TheUnknownAuthor

This is a Rom-Com starring Jennifer Lawrence where she's hired by a 19 year old's parents to date him in order for him to come out of his shell before he heads off to college. When she first attempts to seduce him, he ends up getting so anxious that he breaks out in a rash all over his torso and as she's putting cream on his rash, they start talking about why he's so socially awkward and after he shares his story, she tells him about the time she went to a Halloween party as a baby when she was 21 and when she was about to hook up with her crush they both discovered she had diaper rash and they have a little exchange about it. Nothing Earth shattering, but interesting nonetheless.

I truly am history's greatest monster, huh? I'm honored to have been your first *official* follower, that means that I am in fact streets ahead when it comes to recognizing greatness! The pull to race to the finish line will always be there, but kudos to you for keeping the urge at bay, I know how hard it is, especially when you have something you're working on that you're proud of and enjoy working on, but I also know how bad it feels when you do rush and the finished product isn't true to your original vision, so hold on and be strong and you'll finish when you finish and everyone will shower you with praise, I'm positive of it. Thank you so much for the new chapter, it's a delight as always! Also, glad you're feeling recharged after your vacation, mind and body at peak for success and happiness and all of that.

I adore this story! It's not just that it's well written and clearly planned out, though that is a huge positive, but it's that it's paced so well that we, the audience, have our anticipation built to such heights that we're on pins and needles for what comes next. Speaking as someone that is absolutely guilty of doing it, racing to the point that we all know is coming to some degree because of the content of the story leaves a lot of the nuance you've got here by the wayside and makes for a less satisfying story. You're building such a compelling narrative that the journey is the hero, not the conclusion, and I really cannot emphasize how wonderful a job you're doing. I hope all is well with you and that you know that eagerness from invested readers is in no way an indication of impatience with you or the length of time between installments of your story. You truly have a great talent and I am very excited to see not only what more you have in store here but in future stories you write.

You're quite welcome! To answer your question, it's very common to feel sad that your story is ending IF you're enjoying writing it or your characters or setting or whatever else, trust me I've had stories I couldn't wait to finish working on for various reasons but I've also had stories that I've looked back at numerous times and thought about ways to revisit/continue them because I liked them so much, so it really just depends on whether it's working for you as the author. No matter what you feel towards your own work, your feelings are valid and there is no reason to think they are anything bu positive to be experiencing.

@OlympiczeroI've been trying to come up with the right words to put here to accomplish two things, the first is to adequately convey just how impressive the work you've done with this story is and the second is to not embarrass myself by fangirling all over you for entire paragraphs in the process, it's gonna be tough, not gonna lie. To preface all of this, I am not, historically speaking, the biggest fan of physical regression stories, but you’ve lovingly crafted a story that is so charming and compelling that I genuinely find myself excited to see a new chapter because of how well you've managed to draw things out to the point where my expectations are continually subverted without ever feeling forced or frustrating, which is very easy to have happen when a story goes on long enough. Your incorporation of magic/paranormal elements as the catalyst for the events of the story in a way that feels grounded and believable is, I think, the most impressive thing here, because it's very easy to have things become bombastic because magic and yet you keep things centered and realistic and I absolutely adore it and wish I had the ability to keep such discipline and focus in my own writing. The only problem I have is that I know this story will end at some point and despite it being one of the best and most satisfying reads on this board in a while, I will somehow still feel like I didn't get enough. Fantastic work all around, thank you for all your hard work and for sharing your talent with us.

So, this is possibly....probably, the last thing I'll be writing. Life has gotten to be a little too much to afford me free time and thought to be creative and I feel like it's probably a sign that I need to hang up my...laptop I guess. Anyway, should this be the last thing I contribute, I apologize it wasn't a better piece, but hopefully someone will enjoy it. Thank you to anyone and everyone that's read my work over the years, thank you to those that shared their like of my work and thank you for those that shared their dislike of my work, all feedback is useful if presented in a constructive way, it's just how you choose to interpret it that counts. To anyone just starting out as a writer, keep trying. Even if something you write gets no feedback, write for yourself, if you have something interesting to say, your audience will find you. Don't be afraid to be weird and push concepts, if it's something that sparks creativity in you, it's great even if it's crap. You will write bad stories and people may tear them apart, though by and large people here are very helpful and encouraging, but for every bad story you write you have an opportunity to add to your writer's toolbox and become better than you were when you wrote that stinker. I'm not a great writer and I've started more stories than I've finished in my time, but I've written a number of things that I'm very proud of and I'm happy that I pursued this path. Goodbye and good luck, everyone. ❤️ With A Little Help From My Friend By: The Unknown Author Misty was a sweet girl, sweet enough to make every attempt to make a woman fifteen years her senior feel welcome at her new job, include her in conversations and the like. At almost forty, I’d all but given up trying to understand the younger generation, their way of speaking may as well have been a foreign language half the time, their struggles were ones that I’d long since overcome, and finding common ground was often an exercise in me feeling too old to live and them seeming like children to me, but, as I said, Misty was a sweet girl and I found myself looking forward to being around her. “Yeah, my daughter loves it!” Gina, another early twenties member of the team said as I entered the break room. Misty nodded, “It’s amazing!” she chirped happily. I smiled at them both as I crossed the room to fill my coffee cup. “Have you seen Greeny?” Misty asked. I shook my head, “What’s that?” I asked, completely oblivious to what she was referring to. “It’s this cartoon about a green cat named Greeny and her family.” Gina piped up, “My daughter loves it.” she repeated. I looked at Misty, she was twenty three, chubby and short and had such a bubbly personality that I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw her smile, and she was smiling the happiest smile I’d ever seen her have in my short time knowing her. “Isn’t your daughter like three?” I asked Gina. The Latina mother nodded, “Almost four.” she said. I filled my cup and went to the empty chair at the table and pulled it out, taking a sip of my coffee as I sat down, “So, it’s a baby show?” I asked. Misty’s smile turned into what can only be described as a pout, her chubby cheeks flushing as she looked down at her hands in her lap, “It’s not only for babies.” she mumbled. I felt immediate regret at my choice of words, “Hey,” I said, “I’m an old lady, what do I know?!” I joked, trying to bring Misty back to her usual happy self. The blonde shrugged slightly but remained quiet. I sighed softly, “Why don’t I watch it this weekend and give you a full report about it afterward?” I offered. She looked up at me like I’d just unloaded a truck full of Christmas presents in front of her, “You could come to my place and watch it.” she offered. A genuine invite to a personal get together was rare, to date all I’d gotten was offers to meet with groups of coworkers at a bar or restaurant after work, “Okay, should I bring anything?” I asked. Misty shook her head vehemently, “Just yourself and an appetite!” she chirped excitedly. The conversation moved on from there to actors and musicians I didn’t know and shows I hadn’t watched and I faded back into the scenery before ultimately leaving, wondering if going to Misty’s place was such a good idea after all. ********** I’d ignored Misty’s declination and brought a small cake, thinking that dessert would be a fairly safe thing that no one could be upset if it appeared unexpectedly and parked beneath the metal canopy at the apartments Misty lived in. The weather had turned warmer but hadn’t gotten warm enough just yet, so I’d topped the light dress I’d worn with a light sweater, the cream of the sweater complimenting the purple of the dress. I armed my car’s alarm and followed the walkways and signs to a set of stairs and found the number she’d given me on the door behind the top of the stairs, tucked away in the corner. “You came!” she practically squealed when she opened the door after I’d knocked on it, “And you brought cake!” she added, holding out her hands to receive the plastic container. I handed the cake to her and crossed the threshold once she stepped aside and closed the door behind me. “Take a seat anywhere you want, I’m just putting our snacks into the oven.” she said as she hurried to the kitchen and put the cake into the fridge. I hadn’t had high hopes for the young girl being neat and tidy, and she certainly didn’t disappoint. The couch was a rumpled mess, the carpet had stains of various sizes and colors around the couch and near the kitchen and there were what can only be described as toys all over the floor and small table near the bar of the kitchen. Not wanting to be an overbearing nag, I moved to the bar and set my purse down as I sat on one of the bar stools. “Sorry about the mess, I’m so tired after work that I didn’t have a chance to get around to cleaning up.” she apologized as she read the instructions on a box on the counter. I shrugged despite her not looking at me, “I was your age once, I know how much of a bummer cleaning is when all you want to do is party.” I said with a warm smile. She looked up from the box and returned my smile, “You’re way cooler than you should be.” she said. I chuckled, “Thank you?” I said, turning it into a question. Her cheeks flushed, “I mean, most people your age get all parental with people my age, and you don’t.” she explained. “Not a parent.” I said, “Never married and never had kids.” I added. She dumped the box of chicken nuggets onto a well used baking sheet and stuck it in the oven before setting a timer on her phone, “Did you ever want those things?” she asked. I shook my head, “I always thought of myself as a free spirit.” I said, “I was happiest being able to go anywhere and do anything, or anyone.” I joked, delighting in her giggle and smile, “Being tied to a family like that wasn’t something that ever seemed right.” I added. She nodded softly, “Drink?” she asked after a moment. “Whatchya got?” I asked. She went to the fridge and opened the fridge and freezer doors, “Milk, apple juice, cranberry juice, Vodka.” she recited. I looked at my watch, “It’s a little early for the hard stuff, any water?” I asked. She nodded and grabbed a bottle from the door and set it on the bar in front of me, “I’m glad you came over.” she said. I smiled and sipped the water, “Are you?” I asked. She nodded, “Gina never comes over because of her kid.” she said with a glumness in her tone. I looked around, “With all the toys, she’d probably have a blast.” I teased. Her cheeks pinked, “It’s not that bad, is it?” she asked, standing on her tiptoes to look beyond the bar to the living room. “I guess you’re lucky I don’t have that mom energy, otherwise I’d have you pick up, young lady.” I joked before taking a sip of my water. Her blush deepened, “I’m sorry.” she said quietly, avoiding my gaze. I sighed softly, “Hey, it was just a joke, Misty, relax.” I said. She hazarded a glance up to my eyes, “You’re not mad?” she asked. “Because you didn’t clean up for my benefit?” I asked, “It’s your house, Misty, you can keep it however you like.” I said. Her smile returned and she checked her phone, “Wanna watch a Greeny before the nugs are done?” she asked eagerly. I smiled at her and nodded. She scurried to the couch and flopped down, looking over at me expectantly before patting the cushion beside her. I got up and joined her on the couch as she turned on the TV and navigated through the list of apps and streaming services, landing on one of the many geared toward preschoolers and toddlers. “Someone likes her cartoons.” I mused. She giggled and nodded, “They’re such a simple thing but they make me happy.” she said with a playful shrug, “Same with the toys.” she added. The show was indeed for babies, I learned that in about two and a half seconds of the nine minute runtime of the episode she chose, but my lack of interest in the program and her enthrallment with it allowed me to watch her without her noticing, and a funny thing happened as I watched her. When I met Misty I found her to be a sweet girl, as I said, but she didn’t seem like she belonged in an office, she was giggly and fun and silly and seemed more like an escapee from the office daycare center than a worker, minus her adult proportions. Watching her watching the cartoon allowed me to see much more of that, her eyes transfixed on the colorful images, rarely blinking as she giggled at the jokes and antics of the characters. I felt less like I’d come over to hang out with a coworker and more like a babysitter waiting for my charge’s parents to return, but not at all in a bad way. “Wasn’t that silly?!” she chirped, looking at me eagerly for a response. I looked into her eyes and knew that, at least some part of me, loved this girl, or was at least fascinated by her in a way that wasn’t strictly friendly. I nodded and reached up and stroked her hair, “It was.” I said with a warm smile. Her eyes scanned my own for a moment before she blushed and looked away, “Don’t look at me like that.” she said softly. I pulled my hand down to my lap, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” I started to say before she interrupted. “You can’t look at me like that because it makes me think things that aren’t true.” she said, looking up at me, her eyes as pink as her cheeks. I stared, mouth agape, “What do you think isn’t true?” I asked. She wiped her eyes, “That you like me.” she said softly. My face softened, “But I do like you.” I said, hesitantly putting my hand on her shoulder. She sniffled, “I mean like like me.” she clarified, sounding every bit as young as she’d seemed while watching her cartoon. I swallowed, “What if I did?” I asked, my hand gently caressing her shoulder. She looked at me again, her eyes searching mine, “Do you?” she asked. Her vulnerability caught me off guard and I impulsively closed the distance between us and kissed her lips, keeping my urges as in control as possible and keeping my tongue in my own mouth, but I tasted her in that kiss, a sweet almost candy like flavor from her lip gloss, the faded mint of her toothpaste, the tart of the cranberry juice she’d drank, I kissed her and she kissed me back and when our eyes opened she giggled nervously. “I liked that.” she said simply. I smiled and stroked her chubby cheek as the timer on her phone went off signaling our nuggets were done cooking, “After lunch maybe we can see if there’s anything else you might like.” I said lustily, surprising myself at how aroused I was. She nodded and scurried off to the kitchen to get our food, returning a short time later with two plates of nuggets and a bottle of ketchup under her arm. I took my plate and the offered ketchup and sensibly squirted a little mound of the dipping sauce onto my plate before handing the bottle back to her, watching as she drowned her nuggets in the sauce, giggling and blushing when the bottle made gurgling fart sounds as she squeezed it. Watching her eat reinforced my earlier feeling of babysitting, her fingers slathered with ketchup, little drips of it on her chin, the couch, her shirt, all while she regaled me with synopses of her favorite Greeny episodes of all time, giggling as she repeated the jokes and described the silliness. “Such a messy eater.” I gently chided as she finished her last nugget. She flushed, “I’m not great at multitasking.” she admitted. I nodded and popped my last nugget into my mouth, feeling somehow superior to her with my cleanliness. I didn’t think