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Chapter One Elizabeth Harris had a plan. Though she got the well paying manager job at the tech company thanks to her family’s connections, all of her successes since then had been due to her own talents. Mostly by being a hard ass, and sometimes deceptively exploitative depending on the situation. Leading with a stern demeanor and harsh criticisms for the smallest mistakes was how she believed she needed to act in order to get respect. Due to her youthful visage, Elizabeth had struggled to be taken seriously for most of her life. Her mother was quite conservative from a fiscal standpoint, and would often make little ‘Beth’ pretend to be younger in order to get cheaper movie tickets, meals, and any other discount offered for those twelve and under. Once in high school, she had been walking past her old middle school on the way home; she was flagged down and pulled inside for skipping school–due to bus rotations, the middle school students were released an hour or two later in the day than the high schoolers were–and had to deal with nearly half an hour of them chastising her and trying to figure out which class to return her to before finally listening to her and looking her up in a different section of their system. Obviously, she started taking the long way home. More importantly, that was when she put her foot down. It was one thing for someone to mistake her as younger; it was something else entirely for it to cause such a frustrating and humiliating ordeal. Ever since then, she started spending an extra half hour in the morning carefully constructing a more mature image of herself. Better make-up work than the simple applications she used to do, push-up bras with a hint of padding, and at least two inch lifts or heels to boost her height. Her bitterness over the middle school office treating her like a lying tween caused her to act a little more jaded and bitchy the next day, which only snowballed from there. Fast forward to the present. Elizabeth’s size hadn’t changed in the slightest, although her clothes and her personality had escalated plenty. The 23 year old wore professional business attire, and was not afraid to chew out anyone who looked at her wrong. She was also quite thirsty for money, and was more than happy to spend it as well. Especially since she had a company card and very little oversight, meaning she could treat herself on their dime and then treat herself with the personal funds she saved by using that card. She was poised to get a fat bonus as well. All she needed to do was fire June at the opportune moment. Due to some restructuring after a couple of promotions, the company had gone with Elizabeth’s suggestion to bring in June as a combined assistant/admin role. It was quite cost effective, as the 24 year old hire could just do all the admin work whenever she wasn’t tending to whatever Elizabeth needed. Poor June had tried so hard to negotiate a salary that was comparable with her old job, but Elizabeth had known she had been laid off from her former place of employment due to budget cuts. It had been easy enough to lie and say the lower figure was the best they could offer at the time. Between the young woman’s desperation for the job, as well as the vague hope of a future raise that had been dangled in front of her, June had accepted. The problem was, June was annoyingly good at her job. No matter how much busy work Elizabeth offloaded on her, she always managed to get all of her admin responsibilities completed in a timely manner as well. And then some. June really was making the best of her situation, and it wasn’t long before she lucked into being included on a large project that was going to be presented to an investor in the coming weeks. Instead of keeping her mouth shut and handing out coffees like a good assistant, June made some offhand suggestion that someone higher up the food chain than Elizabeth ended up liking. It was such bullshit. June was clearly busting her ass to come up with ideas for both the project itself and the impending investor meeting, and her assistant role gave her an unexpected edge as well. Since she was the one making the copies and putting the documents together, there was a degree of visible credit whenever she handed out packets and binders as things became more and more finalized. When all was said and done, it had been decided that June and Elizabeth were going to fly out for a week to try and pitch the idea. Elizabeth was still going to be heading up the meeting, while June would merely be present to communicate any of the finer details. Her fucking assistant, being sent on a business trip instead of one of the actual higher ups in the company. It was ridiculous. So, Elizabeth quickly concluded that the best course of action would be to fire June. At minimum, it would get rid of the girl who was dangerously close to being promoted from the subservient role she had been hired to fill. If Elizabeth played her cards right, maybe she could do the deed before the investment was fully processed and, ideally, do some creative accounting and take June’s project bonus for herself. On top of Elizabeth’s own bonus, of course. What she didn’t plan on, however, was June catching wind of her scheme. Firing someone without cause would open the company to a potential lawsuit, so Elizabeth had started laying the groundwork here and there. She never thought June would actually find out before being called into Elizabeth’s office for the bomb to be dropped. The last thing Elizabeth expected was for June to go down swinging. —----------------------------- June was hit with so many emotions when she learned that Elizabeth was setting the stage to fire her, probably the moment they returned from their trip. Shock, considering how she had learned how to anticipate Elizabeth’s every need as an assistant, all while basically doing a second job by being the admin for their branch of the company. Despair, in that she could barely afford the ever increasing bills; living in the city was expensive, and inflation certainly didn’t help. And frustration, because her boss was clearly doing this out of jealousy or something adjacent. ‘June, the assistant’ was being noticed by someone who had the power to give her a higher paying and more fulfilling position in the company. Rather than letting June climb the ranks, however, Elizabeth was going to block her in the worst way possible. At first, she considered trying to somehow save her job. Without any real clout in the office outside being an up and coming player, however, there wasn’t anyone she could turn to that might defend her against Elizabeth. So June decided to take matters into her own hands. If she was going to be fired and potentially lose the promised bonus she was expecting, then she really didn’t care if the deal with the investor went through or not. Rather than putting her energy into further preparations for the meeting, June started brainstorming ways to humiliate her boss throughout their travels. It wouldn’t be the same satisfaction as a huge bonus check, but she figured that she might as well get what she could under the circumstances. The beauty of being an assistant was that it was just as easy to make things go wrong as it was to ensure that they went right. June started by convincing Elizabeth to stay at her place the night before the two of them were supposed to fly out. She lived much closer to the airport than Elizabeth did, and it made more sense for the company to pay for a single car to be parked over the long weekend. Playing up the role of generous host and submissive assistant, June went so far as to prepare her own bedroom for Elizabeth. June could suffer through an evening on the sofa if it meant Elizabeth continued feeling like she had all the power. She also made sure to pick up a brand of wine she knew that her boss loved. But just for fun, she drank the expensive wine herself over the week leading up to their trip and proceeded to fill the bottle with a much cheaper alternative. Sure enough, June’s stuck up boss couldn’t tell them apart. Smirking to herself as she prepared dinner for Elizabeth, June made sure to constantly refill her boss’s glass like a good waitress throughout the night. By the time it was getting late, little Elizabeth had polished off the entire bottle. June could have easily handled that much alcohol, as she was taller than Elizabeth, which statistically made her tolerance higher. She wasn’t just relying on probability, either. June kept a careful eye on Elizabeth throughout the night, and could clearly see when her cheeks were flushed and her words had a faint slur to them. To Elizabeth’s credit, she kept up her overly proper posture and judgmental attitude despite how tipsy she became. At some point, she must have realized the wine was catching up to her. Announcing that she was turning in for the evening, Elizabeth got up from where she had been lounging in the living room after her meal and headed for the bedroom. June guessed that her boss wouldn’t be amenable to being seen after stripping out of her business attire, so she made her move before Elizabeth reached the hall. “Miss, wait,” June said. Though they were no longer at the office, she was still in full assistant mode for the sake of her amusing scheme. Not that it was an official scheme by any stretch of the imagination. June had only planned things out through the following morning; from there, she’d have to play things by ear. She did plan on tanking the investor meeting, naturally, but there was a lot of time between then and now. For now, it was still ‘Ms. Harris,’ or ‘Miss’ for short. “What . . . ?” Elizabeth asked. She paused, but barely glanced over her shoulder. “Do you want something to stave off a hangover? Just in case?” June asked. Tacking on the follow-up to avoid fully implying that Elizabeth couldn’t handle her wine, she partially answered the question herself by heading to the left-most kitchen cabinet. “I want your flight tomorrow to be as comfortable as possible, Ms. Harris.” It worked. Of course it did, since June had been handing her things for the last six months. In fact, she had been sent on a couple pharmacy runs, as Elizabeth didn’t want to waste her own time after work running such an errand. June had proven time and time again that she was a perfect assistant. Since this was the first time she had ever considered sabotaging her selfish boss, there was no reason for Elizabeth to distrust her. Besides, June was technically telling the truth. One of the pills would combat the hangover. The other, however, was a sleeping pill that was safe to take with alcohol. In June’s opinion, a full bottle of wine wasn’t enough to knock Elizabeth out. She wanted to be sure that her boss didn’t wake up until June wanted her to wake up. Elizabeth downed both pills with zero hesitation, then proceeded to turn in for the night like she had been trying to do before June interrupted her. The second the bedroom door clicked shut, June grinned. So far, everything was going according to plan. ------------------- “Miss Harris . . . Miss . . . ELIZABETH.” Elizabeth was jostled from her slumber by someone using her shoulders to shake her. Even something that forceful wasn’t enough for her to snap awake right away. “Mmm . . . ” she half hummed, half groaned. Her eyes felt glued shut, and it took an extraordinary amount of effort for her to will them open. The guest bedroom was dark save for a dim lamp by the door that had been switched on. As she came to, and blinked her blurry vision away, she saw that June was standing over her with a worried expression. Her assistant was wearing a blouse and a pencil skirt, and had clearly already showered and groomed herself for the day. “Elizabeth, you slept through your alarm!” June said, “We need to go. Like, NOW. We can’t miss our flight.” Rather than waiting for Elizabeth to realize the gravity of the situation, June yanked the covers off the still fully horizontal girl. “Come on, get up!” In case the sudden wave of cold wasn’t enough, June grabbed one of the young woman’s wrists and yanked her upwards and towards the edge of the bed. It wasn’t until Elizabeth’s feet hit the floor that everything caught up with her. “Hey!” she snapped. “Back off, June.” Amidst the rough way she was being handled, she hadn’t caught the fact that June had addressed her normally a couple times. For the first time since she started her subservient role at the company, June didn’t hesitate to talk back. “No,” she flatly said, “Making sure this weekend goes smoothly is my job. That means getting to the airport on time. Now go pee and brush your teeth, Elizabeth. I’ll throw our stuff in the car.” “But-” “Elizabeth. NOW. And hurry! We’re already running behind.” It was way too much to handle at once. She was still barely awake at this point. Freezing, too, with bare feet and with the abrupt loss of the comforter. Elizabeth was also several inches shorter than she was in public, including her time in June’s apartment yesterday, and wearing nothing but her silk pajamas. They were classy enough, but didn’t remotely compare to the professional ensemble of her assistant. Plus June was wearing heels, making her tower over Elizabeth as she bossed her around. Elizabeth reluctantly did as she was told. She headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, letting out an annoyed sigh. How had she overslept?! And how dare June talk to her in such a way? Elizabeth made a note to reprimand her later, but she had to admit that the slightly older girl was right. Missing their flight would look really bad to her superiors. There was really no rebelling against June’s directives when they were exactly what Elizabeth would do first thing in the morning. She relieved herself and brushed her teeth more quickly and erratically than she would do under normal circumstances. There definitely wasn’t time for her usual extensive make-up routine, though she could at least spare a minute for some foundation and concealer where necessary. About halfway through the process, June opened the door without knocking in the slightest. “Almost ready, Elizabeth?” “Miss Elizabeth,” she replied, finally catching the too-casual way she was being addressed. “Right. Sorry, Miss. Just a little frazzled right now.” She stepped into the bathroom, once again not waiting for any sort of permission. “Here, let me do your hair real quick. It’s a total mess.” “I can do it myself,” Elizabeth said. She had already seen her reflection, and was well aware that the pillow hadn’t done her long locks many favors overnight. June sighed. “I know you can. But you’re doing your make-up right now, and we’re way behind schedule.” She positioned herself behind Elizabeth and ran her fingers through her hair to work out a couple of the tangles she could see. “Wait, what are you-” “Hold still, Miss Elizabeth. This will just take a minute.” Not taking ‘no’ for an answer, June proceeded to separate Elizabeth’s hair out into three strands for a basic braid. Innocent on the surface, as it was an easy way to tame messy hair, but she was also well aware that Elizabeth preferred more mature and complicated styles. Her boss had never once worn braided hair to work. Elizabeth’s abridged beauty routine was done about the same time June was tying off the tightly braided strands, and then she was being rushed out the door. First, June told her to leave the make-up bag and her toiletries. Every second counted, and there was no time to pack up the bathroom. Plus airport security would be easier if there were absolutely no liquids in Elizabeth’s suitcase. June explained that they could buy the essentials once they got there, and Elizabeth could borrow anything else from June’s stash. It wasn’t until they were standing by the door to June’s apartment that Elizabeth brought up another issue. “Wait!” she exclaimed, “I need to change.” Not only was she still wearing her PJs, but it was also just dawning on her that she was currently bra-less. “Change into what?” June asked. “Your suitcase is in the car. Come on, Elizabeth. Put your shoes on.” Elizabeth bit her tongue about the lack of a title. Now wasn’t the time to chew out her assistant. That could wait until they were in the car. She felt absolutely ridiculous as she stepped through the threshold and out into the public hallway. Wearing heels with pajamas was awkward enough, but her designer purse was also meant to go with the outfit combinations she had packed for the trip. It didn’t pair nearly as well with her sleepwear. Thankfully, no one was around to see her. It was quite early in the morning, so she and June were able to make their way down to the underground lot without running into anyone. Temporarily back in submissive assistant mode to balance out everything from the last ten or fifteen minutes, June opened the back door of the car for her. “After you, Miss,” she said. Elizabeth got in and buckled up. She let out an exaggerated huff when June closed the door. This was definitely not the way she had envisioned the business trip starting. Meanwhile, June was circling the car and resisting the urge to smirk at how unprofessional her boss looked compared to normal. So far, so good. If June played her cards right, Elizabeth would be stuck as she was until at least the end of the flight. ------------------------ Check out my website: www.ladyluciastories.com And my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=73056590

Chapter 17 - Completed and Ready The next morning, Darlene arrived before Avery, wearing a light green blouse, black pants, and black-heeled shoes with her hair up in a bun. She grabbed her coffee and began to go over yesterday's IT reports. Combing through them and looking for things that should be brought to her attention. She then got out her planner and began planning her day, making any adjustments to meeting times changes and deciding what she wanted to accomplish. Darlene was very methodical about this process every morning. As she finished, she started to type a memo to her employees about an IT policy change she would like to implement soon. While typing, she looked up and saw through her office window that Avery had arrived, set his stuff down, picked up his Lego coffee cup, and walked into Darlene's office. Avery said before Darlene could speak, "Good Morning, Ms. Malatetsa." Darlene was taken aback. This was the first time he had ever started a conversation. Darlene paused as she was typing to her department. She turned to face Avery as he was getting a K-cup from the cabinets. She watched as he placed the coffee cup on the small refrigerator, leaned down, and exposed his diaper for a second as he grabbed a small bottle of milk. "MGM." Avery idly read as he opened the top, poured a little in, closed it back up, and placed it back into the fridge. He seemed less stiff around here right now. When he turned around to take his coffee cup and K-cup to the Keurig, Darlene turned away quickly to pretend to type. She didn't want him to be ashamed about accidentally revealing his diaper again. Darlene pretended to finish her email and then turned to face Avery. "Well, good morning to you also," she said as she gave him a pleasant smile. What happened next was very unexpected when Avery returned a warm smile. "I won't be long. Just getting my morning coffee." Avery said with a confidence he had rarely shown before. Darlene thought to herself. "Should I push it and engage in conversation or just call this a win?" "I have to know," Darlene finally said, "What kind of coffee did you pick out?" "I got one of your Green Mountain dark roast cups. I have been enjoying those the best. Especially in the morning," Avery replied as he looked at the Keurig to see if the cup of coffee was done. Again, Darlene was shocked. It wasn't just an answer but an answer with reasoning. He would never have done that before. "I tend to like the hazelnut roasted coffee in the mornings unless it is cold outside, and then, for some reason, I like the dark roasted coffee." She smiled as she picked up her own coffee and took a sip of the warmth. "I never had the hazelnut. I will have to try that sometime," as Avery took his coffee that had just finished, blew on it, and took a sip. He started to walk out. "Ms. Malatetsa, can I get Christy a cup of coffee when she shows up to work on the program with me? I will pay you." Darlene was pleased that he even had the nerve to ask this, and there was the occasional eye contact before he would look away. "Avery, you don't need to pay me, and yes, please help yourself in getting a coffee for Christy. I don't mind since she is up here working with us. I mean… with you, sorry for the slip-on that." Darlene quickly reminded herself that Avery doesn't work for her, as she corrected herself. Avery gave her a warm smile as he left. "Thank you." It almost sounded like he was excited to get something for Christy. Darlene chuckled at this little boy's excitement over something so simple. She stroked her hair. I wonder what Christy knows and how that poor man is falling for her. No one would be that excited to get someone coffee. Avery tugged on the back of his shirt as he walked out, letting Darlene know he was still conscious about his diaper possibly peeking out, but maybe he wasn't concerned in her office, and when he walked out, he may feel more self-aware of it being exposed. Darlene told herself she was reading too much into it, but the conversation was a definite real improvement. Darlene turned around and started back on her department email. If one day had this kind of effect, what would Avery be like by Monday? It wasn't long before Christy showed up at Avery's desk. He smiled and stood up to greet her. "Hey, before we get started, would you like me to get you a cup of coffee?" Christy was taken aback by this behavior. He seemed chipper, and his eyes almost looked puppy dog-like... She had a hard time not laughing at him. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Uh, ok. I would love a cup of coffee; that is so sweet of you." Christy wanted to smack herself for the last part by saying it was sweet of you. Stop talking to him like he was a kid, and she had to tell herself he was only four years younger than her. Avery quickly walked away, tugging again at the back of his shirt. Christy watched, thinking to herself, "he just needs to wear a size larger shirt and tuck it in, and he wouldn't look so silly walking around everywhere pulling on the back of his shirt." She giggled to herself. She wonders if he even knew he was doing it now that he has been doing it for almost a week. She thought about telling him but then didn't want to embarrass him. He seemed so fragile, and he was doing so well this week away from John and his team. Christy sat down and started to boot up her computer and take out her notes. She had the awful thought that Avery may be taking a liking to her. He obviously hasn't had many girlfriends, if any, and she hasn't been interested in a relationship with him or anyone else since she got out of a relationship just a few months ago. The last thing she needed was someone asking her on a date. She pushed that thought down, telling herself that she was being paranoid. besides, the way he was acting was silly and cute, and she couldn't help but giggle and smile at that. When Avery stepped back into Darlene's office, he had a bright smile. He didn't talk to Darlene because Darlene had her headset on and was talking in between conversations on the headset. Avery pointed at the spare coffee up as if to say. "Can I borrow this for Christy?" He said quietly. Darlene smiled back and hit the mute on her headset. "Yes, Avery, you can have that. Did you ask what she wanted?" Avery blushed as he realized he had no idea what Christy wanted. Avery almost dashed out of Darlene's office, which made Darlene giggle inside. She had just unmuted her headset when she heard Avery yell out. "Christy! What kind of coffee would you like? And what type of cream?" Darlene almost blushed for Christy as he was shouting like a child. Darlene muted her headset quickly as she knew the people on the phone could hear that. "Just go back and talk to her. You can't yell at her across the office," Darlene said in an authoritative tone. Avery blushed as he realized he had done something that wasn't appropriate. "I… I… I’m sorry." He looked back at Darlene. "I am sorry. I'm so sorry," as he saw Darlene wave him away from the office like a little child. Avery didn't care as he tugged the back of his shirt and started to walk quickly, he suddenly remembered the diaper he was wearing, and it was possibly crinkling loudly. He forced himself to slow his walk back to Christy. His yelling across the office caught several employees' attention as they watched him go from a quick walk to a slow walk. Christy wanted to hide under the laptop when Avery screamed out at her. She, too, was blushing for different reasons. He came up to his desk where she was sitting. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to yell that out. I don't know why I did…" "It is ok. But what kind of coffee does Darlene have." Christy asked. "Ah.. ah." Avery closed his eyes, trying to remember. "Dark roast, hazelnut, a morning brew, espresso roast, blended, original roasted, and decaf," he paused, “And she had regular creamer, hazelnut creamer, mocha creamer, and French vanilla creamer." Christy was taken aback by how fast he went through all this. She paused for a second and thought and then decided. I will take the morning brew with French vanilla creamer... not too much, please." "Great, let me get it for you. I will be right back." Avery turned around and walked back to Darlene's office, trying not to run back to the office. Darlene was still on the office phone when she nodded, acknowledging his presence. Avery did quick work and grabbed a morning brew K-cup and one small cup of French vanilla creamer. He opened the Keurig and noticed the K-cup that he had used was still in there as he pulled it out and threw it away. He put the new K-cup in the Keurig, closed it, placed the coffee cup underneath, and pressed start. He watched Darlene talking on the phone with such a commanding voice to whomever she was talking to. He could tell she would be a hard person to say "no" to. The coffee finally finished as Avery grabbed the hot coffee and slowly walked back to his desk, making sure not to spill any. He carefully placed the coffee down by her and handed her the French vanilla creamer. "I thought you might want to pour what you wanted." He smiled and sat down, feeling the diaper underneath him as he sat and feeling self-conscious about it. He reminded himself. If he makes it next week without having any major accidents, he will go back to pull-ups and feel much better. Christy wondered what got into Avery. He was being so unusually chipper. He usually would want to get straight to work, but today, he seemed like he wanted something else. She found his behavior cute but unsettling. She didn't want to lead him on accidentally. This could be Avery’s awkward way of flirting, and she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. "OK, shall we get started? I have integrated most of your calculations." Christy paused as she pointed to the screen. “I made sure all the old code was out and then recompiled it with some simple formulas to make sure I didn't miss anything. It ran perfectly." Christy paused as she took a sip of her coffee. Avery was leaning over to look at her laptop screen. He could smell Christy's perfume or body lotion. She smelled rather nice, which made Avery a little nervous because he tried to remember if he had put underarm deodorant on or not. He couldn't remember. He was absent-minded, and it wasn't the first time he would have forgotten to do this. He wanted to smell his armpits so badly but refrained from doing it and instead enjoyed Christy's scent. "Then I started to add back all your calculations with the additional logic you gave me back yesterday. It was taken away because I found some programming logic problems but fixed them. It now compiles and runs without error." "Wow, that is awesome." Avery looked excited. "So can we give it some data to see what the final calculations are and if it is the same values I would get?" "Yes, I think so. If you can create a table with the input in a CSV format like this," Christy opened up an example file. Avery was excited to see his calculations and her programming would yield the same results. Avery started working on initial conditions to give the program something from the real world. He then did his calculations. After about two hours of sitting side by side with Christy, Avery downloaded his CSV file and handed it to Christy on a thumb drive. "Here, I think this should work." Christy took the thumb drive. "Great, I will load it up after lunch." She turned to face him. "Guess what I brought us for lunch?" She said as Avery smiled. "You don't need to bring me lunch every day." Christy looked back at Avery with a stern look. "Did you bring you lunch?" Avery was silent. "That’s what I thought, and we are not going to solve these world problems on an empty stomach every day." Christy leaned down to grab her insulated lunch bag. She took out two cloth napkins that looked well used and folded one out in front of everyone and one out in front of her. "Today's lunch surprise is... Toasted Ham and Cheese with a side of pickles if you want. And a mixed fruit cup." She places each item on Avery's napkin. Avery noticed that his sandwich was cut in half while Christy's was not. He had to admit, though, it was nice to have lunch and lunch with someone he was comfortable with. He knew he wasn't comfortable with many people. As they ate lunch, Christi started to chat about the program before suddenly ceasing. "You know, we really don't banter beyond work. Why not let me know what you enjoy doing outside of cracking complex math queries that no one else seems to solve?" she asked hesitantly. Avery almost coughed hard on his last mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich as Christy observed, feeling like she had stepped out of line. "There must be something! Do you like cooking meals? Exercising? Movie nights?" She said cheerfully. Avery stared at Christi's inquisitive face and paused for a moment. Her brown eyes sparkled with curiosity. Slightly ashamed, he stared at his food and took another bite from his ham and cheese sandwich. "Well...I really don't do much other than work and school." Avery mumbled slowly. "There must be something!" She said cheerfully. Avery silently swallowed the last piece of cheese before replying to her: "Walking? I used to love walking in the park when I was younger; I could take hours meandering through the paths around the river, examining bees hovering above blossom clusters or watching squirrels busily rustling for their winter stock of acorns in the oak trees." Avery thought for a second. "I do like movies, but I wait for them to come out on Netflix or HBO Max or something like that. Sometimes, I buy the digital copy if I can't find it anywhere." That was at least something for Christy, so we decided to go further into the conversation. "I like movies as well. What kind of movies do you like? I like mystery, suspense, comedy, and action movies. To be honest, I like going to the movie theater. I love the big screen and surround sound. It is so much better than what I can get at home." Avery ate the last mouthful of his sandwich and took a sip of his soda to wash it down. "Well, I like fantasy, sci-fi, animation, and action movies," he said. Avery did not mention that he also liked children's movies because they were fun to watch. "Well, it seems we have action movies in common, at least." He seemed eager about this because he blurted out, "We should go see an action movie together." Christy nearly choked on her water when she heard that. She had not expected him to be so forward and suggest something that sounded a lot like a date. His voice was high-pitched again as if he was excited about being able to spend more time with her. It made her feel touched and guilty for a moment because she wanted to be with him, too, but she quickly recovered. She stalled by saying, "Well, maybe if we can find the right movie and some friends to come along. Movies are always fun in a group." She hoped that the answer was neutral enough so he would not get upset or offended. Christy steered the conversation back to their work as best she could, considering how awkward it felt now. Avery seemed eager to talk about going to an action movie, but eventually, he got back on track. They discussed the technical aspects of programming and making sure that cancer cells were thicker than normal cells. Once they had finished discussing their progress, Christy took a deep breath and told him she would work on the rest so they could submit it in time for their deadline. She thanked him for his help while making sure to give him credit for his ideas in case anyone else wanted to use them in future projects. Avery smiled warmly at her, grateful for her hard work and understanding. Still, he couldn't help but feel disappointed that she hadn't taken his suggestion of seeing an action movie together. He thanked her again before getting up from his chair and giving her one last nod before heading out of the room. Christy closed her laptop and put it in her work bag. "Well, with these changes, we should be able to fully execute the program now and test it out at the lab. I will talk with Bryan about the next steps. I am sure he is eager to move onto the next phase." Christy paused. "I know I don’t speak for Bryan, but we couldn't have resolved these issues without you. You should feel proud about that", feeling slightly regretful for not taking him up on his invitation. She had enjoyed their conversations and was grateful for his help on the project, but she couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

Actually, reviving an old thread on a subject is OK in my book for several reasons. People will open it as they see the latest comment from someone so that makes it as good as a new thread. It keeps there from being 10 or more different posting and threads on the same subject, and members may want to go back and see what people have previously said over the years, especially people interested in the subject for the first time. For an example, it could be a thread on the best diaper had Confidry 24/7 as the world's greatest diaper 8 years ago and now others like TREST or Betterdry seem to be a better choice.

Chapter 3: Work... Little in Love 2 – LittleFallenPrincess I awoke with a bit of a hangover. “Ugh….” I groaned, finding a dummy lodged in my mouth. “Wai… when did dis…” “Well good morning, sleepyhead!” Charlie said, enthusiastically, from the doorway. Her upbeat, chipper voice grated against my brain and I wanted to screech. It was like nails on a blackboard. So I groaned back at her and covered my head with my pillow, protecting my hungover brain from all this enthusiastic torture. “Come on, get up, breakfast is nearly ready. Then we need to get you ready for therapy. And if you’re a good girl… I’ve got a surprise for you…” And as if someone had just set fire to my bed, I shot up and dashed out of bed, finding myself waddling out of the bedroom with all the speed of a drunk gazelle. “It’s amazing the speed you move with such a swollen nappy… all for a slight mention of a surprise…” Charlie said as she casually wandered into the kitchen, finding me sitting in my open highchair, waiting for breakfast. “I like surprises, okay?” I grinned at her. “How’s your head, pretty girl?” ‘She called me pretty…’ Again… very gay for my wife. Especially when she has this amazing ability to shut my brain down completely with just simple words. Without using hypnosis either! “Could do with some food and a drink, and then I’ll probably be feeling right as rain. I may be a bit of a lightweight, but I’m still fast at recovering from it, like I used to.” “Well good job I decided to make you a proper breakfast…” “Wait… proper one? As in…?” “Yes, the whole thing. Bacon, sausage, beans… I know you’re a picky baby so I left off the egg and the tomato, don’t worry. But here… let me just finish plating up.” Quickly plating our breakfast, she redirected herself and walked over with her hands empty as she grabbed the tray for my highchair and placed it in, locking it securely, trapping me where I sat. “You can feed yourself this morning, but you’re staying in there.” She informed me. “Okay… Mummy!” I grinned back at her. “So Eve was telling me she wants you to speak to someone new?” “Wait, she didn’t say that to me. Just that she wanted to try something new. She told you she wants me to talk to someone else? Is she no longer my therapist?” “Did she tell you anything else? She didn’t even tell me who this person is, let alone why she wants you to talk to them.” “Nope. I just got a ‘we should try this new thing’ and that was it.” “Maybe she got some specialist or something? Because whilst Eve has been an amazing Doctor… she isn’t a therapist. Not that that stopped her from doing it anyway.” “Maybe. I’m actually sort of excited to find out who it is.” I said, feeling good about today. “Me too.” Breakfast wasn’t eaten, it was more… sucked up. Even Charlie was telling me to slow down, that I’d get indigestion and stuff, but damn… it was good. Especially with this hangover, I needed to fill my stomach and this was hitting all the right spots. Finishing off with a glass of orange juice, I sat back and patted my belly. And then after Charlie laughed and pointed out how my stomach is a bottomless pit, she carefully scooped me up out of the highchair and carried me off to get ready for the day. --------------------------------------------------------- “Mrs Clarke?” The receptionist called out as we sat in the clinical reception area, on these slightly-comfier-than-normal seats. It was still weird being called ‘Mrs Clarke’ and not ‘Miss Clarke’. We had discussed if we’d take one of our surnames like straight people do, or if we’d do one of those double barrelled surnames like ‘Clarke-Williams’. I mean sure, it has a nice ring to it, but in the end we opted for Mrs Clarke and Mrs Williams. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, along with my favourite black coat, I hopped off the chair to my feet. “Here!” I called out. It was then that the usual door opened and out walked Eve, in her fancy suit and glasses, looking around until her eyes closed in on me. “Ah Liv! Perfect timing. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” She said, smiling and waving me over. “I’ll see you in a bit, sweetie…” Charlie waved to me. “Charlie… Why don’t you join us for this session?” Eve suggested, taking Charlie by surprise. “Really? I mean… I don’t want to get in the way… this is to help her…” “And I think it would be good for you to meet her new therapist.” “...Okay then.” Charlie said, standing up and grabbing my hand, smiling down at me as we followed Eve into the corridor. Walking past her office, where I’d usually have my therapy sessions with her, we continued on until the next door down, a room I hadn’t been in before. Escorting us in, Eve walked over to the empty desk in the corner. “Take a seat…” She instructed. Charlie and I sat on the big sofa in the middle of this gorgeous office. It looked a lot like Eve’s in fact, but it definitely wasn’t as it didn’t have her little personal touches like photos of Zoey and Sarah and her doctorate. Eve then walked over to the desk and seemingly talked to… someone? Like… I couldn’t see anyone. Not until the chair moved and suddenly a pair of legs dropped down, appearing in the little gap under the table. “Ah, so soon? Sorry, I was reading your notes on… nevermind. Shall we then?” Said a voice a lot less booming than Charlie’s or Eve’s. The little legs moved around the desk as Eve followed closely behind. “Olivia, Charlie… I’d like you to meet my latest member of the team… Miss Graves.” Out walked a very beautiful woman. Smartly dressed in a blouse and trousers, her gorgeous brunette hair pinned up into a bun, her beautiful eyes really standing out… but she was less than half the size of Eve. She was a little! Like me! “I…” I stuttered, unable to speak due to a mix of confusion and excitement. What I wanted to think was ‘A Doctor… who is a little? Someone who did that well and got that far… the world really is changing for the better! I’ve never heard of a little who became a Doctor!’ But instead my brain just… shut off, and it was like static was playing up there. “Hi! I’m…” Miss Graves began, before looking at me, confused. “Wait… aren’t you the…?” “Am I the what?” I replied, my brain finally working enough to form words. “The little from…” “Charlie’s book? Yeah.” I smiled, blushing. “No, the coffee sho… ah nevermind. Just my mind playing tricks on me again. Anyway, please let me start over. Hi, I’m Miss Graves, I’ll be your new therapist from hereon, hopefully. I can’t believe I can finally put a face to the name. The infamous Olivia Clarke! And Charlotte Williams!” “You know of us?” I asked. “Only from hearsay. Obviously we can’t trust the news, so I’ve never actually seen your face.” “Not even in newspapers?” “I don’t read them. Too much bias. Plus my Mummy doesn’t like me reading them.” “Your… Mummy?” Charlie asked, confused. I was glad she asked, because another second later and I definitely would have. “Oh yes, Miss Graves is an adopted little. But it was purely consensual. She got adopted by her Mummy and Daddy when she ran into an old flame of hers. Now they’re dating each other, adopted by their caregivers.” Eve explained. “Oh that’s an interesting story! You’ll have to tell us all about it!” I said, smiling up at her as she walked over and sat down in the chair opposite where Charlie and I were sitting. “Maybe… not that you’d believe it…” Miss Graves mumbled. “Huh?” “Anyway, I must be off. Got important hospital business. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Miss Graves here. And Liv?” Eve looked at me, sternly. “Yes?” “Be good…” “I always am!” Eve laughed and walked out, leaving us alone with my new therapist. “So Dr Graves…” I began. “Not a Doctor. Just… a therapist.” “Oh… I assumed…” “Nah it’s okay, it was a big risk Eve even taking me on like this, but I’m good at my work and hopefully I can be a good therapist for you! Helps that the legality behind giving littles therapy is… muddy. And please, call me Elise.” “Elise? That’s my middle name!” I cried out. “No way! Small world, eh?” “So… where do we start?” Charlie asked, seemingly feeling a bit left out. “Well I’d like to get to know you both a bit first, if that’s okay? Get a basic understanding of what’s going on in your life, what’s bothering you, that kind of thing. And if you’re okay with it, I’d like to extend the session.” “Sure. Go for it.” I replied. And so we talked for a while. Charlie and I discussed our relationship, our difficulties, all the scares and everything… Obviously we left a few things out, like the existence of our sisters and everything, but hey, Elise isn’t in our inner circle… yet. Though she seems really cool, and very intelligent, which was nice. Plus I was dying to know what this situation of hers is with her girlfriend and her Mummy and Daddy… It was nice meeting another gay little, though this seemed really damn common in my little circle, it was like I pulled lesbians in. Like a little sapphic magnet. “Wow… you’ve been through so much. And hey, I understand how difficult all this is. You’ve had so much to process and it feels so… overwhelming sometimes, doesn’t it?” Elise asked. “I guess. Thankfully I have Charlie to help me through it all. You sound like you’ve also been through some stuff.” I replied. “Yeah. Though it’s a bit too weird to go into right now.” ‘Haha… weird… yeah… sure… as if she can compare to me finding out we have other versions of us out there…’ I thought to myself. It was at that moment that there was a knock on the door. “Oh… one second…” Elise said, putting her notepad down on her chair and walking off to answer the door. Upon opening it, she seemed… surprised. “Oh hey babe! What are you doing here?” “You forgot your Lunch. Mummy told me to bring it up for you.” Came a voice from the other side of the door. “Aww, you didn’t have to, but thanks. Sorry, I’m a little busy right now…” They were both trying to be quiet, but we could clearly hear them from the other side of the room. It was adorable how badly they were doing at the whole whispering thing. “Oh you’ve got patients… sorry…” The voice replied. “Don’t worry. Oh wait, one second… I need you to take something back to Mummy…” Elise said, turning around and walking back towards her desk. “Sorry you two, this will just take a second…” She apologised to Charlie and I. As Elise grabbed something from her desk, the door slowly creaked open, revealing another beautiful girl, one with warm, golden-brown skin, a dummy hanging from her dress with a dummy clip. The girl looked over at us as we looked back at her and her jaw… dropped. “FREYA?” She cried out, rushing into the room and standing in front of Charlie. “Fr… Wait, you know Freya?” Charlie asked. “You’re… not Freya?” The woman looked confused as she looked Charlie up and down. “I… umm…” “What’s up, Danielle? You shouldn’t be here, these are my…” Elise said, walking over and putting her arm around her girlfriend, before being cut off mid-sentence. “This is her!” Danielle pointed at Charlie. “This is who?” “You know… the one who… did the loop…” Danielle winked at Elise. “The one who… OH…” That’s when Elise’s jaw dropped,as she turned around and looked Charlie in the eye. “So you’re the one who did that to me…” “Did what?” Charlie asked, feeling accused of something that neither of us had any idea about. “But she had brown hair… not red…” Danielle added, looking confused. “So you do know Freya…” Charlie replied, giving me a quick side glance before looking at the two accusing us of… something. “Sorry, I’m confused, I thought you said this was her?” Elise asked her girlfriend. “I’m not who you think I am. But… I know who you’re talking about. So you actually met her? She was here? When?” Charlie asked this Danielle girl. “Months ago. She… looped the day for Elise so she…” Danielle looked guilty all of a sudden. “So that I would learn to accept that I wanted to be with Danny… to be adopted by her parents.” Elise sighed. “Ah… yeah that sounds like something they’d do…” I rolled my eyes and laughed with Charlie. “They? And wait… how are you so accepting of the time looping thing?” Elise crossed her arms at us both and glanced down with suspicion. “You two may want to sit down…” I said, smiling awkwardly. “So let me get this straight… you are ‘variations’ of these two… and there are other worlds out there… and… and… and…” “I know it’s a lot to take in. It’s why I left it out during therapy.” “Yes, but that’s also a lot to deal with! A lot of stuff you NEED THERAPY FOR!” Elise raised her voice, frustrated. “I guess, but hey, we weren’t to know you two had been put through a time loop like that beaver story from the other side of the portal! How were we supposed to explain the whole multiverse thing without you thinking we’re crazy? Just wondering… how many people outside of this room know about your time loop adventure with Freya and Ophelia?” “...No one. I didn’t even know it was caused by anyone until Danielle finally admitted it to me a while ago, I originally thought it was the universe teaching me a lesson. It was a lot to process at first, but when she told me she had made a wish to some fairy godmother person, it all fell into place. So wait… this ‘Ophelia’ was in on this? So that little from the coffee shop was her all along… oh my god…” Elise slapped her face in frustration. “They did say they wanted to get out and explore the universes. I guess they stopped off here again and saw a little in need. That’s very… them.” I smiled, feeling a heartwarming feeling as I was relieved the two of them were out there, enjoying themselves. “Because that’s very… us.” Charlie laughed. “So you’re them… but not?” Elise asked. “Exactly. Basic building blocks, but different outcomes due to genetics and upbringings and worlds.” “That's so… wow… like…” “I know, we were the same when we found out. But hey, the time loop must have been cool?” I asked Elise. “No. Not as a little. It was scary. Sure… I had a bit of fun with it. No consequences and all that… but some of it was pretty damn scary. Every time my mind got regressed, it’d loop. Still… if that hadn’t happened… I would never have this perfect life with my amazing girlfriend…” Elise said, grabbing her girlfriend and squeezing her, kissing her on the side of the head. Danielle squealed in delight… whilst also looking extremely guilty. “Sorry babe, I gotta go, Mummy is still waiting outside. She’s gonna be worried.” She said, quickly kissing Elise back on the cheek. “Ah yes, sorry, you get going. Don’t forget to give this to Mummy…” Elise handed something over to Danielle and I looked at her, confused. “Ah, it’s just a… drawing I did… for the fridge…” “D’awww!!!!” Charlie and I squealed at the same time. “Hey! In return for cute, babyish things like that, we get stuff like alcohol for our date nights and maybe the house to ourselves.” “Ah… that’s a fair system!” I replied, making Elise blush. Danielle grinned, before kissing her girlfriend on the lips and skipping out of the room, Elise’s drawing in hand. “So… back to our session… I guess you can tell me everything you’re feeling now…” Elise sighed before collapsing back into her seat. ======================================================== So... this chapter feels familiar... :3 Also if you haven't seen, I'm now up and running on Subscribestar! ======================================================== I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them! If you want to read the next 4 chapters, thanks to two weeks early access to my main story and also soon-to-be exclusive access to short stories (or even have a chance at commissioning one when I add the tier for them!), why don't you check out my SubscribeStar! The basic tier gets early access and exclusive access to short stories (when they're written), higher tiers will be limited but get a short story each month (1-2 per month in total). Thank you to all my patrons for their support over the past couple of years! Seriously, your support meant the world to me, and I hope to be set up somewhere new soon. New chapters of Little in Love 2 every Wednesday/Sunday! Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

Worst. Playdate. Ever. “Oh no!” Lindsay cried. “Not again!” You watch as Lindsay stands there, bow legged on the playground, yanking her skirt down as best she can even as the wetness indicator along her formerly fresh diaper turns blue. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears…again. Come on! It’s not that bad! You keep the thought to herself. Lindsay has been grieving lately. “Stop it!” Dave screams. “Stop it! Nnnnnn…” Dave’s protests are cut off by his Mommy’s nipple entering his mouth. Lightweight that he is, you know that Dave is going to pass out soon after his Mommy burps him. So much for that playdate. “Please!” Monica screams atop the picnic bench. “I can use the potty! I mean toilet! Toilet!” Her Daddy ignores her, as grown-ups tend to do and continues to change her diaper, a soft satisfied look on his face. You see Lindsay’s face wracked in revulsion in seeing Monica get her poopy bottom wiped and re-powdered. Yours is also contorted, albeit for a completely different reason. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. “Couldn’t he have at least taken her to a bathroom?” Lindsay wonders aloud. “Why would he?” You ask. “He doesn’t have to go.” “Yeah…” Lindsay drops her head. “Neither do I, anymore.” Her laugh is low, bitter, and short. You allow your hope to flicker on. Maybe she’s finally starting to get used to it! See the bright side! “Do you wanna go play or something?” you ask. Lindsay looks like you just slapped her “Play? How can we play at a time like this?” “I..uh..” “I just pissed myself! Everybody seems to think we’re babies and we still have no idea why! Dave’s getting breastfed over there for gosh sakes! Why would we play?” The beads of sweat you’re breaking out into have little to nothing to do with the heat. “I dunno. I just thought it could be…fun?” “Fun?!” Lindsay shrieked. “How could any of this be fun? We’re in friggin diapers! Dave is getting breast fed! Monica is being forced to expose herself to everyone! And you…did you just shit yourself?” Your cheeks flush. The word ‘just’ was doing a lot of lifting there. “Yeah…” you whisper. “Ew! Go get changed!” She takes several steps back from you. Her compassion suddenly kicks in. “Sorry,” she says. “Are you okay? You seem to have been um…slipping more these past few days.” You really have, though maybe not in how Lindsay is using the word. “Yeah,” he sigh. “I’m okay. It’s just tough.” “It really is,” she agrees. “It’s like we’re being punished or something. Like we didn’t appreciate our adult lives and so somebody took them away to teach us a lesson.” “Yeah…” you half heartedly agree. “Do you think we’re getting worse? Like, if we stay like this, we’ll forget that we’re really adults?” You shrug and say “Maybe,” to prevent lying. If only it was so easy. But if that happened, would they really still be your friends? You wistfully look over at the slide. Should have gone down that first. “I should go.” “Oh yeah,” Lindsay says. “Go ahead and get that taken care of. Don’t want to get too comfy in a dirty diaper.” “Nope…” You lie and trudge off to find Daddy. Lindsay throws her head up to the sky! “WHY ARE WE LIKE THIS?!” To all outside observers her existential crisis looks more like a tantrum. The better question is: ‘Why do they keep choosing to be miserable?’. All of you were run ragged by your adult lives. Lindsay in particular should have been happy to not have any responsibilities. Her deadbeat boyfriend turned it around too in becoming her Daddy. But she bitched and cried about her job all the time. The only difference between now and a few days ago is the aesthetic. You really thought they’d enjoy it, or at least give up on trying to figure out what turned y’all into babies; maybe give it half a chance. But two weeks later and their resolve has yet to break. All you wanted to do was share this side of yourself with them. Treat them to the nostalgia of Sesame Street and nap times. But they’re still resisting. To hear them talk, sleeping in a crib is akin to a prison cell. Being bathed, dressed, and fed by someone else is some kind of torture, and laying down for a diaper change is a fate worse than death. Yet Heaven forbid you keep playing in a diaper that isn’t perfectly pristine. Worst. Playdate. Ever. As you approach Daddy to get his attention, you notice that Lindsay has sat down on the ground and started sulking. That’s good, at least. The first time she wet herself she was bawling uncontrollably. Now she’s up to sitting and pouting while wet. Probably because her Daddy won’t change her until she actually needs it. You definitely like her boyfriend better this way. It’s progress though. Maybe a few more weeks of this and they’ll come around to the upside of it all. Then you can stop pretending to struggle, too. “Awwww,” Daddy coos. “Do you need a change? Smells like it?” He picks you up and grabs for the changing supplies. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up you little stinker.” “Yes Daddy,” you say. Then you remember yourself. “NO! WAIT! STOP! I’M NOT A BABY! I’M NOT A BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABY! PLEASE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

