Toet

Chapter twenty-nine Jasper woke up in the cot in the middle of the night. After all, it had been his turn to sleep there last night. With his sleeping bag on, he wasn't cold and he'd slept through the night within a moment. Jasper had woken up once because his bladder was acting up, but he hadn't let that spoil his night's sleep. When he woke up half asleep and realised why, he rolled onto his back, let it all go and rolled back onto his side. When he awoke in the morning, he was glad he had slept so well. He vaguely remembered waking up, so he was not surprised that his nappy was already well filled, it did not bother him. He knew he was the last one awake because he heard the voices of the rest of the family from the living room. He emptied his bladder, which was full, and then tried to get up. Jasper struggled to the edge of the bed - which was more difficult with a sleeping bag on - and fumbled for the lock to open the bed door. When he found it, he pushed it open and the door slammed against the bed with a dull thud. When the voices suddenly fell silent, he knew that they had heard him. A few seconds later, Koen cautiously entered the room to have a look at the source of the noise. If Jasper was still asleep, he'd have no intention of waking him. "Good morning Jasper," he said as he saw Jasper standing up on his knees. "Good morning sir." Jasper replied, smiling broadly. Koen quickly bridged the distance between the door and the bed and carried Jasper, sleeping bag and all on his arm, into the living room. "Everyone's up now," he said as he entered the living room. Good mornings were exchanged back and forth. "How's your nappy?" asked Koen. "I can't feel it very well with the sleeping bag on." Jasper flushed. It still wasn't easy for him to talk about it so openly. "It's a bit full, I guess." He said, in an attempt to minimise the state of his nappy. "Doesn't matter anyway," Koen said and planted a kiss on Jasper's nose. He was not used to such affection from a man; the beard chafed and Koen was a bit rougher than his own two mothers. As a way of hiding his shyness, and because he had no idea how he should act during the treatment, he put his dummy in his mouth that hung on the sleeping bag. Heleen and Kathy almost melted when they saw how Jasper looked. Jasper loved all the positive attention, because in his home, where Gert left a big mark on the atmosphere, there was not always room for such cuddles and warm moments. Koen took Jasper to Heleen's room to get him out of his sleeping bag and into a clean nappy, so that everyone could have breakfast. There was nothing special on the agenda today. After breakfast the children were allowed to play on the campsite and in the afternoon the family would go to the beach. For this occasion, Kathy had chosen a jumpsuit for Jasper. She chose the Disney version with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell and helped him to put it on. It was Kathy who helped Jasper get dressed. His nappy from before breakfast was still dry and did not need to be changed. The day would be warm enough to wear nothing on or under the overalls. Dries changed and soon after breakfast the boys put on their sandals and ran off to the playground. The holiday park was small and safe enough for the boys to go out on their own. Heleen took a seat in a hammock on the veranda with a book, and it was not long before Koen and Kathy followed her example. They sat outside on the terrace, had a cup of coffee and enjoyed the peace and quiet that a holiday can provide. There were other children in the playground, but they mostly spoke a different language than Jasper and Dries Spook. There were mutual attempts to establish some contact, but the language barrier was too great and in the end the children played more next to each other than with each other. When lunchtime came, Heleen came to look for the boys. It took her quite a while because there were three different playgrounds on the estate and they had forgotten to agree which one they were going to play on. In the end, Kathy and Koen were so worried that Koen joined in the search, and Kathy almost told the management of the holiday resort about it. Kathy and Koen couldn't really be angry, they should have sorted it out beforehand, but next time they would have to think about what and how. They ate quickly in the afternoon, which meant they had enough time left to go to the beach. Kathy quickly helped Jasper change into a fresh nappy and then the family headed off in the car. It was a twenty minute drive to the beach. The drive to the beach was quite abrupt. There were a lot of sharp bends and Koen had to speed up and slow down a lot because of the heavy traffic. A few times Koen cursed the traffic so loudly that Kathy had to make him keep quiet because his curses were too explicit. Jasper listened a little confusedly to what was going on in the front of the car. He didn't know Koen like that at all. Dries was not so concerned about what was going on in the front of the car. He felt completely nauseous and uncomfortable. With every bend, every brake and every acceleration it only got worse. The feeling in Dries' stomach grew stronger and stronger. If Kathy or Koen had looked at Dries at that moment, they would have seen that his face was getting paler and paler. They had almost reached their destination when Dries really couldn't hold it any longer. He started with 'Mum, I...' and then it came out in a big wave; Dries couldn't hold it in any longer. Horrified, Jasper looked sideways at Dries when suddenly the most horrible noises could be heard. Dries tried to grab a bag or a container, but it was hopelessly too late. Dries' lunch was clattering between his hands on his lap, he had vomited a lot. Startled, Kathy and Koen stopped their earlier discussion. Kathy looked back at Dries to assess the seriousness of the situation. 'It would be best to stop as soon as possible,' Kathy said to Koen. Koen nodded and looked for a safe place to stop the car. He soon found one and parked the car calmly. Even though Kathy and Heleen had opened the window, the smell made Jasper sick. He was glad when Koen stopped and Heleen helped him out of the car. "Heleen, can you keep an eye on Jasper? Then we can help Dries." Kathy said. Koen took the bag of spare clothes out of the boot, glad they always had it with them. He took out what he needed and while Kathy tended to Dries, Koen looked after the backseat. A little later, Dries was freshened up and dressed, and the chair was cleaned as best it could be. They all got back into the car and a little later the family arrived at the beach. The rest of the way Koen had done his best to drive more slowly, the windows had stayed open to hopefully get the rest of the smell out of the car, and Dries felt noticeably better than before. The beach was very busy, and Koen and Kathy had to search a bit before they found a free spot. After walking around for a while, they found a spot between a man lying on a towel and another family talking in German. "Good day, are you on holiday?" rang out in a familiar language from next to Koen and Kathy. Koen and Kathy looked up in surprise. They had heard many languages on the beach, but their own had hardly been one of them. The man next to them had watched curiously as the family settled in. "Yes, we arrived the day before yesterday. I'm Kathy, this is Koen, Heleen, Dries and Jasper. Are you on holiday too?" Kathy asked. Meanwhile, she had pulled Dries over to her and started putting sun cream on him. Jasper waited his turn next to Dries, Heleen did it herself. "Half on holiday, half for work. Nice to meet you, I'm David. Today I have a day off to enjoy the sun, but tomorrow a conference starts that I have to go to. It will take a few days, but fortunately it is interesting and not a heavy programme. I also have some free time here and there. Are you staying far from here?" "Just a twenty minute drive," said Koen, "if there is not too much traffic," mentioning the name of the resort and where it was located. "Oh," the man said in surprise. "I'm staying near there too." "What's the convention about?" "Disaster management," said the man. "I volunteer with the Red Cross and the local branch has allowed me to come here. The congress is ending with a large-scale disaster drill, which I will be able to attend as an observer." "A disaster drill? As an observer? What do you mean?" Heleen's curiosity was piqued and she wanted to know more. "For example, an earthquake, a plane crash, a train accident or a chain collision," the man began, explaining what a medical disaster entailed. He told her what to do when a large number of people were suddenly injured in a major accident, and where things often went wrong. Heleen listened with fascination and asked lots of questions to find out more. David was happy to have someone to talk to in his own language and to have an audience fascinated by his story. It was a bit too complicated for Dries and Jasper and they soon dropped out. The boys did not want to go straight into the sea, so they started playing in the sand. They dug and built in the sand, first trying to build a medieval fortress on a mountain. When they had finished with that, they built another medieval town at the foot of the mountain, complete with ramparts and gates. This way the castle looked down on the town and the surrounding countryside. By the time the town was finished, Jasper and Dries were hot from playing in the sun. With a little help, they changed on the beach. Dries took everything off himself while Kathy held up a towel for him, Jasper needed a little more help to get undressed as he had some trouble with the jumpsuit he wasn't used to wearing. Getting the upper part over his shoulders was much more difficult than with a jacket, because it was attached to the trousers. And he was certainly not used to manipulating the nappy himself. Once they were both in their swimming trunks, they were given a fresh layer of sunscreen and made to drink some water. Soon they were off into the waves, enjoying the hot waters of the Mediterranean. When evening came and it was time to leave, Heleen had persuaded her parents to meet David again later in the week. What she secretly hoped for was to see the disaster drill herself, it sounded so interesting. Jasper and Dries were called and everything was prepared to return. Dries crawled back into his clothes on the beach the same way he had come out, but for Jasper there was no real solution. There were far too many people around to allow him to lie quietly and discreetly change back into his nappy. After a short consultation between Koen and Kathy, it was decided to go to the car and see if there was a way to get Jasper out of his swimming suit discreetly. There were still a few passers-by on the street near where the car was parked, but it was fairly well hidden on the passenger side of the car. While Koen stood at the front of the car and Dries and Heleen at the back to form a wall, Jasper was quickly helped by Kathy, who was changing him from his bathing suit into his nappy and normal clothes, standing by the side of the car. Jasper and Dries had swapped beds that evening as planned. Dries was in the cot that looked like a ship, Jasper was in the normal bed, secured in the sleeping bag and straps to keep him from kicking off the covers and rolling out of bed in his sleep. Jasper woke in the middle of the night. The house was quiet and he knew everyone was asleep. He needed to pee and was thirsty. Jasper quickly solved the first problem. He no longer had any trouble peeing in his nappy. He reached for the bottle to drink. The bottle was a bit trickier and sucking on the nipple wasn't so easy. Eventually he had a few sips of water and his thirst was quenched. He put the bottle down next to his head and accidentally hit the magnetic key that unlocked the restraint. Before he realised what he had accidentally bumped into, he heard the key fall to the floor. Jasper turned on his side and tried to feel the floor. He could just reach the ground and after groping for a while he found the key. When Jasper tried to grab the key he pushed against it and the key rolled away somewhere, Jasper didn't hear where. Slowly Jasper realised that he was stuck, completely and truly stuck. For a moment he thought about calling for Kathy or Koen, but he wasn't quite sure why. He had lost the key, but he didn't need to get out for anything. So if the key was found now, in the middle of the night, what would he do with it? Jasper was tired and decided to go back to sleep. He didn't really need the key now and didn't want to wake anyone up unnecessarily. Jasper straightened up to go back to sleep and closed his eyes. Do you can't wait to read the next chapter? you're welcome to read it after a (free) registration on the scriptorium webpage. (Under writing => work in progress)