I was superior to her, but there was something there that served as a divide between us, our age difference seemed to have grown for one, and something inside me felt compelled to explore that, to test it to find how great it had actually become. I took her plate and mine and headed to the kitchen, getting a paper towel and wetting it before returning to find her sucking ketchup from her fingers, “Here, let me help.” I said softly as I knelt down beside her and gently took her hand from her face to wipe it clean, performing the same task with her other hand and then her face, delighting in the blush her cheeks became painted with. “Thank you.” she said quietly. I gave her an affirmative nod before looking at the little red dots on her shirt, “Arms up.” I said as I reached for the bottom of her shirt and began lifting it, exposing the pale flesh of her chubby tummy. She raised her arms slowly but complied nevertheless and in one quick motion her shirt was in my hands as she put her arms down slowly, her hands fidgeting in her lap. “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked. She turned and scooted off the couch and went around me and it to lead the way. The bathroom was in worse shape than the living room, toothpaste in the sink, the tube open and leaking on the rim of the sink, bras hung on the shower bar, the bath mat and towels on the floor near the shower. The smell of urine hung on the air as we entered and I moved to the sink to soak her shirt, and another surge of that superiority washed over me, “Look at this place.” I chided, slightly less gently than I had with the living room, “Someone needs a lesson in cleaning if she wants me to come back in the future.” I said, not exactly warning or threatening but playing into the role I felt I’d been cast into for this particular afternoon. She stood a few feet away, almost in the doorway to the bathroom, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes cast down to the floor as she nodded her understanding. I cleaned the sink enough to feel good about leaving her shirt to soak in it and turned my attention back to her, “Well, I think I’ve seen everything but the bedroom, so let’s go see how messy that is.” I said, smiling as she turned on a dime and hurried to the closed door behind her and hesitantly gripped the knob before opening the door and stepping aside for me to enter first. The urine smell from the bathroom persisted, making my nose wrinkle involuntarily as I searched the wall with my hand for the light switch, the Greeny nightlight below giving off just enough light for me to know I was going to be chastising her once more. Clothes littered the carpet across the room and around the bed, the bedding twisted and wrinkled as though she’d tried and failed to wrap herself in all of it at once and just left it. Various beauty supplies sat haphazardly on the dresser, some still open from the last time she’d used them. “I’m sorry.” she said in a quiet, defeated tone from the doorway, sensing my disappointment. I turned and approached her, feeling our height difference as I lifted her chin and smiled down at her, the foot gap in our height seeming so much greater as she stood half dressed and ashamed before me, “Are you going to clean everything up for me and have it nice and tidy for next time?” I asked. She looked up at me and nodded, “Yes, Ma’am.” she said. A pleasant tingle ran up my spine when she addressed me as an authority figure and I kissed her lips once more before I stroked her cheek and nodded, “I’ll come over the same time next week.” I told her, “If you tidy up like a good girl, you’ll get a special treat.” I said, “But if you don’t tidy up…” I intentionally didn’t finish the statement, leaving her mind to fill in whatever blank she could come up with as I moved past her back to the living room and retrieved my purse. “You’re leaving already?” she asked, her voice thin and on the verge of being whiny with disappointment. I nodded, “You have a lot of work to do and I’d just distract you.” I said with a knowing smile, “Clean things up and maybe I’ll stay longer next time.” I said as I turned to the door, “Maybe I’ll even sleep over.” I added as I let myself out and headed back to my car, intoxicated by the rush of power our little interaction left me with and eager to return the following week. ********** Misty gave no outward sign that anything had happened between us back at work, she was her usual self even when we were alone, and I started to worry that maybe I’d gone too far and she’d decided to cut her losses with me, but she never made an excuse to cancel our standing appointment, never told me not to show up, so I knocked on her door the following weekend with apprehension and uncertainty, half expecting her to be out and to go home disappointed. When the door opened I was taken aback as she launched herself toward me and threw her arms around me, her cheek pressed against my breasts as she squeezed me. “I’m so happy you came back!” she said. I smiled and hugged her back, “Well, I wanted to see your handiwork.” I said, falling back into the role I’d assumed. She let me go and hurried back inside, practically bouncing where she stood as she watched me cross the threshold. The toys were gone, the carpet was clean, the couch was arranged neatly, the kitchen appeared to be devoid of dishes and I was genuinely impressed, “Well, someone was a busy bee, wasn’t she?” I asked as I set my purse down on the bar. She nodded eagerly, “Yes, Ma’am.” she said politely. I smiled at her, “And the bathroom?” I asked. She hurried away toward the bathroom and I followed, delighting in the sight of her standing by the doorway waiting for me to inspect her work. The bathroom was immaculate, towels folded neatly, a clean smell filling my nostrils as I looked this way and that for signs of any of her previous infractions. “One more room.” I said. She crossed the hall and opened her bedroom door and moved aside for me to enter, clean laundry was neatly folded and on the shelf in her closet, the bed was made and the floor was devoid of any kind of garments or items. I turned to her and beamed proudly at her, “Looks like you did a lovely job, sweetie!” I praised, advancing on her and kissing her softly. She gave a little moan of pleasure as her tongue slipped into my mouth and darted back into hers as though she was afraid to show how eager she was for us to kiss more romantically. I stroked her cheek and smiled at her, “I’m very proud of you, Misty.” I told her. She blushed and beamed up at me proudly, “Thank you, Ma’am.” she said softly. Another pleasant tingle ran up my spine, “So polite and formal.” I mused, “You make it sound like I’m in charge of you.” I said, exploring the situation. She chewed her bottom lip, “You kinda are.” she admitted, “I mean, you told me to clean up and I did.” she said. I nodded, “But why did you do what I told you to do?” I asked. She looked away nervously, “Because I like you and want you to like me.” she managed to squeak out. I reached down and took her hand in mine and started walking into the bedroom, leading her to the bed, “I’d like to show you how much I like you.” I told her as I stood before her and gently pushed her down to sit on the bed. She watched with eager anticipation as I knelt down and untied her shoes and slipped them off, setting them aside neatly to maintain the integrity of the work she’d done for me, then I pulled her socks off and balled them up to sit them inside one of the shoes. “Arms up.” I commanded, smiling at her as she complied and allowed me to lift her shirt off which I folded neatly and set atop her shoes before I pushed her back gently and unbuttoned her jeans and shimmied them down her legs and off to fold them and place them on her shirt before I stood up and admired her. Her pale skin practically glowed in contrast to her powder blue bra and cute little matching panties, her stomach rose and fell lightly but quickly as she breathed in anticipation, the rolls of her chubbiness begged to be kissed and caressed, and I smiled down at her where she lay on the bed and perched above her, her eyes darting back and forth as she scanned mine for any sign of what I may be thinking. When I finally kissed her, her body shuddered beneath me as though she’d waited an eternity holding her breath for me to do so. Unlike our other kisses, this was the start of something different, something romantic, my tongue found hers and entwined with it, danced with it, beckoned it to join in a fusion of sorts and become one as I planned us to do. She moaned softly and writhed beneath me, her hands at her sides twitching softly as she fought her urge to use them on me. The feeling of power welled up inside me once more as I broke from our kiss and moved downward to kiss her neck and chest, “Should I take this off for you?” I asked, my finger hooking the center of her bra where the cups joined. She nodded softly, her eyes heavy with lust as she bit her lip once more, “Yes please, Ma’am.” she said sweetly. I backed up and pulled her to a seated position and unhooked her bra and pulled it away before I let her fall back down, her ample breast lolling to either side of her as the supple flesh spilled down like a pale waterfall. She was blushing again and I was recognizing that something far more potent than lust was forming in my heart, “You’re gorgeous.” I whispered. She shut her eyes and shook her head, “Nu.” she said, mispronouncing her protestation, “I’m fat.” she added. I smiled and leaned down to kiss her breasts, “Nothing wrong with fat.” I whispered, my tongue circling her areola as I held her breast in my hand and gently manipulated it. She shuddered and let out a whimpering moan. I kissed down her tummy, kissing across her rolls as I went until I reached her panties and found a dime sized damp patch waiting for me, the smell of her arousal pungent as I hovered above them, “Mm, someone’s very excited.” I mused. She nodded vigorously, “Yes, Ma’am.” she admitted. I took the waistband of her panties between my teeth and pulled them downward, delighted to see she was hairless, her womanly folds glistening for me. Making a show of it, I dragged the panties down with my teeth and tossed them aside with a flick of my head as I opened my mouth and returned to her eager lips, teasing them with my tongue as I took a taste of my prize. She squeaked and moved to close her thighs reflexively but caught herself and parted them once more for me, “You did a very good job cleaning up for me, Misty.” I praised, my breath against her sex making her quiver and shudder. “Thank you, Ma’am.” she whispered, “I wanted to be a good girl for you.” she added. I shuddered as the last piece of the puzzle I’d been struggling to put together since the previous week fell into place with her words, I wasn’t superior to her, I was merely older and more mature, an adult to her little girl in need of guidance and instruction, I found myself drawn to the notion in the fog of arousal, “Were you afraid I’d spank you?” I asked, licking her lightly from bottom to top of her tender folds. She squirmed and nodded, “Yes, Ma’am.” she shakily whispered. I licked little circles around her firm little nub, “What else were you afraid I’d do?” I asked. She bucked her hips beneath me and bit her lip to stifle a loud moan and shook her head, “Dun wanna say.” she weakly protested. I lifted my head, “Should I stop then?” I asked, knowing that it was almost impossible for me to keep myself from continuing. She whined, her breathing frantic in the face of losing her source of pleasure, “Bottom drawer.” she whimpered. I furrowed my brow and looked behind me to the dresser and crawled back and off the bed to kneel down and open the drawer, moving the items inside around before looking up at her, her eyes shut tight as she lay still on the bed. I left the drawer open, giving it another look as I returned to her, a calm washing over me as everything made sense in my mind, “That doesn’t look like a punishment drawer.” I told her as I slid my hands beneath her ample behind and gripped her firmly, “That looks like a secret side of you that I’m dying to explore.” I added. Her eyes opened and she looked down at me through her legs, her eyes scanning mine for signs of deceit, finding none, they began to glisten as tears welled up in her eyes. “Shh, don’t cry, baby.” I whispered as I lowered my head and went to work making things all better for her. *****One Month Later***** Greeny played on the TV as I stirred the pot on the stove, Misty’s giggles lilting in from the living room after cartoon sound effects played. Turning off the burner, I lifted the pot and dished out a portion of the shells and cheese into a bowl and opened the drawer to pull out a dish towel and another for a spoon before I headed into the living room and took a seat on the couch, “Lunch time, baby.” I said, pausing the cartoon and getting settled. She turned and beamed at me from her position on the floor and awkwardly got up, moving to all fours first and then raising her butt high in the air as she got to her feet and hurried to join me on the couch. I tucked the dish towel into the collar of her shirt and leaned in to kiss her lips softly before I raised the bowl up and got a spoonful for her and guided it into her mouth. “MMM!” she exclaimed as she ate the spoonful and eagerly opened her mouth for another. “Mommy’s a pretty good cook, huh?” I asked. She nodded vehemently, “Uh huh!” she chirped. Spoon after spoon I fed her until the bowl was empty and wiped her cheesy lips with the dish towel before heading to the kitchen to rinse the dish and put the remaining shells and cheese into a container I put into the fridge, grabbing the second part of her lunch and putting it in the microwave, stealing a glance over the bar at her as I waited, admiring my handiwork of doing her blonde hair into pigtails with some ribbon I’d brought over. As the microwave beeped I heard her rustling her way to me and smiled as she hugged me from behind. I patted her hand and stroked it softly, “Don’t think that being a little sweetheart is going to earn you more TV and playtime, baby.” I said, slipping from her grasp with ease and turning to face her, “You’ve got a date with a warm bottle of milk and a story before we get you settled in for a much needed nap.” I told her, taking her hand and leading her to the bedroom. After our romantic encounter a month earlier, we lay together in the bed and she opened up to me completely about the contents of the bottom drawer of her dresser and I listened and held her and assured her that none of what she shared with me was wrong or bad and that I wasn’t disgusted by her and after thanking her for trusting me with her secret, I got up and got her dressed for bed and she fell asleep in my arms. A month later and we’d fallen into a routine. I’d come over bright and early Saturday morning and kiss her grumpy face as she hid behind the door and let me in, I’d ask her how she’d slept as I felt her overnight diaper and led her to the bathroom to get her a nice bath before I dressed her for the day. We’d gone out together in that time, day trips mostly, the kind of thing that allowed her to feel a little less exposed with a diaper on under her clothes and no chance of anyone we knew seeing her, but we’d also spent a fair amount of time living a domestic fantasy, her playing on the floor watching cartoons while I busied myself with one thing or another, usually saving sex for right before bed. I got settled on the bed, the crinkling of the waterproof sheet making me smile and her blush before she snuggled up beside me, head resting on my arm as she looked up at me and took the nipple of her bottle into her mouth and closed her eyes. “Mommy’s got an extra special story for her baby today.” I told her. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman that never wanted to be married or have babies.” I said. Her eyes lazily opened as she nursed the bottle and then closed again a moment later. “That was, until she met an adorable and beautiful little girl that made her realize she’d been so silly and foolish for wanting to spend her life alone.” I continued, “The little girl was a perfect baby but sized like a grownup, she had the most pinchable, kissable cheeks,” I raised her head and kissed and pinched her cheek, getting a wet giggle that sent dribbles of milk down her chin, “and precious rolls of baby fat that the woman loved to kiss and tickle,” I said, reaching down and lifting her shirt to expose her tummy so I could tickle it, producing another giggle and more milky dribbles, “and she even wore diapers and spent her days crawling and toddling around in them and doing all her potties in them like a good baby should.” I said, reaching down and caressing the swollen front of her soaked diaper, her hips pressing into my hand lightly and a disappointed whine coming between sucks when I pulled my hand away. “The woman fell in love with the little girl, both when she wasn’t a baby and when she was and found herself feeling an unfamiliar fullness in her heart that she realized was what she’d been missing all along.” I told her. The bottle was nearly empty when she opened her eyes again and let me pull the nipple from her mouth, “I like that story a lot.” she said before a yawn overtook her. I smiled at her and kissed her softly on the lips, “It’s my favorite story.” I whispered. She sighed contentedly and hugged me, “I love you, Mommy.” she sleepily declared. I hugged her back and rocked our bodies together, “I love you too, baby girl.” I told her. I spent too long thinking that having a committed relationship and a little one dependent on me were a bad thing, or that they were separate beings, turns out, having both in one person was the key. Was I excited to change her messy diapers? No, but knowing that she’d made them as a demonstration of her trust in me made it easier to stomach. Was it hard knowing that our age difference meant we’d have far less time together than we would if I were her age? Absolutely, but if I were her age I wouldn’t be what she was looking for or needed in her life and she wouldn’t be those things for me. After a dry diaper and some rocking and snuggling, she was out like a light in my arms and as I yawned and closed my eyes, I was happy that I’d had my outlook changed with a little help from my friend. The End