This chapter is being posted early because I won't be able to post on Friday. I will however also post on Sunday! Chapter 66: Welcome ‘Home’ WE FOLLOWED SHELBY as she led us to where Grandma’s home office space was. The door was closed, so she knocked, “Grandma?” We heard the door beep a second later, “Hi, you three, what’s going on?” Sighing, I said, “We may have a problem?” “What’s wrong?” She asked, very concerned. “Well, it’s with our project?” Beth and I explained the expectations of the crew and what was supposed to be happening. Grandma’s face did not inspire confidence right then. “That’s really not a good idea,” she said after a few minutes. “I’m getting that,” I told her. “Why don’t you contact that girl leading the group tomorrow and ask if she can call me?” I nodded, even as Shelby made a face, “No fair, you get to talk to Charlotte Perez!?!” She was joking, but I got the feeling she was also kind of seriously jealous. “Somehow, I’m sure she’d be willing to meet you,” I said, “I don’t even think it would be an instant adoption, actually, either?” Shelby stuck her tongue out at me. I just laughed, “So you think there might be a solution, though?” I asked Grandma. “Maybe… While you’re here, I want to connect to your nanites. I’m still a little nervous about your sudden diarrhea earlier, plus the accident you had.” I blushed, “Me too…” “Just stand here for a second,” she told me, bringing over a tablet that she worked through some menus. I watched her facial expressions for clues about what she might have seen. She ranged from a no-worries face to suddenly squinting her eyes up and then, at one point, raising an eyebrow. “Got it! Let me look through the data with your grandfather. We’ll talk more tomorrow,” she added. “Why don’t you three head back downstairs? I’ll bring some more hot chocolate?” “Okay,” I said. “Actually… can you help me first with something?” I asked, embarrassed. Thankfully, Grandma was a bright woman, and she walked back to my bedroom and helped me out of the thankfully dry diaper to the potty. “Good boy,” she couldn’t help but say as she watched me wash my hands and then helped me back into a new diaper. “I’m not sure why you had your accident earlier. Hopefully, it’s just an isolated thing?” I nodded, “Hopefully…” “Go ahead and go find the girls!” A short while later, after sipping some hot chocolate, we returned to our private ‘theater’ to read the script together. “You know this script is horrible, but you two get to be in a film with Charlotte Perez! That really is amazing!” “If it didn’t involve being a little girl who never learns to use the potty, I think I might be excited,” Beth admitted. “She really is cool and not stuck up at all!” “You still have to show me some of her work tomorrow?” I told Beth. “You have to show him episodes of Life with Charlee first!” “What is that?” I asked. “I think you have a channel called Dinsey over in your dimension?” “Disney,” I replied. “We have a similar channel over here. She was on a sitcom that lasted from when she was four until she was fourteen. It’s why we all feel like we grew up with her?” Beth said. “Oh, that’s kind of cool… and creepy for her?” Beth laughed, “I agree in some ways. I can’t imagine having the entire world watching me grow up! They even had her have problems like bedwetting and a couple freak bathroom accidents at one point in elementary school.” She shrugged, “I guess maybe she’ll understand a little bit what we’re going to deal with here.” I nodded. “On with the show?” Shelby asked as she munched on some popcorn. “On with the show!” Beth and I said together, beginning to read the script as it rolled up the screen. MONTAGE OF SCENES OF MOM AND NEW DAUGHTER AT HAIRDRESSER AND LITTLES SUPERSTORE, BRIEF SHOTS OF TRAVELING TO A HAIR SALON, AND THE NEW GIRL’S HAIR BEING STYLED TO BE LIKE CALLIE’S. ‘BRIANNA’ LEAVES WITH A BIG BOW IN HER HAIR THAT MATCHES THE DRESS THEY DRESS HER IN SHORTLY AFTER THAT. A TRIP UP AND DOWN THE AISLES OF LITTLES SUPERSTORE FOR CLOTHES, DIAPERS, AND A STUFFED ANIMAL PASS BY. SCENE - SARAH’S CAR BRIANNA HAS FALLEN ASLEEP IN THE CAR AND IS CURRENTLY SUCKING ON A PACIFIER SARAH HAD CURIOUSLY GIVEN HER AGAIN TO SEE IF SHE WOULD LIKE THEM AS MUCH AS HER DAUGHTER. SEEING HER NEW BABY GIRL SLEEPING MAKES HER SMILE. SARAH GENTLY PICKS BRIANNA UP OUT OF THE CAR SEAT, AND THE LITTLE WAKES UP ENOUGH TO HOLD ONTO HER AS SHE PLANTS HER ON HER HIP. THE RECEPTIONIST SEES HER. RECEPTIONIST: “Well, hello there, Miss Ingels! I didn’t know you had another daughter? She’s adorable!!!” SARAH (MOM): “Well, she just joined the family this morning. She’s actually a bit of a surprise for Callie?” RECEPTIONIST “Oh?” SARAH (MOM): “Hoping maybe she can help Callie get the hang of the big girl potty?” RECEPTIONIST “Oh, so we have a new buddy, huh?” SARAH (MOM): BLUSHES “Yeah.” “Of course, everyone knows about the Potty Training Buddy system!” Shelby choked out. “It’s not cliché at all, huh?” Beth shook her head. RECEPTIONIST “Well, let me get little Miss Callie up here to meet her!” SARAH SETS THE NOW AWAKE BRIANNA ON HER FEET BESIDE HER AND WAITS FOR CALLIE. SHE’S PASSED THROUGH THE ENTRY DOOR TO HER MOMMY WHO BOTH HUG EACH OTHER TIGHTLY BEFORE SHE NOTICES THE NEW GIRL. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Who are you? You look just like me!” BRIANNA DROPS HER PACIFIER OUT OF HER MOUTH AS SHE OPENS IT TO TALK. IT HANGS FROM A PACIFIER STRAP THAT SARAH HAD THOUGHTFULLY USED TO CONNECT IT TO HER DRESS. BRIANNA: “Hi Callie, I’m Brianna.” CALLIE LOOKS UP AT HER MOMMY CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “She looks like you too, mommy!” SARAH (MOM): “Well, that’s because she’s your new sister, sweetie!” CALLIE STANDS FOR A SECOND, LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE BOTH BRIANNA SARAH WORRY SHE’S NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IT BEFORE JUMPING UP AND DOWN AND HUGGING BRIANNA. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “I have sister!!!!!” THE CAMERA ZOOMS OUT TO SHOW THE RECEPTIONIST WAS FILMING THE MEETING ANDCRYING. SARAH IS ALSO CRYING AS SHE HUGS BOTH GIRLS AND SOON LIFTS THEM UP. SHE STANDS AND LOOKS AT THE RECEPTIONIST. SARAH (MOM): “I never had a chance to look at the TykeCare App. Did Callie try to use the potty at all today?” RECEPTIONIST: LOOKS AT SCREEN “No, she’s had three wet diapers and one poopie, but no potty tries. In her class, we don’t exactly expect any, though?” SARAH (MOM): “I know that - just checking. I need to get these two girls home, feed them dinner, and let them play a bit before night-night time.” SCENE - SARAH’S CAR SARAH CARRIES BOTH GIRLS OUT TO THE CAR, AND CALLIE RECOGNIZES HER OLD CAR SEAT. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy, that’s my seat!” SARAH (MOM): “It used to be, but then you got too big for it! Now it’s the perfect size for your sister, Brianna!” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Oh, okay, I’m happy to have a sister. I’ll share toys, too!” SARAH (MOM): “That’s very nice of you, sweetie.” SARAH BUCKLES CALLIE IN FIRST SINCE SHE CONSIDERS HER TO BE MORE LIKELY TO DO SOMETHING UNSAFE. CALLIE SEES HER PACIFIER IN THE CUPHOLDER OF HER SEAT, PUSHES IT INTO HER MOUTH AND SMILES. BRIANNA STANDS ON THE FLOORBOARD OF THE CAR PATIENTLY BEFORE BEING LIFTED UP INTO HER SEAT. SEEMINGLY ONLY THEN REMEMBERS SHE HAS A PACIFIER HANGING FROM HER OUTFIT. SHE BLUSHES AS SARAH PICKS HER UP AND PLACES HER IN HER SEAT. THE PACIFIER GETS GENTLY PUSHED BETWEEN HER LIPS BEFORE SHE FASTENS THE STRAPS. WHEN SHE’S DONE, SHE CLOSES THE DOORS AND GETS INTO THE VEHICLE, TELLING IT TO GO HOME BEFORE TURNING AND FACING THE TWO GIRLS. SARAH (MOM): “So, how did your day go, Callie?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “I had so much fun, Mommy! My new class is way better than my old one!” SARAH (MOM): “Oh? Why is that?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “No one makes fun of my diapees! Everyone in there wears them! They also have more fun toys!!!” “Obviously, putting her back with the toddlers is working perfectly!” I said aloud. “Duh! If it wasn’t for all the bad things that came with it, going back to daycare would be way less stressful!” Shelby replied to me. “The price tag is only your potty training, dignity, and freedom?” “Yeah… I’ll take college stress!” I told her. SARAH (MOM): “Oh? What else?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “I got to sleep in a crib again!!!” SARAH PRACTICALLY CHOKES THEN. SHE CLEARS HER THROAT. SARAH (MOM): “Huh? Why would you want to sleep in a baby’s crib?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “It’s safer for us little ones, Mommy! I can’t fall out!” She pauses and makes a face. “How much gaslighting are they doing to the poor girl in that school?” Shelby asked. “A lot?” Beth replied. SARAH (MOM): “Do you need to go potty, Callie?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): SHAKES HEAD “Nope! I just went, Mommy!” SARAH (MOM): “Callie, why can’t you just use the potty like a big girl?” she mutters. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy! Does Brianna wear diapees too?” SARAH (MOM): “She does, for now, I’m hoping to potty train you both at the same time now!” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Icky, no wanna! Potty bad!” SARAH (MOM): “It’s going to be a while yet, Callie, we’re going to let you both take a break from the potty monster.” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Yay!!!” BRIANNA HAS SAT THERE SILENTLY THROUGH THE EXCHANGES AND NOW THE CAMERA ZOOMS INTO HER CONTORTED FACE AS SHE JUST NOW BEGINS TO REALIZE WHAT SHE’S BEEN DRAGGED INTO! “You know, if she hadn’t realized already that her life was over, she’s dumber than I think,” Beth said. “Yeah, my character is not exactly seeming the brightest here.” “On the plus side, I’m looking forward to seeing you two in cribs?” Shelby kidded. Beth reached over and started tickling her. I stood and joined! “Staaaahp!!!” Shelby cried. “I don’t want to pee!” A few moments of breathing later, the three of us resumed reading. SCENE - SARAH’S HOUSE AT SARAH’S HOUSE, SHE HAS THE CAR SELF-PARK INSIDE THE GARAGE AND UNBUCKLES BRIANNA, THEN CALLIE AS THE GARAGE DOOR CLOSES. GRABBING BOTH LITTLE GIRLS BY THE HAND, SHE GUIDES THEM INSIDE. ONCE INSIDE, SHE CHECKS THEIR DIAPERS AND LEAVES THEM BE FOR THE MOMENT. SARAH (MOM): “Callie, why don’t you go show Brianna the playroom, and you two can play until I have din-din ready?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Yay!!! Come on!” CALLIE PULLS BRIANNA’S ARM PRACTICALLY OUT OF THE SOCKET AND DRAGS HER TOWARDS THE UPSTAIRS AREA WHERE HER PLAYROOM SITS BESIDE HER BEDROOM. SHE’S ENOUGH BIGGER THAT THE STAIRS AREN’T THAT DAUNTING, BUT BRIANNA IS SMALL ENOUGH THAT SHE HAS TO CAREFULLY CLIMB UP. CAMERA MOVES BACK TO SARAH, WHO GOES OUT TO THE GARAGE AND UNLOADS THE PURCHASES OF THE DAY. ONE OF THE LARGE BOXES OF DIAPERS IN BRIANNA’S SIZE, BAGS OF CLOTHES, ETC. ALL GET BROUGHT IN AND TAKEN UPSTAIRS TO THE GIRLS’ NURSERY, WHERE SHE HAD SOME HELP DURING THE DAY WITH GETTING CALLIE’S OLD TODDLER BED SET UP ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF HER NEWER BIG-GIRL BED SHE’D GOTTEN FOR CHRISTMAS. THE CAMERA SHOWS CALLIE ENTHUSIASTICALLY SHOWING BRIANNA EVERY DOLL AND STUFFED ANIMAL SHE OWNS. MEANWHILE, BRIANNA IS CLEARLY STRUGGLING WITH A DECISION. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “What’s wrong, Bree?” BRIANNA: “Bree?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “That’s your name!” SHE SMILES BRIANNA: GIVES A SMALL SMILE. “I like that.” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy calls that potty face?” BRIANNA: “Umm...” SQUIRMS CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Just use your diaper, silly! Potties are boring. Playing is much more fun!” RIGHT THEN, CALLIE SQUATS DOWN, AND BRIANNA’S EYES WIDEN. BRIANNA: “Did you just?” BRIANNA SITS DOWN AND HOLDS A TOY BOTTLE TO HER DOLLY’S MOUTH. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Poopy!” SHE SMILES BRIANNA: “I...” BRIANNA MAKES A FACE THEN, AND SUDDENLY, SHE BENDS HER KNEES TOO AND ENDS UP MAKING A MESS IN HER OWN DIAPER. SHE STANDS THERE OUT OF BREATH FOR A MOMENT. A LOOK OF SHOCK IS ON HER FACE AS SARAH ENTERS THE ROOM. SARAH (MOM): “Pee-eew! It smells like a stinky baby in here!” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Uh-uh, we don’t stink, Mommy!” SARAH GOES TO CALLIE AND PULLS HER DRESS OUT OF THE WAY TO SHOW HER DIAPER AND PULL ITS WAISTBAND BACK. SARAH (MOM): “Well, you certainly do, Callie!” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Well, so does Bree!!! She’s stinky too!” SARAH (MOM): “Oh?” SHE WALKS TOWARDS BRIANNA AND LIFTS HER IN THE AIR TO SMELL HER BOTTOM. BRIANNA: SNIFFLES SARAH (MOM): “Well, it looks like you’re right, Callie! Brianna is a stinky baby, too! Let’s get you both changed and fed some din-din!” SCENE OF SARAH CLEANING AND CHANGING BOTH GIRLS BEFORE CARRYING BRIANNA ON ONE HIP AND CALLIE ON HER OTHER DOWN THE STAIRS. AT THE TABLE THERE IS NO LONG A SEAT WITH A BOOSTER, INSTEAD, TWO HIGH CHAIRS SIT ON EITHER SIDE OF WHAT MUST BE SARAH’S CHAIR. ONE IS SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE OTHER, BUT THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT BOTH ARE MEANT FOR BABIES. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy, where’s my chair?” SARAH (MOM): “Right here, sweetie!” SHE DROPS HER INTO THE LARGER HIGH CHAIR AND PUTS BRIANNA IN THE OTHER BEFORE BUCKLING BOTH GIRLS IN. CALLIE BEGINS FUSSING. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy, I don’t sit in a high chair any more, I’m a big girl!” SARAH (MOM): LAUGHS “A big girl, huh? I think my ‘big’ girl just went and made poopy in her diapee a few minutes ago?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy!” SARAH (MOM): “Callie, we’ve been trying to use the potty like a big girl for several years! It’s obvious you’re not ready to be a big girl! That’s okay, Mommy loves her baby girls! You and Brianna, wear diapees like babies, and now you can eat in your special baby chairs too!” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Bu...” SARAH MOVES OVER TO THE TABLE AND PLACES THE TRAYS ON THE GIRLS’ CHAIRS BEFORE BRINGING OVER MATCHING PINK BIBS THAT SAY ‘MOMMY’S LITTLE BUTTERFLY’ ON THEM WITH BUTTERFLIES AND FLOWERS DECORATED AROUND THE WORDS. BRIANNA MEANWHILE LOOKS TO BE IN SHOCK AT EVERYTHING AND JUST SILENTLY LETS SARAH VELCRO THE BIB BEHIND HER HEAD. CALLIE FUSSES, BUT SARAH DOESN’T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS FORCING IT AROUND HER NECK. THE TAMPER-PROOF DESIGN KEEPS CALLIE FROM PULLING IT LOOSE. SHE POUTS FOR SEVERAL MOMENTS UNTIL THE BOWL OF MACARONI AND CHEESE IS PLACED ON THE TRAY. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Maccy Cheesy!!!!” SARAH (MOM): “Like clockwork...” SHE MUTTERS AND LOOKS AT BRIANNA AS SHE PLACES THE IDENTICAL BOWL ON HER TRAY. “You okay?” she whispers. BRIANNA: SHAKES HEAD “No...” she replies quietly. SARAH (MOM): “A bit much?” BRIANNA: “You could say that...” “I don’t think she was this kind to Brianna in the first draft?” Beth said to me. “I just skimmed it before, but I think you’re right that there’s been some improvements there. I think Sarah just gloated over Brianna in the first draft?” “You can almost like the mom character?” Shelby said. “Almost,” I said. “She’s still onboard with taking an adult’s freedom away in the hopes that she can potty-train her daughter.” “And I kind of doubt her daughter is even trainable,” Beth squirmed as she said that. “It wouldn’t surprise me that they eventually discover she has a genuine medical issue?” Shelby said. “If so, that makes her mom even worse to me,” I told them. SARAH PATS BRIANNA ON THE HEAD AND GIVES HER A REASSURING HUG BEFORE SITTING DOWN AT HER CHAIR WITH A MORE GROWN-UP BOWL OF SALAD IN FRONT OF HER. SHE WATCHES AS BRIANNA GINGERLY EATS WITH HER SPOON AND IS COMPLETELY FREE OF ANY MESS ON HER FACE, HANDS, OR BIB WHEN SHE IS DONE EATING. MEANWHILE HER DAUGHTER CALLIE HAS CHEESE ON HER HANDS AND FACE, AND SOMEHOW EVEN IN HER HAIR! THE CAMERA ZOOMS IN AS SHE USES A BABY WIPE TO WIPE UP ALL OF THE MESS. SARAH (MOM): “You’re a messy baby, Callie! I’ll have to give you both a bath before beddy-bye!” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): SMILES “Yay! Bubbles?" SARAH (MOM): “Seems like your sister at least deserves bubbles!” SARAH MOVES TO THE OTHER HIGHCHAIR AND NEEDLESSLY WIPES BRIANNA’S HANDS AND FACE LIKE SHE DID CALLIE’S. BRIANNA SQUIRMS AND SEEMS LIKE SHE IS OVERWHELMED THEN. AS SOON AS SHE FINISHES SHE, UNBUCKLES HER, AND SQUEEZES HER LIGHTLY IN A HUG. SARAH (MOM): “You’re overwhelmed, aren’t you?” BRIANNA: (NODS) “Yes... this is hard.” SARAH (MOM): “Sorry.” PLACES HER ON THE FLOOR “Why don’t you go see if there’s something you want to watch on TV? I will take Callie upstairs to change her outfit since she somehow made a mess of her clothes!” BRIANNA: “Umm... Thanks.” CAMERA SHOWS BRIANNA WALKING TO LIVING ROOM AND MANAGING TO CLIMB ONTO THE COUCH. SHE TRIES THE STANDARD VOICE COMMAND. BRIANNA: “Mike, turn on the TV.” COMPUTER VOICE: “New user detected, scanning.” A QUICK FLASH OCCURS, AND AFTER A MOMENTS PAUSE, THE VOICE RETURNS. COMPUTER VOICE: “TV Protocols set for Age TV-Y. What’s your name, princess?” BRIANNA: “Ugh… Brianna.” SIGHS “Show me the TV Guide?” A CHILDREN’S HOLO-GUIDE OF YOUNG PRESCHOOL AND BABY SHOWS POPS UP WITH NO TEXT. BRIANNA: “Any news networks?” COMPUTER VOICE: “Those may not be watched without your? Mommy, sweetie.” BRIANNA: “Pennycade, please, then?” COMPUTER VOICE: “Pennycade Junior showing now.” BRIANNA: “I mean...” SIGHS “Whatever!” CAMERA CUTS TO SARAH CHANGING CALLIE INTO JUST A NEW T-SHIRT AND LEAVES OFF BOTTOMS. CALLIE SEEMS TO BE HAPPY WITH THIS AND HEADS DOWNSTAIRS TO FIND HER NEW SISTER SITTING THROUGH THE LATEST DIAPER COMMERCIAL OF THE BRAND THEY’RE WEARING. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Those are the bestest ones!!!!” SHE LOOKS AT BRIANNA AND GETS HER ATTENTION TO POINT TO THE DIAPERS THEY’RE BOTH WEARING. BRIANNA: “I’ll take your word for it, Callie.” MIDWAY THROUGH AN EPISODE OF A SHOW THAT ASKED THE VIEWERS TO TELL THE CHARACTER WHAT TO DO, BRIANNA CLEARLY FROZE. SARAH SEES THIS, GATHERS HER IN HER ARMS, AND SITS DOWN ON A CHAIR WITH HER IN HER LAP. CALLIE IS TOO ENGROSSED IN THE SHOW TO GET JEALOUS. SARAH (MOM): “Are you okay, Brianna?” BRIANNA: “I have to pee again...” SARAH (MOM): “You know you have to use your diapees for a couple more weeks until the daycare lets us try potty training Callie again?” BRIANNA: “Do I have to wait that long?” SARAH (MOM): “Sorry, I hate to do this...” BRIANNA: “Huh?” SARAH BEGINS TICKLING BRIANNA MERCILESSLY, CAUSING HER TO GIGGLE. CALLIE SEES THIS AND HOPS UP TO COME TO HER SISTERS AID. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy! Don’t be mean to Bree!” SARAH (MOM): “Oh?” WITHOUT WARNING, SHE BEGINS TICKLING CALLIE INSTEAD AND EVENTUALLY ALTERNATES BETWEEN THE TWO GIRLS. CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Mommy, you’re a meanie head!!!” BRIANNA: “Uh-huh!” SARAH (MOM): “Well, I guess I am. Would a hot chocolate make it better?” CALLIE (DAUGHTER): “Hot choccy!!!” BRIANNA: “No, but I’ll take one anyway?” CAMERA SHOWS HER PUTTING THE GIRLS IN THEIR HIGHCHAIRS AGAIN AND EACH BEING GIVEN A BABY BOTTLE WITH WHAT APPEARS TO BE CHOCOLATE MILK. BRIANNA MAKES A FACE AT IT BUT DRINKS JUST LIKE CALLIE DOES IN THE END. WHEN THEY’RE BOTH DONE, SHE WIPES THEIR FACES AND TAKES THEM UP TO GIVE THEM THEIR BATHS. A MONTAGE SHOWS THEM PLAYING IN THE BUBBLE BATH WITH SOME SQUIRTY TOYS THAT GET USED ON EACH OTHER AND A SCOLDING SARAH WHEN BRIANNA SPRAYS HER. THEY’RE BOTH DRESSED IN MATCHING DIAPERS AND T-SHIRT ONESIES BEFORE BEING PLACED ON SARAH’S LAP, GIVEN ANOTHER BOTTLE OF MILK APIECE, AND READ A STORY. CALLIE INSTANTLY GOES TO SLEEP AND IS PLACED INTO HER BED, EVEN AS BRIANNA SEEMS WIDE AWAKE AND HASN’T DRANK MUCH OF THE BOTTLE. SARAH SMILES AT HER. SARAH (MOM): “Here, hand me your baba.” BRIANNA: HANDS IT TO HER. SARAH REPOSITIONS BRIANNA, SO SHE’S CRADLED. HER FIDGETING SHOWS IT CLEARLY MAKES HER UNCOMFORTABLE. BRIANNA: “What are you doing?” SARAH (MOM): “Feeding you your baba,” SMILING BRIANNA: "Bu..." THE NIPPLE INTERRUPTS HER AS SARAH BEGINS ROCKING THE CHAIR AGAIN. SARAH (MOM): “I know you want to be a big grown-up again, and I promise you will be, eventually, but right now, you’re going to be my little Bree. Enjoy letting go a little sweetie.” BRIANNA’S EYES CONVEY HER NERVOUSNESS, EVEN AS SARAH BEGINS HUMMING A LULLABY. BRIANNA’S CHEST GRADUALLY BEGINS SHOWING SIGNS OF HER SLEEPING EVEN AS SHE FINISHES DRINKING THE BOTTLE. AFTER AN APPROPRIATE LITTLE BURP, SHE PLACES THE SLEEPING GIRL IN HER BED AND TUCKS HER IN. SARAH (MOM): “They’re right, Mommy’s milk does it every time?” “Ugh, ‘Mommy’s Milk?!?” Beth snorted, “Nothing original here at all, is there?” “No… Does that mean Sarah’s still giving her daughter breastmilk, too?” I asked. “Probably?” Shelby said. “There are a lot of Bigs with kids up to age five or six that like to keep breastfeeding them as long as possible.” “Doesn’t that cause potty problems?” I asked. “Yes,” Beth said. “If she’s never weaned her, that’s probably why she’s not in any hurry to potty-train.” “My character is soooo screwed!” They laughed. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for reading! Please press the Like button and leave me a comment! I very much appreciate everyone who takes the time to press the Like button and leave a comment!!! Due to a busy week, I can't post on Friday, so I decided to post an extra one today and Sunday to compensate! Hopefully, my posting schedule will settle out again in the next few weeks. If you’ve enjoyed this or any of my other works, consider supporting me by purchasing copies of them on Amazon Kindle! All of my completed works are available here: https://www.amazon.com/author/babysofia (And if you do so pretty, please consider leaving me a 5-star review (you can leave the stars, and no public reviews are viewable then!))

Long time listener, first time caller! (I just realized how old that reference is. Ouch.) I hope that it's okay if I share this story with Y'all. It's been in my head for a while and I hope you enjoy it! Chapter one: John Smith was a thoroughly unremarkable young man. At five foot eight he was certainly not tall, and he was neither muscular nor scrawny. His tuft of unruly brown hair blended into the woods around him. He was never really an athletic person, and he could not even spend enough time sitting still to be called a gamer. He tried his hand at fishing because he enjoyed being outdoors and found that he was okay at it, but only rarely caught anything worth cooking. He tried cycling but never felt comfortable on a bike. John had only found one thing he ever truly enjoyed. Being outside and walking through the woods. Once his girlfriend of three years moved away for college, they promised to stay in touch. They were still friends, but left with little else to do with himself, John took to his only hobby with some enthusiasm. None of his clothes were expensive, and his vehicle was a thirty year old small truck that was only remarkable in that it still works fine. John had, in fact, only made one glaring error in his twenty four years of life. He got a job at a store that sells his hobby. He was certain that it was a good idea at the time. After all, he could get hiking supplies at an employee discount! His boss was a very nice woman that would offer damaged inventory to the employees after writing it off. With his workplace being closed for an upcoming Monday, and having won the lottery of having a Friday off, John found himself with a very rare opportunity. And with no one to answer to for the next four days, he was determined to try something new. John was going hiking and camping for three days. After he explained his plan to his boss, she cautioned him very sternly about bringing plenty of water, a compass, a map, and all the camping supplies he would need to sleep out on the trail. “If you are going to be out there for three days, you bring food and water for five. Stick to known trails, and never once put your camp knife down. If you see wildlife, you go the other way.” And so he left work with a dented wagon that was written off with large wheels to be pulled on a beach, camping supplies for several days, a small tent, and a cheap but sturdy ice chest with three gallons of water in it. Parking at a nearby nature trail and getting his supplies out of the back of his small truck Friday morning he tied a lead to the handle of his wagon and started walking down a trail that he had been down a dozen times. But this time was different. This time he didn't have to turn around after three hours and come back before it got dark. This time he was out for the weekend. So happily humming to himself as he patiently walked along the trail, he cheerfully picked up acorns as he went and tossed them to any squirrels he passed by. The squirrels wouldn't really care that he threw them acorns, but they were cute and it was fun to see them grab the acorns and scurry away with them. As the trail led our intrepid adventurer along a wide creek come mid afternoon he couldn't help but stop and sit down on his ice chest and take a break to eat a couple of granola bars and drink a bottle of water. He was so happy in that moment that he emptied his right cargo pocket of acorns next to a nearby tree and sat to just enjoy the view for an hour. Stopping to take a couple of pictures on his cell phone, he noticed that the trail curved off to the right away from the stream, but that the land by the stream was flat and wide open. So why not just walk along the stream, and the next day simply follow the stream back? So with a wave to a squirrel that was watching the intruder from a pile of acorns, he set off at a leisurely pace along side the stream. Two hours of walking later, the stream was very shallow. Barely even ankle deep and no more than ten feet across. And it was here in dimming evening light that John noticed something strange on the other side of the stream. The air over there looked … different. Almost … Shimmery? So, pausing to take another deep drink of water, he slowly walked across the stream, wagon still pulled by his belt, and had very little trouble of it. And there, several miles from any known trail, he found himself staring at … nothing. Or something. Everything looked the same, but that shimmer was still there. And what was more is that if he squinted as he looked through the shimmering spot it was strangely like a magnifying glass. “How does the air do that?” he asked out loud. And then he made another mistake. He walked up to the spot where the air looked distorted and shimmery. For a brief moment nothing seemed different … and then he felt dizzy. His insides felt like they twisted, folded, and compressed. It all came on suddenly, violently, and in that instant everything in his stomach seemed to take up too much space. And just as suddenly he was on hands and knees as everything in his stomach decided that it had other places to be. None of which were where he had put them. After several very unhappy moments, John stood back up, wiping his mouth on his forearm and looking around himself. Something was not quite right. The stream behind him seemed much larger than he had remembered moments before. The trees looked … larger. Why would the oak trees look larger? And more importantly … wasn't it just getting dark? The sun was now high in the sky. Taking a few steps he found himself slipping and noticed that his boots seemed quite loose. He had to pull all of the laces in as tight as he could and retie them to make them a bit snug again. So much for his good quality boots, the darned things got loose for some reason. It took several minutes for John to get his bearings and walk back to the stream he had just crossed. It didn't make any sense, he had just come across that very stream, and now as he looked back in the now bright daylight … it was easily thirty feet across and moving much faster than when he crossed it. Suddenly feeling very concerned, he decided that he had enough adventure for the moment and started walking back along the stream the way he had come. Back toward civilization, shivering a bit in the suddenly cold air. Walking back along the stream the way he came, but now stuck on the opposite side of the stream, John Smith was growing more confused and concerned as he went. He picked up an acorn out of habit, but this acorn was abnormally large. The size of a lemon. Why would an acorn be so large? Figuring this was some sort of fluke, he tossed it into the wagon behind him and kept going. After a couple more hours and several more freakishly large acorns, John felt just far too tired to keep going. He could see smoke off in the distance but he just couldn't walk any more. Despite the sun being still up in the sky he felt like he's been walking for twenty or thirty hours straight. So he found a small clear spot between some trees about ten feet from the stream and popped out his little tent, easily stepping on the stakes to anchor his little tent into the ground. He set about clearing a patch of dirt and using his camp knife to chop some of the large twigs into manageable chunks. A few minutes with his zippo and a pile of leaves and he had a tiny fire surrounded safely by a wall of dirt. Sitting next to his wagon drinking water and eating another granola bar, John started to doze off. After what seemed like moments to him, he opened his eyes to see that his fire had gone out and on the other side of the ashes was something looking at him. Something bigger than it ought to be. With a yelp of surprise John scrambled to his feet and fumbled to get his camp knife out of its holster and hold it up between him and the wild animal. Gray, and easily the as big as a medium sized dog, there stood before him the largest squirrel he had ever seen. And with its low body and nose working fervently, the squirrel was staring straight at him. After several moments of being stared down by a squirrel almost half his size, John calmed down enough to reach into the wagon behind him and pull out an acorn. The squirrel stared at the acorn now instead of him. Very slowly he leaned, holding the acorn out and preparing to roll it, the squirrel instead reached out for it, grabbed it and in a flash was gone up the tree next to him. It took a minute to breathe normally again. Now shaking and very confused, he pulled the wagon up in front of the entrance to the tent and did the only thing he could think to do. John freaked out as quietly as he could manage until he fell asleep hours later.

What happens when a twelve-year-old boy suddenly starts wetting his pants again? Mark Davidson is twelve years old and just finished the sixth grade. He is leaving elementary school and will soon be a teenager. Sure, he had some toileting problems when he was younger, but he has long since outgrown that, or so it seems. The Background One of my earliest memories is a tantrum I threw when I was four and a half. I wanted to play in a playroom, but I couldn’t unless I was potty trained. I still wore diapers and wasn’t potty trained. I saw kids younger than me playing and started to cry. My mom got frustrated with my tantrum and said, “Big kids don’t wear diapers!” After we got home, Mom said “I’m disappointed with you. You acted like a baby and threw a tantrum. You can’t be a big kid if you are not potty trained.” She took away most of my ‘big kid’ privileges and treated me like my little sister, who had just turned two. At the time, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference. Mom still put me in a stroller, and there were rails on my bed to keep me from falling out. All she had to do was pull up the rails to convert my ‘big kid’ bed into a crib and bring out a second highchair. I also had to use a sippy cup, but I used to spill a lot. I don’t think it worked very well because it took another year to get out of diapers. Yes, I didn’t get out of diapers until I was five and a half! My little sister was now three and had just become potty trained. I didn’t want to be the only one in diapers, so I started to use the potty as well. Even so, I still had accidents, and sometimes needed diapers. My mom had a different approach than most parents. She wanted us to take care of the potty by ourselves, although she still helped my sister with some of the details. She was only three, so that made sense. Mom wanted me to do everything by myself. She would take me to the bathroom when we were in public, but that’s about it. I had to wear Pull-ups if I had an accident. I didn’t get to wear underwear until I stayed dry for three days. If I had two accidents in my Pull-ups, it was back to diapers. I stayed in diapers until I proved that I was ready to use the potty, which usually took about a week. My mom treated me like a big kid when I wore Pull-ups. I even got to do things that some of the older kids didn’t. However, I lost all of those privileges when I wore diapers. Diapers were for babies, so I was treated just like a baby. I slept in a crib, sat in a highchair, and rode in a stroller when we left the house. I think my mom preferred the stroller because I didn’t wander away. It wasn’t just the highchairs and stroller, little kids aren’t allowed to open doors, and I wasn’t either. I had to wear diapers at night until I stayed dry for five nights in a row, which didn’t happen until I was eight years old. I got to wear underwear after keeping my Pull-ups dry for five nights, but it was back to diapers if I had three accidents in my Pull-ups. Since diapers were for babies, my bed was left in the crib position when I slept in a diaper. My mom changed my diaper just after waking me up when it was dry, but when I woke up in a wet diaper, she waited until I ate breakfast. Diapers are for babies, so I had to sit in a highchair for breakfast. My sister was out of diapers by my sixth birthday, which was when she was three-and-a-half. I don’t think she had very many accidents after that. However, when she was older, she would occasionally wet her pants. It didn’t happen very often, but mom made her wear Pull-ups when she did. She was nine years old the last time it happened. We had to wear a diaper at night if we wore a Pull-up during the day, so Emily ended up sleeping in a diaper for about three weeks that year. It was harder for me. I wore diapers pretty much all the time while I was in kindergarten. I occasionally got to wear Pull-ups, but I always had accidents and went right back to diapers. Things got a little better for me in first grade, when I was seven. I still had accidents, but I usually could go back to underwear before I had to wear a diaper. I only had to wear diapers a couple of times that year. However, we lived in Asia, and we went back to the United States in the summer. I had a series of accidents that summer and was put back in diapers. My mom didn’t want to deal with potty training while we were traveling, so I stayed in diapers for six weeks. I wasn’t potty trained again until we got home. That didn’t happen until my birthday, so I was still in diapers on my eighth birthday! I guess that helped because I stopped having accidents after that, or at least mostly stopped. I only had a few accidents in third grade. I even started to stay dry at night, and my crib was finally converted back to a bed. I only spent two weeks in diapers that year, and that was on purpose. I wet my pants on purpose because I wanted to wear diapers again. It happened during school breaks, so I wouldn’t have to wear diapers to school. I did it again in fourth grade, during spring break. My mom never got mad about it. She just said, “I guess you’re not ready to be a big kid,” and put me back in diapers.

Going to use this thread to share some flash fictions over time. At about the same rate that I release them over on my patreon. What Dreams May Come A sound, like rushing water awakens you. You’re awake. You’re in a crib. You’re wearing a diaper. It’s soaked and your bladder is empty. This is not surprising. You went to sleep in this crib. It’s no wonder you should wake up in it. Same for the diaper. It wasn’t wet when you fell asleep, (not that wet anyways) but it’s present condition is just the natural consequence of the passage of time. You sit up and yawn away the last of the dream stuff. Absent-mindedly, you wonder if that squish beneath your bottom is poop or not. It’s so hard to tell first thing in the morning when everything between your legs is wet and squishy. It’s shocking just how routine this all has become. There was time when you would have balked at all of this. Now you just accept it. Mommy comes into the room. “Good morning, baby!” she coos at you through your crib bars. “Did you sleep well? Have pleasant dreams?” You smile softly, demurely, as you give a pleasant chirp of ‘Yes Mommy!” “Wonderful!” she says. “Let’s get you changed and ready for the day.” She lowers the crib bars and you climb out only so that you can climb back onto the changing table. “Such a good baby!” You are a good baby. A very good one. It’s something that you’ve worked hard at. So very hard. You haven’t had any other choice. It’s not up to you. Nothing is. You struggled at first, but Mommy made it very clear very quickly that you could fight as much as you wanted, but it wouldn’t stop you from becoming her good baby. “After we get you dressed for the day,” Mommy says pulling the safety strap over your chest. “We’ll get you some breakfast, and then we’ll go to the park to play. Maybe Margaret will be there!” Margaret is your best friend. Your Mommy and hers had decided it. You didn’t much care for her, to be honest, but you didn’t have much choice in the matter. You don’t feed yourself. You don’t dress yourself. You don’t decide where you go, who you spend time with or for how long. The only freedom you have left is in your dreams. In your dreams you can be anything. When you’re awake, the only thing you can be is a dumb baby. Mommy’s working extra hard on unteaching you your FZY’s. Mommy is a very good teacher… Mommy tears open the tapes on your diaper and starts to clean you up. “Oh wow!” she gushes. “Such a wet baby!” She drags the cold wet baby wipe across your front and between your legs. “I bet someone was dreaming about going for a swim!” You open your mouth to tell her what you were actually dreaming about. You can’t remember, though. It was so vivid, too, you’re sure! Cold wipes on your bottom and Mommy’s cooing makes it so hard to concentrate! Just then, Bobby walks in. Bobby is your big brother, but not so big that you don’t have to share a room together. Bobby has a big kid bed that looks like a racecar. Sometimes Mommy asks him what he wants to do instead of telling him. Billy can feed himself and dress himself. Presently, he’s doing just that. You watch enviously from the changing table while Bobby takes his pajamas off, all by himself. You stare while he strips down and takes out a pair of underwear out of the top drawer of his dresser and steps into it, easy as pie. Suddenly you realize the sound that woke you up was the sound of Bobby flushing the toilet, and your blood turns hot. Mommy is busy unfolding a diaper and slipping it underneath your hips. “Mommy,” you ask. “When will I be ready to use the potty?” “Oh,” she says, pausing for just a moment. “Probably never.” She grabs the bottle of baby powder and dusts your privates with it. “But why?” You ask. “Because you’re just a baby.” Mommy says. “Babies don’t use the potty, do they?” Bobby used to be a baby. You know. You got here first. But for some reason, Bobby’s been allowed to grow up when you haven’t. Again. Grow up again. You already grew up once. It’s weird how you have to remind yourself lately. So much of your old life before Mommy feels like a dream; an elaborate fanfiction that you wrote yourself. Everything from before feels less real as Mommy spreads your legs and pulls the fresh, thick, poofy, crinkly diaper that prevents your knees from touching and forces you to walk with a waddle 24/7. It is only the first of the day. It will not be the last. You can’t remember the last time you got to wear underwear; real underwear; the kind that couldn’t be seen from space. It was only an academic memory by this point. You lift your head up to examine the decorations of the diaper Mommy just put you in. It has balloons on the front. The one you woke up in had pictures of sleeping kitty cats. Depending on what Mommy feels like, you might find yourself in a diaper decorated with nursery rhyme characters or one with fishes swimming. You don’t even get to decide your diaper decorations! Meanwhile, Bobby would get to wear those jungle safari themed undies all day long. “Oh!” you gasp. “Mommy! I remember what I was dreaming about?” “Oh?” She chuckles, “What was your dream, baby?” She undoes the strap and helps you sit up. Your thoughts suddenly feel as crisp as the new padding wrapped around your hips. “I was on safari!” you exclaim. “I was hunting big game!” “That sounds nice,” Mommy says, pulling your sleep shirt up over your head. “What game? Checkers?” “No!” You correct her. “Like I was shooting animals and stuff! Lions and tigers and bears!” “Oh my!” Mommy replies. “Are you sure you were on safari? Maybe you were just dreaming about going to the zoo?” “I’m sure,” you say. Bobby has already gotten dressed and walked away. You’re still nude except for the padding. “It was awesome!” Talking about your dreams was one of the few things you could freely do. “Was I there?” Mommy asked. “No,” you proudly exclaim. “Just me.” “But if you were in the jungle hunting animals,” Mommy teases, “who would be there to change your diaper?” That was the best part about the dream! About all your dreams! “I wasn’t…!” Except you were. You immediately remember the dream. You picture yourself wearing a helmet. A pith helmet, you think it’s called. And one of those khaki button up shirts that people always wore in the cartoons and movies. Boots too. But between the shirt and the boots, was your diaper. Just your diaper. No pants. No belt. Nothing. And right beside you, holding your hand, was Mommy. Even in your dreams you couldn’t get out of diapers. Even asleep you were with your Mommy. There was no escape. No freedom, even in your subconscious. A terrible melancholy comes over you. Were you ever actually an adult? Or have you just been fooling yourself with your dreams and they’re now finally telling you the truth about yourself. “So,” Mommy says. “What do you want to wear today?” “I don’t know,” you mumble, trying not to sob. “I’m just a baby. You pick, please.” “Of course, baby,” Mommy smiles. “Of course.”

