine the dish and machine, she called out to the girl, “She’s not your Mommy. She’s just some pervert that got a taste of her own medicine.”   The girl frowned at this, Holly tried not to pay too much attention to her as she focused on wrapping her head around the strange machine in front of her, finding it surprisingly easy to figure out the more she studied it. It was far from anything she should understand, but as the seconds went by, and the ship’s signal affected her more and more, Holly realized she it was all so simple.   With the machine in between her legs, her diaper sticking out from her splayed stance much more than a clear headed Holly would’ve liked, she was taking apart the dish and box with one hand, her off hand was getting slobbered on as she sucked her thumb.   Alice had taken a spot on her knees not far from Holly, at first curious what she was doing with the machine, occasionally looking back towards the house where her former “Mommy” was wailing from. She fidgeted in her spot, the tedium wearing down her diminished attention span, until a naughty thought crossed her.   Crawling over to Holly’s spot, her palms and knees becoming green from the grass, Alice knocked the machine out of her hands. Holly whipped her head back, crying out, “Hey!” Her lips quivering, ready to start bawling.   With her tongue sticking out, Alice gave a taunting, “You’re it!” Smacking Holly with a grassy palm before crawling away.   Holly glanced at the box on the ground, knowing she should be working on it as fast as she could before… Try as she might, Holly couldn’t remember what the deadline was, in fact, the whole reason for working on the teleporter was becoming a distant memory, and with a giggle, she started crawling after Alice.   The two girls crawled after each other in the yard, going in between chairs that had been left there yesterday, hiding behind pieces of the platform, trading back and forth ‘it’. Holly lost all concept of time, her inhibitions and plans becoming dust, all that existed was this moment, until she heard something coming from the house that knocked her out of her daydream like state.   “Oh you poor thing! Let Mommy get you dressed. Silly thing, you are a mess!”   One of the robots, and so close! Holly glanced back towards the machine, and tried to stand up to run to it, only to forget how to for a moment. She struggled to stand, her legs bent and bowed, pigeon toed, Holly fought to keep from screaming as she waddled towards her goal like a real toddler.   “And I see we have two more lost Little Ones!” Holly glanced over and saw the giant in a green dress holding the bald Ginger in a fresh white onesie furiously suckling at the robot’s teat. “Come here, sweetie, are you hungry?” Alice squealed and crawled towards her.   Holly turned her attention towards the machine she actually wanted, each step she took felt like it took a monumental effort. She fell inches away from the teleporter, scampering towards the last distance on her hands. Reaching out to grab the dish, a revelation dawning on her as it was finally in her hands, she ripped the box apart, finding the key component that would enable the teleportation.   The back of Holly’s skirt was grabbed just as a tiny glass vial was in her hands. Holly let out a squeak looking up at the towering figuring, holding Ginger in one arm and Alice in the other, a probing tendril snaking underneath her dress, giving her padded rear a squeeze, Holly let out a gasp as a mushy mess smashed against her crotch. “Uh-oh! Did someone leave Mommy a stinky surprise? Did she?” Holly blushed, one hand reaching down, she hadn’t realized she had messed during her playtime, she struggled against the shame and the urge to give up, lashing out with her whole body trying to get away from the robot while keeping the vial in her grip.   “Nuh-uh!” The robot said in a sing-song voice, “Now’s not the time for play!” More tendrils came out from the machine’s sides, pinning Holly down. Her previous experience in her home came back in a flashback as she was held down, her privates feeling the refreshing cool air as the diaper tapes were ripped away. Warm tears were slowly cascading down Holly’s cheeks while she whimpered as the robot cleaned her up,   Holly’s butt felt the warm grass beneath her for a second, and then the cool cotton of a fresh diaper replacing it, a few sobs escaped Holly’s lips while the robot (Mommy) finished it’s (her) job. Holly’s muddled thoughts becoming more erratic by the second, her panic overwhelming her focus.   “Someone’s a cranky pants! Mommy know how to fix that!” Holly watched as Ginger was lowered from Mommy’s chest, and to Holly’s horror she was raised to replace her. Holly’s face brushed against the artificial sack of milk, her mouth adjusted towards the nipple, tears still flowing, Holly found herself automatically latching on to it, warm cream filling her mouth before she knew what she was doing.   She whipped her face away and spat out the sweet concoction, it ran down her front, covering her chin and neck, before her head was pressed back to the boob. Once again, as soon as her lips tickled from the nipple, her baby side, growing stronger by the second, latched and the cream filled her mouth, a metallic hand keeping her from moving her head away again, Holly desperately tried to keep herself from swallowing any of it, but eventually a choke came from the back of her throat and she let a rough, heavy gulp go down.   As soon as that first gulp hit her belly, Holly could feel herself slipping away, her sucking became more steady, and her goals becoming a loose idea. With precious few seconds left to her, Holly reached towards the holographic skin of Mommy, feeling a strange buzzing on her arm as the light tickled her skin. She felt a tangle of cords inside, blindly fumbling inside until she felt a connection, then let her hand relax and fell out of the machine.   Holly let herself become absorbed by drinking, in the distance, she could hear Alice greedily gulp and suck just like she was, and Ginger mewling. After an eternity, Holly was pulled away, fresh dribbles of cream falling from the corner of her mouth, she blinked up at the afternoon light as she hiccuped. Lazily, she squinted up at Mommy who smiled down at baby Holly, pushing her up to a shoulder and giving some light patting on baby’s back until she let out a burp, and let a dribble soak into her diaper at the same time. Baby giggled a little at the sound she made, cooing in comfort.   Gripping the fabric of the dress Mommy wore, Holly’s tired eyes began to falter. “Alright ladies, let’s get you back home!” Baby heard as she settled down for her nap.         