In another story perhaps... Chapter 9 “In other news, State Senator Marvin Jenkins will meet with Governor Mayhew to discuss a broad range of topics, but the focus of their meeting is expected to be Proposition Four, which is touted to not only combat the city’s gang related problems, but also provide much needed assistance for those families that have been affected by the drug Talc, which has become a significant issue in recent months.” the news anchor reported. “Shh!” she hissed quietly, finger to her lips as she looked at the TV in the living room sternly, looking over her shoulder at Marcus sleeping on the couch. There had been a time, not long ago, that Kiesha, Marcus’ younger sister, had been on track to get out of the city and do something great with her life. Colleges wanted her, numerous scholarships had arrived in the mail and she and her family were thrilled that her hard work had finally bore fruit, so she decided to put off making a decision for a night and go out to celebrate with her friends. She’d met a guy at the bar and missed him spiking her drink with Talc, and ended up left in the alley behind the club half naked and mentally regressed, wailing like an infant as she shivered on the cold wet asphalt. Keisha never did accept one of her scholarship offers, her ability to read the letters was nearly eradicated, and unless the university accepted correspondences written in crayon with drool or food spots on them, she’d never write a response to them. The man that had spiked her drink had done so with pure Talc, not the same form that was so prevalent today, “stepped on” to give a euphoric high of babyish bliss with side effects only persisting with prolonged exposure. Her mind and body had been destroyed in one night and only now was she beginning to show signs of being able to relearn things she’d already mastered once before. “What are you doing up, little one?” Marcus groaned, his voice thick with sleep and a hangover. Keisha turned and crawled to him, “I wanted to watch cartoons but the poopy news is on.” she told him, “I didn’t mean to wake you up.” she said timidly, pouting as she cast her gaze down on the carpet. He summoned the energy to sit himself up, putting his head against the wall to anchor it as the room spun, “Gimme a second, I’ll get you set up.” he told her. Crawling had come first for her, her coordination returning slowly to allow her, like a real baby, to roll over on her own and then elevate herself onto all fours and eventually propel herself around, and shaky walking came after that, using furniture or someone’s hand for stability. At this point in her rehabilitation process, she was mentally and emotionally on the level of a three or four year old most of the time but with increasingly more frequent moments of her true age flitting in and out, which caused her the most frustration and pain when she fully grasped all that she’d lost. Marcus pulled her up from the floor in front of him and onto his lap, gently taking the remote from her and flipping to the cartoons she wanted before setting the remote aside and holding her, rocking her body with his own, “Sleep good?” he asked. She nodded absently, her eyes glued to the cartoons. He smiled groggily, “I rented out your room to a family of spiders.” he said, testing to see if she was listening. Her thumb had slipped into her mouth as she nodded a little slower. “Big ones, with sharp fangs and an appetite for soggy bottoms.” he continued, checking her sodden diaper with his fingers. He wasn’t anywhere near awake enough to carry her to the changing table and get her cleaned up and dressed for the day, but the dim light outside let him know that it was still too early for that to be an issue, so he just lay her back against his chest and kissed her cheek from behind as he cuddled her and eventually fell back to sleep. ********** The baby monitor beside the bed crackled to life with Marisol’s cries, rousing both Rosario and David from their peaceful slumber. Rosario looked at the clock and groaned as her husband’s hand found her shoulder in the dark. “I’ll go, you sleep.” he told her, kissing her shoulder once he moved his hand away. Despite being half asleep, Rosario was still stunned that her husband even woke up to their daughter’s cries, let alone was willingly getting up to deal with whatever was wrong, “She probably just needs a change.” she sleepily mumbled. David Briggs rose from the bed and pulled his sweat pants up, tying them tight around his waist before rubbing the sleep from his eyes and slipping his house shoes on to head to the bedroom door and down the hall to the nursery. Marisol was kneeling at the side of the crib bawling when he entered, the nightlight by the door giving him a clear path to his daughter. “Hey, what’s all this about, baby?” he asked her quietly as he approached the crib and gently stroked her hair. Marisol sniffled and gurgled an unintelligible reply as the side of the crib was lowered and she was lifted out to clutch to her father’s bare chest as her legs wrapped around his waist. David grunted as he shifted his daughter to a more comfortable position and recovered the dangling pacifier that was clipped to her pajamas, inserting it into her mouth to quiet her as he moved to the rocking chair in the corner and sat down with her on his lap, smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder as she noisily sucked her pacifier. He kept an eye on ‘Berto, not wanting the boy to wake and try and crawl out of the crib and get hurt, but the mound of covers where he was still sleeping hadn’t stirred yet as far as he could tell. “What’s wrong, baby girl?” he asked his daughter as he began to rock the chair softly with his body. Marisol was quieting down, her sniffles and whimpers barely audible now. He sighed, “You know,” he said as he rubbed her arm softly, “I fought your mother about all of this.” he told her, “Your brother never was going to make anything of himself, we both knew that, and much as I’d prefer not having to wipe his butt and nose until the end of time, it’s not much of a difference from how he was before.” he explained, noting that Marisol’s eyelids were looking heavy and her breathing had slowed signaling that she’d be back to sleep sooner than later. “You on the other hand,” he said with a pang of sadness, “you were on your way to greatness.” he told her, “Maybe you’ll recover and pick up where you left off, baby, but at least you’ll be alive to have a chance to do so because of what we did.” he explained. She was asleep again, her pacifier moving rhythmically as little snores came from her. He kissed her forehead, “I hope you can forgive us for taking so much from you, Mari.” he whispered as he hefted her back up and carried her back to the crib to lay her down and tuck her in beside her brother before putting the side of the crib back up and sneaking back out of the room and back to bed. Rosario stirred as he climbed back into bed and spooned her, his arm draping over her midsection, “She okay?” she dreamily asked. David kissed his wife’s bare back and nodded, “As okay as she can be.” he told her. With the rest of the family asleep and the house quiet once more, David lay with his wife and prayed that one day things would be back to normal for them all and added a prayer for the strength to deal with things if they didn’t. ********** “Bunnies or flowers?” Marcus asked his sister. Keisha lay on the changing table, her overnight diaper replaced with her training panties beneath her gray leggings, one leg crossed over the other as her brother held up her choice of socks for the day, cream colored with smiling bear heads or purple with yellow flowers adorning them. She drew out a prolonged ‘um’ and finally pointed to the purple socks. Marcus nodded and put the bear socks back in the drawer beneath wear she lay and slipped one sock on her dangling foot and did the same with the other once she switched her legs around. Helping her to sit up, he lifted her off the table and set her down before smoothing out her clothes and checking her hair one more time, “I think you’re all set!” he declared. She felt pretty standing in front of her big brother, happy that he’d let her pick out her clothes for the day as she admired her purple and black striped shirt that had a built in ring of frilly cloth around the waist so she almost had a tutu on. He’d gotten better at doing her hair too, the twin puffs bunched on either side of her head made her giggle as she looked at herself in the mirror after he’d done them for her, “Thank you, big brother.” she said sweetly, hugging him tightly. A shower, Tylenol, and coffee had all but eradicated his hangover, and he was firing on all cylinders as her guardian after waking on the couch to find her playing quietly in a dangerously close to leaking diaper that he apologized for leaving her in repeatedly as he gave her a bath after his shower, moving her and her toys to a towel on the bathroom floor to be sure the carpet stayed clean. Sunday used to be for church, but since their mother’s passing, Marcus hadn’t been inclined to devote time to anything more than honoring their mother’s memory and looking after Keisha. Sunday’s were now for Keisha to go to daycare while he ran errands for the week, and he felt bad for looking so forward to dropping her off, but after everything that had happened with Marisol, he wasn’t in the best headspace to give his sister the care and attention she needed. Catering to Talc users or addicts, the daycare center was set up for adults that functioned like babies or small children either while high or as a result of prolonged use of the drug and was currently part of the proposition on the ballot that would grant them federal funding rather than the donations they were currently running on and allow them to stay open and expand their operation to assist more people in need. Holding his sister’s hand, Marcus walked down the sidewalk with her the few blocks to the daycare center. “Miss Ariel said I could do finger paint today!” Keisha happily chirped. Marcus nodded, “Don’t forget to ask to go potty.” he reminded her, knowing the majority of her daytime accidents came when she was playing or otherwise engrossed. “I know!” she told him as though it was an outlandish thing to remind her of. He smiled, “Is Alex going to be there today?” he asked her. His sister shuffled her steps awkwardly and shrugged, “I dunno, why?” she asked. He parroted her shrug, “Well, I know how much you like her and-” he started to say. “I do not!” she snapped, grumping up at him, “She’s just real smart and funny and-” she trailed off. He stopped walking and knelt down in front of his sister, “And pretty.” he said. She chewed her bottom lip, “And pretty.” she agreed reluctantly. He’d been trying to encourage his sister to embrace her feelings in the hopes that it would aid her rehabilitation, and she’d made great strides, but she still didn’t quite grasp the concept of romantic feelings versus friendly feelings, and as surprised as he was that his sister seemed to have romantic feelings for another woman, he’d seen more of the old her since she’d met the girl at daycare. He rose and continued walking with her, “I’d just hate for you to have an accident in front of her and be embarrassed.” he said. She giggled, “Alex still wears diapers all the time.” she told him, “She’s not a big girl like me.” she said proudly. He squeezed her hand, “Well, maybe you can be a big helper and show her how to be a big girl like you.” he offered. The idea set her imagination alight as they walked and she swelled with pride and accomplishment at being such a big girl, forgetting that her pacifier and stuffed bunny lay in her princess backpack she toted with her along with a change of pants, two additional pairs of training pants and two diapers should the worst case scenario unfold during the day. ********** Rosario cleaned the kitchen after breakfast while David cleaned the kids, the floor beneath the highchairs sticky with syrupy crumbs of pancake as were the trays of the highchairs and the bibs left on them. The trip to the zoo had worn her completely out, the only saving grace being that Marisol, syncing up with her brother surprisingly fast, had messed her diaper shortly after ‘Berto, sending Rosario down the path to catch up to Scott and Robert as they headed to the bathrooms. She’d been in the process of getting the changing supplies set up when Scott had left the family stall with Robert beaming proudly and Scott praising him for being a big boy, and Scott had helped her out by lifting both her kids from the stroller one at a time and putting them back in once she’d changed them. Her husband had assured her that he’d never make her handle both of them together after she came home almost in tears she was so tired, and he’d lived up to his promise so far, getting up to deal with Marisol, feeding her while his wife fed ‘Berto, and offering to give them a bath once they were fed. “’Berto, sit still, buddy.” David chided his wiggly son as he tried to wash him. Marisol giggled from her place behind her brother in the tub, her hands gently rubbing her bare breasts. “Mari, no, baby.” David told her, pulling her hands away. He sighed wearily and stretched his back, remembering this chore being difficult enough when the kids were actual babies, but now that they were grown, it was nearly impossible to handle the two of them at the same time, something he felt he needed to apologize for putting on his wife’s shoulders again. Marisol’s giggles stopped abruptly, “Papi?” she asked, clearly and coherently. David’s attention turned to her and he saw the understanding in her eyes mixed with the worry on her face, “Mari, baby, it’s okay.” he said softly, “Just breathe, this will pass.” he reassured her. She looked around, unsure how she’d ended up in the tub with her brother being bathed by her father, but she didn’t have long to think about it as her thoughts slipped away like the bubbles in the water popping and she was back to being a baby again, burbling happily as she smacked at the water and giggled. David breathed a sigh of relief and kissed her forehead. “Everything okay?” Rosario asked from behind him. He turned to look at her and nodded, “She had a moment of her old self.” he told her. Rosario hurried to the side of the tub, “What happened?” she asked, stroking her daughter’s hair. “She was looking around and clearly confused, but I saw her eyes, she was in there.” he explained. Rosario sighed, “Maybe we should give her another dose?” she suggested, sounding unsure. David shook his head, “I don’t want to kill that part of her.” he said, “I just worry that she’ll hurt herself if she comes back and tries to run or something.” he explained. Rosario nodded, “Should I see if M-A-R-C-U-S would come visit?” she asked. Another head shake, “That could make it worse.” he said, “We’ll watch them together and keep an eye out for any signs that she’s coming back.” he explained. The water bubbled as ‘Berto farted and both kids giggled. “Or we could get a couple of nanny’s with the money they gave us.” she offered. David rolled his eyes, “That money is for after all of this is done.” he reminded her, “To undo all of this.” he added. “If we can.” she said grimly. He sighed, “If we can.” he agreed. ********** “Good morning, Keisha!” the heavyset woman running the counter at the daycare cooed when the pair entered. Keisha waved excitedly, “Good morning, Miss Ariel!” she chirped as Marcus helped her get her backpack and coat off. “Alex’s parents just dropped her off,” the woman explained as she took the bag and coat from Marcus and hung them on the cubby hook behind her with Keisha’s name written on a slip of paper in a placard, “would you like to be a big helper and see if she’s awake