I have gotten them from amazon in the past but Amazon has been out of stock of the size and colors I desire recently, Found them at My Inner Baby's site.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I really wanted to last night, but I need to add a few bits before I started editing it, and it took me about five minutes to write one sentence, and then another ten to finish the paragraph. Needless to say, I was way too tired to finish this chapter up last night. That being said, I am also hard at work at my next chapter. It should be good to go by tonight and a good place to stop, but if not, I will post another announcement talking about my upcoming break. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! Chapter 12: Spring Awakenings The beauty of the daycare shone brightly all around us. My friends and I had never been so happy, and all just felt right with the world for once. After all this time on this mission… all the tears… the agony… those stupid and seemingly pointless debriefings with that know-nothing Amy, I finally felt happy. My friends and I played freely amongst the swings without a care in the world after testing day. The questions felt harder today, but again, it didn’t matter. Only Kelsey, Bea, and Jasper mattered. We mourned the loss of our little friend, but everyone said that I basically just replaced him and that was just how things went around here. I wasn’t sure exactly what they meant by ‘replacing’ him, but the swing set was just too fun to really dwell on those types of thoughts anymore. “Go higher, Meggy!” Kelsey tried to convince me. “I already am! I don’t want to touch the moon or anything. You can’t breathe up there,” I tried to justify. In truth, I really just didn’t want to go any higher, but I couldn’t let my friend beat me. Hopefully, she wouldn’t edge me out any higher. “Oh no!” she cried. “I need to breathe! We should just stay where we are then.” WE played happily for a moment, until we heard our friend speak up from down below. “You all could just wear invisible breathing helmets…” Bea said as she swung low on the swings, her legs not carrying the strength they used to in order to push her further. Soon, she would likely need to just be pushed. ‘What a baby… unlike us! We’re big girls!’ Kelsey looked at me and only smiled in a peculiar sort of way. “Nah. Thanks, Bea, but I think I’m going to stay on the ground more or less with Meggy today.” I then realized what was happening. ‘She knew…’ We swung a little more, and as soon as Bea had turned back to trying to coordinate well enough to not fall off her swing, I turned to Kelsey and whispered. “Thanks Kelsey. It means a lot for you to stay down today with me.” She then winked at me and whispered back. “No problem, Meggy. After all, that’s what friends are for.” We then started to gossip about the other Littles around us or what we would do if we ever left this place or our… caregivers. She wanted to grow vegetables somewhere remote… I wanted to build a castle. Humility or earthliness aside, my idea was better, but I didn’t tell her that. An hour of jokes, gossiping, and swinging or rolling around in the grass later, Mrs. Louder called us in. “You girls have fun?” she asked us sweetly as she inspected our shoes and clothing to ensure we didn’t track any mud on the floor once we were all back inside. “Yes, Mrs. Louder,” Kelsey said quickly. “Uh huh,” I agreed. “The swings were extra fun today!” “I’m so glad to hear that, girls.” She then turned to Bea, who seemed to be fidgeting around with her dress. “Bea? What did you like?” “I… uh… I…” she stuttered as she then blushed as her hand glanced the back of her outfit. ‘Uh oh…’ I had seen that face plenty of times before. Bea had made a stinky and was now only just realizing it. It didn’t take long for the smell to reach our noses. “Oh, pee yew, Bea! What are you eating?” Kelsey exclaimed as she plugged her nose with one hand and waved her other rapidly in front of the air to clear it of the noxious fumes now emanating from our friend. “Now, girls,” Mrs. Louder warned, “You know she can’t help it.” “Yes, Mrs. Louder,” we said resignedly in unison. Being in a daycare full of un-potty-trained Littles, we had heard the same speech about a billion times before. “Good, now, I’m going to…” she then paused and looked right behind us. “Oh Mrs. Harrington. I didn’t see you there. Is everything okay?” She only blinked once while still wearing her perpetual scowl. “I need to see Megan right away,” she replied sternly. “Oh. You mean…?” Mrs. Louder didn’t finish her question, but Mrs. Harrington only nodded. “Okay… I’m sorry girls, but Megan, you need to go with Mrs. Harrington right now.” “But… I…” I only managed to make out before Mrs. Harrington quickly snatched my hand and led me away. After, I was too shocked and scared to say anything, and the only sounds that could be heard were my diaper quickly being used. Apparently, Mrs. Harrington had only exacerbated my problem these days… ‘Stupid diapers and not making it to the potty… Where’s Jenn to help me out when I need her most?’ I was then dragged into a room I had never been to before, but I could clearly see a gigantic machine in the middle of the room. Before I could ask why I was in this room and what the machine was, Mrs. Louder used her deceptively strong body and quickly plopped me into the previously empty and plastic-coated seat. Straps were applied all over my body and soon, I couldn’t move an inch below my chin. “Please… let me go, Mrs. Harrington. I was a good girl for you… please.” I begged and pleaded but she just hunched over the controls nearby like some demonic carrion bird. Horrifically, she then turned to me and smiled for a moment before flicking on one of the switches. “Ahhh!” Immense bolts of pain shot through my system. I went rigid and then began to spasm. My diaper grew warmer, and my head grew thicker… I was having a hard time acting… thinking… like a big girl… Mrs. Harrington then looked back over me. “A good girl, you say?” She then began clacking her sinisterly long and painted red nails together. “That’s not what we’ve been hearing, but it makes no difference now. All you Littles are such fibbers! That’s why we made this machine.” She then walked over and stroked the shiny curved steel side of it above my head. “Took forever, but it pushes through everything that you all fibbers come along with… even specialized medications.” I gulped immediately as she looked down at me. ‘She knew! Who spilled my secret? What was she going to do with me? Why did I suddenly want to start sucking my thumb in public instead of just in private as I had been since last June?’ Amassed in my own thoughts, I didn’t see Mrs. Harrington soon walk over to the door and open it carefully before another figure then walked in. “Megan,” she began, “this is Dr. Hurtsalot. He’s here to begin you’re questioning.” The doctor was already wearing a surgeon’s mask and then practically waddled over to me. He seemed way too happy right now. “Ah! Another Little for me to play with… you shouldn’t have, Mrs. Harrington! It’s not my birthday for another month!” Mrs. Harrington chuckled. “Oh, stop that! This one is just special. She’s with…” she then jerked her head toward the door and a sound of distant screaming I had just noticed, “… well, you know…” The doctor’s cheeks rose as if he was suddenly smiling underneath his mask. “Oh, indeed I do. Let’s bring her in, shall we? They are a pair after all.” Mrs. Harrington nodded and then left before the doctor then turned back to me. “Now, I know the truth, but I just want to hear you say it, my dear. Be a good girl for me, huh?” He wanted secrets and all the things I knew about the government and portals. I couldn’t give in, so I just shook my head and kept my lips sealed, going even so far as to bite them shut as an extra precaution. “Very well… I don’t want to hurt you all, but you make me do such wicked things. Oh well…” He then pushed another button and the machine whirred to life once more. Incredible pain arced through my head again. I screamed, but no words came out. I felt the tears… the agony… it was all too much to bear, but no sound beyond a few raspy exhaled breaths. Seemingly smiling once again, Dr. Hurstalot turned off the machine. “Now, are you ready?” Before I could answer like the good baby girl that I knew I was for these adults, the door opened and Mrs. Harrington was dragging a beaten, wet, and almost broken woman, but it only took a few seconds for me to realize who it was. “Jennifer?” I asked, finally getting my voice back. She looked up at me in pain and her makeup was heavily streaked down her cheeks… it also didn’t take me long to realize her arm was bent the wrong way or the myriad of bruise marks all over her body. “I’m… I’m sorry… I…” “Shhh, shhh, sweetie,” Mrs. Harrington said as she stroked Jennifer’s tear-soaked cheek. I couldn’t help but notice that Jennifer flinched at the touch before Mrs. Harrington smiled and looked back up at me. “She wasn’t a very good girl herself… but we fixed that… she told us everything.” I was speechless, but that only seemed to encourage Dr. Hurstalot and Mrs. Harrington to smile more. “You see? All this is already over. I gave you a chance to come clean… to be a good girl for us, but no. We know you work for the ABI, and now, you’re going to be a good baby girl for us.” He then took off his mask and exposed his rotting twisted face and yellow crooked teeth. “We always make you all good boys and girls here… it’s our specialty.” Before I could try and apologize about it all in hopes of some kind of mercy, the doctor just smiled again and pulled down the lever. Now, only pain and my screams followed. “Ahhh!” * * * “Ahhh!” I bolted upright in bed. I could hear my heart in my ears and my bed was once again soaked with sweat. I was continually worried that it wasn’t sweat, but it only took a quick smell test to alleviate that fear at least. Once again though, it didn’t take long for the hallway light to flick on outside my room and then my door to burst wide open. “Megan! Are you okay?” Jennfier breathlessly asked as she stood there in her pajamas and untethered robe. “I…” I looked around my room and there were no signs of change from when I had gone to sleep. I was still mature in this house and still a perceived ‘big girl’ when not being watched outside of the relative safety of these walls. I even patted my crotch as subtly as I could, and to my relief, there wasn’t any padding there either. “I’m fine… sorry… just… another dream.” Jennifer’s expression soon relaxed, yet still bore her now practiced and usual face of concern. “I understand,” she said sympathetically before sitting on my bed as she had done many times before. “How about you tell me about it and try and calm down before going back to sleep?” I breathlessly nodded and spent a while describing the dream to her before slipping back to bed under her tender watchful eye. Despite going back to bed once again, it didn’t prevent me from being exhausted and continually yawning later that day at the celebration of the Munichion. It was some religious festival here with a procession toward their local temple to celebrate Spring, but honestly, I just liked the sweets that went along with it afterward. After the parade was done, most of the town soon gathered around the town square where I soon met up with Kelsey and the rest of the gang. Six pastries later for each of us, the still-present Harry had made a complete mess of himself, and I was about to pop. Unfortunately, I forgotten to take my pill, being a Sunday and all, so as soon as I felt the need to pee, I just went with my buddy system from back home to go to the bathroom. Stupidly, though, I forgot to ask Jennifer, or any Big for that matter. “What are you doing, Megan?” Kelsey asked me in panic as I dragged her into the public bathroom on the other side of the town square. “I need to go, and I needed a buddy. I chose you as my friend,” I said as I entered a stall and then quickly relieved myself. “Stick together, right?” Kelsey seemed to pause for a moment outside the stall door. “But what about Jennifer? Couldn’t she have taken you?” Her words were simple but straightforward and I almost dropped my shirt and got it dirty as I began to go again. ‘Why was I going so much lately?’ Catching the shirt though before disaster struck, my thoughts quickly switched back to just how big of an error I had made. It still plagued me as soon as I exited and washed my hands. “I…” I said, beginning to explain my actions, “I didn’t think about it. I just really had to go.” “I…” Kelsey then immediately began squirming in place. “Oh! I gotta go as well, but… uh…” She then looked down at her pants. “Can you help a friend out here?” I was shocked by her sudden ask, not that I hadn’t helped a drunk friend out at the academy one night, but I still sometimes forgot that Kelsey was a bit more immature than me as a Little, particularly when I hadn’t taken my meds today. “I… yep! Just one sec.” I quickly dried off my hands and then went about to undo her main button and take down the zipper. To my shock, a pink pull-up soon greeted me. “Thanks!” she said without any hesitation and partially snapping me out of my internal surprise. I then remembered, however, when I had first met her and noticed a bit of a bulge in her leggings that day, though I had never really noticed it since. She had mostly worn jeans, and to be honest, I wasn’t really looking, but still. My head was still in a briar patch of chaos as I then heard a flush and Kelsey exited as she was still pulling her pants back around her hips. She quickly saw me staring at her gratefully dry pull-up. “Oh… sorry about that. I’m just all thumbs when I need to go potty these days. It’s the strangest thing…” She then finished buttoning up her jeans and looked at me with a sense of clear accomplishment. “Keep bouncing in and out of them, but I guess that’s just how it goes as a Little. You know, right?” I slowly shook my head. I didn’t want to make her feel bad, which seemed to be the case from her immediate reaction, but I also couldn’t lie to her about something like this. I felt bad, but she then started looking at me like she didn’t believe me. “Sorry, but,” I then opened my own jeans and revealed my horse-themed training pants, “I wear training pants.” Her eyes stared back unblinking until I zipped my pants back up. “Oh… I guess being a big girl just comes easier to some…” she said with a clear sense of disappointment that we were no longer equals. In truth, we weren’t but she had definitely become my biggest friend around here and had even hung out outside of daycare on what Jennifer insisted on called ‘playdates’ when Kelsey was in the room those times. Still… I kept getting the feeling lately with Amy’s growing impatience that something was about to change and soon. Being equals with her now felt like a real possibility in some way. “Don’t feel bad. I’m sure you’ll get it. As you said, you’ve been entering in and out of them,” I tried to justify. “I’m guessing you’ll next be out of them really soon.” At that, she gratefully quickly began to resume her cheery demeanor. “Now, wash your hands really quickly so we can get out of here before we’re noticed.” Kelsey nodded and quickly washed her hands in the sink designed for Littles. Despite this town’s reputation and my own investigation, I had noticed how friendly it was to so many Littles. Still, if I had any doubts about how most Littles were treated, I also noticed the large changing table right next to the sink as well. Once outside, we then began to look for our group, but they were all missing from where we had left them. Deciding to search for our caregivers instead, I quickly whispered to Kelsey, “We might get in trouble. Just blame me and my needing to pee really badly. You can even tell her that I’m worried that I might end up in pull-ups soon and dragged you along for comfort.” She nodded and quickly found her caregiver first. What I told her wasn’t a complete lie, but wearing pull-ups in this place and on this mission was also something I was going to try at all costs to avoid. Unfortunately, right as Kelsey left, I saw a clearly upset Jennifer surrounded by several other Bigs. It didn’t take her long to see me and come marching right over. “You… you… you ran off and didn’t ask permission!” I tried to speak up to defend myself, but she just held up a single finger to silence me. “You were very, very naughty, Megan. This has been coming for a while, but you need to be punished.” “Wha…?” was about all I could make out before Jennifer quickly yanked me away by the wrist. I noticed several other Bigs shaking their heads at me in disapproval, but I just kept my head down and tried to signal to Jennifer to slow down or explain things. Unfortunately, it only caused her already firm grip on my wrist to tighten even further. Starting to panic, soon, she sped around the corner and into an empty alleyway. She then halted me and spun me around to face her clearly still furious face. “That was very stupid, Megan. What were you thinking going off like that? You could have been taken… or even have been considered a runaway.” I hadn’t thought about that, and I could now see that Jennifer may have been acting a bit back around the other Bigs and Littles, but that she was also legitimately upset with me right now. “I needed to pee,” I finally managed to spit out. “I shouldn’t have… I…” “No,” Jennifer interrupted. “You shouldn’t have, but now I’m in a bind.” She paused for a moment, and I remained fearful of what was going to happen next. “I don’t want to, but other Bigs are already asking me why a Little so adorable is still just at a preschooler level.” I briefly enjoyed being called cute, but I also was nervous about where this conversation seemed to be headed. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Jennifer,” I apologized. “I swear that I’ll try to do better. I’ll be a better Little.” Jennfier sighed and I didn’t like the tone behind it. “I know that you’ll try, Megan… but all the Bigs… they are expecting a punishment today for you and there are security cameras everywhere. I see the feeds from them all the time at work… even in these alleyways, so I still need to punish you.” I felt my stomach drop. As a Little, I knew punishment of some sort came with the territory, but I had always, as my nightmares had demonstrated to me, feared that it would have been some research facility doctor or Mrs. Harrington… not Jennifer herself. I even felt my knees begin quake over the thought of what she was about to do to me. Jennifer could clearly see my fear. “It’s okay… I won’t do any of what they suggested. You’ll still keep your potty training or your ability to walk…” she said so disturbingly casually, “but I was thinking a spanking might just do the trick.” She let that terrible word bounce off the narrow brick walls of the alleyway for a moment and let it slowly sink in what was just about to happen. “Just keep standing… I won’t have you go over my knee or remove your pants or training panties though.” I wanted to protest… even run away, but I only knew the punishments would get worse… much worse. So, with heavy reluctance, I turned toward the street and leaned onto her offered arm as she leaned down a little bit to deliver my punishment. “Okay. Really quick. Just five to sell it, okay?” I nodded and the world seemed to pause for a moment. Just five pops and even over my pants, but I guess my fear now may have been more due to the act itself and that we were even crossing this line now. Still, it was rough… humiliating, but gratefully quick. The successive pops seemed to echo out of the alleyway and into the streets. I tried to stay quiet… calm… but the suddenness of it all and the tiny bit of a sting made me yelp after the third and fifth smack to my butt. It wasn’t painful, and I could even tell that Jennifer wasn’t using her full power, but the message came across loud and clear. In a funny way, I knew Jennifer didn’t want to do it, but the whole scene, and mainly how much worse it could have been, ensured that I would also never forget to get a Big to take me to the restroom ever again out in public. After a festoon of other Bigs calling out my little punishment and how ‘lucky’ I was when we returned, the festival just continued into the night. Jennifer and I soon left the celebration, and my punishment seemed to be quickly forgotten about, especially, and horrifyingly considering that there were five other instances of punishments being doled out after mine. Still though, the next morning and first half of my time at daycare came swiftly the following day. As it was Monday again though and therefore testing day, I just groaned as I answered the doctor’s questions in practically the same manner as I had since I had arrived here. It was boring, but they at least still seemed easy to me. In fact, I was even getting better over the seemingly trick questions. Of course, an undercover or embarrassed Little may always deny liking diapers, but a Little’s regression or intentions could always be sniffed out in other ways I realized. For example, when they asked about what I would bring to a desert island, I would always just simply answer with a book. There was a lot of leeway to it, but being a preschooler, it could still make a certain amount of sense. They didn’t need to know that the book was the academy field guide for wilderness survival from back on Earth, but it showed me how others could slip up there and say something that would give away their identity or the extent of their regression. ‘I wondered how Harry now answered that particular question…’ Speaking of, once the testing was over, I walked back outside and saw Kelsey and Harry once again with each other and waiting together for me. Kelsey was very much the same, despite her still guilty look for my punishment the previous day, even though I had assured her everything was okay, but Harry… he was different even further still. His regression had gratefully slowed down finally in the last month, but a new worry began to enter my mind. Due to the increasing influx of new Littles at daycare, the three main attendants who were here every day of the week were only Mrs. Louder, Mrs. Harrington, and Ms. Ginny. Others came as volunteers or part-time staff, but it meant that not every Little could be attended to. As such, Kelsey and I had essentially become the defacto babysitters for Harry, which meant that we were getting a front row seat of just how bad off he was. For instance, now, Kelsey was wiping his face off from a cookie he had apparently been given during his testing. “How’d you get the cookie, Harry?” I asked with concern, sitting down in front of him. “You say a magic word or something?” He quickly shook his head. “No! Jus’ wuccy I guess…” He grinned widely as if he was hiding a big secret still, and not really caring about the cookie, I decided to just play along. Still, his overall demeanor had begun to remind me of how Erin was right before she was taken out of here. Regardless though, I wanted to make him happy for the time being. “Oh! I think I’ve spotted a little liar here, Kelsey. What do you think?” I asked my friend as she returned from throwing away the wet wipe that she had gotten to clean Harry off. “Hmmm. I don’t know… but it is Harry… so… yes!” We both grinned at each other and immediately pounded on the romper-clad Little in front of us and began to tickle him mercilessly. As odd as it may have sounded, I kind of liked having Harry around. He had been annoying at first, but I considered him as much as a friend as he could be in his currently regressed condition. “Stahp! Stahp!” he cried out between his peals of laughter. “No moh’! No moh’!” Kelsey and I tickled him for a bit longer, but soon stopped, particularly when the lights began to dim once more, and we got ready to watch another animated movie. As it began to play, I was just happy that it wasn’t something I had already seen. Now, about midway through April and seeing at least three movies a week for quiet time, I had begun to dip into repeat movies for quiet time. Some were okay, but some… geez. I mean, we were Littles… but we still weren’t the types to laugh at seven fart jokes in a row. As usual though, the younger Littles began to be picked up for their naptimes and I saw that as Jasper and Ben returned to us from their own testing. That being said, Ben soon was taken away, being now one of the Littles to be put down for their daily afternoon nap. Still, with Ben and the new movie, I was too distracted to notice the doctors watching… and preparing, behind us. Mrs. Harrington, the Big who I was starting to feel was the devil incarnate or at least their horrific wife, snuck up behind Jasper, Kelsey, Harry, and I. We watched the movie with glee, and I guess in retrospect, it being a new movie, and all may have been a clue to what was about to happen to distract as many of us Littles as they could. I guess there was something to be said there that they would try and protect us like that. Regardless of their intentions though, Mrs. Harrington struck fast. Like so many other Littles before him, our friend, Harry, was soon plucked away. I didn’t notice at first, but after a giggle from nearby and looking up, I then saw a happy and content Harry being taken away. He was cooing up at Mrs. Louder, and knowing him at this point, I didn’t think he knew what was happening. He probably thought he was just being taken away for his usual nap, but that all changed when I bolted up and ran over to him. “Meg! Meg!” he cried out as he saw me rush over to him. Tears immediately started pouring out of his eyes as he realized what was actually happening to him. To his credit, with all the strength and coordination he seemed to have left, he then tried to wiggle out of Mrs. Harrington’s arms and reach for me. Being who she was though, Harry proved no match for her strength. “Harry! No! Wait!” I yelled out to my friend, but it was too late. Without an ounce of hesitation or remorse, Mrs. Harrington opened and then walked through the door that all the other taken Littles went through. Just as I got to the door, it slammed shut in my face with a deafening thud. Harry and his wails of pleading were no more. Harry had been an annoying Little who continually would attach himself to one of us and get in the way of the friend group trying to play. Like a stray puppy though, it was hard not to fall for the little dude. So now, I guess in my anger and sadness, and with the drugs starting to wear off, I lost any semblance of the rest of my calm demeanor and began banging on the door as tears began to flow from my eyes over the loss of my friend. “Harry! Harry! Talk to me!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, but it was no use, and everyone knew it. In that moment though, the only good thing about these events happening at least every two weeks around here was that the daycare workers and the other Littles were used to the types of scenes that I was now making by the door. To the Littles, they knew that one day they could be the one on this side of the door or the one being taken away on the other side. For the Bigs though, I suspected that displays like this showed that a Little cared about their friend and that they weren’t afraid to show their emotions in front of others now under the right circumstances. After all, in their eyes, there wasn’t much of a leap between what I was doing and breaking down over a lost toy, but I didn’t care. I only cared about my friend and what they were doing to him beyond this single door. “Sweetie…” Mrs. Louder said as she crouched down and rubbed my heaving back. “It’s okay. Harry is going to a better place now. He’ll be… different there… but back home even.” I was confused over what she was saying, but at this point, I only wanted to know where he was really going. ‘Why him and not the three other Littles who are far more regressed?’ Mrs. Louder continued to rub my back, but my anger and grief over the loss of my friend weren’t going away, and being a seasoned employee here, she could plainly see that. She then sighed with a little sadness. “Well, I can’t have you like this all day. It’s not healthy, so how about this? You come with me, and I’ll get you all sorted. I promise you’ll feel better afterward, okay?” I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t want to feel like this anymore… the knowledge that one of my friends was just here one day and gone the next. Not dead from what I knew at least but gone all the same. It was something I couldn’t do a thing about, so, with some reluctance, I just stopped by banging and nodded my head at her proposal. Mrs. Louder smiled and nodded her head before standing back up. Slowly, she then helped me to my feet, and while holding my hand, led me away to the door I knew as the clinic here. I briefly looked back and could see that Jasper and Kelsey were crying as well, but to my surprise, they seemed to be muddling through it better than I was and even just encouraged me to go through the door with Mrs. Louder. I nodded and soon walked through the door. Entering the room, I was then immediately greeted by a decently sized clinic of a sort that resembled those that one could find in any elementary school. Posters about general hygiene and medicine dotted the walls above three beds that had curtains drawn back to the walls. Off to one side, a kindly blonde woman dressed in a pair of cartoonish scrubs then looked up from her desk there and smiled broadly. “Well, looks like someone is in need of a hug or a loli, huh?” Still too distraught over Harry, Mrs. Louder nodded in my place. “I think just that or the juice instead maybe.” She paused and the two nodded at each other before Mrs. Louder then spoke back up. “Nurse Betty, this is Megan.” She then lowered her voice. “She just lost one of her friends to… well, you know.” Nurse Betty nodded in understanding and then walked directly over to me from behind her desk. “Well, Megan, as Mrs. Louder said, I’m Nurse Betty. Probably feeling a bit down about everything with your friend… what’s their name, sweetie?” I could barely move my lips to form words, but I finally said softly, “Harry.” “Harry… I’m sure he was your friend,” she said, “and grieving is important, but I’m going to give you something and I want you to drink it all by the time you leave for the day, okay? Can you do that for me?” I only nodded and after smiling over my saddened cooperation, Nurse Betty produced a single sippy cup filled with a blueish white liquid. “This is… well, we call it ‘Blue-B-Gone,’ but it basically just calms your emotions down, ensures you’re hydrated, and even in some cases, helps you go to sleep if needed.” She then squinted at me for a moment. “Though, I’m guessing that won’t happen to you today from what I can see.” My emotions were still fully overloading my system, so without question, I just took the sippy cup and began to slowly drink it. Mrs. Louder left briefly as Nurse Betty then guided me over to lay on one of the beds, and honestly, I did feel much better afterward. Not long as the first sweet drop hit my tongue, everything had just turned down in my body and soul and I felt a sense of peace. Not necessarily joyous, but peaceful, nonetheless. After finishing about half of the sippy cup, Mrs. Louder then came back out and escorted me back to my still grieving friends. They started asking me the usual questions that I would have normally asked myself, but once they saw the Blues-B-Gone drink in my hands, I was just given hugs or pats on the back. Then, not long after the movie ended, Ben was told the news about his friend, and he began to cry as well. Like the others though, he seemed more in control of his emotions though, and everyone then just took the time and talked about their funny or touching stories with Harry. Still feeling the effects of the juice, I went last, but despite all the emotions going on around me, I didn’t shed a single further tear. “That’s just the drink,” Kelsey then later answered after I was curious about what I was feeling. “Must have been really upset or they deemed it a special circumstance.” “He was my friend,” I retorted near emotionlessly. “Yeah… that’s not it… otherwise they would be handing them out very day around here, but still, I’m sure we’ll figure it out one day,” she conceded. I only nodded and waited for Jennifer to pick me up as I finished my drink. To my relief, Jennifer then soon entered the building after a few Littles were already picked up, and Mrs. Louder was working at the front desk instead of Miss Ginny today. “I’m afraid that little Megan here lost her friend today. As such she had a tough time coping, so we gave her the special drink today. The blue one…” “Ah,” Jennifer acknowledged, nodding her head up and down. “Explains a lot and I can’t say I’m the biggest fan long term, but… I would have probably just done the same thing under the same circumstances.” Still not knowing if she could trust Mrs. Louder or not fully, I knew that Jennifer had purposely kept the whole thing vague just to ensure nothing would slip out to the public unless it was already approved by ABI. “Yes… it’s very sad with Harry, but as security, I’m sure you know how these things go,” Mrs. Louder said. Even in my fog of the Blues-B-Gone, my mind halted for a moment. ‘Did Jennifer know what was happening and just not telling me?’ Fortunately for the sake of my own previous trust issues, Jennifer just shook her head. “Actually… I’m just one of the lower people on the totem pole. I’m not told much in my current position about those types of things.” “Oh… well, you might think of considering changing that. I don’t know your background or anything, but no one stays on that low level for long around here unless they’ve messed up a bunch of times.” She then paused and looked at me. “Although… some little things might need to change a bit first.” My mind didn’t seem to get the connection she was trying to make, but like my own personal guardian angel, Jennifer, did. “Oh, right. Yes, maybe… lots of things to consider.” She then hastily looked at her watch. “Oops! Got here a little later than I wanted. Gotta head home and get this one fed… I’m sure you can agree that she’s had a long day.” Mrs. Louder nodded her head. “Oh, absolutely.” She then looked back down at me and gave me a tiny wave. “I’m sorry about Harry today, but you have a good rest and I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning.” Strangely, the Blues-B-Gone seemed to affect me at least partially like my morning meds, so almost involuntarily, I gave her a little wave back before Jennifer escorted me from the building. I wasn’t sure what to think about it all, and despite my current neutral appearance, I was still very much upset by the likely permanent loss of Harry. Guiding me through the parking lot, Jennifer could tell that I was still a little out of it, so she gently guided me into my booster seat and buckled me in. It was kind of nice to just sit back and relax. It was almost like… ‘Wait!’ I looked over and behind the building just for a moment but then saw something different. Normally, a large transport van would then leave, likely taking the taken Little up to the main research facility that I had yet to visit for whatever reason. This time though, instead of the truck leaving the daycare, it was still parked and there, clear as day, was Harry. I wanted to yell out, cry, scream for him. ‘Maybe the ABI could protect him? He could be used as an asset here, right? Like me even?’ My mind clouded with the possibilities of his rescue, and I tried to say anything for Jennifer to stop the car or go over there… she was security after all, but nothing would come out. My emotions were too pent up and too bombastic still, so I guessed that the Blues-B-Gone was still highly restricting my system. Frustrated beyond mere words, I just continued to watch Harry as he was escorted out of the building; however, I also noticed something very odd about him. He was Harry for sure, but an older version of himself. For one, he was walking without any difficulty… something that he hadn’t been able to do since at least February now. Secondly, his clothing was different. No cutesy teddy bears or jungle animals or even diapers, but just normal street clothing that almost looked strangely… dirty. Lastly, and most bizarre, he looked like he was talking with no problem and even walking normally with the other security personnel and myriad of doctors around him. I was puzzled over what I had just witnessed. My taken friend almost looked… mature… like a real adult and the man whom I had never met before all this place had gotten to him. ‘But how could that be? Was he a spy? Faking it? Or is there a cure for every Little somewhere?’ The possibilities seemed endless, but I also remembered back to what Erin had screamed before she had been silenced back on my first day. She talked about a machine. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt that it needed to become a priority. My dreams even had plagued me about it like last night, but now, seeing my friend like this, it was now very personal. Still, I wasn’t sure how everything connected, or even if it connected to my main mission of closing the portal or not. Either way, I knew that we would be seeing Amy again in only a few weeks. So, I had to ask myself, should I tell her about my friend and potentially get shut down in my own investigations, or not tell her and potentially disappoint her with a lack of information yet again? I had time to think about it, but I remained fearful that that perceived time might soon be running out.

i am in a very stinky squishy poopy and wet tykables overnights diapee. which i have had on all night. Mommy is here now to change me. I hope she is ready to glove up cause this diaper is extremely messy

Great story!

How did Americans Enthusiastically contribute to the attacks in Northern Ireland? Which by the way, there is a huge difference between revolutionaries trying to force an invading country out and religious zealots committing a terrorist attack on foreign soil.

Call me a liar. I couldn't help myself. I went back and ordered the Alpaca and Safari bodysuits. Just can't turn it down!!!

They are great. I had some a while ago but I couldn’t keep them dry. I wasn’t ready to potty train. I’m in Rearz diapers full time. I love them. I will always be a Rearz baby.

8. Millie could see the desperation in Jamie’s eyes, not to mention his excessive fidgeting and the crossing of his legs. “You should have said something earlier,” she told him. “No problem, though, I think there’s a ladies’ room near the food court.” Jamie’s mouth dropped open. “But I can’t... I mean I shouldn’t...” he stammered. “You can’t exactly go into the men’s room looking like that, now, can you?” she said firmly. “We’ve already established that no one will ever know. Besides, you’ll do your business in a stall so no one will see your dangly parts. And from the looks of it, you won’t be able to make it until we get home. You really don’t have a choice.” She paused, noting that his panicked expression hadn’t lessened. “Jamie, it’s just a bathroom. It’s not like a secret society where you need to know a special handshake or pass a quiz on periods to use it. I’ll go in with you. We can be in and out in no time and get something to eat.” Jamie nodded as he felt a few drops of urine escape. At this point he had to go so badly that he’d use one of the mall’s planters if he had to. He shuffled as fast as he was able after Millie, afraid to take bigger steps if that meant spreading his legs. After what seemed like an eternity, he found himself trailing Millie into forbidden territory, his panties at this point more than a little damp. The first thing he noticed was two teenagers at the mirror, one fixing her lipstick and the other adjusting her bra. He abruptly turned away to face in the direction of the stalls, where he confronted a sight rarely seen in the men’s room. A line. “You’ll have to hold it a little longer,” Millie whispered. “You can go before me. I’ll meet you outside.” The line moved at glacial speed. At the passing of every minute, Jamie could feel his crotch get a little wetter. Glancing down, he was relieved to see that no wet spot was visible on his outfit. Finally, stalls on both ends opened up simultaneously. Millie headed toward one as Jamie speed-shuffled to the other. Once inside, Jamie reached for the buckle holding the strap of his shortalls on his left shoulder. His hands were shaking as he fumbled with the latch, having trouble focusing on the mechanics of getting it undone. Just as he pushed it free, his bladder released. “Noooo...” he groaned, rushing to sit down on the toilet seat so that the excess pee streaming down through his crotch would end up in the toilet bowl rather than the floor. The result was a tinkle much like the sounds emanating from the other stalls. The relief he felt in emptying his bladder was more than offset by his panic at what to do next. He grabbed a wad of toilet paper and dried off his thighs, but the tissue was no match for the saturated crotch of his shortalls. Besides being suddenly itchy and uncomfortable, there was no way to clean up his accident. When he emerged from the stall, he held the shopping bag containing his new purchases in front of his groin area, pinning it against himself as he leaned into the sink to wash his hands. He glanced over to the stall Millie had used and saw that the door was ajar. She was waiting for him just outside the restroom. “What took you so long? I’m famished.” The pleading in Jamie’s eyes gave her immediate pause. “Is something wrong? Are you alright? What happened in there?” “Can we go home now?” Jamie pleaded, his voice quivering. “Not unless you tell me what’s going on,” Millie replied. “And why are you standing so awkwardly. Here, let me hold that for you.” Before Jamie could stop her, she took hold of the plastic bag and held it to her side. She gasped and immediately handed it back to Jamie. “I thought that smell of pee was coming from inside the bathroom,” she said crossly. “How on earth did that happen? Toilets in the ladies’ room work exactly as those in the men’s room so you shouldn’t have been confused.” Jamie explained his issues with the buckle to unsympathetic ears. “Well, you’re not getting into my car like that,” Millie told him. “And I’m hungry. Keep that bag well-positioned while we walk to the food court, then slide into a chair while I get us some food.” As they walked Millie surreptitiously fell back a half step in order to take a look at Jamie’s rear end. She didn’t have the heart to tell him about the large wet spot covering half his backside. Jamie was relieved to sit down, the table hiding his shame, but kept shifting to try to find a position where the drenched fabric didn’t press against him. Just as Millie returned with two trays of food, a dreadful thought occurred to him. “I didn’t buy any underwear,” he said. “When you buy me panties to replace the pairs I gave you, you can get some for yourself as well. What? Do you really want to go back to the men’s department in that condition? I didn’t think so. You can order underpants online when we get home.” They ate most of their meal together in silence, which Millie eventually broke. “I’m not sure how you’re going to explain this to Angie,” she said. “You should know that she’s a real neat freak. If your lease is similar to mine, she has the right to terminate it for any number or reasons, including if you fail to keep the place clean or have any condition that would cause damage to the furniture or carpeting. Or just because she wants to. She went berserk when one of her tenant’s water broke in the living room and the poor woman almost got evicted. I don’t think she’ll be happy with a pants wetter living under her roof.” Millie smiled at the horror in Jamie’s eyes. Virtually none of what she’d just said was true but she was enjoying having some harmless fun at his expense. She wondered how far she could take it and decided to push it further. “Please don’t tell her!” Jamie almost shouted, drawing unwanted attention from nearby tables. “I can’t afford to lose this place. It’s the only one I could find!” he said in a much softer but still desperate tone. “I’ll make you a deal,” Millie said, “and it involves you doing something to actually make Angie a little more comfortable with your presence in the home and possibly secure your space there for the full term of the lease. She admitted to me last night that she’s not entirely on board with her decision to bring a man on as a tenant. Nothing against you personally, mind you, but she’s so accustomed to having all women in the house that she doesn’t know if she can enjoy meals with you at the table. She was thrilled that you wore a skirt to dinner last night and expressed a desire that you’d go a little further at meals.” Jamie stared at Millie as if she had two heads. “Are you suggesting...” he began, but was unable to finish the thought, it was so unthinkable. “That you come to dinner dressed as a woman, complete with makeup and your hair done properly. I think at breakfast you can slide by with the nightgown or feminine pjs, and what you wear the rest of the day is totally up to you. So it would just be dinner. It would mean so much to her and in a way, you kind of owe her for taking you in.” Jamie sat lost in thought for several minutes. On the one hand, this was an absolute, ridiculous nightmare and he couldn’t believe the predicament he was in. Ask him a week ago and he’d have insisted that he’d never consider such a thing. On the other hand, if he were to lose this room, he couldn’t imagine going back to the fleabag motel or worse, living out of his car. He began to rationalize. It would only be for an hour every day and it would save him the embarrassment of having Angie or anyone else find out about the most humiliating day of his life. Still... “Okay, fine,” he finally said to Millie’s surprise and delight. “But no one ever, ever finds out about today. Not just Angie, anyone. And not just my accident, all of this.” “Of course, dear, that sounds fair. Now, if you’re done eating, we need to do some more shopping.” The pair headed back toward the department store, so Jamie was puzzled when Millie took a detour into a pharmacy. “You smell,” she explained, “and you can’t simply replace the wet panties with dry ones. We need to clean you up.” Jamie saw the sense in that but was still mortified when he found himself in the baby aisle. Millie picked up a pack of scented wipes and, as an afterthought, some baby powder. Jamie didn’t want to make a scene, so he said nothing. “Let me grab the panties you owe me then we’ll get you fixed,” she said once back out in the mall. Jamie couldn’t believe she’d make him wait even longer to get out of his wet things. The itching as growing intolerable and maybe he was being paranoid, but he swore he heard girlish giggling all around him. He clutched his shopping bag closer to his midsection. Silently he followed Millie into the women’s department, awkwardly standing among all of the women’s bras and undergarments. He closed his eyes and in his mind pretended to be at a ballgame, drinking beer and doing manly things. His reverie was broken when he heard Millie’s voice in his ear. “Your card.” He handed it over, ignoring Millie’s smirk when the tampon peeked out of his purse as he retrieved his wallet. He didn’t even ask to see the panties he was purchasing for her. Anything to speed up the process. When Millie returned and gave him back his card, he took a step toward section with women’s casual wear. “Not here,” Millie told him. “Unless you want to pay top dollar for the clothes you’ll only be wearing to dinner. Come with me.” He was again forced back into the main part of the mall and its throngs of shoppers. As before, he avoided eye contact and didn’t even see the name of the store that Millie dragged him into. Once inside, though, he immediately could see that it was aimed at teenage girls. “My name’s Christine and it would be my pleasure to assist you and your daughter today,” a young freckled blonde girl said mechanically, drawing scowls from both Jamie and Millie, but for opposite reasons. “Let me show you to our pre-teen section where I’m sure you’ll find whatever you’re looking for.” Without waiting for a response, the woman turned and walked away. Millie shrugged her shoulders and followed, leaving Jamie no choice but to bring up the rear. Within seconds they were deep among a forest of racks of brightly colored attire clearly meant for tweens and even younger girls. Millie politely dismissed the clerk by stating that she’d let her know if they needed help. Millie held a particularly homely dress up against Jamie’s front. “I know it’s hideous,” she whispered. “All I’m trying to do right now is find the right size for you, then we’ll quickly grab a couple things and get into a dressing room where we can clean you up. Then you can stay and hide in there while I do the actual shopping.” Millie shook her head, returned the dress to the rack, and picked up the next size down. This one seemed to satisfy her. “Incredible,” she murmured to herself when she looked at the size on the tag. She grabbed two more outfits in the same size, picked up a package of panties off a sales table, and signaled to Christine, who led them to the back. Before they entered the dressing room area, Christine paused to point to a sign posted on the wall which read “All children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.” “I know she’s still got a few years to go,” she told Millie. “But we can let her stay in there by herself for a little while if you come out to look for something new to try or a different size.” Jamie had never been so relieved to be anywhere as he was when Millie closed the dressing room door behind them, but his mood changed almost immediately when Millie leaned down to speak softly into his ear. “There may be others in here, so we need to keep up the charade,” she said. “Keep your voice low. Also, look up there.” Millie pointed a camera high up on the wall. “It’s to prevent shoplifting and drug use. We’re going to have to keep your boy parts hidden. It won’t be an issue once you get panties on but we can’t risk revealing yourself to the world cleaning the pee off of you. I’m afraid I’m going to have to do it and use my body to block the view of the camera.” As she spoke, Millie knelt on the floor, opened up the pack of baby wipes, and placed the baby powder container on the floor. Using both hands, she pulled Jamie’s soggy panties down and dropped them in the pharmacy bag, not making any effort to hide her disgust at touching Jamie’s pee. “Won’t be wearing those again,” she told him. She was now facing Jamie’s naked penis inches from her. She paused only long enough to make the observation that it seemed grossly underdeveloped compared to the genitals of the sexual partners she’d had, but maybe she’d just been lucky and this was within the norm. Somehow, she imagined that there would be more than a few wisps of fine hair. She made quick work of cleaning him up, wiping his member while taking care not to stroke it, then moving to other sensitive areas before finishing with his thighs. Not daring to have him turn around, she reached around to take a short pass over his rear and up his crack. She snorted in disgust at the streak left on the wipe. She handed Jamie a pair of panties before pulling out a handful of wipes to clean her hands, depositing them in the bag. Jamie looked at the panties in dismay. They were white cotton with pink kittens and purple hearts on them. “Just slip them on,” Millie hissed. “I didn’t have time to look at anything but size.” Jamie reluctantly did just that. As embarrassing as it was, the clean and dry panties felt wonderful. Millie, however, wasn’t done. She pulled the front of Jamie’s panties out and shook a generous amount of baby powder in, then repeated the process in the back. Excessive perhaps, but the room now smelled like a nursery instead of an outhouse. “Okay,” Millie said, rising. “Let’s pull those disgusting shortalls off you and get you in something else. She looked more closely at what she’d selected. “Let’s start with this dress.” She added the smelly shortalls to the bag then helped Jamie pull the dress over his head. “Wow,” she said admiringly. “Ugly as hell but it actually fits you remarkably well. Take it off and let’s try this romper.” And so it went. For the better part of the next hour, Millie made trips out to the shop floor and came back with arms full of a variety of outfits, setting aside some and hanging the rest on a rack outside the door. At long last, she declared them done but gave Jamie a lingering once-over. “Nope. Not quite finished.” She left the dressing room, tracked down Christine, and whispered to her conspiratorially. Christine nodded, moved away, then returned and handed Millie a small package with a knowing smile. “I used these when I was her age,” she said. She returned to the dressing room to find a very impatient young man waiting for her. “You have a very small chest,” Millie said, “and these clothes are for girls who are just starting to develop. They’d fit you much better if you wore this”—she held a training bra out in one hand—“with these.” In her other hand, she had small breast inserts. “They’ll bring you up to just under an A cup.” Jamie almost forgot where he was and started to protest but was instantly cut off. “They’ll make you look better, and all girls want that,” she said. “And it’s part of the agreement we made earlier. If you want me to keep your secret you’ll say yes.” Jamie sighed in resignation, looking at what seemed to be an unnecessarily large pile of clothing in the keeper pile, some of which he didn’t remember trying on. He nodded his head, picked up the clothes, and followed Millie out of the dressing room to the cashier, out of the mall, and at long last out to the car.

Playground Check "Sweetie! Come here.” You get off the spring pony and toddle over to Mommy sitting on the bench. “Yes, Mommy?” you say. “Let me check you.” She says it nicely enough, but you know it’s not a request. She slips two fingers into the leg hole of your diaper. “Sweetie, are you wet?” she asks. “Yes ma’am.” You say. “Do big kids go pee pee in their pants?” You shake your head. “No ma’am” “Why didn’t you come tell me?” “I was playin’.” This is only a half-truth. It was easier not to think about what you’d done when you kept your mind and body otherwise occupied. “That doesn’t sound very mature, does it?” Again you shake your head. “No ma’am.” “Turn around.” She makes the little circular motion with her finger as if you don’t understand. Looking out at the playground with all of the other “babies” playing, you shiver as you feel Mommy slide her finger into the back of your diaper and pull it back, getting look. “Sweetie,” she says, “are you messy?” You nod. “Yes ma’am. “Do big kids go poopie in their pants?” “No ma’am.” “Why didn’t you come tell me?” “I was pwaying.” You swallow hard. You hadn’t meant to say it like that! “That doesn’t sound very mature, does it?” “No ma’am.” Hands on your shoulders she turns you around to face her. “ What happens to big kids who go pee-pee and poopie in their pants?” Your avert your gaze to the mulchy ground beneath you, but her hand is on your chin, tilting it back up so that you have to look her in the eye. What happens to big kids who go pee-pee and poopie in their pants?” she repeats. You swallow again. “They get a...a…” You do your best to enunciate. “They get a spankin’.” At least you didn’t drop the s this time. Little victories. “And what happens to babies who go pee-pee and poopie in their diapers?” “They get a diaper change.” Your cheeks feel thirty degrees warmer. “That’s right. Now, which one are you?” You hate this part. You love this part. “A...a baby.” “What was that?” “I’m a baby…” you say. “Change me?” “Okay, sweetie,” Mommy coos. “Let’s get you changed.” Like a good baby, you take her hand to go to the big brick restroom by the playground. There’s a changing station in there. Mommy doesn’t budge. “Ah-ah-ah,” she says. “Mommy doesn’t have to go potty.” She guides you down to the park bench where she was sitting. “We’ll do it here.” Panic! Embarrassment! Pending humiliation! “But Mommeeee!” you whine as your back hits the slatted wood. Mommy’s not listening. She’s already sliding your changing mat beneath you and fishing out a pack of wipes and a fresh diaper. You turn your head to the side and see all of your little friends still playing on the playground. They’ll see! Everyone will see! “Your diaper was clean when we got here,” she says. “If you can go pee-pee and poopie in your diaper in front of your little friends, then you can get it changed in front of them too.” From the diaper bag she takes out a binkie and pops it into your mouth. End of discussion. You do your best to block out the world, covering your eyes with your hands and sucking on your binkie. But it’s very hard to ignore Mommy’s wiping down there. “Excuse me,” a very deep, masculine voice says. “I couldn’t help but hear what you were talking about with your baby.” Mommy doesn't even pause from wiping you down. She’s done this so many times, her arms are practically on autopilot. “Just a little conditioning routine I worked out," she says. "Good for training." "Not potty training" the man says. They both laugh. You just hide your face. You peek out from behind your hands. Standing next to you is a Daddy and his little boy. The little boy is sucking on a pacifier and does not seem happy to be here. That makes two of you. “Do you do it every time?” the Daddy asks. “Mind sharing some of those tricks?” he asks. No regard for your modesty, the grown-ups start their conversation as Mommy finishes diapering you. You stand up and give her a hug, yet another ingrained behavior that you can’t quite shake. You wiggle your hips a little and feel the clean crispness of the new padding on your butt. A smile spreads out over your face. You don’t want to like it, but you can’t help it. You literally can’t help it. Mommy gives you a pat on your fresh diaper and tells you go to play so that she can talk to the nice man. The Daddy gives his boy a matching pat, sending you two off to play. “Sorry in advance,” you say to the newcomer. “About what?” he asks, pacifier still wedged between his lips like a cigar. “About what my Mommy is gonna tell your Daddy,” you say. “She’s really good.” Really good. Too good, in fact. So good. He spits out the pacifier. “HE'S NOT MY DADDY!” he yells. “I’ve never even worn this...this...THIS...” he gestures to his pantsless diapered state; just like you. You believe him. You relate to him. But he doesn't understand yet. The grown-ups always win in the end. “Sure sure,” you say, not wanting to get into an argument so close to the grown-ups. If his daddy is anything like Mommy, this is about to be the new normal for him. “Let’s go play in the jungle gym.” You toddle off, not looking back. There's no point in looking back...

I really don't think he fully understands what he's doing lol, but if you think he does then he's just asking to be punished lol. She definitely likes getting spanked, maybe she'll have an orgasm during the spanking she'll be getting later from Sarah lol. She might like enemas, but how does she feel about messy diapers? Or about having to spend the night in one? I'm kind of hoping she discovers that she has a humiliation and possibly a degradation kink lol. The bar scene will be interesting for sure. Once the bar knows about her diapers it's not going to be long everyone at work will know lol. I have a feeling Priss will also get in trouble with Sarah since technically she's the babysitter lol.

I definitely like her being under Suzie. I think library. Also I think the rest of the gang, since they like stealing diapers, they can work off their "debt" to the crime boss by working for him in the diaper company, be spanked of course and have to wear diapers at all times. Might even find out during the spanking that one of them really likes it and during an embarrassing messy diaper change by their boss they now work under or whoever is in charge of changing them, it's discovered the same one gets quite excited in her messy diapers lol. Which of course the one doing the changing happily points out and teases her about it in front of the other girls lol.

In the 21 years I have been here I have NEVER seen anyone frown upon answering an old post.

Patreon decided to mass purge ABDL accounts last week. Several dozen creators were taken down without warning. I have moved to reamstories.com/lexibridges. I'm adding all my old content this week plus adding new content, picking right where I left off.

LOL!!! As Ian said to Tippi, his relationship with Sarah is a work in progress, with kinks that have yet to be worked out. Trust me, he knows what he's doing here. As for Vickie, what can one say? She has been spanker and spankee many a time, and for all we know, enjoys both giving and receiving enemas. She's a brilliantly intuitive therapist, but her intuition is born of personal experience. Vickie holding court in a cop bar should be a tad entertaining!

I think as long as there's diapers in the story somewhere, readers here will like it.

Look like well over $400 in Trest diapers there! And me with only a few left in the package I bought last August.

Cheese is constipating you may need a prune cake for desert to engage diaper liberation.

A daytime version of PEEjamas

No need, it is incoforlife.

I figure that if I'm going to get stuck there and my potty training taken away then it may as well be pancakes made with amazon milk, and not knowing what chocolate does to littles. I know that in some stories they do it on purpose. But not all Amazons are going to know, or even need to know, what their milk does to littles. They're just told that it's insanely nutritious for them. The rest of it is just goign to happen on its own to try and keep their littles healthy. She's a lot more familiar with the concept of what a little is supposed to behave like in her world than he is. She's not trying to push him too hard, but maybe fresh milk is helping them out, even if they don't know it. (*imagine that I'm hummin ghte twilight zone theme here**) *salute!* I'm recovering from surgery and should be able to see without pain in a couple of weeks! If I ever wind up in that dimension I will make absolutely, positively certain to never, under any circumstances, challenge a Big by telling them I'm not ticklish. I'm a little bit crazy, but that just seems like asking for it.