Tim hobbled on the dirt path up towards the cabin, a tote bag on his shoulder from the cafe weighing heavy on his shoulder, passing by the wreck doors of the Jackson home, the eerie stillness of Jeremy Copper’s house, and many more like them. Grimacing with each step, Tim left a trail of blood from his weeping wound, but there was a silver lining to his pain and slowness: he was grounded, he still felt the siren song that called to him, telling him to end his resistance, but it was drowned out by the pain he felt every time his leg moved.   In front of Robbie’s cabin, a large path was made, Robbie’s jeep pushed to the side, based on the tire tracks, it was literally pushed, leaving deep gouges in the earth and two large dents on the doors. The dirt had been stamped flat, some of it had been gone around the cabin, trampling the green grass flat, others had gone through the home, making it look like a twister had hit the place. The couch had been flipped upside down, cabinets were opened and emptied, it looked like the living room had been turned into a make shift changing station, a large blanket and several diapers and changing supplies piled up ready for use, the kitchen counter lined up with dirty bottles and empty jars of baby food and…   On the counter was bottle of whiskey, tied to the neck with a piece of twine was a note with Tim’s name of it. Tim grabbed the note and the bottle and begun to read it.   “Sorry I missed you, Timmy, and you get got dragged into all this. I don’t know if you’re ever going to see this, but I had to say byby goodbye one last time. The dig is almost done, and it’s getting hard to tink to know words good, had to write this quick. I think mebbe maybe it was wrong to try and fix you, even if it was for a good reason, its hard for me to turn back now two, so I ask one of the Mommy’s to leave this hear for you, I hope you get it. Have a good life, Timmy, maybe we’ll see each other again, one day, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to recog know you.   -I always love you, Robbie”   Tim looked at the note, next to Robbie’s name was a wet mark where it looked like she left a kiss, though it was hard to tell without lipstick, and over the margins were little doodles, with flowers and hearts, a stick figure with ‘Scruffles’ helpfully identifying it. Tim walked over to the back window and stared out, with the bottle in one hand and the note in the other, letting the bag hit the floor. Towards the woods, in the direction of the ship, he could hear the sounds of many people. He looked down at the bottle and wondered about Robbie, wondering if she could ever bounce back from all this, or if anyone else could, or if even he could.   With a sad look on his face, he twisted the cap open on the bottle and took a large swig, only to swear when he felt his crotch warm. “Shit!” He pulled away his pants and watched helplessly as his Pull-Ups soaked up his uncontrolled pee. Tim slumped down against the wall, head on his knees, listening to the distant voices, occasionally filling his mouth with more burning liquor.   He could wait here, one of those robots would be around eventually, right? It would be so easy to give up here. Glug, glug, glug. The damage was already done. Maybe Holly would be around soon, her plan was better anyway. Glug, glug, glug. He felt his Pull-Ups warm more, and felt a dribble escape the boundaries of the thin incontinence undergarment, soaking into his babyish pants. Glug, glug, glug. At this point, he should just stick himself into one of those diapers and be done with it. He failed, he was a screw up, with his bum leg there was no way he was getting anywhere close to the ship without someone stopping him anyway. Besides, if Robbie was there, would he really have the stomach to… Glug, glug, glug.   For awhile, he sat there, in a pool of his shame feeling sorry for himself.   “Heehee!”   From outside, he heard a giggle from a woman, Tim got off the floor, and saw a robot in a green dress, carrying three girls, one of them in a distinctly familiar pink party dress. Oh no, Tim thought to himself, Tim got up, waddling towards the backdoor of the cabin, his leg on fire slowing his pace, and saw the robot disappear into the trail.   Head buzzing from the signal and whiskey, he remembered poor Candance, and in her place imagined Holly. The kid didn’t deserve that.   The bottle slipped from his hand, spilling its contents on the wooden floor and followed, only grabbing his bag as an after thought before running (hobbling) after them.   As quietly as he could, Tim followed the robot in the green dress, holding a girl in a space onesie in one arm who cooed and reached up for the robot’s face, in a tendril below her, a bald, flat chested woman dimly waggled her arms, not appearing to be in full control of her limbs even more than the other babified people, and then in the left arm, Holly snored, one leg hanging over the machine’s arm, a smile on her dreaming face. Tim felt sick at the sight, and promised himself, if nothing else, he would get her away from here, gritting his teeth and ignoring his pain as much as he did the wet, squelching that was soaking his pants.   The sounds of people grew louder as they approached where the dig site was, and soon, where there was once trees, Tim saw the clearing around the ship had grown exponentially larger, it looked like an outdoor concert venue, a sea of people everywhere, for every 10 one of the robots, he saw playpens scattered around holding the denizens of the town playing inside, bassinets built out of the newly fallen cribs holding dozens of people, several tents were around too, though Tim couldn’t see what was going on in them.   He watched as the three girls were deposited in the nearest playpen, Tim found it easy to join the crowd of people unnoticed, passing by people of all ages, some of them wearing only diapers, others with short shirts and dresses that barely went below their waists, a few lucky people got to have their padding covered by shortalls, shorts, or skirts. As Tim passed by them, he realized the distinction between those in the playpens and those outside, everyone out could stand and waddle a bit, while the playpens were reserved for crawlers, nobody seemed to wander away where ever they were placed.   Tim snuck into the playpen where he saw Holly was laid down on a blanket, she was up at this point, and staring up into the sky, reaching up for the clouds that passed by and wiggling her legs, gurgling sounds coming from her throat. Tim got on his hands and knees and slowly crept near her.   He knelt above her, and looked down sadly at the independent young woman he had only met the previous night, once clearly ashamed by the childish outfits she was forced to wear and showing concern for her family, now wriggling about, giving anyone with a mind to look a flash of her diaper, that is when she wasn’t inadvertently hiking up her dress herself to show it off, a disgusting film of flaky white cream coated the front of her dress, her chin, and corners of her mouth.   