yet and give Miss Janine a hand with her?” she asked. Keisha nodded and turned to run into the daycare before stopping herself and throwing her arms around her brother’s waist, kissing his cheek when he knelt down to hug her back, and then ran off giggling happily. They watched her go, both smiling, but Miss Ariel’s smile faded when she turned back to Marcus, “This isn’t a hotel, Marcus.” she said sternly. He sighed, “I know, Ariel.” he said, “I’ve had a lot going on recently but everything has been settled and I’m going to be more present from now on.” he assured her. She folded her arms across her chest, “Show me, don’t tell me.” she said, “Your sister needs you to be there for her, to teach her and re-raise her, not spend the night here with me because you’re God knows where doing God knows what.” she continued. He nodded, “I know.” he agreed, “Believe me, it won’t happen again.” he said. She nodded, “If it does, I’ll have to report you, and they might take her away.” she warned. He gritted his teeth and forced a smile, “I appreciate your concern, Ariel.” he said politely. “Also,” she said as he turned to leave, “spend more time on her potty training,” she said, “I don’t know how successful she is at home, but here she’s getting really close to us having to insist she go back to diapers when she’s here.” she explained. Another heavy sigh, “Give her a break, Ariel, she’s been through a lot.” he said. Ariel’s expression changed immediately, her anger no longer contained, “And the other people here haven’t?!” she snapped, “Alex, the one she’s checking on right now, her parents are this close,” she said, holding her fingers up with barely any space between them, “to dumping her here permanently.” she said, “Howie’s wife is drawing up divorce papers and won’t let their kids see him any more,” she continued, “Sierra’s son died in a car accident last week and she’s so far gone she doesn’t even know she had a son.” she explained. “Your shit isn’t more important, Marcus, so don’t act like it is!” she snapped. He nodded, “I’m sorry, you’re right.” he said. “Be here to pick her up before five or I’m making that call.” she warned. “Yes, ma’am.” he said sincerely, “For what it’s worth, this place has saved our lives.” he said. She sighed, “Hopefully we can stay open and continue to help.” she said, looking past him at a heavyset man leading a younger woman in by the hand, “Good morning, Hannah!” she chirped to the sleepy looking young woman still in her pajamas, clutching a stuffed bear and suckling on a pacifier. Marcus moved aside and to the door, finding himself amazed despite all he’d seen and done recently at how commonplace all this Talc stuff seemed to be now, and then he thought about Marisol and pushed her from his mind as he stepped outside. “Vote ‘yes’ on Prop Four.” a woman said as she shoved a flier into his hand as soon as he exited the daycare. He vaguely grunted a reply as he looked at the paper and read some of the information on it, his focus dialing in on one of the bullet points, ‘federal funding for programs to help Talc affected citizens and their families’. Over the years he’d filmed hundreds of reports about corrupt politicians pocketing money for low income housing or other programs and using cheap materials to do a half assed job because poor people weren’t a priority, but what if something similar was happening with Talc and the people it affected, what if this thing he and Marisol’s parents had been forced to go along with was to keep the news from digging into the proposition and possibly causing the deal to fall through? The kind of money he’d been given didn’t come from some random person, it had to come from someone with enough to move it around without raising eyebrows but also have enough power to ensure threats could be followed through on if need be. He grimaced as he pulled out his phone and started to text Rosario, but stopped, worried that he’d be putting Marisol and her family in danger if he did. He sighed and put his phone away and tried to think of a way he could look into his hunch and not raise any red flags. ‘Town hall meeting tonight at 8PM’ the flier said at the bottom. He texted Ms. Rollins. Marcus: Can you watch Keisha tonight while I go to this townhall about Prop 4? He waited a minute or two and his phone chimed. Ms. Rollins: Of course, honey, just let me know when you need me to come over so you can get to it He thanked her and calmed his racing thoughts, collecting them into something resembling order and coherence as he thought of the questions he’d ask to try and get some answers that might fix some of the damage he’d caused. To Be Continued….

That's what Marisol said...too soon? Man, I don't know what's gonna happen here, but I'll bet another chapter would provide some comfort...unless it ends up making things worse, which it might, best to read it and find out I suppose! Chapter 8 He almost looked back at her as he retraced his steps to the entrance of the zoo, but knew that seeing her again would most assuredly change his mind and put them both at risk. He almost went back for her when he reached the turnstyles, thought of rushing to her and snatching her up to take her on the run with him and keep her safe, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to protect them for long until they were inevitably caught and permanently dealt with. The side of his car took the brunt of his rage and frustration as he kicked at it repeatedly and tore the side mirror off as he roared in futile anger and got back into the car before he ultimately broke down into sobs when he smelled the lingering perfume of baby powder and urine that she’d left behind in the back seat and looked back to find the space she’d been sitting devoid of her face smiling at him, trusting him, loving him. His phone chimed in his pocket and he begrudgingly pulled it out and typed a quick reply to the question regarding the completion of his task. He hated himself for abandoning her, whether it was for the best or not, because his own father had abandoned him and his family when he was too little to understand what was happening, his only hope was that the Talc would erode him from her memory and she’d be happy with her birth family and not recall that she’d had someone else that loved her and took care of her. He sighed wearily and started the car, resolved to drive to the nearest bar and drown his sorrows until the ache in his chest dulled to a point that he could function normally again. He glanced at the glovebox for a moment and shook the thoughts of using the gun within to solve his problems out of his mind, resolute that he’d get through all of what lay ahead and return to Marisol when things were safe to do so. ********** Rosario hummed softly to her daughter as she undressed her in the family bathroom, the dead weight of the sleeping woman made moving her nearly impossible, but mother’s find ways of caring for their babies any way they can, and the stroller became a mobile changing station once the wheels were locked. She leaned her daughter forward and moved her like one would a doll until she was naked save for the generic diaper taped around her waist, the deep yellow in the crotch curling her lips into a smile as her heart melted at having her baby girl back. As her mother deftly changed her while she sat asleep in the stroller, Marisol dreamed. Her dreams weren’t coherent, the Talc saw to that, but she understood some of what she was seeing. She was standing in a field, her white dress flowing down her body and across the ground behind her like she was a cake with icing adorning her in such beautiful detail that despite how sweet and delightful it would be to dig your hand into it and eat it, you couldn’t stand to mar the elegant design. Daddy was standing with her, holding her hands and telling her things she couldn’t understand but that made her feel good, but then Daddy was gone and she was cold and afraid and her dress was in tatters and she was crying and Mommy was rushing to her. Rosario stood back and admired her handiwork, looking at the photo on her phone screen as reference and beamed proudly. The photo was of her and her husband with their then infant son and daughter at a family function they’d been at, Humberto and Marisol were strapped into their dual stroller, much as they were now, Humberto was dressed in a matching shorts and shirt combo designed to look like a baseball uniform, his name written on the back with his age, 01 as the number both on the back and the breast, his little head was covered with a blue and white cap to synchronize with the colors of the main outfit and his powder blue pacifier hung limply from the corner of his mouth as he slept soundly. She’d replicated her son’s outfit to a tee, changing the number to match his current age and sizing the shorts so they hugged the thick padding beneath as they had when he was an actual infant. Baby Marisol in the photo was dressed in a pink and white checkered jumper with adorable ruffled, pink bloomers on over her own diapers, her socks were frilled at the ankles and she had the most darling little pink patent leather shoes on. Adult Marisol was dressed identically to her former self, but now that she had more hair, her mother had done it into lovely pigtails and secured them with pink ribbons to match her outfit. Rosario snapped a photo of her babies once she’d gotten the changing supplies back into the diaper bag and caught her breath, sending the photo to her husband first for his approval, then to Marcus as a way of allaying his apprehensions about turning Marisol over to her, and finally to the man that had showed up on their doorstep less than an hour after Marisol had left home to start her new life and career in the city to fulfill her end of the arrangement they’d made that day. Her husband praised her for her attention to detail, Marcus didn’t respond, and the man she and her husband had met with responded with a link that sent the agreed upon amount of half a million dollars into their bank account. Hombre De Negro: Very good, Mrs. Briggs. I trust I don’t need to remind you what will happen should your daughter suddenly grow up and return to work. Rosario: No, she will be no trouble, sir. Hombre De Negro: There will come a point when you’ll no longer need to keep her as she is, I will let you know when that point is, but we will be watching until then. She shuddered as she slipped her phone back into her purse, performing the mark of the cross on herself before looking over at her sleeping children, her fears for their safety diminishing as her maternal instincts shook off whatever cobwebs lingered since Humberto had started his journey back to infancy and she rose to give her little ones a fun filled day at the zoo. ********** Marcus sighed as he looked at the picture Marisol’s mother had sent and downed the shot of Whiskey in front of him, “Keep ‘em comin’, Don.” he grumbled. Don refilled the shot glass and leaned over the bar to get a look at the phone screen, “For what it’s worth, you did the right thing, kid.” he said, “Girl’s gonna be safe and happy with her family.” he added. Marcus glowered at him, “She was under the impression that I’d be her family.” he said. Don nodded and put his hand on Marcus’ shoulder, “And one day maybe you can be.” he said, the threat of hopefulness tinging his voice. Marcus scoffed, “Right, because I can show up after she’s had her brain melted down into nothing and just pick up where we left off.” he sneered. Don smiled, “Kid, if this city has taught me anything, it’s that stranger things can and probably will always happen.” he said. Downing another shot, Marcus rose from his stool, “Gotta piss.” he grumbled, heading to the back of the bar and into the men’s room where he sidled up to the urinal and unzipped his pants. The door opened behind him, hard soled shoes sticking and tapping on the disgusting floor as the person entered, “I know it doesn’t feel like it right now,” the man’s voice said, “but you made the right choice.” he added. Marcus shuddered when he heard the man, his voice deep and rumbling despite being quiet, “Come to kick me while I’m down?” he asked as he urinated onto the bright orange cake in the basin of the urinal. “On the contrary,” the man said, his tone almost brightening, “I come bearing gifts.” he said. Marcus finished peeing and tucked himself back into his underwear and pants before zipping up and turning around to face the man, “Yeah?” he asked as he went to wash his hands. The man moved his position so Marcus could see him in the mirror and reached into his jacket pocket, the finely made suit he wore looked incredibly out of place in the third world country of a bathroom, his leather gloved hand pulling out a fairly thick envelope, “The agreed upon fee.” he said, setting the envelope down on top of the trashcan beside him, “And as a way of letting you know we’re not complete monsters,” he continued, fishing a black leather case similar to one that would contain glasses from the other side of his jacket which he set on top of the envelope. “What’s that?” Marcus asked warily. The man smiled, his perfect white teeth standing out in the yellowed, well, everything of the bathroom, “That, my boy, is the key to your and Marisol’s happy ending once this is all said and done.” he cryptically replied, “Follow the instructions in the case and she’ll be back to her normal adult self in less than a week.” he explained, “Or,” he smirked, “you can keep her as she is now, whatever gets your rocks off.” he added with a wink. Marcus envisioned crossing the room and punching the smug face of the man until there wasn’t enough left to fill a shot glass, but he calmed himself, “So, I’m done then?” he asked. The man nodded, “Your part in this is over, my boy.” the man said. “Not your fuckin’ boy, you pasty fuck.” Marcus hissed. The man smiled again, “Stay away from the girl and her family until you hear otherwise.” the man warned, “Wouldn’t want little Mari to lose her new Daddy so soon after finding him after all.” he added before he headed to the door. “I know you’re not going to tell me, but why her?” Marcus asked. The man turned and removed his sunglasses, his steel gray eyes looking at Marcus as though he were sizing him up, evaluating him, “You’re a bright young man, Marcus, I’m sure it won’t take long for things to click into place for you, until then though, keep a low profile.” he warned before leaving the bathroom. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief and went to the trashcan, picking up both items the man had left, the envelope he knew contained $40,000, but the small case he found contained a cylindrical tube of clear liquid and instructions on the lid for doses and duration of giving them for desired effect. He put the case to his chest, “I’ll make this right, Mari, I promise.” he thought, hoping he could will his inner thoughts to Marisol somehow. ********** “WAN DAYEE!” Marisol wailed at the top of her lungs over and over again outside the Hippopotamus enclosure. The pair in the stroller had woken up nearly at the same time, while Rosario was steering them down the slightly bumpy path of decorative pave stones adorned with animal footprints, and ‘Berto gurgled happily when he saw his sister, rocking the stroller as he excitedly bounced in his seat, but Mari had woken with remnants of her past life still lingering in the tendrils of sleep that clung to her mind and started to whimper and struggle in her seat, culminating in the full blast assault of her infantile speech carrying throughout the area and making all eyes turn to the frazzled mother of two adult babies. “Baby, it’s okay, shh, we’ll see your daddy when we get home.” Rosario assured her, kneeling down in front of the girl to grab for the pacifier hanging from her dress. The problem Marisol was experiencing was that she had flashes of her life as an adult and a belief that she still held the same abilities she had only a few hours prior, but as she struggled against the three point harness securing her in the stroller, she balled her fist and swung at her mother in a fit of adult rage, this is when she was shown that an adult body doesn’t mean adult strength or coordination as her mother recognized the gesture for what it was and easily and gently grasped her daughter’s hand in her own and kissed the back of it softly. “Mari, hitting is naughty, recordar?” she calmly chided as she retrieved the pacifier and inserted into her daughter’s mouth. Marisol began to suck the teat of the pacifier the moment it crossed her lips, and began to calm immediately, her tantrum and the reason for it forgotten as her focus reset itself on ‘Berto beside her and her mother in front of her. She burbled happily at her mother and took her brother’s hand clumsily in her own when he rested his head lovingly on her shoulder and started picking his nose. “Aye, ‘Berto, no mining for gold today.” Rosario said, pulling his hand away from his face and adjusting his pacifier for him to suck on it. Rising to her feet, Rosario sighed, pleased with herself for quelling the