AndrianD

Very short update this time. I didn't want you all waiting too long for the rest of the recipe. I will admit, it was a bit of a challenge to write a recipe in a narrative way and keep it interesting. I hope you enjoy it. Richard woke up some time later needing to pee. He was still being held by Susan in her bed. He tried to gently reach down to see if his diaper was too wet to handle more. As much as he liked diapers, he hated when they leaked. Especially if he was in someone else’s bed. Just as he felt the diaper, he felt Susan move. She started rubbing his upper arm. “Hey sweetie. I see you’re awake. Everything ok? "I have to pee and I didn’t want to leak on your bed.” “That’s very considerate of you. Let’s get you up so you don’t have to worry.” She slowly got up, bringing him with her. He had just managed to grab Polonius before they were up and out of the bed. “There we go, bed is all safe.” “But now I’ll get you wet.” That’s ok, Hun. Clothes are easily washed. But I think these will be ok for one more wetting. Besides, we wouldn’t want to waste a new diaper by wetting it right away, would we?” “I guess not.” He allowed himself to relax and let the pee go. Feeling the warmth spread, he began to worry. However, the diaper held. Barely. He could feel it squish as they moved to the nursery. As she sat him down on the changing table, the diaper leaked a little onto his pants. She pulled them off, followed by his shirt. Then she quickly removed the soggy diaper, cleaned him up and put him in a new one. A new shirt and pair of pants followed. Soon they were headed to the kitchen. Susan put Richard in the highchair and secured the tray. Pausing in front of him, she said: “How about a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for lunch?” Richard frowned. “I don’t like tomato soup. The grilled cheese sounds good though.” “You’ve never had mine. You might just like it. Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. Try a little, and if you still don’t like it, you don’t have to finish it.” Richard reluctantly agreed. After she prepared the soup, she poured out two bowls. One for Richard and a larger one for herself. In the smaller bowl she put a single drop of the Little Extract. Then she left them to cool while she made the grilled cheese. She then plated up the sandwiches, cutting hers in half and his in quarters. When she put everything in front of him, Richard looked at it dubiously. It smelled the same way he remembered it. There’s no way he was going to like this. Susan put a bib on him, then picked up the little spoon, stirred the soup and brought a little to Richard’s lips. “Open up. It’s just a taste." As soon as it touched his tongue, he knew this was something different. There was the flavor he remembered, but beneath that was something he just couldn’t identify. It made his taste buds tingle and his mouth water. Smiling, she handed him the spoon. As he began scooping the soup into his mouth as fast as he could, she said: “Don’t forget your sandwich.” He nodded, and barely pausing, grabbed a part of the sandwich and dipped it into the soup. Normally he was a slower eater, but this time he was done in minutes, and asking for more. She gave him another half bowl of the soup and a quarter of her sandwich. She didn’t want him to get a tummy ache from eating too much too fast. When she had finished hers, she put the dishes in the sink and came back to clean Richard up. Done with that, she left him in the highchair while she got a stepstool from the pantry. Putting it in front of the sink, she got Richard out of the highchair and put him on the ground by the stepstool. Patting the top step, she said. “Hop on up. If we’re going to make those cookies, we need to wash our hands.” Once he had carefully climbed to the top, he was about waist high to the counter. Susan then secured a strap across the handrails where the steps were. She turned on the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot. When it was right, she made sure their hands were clean. Drying off, she had Richard climb down and moved the stepstool to the end of the peninsula counter. “Ok, where do we start?” She asked, when he was once again at the top of the stepstool. Getting his thoughts together, Richard began. “First preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is heating, we collect the ingredients.” When all the ingredients were laid out on the counter, he said, “We need a large mixing bowl.” When that was on the counter, he continued. “Does your microwave have a ‘soften function?” She checked then nodded. “Good. Now, at home, two sticks of butter equal 1 cup. Is that the same here?” Again, she nodded. “OK, soften two sticks of butter in the microwave. While that’s going, we’ll mix the brown and white sugars.” Coming back from the microwave, Susan started measuring out the sugars. “Why do you mix the sugars together first?” “It helps provide a more consistent mix. I usually use my hands to do it also so I can break up any lumps that may be in the brown sugar.” When she moved the bowl closer, he was just able to reach in and start mixing the sugars, making sure to break up any clumps and removing any hard or discolored pieces. Brushing his hands off over the bowl, he continued. “Now we mix in the butter. Also, by hand. The heat of your hands helps continue to soften the butter and again, you get a more consistent mix. Feel free to jump right in. It’ll go a lot faster with your larger hands.” Following his lead, she dug in and started mixing up the butter and sugars. Part of her felt like a kid again, getting her hands dirty and just having fun with it. When it was mixed to his satisfaction, they scraped the mixture off their hands as best they could. She then washed her hands and then helped him wash his. Going back to the bowl, Richard went on. “Now we stir in the egg.” She grabbed the egg and added it to the mix stirring it in well. That was followed by the lemon/citron extract, baking soda, and salt. Then, all that was left was the flour and white chocolate chips. At Richards suggestion, they added the flour to the mix in ¼ cup increments. Again, for a better mixing of the ingredients, and also to keep it from going all over the place when they started stirring it in. Finally, they folded in the chips. Lining the cookie sheet with the parchment paper, they rolled the dough into small balls in Susan’s hands to make a better size for the Bigs. Placing them in even rows on the cookie sheet. For the 10 minutes they were in the oven, they talked. “Why the parchment paper?” Susan asked. She had never heard of using something like that. Although someone had since it was available in the stores. “Keeps the cookies from sticking or burning.” “How did you learn this kind of stuff?” “I worked in several hotel kitchens as a dishwasher. I made friends with the cooks and chefs. Most of the best professional cooks/chefs love to teach anyone interested in learning the trade. I wasn’t really interested in becoming a professional cook, but I loved coming up with new recipes and seeing the look on people’s faces when they tried what I made. I’ve been lucky. Very few of my ideas didn’t work.” When the timer went off, they pulled the cookies out of the oven. Susan had to admit, they smelled fantastic. They left the cookies on the cookie sheet for two minutes before transferring them to the wire rack to finish cooling. They repeated the process of balling the dough, cooking, and cooling till all the dough was gone. While the last batch was cooking, Susan began cleaning up. When all was said and done, they had 3 ½ dozen cookies. They each had one cookie. Richard because he always had to try them to see if he did it right. No matter how often he made them, he always had doubts. Susan, because she just had to try the first thing she had ever baked that was even remotely edible. She had to admit that they were really good. Soft, flavorful and just the right consistency. They had just finished them when they heard the garage door opening. A couple minutes later, Darryl came in through the pantry. Before he saw them, he sniffed the air and smiled. “What is that delightful scent?” Then he saw Susan and Richard. “Did you get a new air freshener?” “Nope.” Susan replied beaming. “We made cookies.” “You made... Wait. You actually baked. And the house is still here?” “Ha ha, very funny. Our new little boy has managed to teach me how to bake. You have to try one of these cookies.”

All of us writers need to help each other out. Plus, I used to be an editor/ proofreader for a story website a long time ago and sometimes miss it.

Nice start. I see a lot of potential here.

More great chapters! I love seeing how everything is developing. I also thoroughly enjoy the guesses and theories in the comments. One thing though that I thought should be brought to your attention for future edits. In chapter 48 paragraph 57 when Dani is doing Cammie`s hair, there's a sentence that reads: Each brush of the stroke honestly... I think you meant stroke of the brush. Sorry to bring it up so late, but I just read the last two chapters tonight and had to go through the comments to make sure no one else brought it up.

Good point. That might be solved as simply as ensuring that the proportions of each to each other are correct. When you have made something often enough, you can usually see if it looks right at each stage of the process. And if you can quote a complete recipe from memory, you probably have made it enough to adjust as needed. Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

I'm going to go with measurements like cups, teaspoons, tablespoons and the like are just scaled up to them. Only distance and weight stay 1 to 1. Plus, I really didn't want to have to start renaming everything. That's why I chose to only have lemon a different name. Conceivably, they could very well have similar names for similar things. Thank you for reading my story and replying.

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, I did ask about the extract. That's what I love about this community. We all tend to be very helpful and supportive to each other. It really makes it a joy to be able to contribute. Also, if any of my readers like to cook, I'm planning on tossing a few of my best recipes in the story. Like the cookie recipe started in this part. The rest of the recipe will be in the next part. Again thank you so much for your support and encouragement.