Holly gave Tim a toothy grin with her braces on full display when she noticed him staring down at him, before a bubble blew from her mouth, popping and sending the simple girl into a fit of giggles and kicking her feet up and down.   “Kid? You in there?” Tim gently said, a look of concern flashed on Holly’s face, a look of recognition, before she looked up towards the sky at a passing cloud that caught her attention. “Holly?” Tim shook her shoulder a bit, Holly frowned, her eyes squinting like she was about to cry out. As a last resort, Tim pulled back his hand, and sent a slap right into Holly’s cheek. “Oww! You dick!” Holly said, turning her body away from Tim, holding her cheek.   “Oh, thank God, Holly!”   “Oww,” Holly repeated, getting on her hands and knees. “That hurt!” She gave Tim a hurt look, her lips pouting, “But thanks, I- that was awful. But, not? It was like being empty and full at the same time…”   Tim put a hand gently on her shoulder, “Holly, you gotta focus, we have to get out of here.”   Holly shook her head. “I- don’t know if I can,” She looked down at her legs disappointed. “I don’t think I can walk any more,” She said with a look of fear at her legs.   “I don’t think I’m much of a walker, either,” Tim said, motioning at his bum leg.   “Shit!” Holly swore, “What happened?”   “Not important right now, I guess,” He hoisted the bag on his shoulders, “Plan A then…”   “Wait!” Holly grabbed Tim’s arm. “Please, don’t, I got the teleporter, the robot that got me, I don’t know where she is, but she has this green dress, and she has blondish hair, it’s in her, please, just try and get rid of the ship that way, all these people, you don’t know how many people will get hurt, please!” She pleaded.   “I’ll try my best-” Tim was grabbed from behind, looking up to see one of the machines, one in a red dress with floral patterns, pulling him up, sticking a cold hand down his pants.   “Oh my, I thought I saw a baby boy in need of a change. And what happened to your leg? Oh, we’ll have to get you all cleaned up!”   As Tim was carried away, Holly called out after him, “Please Tim! Don’t-” She disappeared as Tim was taken through the sea of people.   Tim was taken to one of the tents, the sun was creeping towards the bottom of the skyline, there was a wait in line for a row of changing tables where men and women were stripped of their padded prisons, some of them babbling towards their ‘Mommy’s’, others sucking loudly on pacifiers or bottles.   While they waited, Tim’s Mommy sprayed his wound with a nozzle from one of its tendrils, making him wince in pain while it was covered in a wrap. “Shh, shh, baby, it’s alright, Mommy makes it alllll better, see?”   Tim wanted to complain, but it did feel better, though he wasn’t a fan of the kisses it put on his hurt leg. “Is someone hungry?” Tim watched the machine slip the front of its dress away from a breast and bring him towards it as the line edged forward. Thinking quickly, Tim shoved his thumb into his mouth and loudly and dramatically started sucking on it. With concerned eyes, he scanned the tent area, numerous robots were all inching along in line, each with a Little one in their arm, until he saw it. Holding the girl with the space onesie, the robot in the green dress. He kept his eyes glued to it.   Tim was laid down on a soft bed like surface, and his pants were torn off of him. He idly wondered if he was ever going to wear pants again, as the Mommy told him, “Oh my, I don’t think this big boy is ready for training pants. Diapees are much comfier anyways, you’ll see!” Tim asked himself how many people who came here wearing Pull-Ups were told that same thing, though they probably didn’t mind as much as he did.   A probing hand with no care for Tim’s privacy and dignity wiped every inch of his underside, he shivered in discomfort, while keeping an eye on the green dress the whole time, doing his best to ignore the embarrassing situation that was going on below. “Did someone have a poopy? Who thought it was a good idea to put this baby boy in Pull-Ups after that?” The machine asked eyeing a brown mark on the used wipe before disposing it.   You wipe yourself in a Walmart in a hurry and see how thorough you are, Tim bitterly thought to himself, the whole time keeping his thumb firmly in his mouth before his ‘Mommy’ had any more bright ideas of filling his mouth with anything else.   A fresh diaper was placed beneath him, his ‘Mommy’ decided her ‘baby boy’ needed a little extra care as others patiently waited in line, it rubbed cold lotion into his skin, making sure to rub it into every crease and crevice, Tim had to bite his thumb just to keep from swearing at it. Finally, he was doused with talcum powder, making him smell like a real infant before he was taped up.   Eyeing the offending new underwear, Tim experimentally tried pressing his legs together, only to find he couldn’t get his thighs to meet. Inwardly he sighed in discontent, and went back to keeping an eye on the green dress.   Alice was apparently in less dire straits in her pants, by the time Tim was being done being changed, she and her Mommy were already joined the crowd. He fought to no avail to get out of the robomommy’s grip so he could follow them, but was only brought into the crowd, before his squirming finally let the Mommy deposit him in one of the playpens.   He saw an older couple cuddle with each other in nothing but their diapers, he thought he recognized one of them as a fire fighter that he occasionally saw at the bar, and his wife that he thought had something to do with the local school. Nearby them, he saw the barista from the Kingswood cafe playing with a teddy bear that looked like the one from the cafe’s logo, he blushed thinking of mess he left her work and avoided eye contact with her, though she seemed to be in her own little world.   He snuck out of the playpen, keeping his tote bag tight against him while walking on his hurt leg smarted, but he persisted on the trail of the robomommy. Tim felt silly, avoiding them for nearly a day, and now he couldn’t get the attention of one.   Pushing through the adult babies who offered little resistance, he finally saw his target, the Mommy who was kneeling down tickling one of the Littles. Creeping up on it, he tugged on it’s dress.   It turned around and gave him a big smile. “Yes, baby? What can Mommy do for you?” Tim despised the condescending tone it made towards him as it stared down at him.   Mustering up all his acting chops, Tim put his hands behind him and wiggled his hips back and forth the best her could trying to look like an innocent boy, not too difficult considering he was dressed like a toddler. “Mith Mommy,” He said with a very pronounced lisp, “Will you pwease take me to da ship?”   Tim felt two arms grab his waist and lift him up. “Of course, sweetie!”   As he was carried to the center of the field, Tim wondered where Holly could’ve hid the thing inside the robot, or how he was supposed to know what it was when he saw it. Taking a deep breath, Tim plunged his face inside the robot’s chest, his head buzzing through the hologram’s light.   