Chapter twenty-eight The sleeping bag seemed to have done the trick, for Jasper woke up well rested the next morning. The cold hadn't woken him even once last night, and now he was comfortably warm. He listened to what Dries was saying for a moment, but he was still fast asleep. He reached for the bottle next to him and took a drink of water. Then he took the key and opened the restraints. It was a bit of a struggle, but he finally managed to pull the strap from between his legs through the sleeping bag and he was completely free. However, the next step, the opening of the sleeping bag, was not a success. After a while he gave up and wanted to go into the living room to play on the Nintendo. He got up, but the sleeping bag almost made him lose his balance and he almost fell to the floor. Jasper decided to take it easy and sat on the floor with his bottom next to the bed. As soon as he was stable, he began to slide forward, first with his feet, then with his bottom, and finally he moved his hands. When he got to the door, he had to get down on his knees to open the handle, but after a lot of effort he finally sat in the couch with his Nintendo. Dries had been sleeping through the whole thing. When Heleen got up and walked into the living room and saw Jasper playing on his Nintendo, she looked surprised. "How did you get in here with your sleeping bag?" Jasper took his dummy out of his mouth, paused the game and described to Heleen how he had propelled himself. "That's clever of you, well thought out," Heleen said. Jasper beamed at the compliment. Later, when Dries and later Kathy and Koen came out of their bedrooms, Jasper had to tell and show them again and again how he had managed to reach the living room with his sleeping bag still on. Koen thought it was inventive of him, and it made Jasper proud that everyone was amazed to hear what he had come up with on his own. Once everyone was awake, the family went to have breakfast. Kathy quickly helped Jasper out of his sleeping bag so that he could walk to the table by himself. She reattached the ribbon to Jasper's pyjamas so that his dummy would not lie around. "I'll talk to him about this later," she thought as she clicked the lock shut. Dries was quickly helped out of his wet nappy by Koen, Jasper's was still dry. They all enjoyed breakfast. It was a nice, quiet morning and there was no reason to be in a hurry. There was pleasant conversation around the table. During the meal Jasper felt his bladder acting up and without thinking he relaxed and let it all go. "Soon we will go to a museum," Koen said. The children's faces fell. Spending hours looking at old paintings with nothing to show, or gazing at so-called modern works of art that looked more like a failed toddler's craft project, were not exactly their favourite pastimes. Kathy saw the children's faces darken. "No, it's not that kind of museum. It is a hands-on museum with lots of science experiments. It'll be special and fun for you." Jasper and Dries' curiosity was stirred. They started asking questions to find out as much as possible. "I haven't been there myself, I've only read about it on the internet," Koen said. Still, he answered the questions as best he could, and eventually it was time for everyone to leave the table. Kathy took Jasper and Dries to their room to collect the clothes. "Jasper, what are we going to wear today?" asked Kathy, holding a pair of underpants in one hand and a nappy in the other. Jasper stood in silence and thought hard about what to say. Dries looked at his mother questioningly. "Jasper doesn't need nappies during the day, does he?" "Do you remember why we went to the market yesterday to buy clothes for Jasper? He also forgot his underwear at home and we haven't bought any more yet. An alternative, which costs much less money than buying new underpants for every day, is to wear nappies during the day as well". Dries nodded that he understood and looked back at Jasper. "What Jasper doubts is whether he dares to wear nappies all day," Kathy continued, "but on the other hand he doesn't want to cost his mums extra money by buying extra underpants that they have at home and don't need, and he blames himself for forgetting to pack his underpants." Jasper remained silent, but nodded his head to indicate that Kathy had summed it up correctly. Dries had to think about how Jasper had always been there for him in difficult times. Jasper had really supported him a lot. Now it was time for Dries to give something back. They were blood brothers, weren't they? "Jasper, if you put on a nappy today, I will too." Dries said. Jasper looked up at his friend in disbelief. Had he heard that right? "I'm here for you, Jasper. If you put on a nappy, I'll do the same. That makes two of us today. You're not alone. Jasper's worried look broke into a wide grin. If Jasper's face had been a weather map, it would now be full of beautiful rainbows. "I think that's a yes," Dries said, and to show he meant it, he took the nappy Kathy was holding and said: "Would you like to put a nappy on me first, please?" Kathy took the two boys into Heleen's room and put a new nappy on Dries and then changed Jasper. In between, both boys went to the toilet for their number two. They'd been told that they could use the nappies, but there was certainly no obligation to do so. "Dries, just for today and not for the whole holiday, do you understand?" Kathy asked Dries lovingly but sternly. Dries nodded that he understood. Both boys put on a T-shirt and shorts over their nappies in their own rooms and ran with their puffy bottoms into the living room, where they played for a while until everyone was ready. Koen filled a rucksack with a picnic for the afternoon and Kathy filled Jasper's rucksack with care items for the rest of the day. While she was doing this, she explained to Koen what had just happened and why Dries was also wearing a nappy. Heleen was also informed quietly, so that she knew how to react when it came up. Jasper was a bit tense about visiting the museum in a nappy. He distracted himself by putting his thumb in his mouth. Kathy sighed when she saw this and put the dummy back in his mouth instead of talking to Jasper about the disadvantages. While Heleen put on her shoes, she sat strategically behind Jasper and Dries, who sat on the floor to put on their shoes as well. She couldn't take her eyes off the boys, she thought it was cute to know how and why they looked the way they did. Jasper had a little bit of his nappy sticking out above his waistband, but she didn't mind. It was so small that you had to know what it was before you noticed it. There was also a bag in the car with a large bottle of water, soap, wipes, a towel, washcloths and clean clothes for the children. In the past there have been many vomiting parties due to car sickness. Sometimes the children were completely covered in dirt afterwards. On one occasion, after having to make a U-turn and arriving two hours later than planned, they always had a set of spare clothes for everyone in the car for longer journeys. It hadn't been necessary lately, but it had become a habit that they kept. There were clothes for both Heleen and Dries, and for Jasper there was a nappy, bodysuit and onesie, as he did not have enough normal clothes. Jasper was strapped into the car seat by Heleen, and after she and Dries had fastened their own seatbelts, Kathy started the car. After half an hour they reached their destination and Kathy parked the car under a tree. She turned and took the dummy out of Jasper's mouth. "Don't want to keep him in there while we go to the Museum," she said. "Yes, that's true," Jasper said. Heleen released Jasper from his car seat and then the family made their way inside the building. Kathy showed the tickets on her phone and soon the family were wandering from stand to stand. It was indeed a museum full of experiments and the children were expected to touch and test as much as possible. There were experiments on the human body, such as sensory tests, balance, memory,.... You could also learn about different forms of energy - water, sun, wind. An oversized computer had been recreated for the children to crawl inside and learn how everything works and what it is for. There was a large watercourse where the children could see different techniques for pumping water, different types of dikes and sluices, each with its advantages and disadvantages, ... All the running water signalled to both Dries and Jasper that it was time to go to the toilet. Jasper let go at the slightest sign, but for Dries it was a little more difficult. He turned around for a moment and then asked Jasper if he had to go to the toilet too. "I've already gone." Jasper replied after looking around to make sure no one else was within earshot. "I let everything go in my nappy. You can do the same, then you can continue playing here." Dries looked around to see if anyone was there. While he was also looking for his mum, he saw Jasper moving to another set-up. Curious as to which one it was, Dries followed. While Jasper started to try out what was going on here, Dries wanted to join in as soon as possible. The decision not to go to the toilet was quickly made. It didn't really work out that easily and in the end Dries just closed his eyes and imagined that he was standing in front of a toilet. When the first drops of urine came out, Dries squeezed his muscles out of reflex and held everything closed. He carefully looked and felt his trousers to see if they were wet. Satisfied that they were not, he closed his eyes again and continued. Eventually, a small stream began to flow, getting stronger and stronger until his bladder was completely empty. Dries carefully felt his nappy and trousers. Apart from the fact that it was now heavier and swollen, there was nothing unusual about it. Dries turned to Jasper and together they continued to explore the installation. It was a day of full exploration of medical science, physics, chemistry, electronics and mechanics. A lot of basic principles and fundamentals were taught without the children feeling like they were getting a boring lesson. In the afternoon, Jasper and Dries were changed one by one in the