Once again I am so sorry for the long delay between parts. I offer no excuses other than to say that I'm trying to keep working at it. So, finally here is another part of Richard's story. After eating and the inevitable clean-up, Susan carefully picked Richard up, closely watching how he reacted. Instead of nervously clutching her sleeves, his hands just rested on her arms. Instead of tensing up, he relaxed into her hold. She decided not to say anything about it, but keep watching his reactions. Heading to the family room, she went to the playpen. “Now, I need to make a couple phone calls. Can you play quietly in here for a few minutes?” After he nodded, she set him down in the playpen. She quickly went and found some of the toys, a couple of coloring books and a box of colored pencils they had bought the day before. Then she filled a bottle with water. Putting them all in the playpen with Richard, she went to get her phone. Most of the toys didn’t really look all that interesting to him, so he grabbed a coloring book and the pencils. Opening the book, he began coloring, tuning out everything around him. When his body told him he needed to relieve himself, he paused long enough to do what needed to be done and went back to coloring. After calling the LPS office in Larson, the nearest city large enough for a permanent office, Susan looked in on Richard. Seeing him calmly coloring, she made her second call to her boss to let them know that she and Darryl were adopting a Little and she would need some more time off. Once again seeing Richard still coloring, she set about cleaning up from breakfast. Within an hour, she was done and went to check Richard's diaper. When she got to the playpen, she saw Richard lightly shivering. “Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me you were cold?” Checking his diaper, she found it full, but not leaking. “I didn’t want to bother you.” “Honey, that wouldn’t be a bother.” She picked him up, now noticing the smell. “C’mon, let’s get that messy diaper changed and you into some warmer clothes.” As she carried him to the nursery, she continued. “You need to let us know about things like that. I appreciate how considerate you are, but you need to help us take care of you by telling us when you need or want something. We can’t read minds you know.” After a quick diaper change Richard was dressed in the same t-shirt, a pair of shorts and some socks.“I think we can skip the shoes today. As much as I would like to take you to the park for some exercise, I don’t think it’s a good idea until we can get your chip tomorrow.” “Chip?” “Oh, I’m sorry about that, it’s easy to forget that all this is still new to you. Let’s go sit down and have a little talk.” Going back to the family room, she set him down on the couch nestled in the corner between the arm and back. Then settled herself at the other end of the couch. “Now, this is another one of those very important discussions like we had in the hospital. When a Little is adopted, an ID chip is implanted just under the skin somewhere on their body. This tells everyone who you are, what your physical characteristics are, who adopted you and when, their contact information, etc. This is to protect you from people who might be willing to overlook the fact that you’ve already been adopted.” “Does that happen a lot?” “Often enough to take precautions. Thankfully most people you’ll meet are law abiding and just gush all over the Little and go on their way.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “Now, there are some other things that will happen when a Little is adopted. Portal Littles like you are required to be vaccinated. That is not optional. Also not optional, they’re going to permanently remove your body hair. That’s for better hygiene. There are some things that are optional. They can fix your eyesight, the baldness, and make you look and feel much younger. Those I recommend, but won’t force you.” Richard thought about it. All of those things were possible to change in his dimension anyway, although not as easily and not always successfully. Besides, none of it was integral to his perception of himself, so were easily let go of. “Ok, let’s go ahead and fix those. What else?” Susan paused. Some of the options were deeply personal and went to the core of a person's identity. There was no way to tell how they would react to them. She thought about bringing up the sex drive option, but since he had shown no real signs of much of a sex drive in the short time he had been with her, it wasn’t something they needed to worry right now. They could always change it later. The only other truly important option, could be the toughest. “There is another very important option, and I need you to think about it very carefully.” She paused again, in an effort to drive home the importance of this one. “We can also change your gender. Not just the outward appearance, like I’ve heard can be done in your world, but a complete change all the way down to the chromosomes.” That one stunned him. There had been many times when he was younger that he had daydreamed about being a girl. Usually involving some kind of magic since he knew that if he went through conventional methods, he would be an uglier woman than he had ever been as a man. That would have been a blow his consistently low esteem would never be able to take. As tempting as it was though, after much thought, he realized that the central theme of being a woman for him involved things that he would probably never be allowed access to here. Also, the more he thought about it, the more he decided that he had spent far too long as a male to see himself any other way. He slowly looked up at her. “I’d like to stay male please.” Susan smiled. “You got it. One more decision. Do you want to keep your existing name? You’ll use our last name, but we can change your first name if you want or leave it as is. If it were up to me, I would keep it as is. I like the name. Reminds me of a friend I had in high school. But we can decide that later. And the rest we can figure out as it comes up.” She looked at the clock. “Now, it’s too early for your nap, what would you like to do?” Richard thought about it, but the only thing that came to mind was something he used to enjoy but hadn’t done in a long time. He was reluctant to bring it up though. He didn’t know how this society looked on what he was thinking. “This is probably going to sound weird,” He began, looking at his toes. “but... I haven’t baked cookies in a long time.” Susan was a little surprised by the suggestion, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Most parenting books recommended baking as a way to bond with children, and Littles were often not much different. “You know what, neither have I.” Truth be told, she had tried baking a few times since grade school, but her attempts were usually disasters of legendary proportions. But she desperately wanted to help Richard feel comfortable here and if he wanted to bake cookies, she would do her best to not mess up. She stood up and went to his side of the couch. “Ready for Ups?” She asked brightly. He nodded. She picked him up and went to the kitchen. “Ok, I guess the first thing we need to do is find a recipe so we know what ingredients we need.” Since she really didn’t have any cookbooks, she grabbed her phone to look up recipes. Now Richard was a little torn. He had a recipe he liked to use, but he didn’t know if she would trust a recipe from his memory. What finally decided him was remembering her telling him to tell her when there was something he needed, or wanted. He tapped her on the shoulder. “Um.” he faltered. “Yes sweetie?” “Um, I know a recipe.” he said softly. Susan had her doubts, but decided to see what he had. Worse comes to worst, they could look up another recipe afterwards. “Ok, Let’s write it down so we can check the ingredients.” She grabbed a pen and some scrap paper out of the utility drawer. Sitting down at the table with him in her lap, she said. “Ready when you are.” Collecting his thoughts, Richard began. “I’ll give you the ingredients as I know them, then we can go over them to see if you have the same things. 2 ¼ cups flour, 1 cup softened butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup light brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, and about 2 cups of white chocolate chips.” The only thing Susan wasn’t sure of was the ‘lemon’. After describing it as best he could, she figured out what it was. “Oh, we call that a citron. Let’s go see which of those we have.” Carrying him to the fridge and pantry, they found only half of what they needed. “Well, looks like we need to go to the store. Here’s what we’ll do. We'll go to the store and get what we need. By the time we get back it will be time for your nap. We’ll make the cookies after lunch.” She headed to the nursery. “First, we need to get some better clothes on you.” She sat him on the changing table, making sure he wasn’t close to the edge. She quickly checked his diaper. “Still dry. We'll have to remember to bring a bottle of water with us to the store. You’re still not drinking enough. My fault for not giving you a bottle while we were talking.” she rummaged in the drawers and came back with a pair of blue stretch top pants, Velcro sneakers and a plain blue baseball hat. “What do you think?” When he gave a thumbs up. She laid the clothes on the table. “I know you’re capable of dressing yourself, but it would be a lot safer if I do it for you.” She quickly got him dressed, and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge on the way to the garage. She then secured him in the car seat and handed him the bottle. “I want to see at least half of that gone by the time we get to the store. She got in the driver’s seat and they headed off to the store. Thankfully, it being early on a Thursday, there wasn’t much traffic. It wasn’t long before they were parking in front of the grocery store. Looking at it, Richard thought it wasn’t any different from any one of the many chain supermarkets he was used to. Once Susan had him out of the car seat, she whispered to him. We’re not getting much so I don’t think we need a cart; a basket will do. However, I don’t feel comfortable letting you walk on your own until you have your chip, so I’m going to carry you the whole time. OK?” When he nodded, she closed the door. “Tell you what, why don’t you hold the list?” Handing it to him, they went into the store grabbing a basket just inside the door. Looking ahead, Richard began to get disoriented. The place was huge. The juxtaposition of what he was used to seeing with the sheer size if it, was jarring. All Susan needed to see was his jaw dropping open. “Focus on the list honey.” Looking at the list, returned a small measure of normalcy to him. If you could ignore the fact that you were being carried by a woman more than twice your size. Having averted the small crisis, she said. “I guess since we’re baking, we need to go to the baking aisle.” It didn’t take them long to find everything on the list. Then Susan picked up another bottle from the section of spices and extracts. “What’s that?” Richard asked. “Little extract. It helps make food taste better to Littles.” Seeing his doubt, she continued. “Trust me. You’ll see. Now is that everything?” “That’s everything on the list, but I forgot to ask if you had a couple things.” “Ask away.” “We’ll need parchment paper and a wire rack to cool them on.” “I know I don’t have a wire rack, and since I’ve never heard of parchment paper, I doubt I have any of that either. Now, where might they be?” After a little searching, they found both. When they got to the checkout area, they ended up behind an older lady putting a half dozen or so items on the belt. When she saw Susan and Richard, her eyes lit up. “What an adorable little boy!” She moved right up to them and got within inches of Richard’s face. “What’s your name, cutie?” Richard shrank into Susan’s shoulder, so she turned her body to give him some space from the lady. “His name is none of your business, and I’ll thank you to back off a little. You're scaring him.” “Don’t be rude, young lady! I was only saying hi! Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” “Yes, she did. She taught me that saying ‘hi’ does not include getting in someone's face and scaring them. And if someone is rude enough to do that, to politely ask them to back off. Which I have already done. Now I suggest you attend to your groceries that the cashier has already started ringing up.” The lady huffed, and turned her attention to the cashier. “Make sure you bag it properly! I don’t want the bag to rip!” “Yes ma’am.” She replied with a customer service smile firmly in place. Once she had finished the lady’s transaction and the lady was well on her way, the cashier started laughing. “Nice one Sue. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone get shut down like that.” Susan chuckled. “Thanks, Laura. It always drives me crazy when people feel they can ignore common courtesies like personal space when it comes to children and Littles.” “Speaking of courtesies, Who’s your new friend?” “Goodness, where are my manners! Laura, this is Richard. Richard is new to our world. Richard, this is Laura. She and I went to school together.” “Nice to meet you, Laura.” “Nice to meet you too Richard.” Laura said as she began ringing up their order. ‘What a polite little guy.’ she thought. Then she noticed what they were buying. “Don’t tell me you’re going to try baking again, Susan? I thought you learned your lesson last time.” Susan blushed. “I know, I know. But this little guy wanted to, so how could I refuse? Besides, I have a feeling this time will be different.” “That’s what you said last time. And you still managed to make charcoal.” Richard was starting to get confused. No one could really be that bad, could they? "Believe me, Laura,” Susan said. “This time I have Richard.” “What difference can a Little make?” “He gave me the recipe from memory.” “From mem... Oh!” That’s when Laura understood. Richard was an unregressed Portal Little. “In that case, I may have to try some of them. Give me a call later.” "You got it." Laura gave her the total, Susan paid, grabbed their bags and they headed to the door. They found the older lady outside waiting for them. She tried to grab Richard saying. “Give me that boy. Rude people like you don’t deserve to have a Little.” Susan turned to again block Richard from the lady, and tried to head back into the store. The lady stopped her by grabbing her arm forcing her to drop the bags. When someone started coming out of the store, the lady started yelling. “Stop her! She’s trying to kidnap my precious little boy!” The guy froze, torn between wanting to help and not getting involved. Susan just looked at him and calmly but firmly said. “Go tell the store manager to call the sheriff.” The guy, glad to not have to make a decision on his own, immediately turned around and went back in the store. The lady briefly looked unsure, but quickly decided to double down. “That wasn’t a smart move girlie. They’ll side with me. I’m a respectable woman and you’re just a stupid hick girl. You’ll go to jail for attempted kidnapping for sure. Why don’t you just give me the Little and save yourself a lot of grief.” “I think we'll wait for the sheriff, thanks.” The lady starting to doubt her plan of action, but by now there were far too many people around to make a clean exit. Shortly, the guy came back out with the store manager. The manager looked at Susan. “The sheriff is on the way Mrs. Comey” Now the lady was really scared. Apparently, this girl was more than she seemed. Nervously looking around, all she saw were angry faces. It wasn’t long before two sheriff cars pulled up. The deputies got out and took in the scene. One of them walked up to Susan and Richard. The other went to stand beside the lady. “Hey Susan, are you guys alright? Hi Richard” “Hi George, we are now.” “Hi Deputy Hastings.” Richard said with a wave. Watching this interchange, the older lady’s face crumbled. This wasn’t going anything like she thought it would. She had expected the girl to be overwhelmed by fear and give in to her. Now she realized that she was facing some serious trouble herself. Hastings looked at the lady and shook his head. He turned back to Susan. “Do you want to press charges?” She looked at the lady. Seeing how defeated she looked, Susan said. “No. I think she learned her lesson. I just want to take Richard home.” “You go on then. Darryl can get your statement later. We’ll take care of things here.” “Thanks George.” She picked up their bags and headed to the car. Once she got the bags in the car and Richard in his car seat, she just sat behind the wheel for a minute. Then she turned to Richard. “Are you ok? You weren’t too scared, were you?” “No. I wasn’t scared.” Richard thought about it and realized that other than when the lady had gotten in his face, he hadn’t been scared at all through the whole thing. By rights he should have been terrified. So why wasn’t he? He thought about it the whole way back to the house but still hadn’t come up with an answer when they pulled into the garage. Once everything was in the house, Susan saw that it was time for Richard’s nap. However, she found herself loathe to put him down. She wanted nothing more than to hold him forever. Plus, she was starting to feel tired from the adrenaline crash. “Sweetie. I could use a little nap too; would you mind snuggling with me for a little while?” “Ok. Can we get Polonius though?” They went to his nursery to get his bear. While there she asked. “Does Twilith want to come too?” “No. Twilith likes to stay here and keep my room safe.” While they were in the nursery, she decided to check his diaper just in case. It was a little wet, but she didn’t think it would leak for a while. Picking the bear up out of the crib, they went to her room. Once there, she took off his shoes, kicked her own shoes off and curled around him while he curled around Polonius. It wasn’t long before they were both asleep.