He saw it almost right away, a tiny vial filled with blue liquid, whitish bubbles floating inside like a lava lamp.   A hand was on Tim’s head and he was pushed out. “Silly baby, that’s not how you get a drink!” The robot chastised Tim, leading him towards her nipple. He turned his head as far as he could, reaching his hand into the machine.   He twisted and turned his head and hand, one trying to feel for the vial, the other avoiding being fed like his life, or maturity, depended on it. The soft fat of the artificial boob was pressed against his face, it was all he could to keep himself from opening his mouth when the nipple was brushed against his face he had to bite his tongue till he tasted blood to keep from giving into the urge to drink, the closer he got to the ship, the louder the child inside his mind screamed at him to give in, the buzzing in his head growing louder, it was maddening, it felt like an eagle screeching between his ears that grew louder and louder.   With his resolve tested, the Mommy only got more insistent, pushing his face into her. Opening his mouth, he clamped down with the strongest bite Tim could muster, but this only made Mommy laugh at his antics, “Tsk, tsk!” She clicked her tongue. “Baby, you know you can’t hurt Mommy!” Tim said disapprovingly, just as Timmy’s fingers wrapped around the vial, he felt ashamed. Why was he trying to hurt Mommy again? He was being naughty. Looking down, feeling like a bad baby, his mouth was pushed on to the nipple, and he had a gulp of it before the revile hit him in the gut, a mixture of his shame and the cream mixing with whiskey turning into vile concoction.   Timmy let go, before the acid come out from his belly, he let it all out. A mixture of disgust and fear of nearly being gone completely pumped the adrenaline inside of him. With his one good foot, Timmy braced it against Mommy’s chest and pushed himself away. There was resistance at first, then Timmy fell to the dirt, scampering away from Mommy’s grasp as she reached down to grab him. He crawled forward, between the legs of other Littles and Mommies, towards the warmth that he could feel, his hand tightly gripped around something while the weight of the bag on his shoulder dragging him down.   Finally, a warm pink light hit Timmy’s face. Looking up, Timmy saw the sharp and round curves of the metal sphere, the warm pink lights emanating from each curve, only a small amount of the bottom still below the ground. Lights flickered on and off all around the ship, a large opening hatch beckoning towards him and all the Littles that surrounded the ship, some crawling into the ship, others sitting mesmerized, a few crying for anyone to come, slowly these people were gathered by the Mommies in the area and carried into the ship. The pink embraced Timmy, making him feel small and safe, one with everything and isolated. Baby Timmy was just a speck of dust in the grand scheme of everything. In the face of majesty, he only wanted to plant himself into the dirt and cry for his Mommy to come and grab him.   Yet, he persevered, for Holly, for Jeremy and his family, for the people of Kingswood that would be relegated to a life of perpetual infanthood, for Robbie, and for himself: Tim crawled forward towards the entrance.   His legs left the warm ground and fell on to cool metal ascending into the ship, at first, he was blind, only knowing to keep going forward by the echoes in the dark, the soft pitter-patter of hands and knees on the metal, other, heavier footsteps of the Mommies. He could hear the Mommies coming and going, though they had a considerably easier time in the dark, able to maneuver around the Littles heading inside. They passed by Timmy, the phantoms in the shadows, seeing him but leaving him be, knowing he was always stuck on his path.   Soon, a little at the end of the tunnel appeared before him, and with it, silhouettes of others in front of him. Timmy’s eyes strained at the blinding light in front of him, and by the time he reached the large opening in the ship, he had nearly lost himself again, the pain in his leg, tongue, and the scrapping of the glass vial in his hand and the rough weight in the bag keeping him focused on his task at hand.   Like the the outside, the large oval shaped room, the size of a theater hall was filled with sleek metal, flickering lights, and the bright pink that radiated from every surface that made Timmy feel dull and heavy, each inch he took more effort than the last, and on the walls, Littles everywhere, sucking from artificial teats like the ones the Mommies had, only they were strapped into strange seats with wires going into their bodies, rows of men and women up and down the walls mindlessly sucking the strange cream while some sort of energy was being taken from them, Mommies helping new Littles into the seats before leaving for more of the batteries, each new addition making the pink light shine brighter. And in the center, there she was, Robbie, nude saved for the diaper on her waist, hair thinning to a fine wisp that barely covered her head, belly big, on the lap of the biggest Mommy Tim had seen, he had to squint at her, for a few seconds, she looked just like the other Mommies, but if he looked closely, he could see a different shape, just as maternal but far more alien, the shape the Littles that came before would see as ‘Mommy’, blue and many limbed, a face that belonged to a creature closer to a cephalopoda than an ape, this was the original Mommy, connected to the ship on a throne with wires and tubes strapping her in place, the machine all the others were copies of sent into the minds of all that touched the ship’s signal.   “Oh, Robbie, what have they done to you?” Tim asked himself with a heavy heart.   The original Mommy seemed to look up at Timmy as he crawled in, and smiled at him kindly. She pointed at him, and two of the smaller Mommies grabbed Timmy and carried him towards her.   “Timmy, at last, we’ve been waiting for you. You’ve been in my little Robbie’s mind a lot.” The original seemed to speak directly in Timmy’s head, it had to push its way into his mind but it still broke down the door regardless of how much resistance there was.   One of the Mommy’s grabbed Timmy’s bag, with a look of shock, he clung to the tote the best he could, like a child getting his favorite toy taken away. “N-no! Mine! Stop!” He said desperatley.   “Ah ah! Those aren’t toys for Little boys like you, sweetheart,” The original whispered loudly inside Timmy’s head. “Bring him to me, Robbie will be so happy to have him back.”   Timmy struggled as he was put on to the original’s lap, Robbie seemingly to pay no mind to him, lost in her task of endless drinking. The original gave his hair a light brush before he was plugged into the breast in front of him.   