toilets. Kathy got some strange looks when she came out of the family room with the two rather large boys, but she didn't care. She needed the space to change the boys' nappies, so she was entitled to use it. The family went on a picnic. They all had a stamp on their hand so they could return later in the day. There were a number of benches next to the car park and everyone enjoyed tasty sandwiches and a drink. At one point in the museum, Jasper was leaning over a viewing window that allowed him to easily study what was happening below the surface of the water. His T-shirt was pulled up and his trousers were riding down. It was now clear to those behind him that the edge that had appeared above his trousers was from a nappy. Two girls, about ten years old, stood not far behind him, giggling and pointing as they whispered to each other in a different language. Jasper hadn't the faintest idea what was going on, but Heleen had. She immediately positioned herself between the girls and Jasper, assuming as indignant and angry a posture as possible, and looked at the girls accusingly. The two girls realised why Heleen was looking at them that way, and with their cheeks flushed and their heads bowed, they rushed away. When Jasper stood up, Heleen bent over him and gave him a hug, secretly pulling down his t-shirt and pulling up his trousers. Jasper eagerly returned the hug and gave Heleen a kiss on the cheek to thank her for the sudden embrace. Kathy had seen it all and whispered a compliment in Heleen's ear afterwards. "Fantastic way to resolve things with these girls. And so sweet of you not to embarrass Jasper." Now it was time for Heleen to be with her cheeks flushed and red. In the car, Jasper and Dries couldn't stop talking about the various experiments they had done. Sometimes Heleen, Kathy or Koen would add something to give an additional interpretation and explanation of the hows and whys of the test results. Dries and Jasper listened in fascination. When they arrived at the house, Koen immediately started to prepare dinner; Kathy tidied up the things from the previous day and then went to help Koen. Heleen sat down at the kitchen table to check her social media on her mobile phone. Jasper started to play, but Dries lingered around his mother in the kitchen. "Mummy, I need a clean nappy," he finally whispered in her ear. "Oh yes, of course," she said. "I'm not used to thinking about it anymore, especially when I'm busy." Kathy put down the knife she had been cutting vegetables with and ran her hands under the tap to rinse them. "I can help mum, there's nothing interesting on TikTok anyway," Heleen said, realising what was going on and standing up. "That's nice, Heleen. Dries, go with your sister, she will help you. Heleen, will you take a look at Jasper afterwards?" Kathy had remembered how much responsibility Heleen had shown at the museum and wanted to show her appreciation and trust by giving her this task. Heleen was a little surprised by the answer at first. She had thought she could help with the food, but changing Dries and Jasper's nappies was also a lovely thing to do. Inside she blossomed with pride at being entrusted with this task. Heleen took both boys into her room, where the changing table was. She gave Dries a clean nappy first, as he had asked for it, and then it was Jasper's turn. Heleen knew how to do it from the last time and did her best to be careful. For Dries it felt a little strange to be helped by his sister. She had seen him naked many times before, but now it was very close and felt intimate. Heleen did it carefully and with respect for Dries. It was a positive experience for both of them and it strengthened the brother-sister bond they had. Jasper was already used to being changed by Heleen and it didn't feel strange at all. While waiting for dinner, the children decided to play a board game together. There was an entertainment team on the campsite who ran various activities. The language barrier was too great for some of these activities, but a light show was planned for this evening. No language is necessary to enjoy this spectacle, so Jasper and Dries were exceptionally allowed to stay up late to enjoy the light show. Before the show, the evening in the cottage was filled with dinner, another game and finally, half an hour before the show, Jasper and Dries were prepared to go to sleep. The intention was that they would be able to go to bed as soon as the show was over. They both got a thicker onesie over their nappy and bodysuit. After all, with the sun going down, it was getting quite chilly. Dries and Jasper were in the front between all the other children, Heleen, Kathy and Koen were in the back between the adults. While waiting for the show to start, Jasper looked around at the other children. It was reassuring that they weren't the only ones in their pyjamas. Many children, both younger and older than them, were also there in pyjamas, onesies or nightgowns. Jasper looked closely at the other children and suddenly he noticed that another child, about the same age, had a little bit of a nappy sticking out over the edge of his pyjama bottoms. It wasn't much, and it was only noticeable because it was the exact same nappy that he and Dries were wearing. Having made this discovery, Jasper looked at the other children's bottoms. Jasper couldn't see any other nappies clearly, but there were suspicious shapes here and there. When Jasper was sure, he whispered to Dries. "Look at the boy diagonally in front of us, at his trousers. He has a nappy on too. I've always told you that you're not alone. Do you remember? Now you can really see it. Curious, Dries looked in the direction indicated. He had to search for a while, but then he saw it too. "I knew that I wasn't alone because of you, but it's nice to know that there are others as well," he whispered. Jasper went over to the other boy, trying to speak to him. When he was almost at the boy and about to touch him, he heard him talking to his neighbour in a strange language he couldn't understand. Jasper retreated quietly. "He's speaking French, I think," he said to Dries, who had been watching intently. Jasper wasn't sure about the other children with suspicious shapes around their bottoms, so he didn't dare speak to them. "There's no need to do that," Dries whispered. "The show's about to start and we've got each other." Dries put his arm around Jasper's shoulders and together they enjoyed the interplay of laser lights, fireworks and music that was now beginning. Do you can't wait to read the next chapter? you're welcome to read it after a (free) registration on the scriptorium webpage. (Under writing => work in progress)

Chapter twenty-seven, to the market Heleen woke up early and tiptoed into the boys' room. They were still fast asleep. She quietly took a picture of the boys sleeping; she thought they were so cute and wanted to save the moment for later. When she tucked Jasper back in, he looked at her sleepily. "Thank you," he mumbled, half asleep, pulling the blanket tightly around him before closing his eyes again. "Please," Heleen whispered back, leaving Jasper and Dries to wake up on their own. Heleen sat down in the living room and continued reading her book. She enjoyed the peace that still reigned there. Half an hour later, Koen joined her in the living room. He made coffee for himself and Kathy and then sat down next to Heleen with his own book. Shortly afterwards, Jasper, Dries and Kathy came out of their room almost at the same time. Kathy saw that the boys were not yet busy and had just come out of their room. "Jasper and Dries, are you coming? We're going to take these wet nappies off first and then we're going to eat." Dries and Jasper nodded sleepily that it was okay and followed Kathy into Heleen's room to get out of their wet nappies. Koen got up and put breakfast on the table so that they could all eat when Jasper and Dries had freshened up. Not long after, Jasper and then Dries, still in their onesies but both with clean bottoms and no nappies, sat down at the table. Heleen joined them, and after Kathy had thrown the dirty nappies into a bin outside the door, she too sat down at the table. They all enjoyed breakfast and made plans for the day ahead. First on the list was a trip to the market to buy some clothes for Jasper. Then they would go shopping so they would have fresh food for the next few days. The rest of the day could be spent at the swimming pool or playground. It was not intended to be a busy holiday. When the children had finished eating, they got up from the table to play a little while Koen and Kathy enjoyed the rest of the coffee. Not long after that, the family got ready to go out, everyone washed and Jasper put on normal clothes for the first time since they had left home, Kathy had chosen and laid out everything for Dries and Jasper. One of the items Jasper had brought from home was a pair of dungarees. Jasper had dressed himself, but he still struggled with the bib overalls. He was unfamiliar with the buckle system used to fasten the dungarees and Kathy had to demonstrate how it worked. Jasper then tried it himself and after practising for a while he was able to open and close the buckles smoothly. It felt a little strange for Jasper to be in his normal clothes, without the thicker package between his legs. He kind of missed it. His dummy had also been left on the changing table. Everyone got into the car and Heleen helped Jasper into his seat. They drove for fifteen minutes until they reached the market. Kathy parked the car and they all got out. They walked from the car park to the market. Koen and Kathy decided to do a little reconnaissance and the family walked around the flea market for the first time to see which stalls were there. They found several stalls selling clothes, but only three of them had children's clothes. They chose the largest of the three, hoping that they would find enough clothes. There were several racks of children's clothes. The clothes were sorted by price. There were two racks with all the clothes for ten euros each, and other racks where the price went up. All the clothes were hanging on the racks. There was no distinction between boys' and girls' clothes, or between big and small. So each item had to be looked at individually to see if it was suitable and what size it was. Kathy and Heleen began to search the two racks diligently, while Jasper stood by and was occasionally asked for his opinion. Koen and Dries continued to search the market for new underwear for Jasper, which they had not seen anywhere. After a long search, Koen found some underwear in the right size, but he had his doubts. The underwear was new and cost thirty euros for a pack of three. It seemed rather expensive compared to the rest of the clothes Kathy and Heleen were looking for. He decided to wait a while and check with Kathy before buying the underwear. Maybe they could look somewhere else. He and Dries went back to the others. Kathy and Heleen were holding a few items. They had found two pairs of trousers, a T-shirt and two jumpsuits that met their needs. There was a good fit and they were cheap. They were both shorts, one yellow with an aeroplane print and the other blue jeans with a large application of Bliksem Mc Queen from Cars. The T-shirt had a large drawing of a bee with the words 'Bee yourself' underneath. The two jumpsuits were actually girls' clothes, but just decent enough for a boy. Both had short sleeves, long legs and buttons at the front to open and close. One had