Thank you everyone for answering my question. I think I'm going to go with the 2 or 3 drops idea for baking. Kind of like when using liquid smoke. A little goes a long way.

I just love all the twists and turns in this. And not just in the story. Hint, Grogu and Mando have been very strong influences in both directions. Very much looking forward to the rest of this story. Out of curiosity, with the mention of Little food and Little extract, I want to use it in my story, but I can't find where it was said how much was used in baking. I know one of the stories had them baking with it, but I can't remember where. Baby Sophia, your stories continue to be both an inspiration to me, and a goal for me to try and attain the same level of quality. Even if I can't match your speed of writing.

First off, let me say, I love this story just like all your work. You have a way of bringing the reader in taking them on a journey. I try to do that, but maybe not as successfully. Second, seeing as the subject of the effect the lack of teeth has came up in the thread of Damaged Goods, I feel that I may as well weigh in on it here as well. Given enough time and determination, one learn to speak remarkably clearly without teeth. I have been without mine for more than a decade. Most people can't tell until I tell them. For a good example, this was performed without teeth. I believe this will help show that speech impediments should probably be due to more than just the lack of teeth. Thank you

I eat steak quite often. Medium rare, good quality is easily handled even without teeth. I can even handle potato chips and crackers if they crumble easily. It took some time, but my palette toughened up enough to eat most foods. When you have no choice, you find a way. I couldn't afford to get my dentures relined. I found a way to make do. It doesn't even embarrass me anymore. Also, I'm sorry I didn't say this before, but thank you for reading my story. I'm still trying to keep going with it, but keep having motivation issues.

I haven't worn any for at least a decade. The trick is to keep your jaw mostly relaxed at all times. I've had quite a few people surprised when they learned that I don't have any teeth. Besides, some of the adhesives make me sick. The only thing that really bothers me is missing some of the foods that I can't handle anymore. Like peanuts, cantaloupe, fresh cauliflower, etc.

He stopped wearing the dentures not long after getting them. You would be surprised what you can manage without teeth. Almost everything about him is based on, myself.

Finally, another update. Sorry for the delay, sometimes it's hard to stay motivated to write. Also, sorry for the pun. I couldn't help myself. You'll know it when you see it. Richard woke up fairly early the next morning. He couldn’t tell exactly what time, since there wasn’t a clock in the room. He had to pee, but wasn’t sure if the diaper could hold it, having awoken 3 times during the night to pee. Even though it was much thicker than anything he had tried in his own world, he didn’t want it to leak. He was used to doing everything he could to prevent leaking. Both to avoid discovery, and to reduce the amount of clean up. He was honest enough with himself to admit how lazy he could be. After a few minutes, he remembered that he really didn’t have any choice, and relaxed. The clammy feeling of a long-wet diaper, was replaced with a much warmer feeling. He tried not to move so the diaper could absorb the pee without leaking. Unfortunately, he started to feel the warmth creeping up his back. Cursing softly under his breath, he tried to get comfortable, but the pee-soaked sleeper quickly got cold and felt sticky on his back. A few minutes later, the door was pushed fully open and Susan came in. “Good morning, Sweetie!” She leaned into the crib. “Did you forget about the monitor?” She tapped him lightly on the nose. “Watch it with those naughty words. One more time and you’ll have to be punished. Now let’s get you out of those wet clothes.” Lowering the side of the crib, she wrapped her arms around him. “Remember, only look at me or the ceiling.” When he nodded, she brought him to the changing table. “Well done.” She said as she sat him on the table. She quickly stripped the sleeper off of him and tossed it into the hamper. “Sorry I’m so much trouble.” Richard mumbled with his head down. She stopped and looked at him. “Who said you were any trouble?” “Nobody, but that’s what I usually end up being. More laundry because I leaked, extra work to cater to my stupid fear, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more as time goes on. I always end up being a burden” “First off, let me say that you are not now nor have you ever been a ‘burden’ here. Nor are you any trouble. Now, we can argue that, or I can get you out of that soggy diaper. Your choice.” “Change please.” “Good choice.” What followed was a diaper change unlike any he had yet experienced since he got to this dimension. Susan took her time, thoroughly cleaning everything from knees to chest, front and back. Gently rubbing the wipes over his skin. Once done with that, she grabbed the baby oil. This time she spread it from neck to toe. Gently but firmly massaging it into his skin, until he no longer felt slippery. Finally, she placed a diaper under him and sprinkled baby powder around his diaper area. Again, she softly massaged it in. Satisfied, she taped the diaper snugly in place. The whole process took almost 20 minutes. Richard lay there stunned. He couldn’t remember ever experiencing something so loving and caring without being sexual. Every touch said ‘You are safe.’ Every caress said ‘You are loved.’ Every look said ‘You are important.’ Decades of self-hate had left him unable to respond to those kinds of messages. His mind did the only thing it could when it’s overwhelmed by such unfamiliar emotions. It turned inward. For several minutes he just lay there staring at nothing. In his mind, Richard was once again searching through his past. Only this time he wasn’t looking at reasons to hate himself, he was desperately looking for reasons that he might deserve those feelings. To his surprise, he was finding them. More than he ever thought possible. Times when he helped someone, just because it was the right thing to do. Times he had every reason to be proud of himself. Even times when he was genuinely happy. It was another unusual feeling that brought him back to reality. Refocusing his eyes, he saw that Susan was gently rubbing his stomach in circle. Looking at her face, he saw a small smile. “You all right there, Sweetie?” She stopped rubbing. “You looked a thousand miles away there.” Richard nodded. He struggled to find the words to express what he was feeling, but soon realized that there was really only one way. He reached up to her in the universal gesture to be picked up. “Are you sure, Sweetie?” When he again nodded, she carefully picked him up. As soon as he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in her hair. Deep inside him, something shifted. What had been an intellectual knowledge that she wouldn’t let him fall, became a deep-seated certainty that when he was in her arms, he would always be safe. He held on for several moments, then whispered in her ear. “Thank you.” “For what?” “For making me feel special.” “Sweetie, you’re always special.” They held the hug until a loud gurgle from Richard’s stomach made them both start laughing. “I think someone needs their breakfast.” She went to put him back on the changing table, but he wouldn’t let go. “Honey, I need to put you down to get you dressed.” He shook his head. “Are you ok staying in just your diaper?” He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go get something to quiet down that talkative tummy of yours.” Grabbing his glasses off of the dresser, she handed them to him. He put them on as she carried him out of the room. As they were going down the hallway, she said, “You do know I will have to put you down to make breakfast, right?” Reluctantly, he nodded. “Good. Now, what do you normally like for breakfast? We have oatmeal, fruit, cereal...” He thought about it. “Well, usually I would just skip breakfast. On those rare occasions I did eat breakfast, I would either have a donut, danish or waffle. If I went out, I would have eggs, bacon and hash browns.” “I can assure you, there’ll be no skipping breakfast here. At the very least, you’ll have a bottle of formula. We have to make sure you get the nutrition you need. Why don’t we start with that for now and see how hungry you are then?” She started to put him in the highchair. She sighed when he continued to cling to her. “I need both hands for this. Don’t worry, you’ll be perfectly safe in the highchair. I promise, as soon as the bottle is ready, you can have it in my lap if you want.” He let go and allowed her to secure him in the highchair. He half watched her preparing a bottle. He was trying to sort out how he was feeling. He felt normal, like he before he came to this unusual dimension. However, he knew that he had never been that clingy with anyone. Usually, he was the complete opposite. Holding himself back, trying to be sure of his feelings before expressing anything. Granted, that usually backfired on him and left him mostly alone. He was still confused when she returned with the bottle of formula. Putting the bottle on the counter, she moved to pick him up. She paused just before actually picking him up, giving him time to signal that he was ready for it. She wasn’t going to startle him into a panic attack again. When he showed he was ready, she picked him up, grabbed the bottle and went to the couch in the family room. Sitting down, she sat Richard in her lap, his back against her stomach. “Do you want me to hold the bottle for you, or would you like to do it yourself?” She asked. Still confused, and unsure of how being fed a bottle would make him feel, he replied. “I’d like to hold it myself please.” Taking the bottle with both hands, he gave an experimental suck. The flavor danced on his taste buds and exploded in his brain. He recognized some of the flavors, but not all of them. Vanilla dominated, along with what he guessed was their kind of milk. Normally, he didn’t like the taste of milk, but this didn’t leave the same annoying aftertaste that he expected. Underneath those, was another flavor that he had never tasted before. He was suckling in earnest even before he finished analyzing the taste. He relaxed and leaned back into Susan. Susan had kept her hands lightly on him to keep him steady, and when he leaned back, she slowly rubbed his belly with her thumb. She smiled, enjoying the quiet time with him. It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of an empty bottle. She gently took the bottle and pulled it from his lips. She didn’t want him to swallow too much air. Sure enough, she soon heard a loud belch. She giggled. This had the effect of shaking Richard back to reality. As soon as he realized that his head was nestled between Susan’s breasts, he sat bolt upright. He would have fallen right out of her lap if she hadn’t kept a hand on him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t...” He began. “Sorry for what?” She interrupted. “The perfectly normal act of burping, or instinctively finding the most comfortable place to rest your head?” “B-but... I was taught that you don’t ever touch a woman there without their permission.” “And that is absolutely right. However, I gave permission both by sitting you in my lap this way and more importantly, by taking on the responsibility for taking care of you. You have to stop thinking in terms of your old life. You have a whole new life here to enjoy.” She paused, turning him to face her. “Speaking of that. Darryl and I had a little talk last night.” Richard’s breath caught in his throat. He just knew that he was going to be sent to someone else. Once again, he had done something wrong to mess up a good thing. He was so busy thinking of what he could have done wrong, that he missed what she said next. When she saw that she didn’t get the reaction she had expected, Susan lightly tapped Richard on the nose. “Yoo-hoo, Space Cadet. You didn’t hear the last part, did you?” When he shook his head, she continued. “I said, Darryl and I want to want to be more than just your foster parents. We have decided to officially adopt you.” Watching for his reaction, all she saw was surprise. “I see you didn’t expect that. Listen to me. I want you to understand this. Even though we can legally do this whether you like it or not, it’s important to us that you be happy with the decision too. If you don’t want to stay with us, we’ll continue to look for a suitable family for you. Now, would you like to stay with us permanently?” Too choked up to say anything, Richard nodded, then clambered up to hug her around the neck. She hugged him back with a happy tear in her eye. After a couple minutes, she gently pried his arms from around her neck. “Now that that’s settled.” She began. “I could use something to eat. You up for a waffle?” When he again nodded, she got up and went to the kitchen. She was half way there when she noticed that he wasn’t clinging to her like he usually did. “You’ll need to be a good boy and sit in the highchair while I make them. Can you do that?” “I’ll try.” She placed him in the seat and grabbed the tray from the counter next to the highchair. As she went to secure it, she saw Richard flinch from the seat back. That’s when she remembered that he was still dressed only in a diaper. She finished latching the tray in place. “You wait right there for a minute. Let’s at least get a t-shirt on you.” She hurried into the nursery and grabbed the first shirt she saw. It was bright orange with a picture of a rooster dressed as a wild west gunslinger. Getting back, she had him raise his arms and slipped the shirt on him. Richard looked at the picture and chuckling, softly said the first thing that came to his mind. “Yippee Ki Yay, mother clucker.” “What was that?” “Nothing.” “No, seriously, what did you say? I’m not mad, I just want to make sure of what I thought you said.” Looking down at the tray, Richard answered. “I said, Yippee Ki Yay, mother clucker.” “How did you know that character’s catch phrase?” Richard wasn’t sure exactly how best to answer that, but eventually decided that it would be best to tell the truth. “I didn’t. It’s a play on words from a quote in a movie back home. The actual quote is much more... adult.” “I think I know what you mean. That actually explains a lot.” “How so?” “Well, that show is really popular with both children and Littles. However, it seems that Portal Littles have the strongest reaction to that line. They laugh like crazy every time it’s said, then look guilty. Now I understand both their laughter and why they look guilty.” Now Richard felt bad. He didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. Even if it was by accident. “Will they be stopped from watching it now?” Susan didn’t even need to think about it. She knew how difficult it was for Portal Littles to adapt to this dimension. She’d seen the wistful looks most of them got when they looked at people doing normal adult activities. There was no way she would take away one of the few true joys some of them had. “Don’t you worry.” She replied. “I won’t tell anyone. It’ll be our secret.” Truth be told, she loved the idea of some of those proud, snooty, ‘I’m better than you because I have a Little’ people not knowing that they don’t know everything. “Now, let me make those waffles.”