Within seconds, Timmy seemed to be on another plane, in a way, he was still vaguely aware and connected to his body, but it was like his mind was free flowing, bouncing up and down the ship, becoming part of the loud song the ship sang out, one of the orchestra of Littles and machines that made up the choir. It was hard to keep himself separated in that instant, it would be so easy to lose his individuality, just be another baby on Mommy’s lap. He was somewhat aware that his body was on auto pilot, sucking on the strange cream, wiggling about in quick, jittery spasms. There were dim lights all around him, growing dimmer by the second, that he could feel as the other Little’s minds, when their lights would be extinguished, Timmy intuitively knew they would be lost forever, and when that happened, the machines would replace them with another, each light gone would increase the range of the signal. Yet, there was one light that burned brighter than all the others, and wasn’t growing dimmer, right next to Timmy, Robbie, he could feel her, touch her mind, or her soul, or whatever these lights were. She wasn’t going out, it was almost as though she was being kept the way she was to set the frequency,   [Hello?] Timmy reached out to the bright light next to him.   It felt like waking someone up, giving them a nudge to tell them to it was time to move. [Timmy?]   [Robbie?]   [Timmy,] Robbie thought, or said, or maybe felt was the best way to describe this communication, Timmy had no frame of reference for how this soul to soul communication. Robbie felt a perverse amusement at this thought, knowing instantly how he was feeling. Then, she got sad. [I’m sorry.] She thought, dwelling in despair. [I didn’t mean for all this to happen. It just all felt so good, and everyone else felt good, I thought it was nice for everyone.]   It was tough, but Timmy managed to move his physical body, and after a struggle, grabbed Robbie’s hand and held it. [I know, it’s ok.]   [Mmmm…] A wave of comfort came from Robbie. [That feels nice.] And it did, the passing of comfort passed between the two back and forth enveloping them in a safe pleasure.   [You were tricked, highjacked, Robbie. You couldn’t help it. But I can.]   Before Robbie could ask him what he meant, Tim opened his eyes, staring into the original Mommy, one hand still in Robbie’s, he reached into the mechanical parts that made up Mommy, and found a loose wire, wrapping it around the vial of blue liquid in his hand. A flicker of electricity zapped the vial, and the entire ship shook.   Finally satisfied, Timmy fell back, not physically, but all his maturity and sense of responsibility become untangled from his being, and Robbie, feeling Timmy’s release, joined him, as the ship and everyone on board vanished from the Earth, reappearing in a distant corner of space.           Epilogue-   Holly Jackson woke up from a dream, where she was just a happy baby, staring up at the sky as the sun set while a scruffy looking dog, her tummy aching and turning. She sat up, struggling a bit, looking down and to her dismay seeing a well used diaper strapped to her hips. All around her, she saw the people of Kingswood groaning and huffing, waking up from their own stupors, others, to Holly’s pity, she saw could barely move their heads. And, of course, the robots that had brought each and everyone of them to the empty clearing stood still, a hollow reminder of what they had all survived.   A few of them, including Holly followed by a happy Scruffles, a shaken Marisa Copper holding her daughter Jenny Copper by hands and tugging her away from the ground of confused people, Alice and Lana O’Duff having found each other in the chaos also following them. As the night fell, those who left wandered the dark trail to the best of their ability, until they saw a cabin.   Taking the lead, Holly barged in and immediately grabbed a phone and called for the authorities, as vague as she could, told them there was a huge emergency in the Kingswood forest, and to send as many medics as they could. Of course, she wasn’t taken too seriously, but still, an hour later, a whirring stream of red and blue whites appeared outside the cabin, and Holly told them there were a lot of people in the woods that needed help. By that time, Holly, Marisa, Alice, and Lana had raided Robbie’s wardrobe and put on whatever clothes fit them the best, Marisa Copper tried to get her daughter to get into something more than the onesie with the pink butterflies, only to find the still baby brained Jenjen didn’t mind her attire, if anything she didn’t mind wearing nothing but her diaper and even then, Marisa had to fight her adult daughter to keep it on Alice and Lana took off immediately after they got dressed, though Holly suspected they probably regretted that soon after, as both her and Marisa, feeling like they were in their right minds, still found their bottoms soiled and in need of the diapers that had laid scattered around the home. Holly gave Jeremy Copper a call, and Marisa, realizing who Holly was speaking to, demanded the phone, had a very confusing reunion over the phone with her father, while Jenjen kept tugging on her arm demanding to speak to Grampy.   Over the next few hours, helicopters and EMS poured over the area, and soon after that, men and women in black suits appeared to interrogate everyone involved. Holly, as one of the few who could both talk, and probably the only one with the full story, was stuck in a facility for days. Many of the other residents of Kingswood became hospitalized or institutionalized,   There seemed to be three categories for the survivors of what was called the Kingswood incident, the first, like Holly and Marisa and a few others with metal in their heads or had come to the town later, would spend the rest of their lives mildly incontinent, and, though they would be hard pressed to admit it, would sometimes have dreams and fantasies about being adult babies, for Holly’s part, in nearly every relationship until she found a husband, would try to get a boyfriend to eventually diaper her, and when she finally had her husband, would make their basement a secret play area for her.   Then, there were the cases of those who spent most of their time on the outskirts of the signal, Maddie Weinen for instance, would spend the next few years of her life failing to regain her potty training completely, and trying to regain her education, mostly not recalling any of her previous life, though she still occasionally tried to show the nurses, doctors, and other Littles her magic tricks, and occasionally she asked where her sister Carrie was, she and a few others like her were allowed to stay with extended family, or they were left in the care of specialized facilities.   