an army print all over the jumpsuit, the other had a cool drawing of Peter Pan with the Tinker Bell and the words 'believe in magic'. Jasper mainly saw the army print and was therefore distracted from looking closely at the model. "Jasper, do you like those jumpsuits?" Kathy asked. "The army print looks cool." Jasper smiled. "I think I like it." Kathy paid for everything and they went to the second children's clothes stall together, but found nothing there, and in the last stall there was just a big basket of clothes to rummage through. Kathy and Heleen went through the basket together to see what was in it. Soon Kathy was holding another pair of trousers that would fit Jasper, but were of mediocre quality. Heleen's eye fell on a plain dark blue garment, but she could not immediately tell what it was. She pulled it out of the basket and held it in front of her, it turned out to be some sort of large sleeping bag. There was a zip in the middle of the sleeping bag, closing from top to bottom, and three holes at the top, one for the head and one for each arm. Heleen immediately thought of the practical application. "With this sleeping bag, Jasper wouldn't be able to toss and turn naked in bed," she said. Jasper also took a good look at the sleeping bag. "But look, there's a hole here below the middle and on the other side too, it's damaged," he said in a disappointed voice after looking closely at everything. Kathy took the sleeping bag from Heleen to have a closer look. There were indeed two holes in it, but they were not accidental as the edges had been well reinforced and sewn over. It had been done afterwards. She held the sleeping bag in front of her and saw that the two holes were directly opposite each other in the front and back. She then held it up to Jasper to compare the size. She saw that the two holes were about the height of his crotch and that the end of the sleeping bag was about six inches past his feet. Kathy checked the label and saw that the sleeping bag was from Snuglezzz.nl, she knew the company from her work and they were in fact of good quality. "I don't think you'll notice much of these holes, Jasper. I'll ask about the price and if it's not too much, we can try it." She turned to the seller and tried to get the price of the trousers first and then the sleeping bag. "The trousers cost twenty-five euros and the sleeping bag ten euros," the salesman began. But Koen realised that the seller was counting on rich tourists and was actually overcharging. Koen pointed out the holes in the sleeping bag and that it had been lying at the bottom of the basket because no one was interested in it. Koen also pointed out the quality of the trousers. The seller soon realised that there was no extra profit to be made. He dropped the price to ten euros for the trousers and added the sleeping bag for five euros because of the holes. Satisfied, the family returned to the car and drove on to the supermarket. Besides food, they also looked for underpants for Jasper, but they were even more expensive than at the market, thirteen euros each. "Doesn't Dries have some underpants that Jasper could fit into?" asked Koen. Kathy did not shake her head. "I packed a spare pair for Dries, but it's not enough, and we've already tried it once at home, it didn't work, they were too big." "Then we'll have to buy them anyway. How many does he have already in his luggage?" "He only has two clean pairs of underpants left after today." Kathy said. "Then we will have to do a lot of buying. He did the math in his head on how many more would be needed before they were back home and was amazed at the amount. "That's really going to be quite some." Jasper stood by, feeling guilty about his luggage. Helga and Celine had agreed to pay back all the clothes they'd bought for him, so he was charging his parents for extra expenses that wouldn't have been necessary if he'd packed better. Do nappies cost that much? Otherwise I'll wear them," he said. It was out sooner than he had thought. He had suggested it himself, but had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, he liked them, but on the other, he was a bit embarrassed to walk around with a nappy on. He was afraid people would see it and what they would think of him. Koen saw Jasper cover his face when he made this suggestion. "That would make a big difference, Jasper, but are you sure? You have such a downcast look on your face." Jasper's eyes turned red and it was clear that he was having a hard time. He put his thumb in his mouth to try and find some comfort. "Is it a bit much all at once?" asked Kathy, dropping to one knee so that her face was at the same level as Jasper's. She picked Jasper up and hugged him. "Lots of pros and cons to think about?" she whispered into Jasper's ear. Jasper nodded with flushed cheeks and tears in his eyes. "Yes," he whispered into Kathy's ear. Kathy waited silently to give Jasper a chance to continue. "It feels nice to wear, but it's not right, it's not normal. And what if someone else sees me like this, how will they react? Even though I'm not a baby, others will get the impression and say I am. " A single tear ran a damp line down his cheek. "I forgot to pack the clothes and now we had to go to the market especially for me and that's why you couldn't do anything fun and now my mummies have to spend so much extra money on clothes that aren't necessary because we went shopping at the beginning of the holiday." "It's all my fault!" Kathy had to do her best to catch everything between Jasper's sobs. Comfortingly, she gave him a long hug. She understood that this was all a bit much for him. "It's all right, Jasper. You don't have to be afraid of the people around you, they won't notice. And even if they did, you'll never see them again," Kathy said calmly. "There won't be anyone at home who will know about any of this." She hoped to comfort and reassure Jasper quickly. "I want to be a big boy and take responsibility for forgetting my underpants. I can't afford to buy anything myself, but I can do my best to make it cost as little as possible by wearing nappies instead of underpants, but with nappies on I'm not a big boy anymore, am I?" "These are indeed two different sides of the same coin. I can see how you're struggling with this. But I also understand that it feels good to be wearing nappies somewhere? You shouldn't think about reactions and what's done is done. Nobody expects you to be perfect. You really don't need to feel guilty. "To take responsibility for something is an act of maturity, it is not something that babies do." Jasper fell silent and continued to seek comfort in Kathy's arms with his thumb in his mouth. "I'll make a deal with you, Jasper," Kathy finished a moment later. "We'll buy a pack of nappies, so we'll have enough for this week anyway. Tomorrow morning you can choose what you want to do. If you put a nappy on, that's fine, if you don't, that's fine too. Tomorrow we will go back to the shop to buy extra underpants if you need them, because you have chosen them. It is okay if we have too many nappies; we will just take them home and then Dries can use them for the night". "And if you want to change your mind in the middle of the holiday, that's fine too." Jasper nodded, relieved that he still had some time to think and didn't have to decide right away. The tears quickly dried up and Heleen and Dries, seeing that Jasper had had a hard time, gave him another hug. Jasper soon felt much better. Dries took Jasper's hand and together they hopped ahead of the supermarket cart towards the checkouts. Not much happened in the afternoon. The family unloaded their groceries at the holiday home, cooked and ate, and Jasper and Dries went to the playground. They could go on their own because the playground was not far from the holiday home. They enjoyed the adventures they had together. Heleen played a game of chess against her father while Kathy read a book. When it was time for dinner, Kathy went to look for the boys. On the way she saw an information board with all the activities the animation team had organised for the next few days. She took a picture of it and decided to show it to the children in case they wanted to do some of the activities. After dinner, the children played a game of Monopoly together until it was time to go to bed. Jasper ended up with the two most expensive streets, each with a hotel, and won the game of Monopoly. With a big smile on his face, he thanked everyone for the fun game. Kathy was happy that, despite his doubts in the shop, Jasper's day had gone well and could end on a positive note. Jasper was given a clean nappy, bodysuit and two-piece pyjamas. No one asked if the nappy was really necessary for the night. It was self-evident for everyone. This night it was up to Dries to sleep in the ship's dressed cot, so the straps for Jasper were attached to the normal bed. The sleeping bag was laid out on top of the straps and Jasper was invited to lie down on it. Jasper put his feet in the sleeping bag, laid his back on the open top, put his arms through the holes and the zip was pulled from top to bottom at the front by Kathy. The zip was closed with a small flap and press stud so that the zip could not interfere. Jasper moved his head from side to side, up and down. Then, with one hand, he took the fabric at his throat and pulled it down. "It's kind of annoying when it presses on my throat," he said in a nagging tone. Dries watched Jasper's treatment as he stood in the ship. Kathy sat Jasper up and took a good look at the sleeping bag. "I see Jasper," she said, following the collar of the sleeping bag down his back. "The zip should be in the back. The neckline is a little lower here." Kathy pushed Jasper back down and opened the zip again. "Turn around." Jasper struggled with the sleeping bag to free himself and turn around. When he was back in position with his feet and arms, but this time with his stomach on the mattress, Kathy zipped up again and snapped the sleeping bag shut. Jasper rolled over with Kathy's help and Kathy positioned Jasper correctly on the restraining straps. "You'll never get it closed, the straps between my legs won't work with the sleeping bag," Jasper observed. "I think it's possible, remember those two holes? I think that's exactly what they were made for". Kathy reached under Jasper's legs to the end of the strap, and with the fingers of her other hand she reached through the front and back holes at Jasper's groin. After searching for a while, she had the strap in her fingers and quickly pulled it through the sleeping bag and up between Jasper's legs towards his stomach. The rest of the fixation kit was also placed over Jasper and soon everything was closed. Kathy placed the key on the bed next to Jasper's pillow, there was no bedside table here, and also placed the bottle of water on the bed. Finally, she tied the soother to the sleeping bag with the ribbon and then put the pacifier in Jasper's mouth. "He's had a hard day today, I'll talk to him about the soother tomorrow," she thought to herself. "Good night, Jasper," Kathy said. "You're not going to get cold this time." She gave Jasper another wink and a kiss and then a kiss and a pat on the head to Dries, who was watching. "Lie down and you can sleep. Sleep well boys!" "Sleep tight," Jasper murmured from behind the dummy. "Sleep well Mum," Dries yawned. Both boys closed their eyes and quickly fell asleep. Curious to know what is next? You can already read the next chapter at the scriptorium after a (free) registration.