first of what she hoped would be few tantrums because of things that no longer concerned her daughter. “Quite a set of lungs on her.” a man’s voice said. Turning, Rosario found a tall man with muscles nearly as big around as her thighs standing with another young man riding piggyback on him. The tall man’s wrist had the same white band she wore with ‘ADULT’ stamped on the center, while the young man he carried had a baby blue band she knew declared him a ‘BABY’. Rosario chuckled softly, “I know, lo siento,” she said, “I’m sorry.” she clarified, guessing the gringo didn’t understand Spanish. The brown haired man smiled warmly, his short brown hair was neatly brushed and parted while the young man with him had unkempt blonde locks. “He’s cute.” Rosario said, gesturing to the younger man. The tall man nodded and knelt down to set the young man on his feet before rising again and taking his hand, “You got a compliment, Robert, what do you say to the nice lady?” the tall man asked his charge. Robert stood shorter than even Rosario by a few inches, his denim shortalls adorned with a cartoon airplane on the bib, his knees dirty from playing or crawling, one sporting a Scooby-Doo bandaid that brought a smile to Rosario’s face as she looked at him nervously cuddle against the taller man’s side. “He’s shy with new people.” the tall man explained, tousling Robert’s shaggy hair lovingly, “I’m Scott, by the way.” he said, extending his hand to her. Rosario nodded politely and shook his hand, “Rosario, and those two are Marisol and Humberto.” she said, gesturing back to her kids. Scott smiled and gave a little wave to the stroller’s occupants, “Twins, huh?” he asked. She nodded, “Si, they weren’t the easiest thing to bring into this world, but I don’t know what I’d do without them.” she said. Scott looked surprised, “Oh, they’re your biological kids!” he said, sounding astonished, “Pretty young woman like you, I thought you were just babysitting after school.” he told her. Rosario rolled her eyes and chuckled, “You’re sweet, but don’t waste that kind of thing on an old lady like me.” she told him. Scott smiled, “Fair enough.” he said. Robert started tugging on Scott’s shirt, “Daddy, I gotta poop.” he said bluntly. Scott and Rosario laughed together, “Well, that’s apparently my cue.” Scott said, “Enjoy the zoo.” he said as he turned and led Robert away. “You too, it was nice meeting you both!” she called out, waving when Scott half turned and waved to her. She missed interactions like that, one parent to another was a nice break from babytalk and silly voices. Her husband wasn’t hands on with the kids, never really had been, and she’d always felt a bit alone when it came to parenting. She heard grunting behind her and turned to see ‘Berto leaning away from his sister, his eyes closed and face scrunched up as he tried to fill his diaper. Sighing softly, she went back to her babies and knelt beside her son and stroked his hair softly, praising and encouraging him quietly until he was done and settled back into his seat. “You can wait until your sister needs a change, ‘Berto.” she told him, leaning in to kiss his forehead before she got up to resume their journey. ********** Marcus stumbled into his apartment and fumbled with the door lock for a moment before it clicked into place and he made his way down the narrow hall to his living room and flopped onto the couch with a heavy sigh. “Rough day?” came the quiet female voice from behind him. He grunted an affirmative and strained to roll over to face her. Just a hair shorter than Marisol, the young woman stood at the end of the hallway, the dim lighting keeping her mostly in shadow. “What are you doing up?” he groaned, “Wait, what time even is it?” he asked aloud as he fumbled for his phone and saw the photo of Marisol again and dropped it to the floor with a sigh. The girl approached slowly, almost timidly and retrieved his phone from the carpet, looking at it before she set it on the coffee table, “It’s almost nine.” she informed him, “Is that her?” she asked. Marcus had his arm draped over his eyes as he nodded, “Are you dressed for bed?” he asked. “Yes, sir.” the girl said quietly. Sitting up with another groan, he looked at her standing beside the coffee table and smiled, patting his lap softly as he shifted on the couch with his back against it and pulled her into a hug and onto his lap as she approached. “Did you eat?” he asked her. She nodded as she lay her back against his chest. “What’d you eat, baby girl?” he asked her. She brought the stuffed rabbit she’d been carrying up to her chest and cuddled it tightly, “Chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.” she told him. He nodded, “Did Ms. Rollins help you with the stove?” he asked. She nodded, “She came over and made it for me.” she told him. He put his arms around her middle and sighed contentedly, “You smell good, she give you a bath too?” he asked, the smells of cocoa butter and baby powder filling his nostrils. She giggled softly and nodded, “Yes, sir.” she said politely. He made an approving groan, “Did your hair all nice too? Damn, little one, you’re all set for landing a husband.” he teased, tickling her stomach through her thin white nightgown with little purple and pink flowers on it. She giggled again and squirmed on his lap, the overnight bulk secured around her waist rustling noisily as she wiggled against his fingers. He stopped tickling her and kissed the top of her head, “Why don’t we say goodnight to Mama and get you tucked in?” he suggested. She nodded and slipped off his lap, letting him take her hand in his as he led the way down the hall to her room, stopping at the little alcove with the white ceramic urn inside and the picture of an older woman hanging above it, the little light in the top of the alcove bathing the display in a Heavenly glow. “Goodnight, Mama.” the girl said softly, leaning forward to kiss the urn. He nodded approvingly, “Good girl.” he praised her as he continued on to her room and opened the door. The nightlight beside the door showed him that she’d cleaned up her toys, probably at the insistence of their neighbor Ms. Rollins, and the scent of the powder used when she’d been dressed for bed still hung in the air masking the scent from the bin by the changing table that he reminded himself to empty in the morning as he led her to the bed with the little rails on the sides across the room and scooped her up to gently lay her down and tuck her in as he knelt beside it and cupped her cheek with his hand. “I’m sorry about your friend.” she said in the middle of a quiet yawn. He nodded, “Me too, little one, me too.” he said sadly. She raised herself and kissed his cheek, “I wish I’d gotten to meet her.” she said sleepily as she lay back down on the pillow. He kissed her forehead, “She would’ve loved you just as much as I do.” he told her. She nodded and cuddled her stuffed bunny, slipping her thumb into her mouth as she closed her eyes and got comfortable, “Wuv yoo, big bwover.” she dreamily told him. He gave the blanket a final tuck and gave her padded bottom a soft pat, “Love you too, baby sister.” he said before he rose and made his way out of the room and back to the living room to pass out on the couch, stopping at his mother’s urn on the way, “I’m sorry if I disappointed you today, Mama.” he said to the urn, the ache in his heart bringing a hard lump to his throat, “I just wish you could tell me if I did the right thing or not.” he lamented, sighing when silence responded and he went back to the couch to break down and cry himself to sleep. To Be Continued...

Seven The shower worked wonders to clear her head, the lingering desire to behave younger than she was faded considerably as the hot water washed over her, she found her mind wandering from thoughts of diapers and bottles and cuddles with Marcus to critically analyzing their budding relationship, wondering if he’d be able to see her now without being reminded of her behavior the night before. Her thoughts were interrupted when he entered the bathroom and quickly slipped into the shower behind her, moving the curtain aside to step in and replacing once he’d entered. “Presumptuous, aren’t you?” she asked, drinking in the sight of his nude form. He smiled at her, “I thought it might be quicker if we shared.” he said, putting his hands on her hips. She felt a flutter in her stomach as she looked up at him, “I’m feeling better.” she said. “Yeah?” he asked, shimmying past her as he held her steady so he could get under the water, “Better how?” he asked. Now that her head was clear, her apprehension and shame at mentioning anything about what had happened had returned and she searched for the least embarrassing way to tell him what she was talking about, “You know, with the Talc stuff.” she offered. He nodded as he soaped up his armpits and chest, “So no diaper bag and change of clothes when we go out?” he teased. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, but chose not to engage his teasing, “Where are we going?” she asked as she turned and got her shampoo from the caddy behind her and squirted a blob of it into her palm before lathering it up. He watched her soap her hair as he rinsed off his body, tracing her delicious curves with his eyes, “Well, I thought we’d go out for lunch but after that I’d kind of planned to see how you were doing before I put too much on your plate.” he explained. “Meaning?” she asked as he shimmied back around her to let her rinse out her hair. He shrugged despite her eyes being closed, “Well, I thought maybe little you would like the zoo or the park and that you’d probably need a nap after all the excitement.” he explained, “But, since you’re all grown up, maybe we can come up with something to do together.” he added. She gave no outward sign that what he’d said meant anything to her, but inside she was a gooey mess of feelings, an ear to ear smile hiding inside of her as she rinsed her hair beneath the water. Marcus was obviously attractive, and great in bed, but the knowledge that he’d considered her mindset when planning their day, making sure to cater to the little girl she’d been the night before despite knowing she was an adult was hands down the sweetest thing any guy had done for her. Wiping the water from her face, she looked up at him, “For the record, big me likes the idea of the zoo.” she said simply. He chuckled softly, “Zoo it is then.” he said as he moved past her to wash his genitals. She kept her eyes on his as he washed himself, “You would’ve taken complete care of me today, wouldn’t you?” she asked. He nodded, “You kinda couldn’t do much for yourself.” he said. She stepped forward and threw her arms around his shoulders as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him deeply, gasping as he lifted her up and held her as he kissed her back, his arms folded beneath her bottom to keep her where she was, “You’re gonna kill us both.” she breathlessly whispered between kisses. He gently set her back down, “So little trust.” he teased as he turned and shut off the water before opening the curtain and stepping out onto the mat in front of the tub, holding his hand out for her to take so she could step out and join him. She gently shook her head, “I trust you completely.” she admitted as she stepped out and grabbed her towels to wrap her hair and body in. He raised an eyebrow, “Completely, you say?” he said. She rolled her eyes, “Don’t go getting any bright ideas, sir.” she playfully chided, “We’re having a grownup day out today.” she reminded him. He nodded, “You’re the boss.” he said, a devious smirk on his face as he picked up a towel for himself from the shelf above the toilet and dried his feet before heading back to the bedroom to dry off. ********** “Penny for your thoughts?” he asked her as he drove them to the restaurant for lunch. She’d been staring out the window, not looking at anyone or anything, just thinking, but turned to look at him when he broke the silence, “Huh?” she asked. He chuckled, “Where were you just now?” he asked. She shrugged, “Just trying to piece things together.” she vaguely admitted. He stopped at a red light, “Pieces of what?” he prodded, reaching his hand out to her thigh to softly pat it. Her stomach fluttered pleasurably at his touch, “The gangs, Talc, my brother, me.” she admitted, placing her hand on his, “Us.” she added hopefully. The car started rolling forward as the light changed, “Well, the gangs make Talc, your brother probably took some or is taking some, and you’re a smart and beautiful woman with a ruggedly handsome admirer.” he said, “Seems like everything is sorted out.” he added, smiling and squeezing her hand softly before returning his hands to the wheel. She sighed, “If only it was that simple.” she said, “This is a huge story and no one is covering it, why?” she asked. He shrugged, “The gangs aren’t really a threat, I mean, you said you had some trouble with a few of them at the market, but they weren’t armed or anything, right?” he asked. She shook her head, “No, but they were aggressive.” she said. “Like playground bullies, right?” he asked. She nodded. “I’ll bet if I’d been with you they wouldn’t have tried anything.” he said, turning a corner. She smiled as an image of him pushing her in the shopping cart flashed through her mind but quickly pushed it away, “You’re probably right.” she said glumly. The car pulled into the lot of the restaurant and he parked it and shut off the engine, “Hey,” he said, taking her hand again and kissing it softly, “we’ll work the story together.” he said, “Starting tomorrow.” he added, “Today is about our story.” he told her. Her stomach fluttered once more and she felt that pleasant tingle run down her spine from the base of her skull and unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted closer to him and rested her head on his bicep, “How are you so good at this?” she asked. He smiled and softly stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, “You make it easy.” he told her. She sighed contentedly, “New plan,” she said, “drive back to my place and we’ll order food and spend the whole day naked and happy.” she told him. He laughed and patted her hand, “And this is why you’re not in charge.” he told her as he let go of her hand and helped her sit back up before unbuckling his seatbelt. “Am so.” she said, her tongue defiantly sticking out at him. He smirked, “Keep it up and you’ll be eating in a highchair, young lady.” he playfully teased. Her whole body went hot in waves of embarrassment and arousal that she chose to ignore as she opened her door and got out of the car, her thoughts swirling around why she found his playful and empty threat so enticing despite the Talc effects having faded completely from her mind. ********* The restaurant was far nicer than the diner they’d eaten at previously, it was romantically lit and the clientele was comprised of business men and women and couples rather than families. When the hostess had greeted them and started heading to their table, she melted when he took her hand, feeling so little beside him as she followed along beside him. The booth they’d been seated at had wine colored upholstery on the backs and plush cream upholstered seats, the sconce on the wall beside them had a fake candle light in it to give the lighting of candlelight without burning the place down, and the table was a rich caramel colored wood making everything seem expensive and lush while also being very warm and inviting. “How many girls have you brought here?” she asked as she picked up the leather backed menu to see what she wanted to order. He didn’t look up from his menu, “Counting you?” he asked rhetorically, “Two.” he said, “I brought my mom here for her birthday a few months back, Frank in the comm room’s cousin owns it.” he explained. She smiled behind her menu, “Good answer.” she told him. The server appeared, smiling warmly at them, “Can I start you off with something to drink?” she asked. “Iced tea, please.” Marisol said when Marcus gestured to her to go first. “I’ll have the same, but with lemon, please.” Marcus said. The server jotted down the drinks and nodded, “I’ll be right back with those.” she said before leaving. “Anything sound good to you?” he asked. She was looking at the menu and weighing the messiness of each item, wanting to avoid getting sauce or food on herself and looking foolish, chiding herself for wearing a light colored blue top and white pants of all things to an Italian restaurant, “Um, it all looks good.” she said noncommittally. “The eggplant Parm is really good.” he told her without looking up from his menu. She wrinkle her nose at the suggestion, “I’ll probably get the chicken Alfredo.” she said. Their drinks arrived and they ordered, her the chicken Alfredo and him the eggplant Parm and then they were alone looking at one another across the table. He smiled at her, “Nervous?” he asked. She shook her head, “We’ve gotten a lot of ‘die of embarrassment if it happens in front of him’ stuff out of the way already.” she said, her cheeks warming at the thought of all the ways she’d