Scoop The Poop

Hi again! Apologies for my delay in response, and it's pretty great reading my commitment to a regular release schedule and then immediately failing to meet that mark. That's definitely a good way of looking at things! Sometimes I can get bogged down in perfectionism, but also sometimes it's better to just move on with a solid 95%. I'm happy to hear I've inspired, just as tons of other folks have inspired me! Thank you and best of luck with your endeavors! And also, please enjoy two more chapters! 21 - Age Appropriate It was the sensual rub on her shoulder that had Dawn murmuring in her sleep. She was on her side, cozy on her mattress, head against a plush pillow. “Time to get up already…?” Dawn groaned as she stretched, feeling the warm sunlight across her face. “Thursday’s just afternoon class for you, right?” his calm and casual tone climbed up, over and around her neck, as if she could feel his breath against her. “Yeah…” Dawn dreamily whispered, still with her eyes shut and oblivious to the rest of the world. “You?” A resounding sigh from her lover. “Yeah…well, guess I’m the early bird this semester…” She could feel the mattress shift as a body rolled and moved. “Gonna make something fast though; should I get you too?” “Mmm…nah,” Dawn yawned and stretched all over again, reaping the rewards of a well-rested body twice. “I’ll make something after…” “If I leave, you’re not just gonna go back to sleep, are you?” His voice was distant and off the bed, and she just nearly turned her head to hear him better. Just nearly. “Nope…promise.” Thankfully making a promise to her optional attendance wasn’t all that sacred. There was some moving around the bed; dresser drawers opened and closed and curtains were drawn. A few minutes later he asked, “Still with me, by the way?” “Hnnn…?” Her face rubbed into the pillow and sheets just a little more. “I’ll try again when you’re a little more awake, but, uh…sorry about being tied up with research for next week’s break, and everything… It’s just it’d look good on a portfolio, so… I promise we’re gonna do something special over the summer, okay?” “Kay…” with hardly a cognizant horse in the race, Dawn mumbled back, but she had the gist. Whatever her boyfriend was rambling on about, she had made her peace with it. “Oh, by the way, don’t forget to take care of all the junk mail on the counter; I’m gonna throw it all out if you don’t look through it!” She had a point in her mind to dismiss him, yet without any of the class or tact given how badly she wanted to go back to sleep. Putting it much more crudely in a sleepy voice, she muttered, “You’ve got…classes…” “Yep, you’re right. Love ya, and don’t go back to sleep!” “Love you…” She groaned back, trying to focus on the comfort for as long as she could. Maybe she could just skip class today and catch up on some personal reading… There was that one anthology she was enjoying, or maybe the introspective on that one convicted killer? So many choices, and she had the whole day to enjoy it. But first came finishing off the high of her sleep. And she rested there, enjoying the sunlight for a few more seconds, all until he start rocking her on the shoulder again. Slowly, gently, but to a point that she couldn’t ignore. “What…?” She tried to sound playful, but even boyfriends could only rock a sleepy girl so far. “You’re gonna be late…!” she tried to roll away, but there wasn’t much place to go. And the rocking continued, and continued, all until… Finally in a clear voice, she sighed and rose with a frustrated voice. “Luke, what?” And she opened her eyes to the sunlight, laying in her mattress, head against a cushy pillow. She blinked, staring at the dark wooden panel of the desk that she was stashed under, spinning her head back over to the light leaking in from outside the furniture. Groggily, she looked down at her bed and pillow, finding now that while her head truly was cushioned, the bedding beneath was nothing more than an Amazon jacket and hard floor. But her boyfriend rubbed her shoulder again, and she spun her head as worlds seemed to collide, but her rush and urgency stopped on a dime the moment it was killed. The baseless excitement died once she understood. The hand affectionately rubbing her came from a soft-smiling Katherine. “Did you have a nice nap, sweetheart? You slept without making a peep!” Katherine fawned and cooed, and Dawn was still trying to make sense of where she just was…or…what dream she was just having… Just a second ago she could see it; the other side of her apartment bedroom…sunny, warm, and cozy… The doorway to the bathroom was right in front of her; close enough where she could leap out of bed towards it. And yet… Her hand reached out and pressed against the wooden panel, sliding her hand up and down, like there was going to be a ripple, or intangible piece that was a portal; a gateway back to what she knew she saw and knew she was experiencing…! “Dawn?” The same female voice was calling her back though, fastening the chain to the post that kept her rooted. “Y-yeah…?” Slowly, the frazzled girl turned her head. “Did you have a bad dream?” Katherine frowned, and soon their foreheads were touching. “You don’t feel warm…” she commented, but the concern wasn’t completely gone. “I-...I’m fine,” Dawn insisted, taking another breath and trying to fight the phantom surroundings from her dream. She’d been rocked emotionally and mentally so heavily though that it gave Katherine the opportune moment to tug down her pants. “Hey…!” Dawn complained as well as a piece of paper stayed dry in water. And speaking of which, the front of her diaper was squeezed and a dry, crinkly puff spoke back. “Getting her up?” Grace, if Dawn remembered correctly, asked Katherine from her adjacent seat behind the lobby desk. Dawn could see the Amazon on her knees looking up and away to her friend that was well out of view, chatting, “Yep. We’re done for the day so I’m gonna get changed and get us out of here.” And without any debate whatsoever Dawn was being lifted up and onto her feet. “Want me to watch her while you get dressed?” Grace asked. Dawn stepped out and into the light, squinting just a small bit from actually adapting to the meager amount of darkness she had, though she did feel a tiny bit sore from sleeping effectively on the floor. “Would you mind?” Katherine smiled appreciatively, and Dawn looked up at Grace, sitting in her chair like she had been before the girl fell asleep. Her friend waved her off with a hand. “I did it the first time, didn’t I? Besides, if she slept well that means no crankiness, right?” she chuckled. “Lucky it’s been a slow day!” “Really lucky,” Katherine nodded. “Dawn, honey? I’m gonna go get dressed and then we’re gonna get going, okay? Can you behave for Grace?” Let it be said how lucky Katherine truly was. With Dawn still fully waking up it was the absolute sole reason why she wasn’t getting any pushback right then. She slept long enough to forget the good graces and also temporarily lose the energy to verbally fight back. So instead she lightly nodded, feeling distant more than anything else. “Okay, I’ll be right back,” and Katherine stood and left, leaving Dawn with sunken shoulders and a gaze up at her new warden for the brief intermission. Another stickler for the rules, but just maybe slightly less oppressive than Dayna was… “Did you wanna come sit on my lap?” Grace smiled, misinterpreting common courtesy through the eyes as just a silly child’s wanting. “No, I’m fine,” Dawn replied, lucid enough for that, at least. “How long was I sleeping for?” “How long? Hmm… I would say for a little bit, at least.” Maybe it was coincidence, but it was another mention of passing time without any real metrics. No numbers, just phrases. Qualitative, but not quantitative. “N-no, as in, like, how many hours?” Dawn clarified, hoping that being blunt was just shining light on a silly misunderstanding. “Hours?” Grace repeated, but paused for a thoughtful hum. “Hmm…a little over three, maybe?” Three? Since when did naps go for three hours? Weren’t they an hour or so at most? “That long?” “Littles like you are always having big and exciting days,” Grace chuckled, “you’re gonna need a break in between all the fun, you know!” That long though… Was she actually that tired? The days were longer here, weren’t they? So was her body just…catching up? Acclimating? The very word made her shudder just like her diaper crinkled. Her diaper…fuck. “So did you have a fun day?” Grace did both the chit and the chat, leaving Dawn to wander in her very immediate space, curiously peering around the central pillar that the desk surrounded. Almost as if it was her own fortress… “Uh…it was fine,” Dawn was passive in replying, wishing Katherine could somehow change faster. “Did you like meeting Dayna?” Did leprechauns bleed lucky charms? No, and not because the answer was blood, but because they didn’t exist. Things that don’t exist don’t bleed. So no, she very much did not like meeting Dayna. “She was…nice.” All Grace did was chuckle, and Dawn gave her a look. “What? What’s so funny?” Dawn frowned. “Hm?” she raised her eyebrows. “Oh! No; your mommy had some stuff to say about that, is all. Between you and me, sweetheart,” she leaned in with a playful whisper afoot, “you need to learn to behave!” Were they talking about her when she was asleep? “Wh-what? What did she tell you?” “How silly you can be,” Grace stayed vague with a cheery smile, and Dawn only exhaled, knowing just how impossible it was to get any kind of direct answer from anyone here. “Oh hi, Grace!” a voice from beyond the great wall was heard and the Amazon sitting with Dawn looked up and over. “Hey, Dayna! Excited to be off the clock? Vacation awaits!” “You can say that again,” and the voice drew closer. Closer right until an unfortunately familiar face was visible to both Grace and Dawn now. “Just glad I got to finish it with a fun shift, no offense!” “None taken,” Grace sighed herself, waving her hand. “Running the Little’s corner is definitely the highlight of the week,” she said, and Dayna solemnly nodded. “Definitely. Though,” Dayna chuckled for a moment, like it was required just to get the next part out, “I had to deal with one who was being a little bit bratty today…” “Oh yeah?” Grace asked, and Dawn, still somehow unnoticed, shook and quivered. She shook from the anger of knowing exactly what she was about to imply, and quivered from the fear of having dodged a bullet. It sounded like she really did have a vendetta, if only by a little. “She’s new and all, so I’m not going to hold it against her, but have you met Katherine’s new Little yet?” “Yeah, I did, actually. Sweetheart in my opinion! Not yours, though?” Grace chuckled, and by forgoing any mention of the very person standing right beside her, just maybe the Amazon was covering for her. “Mm, well… She’s something. It was like she was ready to throw a tantrum over every little thing! First she didn’t want her juice, then she got upset when I wanted to check her diaper, when she had to sit down for story time… Promise you won’t tell Katherine this part?” Secrets from Katherine? Suddenly Dawn felt an oncoming bargaining chip, even if it was a tip from her newest enemy. Grace nodded and said, “Lock and key. Whatcha got?” “When Katherine came to pick her up for lunch? She called Katherine by her first name!” And the sound of shock in the woman’s voice rang an uncomfortable bell for the culprit. Dawn looked beside herself in a weird way. Did it really matter that much? Enough to tell another person about it? And of all things, too. It couldn’t have been that important to call her Mommy, right? “Really?” Grace spoke with a similar spike of surprise, and Dayna readily confirmed. “Yes! You should’ve seen how embarrassed she was! I completely get it, but still… I can’t imagine how embarrassed I’d be if my Little called me by my name in public; gosh, even in private! I wonder if–” “Oh come on!” In a shocking turn of events, Dawn stepped back and shouted up to the heavens, catching Dayna off guard. “You can’t be serious! It’s not even that big of a deal!” Clearly Dayna was taken aback, never expecting a second listener. But still, a second later and her persona was composed. The friendly, gossiping tone was dropped for one that played from statuses, enforcing the separation between teacher and student. “Dawn? What are you doing back there?” “Minding my own business,” she spoke crudely. “What about you?” But instead of getting an answer, the grown up simply deferred to the other, continuing to talk right over the girl’s head. “Grace? Did you let her play here? Wait,” she turned her head both ways, “where’s her mommy? Where’s Katherine?” “She’s just getting changed out of her uniform. I said I’d watch Dawn for her,” Grace explained, but Dayna looked far from satisfied. “Has she been here this whole time? Katherine never brought her back after lunch– Oh, perfect timing! Katherine?” And Dayna disappeared from beyond the desk. “Jesus…what’s her problem?” Dawn muttered, but she spun her head as the floor fell from beneath her. Or, more aptly, she was picked up. “Hey!” “Don’t ‘hey’ me, troublemaker,” Grace playfully sighed, “Your mommy’s gonna get in trouble if you let anybody find out she let you nap back here, you know?” “Why, because Dayna is sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong?” “Dayna cares about Littles a lot, honey…” Grace explained, but it seemed to be sparing an awful lot of enthusiasm, to the point where the woman seemed to doubt it herself. “Let’s go hand you off. Sooner you two skedaddle the better.” “I can walk, you know?” Dawn complained, but was barely even acknowledged as Grace carried her out the back and back to the front of the desk where they closed in on Katherine and Dayna. “Katherine, you never brought her back after lunch. The whole day were you just–?” “Bwah!” Grace forcefully interrupted, and even Dawn could feel the tense atmosphere. Katherine looked pensive and reserved, meanwhile her peer came off as aggressive and annoyed. “Sorry, Kat! Dawn wanted her mommy!” And like a box of chocolates Dawn was held out as such, to which Katherine warmly accepted now in her street clothes. Dayna’s mouth still hung agape with a stern sentence she seemed like she wanted to finish, but apparently Littles really did function the same like children as far as set pieces went. No adult in their right mind would chew out another in front of a kid. “Oh, thanks!” Katherine smiled, briefly bouncing Dawn against her hip. “Did you miss me?” Dawn wasn’t sure whether she was just being exploited as a diversion at that point or Katherine was being genuine. Either way, the warm smile still made her feel uncomfortable and brought on a blush, so maybe it didn’t really matter. “And actually, Dayna, do you have a sec?” Grace asked with a sense of apology in her voice. She clasped her hands with a guilty look. “Since Katherine’s gotta go, I was wondering if you could help me organize just a few late return filings real quick? Call it your last job before vacation time?” Dayna looked caught between two different hares she was trying to catch at the same time. She briefly stuttered, then ultimately sighed. “S-sure…” “Perfect! Thank you so much!” Grace grabbed Dayna by the shoulder, then tapped Katherine’s. “Have a good night, Kat; be good for Mommy, Dawn!” Apparently if it was coming from an Amazon and not a Little, Katherine was adept at reading cues, hence why they were already drifting away. “Thank you!” She waved. “Have a great vacation, Dayna!” Katherine called, then whispered in Dawn’s ear, “Can you say bye to Grace?” “What?” Dawn, not whispering so much, rebutted, “why?” “Because she did something very nice for us. Please?” And like that they were back to speaking in broad strokes and flowery words. Reluctantly, and without a gesture, Dawn called out blankly, “Bye Grace.” “Bye-bye!” Grace, still within earshot, waved back, still escorting Dayna away. “Jesus, what was her problem?” Dawn vented as they reached the outside. “Was she mad at you, or something?” “No, Dayna wasn’t mad,” Katherine was quick to correct, “she just…wanted to make sure everything was okay,” she briefly explained, but didn’t leave room for comment. “More importantly, did you have a fun day?” Calling it ‘fun’ couldn’t have been farther from the truth. But what wore on the girl was Katherine’s constant smiling. Her stupid, kind words and overbearing attitude, especially with how upset she could be over the stupidest things that Dawn would say or do… “It was…interesting.” She froze up from the elated gasp from the Amazon. “Really?” Katherine asked, sounding no less happy. “Oh, that’s great! I’m so glad you had a fun day!” She squeezed her tighter, and Dawn tried to push back just to give herself breathing room. “I know we had some problems, but I know it was a lot of fun spending my lunch break with you!” And maybe it felt begrudging to admit, but that was probably the highest point of the day for Dawn as well, if not the part where she slept through the remainder of it. After all, she was at least humored in browsing some of the books, even if she was censored the whole way through. It was the highest point, if only because everything else was simply so much worse. “Next time…” Dawn started, but wished she never even began. Next time. When was next time? Tomorrow? Two days from now? Days. Days she referenced going by with the full expectation that she would be here for that much longer. Waiting and wondering just when her sentence would end. “‘Next time’ what?” Katherine, as inquisitive as always, bounced Dawn on her hip like she needed a reminder to finish her questions. “...Nothing. So now can we go home?” Dawn asked as she looked around the parking lot, finding it to be far more packed than it was that morning. “We can…” Katherine lulled, and Dawn wasn’t much of a foodie, but she knew how to smell a carrot dangling from a stick. “I was thinking we could make one quick stop somewhere first. Is that okay?” No, it probably wasn’t. “Where are we going?” “It’s a surprise! Do you wanna guess?” “I just want to go home… Can we, please?” “We will right after. I promise you’ll like where we go, though!” Soon Dawn was slipped into her car seat, slipped and snaked into the cushioned seat, safely secured and strictly strapped into place without a chance of getting out on her own. What she didn’t appreciate was her accompanying accessory set being placed right next to her. She watched Katherine drop the diaper bag right next to her before shutting the door and getting into the driver’s seat. “Wanna listen to some music?” Katherine asked as she pulled out of their space. “Nope. All set.” Did she really care if her doll was entertained or not?   “Ta-dah!” The excitement was sure and true, but it wasn’t shared. Dawn gave her a skeptical look as she watched outside the window from her seat. In another attempt to spark some joy, Katherine asked, “Dawn, you know where we are, right?” A sliver formed between her lips just to let out a quiet sigh. “A toy store?” “Yes, the toy store! Don’t you wanna pick something out?” Again, the Amazon kept trying to sweeten the pot, but her tricks and tactics were simply suited for a different kind of opponent. “Can’t we go to a bookstore, or something? I’ll gladly pick out a book,” Dawn tried to compromise. “They sell books here, too! But, you need to pick something out to play with too, understood?” “Why is it so important I get a toy? I don’t play with toys, Katherine,” Dawn tried to explain as clearly as she could, yet hearing the clicks and snaps of her own car seat straps seemed to make for a sore juxtaposition, somewhat. “Because you need fun things to play with!” Katherine emphasized, finally sighing herself, albeit in a much more playful way. “I like books too, but I can’t be a bookworm my whole life!” In other words, diversify with your hobbies. What “hobbies” was Dawn allowed to have here? Books, if at all, and what; playing with toys? Toys and books? Or were her hobbies just the different games that she was supposed to play? The self-defeatist attitude was as justified as it was demoralizing. But having been through the song and dance enough, Dawn decided to be as much of a buzzkill as Katherine could be when she wasn’t the one getting her way. “Is it because of LPS?” The apparent Big Brother of this world. “Don’t worry about that,” Katherine hushed much more somberly, but she still came off as positive. “Besides, you tried really hard today and you deserve a treat for that. Anything you want, okay?” “So what if I want nothing?” A real glass half-empty kind of gal. “Then I pick something,” Katherine grinned, catching Dawn in a way she didn’t expect, annoyedly so. “Fine. Whatever…” Dawn muttered on the brief walk across the lot and into the store, advertising with big bubbly, colorful letters and all. The moment they stepped inside, Katherine was already fawning. “Oh wow! Isn’t it so big?” She pointed and Dawn followed her finger up to the massive animal balloons floating around the warehouse ceiling. Pigs, cows, and horses, all equally as round and bloated save for their unique colors and tails. They looked larger than life; far bigger than the normal Amazon, and only served as a reference for just how big this place really was. “Yeah, cool,” Dawn commented, then glanced at all the metal cages of balls, boxes, colorful adverts and distant beeping and buzzing noises. Katherine walked them through the entrance, swiping a catalog like it was some kind of dead drop. Had Dawn not been watching the endless number of pages flip past her fingers, she likely would have seen the stars in Katherine’s eyes as she made small noises of glee at the colorful image explosion of endless products, gadgets and gizmos. “Sure we’re not here to get you a toy?” Dawn called her out, and all she did was chuckle. “Hmm, maybe! I only get to come here when it’s for one of my nieces or nephews, so I guess I’m a little excited to have another reason to go…” Katherine giggled. Or in other words, Dawn was but another means to an end. “So? Did you have any ideas?” “Ideas? I wanted a book. Not a toy. If we get Waver a toy can I just take the book?” “That’s very thoughtful of you,” Katherine said as she rubbed her head, “but I think he has plenty of things to play with. You on the other hand?” So much for trying… She sprung for the first pointless thing that came to mind. “Fine. Blocks. I don’t know.” “Yeah? Let’s go see if we can find some…” And off they went. The toys certainly were endless, much like the shrieking children and crying Littles inside the store. “NO! I WANT BOTH!” One would wine, and another would beg. “Just fucking let me go you sadistic bitch!” Identifiably, the Littles were the ones with more…refined language. And while Katherine may have tried, either her hasty pace to avoid the meltdown or hand to cover just one of Dawn’s ears was always a reactive strategy rather than a proactive one. “Pllleeeeeaaaasssse!” “Mommy! Mommy! This one! This one!” “I DON’T WANT A FUCKING TOY! I’M AN ADUL–” Cue the slaps and smacks. “You don’t have to try and cover my ears, you know…” Dawn spoke simply, getting more annoyed with each attempt. Katherine, missing the point entirely, opted for an unnecessary teaching moment by saying, “I don’t want you thinking that just because others do, that doesn’t mean you can use naughty words, understood?” “Yeah, kinda figured that…” Maybe it was all in her head, but her bum may have twitched just then. Hearing more and more from kids and captures had her both unnerved and observant. Of course it made her uncomfortable; she was forced to listen to people who had it just as bad as her. They were all mirrors for her circumstances, as far as she could tell. Maybe that’s why the store was so big as well. Enough space and soothing music from overhead speakers just to tune out the cries of the eternally damned. “I think we found what we’re looking for!” They finally turned into an aisle that was thankfully empty. The tall shelves were organized like warring factions, each section championing some kind of branding or product. Something that looked like a knock-off for legos, others as some superior imitation of knex, and more. Big block sets, small block sets; soft ones, hard ones, plush, mesh, and more. It had to have been some kind of haven for any aspiring materials engineer. One that still needed pull-ups for bed at night. “There’s so many…!” Katherine looked up, down, left, and right. “You’ve got a lot to choose from, huh?” “Those,” Dawn pointed out a small box. “Let’s get those ones.” “These ones?” Katherine crouched and pulled the box off the shelf. It was a bright orange box seemingly filled to the brim with cubes, spheres, and prisms of endless shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. A circular cutout lined with plastic was a snapshot into the eternal land of creativity the toy assuredly had, but Dawn hardly cared. It could have been as boring as a stick in the mud and she still