Great point. I'll watch better for that in future parts.

Thank you for that observation. I actually have a reason for that in mind. The time he freaked out was shortly after eating the cookie. I'm thinking that the regression (depending on how strong) not only reduces inhibition, but also reduces control over other deeply embedded emotions and fears. It's that control that's going to keep coming into play. How many of us truly realize how much we depend on our control over so many facets of our minds.

Merry Christmas everyone. I managed to finish another part of the story. Once again, thank you all for your comments and support. Not even half-way through checking out, Richard began nodding off. After all, it had been a very eventful day and he still hadn’t eaten anything more than the cookie the nurse had given him. It wasn’t long before his head was down on top of his new bear. After taking the requisite picture, Susan decided to let him sleep. When they got back to the car, they found that Deputy Hastings had managed to park Darryl’s SUV not far from Susan’s car. While Susan carefully moved Richard from the cart to the car seat, Darryl and Hastings began loading up both vehicles. Putting the food, open changing supplies, and clothes in Susan’s car, Darryl said: “Honey, why don’t you head on home and get Richard something to eat? We’ll follow along as soon as we can.” “Good idea.” After making sure that Richard was secure, she got in. After an uneventful 30-minute drive, she pulled into the driveway of a modest ranch style house. Gently waking Richard, she released him from the seat and carried him inside. Going through the kitchen, she went to the family room. Sitting him on the couch, she knelt in front of him. “Will you be good and stay right here while I get the stuff from the car?” At his nod, she got up. “Thank you. I’ll be right back, then we can get you something to eat.” Once she had everything brought in and the food put away, she decided that until she had a chance to wash the bottles, she was better off heating up one of the ‘Little Meals’. When she had it in the microwave, she went to get Richard. “Now, I’m going to carry you to the kitchen. If you start to get nervous, feel free to grab ahold of my shirt again.” Picking him up, she balanced him on her hip. Returning to the kitchen she took the meal out and put it on the table. Filling a juice glass with water, she put it by the meal. Then grabbed a fork and napkin, and sat down. “Until we get the highchair set up, you’ll have to sit in my lap.” Making sure to keep both arms around him, she cut up the chicken tenders and cheese fries into Little sized bites. “I’m going to have to feed you. This fork is much too big for you to handle properly. Richard sighed. The diapers were one thing, he wasn’t sure how he felt about being babied. It felt like another form of not having any control. “Can I at least try?” “Tell you what. If you can hold the fork steady for at least one minute, you can try feeding yourself. Deal?” “Deal!” Handing him the fork, she started counting. It was heavier than he expected. By the time she got to thirty seconds, his hand was wavering. By 45 seconds, he gave up. Dropping his arm to his lap, he would have dropped the fork if Susan hadn’t grabbed it. “Good try!” “Please don’t patronize me.” Richard frowned. “It was a sucker bet wasn’t it? You knew there was no way in Hell I would be able to hold it steady.” Watch the language!” She turned him so she could look him in the eye. “I don’t care how you used to talk in your dimension, but we don’t use that kind of language here!” “Is that for everyone, or just Littles?” “It’s supposed to be for everyone, but most people are stricter about it with Littles. And don’t think I don’t recognize that tone. It’s not open for negotiation. If anyone else heard that from you, they wouldn’t think twice about tanning your hide. Now let’s get some of this food into you.” Although she would have loved to do the whole ‘feed the baby’ routine, Susan didn’t think it would go over very well right now. Years of working with children had taught her how to pick her battles and how far someone can be pushed before they lash out. So, she settled for just carefully feeding him. She needed him to be calm for what had to be done later. They were just finishing when Darryl got home. Apparently, Darryl and Hastings had been talking on the way, because they came in with a purpose and a plan. They went right to the larger of the two small bedrooms and moved everything to the other bedroom. Then they got the boxes of furniture, stacking them in the family room near the hallway. That done, they went and brought everything else in. Finding the playpen, they set it up in the family room near the kitchen island. Bringing Richard over, she put him in the playpen. “I know there’s nothing to keep you occupied in here, but we really need to keep you safely out of the way.” She then grabbed the bags of clothes and brought them to the laundry room. With nothing else to do, Richard settled himself to watch Darryl and Hastings put the furniture together. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that they had no idea what they were doing. After watching them study the instructions for a solid ten minutes, Richard felt he had to say something. “I can help with that, you know.” Hastings looked at him. “What does a Little know about putting furniture together?” Frowning, Richard stared back at him. “Well, judging from how long you’ve been staring at those instructions, probably more than you.” “Why you...” He didn’t get any farther before Darryl stopped him. “Hastings, we’ve talked about this. You’re still making snap judgements based on appearances.” Deciding to use this as a training experience, Darryl continued. “Now, look at it more logically. You have someone buying pretty much everything needed to care for a Little. What does that tell you?” “That they didn’t expect to have a Little.” “Correct. Now what are the ways of getting a Little unexpectedly?” “Forced adoption, when the new parent perceives that an independent Little cannot care for themselves.” “Good. And...?” “An Accidental Little shows up.” “Correct. Now, in either of those cases, what are the chances of the Little being regressed?” "Pretty slim.” “Correct. So, that being the case, don’t you think it’s possible that the Little might have some important knowledge and the ability to relay it?” “Yes Sir.” “Good. Now, continue the logic chain. Given what you heard today, what do you think the status of this particular Little is?” “Knowing he’s an Accidental Little that just arrived within the last 36 hours, he’s probably not regressed, and probably has at least some experience caring for himself.” “Well done. And don’t forget, many people will say things around Littles they wouldn’t around anyone else. They forget that Little’s understand a lot more than most people realize. Now let’s see if this little guy really does know what he’s talking about.” Going over to the playpen, Darryl lifted Richard out. As he was picking him up, he whispered. “Don’t make a liar out of me” After putting him down, he gave Richard the instructions, and straightened. “Show me what you got, pal.” Looking over the instructions, saw it was just like the furniture he could have bought at any of the stores in his dimension. “No problem. However, since some of the parts may be a little heavy for me, is it ok if I just direct you?” When they nodded, he started directing them to which parts needed to be worked on when. Within half an hour, the changing table was together. An hour after that and the crib and highchair were done. After Darryl and Hasting had put them in the bedroom, Hastings sat next to Richard on the floor. “I have to ask. Where did you learn to put furniture together like that?” “I’ve been putting stuff like that together for over 30 years. Heck, half the jobs I had I was the one who had to do it. Shelves, desks, bookcases, cabinets, I’ve built them all. I even designed and built my own bed at one point.” He held out his hand to Hastings. “You’re a good man, Deputy. But Darryl is right about one thing. Don’t let your preconceived notions blind you from what could be vitally important. I’ve done that far too many times and paid the price for it.” Shaking his head with a chuckle, Hastings took Richards tiny hand in his and gently shook it. “Trust me, you’ve made a believer out of me.” Seeing Darryl by the door, he got up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think my ride is ready to take me home. I’ll see you around.” Turning to the kitchen, Richard saw Susan looking at him. Although he didn’t think she was mad at him, he couldn’t quite figure out what her expression meant. For her part, she had been watching Richard interact with the deputy. It was so easy to forget that he had lived almost twice as long as any one of them. Then he says or does something that just smacks you in the face with it. Shaking her head, she stepped into the family room. “Ok Sweetie. Bath time, then it’s off to bed with you. Do you want to walk or would you like me to carry you?” “Walk please.” She led the way to the bathroom. When he entered, she had already started the water. When he saw the size of the tub, he had a sinking feeling of where this might be going. “I don’t suppose we can discuss this?” “Not a chance Buster. Strip.” When he didn’t immediately comply, she sat in front of him. “Listen. In case you forgot, I’ve seen the whole package already. The only difference between this and the diaper change earlier, is that this will be a more thorough cleaning. Now, you have two choices. You take your clothes off, or I take your clothes off. Pick one.” Groaning softly, Richard began taking the t-shirt off. Then, dropping his pants to his ankles, he kicked them off. The socks were a little trickier. He used to be able to just lift one leg at a time and pull the sock off. Now with his legs spread the diaper, his balance was off. Finally, he leaned on the cabinet, to stay upright and removed his socks. When he tried to take off the diaper, he received another surprise. He couldn’t pull the tapes off. Even with both hands, he couldn’t get it to budge. Just as he was about to utter a word he shouldn’t, Susan turned to see him struggling. “Let me help you with that, Sweetie.” She deftly undid the tapes and slid the diaper from between his legs. “You need to start drinking a lot more fluids.” “Why do you say that?” “For one thing, this should be a lot wetter for the amount of time it’s been on. Also, your pee shouldn’t be this dark. Everyone should drink enough water to have their pee come out clear, or as close to it as possible.” Turning off the water, she waved him over. “C’mere.” When he was next to her, she picked him up and carefully put him in the tub. “Sit.” Richard looked at her. “Woof.” “What was that?” “Treat me like a dog, I’ll act like one. She chuckled. “Silly. Have a seat, please. I need to get a couple things.” The water only came up to half way up his stomach, and was the perfect temperature. Shifting his way to the end of the tub, Richard lay back and let the water cover most of him. It had been a very long time since he could stretch out in a tub like this. The floor of the tub was textured, so there was no chance of him sliding. Closing his eyes, he sighed. When Susan came back in and saw him, she smiled. It was the most relaxed she had ever seen him. Unfortunately, there was much that needed to get done. “Wakey, wakey.” She said before putting several bottles on the floor by the tub. Startled, Richard jumped. Stifling a laugh, Susan apologized. “Sorry about that sweetie. As much as I would love to let you just chill, we need to take care of a couple things.” She grabbed one of the bottles. “Do you know what a depilatory is?” “Yes.” “Good. Now, this is another one of those things that isn’t up for negotiation. It’s a matter of good hygiene.” She held up the bottle. “This will get rid of the hair until we can make an appointment for a more permanent solution. Now, I would prefer we do all your body hair, but for now, I will settle for at least your diaper area. And since there are no razors small enough for you, your facial hair also.” Richard gave it some serious thought. He really didn’t care about the body hair. He had experimented in the past with removing it. However, he had had a moustache for as long as he could remember. He couldn’t remember how he looked without it. However, she had a point about the lack of appropriate razors. Finally, he made his decision. “We’ll do it all.” He held out his hands for the lotion. He spread it everywhere he could reach and she put it where he couldn’t. “Now we need to leave it on for at least two minutes. It will probably tingle some.” After two minutes she took a wet washcloth and wiped the lotion away, along with his hair. Thoroughly rinsing him off, she drained the water and refilled the tub. She let him wash his own hair and helped him by washing his back. When it looked like he was going to skip his feet, she gave him a tap. “Feet too. No skipping anything here.” When he was fully clean and once again rinsed off, she drained the tub. She wrapped him in the biggest fluffiest towel he had ever seen, then picked him up and put him down on the bathmat. He couldn’t believe how soft the towel felt against his newly hairless skin. After she got him fully dry, she again picked him up still wrapped in the towel. “No walking this time. Don’t want those feet to get dirty again so soon.” Carrying him to the bedroom/nursery, she laid him down on the changing table and secured a strap across his chest. “Just to keep my little guy safe.” Grabbing one of the solid-colored diapers, she quickly and efficiently diapered him. “Sleeper, or onesie?” she asked holding up one of each. “Doesn’t matter.” “Of course, it matters. But for now, we’ll go with the sleeper.” Helping him put it on, she zipped it up and put him in the crib, raising and latching the side rail. “Hold on just a minute. I’ll be right back.” She went out, leaving Richard to his thoughts. He found the sleeper incredibly soft and comfortable, and the bed felt like any other bed he had slept in. If he could ignore the rails. He could imagine himself in a hotel room somewhere. Soon Susan returned with a baby bottle of water. “It’s mostly in case you get thirsty, but please try and drink some anyway. You really aren’t hydrating enough. Give a shout if you need anything, and I’ll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams.” She left, turning out the light and leaving the door open. Richard tried to think about all that had happened today, but the combination of the long day and the soft bed, he was soon fast asleep. Susan went to the family room and started to quietly organize everything to be put away first thing in the morning. She was long done with that task and was sitting on the couch thinking about Richard when she heard the garage door. Getting up, she moved to the kitchen where Darryl would be coming in. She was about to ask if he wanted something to eat, when she saw the fast-food bag in his hand. Putting the bag on the counter, he gave her a hug and kiss. “I got something for you too. I didn’t think you would have time to eat.” “You are the best. Shall we eat at the table?” Releasing her, he picked up the bag and they sat down. At first, they ate in silence, but as time went on, they began to talk. Darryl started. “How is he doing?” He’s sleeping. He’s accepting everything far better than I would have expected. However, those panic attacks he had today could make it difficult to get him adopted if they continue.” Darryl chuckled. “You have your argument all planned out, don’t you?” “What do you mean” “You want to just go ahead and adopt him ourselves, don’t you?” “It would make sense. He’s starting to trust us. And we could take care of the paperwork when we take him into the city for his physical and ID chip.” “Relax, Honey. You’re preaching to the choir. Just watching how he reacts to you is enough to convince me he belongs with us. Besides, I really like the little guy. He’s got some spunk buried in him. And you saw how he talked to Hastings to take the sting of being of being directed by a Little.” “Oh, thank goodness. I was worried I would have to work to convince you.” She smiled. “I sometimes forget you are almost as smart as I am” “Yeah, yeah, just because you read more, doesn’t make you smarter.” This was a long running joke between them. They both knew they had different kinds of smarts and tended to complement each other most of the time. Will you be able to take off some time from work?” “Absolutely. I’ll call my boss in the morning. Once they hear we’re adopting a Little, I’ll get a month off with pay to help with the adjustment period.” Suddenly she thought of something. “This won’t cause a problem for you will it? I don’t want anyone thinking that you used your position to take him away from the Westins.” “No need to worry about that. It was thoroughly documented that they were not caring for him properly. Now what say we get some sleep. It’s been a long day and we’re going to have a lot to do over the next few days.” After disposing of the trash, they went to look in on Richard, then went arm in arm to their room.