The final category were the worst off, like April, who spent the rest of her life in a research facility, where, when she wasn’t being tested or prodded, spent her free time running her play cafe, giving her stuffed animals cups of tea or coffee (empty cups) with her partner Mista Bear, in this category, she was lucky that she could still speak a few words, even if the majority of them were names of drinks. Or the case of the Stowskis, Kenny and Erin, though they were nonvocal, and could barely move their bodies, would throw full blown screaming fits if they were separated, to the point that the nurses that ordered a special crib to keep the two of them.   Jeremy Copper had been reunited with his family after he left the hospital, leaving his family’s home to live with his daughter and granddaughter, both who had become much clingier since the Kingswood incident, and while Jenjen would usually be the one asking him for a change, some times, in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, Marisa would ask her Daddy to help her into a fresh diaper.   Holly never got to see her Mom again, her, Mrs. Weinen, and Ginger having been taken away after the agents had learned of the remote control and confiscated it, though, her sister Carly was given into Holly’s custody to her initial dismay, but quickly found Carly to be a shy and quiet girl, glued to her sister’s side as much as she could, and fairly obedient, except save for bath times, where Carly would rather run around the house naked. When Holly eventually did marry, Carly started officially calling Holly and her husband Mommy and Daddy.   What happened to Robbie, Tim, or any of the people on the ship was left unknown, left to wander the cosmos in the cold vacuum of space, lost but at least together. The End   (Bonus Epilogue) (A request that's not my usual fair but I had some fun with it, fairly graphic sex scenes, enjoy!)   In the dark reaches of space, far away from the nearest star system, a ship lay silent, save for the light sucking sounds and occasional wails of men and women. In this ship, in the main compartment where robomommies would zip around tending to their charges, adults who had the unfortunate fortune to end up trapped here and in their own minds, past the blinking lights and machines whirring, on what could generously be called the lap of the original Mommy, a man and woman perpetually sat, sucking at the breast of the original.   Timmy had no clue how long they had been there, time had lost meaning, his moments were cycles of feeding, only pulled from Mommy for a few minutes for him to get a new diaper, perhaps the occasional glancing touch of his partner, Robbie, lighting up his nerves when a hand would touch a thigh accidentally, when her unused arms spasmed and her flesh would fall on to his chest.   The only freedom them had, a ball of energy that was their minds floating through the walls of the machines. At first, Timmy had retreated into the darkness that was his own mind, most of the time when his ball would travel outside of his earthly body, the alien sensation of his mind or soul vacating his body would be too electrifying, too overstimulating, like being trapped in a pitch black box then getting dropped into a sea of lights. But- He was going insane, reliving memories that he had begun to doubt even happened. He needed a, for lack of better phrase, a breath of fresh air, and his mind wandered through the walls, towards a familiar entity, his neighbor, and former lover. His ball of energy touched hers, a knock on the door, and the invitation was accepted.   Timmy’s jaunt into Robbie’s mindscape was at once both incredible in how familiar it was, and terrifying, jumbles of memories flashed inside Timmy. He experienced the memory of Robbie learning how to ride her first bicycle with her Dad holding on to her and feeling her excitement, her humiliation at a Homecoming dance, getting rejected by the boy she had been pining over for months, the relief and accomplishment as she had finished the first draft of the story that would become her first published work staring at the white word document looking at the blinking line after the final period, the deep grief at her uncle’s funeral, to Timmy’s surprise, he could feel a hand on Robbie’s arm and saw himself through her eyes and the feeling of comfort, he could remember that moment from his own perspective, that small, grateful smile on her face. The journey to the center of Robbie came to an end when Timmy found himself on a familiar dirt path the heat of the sun kissing his skin, Robbie’s jeep in front of him, the cabin just over the hill past the wooden steps.   Gravity had never felt better to Timmy as he put one shoe in front of the other, it felt like a lifetime since he had walked anywhere. And there she was, Robbie smiling down while giving Scruffles, the old hound dog waging his tail looked over at the approaching Timmy and gave him a welcoming bark, with her hair down, her red and black flannel shirt that he always joked made her look the world’s sexiest lumber jack, and- Her diaper? “Hey, you’re finally here,” Robbie said pleasantly with her fingers running through Scruffles’ fur.   Timmy cleared his throat after gathering his thoughts. “I- ahem- yeah, I got kind of sick of being stuck in my own head.”   Nodding, Robbie agreed, “Yeah, it gets lonely being stuck in here, but it’s fun to play through your imagination. I’ve actually gotten to see the peaks of Niscoria under the twin Moons, everything I’ve ever dreamed I’ve gotten to see in person, it’s amazing.”   “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to be wearing a diaper.” Timmy admitted, rubbing the back of his nape.   That just made Robbie laugh. “Heehee! So are you!”   Looking down, Timmy was shocked to find she was right, there it was, blue with firetrucks on the tape was his big thick diaper. “What the Hell?” He tried desperately to rip the tabs off, finding no success.   “We can’t take them off silly! Babies don’t change their own diapers!” Robbie reminded him, still laughing.   “I-” Timmy fought for the right words, realizing not only could he not argue with her logic, but he also agreed. “I just thought things would be normal here.”   Flashing Timmy a grin, Robbie gently shooed Scruffles away, getting up and walking towards Timmy until they were basically breathing on each other. “Normal, huh? I uh, can help it feel more natural for you,” She offered, looking up into his eyes, giving her bottom lip a little bite, her nails tapping on the front of the diaper, exploring the plastic surface until she found her prize. The diaper audibly crinkled while she played with him, the task getting easier as his dick grew against the absorbent padding inside.   “That’s better, isn’t it?” Robbie cooed at him. Timmy let out a sigh, his tip growing moist at the friction of cloth rubbing against his hard on, precum absorbing into the padding. “That’s my boy!” Robbie’s praise lit him up, he never thought of his thick prison to be anything adjacent to sexy, but Robbie’s touch was teasing him to the idea.   