Ugh. Was so close to posting this yesterday, but right before I started editing it, I realized I couldn’t find one of my shirts for a family photo on my upcoming trip. Oh well, but at least I’m still making my goal of at least one chapter a day this week before I leave and go on my little hiatus with this story. That being said, looking ahead, things will be a little busy, so I ask for your patience in posting the rest of this story even when I return. By now, my goal is to get it out and completed before the New Year, but things will be posted when I feel comfortable with them. I’m sure most of you would prefer better storytelling to a rushed narrative full of holes and mistakes. Additionally, I just want to note that due to how this story is about to flow, I want to warn you all that there will be some time jumps like that occurred in Chapter 5 previously. I figured in an operation like this and one with so much security with the research facility and caution with both Jennifer and Megan, things wouldn’t proceed very quickly. As such, I just want to warn you all to make sure you pay attention to some of the times I note so you aren’t thinking it’s still February when in fact it’s June for example. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter! Chapter 11: Anything? Jennifer was a professional agent for sure, but I was quickly noticing her other more compassionate and understanding side as well. Her question of ‘how was my day,’ still hung in the air as the car rounded the few streets and then parked in our driveway. Others may have pushed me for an answer right away, but likely seeing the delicate nature of the mission, she just allowed me to take my time. “It was okay,” I finally managed to say once we were back inside and sitting on the couch facing each other. “I see… my day was just okay too…” she answered. There was then a pause between us for a moment. I had declined the snack offered at the daycare today, fearing that it could have been spiked with something as I heard could be the case sometimes in other locations. I used the experiment day juice at lunch to justify that I was still full to the daycare workers at the time, but now, creeping closer to dinner and becoming ravenous, my stomach let out a loud and empty growl. Jennifer smiled at the noise and taking it on herself to take the risk first, she spoke up so that I wouldn’t have to with what actually happened. “You know… my day was a bit difficult if I’m being completely honest.” I looked up and raised my eyebrows. “I saw a bunch of experiments, Megan… some really concerning stuff on my tour today, but… nothing actionable still on the portal though. Maybe the authorities when all this is over, but nothing for our mission.” I nodded. “Same here. Lots of concerning things… they even tested us and yanked out one Little while we were watching a movie. It was…” I wanted to say scary, but the word didn’t feel right to say as a truly non-regressed Little or without being on my drug. “I guess… concerning is the word…? I’m still here and all, but it makes me wonder… how much longer until that Little is me that gets dragged away?” Jennifer then reached forward and patted my leg. “That must be really terrible, but I’m still proud of you, Megan.” “Proud of me?” I asked, not sure what she would even be referring to after what I had just told her about. Jennifer nodded. “Yes. You survived your first day of daycare here. You survived their tests, and that’s no easy feat.” She then paused. “But I understand that you may feel a little down about it all, so I’ll tell you what.” She then stood up and headed over to the kitchen. “We’re going to do something that my family used to do whenever one of us had a rough day.” I racked my brain for what she could be referring to, but after a few minutes, I heard a loud beeping coming from the kitchen. A pleasant smell then wafted over to me, and Jennifer soon returned with two mugs of something steaming from inside them. “We used to have a nice soothing cup of herbal tea, and you might think it to be a little weird, but it helps a lot to cope with what happened.” Now, tea was still around, but it was certainly a much rarer commodity back home, so I rarely drank it, but as soon as I accepted the tea from Jennifer and placed my lips upon the steaming hot beverage, I knew that drinking tea here would probably start to become part of my routine. “Thank you, Jennifer. I don’t think it’s weird at all, and besides, the tea is delicious.” She then smiled back at me warmly after taking a sip of her own tea. “I’m glad. Just don’t be shy about asking for a cup from now on if you need it after I pick you up.” I nodded back and after blowing on my tea a little bit, I took another sip. I then briefly wondered if from what Jennifer had described to me that she now considered me part of her family. It felt too soon in some ways, but it was an admittedly minor thing to truly be worried about. What soon tickled my brain more though, was that based on my first day alone, I wondered just how many teas Jennifer and I would share in the coming times of our mission here. As it turned out, it was quite a lot. The weeks rolled by, and January soon passed into February when Jennifer received a coded message for a time and place to meet up with Amy once more for our debriefing. I hadn’t seen her or even had a single debriefing since my initial encounter with her the night I was captured. Needless to say, even with my thoughts plagued by my own worries at daycare with yet another testing day, our meetup once Jennifer picked me up weighed heavily on my mind. “Hello? Earth to Megan! Earth to Megan!” Kelsey almost shouted at me as she also snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Wha…?” I then realized the rest of the group was staring back at me. “Oh… sorry… just thinking about getting picked up today. Jennifer said we might get a treat afterward,” I partially lied. Jennifer did promise a treat, but it was only after our first debriefing, but the group didn’t need to know the little details like that. “Oh! So jealous of you! Chrissy did something like that the other day but then ruined her new dress all over.” Ben cried out. He… well, technically she was becoming my best source of gossip around here. Ben had been curious about dresses since he was six but had never dipped his toe into anything more than an occasional glance or curiosity. When his caregivers had found out after they took him in though, he was now slowly becoming ‘Beatrice,’ or ‘Bea,’ as most of the staff now called him. Needless to say, he was still struggling with part of it from the suddenness and fast pace of it all, so we still referred to him as a ‘him’ and as Ben until he was more comfortable with what was happening to him. “Which one?” Jasper asked as he adjusted his glasses once more. “Spencer’s or that new place for Littles near the salon on main street?” He was the most mature of the group and I often questioned why he was even here at daycare in the first place or why more daycare workers didn’t focus on him more to try and trick or regress him as they did with others above the preschool level here. We were still friends, but I also knew I needed to keep my distance in case he was used as some sort of Big trap to get other mature Littles to reveal themselves after having a conversation about physics or the meaning of life. “I think Spencer’s…” I said unsure. “Jennifer didn’t say… I just know I’m getting a treat though, so… yay for me either way!” I had to take my victories now where I could. “Ice cweam?” Harry then asked from off to the side of the group. I nodded. “Yeah, buddy. Ice cream.” Harry had only gotten worse since I had first met him. I could still hold a conversation with him, but I kept noticing as each week passed, his abilities seemed to only be decreasing. It almost seemed like dementia or ALS, but he still had his memories and all… but more and more, I couldn’t help but start to think of him as the baby of the group. Jasper, Kelsey, or I had even begun to ensure his safety while we played outside so that he wouldn’t get hurt anymore. It only took a single errant dodgeball to his head last week for us to realize his potential new problems. “Right… anyways…” Ben said, clearly uncomfortable with the downward progress of his friend. I suspected that being the only other one in diapers of the group, at least from what I could see from my view so far, only added to his discomfort around the Little that potentially broadcasted out his own future. “Anyone hear a rumor of the new toys they’re making up at the lab?” “Toys?” Harry asked excitedly. Kelsey chuckled a little bit. “Yes, Harry, toys, but I heard they may not be ready for another few months. Something about wanting even more features and getting stuck with another department.” “Sounds like more than a rumor to me,” Jasper interjected. We all knew he had no real love of toys, but his need to be right or discover things was something that I had noticed as one of his primary drives around here. “That’s because my caregiver, Drew, is some big wig up there,” Kelsey explained. “Management or whatnot, I think… I kind of tune that part out though. More curious just about what new thing he’s making for us down here to try and test out.” “Your Daddy sounds really important then,” Ben noted. “Caregiver…” Kelsey corrected swiftly, “but yes, I think he is. Would never directly share his work with me, but I’ve taken a peek at a few things.” “Just a peek?” I asked, doubtful that it was all she did. Since I had come to know her a few weeks ago, I had learned a lot, but her curiosity was nearly insatiable at times. It had even earned her a timeout two weeks ago when she opened a door she shouldn’t have when she was bored one day while I had been reading a book. Kelsey looked back at me with a twinkle of guilt in her eyes and a smirk growing on her face. “No… I looked through his files when he was watching the track and field event on the TV, but that’s what I just told him when he caught me.” “And he wasn’t mad?” Jasper asked skeptically. “Oh no,” Kelsey clarified, “he was really mad… even said my punishment might be the ‘reverse of the machine’ if I wasn’t careful. Whatever that means anyway… Still, I got a timeout for about an hour.” Before I could ask more questions about Drew, Mrs. Louder then came over to the group and handed Ben and Jasper two pieces of paper. “For your uh, caregivers… all aces today you two.” “Thank you, Mrs. Louder,” both said in unison. Mrs. Louder only smiled and ruffled the ever-growing hair of Ben as she had done on the past few testing days as part of some subgroup that they were in. She probably would have ruffled Jasper’s hair as well, but I found her to be one of the more caring Bigs working here and paid attention to what each of her Littles actually like or didn’t. She could still dole out punishment for sure, like she did when Harry began writing on the walls one day, but she also knew her limits and had a soft side that knew how to actually forgive some of the Littles… unlike Mrs. Harrington. Mrs. Harrington… if there was ever a Big I had truly come to fear so far here, it would have been her. Her rigid and bony form seemed frail from an outsider’s perspective, but every Little she disciplined knew better. In fact, she was even known throughout the daycare for the love she gave to her favorite-colored red paddle that she administered out her justice with, whom she even creepily nicknamed ‘Crimson.’ Today, as a testament to the fear she instilled, she had even taken another Little, Hector. Harry was close to him, so I even played with him after his nap to distract him from the fact that his friend had left without warning only hours ago as Mrs. Harrington had warned of anyone acting out in the next hour would be taken as well. Fearing for his safety, I also knew that while Harry might have been regressing at an alarming rate, he still had his memories and would have certainly reacted sorrowfully regarding his friend Hector. In fact, from his still intact memory, I could even still see glimpses of his original self before all this happened to him. As the group began to be picked up by their respective caregivers, or now for some of them, mommies and daddies, Kelsey and I were the last to leave and looked after Harry to keep him entertained and out of trouble. “You like trains, don’t you, Harry?” Kelsey asked as Harry made cute little chugging noises with the tiny plush train he now was pushing forward on the floor. “Yeah… wemine’s me of da pass… pass…” Harry struggled with saying some words more than others now. “Past?” I offered in order to help him along with what he was trying to say. Harry nodded. “Yeah… use ta be a dwivah… you know… a co… con-duc-to…” I could see him struggle once more and he even looked at me this time to help him out. “Conductor?” I offered up once again. It was times like these that I hoped beyond anything else that I would never reach this level here. I wasn’t sure how long Harry had been at the daycare, but the more I learned about his past, the more I knew that whatever was happening to him, could happen to anyone. It was a fact I was slowly coming to terms with, but also something that was beginning to plague my dreams since I first saw Erin being taken on my first day. Jennifer had rushed in a few of the times during those fearful nights, much to my embarrassment, but she ended up being very comforting about the whole business. I waited for her to console me like a child, but to my relief, I was only offered the sympathy of a caring partner. “Do you aww… dink… abou’ da pass?” Harry asked, his concentration briefly wavering. If I was a betting person and seeing that face like I had in the past few weeks, he was likely just wetting his fresh diaper after his post-naptime bottle of juice. “It’s best not to, Harry,” Kelsey said with a sad look on her face. I still didn’t know why she was here in the first place after moving out of New Eboracum City, but I had a learned that it was better not to ask those types of questions as I had found out when another new Little asked one of the younger ones about their past. It turns out that particular Little, Marcy, had a criminal past and was here as a punishment of sorts by her new caregivers, which the other Little learned of too late and ended up with a black eye and a crayon jammed into her thigh. She ended up in the infirmary with a lollipop afterward. Marcy had gone up to the research facility and still wasn’t the same, though most gave her a wide berth now. Still, all that could have been avoided if just more personal questions weren’t asked in the first place. Harry looked sadder than I had seen him in a long time, so I took it upon myself to try and cheer him up. “I do sometimes, Harry. Kelsey is right that we shouldn’t dwell on it, but I think that just occasionally reminiscing isn’t too bad either.” I quickly looked around as I realized a larger word had slipped into my vocabulary as the drugs that I had taken this morning began to wear off. It wouldn’t automatically give me away, but it could still raise suspicions, something I was still cautious of even a few weeks in here and not even being the newest Little anymore. I felt that one could never be too careful in a place like this. “I’m glad I’m nah da only one…” he said, slightly stroking a stuffed cat I had occasionally seen him with in here before called… Noodles… maybe? The time passed by quickly, and soon, Jennifer picked me up once again. I waved goodbye once more to Miss Ginny by the front desk and then buckled myself into the booster seat waiting for me in Jennifer’s still-running car outside in the parking lot. As we sped off, I instantly noticed that we were oddly leaving town, the first time since I had arrived here. “Evening, Miss Gallup,” Bob, the security guard greeted Jennifer as we approached the gate. “Headed out to the city tonight?” Jennifer shook her head. “No. That’s a little far for us. Just taking a spin out to good old nearby Centerton. I saw from one of the store’s websites that they just got the most darling light fixture that I think would be perfect for my living room.” “Ah,” Bob acknowledged while double checking Jennifer’s ID, “Makes sense. Just be careful driving tonight. I heard a storm might be brewing to the west of here.” Jennifer then took back her ID. “Thanks, Bob. Will do.” She then waved goodbye and we sped off further toward the nearby town. Once we were out of view, my curiosity got the better of me. “So… are we actually going into town to get a light fixture, or…” Jennifer gravely smiled in her rearview mirror. “We actually are going to stop in town to get a light fixture, but it’s also to establish our cover story if anyone asks… like Bob just did. Plus, I did promise you that treat.” I smiled over the treat, but I still wanted to know more. “Oh… so, we’re still seeing Amy, right?” I asked, noticing the openness of everything still out here. If the portal ever did collapse or blew up, I doubted many people would be in harms way for a decent distance outside of the research facility. “We are but remember to keep that a secret… and I mean from everyone, understand?” she questioned me with her serious voice that I had learned to always pay close attention to now. “Absolutely. Won’t even tell Kelsey… even if she asks,” I added on. Kelsey and I were becoming closer friends through all this, and I was very glad about that fact, but at the same time, I just knew there were things she couldn’t know about in my life. After more straight roadways surrounded by little more than trees and grass, the town of Centerton soon came into view. It was barely bigger population-wise than the research facility’s own numbers, but it also served as a hub of sorts around here for some of the bigger brand name stores and dining options. The research facility town had everything a person could need in life, but shopping for that special dress or eating somewhere fancy beyond the one place in town, meant driving here. Instead of heading into the main part of town though, Jennifer veered off into the older section of the town that had fallen on hard times. Few people lived here anymore after the factory had shut down that produced oil-run cars, so most buildings were either dilapidated or even on the verge of collapse in most areas. To the detriment of my nerves though, Jennifer soon parked right outside the old factory building with her lights pointed inward to the almost nearly completely open inside now. With night rapidly approaching, I clearly saw Jennifer flash her lights in a burst of one short, one long, and then two shorts. The other car only flashed theirs twice, but Jennifer quickly seemed satisfied and turned around to face me. “Alright. They’re here. Just answer Amy’s questions as well as you can. She shouldn’t be expecting anything major this time, so just tell the truth.” I nodded my head and quickly unbuckled my booster seat. “I got it. Only the truth.” Jennifer warmly smiled back at me once more and then exited the car. I soon followed and we walked together over to the other car. Halfway there, a voice I didn’t recognize shouted back at us. “Hold. Identify.” Jennifer froze in place, but quickly and confidently replied. “Jennifer. A6G348. Verify.” “HQ. Code word, bumble bee,” the voice replied. I was a little confused, but then quickly remembered back to when Amy had explained there were two sides to all this mess. They were likely confirming each other’s identity to ensure that the mission still wouldn’t be compromised. To my relief and soon, the passenger’s side door of the other car opened, and Amy stepped out. “I’m glad you all could find this place,” she said, walking over to us. “Still in one piece as well, I see, huh Megan?” I just wordlessly nodded my head. “Good. Well, this first time shouldn’t be too long, but I definitely want to hear what you all want to report back to me.” “It’s been a month…” Jennifer quickly tried to justify, understanding Amy’s tone to mean that she wanted results, while also knowing that neither of us really had any at this point. “Yes… and we’ve given you all the resources we could without practically breaking down the door with all our agents,” she noted. “So, why don’t you?” I asked without thinking and more just reacting. I could immediately feel the tension in the air, and I didn’t have to look up at Jennifer now to know that she was likely now grimacing over what I had just asked. Amy just stared back at both of us for a moment and seemed both shocked at the question and my boldness for even asking it in the first place. “Well, she finally said, “if we assaulted the building now, our detractors… enemies more like… might use it to brandish us as traitors or at least disruptors of the peaceful scientists brilliantly working so hard to better progress our society. We would be outcasts and then they would proceed with their testing with a new practically cart blanche sort of attitude in our government. The public would probably even support them and then there would be no stopping anything. Is that what you want?” I hadn’t thought about all the consequences of what it could mean for a government agency to suddenly storm what amounted to a civilian organization… possibly governmentally backed, but still run mainly by ordinary citizens. In embarrassment over what now seemed like a foolish question to the division leader of this mission and sector, I wiggled back a little bit and more into the shadows. Seeing her opportunity to speak up and fill the void from the aftermath of my question, Jennifer spoke up. “Well, ma’am, we’ve both successfully infiltrated the research facility in both our respective positions. We have made several points of contacts and have made several discoveries about events there.” Amy stood and seemed to be waiting for something more. Finally, her impatience gave out. “Is there something more for me, Agent Jennifer?” she asked seemingly less than impressed. Jennifer seemed to stumble around to find her courage to inform Amy of the truth. “We…” she then bowed her head a little bit. “No, ma’am. The intelligence we have gathered is just cursory and possibly only incidental. It may lead to more paths and even actionable intelligence in the future, but not at this time.” Amy’s eyes seemed to quiver in the steadily growing darker abandoned and caved-in factory. The car’s lights were turned on but low, but still cast her in an almost menacing shadow. “How… disappointing,” she said with a great deal of dissatisfaction in her voice. “I expected more from this mission… from you Agent Jennifer…” I wanted to defend her against this woman who barely seemed to make any effort with this project other than its outset. We were the ones infiltrating a highly secure facility. We were the ones on the ground. We were the ones taking the risk… not her. Amy seemed to ponder it all and kept silent for about a few solid minutes. She even looked up at the giant hole in the once strong roof overhead, but then finally looked back down and spoke up. “You two have infiltrated the building in a manner that is at least satisfactory for now. You haven’t been caught, and that says something as well, but,” she emphasized, “we need that actionable intelligence you were talking about previously. I want to know the ticks and the subtleties of that place. I also acknowledge though, that further measures may need to be taken to ensure that success.” She then heavily sighed. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell either one of you of the stakes here. More Littles have gone missing and more bright lights have appeared.” She then paused and looked at me. “You, Megan, might want to start there. Find out who is a portal Little and who is a native. It might give you a pattern to follow of sorts, but it could also give you some common ground as well to get more intelligence with.” She then turned to Jennifer. “As for you… well, by now, I should hope I don’t have to give you suggestions for ways to do your job, do I?” Jennifer then became rigid and practically clicked her heels together as if to salute as some countries used to. “No, ma’am!” “Good,” Amy said with a smile. “The consequences of your failure here could be grave indeed, so I will discuss further options with our intelligence sectors back at HQ. It may take some time to formulate a plan that could be both beneficial to you all while also maintaining your cover and not putting you into immediate danger or as a set up for failure though.” I quickly shook my head to indicate that I didn’t want that, and then Jennifer did as well with a little more grace and rigidity. “Perfect!” Amy exclaimed. “So, with that, your debriefing is done. Go back to the facility but also make sure you get what you needed to ensure the believability of your cover story. I don’t need to hear it, but just get it done, agent.” “Yes, ma’am!” Jennifer called out. Amy only nodded her head and then got back in her car. Before we could even turn to each other once again, their car had sped off into the darkness of the night. Jennifer and I then wordlessly went back to our car and soon drove away as well. I hated the silence, so I spoke up first. “Well, that was… interesting.” Jennifer continued to concentrate on the road getting out of the downtrodden factory district and over to the more brightly lit shopping district. “Yes,” she said sternly. I could tell she was holding back, but I decided to wait until she had parked and maybe even had time to decompress a little bit. Once we had parked though, it turned out that I didn’t need to prompt Jennifer to start speaking again. “That was… ugh! I hate it when those meetings go like that!” she said as she banged her fist on the dashboard of the car. “That happen often?” I asked, unsure about the usual occurrences within the ABI. I had been undercover before, mostly with a gang like most rookie cops were required to do straight out of the academy for practical experience and understanding of the life, but those were usually faster assignments with the high rates of turnover with gangs in the city. “Not very, but more than you might think.” She then sighed. “Still, she at least seemed understanding by the end. Probably an expectation thing, but we do need to try and figure out more. You think that would be possible from your end?” I shrugged. “Maybe? I mean, it’s a daycare after all… not the central hub of intelligence for the facility or anything.” Despite my instincts to the contrary though, I still tried to think of a possibility, and I only came up with one. “There is one thing… but I don’t think I would be willing to do it right now.” Jennifer’s eyebrow rose and she turned further to face me more directly in the car. “What is it?” “Well…” I hesitated even telling her this in the first place out of fear that she would actually want me to do it. “I saw a program… almost like a job for the Littles there at the daycare. We have experiment and testing days but the research lab offers a few more incentives for further testing, but there’s a catch.” Jennfier motioned her hand about for me to continue. “They only accept the more regressed Littles.” “How much more?” she shockingly asked me as if she was actually considering it. “Uh…” My brain still reeled from the possibility of her signing me up for it. “I think a lack of potty training is a requirement… but I really, ummm, I would, uhhh… prefer not…” Jennifer seemed to then clue in about my nervousness quickly and held up her hand to stop me from spiraling further. “Easy, Megan. I’m not considering it myself. I just know that look that Amy gave us. I might not be down for something like that, but when the stakes are this high and there’s even a possibility of learning more… she’ll usually take it.” Not liking that answer at all, I didn’t want to think about it any further and quickly ended the conversation not long after. Jennifer and I then shook off our negative feelings about the debriefing with Amy and went into town to do some shopping. She quickly purchased the lighting feature for her cover story, but then also purchased a candle for herself and a new shirt for me. As we finished our evening with a chocolatey treat at this location of Spencer’s, I thought back to the day that I just had. Kelsey was my friend and my circle of other friends only seemed to continue to grow, but Harry felt like he was regressing more each day now. Then, we had finally met up with Amy, but our lack of progress had been met with more pessimism from her than I was originally expecting. Still, all things considered, I had Jennifer at the end of it all, and the gooey slice of chocolate cake that I now devouring was mostly making up for everything that had been bringing me down. As I looked ahead toward the future though, I only hoped that more days would be of the ending with a chocolate cake rather than be composed of the disappointing day that I had instead. Somehow though, I doubted it.

Chapter Twenty One Amanda held John to her chest as he fell asleep. If she could purr, she would definitely be doing it at this exact moment. She rocked in place for a while, patting his butt. With a kiss to the top of his head she finally gave in half an hour later. Carefully standing up, she got him up over her shoulder and started to the nursery. With her left hand pinning the unconscious little to her shoulder, she reached out with her right hand and gave the mesh gate a tug from the top. “Okay, that’s very convenient” She couldn’t help but observe out loud as half of the gate swung open effortlessly. Reaching in and laying her passenger down, she took a moment to experimentally lift his left arm between her thumb and forefinger and let go. It flopped down completely limp. Satisfied that he had passed her impromptu ‘flop test’ she stepped out of the room and hurried back with Rupert and the blanket from the couch. Placing Rupert against Johns side and covering him with a blanket she couldn’t help but lean over and give him a kiss on the forehead. Swinging the gate back closed she heard it latch with a faint click. Experimentally she gave the gate a few tugs in places other than where she had been shown. Sure enough, no matter where she pulled but that exact spot. Just to be more thorough she stood up on tip toes and reached inside to push on the correct spot from the back. It didn’t even budge. With a satisfied nod, Amanda spent the next thirty minutes moving clothes and diapers into the closet and putting several extra diapers into the bay on the changing table. A couple of Monkeez, a goodly sized stack of Little Pups, and a few Sleepy Pup All Nighters. Asking no one in particular “I wonder if I should use the sleepy pups for nap time?” She went back to the crib and, just for good measure, popped the gate open and gave her new son one more kiss on the cheek before sliding the side back shut and walking back into the living room. Biting her lip, she held an arm over her chest. They were getting tender. VERY tender. So she sucked up her pride and went to the bedroom and got out the breast pump. She read the instructions carefully, cleaned everything thoroughly and finally sat down in front of her computer. Making absolutely certain that her camera was off AND facing the other way, she turned her computer on. While it was booting up, she went and closed the curtains and fed Xerxes before returning to her desk to do her work. With a resigned sigh, Amanda pulled her shirt off and reached back to unhook her bra. Tossing both of them onto the back of her office chair she looked at the breast pump dubiously. “I never wanted a little. But now that I have one, he’s worth any amount of trouble.” As she spent a moment getting the pump exactly so, she gasped as the cold plastic pressed against her. “Okay. Next time this gets soaked in hot water first.” And with that, she hit the button on top with her thumb… And now it was time for a different kind of gasp. Resorting to biting her finger to keep from making any sounds she turned the pump back off and grabbed her shirt and bra and moved over to the couch to lean back with her feet curled under her. She tossed a throw blanket over herself before getting ready to try again. With a shake of her head, came the admission “There’s no way I can do this and work at the same time.” And finally the pump was put back in place and turned back on. As it pulled her nipple in and started to repetitively suck on it and release, her toes curled up under the blanket. The machine was suppose to be automatic and it started off fast and shallow until milk started to let down. As soon the machine got some milk flowing it switched to longer, slower motions. The relief of pressure in her breast was slow at first, but within a couple of minutes she noticed that the tenderness was gone. With a sigh, she leaned back and let the pump do its job. Documenting everything and logging in for work would have to wait a bit. ~~~~~~~~~ John knew he was always a bit small. But this was ridiculous. He found himself looking up at Amanda's waist. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get her attention. He spent an entire day not being able to reach anything. He couldn’t even get a drink of water. And after what seemed like forever he finally just gave up and couldn’t hold his bladder anymore. All he could feel was warmth spreading all around him. He sat down right on the floor and gave up. He broke down and cried on the spot. Unable to go home, this was his life now. He was helpless. Worse still, he was useless. But then there was Amanda. Like a saint with the light behind her highlighting around her body, she scooped him up into her arms and held him against her chest. He had his face pressed against a breast bigger than his head. He couldn’t shake the mental image of Kate wrapped in a blanket and sucking on a nipple as he was cradled against a giant chest. It was conflicting to say the least. ~~~ John woke with a start, and tried to sit up. Flailing around a bit he couldn’t manage to sit up so he groggily flopped back onto whatever bed he was laying on. He became acutely aware that his morning wood had nowhere to go and was VERY uncomfortable. It took a few moments of trying to push on it through wet padding to get it into a position that at least didn’t hurt, but that was the best he was going to get. Looking up at the blank ceiling, and waiting for things to settle down he felt trapped with the memory of his dream. “What the hell was that?” he mumbled to himself. Looking over, there was a large black and white dog face smelling at him through the mesh. Apparently Xerxes heard him have a … whatever that dream was and came to check on him. Still a bit milk drunk and with absolutely no concept of time, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep with the feeling of warmth spreading in his diaper. ~~~ Slowly coming around and opening his eyes now, John found himself face first into something blurry. Reaching up to rub his eyes he found a stuffie in his arms. Apparently he had rolled over and snuggled it at some point. Pushing against the blurry barrier he managed to get one eye to open up halfway as he used the mesh to push himself up into a sitting position. As his butt hit the mattress he grimaced. His diaper was apparently very used. Resorting to crawling on all fours, he made his way to where the two halves of the gate connected and gave it an experimental push. Of course it had no give. With a resigned sigh he called out “A…” and stopped. Looking down at the diaper he was trapped him, he felt like this was a ‘more flies with honey’ situation. “Mom?” he called out toward the open door through the transparent mesh wall keeping him in. Almost immediately he heard back “Just a moment sweety, Momma’s making some breakfast.” from somewhere in the distance. Mumbling “Well. Okay then.” he spent a lot more time than he wanted to admit trying to figure out the most comfortable way to wait. Sitting on his butt wasn’t an option. He tried laying on his side, but with his knees held nearly a foot apart by the padding that didn’t last long. Finally he pulled on the mattress to lay on his front with his butt up in the air. Again. It didn’t put any pressure on his lower portions and was honestly felt like the least bad he was going to get. Reaching out a bit he got Rupert with his finger tips and pulled him over to use as a pillow. And there he waited for a couple of minutes trying to ignore the occasional waft of unpleasant scent coming from behind him. Or rather from his behind. “Ugh. I wonder if I can just skip eating forever.” he grumbled to himself. Immediately from the kitchen, Amanda said loudly “I heard that!” Pushing up onto his arms, John looked around as best he could before asking in a whisper “How did she hear me grumbling?” “State secret!” was all he heard from the doorway as Amanda walked in. “I request security clearance.” He could see her smirk through the mesh. “Request denied.” The gate that he had just pushed on didn’t swing open this time. Reaching up to one corner, there was a click and the entire side slid down until it would have been at the height of his waist if he were standing. In a sweet, and obviously amused tone, Amanda looked at his butt up on the air “Well, that’s an unusual way to start your morning!” At this moment John was afraid that he had wound up with the most dangerous kind of person in the known universe: A morning person. He groaned. “No want put weight. Is gross.” Reaching over the rail, she got one hand under his chest and the other around his thighs and lifted him straight up and carried him just like that over to the changing table. His shirt was scrunched up against his armpits and the clearly messy diaper was on full display. Even just being the two of them it was still pretty embarrassing. Suddenly he felt her fingers on her left hand start walking along his torso as she rotated his legs. It felt like being a rotisserie chicken. It was hard to look indignant while just waking up and being carried hilariously. But John gave it his absolute best try. As his back hit the changing table, the two soft padded bars just flopped over him, pinning him in place to sulk. “Excuse me.” She smiled as she asked “May I have a smile this morning?” Closing his eyes, he protested “No. No awake, no smiles. I do not consent to morning.” There was a feather light touch traced along the bottom of his foot up and down. His entire leg immediately jerked up and away on its own. As the tickling started on his other foot he started giggling half awake “No fair!” Amanda's smiling face filled his view as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and said plainly “Life isn’t going to be fair for a little as ticklish as you.” “I’m not ticklish!” he protested vehemently. And that was when the fingertips found one foot with one hand and one set of ribs with the other hand. “Are you SURE you aren’t ticklish?” Now trying to roll side to side, with the bar just pushing him down a little more, he protested further “No-o-o!” and after a moment that the tickling just switched sides he caught his breath and shouted “Yes! I surrender!” as he slammed his fists down onto the padded table. As she stopped and ruffled his hair, he realized something and asked out loud “Oh hey … I thought this thing had those wrist strap things.” With a pat on his slender belly, she said “It does. But I’d rather my little boy was just well behaved and didn’t need them, so they’re above you. Here, put your arms up.” As she bumped something on the table with her knee, the bars went back upright and he reluctantly lifted his hands from his sides and put them above his head. The instant that he felt plastic, the thin material coiled up and pulled his wrists into the middle of them, holding them in place. Then to add insult to injury, the bars flopped back over him. “So I need to ask, are you more comfortable with your hands down by your sides, or over your head like that?” She asked seriously. Moving his shoulders around a bit, he admitted “I mean … this is more comfortable? Minus the umm… straps.” With a nod she popped the tapes on his diaper and set about cleaning up what felt from the inside as the mother of all messes. As she wiped him down and lifted his legs like it was nothing, she explained “This is a lot easier for me, but I wanted to give you the option first. I do want you to at least be comfortable where we can manage it.” Squirming slightly to pull against the wrist cuffs he asked “Is it possible to just remove them?” with a touch of hope in his voice. She nodded “I think so. And as long as you keep being a good and cooperative little on the changing table, there’s no reason for them anyway. I just didn’t bother with them yet.” Having used the front of the diaper to scrape most of the mess off of him, he could feel her scrubbing him pretty firmly to make sure he was good and clean. She lowered his now clean bottom onto the changing mat and tightly balled up the diaper that was big when it was dry, but the glance he caught it looked truly massive. As far as he could tell the used diaper just disappeared into a container somewhere and his bottom was soon lifted by the ankles and lowered onto a fresh diaper. Quickly he was lifted up and some lotion applied to his bottom. As she started sprinkling baby powder on him, he realized something and interrupted her “Hey! Can I use the toilet before you tape that up?” She stopped and looked at him. Then at the diaper. Then up at him. While staring into his eyes she slowly started to lift the front of the diaper up …. John stared at her while she was being dramatic and grumbled. And then she just let go of the diaper, squeezed the base of the cuffs and bumped something to make the bars holding him down pop up. As she lifted him up with her arm under his knees so his lotion covered butt wouldn’t be pressed against her arm. John flopped his head against her shoulder and halfway laughed at her antics as he was carried, naked from the waist down, out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. He was deposited gently onto the toilet and held in place. “You know” He started “Where I’m from, being carried naked across the house isn’t a normal event” He wasn’t looking up, but he could hear a sigh “John, do you actually have to use the potty? Or did you want to make this weird?” Biting his lip he pushed with everything he had, but honestly his back side was completely empty and he only managed to get out a little pee. Everything down there felt just a bit unresponsive for some reason. Looking up at her when he got out what he could, he admitted “Mostly I wanted to at least try to use the potty once or twice today. But I guess I’ll settle for it being weird?” She rolled her eyes at him as she got some toilet paper. She had him wiped, the toilet flushed and was carrying him back through the living room half naked. As she walked into the bedroom he actually paid a bit more attention to the changing table. The wrist straps were almost the exact same color as the table top. Combined with being over a foot wide, it seemed pretty sneaky. Clever, but sneaky. As he was tilted back onto the changing table and laid onto the waiting diaper, he was told “Arms up” so this time he balled up his fists and held his arms against his chest with his hands below his chin. The instant he hit the table, the bars fell over the top of him, conforming to every bend in his arms and pinning him exactly like that. It was somehow more uncomfortable than just letting the wrist straps grab him. All he heard from his right was ‘Mm hmm.” as his ankles were lifted and powder was applied to his nether regions. Squirming a bit, he admitted “Mistakes were made.” He was left in the awkward position that he had gotten himself stuck in until she was done and he was taped up firmly. Instead of hitting the bar, she took advantage of the moment to tickle his foot again to tease him. He squealed and tried pulling his feet up and twisting his lower body away from her toward the wall. “Still not fair, I’m trapped!” Mercifully, she stopped. But her smile was very telling. “Oh?” she lead in “So if you weren’t pinned down, you would stop me?” Foolishly, he opened his mouth “Yeah! I mean no. But I could at least make it hard for you.” He felt her knee bump the table with her knee. Her face was eerily passive as she reached out and picked him up. Placing him on the floor standing up, she said “I’m going to count to five.” She held up one finger. “One.” John looked confused “Wha….” She held up a second finger, a grin spreading across her face. “Two.” “W….No…” A third finger came up and he realized what was about to happen. As she said “Three” he was running awkwardly out of the door, a loud crinkling sound declaring his presence. As he heard “Four!” called loudly from the room, he was waddling as fast as possible by the couch. And finally as she sang out “FIIIIIVVVVVEEEE” he was passing the couch and could heard loud footsteps behind him. Running into the kitchen, he went left in front of the island and could hear her coming behind the couch, already closing in behind him. So he went right, hoping that he could at least make the corners faster than her, but she was just a couple of steps behind him and she wasn’t even running. John saw his opening, he ran full tilt under the dinner table, just ducking slightly to keep from banging his head. As he came out from under the table and ran to the couch he felt a giant hand grabbing his right upper arm. And just like that it was already over, he was scooped up, spun around and plopped onto his back on the couch. By the time he knew he was on the couch, there were fingers under his shirt tickling his ribs on both sides. Already cracking under the tickling, he was giggling “NOOOOOO” All the he knew for the next several minutes was tickles moving from his ribs, to his feet, his neck, back to his ribs. There was no concept of time, just rolling around and flailing uselessly against the onslaught. Eventually he was left gasping on the couch as the tickles stopped. At some point he had started to hiccup from all the flailing and being tickled. He felt himself being picked up and laid with his head on a shoulder and a hand firmly patting his back. “Breathe. Deep breaths. In. Out.” she instructed him. Every time he tried to breath slowly he would have another hiccup strong enough that it was starting to be hurt. Finally breaking into one more fit of laughter at the absurdity of it all, he tried begging for “Wa-hic- wa-hic” -gasp.. gasp ...*HIC* WATER!” John was carried over, then unceremoniously deposited in the booster seat. The strap was clicked into place, regardless of how hard it was to get out of the booster seat anyway. And Amanda stepped across the kitchen to fill a sippy cup with water. All while he kept trying to take a deep breath and hold it, only to have a hiccup mess him up. The instant a sippy cup was put in front of him, he grabbed it with both hands and turned it up to suck water down as constantly as he could manage without stopping to breath. At first he hiccuped and water came out of his mouth, but by the time he was finished drinking the water as fast as he could manage, he tried to put the sippy cup on the table and missed. As the cup clattered onto the floor, John leaned back in the seat with his eyes closed, panting. He felt fingers ruffling his hair and could hear Amanda walking around him and picking up the cup on her way to the kitchen. “Okay. Now that you have made it oh so hard for me to catch you and tickle you, I believe that it’s time for your breakfast surprise!” She didn’t sound like she was trying to tease him, but the end result was still embarrassing. After a few moments of silence, he finally sat back upright and looked over to ask “So what is this mysterious surprise?” “You’ll find out in about two minutes.” was all that he got out of her. It was hard to wait two whole minutes while hearing nothing but Amanda humming cheerfully and some sizzling coming from the stove. Sitting there trapped in the booster seat, and swinging his feet while he waited, he leaned down and wiggled his fingers to summon Xerxes. Twisting in the seat as far as he could, he tried to spot his four legged buddy. “And just what are you looking for, young man?” Amanda asked as she walked over holding a plate up high so that he couldn’t see what was on it. “Ummm….” He tried to think of a funny lie, but gave up and answered honestly “Xerxes?” “Xerxes is outside so that he can use the potty like a big puppy. And because you are absolutely not allowed to give him any of this and make him sick.” came the plain and honest answer. “Okay, so what is it that I’m not supposed to share with Xerxes?” She gave him a look “You mean aside from people food?” “Errr… yes. That.” With one hand Amanda pushed the chair right up to the table. And then with a little flourish she sat the plate down in front of him. On the plate was a huge pancake in a heart shape with little bits of chocolate chips peeking up through the batter here and there. Almost an inch thick and still steaming from the griddle, the heart shaped pancake beckoned to him with a mouth watering aroma. It seemed to bulge up in the middle from the edges, declaring to the world 'I am soft and fluffy.' while the occasional bubble here and there just completed the image. “Oh my God! That’s …” was all he could words out at the moment. Leaning down, Amanda gave him a big kiss on the forehead “Try it while I get the syrup. Without hesitation, he grabbed the plastic fork and ripped off bit of the edge of the pancake and immediately shoved it into his mouth. It took less than a second for him to be hit with the flavor. It was like every individual component of the pancake had its flavor dialed straight to eleven. The chocolate was obviously delicious. The cake part wasn’t mushy at all, just moist and springy. And behind it all there was a flavor that he simply could not quite identify. It was, in a word: GOOD. Looking up from the pancake, he saw Amanda simply standing there holding a sippy cup and a bottle of syrup. “I suspect that you approve?” she asked. He could only nod enthusiastically as he ripped off another bit with his fork. “Would you like me to pour the syrup on your pancake, or on the side of it so that you can dip it?” She waggled the bottle of syrup at him while asking. The pancake halfway to his mouth, he paused “On the side, please!” Watching impatiently, he dipped the chunk of pancake the instant syrup was on the plate and it was in his mouth in a flash. He knew he wasn’t allowed to talk with his mouth full so he settled for pantomiming with his hands in big gestures and making the occasional ‘mmm.mmm’ sound. “John.” Amanda placed her hand on his shoulder “Slow down. Do you want coffee milk with your breakfast or afterwards?” He managed to hold up two fingers and she walked away. By the time she came back with a sippy cup filled with juice, he was already on his fourth mouthful. As he swallowed, she took the fork out of his hand and put the cup in it “John. Drink!” Obediently he took the sippy cup and got a few gulps down before putting it down and looking at the fork expectantly. “How is this so good?” he had to ask With a smile, she answered “Because it’s made with love. And milk instead of water. And vanilla. But mostly the love!” Nodding he reached for the fork in her hand but had to wait patiently as she used the fork to rip off some pancake and dip it in the syrup and held it up to his mouth. He wanted very much to complain that he could do it himself … but … that pancake called to him with a type of food lust he’d never experienced before. So john obediently opened his mouth and let her feed him. The fact that she was probably doing it to slow him down to a reasonable pace never occurred to him. And so breakfast continued with a smiling Amanda feeding him and making him drink some juice every few bites and occasionally wiping his face with a napkin. Halfway through the food marathon, he started to lose steam. It must have been obvious to Amanda, because she put the fork down. And started to pick up the plate. “Wait. One more?” he all but pleaded. “Well… okay, but it’s going to be a small one. One more big bite and I’m afraid you’re going to explode!” It was teasing, but didn’t matter. Pancake was, in this instant, life. And so he was left with one mouthful of pancake and a stomach as full as it could go. His head was kind of leaning to one side as he was unbuckled from the booster seat and lifted up against a shoulder. With a kiss on the cheek, Amanda scratched at his head as she told him “You don’t know how happy it makes me that you enjoy my cooking.” Resting his head on her shoulder he mumbled out a snarky “I’m just doing my part.” He could feel a pat on his butt “Okay, so I think You should digest for a bit before coffee milk. Would you like to help me make jars of pickles this afternoon?” Nodding enthusiastically he answered honestly “Yes please!” With a pat she slid him down off of her and onto the couch “Okay, you go try coloring your Iguana and then in a bit I’ll bring you coffee milk. And then either before or after your nap you can help me with pickles. It’s hard for me to measure out the small amounts in each and every jar, so you will be a real big help.” Now he was full, serenely happy, and he had a task. He held up his hands, for a hug. He was picked back up and he hugged her firmly. After a moment he was deposited on the floor and with a firm pat on the rump told “Go practice coloring with those pencils. Momma’s got work to do.” Turning to waddle over to his room, he mumbled “Yes Mom” as he went. He didn’t see her great big smile behind him but he deposited himself at his desk and opened his box of 3D coloring pencils. This time he carefully traced the iguana as lightly as possible before beginning. ~~~~~ An hour later Amanda had the dishes cleaned up, a large pot of brine prepped, and all of the pickling cucumbers in a sink full of water. She walked across the house to collect her little man, bottle of coffee milk in one hand, and a cup of straight coffee for herself in the other. Walking into the bedroom she was just in time to watch Johns head sink to the top of the desk and she could hear him groan. “John, you okay?” She asked while patting him on the shoulder. Without picking his head up from the desk, he held up the picture. “I may be a little bit dim.” Amanda looked at the picture. At first it looked fine, but then she noticed that the outline that he had traced looked like it was floating an inch off of the paper. “It’s just the outline floating, aside from that, it’s …” Amanda started John interrupted her “Look at the Iguana.” Amanda held it up at an angle and looked closely. “Ohhhhhhhh” As John sighed, she scooped him up into a hug, and she couldn’t help giggling. “It looks inside out!” John whined. Still unable to stop giggling “Aside from that, it looks really good! I printed you a spare. And as good as this looks, I bet you can do the next one really well!” (This episode brought to you by homemade pancakes.)

I love being in a wet diaper because its so soft and warm inside, it swells up and feels heavy and bulky, i feel like a little baby and makes me sooo happy.