Chapter twenty-six Dries woke up in the morning to find his mother busy in the room. In the twilight he could easily see that she was preparing clothes and other things for the day ahead; she had already taken off her own pyjamas and was wearing normal clothes. Dries heard the sound of water from a shower in the bathroom. He saw that Heleen and Jasper were still asleep, so he guessed correctly that his father was washing himself. "Just lie back until dad finishes washing," Kathy whispered to Dries when she saw him sitting up. "Then you can take a shower afterwards." Dries nodded and lay back down. From his bed he could easily see Jasper rolling over in his sleep. The dummy was no longer in his mouth, but lying on the pillow next to him, still attached to the strap on his onesie. Dries also saw that Jasper had kicked off the blanket again and it was lying at his feet. With the air conditioning in the room, it was not too hot and Dries was glad to have the blanket over him. The bathroom door opened and a narrow band of light fell over Jasper. It seemed to be the last thing he needed to wake up, because Dries saw him open his eyes. Jasper looked around sleepily, pulled the blanket back over him and put the dummy in his mouth. Jasper looked at Koen who came out of the bathroom dressed but with wet hair. "Come on Dries, it's your turn," Kathy said quietly, not wanting to awaken Heleen. Kathy took Dries to the bathroom, helped him get out of his pyjamas and left him to do his own thing in the shower. When Dries had started to wash himself, she came carefully over to Jasper. "Are you ready to start a new day?" she asked him. Jasper nodded yes. Kathy lifted Jasper out of bed. She took him to the bathroom as well. She took the dummy off the onesie and set it aside for a moment. Then she helped him out of his pyjamas and sent him into the shower with Dries, who was busy washing himself. Kathy had laid out three piles of clothes for the children on the bed. Heleen's underwear, skirt and top, Dries' underpants, t-shirt and shorts, and Jasper's clean nappy, romper and onesie. She completed the pile for Jasper by adding his pacifier to it. 'I'll have a chat with Jasper tonight or tomorrow about how this is bad for his teeth,' she thought to herself. 'Another day or so wouldn't do any harm.' When first Dries and then Jasper came out of the bathroom, washed and dried, but with a towel wrapped around them for warmth, Koen woke Heleen too. "Good morning, sweetheart, time to get up," he said, shaking her gently by the shoulder. In response, a murmur that sounded like "Good morning" came from under the blanket where Heleen lay. In the meantime, Kathy had opened the curtains and let the light of day flood into the room. She handed Heleen the pile of clothes she had laid out for her and ushered her into the bathroom. "When you've finished washing, we'll have breakfast, then we'll collect our things and then we'll continue our journey." This message from Kathy motivated Heleen enough not to linger. She, too, got ready at a gentle but steady pace. Koen took Jasper with him. "We've prepared a clean nappy, bodysuit and onesie for you, because we can't get to your clothes in the car. Once we've unpacked everything at the resort, we'll see what you have and don't have with you, and then we can change you into normal clothes. Lie down here and I'll put the nappy on you. Jasper lay down on the bed and Koen helped him get dressed: nappy on, bodysuit and onesie on. This onesie had no feet and the zip was right at the front. There were drawings of racing cars all over the onesie. Finally, Koen attached the dummy to the onesie and left it hanging down. Kathy continued to clear up the room, put all the dirty clothes from the previous day in a bag and packed all their things together so they could leave quickly after breakfast. Jasper and Dries waited impatiently at the door, but Heleen still had a bit of work to do. When she came out of the bathroom they were happy because they thought they could leave immediately, but Heleen had to brush her hair first. Kathy took the time to put a braid in Heleen's hair and at last she was ready to go for the day as well. Together the family walked through the corridors of the hotel to the elevators and then to the restaurant. They had to wait next to the entrance to the restaurant for a while before they were allowed to take their seats. The waiter at the counter verified their name and room number, then pointed them to an available table. Jasper had noticed that he was getting a lot of attention from strangers on his way to the restaurant. He was smiled at a lot, patted on the head a few times, and Koen and Kathy were approached to tell them how cute and beautiful he was. It was all positive attention and Jasper enjoyed it. He was also the smallest at home, but Gert looked down on him there; here it was the other way round. Dries also found it all very nice. The fact that everyone looked at Jasper in such a positive way made him feel proud. It was his best friend, after all, and if he and Jasper hadn't been friends, Jasper would never have been able to experience this. Breakfast was a big buffet where they could take what they wanted and as much as they wanted. Kathy and Koen watched them closely to make sure they didn't go overboard with what they ate. After all, they were still allowed to have some more if they wanted to. They didn't want the children to waste the food by bringing back more than they could eat and having to throw it away in the end. During breakfast, Jasper released small amounts of urine. He'd be wearing a nappy all day anyway, so he didn't bother to hold it in. As soon as he felt the urge, he relaxed immediately. After everyone had eaten, they went back to their rooms. They all brushed their teeth, went to the toilet in preparation for the next long car ride and Jasper also sat on the toilet for number two. When Jasper was finished, Kathy refreshed his bottom and put a clean nappy on him. Kathy packed Jasper's rucksack with wipes and four fresh nappies so that they would be easily accessible if Jasper needed another change on the road. Heleen helped Jasper into the car seat and secured it, Jasper took his cuddly toy from his rucksack and relaxed for the next part of the drive. In the car, the children decided to play some games together before putting on a movie. It was warm and summery weather in France, the sun was shining hard and the temperature difference from home was considerable. At a big stop in the afternoon, everyone went to the bathroom first of all. Jasper also had his nappy changed; there was a separate changing room where Kathy could freshen Jasper up. Because of the heat, Dries decided to take off his T-shirt and just walk around with his shorts on and have a picnic bare-chested. Jasper didn't know what to do. The onesie and bodysuit together were two layers and still a bit warm to walk around in, but taking his onesie off and walking around in just a bodysuit and nappy felt uncomfortable. He decided to compromise at the table: he opened the onesie and pulled it down to his waist. He tied the sleeves of the onesie around his waist so that they hung at that height. Happy with this solution, he enjoyed the picnic while sitting at the table with the rest of the family. After dinner, Koen, Dries and Heleen played a game of tag around the table while Kathy tidied up. Jasper didn't want to play because it was too hot to put his onesie back on, but he also didn't want to run around with his onesie tied around his waist: it wouldn't work very well, he thought. He didn't want to play with just his romper, because he was ashamed of it. He watched the game with fascination and laughed at everything that happened. He really enjoyed the game and when Heleen hid next to Jasper and then sprinted away from Koen, Jasper also ducked out of the way. Kathy could see that Jasper was in the mood, but needed a bit of a push to play along. The legs of the onesie were wide enough to stretch over the sandals and Kathy pulled them off in no time. "Watch out, Dries is coming." Kathy whispered in his ear as she finished. That was enough for Jasper to run away screaming and join the game. Half an hour later, after everyone was physically exhausted, Kathy called out to everyone that it was time to continue the journey. Everyone sat down in their seats, with Jasper being strapped back in by Heleen. Kathy had removed the binky from the onesie and attached it to Jasper's bodysuit. "That can wait until tomorrow, talking to him about his dummy," she thought as she put the dummy in Jasper's mouth and he began to suck eagerly. Kathy was moved by the sight of Jasper. Late in the afternoon, Koen pulled off the motorway and into the driveway of the resort. "Just sit in the car for a while and I'll check in and get the key from our house," he said, stopping the engine after parking in the car lot. Koen headed to the reception to arrange everything. A short time later he came back to the car, "They have a new system since last year: we all have to register in person and we get a wristband for the whole time we are here to prove that we have a reservation. Jasper got out and looked around curiously, trying to see as much as he could. Kathy helped him quickly put on his onesie by the side of the car. While Kathy was busy, a few people passed by. Jasper felt a little embarrassed and nervous about how people would see him now that he was being treated like this. He noticed that they looked in his direction for a moment, but no longer than usual; they looked but did not really see him. When Jasper realised that he wasn't standing out, he calmed down and let Kathy help him so that they could all go to the reception together. It didn't take long at reception. The booking was checked and verified, they were given a key to the holiday cottage and a small information leaflet. The cottage and some of the facilities on the resort were marked on a map and finally everyone was provided with a cloth band around their wrist. For Koen and Kathy this was a blue belt, Heleen was considered a teenager and got a green belt, Jasper and Dries got a red belt as children, each with the name of the holiday resort on it. They all got back in the car and drove slowly through the domain looking for the cottage. They followed the arrows and looked at the map to see where they were. After passing the swimming pool and a playground, they arrived at the house. Koen parked in front of the entrance and the children happily looked up at the house. "Is this our cottage, daddy?" exclaimed Dries enthusiastically. Everyone got out. Before Koen had even opened the door to the house, Dries and Jasper had already had a go on the slide from the terrace to the street. Brilliant! Dries and Jasper ran to the door as soon as they saw that Koen had opened it. Together the family walked around the house to see everything. Beyond the front door was a small hall leading to the living room, a toilet and a bathroom. The children looked around the house with their eyes wide open. They immediately