Leaning in, Timmy’s mouth found hers, missing her touch and kiss more than he had ever admitted to himself. Robbie’s hand drifted up, her arms wrapping around his neck, the tiny, fine hairs of her arm tickling the back of his neck. She lifted a leg up, wrapping it around his waist, and the plastic of their diapers rubbed against each other. There was a phantom feeling of happiness inside him, not one of his, an ache of need, he was feeling these emotions too, but this was different, like there was a mirror inside him that was reflecting Robbie.   His fingers went down, finding the bottom of her padding, and he pressed, the sudden warmth and ache of stimulation that Timmy felt as he rubbed Robbie’s pussy through the plastic was incredible, he felt a deep urge that he never felt before, he felt Robbie’s desire to be filled.   Robbie pulled her face back from the kiss, letting out a breathy moan before burying her face into Timmy’s shoulder, her other leg raising from the ground to join its partner wrapped around him. Through the layers Timmy’s erection could barely feel the mound under Robbie’s diaper, carrying her into the cabin, Timmy could barely register how much its changed with the blood rushing from his head down south, Robbie’s acceptance of her babyish tenancies altering her home in her mind’s eye to be a closer reflection to what she saw herself as, the couch was a crib now, her coffee table in the center of the living room a changing table, her office space where computer and desk were instead a large swing and walker, a shelf that once housed her own novels and books she was inspired by and used for references was still there, in a way, now covered in stuffed animals and toys that would inspire her playtime and stimulate her creativity.   Raising her head, the hair touching Timmy’s face, the second it tickled his face he could feel her lips grin against his skin, the sensation bouncing between the two, she whispered into his ear, “Daddy, hurry!” Her urging making him swing her on to the bed of the crib, with her legs dangling over the side, he pushed them apart, staring at his lover as she unbuttoned her plaid shirt and reached a hand inside to reveal a boob, her fingers groping herself in anticipation, her erogenous areolas lighting up as she teased them between digits . Timmy stared at the diaper encasing Robbie’s sex, unsure of what to do, he started rubbing where his penis was against the spot where Robbie’s pussy was.   For a minute that was fine, but he could feel both of them getting frustrated, him from the lack of true physical contact, and her from not getting enough pressure but on the important bits. Robbie took her hands off herself and grabbed Timmy by the shirt and pushed him on to the crib bed, then climbed on top of him. She threw her shirt off and rode him, the friction that was born from her body weight meeting the bump in Timmy’s diaper giving her more excitement.   Robbie had always had a penchant for sex talk, but her time as an adult baby had considerably perverted her taste. “Tell me I’m a big girl, Daddy~” She said in a rushed, low voice while her hips quickened.   Timmy got on board right away, the pressure down south urging him on. “You’re a big girl! You’re a big baby!” He said while gripping the plastic covered hips in sweaty hands, it was a wonder how her tapes keeping her locked in her pants had held up, or his own for that matter. Robbie let out an ‘Mmmm…” In pleasure in response. “You’re my baby,” He continued, her response was a faster rub that only enticed him to continue. “You’re Daddy’s baby girl. Big girl!”   At the same time, they both released, though not in the way Timmy had intended. A warm spurt of pee shot out of Timmy’s hard on, soaking into his diaper mostly but also covered his own genitals with warmth, the first stream was a surprise, the next was on purpose, or as purpose as a man who was losing all continence could muster. The warm padding only made the experience that much better for him. While on top, Robbie felt Timmy’s diaper get thicker, while the ricocheting relief bounced into her, and she let loose too, filling her diaper with a hot stream of liquid that gave her a squishy feeling, like a race horse catching her second wind, she sped up.   “Dadada, I wet,” Robbie’s words were devolving.   “So wet, my little baby is such a wet girl.”   “Dadda,” It sounded like Robbie was putting too much tongue in her words. “Dah dah!”   “Yeah, you like that don’t you, bad girl!”   Robbie paused, mid thrust, looking at Timmy with a hurt expression, a thumb slipping into her mouth. “I notta ba’ giwl!” The hurt and guilt traded back and forth between the two.   “No, no, you’re a really good girl!” Timmy cried out, trying to bounce back.   Robbie, wanting to get back on with it, said, “Otay, Robbie good.”   “Robbie is such a good girl,” Timmy kept going as Robbie continued her thrusting, “Robbie is such a good baby. Good baby, good baby!”   A feeling of completion rocked Timmy’s world, Robbie let out an enthusiastic, “Ahhh, ahhh, ahhhhhh!” Her bubble popped, the pent up energy that had been growing inside her let out as her body contorted, vulva clamping down on moist padding, her legs clenching with Timmy between them, a few more gasps of thrill leaving her mouth while her chest heaved in satisfaction, when she relaxed she inadvertently let out another dribble of pee that heated her diaper further, and all this getting sent into Timmy who was having an out of body experience, feeling like a rocket ship that had just blasted off, the feeling so overwhelming that he lost his erection, and was just basking in the moment.   Robbie lowered herself, laying on top of Timmy, like a warm, sweaty blanket, though not unpleasantly so. Smiling up at him with a slack jawed grin, Timmy didn’t mind the loose drool that dripped from the corner of her mouth and on to his chest, her own chest dropping ever so slightly with the gravity, while she gave him small sounds of contentment. “Mmm, dadada,” She let her mind and body catch up for a second while her primal urges receded. “That was incredible.”   “Yeah…” Timmy smiled as he agreed, “Is it like that for you every time?”   Shaking her head, “No, that was way better, like- The first feeling of orgasm was amazing, but then you felt, then I felt you feeling it, and it was a hall of mirrors,” Robbie explained, “An ocean of pleasure, just wave after wave.” She sighed, but then had a devilish grin on her face. “Buuuut~” She gave his jawline a kiss before readjusting herself to kiss his lips. “Sooomebody didn’t make his stickies!” Robbie said as a playful accusation, running a finger along his chest under his shirt.   Timmy felt his little friend return as he embraced Robbie and offered his lips to her in agreement, only for Robbie to get pulled away by a set of huge hands. “Did baby girl have a fun playdate?” Said the large woman dressed in the style of a 50’s housewife.   