Right now. Sitting messed in a daydreamer diaper. Probably another hour, before changing - enjoing it alot

Oof. Sorry for the lateness of this post, but tis the season, and baking cookies tonight took much longer than anticipated. This is also a bit of a longer chapter, but again, I needed to ensure that I set up a few elements that flowed together nicely. I had originally described one scene as basically just a list, but that felt too preachy or not impactful enough to even include, even though I knew I needed to on some level. Regardless, I also want to give a warning here before you all read on. This chapter is going to start a bit of a darker tone with some events here. Being an origin story of sorts, certain technologies don't exist yet, so everything is a little more 'analog,' if you wish. As a result, some ways of regression are a little more graphic during this time period. So, I just want to give you all a warning for this chapter and the others going forward now. I will try to approach these topics with as much tact as I can, but sometimes all the tact in the world can't blunt the content's sharp edge. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Chapter 8: Not Bad... Yet Now loaded into the car, I could firmly say that I was not a fan of the crotch strap now snaking its way between my legs and over my training pants. Their humiliating bulk was only accentuated, but as the door closed once more, I could only look out at the precinct station and sigh in relief that I was at least leaving that horrible place with my mind still intact. Subject to a loose ‘contract,’ if it could really even be called that, but I was still out of there. Plus, based on the near drooling Little that exited the station right behind me only to be loaded into a ‘etiquette services’ van, I knew I was a very rare case indeed. Still, as both Jennifer and the other agent loaded into the front of the car and then sped off, I couldn’t help but think of the fate that awaited. Already, within 30 minutes, the city view was in the rear view of our car. The city, in my own dimension or this one, had been my home for the better part of my entire life. It was literally an island of refuge in some of my darkest days, but now, heading north, I knew I was to leave all that comfort and safety behind. The fact that we were leaving at night didn’t help matters any, but I was still hoping for some signs of hope or that I at least hadn’t made a terrible decision when I agreed to this mission. Regret of what I had done plagued my mind for the better part of an hour, but either as a latent result from the truth serum that I had been subjected to or just from the lateness of the hour, I soon fell asleep. The car then jostled about as it hit a single bump. My eyes fluttered open and while it was still night, I could tell that we were no longer within even the peripheral edges of the city. Around me, there were no bright lights of distant cities. Instead, only trees and large open fields seemed to dot the landscape. Jennifer then noticed that I was awake. “Hey there… it’s good that you’re awake now. We’re almost at the house, but please just stay quiet until we get inside,” she asked of me. “You can even pretend you’re asleep if you don’t think you can do that, but we’re almost at the security checkpoint of the facility, so we need to be on our guard from now on, okay?” I took her caution to heart and only silently nodded my head. Despite my still tired body, my mind clicked into gear right away. It was a good thing too, as not minutes later, the car halted in front of a single booth and gate. A guard then stepped out of the booth and shined a flashlight into the car. “Evening folks. You all get lost or something?” he asked as he scanned inside the car. Jennifer then bent over the driving agent and showed a badge ID to the guard. “Sorry… I’m new here, along with my Little,” she said while gesturing to my form in the backseat. The guard quickly looked back at me, but I only smiled at him, and he smiled back. I figured being friendly wasn’t going to be a problem at this hour and my confirmed status as a Little likely would only help things out around here. “I’m actually one of the new security guards for one of the facilities and I figured I would come here and get settled in before I start on Monday.” “Ah. That explains it.” The guard then peered down at the driving agent. “And you are, sir?” The man turned as if made of stone or metal and just stared at the security guard and spoke plainly. “Just her cousin. I live up the road.” He then slowly reached into the front of his suit jacket. “Here, I have a visitors’ badge. Just dropping them off at the house and then heading back out of here. Shouldn’t be long.” The guard flashed his light over the badge and squinted at the writing. “Hmmm… I guess you’ll be fine, but don’t make it a habit of coming here at night unless you have previously authorized access. Usually, visiting hours of this facility are limited to daylight hours only.” The agent then took his ID back and pocketed it before nodding his head. “I understand. Shouldn’t happen again, but I didn’t want my cousin to have to stay in some hotel back in the city for the night.” “I hear that.” The guard then thankfully backed up. “You all have a pleasant night. Drive safe.” “Thank you!” Jennifer called out just as the car began to lurch forward once again. She then turned around and smiled at me. “Good first job, Megan. Whatever you did, just keep it up with any strangers you meet around here at first. Not sure who we can exactly trust yet. Could be a lot of them… could be none of them…” I nodded my head. “I figured. Just kept it to a smile. Happy Littles are safe and easy. I’ve seen most other emotions are frowned upon or suspicious by most Bigs.” “Good thinking.” Jennifer then turned back around, and the car proceeded along the two-lane public access road. From what I could tell, a small town had been built within the research facility, and it honestly reminded me of something akin to the Manhattan Project and the Los Alamos set up from back on Earth with the first nuclear bomb testing. This town was clearly more advanced and permanent, but the idea of cooping everyone up like this together just made a certain amount of sense when one thought about it. Still, the comparisons of this place to one that was responsible for the nuclear bomb, were not lost on me. The car then turned down one road that branched right off before entering the main town. I could see a faint glow in the distance from atop a misty hill beyond the town and I instantly knew that it was the main testing lab that I was here to see. I wanted to run up there and get this done as soon as possible, but my more mature and calmer instincts fortunately prevailed. Soon, the car rounded a few more streets and then finally parked at a single dwelling that honestly looked like most of the others on the street, cutely named Maplewood Drive. It was two stories, had a front porch, was color coordinated, and also had a nice driveway leading up to the main part of the house. It didn’t have a garage like some of the others, but I did notice a small car already parked in the driveway. As such, the other agent just parked behind it and he and Jennifer quickly got out. Opening the door, she then retrieved me, when I only then just remembered that I was still only wearing my previous blouse from before and my new training pants. I internally groaned when I realized that the security must have seen me like that in the back seat, but I also realized that situations like that were likely something that I would just need to get used to in my new role here. The agent then swung around the car and set a single suitcase at the feet of Jennifer. “Ma’am… your to-go suitcase as requested, as usual. Now, I can’t stay, but your briefings are inside as well. The house should be ready with your specifications, gas is in your car, and you should have some food for a few days at least. Uh… Amy will contact you for your first debriefing sometime within the next month unless an urgent message is sent before then.” Jennifer looked down to confirm the presence of the suitcase as if it was one of the most important things now, but then just looked back up at the agent in front of her. “Thank you, Reed. You’ve been as helpful as you always seem to be.” A man of few words, Agent Reed then just smiled, nodded at both Jennifer and I, and got in his vehicle before once again speeding off into the night. So, just like that, Jennifer and I were now on our own. Jennifer sighed heavily and then turned down to me, still being held in her arms after she took me out of the car. “Alrighty then. I guess we better go inside, huh?” I only nodded, still fearful of anyone who could be watching us. Needless to say, I was on high alert. Jennfier then picked up the suitcase with her other hand and headed to the front door. Setting the suitcase down, she inputted a code onto the keypad before her and I could then hear the lock unclick. “Perfect. Let’s just hope they got everything that I requested.” Without another word, she picked the suitcase back up and walked into our new home. Flicking on a few lights, I could tell that it was a very standard home and almost looked modest compared to some of the other dwellings I had seen where other Bigs had lived in the city. I was honestly almost disappointed, but I also realized that the point of this mission was to blend in better… not stick out like those other, more modern buildings would have. “Ah…” Jennifer said happily. “Home sweet home. Not bad for two hours’ notice, huh?” “Two hours and all this?” I asked as I looked around at the fully furnished house before me. Curtains, rugs, plants, and even framed photos were now all laid out before us. It was clearly done by someone who had taste, but I also got the opinion that they didn’t want to come off as too stylish and therefore possibly artificial to a typical suburban home. As such, it was clean and well put together, but also lived in somehow as well. “There’s a whole division at ABI for just things like these, and just if you were curious, we have continual bug sweepers in here to ensure we aren’t being monitored. Plus, no unwanted signals can get in our or out of here with some of our latest tech that was installed.” She then paused and looked very proud for a moment. “Requested those specifically myself for this mission.” I nodded my head. “Sounds like a good idea to have.” No listening devices could mean freedom, but I needed to be sure first. “Does that mean I can… you know… be more normal in here?” Jennifer smiled and nodded happily. “Absolutely! You were one of the main reasons I got that package for this place. Besides, we need to practice tomorrow and Sunday before the real deal on Monday. I’ve seen footage from your other stints of acting out there whenever you met a Big up to no good. You were good… but we need near perfection if you want to stay safe here.” I was honestly a little embarrassed that she had seen those acts that I had put on to fool other Bigs, so I just meekly nodded. At the same time, however, I also yawned. Jennifer quickly noticed and looked at a nearby clock. “Oh my! I know you’re not regressed or anything, but you Littles still need way more sleep than us Bigs.” She then looked at the nearby staircase off to one side of the main section of living space by the front door. “In fact, your room should be all good to go upstairs.” “My room?” Jennifer nodded and then carried my speechless form up the stairs after putting down her own suitcase without another word. Now, I had never even considered my whole part in this scenario or that I would have my own room in this dimension as well. It wasn’t that I thought I was going to live in a cardboard box or anything, but I was realizing that it was just one of numerous things I hadn’t yet thought about with all this. So, when Jennifer opened the door to my new room at the top of the stairs, I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting. Inside was most decidedly meant for a toddler girl, or in this dimension, a girl Little as well. Slightly purplish light gray walls covered most of the room and canvas images of animals hugging stars and moons cutely covered the rest. The floor was carpeted nicely and was the bedrock for the furniture above, which included a dresser, a nightstand, and a single bed. I was honestly just grateful it wasn’t a crib, but the white wooden frame, small railing running along part of the sides, and the purple canopy net adorned with golden stars above it all wasn’t mature by any means either. It… was a lot to take in and I think Jennifer could tell. She then set me down on the soft carpeting and let me look at everything in silence for a moment before speaking up. “I hope you like it… We could make some changes if you wanted, but I basically had three designs to choose from and honestly, I didn’t think you would have wanted the animal lover or pink princess designs.” She paused for a moment and then hesitantly asked, “Was I wrong?” “I…” I started to say, but I knew I really couldn’t express my all my true feelings in that moment, which was just to tear it all down and give me something more mature in what was supposed to be my new home. I knew that was just fantasy though, so with all things considered, I just shook my head. “No… just a lot all at once, and… I’m uh, tired…” I wasn’t sure if Jennifer bought that line, but she played along like she did anyway. “Okay… I’ll leave it up to you for tonight with how you want things to go. We’ll need to practice other things going forward, but you need your sleep.” Jennifer then walked to the door but paused for a moment and looked back at me. “I really am sorry how all this turned out, but for tonight, just try and get some rest.” She then walked away without saying another word. I wanted to thank her, but I guess she also knew that I was likely overwhelmed by everything and that more words could always come later. It turned out that she was absolutely correct about my tiredness however, and as soon as I laid down only briefly in my new bed to just mull things over, I was fast asleep. The next morning came bright and early, and I stretched out in my new bed. My purple and subtly pink sheets were a quick reminder of what had happened last night, but I also noted that my shoes were now off, and the covers had been pulled over me. In most other circumstances, my alarm bells would be going off in my head right about now, but seeing my shoes neatly placed to one corner and a tiny note on my bedside table, I quickly deduced that Jennifer had only just kindly helped me out last night after I had passed out. In a way, it was almost a little endearing and reminded me when I would do the same for my friends back home after a late night of some kind. I smiled at the thought of at least one ally in all this and then looked over the note that she had also left me. “Megan, by the time you are up, I should be downstairs. As you didn’t take a shower last night, I would suggest you wash up this morning, but I will leave this up to your discretion. Breakfast will be waiting downstairs whenever you are ready. Jennifer.” It was written in her hand, and I was impressed with her flowing penmanship, but then noticed another tiny note at the bottom. “P.S. I am leaving certain decisions up to you this morning to determine what things we need to practice today. Please don’t do anything that you wouldn’t normally do. I need a baseline and not a performance.” I mulled the note over and realized that our training would indeed start today. It was a sobering thought, but I knew for any of this to be successful, Jennifer was absolutely right that she needed to see what she had to work with. So, with that thought in mind, I picked out a nice outfit from the ones I had found and then quickly showered as I usually would have in the mornings. After dressing in just some jeans and a plain T-shirt I had found, I put my hair up in a loose bun and went downstairs, quickly putting a single object I had spotted out of my mind as I did so. I normally would have put some makeup on, and I knew that Jennifer wanted me to do everything like I normally did, but I just hoped that she would allow for that one concession. Slowly walking down the gigantic steps, each likely almost 15 inches in height, I finally made it downstairs and smelled something wonderful coming from the kitchen. Walking in, I saw Jennifer busy at the stove right away. “Good morning.” Jennifer then spun around and spotted me entering the room. “Good morning to you too. Sleep well?” I nodded and stared at the near transformation of the woman before from the night before. Instead of her pressed gray suit and holstered gun, she was now wearing just a plain blouse and a pair of comfortable looking jeans. Her hair was no longer in a bun, and her chestnut locks just flowed freely beyond the strands loosely gathered behind her head with a brown clip. “You look…” “Normal?” Jennifer asked with a bit of a grin. I nodded and she chuckled. “Yeah… well, this is honestly how I normally dress on the weekends, but I figured that I might as well start playing the part full-time here as well. I might be part of security at the facility, but I’m also supposed to be your caregiver.” I then found a place at the large round table in the corner of the room and hopped onto one of the seats there. I was a little short, but I could still see over the edge. “Are there standards or something for that type of position here as a Little’s caregiver?” Jennifer shook her head but then returned to the stove with her spatula. “Not really, but we also need to blend in around here. Normalcy might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it will be very important going forward to maintain our cover.” I nodded and then waited in actuality for only a few minutes before Jennifer brought over a large steaming plate to me. My eyes practically bugged out of my head when I saw the proportions in front of me, but I didn’t say anything before I greedily dug practically headfirst into everything laid out before me. To say the pancakes, eggs, or even fruit was simply divine would have been a major injustice. It was the best food I think I had ever tasted, so in no time at all, my plate began to empty. After a moment though, I could see Jennifer eating her own food, but then would pause occasionally and grin right at me. Finally, I had to know what she was thinking. “What? Do I have food on my face or something?” Jennifer only laughed. “No, nothing like that. I honestly just need to see what I’m working with.” She paused and then set her fork down. “I suppose though that we should start off already, so,” she then reached over and brought out a single manilla folder, “this is you.” Quickly wiping off the syrup that coated my hands from the unwieldy fork I had managed to eat with, I gazed over the file and then looked back up at Jennifer once I had opened it up and looked inside. “So,” she continued, “as you can see, we’ve basically just pulled most of the information from what the shelter gave you. It was a pretty solid background, and we found that it would actually get the least number of questions asked.” I nodded and then read over the file further. “The island of Aegis? Where the heck is that?” Jennifer smirked. “Well, you definitely need to know that one. It’s one of the largest islands in the Pacificus Ocean and is basically known as a Little sanctuary. In fact, it’s one of the few islands remaining that is entirely composed of Littles, which is also where our advantage comes in.” “How so?” I asked. I knew next to nothing about this place, so it didn’t seem advantageous to me at this juncture. “Well… because no Bigs are allowed on the island, there are no records to verify against back here, but also, the island is so big that it wouldn’t be unheard of for another Little to have never seen you before in case you ever met someone else from there.” She then took a final bite of her own pancakes and quickly chewed and swallowed. “Lastly, it’s so diverse there from all the influx of Littles, that your stories about growing up wouldn’t necessarily have to match either.” “I see…” The island did seem very nice for Littles to live on, but it also posed another problem as well. “So why would I ever leave if it was so great.” Jennifer nodded. “Valid question, but that’s all in there as well. For now, just remember you were looking for another job. In fact, it also plays into why you are here now because you couldn’t keep up with your new job and were overwhelmed.” “That’s it?” I questioned. “That doesn’t feel like enough of a reason for someone, or even you, to just take me off the street and wind up here of all places.” Jennifer then looked a little uneasy. “Well… it’s been known to have happened before. A few bits of corruption and maybe an emotional Little, or one who is seen as slightly immature… and that’s all it takes sometimes.” “That’s terrible… but couldn’t it be… I don’t know, something else?” I really didn’t want to be known as the Little who couldn’t do their job before I even made a first impression in person. “No,” Jennifer said flatly. “We’ve looked into this a lot and if you went with something else, you would be seen as a problematic Little. If you were fired, arrested, peed your pants, sucked your thumb accidentally, or any number of other events, you would be a prime target to be regressed right off the bat. You don’t want that, right?” I quickly shook my head. “Good. Now, let’s begin your training.” Okay… I wasn’t sure what I expected in this whole arrangement, but in retrospect, I guess I should have seen that there would have been another side to the usually sweet ABI agent before me. After all, this assignment was critical, and she had a job to do as a Big in teaching me all about being a Little. Still though, I wasn’t prepared for the next few hours of my life. After my debriefing on my role as a Little I was shown a chart that I knew had to be legitimately placed in some correctional facility someplace in this messed up world. In essence, it was divided into four categories: adult, preschooler, toddler, and infant. “Now, these are just guidelines,” Jennifer explained, “and you can of course act younger to some extent, but acting older than your given category could be problematic. The next two days will be to guide you away at least from those more unwanted or frowned on behaviors.” I gulped as I looked over the chart. Seeing as I was still new to all this, even with my cover story and perceived immaturity in society, I could still maintain at least the preschooler category, but that was still something that I knew would be harder in practice than just a base promise to abide by the rules, such as no cursing, fighting, or minding your manners in every situation. So, first up in all this, was word replacement. “Okay,” Jennifer instructed, “preschooler level Littles will never correctly use slang phrases or dirty words to describe objects or actions. For example, it is always the potty. Bathroom, maybe, but potty is usually a good all-encompassing word for most things that you will need to describe.” “Such as?” I questioned. It had been a number of years since my younger brother was at this age and few of my coworkers, neighbors, or relatives had kids this age anymore back home. “Well,” Jennifer explained, “going to the potty could mean using the toilet or training potty, but it could also just mean going to the room as well.” “Ah,” I said as the lesson clicked a little bit more now, but her explanation also brought another point up that I needed to know about. “What about… you know… going to the… ummm, potty… as an action?” “Oh… did you see…?” I nodded to confirm what I had seen in the upstairs bathroom. “Right… well, at this Little age, a training potty may be required for some Bigs. I wanted to keep it up there for at least appearances sake, but you can still use the smaller sized toilet in that bathroom as well when it’s just us.” I did wonder why it seemed lower to the ground than usual for a Big, but now it made perfect sense, though I also knew it also wouldn’t be like that everywhere I went now. “And at daycare?” I tentatively asked. Jennifer quickly looked uncomfortable with the notion, but finally nodded. “Yes, training potties will likely be available, but you have been marked down as being able to use either a toilet or those instead. I hate to say it, but it may depend more on the Big than what the actual regulations are there.” I nodded and the lessons quickly continued afterward as such. We soon covered a variety of topics pertaining to other common words or phrases and then certain expectations for my new role, such as skill levels I could still possess and others that I should now avoid. For example, those like that I had been taught at the academy to be a police officer. Useful, but utterly not suited for the role of a true Little in daycare. I noted it right away and just prayed the meds would curb these impulses as well. Next was regulations and general knowledge that I should know about while posing as a native Little here. This period was mostly spent with me reviewing my case file and the background that I had been given. As it was based off the version the shelter gave me, some of it came much quicker. Others… well, they tended to be a little more unique. “See, you have to think about the details,” Jennifer explained during one of the lecture parts of the segment. I looked at her questioningly. “Right, well, you need to think of any other story you tell. Beyond the fact of flowing naturally like one of your own memories, you’ve got to include the other bits as well.” I held open my folder and looked at the dozen or so of pages of details about Aegis Island and my created life there. “For example?” “Okay… well, it says you went to Aristotle High School. If someone asks you about it,” she continued, “you need to know the details, like their school motto, Signa Just Alius Martis. That type of stuff is important to verify, but to make it your own, you need to remember it because it was posted on the wall of the gym that smelled like sweat most of the time, except when it smelled like cleanser on Tuesdays and Thursdays when it was cleaned by the janitor, Mr. Marcum. Or that your girlfriend had it on her notebook that she carried everywhere with her.” “That’s all in here?” I asked as I then brushed through the folder and found it on the back of page 16. “Wow… you all are thorough. I’ll give you that at least.” Jennifer nodded. “We have to be. We Bigs haven’t unified all our technology and knowledge together yet, but we’re getting closer, which means your background can be checked out if they think something is funny with it. Think of details like those as little buffers between them and the truth about who you are.” I then realized the gravity of what was being asked of me, and like many other times in the past few hours today, the meds were seeming more and more like a blessing rather than a curse. Lastly of all today’s lessons, Jennifer then handed me a small booklet that I quickly recognized as the advertisement brochure for the daycare I was going to on Monday. I then looked back up at Jennifer. “I want you to look over this on your off time,” she explained. “It’s not critical that you know it by Monday, but it might just get you out of a bind or two… or prevent you from getting into one in the first place.” I was nervous to even look inside, but even when I did, I knew firmly that I had good reason to be. Right there in the center section was the list of punishments they could perform. It filled half the page and included spanking, timeouts, loss of privileges, and many others. What frightened me the most though, that of the at least 15 listed, the whole list ended with a final bullet point of “& More!” I shuddered to think of what ‘more could really imply. Before I could even ask though, Jennifer walked back up to me. “Okay, Megan,” she said with both her hands on her hips. “Now to put all that you’ve learned into practice. No pressure but let’s just see where we are.” I almost was about to introduce myself, but from its perched position on a nearby coffee table, Jennifer picked up a glass of water and then threw the liquid inside of it right at me. “What the…!” I exclaimed, now soaked, dripping, and in disbelief. “Megan!” Jennifer scolded. “We don’t talk like that here! You didn’t say a bad word, but I know you were thinking about it. I better not catch you actually saying one next time or that’s at least going to cost you a serious timeout.” I was shocked at this sudden shift in her demeanor. My mind quickly panicked and ran right to that all this was some elaborate setup by ABI. ‘I gotta get out of here! I’m so screwed. I’m…’ I then took a minute to actually think about it all though, and I realized what she was doing. In essence, she was role playing now as one of the Big daycare workers. So, once I made that connection, I quickly got into character myself. “I… I’m sorry, Miss Jenn,” I said, calling her what she had instructed me to before all this. It was an unlikely scenario, but she noted that most teachers or caregivers would want to be called by shortened versions of their names to help the more regressed Littles still be able to address them properly. She even made the note that if I ever had friends over from daycare, that would be the name I should tell them to call her. Seeing my genuine apology and also my recognition of what was now happening, Jennifer only smiled back. “That’s okay, sweetie. Just remember that for next time. Accidents happen all the time around here and as a Little, it’s just something that we need to expect happening.” She then examined my soaked clothing and pursed her lips as if she was thinking hard about something. “Hmmm… you’re absolutely soaked Meggy. Why don’t we get you all cleaned up and get you into some fresh clothing as well, huh? How does that sound?” I nodded my head as happily as I could, real or not. “Yes, Miss Jenn. That would be really nice. Thank you.” “Perfect,” she beamed. “Now, let’s get you to the bathroom where I can help you out. I’m sure your mommy packed you some extra dry clothes for just this type of thing.” I panicked a little at the notion of where this was heading, but as Jennifer had noted, I just needed to focus my energy into something else, particularly with my feelings over her use of the word ‘mommy.’ I knew I had to expect the same treatment from the other real life daycare workers, but it still just sounded strange knowing that others could refer to Jennifer as just like that. So, I then took the initiative and reached out my hand. Jennifer quickly smiled and soon led me upstairs and into the bathroom. Without hesitation, she then got to work and laid out a fresh set of clothes and procured a single towel. “Take off your clothes, honey,” she said without skipping a beat. I immediately blushed and hesitated to do so. Jennifer quickly noticed. “Now, Megan.” Her words were straightforward, but they carried such a weight and even a slight hint of a threat. I knew I had messed up in the scenario, but I quickly put it out of my head and stripped down to my underwear and single cami. Now, I had never exactly been ‘gifted’ in the department regarding my feminine curves, but I would still never be mistaken for a guy ever back on Earth. So, when I had agreed to all this, I had been a little worried about that factor of seeing some of the other Littles and their unabashed nudity. This society though had apparently also thought of that, and this version of the cami I now wore was deemed the perfect solution. It was comfortable, supportive, and yet did nothing to say ‘woman’ about the user… just ‘girl.’ Seemingly now satisfied, Jennifer proceeded to dry me off the rest of the way. To my surprise, she even slipped in a quick training panties check today but found my pink and flower adorned pair to still be dry. I knew she wasn’t really checking, but her invasive touch was still something I knew I would need to expect in this type of environment. Though, just like all this had started, it ended, and Jennifer now sat across from me in the family room on the large and comfortable couch in there. “So… do you know where you messed up?” I quickly nodded, remembering that I needed to be told twice to take off my clothes. We both knew that it was likely to be an issue, so she didn’t make an issue of it, but she still seemed to be deep in thought about something else in particular. “Penny for your thoughts?” I asked innocently, still wearing the butterfly embroidered jeans and unicorn T-shirt that Jennifer had dressed me in. My hair was even still done up in the single rear ponytail she had done afterward to test if I would still stay still for a Big messing up my hair. Jennifer sighed. “Well… you did really well, but I’m having two thoughts right now…” I gestured my hand for her to continue. “First is that I think we should go out tomorrow. Just something simple… the park maybe.” I could feel my heart begin to beat more swiftly for a moment, but I also knew that she was right to want a field test of sorts before the real day. “Sounds reasonable… and second?” Jennifer then reached behind her and produced her purse that she had placed on a nearby end table earlier. “I was thinking… everybody is different and reactions…” I could tell she was trying to dance around a single issue without just coming out and saying it right away. “I think we need another type of test, but today instead.” She then reached into the fashionable accessory. and seemed to type in a code of some sort before I could hear a whirring noise of sorts. After, she reached in once again and produced a single slim silver case of some sort and popped it open. “I think we need to test out the meds… now.” I could feel my breath stop for just a moment and the air was deathly still in the room. I knew that with each scenario we had run today, I had desired the pills, but now, the white triangular capsules marked with a ‘1’ just seemed like a step too far. “Maybe not today… I think maybe tomorrow… or we could just try on Monday…” From anyone observing me in the slightest, they could tell I was first, nervous, and second, stalling. Jennifer sighed and set the case down. “I thought you might say that… ABI as well.” She then got up and went over to grab the remote for the large flatscreen TV that was mounted on the opposite wall from the couch. “There are some who think you shouldn’t see this, but Amy and I… well, we want to show you what you’re up against if you slip up.” “Slip up?” I could guess what that probably meant, but I still didn’t like the sound of it. Jennifer only wordlessly nodded and turned on the TV. What appeared before me next was something I could never forget. Now, I will spare some of the more gruesome details… my pain after all shouldn’t be shared in some cases here, but my head justified taking that risky medication for a rational and understandable reason. Before me on the TV now seemed to play archival footage that had been spliced together, clearly for the purposes of training for the ABI with this one and other similar assignments. It seems that before I was recruited, as they had mentioned, they had tasked other Littles with infiltrating the research facility. In what almost appeared to be the same cell, a rebel Little leader was seated and was then offered an almost identical deal to my own, the only difference is that his home was back on an island somewhere I think they called Atlantica. Regardless, he accepted the deal as I had. He seemed to mold into the daycare well and even appeared to create several contacts, one of which I even recognized as one of the ‘tweakers’ that I had seen a case file on back on Earth. The Little performed admirably, but I noticed the clock continue to tick away and small signs that the Little was cracking in two ways, both in his state of regression and his willpower to resist acting out. Finally, the latter crumbled. It was just lunch one day like any of the others that I had viewed in the past ten minutes, but it appeared to be pea soup… and I guess he wasn’t a fan. The tray was quickly shoved away in a single act of defiance. “Get that crap away from me! I’m a Little, not an invalid! I…” I could see the panic set in across his face as soon as realized what he had just done. The diaper he now wore during his third month at the daycare noticeably became discolored as the Bigs’ faces turned sour and began to descend on him. From the footage, I couldn’t really see faces, but one woman seemed to be a little more in charge than the others. “I have him. This Little and I are going to have a… chat. Isn’t that right, Bri-Bri?” Bri-Bri, or I guess Brian, began to profusely apologize. No act, and no contempt or any sign of hesitation or lie in his words, but he seemed to be too in the moment to realize that his words were now all too late. The next frames seemed to be pieced together more haphazardly and almost as if they had been restored and then stitched back together. The timeline jumped a few times, but Brian and the woman were still both perfectly clear as the two figures in the frame. “We did some… ground checks on you. Further this tim… You are a liar and a… What do you… to say for yourself?” the large and imposing woman asked Brian, who was now seated before her. “Please… ple… I don’t know what you… alking about…” he pleaded, but clearly all in vain. The distortion began to get really bad, but I still noticed the timestamp clicking away. Ten minutes turned into an hour… hours into days… “You are rebel scum, and we only have one treatme… Little like you!” the woman boomed next. Brian was now strapped down onto an operating table of sorts. “Please… please… Miss…” The feed cut out for a quick second. “I’ll be a goo… oy for you! It was j…t one mistake! Have mercy. Aren’t I yo… pecial boy?” The woman then leaned in and almost sickeningly placed her hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him. “Not anymore…” The feed cut out a few more times, but now, the horrifying still awake Brian was currently being operated on. Bloody bandages were wrapped around several of his joints already, but his head was now open with several probes in it as doctors looked in and adjusted or cut in very specific areas as shown on the several monitors on display. “Now, Bri-Bri. I want you to sing your ABC’s,” the doctor instructed. “No… I… please!” The doctor shook his head in clear disappointment and clicked a single dial next to him. An almost whistling electronic noise could be heard as the tune pitched upward. “Ah! Please stop! Please stop! I’ll sing, I’ll sing!” Brian took a breath and began to hauntingly sing as the doctors began to mess with another probe. “A, B, C, D, E… E… H… M, N, Q?” Brian was clearly struggling, but the doctor and many others were also clearly pleased. “Very good, Bri-Bri. A few more sessions and you should be…” The feed then cut out again, but when it came back, I noticed only a week had passed. Brian, if one could even ascribe that name to the same figure on the screen before me, lay on his back. From a distance, he looked very much like he was just relaxing on a blanket, but the camera then zoomed in. It was then very clear that Brian, at least who he was, was no more. Blank and unfocused eyes dotted about the nearest shiny object in the soft and jingling toy now in his hands. His mouth attempted to bite the object, but it was soon clear that him attempting to gum at it would be a more accurate statement due to his now clear lack of teeth. The formal rebel Little leader had been reduced to a mere infant… newborn even on some level and there was no return for him. There was no more of what made him who he was and no salvation either. The Bigs had effectively eradicated him, and I just felt sick. Before, I could only guess what went on behind closed doors and in secret labs, but now… Amy then turned off the TV and gave me a second to process what was just burned into my head for the rest of my life. Finally, though, she spoke and held out the case. “There are about ten more you can watch… all about the same… some worse even, but this is still a pretty good middle ground with the stakes here for you if you slip up.” She paused again and clearly read the shock on my face. “This is your decision, Megan, but after seeing all that, do you really still want to wait and take a chance these don’t work come Monday? I don’t want to force or hurt you, but Brian made one false move, and… well you saw the rest.” I didn’t want the pill today, but what I had just seen… it put all this on a whole different level than I was or ever could have been prepared for. I was human and I was delving into a society that was far beyond what humanity could even scarcely dream of these days. From my research at the library, they had cures for so many diseases that had claimed the lives or minds of humanity for centuries now. It wasn’t a utopia or anything by a long shot, but I thought I had seen everything. Apparently not… So, as Amy levied the single white triangular pill closer to me, my options, in a world of so much promise, now seemed so limited. I was an adult in almost every sense of that word, despite my current attire and living situation, but this pill… it felt like a chance to erase all that in a second, but the video… Like before, I didn’t really have a choice in fear of it not working and my cover being blown. Resigned to my lot in life and without any other real option though, with hesitancy and a hefty amount of fear, I took the tiny pill and quickly swallowed it.

What's weird is the fact there are many still on there... Who honestly I consider to be more likely to be booted than Personalias? His works never included any images or captions that I recall? MaybeMee had some graphics for the game they were working on? I don't know if maybe it was the profile banner for some? Elfy is still okay last I looked, and definitely has much more hardcore writings, so it's really odd... As soon as the dust settles and I have the spare time to find all those I was supporting I'll try and go to the other platforms to continue to do so. So sorry that this happened to you all!

Hey everyone! This was originally supposed to be a shorter chapter, but I realized that with the more serious and hardened character so hell-bent on invesitgating and trying to leave, making a decision so lightly just seemed out of character. I also wanted to lay out a bunch of things so all the stakes were out in the open and there wouldn't be any of the usual form of betrayal you tend to see in these stories. This is an origin story after all, so I wanted to showcase some differences between the modern events and those that took place at the start. Anyways, hope everyone enjoys this next chapter! Chapter 7: An Offer I Can't Refuse The woman before me took a deep breath and I could see the carefully pressed suit of hers wrinkle slightly under the exertion. Her imposing and athletic frame practically dwarfed me, and I felt every little bit of the child that they thought me to be. I of course would deny that notion vehemently if asked, but I couldn’t lie to myself and say that I wasn’t at least a little nervous just being in her presence at the moment. “Now,” the woman continued, “I have the deal all prepared right before me, but I suppose introductions should be our first priority if we are to continue this path, huh?” I nervously looked at the stack of documents and folders before her but then nodded my head. I needed to know more, and I would take any opportunity for her to talk instead of me. With any luck, the burning truth serum that I had been given had a short half life and I could stall long enough to at least attempt to evade or lie to her. I still wasn’t sure what was going on, so I knew it was my best plan for the moment. “Well… you already know me… what should I call you?” The woman pursed her lips and thought for a moment, clearly making up a name on the spot but also clearly being experienced with having to do it before. “Well, there’s a bunch of things you can call me, but let’s just go with… Amy… yes, Amy, for the time being at least.” I sighed and knew that wasn’t likely her real name, but I accepted it, nonetheless. “Okay, Amy. Uh… if we’re on a first name basis, could you… at least remove the restraints?” Amy immediately blushed and ushered over to the woman who had questioned me. “Sorry… we needed to take some precautions before you accepted the deal… Hard to know how anyone would react to these types of situations. I’m sure you can understand our precautions.” The padded restraints were immediately removed, and I rubbed the area where they had been. They weren’t painful themselves, but they had only added to the pressure from an entire night of other, harsher ones. Satisfied though with my relative freedom, I paused for a minute and glanced around the sterile and stark room I was in. “Thank you for that, but where are we, or at least who are you all? Can you at least tell me the truth about that?” Amy smiled coyly, clearly noting my distrust of her name, but she gratefully only nodded. “I won’t tell you where we are specifically, but I can tell you that we are part of the ABI.” I looked at her questioningly over what that could even mean, and she noticed immediately. “Oh, right. Sorry… forgot that you actually aren’t from around here. ABI, or Amazon Bureau of Investigation. From our government’s infiltrators in your home dimension, we are basically this dimension’s version of your FBI… or at least the FBI as it was before your all’s downfall that is.” It was a lot to take in at once, but it all somehow made perfect sense. I wondered if I knew any of their infiltrators back on Earth personally, but it raised another huge question; if they had people in our own dimension, then why would they care so much about portal travel? I felt like I was missing a huge piece of the puzzle before me. “I also do apologize for the bluntness of Agent Violet’s interrogation,” she continued as she gestured to the woman in the corner of the room, “but we just had to be sure that you were actually from another dimension, rather than just a Little with an overactive imagination. Once you were given the truth serum in the station, illegally I might add, and you mentioned going through a portal, we knew we had to act fast. We’ve been keeping an eye on you for some time, but we couldn’t let them hear any further information that you might divulge about all this. Make sense?” I nodded, but I was still awash with an array of questions. Still though, one weighed more heavily on my mind now. “Why did you need to confirm I was from another dimension if you’ve been following me? I don’t think I’m that good at deception and hiding where I’m from.” Amy just seemed to nod over the legitimacy of my question. “Well… I guess since you’ve already accepted the deal, you’ll need to know a few more details about what’s actually going on.” She paused and leaned forward. “You see, we at the ABI don’t normally divulge what I’m about to reveal to you, but desperate times and all, as I’m sure you’ll soon see, has now brought us here…” She then paused and passed over a single folder from the stack before her. I quickly opened it up and the contents seemed to quickly confirm most of my suspicions so far in my own investigations. “We’ve known about portals for years. Some are naturally occurring but entirely random. In fact, a little over 30 years ago, we began sending agents to your side specifically to investigate what was out there when we learned to exploit these ‘soft’ spots. Learned a lot, but each of those was a separate instance and carefully controlled.” I looked down at the folder before me again and saw that a few humans were actually taken to this side every year and questioned about life from our side. It was a lot to take in, but a tiny part of me, the one that had responded to who knows how many missing persons cases, was relieved to know that it was just possible that some of them had ended up here rather than in a ditch somewhere. I know some would have probably preferred death to this place, but the notion they could still be breathing was at least some comfort to me who had seen to their grieving families over their loss. “Anyways, we’ve been tracking these recent and unauthorized portal disturbances for about a year now but with little success on discovering their origin.” She then heavily sighed and pointed to one name in the folder before me. “We suspect that ‘Project: Open Sesame’ is being continued illegally, but we can’t confirm that. We only know that these portals are occurring worldwide, but in the last year at least, most are happening within about 250 kilometers of here, or about 140 miles, if you will. Further, we’ve also been tracking shipments from Albion to this area to a local research company facility located just north of here. It’s not enough evidence to break down the door, but it’s a start…” I had a bad feeling I knew where this was headed, but I needed to know one thing that had been tickling the back of my mind since she began. “So… you all have portal traveled before. So… why the urgency and all now?” Amy sighed once again. “You are asking the wrong person for the specifics on that, but from what I’ve been briefed on at least, tiny portal travels are fine. Let’s see… ah!” She then leaned back and made a sphere with her hands. “Imagine each dimension like a blob of Jello. When…” “You all have Jello here?” I asked, interrupting her, and admittedly missing the point at that moment. Amy chuckled. “Yes… took it from your dimension a few years back when we discovered that Littles couldn’t get enough of it.” She paused and then refocused on her hands, still encircled in a sphere-like shape. “Anyways, each dimensional travel is a poke through one side of it. A few breakthroughs a year and the form will basically congeal back together given enough time and other extraneous factors.” “But those pokes are happening more now?” I asked warily. “With the unauthorized portal travels?” “Exactly, Megan,” Amy confirmed. “In fact, there are so many now that the form of this dimensional blob is starting to collapse, and if enough breakages occur,” she then collapsed her hands with a loud smack, “no more dimension.” Science was never my strong subject in school, but her smacked and collapsed hands were enough of a bad sign for even me to know that it wasn’t a good thing at all. “That sounds terrible…” “Yes…” her eyes suddenly looked very sad. “We’ve tried to make progress on the inside of their organization with other Littles… from this dimension… but they haven’t managed very well…” She paused and looked at me directly. “It’s actually another reason I’m telling you all this. Figured you could use all the advantages that we could offer before we move on here.” I could feel my breathing stop for just a split second when she said that. I silently crossed my fingers in the hope that my instincts were wrong, but I wasn’t exactly feeling lucky these days. So, I had to know. “Why… why am I here?” Amy seemed to then snap out of her previous melancholy when talking about the other Littles she had sent in, and then leaned back over the table and her files. “Well, we raided your house about an hour ago.” My eyes bulged at what they had found there, and Amy noticed and chuckled a bit. “No need to worry, hon. It was all very impressive actually.” She then opened another file, and I quickly could see my picture in it. “Now, we were able to deduce that you likely had some background in law enforcement, which is also why Agent Violet just wanted to confirm that particular question with you.” She then pushed a picture in front of me. I instantly recognized it as the large map on my bedroom wall of the various abductions and sightings of bright lights from the area, partially from my own research and partially from Clara’s. “That’s my map! It’s all the points that could be found and tracked over the past few years from various sources.” Amy nodded. “Yes… it’s very impressive for sure, but we also saw that you couldn’t see a pattern from the various notes that you left.” I looked back up at her from the photo and she smirked. “Well, we did. In fact, with our extra resources and data points, we confirmed that there is indeed a pattern.” I looked her dead in the eyes. “It all goes back to that research facility I mentioned earlier.” Months of investigations had now all led to this one moment. I felt like I could touch my ticket to get home, but the deal… it still nagged in the back of my head. The two extreme offers she had made me earlier… It felt wrong somehow. “So, what’s the catch? What’s the hold-up if you know what’s going on and even where it’s happening?” Amy then scratched her head and squinted as if she was covering up a dirty secret. “Well… I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Bigs dealing with Little’s affairs are not always so straightforward. There’s a bit of a break in our society right now where many of us Bigs feel that Littles should all be regressed. Babies or playthings at best.” “It’s terrible,” I said without thinking if she was setting up a trap for me or not. Apparently, the truth serum was still working its poisonous magic with my words. Fortunately, Amy only nodded. “Yes… but there are those of us Bigs who believe differently. Unfortunately, this research group in question is backed by a section of our government who is more of the latter category of Bigs. They seem bent on opening a portal to other dimensions. For peace or conquering doesn’t matter fully right now, but as a result, we need hard evidence of this to make any types of arrest or even official inquiries.” She then paused for a moment and as if clairvoyant, I knew what she was about to say next. “Which is where you come in…” I sighed. I knew this was coming, but to hear it firsthand was something else entirely. Amy had been forthcoming on all details except to what I had agreed to before all this. She had upped the stakes and made it personal for me as well. In essence, she had sweetened the deal I had already agreed to. I knew that would only occur in this type of scenario if the task offered was immensely dangerous, difficult, or even both. Still, I had to know more. “Why… why me then?” Amy breathed heavily and looked back down at my folder. “Well… frankly, there are a lot of reasons, but I’ll tell you two. First off, you are the first we have managed to reach in time that was actually still, well… you. No regression or alterations from past punishments, which makes you very unique in this society, especially as a portal traveler. Then, when Agent Victoria asked you your previous job and combined with what we found in your apartment, we knew you were perfect for this task.” My mind swirled with the possibilities of what they were asking. I practically felt seasick from what all this could mean, but I needed to know the specifics. I needed to know what I had chosen instead of being regressed. Only a fool would have chosen to be regressed over any other option… unless that option was even worse. “And what is that task specifically?” I asked with a great deal of hesitation. Amy slowly nodded. “That’s only fair at this point…” She then reached into the back of my folder and pulled out a single sheet of paper. “This, for all intents and purposes, is your ‘contract’ with the ABI. You can look over it if you wish, but it basically amounts to one simple task; find out what you can and confirm the presence of an unauthorized use of a portal device.” Amy let the deal hang in the air for a moment. It seemed simple enough, but as I contemplated it all, I realized it was too simple. This research facility was presumably well-guarded, and she had already confirmed the presence of it being backed by at least a portion of the government here in Libertalia. “Is that all?” I pressed. Amy winced and I knew I had struck where I needed to in order to understand the full scope of what was being asked of me. “Well, yes and no.” I looked at her with a puzzled look. “You see… as I said before, we’ve sent in others beforehand, but for one reason or another, all those Littles were regressed, and from what we could find, it was because they easily gave in to the pressures of the assignment. They didn’t give up any information, but their favorite activities from what I’ve heard recently are chewing on some fabric blocks or batting around a tinkling sunflower from their play gym. Not exactly ripe for actionable intelligence.” The weight of what they were asking me to do was hitting me with its full force now. Others had gone in and failed, but here in this odd dimension, failure meant regression. If I was to go in as well, I could face the same challenge and fail just as well. “Oh…” “Yes… oh…” She then slid the paper of my contract closer to me. “As I said, feel free to look over it, but we’ve left it simple and vague for a variety of reasons, and you should know at least what a few of them are.” I raised an eyebrow to indicate that I wanted to hear them now. Amy nodded. “Yes, well, first off, we don’t want to overcomplicate things. More stipulations or regulations on either side could curtail our ability to protect you or your ability to investigate the research company more properly. We want results, not a bureaucratic nightmare, so we’ve allowed you some leeway. The other reason, however, is that in the pursuit of those results, we may ask you, or at least suggest to you, some methods that could aid in your search for evidence or proof of their guilt.” Amy was being very open with me, and I desperately wanted to know specifically what methods she had in mind, but as I gazed over the ‘contract’ before me, I quickly noticed that none of these methods were listed. In all likelihood, if Amy and the ABI wanted to or even could tell me about them, they would have had listed them on the contract. So, with that option seemingly not even on the table, another thing she said, immediately jumped out at me. “Uh, what do you mean exactly by ‘protecting’ me?” Amy smiled and nodded. “That is an absolutely fair question. After all, we are asking you to enter a guarded research facility under false pretenses. We know enough now that a random Little would stand no chance whatsoever and would likely just be regressed and adopted within a month. So, to that end, you won’t be alone.” Amy then gestured to the corner of the room behind her. Agent Victoria stood still and looked a little annoyed as the fourth woman then stepped into the light. Her chestnut brown hair curled out of the bun on the back of her head and her eyes seemed to sparkle as they gazed back at me in an almost unusually friendly way for a Big. Amy then spoke back up, “Megan, this is Agent Jennifer. She’ll be your… partner in all this.” The Big walked up to me and extended her hand outward in a graceful and non-threatening manner. I slowly took it but still shook it politely. “Hello, Megan. I know all this may be a little much, but I’m hoping we can at least become friends during this assignment.” Her words were gentle and kind, and I felt no threat from her. I wanted to say more, but Amy quickly cleared her throat. “Yes. Thank you, Jennifer.” The Big woman looked away, nodded her head, and then quickly returned to the corner. “Anyways,” Amy continued briskly, “Agent Jennifer is one of our top agents in this area and she will be providing you a form of protection during this undercover mission that we are tasking you with.” She then pulled out yet another folder and opened it. “She has an undergrad background in Little education, along with a graduate degree in forensic and investigative studies and is one of our highest ranked undercover field operatives in the ABI.” It was an impressive background for sure and I was nearly stunned that she had been assigned to me for this one mission. I knew it was important after the whole Jello analogy that Amy had used, but Agent Jennifer’s addition to this mission seemed to somehow elevate the whole thing to another level entirely. “That’s… very impressive…” Amy nodded. “Yes, and that’s the point. I’m actually very glad that you feel that way about her.” Amy then paused and seemed to hesitate for a moment. “You see… Agent Jennifer will be more than just your partner. To cement your cover more in fact, she will be acting as your… caregiver on this mission.” Now, the word ‘caregiver’ was still non-threatening in the worst of times back home. It was meant as a title for those who were simply, as the name suggested, caring for others. No sinister overtones or malice about it in even the wildest of imaginations. Here, in this whacked-out other dimension though, it was a badge of horror and terror. Caregivers were the demons come to fruition for every wayward Little. For those regressed, they were the saviors, the cooks, the cleaners, the feeders, the wipers, the whole world to them, as intended. For those Littles not yet ensnared though, they were a blazing cautionary sign and represented the deeply flawed system over in this dimension as much as a manacle represented the odious practice of slavery back on Earth. To now hear this word ascribed to such a gentle soul and one who would be responsible for my well-being… it sent me into a frenzy to say the least. “What! No!” I wiggled free of my seat and dropped to the floor. “No deal! No deal! Screw this! You’re crazy if you think I’m going to comply with this. This is a trap! Get me out of here! Now!” Of course, as soon as I sprang down from my chair, the whole room erupted into a chaotic panicked mess of sorts. I knew I was outmatched, but I stood toe-to-toe with the two armed guards by the doorway. Each drew their holstered stun weapons, but Amy barked out, “Stop!” before they could fire. Both re-holstered their weapons and the turmoil calmed for a moment, but I was still on my guard. Curiously though, in all the commotion, I spotted Jennifer still stuck in her corner. Of all those in the room, she appeared neither angry, trigger happy, or even frustrated. Instead, she almost appeared sad. I wanted to question why in my head, but Amy’s voice boomed in the tiny room first. “Stand down, Megan!” I shook the thoughts out of my head for the moment about Jennifer and looked back toward Amy. She clearly had at least a stun gun holstered about her waist, but she only motioned for me to calm down. “I’m not doing this under any caregiver. I know what that means in this society! I never would have agreed to this deal if I had known that was what it entailed.” “Okay, okay… I understand that Megan, but just hear me out,” Amy said calmly as she held her hands aloft. By her lack of any real action in response to my own and her still-calm demeanor in all this, I knew that she barely felt threatened by my actions and that she had also was highly experienced in these intense and critical types of scenarios. “Can you try and calm down and listen to me? Please. I don’t want this to escalate further.” I pondered my options, but I could only think of the ‘tweakers’ I had found back on Earth. Something was telling me that those in this destined research facility were the ones responsible for their state of being. It could mean my ticket home, but it could also mean that I would spend the rest of my days as one of those ‘tweakers’ as well. Knowing the conditions back home, death almost seemed the preferable option at this point, but still, I wanted to know what she had to say first. So, with some reluctance still, I eased my body posture. Amy smiled a tiny bit and nodded her head. “Good. Very good, Megan.” She then readjusted her clothing and presented herself to me with her more usual stalwart appearance. “Now, as I see it, you haven’t signed the contract yet, so in theory at least, you still have the deal I gave you beforehand.” I itched to immediately choose the other option now, knowing full-well that likely only experimentation and eventual decrepitude would await me back on a dying planet if I chose the other option. Amy seemed to notice however, and quickly spoke up. “Just hear me out first before you go making any rash decisions that you will regret for as long as you still know that word at least.” Her thinly veiled threat hung in the air for a moment, and I just nodded my head for her to continue. “Good. Now, if you say yes, you will help dismantle an organization that is primarily responsible for the abduction of hundreds of others by now from your own world. Considering that their portals are most likely destabilizing both dimensions, your efforts would even go on to save both worlds. You would be a hero to billions.” Amy paused for a moment, obviously in order for the word ‘hero’ to percolate in my mind a little further. “Additionally, you would even have revenge upon those that ripped you away from your life, but if that’s not enough motivation…” she then took a giant lungful of air. “Finally, we could offer you a one-way ticket back home afterward once the portals go back to their usual regulation.” I was very impressed with the way she had presented the positives to saying yes. They were almost larger than life, but we both knew very well of the risks involved. When there was a possibility of losing everything that you were or were to ever be, the flipside to that equation had to be just as equally powerful, if not more so. As much as I hated to admit it, she had done exactly that. “If you say no, however,” she continued a little more sinisterly, “many things will happen. You will be left in the police station as we found you, but we will make it so that you will be unable to talk anymore about portals at all. It would really be for your safety, as without an ID, you would likely be terminated as a public hazard on the spot, rather than just be considered a dangerous rebel Little.” I felt fear begin to creep up my spine. “In all likelihood, with your years of built-up maturity and your already-demonstrated role as a protector for the injustices you would do doubt witness, you would soon end up in another conflict with an even more stern Big. I’m afraid that in a best-case scenario with those facts, you would likely end up in a downtrodden foster home with several other Littles or in one of those new etiquette schools. Either way, your mind wouldn’t last long, and the story of Megan Reynolds of Earth would end very quickly and very sadly, with your only comfort being the diapers you would then have to wear or the stuffie that would be your only true remaining friend in the entire cosmos of realities.” She paused and let the silence of the room overtake me. “That is your other option. So, Megan, which will it be?” My panic from earlier over a caretaker had now turned to fear over this alternative option. Going back in the state that I had left it, I knew I would be doomed. Going back home wouldn’t be an option in any scenario I could think of with it, and I knew that I would likely be regressed and stuck here… forever. It was a truly no-win scenario from what I could tell, but of the two options, only one presented a ray of hope, regardless of how slim it truly was. So, with a heavy sigh, I nodded once more and conceited my defeat of a sort. “I accept…” Amy smiled and I couldn’t help but see her in a different light now. Maybe not the villain like other Bigs had shown themselves to be, but certainly not a comfort to me either. She would be an interesting handler to say the least moving forward in all this, but curiously, I only saw Jennifer grimace a bit as Amy had made my options clear to me. If I was indeed to submit to a caretaker, one who flinched over some of those horrifying possibilities would be better than most others from what I had seen. A small concession perhaps, but a pleasant one at that. “Good.” Amy continued to smile and shoved the single sheet of paper of my ‘contract’ toward me. “Now, to confirm one last time, we need you to sign this paper. No tricks here, but we need it for legal reasons and in fact, it could be your one salvation in the future if everything should go wrong.” I wasn’t sure if I believed that last part, but I could see the seriousness behind her eyes still. So, without further hesitation, I walked back up to the table, managed to sit in my highchair once again, and then sign the document with the provided pen. It took less than three seconds, but I pondered the ramifications to such an action and how long they would haunt me in the coming future of my new life undercover. “There,” I said with a bit of disgust laced in my voice, “I’ve signed the paper. Now tell me what you need from me.” Amy briefly reviewed the document, and seemingly satisfied, placed my ‘contract’ back in my folder. “Agent Jennifer can go over some of the more day-to-day specifics with you later, but for now, you will be assigned to a multi-age daycare establishment located within the research lab facility that we suspect is housing the portal equipment. Agent Jennifer will be assigned to security to facilitate your entry to the daycare, as well as work the problem from her own end.” I questioned what I could learn from one of the dreaded daycare facilities that I had heard so many nasty things about in the past few months. “A… daycare…” I said with skepticism, “how…?” “Well,” Amy continued without letting me finish, “from our previous undercover Littles and their debriefings, we know that the daycare is also a front for various amounts of testing they are doing in other sections of the facility. Further, we highly suspect that many of those within the daycare have been adopted by the personnel there but are also many of those who have been taken from your Earth. You won’t be the only one there as a native, but we suspect that you may discover more from them than just pure files would ever reveal. That being said, actual documentation would also be ideal to have.” It was a lot to take in, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I had to question everything, so I quickly blurted out, “So, I am to interview these Littles and find out what they know?” I asked. “Won’t that be suspicious?” “Yes, but Littles can often go unseen in certain scenarios.” I then remembered several times when I had gotten out of a jam when I acted younger in front of other Bigs on the streets in the city. “And I’m sure you’re acting abilities are decent, but we also don’t want to take any chances this time...” I was jolted by the sudden implications of what she was saying. “Are you…? Do you…? How…?” Amy chuckled at my obvious stumbling and held up her hand to stop me. “Easy there, Megan. We’re not going to butcher you or anything like that. Instead, though, you’re just going to take a drug.” ‘Crap.’ To a certain extent, taking a drug was even worse and I eyed my folder and the ‘contract’ that I had already signed. “Not the biggest fan of that… but can I know what the side effects are at least?” Amy seemed hesitant to divulge what they were, but then finally relented. “I suppose you should know so you can monitor them yourself…” She then pulled out another sheet from my file and I could see a picture of a white triangular pill at the top. “Let’s see… well, the overall effect we are looking for is to curb your learned traits to fight back. If you do get into an emergency scenario, however, the drug shouldn’t affect you.” Her words were of little comfort right now. She then took a deep breath and sped through her next sentence. “But the other side effects are a 2% chance of incontinence, an increased lack of discernable speech, loss of coordination, and a greater flux of emotions if abused or interacting with other drugs.” She took another huge breath but said this part at a normal speed, though my mind was still trying to process what she had initially said. “We’re not sure what the effects could be after a year, but this should all be over by then.” I had already signed the ‘contract,’ and from what I knew about this world and from what Amy had just told me as well, I knew my other option would almost certainly guarantee those side effects no matter what I did. At least with this scenario, chances of them happening were in the single digits. It wasn’t much, but I was quickly getting the feeling that small victories had to be savored when they occurred from now on. “Fine… I don’t like it, but a lack of me punching someone would probably be a good thing with all this.” Amy smiled but I swear I could hear a small chuckle come from Jennifer. To my surprise, Amy then stood up and began to walk out of the room, but curiously left behind a single bag behind on the table. Just as I was about to ask, Amy snapped back to me. “Oh, probably should have mentioned this in the first place, but training pants need to be worn at all times.” She then gave me a cutesy wave. “Good luck!” The door then slammed shut after Amy and the other two agents had walked away. I was nearly speechless as I eyed the bag in front of me and Jennifer walked up the desk. Her nervousness was readily apparent. “Ugh! I’ve been undercover with drug smuggling and kidnapping ops, but I can’t stop worrying about all this.” I then chuckled to myself over that statement given all that had just occurred in my life. “You? What about me? I just agreed to the very thing I’ve been trying to avoid and then run back home to get as far away from as I possibly can!” Jennifer immediately looked taken back and a little embarrassed over her own relatively minor problems. “Ah… puts my little issues to shame, huh?” I acknowledged her position and smiled a bit at our shared problems with all that was going on. At the very least, it was nice to know that she was ‘human’ in a way. Hearing all that was ahead of me, it was an oddly comforting notion, but still, I knew we couldn’t stay here all day. “Yeah… but I guess we just need to get this over with. Probably going to be a lot of awkward moments to come, so maybe just rip it off like a band-aid and dive in headfirst?” Jennifer smiled back and nodded. “I was just thinking the same actually.” She then moved to the bag and removed a single plastic package. “In fact, we’re going to have to start now with everything, including the whole training pants business. Sorry…” I quickly groaned at the prospect, particularly when I saw the purply mass of padding now laid out before me that even seemed to sport a single kitten on one side at least. “Can’t we just leave out of here… without them?” Amy shook her head with a fair amount of reluctance. “Sorry, Megan, but no. A lot of the officers saw you come in here and you can’t just disappear into thin air. I walked into the interrogation room as well and we have an agent waiting outside the door, but we still need to be seen exiting the precinct station.” I knew she was right of course and thought back to Officer Jake and his nasty ways. I knew he needed to see me leave under Jennifer’s care, if no one else at least, as I certainly didn’t want to have to continually look over my shoulder in fear that he was suddenly lurking there. “So, what’s the plan?” Jennifer smiled and handed me the training pants. “Well, we need everyone to see that you’re wearing these… wearing only these…” I looked at the garment before me. “You mean…?” Amy then realized she needed to clarify a bit further. “Uh… I mean, just your pants and underwear need to come off. Your blouse is long enough to cover it them up a bit for your dignity, but the officers need to see your new ‘protection’ to sell all this. It may not seem like a big difference, but it should satisfy most of them.” I sighed and nodded. “Let’s just do this…” I then hopped out of my highchair and grabbed the training pants before quickly shedding my slacks and underwear. Kindly enough, Jennifer had the good grace to turn around after nodding back to me, but I knew that type of privacy wouldn’t last long once we were undercover. Still, it was a nice gesture that only made me like her a bit more. Regardless, finally, the training pants were up, and while I hated their bulkier presence and what they represented, I knew it could have been much worse. “Alright, you can turn around now. Let’s just leave here as quickly as possible at this point.” Jennifer turned around and smiled at what she saw. It wasn’t cruel or anything, but I swear she was about two seconds away from cooing. Still, ever the agent, she righted herself and grabbed my old pants and underwear and tossed them in the bag. “Right. Thank you for doing that. It makes me really hopeful for this assignment, but we need to do one last thing.” I remained quiet and just let her tell me rather than take a guess. “I need to carry you out of here.” I wasn’t surprised in the least, and it seemed to go along with the whole idea of submission and my new form of undergarment. I didn’t like it, but I knew it was inevitable, so I just raised my arms up. “Just do it.” Jennifer meekly smiled at me and bent down to pick me up. Her touch was soft and warm and somehow made me feel secure, despite her apparent apprehension over what she was doing. “Sorry for all this. I truly am, but I’ll really try my best with this assignment. I don’t think this means much to you with all we have ahead, but I promise to be there for you through all of it.” I nodded in gratitude. “Thank you, but you’re wrong.” She immediately looked nervous about what I was about to say. “Relax. I meant with you being there for me and not meaning anything. It’s small, but with what I’ve seen in this world of yours, it does mean a lot.” I could see an ounce of emotion threatening to breakthrough her overall calm demeanor, but she just cleared her throat. “Thank you, Megan. That means a lot to me as well.” She then collected the bag the training pants had come in and that now contained my old slacks and underwear. “Alright. That should do it.” She then took a deep breath. “You ready for all this?” I sighed. “Not really, but I don’t think I have a choice at this point, so let’s just get going.” She nodded as if to confirm my predicament and then walked out the door of the barren room. This time, I could see where we were going, but to be honest, the elaborate maze of tunnels and corridors we passed made me very doubtful that I could ever truly find my way back out if I ever needed to in the future. Finally, we made it to a familiar looking door that I had no doubt would lead to my original interrogation room. Jennifer then paused. “Okay, Megan. This is it,” she said with a little more resolve in her voice now. “Through these doors, I need you to act like a scared or submissive Little.” I didn’t know I would have to do that and the apprehension on my face probably showed. “That’s okay. We’re going to practice over the coming weekend with some of this stuff, but for now, how about you just lean into me? If you feel you’re going to break or get angry at any time, just close your eyes, and while I hate to add this scenario into the mix, if it helps, just think you took the other deal and are about to be regressed.” My mind became a clouded mess of confusion and nervousness. Obviously, it was the reaction Jennifer was looking for to maintain our cover, and she soon entered the door and then exited out into the precinct room. As she had noted, another agent was waiting outside, and he and Jennifer just calmly walked together through the room crowded full of officers. All eyes seemed laser focused on me… well except for one it seemed. “I don’t care who they are. In Jupiter’s name! We had her, you stupid excuse for a Big!” I instantly recognized the heavy yelling and red-faced cop in the background berating his younger partner. To my delight though, another clearly more seasoned officer intervened. “Officer Jake! You will shut up this instant!” Officer Jake swung around to confront whoever had just yelled at him, but when he saw the glistening double bars on the epaulets of his captain’s uniform, I could even see him swallow hard from this distance. “Now, you will conduct yourself in a manner becoming of that uniform and this precinct right now! You know of the new corrections we can offer those who don’t toe the line, right?” I could only see a blustering Officer Jake try to retract everything and almost cower in fear over what had just been spoken. I wasn’t sure what they were referring to, but it clearly had spooked even that old cantankerous Big. Then, before we exited, I finally saw the even tempered and kindly Detective Paul give me a tiny salute. As the three of us then exited into the cold night air, I wondered what that gesture could mean. The response time for all this was rather quick, but he seemed so normal. ‘Was he in on all this? Or was he just friendly?’ Jennifer and the other agent soon ushered me to an awaiting black SUV parked out front. It was enormous in comparison, and I didn’t need to be told to know that it was clearly government issued. Still though, it gave me a sense of protection and a way to move forward, but I guess that was too naïve of me at this point. Only seconds after first seeing the vehicle and all that ‘safety,’ the back door was soon opened, and waiting inside, was a comfortable looking, but undeniable car seat waiting precisely for me. The night air was a pleasant reminder of my freedom, but the device in front of me now was a stark reminder of the price that I had paid for that freedom and just what lay in store for my future.