would’ve asked for it. As long as it was in the same place. After all, she pointed at the first thing she saw. “Hmm…” Katherine hummed, and Dawn by chance followed her finger tracing across the packaging. Her digit moved and moved over the selling points and finally stopped on some label. ‘L4+’ Interesting, but certainly more random jargon. Dawn didn’t care to think too hard, given how peeved she still was by that Library’s stupid sorting system. She’d figure it out soon enough, but she didn’t want anything else to kick her while she was still down. “And you’re sure about these?” Katherine asked, like she was warning her with a ‘last chance’ sort of look. “Yep. They’re perfect.” “Alright then!” And in Katherine’s hand they stayed. Boom. Easy. Done. “Can we go now?” After thinking twice about it, she decided it’d probably be better not to try and see any of the books here. Given the setting, she was more than likely going to leave book-less and disappointed. “Yes, we can,” Katherine started, but then stopped, raising her eyebrow with a grin. “After you pick something you really want?” Was it really that obvious? Dawn just barely clicked her tongue. “I said I wanted those blocks, didn’t I?” “And I’m sure you do, but let’s pick out something else, okay? I want you to really think about it, okay?” “How should I know what I want if I didn’t even want anything from the start?!” Was she really being forced to choose if she was upfront about her complete lack of interest? “That’s okay,” Katherine soothed and bounced, but it only made Dawn boil hotter. “How about I walk down some aisles, and if you like it, we’ll get it?” “Then…just get me another thing of blocks, or whatever.” At least playing architect meant needing the imagination for what a finished building might look like. “You have enough blocks,” Katherine decided for her, now apparently the arbiter of all Dawn’s needs and wants. “We’re still gonna get you a book too, you know?” “Don’t want one anymore.” “What? Why not?” “Just don’t. Changed my mind.” “...Well, can I pick a book out for you?” “I’d really rather you didn’t.” And instead of pushback, Dawn got literal pushback when the Amazon smothered her cheek against her face. “Jeez…what’s got you so grumpy?” Katherine frowned for just a second, but was back to smiles as they moved down the aisles, traversing the endless maze. Some time later, Dawn felt the need to broach a recurring and uncomfortable topic. “Kath– Mommy?” Shit. No one was nearby, as far as she could tell. She could have gotten away with it…! “Ya-huh? See something you like?” and she already started to turn on her heel. “No. I…I need to go use the bathroom.” “Hm? You don’t feel wet…” But before Katherine could administer a check, Dawn quickly spoke up, “N-no! I didn’t…urgh, I didn’t do that! I’m just saying that I need to go!” “Oh,” Katherine said, though her face implied the disconnect. “Dawn? Sweetie, it’s okay to use your diaper?” “Yeah, I know!” Fuck! No! I don’t know because it’s not okay! “Just… Please? No one’s watching! No one’s gonna know! Just take me!” “Dawn…please don’t get upset with me.” “I’m not gonna be upset if you just let me go!” The very thought of needing to go had her fidgeting, but Katherine’s arm around her back kept her from going anywhere. “Are you nervous?” “Nervous?” How did that even apply to the situation? It was just…disgusting! And yes, embarrassing! Nervous didn’t even apply! Nervous made it sound like peeing herself was a willing possibility, like she just needed a light push on…! “I’m not nervous! I’m just…just let me go use the bathroom! If…if I pick out a toy will you let me? Please?” “No, but I’d still like it if you picked something out,” and like it was an open and shut case, Katherine kept walking. That was it, then. No more talk about using the bathroom. “Ka– Mommy! Please!” Dawn begged and her legs squirmed. All because of that stupid juice…! “Shh…Dawn, it’s okay, honey.” Softly, yet firmly, she was being refused, and every second with trying to hold it meant less brain cells she could use to strike up an argument. “You’re not even being fair…!” “It’s okay…” she tried shushing the girl, moving on to hums, “you don’t need to be embarrassed.” Dawn at many points had been a fool in underestimating the absurdity of this dimension, but at least now she was starting to see when and where she was at a total loss, hence her frustration right then. At the library she had no option; no Katherine to beg. However now she did and couldn’t afford herself the excuse of “had Katherine been there, maybe things would have gone differently.” The only difference though would be being held while she peed herself versus standing on her own two feet. “Just…can you just put me down?” Dawn was desperate with her shaky ask. “I won’t run…!” Even if she tried, her bladder would be the first thing to give out before her legs. And like the question hadn’t already been asked, Katherine whispered, “Honey, are you nervous?” “Yes, I’m nervous!” Dawn blurted out. Fuck it, if she was being forced to do it, then yes, she was nervous! Nervous and embarrassed. Disgusted like she was since doing it the first time. Every disgusting and awful feeling that came with the act…! But in a shocking turn of events, Dawn was slowly set on the floor. Yet another dreadful compromise. A small, technical victory, which was nothing but a loss framed through a different lens. “Ah-ah!” Katherine snagged Dawn by the hand the moment she tried to take a step. “Stand right here.” “What? Why?” Dawn asked as she was parked in front of the shelf, feeling a shadow overhanging her as it reached closer to the floor. Soon Dawn was being held by the waist while Katherine was crouched behind her, covering the Little on both sides with her legs and hanging her head over her. “Katherine?” “No one’s watching, it’s okay,” Katherine whispered, and Dawn felt an assuring pat on her stomach. “Just look at the toys, okay?” “W-wait, no!” Dawn tried to wriggle free, but the Amazon wasn’t letting go. “S-stop!” “Didn’t you want some privacy?” “Y-yes…!” Privacy from everyone! “But…but you’re…!” “Dawn,” and she broke up the words with a kiss atop her head. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen, silly. Just let me know when it feels like you’re done, okay?” Let it be known that it could have been argued this was something Katherine had not seen. However, it couldn’t be debated that she had certainly seen Dawn do worse… Pertaining to the number poo variety… Or did she pee herself then, too? It didn’t matter! Her breaths were nervous all the same and she was waiting for the chance to disappear, but the adrenaline was just making her feel the need to pee even more. What was she supposed to do? Lie and say she went? What if Katherine checked her just to see if she did? Or what if she didn’t? Then Dawn would really have to pee herself in an even more public situation than this farce for privacy already was. If anyone did see, they’d just see a mother sheltering her child from the rest of the world while they did whatever kids do. Cry? Throw a tantrum? Wet their diapers? Either way there would be the instant recognition, and the only thing protecting Dawn from that was her own willful ignorance and Katherine’s motherly demeanor shielding her from it. She breathed and breathed. Inhaled and exhaled. Sighed, fidgeted, and squirmed. Finally she was looking at what was in front of her. Speed Racerz toy trucks, zipping across the cardboard cover in a blazing trail and all. Big, bulky plastic trucks…with big wheels…premade, customizable tracks, and… A meager meep left the girl’s mouth as her legs went stiff and she tensed up. A warm drop left her body, but it didn’t go far. Katherine’s touch was almost as snug and secure as the diaper was around Dawn’s hips, quickly soaking up the sudden and ongoing stream. For a quiet, uninterrupted moment, she wet herself; freely as much as she’d been forced to. “Good job…!” Katherine whispered her praise as an Amazon hand wiped away the tears. She’d done it multiple times before, but never in such close proximity like this. There was simply no way of hiding from her. Even if she knew what went on, and even if she changed her diapers, what didn’t change was the self-disgust and embarrassment. “Why…why do I have to…?” Dawn tearily muttered. “Because we love you so much, sweetie,” and after another kiss Dawn had finally emptied her system, drained in more ways than one. “Ready to go back up?” Meekly, Dawn nodded. “And…upsie-daisie!” Katherine cooed and Dawn soared. Apparently she’d put on a show convincing enough to not warrant a diaper check, and her face grimaced once her thickened, diapered front pressed her fake-mommy’s side. “Just tug my shirt if you see something you like,” she said as she rubbed her back, and on they went. They went and went. Aisle to aisle. Dolls, stuffed animals, play sets, kitchen imitations, and more. There were toys that felt awfully advanced for what Dawn would consider friendly for kids. Train sets with gearboxes to manipulate the speeds, robots with programmable command sets, and make believe cauldrons with “substance synthesizers – PARENT MUST SUPERVISE,” and so on. Everything at first glance reminded her of what might be pure gold to kids 8 and under, but the idea felt deceptive once she had a closer look. “Wait,” Dawn finally spoke up, “what are those?” “Those?” Katherine took a step back. It was a large display behind a thick layer of transparent plastic glass, or something. Large, wide tablets were propped up on tiny posts, lined in protective and color casings that had handles reminding Dawn of her sippy cups. The edges were patterned and textured for easy grip and the top even personified the technology with a friendly cartoonish face. Maybe there really were some parallels between this dimension and her own. They were tablets marketed for kids. Dawn was no kid, naturally, but it probably felt like it was the most dignified thing she could get. It was the first screen she had seen since losing her phone. Ignoring the childish case, it could just maybe be something bearable. And after all, Katherine did say she could get anything… “I’ll get one of these,” Dawn decided. And she waited for Katherine to grab one above the display. And she waited. And waited. “...Why don’t we look at something else?” “What? But you said I could get anything? It’s a toy, isn’t it?” “Yes, it is, but I don’t think we need any more screens in the house. Besides…” she murmured as she looked at one of the boxes, “I don’t know if one would be appropriate. Let’s go find a different toy, okay?” “Wh-what? But it’s actually something that I want!” “And I’m sorry, Dawn, but I don’t want you playing with one of those,” Katherine explained, but her decision was firm. “Maybe another time, okay? But let’s try and get you some things you can touch and play with in your hands.” “Yeah, and you can use a tablet in your hands. Katherine, please? I lost my phone; this is the closest thing to that!” “Dawn, no,” she firmly said it again. “And…ah, see here?” Dawn looked at where she was pointing. ‘A6+’ “Yeah? And?” “The ‘A’ means ‘Amazon’,” Katherine slowly explained, then traced the six and plus. “It’s for Amazon kids that are six and up.” Her first instinct was to blink, and then to wonder to what kind of discrimination she was being subjected to. Because she was a Little? Wait– no, that was obviously the reason. The only reason. But did the age factor even matter? “A-are you serious?” “Uh-huh, see the ‘A’?” Katherine started to re-explain, “That’s the first letter for ‘Amazon’--” “I know how to spell! But are you seriously saying I can’t have one because I’m a Little?” “Dawn, some toys are made for different boys and girls, okay? There’s even toys just for Littles, too!” Like the mutual exclusivity was somehow supposed to make her happy again. “Katherine, that shouldn’t matter. I’m smarter than a six-year old, Amazon or not. I know how to use a tablet!” “I don’t think you should be using things like that, is all.” “What? Why?!” Would it somehow be too stimulating for her? Was that it? “Because–” And just because Dawn’s foot was against Katherine’s thigh she could feel the vibration from her pants. After maneuvering the Little in her arm she pulled out her own personal tablet, answering a call with the phone against her ear. “Hi honey, what’s up?” James? Was she talking to him? “Put it on speaker…!” Dawn hissed quietly, and Katherine didn’t even look at her, as if it was deliberate, like she was implying not to ask. “Uh-huh, yeah,” Katherine paced in place, bouncing her charge as if to distract her. Dawn could hear mumbling noises from the phone, but hardly anything to piece out something on the other end of the phone. “We’re at the toy store right now, actually! Just getting Dawn a few things she can play with.” “Mhm. Mhm? Wait, she’s…right now? Waiting? Al…alright. Okay, we’re on our way now. We’ll just be a few minutes, okay? Okay…thank you…” Katherine took a breath that Dawn knew to be nervous, and she concluded the call by saying, “Love you. Bye.” “What? What was that about? Did James call?” Dawn was immediately asking, and Katherine was hardly telling. Dawn checked both ends of the aisle before making her move, finally whispering in the Amazon’s ear, “Katherine!” “Huh? Sorry, sweetie? What?” “Who called?” “Just James, sweetie… Hey, we’re gonna just get you the blocks for now, okay? We’ll come get you some more toys another day,” she explained as they started walking back to the front of the store. “You’re acting weird,” Dawn gave her a scrutinizing look. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong; everything’s okay,” Katherine smiled, but Dawn wasn’t buying it, and the lack of communication was poisoning the already toxic waters. But not needing to pick a toy out was in its own way a victory, so maybe the urgency to leave wasn’t all that bad. After all, if Katherine wasn’t running, surely no one died. No big deal, then.   “Who’s here?” Dawn couldn’t help but notice the black car parked out by the sidewalk, but her personal chauffeur was headed straight for the house, skipping the driveway and stone walkway by shooting through the lawn. It seemed urgent, but apparently not enough for Dawn’s bundle of blocks to be left behind in the car, now hanging from Katherine’s wrist in the bag they were packaged in. The door was unlocked and Katherine stepped inside. “James?” she called. “Right over here!” he called back and around the corner. It was like a dramatic reveal with the way they stepped into view. James was positioned opposite to them, and in between was an eerily familiar head of hair. That same head turned up for a moment, then stood to realize its full Amazon form. “Hi Katherine, I’m sure you remember us meeting the other day?” she held a hand out over the couch. “Francine?” “R-right,” Katherine forced out a chuckle, shaking her hand. “From LPS?” “Gosh,” the woman feigned a frown, looking distraught, “I hate seeming like the boogeyman with all these visits…! Ah! And this cutie right here is Dawn! Not Donna!” she corrected and laughed, but Dawn didn’t. As friendly as she tried to be, Dawn wasn’t fond of Amazons, especially the ones that talked to her like she really did go to daycare. Other than that, a smiling face that intruded on your home in a suit and badge never had any real smiles to give. “Oh, please, sit!” Francine gestured over to James, which Katherine quickly went for, sitting leg to leg with her husband. “I just had the chance to meet with James.” “S-sorry for making you wait,” Katherine jostled the bag, “We were just getting Dawn some toys from the store.” “Oh, that’s not a problem,” the woman smiled. “What toys did you get her?” It was a fairly innocent question, but even Dawn couldn’t help but feel slightly weirded out by it. There were different ways to ask something like that. One was as a lead-in to cheer for the child who got them, acting all impressed and excited, but this wasn’t like that. As if it was a question exclusive to the Amazons in the room. Like she was ready to judge. “Just some blocks to play with… She loves being creative…!” Katherine explained on the spot as she quickly pulled them out, brandishing them. “Oh those look fun,” James leaned out just to see for himself. “Right?” Katherine agreed. “Dawn picked them out all by herself!” “Good pick, Dawn!” “Yeah, thanks…” the Little murmured. “Would you mind if I took a look?” Francine asked, already holding her hands out. “O-of course,” Katherine obliged. The woman stared at the packaging for a brief moment, slowly turning it over, studying the contents like it was a bomb, or something. But whatever inspection she was conducting, possibly they passed, because she was soon handing it back over for James to accept. “Thank you,” and just a second later she was typing something in on her phone. “Did you get her anything else?” “Anything else…? No…well, we were going to, but…once my husband called that you were here, we hurried…so…” and with each pause she made a half-glance at her husband, like somehow he might have an answer. “Oh, well I’m sorry for interrupting like this!” Francine chuckled, and James did most of the heavy lifting on meeting her gesture halfway. Dawn was back to being coddled like a security blanket for Katherine. “Just to reintroduce myself for you both: my name is Francine Bush and I’m a case handler for LPS. I’m here on a report that was made about an alleged mishandling, or kidnapping that’s still under investigation.” Despite the obvious tension, Dawn with her lack of knowledge had a far easier time being rude. So out she blurted, “Yeah, the one that person was lying about?” “Dawn…!” Katherine warned sternly, then quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, she…I think she’s just a little upset we couldn’t finish our trip to the toy store…” “No, that’s okay!” the woman smiled, then pointed at the box in James’ lap. “Actually, I’d hate to be the reason she can’t play with her new stuff. Why don’t we let her keep busy with that while we talk?” “I’m fine, I don’t want to–” But the sound of tearing cardboard was already making Dawn purse her lips. Suddenly a rainstorm of blocks was pattering on the floor. The only kind of forethought that saved her was using her feet to stand before Katherine could set her on her bottom – her warm diaper, before she could feel the squish. It felt like she was under a magnifying glass now that every big in the room was sitting on the couch, and she was the cute decoration playing in the middle. On the floor. Lower than everyone else. She had half a mind just to make a point of her disinterest, but just to keep up the bare minimum of appearances she slowly dangled one block over another, watching the unsurprising clank and crumble of her two-block structure. And as she performed similarly unimpressive feats, she quietly listened on. “Where’s Waver…?” Katherine quietly whispered to James. “Upstairs. Figured it’d be better to keep him in our room…” “So,” Francine continued, “I said I’d be making some unscheduled visits in the future. I apologize for this one being so soon; it’s important for these kinds of things that we get to meet both parents, if and when applicable,” and she nodded to both Amazons. “If–” Katherine spoke up, suddenly stopping. “If…if James can answer any questions a-about whatever this witness reported…” “No, that’s alright,” Francine said. “I was able to ask him some things before you got here. Unfortunately I can’t offer any more information right now other than that the claims are still being investigated. I hope you can understand, but we take the wellbeing of Littles into very serious consideration, which is why we ask that until we’ve resolved everything, you don’t try to finalize any sort of adoption paperwork.” “Right, of course,” James was the one to answer, and even with her back to them, Dawn could feel the strength leaving Katherine. “So is there anything we can do for you?” “Well…like I said, I know that it’s soon, but as of yesterday I understand you both were still getting some of the essentials for Dawn?” “Y-yes. We finished the start of her nursery the other day,” Katherine explained, and James backed her up. “A crib, changing table…” “And a toy chest?” Francine raised her eyebrows, and only after a solid second did she smile with a glance down at the blocks, finally implying that what she made was a joke. James and Katherine made another on command laugh. “That’s great, then,” Francine murmured as she did something else with her phone. “And how did today go? You both work, yes? Do you already have her in daycare?” Nope. No daycare… Dawn quietly shook her head helplessly as she tried to balance a cylinder on a cube. “W-well…I brought her into work with me today,” Katherine slowly started. “My work has a place that watches parent’s Littles when they need to do research or use any of the library’s services.” “Mhm…” More notes on her phone. “And that’s for employees, as well? They watch the Littles of employees?” “There’s…there’s no rule against it…” Katherine explained, but she sounded a bit stunned, like she was caught off guard. “And is that your long term solution for her?” Francine glanced from guardian to guardian. “Every day at the library?” Maybe minus Dayna, sure, it could work… Dawn pessimistically supposed. “A couple days out of the week I regularly work from home,” James volunteered. “She’ll be staying at home with me then.” “While you’re working?” Every question she had seemed to be judging. Maybe it was her job, but did she have to sound so bitchy about it…? “I’m able to be away from my computer; she’ll be under safe supervision,” James answered with more confidence than Katherine could seem to. “Okay…” Francine nodded, making more notes. “Is…is that okay?” Katherine asked, finally asking an obvious yet unanswered question. It felt like something fairly essential, and yet Francine sounded like she was only answering because they asked. Otherwise it was on a need to know basis. “For now, yes, but I’m sure you both understand we want what’s best for Dawn’s wellbeing?” “Right,” husband and wife agreed. “That’s why I’d be concerned about her socializing opportunities. Sometimes parents can underestimate it, but having routines and consistent faces can be important for a Little to feel comfortable with their environment. At the library; is it usually the same Littles that are being dropped off?” The air went quiet for a moment. Finally, Katherine, like a student caught without her homework, admitted, “Not…all the time, no… It-it’s just that getting her into a daycare this time of year when it’s already in the middle of the year…” Another wordless nod from Francine. “That’s alright. It should be fine for now, but I suggest trying to put her around with some other kids her developmental age. As far as daycare goes, we can arrange something for you if need be.” Dawn stayed quiet, but boy was she clambering those blocks real hard. There was no way in hell she was going to a daycare. And what gives? Being forced to play with mindfucked Littes? What did she mean by “developmental age?” She had the developed mind of an adult, so that obviously meant socializing with adults. Right? Right? “How about doctor’s visits? Do you have anything scheduled for her yet?” Every question was like a bombshell that threw the Amazons off their game. Dawn had never seen the mighty and immovable checkmated before. “No…not yet… We wanted to find someone that we were comfortable with…” Whether it was true or not, this was the first Dawn was hearing Katherine speak of it. “Mhm, I can understand new parents being nervous about that,” Francine sagely nodded, and for once it felt like they’d reached a point of common ground. “But it is important you make sure your Little is up to date on everything and in good health. It’s a number one priority we recommend,” and she let the pause hang just to intensify her point. “Littles pre-adoption can be known to not be so proactive with taking care of themselves. Thank goodness they have the grown ups looking out for them though, right?” Another collective laugh from the trio, all at Dawn’s bitter and annoyed expense. “Which is why…” Francine, already with something prepared in her inner pocket, pulled out a slip and scribed a few things on it with a pen. “I’d like you two to take her to that appointment for tomorrow,” she handed them the paper. “I understand if the timing may not be ideal, but it really can’t be overstated making sure your Little is in good health…” “Nope, we understand,” James nodded, glancing down at the slip. “I’ll make the time. No worries.” “Perfect,” Francine nodded appreciatively. “That’s an appointment for a local Little-trician we like to refer parents to in the area. There won’t be any need to explain the situation or your current circumstances; just treat it as a normal check-up. You’re more than welcome to use her as Dawn’s primary care moving forward, but we’d like to know of any switches you might be making if that’s the case.” “Right…thank you,” James said again, and Katherine said something similar. “Okay,” Francine exhaled, then looked around the living room. “Since things have changed, would it be alright if I saw her nursery now?” She lifted her note-taker from the coffee table. “Just to keep all our information fresh.” Just how anal is she…? Dawn wondered as she contemplated the best way to chuck a ball at her spindly structure. Maybe in a way where the ball would hit the woman? More importantly, she still had the card to play about being stranded here by a tour guide, but would she even listen? As “helpful” as she sounded, Dawn didn’t quite get the most positive vibes from her… If anything though, at least she gave thoughtful explanations, as twisted as they are. Nothing like “bad words are bad, or this toy isn’t appropriate for you.” She worked like math whereas Katherine functioned like creative literature. Vague and operating on a sense of reason that merely just “felt” right. Real glime-dazzling stuff. “Kat?” James stopped his wife from standing. “Why don’t you stay with Dawn while I go show her around? Sure your day was busier than mine.” “That’d be fine,” Francine cooly included. “I’m done with my questions for today.” “Uhm…sure…” Katherine agreed, sinking back on her seat. And Dawn flinched once a rough hand over her head tousled her hair, leaving the gesture in James’ wake as he walked ahead with the LPS worker. “We have a high chair for her if you want to see that?” James chatted as he guided her to the stairs. “That’d be great. I’ll see it on the way out…” Dawn watched them disappear up the second flight from her leaned out position. But before she could look away she was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace. “K-Katherine?” Dawn grunted over the sniffles from the woman. “C-can you let go?” “I’m sorry…” she sniffled again, sounding on the verge of tears. “I love you more than anything, sweetheart.” And without asking to, Katherine kissed her on the forehead. With Dawn’s foot hanging from the hold, still close enough to the floor, all she did was kick one of the spheres with the back of her foot. Going… Crash! Crumble! The great tower of babble had fallen.   