realised that this house was equipped with everything they needed for a fantastic and adventurous holiday. In the bathroom, the decoration was wonderful. The frames around the mirrors resembled a ship's porthole, there were lifelike fish and aquatic plants all around the bath, and the wall by the door looked exactly like the inside of a submarine. They could hang their towels over the pipes to dry, and there was even a periscope. Dries looked through it first, then Jasper, and finally Heleen wanted to know what there was to see. Through the periscope they saw an island in the distance with a pirate's nest, snow-white beaches, palm trees and a smoking volcano. The living room and kitchen were decorated to look like a medieval inn and pub, and a beautiful extractor hood was made over the stove. They later discovered that even the cutlery had extra decoration. The next door they opened led to Koen and Kathy's bedroom. It was not richly decorated, but it was nevertheless stylish. It didn't appeal to the children very much and they continued to explore. The next room had two single beds facing each other. Between the beds was a ladder leading up to a small platform. There was also a fireman's pole in the room, through which you could slide back down. Jasper had climbed halfway up before Koen called him back. "First we'll have a look at the last room, then we'll get everything out of the car and then you can climb up and play." With his head bowed and his shoulders slumped, Jasper went back down. Dries was already in the last room. "Wow!" he exclaimed. Here was another single bed against the wall, completely converted into a ship. There was a small mattress deep in the bottom of the ship. Heleen would no longer fit in the bed, Dries just barely and Jasper easily. The walls all around were quite high, so there was a door in the side of the hull that turned outwards and was simply locked with a bolt on the outside. "I want to sleep in that bed!" said both Jasper and Dries at about the same time. Koen and Kathy took another good look; this had to be the junior bed they had read about on the website. It looked like it was 1m40, 55 inches long. While Jasper and Dries continued to admire the bed, Koen and Kathy looked around the room. There was a large changing table against the other wall, and a climbing net had been made on a platform above it. It almost looked like the ropes led to the crow's nest of a pirate ship. Jasper and Dries argued for a while and then looked at their parents. "We both want to sleep in this room." Dries asked his parents for help in resolving this disagreement. "How about we move the changing table to the other room and put a bed here?" Koen suggested. Also with the idea that Heleen would then have a room of her own in which to sleep, so that if she needed to have a rest or a private moment, she could easily find it. "Then you and Jasper can take turns sleeping in the ship and in the regular bed." Kathy added. "Can I sleep in the ship first, Mommy-?" asked Dries immediately. Jasper looked a little dejected, he couldn't get a word in. "No Dries, Jasper is our guest, he goes first, you can go tomorrow." Jasper's smile betrayed how he felt about it. Everyone thought it was a good idea, except Dries, who had wanted to sleep in the ship first, but he understood that a compromise had to be made, so the rooms were quickly divided up. First the bed and changing table were swapped and then the car was emptied. It seemed that the bed and changing table were made to be moved easily, as there were wheels at the bottom of the bed and changing table. Heleen, Jasper and Dries unloaded everything and carried it to the cottage. Heleen did the heaviest pieces and Jasper and Dries did the smaller or lighter things. Sometimes they opened sacks or bags to carry in the heavy items one by one. Koen brought everything from the terrace into the room where the luggage belonged and Kathy sorted everything into the cupboards. Kathy let out a sigh when she saw Jasper's bag appear. She left it closed for a while, suspecting it would be disastrous, so she put it off until she was done with everything else. Once the car was completely emptied, Jasper and Dries did a more thorough search of the house. After crawling onto a platform in one room, they noticed that there was a small sliding door leading directly to the platform in the other room, and a second sliding door leading through a crawl space in the living room to the other children's room. The living room also had a platform with a dome above it. If they stuck their heads through, they could see across the park to the other houses. The children's imaginations were stimulated by the many possibilities, and soon they were involved in a game while exploring. Heleen, meanwhile, had begun to unpack her own things. The boys passed through her room, climbing up and down the platforms, but they didn't disturb Heleen. She quietly took her time to arrange everything nicely, making sure it felt like home. While Kathy put the nappies away in Heleen's room - after all, the changing table had been moved there - she called Jasper over. "It's time to get you a dry bottom." Jasper walked up, sweating, and stood curiously by the changing table. It was made of scaffolding wood. It had an open shelf in the middle and a door on each side. He had seen a changing table in other places, but not one as large as this one. It was not particularly wide or high, but it was long enough to fit two changing mats in a row. Kathy took Jasper and laid him on the table. She untied the dummy strap and put it and the pacifier to one side. "Take it off for a while. You've had it on for a long time." She unzipped the onesie and helped him out completely. "I haven't been able to check what and how many clothes you have with you yet, I'll do that next, so just to be sure, until I see what you have with you, I'll keep you in your onesie for a while. Good?" "Yes, that's fine," Jasper replied as he looked around the room. The changing ritual continued quietly and after closing the romper, she lifted Jasper off the dresser. Jasper was still sweating from playing and running around and with the onesie on he would be too hot again. "Thank you ma'am." Jasper said as he ran off. "Wait a minute," Kathy said, but Jasper hadn't heard her again. Kathy let him go and decided to start with Jasper's luggage now. She went to Jasper and Dries' room and unzipped the travel bag. Piece by piece she took the clothes out of the bag and sorted them into a cupboard. She quickly got to the other things like the towels, the bathing suit, the shoes and the games. Now she understood why Jasper had brought so few clothes; he had just brought far too much other stuff. She looked at the clothes and tried to make combinations in her mind. There was only enough clothes for five days, except for the underpants, of which there were only three. Knowing Jasper, all his clothes usually had to be washed after a full day's play-time. While Kathy tidied up and put away the last of the leftovers, Koen went to reception with two questions. Where is the launderette and where can I buy clothes in a hurry? The receptionist laughed at Koen's story. Helpfully, the receptionist took out a folder and a map to look at the different options. There were a few shops in the immediate vicinity of the resort, but almost all of them were expensive designer stores. A cheaper option was the market tomorrow morning, which sold a lot of clothes. Gratefully, Koen also inquired about the possibility of washing clothes on site. Unfortunately this was not available, the lauderette was temporarily closed due to a problem with the water drainage, but as compensation Koen was offered a voucher for a free meal with the family in the restaurant. After Koen returned from the reception, they rested for a while before it was time to eat. Kathy thought it was a pity that the launderette was closed, which made it a bit harder for Jasper to manage with his lack of clothes, but she was happy with the voucher for the restaurant. As she didn't know what kind of clothes they would find tomorrow, she let him spend the rest of the day in his onesie and nappy. Koen and Kathy enjoyed going to the restaurant and not having to cook tonight. It had been a busy day, travelling and unpacking together. Helga put Jasper back in his onesie and the family went to the restaurant together. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet style restaurant. On entering, the voucher was accepted, the wristbands checked and the family were allocated a table, then they all sat down and filled their plates with delight and ate until they were empty. The meal took its time. When the family returned to the house, the five of them played a board game, then it was time for Dries and Jasper to go to bed. Jasper was thrilled at the idea of sleeping on the boat. Dries was jealous, but he was promised it would be his turn the following night. Dries undressed on his own and then went to Heleen's room where the changing table was. Kathy was already there with Jasper to change his nappy. Kathy finished by reattaching the dummy to his onesie. After both boys had brushed their teeth, Koen put them to bed. "Dries, Jasper will sleep in the boat tonight, but tomorrow you will change beds and you can sleep in the boat too, OK?" Dries nodded, he was happy with this solution so that they could both enjoy the special bed. Koen opened the edge of the bed with the bolt and let Jasper in. After wishing Jasper good night and tucking him in, Koen closed the door, locked the bolt and handed him the bottle of water. Jasper took a quick sip and put it down next to his pillow. As soon as Koen was out of the room, Jasper got up to explore his bed again. He ran his hands around the outside of the bed, feeling for the latch until he found it. Jasper slid it open and closed it himself. Reassured that he wasn't really locked up, he flattered himself and fell asleep, hopefully dreaming of great adventures. Koen sat down in the living room next to Kathy, who was quietly reading a book. "I'm so glad the kids don't have a problem with the bed in their room. The cot was a problem in the hotel and here they almost fight over it." "The decoration does a lot," Kathy replied with a big smile, "if it had been an ordinary bar bed, easily recognisable as a children's bed, it would have been a big problem." Heleen, Kathy and Koen all went to see Dries and Jasper before going to bed themselves. They took turns looking down at Dries and Jasper, who was fast asleep with his dummy in his mouth. They tucked Jasper in separately, but there was no stopping him from waking up in the middle of the night by tossing and turning naked. It had cooled down considerably during the night and the cottage was not sufficiently isolated to keep out the cold. __________________________________ Cant't wait a copple of days for the next part? Chapter 27 can be found on the scriptorium website after a (free) registration. (Link ) Thanks for your comment. I Hope youcan also enjoy the next chapters.