Mistake Four I thought that would be the only time I'd have to use my marker on her, but the effects were remarkable. I had her swooning over me like a middle school girl, and it made my job a lot easier. Then again, maybe some of that was just Stockholm syndrome; she hadn't even spoken to anyone else all week. I also got Judith some antidepressants, the same brand and the same dosage she used to take. There was nothing special about the pills; even when she inspected them, she found only familiarity. I wanted her to trust me, and starting with something as personal as medication was a good first step. Every morning, before we started lessons, I'd give her a little plastic cup with one pill in it. Whether she took it or not was up to her. The beach house wasn't exactly what I had in mind when coming up with Judith's lessons. Why couldn't she have created a house with an office, or a school? But I was working with what I was given, so the kitchen island became our study spot. I'd even ordered some washable markers for writing on the wall. Judith set up two pillows in front of the TV for us to meditate; it was often the first thing we did every morning. At first, she had resisted this part of her routine, as she tended to do with everything I introduced. And just like everything else I introduced, she was also now one of the strongest advocates for it. "All ready to get started?" I asked, looking down at the pillows. "Mmhmm." Judith was already sitting, her elbows on her thighs and her hands outstretched. I sat across from her and let her put her hands in mine. I held them both tightly and loosely, like when you lead a dance. That was what I was doing. "Close your eyes," I said. She did. I didn't. She never opened her eyes anymore, so I could watch her breathe and relax. I could tell when something I said eased her mind, and I could tell when she was resistant. It's all in the eyebrows, and a little in the lips. "We're going to take five very long, wonderful, slow, breaths. I'll count, don't you worry. And when we've done all five, we'll go to your safe place together." Each number brought with it a description. The sounds of the ocean. The smell of the salty air. The feeling of warm sand under her feet. Until finally, the two of us were alone on the beach. "You feel warm... you feel safe... you feel my hands in yours." I gently brushed my thumbs along the backs of her hands, to remind her that I was there. "How is the sun today?" I asked. She couldn't have the sun inside of her beach house, so it was always the first thing her mind conjured. "Warm," she mumbled. Her voice was quiet and far away. "Good girl," I praised. I'd been using that phrase a lot recently, building up an association. "You feel the warmth of the sun, but no fear of sunburn. Everything around you is bright, but the light doesn't sting your eyes. You slowly bend your knees and gently sit down in the sand. Your head feels heavy, but it doesn't hurt. It's a familiar feeling. Stress in your muscles. Stress in your neck. You want to lie down, so you do. You rest your head on a towel, something I put there for you, to keep the sand out of your hair. You relax your thighs, until all of you is lying flat on the beach. How is the sun today?" "W..warm..." I could hear Judith struggle for the word in her relaxation. Even her body, which once sat up straight, was beginning to slouch. "Good girl," I said again. "You listen to the waves. You feel the warm water at your heels, but never any higher. You feel my hand in yours." When I brought Judith out of her meditation, she looked at me with glossy eyes and a dumb smile. Her gaze was drawn to my soft red lipstick. "That was nice," she said sleepily. "It was," I agreed. "I have something for you. This is a gift from me." "From... you?" The hazy look in Judith's eyes faded and a bit of color came to her cheeks. "Yes, I hope that's alright?" "Well... I guess so? If you say it is..." I knew Judith meant that I was her nurse, so I knew what was best, but the reliance on me was palpable. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out an elastic cloth band. A little plush lamb face was sewn onto the front. I gave it to Judith and she looked at it with uncertainty. "Uh... what is it?" "It goes on your wrist," I said brightly. "Here, let me show you." I took her hand in mine and gently slipped the band onto her wrist. It looked like it was made for a toddler, but it wasn't. It was made for a baby. "Thank you?" she said, more like a question. "Shake it," I said, shaking my own arm as an example. As confused as ever, she mirrored me. When she shook the wristband, it made a sloshing sound like ocean waves. It had taken me a while to find the right kind of bean to make that particular noise. "Now you can keep your safe place with you, even when I'm not around," I explained. "Right, but..." Judith looked at the baby rattle on her arm and then up at me. I could see the conflict in her eyes. I'd given her a baby toy, but it was a thoughtful gift. So she faked a smile and said, with a little more confidence this time: "Thank you." Her response could have run the entire spectrum of emotions, from outrage to outpouring of tears, but I'd nailed that sweet spot right in the middle. "Good girl. Manners are important," I encouraged. I could tell that Judith was unhappy. She kept playing with the rattle on her wrist, picking at it with her other hand. I'm sure treating her like a child wasn't helping, it wouldn't do me any good for her to dwell on that right now. "Let's start our lessons." Goal three: she wanted to fix her reading and writing. She took her usual seat at the kitchen island and I got one of my wall markers. We had worked on her alphabet for a few days until she realized the symbols I was using didn't correlate to letters. Even if she tried to copy the symbols, I would read them as gibberish. Now we were working on words. I scribbled some shapes on the wall by the kitchen counter. I pointed at them with the marker. "What does this say?" I asked. "I dunno..." Judith looked away. She hated her lessons, because to her it was a guessing game. She had a one in a million chance of getting it right, and she hadn't gotten one right yet. She never would, because the symbols I was drawing were nonsense. "Remember what we talked about," I said warmly, like the sun on her beach. "We can't know what's working and what isn't if you don't try. Please, Judith? For me?" Judith looked up at me and I watched color fill her cheeks. Then she looked at the wall and back down at the empty sheet of lined paper in front of her. "Laundry," she mumbled. "Um... not quite..." I looked at the wall and faked a smile. "It says 'Storm', but that was close!" "It wasn't close at all," Judith said sharply, crossing her arms and causing her rattle to make noise. "Of course it was," I said. I took a few steps over to her and leaned over the edge of the counter. I had worn a low-cut top just for this purpose. Then I reached forward, put a finger under Judith's chin, and guided her eyes into mine. My painted lips were only a foot from hers. I watched her rate of breathing speed up and her cheeks take on more color. "Laundry is something you worry about during a storm," I explained softly, only a foot or so away. "Your reading seems somewhat relational, and that's important to know. Isn't that right?" "I... guess..." Judith tried to look down again, but her eyes only got to my chest before I tilted her chin up again. "Trust your instincts, Judith," I smiled. Then I traced my fingers up her jaw and cupped her cheek with my hand. And for no reason other than because I could, I kissed her gently on the forehead. It left a tiny bit of lipstick on her skin. "Let's try again," I said, standing up straight before Judith could say anything at all. I went back over to the wall, erased the word, and wrote another. Judith was cooperative throughout the lesson. Each time she said a word, I picked a word that was tangentially related. I made sure to emphasize that discovery. Then I wrote a new word on the wall. "This one?" I asked. "Uh..." Judith's hesitance was interesting. I tapped the wall with my marker. "C'mon, Judith. Instincts, remember?" "Well, I'm not sure," she said quietly, "but... is it your name? Maria?" It was my name. Not by any standards of the English alphabet, but I'd been practicing all night. The shape of my nonsense formed my name, if you looked at it quickly. And then, when you took a closer look, it seemed like an optical illusion. But I didn't tell Judith any of that. I looked at the wall, back at her, and then away from both of them. "No," I said slowly, a hint of awkwardness in my voice. "Um... that one was probably a fluke." I waved my hand dismissively. "A fluke?" Judith blinked. "What does it say?" I looked at Judith for a moment and faked a smile. I had managed to bring a bit of color to my cheeks by thinking about something embarrassing that happened in high school. "It says 'Love'," I said awkwardly. Judith looked absolutely mortified, so I quickly added: "Maybe we're barking up the wrong tree with the relational thing." "Y-yeah... probably..." Judith and I were both silent for another ten seconds, ten of the longest seconds of her life I'd bet. Then I said: "Well, I think that's all for today. I'll let you relax now." "Yeah, um. See you tomorrow." Judith got up from the kitchen island, her face as red as a tomato. She quickly made her way to the sofa and turned on the TV. She hit play on whatever DVD was in the player. I victoriously packed up my things. Everything went exactly the way I wanted it to! But as I was standing in the foyer, with one hand on the door knob, I looked back at the sofa. I could just barely see the back of Judith's head as she slouched down. I should have just left. I don't know what I was thinking. But that story from high school that I thought of to make myself blush... was that how Judith felt? I should have just left, I really should have. But I went over to Judith and sat down next to her instead. "Hey," I said softly. "I want you to know that it's okay. I'm the only person here that you even get to talk to; of course you like seeing me. It's probably one of the highlights of your day, right?" Judith didn't answer, but I kept talking anyway. "If I were in your shoes, I'd feel the same way. So, don't worry about it. We're good. There won't be any weirdness, I promise." She silently watched TV. "Okay?" I asked. I waited a while to see if she'd respond. I hated waiting in that awkward pause. I was supposed to be the one making them for her to stew in, not the other way around! So when I finally got fed up with it, I sighed and stood up. It was probably only thirty seconds or something. "Okay," Judith muttered just before I turned to leave. "No weirdness." I smiled, but Judith didn't catch it. She was still pretending to watch the movie. "See you tomorrow," I said brightly.

Chapter Sixteen: Amanda walked out of the nursery reading the instructions on the can thoroughly as she followed Miss Kassia back to her office. As she walked through the door, Director Kassia shut the door behind her. The director now motioned back toward the seat without bothering to say a word. Amanda immediately returned to her seat with the diaper bag on the floor by her, still holding the little tin. Now it was her turn to be quizzed. And the tone in Director Kassia's voice was ice cold and matter of fact. She started “So to begin, what is that tin?” Amanda simply held it up “This is some anxiety medication for littles that he was prescribed by the doctor immediately before we came here.” “And why does he need anxiety medication?” “He has has several full blown panic attacks since I found him, the doctor used this to stop one during the checkup. And if he is going to be without me in the room, I'd rather be prepared. Just in case.” She nodded, but her tone remained the same cold tone that seemed unnerving. “Little John is safe with Abigail. She is not a nurse, however.” Amanda did a double take and asked “She's not??” Now with a low smirk that did not touch the rest of her face, Kassia added “No, Miss Taylor. Abigail is a Child Psychologist. And she specializes in littles. Momentarily we will be able to watch as she interviews him. But first let us discuss yourself.” Amanda nodded as calmly as she could manage while being watched by those piercing blue eyes. Has Kassia even blinked yet? “What would you like to know.” She motioned to the manila envelope. “I see that you chose to take him to the doctor before coming here. That was very responsible. I approve. Next, I have read the contract with the research group. Explain.” Amanda nodded, and then straightened her back and shoulders before explaining in with her best in public amazon voice. “I work as, among other things, an editor for scientific journals and study groups. One such group is a collection of the foremost experts on littles that have come through a rift. Once I knew that John had come through a rift I chose to contact them so that they could give me a heads up about any health conditions that may arise. My number one priority with John is his health and safety. Nothing else matters compared to that.” Director Kassia nodded. “And what drove you to allow them to study him directly?” Amanda now pulled out her phone and brought up the chat app and offered the phone to the Director. “I was asked if I would be willing to allow John to participate in the research. I am assured that a first hand report from myself, as well as him taking cognitive tests disguised as games on a tablet at least one hour a week, combined with notes on how he reacts to regular every day life in our dimension will help them prepare to help new littles and keep them safe and healthy as well.” Director Kassia looked at the phone, but did not make a move to take it. “Miss Taylor, I will be blunt with you. There are many amazons that use hypnosis and surgery to control their adopted littles. It is my belief that every single one of these amazons is weaker than the littles that they control. Any little that we have brought in here under even the most narrowly unusual circumstance is taken to Doctor Abigail and checked out. This is our standard procedure, and if I have my way, every adoption center in Libertalia will have this same procedure within a few years.” Amanda smiled at her now “That is great! I absolutely do not approve of mentally altering a little. They will grow into their roles as either infants or toddlers based on how they were meant to be. All littles have it within them. And I refuse to force any little into a role they were not destined for. If John develops more like a toddler, then I will love him as I would a toddler. If he regresses further on his own, then I shall love him as he becomes.” Director Kassia seemed carved from stone. Completely unmoved. Amanda stammered slightly “I mean to say that I also hate hypnosis.” Finally the Director nodded. “And you have the utmost faith that this research group will not attempt any such hypnosis?” Now Amanda confidently held up one finger and scrolled to the part where she confirmed exactly that with the researcher, and had told them that at any sign that he was uncomfortable, she would be removing him immediately. “Here, please read this. I asked them exactly that.” Director Kassia only now took the offered phone and read not only that part, but the entire conversation lightning fast. Less than a minute and she was sliding the phone back. “Now Miss Taylor. This is the second most organized adoption that I have ever seen. Please explain how you seem to have known every single nook and cranny of our policies, and managed to fill out every single box correctly to streamline the adoption process.” Now Amanda got to smile “My life long friend Catherine came to my house as soon as she could to bring me supplies for him and helped me organize everything.” With just a tiny smirk, Director Kassia nodded “I am quite familiar with Catherine Onasis. She is the rep that makes sure that several important facilities in our region are always topped up on supplies and everything that they need to take care of their little patients. She's a very serious person, which I can appreciate. I have only praises to share about her ability to focus calmly on a task. Her adoption of her little girl was my distinct pleasure to oversee myself only three months ago. In fact, she had a tin of anxiety medicine exactly like the one you have there. The parallels between that meeting and this one are uncanny.” With a nod, Amanda confirmed “Catherine and I have been friends since elementary school.” And right back came the ice sculpture. “Moving on, I have read all of your notes. While I applaud your ability to track these interactions, I must say that there is one thing that I despise among Amazonians.” “And what is that?” “Impulsiveness.” Amanda leaned in a bit. “Impulsiveness?” “Yes Miss Taylor. We get new parents in her every day that have just decided on a whim to adopt a little. They have not prepared at all, they do not know their new littles likes and dislikes, they have no bed for them, nor bottles and food. They simply give in to the amazonian impulse to nurture. I find this unacceptable. Have you arranged for a full compliment of furniture so that you can best provide for your soon to be adopted child?” Amanda straightened proudly “Yes Ma'am, I have. After leaving here I have prearranged an appointment with Littles R Us, and arranged to pay for all of the furniture for his room outright. As well, I have reserved a delivery crew and agreed to pay their … costly same day delivery and set up fee.” “And when is this appointment scheduled?” Amanda spared a glance at the clock on the bookshelf an then returned Director Kassia's gaze, no longer intimidated. She would have her son, and he would be safe with her. “Our appointment is two hours and twenty five minutes from now. It is my intent to take my son from here to get some lunch, and then allow him to pick colors that he likes at the store. All going well, he should be napping comfortably in his playpen by the time the delivery crew arrives.” Finally Director Kassia leaned forward. “Two remaining items, Miss Taylor.” “Anything.” With a tone just barely tinged with malice, Director Kassia explained “You have my word that if that child wanders off and gets lost in the woods while in your care, you will find yourself adopted by the the next morning.” Amanda nodded. She felt her chest tighten up a bit at the open threat, but stayed outwardly calm. “My fence latches are high, my Collie is professionally trained to protect littles, and he has a wrist band with GPS coming in the mail tomorrow.” With an affirmative nod, the Director pulled a remote from her desk drawer and pointed it at a screen on the wall. “And the second thing is that we will watch his interview together.” Amanda turned in her seat and smiled at the sight of John pulling at a plastic container of fruit. As he accepted help, she could hear him through the speakers saying “I feel like I was set up to learn a lesson.” Now that she was looking at a little instead of an amazon, even Director Kassia smiled a little, commenting “That one is perceptive.” They watched together as he parroted 'not your fault' and Director Kassia added to her previous statement “... but impulsive." As they listened to John explain who Xerxes was, Amanda whispered “I have a video of him climbing the dog to reach the door handle. Even though the dog was never going to let him through the door.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Director hold up a finger “You will show me that video before we go in there.” Amanda simply nodded while watching the screen. When the Psychologist disguised as a nurse asked what he thought about her, Amanda couldn't help nervously balling up her left hand and holding it up to her mouth nervously. As John started holding up fingers as he counted she whispered “That cheeky little boy is copying me!” Then she added “Awww” And then Amanda added another “Oh baby, you'll get all the snuggles” And by the end of his list she was tearing up and wiping her eyes “You adorable rambling rascal. I'm going to plant you SO many strawberries.” Amanda looked over and realized that at no point had the director been watching the screen. She was listening and watching … her. Amanda tried not to laugh as she wiped her eyes “I'm sorry. It's just too cute. So will I be able to adopt him?” And now for the first time in the entire hour, Director Kassia openly smirked. It wasn't even an unsettling smirk, it was a genuine smirk. “That young man was named was named John Taylor before you left the lobby. Catherine called me. The research team called me. And I have a message from the office of my own family doctor. If Doctor Galanis says you'll be a good mother, then you will be a good mother.” Amanda bounced in her seat “Oh Goddess, I need a hug.” “I'm not hugging you. You save that hug for your son.” Amanda bounded out of her seat and started for the door. And then she heard someone clearing her throat behind her. “Miss Taylor.” She stopped and spun around. “Yes Ma'am?” “You are not excused yet.” She looked confused “I'm not?” Director Kassia shook her head “You promised to show me cute videos.” Bouncing in place, Amanda pulled out her phone and went to the side of her desk and showed the Director the video of John climbing the dog to reach the door handle, then sliding down and being bowled over by the ballistic tail. She stole a glance at the Director and noticed that her jaw was clenched tight and her hand was over her mouth in an effort to suppress a laugh. She had impressive self control, to say the least. So next Amanda flipped over and showed her the video of John handing an acorn directly to a squirrel. The Director whispered “That has to be fake.” Amanda got to shake her head “No Ma'am. He named it Steve.” That got the tiniest of eye rolls “He's a dork.” Amanda beaned and slipped her phone back into the diaper bag, declaring “But he's MY dork. And if you will excuse me, I am going to hug my son.” Director Kassia stood up and cut her off “Please allow me the pleasure of giving you a dramatic entrance. It is the one pleasure I allow myself." And now again Amanda followed the Director across the hallway and watched her take a deep breath before grabbing the handle and swinging the door opening. She had a perfect view of the Director stepping into the doorway with her hands on her hips and declaring “Young Man.” like he was in trouble. She whispered “Oh that's so mean.” Apparently that made her drop the angry act and the Director then smiled and declared “Young Man, I present to you, your new, legal Mommy” As she stepped out of the way, Amanda bounded in. She waited too long, her baby was getting hugs NOW. She stepped into the doorway, spotted him and made it to him in two big strides. She immediately scooped him up and lifted her right up to her chest and wrapped him up in the biggest hug she could manage, being careful to squeeze him into her without hurting him. When he hugged her around her neck she couldn't help just giving him a big kiss on the cheek and then resting her cheek against the side of his face. Goddess, this hug lasted forever, but not forever enough. Finally she whispered to him “You did so great, I knew you would!” He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed, he looked so confused. And he asked her “What do you mean, I didn't do anything?” She laughed “Oh my sweet innocent John. You were being interviewed. We saw the whole thing from the office. They had to make sure that you actually came through a rift and not a runaway from some other country or something.” She watched him turn and look directly at the black box on the counter and mumble “Oh that's sneaky.” She heard from her left “Most littles never notice the box.” Amanda turned to smile at her “Apparently my little John is a perceptive rascal.” Director Kassia cleared her throat behind them now to get their attention. Once Amanda (And John) were both looking at her “Miss Taylor, your paperwork will be at the front desk. I will include a coupon for Littles R Us that will help with the delivery cost. There will be an inspector with the crew, and you will be inspected again one week later, as well as at least one more inspection if deemed necessary.” Amanda smiled at her and said “Thank you very much for your help!” Director Kassia shook her head “No thanks required. But remember our talk. You only have one opportunity.” Amanda nodded solemnly. “I won't disappoint you, Miss Kassia.” Director Kassia nodded to Amanda. Then looked at John “And you, little man. You take good care of Steve and Xerxes.” John looked at her slack jawed and blushing. Then looked up at Amanda. “You showed her the videos!” Amanda just patted him on the bottom while saying “Yes Baby, I … oh, someone needs a change before we leave. May we use this changing table?” Director Kassia nodded “That is quite fine. I will return to work. Nurse Abigail, I leave them in your hands.” And with that she nodded and walked back out of the nursery and back toward her office. 'Nurse' Abigail smiled and offered “Would you like for me to change him while you go to the front desk and get your paperwork?” Amanda looked down at John and asked “Would you like for Nurse Abigail to change you into a fresh diaper?” only to see him trying to hide behind her leg again. “John?” He shook his head, and his face was turning beet red. He was embarrassed. “Nurse Abigail, I think that maybe John is a little shy about someone else changing his diapers right now.” Amanda explained quietly. Nurse Abigail smiled down at John while speaking to Amanda “Little John here still has a lot to learn about our dimension. Would you trust me with the task? I'd like to speak with him about healthy habits.” Amanda turned and knelt down now, looking John in the eyes. “John, Nurse Abigail knows a whole lot about people your size and I bet that she can help you learn a lot. I'm going to trust her to take care of you, and you should also trust her. Do you understand?” John just shook his head no, slowly inching backwards. So Amanda scooped him up into another hug and whispered “You'll be okay. I believe in you.” With that she stood up and smiled to Nurse Abigail “I shouldn't be but a few minutes.” Nurse Abigail nodded “I'll take your diaper bag and when you get back I'll have talked to him about healthy coping mechanisms for his panic attacks.” Amanda happily handed it over with a “Thank you very much, if it will help him with his panic attacks, even a little, then it will be great for him.” She spared him a glance and wanted to stay with him, but knew that for his own good, she needed to trust him with the Child Psychologist. So she turned and left without another word so that she wouldn't give in and stay. Turning left and going down the main hall, she made it into the lobby and saw that there was a line at the desk. So while standing in line, she started looking around the lobby, trying to imagine what her new son would see. Not the amazons and people her size, but the other littles. Some were in strollers, several were on the floor crying. Obviously the ones crying were sad because they didn't realize that they were going to be cared for. Maybe that was part of what had scared John so much? She stepped forward in line and tried to imagine herself looking up at the chairs and feeling sort of helpless. It didn't really make sense to her, but she was trying to see the world from a completely different view. Shaking her head at the absurdity of littles not wanting the help that they need, she stepped up to the counter, and asked the receptionist “May I have my papers for Amanda Taylor?” “Oh yes Ma'am! Here we have your folder. It has his temporary social security card, date of birth is listed as today, and your official one will be delivered to your home. It is supposed to be one week, but honestly they get backed up and it's been three to four some times. Don't worry if it takes a while, it is absolutely coming. Also the Director told me to put this coupon for Littles R Us in there for you. I've only seen that once or twice, so I think she likes you and your son!” Amanda's right eyebrow went up a bit as she was told that the Director must like her, while remembering the very clearly expressed threats that she herself would be forced into adoption if she messed up. “Oh … Well. I ...” The receptionist gave her a knowing smile, then whispered “Don't worry, she only threatens the ones she likes. The rest she just sends LPS to inspect them without warning.” Amanda leaned in and whispered back “Does she mean the threats?” The brunette behind the counter nodded “Every single word. I know of one woman that had her little taken away and she has been in diapers for two years.” Amanda nodded slowly... “Don't worry Ma'am, Miss Kassia loves littles and wants them to be safe. She's the most dedicated woman in the world. Just take care of your little and pass the LPS inspections and you'll be fine.” Amanda smiled now “Thank you very much! And I hope that you have a wonderful day!” The return smile and “You too, Ma'am” She took the envelope an slipped back into the hallway toward the Nursery. Once there she knocked gently on the door. “Come in.” She opened the door and peeked inside to see Nurse Abigail with her back to the door, standing in front of the changing table. She was speaking “So remember, your stuffy will help you with your anxiety. I want you to hold onto it for an entire month for me. Especially while you're snuggling your Momma or Xerxes, okay?” Amanda could hear a “Yeth Mamm” coming from the other side of Nurse Abigail. “And if I you feel yourself start to spiral or your hands start shaking, what is the absolute first thing you're going to do for soothing?” And now she could hear “Gwab my pacifiew.” Amanda could see the woman nodding to the little in front of her. And finally the Nurse stepped off to one side so that she could get a look. There on the changing table, sitting up and facing the door was her little John, still in his shortalls and t shirt under it. But now he had a pacifier in his mouth with a blue strap clipped to his shirt under the strap for the shortalls. And he was holding a stuffed animal shaped like a big black puppy. She wanted to clap at how cute he looked holding is stuffie, but she didn't know if that would make him nervous. So she settled for walking over to him with a great big smile. John just sat there with his head resting on top of the stuffed puppy, his eyes up and locked with Amanda's. After a moment, Nurse Abigail broke the silence. “John, would you like to tell your Mommy the name of your new puppy?” He looked down shyly and looked like he was squeezing the puppy to his chest nervously as he answered. “Wupewt” Amanda felt her entire body tense up at how cute it was to hear him say it like that. But after a moment he pushed the pacy out of his mouth with his tongue and said “His name is Rupert.” With a little laugh, Amanda stepped closer and leaned down to hug him on the table. “Well, I'm happy to meet the newest member of our family.” Nurse Abigail continued. “John here has obviously had several environmental stressors he has been ignoring for years and has never learned healthy coping mechanisms, or sought professional help. I'm willing to bed that he has also not had any medical, vision, or dental checkups in quite some time either.” John looked over at Nurse Abigail now, looking positively betrayed, and he said “No!” Amanda leaned down in front of him now and asked “No you have not have any medical visits?” John stared at her for several moments … and finally he reached over and popped the pacifier back into his mouth. Nurse Abigail immediately said “That's not soothing, that's deflection.” John now rolled his eyes sarcastically, leaning further back and flopping onto the changing table with his arms spread out haphazardly. Nurse Abigail nodded “Uh huh. Playing dead doesn't make it go away. Miss Taylor, you may find that you have your work cut out for you gently dissuading a certain sassy little boy.” “I'w am aduww” he protested from the table. “One certain sassy little adult.” John held up one finger and proclaimed “ I'm not thaththy” Nurse Abigail chuckled now “Miss Taylor, I believe that it is probably best to bundle this one up and take him for lunch before he gets himself spanked.” Amanda winked and nodded “Yes Nurse Abigail, I do believe that my son is asking to be spanked.” only to hear a sudden and loud series of crinkling sound. And by the time Amanda looked over to the changing table, John was sitting cross legged with his back upright, and his butt was pressed back against the wall. He was clutching his new puppy to his chest. The Nurse then chimed in “Remember, have him hold his stuffie during snuggle time or nap time. Pacy a well. He has no healthy coping mechanisms and it will take a few months to develop a healthy association with his stuffie and being snuggled. The positive association with the pacifier will come later, of course.” Amanda nodded “Yes Ma'am, that stuffie will rarely leave his side for one month and he will have that pacy in his mouth at nap time and snuggle time. I'll make absolutely sure of it.” She now turned and reached out toward her little, saying only “Up.” and he scooted sort of awkwardly on the changing table and held up his arms. Good, he seemed to want to behave after the threat of spanking and his pep talk from the child psychologist. Amanda happily picked him up and scooted him around onto her left hip, and slung the diaper bag up onto her right shoulder. She then looked at John and said “Make sure to thank Nurse Abigail for her help.” John let his pacifier fall and dangle from the strap, then looked over and said very politely “Thank you Nurse Abigail.” That earned him a pat on the head from the Nurse, and a reassuring “You'll do fine in our dimension. Just make sure to listen to your new Mommy.” John just nodded awkwardly. Amanda said one more thank you and then set out into the hallway, hung a left and strolled proudly through the lobby with her new son. He was officially hers. Every fiber of her being screamed to baby him. And maybe she would. A little. But for now, food. Amanda went out to the car and awkwardly fumbled a bit for her keys in the diaper bag, but managed to get the door open, the diaper bag on the floor in front of the carseat and John slide into the carseat in a couple of relatively smooth motions. “Okay John, we're going to go get some lunch and then YOU get to help pick out your own furniture, isn't that exciting?” He thought about it an then nodded “I only had a couple of things before. So … yeah! It kind of is!” She gave him a reassuring smile “Then no matter what they have, you can pick any of it. Mommy's already made arrangements to help pay for it and have it delivered same day.” As she reached under him to pull out the straps he kind of whined “Do you have to use all of the straps?” “If I don't buckle you in and we get pulled over, it's little endangerment. And even if it were not, you would still be getting buckled in safely, Mister.” She locked eyes with him, but after a moment he sighed and mumbled “Yes Ma'am.” and with two quick clicks, the five point harness was latched in place and Amanda was on her way to the drivers side. Sliding in, she looked up at the mirror to see him eyeing the stuffie like it was up to something. “Okay John, we're going to get lunch. Do you want some chicken, or a little burger?” she asked. THAT got his attention, as he looked up at the mirror immediately “I would like some chicken, please!” “Then we're going to go to get some fast food! I don't do that very often, since I seldom come to town. I think I'll have a spicy chicken sandwich myself.” And with that, she put the car in gear, backed out of the spot, and was back on the highway in moments. She stole a quick glance up to see Rupert was now at Johns feet and he was trying to look anywhere but at the stuffed puppy. He'll get used to it. Now that they were in the city, it wasn't long before she was pulling into MacDunnels, a popular fast food restaurant known for having a menu for children and littles. Parking and walking around, she unbuckled John and asked “Do you want to leave Rupert so he stays clean?” He nodded, so she just picked him up and stood him next to her. She slung the diaper bag and took his hand. It was getting to be lunch time, so there was a bit of a line. She squinted at the menu and then asked “Okay, Sweety. Do you want a littles meal, or do you think you can handle a kids meal?” He looked up at the menu “Can I order from the adult menu?” “Can you eat ghost peppers?” She asked. He stared “You can't be serious.” She smiled “I am quite serious.” He sighed “Okay, may I please have the umm... chicken tender meal? The four piece?” She smirked “Oh, someone has a big appetite.” He looked confused “They're just little tenders.” Amanda just patted him on the head and stepped up to the register now that it was their turn. The amazon behind the counter smiled down at John “Well hello little boy! Don't you look look adorable today.” Amanda looked down as she felt his hand squeezing her fingers a bit harder than a moment ago. She smiled at the cashier “He's a bit shy. He was just adopted today!” The cashier did a little clap! “Well, I know a little boy that's going to get a surprise toy in his meal. What will you be having today.” Amanda answered for him “Yes, He would like a four piece tender meal off of the kids menu.” The cashier smiled down at John “Ohhh, someone's going to try to be a big eater. Drink and side?” She looked down to see that John was distracted again looking around the room. Probably looking at the other littles. “He's distracted, so how about fries and an apple juice. And I would just like a ghost pepper chicken sandwich with extra sauce on the side to dip some chicken tenders in. Just in case someone needs help eating them.” The cashier gave her a wink, and took her payment. She stepped out of the way, still holing Johns hand and looked now to try to follow his eyes to see what he was looking at. She followed his eyes to see that he was staring at some littles over by the playground. So she leaned down and whispered “We don't have much time, but after we eat, do you want to go play with the other littles?” John just whispered back “Why are none of them wearing pants?” Amanda had to think about it for a moment because it was just a normal question “Littles don't have to wear pants. As long as you're wearing a diaper, you can run around all you want.” She noticed his hands were starting to shake.... and said quietly to herself “Oh no” and she leans and took his pacy and held it up to his mouth and simply commanded “Open.” He didn't immediately respond, so she use her other hand and gently took his chin with thumb and forefinger and turned his head so that he had to look at her. She repeated herself calmly. “Open.” This time he opened his mouth and she slid the pacy in. He stood there so she used a finger to push his jaw back up and then gently moved it back and forth with her finger until he got the message and started sucking on it on his own. He was still breathing a bit fast, but he was now looking at her. So she placed her hand on top of his head and left it there while she stood up and looked over at the counter. The cashier said “Miss, your order is ready.” Amanda thanked the cashier and took the tray with one hand and steered John by turning him using her hand on his head and then gave him a pat on the back “C'mon.” Once she got to a table she slid the tray onto it and lead him with her to get a child seat. It was one of those cheap wooden seats that never gets wiped down often enough. As she lifted him up and slid his feet in she whispered “These seats are hard. So you're about to be grateful for having your own padding.” And then she made sure to slide him up to the table right next to her and facing -away- from the playground so that he wouldn't be distracted. Removing her sandwich, and more importantly her dip cup of ghost pepper sauce, she slid the tray in front of John and watched him, making no effort to hide her grin. It took him fifteen full seconds before he came to his senses and looked down. He spit his pacy out and asked, a bit too loudly for being in public. “What the heck? That's not a chicken tender!” She just nodded “That's a chicken tender.” “But that ...” He picked one up with two hands. “If you can pick it up with two hands, it is most certainly not a chicken tender.” With a laugh she took it from him and started ripping it into manageable chunks for him. “And there you go! You now have eight appropriately sized chicken tenders!” He rolled his eyes at her now. “Oh God. I'm telling on you to Aunt Cat.” She peeled the top off of the ranch cup for him and slid it in front of him, then slid it over in front of him. “Please do, she'll be proud.” John tried to twist around to look behind him awkwardly an when he failed he turned back to his food and sighed “I recently lost my appetite.” With a shake of her head, she said “Well, you better find it, Mister. After this we're getting you a bedroom set, and maybe a little desk and a chair. Would you like two chairs so that you and Kate can sit together?” He just nodded as he dipped a piece of chicken into the ranch and tried it. After chewing for a moment he finally said “I don't know if I love it because it tastes good, or hate it because it's freakishly big.” Amanda just laughed and picked up her ghost pepper chicken sandwich. “It's meant for amazon kids up to twice your size. Now eat up, Momma is going to drink this ghost pepper sauce straight."