22 - Decompress “Is it not going to affect your work?” Katherine spoke with James, and Dawn did her damndest to contribute. “Don’t worry, I’ll be able to make the time,” James was casual as he passively rubbed his palms from his seat. “Thankfully my time is flexible when I’m at home.” “Mm…” Katherine quietly agreed, and Dawn boredly watched the Amazon, sitting right behind the Little with her legs splayed on both sides like walls meant to keep the smaller girl in. She watched her hand occasionally add a block to her amalgamation of cube, prism, cylinder and more. The once mighty tower had fallen and much like the result of Babel, better thought of as babble, that’s all either architect seemed to be communicating with each other. Dawn placed a block here, Katherine placed one there. Dawn implied step one, and Katherine opted for step six. The conversation finally reached one of those quiet moments, and while Dawn seriously doubted that was for her sake, she certainly treated it like so. Speaking up, she said, “So did either of you two plan on asking me?” “Ask what, sweetheart?” Katherine patted the top of her head. “Ask if I was okay with any of this? What did she even call it? A Little-trician? Is that like a doctor, or something? I’m not going to any doctor.” There wasn’t a need for one. None whatsoever. Maybe mentally was an ongoing question, given how horrible things were becoming, but at least physically she was in tip-top shape. “Well Dawn,” Katherine used her gentle, ‘too dumb to understand’ tone, “you have to go to the doctor’s. What if you get sick?” “I’m not going to get sick,” Dawn said, then immediately realized how ridiculous that sounded. “I’m not sick. Not right now. Fine, take me if I get sick, but not until then. I feel fine!” “Dawn, we all have to go to the doctor’s,” James turned it into a double-team. “The LPS lady gave us an appointment. We have to go.” “There’s a number on that, isn’t there? Just call and cancel, or something. Tell them I feel fine.” “Dawn…you need to go,” the woman right behind her said. “Just let me stay here!” Dawn insisted, and James looked up, like he was sharing a look with his wife beyond the Little’s scope of vision. “Why don’t we all go tomorrow?” Katherine offered, not to Dawn, but to James. “I’d want to meet them, too…” “Well if this works out, you can always take her the next time,” James suggested, and Dawn looked concerned. “What do you mean ‘next time’?” the Little tried to interrupt. “I’m not going the first time either!” “I can just call out for the afternoon; they’ll understand.” “Hon, you called out once this week already,” James played the gentle opposition. “It’ll be fine, I promise.” “I’m not going!” Dawn raised her voice, and Katherine calmly tried to shush her. “Shh…shh…indoor voices,” she calmly reminded her, and Dawn was ready for another outburst. But all it took was that stupid look from James! It wasn’t enough to make her any less agitated, but…she felt far less willing to challenge his wife’s mercy. “I know, but…” Katherine started, but started to drift. “It’ll be fine, trust me,” James smiled, and Katherine did as well. Dawn sure didn’t though. “Let’s forget about that stuff, though. You two have a good day?” “Meh,” Dawn scoffed just as Katherine looked like she wanted to say something much more glowing. “Meh?” James raised his eyebrow, but looked at his wife for answers. “Do you remember Dayna? She was in charge of the Littles today at work. Dawn had a little bit of a rough day…” Rough day? Being forced into the custody of strangers, have her hobbies and interests be made mockeries of and held out of reach, and plummet her dignity by being treated like an actual child, and that was all just a “rough” day? It was a fucking horribly unfair day! The worst of the worst! Shitty, no-good…! “Did you behave?” Suddenly Dawn was included, for the softest of softball questions only, of course. “I did what I was told,” Dawn exhaled, dropping another block on what could have only been an architect’s worst nightmare. “She was good,” Katherine said just as it looked like James was going to say something back. “Just a little nervous around new people, and that’s okay.” More misdirection and misinformation. She was the farthest thing from nervous. Pissy and independent would have been more accurate. But she was sitting between the legs of a woman who had more or less been her safeguard all day, and even now against the person that spanked her once already. “I-...” Dawn came off the handle again, ready to correct her, but quickly went quiet. Maybe it was better to be misunderstood than to be punished… “Well, good job, then.” James smiled, and Dawn’s head quickly fell down. Complimenting her? For what, enduring all the unfair treatment? Call her a soldier, maybe a veteran once she finally made it back home from the war. “Yes, she did a very good job,” Katherine was just as warm and affectionate, and Dawn was trying to lean away from her hands now on her shoulders. “She ate all her lunch and we even got to look at a few books together!” “Yeah? Anything interesting?” Hardly, for all Dawn knew, considering she barely even got to read the first few pages of one. And that overly-complex book sorting system… “We were looking at some fantasy books, and actually,” Dawn suddenly slid forward on her bottom just so Katherine could stand. “Where did I leave her diaper bag…?” “Right here,” James grunted as he leaned back to grab the bag. “Bring something back?” That got Dawn’s attention. “Uh-huh…” Katherine hummed as she flipped the top open and rummaged through. “Ta-dah!” Dawn leaned out from the side and saw something familiar in the Amazon’s hands. It was the same book they were looking at right before lunch ended. They got it? She checked it out? “Huh…” James mumbled as he read the back and front before handing it back. “Is that gonna be okay?” “It should be fine,” Katherine said as she cradled the book with both arms. “I made sure it was appropriate.” “Wait, you ended up getting the book?” Dawn asked, now beside the woman’s leg. It was an honest and admittedly positive surprise. “Can I read it?” “Of course I got it!” Katherine chuckled, and Dawn shuffled awkwardly. “But remember, Dawn: we’re borrowing this from the library. That means we can’t keep it forever.” “I know what borrowing means, so can I just read it now?” Maybe if she finished it fast enough she could convince her to bring back another one tomorrow. Given how intellectually starved Dawn was feeling, she probably did have it in herself to finish it in one go. “We’ll read some later tonight before bedtime,” Katherine calmly assured the girl, but that was far from what she wanted, and even carried unfortunate implications. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘we’?” Dawn frowned. Katherine looked considerate, but again, there was that same feeling that she just wasn’t quite connecting with the girl. “These books can be big and heavy, sweetheart, and these aren’t like the books at the Little’s area; we need to be extra special careful with these. They’re not toys, okay?” “I never thought of them as toys! I just want to read! I know how to take care of stuff! I don’t need help holding a book! I’ll just set it on the floor!” “Nuh-uh, not with these,” Katherine shook her head. “That’s how they can get dirty and stepped on.” There was hardly a chance of that happening, unless the Amazons themselves decided to be careless. Then she glanced around for a moment, remembering that the four-legged member of the household was still being kept in confinement. Maybe not everyone could be trusted… “Then…fine, on the couch!” “Dawn,” James cut in, “would you rather no books at all?” “No! Ugh,” she groaned, “I’m just trying to say that–” “We’re going to do things responsibly or we’re not doing them at all,” James quite firmly doubled down. “Do you understand?” And with a bitter, horrible feeling in her stomach, Dawn finally croaked. “Fine.”   “Dawn, sweetie? Where are you off to?” It was an observant and omniscient voice that had the flustered girl caught in her tracks, ready to disappear into the dark of the corridor. “I-I…I just wanted to see something…!” she grumbled back, trudging onwards while trying to squeeze her own legs together as much as she could. “Please play where James and I can see you!” Katherine called back, and given how things were, the fact she was giving Dawn the choice to walk back on her own rather than be retrieved was something in and of itself. So she slumped back to the living room where Katherine was petting Waver, and Dawn was looking for a place to relieve herself. “Did you wanna play with your blocks some more?” Katherine suggested with a smile. “Or I can put some cartoons on?” “I’m fine…” Dawn huffed, feeling no appeal for anything right then. Correction: there was no appeal for remotely anything this house had inside of it, but at least once upon a time her one and only toy could occupy her mind for five minutes at most.   “Kay, girls, come and get it!” James called from the kitchen, and yet Waver was the first to bolt. “Ah-ah! Waver, no–!” Katherine did her best to tame the beast, but the sound of pebbles hitting the metal bowl in the kitchen was like a lightning rod in a storm. Dawn bore witness to a barreling train that hopped over Katherine’s lap, to the arm of the couch, and then soaring for the kitchen. He was just as well-received by James’ scolding once his paws scraped past the doorway and into the kitchen. It was a bitter feeling knowing that a dog could somehow get off easier than Dawn, but she could certainly fly higher since every Amazon just seemed to think she was a collectable at this point. Katherine unannounced swooped her into the air and brought up the rear. “Ready for some dinner?” “What are we having?” Dawn asked and tried to focus, continuing to squeeze her legs. “Yummy stir-fry,” Katherine bounced the girl lightly as they treated themselves to the aroma from the stove. “Mmm! Smells great, hon!” “Feel like you’d say that even if I only gave you a glass of water to drink,” James playfully rolled his eyes and Dawn watched him remove the apron around his neck. “There’s such thing as good and bad water, you know,” Katherine coyly joked as Dawn was deposited into her special seat that hung from the table. Her legs were fed on either side of the center strap, and soon enough she was secure. “Speaking of water, I’ll take that,” Katherine said as she sat right next to Dawn. “I’ll have water too–” Dawn also asked, but her jaw hung in silence as the timing couldn’t have been any more comedic or cruel. Her sippy cup came down on the table with the same old red hue hiding behind the plastic. “Can I please be asked for once what I want to drink?” “Sorry, was just in a rhythm,” James said, but it didn’t feel like much of an apology. After all, she was expected to drink it anyway. Katherine grabbed her cup and unscrewed the top, just the way she preferred it. “We’ll get you some water after. Sound good?” “Mhm…” Dawn dejectedly hummed, but continued to fidget, finally admitting to her needs. “I need to pee.” “Hm?” She was acknowledged, but not in the way she would have liked. Without being able to see, but certainly being able to feel, a hand went around her seat strap and firmly pressed against her lukewarm diaper. “Don’t worry, it’ll hold,” and before Dawn could make some kind of stink, Katherine’s head turned, “oh, thanks,” she accepted the warm, white porcelain plate of food. “Mmm! Looks so good!” “And here’s Dawn’s,” James with his last occupied hand gave Katherine a bright blue plastic bowl, not a plate, which then made the final shift in front of Dawn. The bottom was flat and rock-steady, as if to minimize the chance of tipping it over. “What do we say?” Katherine hummed, and Dawn curled her toes just so her face wasn’t what looked annoyed. “Thank you.” “Course, kiddo!” And just like the night prior, all three were sitting at the dinner table. If only Dawn could eat as fast as Waver, who was already slumped by the table to her left with a full belly. Dawn leaned in just to see Katherine’s plate. Noodles once yellow had gone for tinted orange and caramelized brown. Cuts of red and green vegetables were hiding in between with cubes and strips of meat, onions too. With it all bathing in a sauce, it did look good, and made a point that takeout wasn’t the only means of getting good food here. James really did look like he could cook… But then Dawn looked at her own bowl. If Katherine’s noodles could go on for miles, Dawn’s looked like they stopped somewhere in the realm of inches. They’d been deliberately cut and shortened to a bite-sized degree. Where the Amazons had slices and dices of whole vegetables, all Dawn got were slivers and smithereens of colored specks; tiny cubes that could only imitate the little brother of the main course that others were having around her. The colors were mostly the same, but it was undoubtedly a doctored dish, and that didn’t sit well with her. Staring at her food, Dawn spoke up just as the first fork that she did not have clinked with a plate. “Mine is different.” “Huh? What do you mean?” James asked, and Katherine looked over herself. “What’s wrong, honey? It’s all the same,” Katherine insisted. “No, it isn’t,” Dawn disagreed. “Why is mine in a bowl, but you both got plates?” “That’s because this can get messy,” the chef explained. “Messy just for me?” “Yes, because you’re not using a fork.” “So give me a fork?” In her hasty pursuit for equality, James caught her by the tongue and scolded, “When we want things, we ask nicely.” Before she could bite her tongue, she asked, “May I please have a fork?” “We’ll get you something you can use, but we don’t have it yet. I cut it up so you can use your hands,” James said right before he took a bite, using his fork, no less. Dawn stuttered, “Wh-but…but it’s covered in sauce? How am I not going to make a mess?” “That’s okay!” Katherine sang beside her, “we’re gonna get you in the tub after this, so if you get a little messy, that’ll be fine.” “Tub?” Yet again, the first she was hearing of her immediate and constantly changing life plans. But as much as she wanted to argue, at least on some level she knew she needed to get clean after all the things she’d done in…in things and in places. “But…I don’t want to use my hands!” “You could just use your mouth like Waver?” James grinned, and suddenly imitated a bark. “Woof! Woof!” “Ah-ah!” His wife stared sternly at him, sinking his act into just a sheepish smile. Dawn wasn’t finding it funny at the start or by the finish. “Dawn, I can feed you while I eat too, don’t worry.” “No, it’s fine…” Dawn sighed, yet again choosing the lesser of evils. Her hand hesitantly reached out for the bowl, feeling less like a person and more like a savage with every meal she had. All it was now was to be fed, or enjoy finger-foods or figure out how to turn a meal into one, and that’s what this was, only James did the figuring out for her. She made a face once her fingers brushed against the layer of sauce atop the noodles, and she cringed as she grabbed a handful, trying to be as dignified as she could, but at least Waver could eat without getting his paws dirty, so where did that put Dawn? The noodles weren’t even long enough to hang out of her hand. Nevertheless, food like this wasn’t meant to be eaten with hands, and that’s why it looked less and less appetizing by the second. It was starting to become some sort of gross muck…sludge? Junkyard stew? All brown and orange, covered in– She stuffed it in her mouth with speed, just as fast as a handful of hand soap could be smothered against her mouth. Everything about it was seasoned and refined. It had a good taste, but there were bitter and slightly spicy tones, like it was a touch burnt on the perfection it was meant to achieve. “Is it yummy?” Katherine asked as Dawn swallowed. Her left hand felt unusable now that it was coated in sauce. She looked for a napkin, but it was yet another thing she hadn’t been given. “It’s…” Dawn coughed, “good…” “You didn’t use any spice with hers, did you?” Katherine was already accusing James, and he briefly surrendered his hands. “I promise! Separate batch, just for her! I had to use some of the powder though for a similar taste, just less of it.” “It’s not too spicy, right?” Katherine cooed while she rubbed the girl’s back. Dawn could feel the light tingles and pricks along her tongue. It didn’t hit nearly as bad as the pizza did, but it was a level of spice that she still did not like. And yet up until that point it did taste good, but now she could hardly taste anything. “It’s…fine…” Dawn lightly coughed and breathed. “Here, drink some sippy,” Katherine brought the cup to her mouth and she sipped from the lid, swallowing a heaping helping of juice all while someone else held it for her. “All better?” “I said I’m fine…” Dawn wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, still holding up the left like it was contagious. “Sorry, Dawn,” James looked apologetic, “Let me know if that’s too much and I’ll put something else together for you, okay?” And to answer his offer, Dawn swiped another handful of food and stuffed it in her mouth, mumbling through her mouthful, “I said it’s fine…” Suddenly she squinted from a wet thumb rubbing the corner of her mouth. “Messy is okay, but let’s not get too dirty,” Katherine laughed as she cleaned her mouth, and James chuckled himself. Meanwhile, Dawn furiously tried to keep her knees together, holding back emotionally and physically.   “Can I get out of the chair, now?” Dawn asked yet again as her impatience was mounting. James and Katherine were gone from the table, leaving the Little with an empty tabletop and her pleas supposedly being drowned out by the sound of a running kitchen faucet. “Don’t worry, Katherine’s gonna get you out in a second,” James strolled behind her, swiping the sippy cup still a quarter full of water along the way. “Did you like dinner?” “It was fine…” Dawn said again, choosing to leave her review just slightly north of neutral. If cooking shows taught her anything, how the food tasted itself was but a single factor of many that constituted a “good” dish. It was not only that, but the quality of service and establishment that went into it. And given she was refused silverware, served a biased meal, and not even provided a napkin, maybe the real-feel of her scores were actually headed south. “I’m sure I’ll get something you like going soon,” James chuckled like it was a challenge, one of which Dawn did not want to partake in. She didn’t want anything preferential; not somewhere like this. “Okay!” Katherine announced her return, though Dawn couldn’t see. “Bath time!” “Bath time?” James played the game and egged her on. “Nuh-uh, not for you~” She teased right back, finally roping Dawn into their marital banter. “For this little chick-a-dee right here!” Her two fingers found their way underneath Dawn’s chin, lifting her unwilling head up and looking up at the Amazon. “One, two, three spots I can see right here!” she giggled as she pointed out each and every spot and splotch on the girl’s face. Was this teasing? Teasing her over something she wasn’t allowed to refuse? “It’s not like you gave me a choice,” Dawn grumbled and shot her head right back down. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna go clean you up right now. The tub’s filling up right as we speak! Annnd whoosh!” Up she went like a rising star, but just as fittingly she missed the moon and was forced to drift. Riding against Katherine’s hip she held the girl as they made for the living room and then the stairs. “Ope– let’s say goodnight to James right now, okay?” “What? Why?” “Because after your bath it’s gonna be close to bedtime.” “But…!” She wanted to argue the time, but she hadn’t laid her eyes on a set of numbers since getting to this place. “It’s not even late!” “It’s gonna be late,” Katherine corrected, looking like she bested the girl. “You’ve had such a busy day! I bet once we get you dried off and in your PJs you’re gonna feel a whole lot more tired than you are right now.” “No I won’t, because I don’t go to sleep this early!” “Goodnight, Dawn!” James waved from the sink with a soapy hand. “No! Not goodnight, because I’m not going to sleep yet!” Dawn barked back, and all James did was shake his head after looking back down at the sink. “Oh, actually, hon? Did you figure out what you wanted to watch tonight?” “Mmm…not yet,” Katherine shrugged, “but I’ll pick later. But okie-dokie, let’s go before the tub overflows!” “Wait, what? Watching what?” Dawn looked at Katherine, then at James, but they were already moving, so that just left her escort. “Watching what?” she asked again. “Nothing,” Katherine smiled, “just something for us later tonight.” Something after Dawn went to bed. Without her? Fuck, it wasn’t even about being without her! It was the fact that life went on without her. She was being forced to her prison while the wardens got free reign of the palace. She could hear the faintest sounds from downstairs, just as vibrant and lively while she against her will was committed to confinement. “I don’t go to bed this early!” Dawn insisted and fumed, “Just let me go to bed when you two do! Come on, this isn’t fair!” “You’re not going to bed yet, though?” Katherine frowned. “Sweetheart, grown-ups don’t need naps, and it’s easier for us to stay up later,” she calmly explained while they climbed the stairs. “I don’t nap either!” Dawn finally whined. “You just think I do! But I don’t! Let me prove it, at least!” “But you’ve already been napping for two days now?” Katherine countered, and Dawn went ballistic. “Because YOU made me! I didn’t get a choice! You can’t just use that against me…!” “Ahh, hear that?” Katherine tried to change the tune, “I think that’s the tub getting full!” “And stop changing the subject…!” They reached the end of the dark hallway and re-entered the warm light coming from the bathroom ceiling. It was another giant room with all its giant faculties. The shower and tub were separate and the toilet was sitting right between them. The tub lined with an indent in the wall, right next to a door that must have been their closet. A giant mirror spanned the counter opposite to that, right next to the shower, sitting over the counter and sink too high for Dawn to see over on her own. The atmosphere was warm and humid, precisely because the faucet from the corner was gushing steamy water, and a calming buzz-hum from either a heater or fan in the ceiling. “Oops, definitely too much…” and with Dawn still against her, Katherine dropped to her knees, reaching over and turning a flat metal dial. Then an invisible beast made a murky, bubbly groan as the insides of the nearby wall swarbled and gargled the draining water. Down and down, right up until… “Perfect!” Katherine decided, stopping the flow. Dawn was dropped the short distance to her feet, landing on the plush bathroom carpet. Her first instinct was to look at the exit and consider running, but even on her knees Katherine’s feet were on their toes, raising her calves and heels that made for obstacles Dawn would need to hop over if she wanted to break free. “Arms up!” Katherine cheered, and even though Dawn didn’t listen, it didn’t stop the shirt from coming off anyway. The Little expected her bra to go next, but remembered the cruel reality she was given from the sight of her already naked breasts. She covered her chest, but was too slow to remember that there was still more to lose. Katherine grabbed her pants and tugged them off, sending Dawn back on her bottom as all that remained were her socks and diaper. “Did you go pee-pee yet?” Katherine asked, but it very well could have been talking to herself. She stole the socks next, and before Dawn could even decide how she wanted to answer, an invasive finger proved between her diapered front and inner thigh. “Mm…doesn’t feel different. Let’s give it a few minutes.” She managed not to pee herself the entirety of dinner, somehow, but she was certainly at her limit. But what better place could she have been in? “Katherine?” Dawn spoke up as she rose to her feet, stumbling over to the giant toilet. “I can use the toilet! I still need to pee! Please? Please just let me go?” “Mm? Dawn, honey, it’s okay to use your diaper. Look, I’m gonna get your towel and PJs, so I’ll be right back.” In other words, make use of the five seconds of privacy that I’m giving you. Assuming she even meant it like that. Today at the toy store did show that Katherine was cognizant of privacy, but only as far as strangers. Clearly she didn’t consider herself separate from Dawn’s business. And naked from head to toe, save from her diaper already suffering from slight discoloration, Dawn sadly watched the toilet, standing taller and bigger than her, at a size that without a stool or any kind of help she’d have a seriously hard time using. And she looked down at herself, seeing where the padding just started to protrude beyond the plastic landing strip of puppies playing on her personal potty-pad. Something she couldn’t even take off by herself. With a thousand yard stare she watched the toilet, then looked beyond it, now not even able to hide her greatest shame from what she longed for the most. Had the toilet been animate she would have fallen to her knees in tears, pouring out for her imaginary second-boyfriend that this was all some unfortunate misunderstanding. That she was still committed to their relationship and that this wasn’t some horrible relapse. She wasn’t cheating, just…taking a break. A break that hopefully wouldn’t be long. Not a single drop of pee went anywhere but where the Amazons wanted it to, and suddenly Dawn’s diaper had become thicker, heavier, and warmer. With only an ounce of will left to give the toilet any recognition, trapped in her own diaper, salvation felt so frustratingly close, but of course impossibly far away. “Brrr! It feels so chilly in the hallway now!” Katherine giggled as she came back in. With a small bundle of cloth in her arms she gently knocked the door shut with her hip and it closed with a click. Everything she had went on the top of the toilet seat, because what else was it now to Dawn than just a place to park her bottom, assuming she’d even be allowed on it. And as Dawn soaked in a new low, Katherine took the time to feel her soaked diaper once more. “Good job!” the woman praised, and Dawn cringed. The tapes were like magic. Dawn remembered pulling as hard as she could, panting and straining her muscles without it budging in the slightest. They must have had fingerprint recognition from how seamless Katherine made it look and sound. Each tape was pulled with a flick and Dawn could barely feel the resistance pulling her forward. One. Two. Three. Four. Each one undone was an added sense of weight as the security on her hips finally fell through and her diaper dropped with a slump on the carpet. Not another word was spoken on the matter of diapers, at least for now. Katherine rolled up her sleeve, skimming her hand through the bathwater. “That should be good, but let me know if it’s too hot,” and she lifted Dawn up and over. The girl slammed her knees shut and tried to lift her legs– anything to give herself some modesty. The moment her toe touched the water it recoiled from the initial heat, but quickly hot became warm, and the discomfort was just from being apart from hot water for so long. It really had been a while since she bathed… The water only reached somewhere more than half way, but it was more than enough for the girl’s size. “Nice and warm?” Katherine smiled. “It feels fine… Where’s the soap?” Dawn asked, turning in place on her feet. The sooner she finished, the more time she had to try and negotiate a plea deal from later tonight. “Don’t worry, I got it, but thank you for asking!” she sang as she stood on her feet, opening up the closet door that was out of view. “What are you getting in there?” Dawn tried to do the impossible by leaning out to see, but her cheek was already pressing against the tub before she could even get close to seeing around the corner. “Something to keep the soap out of your pretty eyes,” and as she said it, a contraption descended onto Dawn’s head. It was a saucer or donut that went over. Suddenly she was shaded from the light, all except for her scalp. “What…? What did you put on me?” Dawn grumbled and grabbed at the edges of the device, but Katherine was tutting all over again like she did whenever she disapproved. “Ah-ah! No touching. You’re gonna get something in your eye and then it’s gonna sting reeeal bad,” she warned. And then the waistband of her head-frisbee was stretched as Katherine’s hand brushed against Dawn’s head, collecting tufts of hair , lifting then resting atop the silicone paradise above. Was she wearing a visor? Soon after enough adjusting from Katherine’s end Dawn had no more bangs and was just all forehead, and while she turned every which way just to see what she was wearing, it wasn’t to much avail. “Keep that head still…!” Katherine laughed like it was a game, but Dawn wasn’t having nearly as much fun. She couldn’t touch it, couldn’t see it, all because she was being told not to. Would James hit her again if she disobeyed over something like this…? Then she watched Katherine drag a cup through the water, and suddenly a trickle was pouring on the girl’s head. It made her tingle and wiggle, starting from a sensitive place on her scalp that sent vibrations throughout the body. The warmth was spreading all over her head, but she soon started to hear the dripping from the flaps covering the back of her ears and soon watched the rain pour from the visor in front of her. She sat there quietly and listened, then watched. She stared long and hard at the thing just above her vision and coming out from her forehead, finally noticing how yellow it was…and possibly a…design? “Wait– am I wearing one of those stupid things for kids?!” Dawn splashed the water as she stood, and Katherine yelped. Dawn turned her head and so did the visor too. The Amazon was looking down at her chest, now clinging to her skin from where all the tiny streams of water were flung on it. “I knew I should’ve worn a different shirt…” Katherine mumbled to herself, but shifted her focus. “Sweetie, let’s not splash so much, okay?” “Why am I wearing a stupid kid visor?!” Dawn demanded answers, but her shoulders were grabbed and hands dropped on them like gravity times two, putting her back on her bottom. “It’s so you don’t get soap in your eyes, sweetheart,” Katherine said as she scooped another pour of water. “I won’t get soap in them if you just let me clean myself!” “Some spots can be hard to clean, though? I’d really like to help?” “I don’t need your help! Just give me the soap and shampoo; I’ll do it myself!” “Sweetheart, there’s not gonna be any time to read after your bath if you don’t behave…” The woman warned, and it was another knot in Dawn’s stomach after having every little safe haven or benefit used against her. “It’s not going to take long! Just let me prove myself for once. Please!” It wasn’t even as if Katherine sounded mad, or even all that annoyed. She just sighed, like she knew how the story would end and where things would go, and understanding that impression completely made Dawn even more upset. “You’re sure you wanna do it?” “Yes!” God, was she finally going to listen? “...Okay, you can try.” Katherine ever so graciously allowed Dawn to do the thing she’d been doing for herself for almost the entirety of her life. Her hair was like an inverted turnip once the visor came off. The water made it thick and heavy, but the cage around it sculpted it into a momentary bundle that was quickly falling apart. But like a badge of shame, what didn’t go far was the visor. Katherine set it on the edge of the tub, still peeking over, and Dawn could now see that the thing sticking in front of her had been painted as the bill of a duck, right beneath to black and sparkly eyes. Cute for kids, but humiliating for Dawn. “Hold out your hands, please,” Katherine requested, and Dawn complied. She held out a bottle and pumped a light purple substance into her hands. It was fragrant and sweet-smelling, honestly, but her mangled sense of trust could somehow misconstrue anything at this point to be cruel and unforgiving. But most importantly, instead of something at least viscous and closer to gel, this stuff was far more runny and thin, almost like water… “Now you need to spread that around in your hair extra good, okay?” “I know how to wash my hair…” Dawn turned to her side and started lathering, but now with a critic most likely expecting her to fail, she felt the need to be fast and efficient. “Be careful not to get it in your eyes…” Katherine warned again, and Dawn ignored her. I know how to use shampoo… Dawn rolled her eyes, but found that with the amount she was using it was similar to having too much hand sanitizer in one go. In other words, the moment she lathered her hands, excess amounts ended up on the floor. So while she ran her hands through her hair, drops of water went down the sides of her head, and finally the front of her face. But she ignored it and continued, merely blinking it off, but then feeling the need to blink again. Again until she could feel it stinging, and suddenly her eyes slammed shut. “Ah-ow…!” she grumbled and started to rub, but the chance for prevention was gone and all she could do was grow more and more uncomfortable by the second as the stinging continued to permeate. It was actually starting to hurt… But it wasn’t her fault! That stupid shampoo was so runny…! Was it dilated? Did Katherine get scammed? Scam or no scam, it didn’t change the fact that her face was scrunched and she was stumbling in the tub, feeling on the verge of tears. Did someone pepper spray her when she wasn’t looking?! “I know, I know…it stings, doesn’t it?” Katherine was nowhere to be seen (given that Dawn’s eyes were closed), but she was certainly heard. “Can you move your hands for me? Please? I’m gonna make it all better…” And between Katherine’s requests and finally just forcing Dawn’s hands aside, a wet washcloth went against her face, rubbing up and down and gently massaging into her eyes. A hand on her shoulder kept her in place, and she tried not to sniffle as the unbearable pain went away. “Can you try opening your eyes?” She hesitated like it was a trick, or that the shampoo would come back as soon as she opened them. “I-I can still feel it on my forehead…!” Dawn complained, already lashing out. “It’s just water, honey,” Katherine said, but Dawn still felt the cloth wipe above her eyes. Finally she did open back up, only now with a raw feeling around her peepers now that she could see again. She blinked and sniffled just a few more times, but ultimately kept her head tilted back, lest there be more shampoo she still had to wash out. But in spite of the pain and the mistake, it didn’t make her any less upset seeing the baby duck visor coming right back on. “No…” Katherine warned as Dawn started to step away, but she froze. “We let you try, but now I’m gonna do it, okay? I promise that won’t happen again.” A promise that was likely to keep Dawn out of her own way. And Katherine, the devil she was, kept on saying things like they were questions, or kept on “asking” for consent, but doing them anyway whether Dawn disagreed or otherwise. “Wh-what…what do you guys even put in your shampoo? Why is it so runny? Why does that stuff sting…?!” she complained and complained, and they were all fair grievances. Everything Amazons had was so…deceptively difficult…! “Sweetheart, it’s just normal shampoo, but that’s why we need to be careful with that stuff, okay? I’m gonna be extra gentle, so you just relax. But I’m really proud of you for trying!” And that left Dawn in a bitter mood for the rest of the bath. She felt cheated. Had she known how slippery and stupid that stuff was, she could have made a far better impression. One that didn’t beget a sympathetic consolation or pat on the back. So she wore her crown of shame, admittedly anxious now that somehow Katherine would slip up. A whole new batch of liquid death drizzled on her head; probably because the Amazon didn’t even think Dawn’s handiwork was fit to pick up on. She ran it through her hair, slowly and carefully, massaging her scalp in a way that made her head bob and body rock ever so slightly to and fro. Her eyes felt less sensitive and the pain was leaving. Just rhythmic massages for her head and the monotone hum from the bathroom fan. It was sort of hypnotic. Soothing. Katherine didn’t try to talk to her, and Dawn didn’t talk back. Coexisting in somewhat silence. What’s more though was when there was a disturbance from Katherine’s mouth. A melodic hum that was far from a song, but enough repetition to become one with the white noise. The heat, the warm water, her hair being washed…the hum, the rocking, the drifting, the sitting, bending forward…and… “Just a little more to go…” a distant voice said with a chuckle, but it could have been a whisper. It didn’t sting anymore, but Dawn’s eyes were heavy, and suddenly they were flickering like lights, going from opened to closed. Back and forth. Back and forth. Despite her protests, the defiant Little didn’t even make it to the end of her bath. She was dreaming before she even realized it, engrossed in some kind of unintelligible blurb of noises and feelings, but it made enough sense to her sleeping conscience, so she didn’t think a thing of it, not even realizing she was sleeping. The rest of her was cleaned, dried off, diapered, dressed, and finally whisked off to her room, all while she slept away the day’s exhaustion that took a toll on her far more than she ever could have realized. All until she finally opened her eyes with a start, lurching forward. She half expected the splash of water, but it was different. The warm air was gone and the room felt cool. It was dark, save for some moonlight and a crack in the door. Her body was warm and the mattress was cool; a kind of juxtaposition that was pure ecstasy after any long or exhausting day. She even stretched, feeling the gathers of her sleeper at the wrists and ankles stretching with her, and finally hearing the crinkle of a new diaper she never remembered getting put into. Her hand reached out and collided with one of the many bars of her crib, dazed and confused about the details, but aware enough to understand the comfort and her horrid blunder. Not only would there be no reading that night, but no staying up either. Not unless she wanted to sit up in bed the whole night again. She looked down at the fuzzy clothes she was in, brandishing a bumble bee embroidery on her breast. She wiggled her toes, pressing them into the soft mattress, completely and utterly defeated. And the worse part? Faintly, if she leaned her ears against the bars and towards the crack in the door, there was the sound of something. Some show or some movie, but far too distant to sound like anything distinct. But in that moment, she could understand on some level what she was listening to. The jealousy of missing out. “...Shit…”   “I’m sorry we didn’t get to read last night,” Katherine apologized, but it didn’t seem like she really minded. “You went out like a light!” “I wasn’t…tired… I just get that way when it’s hot,” Dawn poorly excused herself. “Wait, stop. I can put that on.” “I know you can,” Katherine agreed, but it didn’t stop her from taking the lead. A bundle of shirt was stuffed over Dawn’s head then stretched and smoothened out. “Still dry?” Katherine frowned when she felt the front of her diaper, and Dawn took a step back as she blushed. “Because I don’t need diapers,” she said for the umpteenth time, and Katherine only sighed. “Wanna wear your pants today or something else?” Dawn gave her a weird look. What else was going to cover the diaper? “Pants?” she said it aloud just as skeptically. And a different colored pair went on. Today’s were a faded yellow, which was reminding her of things that made her stomach turn, particularly to do with bathroom habits. “Okay, grab my shoulders and step in,” Katherine beckoned as she slouched over and held open a shoe for her. “I can put on shoes…” Dawn groaned yet again, but stepped in anyway, knowing just as much how little the Amazon would bend. “I can tie them, too.” Certainly not the same way Katherine could, though. She tried to watch her handiwork with the knot again, but it was like she was some kind of master at sleight of hand. Her movements didn’t make sense, and by the time Dawn was done giving up on how to decipher the first step, her foot was already entombed. “Okay…” Katherine made a cursory glance around the room, then settled her eyes on Dawn and lifted her up in the air. “So, are we gonna be good for James today?” “Yeah, maybe if he behaves,” she scoffed, and Katherine hummed her disapproval. “Today’s about you, honey. I wanna hear only good things when I get back today, understood?” More threats over being reported to the secret police. Be good for X and behave this way for Y. Was there anyone she could just be herself around? Everyone was a witness and a snitch, and the constant enforcement of unrealistic standards was making her go insane…! “Dawn?” the girl blinked and Katherine was tilting her head, waiting for an answer. “Fine,” she groaned, then turned her head. They kept walking down the stairs. “And remember, it’s ‘Daddy’ today.” Please don’t fucking remind me. “Okay! She’s all set!” Katherine announced the moment they reached the end of the hall downstairs. The same office Dawn had been creeping into that one night was now bright and full of life. Waver was laying in the corner in his second dog bed, because apparently he was just that pampered, and James was at his desk with three different screens of all different sizes. A notebook filled with scribbles of pen as far as Dawn could tell were all over the pages and his hand was on some weird kind of mouse. “Oh yeah, is she now?” James got up from his seat, smothering Dawn as he kissed his wife. Suddenly she was a rock stuck between a hard and soft place. James was all muscle and Katherine was all…love. Either way, they both had big breasts. “Is it okay if she plays in here?” “I don’t play,” Dawn tried to interrupt, but failed. “Yeah, that’s fine. We’re gonna take off in a few minutes anyways. Think we already lost against the traffic,” James shrugged. “Don’t remind me…” she sighed, setting Dawn down, then clasped her hands. “Okay, I left her diaper bag by the door and packed it with everything you might need. She has her juice, a snack if she gets hungry, some of her blocks, a change of clothes, diapers…wait– I should probably put another pair of socks in there…” “Kat, Kat!” James called, and Dawn felt the vibration in the floor as the herculean giant leaped one step forward for his wife. “It’s fine!” he laughed. “Just a doctor’s appointment?” “And you’re gonna text me once you get there, right? Let me know how it goes?” “I will, I will,” he nodded again, and Dawn fought the urge to keep on being openly pissy. “...Alright…” Katherine gave in, but she sounded just as uneasy, as if the slightest breeze might change her mood entirely. “And don’t forget to ask them about those things we talked about, please?” “Hon, I’m like a steel trap; I won’t forget,” and he kissed her again. “You should get going now or you’re gonna be late?” “I know…” the woman moped again, and unlike Dawn, there wasn’t anyone who could carry the Amazon and make her do what she didn’t want to. How envious. “Dawn…?” She turned her head and Katherine was low to the floor in a squatting position, holding her hands on her knees. “Could I have a goodbye hug?” What, was she actually going to miss her? The sense of attachment and affection was so one-sided that their reactions couldn’t have felt more opposite of one another. Maybe hoping that the silence and inaction would speak for itself, Dawn didn’t move, other than shifting her pupils from side to side. Is somebody gonna get this wackjob out of here? But standing behind Katherine was her significant other, one who was giving her a far less innocent and much more expectant look. She choked down a distasteful sigh and shifted her eyes the other way once she took a hesitant step forward, and that’s all Katherine needed to practically fall forward like a gluttonous leviathan with her talons wrapped around her prey. “Oooou! I’m gonna miss you so much!” Katherine squealed like her batteries were charged and her hopes were as full and vibrant as they’d always been. Dawn hardly even moved her arms, but she felt the death-squeeze from the woman that finally released her. “Have a great day!” James called, and after petting Waver Katherine finally left, ending with the distant shut of the door. “There’s no need to feel so distant, you know,” James said as he hung over his keyboard without sitting back down. “Distant?” Dawn gave his back a sideways look. “You mean be all affectionate with people I’ve known for like three days?” “We’re not strangers, Dawn. I know Katherine’s said it, but I guess I should make it clear too. This is your home. Even if you like to throw tantrums, we still want to take care of you.” “Then start by realizing that I do not throw tantrums,” Dawn spat and crossed her arms. “Everything I’ve said has been fair and valid arguments, but no one ever actually listens! Ugh, forget it. This isn’t worth getting into…” she paced around, then stopped. “And wait, what stuff does Katherine want you to talk about? What did she say?” “Huh? Oh, just some stuff with the doctor.” “Yeah,” Dawn stressed and rolled her eyes. “What stuff?” And James, the increasingly cheeky bastard, had the gaul to grin at her once the computer screens went black and he turned around. “Wanna know that badly?” “Yes, I do, because it’s my business! It’s obviously about me!” Dawn fumed. “Just tell me! I’m gonna hear it anyway once we go, right? So just tell me now!” “I could,” James nodded sagely, but his head stopped, “but, I feel like you wouldn’t be so chatty if you ran out of reasons to talk with me?” She blinked as she scrunched up her nose. “I hate you.” “Hate me?” James said in a taken aback voice. “Yeah, I do. You’ve been nothing but mean to me; pushing me around, telling me what I can and can’t do, hitting me, and then this: talking to me like I’m some sort of friend! You act like you didn’t just get finished beating me then pretend like we’re cool, or something! You think I just forgot something like that? So yeah, James, I hate you. What, you build a bed with bars in a room you’re lending to me? Gee, thanks. I already said I was going to behave for Katherine, but don’t act like that changes how I feel…!” She was breathing over the silence that ensued, and while Dawn stood in a way far more primed for a fight, James looked far more neutral as he stood in place. But the moment he took a step forward it was the fire that lit the fuse for the regret in Dawn’s words. She stumbled back, shying away headlong into fleeing rather than fighting. She talked a big game, but that was it when it came to Amazons, and she’d have it no other way. But she stumbled and fell, scrambling back up on her feet just to backpedal some more. All of this and James never went past the first step. He watched the entire performance and seemed sort of speechless, then finally pulled back. But finally, James said, “We’re…gonna head out in a few minutes, okay?” He had barely moved and only said that? Dawn’s little spurts of adrenaline were already dying as it gave way to confusion, like she was missing something, or was just surprised by the fact that things didn’t go the way she expected. So with no other real sensible thing to do, Dawn slowly dropped her hands and quietly exhaled. “...Yeah.”

Candy 

I didn't #2!! 