Giving a emphatic nod, Robbie mumbled behind a thumb, “Uh-huh, Momma! But it not over yet, Timmy still need to make stickies!”   It was strange to look at the robomommy, she looked much more realistic in Robbie’s mind palace, Mommy’s skin didn’t flicker in the light revealing her real figure underneath, and the skin, he found as she set Robbie down and told her, “Go get your toy, cupcake,” turning to Timmy to grab him, felt less synthetic. It hurt Timmy’s eyes when he looked at her, at once, he saw what he thought Mommy should look like, light skin, almond eyes, black hair, a face that took Timmy back to bygone days, but in the same space another woman occupied it, one that Robbie saw, olive tone, brunette so light it verged on blond, laugh lines that made dimples when she smiled, similar to pictures Timmy had seen on pictures in Robbie’s home. It hurt, looking at her, seeing her, relaxing helped though, as he gave way to the madness and embraced the two faced woman.   Lowered to the changing table, Timmy felt freedom as his diaper was taken off of him, feeling a bit insecure of his stiff member in front of the giant.   “I’m ready Mommy!”   Timmy looked up to see something that made his heart drop. Standing in front of him, in front of his legs that dangled over the side of the table, was Robbie sporting a massive black strapon in front of her diaper, glistening with a lubricant.   “N-no! I don’t wan-” But Timmy’s pleas were silenced with a pacifier.   “Shhh,” Mommy said while unbuttoning his shirt, giving his belly a little rub, her tone hushing him, though there was no meanness. “You’ll like it, just trust Mommy.” He felt a calming wave wrap him up, but this did little to fully settle his spirits, the panic came back with a vengeance and his hands immediately shot to his mouth to remove his gag to voice his diasapproval.   Sighing, Mommy reached down, pulling up a pair of powder blue mittens with locks on them, securing them to his hands grabbing a strap for the pacifier and running that around his head, Robbie looking at the scene with curiosity, excitement, and empathy, feeling Timmy’s fear, giggling while she adjusted the belt that kept the strapon around her, occasionally mock playing with the tip, her other hand firmly against her face as she sucked on her thumb.   Timmy’s eyes locked on to Robbie’s as she approached him, Mommy helping him put his legs up to rest on Robbie’s shoulders, his muffled pleas partially silenced by the rubber in his mouth. He fought and struggled, until he felt the massive hand around his erection, giving it a test tug, the soft hand rubbing him giving him a shocking amount of pleasure as he looked down and watched Mommy hold him between a forefinger and thumb, her appendage making him look dwarf, in the background, Robbie moving closer to him until…   Penetration!   A slow, smooth object violated him, making his hole stretch, hurting a little, his body quivering with the dual parallel sensations of pleasure and pain while Mommy rubbed him, the job getting easier as the precursor to cum emerged from his tip, Mommy’s skin beginning to gather it and run down his cock. The handjob was in the background though, the insertion of the strapon still in the fore front of his experience, until-   The tip of the black rubber hit something deep in Timmy’s cavity, making him practically jump out in the sudden onslaught of stimulation his dick throbbing in Mommy’s hand. Robbie let out an, “Oooh,” as she felt Timmy’s experience through there connection, retreating slightly before taking another whack at it.   Simultaneously, Mommy’s jerking motion hastened while Robbie’s thrust matched the speed, a second of stretching before she pounded his g-spot in his ass, Mommy running down his cut foreskin each motion making it slicker.   As Timmy’s resistance faltered, and his body relaxed, Mommy cooed at him, “Good boy!” Her encouraging words sending a ripple of happiness through him, his hips began to rock in sync with her touch.   Breathlessly, Robbie repeated, “Good boy, good boy, good boy!” Her pillow talk falling into mere parroting as it became harder for her to think with Timmy’s emotions bouncing through her, creating her own pleasure that reflected back into him.   It all became too much for him, the neurons in his hand firing as reason and thought left him, Robbie followed suit, getting lost in the moment and her humping grew wild and uncoordinated, jamming her prosthetic penis into him with reckless abandon, making the cycle worse with each pump, the constant tapping on his prostate making his descent into a thoughtless beast only capable of feeling and grunting reflect on her, emboldening Robbie.   “Good boy!” Mommy told him, “Mommy’s special boy is almost there!”   A few more thrusts, and Timmy’s penis pulsed in Mommy’s hand, first, and spurt of fluid flew from his tip, and another, then another, his head he didn’t realize was up fell on to the cushioned surface, a huge smile behind his pacifier appearing. Robbie fell on to the floor as she was wrapped up in the throes of ecstasy she felt from her lover, she reached down and felt herself through her diaper without thinking, passion overtaking her and cumming almost immediately and sending her pleasure back at him, the sensation only making his quivering body eject more cum and sending the two sending their orgasms back and forth.   Almost with no meaning, Robbie let out her own praise, “Good baby, good baby” Though whether it was for Timmy or herself, neither knew.   “Oopsie daisy!” Mommy said, folding Timmy’s diaper back up against him. A little thought emerged in a way that was more just a feeling of what’s happening than words, before he felt what was going on, as the pressed on padding caught the mess that was appearing out of his stretched asshole. He didn’t even feel it come out, nor did he care too much. Mommy would change him in a moment, his conscious falling back while he was lost in his avalanche of experiences.   In turn, Robbie barely felt her own mess escape her while she continued to touch herself.   Mommy let the two be for a moment, as their big feelings deescalate. When their panting turned into regular breaths, Timmy wriggling on the changing mat and Robbie rolling on the floor, Mommy returned, taking off Robbie’s used toy and removing the pacifier gag from Timmy’s mouth, Timmy could only make drooly, “Baga Mama,” noises which was more than Robbie who couldn’t even gather the energy to make baby sounds any more, to grab both of them and move them on to the crib, putting the two on to their bellies and letting them drink from her breasts.   As their hands felt around and found each other, Timmy felt himself drift from the moment, returning to his body in reality with a much heavier, stickier diaper than when he entered into Robbie, to find his fingers entwined with Robbie’s. The End (again)