Hello, I have finished the next chapter and will post it here in a few days. However, if you can't wait and would like to read it now, you can read it after registering at: the scriptorium (https://forums.thescriptorium.casa/d/viewtopic.php?t=29) sweet greetings from Toet

Hello, I think I will post the next chapter late next week or early the week after. To support a new forum (https://forums.thescriptorium.casa/d/viewtopic.php?t=29), I will post the next chapter there first and then post it here later. I'll announce it here when it's done. I don't want to count all the hours I've already put into the story, but I'm sure it's a lot. Best wishes, Toet

I'm doing the same with the story of 'Jasper'. I'm posting it over there at the moment, and when I get to the point where it's on the same level as here, I'll post the next chapter on that site before I post it here. (After creating an account, you'll be able to see the 'works in progress' subforum.

I check here on the site every day to see if there is a follow-up to your story. I enjoy every chapter.

I remember reading it somewhere else. Thanks for posting it again. I'm looking forward to the next parts.

Hello, Thank you for your interest in the story. I already have a few chapters ready, but I recently started publishing it on another website (https://forums.thescriptorium.casa) and I am waiting to continue publishing here until I have reached the same level there as here. I see you are from the Netherlands. The whole story (already finished) can be read in Dutch on the website abdlz.nl. Here I only post a translation, but it has surprised me a lot how much time it takes to translate it, despite tools like google translate and Deepl. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Sir Adam must be a rich man if he can pay for all that. I hope for Katie Ann's sake that he obtained it all legally.

Hello, Just a quick note to say I love your story. I'm intrigued by where your story is going and I'm looking forward to all the other parts. I can't wait to read about the project she's going to do.

I had the same question. Back to the story. I'm a happy European, and I work with centimetres and metres, so it's much easier to let the possible errors in length slip by. I loved the story so far. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the story. Yes, sometimes it's a bit questionable what happens in the story, but I've seen a lot of questionable things in real life. I hope the author will continue the story soon.

It was a nice story to read. It's giving me a little lack of sleep because I wanted to finish the story. Thanks for writing it.

Chapter twenty-five “Tuut-tuut", the alarm went off at three o'clock at night. "It's way too early." Koen growled. "We have to, otherwise we won't have a little traffic jam, but much too much, Koen," Kathy urged in a sleepy voice. The parents got up with a sigh and got dressed. Koen went downstairs to make coffee; he would drive the first part of the journey. Kathy woke Heleen first, made sure she got up and brought her bag of clothes for today and the hotel. Then she went to see the boys. She was sure that if she had just woken Heleen and left the room, Heleen would have just rolled over and gone back to sleep. She carried Jasper to the car first, using the key to release him from his restraints. She had to do her best to secure Jasper, who was still asleep, in the booster seat, but in the end she had all the straps in place and everything was as tight as it should be. Kathy then tidied up the restraint kit, put everything in the carry bag and made sure the key was still on her key ring. She then closed the bag and took it to the car. Kathy went back inside and sent Heleen to the car with her pillow, and finally she picked Dries up from the bed and secured him in his car seat as well. She spread blankets over Heleen, Jasper and Dries. Dries had slept through everything, Heleen had settled down to continue sleeping, but Jasper was wide awake now from the sounds and movements of the others. "Sleep on." Kathy whispered to Jasper. She blew up a pillow for herself and immediately settled back down to sleep in the car. Koen had been busy in the kitchen with the cool box and then filled a thermos with the fresh coffee he had made. Twenty minutes after the alarm went off, they were all in the car. Kathy set the GPS and Koen started the car. They were on their way! After ten minutes of driving, Kathy suddenly sat up straight. "I forgot to lock the door!" Twenty minutes after they had left, they were back at their house. Kathy did a quick round of the house, checking all the lights and doors. She also checked the gas, but in the end she had to admit that turning back hadn't really been necessary. Just as they left the village, Kathy sat up again in a panic. "The shoes are not with us, we carried the children to the car and then forgot to take their shoes." Koen pulled the car to the side of the road and together he and Kathy looked around to see if they were indeed missing. They returned home soon after. Kathy got the children's shoes and went back to the car. "Think again, Kathy. Is there anything else?" "The coats, in case it rains," Kathy said, pacing back and forth one last time. Meanwhile, Koen was using his mobile phone to download their own packing list from the home server. When Kathy sat down again, they went through the list again, point by point. They didn't want to go back and forth again. When they had gone through the whole list, and Kathy had gone to get the camera and checked again that she had locked the door, Koen started the car again. They had been on the road for almost an hour and had not moved a centimetre or an inch. Jasper was still wide awake, and he followed the whole thing in silence. A little later, on the motorway, Jasper was enjoying the silence. The radio was turned up and playing some nice songs, and there was only the quiet hum of the engine. There was little traffic, so Koen kept the cruise control on as he drove further down the road. There was only the occasional oncoming car, which disturbed the peace by shining its headlights into the car. As Jasper enjoyed the scenery outside, he noticed that the sky was becoming less dark. He followed the splendour of colour that a rising sun brought with the various shades of purple and pink that coloured the clouds. Jasper enjoyed the changing landscape where towns alternated with villages and fields, forests and farms. Koen had seen that Jasper was awake, but it was impossible to force someone to sleep. Jasper was quiet and didn't disturb anyone. Koen regularly glanced at Jasper in the rear-view mirror and winked at him. When Jasper saw that, he always winked back. It wasn't just because Jasper was awake that Koen glanced over from time to time, but also because it was an unusual sight. Jasper sat with his new dummy in his mouth all the time. As they drove, it got darker for them instead of brighter. It wasn't long before the rain started rattling the car and waking the other passengers. No one would have been able to sleep any longer with that kind of noise. "There is a gas station ten kilometres from here. We'll take a break there, get the kids dressed, have breakfast and then I'll drive for a while," Kathy said to Koen. Koen nodded that it was all right. He was concentrating on the road ahead; the heavy rain had reduced visibility. The children had heard that they were going to stop and Heleen and Dries started to put on their shoes. With Jasper firmly secured in his booster seat, he couldn't reach the floor of the car where his sandals were. Ten kilometres down the road and nine minutes later, Koen turned on his blinker and drove off the motorway. It was a large rest area where you could refuel and charge electric cars, two restaurants, a few small shops selling various products and a picnic area inside and outside. After Koen had parked, he and Kathy put on their coats while sitting in the car. Kathy got out and opened Heleen's door to quickly grab an umbrella and open it over the roof of the car. When Heleen got out, Kathy handed her the umbrella. Heleen went around the car to let Dries out, while Kathy gathered the bags for breakfast and let Jasper and Dries change. Heleen took her own things. Koen, who had seen that Jasper could not reach his shoes, took Jasper in one arm and his sandals and another umbrella in the other and walked straight to the building so as not to stand in the rain for too long. When they were all inside, Koen looked for a bench where they could sit and eat freely and prepared all the breakfast items. While Heleen helped Koen, Kathy went into a changing room with Dries and Jasper, who was now wearing his sandals, closed the door behind her and started to get things ready. Dries' clothes were at the top of the bag, so she had them ready to go. When Kathy unzipped Jasper's rucksack she didn't immediately see any clothes. At first she tried to see if she could see them, but as she didn't see them right away, she emptied out the whole of Jasper's rucksack. "Jasper, where are your clothes?" "I couldn't fit them in my rucksack, so I put them in the travel bag. Mum told me to put them in my rucksack, but I didn't know that I was going to need them by now, so I put them in the travel bag anyway." Kathy sighed and looked at Jasper. "Then you will have to have your breakfast in your pyjamas, but we will see about that later on. Is your nappy very wet?" Jasper nodded. "A bit, I think." "Did you pee in it a lot or not?" "I'm not sure. Every time I felt I had to pee, I let it go straight away. I'm not sure if it was much altogether." Kathy rummaged through Dries' bag, where she had packed everything for the night at the hotel, a clean nappy, a onesie and a bodysuit, both for Jasper and Dries, so that she could easily take a nappy here. She would refill the nappies later from the car. . "Wait here for a moment," Helga said as she lifted Jasper onto the changing table. "First I'll help Dries out of his onesie, then he can dress himself. Then I'll help you, Jasper." Dries's onesie was unzipped, then Dries undressed himself, took off the nappy, freshened up and put on normal clothes. Jasper was put on the changing table, his onesie was taken off to his feet, the bodysuit was opened, the