Thank you very much for reading, and I really appreciate the kind words! Apologies for the delay on this response! I've been a bit quiet on this site lately due to IRL things! As for specific timelines, unfortunately I'm no good for that in this story. It reaches multiple points where the whole point is that some amount of time goes by, so it could be in the realm of a couple/few weeks to maybe a month or so. This is assuming I did not seemingly indicate a much larger jump than that... Thank you very much! 48 - Being Brave “So…” Amy slowly set down her needle and thread, and Emily on her toes as she reached for a bin tried to look extra busy right then. “You…dripping wet, butt naked, started running all over the apartment?” “Y-you…you had to be there…” Emily grunted especially hard just to hide the stutters. “Be careful, by the way; I wasn’t kidding when Joyce said I had to stick to some rules,” Amy said again with her watchful eyes still on Emily. “I won’t climb on anything, I promise,” Emily assured right back and dropped back to the flats of her feet. “And yeah, Joyce went running after me, but I was faster,” it felt really good to say that. Finally getting a one-up on Joyce! Well, sort of. Joyce had longer legs and bigger strides, but Emily used the house like a playground. Just because mama bear could sprint didn’t mean she could swing from vines… “But then I slipped and hurt my nose…” Emily reminisced a lot less fondly. “...There’s a saying, you know,” Amy raised her eyebrow, maybe thinking twice about the things she was letting her assistant handle, “about playing silly games and getting silly prizes?” “And now I’m not allowed out of the bathroom until I’m completely dry…” she dodged the criticism and finished her grand tale. “But get this: Joyce doesn’t have to be dry! She can walk out whenever she wants!” “Sounds like you’d run?” “Not anymore! I don’t wanna break my nose!” “You won’t if you just dry off in the bathroom. And maybe run in the house a little less…” Still choosing either to ignore or just not see the problem, Emily sighed. “Joyce is such a hypocrite at times…” “You know, I said I’d listen and all, and I will, but I’m almost starting to think that Joyce is as overbearing as she is for good reason…” And as Ashes strolled by, the seamstress brushed her hand across his back. “No, she’s not!” Emily claimed, and Amy hung a hand on her face just to hide her oncoming smirk. “Like, some rules make sense, but other ones are just ridiculous! Like…! Oh! Yeah! So whenever she wants, she just decides what time we’re going to bed!” “Both of you?” Amy would have guessed Emily being sent ahead first… “Yes! And whenever I try to argue or debate it, she always somehow throws it back at me and uses that as a reason just to build up her point.” Joyce was rubber and Emily was glue… “Well, she’s…” Amy sighed as she smiled, never quite realizing just what kind of reasoning she’d be getting herself into, “...crafty?” “Yes!” Emily nearly jumped as she worked. “Don’t you see what I mean? It’s so unfair! She makes up all the rules whenever she wants, and I just have to listen! I think it’s only fair if I get to make some rules too…” In all fairness, Emily did make rules, only when they were having adult discussions, though. Given that this was somewhere…in-between, her credibility and authority were beneath the threshold. “I think if you’re wanting rules just for the sake of having them, that kinda defeats the purpose, Em,” Amy chuckled. “Oh, can you hand me that swatch right there?” Like a gopher, Emily spotted the destination with her eyes, grabbing a small stack of squares off a nearby table and handing it over to her boss. “Is this what you needed me to try on?” Emily couldn’t help but look on from the side. It did look like a pretty dress… “Mhm,” Amy answered quietly, leaning out and in from her chair, holding the sample under a light and away from it across the outfit. “Just playing with some options right now, though. But– oh, where were we? Right. How does the saying go? Made your bed, so sleep in it?” “Joyce doesn’t let me make the bed,” and Emily certainly rolled her eyes at that. “W-well, sometimes she does. When it’s my chore for the day...” “Oh that’s good; keeping busy around the house?” Amy played sort of dumb. She knew about the chores since that one time she spoke with Joyce. Though, she wasn’t looking to divulge any details about that. She only made clothes, but surely that still fell under client confidentiality? “Yeah, but–” she paused for the sound of the sewing machine. “It’s okay, I can still hear you!” Amy encouraged. “But it’s just little stuff. Nothing major. And it’s weekdays only. Otherwise Joyce wants to do it.” “Gosh, the battery that woman must have…” Amy shook her head hopelessly. “Guess we’re all built pretty differently.” “Mm…” Emily nodded, going quiet and contemplative. Her work for the day has mainly just been waking up, eating breakfast, doing a chore, browsing the computer a little, and waiting for Joyce. It wasn’t as boring as before, now with just a tiny bit more structure, but it was far from filling up her entire day. Searching for work was harder now, too. She was as earnest as she started, truly, but now due to certain parental locks it was just another hurdle trying to get in… If she wanted to use the computer when Joyce wasn’t home, somehow she could “request” for permission, whatever that meant. It probably sent something to Joyce’s phone, but she didn’t like bothering Joyce during work, as much as she loved to bother her now in general. “Enough about Joyce, though; let’s go back to us,” and she killed the machine and held up her handicraft. “Think you can try something on for me?” “Yeah, of course,” and Emily was about to take it, but Amy playfully tugged it back. “Sorry, this one has a zipper on the back. Might be easier if we do it as a team,” Amy smiled, and Emily nodded. It was one of those once in a blue moon situations where she could actually go down to just her underwear without totally blushing. “Want some help stripping?” “No thanks, I’m uh, fine. So should I go…?” Emily looked around, like there was a dedicated changing room. “Oh, no, it’s fine to do it right here,” Amy nonchalantly waved. “Let me go lock the front door though, actually…” Maybe it was weird to admit, and maybe it was definitely weird to be feeling, but Emily couldn’t help but have a sense of unease as she lifted her shirt. Almost like…she was doing something wrong? Only because Amy was here. Another body, another person that was watching her or at least being near her while she got naked. Guilt? Was that what she was feeling? The intent was honest and pure, but that wasn’t enough to affect the strangeness. If Joyce saw me like this…would she get jealous? Infidelity? Was it cheating if her seamstress saw her undressing? “Emily? Everything okay?” “H-huh?” Emily perked up with her rolled shirt halfway down and off her arms, bringing out the red spots on her cheeks. “Y-yeah, I…nevermind.” Amy made it clear she was fine with the personal stuff, but Emily still wasn’t cool sharing her stupid. Stupid Joyce and her stupid jealousy… Apparently other things were starting to rub off on the girl. “By the way, uhm…Amy, do you have any family, or anything?” “Hmm?” Amy’s interest had been piqued. “What makes you ask that?” “Just…cause you’re a person that makes clothes, and all…” and with still a small bit of trained and learned hesitation, Emily undid the button on her jeans. “I was wondering if you make stuff for your family, or anything.” “Ugh, believe me, Emily,” Amy sounded with playful disgust, “the less my family knows about what I do, the better.” “They don’t know?” “They do…but I don’t go around reminding anyone, you know? Here– let me take those, I’ll fold them…” She moved Emily’s clothes in a neat pile to the couch. “Great family, and I love them, but with so many of them, just doing one favor for every person would ab-so-lutely destroy my schedule!” “Do they ask for big stuff?” She scoffed and Emily nearly flinched. Apparently they’d hit a passionate tangent. “Big, small, medium; all of it! And difficult stuff, mind you! I’ve had cousins before that want me to essentially build a whole new outfit over an existing one! I couldn’t even save the fabric!” Emily listened as she stepped into the dress on the floor. “Put it like this:” Amy started, but stopped so she could pan them over to a mirror, “when a mechanic finishes up work for the day, the last thing they wanna do when they go home is work on another car. Make sense?” “Yeah it does… What…what you do for me and Joyce…that’s not off-work stuff, is it?” “Nope, that is very much my work,” Amy haughtily chuckled as she lifted the outfit up Emily’s legs. “You, my munchkin, have given me a whole new branch of things to play with, and I cannot be excited enough for it! Do me a favor: if Joyce ever thinks about dropping me, try and warn her discreetly that I’m gonna throw a tantrum, ‘kay?” “Uhm…yeah…I will…” Emily hesitantly agreed, and while she felt conflicted about a line being crossed, she didn’t notice Amy’s smile. “Joking! Just jokes,” she laughed, and Emily swallowed another bitter gullibility pill. “But no, Joyce and I kinda have a special deal going because I’m kinda into it, too. She’s got me on retainer, so I get paid to play around with ideas and Joyce can request something specific if she wants.” “Has she done that before?” More backdoor dealings without Emily knowing? Or if Amy told her, was it not that secret after all? “What, requested something?” Emily nodded. Some of Amy’s gears were turning, as the question was processed the dress fitting had stopped. But she spoke and said, “Uh…can’t say,” then zipping her lip and tossing the key. “Confidentiality, and all.” “Can you really not say anything about Joyce at all?” Emily finally started to give the woman a sideways look in the mirror. “I’m telling you a lot…” Seriously, shouldn’t they be trading secrets here? “I won’t tattle about your detective work, but I’m not gonna get in the crossfire,” Amy held up her hands, ready for arrest. “Intentionally, at least,” then she went back to tugging the dress in places. “Does it feel comfy?” “Uhm…kind of, I guess?” Emily tried not to turn, but she did try to get a fettling of the fabric. “It’s a little loose though…” “That’s fine. Like I said, you’re similar to another client, but not exact. They’re a bit bigger than you.” And Emily stood there and watched herself a bit longer while Amy muttered and took notes. “You’re kinda different when you’re serious…” Emily thought out loud. “Yeah?” Amy giggled, “am I?” “I– All I mean is that when you’re taking notes and stuff…” “I gotta be if I’m gonna make nice things…” she murmured as from a lower pedestal step she lifted a piece of the dress’ hem. “You don’t even wanna know how much research I’ve done for you, kiddo.” “You do research too?” “The ideas don’t come completely from trees!” Amy laughed, and Emily felt embarrassed for not realizing the obvious. “That’s usually how I start new projects. Hear from the client what they want, gather and study some references, sketch it out, then make it! Sometimes though, I might just strike lightning and go straight to the sketching part.” “W-well…” Emily went meek as her hands fumbled with themselves. “What…stuff did you research for me?” Was Amy getting into the kink side of things, too? Did she have to dive in the deep end like that because of her and Joyce? For what Emily knew her to do, pushing this woman off the deep end like that didn’t seem fair for what normal stuff she is likely used to… “Oh, kid’s fashion!” Amy said it simply and cheerily, and Emily almost fell over. “What?” she held her model up by the shoulder, “not what you expected?” “Not really…” Emily mumbled, not keen to mention her thoughts. “You look at kid’s fashion?” “Ya-huh. Lots of cute ideas to take from there. Though, that kinda brings a new challenge to it, which is I’ve never had to quite ‘age’ up my references before…” “What’s aging up…?” Could Emily be blamed? After all, Joyce only ever taught her how to age down. “Just taking something and considering how it might change for someone older,” Amy explained. “For example, you’re not gonna find a toddler or kid with adult breasts or curves. Depending on what we’re going for, those are just a couple things to consider. And also, that day that I came over to your house to see the clothes; were you wearing a different diaper?” “H-huh?” “Do you guys use different ones, or just the same kind?” “I-I think we use the same kind,” Emily answered, though nervously just a few steps behind the casual introduction of her diapers. “I don’t know where Joyce gets them, though…” Somehow through Sheila, apparently. “Mm, well, I wish Joyce would have told me so I could account for it…” Amy said with the slightest bit of annoyance. “Does it really affect that much?” Who was Emily, the not-seamstress, to ask? “No, it doesn’t,” Amy admitted with a defeated sigh, “but if you like perfection you gotta scrutinize the details.” Things had been moving so fast that Emily didn’t register what Amy said until she had time to digest. “W-wait,” she turned her head to Amy, “you noticed a difference?” “Had a hunch,” Amy answered like it was asking for the weather, “your bum looked a little bit more puffier! Which is cute, by the way!” and Amy, the master of damage control, made a loop with her fingers and signaled the universal “OK” sign. Though her attentiveness opened the door for more questions, but ones that Emily was far too embarrassed to ask. What, “how did you know that my diaper just wasn’t wet?” What a great argument that would make; built all on the stage of self-sacrifice. “If I know what the bare minimum is like, I can consider the stretchiness for stuff that wraps around it,” Amy explained. “Too much and it either gets too loose, or suddenly your diaper isn’t getting the support that it needs.” Amy stayed calm and casual, even when indicating the obvious and terribly embarrassing. Diapers only needed support if they were hanging on to extra baggage. Either way, she sounded just like Joyce, but without all the tension, but the same exact lack of reservation. So instead of calling a bluff or doubting her claims, it was far more worth Emily’s pride and dignity if she just let Amy be right. “That’s another thing I kinda had to study, by the way,” Amy included, looking like the brunt of the burden was Emily’s fault. “Figuring out diapers isn’t easy, you know?” It was like layer after layer of discovery for the poor girl that just had to stand there and model a piece of clothing. While it was interesting to listen to Amy talk, she was completely unprepared to introduce or contribute anything to it. Diaper studies? What, was she supposed to talk about how comfy hers felt, or snug and secure they could be? Maybe they were on the same subject, but the lenses were totally different. “L-like what?” “Again, it’s all tiny stuff, but it’s worthwhile information. Just knowing the difference between plastics and cloth. Disposable and cloth. Oh– those are two huge differences, by the way! Maybe I was kinda going down the rabbit hole, but it also helps with my sketches if I know one is kind of non-negotiable for the model. Otherwise she gets punished,” Amy grinned, and Emily blushed. “If it’s like a onesie or sleeper you’re in, I need to consider the types of fabrics that I’m using if I know what kind of underwear you’ve usually got. Helps avoid extra wear on friction between materials. Lets me know if I can keep certain spots fluffy and soft” “Oh…well…uhm…you thought of a lot…” Emily was rightfully at a total loss for words, and Amy was at least self-aware to a point. “Sorry! Did I overwhelm you? I have a little file built on you, is all I mean. You and Joyce are pointing me in new places, but as a seamstress I’m better for it!” “Glad we can help…” “Glad I’ve been blessed with this work! Mmm…okay! Ready to get that dress off?” Emily blinked, and apparently that’s how long it had taken. “That’s it?” “That’s it!” Amy nodded. “Easy though, right?” “It was easy, yeah…” the girl agreed, but it didn’t change that an entire day was reserved for what, just ten minutes of her time? On some level it felt very much like a “Joyce’s assigned one chore of the day,” but where they differed was at least Amy supplemented with other things… “So…now what?” Emily asked while she let Amy undress her. Unlike where she was just obedient for Joyce, this was Emily fearing that she might ruin or tear an unfinished product. Maybe that’s why Amy also offered her help at the beginning… “Now, we take this off, you can put your normal clothes back on, and…mm, well, I guess that is kinda it then, huh?” “Are you gonna have me come back again?” Emily asked, wondering if her need had been exhausted entirely. “Oh yeah!” Amy nodded assuringly. “I’m gonna be making some tweaks to this over the next little bit and have you try it on again. Sorry in advance if that sounds boring!” “No, it’s not,” after all, chatting with Amy for the most part was pretty fun, “but I’m just a little surprised, is all.” Not that anything they discussed over the phone could’ve been false advertising, but maybe Emily’s expectations got ahead of themselves. “I know, I know,” Amy apologized, “it’s not a whole lot… I’ll see what I can do about giving you some more stuff to do for next time!” Amy said it confidently, and Emily nodded as she started to re-dress herself. Emily had the chance to look at the time, finding the new predicament that came with a light workload. “So…that’s it then?” Emily stood, taking that as her cue to leave. After all, the work was done and the day was over. “Oh, Emily, that doesn’t mean you have to leave!” Amy exclaimed, finally catching on. “Stay and be comfy! We can still hang out while I work? I have some stuff I can do down here anyway. Or, if you get bored of me you’re more than welcome to the TV upstairs.” “Yeah, but…I don’t wanna interrupt anything… Should we write down the time, or something? I think I got here at around nine, so…” and while she was nearly ready to resort to her fingers, Amy had a hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit. “Don’t worry about the hours; I have that all taken care of,” Amy dismissed. “And no, you are not imposing! Don’t be afraid to use your phone or anything, by the way. Sorry though; this doesn’t quite fill up your day like work normally should…” “Really, it’s fine,” Emily insisted, and in fact, “Besides, if I wasn’t here, I’d kinda be at home by myself…” she watched her leg for a minute, wondering if what she would say was all that workplace appropriate, “I like getting to talk with you, so…I don’t mind.” Her words must have fired like bullets out of a gun. Amy held a hand to her chest, delightfully taken aback by such a small but meaningful gesture. “Well I like getting to talk with you, you know!” Amy laughed. “Besides, you were nice enough to invite me over to your house, so obviously I should make the same gesture, shouldn’t I?” “Well…that only sort of happened because I was too scared to come over here…dressed like that.” “Everyone’s got their comfy space, right?” Amy shrugged, dusting off worry and wonder every time Emily could muster some kind of doubt. “So you’re gonna stay, right? Otherwise it’s between you and the cops once Joyce can’t find you here to pick you up,” she taunted with a grin, and Emily couldn’t help but reciprocate. “Okay, fine, I’ll stay.” “Perfect.” Amy smiled, and all was well again. For only a little bit, however. A matter of seconds, really. “...Hey, actually…Emily?” It felt like the first meaningful pause she’d heard from Amy ever. Emily’s hand stopped petting Ashes and she looked up almost nervously. “Y…yeah?” “First: you can refuse, okay?” she held out a halting hand. “If this sounds like too much, just let me know. It’s just…well…I may have one other thing that I might need you to try on…” “For a client?” Emily was already getting up from her seat. Another chance to model was another chance to work. Contribution felt good, after all. “Yes, for a client,” Amy chuckled, “but specifically for you.” “For me?” The groundwork was already laid that made it clear Amy was producing for her, but that wasn’t to say she ever expected an opportunity to see it. Especially without… “But…I thought I couldn’t see anything Joyce was having you make?” Eternal Christmas presents that wouldn’t be under the tree until Joyce said so. It’d be enough to make all the good boys and girls unionize. Amy was already flipping through pages on her table and tidying up her fabrics, then finally folding the dress. “How about I go get it, then I can explain.” “O…kay…” and Emily watched Amy hurry upstairs. The woman was still forward and cheery, but there was an air of reservation, only now coming from the other end. And as Emily heard her feet coming down the stairs, Amy was already jumping straight into explanation. “So normally– no, I can’t show you stuff; both because that’s what Joyce wants, and I don’t like sharing unless it’s fully finished, but this is something very close…” The white box Amy was holding was nondescript and hardly an indication of anything, but Emily could tell it wasn’t normal attire that was inside. After all, Joyce didn’t pay to make Emily look mature. “And, well, I wanna be extra sure this is just right.” “Is it another…onesie?” Emily, feeling daring and brave, asked the question that just might dispel the suspense. “No.” Amy said. Apparently the suspense was not dead yet. “It’s a diaper,” she continued. Apparently it was dead now. “A diaper?” Emily paused, but Amy didn’t, who took the top half of the box and lifted. Like a royal treasure atop a fur-lined pillow, Emily waited to see a diaper with a nervous beat in her chest, but was quite surprised and confused by what she saw. It definitely did look like underwear, but not the disposable kind. The colors were loud and proud. Purple, yellow, red; clashing foes that somehow perfectly encapsulated the chaos that a kid could be. Panties didn’t feel accurate, but nothing else sounded better in her head. High-cut, all-encompassing ones. Buttons were studded along the sides, and at the waist and legs there were elasticized trims of thin and light material. Most importantly, though– the most confusing part: it looked…thin. While Emily would never elect herself as the authority on diapers, surely wearing them was enough to allow her an opinion on the matter. And while she looked down at the garment confusedly, Amy with bated breath was patiently holding her hands together. “This is a…” Emily looked up at the woman, “...diaper?” “Yes!” Amy enthusiastically nodded, and Emily slowly looked down at it again. Emily went quiet, slowly reaching out her hand, waiting for Amy’s command to stop that never came. Soon she was touching the “diaper,” rubbing the material between her fingers. Though, she could hear the friction, like tiny thin fibers were rolling and sliding against each other. Sort of like… “It kinda sounds like a bathing suit,” Emily commented, and the proprietress merely laughed. “That’s the inner layer; I added some waterproofing to it! Because…well…” They each shared an uncomfortable look, “just in case! But the inside is soft! Feel it!” The idea of it being a diaper was still hardly sold on the girl. Was it an invention? Where was the padding that got the job done? That made the diaper a…a diaper! She hooked her finger around the leg band, feeling the inside. “It does feel pretty soft…” Emily agreed, but sounded like she didn’t know much else to say or how to expand on it. No way other than the kind of skepticism she felt bad giving. “Amy, I really like how it looks, but I…I don’t think this’d really do what…what a diaper is supposed to…” Where was Joyce to back her up on this? “Well, it is a prototype,” Amy slowly admitted, like a magician that begrudgingly revealed their own trick, “But I do stand by it! It’s my first time with some real functionality in clothing. Does something seem wrong with it? It works like a normal diaper, see?” Emily watched Amy reach out, making it a show of the button areas. Each side erupted in loud metal pops from where the buttons unsnapped, going off and off until none remained connected. Only then did Amy slowly but deliberately show that the buttoned fabrics unfolded and came apart, like wings on a disposable diaper. “See? There’s snaps that let you take it on and off!” Amy emphasized, flipping and flopping the wing with her hand multiple times. “Cool, right?” “Yeah, but…mm…” Emily went quiet again. “What? What is it?” Amy verbally pushed and shoved. “You’re beating around the bush, silly. You won’t hurt my feelings!” “You promise…?” “Yes, I promise,” Amy held up her hand  “So? Break the news! What’s so bad?” “It’s…it’s kind of thin… Like…a lot of thin,” Emily broke the news, and as welcomed as it was it didn’t change her guilt. “Thin?” Amy asked to confirm, and Emily nodded again. Half the reason she didn’t want to say it was in fear of having to get specific, and they were already toeing a dangerous line. It’s thin! So what if it’s thin? If it’s thin it won’t…absorb! Absorb? What do you mean? When I pee myself! Or something like that. The at-home video in her head was traumatic enough. But Amy was still quiet, like she was waiting for something else, and that only made the girl more nervous. Did she want more explanation? Was she insulted? “Well…” Amy sounded like she was trying to be careful. Oh no, did I hurt her feelings? Should I apologize? “That’s because we didn’t add the padding, yet?” “O–” Emily stammered. “O-oh! Oh! That’s why?” she went for an embarrassed laugh. “S-sorry! I just thought since you said it was done and all…” Stupid! Stupid! “So…wait, how does that work then?” Amy tilted her head. “How does what work? The padding?” “Well…yeah?” Was there some kind of misunderstanding? “Don’t…doesn’t that stuff go in the diaper before you finish making it…?” Maybe she needed to ask Joyce about that when she saw her. Again, she was a diaper wearer and nothing more. “How are you supposed to get it in now?” For all she could tell, it looked pretty sealed up. “Emily?” ever so sweetly, Amy asked. “Mhm?” “Honey…do you know how cloth diapers work?” Emily blinked. “Sorry?”A cloth what? Amy’s eyes widened and Emily’s oncoming embarrassment grew just a little bit bigger. “Awh! O-oh my gosh, you don’t know? Ah!” and in a hasty rush Amy lifted the box’s interior filling, revealing varied sizes and thickness of thick cloth squares and strips. “See these?” “Y-yeah…” “These are the padding!” Amy explained with a whole new wave of enthusiasm, all because she had a sadly ignorant girl who was a product of the modern age. “Look– pick up the diaper, see?” In Emily’s hands she looked at the interior of the front face of the diaper, and Amy’s hand stuck out at a place where Emily could now see a seam and where the cream-colored fabric was bundled up. She watched the woman’s fingers go near the anomalous spot, close and closer, until… Her fingers! They disappeared! Gone! Into the void! Gone and forever– then her fingers came back out. “See this? This is where you slip in the diaper inserts! Let’s put one in now, actually,” and Amy with Emily as her vise grip parted the inner mouth of the diaper, slipping