Thank you so much. I also love how has their own spin on the possibilities with this concept. You also tend to have some great insight and comments in the stories. If you think of anything you would like to see, I would be happy to try and work it in. Either in this story or another.

Thank you everyone for your continued support. It is a huge part of why I am able to keep working on this story. Although I will try to bring in some more external conflict and/or tension, I tend to be a bit better with the internal ones. Plus, the main concept I wanted to explore with this story is how much of an impact regression can have on someone with unresolved issues. In most of the stories I have read, regression tends to free up the emotions. Making people express their emotions more easily and more fully. What I haven't seen much of, is what can happen when the darker emotions are released. We all have our own dark thoughts and fears. Most of the time we can keep them under control. It's what happens when that control is taken away, that can define a person or a relationship. All that being said, I thoroughly enjoy reading everyone's thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, an outside view can lead a story in a much more interesting direction. So, again... thank you, and keep the comments coming.

Finally finished the next installment. This one wasn't easy to write. I might have put a little too much of myself in here. To my loyal readers, all I can say is hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride. It wasn’t long before the nurse returned with the paperwork and some clothes from the lost and found. Handing the paperwork to Darryl, she put the clothes on the bed. “I thought he might like to go out in something more than just a diaper. I’ll go scare up a wheelchair while he gets dressed.” Richard looked over the clothes. There was a pair of stretchy jeans and a blue t-shirt with a picture of a rocket on it. They didn’t look too childish, but Richard figured the nurse was right, it was better than just a diaper. Susan watched him to see how he would react to the style and whether he would ask for help either to get down or get dressed. She wanted to help dress him, but didn’t want to push him too far, too fast. From what she had read while waiting for the ambulance, accidental Littles usually reacted very badly to unneeded or unwanted assistance. She wanted Richard to be comfortable with her and Darryl. She wanted to learn more about this strange Little. So far, he was the complete opposite of all she had read about Portal Littles. They were supposed to be confrontational and verbally abusive. Richard was quiet and polite. They were supposed to fight against any attempts to diaper them. Richard not only allowed it, he admitted to liking them. So, although she stayed near enough to jump in should anything happen, she waited for him to ask for help. A small smile played on her lips as he quickly put on the t-shirt, then looked around trying to figure out the best way to put the pants on. Finally, he lay on the bed, raised his legs in the air and pulled them most of the way up. Then putting his feet down on the bed, he raised his butt and pulled them the rest of the way up. Finished, he sat back up. He turned to look at Susan and blushed when he saw her smiling and softly clapping. He started to think she was being condescending until he looked at her eyes and saw nothing but simple joy and pride that he had figured out an effective solution. For some reason, this made him blush even more and he had to turn away. He was saved from further embarrassment by the nurse’s return. She was pushing a wheelchair with something on the seat. Setting the brake on the chair, she grabbed whatever it was and handed it to Darryl. “I didn’t know if you had one, so I got you a loaner car seat.” She turned and gently lifted Richard off the bed. “Now, let’s get you on this wheelchair so you can go to your new home.” She placed him in the chair and laid a blanket over his lap. As she was arranging the blanket, she leaned in and whispered in Richards ear. “Nobody should ask, but if any one does, you’re securely strapped in under this blanket. Don’t get me in trouble ok?” She gave him a cookie, kissed him on the forehead, then went around to the back of the chair and unlocked the brake. “Everybody ready to go?” The trip down the hall out of the ER was a surreal experience for Richard. He couldn’t quite fathom why he seemed to be the center of attention. The men just looked for a moment then turned back to their tasks. The women however, were an entirely different story. Every one of them couldn’t seem to take their eyes off of him. Most just smiled at him and sighed. Others had a look in their eyes that unnerved him. It was the look of a lioness sizing up a gazelle before she attacks. He never dreamed such a look could be directed at a human being, let alone him. Either way, he wasn’t comfortable being the center of attention. It made him need to pee. He did his usual routine to hold it until he realized that he didn’t need to. He stopped trying to stop it and let the small amount of fear pee out into the diaper. He decided to focus on the cookie so he wouldn’t have to look at anyone else. It was a soft oatmeal raisin cookie. Being one of his favorite kinds, and that he hadn’t eaten yet, he wolfed it down before they even reached the door. Susan was not unaware of the reactions to Richard. She easily ignored to the smile and sigh crowd. They wouldn’t do anything but fawn over him. The predators however, got a back off look that would have made a momma bear proud. Darryl was oblivious to the whole thing as he was trying to read the instructions for installing the car seat as they were walking. By the time they got outside, he had a pretty good idea of how it should go in. Getting the keys from Susan, he went to install it then bring the car around. He was glad they had to wait by the door, since there was some inevitable cursing as the seat didn’t seem to want to go in properly. Once he got it figured out and secured, he pulled the car around. Susan stepped up before he could get out and opened the back door. Leaning in, she told Darryl to just stay in the car and she would put Richard in the car seat and sit in back with him. Going back over to where Richard and the nurse were, Susan knelt down to speak to Richard. “Now, I know that most Portal Littles don’t like car seats, but it is the law that all Littles need to be in one. Will you let me put you in the seat?” “Thank you for asking. I do understand that it’s a safety issue. I’ve been driving long enough to know what can happen to an improperly secured passenger.” Susan picked him up, careful to maintain some semblance of personal space. She secured him into the car seat, closed the door, and got in on the other side. Putting her own seatbelt on, Susan turned to Richard. “While we’re driving, there are a few things we need to talk about.” She paused, trying to decide on the best way to tell him what he needed to know. Eventually, she decided that she just had to lay it out bluntly. “In this world, because of your size, you will be seen by most as just a baby or at most a toddler. Total strangers may come up to you and treat you like a baby. You have the right to be uncomfortable with that and it’s ok to act scared. What you can’t do is verbally attack them. Just give a scream and Darryl or I will handle it. As your foster parents, we have full authority to make any decision to ensure your well-being. As you saw with the doctor, most people will look to us for information and decisions, and not you. We will do our best to discuss the important things with you, but that may not always be possible. Sometimes we will need you to trust that we have your best interests in mind. Can you do that for us? You've been very good about everything so far.” Although Richard thought about what she had said, mostly he thought about all the broken promises to himself and others. He didn’t want to break another one. “I can only promise I will try. Right now, I can’t promise any more than that.” Besides, it went along with his original decision to accept whatever happened. Just because he wasn’t in Hell but just in another dimension, didn’t change the fact that he still felt that he deserved to be punished. “I can’t expect any more than that. Now, we’re going to go shopping. We weren’t expecting company, so we’re going to need some supplies. If you see something you like, don’t hesitate to let us know.” Pulling into a parking lot, they found a space. As Darryl turned the car off, Susan got out, and opening the door on Richard’s side, released him from the car seat. As she picked him up, she said. “Since you don’t have any shoes yet, you’ll have to ride in the cart.” Richard’s heart skipped a beat as the ground dropped away when Susan stood up and he instinctively closed his eyes and grabbed a hold of her shirt with both hands. He had always been afraid of heights. Even stepladders made him nervous. As she turned, Darryl showed up with a shopping cart. She put Richard in the seat and waited for him to let go of her shirt. Once he felt something solid under his butt again, Richard slowly let go of his death grip on her sleeves. As soon as her arms were free again, Susan quickly snapped the strap around Richard securing him in the seat. When Richard opened his eyes again, he had the misfortune of looking downward. When he saw his feet dangling six feet off the ground, he slammed his eyes shut again and grabbed the bars in front of him. His breath began coming in short, fast spurts. He could barely hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears. Susan started to get concerned. She had never seen this kind of reaction before. Fighting to keep herself calm, she began to rub Richard’s arms and back. She called his name in what she hoped was a calm voice. “Richard... Richard... listen to me Richard. You’re ok. You’re ok.” Slowly, the unaccustomed feeling of someone rubbing his back and arms began to register in Richard’s brain. It was unusually comforting. Soon he could hear Susan’s voice. It too, was unusually soothing. Gradually his breathing returned to normal. When he was ready, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her. In her eyes, he saw concern and fear. The fear was soon replaced by relief as she saw him breathing more normally. “See, I told you. You’re ok.” She took a deep breath then continued. “So, don’t like heights, huh?” Richard sadly nodded. “No. Sorry.” “Don’t you ever feel like you have to apologize for something you can’t control. You understand? There’s nothing to be ashamed about.” She chuckled. “At least we know you won’t be climbing out onto the roof any time soon.” At first, he thought she was making fun of him, but decided to let it go. It was then that he noticed an uncomfortable feeling in his diaper. This was much more than the little bit of fear pee he had experienced in the hospital. This felt like he had not only peed a lot more, but he had pooped as well. He was stunned. In all the time he had been wearing and using diapers as an adult, he had always been aware of when he was going. Even at night, he would always wake up and consciously let it go. He didn’t know how to feel about this. On the one hand, it was every ABDL’s dream. On the other hand, it was another kind of losing control. Every time he lost control, he did something stupid and messed up his life. Like losing jobs, losing friends, breaking things. He hated himself for it, but couldn’t seem to stop it. Since she was watching him, Susan saw his face go from thoughtful, to shocked, to angry. She was about to ask him what he was thinking when she caught an unmistakable smell. “I think somebody could use a change.” Richard jumped. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he had almost forgotten she was there. Once he processed what she had said, he blushed again. “Yeah, sorry.” “What did I just tell you about apologizing for what you can’t control? As far as I know, that is a body’s natural reaction to extreme fear. You haven’t been here long enough or been regressed to the point where you’re incontinent. Either way, it was completely out of your control and there’s no need to apologize for it. You got me, mister?” When he nodded, she went on. “Good. Now, unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a little bit for that change. We need to get everything inside. Can you handle waiting for a little while?” After another nod from Richard, she continued. “Excellent. Then let’s go on in. If you find yourself thinking too much about how high you are, either focus on me or something far away.” Darryl took a shaky breath. “I’ll follow you in just a minute. I want to make sure the car is locked.” He was shaken and confused. He was used to making split second life or death decisions in his job. He had faced down the worst society could throw at him and always knew just what needed to be done. So why had he completely frozen when that whole situation with Richard had played out? He had seen Richard panicking, and had no clue how to help him. His mind had gone completely blank. He wasn’t sure how he would do it, but he was going to make sure that never happened again. Double checking all the doors, he followed them into the store. ------------------- Checking the overhead signs, Susan made a beeline for the Little’s section. The first thing she needed to do was get the supplies needed to get Richard out of that messy diaper. She quickly found the wipes, baby oil and powder, before going to the diaper aisle. “See anything you like?” Richard was stunned at the sheer quantity of diapers in the aisle. The whole aisle on both sides was filled with all kinds and colors of diapers. He sat there, mouth agape, with no idea how he could possibly choose from so many. Susan smiled at the shocked expression on his face. Then she remembered what she had seen while they were at the hospital. Richard had a couple of tattoos, and one of them was something she had seen before. A quick look down the aisle and she found what she had in mind. She grabbed a package and held them up for Richard to see. “Dragons?! How’d you...?” “I saw your tattoo at the hospital. I figure they must be something pretty special to you for you to go through the pain of getting a tattoo.” For the first time since getting to this dimension Richard smiled. “I do love dragons, remind me to tell you the story of that tattoo sometime.” “You can tell me while we get you changed.” Putting everything in the cart, she started pushing it towards the back of the store. When they got to the family restroom, she stopped and checked the door. Finding it unlocked and the room