Chapter Fourteen: Amanda leaned back in the chair, clutching John tightly to her chest, and trying to calm him down while the nurse tried to get the pacy in his mouth. Doctor Galanis put his cold stethoscope against his bare back and the moment he gasped, the pacy was in. She stroked his hair, humming softly as he fought. Oh he fought. He thrashed, she could feel him trying to bite through the pacy. She held him tightly throughout all of it. She would keep him safe, she had promised him. As he slowed down, she softly rubbed his back, whispering “shhhh, shhhh. It's going to be okay.” She could hear the nurse asking Doctor Galanis “How did you know that would work?” He chuckled a little and answered “Tricks of the trade. That paste will calm down any little. I just had to grab a pacifier and dip it in.” Amanda looked up to see the nurse correct the doctor “No, I meant the cold stethoscope.” That made him laugh a bit more. “Not my first panicked naked little.” And now Doctor Galanis quickly warmed his stethoscope up by rubbing it hard against his palm rapidly until it was definitely not cold any more and he used it to listen to Johns breathing for a minute. Finally he nodded. “Okay, let me get my tablet to make notes on his file. How long has he been having these … little attacks?” He seemed to be asking somewhat gently. Amanda thought back a bit to the notes that she had “I have a file I started when I found him with exact notes. He was having one when I found him, one the night I found him. A few the next day. The one this morning I saw coming, and was able to calm him down. This one … I guess he was just too stressed. We even came first thing in the morning when it would be less crowded.” Doctor Galanis nodded along patiently, typing all of this into his tablet. “Well, with littles, these panic attacks are not unheard of. We had a little girl in here three months ago with the same problem. Poor thing screamed in that exact playpen until she threw up. It took the same treatment to get her to calm down. Poor thing was so scared she tried to bite anyone's hand that came near her.” She gasped “That's terrible! What would make her react like that?” With a shrug he answered “Apparently when she got lost here in our dimension, LPS just threw her in a nursery for several days and never even explained to her that it was for her own good. Typical LPS, they're so determined to protect the littles that they forget that they're little people too.” Amanda hugged John to her chest firmly. “Is … is my little John going to be okay?” Now it was the Doctors turn to be encouraging “Don't worry, we'll send you with a couple of samples and you can obviously have that pacy. Once used, we can't exactly put them back in the package. After about a month of use, we'll check on him when he comes back in for his next vaccine. He needs more examination then, as well.” She felt him shivering still, and when she looked, his eyes were still closed. He wasn't limp like he usually was when he was asleep, though. “Can we get him dressed? He's cold.” With a nod “Oh absolutely. Let's go ahead and give him his shots now, though. Nurse!” Standing behind him with two prepped syringes, the nurse was already prepared. “Lay him down and we'll get him in each hip, that way he can't scratch at the band aids if he panics again.” Amanda quickly went over to the table and the nurse unfastened his diaper, commenting “Oh. Someone sure needed this diaper.” before scrubbing each hip with an alcohol pad and giving him the injections. “All done! Let's wrap him back up.” With Amanda and the nurse working together he was in a fresh diaper and dressed in no time. When that was done, Doctor Galanis looked at his file, then to Amanda. “Okay young lady now it's your turn. You just found him on the weekend, so I am guessing that you have not been to the adoption center yet?” Amanda simply shook her head “I wanted to make sure he was healthy first. That is important.” He nodded at her “You're going to make a great Mommy. But we need to make some notes on his files. How far regressed is he? That diaper was obviously wet, but you said he had gone a few times. Does he talk much? Can he speak fluently?” Amanda laughed a little “Oh, he can definitely talk. I think the only time I don't hear him either talking or crinkling around the house is when he is about to get into trouble.” Doctor Galanis just chuckled “That's the thing with children. When you stop hearing them, it's time to worry. I'm not going to prescribe something simple that you can get over the counter, but I would like you to put him on a multivitamin every day. We'll have to do blood work when you bring him back next. Does he stay indoors, or does he play outdoors?” “Oh he seems to love being outdoors! He's great with animals. I have a video of him climbing the dog to reach the doorknob, and a video of him hand feeding a squirrel!” Now everyone laughed “Okay, I have to see that. You show us that video and I'll get the paperwork done stating that he needs to be adopted, and that I recommend you as his new mommy. That usually speeds things along if LPS gets involved. You'll still have to get him registered with a new social security number. The new Adoption Center in town can do both of those at the same time. And with this being Monday morning the line is going to be short.” Amanda smiled “Oh, if I can bypass the courthouse, that will save him a lot of stress. And I already made an appointment at the adoption center on the recommendation of a friend of mine. I don't think he is going to have an easy time adjusting.” The doctor reached down and gave the pacifier in johns mouth a little wiggle “Just keep using this when he has panic attacks and after a few months just having his pacy with him will calm him down. They associate the pacy with being calm and eventually just suck on it when they feel stressed. She nodded now “Thank you very much Doctor Galanis. I hope we can help him adjust. Is there anything else we need to do here today?” “Just one. That medicine didn't put him to sleep, he was just worn out. We can leave you alone in here to hold him, but you have to wait until he opens his eyes and looks around before you can leave. We'll have the paperwork for you up front. And I think we have a box of pacy straps somewhere. If we find one we'll put it with the paperwork.” “Thank you again Doctor Galanis.” He nodded “We'll leave you two alone. When he's awake you can head to the front desk. If he doesn't wake up within ten or fifteen minutes, just walk over to the nurses station with him.” She nodded as he slipped out and closed the door behind him, leaving her alone with John. She sat there holding him against her chest. And rubbing his back. Every so often she would give a cursory glance at the clock on the wall. She knew this moment needed to be brief, but it was nice to hold him like this, even if the chair was uncomfortable. After a bout twelve minutes he opened his eyes and looked at her, then rested his head against her shoulder. That seemed like the sign she was waiting for, so she slowly stood up, got the strap of her diaper bag over her shoulder and eased out of the door. She was waved past the nurses station but then she stopped and whispered to the RN at the station “Hey … can I give him coffee? He's been asking for it constantly.” The RN chuckled and answered “ten to one milk with coffee, plenty of sugar. Just make sure you have a fresh diaper handy, our coffee goes through them quite fast.” With that she took her spaced out charge around to the front desk where she was told and they gave her a manila folder with the doctors notes and a sample tub of a powder to dip the pacifier in. She also remembered to get a receipt printed out to bring with her. May as well take the research team up on their offer. Out in the car, she buckled John into his car seat and leaned over to take a look at him. He was quite. He hasn't been quiet this entire time. She pulled the pacifier out of his mouth and asked “John? Sweety?” He looked at her “Hmm?” “How are you feeling big guy?” He looked at her for a moment and gave her a weak smile “I'm okay. I think I got scared.” She couldn't hide her slight frown. This John was … TOO calm. In the few days she'd known him he only ever seemed to be powered by a spring and determined to be doing anything other than sitting still. Below his view she wiped the pacy off on her shirt and put it next to him in the car seat. “Hey, are you thirsty?” The calm, almost monotone response kind of worried her “Yeah... I'm pretty thirsty.” Reaching into the diaper bag she pulled out a sippy cup and held it out. He just … calmly accepted it and started sucking it down. HE didn't look like he was planning to stop so she just went around to the drivers seat and buckled up and started the car. It took several tries to get the address of the new adoption center to come up, since phone GPS isn't updated often, but eventually she found it and easily memorized the route to get there. “Okay, the doctors appointment took an hour, twenty minutes to the adoption center. Lunch for John, then Littles R Us let me schedule a delivery for today in exchange for … ouch … that's going to hurt.” Looking over her shoulder, she asked “John, we're off to the adoption center. You going to be okay back there?” She could hear the little bubbles continue in the sippy cup for a moment before they stopped and she heard a calm voice “Yeah. That sounds scary.” Amanda didn't realize how long she was holding her breath before she finally exhaled and put the car in gear, mumbling “Please don't have any more panic attacks today.” The drive across town was honestly slow going due to traffic. And catching every. Single. Red. Light. Finally, as she pulled into the adoption center parking lot she looked up at the mirror to see John trying to look around, his cup apparently long since empty. He seemed lucid. “Hey Buddy, how are you feeling?” John sprouted the smirk. He was definitely feeling more like himself as he spoke “Do you want the truth, or my side of the story?” Okay, her little seemed to catch her off guard with that one, and she replied “...first your side of the story. Then the truth.” “I'm not thirsty, which is a sign that I had enough to drink.” “And your side of the story?” “I have no idea where I am, what is going on, I saw an adult with no teeth in nothing but but a diaper staring at me from a baby carrier, and now we're at an adoption center. I am kind of scared.” Wow. He's seemed relatively calm. The medicine was still having a bit of a calming effect. She put the sample tube from the doctors office in the diaper bag. Just in case. Leaving the care and going around to his door, she opened it and reached down to unbuckle him from the car seat. She helped him sit up since he kept just sliding back into place in the seat. This is apparently a really good car seat. She made sure that he looked somewhat comfortable before breaking a truth of the world he was in to him somewhat gently. “Okay John. It's fair to be scared. Completely understandable, even. Where you come from, do you have a social security number?” “Yes.” “Do you have one in this world?” “No Ma'am.” “If you don't have a social security number here, and by here I mean this entire world, what does that make you?” “Uhhhh... an … a … Lost? Uhhh... Illegal?” She put a hand up now “Lost. Lost little.” She watched to see if he was following along. Before continuing “Okay. If in your world you found a lost child, what would you do?” He didn't even have to think “Try to help find their parents.” “And if their parents were in another dimension?” “Uhhh... I guess … call child protective services and say 'hey I have this … oh.” NOW he was getting it. She slowly nodded until he was nodding along with her. Once he was nodding she continued “If you brought a small child to child services in your world, what would they do?” “Foster care and try to find someone to adopt ...” She cut him off with one hand raised “You may be startled to know that the adoption laws here allow Amazons to adopt littles. Like you.” “Ah, but I'm not a child.” “But you are still a little. You were lost in the woods. You had an accident in your sleep. And you're not big enough to take care of yourself in my world. You also have no way of returning to your own dimension. Yes?” He stopped nodding now. Completely. “Yeah ….” She decided to try and be a bit more direct. “John, if you try to make your way in this world someone my size is going to see how small you are, take you and adopt you. Whether you like them or not will not be a factor. You know the 'adult' little that you saw in that baby carrier?” Johns only two reactions were a frown and a nod. “Well … If someone sees how small and cute you are and adopts you, they could do that to you. I think that you're precious the way you are and I am willing to adopt you to prevent that from happening to you.” John just stammered a bit “I … I … uhhh... I don't want to be like that. But … I don't understand...” She reached out and tussled his unruly hair. Goddess that was fun to do. Stay focused. Protect your baby first, mess with his hair second. “One challenge at a time, baby." “Not a baby.” She slumped a bit “Poor choice of words on my part. One challenge at a time, sweety.” He was trying so hard, she could see it in his eyes. He may still be a bit numbed from the medicine. Maybe that would help him. “John. What we are going to do is go into this building and get you a social security number and some identification. I'm going to have to loan you my last name. You'll be part of my family. You and I and Xerxes. And Aunt Cat and Kate, sort of.” “You're going to loan me your last name?” He kind of puzzled. She nodded with a great big smile “I promise that you can use is at long as you need it. I can't avoid you using someones last name, but I can make sure it's the last name of someone that will take good care of you.” She knew that all of this was true. He just didn't realize yet how long he would be needing it. He still looked a bit shaken, but nodded anyway. “If there is ever a way to send me home, or make me my old size, will you promise to help?” She took that as her cue and picked him up and put him down standing next to her. “Not only do I promise, I think I'll mention it to the research teams I work with. You never know what they may cook up.” He nodded, now much more confident. She hated the fact that he had basically no chance of getting what he wanted. But she liked him more than any native little she'd ever known. He loved being outdoors and for some reason animals all seemed to trust him completely. And that was enough. As another precaution, she grabbed the pacy from the car seat and slipped it into the diaper bag as well. Just in case her little had a rough time in the next hour or two. Diaper bag slung on her shoulder, manila envelope with printouts from the doctor and a copy of the contract with the research team in hand, she reached down and offered a hand. Awkwardly John reached up and took it. She had to suppress her urge to just pick him up and hug him. Protect your baby first. Then spoil. Protect first. She had to repeat to herself as if on loop. She had the advantage of knowing what Amazonian instincts were. That didn't make them easy to fight. And so they walked up to the adoption center doors at the slowest time they were ever going to get. An hour before lunch on a Monday. They walked through the sliding glass door and up to a front desk to meet the receptionist that watched them walk in hand in hand and she had the biggest grin on her face. As they approached the desk, the woman behind it couldn't hold in her excitement “Awwww! How can we help you today, Ma'am?” “Hello, I'm Miss Taylor and I have a tentative appointment for today. I'm here a bit earlier than I expected, is that a problem?” “One moment please!” the Receptionist chirped out with a smile while typing at her computer for a moment and then staring at the screen for a moment before declaring “No Ma'am, that's not a problem at all. In fact if you can wait ten minutes we should be able to get you taken care of.” Amanda was then handed an electronic tablet and told “I just need you to go have a seat and confirm that all of your information is correct here. Then hand it back to me when you're called back!” With a nod, Amanda took the tablet and said “Thank you very much!” and steered John over to a nearby chair. Without thinking she reached to help him up but saw him jumping and sort of scrabbling to get up onto the hard plastic chair. She reached out with a foot under his feet to step on so that he could lift himself up while feeling like he hadn't been helped. Baby steps. Sitting down next to John she told him “Here, scoot toward me.” and then she set the diaper bag on the amazon sized chair on the opposite side of him. Partly to keep it off of the floor. Mostly to block his vision of a male little on the far side of the lobby dressed as a little girl and pulling and tugging on a pacifier that they just could not get out of their mouth. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand for a moment and mumbled to herself “Pick your battles Amanda. Pick your battles.” and then with a deep breath patted John on the head and explaining “Okay, I need to fill this out. Do me a favor and stay put right here with me?” He nodded and tried to watch her filling out details on the tablet, but soon got bored with that and started looking around the lobby. He even stood up in his chair (cutely like a toddler would have to) and looked around the lobby. Within moments she heard him whisper “Miss Amanda.” “Yes, Sweety?” she whispered back. Still keeping it low, he replied “There's a man over there dressed as a little baby girl clawing at his face.” She had to take a deep breath to stay calm “I know.” He looked confused “But … “Sorry dear. That is legal and normal here. Now let Mo … Me fill this out so that I can loan you my last name.” He was silent but she could sense him turning around while standing in the seat next to her. Then she heard him gasp and suddenly flop down onto his butt and pull his knees up to his chest. She whispered to him “Saw back and to our left?” He nodded mutely. “She's my age, but she's naked.” With a shake of her head “No sweety, she's not naked.” Amanda spared him a glance. His face was turning red. Oh Goddess that's cute. And he looked up at her, almost frantic and told her, still trying to whisper “She's only wearing a diaper. That's naked.” This time she placed her right hand on his head and left it there while whispering “I promise that I will never make you go anywhere in only a diaper if you don't want to. But what they're doing is legal here. Littles are not necessarily Grown ups.” He looked nervous. He was starting to look like a small animal. Like he wanted to run, but had nowhere to run to. After finishing with the tablet she held it up for him to see “You know. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do, every appointment they ask you to fill out in person what you filled out online to save time from filling it out in person.” Maybe a little levity will lighten him up. He looked like he was ready to give and smile when the door opened and in walked a man carrying a squirming little under one arm. And oh that little was thrashing. Probably being newly adopted. She took it all in at a glance. The little was, from the top up, wearing a suit and tie. From the waist down only a diaper. Guaranteed that the little failed to live up to expectations at work. At least now the little couldn't get fired and wind up homeless. Looking back down at John though … he was staring. She leaned and whispered “John?” He barely glanced at her before staring at the flailing little. “John, you look nervous, do you want to sit in my lap? Will that help you feel safe?” The head shaking no that she got was very animated and he turned around and flopped back down with his knees pulled up to his chest. Amanda silently reached over and put her hand on the back of his shoulders. At first he tensed up and then relaxed, leaning back into her hand. Then there was the sound of a door opening behind them and she heard their (soon to be both of theirs) last name called. “Taylor!” Amanda immediately stood up and picked up the diaper bag before offering her hand. “Want to walk, or if you're nervous I can carry you?” He shook his head while sliding out of the chair. He did take her hand and as they walked through the door to the back. It seemed to take a bit longer to get through the door and to the back than it would have if she had just picked him up, but letting him control the pace they walked might help him stay calm. A very nice woman dressed in business casual greeted them. Her hair was done up in a loose red bun. She leaned down at the sight of Johnny and cooed “Oh my goodness you look so precious! Come on, let's get you and your Mommy into the office. You get to meet the director herself today!” She could feel Johnny's hand squeezing hers as hard as he possibly could as they walked. They were shown to a well furnished office in the back. Immediately her eye was drawn to the large wooden desk in the middle of the room, with two large chairs in front of it, and a smaller chair with a booster seat on it. The playpen in the corner behind the door didn't really register with her. “ Miss Taylor, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Miss Kassia.” A woman easily a foot taller than Amanda came around the desk and held out a hand to shake. 'Always remember to observe protocol' she mentally reminded herself as she took the hand gently to shake. “I'm pleased to meet you as well! I didn't expect to be shown to the director!” Miss Kassia, now that she got a good look at her, was a very serious looking woman with just a few streaks of gray in her hair. The fact that she didn't dye it was probably intentional, given Amazon society. She was wearing a business skirt, a blue blouse, and heels. She probably does not have to go deal with children all that often. For the life of her, Amanda could not shake the mental image of a woman whose job it was to keep the adults in line, not the children. Kassia waved to a chair “Please, you and your son have a seat.” as she went back around the desk without waiting to see if she actually sat down. This was a woman that fully expected complete obedience. She unslung her diaper bag and slid it on the floor next to the chair nearest the booster seat and moved to pick up John. Poor thing was shaking now. As she moved to lower him into the booster seat both of his hands grabbed her arms and he curled up his entire lower body, staring down at it while trying not to touch it. She held him out with one arm and looked him in the eyes. “Lap or booster seat.” She made sure to not sound like she was asking, given their audience. He looked at her with those big gray eyes and immediately said in a gasp. “Lap! … Please!” With a nod she pulled him in and sat back in the chair with him sitting sideways across her lap. With an approving nod, the director finally spoke. “I don't usually do this directly, since the staff is very efficient. However the paperwork you submitted shows something I've not seen before. You have papers not only from the Doctor, but from a research group. And I'll be frank with you, I want to make absolutely certain that a little is not going to be a guinea pig to some illegal studies.”

Chapter Two: Amanda Taylor seemed a very normal offering for her people. A bit short for an Amazon at ten and a half feet tall, she sported dark brown hair down to her waist and dressed very conservatively today in loose fitting jeans and an old shirt as she worked outside. Amanda spent the day in her garden, content to have a nice quiet day. Unlike most of her friends, she didn't like being in the city with all of the hustle and bustle. With a satellite internet connection and working from home, she had managed to get a small two bedroom house out of town, next to an adorable little creek. It wasn't a fancy home, but it was hers. And most importantly, it was paid off. She had spent the last three years working all of the overtime she could make certain that she was able to finish it off quickly. There was something about waking up in a paid off home and having coffee on your porch overlooking the stream that felt amazing. A large fluffy dog sat on the porch next to her staring at the squirrel in the distance while she drank coffee. Giving him a reassuring pat she admonished him “Xerxes, you're never going to catch that squirrel, just leave it alone.” But she was met with a grumble from a very talkative dog. Xerxes was absolutely not going to give up on harassing that squirrel it if came into the yard. Startled a bit as the phone rang, she put her coffee down and pointed at Xerxes and admonished “No barking while I'm on the phone, Mister!” as she walked inside to answer the phone. Standing half in the doorway, still determined to enjoy the brisk air, she picked up the receiver. “Hello?” “Oh hi, Cat!” “Yes, we are still on for next weekend, but I wish you would come out here instead.” “I live a half hour out of town, it is not that far and you know it.” “Cat, are you trying to hook me up again?” Rolling her eyes now “Cat, I'll date again when I'm ready to. And no I moved out of the city to get away from all of that noise.” Now leaning against the doorway: “Yes Cat, I know, I have Xerxes out here, and you know he's very protective.” Slumping slightly “No Cat, I don't want to adopt a little. I've never really met one that just see..... okay okay, listen. I'll make you a promise if you'll drop this. If I ever find a little, OR a man, that I like, I will call you that same day. Fair?” And finally rubbing her temple “Yes Cat, I know and I love you too. Yes, I know you love your little and she's the sweetest thing on earth. If I meet one I feel the drive to adopt, I promise that I'll ask you for advice and you can come meet them.” “Yes Cat, I kno...” and now looking around her porch and noticing a specific ball of energy missing. “Cat, Xerxes is out the gate, I have to let you go. I'll see you next weekend! Bye!” and she nodded for a moment and then hung up and looked at the back yard where Xerxes, her large fluffy Collie most certainly was NOT. Putting on her shoes she grumbled now “I swear that I either have the best dog in the world or the worst. He's lucky he's adorable and protective.” and she set off through the gate in her back yard to find her errant canine. --Meanwhile!-- John woke up very thirsty and groggy after only a couple of hours of fitful sleep. Carefully unzipping the flap of his tent he peeked outside to see if he was alone, or if the freakishly large squirrel was back to scare him senseless again. Seeing that the coast was clear he quickly grabbed something from his wagon and relieved himself before burying any evidence and going back to his wagon. Determined to stop shivering in this brisk air he set about making another small fire and sitting down next to it rubbing his legs. It was warm shorts weather when he set out this morning and now it was a bit chilly here in the shade. Just one more piece of the puzzle that made no sense. Eventually realizing that he has a cell phone, he pulls it out of his pocket and stares at it. Of course there's no signal. It was worth a try. Hearing a sound of something moving in the leaves behind him, he reaches into to the wagon behind him with his left hand for a freakishly large acorn while sliding his phone back into his pocket with his right hand. Standing up he turns to see the same squirrel back again. Carefully holding the acorn out at arms length the squirrel reaches for it more slowly this time, and holds it in its paws for a moment while smelling his hand. Then it's gone again in nearly silent sprint, bounding up the side of the tree. With a little laugh, despite himeself, he mumbles out “I shall call him Steve.” and turns back to his fire to see … a very large furry black nose in front of his face. With a now panicked and very unashamed scream, John jumps backwards away from the beast, over his wagon and back against a tree. Fumbling again for his camp knife and dropping it, he takes lots of shallow, panicked breathes. Hyperventilating as he tries to take stock of what he's looking at, he sees that he is looking at a … dog. A dog the size of a horse. Calming slightly, honestly surprised that he is still alive and mildly relieved that he had just recently emptied his bladder, John took a cautious look at the beast in front of him. Black furry snout? Check. White fluffy chest? Check. Black body crouched low, possibly ready to jump? Check. Large black tail flicking back and forth wildly knocking everything out of his wagon? Double check. Holding out his left hand, slightly confident that he's not dead yet he says quetly “Uhhhh.... good …. uhhh... good doggy?” Immediately the large beast darts forward and starts smelling him. Not just his hand but his face and his chest and down. Standing with his eyes closed, all John could do was turn his head to the side and hope for the best until he stopped feeling the nose all over him. For a moment all that he could hear was the sound of a dog breathing excitedly in his face and a tail knocking over his wagon with a loud clatter. Experimentally, he reached up with his left hand and put it on the beasts's nose. This turned out to be a mistake because two seconds later he had a tongue dragged up his torso and over his face, leaving him in a mixed state of fear and disgust. He was cold. He was now wet. He was relieved to be alive. And he was wet. Yes, wet is listed twice. John is on the verge of a panic attack, he's allowed to focus on one thing twice. From off in the distance he could hear a voice calling something. He couldn't quite make it out, but it was definitely a voice. And at the sound of the voice the thumping of the ballistic tail stopped and the dog laid down and was still. What in the world was this dog doing? Trying to sneak back around the dog toward his wagon, John can't help himself but try to reach out and splay all his fingers out and scratch just above one enormous ear. It's a dog. You have to scratch the ears, even if it's a giant dog and you have no idea what's going on. With seemingly no control over what is going on aroudn him,t he only thing John can think to do is turn his wagon back upright and put his few items back into it. While he's flipping it back over he is very aware of the sound of crunching leaves getting closer very quickly. As he looks up he can hear the same voice calling out, and now he can hear it closely. “Xerxes! Where did you get off to goofy dog! You never go out this far without me!” Looking forward at his own height, expecting to see a human, he finds himself looking at … a thigh. Wait, what? A waist. Looking up John finds himself face to … uhh, waist, with a very tall woman with long brown hair. Lovely sight to behold, but terrifyingly large. John drops the ice chest he was putting back into his wagon and cannot help his impulse to back away from the giant, genuinely terrified beyond control. She looks at him with surprise “Oh my! A little! What are you doing out here? It's dangerous for you!” That was it. John pivoted on his left foot and sprinted through the trees.

I wouldn't say spanking is exclusive to BDSM, considering how it's a pretty appropriate element to include in both AR and ABDL type stories. My writing is pretty famous for its realism and slow build-up, so you're not always going to see diapers right at the beginning. My website lists stories by type; I don't do so for every part on my Patreon because that would make the page look a bit cluttered in my opinion. Hope that helps! --Lady Lucia Part Ten After sternly reminding me to stay seated at the table, Noelle trusted me alone long enough to retrieve one of her bags from where she had left it in the foyer upon arrival. It was certainly a temptation to dart upstairs in the name of finding something to prove my identity before she could catch me, but my still throbbing backside was enough to give me pause. Not only was there the chance that Miley’s babysitter would catch me before I made it that far, but Paige could certainly slow me down if I ran into her. Especially if she was in my bedroom at the moment, invading my private space with the excuse of finding me an outfit as my ‘older sister.’ There was also the lingering idea of just darting out of the house and making a break for our next door neighbor’s place. While Noelle had said she would chase if that happened, I would have a decent head start. It’s not like it was that far. But no, I needed to bide my time. There would be a better moment to steal away, with less risk involved. For now, I was going to keep being a ‘reformed’ Miley. Noelle returned with her bag. She sat down across from me, officially closing the potential window of escape I had just been given. Now she was directly watching me, and poised to shut down any attempts of mine to get up. She pulled out a slim binder and a 7th grade science textbook. I couldn’t remember if it was the same one that I used back in middle school. “Start with the first two handouts in the binder,” Noelle said, sliding the small stack of materials across the table, “You may use the book to find any answers you need.” And that was that. I was working on Miley’s summer catch-up assignments. A quick skim of the two pages was enough to tell me that the ‘life science’ I would be focusing on was cell structure and function. The title of the handouts paralleled the second chapter of the book, which I ended up needing to open pretty quickly after starting. While I was able to answer maybe a fifth of the questions on sight, there were just too many little terms and details that I had forgotten over the years. Maybe I would have been fine with a multiple choice quiz, with selections that would spark my memory, but every part of the assignment Noelle had given to me required writing in the answers myself. I must have been quite the sight to Paige as she strutted into the kitchen. Sitting at the table, poring over a middle school textbook to find the answers I needed to complete the worksheet sitting in front of me. “Here you go, Miles,” she said. Managing to keep a straight face for the most part, save for the same idle smile she had upstairs, she walked over and set down a stack of clothes on the edge of the table. To justify her amused expression, Paige turned to Noelle and said, “Honestly, I’m impressed. None of the other babysitters were able to get Miley to work on her homework.” Noelle just shrugged. “Sometimes you just need a little negative reinforcement. What do you say to your sister, Miley?” ’Fuck this.’ Wanting nothing more than to stare down at the pages in front of me, or perhaps crawl into a hole to avoid the continuous embarrassment of being treated like this in my step-sister’s presence, I forced myself to get out the emotionless words. “Thanks, Paige.” “You’re very welcome, sis!” Paige chirped. Pushing her luck by patting me on the head like she had gotten away with numerous times before all this whenever she could catch me off guard with it, she said, “Now behave for Ms. Noelle, brat. This has been fun, but I have a game to get back to.” Fun? For a second, I was surprised she would say such a thing in Noelle’s presence. But then it dawned on me that Paige could very easily pull it off, considering she was my ‘older sister’ and finally seeing me disciplined properly after all the sitters failed to achieve something like this. Besides, our regular dynamic was evidence enough that sisters didn’t have to be particularly cordial to each other all the time. “Just ‘Noelle’ is fine,” the brunette said. She didn’t seem bothered by Paige’s casual smugness, but she at least made the effort to correct the name, “Thanks for the clothes, Paige. We’ll be here for a while.” “Sounds good,” Paige nodded, “Oh! I have a couple friends coming over in a bit. We’ll be in my room or the basement, so hopefully that won’t be an issue.” “Not a problem. I’m only here to watch Miley. Someone could have mentioned the sister thing, but that’s not your fault.” ‘Because Miley DOESN’T HAVE A SISTER.’ I tried to tell her as much earlier. “Sorry about that,” Paige replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll stay out of your way. We’ll probably order pizza or something, so the kitchen is all yours, too. I can order some for you and Miley, if you’d like.” Of course she was being nice to Noelle. That’s how Paige operated with pretty much every adult, whether it was sucking up to a teacher or painting herself as the older sister to Miley’s college-aged babysitter. I was way more concerned, however, with the fact that Paige’s friends would apparently be here to witness this. We had graduated, so it’s not like this humiliation would affect my reputation or anything, but I still didn’t want her and her obnoxious gamer friends teasing me about this for the rest of summer break. Paige said they’d stay out of our way, but I knew she would somehow arrange for them to see me trapped as ‘Miley.’ “I’ll think about it,” Noelle said, “Maybe if she’s good until then. Otherwise we’ll stick with something healthier.” I could feel another blush creeping up. They were back to talking about me while I was literally sitting right there, and Noelle was once again treating me like the difficult teenager she viewed me as. And, while I so badly wanted to speak up in my defense, it was yet another example of choosing my battles. For now, I’d have to suck it up and let Paige enjoy more of my situation. “Sounds good. I’ll check in when we think about ordering, then. And I’ll make sure my friends know to head right upstairs when they get here. No need to distract Miley, right?” “Right,” Noelle nodded. Without another look towards me, Paige sauntered off. Her body language alone was enough to show how content she was with how this was all playing out. To Noelle’s credit, she was a decent babysitter in terms of minimizing sister drama. She waited until Paige’s footsteps on the stairs and upstairs hallway had faded before speaking again. “Let’s take a small break,” she said. Gesturing towards the clothes I hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at aside from seeing a blue/white combo, Noelle told me, “You can get dressed now.” I doubted Paige had picked anything pleasant, but anything would be better than being stuck in a leotard when her friends arrived. So with an awkward, “Okay,” I got up and collected the outfit. Sure enough, Noelle felt the need to escort me to the bathroom. Apparently I had a long way to go before earning her trust. ------------------- Check out my website: www.ladyluciastories.com And my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=73056590

Part Nine A second later, I realized that my sister’s face wasn’t lighting up due to the fact that she had managed to keep me out of my room for the foreseeable future. It was because she was not only going to be the one to decide what I wore for the rest of the afternoon, but finding me an outfit would mean going into my bedroom without express permission from me first. We were both incredibly finicky about our rooms, and the size difference between us paired with the fact that we really didn’t get along meant that there was no reason to borrow clothes from the other or anything else that would require invading the others’ space. On the rare occasion one of us had to disturb the other behind a closed door, it would usually be by text rather than knocking. But this? Paige was going to waltz into my room alone, and while I was right there basically allowing her to do so with my silence. No, not my silence. Miley or not, I was still a sister who deserved her privacy. “Paige isn’t allowed in my room,” I said. It was the truth, technically. Although it’s more that we were step-sisters with boundaries, as eighteen was a little old for our parents to enforce something like that. Surprisingly, Paige agreed. “That’s true,” she said. Her grin faded to a casual smile when Noelle looked her way, and then Paige went on to focus on Noelle to ask, “Permission for an exception, Noelle?” “Of course,” Noelle nodded, “We’ll get Miley started on her first science assignment downstairs. She can change up in a few minutes.” Once again, they were talking about me like I wasn’t even there. And, even worse, Paige had instantly figured out a way around my reply by using Noelle as the authority figure in the room in the absence of our parents. It didn’t take much, obviously, as a high school graduate would be plenty responsible in her ‘younger sister’s’ room. But she and I both knew the truth, and how frustrating and insulting it would be to know that she was making herself at home in there while I literally wasn’t allowed until later. Trying one more time to protect my drawers and my closets from the disorganized mess that they would turn into within five minutes of Paige being in there, I said, “I’m actually fine wearing this until later. Really.” Noelle hadn’t seen my room yet, but it was immaculate compared to the teenage mess that Paige’s currently was with all the clutter strewn about. Nothing about it was dirty, per say, but the organized chaos was the exact opposite of how perfect and tidy my space was. I could already see how finding a single outfit would entirely mess up the system I had in place for my clothes, whether Paige was planning on being intentionally careless or not. Although she couldn’t trash my room, as then Noelle would see the malicious efforts and perhaps wouldn’t take my sister at her word as easily. Noelle said something in response that I didn’t hear due to how my attention had briefly drifted, to which I blushed and replied with an awkward, “What?” I was too busy overthinking what Paige might be planning, and trying to interpret the little smirk on her face while Miley’s babysitter’s attention was on me. “Go down to the kitchen, Miley,” Noelle frowned, crossing her arms, “I won’t ask again.” She was hardly asking. And as she sternly repeated herself thanks to how I spaced out, Paige made the point to head out into the hall and stand in a way that the only way I was getting to my room was to somehow shove or squirm my way past her. She knew. She knew as well as I did that there were countless things in there that would set this humiliating mess straight, and was now physically making sure I couldn’t get there now that the manipulative bit was out of the way. Reluctantly, I did as I was told. Noelle was a lot more intimidating now that I knew how easily she could manhandle and spank me. Despite my real age, I had been completely powerless to stop her or even slow her down. I definitely didn’t want to go through that again, especially not with Paige watching like before. In the name of protecting my backside and whatever dignity I had left amidst this mortifying misunderstanding, I left Paige’s room and didn’t give my sister the satisfaction of looking her in the eye as I turned the corner. Knowing her, I’d get whatever smug look she could manage while still playing it cool while Noelle was looking. I had barely hit the top step on my way downstairs when I heard one of them following me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Noelle was coming with me. As Alyssa, it wasn’t like I was about to run away in a leotard and nothing else. But as Miley, I clearly wasn’t trusted alone. It made sense, of course. The real Miley could easily be capable of fleeing her house and going to a friend’s place to hide out and borrow some clothes while she was at it. I didn’t have that potential luxury. Even if Noelle had opted to stay upstairs with Paige for a moment, I didn’t have any friends my age within walking distance. My only hope would be pounding on a neighbor’s door and getting them to defend me to Noelle. Actually . . . that wasn’t a terrible backup plan if I was kept from my bedroom. But I’d wait until I at least had something more presentable to wear, and for a moment when Noelle wasn’t poised to catch me before I made it that far. She had mentioned she wasn’t below chasing, after all. I entered the kitchen and waited a few seconds for Noelle to join me. She told me to sit at the table and stay put. I was not to get up from my chair until I was given express permission from her. Apparently she was still laying down the law, in terms of putting difficult, rebellious Miley in her place. It really was a lose/lose, like I had thought about a few minutes ago. Doing as I was told made me look like a girl who was behaving for her babysitter. Trying to prove who I really was just made me look more like the deviant thirteen year old she believed me to be; ever since I answered the door, Noelle had assumed that I was lying and trying to trick her. The way I sat down wasn’t particularly fast or careless, as my ballerina self aired towards doing movements properly and gracefully in all aspects of life. Additionally, I hoped that my usual posture would separate me from the slouching habits I assumed a teenager like Miley had. However, the tail end of what was mostly a habitual move caused me to slightly jump and flinch when I began putting weight on my backside that I had temporarily forgotten was still a bit sore. “That will only get worse with more spankings,” Noelle said. She obviously figured out immediately why my mature descent was undermined by the awkward reaction. “Good thing you’ll be behaving from now on, right?” “Right,” I blushed. Apparently not even something as simple as sitting could be done without further digging the hole I was in. And now I was stuck at the table for as long as Noelle was supervising me. ------------------- Check out my website: www.ladyluciastories.com And read more of "The Babysitter" and other stories on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=73056590

Airport Insecurity You’ve never been great at making smart tactical decisions when it comes to your diapers. Years ago, when you told your vanilla friend about your kink and how paranoid you were about getting caught or someone finding your stash, they thought you were being silly. “What’s there to catch? If somebody finds them, just say you have a medical condition or something. Like you’re a bedwetter, or have bladder control problems.” The flush in your cheeks was answered with their eyes slowly widening in increased comprehension. “They have cartoons on them, don’t they…?” The idea that there could be babyish looking diapers sized for grown-ass men and women didn’t even occur to them. Yet it was a relief to you. Ye gods, how awful would it be if you were limited to only what you could piecemeal together and pretend was ‘the real thing’; limited to Depends and whatever outfits looked childish enough? No bonnets. No onesies. No clothes with snaps in them. It’d be like putting a barber’s bowl on your head and calling it a knightly helm only without Don Quixote’s madness. No. Just no. Thank goodness for the internet, niche companies, and discreet shipping. You still trended towards subtlety, naturally. You aren’t looking to force yourself on anyone. It’s just the t-shirt and baggy shorts you have on feel a lot better with a nice cloth backed diaper and a plain white onesie to hold it all together. To one side of your brain, you’re wearing a grown-up disguise so that you can play pretend amongst the ‘real’ adults. To the other side, you are the world’s most discreet and timid exhibitionist; afraid of getting caught and shunned. You just wanna be yourself! What’s so wrong with that? Here in the airport security line, that more anxious side is currently blaring at full volume. Your tongue becomes like sandpaper while you slip your shoes off and put them in a bin with your belt. Your diaper is dry too. You never thought you’d be too nervous to pee, but here you are. This will be fine. There’s no risk of anyone seeing your diaper. To all onlookers, the onesie will just look like you have a basic undershirt that is successfully tucked in. It’s not what you’re wearing that’s making your heart thud in your chest. It’s the bag. It doesn’t look very much like a diaper bag. It’s plain brown with no babyish decorations. It could be a purse, or a laptop bag, or just a satchel. It is a diaper bag, however. That’s what it was marketed as. That’s what you’re using it for. It’s packed with wipes, powder, a (for now) empty baby bottle, and two spare diapers. Also your wallet, cell phone, and keys, but that’s besides the point. You didn’t need to bring the diaper bag along. You aren’t actually incontinent, and even if you were, your diapers are absorbent enough that they probably wouldn’t leak between now and the time your plane touches down. It’s just… You liked the idea of carrying around your very own diaper bag. You romanticized the idea of having an accident before takeoff, and then sitting in for a few hours, perhaps adding to it, and then whisking yourself away to a bathroom to change. There was something lovely about that idea… This is stupid. This whole thing is stupid. You should have just packed these diapers in your suitcase with the rest. The people at the x-ray machine would see your diapers. They’d see how big the diapers were. They’d know that they weren’t small enough to fit an actual baby. They’d know. Everyone would know. You inhale and hold your breath as you put the bag on the conveyor belt. “Any liquids, or large electronics?” The man stationed near the front of the belt asks. You mutely shake your head and wince as they push your bag along the rollers towards the x-ray machine. “We’ve got some pumps and breast milk,” a woman behind you says, putting a large navy blue bag behind your plain brown diaper bag. You glance at her, and the color shoots away from your face and towards your feet. Oh crap! Someone with a real baby! The man behind her with the newborn in a carrier tells you what you already know. “That’s fine,” the guard says. But you know the truth. It is not fine. You’re about to accidentally traumatize a new mother with your fetish. You’re about to be exposed and go from being the world’s most discreet exhibitionist to a full on untouchable. No. You breathe. That’s not what’s going to happen. You temper the extreme paranoia you’re feeling with cold reptilian logic. You’re not going to be outed here. There’s nothing dangerous or suspicious in your bag and the people at the TSA have seen much weirder shit than some big baby diapers. You’ll be forgotten less than thirty seconds after you get through security and nobody but you and the guy looking for bombs and drugs will ever know. “Next!” A guard on the other side of the body scanner calls you. You turn your head in time to see a man step outside of the hollow glass booth and follow in his footsteps. You angle your head down to the floor and shuffle forward, breathing shallowly. You place your socked feet on the yellow footprints and raise your arms above your head before the person running the scanner can instruct you to. “Arms up,” they say calmly, despite you already following their instructions. The vertical bar quickly whooshes past your sight, scanning you in the blink of an eye. You exhale and lower your arms down. No beeps. No boops. No buzzers. That should mean you’re in the clear, or so you think. “Step out and to the side, please.” A guard commands. Out and to the side?! What was wrong? What happened? Did you leave something in your pockets? Is something…bulging unnaturally? You stare down at your crotch and feel as if you have X-Ray vision. Surely, the diaper bulge beneath your onesie and baggy shorts isn’t THAT noticeable, right? Right?! “Come on,” the guard coaxes you, gently. “Out we go!” You step forward out the other side of the body scanner, the papery crinkle of your diaper sounding off in your ears despite the din of the machines and foot traffic all around you. It’s drowned out by the thump-thump-thumping as your heart threatens to leap out of your chest. Out of the corner of your eye you see a guard at the X-ray machine rifling through a plain brown satchel bag; your diaper bag! And he’s taking out everything! Why? Why would he do that? It’s just a wallet, phone, keys, wipes, and some diapers! Big, crinkly, childish looking baby diapers that fit you perfectly so as to bring you incredible joy and comfort in private and drive you to humiliating despair in public. He stacks the two spares you packed on a counter and pulls out the baby powder. He pours some out and reaches for what looks like a chemical testing strip. Oh no! The powder! They’re making sure that it’s not some kind of a bomb! You KNEW you should have packed it in your suitcase, but noooooooooo, you just HAD to live the full fantasy and smell extra babyish when you changed yourself in the airport bathroom. You’re going to purge. You just know it. As soon as this is over, you are getting off that plane and dumping your entire suitcase full of baby clothes and diapers into a fucking dumpster. You freak. You loser. You monster. You look behind you at the lady with the breast pump and realize you haven’t been breathing. She’s smiling and waving at you, gently shooing you forward. A silent prayer: Please don’t let her see what’s in your bag. Please let her and her husband and their kid be at just the right angle so that the x-ray machine and body scanner are blocking their view of your privacy being grievously violated. “Come on!” A strange man chirps and yanks you the rest of the way out of the scanner. “Sorry about this, Dad,” the guard says to the stranger. The way he says it reminds you of when you were a child and people who didn’t know your parent’s names would just call them ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ as a shorthand. “Daddy?” The word leaps out of your mouth unbidden. You’d only meant to copy what was said, not to add your own infantile twist. “Just hold on a second, baby,” the stranger says quietly. “Just gotta prove that you’re not a terrorist or something.” He shakes his head and laughs to himself while he pulls your pants down, and exposes your onesie. Terrified and overwhelmed, you freeze. Knees and elbows locked. Throat tight. Hard to breathe. The man, Daddy, reaches right between your legs like he’s done it a billion times and unsnaps each button of your onesie. “I’m sorry about this,” the guard says. “It’s just protocol.’ “Yeah,” Daddy says. “I get it.” He lifts up the onesie, exposing your heavy sodden diaper. You have no idea when you stopped holding it, but the wetness line is bright blue “Looks like you caught us before we sprung a leak!” The guard laughs nervously. “Looks like it. Sorry again.” “Not a problem, sir,” Daddy replies. Then he looks to you. “Okay, baby. Why don’t you step out?” He pulls your shorts down past your ankles until they’re just a puddle on the floor. Your legs and brain numb, your body does as instructed, stepping out one foot of a time until you’re left in nothing but your t-shirt, onesie, and socks. “What happened here?” The woman with the baby supplies asks. Your skin alights anew. This shouldn’t be happening! Daddy talks past you. “Body scanner thought a diaper was an explosive device or something.” The woman laughs and moves over to the rollers by the X-Ray machine. “Not unless it’s diarrhea!” she quips. She picks up the bag filled with milk, breast pumps and such. The man who was rifling through your diaper bag has repacked it and handed it back to her. “No pants?” Daddy shrugs. “They need a change anyway, and it’s not that cold.” Without further preamble he grabs your t-shirt and tugs it up over your head. You’re too bamboozled to resist. “Fair enough,” the woman says. She grabs your wrist. “Come on honey bunny. Follow Mommy. Let’s go get changed.” “Mommy?!” Your confused words fall on deaf ears. “You sure, babe?” Daddy asks. “You got the last one.” The conversation has started to move away from the security line. You’re waddling helplessly behind Mommy and Daddy. You look behind you and see that the young man with the baby carrier behind her was with another young lady. “I’d like to nurse before we get on the plane,” Mommy tells Daddy. “Clean bum and full tummy. If we’re lucky they’ll sleep through the flight back home. Keep the bottled stuff as an emergency if they get fussy in mid air.” Daddy slows down. “Good idea. I’ll go to the bathroom too.” The gulf between you is increasing as Mommy leads you towards a clearly marked area designated for breastfeeding and diaper changing. “Take your time,” Mommy calls back to him. “We’ll be awhile.” Everything is happening so fast, that only one word has time to come out before you cross the threshold into the nursing station. “Home?” You were supposed to go on vacation today.