the long thick strip of material in. “Everything is safe to get wet,” Amy explained, “and all you have to do is just wash and dry it! Cool, right? It’s an infinite diaper that can look exactly the way you want it to!” And in admitted amazement, Amy’s efforts helped Emily cross the mental bridge that brought her from skepticism to the finished product the seamstress was trying to communicate. Instantly she felt the still soft and malleable, but sturdy pad fill out the diaper, going from thin and baggy to thick and taut. Suddenly she was holding a diaper, except…washable? “See what I mean now?” Amy couldn’t hide her teeth, sounding more eager by the second. “Isn’t it so cool?!” “Y-yeah…” Emily nodded, ultimately in an embarrassed place all over again. After all, Amy said it was made for her. There were no secrets about whose diaper she was holding, and yet it did nothing, or maybe even caused Amy to be so cheery. Was she expecting the girl to cheer right alongside and be just as happy? She was, and she was grateful, but… Being excited about what she got to pee in… “Ah…!” Amy stepped away, making a dramatic sigh. “Maybe Joyce would’ve been better to show!” “W-wait, no!” Emily in a hurry spoke up. “I-It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that…that I’m…” A hand was on her wrist, setting the diaper down. “Relax, it’s fine,” Amy chuckled, back to her sincere self. “I know you can be a little nervous about this stuff at first. Sorry for teasing too much~!” she sang. “But I still wanted to show you. “So does Joyce know about this?” Emily asked in her direction, but her eyes couldn’t stop going elsewhere. Somewhere specific though. Directly down at the diaper…sitting unfolded and open… It was made for her. Would it fit? Of course it would…Amy made it. It was her diaper. Tailor made and thought of. A silly, stupid design; something reminiscent of the way Joyce got her into making a messy minefield of crayons in her coloring books. …Stylish… “But it’s a prototype…” Amy sorrowfully explained. “Close to being done, but it needs a couple more things…” Her statement was leading, like there was more to it, and just maybe, Emily was expected to pick up on it. “Like what? It…looks done to me?” “Well, it’s yours,” Amy seemed to chuckle to herself over that, “so I still need to put your signature on it.” “Signature?” “Yeah; a little something that shows I made it and it was made for you. I do it with everything I make. Anything from me that Joyce got has her own signature too. I don’t write an actual name, or anything. Remember that denim dress of yours? The front pocket with the paw print? That’s your signature!” Then the explanation clicked. The one reference was all she needed as a reminder to what Joyce explained way back when in the beginning. The day she got her big and bountiful birthday present. “Oh…I guess I never remembered seeing it on Joyce’s clothes, though…” Not her dresses, which is what she imagined Amy did most for her. “Well…” Amy averted her eyes, taking a playful finger to her chin. “Yours may not be as…discreet as what I do for everyone else.” “Discreet?” “Most of what I do is for formal or high-end events, so little personal touches like that are sort of a no-no. I keep that somewhere on the inside of the outfit. But with you, I don’t have to worry about that!” she laughed. “I can’t imagine you’d wanna wear your footie pajamas to a party, right?” “N-no…” Emily agreed with a blush. “Right, well, it started off as a small idea, but I really like how it turned out. The little pet paw I give all your stuff works great as part of the overall design. Think of it like…like your own fashion brand, yeah!” Amy sparked with glee, and Emily with far less context and passion to ride the highs smiled nonetheless. “Your own chique set. Mwah, fantastique~!” And finally her charades were infectious enough to make Emily laugh herself. “Long story short,” Amy chuckled a little bit more after finally settling down, “it’s what turns all your clothes into a branded set. Sorta for style and identity.” “Okay, I think I get it,” Emily nodded. “That’s…I…I mean…I know you’re being paid for this, Amy, but…thank you.” “Hm? Of course! I’m happy to do it, but yes, being paid certainly makes me happier,” she laughed again. “Right, but…I’m…I’m sorry for taking so long to show any of that to you.” “Huh?” Amy’s smile sank, “hon, what are you apologizing for?” “Ever since my birthday, Joyce told me how you made all those outfits for me… The onesies, dress, and pajamas… She said from the very beginning how much you wanted to see them…see me in them… And…only until it actually happened, I really didn’t wanna show anybody… I was nervous, scared, and embarrassed, and I still am…but none of that was being fair to you. So…I’m sorry.” “Emily…” Amy said in a warm voice, reaching out for the somber and withdrawn. Her hand landed on the girl’s shoulder. “You don’t think I was upset at all, do you?” And all the girl did was shrug. “Maybe? I mean, you have every right to be…” “Emily…yes, I really did want to see you all dressed up, because, well, that’s something new for me, and it’s obviously something new to you too. But even if I made it, the fact that Joyce paid for it is as far as any obligation or responsibility you or she has for me goes. Period. Don’t feel like you had to do anything for me, okay? Because while I might say things to Joyce, I don’t want you to think I was pressuring for anything to happen, okay? ” “Mhm…” Emily nodded. “Thank you… I’m sorry for saying all that; I guess I can overthink things a little…” “Believe me, I think you’re the only one who’s kind enough to be honest about it. I bet half the things that go on inside your girlfriend’s head would make me go cooky…!” In a dramatic fashion she stuck out her tongue, corkscrewing the side of her head with a finger, leading to Emily’s laugh. “You better watch what you say,” Emily giggled, “what happens if I tell Joyce?” “Then I tell her you climbed on something high without my permission,” Amy narrowed her eyes. “Do it and I promise you mutually assured destruction.” And the staring match lasted all of three seconds before both burst into laughter. “I’m glad I’ve got you in a good mood again! Because…” Amy’s hand went near the corner of the box again. “This needs something else other than a signature…” Emily waited without saying anything, but she made eye contact with Amy. “Emily, do you wanna try this on for me?” “Try it…on?” Emily said the words back at her, like she didn’t hear her right. “In private, of course!” Amy suddenly stammered. “I’m not gonna make you do that here. I don’t wanna embarrass you, but since we’ve already done a fashion show once before, I figured this might be fine? You’re more than welcome to use the bathroom upstairs, or I could go up and wait for–” “I-I can’t…” “Sorry? You can’t?” It wasn’t doubt in Amy’s voice, but self-surprise from something she somehow overlooked. Emily shook her head. “I…I guess I’d be willing, but…I’m…not allowed to…” Amy blinked once, then twice, then she remembered lunch. “O-oh! That’s right…! You’re not allowed… Joyce takes care of that, doesn’t she?” It wasn’t in such explicit terms, but Emily bashfully nodded nonetheless. Amy glanced down at the garment, having all the pieces but a single, tiny bit of technicality that sat in the way of her testing. “Sorry, Amy…” Emily looked genuinely apologetic. “I’d do it, but…I like to joke a lot about rules with Joyce, but I think this one really does matter to her.” It was the one thing that truly felt inalienable and unbreakable. She could imagine herself doing it intentionally haphazardly, or taking one off in just a moment of bratty fun, but while they would undoubtedly bring harsh consequences, she could see it all as part of the lifestyle. But deliberately putting one on without mistake or some ulterior, immature motive? That was…well, it was supposed to not be Emily’s job. Babies didn’t put on their own diapers. It was their last bastion to what made this all so real, and it was one of the most important pillars that defined Emily’s willful dependence. But that wasn’t to say this wasn’t a moment without good reason? It wasn’t actually wearing a diaper, right? It was just a fitting session? One she could do in private, but one that if Joyce ever found out about would certainly lead to questions. It wasn’t about the problems of trying to hide the lie, though, but the act of lying itself. No more secrets. Honesty. “Let…let me call her,” Emily decided, and Amy looked surprised. “Oh, Emily, you don’t have to do that. I appreciate it, really, but we can just do this later?” “No, it’s okay,” Emily answered, then nodded as if affirming herself. “Besides, the worst that can happen is she’ll say no?” “Yeah, but maybe we shouldn’t bother her while she’s at work…” That did make the girl pause, being the very thing she did not like doing either. But this was important. And the same reasoning applied; if Joyce couldn’t pick up, then that’s all there was to it. “I’m gonna try calling her,” Emily decided again, and with a sense of determination, she pulled out her phone.   “Uhm…can I ask you something?” Emily’s voice sounded hesitant over the phone. Joyce creased her brows while she walked, “Of course you can?” Was something wrong? “Can…” as much as she hyped herself up before calling, simulated training could never seem to match practical experience. “Can I wear a diaper?” There was a long pause over the phone. Silence, and Emily’s toes couldn’t stop rubbing against one another while she watched the battle from above. “Emily?” Joyce spoke, but she sounded conflicted… Confused? “Y-yeah?” “I’m headed to my office now… Just give me a second please, okay?” “Okay… Are you mad?” “No, I’m not.” But she sure was confused as all hell. What would Emily need to wear a diaper for, and why was she asking something like that when Joyce wasn’t there? “Sh-Sheila,” Joyce called for her assistant with the phone held against her shoulder, “I’m sorry, but I think I left one of my binders in the conference room? Would you mind going down to get it?” “Of course,” Sheila nodded, and she was off, and Joyce was alone as she stepped inside the room. “Emily, are you still there?” “Yeah.” “Sweetie, what did you ask again?” Maybe it was just the jam-packed schedule of the day getting to her. Joyce in her many moments of failure was finally learning to try and hear things out fully and completely. “Can…I wear a diaper?” Okay, maybe she hadn’t misheard… “Sweetie, I’m a little confused…are you at home right now?” Amy didn’t mention anything about her leaving. Did she miss a message? “No…I’m at Amy’s.” “And you want to wear a diaper…?” Was this Emily? “...Yeah.” “Emily, honey, is Amy with you?” She had to be. There couldn’t be any other reason for this, even if Joyce had no idea what it was. “Yeah, she is.” “Could you please put her on?” “Is this taking up your time?” Emily asked with a guilty voice now. “It’s okay– I don’t have to.” “No, no, I’m glad you called. Sorry…today’s been a tiny bit busy. Not because I brought you over to Amy’s,” good lie, Joyce, “I’ve just had some unexpected things drop on me at the last minute. But could you give Amy the phone, please?” “Mhm…” Emily agreed, then silently held it out for Amy. “Joyce? It’s Amy.” “Amy? Is everything okay?” “It’s fantastique, one might say! We’re doing fine! I’m sorry about calling like this; I suggested we shouldn’t, but Emily wanted to.” Joyce without much back and forth cut straight to it and asked, “Why does she want to wear a diaper?” “Look, Joyce, I know… It’s not the most exciting thing for a parent trying to potty train to hea–” “--Amy?” Joyce cut in, sounding awfully serious. “Did you say something?” As much of a friend as she was, absolutely no one or anything would stand between her and Emily. Emily didn’t ask to do things like that on her own. Not unless provoked, pressured, or…or something else? It felt far too uncharacteristic, and the fact that Joyce couldn’t be there to understand why was making her more upset by the second. “Joyce, everything is fine!” Amy tried to calm her. “No, so I showed Emily something from my workshop; something you haven’t seen either, nor asked for, so it’s fair game! But it’s different from what I usually do, so I wasn’t sure how it’d fit. I was willing to wait, but Emily wanted to try it on now, but she wanted to ask for your permission. I promise, I didn’t try to force her into this, and if you say ‘no,’ then I pack it up and we’ll wait.” “...So she asked? All by herself?” Emily did? Joyce’s Emily, the girl that throws tantrums over going to the dentist? “Yep, she did.” “...Could you please put Emily back on?” The phone was exchanged again. “Joyce?” It was Emily’s voice again. “Emily…you know we have a rule about this.” “I know…but, I figured it might be okay, since it’s just to try something on? It comes off! It’s like clothing!” Like clothing? Joyce shared a confused look with herself. A cloth diaper? “Emily…no, I don’t want you putting one on yourself. Even if it’s just for a fitting.” “I–...okay.” As much as Emily could try and debate, not only did she expect not to win, but also how much it would bother Joyce in trying to poke, prod, stretch and twist what she’d rather remain unspoken, untouched and understood. And yet, as much as Joyce didn’t like the initial feeling, with great reluctance… “...But yes,” she sighed, “you can wear one.” “I-I can…?” Emily stammered. “B-but, you said…” “Yes, you cannot put one on, Emily. That hasn’t changed,” Joyce frowned, dreading the next part. “But…if it’s an adult that I trust…then it’s different.” “J…Joyce?” “I’m going to need you to put Amy back on in a second, but I need to explain something else to you, Emily. Are you listening?” The girl suddenly felt fidgety from all her nerves about to go haywire. “Yes…” “Emily, when you wear a diaper, it’s not pretend, okay? I know you understand how much this means to me, and I know how much it means to you. That’s why I just don’t want to make any lighthearted habits out of this. It’d be different if I was there, but…this is something new for me, so I feel like I have to be strict about it.” “No…I understand,” after all, Joyce somehow not being part of the equation that involved diapers did sound unthinkable. “That’s why when you put Amy on, I’m going to tell her that the only way you can wear a diaper is if she puts you in one.” Her words came down like a bombshell. “W-what?” “A trusted adult, Emily,” Joyce reminded her. “If you want to wear one, then Amy has to put it on you.” “But…but she doesn’t…I…” “I’m not trying to be difficult, Emily, but you’re the last person I want putting you in diapers.  Leave that stuff to the grownups, okay?” And with the might of her wisdom, Emily felt the electric tingle as a part of her brain somehow melted. And if the blow hadn’t struck hard enough already, Joyce delivered a one-two-three right after. “And Emily, when you wear a diaper, it means the same rules apply, understood? Your diaper stays on. That means all day until I come to pick you up.” Obediently, she murmured into the phone, “Mhm… I…nevermind…I-I’ll just wait for you.” “Emily, could you please put Amy on?” “H-huh? B-but I can wait, Joyce. It’s fine, really.” But unfortunately, a door had been opened that would not be allowed to shut. Calmly, but firmly, Joyce insisted. “Emily? Baby? Put Amy on.” There was another long pause, and finally Emily’s head creaked up and looked at Amy, slowly, but eventually handing the phone over to her. Though, the girl was just about ready to jump ship and run. She didn’t know what kind of result she was expecting, but Amy as part of it was very much not that. “Joyce?” Round two for Amy. “Amy? Does Emily look upset right now?” “...Mm, yeah, I’d say so.” And suddenly the discomfort for both girlfriends was mutual. But at least in Joyce’s eyes it was deemed a necessary evil. “Well, it’s because of what I’m about to tell you. I said she can wear one,” and the fact she was in second place with being so open to Amy about diapers frankly threw Joyce for an even bigger loop. “But, Amy, and this is absolutely nothing I’m asking you to do. What I did tell Emily though is that she can wear one, but she’s still not allowed to do it herself.” If they were calling Joyce, she figured Amy knew as much about that rule. “The only way I’ll let her though is if you put her in one.” Boom, a personal bombshell for Joyce. “Sorry?” Amy spoke, but her mind was given a momentary lapse. “Amy, Emily’s not allowed to put on her diapers. I told her you’re the only one there allowed to do it for her right now. I think she’s upset because she’s getting exactly what she’d get if she were with me,” and the fact that Joyce wasn’t there made her heart ache, but teaching moments like this were also moments to teach herself. Begrudgingly. “But…me?” Amy repeated, at a loss, and a small glance over at Emily looking to be on the verge of tears made her even more taken aback. “Amy, if you’ve gotten her already talking about this kind of stuff around you, you’ve clearly broken down some of her barriers,” and that fact was certainly heartwarming for the busy mommy. “But this is something largely between me and Emily. It’s our relationship, and I don’t want to force you into that. That’s why this is completely at your discretion. Whatever it is that you made, I appreciate it and I can’t wait to see it, but I don’t want to ask you to become any more personally involved than that…” Yet she sighed again. “But…what I’m saying now…if…you wanted to…you may fill that role for Emily right now…” “I…wow…” Amy murmured. “Sorry, I…mm…I guess I wasn’t expecting things to go this way,” she chuckled. “I didn’t either, but since it did, I think it’s good, honestly… Since it’s you, Amy, I really would rather she’s comfortable around you like that. I don’t mean acting in any sort of way, but just…in the things that she wears. ” “No, no, I understand what you mean,” Amy nodded. “But so we’re clear…it’s up to me?” “Yes, and I’m about to explain that to Emily. But if she wears it, Amy, it has to stay on until I’m there. I…there’s a lot to this, but right now, with something like this, I want to be firm about it, for whatever might come of it.” “No…uhm…I understand…” Amy said again, though much more passively, like her mind was elsewhere. “And again, you can say no, but I want it to be your decision, not Emily’s. Since she brought it up, she decided that this was a possibility now.” And she knew how afraid it would make Emily, and how nervous she would feel, but it felt…necessary. Or possibly like a breakthrough? The next step? If it even came to that. Amy could always refuse, and that would be that. No harm no foul. Was this a misplay from Joyce? Knowing Emily at this point…it didn’t seem that way. “...Okay. Sure, yeah. Should I put Emily back on?” “Please.” Amy quietly walked back over to the couch where Emily was now huddled, petting Ashes in her lap, looking to be digesting some very difficult feelings at the moment. “Em?” Amy quietly spoke up, holding out the phone. “Last time, I think.” And slowly, Emily took the phone but still stayed curled up against the couch. “Joyce…?” “Emily? Baby?” There was a sniffle. “Mhm…” “Now above everything, you know how much I love you, right?” “Uh-huh…” Oh lord, her stomach was already turning. Emily hated sweet talks like this because she always knew it was just to make something bitter go down easier. “And you know that I’d only do something if I knew it was safe and in your best interest?” She felt like she was going to be sick. “Y-yeah…” “I just let Amy know what we talked about, but there’s one other thing, okay?” “...What?” “Emily, please, don’t be upset with me,”  Joyce was kind, but she knew the sound of a tone that wasn’t. Not that she held it against Emily. It was expected at this point, but sometimes bitter pills have to be swallowed. “Now, I trust Amy, and it sounds like you’ve started to trust her a whole lot more today, right?” “...Mhm…” “Well, that’s why I’m leaving the decision of diapering up to Amy. Whether you ask her to or not.” “Wh-what?” Emily stammered. Up to Amy alone?! “B-but–!” “But nothing,” Joyce said with finality. “Emily, if you’re not going to be honest with yourself, then I will. Amy’s in charge of that decision right now. If she decides to diaper you, then you listen, or that’s something we’ll deal with when I get out of work. Understood?” “...” Silence ensued, but what Joyce knew and Emily certainly knew was that as strict and solid as Joyce was being, there was a way to stop this. A single word that need only be spoken and the impossible would become possible again. Emily need only say it. “Do I need to hear anything else?” It was quiet on the other end for just a little longer. “...I…I understand.” “Good. And no matter what happens, I’ll be off of work in just a few more hours, okay?” “Mhm…” “And Emily?” “Yes…?” “Mommy loves you!” It made her feel fuzzy and warm, but she knew the moment they hung up that those warm feelings wouldn’t be there to protect her from her own reckless decisions that just landed her on a one-way street. “I love you too…” And while things had yet to stabilize, all was well again. Enough for Joyce to softly smile. “Okay, Mommy loves you too. Remember to listen to what Amy says. Bye.” And she hung up. And Emily stared at the empty phone in her hands. “She…hung up…” Emily said, suddenly feeling a vast chasm between the two now. Every sense of comfortability now was out the window and in the fire. With what knowledge that now plagued their minds, it scared Emily from even sharing the same room as Amy. But here they were, standing within a room’s width of each other. Amy was quiet for a long while, far more pensive than she’d ever been. She walked over to the desk, staring down at the box of gifts she had brought, suddenly seeing them in a whole new light. A peculiar one. She looked over at the couch, still with Emily and half her face hiding in the cushions while she self-soothed by petting Ashes. Then she looked down at the box again. “...Emily?” Amy softly called for her, right as she sat down upright beside her. Emily responded in a low, shaky and nervous mumble, “Mm…mhm…?” “Can you sit up for a sec? Look at me for a minute?” The one silver lining was that Ashes didn’t leave her lap while she adjusted; the last safe thing she had for comfort that didn’t judge her for her deepest and darkest secrets. Just a point of unconditional love.to get her through all her other worries. And Emily looked, but her lower lip quivered as her mouth imploded, seeing what she did not want to see. Resting in Amy’s lap. If only she had her cat. Too bad it was in Emily’s. Though her companion looked just as soft and just as comfy. A companion that offered a sense of security, and one that could support its owner in vastly different ways. “I…wasn’t expecting things to go like this…” Amy did her best to look at Emily, but even she was nervous. And yet, she couldn’t help but answer the distant call to be the lead and the authority. And Emily shuddered when she watched Amy’s hands tumble the object in her lap, spreading it and smoothing out the creases, just like Emily stroked Ashes’ back. The same comforting hand from before was suddenly back on Emily’s shoulder, making her jump at first, but immediately falling limp to the touch. “I know what Joyce said, but…well…” Is…is she not going to? “...If it really is alright with you, I…I think I do want to try putting this on you.” And it was a quiet moment of total vulnerability, the more Amy bundled the fabric, but finally, she held up the cloth diaper like a love letter, and tilted her head with an innocent smile. “Emily…do you think you could lay down for me?”   49 - The Places We’ll Go It was an uncomfortable silence. Very uncomfortable. It was warm, hot, confusing, and obscenely embarrassing. The world was spinning, there must have been an earthquake because her heart was thumping tremors. “H…” Emily breathed a sound, but her tongue felt numb. “H-h….huh?” Never. Not ever; not in a year, ten years, one hundred, one thousand, or in the lifetime of the universe did Emily even think she’d be faced with this. As dumb and stupid as she was to have skirted the line so carelessly, she didn’t actually expect the consequences. After all, what rule had she broken? But sitting on the same couch as her, just a few cushions down, Amy with her head tilted ever so slightly, creased her brows with the tiniest signs of a disappointed smile. Maybe if Emily wasn’t as frazzled as she was, she may have noticed even the slight blush from Amy herself. The bright yellow and purple diaper, made by Amy herself, was held against her chest by the edges where the tips of her curled fingers clutched it. “No…?” Amy smiled as sweetly as she was shy now, but somehow able to overcome all that and project an overwhelming sense of desire. “A-Amy…I…” The loose fabric on Emily’s legs started to collect and converge right where her hands were bunching whatever they could hold, over and over. A diaper. A diaper was offered to her. No, not even offered, but softly forced. She saw the diaper, the soft hands, well-kept nails and casual and comforting clothes. It almost made her reminiscent of whom she could only ever think of in a case like this, but looking any higher brought clashing headaches and confusion when it wasn’t who she expected it to be. It wasn’t her Joyce making demands. It wasn’t her mommy. She was across the city, doing other things as she saw fit, while simultaneously now ordering others to do her bidding. She couldn’t do that, but she did, and the predicament Emily found herself in now was a living example of that. This was a proxy, that’s all it was. Joyce multitasking from another body, doing what she did best and wanted most. But…the sensation was different. The feeling. “...Emily, I…” Amy’s lips retracted inwardly. “...I think I understand…a little.” Understand? Understand what? What could she understand? This…she didn’t do this! She…she made clothes! Not diapers…! The cloth diaper in her hands slowly dropped into her lap where she slowly smoothened it out over and over.  “When I make people clothes, I try to understand a lot of things about them. What they like, who they are, and how they might want to feel. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous, but I really do try and capture who they are as a person.” “But–” Emily bit her lip anxiously, “but you do this for Joyce? I…” she sighed worriedly, “I-I like it too…I do, Amy, I….I really do… b-but this is for Joyce?” After a quiet few seconds, Amy broke the silence. “Is it?” Her lowered eyes were saving her from the paralyzing feeling of direct contact, but her space was invaded again once Amy cocked her head out even further just to lower into it. It was uncomfortable and weird. Amy still felt the same and that was the most troubling. She felt just as gentle and just as accepting, only now different shocks were traveling down the same wire Emily let her plug into. Before she opened her mouth her chin was already shaking. All the progress they’d made felt completely undone, and why was that? Were they not just talking about all the things Emily did with Joyce? Maybe that was it. Talking. There wasn’t any physical evidence of the crimes or fingerprints to convict the culprits. Words were words and this was…real. Very real. Too real. In a silly, shortsighted way Emily went out on a limb without even coming close to fully realizing just what kind of chain reaction she could have set off. But again, miraculously, it could have been stopped. “When I came over your house just to see you all dressed up, I really can’t tell you how happy I was, but, well,” Amy stifled a giggle, then let out a small laugh. “I think I kinda made my point when I hugged you?” And Emily remembered it too. Yet another terrifying moment when she thought it was practically life or death whether she’d be eaten alive by an outside spectator. Christ, Amy volunteered herself as a participant at that. “Emily, I can’t get over how adorable I think you are. –And don’t think of this as a confession, or anything!” she worriedly blurted out. “Please don’t think of it like that,” she humorously moaned. “I don’t want Joyce hating me!” Amy’s artillery was strong, and her bunker-busting banter was unrivaled, but Emily’s self-conscious cage was just that much tougher. The seamstress mumbled, “It’s kind of embarrassing,” Ah, touché. Amy went on, “but…I can’t get that stuff out of my head now after visiting your place… I think a whole lot about my clients and how their clothes are going to fit and look, but with you guys, it’s just…different.” If only she knew how big the word ‘different’ seemed to be in Emily and Joyce’s lives. “B-but you…Joyce wants this stuff…” Emily muttered with the single card in her hand to play. Amy’s sudden and immediate retort was cruel, precisely because it felt like a knife in Emily’s back. “Is that why you wanted to wear those footie pajamas on your own?” It was far from unkind, and she delivered the blow gently but effectively. Nevertheless the wound made Emily wince. She certainly was stabbed in the back. Maybe only with a foam knife, though… “You’ve been so honest with me today, Emily, and I love getting to hear so much about you. I don’t want you to feel like you need to keep up your guard around me, because you don’t. I know what you two have. I get it. Not like get-get, but enough to know that I can tell when you’re lying, Emily.” Oof. The accusation was more electricity and Emily’s shoulders took the shock. “Yes, I do this for Joyce, but I do it for myself, and I do it for you. You don’t have to lie,” she stressed, and finally the flames were too strong for the girl to even look at the confrontation. “Hey, Emily…” Amy called and even reached out for her shoulder. “It’s…it’s not for me. It’s for Joyce.” “No? Is it?” Amy was a friend, and she was kind, which is why it made it so much harder to hear the sickening amount of doubt her few words were saturated in. “Should I stop, then? Do you want to pretend today never happened? That we didn’t talk and hang out? About all the silly ways Joyce can be a bully, and you can be a mischief-maker?” she chuckled, and Emily nearly felt herself be swept away by the urge to grin. “We are friends, aren’t we?” Amy asked, and finally she expressed the smallest amount of self-doubt, like there had been an unfortunate misunderstanding. As if her kindness had merely been borrowed to suit Emily for the afternoon, and nothing more. “W-we are!” Emily stressed, reaching out just enough to stop the wreck from derailing. Her chest rose and fell uncomfortably as the words stumbled and tumbled, but they came out nonetheless. “I-I…I want to be friends, Amy, a-and I don’t know why I’m so…s-so like this…! It’s…it’s j-just embarrassing, but I know you are nice and wanna help, but I…it’s just…!” “Wanna hug?” Amy asked with open arms, and Emily couldn’t have fallen for her faster. The moment her head came against Amy’s chest, she stared off to the side where all the fabrics, needles and threads were, and just beyond that the shelves of bins she sorted through. It wasn’t the same as Joyce, but it didn’t feel that far from just as comforting. It was just different. Her lips quivered and the sharp lines of the shelves and corners from the tables all started to go blurry like her camera was out of focus. The lens was just wet, though, because her whimpers went on to tears. “I-Ih’m sorry…!” Emily sniffled and whimpered, and Amy did the same thing that Joyce did and rubbed circles on her back. “Don’t be sorry,” Amy chuckled. “Also, how much practice do you have with Joyce? Do you know how good of a hugger you are?” “S-sorry…” Emily immediately softened her arms like wet noodles, but a sudden firm grip on her triceps forced them back to the tight way they were. “Did I say to stop?” Amy taunted, then laughed. “Nuh-uh, hug as much as you wanna.” So she did, and despite the embarrassment she felt there wasn’t a second attempt to go limp. Maybe she felt ashamed, but by this point she was too well-trained by Joyce to not crave physical affection. Physical affection simply made her feel too good now to not crave them. Not when she felt like this, no matter the circumstances. Her worst enemy or agent of destruction could somehow be her best friend with just a simple gesture. One that bled from Emily’s smaller and simpler self into her adult headspace. “You’re cute, Emily. So cute,” Amy hummed, holding her nearby the whole time. “Do I hug as good as Joyce does?” Maybe for many reasons Emily shrugged. It didn’t quite feel like a one-to-one comparison, and also she probably couldn’t forsake herself by criticizing either woman. After all, Amy was here to hear if she was criticized, and Joyce…well, somehow had omnipotent powers. “Good point. Probably shouldn’t make ya choose,” Amy pondered to herself, and finally the first smile shined on that dreary day. “Em, I like you, and I like Joyce. I met her first and I’ve known her for longer, but I feel like after today I’ve learned so much about you. I’m sure you can guess, but I don’t get all close and cushy like this with just anybody, you know?” “S-sorry…” “Don’t be sorry!” Amy admonished with a laugh. “I’m just saying that’s how it is. I like you two a lot, and I guess I like doing what I do for you two.” “But you don’t like this…” Emily whispered with her head half-submerged in a self-conscious muck, but one that even she didn’t believe herself. “Now you’re just trying to get me to spell it out,” Amy playfully scoffed. “I like this too,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m no therapist or anything, so I can’t pretend like I know why, but I just like it. I like cute things, Em, on top of liking you,” she emphasized, if there was any doubt that the appreciation was fleeting. “I want to see more of that side from you. The kind that can giggle and laugh, tell me all about the ways Joyce can be mean or silly, and let me make so many more things just to draw that side out even more. Hey, tell me, does Joyce make lunches like that for you all the time?” “Kinda…” Emily murmured, still leaning into Amy’s comforting embrace. “She…she wanted me to get a lunchbox…” Amy feigned a gasp. “And you didn’t get one?” “It’s…embarrassing…” “Yeah, maybe for like two seconds! You opened up to me, didn’t you? Awh…!” Amy laughed, and the woman’s comforting hug was just a little tighter. “You’re a real keeper when you’re bubbly, but feeling nervous over stuff like that is pretty good too,” she chuckled. “You don’t get it…” Emily mumbled next, and Amy sounded with disbelief. “Oooh no,” she refuted then shook her head. “I said that I didn’t understand some stuff, but I know exactly how you tick, missy. I can tell you like stuff like this. You like hugs, and you like feeling cute. I’m absolutely sure it makes you embarrassed, but I think you’re okay with that. If it makes you feel small and doted on, it’s your fit.” Amy’s lips were just starting to part, showing her toothy smile. “Th-that’s not…” Emily started to say, and even with enough bravery to finally look up at Amy, but she froze. She was met with a smug, eyebrow-raised grin from the same woman giving her the affection she very much indeed liked. And suddenly Emily was pulling away and retreating to her end of the couch. “Oooh? Now you don’t like them, huh?” Amy teased, and Emily’s mouth quivered. Finally Amy’s smirk softened into just a smile.  “I’m not gonna ask you to spell it out, but I have noticed something…?” And Emily, already with her tail caught by the trap, nervously waited to hear her captor’s words. “In all this time, after all these tears…talking to Joyce, me, and acting the way you have, you haven’t once asked me to stop?” She waited for an answer, but Emily’s tongue had been long since removed, and the tiny, but oh-so important detail that Amy was finally starting to see was that it was all by choice. Emily’s choice. It was the golden and unspoken rule, but Amy had gone and dragged it out in the open. It was the quietest she’d ever gone, and while Amy may have heard that she was making sound, the words not quite so much.  “Th-that’s becauz…I…” Emily was still close enough for Amy to pat her knee as she stood. Emily watched the woman in her primest element, looking over her workshop like a torture chamber filled with tools. She observed her arsenal and finally landed on something that was on a shelf too high for Emily to reach “This should work…!” Amy decided one-sidedly, looking down at a large bundle of purple fabric in her hands. She set the bundle on her desk and then grabbed the end of her coffee table, sliding it away from the couch and Emily, leaving a wide, open space right in front of her. Amy flung the fold of cloth outward, wafting it like a sheet until it was fully unfurled and laying wide, long, and flat like a big blanket. Almost like a… Emily was a second too slow to notice Amy grab what she left on the couch while on her knees, and then the music stopped all over again with a double pat on her thighs like a gentle beckon. “Emily? Down here, hon.” “Wh-...B-but Amy, I…” Emily stammered and started her retreat, tucking her feet under her legs, but Amy pounced, leaping and locking her hands on Emily’s ankles like they were shackled. “Nuh-uh! No you don’t!” she giggled, and Emily whined just barely. Her system was too shocked and the one thing she could hold on to was a cushion that popped right out of place and fell right with her. “A-Amy, please!” Emily cried from her new spot on the blanketed floor, but her puffy shield was swiped away next and set aside. And before Emily could try and escape her feet fell victim again once two anchors wrapped around them. Amy was the predator and Emily was prey, and just like textbook biology only one of them was enjoying it. “Emily,” Amy said it loud and clear in a way that cut through the mood entirely, like her core was being addressed. “Joyce gave me permission to do this, didn’t she?” Crap! No! Why is she saying that?! Her look of embarrassed discomfort went up a notch at the drop of the J word. Joyce said so, so Emily had to. “...D…” Amy started quietly, but her expression tightened just slightly some more. “Didn’t Mommy say so?” Then the girl’s heart skipped a beat, and then another. So many skips as all the caterpillars she had for lunch were blossoming into thousands of fluttery butterflies inside her stomach. The ants in her pants were marching for conquest and her face was on fire. The J word was always bad. All-powerful and seemingly invincible. And yet, there somehow existed a weapon of even greater mass destruction than that. Mommy. It was meant to be a secret that no one else knew about. Too powerful and too dangerous to be known by the masses, and even the upper echelons of the Joyce & Emily social circle. But the nuke came crashing down, obliterating everything indiscriminately. The imaginary gust of wind blew right over the bashful girl’s face, stripping layer after layer away by the immense heated shockwave coming from the unexpected tyrant right in front of her. It was the second in command. The incarnate of Joyce Summers herself. Everything went like a crumbling building. First her outward embarrassment was lost, then every hair on her body went erect. She felt paralyzed as the tingling sensation rocked her through in a matter of milliseconds. It was the shock from not realizing she was already dead. Emily was killed. Her entire self was wiped into smithereens, leaving nothing left but her rawest, most vulnerable self. “Sh-she…she told me to  behave…” Emily whimpered, barely even able to see straight now that her mind was melting mush trying to solidify under the blazing sun. Amy, of all people, had played a card in her deck that Emily didn’t even think was possible. The shock alone was enough to knock her over, had she not already been on her bottom. The mommy card. She was submissive before, but a dial was turned, a switch was flipped and a button was pressed. It didn’t go unnoticed by Amy, who looked taken aback for just a split-second, but no more than that. Emily wasn’t the only one swept into the momentum as the seamstress herself slipped into whatever she was feeling at a frightening speed. “Just…just think of it as trying on some more clothes for me, okay?” Amy smiled, now with the high ground and looking down at her little model. What kind of magic does Joyce work on her…? Amy waited for a moment, expecting Emily to undress for her. “Oh– right,” Amy stared through her with a slightly dumbfounded look. “I guess that part’s my job too, huh?” “I-I…I can help…” Another whisper from the quiet and conquered, laying back while the mood and circumstances assaulted her in ways that felt unimaginable. With Joyce there was always the unexpected, and by now Emily was prepared for that. Amy wasn’t though. She was an outsider, at least she was supposed to be. But henceforth she would certainly be “in” now., and to somehow be surprised by that was ridiculous. After all, it was Emily’s own fault. “Mmm, keep those hands where I can see them, missy,” Amy barked in a chipper voice, having the girl assume a surrendered pose. “Just do what you normally do, kay?” What she normally did. What, chit-chat with Joyce? Try and anticipate a wet raspberry or kiss on the cheek or forehead? For just a tiny moment Emily abandoned all sense of reason, truly wondering if Amy really did somehow have Mommy’s entire playbook. The feeling of another person’s nails gently digging against her sides made her shiver, and the talons sunk around and through the waistband of her panties, clutching her pants right with it. “And…down-down-down-down-down!” Amy continued the game, repeating jovially with each and every tug she made, bunching it up more and more, leaving more and more of Emily and her privates to see. Something only Joyce would regularly see. “Wanna keep your socks on? Actually–” Amy hung her head out, holding up her finger like she was testing the wind. “Nevermind. Don’t want cold feet.” And just when Emily’s feet were free and she was able to move, her knees slowly started to rise as she hoped to protect whatever she could. “Did somebody put rubber bands in these legs?” Amy laughed lightly, pulling them right back out, however. “Em, hon, it’s my job to work with clothes, so it’s nothing new seeing somebody naked?” she said nonchalantly, all the while making eye contact, catching Emily’s full lower naked half in view. Pop! Pop! Pop! Every snap that came undone was like a ringing gunshot. She flinched with each sound, knowing that the inevitable was closing in at a terrifying pace. “Then we go up…!” Amy soothed as Emily’s legs were suddenly mounted on the woman’s shoulder, taking Emily to the same extremes that Joyce always did. Wasn’t that difficult because she was…bigger than a normal baby? “Now I can see how Joyce might do it,” she chuckled, “you’re as light as a feather!” Emily was back to turning her head, watching the underside of the couch as her poor defense mechanism. After all, if she couldn’t see it, surely she wouldn’t believe it. Maybe from this vantage point she could see anything she may have missed… Oh, look, a few small tufts of thread… “And one-two-three!” Amy cheered as she lifted just a slight bit higher and Emily’s bum left the ground. She braced for the hard landing, but without seeing it happen, miraculously the soft fabric beneath her had somehow become even softer. “Okay…moment of truth!” Amy announced excitedly, making that only one of them, and right after Emily’s heels touched the floor they were nudged apart. Not a moment later and a very familiar yet presently unwelcome sensation hit her. Physically and mentally so. A soft and secure bulk grew between her legs, covering her crotch and resting just at the bottom of her stomach. It felt so familiar, like it was something she went through just this morning after waking up. Maybe because that was exactly the case, only slightly different. Her difference was the bulk was a different kind of soft, as if she was misappropriating a shirt or sweater. “The measurements should be fine, but I’m a little nervous…!” Amy grinned as that same softness Emily felt between her legs was beginning to go the same way about her hips. As it all joined into one, the snugness and comforting sense of security came forward, regardless of how nerve-wracking it really all was. With each pop into her padded prison she became one button more trapped in her diaper. Diapered not by Mommy, but by a friend, and not even in a familiar disposable, at that. She nearly kicked her foot out like a knee-jerk reaction when she found that the fitting wasn’t over. Amy’s finger slipped between her thigh and elastic gathering around her diaper. She traced the holes and finally clasped her hands. “Oh my gosh…!” The woman sounded ready to squeal, but her joy was already at an impressive height. “I think it fits! It looks so good! Wait-wait! Emily? Can you stand? Please?” She reached out her hands and reluctantly Emily offered up hers to let them be had. Because Mommy said so. Mommy said to behave for all of this. But the gravity of what’d been done was different depending on the perspective. Something like this was the kind of solid and heavy boulder that’d sit in her mind for the whole day, if only that, leaving her to chip away at it little by little just to decompress. Yet Amy despite being the agent of Emily’s newfound embarrassment was still speaking and moving like greased lightning. Like nothing was different. But how could everything not be? Every motion the blushing girl made was more fuel for Amy to hold her hands to her cheeks, fawning, gushing, oo-ing and ah-ing all over. “Awh…! Yes! Yes! This is just how I pictured it!” Was she really in a diaper? Emily didn’t have the strength nor the will to look. With a heave-ho she was pulled up to a sitting position, then finally stood. It didn’t feel exactly like the diapers she wore, but the bulk factor was more or less the same. Softer, maybe, but just as oppressive and in the way. When it bunched between her legs there wasn’t the audible crinkle, save for a muffled one. “Oh– honey, come on, let’s go over to the mirror, okay?” Amy took a hold around Emily’s farthest shoulder and steered her to the one place she absolutely did not want to go. “W-wait– please…!” Emily shook her head, finally staring down their destination with the fear of God in her. She could feel what she was wearing, but again, seeing was believing, and she did not want to believe one bit. Not that in any way could Emily end up the way she did when she was only with Joyce. Diapers just didn’t happen unless it was with Joyce, so this couldn’t be real, but Amy was about to give her irrefutable evidence. So with a stroke of brilliance, Emily employed the strongest tactic she had. Amy had Joyce, Mommy, but Emily had something maybe just as great. Like flicking a switch, the world around her went black. “Okay…let’s stand right here…! Ah!” Amy squealed, “perfect! Emily! Look at how– huh?” She was there, but she wasn’t. Gone. Disappeared. Everything. She could hear her surroundings but not perceive them. Seeing is believing, and she could not see, therefore she could not believe. “Em, why are your eyes shut?” “P-please…please don’t make me look in the mirror…!” “What? Why?” Amy asked with concern. “Is everything okay?” “I…I don’t wanna wear one…not like this!” Emily sniffled. “Why not? Didn’t you say you were gonna try it on? Do you not want to anymore?” “Th-that’s…that was different…!” she whined with a sniffle. “I-I said I was gonna do it…but then…then Joyce made you!” Amy went silent for a moment, then asked in a clear voice, “...And that must have made you feel pretty uncomfortable, right?” “Yes!” Emily stressed, and her world became no less dark. “It’s…it’s different when somebody else does it…and…and I don’t like it!” “...Is it because you don’t like me?” The suggestion was enough to make the girl’s eyes widen with horror. She spun her head and looked up at Amy with a deep sense of regret. “N-no! I-I didn’t mean it like that…! I-I just…I…” She was what? Embarrassed? Nervous? Obviously, but what else? Scared. Fearful. Being like this was one of the single-handedly most vulnerable states Emily could find herself in. By now she knew how malleable she could be when she was treated like a kid. The diapers just did something at this point, because it affirmed and reinforced just about every tiny tweak or installment Joyce made to her brain, her body, and emotions. And she loved it. She loved all of it. That moment right then made it clear what she loved, and why she was so scared to accept any of it in a strange place without her significant other. Every wall imaginable inside her heart and mind crumbled whenever it was time. By the time Joyce had her up on the changing table she was nothing but soft putty ready to be played with. There was no need for an iron box to keep herself together, held together by chains and locks; only Joyce was supposed to have the key too. But with how Emily’s younger half was trying to feel right this very minute, she realized shockingly that duplicate keys apparently existed. What Joyce could do to her…could others as well? It suddenly became a terrifying thought of a world without Joyce. A time and a place where Emily could be convinced to feel like the small little girl she’d been trained to be, yet all without Joyce having any part in it. But it was Joyce that made her like this, not Emily! This was Joyce that made her like being a baby, right? It wasn’t herself that liked it! She liked it because Joyce liked it! So her body felt physically ill. Her stomach was turning over and over, trying to fight the endorphins and fuzzy feelings that were essentially pavloved into leaking into her brain right when the babying began. She wasn’t allowed to feel like this, which is why it made her restless because her body wouldn’t listen. It needs to be Joyce! It can’t be anyone else! It has to be Mommy…! “Emily? Honey, look in the mirror?” Amy calmly pointed, and as much as Emily didn’t want to, for some reason, she did turn her head. Slowly her eyes fell on the reflection and there she was. Emily, wearing a diaper. The upper half was hiding underneath her shirt, but not enough to see the rest of the button snaps where the wings of her diaper fell in place. It was a cacophony of colors. Her puffy crotch was a pleasing purple, followed by her yellow buttons, and red trims. It looked weird for a second, like it was the utmost ridiculous fashion statement. Because it was, and that was the point. But beyond that, it was her normal shirt, bare thighs, and socks that she came in. Right beside her, holding her by the shoulder was Amy, smiling simply. “You know what I see?” Amy squeezed the frightened girl’s shoulder. “What I see is a very brave girl who was nice enough to let me indulge myself. But I also see someone a little afraid with how they might be feeling?” she phrased it like a question, but even her guesses were dead-on like her sense of size. Tearily, Emily nodded. “But what I also see is just Emily. Emily, the same gal that came over to my house today to hang out, help me with my work, and be a really good friend. You see her too, right?” See…herself? She…she saw the diaper. The flustered and embarrassed girl. The worried look on her face that just wanted Mommy, and so much more. But…maybe somewhere…was Emily, Emily Sen there too? “I-...” Emily started, but her soft voice trembled. “Take your time, it’s okay!” Amy comforted her. “I-I…I don’t wanna feel like this…n-not unless it’s with Joyce…!” “And why’s that?” “B-because…!” Emily balled her hands by her sides. “J-Joyce is why I’m like this! She made me like this! I-I…I wouldn’t do any of this if she didn’t start it…! And I do like it! B-but…! She’s the reason! S-so…so I can’t do it without her! It’s not fair!” “So the way she makes you feel…that’s how you’re feeling right now?” It wasn’t love that she was feeling. She loved Joyce. Loved-loved. Romantically, intimately, and innocently all the same like a child loved their mother. But she didn’t love Amy. Not like that. There was no romance, and that was clear. They were friends and that was as far as it went. But the babyish sensations and headspace…it made the poor girl exhausted with each second trying to reject what by now felt so instinctual…! “Yes…!” Emily cried, wiping her eyes. Was this what cheating felt like? Was she cheating on Joyce? “I’m…I’m cheating on her…!” Emily bawled. “Awh…honey…” And despite her cries, Amy hugged her even tighter. “Sweetheart, it’s not cheating? You’re not, I promise!” “H-how though…! I-I’m doing what Joyce and I always do!” “But honey, she gave us permission, remember?” “B-but…! But that’s…!” she breathed uncomfortably. “Emily, I’m absolutely sure that this is something special to you, because I know it sure is for Joyce. It’s okay if you’re nervous about feeling this way without her, but you gotta know that it’s not bad to feel like this?” How could it not be bad? She felt guilty, did she not? Wasn’t that more than enough reason? Joyce got jealous all the time, and she must have been fuming right this very minute! Wasn’t she upset on the phone? Angry? Were they going to fight when they went home? Was Joyce going to even take her back? “Honey, Emily? Look at me,” and with some steering via her chin, Emily did. “Loving Joyce, and…being a baby; those are two separate things. Joyce isn’t mad, and you shouldn’t feel guilty.” “B-but…! But Joyce…!” Emily whined like saying it again somehow made a difference. “She’s…she’s…!” Christ, why couldn’t she think of any other way to explain it?! “Sh-she’s my mommy!” “I…” Amy hung her words, freezing for just half a second, but holding herself together far better than Emily was right then. Either way, the woman was becoming fully aware of just what kind of box she’d opened. “I know, hon… I’m not replacing Joyce, okay? I’m not replacing Mommy. Just…think of it like this, okay? Joyce is Mommy, right? So…I’m Mommy’s friend, right? I’m just Auntie Amy. Yeah! I’m allowed to take care of you while Mommy’s at work, right? She said I could, didn’t she?” That she did, and bombshell after bombshell kept hitting the frightened girl. Amy said it herself: she wasn’t replacing Joyce. Babying was separate from loving Joyce. Cheating was loving someone else, but that wasn’t this. It was just babying, but with another person. Not a complete stranger, but someone between Joyce and Emily, and someone that Joyce trusted enough to tell Emily to behave