empty, she opened the package of diapers. Taking one out, she grabbed the wipes, oil and powder. Stacking them together, she put them next to Richard. “Remember how I said that sometimes you will have to just trust us?” She asked. Richard nodded. “This is one of those times. Go ahead and grab that stuff.” When he did, she slowly picked him up, keeping the stack of supplies wedged between them. Keeping one hand on his back, she slid the other under his butt to support him. When she reached the door, she whispered in his ear. “Now, grab onto my shirt and hold on tight.” When she felt he was ready, she took her hand off of his back and opened the door. As soon as it was wide enough, she slipped in, returning her hand to his back after locking the door. Once she had him over the changing table, she gave him a little tap. “You can let go now.” “You sure?” “Absolutely. Go ahead and let go.” Once he did, she sat him on the table. “See? Nothing to it. Now, keep your eyes on me. Ok?” moving the supplies to the side, she gently slid Richard further onto the table. “Now I need you to lie back for me sweetie. That’s it. Would you like me to put the safety strap on?” When he nodded, she locked the strap snugly around his chest. “There you go. Safe and sound. Now, why don’t you tell me that story about your tattoo?” He proceeded to tell her how he had originally planned to get a necklace made of the design. But when he got to where it could be made for him, he found out it was more than he expected. Telling them he would think about it, he wandered around the market. Turning a corner, he saw a tattoo artist. Figuring what the heck, he went in and asked how much it would cost to get a tattoo of the design. When he found out it was a lot cheaper than the necklace, he decided to go ahead and get the tattoo. He had them put it high up on his arm so it could be easily hidden. Since, although tattoos were getting more popular, they were still frowned upon in most work environments. By the time he was finished with his tale, she was taping the new diaper in place. Although he had felt every part of the change, since he had been focused on his tale, he hadn’t really thought about what she was doing. He smiled and chuckled. “You sly dog, you got me monologuing.” Susan finished putting Richard’s pants back on. “Is that a quote from something?” Unbuckling the strap, Susan had Richard sit up. “Yeah. A movie I liked from my dimension. It’s from when the hero gets the villain to talk all about their plans in order to distract them.” “We’ll have to see if we can find it. And you have to admit, it did distract you.” She smiled. “Now, you ready to go do some shopping?” repeating their balancing act, they left the restroom and returned to the cart. When Richard was again secured in the seat, they went back to the Littles department. There they found Darryl. He had acquired another cart and filled it with furniture. Richard saw boxes for a crib, a changing table, baby gates, a diaper pail, and another couple boxes Richard couldn’t see well enough to read. Richard began to get distressed. He couldn’t stand to be a burden on anyone, and here they were buying all this stuff because of him. How could he ever repay them for it? Once again, he felt like he was taking advantage of the generosity of others. This time it was Darryl who saw the brooding look building on Richard’s face. Moving closer, he got his attention. “Hey bud. What’s going on in that noggin of yours?” Richard didn’t know how to answer. He had been taught it wasn’t polite to ask anyone about their finances. He started to get angry at himself again. He couldn’t do anything right. He couldn’t even answer a straightforward question. “Let me see if I can guess. OK? You tell me if I'm right.” Seeing that he had Richard’s attention, he continued. “I’m going to guess that you’re worried about how much all of this is going to cost.” “How did you know?” “It isn’t hard when you’ve been in Law Enforcement as long as I have. You learn to read people and see what they don’t want you to see. You started to get upset when you saw the everything in the cart. Since you used to take care of yourself, you probably have a decent grasp of about how much stuff can cost. Put those two together, and you really only have one possibility. Make sense?” “I guess so.” “Now, to address that concern of yours. As your foster parents, we get fully reimbursed for any and all expenses relating to your care. So, you don’t have to feel like a burden on us.” He paused. “That last part is how I would feel if I were in your place. Trust me, I do understand.” Sensing he was done, Susan chimed in. “So, shall we continue our little shopping spree? "Grabbing the cart, she jauntily headed back to the diaper aisle. After picking up two more packages of the dragon patterned diapers, she turned to Richard. “Ok. What else do you like besides dragons? And no dodging by saying there isn’t anything else. If you don’t give me some ideas, I’m going to pick stuff at random and you never know what you might be wearing.” She picked up a package of the brightest pink, frilliest princess diapers. “So, what’s it going to be? A whole bunch of things you like, or a whole bunch of things you may or may not like? Either way we need to stock up, and you’re getting a whole bunch of something.” She waved the princess diapers in the air, raising her eyebrows playfully. Richard sighed. Apparently, they were determined to go all out. “I like cars, music, books, knives and swords, movies...” He trailed off, seeing a surprised look on her face. “Did I do something wrong?” “Oh, no sweetie. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Putting the package back on the shelf, she gave Richard a hug. “You have no idea how lucky you were to end up here.” She laughed at his confused look. “I’m a librarian. But we can talk more about that later. Back to business. I don’t think we’ll find anything with knives and swords, but I think there’s enough to work with in the rest of your list.” Going up and down the aisle, she scooped up multiple packages of several kinds of diapers. Some had with cars on them, some had different musical instruments with music notes around them, and one with all kinds of baby animals on them. She held up the last kind before putting them in the cart. “Do you mind? I know you didn’t mention this, but they are just too cute." When he nodded his consent, she put them in. Then she selected several packages that were various solid colors. Going to the next aisle, she proceeded to toss in bottles of soap, shampoo, bubble bath, and something Richard was unable to make out. Followed quickly by what could only be a diaper bag, several baby bottles, sippy cups, and pacifiers. Then more wipes, powder, and baby oil. “Perfect. Now some clothes.” That was when Darryl realized that they would never be able to fit everything in Susan’s car. Calling his office, he arranged to have someone bring his SUV over. That taken care of, he went up front to have them hold the cart of furniture and grab another. If he knew Susan, and he did, they were going to need it. By the time he rejoined them in the clothing section, she had already selected half a dozen onesies, a couple of footed sleepers, several pairs of pants, two packages of socks, and was currently going through the t-shirts. He pulled next to the cart where Richard had a look of pure bewilderment. Nudging him, Darryl chuckled. “I gather you’ve never gone ‘shopping’ before. Believe me, this made her day. She loves this kind of thing. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a smart shopper. She’s amazing at stretching a budget. But, since she has free reign right now, she’s going to enjoy every minute of it.” Coming back with her arms full of t-shirts, she noticed the new cart. Dumping the shirts in it, she turned to Darryl. “Thank you Honey. You always seem to know what I need, when I need it. Would you mind pushing this one while I push the one with Richard? We just need to get some food, and a surprise” Here, she took her time. Reading every package carefully. She grabbed some formula, some kind of fruit juice, and a variety of something called ‘Little Meals’. When they got to the snack section, she stopped. “Can you handle cookies or crackers?” “As long as they are soft or crumble easily.” Grabbing a couple kinds of each, she put them in the cart. They had just started going towards the back of the store, when Susan saw Abby in the frozen food aisle. She called out to her. “Abby!” Turning and seeing Susan, she headed over. When she saw Richard, she practically squealed. “Oh my god! Sue! Is this the ‘something’ that came up? He’s adorable!” By this time, Richard had been trying to figure out how to get his hands on the cookies. Having only had the one cookie today, he was still very hungry. Only the safety strap stopped him from flying out of the cart when he whipped his head back up at the shout. He started shaking. Feeling the cart rock, Susan quickly reached for Richard. Seeing a wild look in his eyes that she didn’t like, she started to comfort him. “It’s ok Sweetie. I got you. Don’t worry about Abby, she’s harmless.” “W-What did she just call you?” Confused, she paused. “Sue. Oh my! That’s right! We never told you what my name is did we? I’m so sorry. My name is Susan. My close friends call me Sue.” Richard began shaking his head. “It can’t be.” He said to himself. “Too many coincidences. It’s too perfect. I must be dead after all.” His thoughts became a jumble, once again spiraling into the darkness. Susan didn’t catch all of what he said, but she did catch that last sentence. She had no idea why her name should cause this kind of reaction, but she knew she had to stop this fast. Grabbing his head, she got right in his face. “Richard! Richard! Look at me!” When he met her eyes, she continued. “You are not dead! Remember? You are just in another dimension! Remember? Look at me! Remember?” Two things penetrated the darkness surrounding him. The feel of her hands on his face, and the sound of her voice. Gradually, they brought him back to reality. He knew he could trust her. Her and Darryl. He thought about her smile. How it lit up her whole face. Especially when she smiled at him. He thought about how Darryl had tried to protect him from the start. Made sure he was taken care of. Once the darkness had receded, he looked at Susan with tears in his eyes. He couldn’t mistake the fear and concern on her face. “I'm so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you worry! I’m just so... stupid... Stupid... Stupid!” He punctuated each ‘stupid’ with blows to his head with both hands. “Hey!” She shouted, grabbing his hands. “Stop That! You are not stupid!” Lowering his hands to his lap, she continued in a quieter but still stern voice. “I don’t ever want to see you hit yourself like that again. You are not stupid. You are a very intelligent man stuck in a very unusual and confusing situation.” She brushed his cheek. “That’s what Darryl and I are here for. To help you through an often-difficult transition to a new life.” “Really?” “Yes. Really. Now, do you think you can tell me why my name affected you like that?” “My mother’s name was Sue. It was short for Suzanne. She was the one who got me into reading.” Susan and Darryl glanced at each other. “Richard, do you believe in Fate? Can you accept that sometimes things happen for a reason?” “Maybe.” “I believe it. From the first moment I saw you, I knew we were meant to be together.” Grabbing a tissue from her purse, she wiped his eyes and nose. “Can you do me a favor from now on? Whenever you see something that looks like a huge coincidence, will you tell me about it? Now, let’s say hi to Abby. She’s freaking out over there.” “OK.” Together they turned to Abby, who immediately began to apologize. “I am so, so sorry. I don’t know what I did to set him off like that...” “Abby, relax. It’s nothing you did.” Susan interrupted. “This poor guy has had a rough couple of days and it’s starting to catch up with him. Richard, this is Abby. She and I work together sometimes. Abby, this is Richard.” Richard held out his hand. “Hello Abby. It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry I made you worried.” “My, how polite.” She took his hand and gently shook it. “Hello Richard. It’s alright. I understand. Can we still be friends?” “I don’t see any reason why not.” She smiled. “You really are adorable. Thank you, I can’t wait to get together again.” She turned to Susan. “Don't worry about calling, you have enough on your plate.” She gave Susan a hug, whispering in her ear. “We definitely need to talk. I have got to hear his story.” Letting Susan go, she waved to Darryl. “Hi Darryl, good to see you.” She took a step back. “Well, I should get going.” She waved to Richard. “See you later, ok?” Richard waved back. “Ok.” When she turned and headed back down the aisle, Susan and Darryl again started toward the back of the store. Richard just stared into space. An idea had begun forming in his mind, but he was afraid to acknowledge it. Every other time he had tried to figure out why this was happening to him, he had been wrong. He didn’t want to be wrong this time. This idea actually gave him some hope. When the cart stopped, he looked up. Susan was looking at him. Unsure what was expected, he looked around. They were in an aisle filled with stuffed animals of all kinds. His eyes misted. He wouldn’t have admitted it to most people back home, but he had missed the stuffed bear he was used to sleeping with. Looking over the various animals, he caught sight of something about half way down the aisle. His jaw dropped. Remembering his promise, he turned back to Susan. “Susan, I just saw another coincidence.” “Really? Where?” “About half way down the aisle. There’s a gold dragon that looks like it’s got it’s wing around a white bear.” Moving the cart closer, she asked, “What makes this a coincidence?” “Two reasons. First, do you know what a spirit guide is?” When she nodded, he continued. “I’ve been following a spiritual path that in my world is called Wicca. When I first started, I believed I had a spiritual guide named Twilith Ardea. She was a gold dragon. Second, for many years, I’ve had a white teddy bear that I slept with every night. He looked a lot like that one.” “What was his name?” “Polonius.” “Well, I guess that means we need to take both of them with us.” Grabbing the two plushies, she put them on either side of Richard. “Shall we go check out?” Richard looked around. “Darryl already headed up.” On the way to the registers, Richard had his arms around the two plushies, and a small smile on his face. Maybe, just maybe, that new idea was right. Maybe he could have some hope after all.