Unconventional You fall off the spinning disk, giggling like an idiot on the floor, and dizzy as hell. Thirty something rotations! New record! You toss your hands up to the ceiling in celebration and your laughter redoubles in on itself when it hits you that you were actually pointing at the nearest wall. This is the best convention ever! Presently, you’re in the Nursery Playroom, where the littlest of the little ones like to play. That’s you right now. Definitely you. People are playing on rocking horses the size of thoroughbreds, riding around on tricycles that are far too big, and bouncing in walkers that could double as flying saucers. And nobody is hiding their diapers. Not fifteen minutes ago, you found yourself lying beneath a baby gym, in your t-shirt, and wet Alphagatorz, babbling to yourself and smacking around dangling jingly toys. And it felt so gosh darn, wonderfully normal! I belong here. I really belong here. I really do. That’s what you thought. Somehow, it finally feels like you’ve come home. Amazing! But your attention has never been steady at the best of times, so you drifted over to this sick sit and spin and went to town until you could barely stand up straight. A gurgle from your stomach reminds you that you’re not allowed to go full baby. No number two’s allowed in convention spaces. That bodily reminder snaps you right out of headspace. Shouldn’t have had those nachos last night. The spinning didn’t help either. One way or another, something is about to exit you, and it’s probably out the back. Oh well. Nothing to be done about it. Still dizzy, you stand up on unsteady legs; you’re legs locked while your torso wobbles. You already know what you’re going to do: Waddle to the bathroom, drop the kids off at the pool, wipe, and then come back and play. Minimum interruption! On second thought, maybe you’ll go back to your hotel room for a few minutes. Nothing about the rules says you can’t poop in there. It’d be more practical too, considering you’re already wet. Pooping in a toilet and then pulling up a wet Alphagatorz would feel…weird. You’re not in Pull-Ups, you’re a BABY! (That’s the headspace you’re looking for anyway). As the last of the dizziness recedes, something catches your eye. In the back corner of the play room is an adult sized changing table. Not a repurposed massage table like in the changing rooms, a full on changing table, hand crafted and painted to look just like something a baby might use. You pivot and face it. How long had that been there? You swear you cased the room and examined each and every piece of oversized baby furniture as if it were an art exhibit when you first came in. A wave of sadness washes over you and your knees bend slightly as you start to push. The feeling of your cheeks spreading makes you groan under your breath while you stare enviously at the prop. A prop. That’s all it is. The convention was also quite clear about public nudity. Your next sigh comes out as a grunt. Your feet are still planted, your knees bent more than before. It still hasn’t occurred to your body that you could walk and get a closer look. Attached to the side of the adult sized changing table are several little hooks. Each hook has a diaper bag hanging from it. The shelves beneath the top are likewise packed with diaper bags. It seems the littles who brought diaper bags for quick changes all stowed them there. You wished you’d have brought a diaper bag. Or someone to carry it for you. Another sigh escapes your top, while your bottom feels warmer and your belly feels better. To the right of the table is an unopened pack of Little Kings. Diaper bag be damned, someone just didn’t give a damn. To the left is what appears to be a large diaper genie. Wow. This place goes all out. Morbidly, you wonder if anyone has snuck a used diaper in there. Oh yeah! Used diaper! You shake the cobwebs out of your head and stop sighing wistfully of what you can’t have. Time to… It finally hits you. That grunting and pushing you’ve been quietly doing and the meaning behind it. You’ve been messing this whole time, and inertia and gravity is carrying the last of your mess out of you beyond your control. For the first time in decades, you’ve just pooped your pants. In public. Without realizing it. Your body tenses and you slap your thighs to keep from feeling the back of your diaper. You need to get out of here. Now. If you’re caught like this you’re sure to be banned! You quickly start telling lies to yourself: It’s okay. It’s okay. No problem. You just need to casually walk out of the play room, and find the nearest stairwell, then you’ll just go up five flights of stairs, take out the keycard in your lanyard, and slip into your hotel room for a change…maybe a shower too. Point is that as long as you don’t dawdle or get trapped in a confined space, no one will be the wiser. You pivot around to start walking towards the playroom entrance, quietly tensing with every step. You can feel the mess shifting around. You look down at the floor and stare at the carpet so as not to draw any attention with your uncomfortable facial expressions. This isn’t going to work. This isn’t going to work. You’re going to caught. Caught and banned. You raise your head a little so that you don’t bump into anyone and are forced to stop dead in your tracks. The double doors leading out into the wider convention area are now shut. You don’t remember them closing. Your speed doubles and you power walk to the door. Your heart leaps up into your throat when you grab the handle and find it locked. Why the fuck is it locked? “Oh honey!” A voice calls out. “What are you doing?” You turn around and press your back to the door. “Nothing!” You say instinctively while your mess presses against you more tightly. “Can I please get out?” Coming towards you, is a woman in white sneakers, blue jeans, and a hot pink t-shirt with the conventions name on it. Oh shit! (Poor choice of words!) A staff member! Something seems familiar about her too. Wasn’t she the receptionist at the front desk? You thought the hotel was a separate entity from the convention for purposes of play… “I’m sorry, sweetie, but you have to wait here,” she says. “Why?” you ask. She’s close. Too close. You wish you could just phase through this door, or sink into the center of the earth. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong, baby,” she says soothingly. “Those are just the rules. You get to play here while all the grown-ups play out there.” If it weren’t for the crippling fear you’re currently experiencing, such talk would send you deep deep into headspace. “I need to go to my hotel room!” You yelp. “Awwww,” the stranger replies. “You’ll get to go back to your hotel room, eventually. Don’t worry. Do you want to lie down somewhere? I can make a space that’s nice and quiet for you?” This lady isn’t getting it. She is far too committed to the bit. “I need to go change!” You all but. scream. “Oh?” she says. “Let me see?” Quick and casual as anything she kneels down and squeezes between your legs. You’re too shocked to react while she examines your diaper and sticks her fingers past the leak guards. “Hmmm…you’re wet, but you’re not that wet.” She determines. “Why don’t you let the grown-ups decide whether you need changing?” She stands up and thumbs back over her shoulder. “Go play.” “But…but…but…I want to see the rest of the convention!” You have to get out of here. Noses are sniffing and time is ticking! The staff member waves your concern off. “You don’t want to go out there. It’s all boring grown-up stuff. Stay and play here until your Mommy or Daddy comes to pick you up.” The sincerity in her voice throws you off. “What?” “This is a grown-up convention, baby,” she says. “You’re at the convention daycare so that your Mommy or Daddy can go do their grown-up stuff and know that your’e safe.” Was that even a thing? Not the point. “I don’t have a Mommy and Daddy!” You’re single, but saying as much feels like a confession of a crime or an admission of guilt.” “Mmmhmm…” The lady nods, clearly not believing you. “I’m sure. You’re very big.” She drags you out away from the door and swats you on the butt. “Now go play.” You need to regroup. Need to get out and change. Need to avoid getting caught. Too late. “Hold it!” You feel your diaper being pulled back. You freeze and hold your breath. It wasn’t exactly fun while it lasted, but it’s over now. “Hmmmm….guess I was wrong. You do need to be changed.” Your jaw drops open. Her hand clamps down on your wrist, and before you know it you’re being dragged to the back corner. It’s all you can do to keep your feet moving. “Wait. Stop!” you try to say. “What are you doing?” “Changing you,” she says. “You need it!” “Here?” “Yup.”: “Everyone will see.” “It’s okay. No need to be shy. You’re just a baby.” All of your skin is tingling. “No I’m not!” “Okay, honey.” So in command of the situation is she, that she boosts you off the ground and onto the changing table in one fell swoop. Your mess mashes against your backside. “Then let’s change that big kid diaper. Lie down.” Your body lies down. There’s no disobeying. You try to sit up, but a hand on your chest is all that’s needed to keep you pinned while she roots around on the shelves beneath you. She stands back up and looks at your convention name tag dangling from your lanyard. “Rhonda?” she calls.Another woman in a similar uniform jogs up. You’re pretty sure you saw her vacuuming the hallway when you first checked into the hotel. “I can’t find this one’s diaper bag.” “What’s the name?” the other woman asks. Then they say your name. You’re real name. The name you introduce yourself by outside of the scene. You grip and grab at the nametag and read it. It’s your name. Picture too. The badge wasn’t like that before. You’re smiling in the picture. Your eyes look vacant. Rhonda rifles through the bag. “Hmm, I don’t see it either, Debbie” Debbie frowns. “Maybe Mom or Dad forgot to drop it off?” “Maybe,” Rhonda shrugs. “But that’s why we have the emergency spares.” “I’m sorry!” You babble. “There’s been a mistake. I won’t do it again. Please just stop!” Both strangers soften towards you. “Awwww, that’s not what we mean. You’re not in trouble, pumpkin. Your Mommy or Daddy just forgot to drop off your diaper bag.” Rhonda rips open the package of Little Kings. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.” The tapes scritch scratch as your diaper is opened and your soaked genitals and messy bottom is exposed to everyone. You scream and babble while these strangers touch you in ways you haven’t been touched in a long time. “It’ll be alright.” “It’s just a diaper change.” “You’ll feel so much better when it’s over.” “Nothing to be embarrassed or shy about.” “You’ve had these all your life.” “Don’t you want to be a good baby so we can tell your Mommy or Daddy when they get back?” “Just a little more, and then you can go play. Promise.” The other convention goers, the other littles, don’t take much notice. They’re all trapped in their own world of blocks and bead mazes. Right as your bottom is finished being wiped, and the Alphagaztorz is being balled up and tossed away in the very real diaper genie by your feet, you see another little stop crawling and puff their cheeks out while the back of their diaper expands. The fresh new diaper is slid underneath you and a torrent of powder rains down on your back and front. The little you just witnessed shit themselves keeps crawling as if nothing happened. “There we go!” they chirp at you, finishing the change as quickly, efficiently, and sexlessly as one might an actually baby. “All done.” They help you off the changing table. “Go play.” You stumble about in a daze. The fresh diaper is too stiff. They always are at first, but usually you feel more connected to it because you’re the one who put it on. You’re not kicked out. They seem to think you’re a real baby. They know your real name. You don’t know what to do with this information. Just as importantly: Who’s going to pick you up at the end of the day?

Part Six WHAP. I gasped in shock when Noelle landed another spank on the opposite cheek. It stung more than any of the others, due to the fact that I didn’t expect her to hit me again. “Noelle, stop!” I exclaimed. “I said I’m Miley!” That had been the whole point of ‘confessing’ that I was our bratty thirteen year old neighbor. So I wouldn’t have to suffer any more over Noelle’s lap. This was a nightmare for so many reasons. The pain itself was pretty bad, as I had literally never been spanked before and Noelle didn’t seem to be pulling her punches. Then there was the personal embarrassment, as this was the furthest anyone had ever gone after mistaking me for a younger girl. Worst of all, however, was the fact that my step-sister was watching and making zero effort to help. So far, she had only done the opposite. “I heard you,” Noelle calmly said. WHACK. The intensity of the spank didn’t match her tone in the slightest. My renewed attempts to squirm off her lap and avoid more punishments that I didn’t deserve were met with a barrage of slaps all on the same cheek. “Hold still, Miley!” For a moment, I tried even harder to escape. My right cheek was on fire and Noelle was still spanking it without any sign of letting up. “Stop! Oh my God, STOP.” I writhed over her legs, not thinking about the fact that my pleas might come across as whining and my movements were objectively immature. My protests fell on deaf ears as Miley’s babysitter continued believing she had the right girl, and the toned brunette was more than capable of holding me in place with just one arm. Eventually, I gave in. It was so counterintuitive when my reflex was to get away. However, it was pretty clear that my way wasn’t getting me anywhere. So, against my instincts, I went completely limp on her lap. “There.” WHAP. “Was that so hard, Miley?” Squeaking from the harsh spank that punctuated the dozens of faster ones on the cheek she hadn’t left alone in quite some time, I meekly shook my head. I was scared that my voice would crack if I tried to speak, as I was still doing everything in my power not to cry. One or two tears had naturally escaped from the nonstop spanking, but I refused to let what was left of my dignity take another hit. In fact, Paige had never seen me cry. Like, ever. Thanks to my size, I refused to show weakness around most people. Noelle didn’t seem to have a problem breaking me of that. “Now, I need to even you out,” she said, “I’m going to do the same to the other side, okay? Then we can be done.” Wait, what? I immediately tensed up at the implication. “Noelle-” I began, my voice about as weak as I expected. She barely let me get that far. “Hold still. Behave.” Cutting me off, she gave a quick spank to the not so sore cheek. “Can you manage that, Miley?” I wanted so badly to argue. To find a way off the girl’s lap and back to my room. To avoid yet another round of spankings to my mostly exposed ass. Instead, I nodded. As long as she thought I was Miley, there would be no mature conversations to be found. Especially not with my sister right there to dismiss my truths. As painful as it was, and as painful as it was going to be, I knew that allowing myself to be spanked was the only way to move on. All I needed was my driver’s license, and the only way to get that was to be free of Noelle’s lap. “Good.” Noelle adjusted my body from my former attempt to escape. “For your information, Miley, it’s your own fault that I’m here. I only get hired when parents are desperate.” SMACK. “Because most babysitters would get in trouble for punishing difficult little girls like this.” WHAP. “Even if they do deserve it.” Blushing as a tiny yelp escaped my lips, I focused most of my attention on staying still when every spank made me want to do the opposite. There was more to come, too. She hadn’t gotten to the nonstop barrage my other cheek had already taken. Resting her hand on my less sore side, she explained things a little more for me. For Paige, too, as Noelle clearly wasn’t aware that Miley didn’t really have a sister. Apparently, Noelle specialized in doing whatever it took to teach girls how to behave when parents didn’t know where else to turn. She made the point that it didn’t matter that she was telling me exactly why she was here; that’s how confident she was in her abilities. In terms of corporal punishment, there were all kinds of waivers and permissions that ‘my parents’ had signed. Noelle was within her rights to discipline me however she wanted, save for the methods that had been marked as unacceptable by Miley’s parents. “Not that I’ll share that list with you, of course.” Noelle said, “But spanking? Very much allowed. And, if you behave from here on out, you won’t have to find out what else your parents signed off on.” The whole situation had already been wildly unfair and humiliating. But this newest revelation? FUCK. I was being punished by Miley’s ‘last resort’ babysitter, when I wasn’t actually the girl who had scared off the rest of them. And for the time being, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Admitting that I was ‘Miley’ didn’t seem to be helping my case, either. Noelle seemed determined to put me in my place. Trying to backpedal now would only take away whatever grace I had earned with my submission. “Now, what was your name again? Alyssa?” Yes. Alyssa, the eighteen year old ballerina. “N-no,” I muttered, “It’s Miley . . .” The thirteen year old brat. ------------------- Check out my website: www.ladyluciastories.com And my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=73056590

PART FOUR “This is bullshit.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. The better play was to present myself as the more mature sister, which I easily was in comparison to Paige. I had better grades, was more sophisticated, and overall was just the more responsible girl. But she got under my skin so easily, and this was no exception. “Noelle, my sister thinks it’s funny to tease me about my size. The truth is, we’re the same age, and-” “Ha!” Noelle let out a single bark of laughter. She covered her mouth in an instant, no doubt to get herself back into at least some semblance of ‘serious babysitter’ mode. Still, an amused smile remained present when she lowered her hand and looked me over, “You know, I almost believed you when you said you were a different girl. But come on, Miley. How can you expect anyone to believe you’re as old as- Paige, was it?” “Mm hmm,” my sister hummed. There were traces of a smile on her own face, but for much different reasons. “You do realize I’m eighteen, don’t you, sis? Seriously. You’re not going to look even close to this mature for at least a few more years,” she said, gesturing to her body. “Maybe you could pull off ‘fifteen’ with a makeover and a major attitude adjustment, or . . . you could just act your own age, for once, instead of screwing with everybody?” “PAIGE.” I could not believe her. She knew how old Miley was, obviously, so she was just making me sound like the middle school girl Noelle was supposed to be in charge of by referencing what most of the neighborhood knew about the lying brat who lived a few doors down. And, unlike the usual instances where my ballet leotard made me look more youthful, there was no one else around to help with the misunderstanding. “Stop! I’m not-” “That’s enough, Miley.” Neolle’s sharp tone was even more biting than her scoffing laugh, and she took a step towards me. “You’ve tried enough of my patience. This is your first and last warning–are you going to behave, or do you want to find out why your parents hired me?” “I’m not Miley! I’m ALYSSA.” Unfortunately, Miley’s babysitter was blocking the path out of Paige’s room. If I could just get back to my own space, get my driver’s license . . . However, I distinctly remembered Noelle making a point to say she wouldn’t mind chasing. If she really did think I was Miley, would she pursue me if it seemed like I was merely trying to run away? Because my license was in my clutch, nestled in an inner pocket of my backpack. It would take a minute to retrieve. “Just-” Pausing to take a heavy breath, and having enough clarity through my frustration to take the more mature and diplomatic approach, I looked Noelle dead in the eyes. “I can prove it. In my room.” With a sigh of her own, Noelle calmly asked, “What’s your name?” Of all the- Resisting the urge to groan, I repeated myself. “Alyssa.” Noelle glanced towards my sister. “I’m sorry to be doing this in your room,” she said, “You may leave, if you wish. I imagine this won’t take long.” Then, out of nowhere, she lunged forward and grabbed my ear. The flicker of shock was nothing compared to the unexpected pain and pressure that came as she began dragging me by such a sensitive part of my body. Wincing and stumbling forward to avoid the feeling getting worse, I found her other hand gripping my arm and slightly digging her nails into my skin as a secondary measure to get me moving. “Ow! OW.” I yelped and cried as I more or less had no choice but to let the girl manhandle me; any bit of resistance seemed to cause more in both spots. “Noelle!!!” I shrieked, simultaneously horrified and stunned that I was being treated in such a way. “Oh my God! Noelle, STOP.” And then we were falling. Both of us. For a second, I thought it was because my squirming had somehow knocked her off balance. I braced myself for a rough landing; the light carpet in Paige’s room wouldn’t do much to soften a fall onto the otherwise hardwood floor. Instead, we landed on my sister’s bed. Well, that’s where Noelle ended up. I, on the other hand, fell right onto her lap into a position she had no doubt aimed for. Gasping as I realized what she planned on doing to me, I immediately scrambled to get off her legs, only to be scooped back into place by one of her hands and set into an even more vulnerable spot the second time around as she adjusted both of us on the bed. “Miley, you’ve used up all of your warnings. Both with your parents, and with me.” While one strong arm firmly held me in place despite my efforts to get away, her other hand yanked upwards on the lower half of my leotard. “Noelle, don’t!!” I begged. This was not happening to me! Eyes widening as the leotard dug into my backside and simultaneously shifted uncomfortably against my most private area, my mind began racing. I was eighteen years old!! Way too old to be spanked. Especially by a girl practically my age. And for this to transpire while Paige got a front row seat to the whole thing? I would never, EVER live this down. “What’s your name?” Noelle growled. In response to another round of my struggling, she hoisted me back into position on her legs and hugged me against her torso. She wedgied the fabric hard enough that I could feel it more or less disappear between my cheeks, could feel the hint of Paige’s bedroom air on my all but bare ass. I couldn’t give into the intimidation. Lying would only make this all worse. “I’m Alyssa!” I insisted. A high school graduate. Not some notorious troublemaking tween. “Wrong answer.” Noelle said. And then her hand cracked down onto my backside. ------------------- Check out my website: www.ladyluciastories.com And my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=73056590

Chapter 21: The Room Thief in Service - by LittleFallenPrincess “Shoes off before you come in.” I quickly stepped back and took my shoes off, before stepping back into the room. “Sorry, Miss.” I muttered. “It’s okay. You’ll learn all the rules over time. Follow me.” Miss Carver instructed, taking my hand again and leading me further into the pink, infantile room. I kept my eyes on Miss Carver as my bare feet walked across the softest carpet I had ever felt before. We stopped in the middle of the room and Miss Carver turned around to look at me. I then looked up to meet her beautiful green eyes, and my heart melted in an instant. “So I assume my hunch is correct?” she asked. “What hunch would that be, Miss?” “The baby powder. You saw this room and something stirred within you, right? You decided to try one on...?” “...” “Don’t lie to me sweetie... I know the powder marks left by a nappy.” She grinned. “Yes Miss. I ordered a couple of samples of... them... and tried them on.” “D’aww, you can’t even bring yourself to call them what they are, can you? No littles can at first. But don’t worry, it’ll eventually be natural and you’ll be calling them ‘your’ nappies in no time.” I blushed a crimson red as I felt my legs get wibbly. “I... I...” “Shh. Now tell me, what did you think of the ones you tried?” “I... I liked them.” I couldn’t believe I had just said that. I mean... it was true. But ever since I took it off, I was trying my best not to think how good it felt, how much I enjoyed it. I wanted to pretend I hated it, that I wasn’t into it. But without a moment’s hesitation... I admitted this embarrassing fact to Miss Carver. “Good. But I have to ask... why did you not clean yourself up properly after?” She asked. “I... wasn’t thinking.” “Obviously. Good job I’m here. So... what does this room make you feel?” It was at that point that I realised I had purposefully chosen to keep my eyes directed at Miss Carver’s face. I was deliberately avoiding looking anywhere else, because I was too nervous about what the room was going to make me feel. I knew exactly what this room was. I knew how excited I was to be in here, and how much I had wanted to see this room properly. But now that I was in here? I just focused on Miss Carver so I wouldn’t have to feel any of these embarrassing feelings trying to rise up inside. “Go on... have a look around.” Miss Carver ordered. Using all my might, I managed to pull my eyes away from her, and towards the sea of pink and white. Before me was a nursery. But it wasn’t just any nursery; this one was scaled for an adult. A large pink and white crib stood in the corner, restraints that looked like the ones I had been wearing yesterday were attached to it, but they were pink and white. A changing table stood against the wall opposite, with similar restraints. A highchair with yet more of these pink and white restraints attached to it sat in the corner. I sensed a common theme. “I see you staring at the restraints...” Miss Carver commented. I nodded, sheepishly. “Don’t worry sweetpea... they’re only for naughty babies who like to resist. I don’t see that happening with you. At least not at first. Very rarely are babies that bratty when they’re first introduced, that behaviour comes later as they like to push boundaries and their love of kink expands. Babies like you are always good... at first.” I blushed and nodded. Focusing less on the restraints, I looked around the room, focusing on the little details like the babyish border on the walls, the cute little lightshade above us, and at the large amount of stuffed animals, powder, wipes, baby toys, and general supplies a nursery would have. Impressed that she had apparently thought of everything, I looked around for what I was dreading. “What are you looking for poppet?” Miss Carver asked. “Umm... nothing.” I lied. “Be honest with me. I expect honesty with my subs.” “I... I saw the multiple collars in the petplay room. I... I was looking for signs of other... other... babies.” “What I do with other subs is of no concern of yours. But I will tell you that I occasionally have the odd baby boy or baby girl around, spending time in my nursery. Sometimes the baby boys like to be baby girls and the other way around.” I felt like I had to ask. “Umm... how many subs do you have though?” I blurted out. Miss Carver didn’t look shocked by my outburst. She didn’t look offended or hurt or angry. “You want the honest answer?” she asked. I nodded. “None.” “Oh okay. Wait... what?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t have any subs.” “But... but the collars...?” “Are friends of mine.” “Friends?” “Yes. Not everyone has the ability to have all these spaces to play with. Either through lack of money, their partners just not being into it, or because they live lives that a secret like this would ruin. I offer friends a place to play and be themselves occasionally, people I trust. Those collars you saw belong to a few friends of mine who leave them here because they can’t take them home with them.” “You... you mean... you really don’t have a sub?” “Well not before today, no.” “But... but why do you have all these rooms?” “Because I occasionally play with my friends. I’ve had subs in the past, but for a while now, I haven’t. Sometimes a Daddy will bring his little girl around and I’ll play Nanny. Sometimes I play directly with the subs, sometimes I play with them and their owners. Sometimes I just leave them to it and do my own thing in a separate part of the building. It varies.” “So... you reeeally don’t have a sub?” I asked yet again. “You really don’t like the idea of me having another sub, do you sweetie?” “I... it’s not my place to judge. I’m just your sub.” “I mean... yes you are, but your feelings are just as important. I know I come across as this big bad domme... but if you’re not happy, I’m not happy. And whilst I said it’s none of your business what I do with other subs... you have all the right to say if you’re not happy with the arrangement.” “I... didn’t like the idea of you having another sub...” I admitted. “How about the idea of me playing with other subs, but not being their domme?” “I... that’s not too bad. I... I don’t want to be a hassle. Sorry.” “Shhh...” Miss Carver pulled the hand she was still holding, yanking me towards her, where she wrapped her hands around me and held me close. “Shhhh... it’s okay sweetpea.” She started rocking me gently from side to side. “Why... why are you being so nice?” “That’s what Mummies do...” “M... mu...” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. “It’s okay, baby...” That name. A few weeks ago, that name would have made my blood boil. But now, coming from her lips... it was as if every cell in my body felt... at peace. I felt my arms tingle. I... wanted to hear it more. “But... why me then? You are so loved and people obviously want you... I saw as much at the party...” I asked nervously. “After so many subs, I stopped looking. They just weren’t what I was after.” “So yeah, why me?” “Because I saw something within you, something that attracted me to you, something I had never felt before. Ever since I let you go that first night, I hated myself for doing so. But every time I caught you, I knew I couldn’t keep you. I sensed that you may be into all this, or at least some aspects of it, I could read it on your face. But... you needed to come to the realisation yourself.” “So... I can be your sub then? Even though I don’t really want you having any other subs? I’m sorry. It’s all new. I don’t know what is okay and what isn’t.” “Sweetie... Maybe I didn’t say it right. If you want to be my sub, you have to be okay with me playing with other subs. If you’re not, maybe you’re not the sub I was looking for. But when it comes to having my own, I prefer to only have one sub at a time, so you won’t be sharing that title with anyone else.” “So... I’ll be your submissive... and no one else will? But occasionally friends of yours will visit and you’ll...?” “Depends on the friend and the role.” She sounded so... calm... so... confident. “And if I’m not okay with you playing with other subs?” “Then you leave and find another domme.” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think. I mean... something about her made me want to stay, but a large part of me didn’t like the idea of her playing with anyone else. But at the same time, we weren’t in a relationship, this was purely just a... kink relationship I suppose? So did I have any right to ask that of her? She had all these friends, and she was their sanctuary, could I do that to them too? My mind was swirling, my eyes darting about from side to side. “Right, how about we just get you sorted for now, and then you can decide later?” I let her take my hand and lead me over to the large changing table. Turning me around, she quickly removed all the clothes I was wearing until I was completely naked. Normally I would have been blushing, but my brain was still in overdrive at this point so I couldn’t think about how embarrassing this moment was for me. Lifting me up gently onto the table, she lay me back, popping what felt like a large dummy into my mouth. The soothing, rhythmic sucking helped calm me down, my heart slowing to a normal pace and my thoughts becoming less scrambled. It was then the built-up embarrassment flooded back, causing me to blush and hide my face behind my hands. ‘Oh my god. I’m naked... in front of her... about to be put in a... a... thing...!’ Expertly lifting my bum off the table, she slid a nappy underneath me and gently set me back down. Wipes and powder were used liberally before she pulled the front up, taping the sides down and securing me in this infantile garment. “There we go. Much better. How does that feel?” She asked with her soft, soothing voice. “Umm... weird.” I said from behind the dummy. “...” she stared at me, raising her eyebrow. “Wha?” “You will address me as Mummy when we’re in these roles...” “Yes...” I struggled to say it, but the look she was giving me helped me push past the embarrassment. “...Mummy.” “Good girl. Now, let’s get you dressed and into something much more suitable for playing.” I wasn’t sure what she had in mind in regards to ‘playing’, but my heart was racing again as the soft, thick nappy crinkled when she lifted me down off the changing table and onto the floor. “Follow me sweetheart. But no walking, babies crawl...” My cheeks turned crimson as I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled slowly behind her. Thankfully the soft, luxurious carpet made it almost comfortable to crawl; I’d hate to have done this on those wooden floors outside this room. Walking over to the wardrobe, she opened it up to reveal the cutest, most babyish outfits. “Hmm... what shall my baby wear today...?” I stared in disbelief at some of the options she was pulling out, showing me. From onesies to dresses, dungarees to t-shirts with babyish prints and messages on them. Whilst she kept asking me if each thing was cute and if I liked it, I felt like I had no real choice in the matter as she ignored my input and put aside a bunch of things I said I didn’t like. Mostly because they were very pink and very frilly. Something I would not be caught dead in outside, something more akin to what Mimi would wear normally, albeit a lot more infantile. “There. I think I’ve got a good outfit for your first day as my baby...” She picked up the outfit of choice and my face started burning with embarrassment. “I... I...” “That’s the exact reaction I was hoping for. Perfect!” she said as she looked down at me, smiling. ========================================================== I hope everyone enjoys this story as it goes on! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them! Thank you to all my patrons for their support! Don't forget, the next 4 chapters are available on my Patreon, which can be found here if you go for the second tier. You get 4 chapters early access to chapters of Thief in Service. New chapters of Thief in Service every Monday/Wednesday/Friday! Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks! ?

Chapter 37: The Restaurant We arrived at the restaurant on time for our dinner reservation. Charlie had picked out a restaurant that was a bit less strict when it came to littles, one that was on the other side of town. Charlie held me close to her, with her hand supporting my thickly padded bum, as she walked into the restaurant. Upon first inspection, it wasn’t the fanciest place, but it certainly wasn’t casual. I should have guessed that from the way we were dressed. It was an Italian restaurant, and a very authentic one at that, with soft lights and a relaxing atmosphere. Part of me was really excited by this, as I loved Italian food, but I was still very much nervous as people stared at me. I mean sure, it wasn’t busy, but it wasn’t empty, and those who were dining tonight quickly looked at Charlie and I as we walked up to the hostess’ stand. “Good evening. Table for one and a little one?” the Hostess greeted. “Yes please.” answered Charlie. “Highchair, Ma’am?” “Yes please, thanks.” The Amazon woman showed us over to a table in the middle of the restaurant, but I could see the disappointment on Charlie’s face. “Is there anything a bit more... private?” The hostess looked around at the attention we were bringing on ourselves and quickly nodded, showing us to a quiet table in the corner where people couldn’t stare. “I apologise, this is the only private table available, but it is quite close to the kitchen. I hope the noise isn’t an issue?” “No, it’s perfect, thank you.” The hostess nodded to a nearby waitress who went off to find a highchair whilst the hostess went back to her stand. Quickly carrying my highchair over and putting it next to Charlie’s seat, the waitress straightened herself up and smiled. She couldn’t have been much younger than me, mid twenties at the least. Straight black hair and a cute face, wearing a typical waitress’ uniform. “Hi I’m El, what can I get for you to drink whilst you look through the menu?” she said with the hint of an Italian accent. “I’ll have a glass of rosé, and do you have anything without any... additives in them?” Charlie placed me into the highchair and sat down in the seat next to me. The hostess wasn’t wrong, we had complete privacy here, which was nice. We could probably talk like girlfriends as long as we didn’t speak too loud, we were near the kitchen after all. “Oh, you mean anything with any sort of regressive properties for littles?” “Yes, is there anything that won’t affect my little at all, I’m keeping her on a strict plan and I don’t want anything messing with that.” “Don’t worry Ma’am, all our food is free from anything that may affect a little or their regression. It is all completely safe to eat and won’t do a thing to her.” “That’s nice to hear. She’ll have a juice then thank you, let me just get her bottle for you.” Charlie rummaged around my changing bag and pulled out a purple baby bottle, handing it to the waitress. The waitress smiled and walked off, leaving Charlie with a menu. “So far so good baby. How are you doing?” “Good. Stiwl nervous. Buh it nice we god a quiet table.” I said, trying to speak around the dummy in my mouth. “When was the last time you had proper Italian food?” “Not since I was a teen. I missed it, I wuv Italian food!” “I’m glad I picked this place then! Now baby, what do you want? Remember it’ll be in a form more appropriate for a little, or so I’ve heard, but it should be just as tasty as the normal stuff.” “Spageddi bowegnese pwease.” Sometimes I hated this dummy, but it still felt soothing to have in and I didn’t want to blow our cover so soon. “You’re so cute when you speak with that in.” My face started turning red as the waitress turned up with our drinks. “Here you go Ma’am, one glass of rosé for you, and one juice for your little girl.” She handed me my bottle and I grabbed it with both hands. “She’s a little cutie! And so well behaved! How did you get one this cute?” “Luck mostly.” Charlie responded. “Then you’re a very lucky Mummy. And might I add, you seem less... typical Amazon. Most Amazon mothers wouldn’t ask about the ingredients for their littles.” “And that is a bad thing?” “Oh no Ma’am, it’s actually quite refreshing. I’m a bit more of a progressive, I assume you are too?” Charlie took a second to answer, obviously trying to figure out if she could trust this girl or not. “I believe littles should be treated fairly.” ‘Good answer. Very generic!’ “I agree! I had a friend once, back when I was a preteen. She was a little. She was my best friend, until her parents moved away. She was a few years older than me, but we would do everything together, I swear we were the only Amazons her parents trusted, mostly due to my father saving them from their adoption.” “Well it’s nice to hear that people stand up for littles like that. To be honest, my little asked me to adopt her.” Charlie must have been on the same wavelength as me. This girl looked honest about her sympathy for littles, but at the same time, we didn’t know her so we had to tell half truths. “Aww, well that’s nice to hear. I hate hearing about littles being snatched up.” She looked down at me with a smile on her face, “I know it’s difficult being a little, but you’ve got a good Mummy at least, and I can promise you you’ll enjoy your food tonight.” She got up and took our order before leaving into the kitchen. “Well she was nice. At least we can be a bit more free to talk, even with her around. Just keep your mouth shush about the whole dating thing and fake adoption and I think we can have a good evening.” I took my dummy out of my mouth, at least with the privacy we had and the waitress being what we believed to be a supporter, I could go without it... even if I wanted it back in. “She seems genuinely compassionate when it comes to littles. My usual warning alarms aren’t going off with her. Something about her makes me feel I can trust her. But yes, no talk of that stuff.” Charlie and I talked and flirted whilst waiting for our food. She would often touch my hand or hold it, trying to be as discreet as possible, but also trying to be flirty and intimate with me. This was our first proper date, and so far nothing had gone wrong. I was really hoping that it would stay that way. El returned with our food and placed it in front of us, mine being on the tray of the highchair. “Is there anything else I can get for you?” I spoke up, forgetting that I was trying to keep a low profile. “Can I get some black pepper please?” She was startled at my perfect speech, but quickly composed herself, grabbing a grinder and sprinkling my food. “Of course little miss, sorry, I forgot. I take it you’re used to Italian food?” “I used to be.” “Well I sincerely hope you enjoy your meal tonight.” She left and Charlie lifted her glass up. “Cheers.” I giggled and lifted my bottle of juice up. “Cheers.” Charlie smiled, took a sip then got to work on her food. She took one bite and once she had swallowed it, looked at me excitedly. “Oh my god, Liv! You have to try it. It’s delicious.” “I take it you’ve never been to a proper Italian restaurant before then?” “Unless you count that place in the centre of town?” “Oh god, I’ve seen that before. No! That’s terrible.” “Then no, but I am so glad I have now, this is amazing!” I smiled, looking down at my food. It was a bit of a mash up of spaghetti and sauce, with tiny bits of meat. It was definitely spaghetti bolognese, but it was a slightly mashed up version of it. I guess this is what Charlie meant by ‘babyish form’. I took one bite, and thankfully I was not disappointed, the flavour was still all there, despite the mushing. And there were still half decent lengths of spaghetti. But something about this tasted... familiar. “Oh my... I haven’t had something this good in over a decade!” “So my cooking...?” Charlie gave me a snarky look. “...Is nice. Sorry Charlie. I love your cooking. But this brings me back to my childhood. Something about it is just so... unf.” “Oh wow, I’ve never seen you make that face whilst eating. It must be good! I hope that’s just the natural flavours, and not anything they added. Can’t be too sure, despite what that girl said.” “Oh no, believe me, this is just how it used to...” I started thinking back to the last time I had this kind of food, but was quickly brought back to the present when El walked up to the table. “Hi ladies, just checking in, how is your food?” “Amazing!” Charlie said. “And you, little miss? Do you like it?” “...Yeah.” “Oh no, is something wrong with it?” “No, oh no, don’t worry, it’s amazing. It’s just it brings back a lot of memories.” “Good ones I hope?” “Yeah. It just tastes so familiar. My neighbour used to cook something just like it for me.” “Oh? Well I’m glad you’re enjoying it, but it’s a family recipe, so it is quite unique.” “It is? Oh then maybe it was something similar. But compliments to the chef!” “Thank you, I’ll be sure to pass them along. Enjoy the rest of your meal!” We continued to eat, enjoying and savouring every bite. Just as I was finishing up, having difficulty with the plastic utensils Charlie had brought for me, a large man walked past our booth, before doubling back and looking at us. Charlie instinctively put her hand on my shoulder, probably as a way to say that I was claimed so the guy would back off. Upon closer inspection, the guy was a chef, obvious by his uniform and the spills down it. Charlie backed down a bit, but still kept her hand near me, just hovering over the edge of the highchair. “Ladies, good evening. Sorry to interrupt... wait... noooo! But wait... didn’t they... yes!” “Sorry sir, can I help you?” Charlie asked. “Umm... Olivia?” I looked up at the chef and was met with a face I had not seen in a long time. Before I could say anything, Eliana walked up from behind him. “Hi guys, he just wanted to say thank you for the compliments, and to check everything is perfect. This is the owner of the restaurant, my father, Luigi.” I nearly choked on my food, quickly swallowing it and putting my spoon down. “Luigi?” I blurted out. “Stellina!” he cried. I blushed. I hadn’t been called that in over a decade. “Dad?” El said, confused. “Ellie, This is Olivia. Remember?” “Ellie? OH MY GOD, ELLIE?” I cried out happily. “LIVIE?” she started crying. Charlie just sat there, confused. We were all just calling out each other’s names, but she didn’t understand the significance. So I turned to her. “Charlie, this is Luigi, and this is Eliana. Luigi was an old family friend back when I was young, before my parents moved away. And Ellie is his daughter, and who used to be my best friend.” “Well it’s nice to meet you both!” “Likewise!” said Luigi. “It’s been like 15 years now, hasn’t it Luigi?” “It has. But I have to ask...?” he said, looking down and pointing at my situation with his eyes. “Oh, don’t worry. I asked her to do this. Maybe I’ll tell you the whole story another time, but don’t worry, I’m safe. I don’t need saving. I love Charlie.” Ellie pulled up two chairs, and they both sat down at the table. “Liv, you look amazing! And so much happier now. You seem very much more... I’m glad you...” I quickly imitated zipping my mouth and they both nodded. “But yes. You seem so much happier. Even considering your situation. Do your parents know you’ve been adopted?” Luigi asked. “They... don’t. Not yet. I’m dreading telling them. You know how they are!” “Well I can’t blame them. I helped them get free back before you were born, and they went through some pretty nasty stuff. I think they hated the idea of you having to go through anything similar.” “I asked for this. The world is scary, Charlie brings me security. And she’s a progressive, like you. She...” I decided to take a line from Alice’s story, “was strongly against adopting me, I had to push her until she gave in.” “You asked for it? Well I can certainly see the logic in it, even if it’s crazy. But you’re happy, right?” “I am, don’t worry. And before we continue, I must say your food hasn’t changed in all these years, it’s still amazing.” “Thanks Stellina. I always loved cooking for you, Ellie never enjoyed my food as much as you did.” “Because we had it every other night! You cooked for Liv occasionally. If she had it as much as I did, she’d be sick of it too!” We all laughed, Charlie smiled. I noticed her nervousness, so I wanted to get her involved. “This is Charlie, she’s my... well... Mummy.” Charlie’s smile grew, and I could feel the tension evaporate from around her as we all got to talking. We chatted for a good 30 minutes or so, catching up on the past 15 years. I told them of my business and I told them a few half truths about it. Obviously didn’t mention the rescue operation part or Charlie not actually adopting me. But honestly, it felt like no time had passed between us and even Charlie felt included in the conversation, often asking about what I was like as a child. Luigi noticed the time, quickly standing up and grabbing his chair. “Stellina, it was lovely seeing you again. I’ll get Ellie to give you our number to give to your parents. It’s been so long since I last saw them. But for now, I’ve got to get back to the kitchen, otherwise my useless son will set fire to everything. Have a lovely evening ladies, and Olivia, you stay in touch, okay?” “Okay Luigi! Thank you again for the amazing meal!” “Next time, tell me it’s you and I’ll give you the normal version, just maybe a smaller size. Although I remember you having the appetite of an elephant!” I pouted. “Ellie, remember to give her our number, you can stay here with them if they’re okay with that, it’s close to closing time anyway and it’s mostly empty, so call it for the evening, okay?” “Okay Dad, thanks.” Luigi went back into the kitchen and Ellie wrote down their contact details on a card. “I’ll give this to your Mummy and she can give it to your parents sometime, okay?” “I missed you Ellie.” “I missed you too! Seriously, it’s so nice to see you like this. Not the whole baby thing, but you. You seem so happy and confident, much different than when we were kids. Whatever happened that caused us to drift apart like that with no contact?” “I’m not sure honestly, I think my parents were worried about someone stalking us, so we moved and withdrew from most of the world. Thankfully I managed to make a friend who brought me out of my shell again, but it took a few years after I lost contact with you.” “Well I’m glad you found someone to support you. And I’m glad you’re doing okay.” I turned to Charlie and pulled out my cutest puppy dog eyes. She knew exactly what I was hinting at. “Baby... are you sure? Enough people know...” “I trust her though. And her Dad. And they’ve not changed.” “Okay, but these two and your parents. Then no more at all. We’re playing with fire and taking too many risks already.” I looked at Eliana’s confused but cute face. “So... Eliana...” “LIV, YOU SNEAKY LITTLE LESBIAN!” I had told Eliana everything. About Charlie, about dating, about the fake adoption, everything. “But that makes sense. And honestly it’s kinda clever. But I agree with Charlie, be careful who you tell, if someone finds out you’re not really adopted, you’ll be in trouble.” Charlie pulled the biggest ‘I told you’ face and smiled. So I did what I did best, I pouted back at her. “I didn’t realise you were still into girls. But hey, I’m glad you’re happy and you’ve found someone so accepting.” “She’s perfect. I’ve never been happier.” Charlie started blushing this time, which made me smile more. “Oh my god, you two, you’re so cute together!” I quickly joined Charlie, both of us now blushing. “Right, sorry girls, closing time. But seriously Liv, it’s been so nice catching up with you. We’ll have to hang out sometime soon!” “We will!” Charlie had one of her mischievous smiles on her face. “How would you like to babysit her sometime?” “Really? That would be so cute!” “Hey! No! I’m a big girl at home!” “Yeah but your face would be priceless if I let her babysit you.” I pouted as the two started talking about Eliana babysitting me sometime soon. ------------------------------------------------- We walked out of the restaurant, being waved goodbye by Eliana and Luigi. “Well that was a nice evening, even if it was a bit surprising. We didn’t even get to do much baby stuff.” Charlie said whilst holding me close. “Yeah but we had a proper date, didn’t we?” I smiled. “Yeah, until your friend and her dad joined us.” “Well... I was thinking...” “Yes baby? “We could have another date this weekend...” I figured we could have a romantic date for her birthday now that we had a safe place to do so. I couldn’t wait to surprise her with my present. “That would be nice.” “But I was thinking, we could have it here again, but this time I could be wearing something a bit more... adult.” “Do you think we could get away with that?” “You saw the booth. And I know Luigi and Eliana. They’ll keep that booth for us, so we’ve got privacy. And we could have an actual proper date.” “That sounds nice. Okay then. Date on Sunday?” “Sunday!” I said excitedly. “It can be a Birthday dinner!” “Yes, but my birthday isn’t until Monday.” “Yeah but I want to spend the whole day on your birthday with you. In bed. You know. Wink wink...” She smiled and me and winked back. “Okay then. Sunday birthday meal, Monday birthday in bed with my gorgeous girlfriend.” I smiled. We got into Charlie’s car and started driving home. ------------------------------------------------- Half way home, Charlie pulled up to a corner shop. “Just need to get some bread and milk babe. We’ll be in and out, okay?” “Let’s be quick. I just want to get home and snuggle.” I pouted. “Me too, but I also want to make you a super yummy breakfast tomorrow before you go to work, but for that we need some stuff.” Charlie followed up on her promise; we were in and out in no time. The only problems were the looks the woman at the counter gave me, which made me feel uncomfortable. But in no time, we were back in the car and driving home. ------------------------------------------------- We got home and Charlie helped me into the house, my ability to walk was affected even more after multiple wettings throughout the evening. But she quickly got me into a fresh nappy, one that allowed me to use my legs properly, and then sat me on the sofa before heading into the bathroom for a bath. “Sure you’re not gonna join me babe?” “Not this time. Maybe next time. I just want to check my phone and do a bit of work to catch up.” “Okay babe, well don’t do too much, as soon as I’m done in the bath we’re getting snuggled up.” “Okay Charlie. Enjoy your bath!” I looked at my phone, and scrolled through the multiple missed calls and texts from... my Mum. A lot of them read ‘PLEASE CALL ME IF YOU CAN’, which got me worried, so I figured I better call her. Quickly finding her in my contacts, I called her. “Hey Mum, what’s up?” “OLIVIA? IS THAT YOU? ARE YOU OKAY?” “Yeah, why?” “We thought we saw you this evening outside of a shop, dressed up like a regressed little and I was terrified that something had happened to you!” “Oh... umm... yeah... about that...” ========================================================== I hope everyone enjoyed the latest chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them! So after a lot of messing about and working things out, I worked out that at this rate this story will be posted completely by the middle of August. I think I'm going to start up my patreon and my new story before then, probably in the next few weeks. I'm doing well with writing my next one and I'm getting really into it! Also I think I've figured out the tiers and stuff (I'm going to try my hand at some short stories that will be exclusive to my patreon, as well as the early access to chapters of my big stories). Hoping that people enjoy that one as much as people seem to be enjoying this! Next chapter Monday!