for her. Auntie… She was Amy. Auntie Amy, and not Mommy. It was difficult to digest, all because it meant going off the good faith of a person holding all the cards. “Oh– I see those tears drying up?” And before Emily could feel herself, Amy’s fingers brushed the last few specks of wetness on her cheeks. “Emily, another thing,” Amy started in a soothing voice, “If Joyce was okay enough to let me do with you what she does, don’t you think that she would rather you feel the same way when it’s with her? Joyce can be…competitive,” Amy giggled for a second, “but you are the last, no– not even someone she would ever even consider trying to hurt. She wouldn’t want to see you feeling like this, sweetheart. I won’t pretend like I know her reasons, and you’re gonna get to hear them from her, but you should know that none of this was ever to make you feel upset?” And whenever Emily got carried away by her emotions or feelings, she quite never had the mental capacity to consider what felt so obvious. Joyce never intentionally tried to hurt her. It was always from a place of good intentions, no matter what the outcome was. So…she was supposed to feel okay with this? She was allowed to? “B-but…sh-she sounded mad on the phone…!” Emily’s voice went thick, near ready to cry again. “Because it sounds like she had some big feelings to go through herself, but that doesn’t have anything to do with you, hon. Joyce still loves you, and nothing’s changed. Give it just a couple more hours and she’s gonna be here to pick you up, okay?” “I-I…I wanna call her…” Emily squeaked. “Yeah?” Amy nodded softly. “Okay, let’s give her a call. Why don’t we head upstairs though? It’s a bit cleaner up there!” Amy’s hold on Emily wasn’t let go the whole trip up the stairs, and the silent spectator to the entire event was quietly following behind them, one paw at a time. “You just have a seat…right here,” Amy sat Emily on the bigger couch where Ashes pounced up right beside her, brushing against her naked leg. “He makes me feel better whenever I pet him,” Amy suggested, pointing at her friend which Emily couldn’t help but smile at. “W-wait…” Emily looked around with worry, like the weight of the world was coming down on her all over again. “I-I forgot my phone…” “Nope! Nuh-uh,” Amy softly refused and planted her right back on the cushion she sat. “You can use my phone. Just sit and relax, okay?” Amy pulled hers from her pocket, pressed a few things on the screen and shortly thereafter had it in Emily’s hands, soon to be cradled against her ear. Is…is she gonna pick up? A horrible worry made her heart ache, suddenly wishing she wasn’t using both hands to hold the phone, just so she could pet the cat for comfort. “Hello? Amy?” But there Joyce’s digital voice was in a hushed whisper. “J-Joyce?” Emily stammered, already feeling the waterworks ready to burst again. “Emily? Honey? Is everything okay?” More urgency, more concern. Like she always had whenever Emily got like this. Like things were still the same between them. The hiccups started and now the tears were free-flowing. “A-are…a-are y-you…nn…not mad at m-me?” “Em–...one second, okay?” On the other end, in a very tall building, in a room filled with blazers, blouses, glasses of water and secretaries, Joyce stood from the table. She wasn’t noticed however, courtesy of the darkness that allowed the projector facing the other wall to flourish. But of course her secretary noticed. “I need to excuse myself,” Joyce whispered into Sheila’s ear, and the tone implied no room for negotiation. So Sheila nodded, and Joyce quietly removed herself. The hallway was busy so she walked right down to the adjacent and empty conference room. After the soft click of a heavy door, she asked, “Baby, you still there?” “Mm-mmhmm…” “Sweetheart, why are you crying?” Joyce sat against the table. Her heart was already a mess after the first phone call, and now this? “I-I’m sorry I asked to wear one…!” “Sorry? Wearing what, a diaper?” “Y-yes…!” Emily poured out with a crying wail. “Wh…why are you sorry, sweetie?” “Because…! I-I made you mad…! W-we have rules, and…and I tried breaking them…!” “Emily, baby, I’m not mad!” Joyce softly assured, and the fact all she could do was offer her words and nothing more only heightened the frustration with herself. “You didn’t try to break any rule! Did Amy put a diaper on you?” “Y-yes… I’m sorry! I’m so sorry…!” “Don’t apologize! It’s nothing to be sorry for…!” “B-but I cheated…!” “Cheated?” Romantically? With Amy? Her impulsive self was triggered for just a second, but then she tried to imagine it. Cute little Emily, getting frisky with Joyce’s friend that was given the opportunity to diaper her? Her baby getting involved romantically? Needless to say, the image hardly fit in Joyce’s mind, despite her unbelievable jealousy. “Emily, sweetheart? You didn’t cheat, though?” “B-but I wore one without you…!” Her heart was cracking. Is that how it felt for her? “Emily, baby, it’s not cheating, I promise you. I’m not mad, and I love you just as much, okay? You didn’t do anything that made me mad or upset.” She could admit to her own faults of admittedly being that way at first, but she dared not mention something Emily would undoubtedly try to shoulder the blame for. “B-but…” “But nothing,” Joyce refuted, and Emily could practically hear the smile in her voice. “You enjoy yourself, Emily. Today’s a fun day, remember? I asked Amy to do what she did because I love you, and I still do. You know, if you’re gonna call me like this in tears it’s just gonna make Mommy love you even more?” And Joyce called herself Mommy, and that didn’t go unnoticed by the sobbing girl. Mommy. Joyce was still Mommy, and Joyce was Joyce. She was loved and nothing had changed. Was this really all just in her head? Were things really okay? “It’s just a little bit longer until I’m out of work, okay?” Joyce softly explained. “The first thing I’m doing when I leave here is I’m gonna drive right over there, and give you the biggest hug and kiss you’ve ever gotten, understood?” “Mm…mhm…” “Does that clear things up a little? You know I love you, right?” “I love you too…” Emily whimpered back. “And I know you do,” Joyce chuckled. “I know it must be scary right now…but I’m so proud of you, Emily. I want you to feel comfortable being yourself and enjoying all the things we do whenever you want. I…it’s too much for right now, but what you asked to do, and what I decided because of it…it’s what I wanted. It’s what I wanted, but I was too afraid to ask. You make me so happy, Emily, and there’s nothing you could do to change that.” “Uh…uh-huh…!” “And those better be happy tears I’m hearing!” Joyce giggled, wiping a silent tear of her own. “Are you okay now? Do you think you can tough it out for a little bit longer?” “Mm…mhmm…” “Good. Now, can you do me an extra big favor?” “Yeah…?” “Can you please put Amy on the phone for me?” “Mhm…I…I love you.” “And I love you so much too.” The phone slowly left her ear, and Emily departed from a conversation she didn’t want to end. She already missed the sound of her voice, but parental orders superseded her own emotions as she shakily held up the phone to Amy. Amy took it with a smile and held the phone with one hand to her ear. “Hey Joyce!” “Is Emily listening?” “One sec,” Amy paused, definitely noticing the curious girl on the couch. She grabbed the TV remote and brought the screen to life, quietly pointing Emily at the screen, then she left for the farther end of the apartment. “Okay, just us.” “What happened? Did everything go alright?” Now without the need to a big and strong front, the woman’s worries were out on full display. “As well as it could…” Amy spoke awkwardly. “I’ll be honest; I knew this meant a lot to you both, but I guess I didn’t fully realize that until, well…she started crying.” “Is she mad at you?” “No, not that I think, at least. I…admittedly, was a little excited… But I think she thinks she messed up, Joyce. Like she did something she wasn’t supposed to. But I did try telling her that what this is and your relationship are separate things.” Joyce sighed. “They are…” but they aren’t. “I knew this would be tough, but…that doesn’t make it feel any easier… A-Amy…I’m sorry, I…I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, did I?” “You gave me a choice, didn’t you? Like I said to Emily: I don’t quite fully get it, but…I know enough that there’s things I like about it too, so…I guess being included some way…it felt…kind of nice, I guess.” It went the same way for Amy. Without a subjective child in earshot, it somehow made it easier to be more expressive. “I…I liked it.” “I’m glad…” Joyce sighed, then had a silent doubletake. What did she just say? She’s glad? “I-I mean…I’m glad that…it didn’t make you feel uncomfortable… Wait– what did you even put her in? What did you make?” “Didn’t I say it’s-a secret?” Amy finally teased. “Amy?” “Ou,” Amy’s joking fizzled out. “Okay, okay. I made her a cloth diaper. Something Idunno…just felt like doing.” “So she really is diapered right now?” “Mhm,” Amy nodded to herself. “And she hasn’t tried taking it off?” “None that I can tell.” “And…she didn’t say anything? Like…anything strange?” Amy hung her head. “Strange? Like…?” “Like…” Joyce frowned. It was easily her least favorite and most hated, but necessary evil. “Like a safeword…” Amy blinked. “Oh. Oh! No, nope. Nothing that I could tell. She did say a lot about how she didn’t want to or felt embarrassed after the fact, but…she never did say anything out of the blue.” So she really did go through all of it…without any hard or immovable issue… Another relieved sigh from Joyce. “Okay…good.” “And Joyce, believe me, I’m doing everything I can to make her feel comfortable, but what if I give her a breather? Take off the diaper maybe?” “...No. If she isn’t trying to get out of it, I want her to stay in one.” “And…you’re sure?” Amy asked skeptically. “It…What we do, Amy…it’s not meant to be a game, and Emily knows that.” There unfortunately wasn’t much time right then to talk. “We’re both committed in our own way… So when she’s in a diaper, she stays in one. And…whatever happens,” which as the past would indicate could certainly be a lot, “it’s only a couple more hours.” “Okay, Mommy, but don’t take too long,” Amy chuckled, and Joyce all by her lonesome was blushing with a quivering mouth. “Joyce,” she giggled, knowing exactly from the silence what she may have looked like right then, “she just called you that on the phone in front of me? That’s not including the few times she already used it with me a little bit ago.” “Sh-she called me that in front of you?” Joyce’s heart did a somersault, but the point still stood. Emily openly acknowledged her as Mommy? In front of other people? And she wasn’t there to hear it? Her heart melted as did her annoyance flare. “And sorry in advance, but in trying to calm her down, I may have appointed myself the Auntie position…” “What?” Joyce sounded confused, “Al…alright,” she dismissed the confusing subject. “Listen, what’s she doing now?” “Watching TV. Didn’t want her eavesdropping just in case.” “Is there a bed she could use? Or the couch?” “I can make that happen, yeah. Why?” “She needs a nap,” Joyce decided right there and then. “And if I’m lucky she’ll be ready to get up by the time I’m there. I think that’ll help her calm down the most…” “Yeah, I can do that. Er…should I say that you told her to have one, though?” “No,” Joyce sounded quite clear. “Don’t use the ‘n’ word around her. Just…can you think of some way to do it?” “Have her take a nap without suggesting she take one? What a tricky request.” “Please?” “I’ll get it done,” Amy laughed confidently. “Any last words I should give her?” “Yes. Please tell her how much I love her…” “Can do! Now go finish up work, Mommy!” Amy laughed, and Joyce silently hung up. “Okay…” Amy puffed out her cheek, putting away her phone. “Nap time… Nap time…” she looked around, then finally landed her eyes on a bedroom door. “Blanket.” And she disappeared from the main room, gathering what she needed, all the while reflecting on everything that had happened thus far. Why was she going to such lengths? She wasn’t even being paid. In fact, she was the one paying Emily, the girl she was somehow about to convince to take a nap without making it explicit. She made a diaper of her own volition, and even put the very girl that it was meant for into one. Then she held and consoled her; said anything she could just to keep her from crying. And even labeled herself as an authority figure. Auntie Amy… “An aunt, huh…” Amy murmured to herself, arms filled with a pillow and blanket. An aunt. Auntie Amy… “Emily?” Amy sauntered back into the living room. “Kinda chilly in here, right? How about a blanket to warm up a little, huh?”   It was on rare occasions, almost never when Joyce, Ms. Summers was the first one to announce their leave. “Sheila, I’ve wrapped up what I needed to. I’ll be heading out first.” Sheila blinked, far more accustomed to being the one to collect her boss first. “Okay. If it wouldn’t be an issue, looking at the briefings scheduled for tomorrow right now might–” “I’ve finished my work,” Joyce repeated, but quite more firmly, shushing her secretary into a silence. Her tone had not gone unnoticed, and finally Sheila nodded simply. “Good work today. I’ll leave those things on your desk for tomorrow.” “Thank you.” And Ms. Summers was gone. Her heels didn’t give her the opportunity to sprint, so she race-walked across the parking garage, beelining for her car and skirting just under the speed limit where traffic didn’t intervene, going as fast as she could to the one who needed her the most. Was she asleep? Napping? Did she cry at all any more after their phone call? So many questions, so few answers, and Joyce wanted to know the truth about everything so dearly and so badly. It didn’t take long to park, and not much longer to race through the empty front of the store and back through the showcase room. Things looked somewhat tidy, but she noticed the displaced coffee table and giant cloth rug. A cushion was missing from the couch and laying on the floor, and sure enough, Joyce spotted an article she recognized. She walked around and over to the items, picking them up and holding them in her hands. Emily’s pants, no doubt, and sitting inside them was also a familiar cyan pair of panties. After neatly folding them she walked up the stairs. She softly knocked on the door, and a few seconds later Amy answered. “Hey Joyce!” Amy greeted her quietly, “Come on in–!” “Where’s Emily?” Joyce spoke in a normal volume, but Amy quickly shushed her. “Shh! She’s right here!” Amy whispered, pulling the surprised woman by the hand and leading her inside. Round around the corner, there she was. An all too familiar black head of hair, cutely disarrayed by her head against a plush-looking pillow. She was against the arm of the long couch, covered by a blanket where she slumbered so soundly. So she really did go to sleep, and for that, Joyce was relieved. “You convinced her?” Joyce whispered, only barely taking her eyes off the angel. Amy looked unimpressed. “I tricked her. What, did you put some bad blood between her and early bedtimes, or something?” “She did it herself… It’s my job to make her do the things that she doesn’t want to. Was…was she good?” It felt inappropriate to ask, at first, but considering how much Amy had already done, was it not a fair question? “Mm…” Amy sagely nodded, right by Joyce’s side, watching Emily the same way she did. But suddenly Joyce noticed something, and Amy was already smirking. “Wait, is that…?” “Ya-huh,” Amy nodded. “Hang on…” Joyce mumbled, fumbling quickly with her purse. Where was her phone…?! “I charge, you know?” Amy joked. “Charge as much as you want…” Joyce couldn’t hide her smile as she aimed her camera. And while there was no one to say ‘cheese’, it didn’t stop Joyce from going, “one…two…three!” And like that another memory was immortalized and recorded. Joyce looked ready to gush as she was absolutely enamored by the picture on her phone, just peeking over it to see the real deal all over again. Hiding right beneath her short black hair was another mass of black, just as soft-looking and cuddly, only belonging to someone else. Sleeping just as soundly, save for the quiet purrs, was Ashes, right against Emily’s head and neck, halfway underneath the blanket. “Look at our two babies!” Amy giggled, and Joyce couldn’t help but smile herself. “Wanna get her up?” And while Joyce had one answer, just as she was about to give it, she hesitated. “Actually…do you want to do some coffee first? Would you mind making some?” “Should I get a cup ready for Emily?” Amy was already walking into the kitchen. “No…not yet. Was there any juice left in her thermos?” After a quick shake from it in the fridge, “Yeah, still some in here.” “Then she’ll be fine,” Joyce decided. “And…how much did you plan on paying her?” “Not a lot a lot, but I kept track of the hours…” Amy pondered, then noticed Joyce. “W-wait, Joyce, what’re you…?” “For everything today,” Joyce offered a small amount of bills on the counter. Clearly and honestly, she said, “Thank you.” “I…get the feeling you don’t know how this quite works…” Amy smirked, eyeing the money suspiciously. “I pay Emily. You don’t pay me anything?” “Amy, stop,” Joyce took on a serious look. “You’ve done a lot…this obviously isn’t the same as her working for you.” “Maybe, but she did work for me. And all this?” she glanced over at Emily. “It…” her expression grew softer. “It wasn’t work… So, no,” she gently pushed the money back. “I didn’t do this to be paid.” “Amy, but–?” Joyce sounded confused, but Amy continued the conversation in their lowered voices. “But nothing. Do I really have to spell it out? I…I liked it,” Amy admitted, but immediately turned her head the other way. “Gosh, even I can get embarrassed sometimes, you know?” “You…liked it?” Joyce blinked, sounding stunned. “What would you have done if I didn’t?” Amy taunted. “Yes, I did. I don’t know…once you offered me that choice on the phone, yeah, I was surprised, and maybe it was a little weird, but… I dunno…it just…clicked.” As happy and go-lucky as Amy could be, even she had places in her mind and emotions even she didn’t fully know, and her visible discomfort right then was a testament to that. Her playful way of lashing out was just to hide something deeper. Yet being hired as a designer for baby clothes, involving herself so deeply with befriending clients, seeing the beautiful baby herself model them, and lastly being given the chance to snap her into one of her own creations… “I would’ve liked an apology if I was against all of this,” Amy was clear, but again, her look started to falter and her hands held her elbows. “But here I am…somehow glad I could get your girlfriend to sleep…” Joyce listened silently in awe, unsure of what to say. “No? Nothing?” Amy asked expectantly. “I-I…” Joyce blinked. “Sorry…I’m just…surprised, I guess… I’m sorry.” “Did Emily learn to say sorry so much from you?” Amy sounded cheeky again. “Don’t be sorry. Just…I hope she doesn’t hold any of this against me.” “She won’t,” Joyce sounded adamant, and that truly did make some of the tension subside from the seamstress, even if she didn’t know she had it to begin with. “No matter what I say, Amy, it doesn’t change that you got this far with Emily… She really does trust you…” and the words came off on an almost somber note. “And that bothers you?” Amy asked, but she didn’t sound offended, but like the inquisitive friend she’d been for so long that just took Joyce even longer to realize. With a guilty look Joyce stared down at the counter, then up at Amy. “It did…for a few seconds… I can’t help but get jealous, but I’m not anymore. Not in the slightest about this. I know you wouldn’t try anything, and Emily wouldn’t either, but I can’t help feeling that way at first. I’m just…protective.” “Mmm,” Amy nodded. “Can’t say Emily’s my type. I guess I like mine a little taller, more muscle…no diapers?” Joyce raised a brow and Amy giggled. “Though, I guess as a kind of impromptu niece, she’s exactly my kinda type. I get to say that, right? Even if I don’t know why?” “Have you felt like this before…?” Joyce asked. “No, not really,” she shrugged, and pulled out the pot of hot coffee. “Not until after today…or I guess, maybe since I started working on her outfits, I got more curious. Call each extra step another ounce of curiosity, until…well, today.” Joyce nodded, accepting a warm mug for her hands to hold. “I don’t know if we feel the same, but…it feels good, right?” “It does,” Amy quietly agreed and nodded. “I don’t have even half the experience as you though, and I basically just got my foot through the front door on…all this weird stuff, but yeah, after today, I felt good. I…maybe I was doing things already, I don’t know. Taking off her jacket…helping put together her lunch…and…when…you asked me to do what…you know. I really got her to open up to me, and I can’t describe how good that felt, and I don’t know why.” “I’m sorry…” Joyce said again, and Amy rolled her eyes. “Didn’t I say to stop that?” “I’m sorry for involving you like this,” Joyce repeated, only with more clarity. “I involved you. Selfishly. This was for Emily. I…I’ve wanted her to get used to this. Eventually…involving diapers and this kind of treatment around other people. I…I used you to help Emily feel more comfortable with others treating her like a baby.” There was silence, save for Ashes very distant and quiet slumbering purring. “I know.” Amy answered simply, and Joyce’s mouth hung agape. “Y-you knew?” “Obviously. Joyce, I can tell how much Emily matters to you? How long has she been in your life now? Besides, call me selfish too, because I actually decided to listen to you and use your authority against Emily. I’m just as bad as you are.” “To make her behave…?” “To try and calm her down. If Mommy said so, then she has to behave. Don’t think that I liked doing that,” Amy partially frowned before sipping from her mug. “...I won’t put you through that again.” “I…I didn’t know if it was ‘okay’ to do, but I just did it anyway,” Amy muttered. “Is that what I’m supposed to do with her? Hold your name over her head like it’s some kind of end-all be-all?” “As a last resort, yes. But up until that point, no. Thank you for today… I won’t do that to you again.” Joyce offered a weak smile. “...Well…” Amy turned her head to avoid eye contact. Joyce raised her head in surprise. “I said I liked today, didn’t I?” “But…” “If…if it’s possible…and Emily is okay with it…again. I-...I want to do this again. The right way, and not start so…awkwardly.” “Amy…are you serious?” “Yes, I’m serious,” Amy answered, trying to wipe the small blush off her face. “It’s not like I’m going to stop making clothes for her, and I still want to be…involved. And fine, let’s call it what it is at this point: babysitting. Let me give it another shot…” “Bab–...A-Amy, that’s…you realize what that means, right?” “Yes, I do. Or, at least I think I do… What, just keep her busy, right? Come over, play a little, chit-chat, lunch?” She turned her head for a live example. “Naps? Can I have her still try some things on for me? Like, adult clothes? I could still use her help with that. But that’s all there is to it, right? I…I know I’m making it sound like a chore, but…ugh, yes, I want to do this again, but better, okay? I just want to see how I feel about it…” Today was just a tiny sliver, and like it was the forbidden fruit itself, Amy’s greed and gluttony simply wanted a greater taste. “But you know that she wears…diapers?” Joyce cautiously asked, and Amy herself paused for a moment. “So she does use them…” Amy concluded, exhaling with a nod. “That’s…okay. I…think. I can get used to that. Sure.” And Amy despite her bravery left Joyce giving her a slightly skeptical look. Quite frankly, it wasn’t much of something that one decided comfortability with in just a single moment. “Well…” Amy openly second-guessed herself, “maybe if I had an example…” Joyce quietly nodded. An example… “So will you bring it up to her?” Amy asked. “...Babysitting?” The intent was clear in her voice, and the desire was shining in her eyes. Amy’s thumbs were still sickeningly green, and she had merely only watched from the other side of the fence for so long. But Joyce could see it right away. Maybe it was only a fraction of herself, or still certainly a greater part, but it was clear nonetheless. The want to be in. The desire to partake and contribute. All this time Joyce had toyed with the idea of growing and expanding their circle. Safely and securely, somehow, and all of that on top of the impossible reality where Emily became comfortable with any of that. Yet the more she thought, the more the desires and wishes started to overflow, right up until she was in that convention in another state. She really did confront her selfish wishes and was scared because of it. And right now, leaning against the countertop and staring at her from the other side of the island was that very second chance. A golden goose that Joyce couldn’t have imagined as a better fit. Someone just as open-minded and self-electing. Maybe people just like or similar to Joyce really did exist. Maybe…maybe Isabelle was being honest? If Amy was genuine, what’s to say there weren’t others like her. Sh…a-and Sheila…? Emily opened a door, and Joyce found the key leading to one even bigger than that. Monumental in size, and hiding away a path and place that seemed frighteningly exciting. She saw Amy briefly glance over where Emily lay, eliciting a tiny smile from the woman, and it was another wonderful jolt for the woman sitting in her chair, leaving Joyce quietly astonished. A doorway… No, a gateway. A pathway so great, it wasn’t big enough just for two people now. So…so much bigger. So much… In the span of one morning and early afternoon, Joyce’s worldview, feelings, wants and wishes had been changed entirely. Fantasy farther away that hid in the void and recesses of her mind were suddenly being tugged forward, and phantom echoes of silly thoughts and dreams started to sharpen as tangibility took away their fuzzy shapes. She could see it. A miraculous, exciting future; one that she wanted so dearly with Emily, and one that she now knew was completely and totally possible. “Auntie…” Joyce quietly muttered, but loud enough for Amy to hear. “It– I just said it to help her calm down…” Amy mumbled with a flustered look. “I don’t even know if it worked… Joyce?” But Joyce didn’t answer. Her cheeks were rosy and her teeth were on full display as a smile grew in size on her face. “S-sorry,” Joyce chuckled, snapping out of it. “Would you mind getting that thermos out, actually?” she looked fondly over at the couch. “I think it’s time for someone to finish their nap…!”

It's the best we can hope for, but ... This isn't the stepmom from Hell surveying the landscape.  This is what we call "authorial voice."  This is the author, speaking directly to you from outside the narrative framework.  Frankly, an author should never use the authorial voice in this manner.  This looks like a rookie mistake, but Les is far too experienced a writer not to have noticed it.  He must be up to something here, so we shall just have to wait and see what he has in mind.