humiliated herself in front of him in such a short amount of time. He reached out his hand and placed it on hers, “And here we are.” he said, “I didn’t run away.” he reminded her. She smiled without looking up at him, “Why didn’t you?” she asked. “What do you mean?” he asked. She looked up slowly, “I mean, any other normal guy would’ve noped out immediately, but you not only stayed, you leaned into it.” she said. He shrugged, “I told you, big family, lots of experience.” he reminded her. “Right, but family and real babies are pretty different from girl you want to sleep with.” she said. He smirked, “Not to me.” he said, “You needed someone and I was there, and I’d already caught feelings for you, so it wasn’t all that hard.” he explained. “And the teasing and threatening me with a highchair?” she asked, “I’m not high anymore, so what was that?” she asked. He leaned back and smiled, “Did you not like it?” he asked. She cleared her throat, “Not the point.” she said. “Look, it’s okay to feel sexy feelings about this stuff, it’s a sexual thing for some people.” he said. She stared at him, “Is that what this is?” she asked, “Are you one of those people?” she asked without allowing him to answer the first question. He shrugged again, “I definitely wasn’t not turned on by what happened last night.” he told her without a hint of shame. Waves of heat ran through her body once more and she grabbed her glass of tea and took several large gulps to cool herself down. “I’m guessing you feel something similar?” he asked. She wanted to tell him the random thoughts and fantasies she’d been having, wanted to confess and share in his openness, but decades of growing up to be silent about sex kept her drinking her tea without uttering a word. He smiled and leaned forward so only she could hear him, “How about this,” he said, “I’ll ask you twenty questions, and all you have to do is nod or shake your head to answer,” he explained, “if I can correctly give a name to what you are then you agree to do what I say today.” he told her. She set her tea back down, “And if you can’t?” she asked. He shrugged, “What do you want your prize to be for winning?” he asked. The server returned with their food, sizable plates of saucy pasta for her and a hunk of lasagna like eggplant parm for him. Once the server left they began to eat, with her taking small bites and doing her best to keep her face and clothes clean as he ate casually and periodically took notice of her eating habits. “Are you afraid of making a mess?” he asked, holding up one finger to illustrate that it was in fact his first question. She nodded softly. He took a bite of food, “Because of what happened at the diner?” he asked, raising a second finger. She shook her head softly. He smiled, “Because you’re not always a clean eater?” he asked, a third finger rising. She nodded softly and felt the heat roll through her body, her stomach fluttering wildly as she looked down at her plate of food. “Would you feel better if I fed you?” he asked, a fourth finger extending. She chewed her bottom lip and felt her head nodding, feeling like she’d lost control of herself once he’d suggested feeding her. He smiled at her, “If you ask me nicely I will.” he told her. She moved her fork around her pasta aimlessly but remained silent, wishing she could just look up at him and say the words she wanted to say but couldn’t bring herself to. “Do you actually want today to be a grownup day out?” he asked, raising his last finger on the hand he wasn’t using to hold his fork. Her heart was racing and her stomach was fluttering as she stared into the tangle of pasta, she’d fought so hard to convince herself that with the Talc out of her system she could go back to being her normal self with him, but the more she thought about the night before and about her brother, the more she wondered if she maybe hadn’t been mistaken as to which her felt more right to be. She looked up from her plate and into his eyes, he’d caught feelings for her when they’d been normal adult coworkers, but he’d stayed and taken care of her when she needed him and sex had followed shortly afterward, so she wasn’t sure which her he was more attracted to. He sipped his tea casually, “Awful lot of thought for a simple question.” he mused aloud. She looked back down at her plate, hating how calm he was while she was tearing herself apart inside grappling with unpacking all her thoughts and feelings about where she stood in the grand scheme of things. She sighed softly, “It’s not a simple question.” she finally said. He picked his fork back up, “Is it not?” he asked. She looked up at him, “No!” she whined, louder than she’d intended to, looking around nervously at the other patrons, relieved that none of them cast a look in her direction. He looked around the restaurant with her and smiled, “No one cares.” he said. “We live in a city plagued by gangs that dress and act like babies that peddle a drug that makes the user uncontrollably behave that way for real and everyone’s just kind of accepted it.” he explained. She stared at him, wanting not to believe him, but after seeing the girl in the diner and the women at the market, she knew he was right. He leaned forward, “You’re an adult baby, Mari.” he said softly, “Talc heightened something that was already in you, maybe something you didn’t realize was there.” he continued, reaching out to place his hand on hers, “Your brother obviously is too, but he’s more accepting of it because he’s always been the less mature of you two, right?” he asked. She nodded absently, his words reaching into her mind and untangling things at such a speed that she was amazed at how clearly she could think now and how right he was with his assessment of her. “I think you’re seeing him indulging in the life you want and are jealous but unable to admit it to yourself because you’ve always been the smart and mature one.” he said, “I think that when the Talc was in your system it broke down your mental block about allowing you to-” She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Hey, don’t cry, it’s-” he started to say. She smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks, “Happy tears.” she managed to say as her bottom lip trembled, “You’re right.” she said. “About which part?” he asked. She chuckled and sobbed at the same time, making a weird sound that surprised them both, a wet choking sound that blossomed into a light and happy laugh, “All of it.” she said. “All morning I’ve been seeing these flashes of us together, but their never as equals or a couple, they’re me in the seat of the shopping cart with you pushing, me in a highchair in the restaurant with you feeding me, me riding piggyback on you at the zoo.” she confessed, feeling the stone in her chest shift and shatter, allowing her to take a full breath. “I’m an adult baby and I want you to be my Daddy.” she said, wiping her eyes. The server cleared her throat, looking so uncomfortable awkwardly standing in the fallout of what Marisol had said, “E-everything okay here?” she stammered. Marcus smiled up at her and nodded, “Just fine.” he said. The server nodded decisively and turned and scurried away. Marisol’s mouth hung open in disbelief, her cheeks blazing with shame. “You just came out as an adult baby to the guy you like and a complete stranger, how do you feel?” he asked her. She slowly closed her mouth and smiled at him, “Like I want Daddy to feed me my lunch and take me back home and get me properly dressed for a baby day at the zoo.” she told him, her shame dissolving into a bubbly happiness that brought the most innocent giggle from her lips as Marcus slid from his side of the booth and came to sit beside her, tucking her cloth napkin into her shirt as a makeshift bib before he began feeding her her lunch. ********** After lunch, they returned to her apartment where they celebrated her newfound understanding of herself with much nudity and interconnecting of their intimate parts, and by the time he was helping her out of the tub after getting her cleaned up, and carrying her back to the bed, she was feeling a similar sensation to when she’d been high on Talc but with all her faculties. She was mentally present as he carried her and gently lay her down on the bed, she adored the little tickles he delivered to the bottoms of her feet as he dried her off or the raspberry he blew on her stomach when he declared her dry and started gathering the supplies to diaper her, she wasn’t sucking her thumb as she watched him care for her because her body had defaulted to infantile behavior without her consent, she was sucking her thumb because she was content and immersing herself in all the trappings she’d found pleasant in being a baby. Once she was diapered, he dressed her in the clothes she’d worn to the restaurant, her white pants struggling to fit over the new bulk she wore, but he got them on and she payed no attention to the fact that it was obvious she was wearing a diaper from the bulge to the rustling sound of plastic that came with every step to the inch and a half of diaper that stuck out above the waistline of her jeans because once she was dressed he was holding her in his arms again, rubbing her back softly and telling her sweet things a Daddy would tell his baby girl. She melted in his arms, slipping effortlessly into the role of baby as she was bolstered by his strong arms and loving embrace, his deep voice penetrating her mind and turning back the clock as he set her down, took her hand in his and led her, toddling giddily beside him back to the car, a grocery bag with two diapers and the changing supplies in his other hand. He buckled her into the backseat for the ride to the zoo, and slid the lavender shielded pacifier into her waiting mouth before he kissed her forehead and backed out smiling at her as he closed the door. She was wiggling her feet happily as she wet her diaper after thinking about doing it the whole way from the apartment to the car, and as the warmth pooled around her and she sucked her pacifier, she felt like her mind was a bushel of balloons being released into the sky, her thoughts stayed together, coherent for a time, but began to separate, going off into many different directions as they got smaller and smaller in the vastness of the sky, some popping never to be seen or heard from again, and some just fading away as the distance became to great to find them again. “Who’s a happy girl?” he asked from the front of the car, half turning to gently pat her knee. “Me!” she burbled, bouncing in her seat and giggling at the squish of her now wet diaper beneath her. After they got on the road he looked back at her in the mirror, “Penny for your thoughts, Mari.” he said warmly. She met his gaze and giggled, “I wetted my diaper, Daddy.” she told him, beaming proudly behind her pacifier. He chuckled, “That sounds a lot better than what you were thinking about before, huh?” he asked. She nodded but turned her attention to a playground they were passing, “Daddy, wanna swing!” she exclaimed, bouncing in her seat excitedly. “Maybe tomorrow, baby, we’re going to the zoo, remember?” he asked her. She giggled and nodded, “Aminals!” she clumsily squealed. He smiled back at her, “Animals, baby.” he gently corrected. She giggled again, “Dat’s what I said, Daddy!” she insisted. He nodded once and turned his attention to the road, taking the exit to the zoo. Once she was out of the car and holding his hand in the parking lot, the zoo a few hundred feet away, she was a ball of energy that he calmed by kneeling down and having her climb onto his back for a piggyback ride serenaded by giggles and cheers that almost made her lose her pacifier. By that point, the amount of diaper showing above her pants was almost doubled, her shirt having gotten trapped behind her diaper making it obvious she was little more than an overgrown baby, whether you noticed her behavior or the pacifier in her mouth or not, but Marisol was oblivious to the rest of the world, all she knew was the zoo entrance was getting closer and Daddy was carrying her. The attendant at the gate smiled at them, “Welcome!” he greeted warmly, the deep creases of his laugh lines becoming impossible to ignore. “We’re meeting someone and should have tickets waiting for us.” Marcus told the man. “Yes sir, what’s the name?” the attendant asked. “Briggs.” Marcus said. The man typed into the computer, “Looks like a Rosario and Humberto Briggs checked in about twenty minutes ago under an adult and child ticket and I have another adult and child ticket for Marcus and Marisol.” he explained. Marcus nodded and fished his wallet from his pocket, showing the man his ID first and then Marisol’s. The man looked at the ID’s and then at the pair in front of him and marked the tickets as claimed before opening a drawer and pulling out a pink wristband, “Can I see your arm, little lady?” he asked Marisol. Marcus stooped forward as Marisol obediently extended her arm, the silicone band sliding over her hand, the word ‘BABY’ stamped across the center of it. A white wristband came from the drawer next and Marcus allowed the man to slide it onto his wrist, the word ‘ADULT’ stamped across the middle of it. “Mrs. Briggs said she’d be waiting at the cafe near the entrance.” the man said. Marcus nodded, “Say thank you, baby.” he urged Marisol. “Fankoo mista.” Marisol chirped obediently. Walking through the turnstyle, Marcus looked around for the previously mentioned cafe, and saw Marisol’s mother and brother seated at a table outside beneath an umbrella. As he approached he could see that Humberto was in one of the two seats of the adult sized stroller, his bare feet dangling limply as he slept peacefully, the baby blue pacifier in his mouth rhythmically bobbing. When Marisol’s mother saw them, her face lit up behind her sunglasses, and she covered her smiling mouth with both hands as she stood to greet them. “Mami?” Marisol asked. Marisol’s mother launched into a string of Spanish coos and adoration as she approached them and kissed Marcus on both cheeks before he knelt down to let Marisol off his back and her mother hugged her tightly and fawned over her. “Whatchoo doin’ here, Mami?” Marisol asked. Her mother took off her sunglasses and held her daughter’s hands in her own, “Mommy’s here to take you home, baby.” she cooed, gently guiding Marisol toward the table. Marisol looked at Marcus and her mother in confusion as she was guided down into the stroller beside her peacefully sleeping brother and strapped and buckled in with the three point harness. “The money will be in your account once you leave the zoo.” Marcus said quietly, “I don’t need to remind you what happens if she comes back and tries to make problems, do I?” he asked. Rosario shook her head vehemently, “She’ll be no trouble for you or your boss.” she insisted. Marisol looked from her mother to Marcus, her mind trying to comprehend what was happening. “She got a dose at the restaurant a few hours ago,” Marcus said, “make sure she has another dose within the hour to keep her from causing you any trouble.” he explained. Rosario nodded and half turned to fish in the large diaper bag on the table to produce a bottle with a pink plastic cap, “It’s so warm out, baby, have a drink.” she cooed as she popped the cap off and pulled Marisol’s pacifier from her mouth to easily replace with the nipple of the bottle. The liquid inside the bottle was cool and refreshing and whatever concerns or confusions she was experiencing faded as she greedily suckled the juice within. Marcus sighed and nodded, kneeling in front of the stroller to gently stroke Marisol’s hair, “Be a good girl for your Mommy, okay?” he said, his voice thick with emotion as he rose and kissed the top of her head, clearing his throat as he turned back to Rosario, “I’ll visit in a week to make sure you’re holding up your end of the deal.” he said, looking over at the increasingly relaxing Marisol, “Make sure she knows I care about her if she asks.” he added. Rosario nodded, “Maybe when all of this is over-” she started to say before he stopped her. “We shouldn’t make plans if we can’t be sure we’ll be able to honor them.” he told her, giving one final look toward Marisol and smiling sadly at her as she slipped off to sleep lazily holding her bottle, “But if there’s a way this ends well, I’ll be back for her.” he added before walking away. Rosario watched him depart and breathed a sigh of relief once he was gone and turned to her children, her heart swelling with maternal love as she beheld her sleeping babies in their stroller. Pulling out her phone, she snapped several pictures and posted them to her social media pages with the caption, “Familia Completa.” before she went back into the diaper bag for the outfit she’d made and packed for her daughter and made sure it was on top with a fresh diaper before she went around the back of the stroller and put the bag in the basket below and pushed her darling babies toward the family restroom to remove the last remnants of her daughter’s adult life and dress her for her new role as Baby Mari. To Be Continued...