I love this idea. Since Jamie is one of the reasons I started writing Damaged Goods, I feel that I have to give this a go.

Lucky me, the creative juices kept flowing. So you all get a Thanksgiving present. This may also be my longest update yet. I hope you enjoy it. Once inside, Richard was gently transferred to a bed in an exam room specifically for Littles. The ambulance crew passed on what they did for him at the scene and during transport, then left. The nurse began recording Richard’s vital information. The bed had a built-in scale to get the weight and measurements along the side for his height. She unwrapped the blanket and removed the gauze around his privates. Her practiced eye noted the slight rash from being too long in an over wet diaper. She took his blood pressure before gently rolling him onto his side. Grabbing a temperature probe from the wall by the bed, she carefully spread his butt cheeks and slowly inserted the plastic sleeved probe. With her hand still on his hip, she was able to keep him from flinching away from the intrusion. The whole process was continuing to wear away at his calm façade. He almost said something about the probe, but it was done and removed before he could. When he was rolled back onto his back, the sheriff entered the room with a woman. Since the two were holding hands, Richard figured they had to be a couple of some kind, although he had no clue why she would be here. She looked nervous and determined at the same time. As for Susan, as soon as she walked into the room, she felt a surge of emotions she had never experienced before. It was a kind of love very different from what she felt for Darryl. Somehow it encompassed a fierce protectiveness, and a tinge of sadness that she hadn’t known him sooner. Underneath it all, there was a certainty that this was meant to be. Darryl felt the hand holding his tighten. He squeezed back to reassure her. He felt pity for this poor man who could never have prepared himself for what had happened to him. He also felt a strong desire to protect him. He told himself it was his duty as sheriff and a representative of LPS. It couldn’t be anything else. Men didn’t go Little crazy. He didn’t know that he had fallen for Richard as soon as he had seen him sitting in that crate. Each of them was snapped out of their thoughts when the doctor came in asking in a too loud voice: “Who’s responsible for this Little?” Richard almost jumped out of his skin it sounded so loud to him. Darryl spoke up at a more reasonable volume. “I am Doctor. I am acting as a representative of Little Protection Services.” He quickly checked his notes. “This is an accidental portal transfer by the name of Richard Carson. He arrived yesterday, most likely in the early afternoon. The woman who originally found him removed his clothing, diapered him and then put him in a dog crate. We were tipped off by an anonymous source this afternoon. When we investigated the residence, we found him still in the crate, wearing what was probably the same diaper he was first put in. As far as I know, he hasn’t spoken yet, but he has shown signs that he understands what is said to him. We need a full exam to ensure there was no abuse and to determine what care he may need prior to any possible adoption.” Richard had finally decided that he hadn’t died in a car accident. As a long time reader of Science Fiction, he understood the concept of portals. Of course, he never expected them to be real. As soon as he heard the word ‘adoption’ he knew he would have to start paying attention to what was going on. Even though he was giving up on passively accepting what happened to him, he was determined to not lose his temper ever again. He would be polite to a fault. “Um, excuse me, did you just say adoption?” The question itself wouldn’t have been unusual from any new Little. What wasn’t so common was how calmly and politely it was asked. Most Portal Littles, especially those who hadn’t chosen to come here, reacted much more vehemently. Usually with a lot of cursing and fighting. Richard’s gentle question had the unexpected consequence of getting everyone’s attention. Darryl was the first to recover. “Yes, I did say adoption. As someone new to our world, you wouldn’t be able to adjust well enough to be independent. You will need someone to watch over you and help you adapt to life here. Adoption is the best way to protect you and those who take on that responsibility.” He felt a little bad about skirting the whole truth, but now was not the time for full disclosure. He didn’t have to see the look his wife gave him to know how she felt about it. He squeezed her hand again wordlessly asking her to trust him. He turned again to the doctor. “Would you please explain what you are doing as you go, Doctor? That way we can all understand the process and no one will have any unnecessary concerns.” “Very well then.” The doctor began, approaching Richard. “First as you requested, we will perform a full physical exam looking for any signs of trauma consistent with abuse or neglect.” He proceeded to do a thorough, yet gentle inspection of every square inch of Richard’s body. He then proceeded to examine whatever insides he could access with the varied probes and scopes available to him. Apart from an occasional ‘turn your head, please’ or ‘stay still, please’ he didn’t ask Richard any questions or even talk directly to him. When he was finished, he turned back to Darryl. “There is no sign of abuse. There is a minor rash from the neglected diaper, but no other signs of neglect. He has no teeth, but judging by the state of his gums and palate, they were removed long before he got to our dimension. I can’t be sure, but based on his overall physical condition, the gray in what’s left of his hair, and other factors, I would place his chronological age somewhere in his 70’s. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed elsewhere.” While Darryl was listening to the doctor, Susan was watching to see how Richard would react to the doctor’s apparent disregard for his ability to answer such simple questions as his age and personal history. She didn’t miss the flash of anger that crossed Richard’s face that was just as quickly replaced by resignation. Though she appreciated Richard’s discretion for not verbally lashing out at the doctor, she wondered at how quickly he seemed to roll over and take the insult. If it had been her, she would have been livid. Once the doctor had gone, leaving the nurse to finish up, Susan turned to Darryl. “May I go talk to him? I think it might help.” “It’s fine with me, Honey. Just ask the nurse if it’s alright.” By this time, the nurse was already putting a fresh diaper on Richard. When the first one had been put on him by Elena, he had been unconscious. Now that he was awake for it, the thoughts and emotions crashing through his head were terrifying both in their strength and complexity. He was scared, embarrassed, confused, but also excited and happy. “So, this is what it’s like.” He thought. The nurse was quick and efficient, and before Richard could fully process the experience, it was over. Though he was glad to once again be covered, he found himself mildly disappointed. He wasn’t sure what he had expected, but he knew that this wasn’t it. He couldn’t readily define what was lacking, but deep inside, he knew something was missing. He immediately decided that he was the problem. His eyes began to burn, but he refused to let himself cry. He didn’t deserve that kind of release. Before his thoughts could begin to really spiral down, he felt a gentle tap on his right shoulder. Looking over, he saw the woman who had been with the sheriff. She had taken a chair and moved it next to the bed. There was a smile on her face, and a mischievous, knowing look in her eyes. “Hey sweetie, is this seat taken?” When Richard didn’t respond, she cocked her head. If anything, her smile got even bigger. “Yes, I’m talking to you. Is this seat taken?” “Not that I know of.” “Thank you, then do you mind if I sit here?” “It’s not like I can stop you.” Susan mock pouted. “Oh, don’t be like that. I just want to sit and have a chat with you. May I?” Richard sighed. “Sure.” “Thank you.” Sitting down, Susan fought the urge to take his hand. Instead, she put her hands in her lap. “Now then. I saw how you reacted when the doctor gave his assessment. How old are you really?” Richard looked down at his lap. “Fifty-five.” Susan glanced at the nurse. With a small smile, the nurse grabbed the file and wrote that down. She had never liked the way the doctor acted with the Littles, but she didn’t dare contradict him. This way she was getting the information they needed without jeopardizing her job. Facing Richard again, Susan went on. “Why does that bother you? That’s not so old.” “Where I’m from it is. Especially in my family. Most of my relatives died in their seventies from Alzheimer’s. I figure I have at most another twenty years. By then I’ll be no better than a drooling baby.” “Oh, Sweetheart. In our world that’s barely middle aged. Heck, with our medical technology, I’m sure we can figure out how to fix that ...Alzheimer's you called it? What else did the doctor not find out about by not asking you directly?” “Well, I need glasses to see properly. Without them everything is blurry.” “Oh yeah!” Said Darryl. Both Susan and Richard looked at him. He started pulling something from his shirt pocket. “I grabbed these from your car. I completely forgot I had them.” He handed a small pair of glasses to Richard, who