dirty nappy was removed and after a bit of freshening up, a clean nappy was put on. When both boys were completely ready, they headed for Koen and Heleen. "Jasper has put his clothes for today and tomorrow in his travel bag, can we take them out?" Kathy asked. Koen looked outside; it was still raining cats and dogs. "Jasper's travel bag is at the bottom of the trunk. If I have to take it out now, I will have to unload most of the rest of the luggage first. It would all get rained on. We'll do it at another stop where it's dry," Koen said. Kathy nodded and the family started to eat breakfast together. When they had all eaten, they went to the car, with Kathy behind the wheel this time. Heleen helped Jasper take off his sandals and fasten his seatbelt, and soon the family was on their way again. Dries put on a film and handed Jasper an extra pair of headphones so he could enjoy it too. Heleen picked up a book to read, but also tried to follow the film that Dries had started. Two hours later, while they were stuck outside a big city during the morning rush hour, Koen received a panicky phone call from Helga. "Almost all of Jasper's clothes are still at home on the bed, he hardly has anything with him on the trip!" Koen was silent for a moment, he didn't know what to say. "What exactly do you mean?" he asked after trying to understand what Helga had just said. "Didn't I put Jasper's suitcase in the car?" "Yes, but I had just gone into his room to make his bed, and there were many of his clothes hidden under the sheets. I had checked everything he had put out to take with him yesterday, and he had done a good job, but I let him do the packing himself. I was just about to take his sheets off to wash them when I noticed he had left a lot of his clothes here at home. Helga said a little calmer now. "Are you far away? Is it possible for you to turn around and pick up those things?" "We crossed the border a long time ago; if we turn back now, we'll lose too much time." Koen, Kathy and Helga continued to discuss the matter. Options were discussed. On the way there and back in the car they would leave Jasper in his pyjamas as much as possible. Tomorrow, when they arrived at the cottage, they'd make an inventory of what Jasper had and what he might need. Then Koen and Kathy would go shopping for the missing items. Helga promised to pay back everything that Kathy and Koen had paid for the clothes, and Koen and Kathy promised to keep it as limited and cheap as possible. After all, Jasper had just been given a whole new set of clothes, even more than he actually needed. Shortly after the phone call, Kathy and Koen made another stop, the car was refueled and the children got out for a while; it had stopped raining by then. Heleen and Dries also used the stop to go to the toilet. This was not necessary for Jasper, no one cared that he used his nappy freely. There was also a small shop at the petrol station where Kathy bought an extra pack of nappies. With Jasper now using extra nappies on the road, they certainly didn't have enough. In the car, she immediately opened the pack to put some new nappies in Dries' bag. Travelling by car is usually a boring journey from point A to point B, and this time it was no different. One film later, they arrived at the next stop; this time it was time for lunch. Koen had driven the last part again, but he was tired from the short night. He drove the car to a quieter part of the car park and the family sat down on a bench and had a small picnic. By now they had left the rain showers and clouds behind and were enjoying the sunshine. You could tell they were heading south; it was already much warmer than back home. From the car park they could see that the traffic on the motorway was at a standstill, so they preferred to stay in the car park where they could walk around rather than all be stuck in the car on the road in the heavy traffic. After everyone had eaten and drunk, a blanket was placed on the ground in the shade of a tree for Koen and Jasper, who had both had too little sleep, to rest on. Before Jasper could sleep, his nappy had to be changed. No one was around at the time, so it was done quickly on the blanket outside. The onesie came off, the bodysuit opened, the nappy changed quickly and the bodysuit closed again. He was already quite warm and a blanket was quickly put over him so he didn't have to put the onesie back on. Kathy started to read a book now that she finally had some time, while Heleen and Dries joined another family playing football a little further down the field. They didn't feel like sitting still after the long drive. Kathy glanced at Jasper occasionally; he looked so cute, sleeping in just a bodysuit and nappy with a dummy in his mouth. She knew she had to talk to Jasper about the dummy, but she decided to put it off for a while. Apparently he needed it so badly that he had it in his mouth. Koen didn't sleep for long; he got up after twenty minutes, but the sleep had done him a lot of good. He felt much fitter and sat down next to Kathy to read as well. Not much later they saw that the traffic jam was beginning to clear and they decided to continue their journey. The stuff was tidied up as best they could, Dries and Heleen were called back and eventually only Jasper was still sleeping outside. Kathy carefully removed the blanket Jasper was lying under and then Koen picked him up to put him in the car. He managed to do this without waking Jasper, and he put the seatbelt back on so that Jasper was fully secured in the car. The last blanket Jasper had been lying on was folded and put away, and the family got into the car. Kathy and Koen were happy that Jasper was asleep, they had been worried that they would have a difficult evening due to Jasper's lack of sleep, but were now reassured that things would get better. Dries and Heleen watched a film together as they continued towards the south of France. There was one last stop in the afternoon. Jasper got his onesie back on after a nappy change, while Heleen and Dries went to the toilet. Heleen complained afterwards that she was disappointed by the dirty, smelly French public toilets where you have to squat down and there is nowhere to sit and Jasper was glad to have an alternative solution. They continued their journey and arrived at the hotel around dinner time. Heleen and Dries were still wearing their shoes from the previous stops, Jasper was just in his onesie and not wearing any sandals. So as not to get the feet of the onesie dirty, Koen carried him on his hip and so the family came together at the reception desk to check in. "Il ya un problème monsieur," said the hotel clerk as he looked at the booking. Koen looked surprised, he didn't understand what a problem could be. The clerk turned his screen so that Koen and Kathy could follow. He pointed out that only four people had been booked and that Jasper was not one of the guests. Koen went pale when he saw that. He remembered that he had copied the reservation from the previous year and that he hadn't thought about the fact that he would have to put Jasper on it as well. Koen asked if they couldn't get a room for five instead. The hotel clerk called the manager and together they looked at possible solutions. They checked the rooms in the system, but they were all fully booked. There was no room available. The hotel manager took a closer look at the family. Koen, Kathy, Heleen and Dries all stood there with their clothes on. The contrast between Dries and Jasper, who was being carried by Koen and was wearing a onesie with feet, sitting with a dummy in his mouth and resting his head on Koen's shoulder, was enormous. The manager didn't have to think long about another solution. They decided to add a bed to the room for Jasper. Normally that wasn't allowed because of the fire regulations, but he was going to ignore that just in time. Koen had to pay a little extra for the extra meal and the extra person staying overnight, and the reservation for the return trip was immediately changed by the first receptionist. Together they went to the hotel restaurant and enjoyed a small meal. After dinner, they collected their luggage for the night from the car and went to find their room. On entering, they immediately saw the fifth bed for Jasper. It was a folding cot! There was gauze around it and a thin mattress inside. It had been a tiring day for Jasper; he really didn't feel like it and he started to act difficult. "I don't want to sleep in this," he said with tears in his eyes. "I'm not a baby!" For Jasper, it was as if they had put him in that place on purpose, just to have a laugh with him. Kathy recognised Jasper's tiredness and quickly understood that this was the big problem. She took Jasper on her lap and comforted him: "Jasper, I understand that you don't feel like this, but we need a solution for tonight. We really can't start looking for another hotel that can accommodate five, and this hotel is already paid for." "But I'm not a baby!" Jasper sobbed through his tears. Kathy rubbed his back soothingly, took the dummy hanging from the ribbon of his onesie and put it in Jasper's mouth. "We don't see you like that at all, don't we, Jasper?" Jasper nodded yes, it was hard to talk with a dummy in his mouth. "Now, if you lie down in our big bed until you fall asleep, and when we go to sleep too, we'll move you to the small bed. Is that OK?" Jasper nodded in agreement. Koen and Heleen immediately went to work getting everything ready for the night and the next morning. Kathy held Jasper on her lap until he had calmed down completely and peace had returned. Dries was also getting ready to go to sleep. You could tell he was tired too. Koen tried attaching the fixation set to the double bed, but it did not work very well. After consulting with Jasper and Heleen, he attached it temporarily to Heleen's bed so that Jasper would fall asleep there instead of on the big bed. When everything was done, Dries and Jasper were put to bed. Heleen and Kathy read a book outdoors on the terrace and Koen quickly checked his work emails and answered the three most important ones. A short time later Jasper was asleep. Koen loosened the straps, put Jasper in the cot, tucked him in and removed the fixation kit so that Heleen could also go to sleep.