put them on. “Thanks. It’s nice to see more clearly again.” Susan resumed her gentle questioning. “Is that something that can be corrected in your world without glasses?” “If you can afford it. Laser surgery can reshape the cornea, but it’s expensive. I could barely afford the glasses.” This time the nurse spoke up. “Is there anything you’re allergic to?” “I might be allergic to Penicillin, but I’m not sure. Since it might kill me, I’ve never been given it. Other than that, nothing that I know of.” “And Penicillin is a...” “It’s an antibiotic. Made from bread mold if I remember correctly.” Susan again took up the questioning. “One more question, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” She paused, unsure how to ask it. Finally, she decided to just be blunt. “This isn’t your first time wearing diapers as an adult is it? I mean in your own dimension as well.” Richard started to blush. Very few people knew about that side of him. “How did you know?” “Two things really. Mainly it was the fact that you didn’t fight it when the nurse diapered you. The other is that you haven’t tried to cover them up since. Nobody gets that comfortable with them that quickly. Did you wear them in your world for medical reasons or...?” She stopped, hoping she didn’t push him too far. Without realizing it, Richard crossed his arms, ducked his head, and pulled his knees up. “It started for medical reasons.” “And now?” “Now I like them.” “Thank you so much Sweetheart. You can relax now. There are no more questions for now.” “Actually, if you don’t mind, I have a few questions. First and foremost, what happens now?” He looked at Darryl. “You mentioned having to find someone to ‘adopt’ me. What do I do in the meantime?” Clearing his throat, Darryl answered as best he could. “Well, once the release paperwork is taken care of, we can get out of here.” He looked to the nurse, who took the hint and went to start the process. “After that, you’ll be fostered. Since we don’t really have a foster system set up in Seiling Falls for Littles, that means you’ll be staying with me and my wife here.” Susan’s heart leaped at hearing that. She had hoped that would be the case, but couldn’t be sure. Then she started to worry. There was so much they needed to do. They needed to get supplies, get a nursery set up, Darryl’s hand on her shoulder, brought her back to the ground. She put her hand on his and smiled up at him. They lapsed into silence, each absorbed by their own thoughts, waiting for the paperwork that would let them leave.

Surprisingly, I couldn't seem to stop writing. So I have yet another update for you. I hope you enjoy it. Sometime during the night, he had no idea what time it was as there was no clock, Richard woke up desperately needing to pee. He looked at the latched gate. He thought that he might have been able to get it open, but by the time he did, it would be too late anyway. So he tried to relax and just let it go into the diaper. Having experimented with adult diapers, he didn't have too much trouble. However, these apparently weren't the best quality and quickly became saturated. With a small sigh, he again lay down. Not even the clammy weight of the well used diaper or the endless loop of negative thoughts kept him awake for long. He fell into a restless sleep filled with nightmare images of all the sordid descriptions of Hell. When he woke up again, it was to the sound of Lily putting a bowl just inside the crate. She quickly closed and latched the gate and left. When it became obvious she wasn't going to come back and change the diaper, Richard crawled over to the bowl, the heavy diaper almost hanging off of him. After eating the meager breakfast and again wiping his hands on the towel, he went back to the far corner. Carefully sitting again, he stared at the bars in front of him and let his mind wander. Throughout the morning he drifted in and out of sleep. He was dozing again when he heard the door open. Slowly looking up, Richard saw a very large man in what looked like a uniform. The man leaned back out the door and called out. "Sheriff! You need to see this!" Soon, another man came in. Richard looked up, guessing he must be the sheriff. He was dressed similar to the other man, but had more of an air of authority. Figuring that this was just another addition to his punishment, Richard returned to staring at the bars, missing the flash of anger on the sheriff's face. Richard heard the man talk to the other, who must be a deputy. He didn't bother to pay attention to the words though. The sheriff then left the room. The deputy grabbed his radio. Richard wondered if he should pay attention to him, but decided it didn't matter. What would happen would happen whether he paid attention or not. The deputy's words washed over him barely registering. After several minutes of the deputy moving around the room, Richard heard something that did catch his attention. The deputy had opened the gate to the crate. He was crouched by the opening, obviously unsure how to proceed. With another sigh, Richard slowly crawled over to the gate. He figured it was better than the man either trying to reach all the way into the crate or tipping it up. Either way, Richard knew he was getting out. The man gently picked Richard up, holding him out so that the now dripping diaper didn't get his uniform wet. He looked around for a moment before sitting Richard on top of the crate. Keeping one hand on him, to prevent him falling, the deputy grabbed the towel from the crate. He then wrapped the towel around the leaking diaper and moved Richard to the floor. Opening the towel, he untaped the diaper and put the sodden mess in an evidence bag. He looked around for more diapers, but didn't see any. Shrugging his shoulders, he wrapped the towel back around Richard's waist. Richard wasn't sure why the man didn't say anything to him, but he clearly looked nervous. Deciding to let sleeping dogs lie, he kept silent as well. Soon they both heard the muted sound of sirens coming nearer. The deputy breathed a small sigh of relief. Littles and children made him nervous. He didn't know how to interact with either one. The sooner someone else took over with this little guy, the better as far as he was concerned. Richard, on the other hand, was getting more scared. He had no idea what was happening. As far as he knew, he would be going from one kind of Hell to another. Despite his earlier resolve, his fear was starting to get the better of him. Though the room wasn't cold, he started shivering. The deputy just didn't notice as he was watching the door for the arrival of the medics. When they came in, the deputy practically jumped out of the way. He didn't forget to tell them how he found Richard, and what he did to help him. The ambulance crew were well trained and immediately went to work assessing Richard's condition and needs. They replaced the dirty towel with plenty of gauze until they got him to the hospital and he could be put in a proper diaper. They took his vitals and reported them to the hospital. Noting the shivering, they wrapped him up in a blanket. It wasn't more than ten minutes before they were ready to transport him. Rather than try getting the gurney through the hallway, they elected to carry him out of the room. They strapped him down in the front room and carefully wheeled him out the front door. The sheriff met up with them as they were loading the gurney into the ambulance. Once they had everything locked into place, the sheriff climbed in and the driver closed the door. Richard looked around. It was very much like any other ambulance he had been in, though much larger to him. He had noticed that the sheriff had climbed in, but couldn't fathom why. Shortly after they started moving, the sheriff did something that started to shake Richard's Hell theory. He spoke to him. "Richard. I know everything is strange and scary to you right now, but I need you to understand that we are here to help you." He put his hand gently on Richard's leg. "You need to trust me for a little while. I'm here to make sure you are properly cared for. If you understand me, just nod your head." Richard, unsure what to believe, slowly nodded. His mind was spinning in circles. If he was dead and in Hell, he could sort of understand what was happening to him. But nothing he knew about Hell even hinted at anyone there wanting to help him. So, that left two possibilities. One, that he had died and been reincarnated. That didn't work since he doubted that he would reincarnate looking exactly like he did before. That left the other possibility. That he wasn't dead, and was who knows where. That was the one that scared him the most, because that made everything that had happened recently make no sense at all. Soon the ambulance pulled to a stop, and the door was opened. The sheriff jumped out. The gurney was then unhooked and pulled from the ambulance. Richard was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he didn't notice the sheriff stop to talk to an approaching woman. He didn't even look around as he was wheeled into the emergency room.

They are mainly just intelligent and caring people. As Sheriff, Darryl is required to know the full extent of his responsibility. As for Susan, there is more happening than she knows. Much will be explained later, but suffice to say that the Goddess provides what Her children need wherever they may be, but not necessarily what they want. And thank you again everyone for your support. It really helps me to keep going on this.