Six Officially, Marisol woke up first early in the night, agonizing about her need to relieve her suddenly angry bowels and quietly accepting her role as the baby of the evening the Talc had chosen for her, but she’d quickly fallen back to sleep on Marcus’ lap after messing her diaper, so it didn’t really seem fair to count it as “waking up”, so it was that Marcus woke up as sunlight filtered in through the blinds of the living room window, glinting shards of light across his closed eyes until he stirred and finally awoke. His smile when he saw her peacefully cuddled up on his lap, pacifier half hanging from her mouth, her too large shirt askew to give him another glimpse of her shoulder and collarbone faded quickly when he smelled what she’d done in her diaper. Sighing softly, he raised his arm and gently stroked her head, “Marisol.” he said softly, “C’mon, honey, we need to get you changed.” he told her. She stirred slightly, her eyes slowly opening as she looked up at him. When their eyes met they both knew she’d weathered the storm and regained her faculties, she saw her coworker and felt deep, immeasurable shame and humiliation for her actions the night before, and he saw the intelligence behind her eyes, the simple thoughts rising and disappearing like soap bubbles she’d demonstrated the night before replaced with calculation and understanding. “I-” she started to say. He shook his head, “We’re not talking about anything right now.” he said softly, his smile returning, “Have a shower and I’ll make coffee for us and once we’ve both woken up we can talk about whatever you’re comfortable talking about.” he explained. She numbly nodded and climbed off his lap as gracefully as she could weighed down by a sagging pouch of her own urine and feces and wearing a shirt that allowed for her breasts to be exposed the moment she leaned too far forward. The shirt did cover her shameful diaper as she waddled away, so she was at least grateful for that much. When she reached the bathroom and shut and locked the door behind her, she caught sight of herself in the mirror, her hair mussed from resting her head on the stiff couch pillow all night, the collar of her shirt damp from drool, and then she lifted her shirt and looked down at the diaper he’d bought and taped her into the night before, the front discolored from a heavy wetting she chose to believe had happened before she’d come down from the Talc and not while she was sleeping. Still holding her shirt up with one hand, she sent her free hand behind her to assess the damage she’d done to the seat of the crinkling garment, a soft lump evading her fingers as she lightly pressed against the plastic shell, the knowledge of what it was she was feeling making her shudder and whimper softly as she let her shirt fall and turned on the tub faucet to cover the sound of her humiliated sobs. ********** Marcus waited for the water to start running in the bathroom before he got up from the couch with a groan, his shoulder and back aching terribly from the position he’d slept in. He trudged to the kitchen and searched for coffee and cups and went to work brewing some for the two of them before he began searching for air freshener to get rid of the lingering scent Marisol had left in the apartment, his goal being to remove the offending odor so she wouldn’t be reminded of the incident any more than she already would be, and spare her any further embarrassment where he could. ********** She’d stopped crying from humiliation, but she found herself crying out of frustration when she tried and failed numerous times to successfully navigate a position safe enough in her mind to allow her diaper to come off and not make an awful mess. She’d considered sitting on the toilet but dreaded smashing her mess against the seat, she squatted a few times trying to figure out the best way to lower herself onto her back to remove the diaper, but a few unsteady teeters had frightened her too greatly that she’d fall down on her butt and the diaper would explode like a stepped on ketchup packet, she’d even thought of shimmying it down like underwear, but found Marcus’ tape work to be quite snug indeed. With a sniffle, a trembling bottom lip, and a quickness in her heart’s beating, she shut off the water and put her hand on the doorknob. ********** “That was fast!” he called out when he heard the bathroom door open, “I forgot to ask, do you take cream and-” he stopped when he looked up and saw Marisol shuffling toward him, her eyes cast down on the floor, her breath coming out in heaving sobs as she stopped, pigeon toed a few feet from him and reluctantly looked up. “I can’t get it off!” she wailed, clear liquid running from her nose before she sniffed it up and tried to catch her breath as she let out a string of stuttering sobs that sounded like someone was throttling her. His heart broke for her, his assumption that the Talc hadn’t fully left her system and she’d just had a moment of clarity after waking up, and he quickly went to her and, without thinking, bent and picked her up, hugging her to him as her arms and legs wrapped around him instinctively. “Shh, it’s okay, baby.” he whispered, gently patting and rubbing her back, “It wouldn’t make sense for babies to be able to take their diapers off, would it?” he joked. She sniffled, realizing that he thought she was still high given the way he was talking to her and rushing to comfort her like she’d fallen off her tricycle or dropped her ice cream, she thought briefly about setting the record straight, but being in his arms made her feel so safe and loved, something she’d been missing since leaving home. She took stock of the situation, of the pleasant warmth running down her spine as he rubbed her back, she was a grown woman with all her faculties intact, but she was wearing a soiled diaper she couldn’t manage to get off by herself and had an emotional meltdown like a toddler as a result, and Marcus didn’t seem put off by the situation in the slightest, he was just as willing to hold her in his arms as he was to make coffee. Was she a bad person for letting him believe she was still high? Was allowing him to take care of her as though she were a baby even though she wasn’t wrong to do? “C’mon, sweetie, we’ll get you cleaned up, alright?” he rhetorically asked as he started heading toward the bedroom with her. She felt like the door had closed on her chance to argue, to tell him the truth and let him decide whether he was still willing to take care of her or not, when he lay her down on the plastic changing mat on the bed and she looked up at him as he looked down at her and his smile created this pleasant warmth in her stomach, like the nervous fluttering she’d been experiencing was quelled immediately and replaced with something so close to love that she felt her cheeks warm as she smiled back up at him. “Hey, there’s a smile!” he exclaimed in a tone meant for an actual baby to be on the receiving end of as he bent down and gave her sides a little tickle. Being extremely ticklish, she giggled and squirmed the moment his fingers began to dance on her sides, quieting when he gently sat her up and deftly pulled her shirt off before laying her back down and moving to the tapes of her diaper, she whimpered softly, “I’m not high!” she blurted out, eyes shut tight so she didn’t have to see his reaction. The sound of tape pulling apart from plastic broke the momentary silence, “I know.” he said calmly. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, at his smile and blinked in confusion. “Marisol, I spent last night with you, I know what you’re like when you’re high on Talc.” he said as he pulled the front of the diaper away from her and began wiping her clean with the baby wipes, his attention on his task and not on her face, “I thought you were initially, but when I picked you up I knew,” he told her as he lifted her legs and continued cleaning her, “It’s hard to explain, but basically you were stiffer when I held you, like you were conflicted about it rather than happy to have me hold you like you were last night.” he explained. “I was happy to have you hold me.” she said quietly, her eyes once again closed so she didn’t have to see him grimacing as he cleaned her messy behind, which he assumed he was. “Look at me, Marisol.” he gently commanded. She opened her eyes slowly and saw him smiling at her. “I like you.” he said as he finished his work and balled up her diaper with the used wipes inside that he set on the floor beside him, “Is it ideal to be changing your messy diaper?” he asked, “No, it’s not how I’d choose to be spending the morning after spending the night with you for the first time,” he explained as he took a seat on the bed and hefted her up onto his lap, his strong hand gently rubbing her back, “but,” he swallowed hard, “taking care of you is nice.” he said, looking into her eyes as he smiled. Her cheeks burned, “You’re really good at it.” she said, her hand moving to his as it rested on her knee, her thumb softly stroking the back of it. “I’ve had a lot of practice with my siblings over the years.” he reminded her. She nodded softly, “I really like you.” she said, looking down at their hands, “I felt like I ruined everything last night and then kept on ruining it this morning, but you were so caring and patient with all of it that I just-” her words were silenced by his lips on hers. The kiss was everything she’d hoped it would be, electric and deeply fulfilling and served as a final lesson to her that he was in control, her thoughts fizzling away as she melted on his lap, hoping beyond hope that she was making it pleasurable for him, wanting nothing more than to please him and keep him interested in her. Her head swam as his lips parted from hers and she drunkenly looked into his eyes. “You seemed to be spiraling a little and I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while and it seemed like the best way to calm you down.” he explained. She nodded dreamily and wiggled her bottom softly when she felt his stiffness beneath her, “What’s the best way to calm you down?” she whispered, climbing off his lap to kneel between his legs on the floor as she reached up for the zipper of his pants. “Marisol-” he started to protest, but her hands were already around him, pulling him free of his pants. Her eyes lit up at the sight of his cock, perfect in every way she could imagine and she made a soft purring sound as she leaned in and kissed his shaft near the base and kissed her way up to the head, the smell of her used diaper laying beside her filling her with shame as she kissed the head and took him into her mouth. ********** They lay together beneath the covers of the bed hours later, his strong arm around her middle as she lay against him as his little spoon, both of them sleeping peacefully after a rigorous sexual decathlon. She’d pleasured him with her mouth until he decided he wanted more and gently guided her from him, the little wet pop of him escaping her mouth, the pout on her face and petulant whimper that came from her being parted from her new toy made his lifting of her from the floor to the bed all the more exhilarating for them both as he stripped quickly and climbed onto the bed atop her, her body quivering with anticipation as she took in the sight of his muscular form and ran a hand over his rock hard chest. He took control of the events without a word and without making it feel like he was dominating her, reducing her to little more than squeals and whimpers of delight as he satisfied her with his mouth, hitting the right speed and pressure immediately to bring her to climax with alarming speed and frequency, and when he entered her, that was nothing short of life changing in her mind. Despite his size in comparison to her, she never felt pain, only wave after wave of unadulterated pleasure as he filled her completely and took her on a spiritual journey with his cock as her guide. As it turned out, Talc wasn’t the only thing that brought out a littleness in her, but sex to that point hadn’t been anything special, mostly just boys fumbling in the dark where Marcus was a man with detailed pussy and clitoris schematics memorized like a bank robber eyeing Fort Knox. She’d screamed ‘Daddy’ more than a few times in the heat of the moment, and when the time came for him to finish, she was so exhausted from all her own orgasms, nothing more than a quivering puddle of satisfied goo, that she moaned as she sucked her thumb and merely smiled up at him dreamily as he pulled out of her and moved up to the head of the bed to replace her thumb with his twitching cock and filled her mouth with the results of their love making, swallowing what she could but ultimately failing in her task leaving her chin and the bed below a mess that he cleaned up for her without missing a beat, playfully teasing her messiness before taking his place behind her as she slipped her thumb back into her mouth and they fell asleep. When he woke up he smiled and basked in the warmth their bodies created, kissing her bare shoulder softly as he listened to her quietly snoring beside him. The kiss brought her out of her slumber and she mewled happily before rolling over to face him, pulling her thumb the rest of the way from her mouth before doing so. “Hi.” he said, brushing her hair from her face. She smiled at him, “Hi.” she said dreamily. They lay in silence together for a long time, looking into each other’s eyes and smiling, neither sure what to say after such an eventful night and morning, but Marisol was the one that finally broke the silence. “Is it possible that Talc just heightens what’s already in a person?” she asked, not really asking him but more throwing the question out as a thought that she’d had and wanted feedback on. He smiled at her, “Anything’s possible.” he said, “We don’t know much about Talc beyond the way people behave when they’re on it, but yeah, if you’re already the kind of person that acts like a baby, it would definitely trigger that.” he said. She thought of Humberto and of her own behavior, “Do you think you could be with me if I was like that?” she asked. “All the time?” he asked. She shrugged and sighed, “You make me feel,” she paused, looking for the right word, “different.” she settled, “No guy has ever done anything for me like you did, and I’ve never called a guy ‘Daddy’ in bed or sucked my thumb during sex.” she explained, feeling increasingly vulnerable as she talked, “But with you, it’s not even a conscious thought, it’s just what feels right.” she added. He nodded softly as he listened. “Like, right now, the room smells like a nursery and brothel had a baby, and I know we need to get up and shower and be productive members of society, but all I can think about is you carrying me to the bathroom and giving me a bath and putting me in another diaper and spending the day with you here.” she confessed. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly, “How much of this is you talking and how much is the aftershocks of the Talc?” he asked, “Or the thing with your brother.” he added. She shrugged and chewed her bottom lip, “Until I know the drug is completely out of my system, I guess I don’t know.” she admitted. He nodded, “Until then, I think we should take things slow and not go down a path we can’t get back from easily.” he explained. She sighed, “I know you’re right, but I just want to pout and whine right now until I get my way.” she admitted. He smirked at her, “Girl, the way I was brought up, that kind of behavior would get you the belt.” he said. She groaned and planted her head against his chest so she was facing the mattress, “Sure, tell me we’re taking it slow and then threaten me with a good time!” she whined. He laughed out loud and lifted her head to look into her eyes, “Taking it slow just means not throwing out all your panties and diving headfirst into being a full time baby,” he explained before kissing her lips softly, failing to keep from smiling when she whimpered softly into his mouth, “I can absolutely spank you if that’s what you really want.” he added, looking at her expectantly. She pouted, “I don’t like this thing where you have all the power and I’m just horny and helpless.” she grumbled. He hefted her up on top of him and put his arms around her waist, “Oh, are you the bossy little princess that runs the show from her playpen?” he teased. She nodded and kissed his chest, “Duh.” she playfully chided him, “I mean, who’s going to be waiting on who hand and foot in this relationship?” she asked. He brushed her hair from her face, “Relationship, huh?” he asked. She looked worried, fearful that she’d overstepped, “I mean-” she started to clarify before he was kissing her once more. “Why don’t we work on keeping your pants dry and clean before we worry about whether we’re going steady or not.” he teased. She stuck out her tongue, “Going steady?” she asked, “How old are you?” she added. He chuckled and reached down to pat her bare behind softly, “Old enough, little girl.” he said with a smile, “Now go have a shower so we can do something more productive than just fall for each other in bed.” he told her. She nodded and slid off of him, crawling backward to the end of the bed where she stood and looked at him for a moment, a smile on her face. “What?” he asked. She giggled, “I really like you.” she said, “I mean, maybe not enough to go steady.” she said, trailing off. He rolled his eyes, “Shower. Now.” he said jovially. She locked her heels together and straightened her back to salute him, “Yes, sir, Daddy, sir!” she barked before breaking into a fit of giggles as she scampered off to the bathroom. Once the door closed, he sighed contentedly, “I’ve been called worse.” he said with a smile. To Be Continued...

Looking for an ancient story, 20+ years old probably. The basic premise is at least four female friends are staying together for a weekend/holiday and play a game where they're assigned ages to play as and earn higher or lower ages based on behavior. I believe they rotate being Mommy, but I honestly can't recall. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

As is the case with most of my stories, because I'm a dumb and don't plan anything out, I started with a concept, people arriving at D.E.A.T.H. after ABDL related circumstances led to their demise and realized pretty quickly that that isn't a story, so I started expanding the scope and did a whole bunch of stuff really quickly that thankfully mostly worked out. I think I rushed the story a bit to make that change, but I'm overall pleased with the end result. Delilah and Ella was a big thing for me and I wanted it to be as much of an emotional core as Ella and Mira's relationship was. Ultimately, I wanted the story to be driven more by relationships than anything else, and I think I did that to a point, but again, rushing things waters that down a bit. The vision thing was originally going to be a chapter focused on each character and what they saw, "The best day I never had" being the life they missed out on because they died, it was all SUPER heavy and changed the tone of things so dramatically that I scrapped the majority of it in favor of touching on it briefly because I did genuinely love the idea, but overall I didn't want to bum everyone out super hard. I will say that Lucy's vision legit gutted me because she died so young and missed out on so much, but Mira's vision was equally rough because it showed us that she loved her sister but couldn't articulate it because she couldn't get past her own hangups. At the end of the day, I think this is a solid story that accomplished a fair amount of my original vision for it, and the things that came later in the process, like God and Satan turned out to be really fun to write...aside from remembering to capitalize their pronouns...and the final chapter's bit with Satan being a great father to Mira was hands down the best thing to write in this story. I'm very happy you liked the story and greatly appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me! I'm sorry it took so long to respond, that's my problem and I'm dealing with it. Thank you for hanging in there and sticking with it, I'm glad it turned out to be so enjoyable for you to read!

Done and dusted! Hope you all enjoy the finale of this story, as always if you like it let me know, if you hate it let me know! I hope to see you in one of my other stories! Chapter Ten “Fin” “Ella?” Mira whispered softly, gently shaking me awake. I groaned softly but didn’t open my eyes, trying to stay asleep longer, “Go back to sleep, Mira.” I grumbled. “He’s here.” she whispered, her voice small and frightened. I opened my eyes to see my sister laying beside me, her head raised to look over me to the room beyond. I rolled over and saw Him sitting in the rocking chair, one leg crossed over the other hands in his lap, a smile on his face that carried ill will in it. He uncrossed his leg and rose slowly, “Good,” He thought for a moment, “I suppose afternoon would be correct.” He said. I sat up and glowered at Him, “You can’t be here!” I snapped. He smirked, “Can’t I?” He asked. I shook my head, “This is our home, we had a deal with God.” I reminded Him. “And what of my deal?” He asked. I sneered, “Like we’d ever make a deal with you.” I spat. He smiled, “You and Lucy wouldn’t.” He said, “But you’re a good deal smarter than your crib mate.” He added. My blood ran cold as I scooted back and reached behind me to hold onto Mira, “Any deal she might’ve made with you ended when we made our new deal.” I told Him. He shook his head, “Not how it works, kiddo.” He said, “Little Mira there made a deal with me, and I’ve fulfilled my end of it, so now I’m here to collect my payment.” He explained. Mira whimpered softly behind me. “What was the deal?” I asked Him. He shrugged His shoulders, “That’s not for me to divulge.” He said. “Mira, what was your deal?” I asked her without taking my eyes off of Him. She sniffled, “Happiness.” she whispered, “I wanted to have a happy family again.” she explained. He stuck His hands into the pockets of His black, very expensive looking dress pants, “See, poor little Mira didn’t really know what she wanted, so she was nice and vague about her terms,” He explained, “turns out, your little whisper while she slept got through and she felt true happiness in this little family you’ve cobbled together when you informed her she’d be the little sister.” He continued, “Doesn’t it just warm the cockles of your heart?” He asked. I ignored Him, “What did you promise Him?” I asked her. He raised one hand from His pocket, “That one I can answer!” He said, vanishing in a blur of darkness to appear at the side of the crib, His arms folded on the top of the rails as He looked down at us, “She’s to be mine.” He said, “No specifics on the nature of the relationship, but given her current state, maybe it’s time for me to settle down and be a good father.” He explained, his smile spreading as he looked at Mira with hungry eyes. “I won’t let you take her!” I hissed. He sighed, “Ella,” He said, lowering the crib side before walking back to the rocking chair to sit down and once again cross one leg over the other, “Let me tell you a little story.” He said, “Well, show you.” He corrected. The room vanished, leaving Mira and I standing in darkness. I moved around so we were side by side and took her hand tightly into my own, “It’ll be okay, Mira.” I reassured her. “As you know, God and I have a, “unique” relationship.” He said, placing emphasis on ‘unique’. Images appeared in succession before us, Him with Her bent over a rock, Her face frozen in orgasmic bliss as dinosaurs roamed behind them, Her atop Him as knights waged war all around, their bodies slathered with blood and mud, Him holding Her hair tightly as She felicitated Him as plague doctors loaded bodies into carts. “Over the course of our existence, I’ve groomed Her to be the perfect lover.” He explained, “I broke Her of Her will to disobey me when it came to sex and made Her satisfy me as I destroyed Her creations.” He continued, “Do you know that She begged me, cock in mouth, not to kill the last Dodo?” He asked, a self satisfied chuckle ringing in the darkness. “Not only did I kill it, but I made Her use its beak as a butt plug for nearly seventy years for having the nerve to think She had any say in what I did.” He added. Mira squeezed my hand tightly as the image of God with a sizable beak in Her ass as She sucked His cock displayed in front of us. “The reality of the situation, girls, is that God isn’t in any kind of position to make deals, least of all with my property.” He said, “The home you built in your adorable little pocket universe? Created with power I gave Her.” He added. I shook my head, “God doesn’t need you to give Her power.” I sneered. “No?” He asked, “Slut!” He shouted. God appeared before us, naked and on Her knees in front of Him. He knelt behind Her and lifted Her chin so She was looking at us, “Tell them the truth.” He commanded. She nodded softly, “I surrendered all my power to Him.” She said. He reached down and roughly pinched Her nipple, drawing a gasp and moan from Her, “Why?” He asked. She bit Her lip, “To be allowed to cum.” She confessed. He chuckled softly, “Pathetic, isn’t She?” He asked us, “So focused on carnal delights that my refusal to allow Her to orgasm brought Her to surrendering everything She had.” He said. “So our deal-” I started to say. “A sham, I’m afraid.” He said, cutting me off, “You have what you have so I could get what I want.” He continued, “And what I want is for Mira to come to her new Daddy.” He said, smiling wickedly at us. I felt her grip loosen, “I propose a new deal!” I exclaimed, squeezing her hand tight. His smile remained, “Go on.” He said. My mind whirled as I tried to come up with something to outsmart Him with, “She offered me a role as God.” I finally said, pointing at the naked deity on Her knees beside him getting Her head stroked like an obedient dog, “If I agree to that deal, to take Her place, you leave Mira and Lucy alone forever.” I said. “Ella, no!” Mira whined. He stroked His beard in contemplation, “Tempting, but no.” He finally said, “You’re not my type and I know I’m not yours.” He said knowingly, “Come along, little one.” He said, crooking his finger to beckon Mira to him. Her grip loosed as her feet began to move in his direction. “No!” I wailed, holding her hand tightly and pulling as hard as I could to keep her with me, my pajama clad feet sliding as she pulled me along with her. He smiled at me, “Don’t worry, Ella, I’ll take good care of her.” He said, “But you need to let go now, sweetie.” He told me, “Here, cuddle this instead.” He added, flicking his wrist in my direction. A stuffed bear appeared on the ground in front of me, the fur pink and fluffier and softer looking than anything I’d ever seen before, the urge to rush to it and pick it up to cuddle it overwhelming me as I felt hot tears roll down my cheeks as I let go of Mira and rushed to the bear, dropping to my knees to scoop it up and snuggle it. Mira moved quicker without me anchoring her, dropping to her hands and knees to crawl the rest of the way to Him and perch on her knees with her arms wide open to Him. He knelt and scooped her up, placing her on His hip as He gently grabbed her wrist and bobbed her hand up and down, “Say, ‘bye bye’, Ella.” He cooed. Mira stared vacantly at me, “Bye bye, Ella.” she repeated in a monotone voice before resting her head on His shoulder. I was sobbing uncontrollably, desperately trying to let go of the stuffed bear to go to my sister, but all I could do was cuddle the fluffy bear and rock softly as I cried, watching them vanish in a swirl of shadow, the nursery returning once they’d left, leaving me in the middle of the room cuddling the bear with God still on Her knees across the room. “I’m sorry, Ella.” She said softly. I glared at Her, the thrall of the bear breaking its hold on me as I tossed it aside and got up to rush to Her, tackling Her and raining my fists down onto Her face. Over and over I punched, Her pristine skin bruised and bloody after dozens of blows until I pushed myself off of Her panting and sobbing. She spit blood onto the carpet as she rose to a sitting position, “Feel better?” She asked. I shook my head, “Why are you still here?” I hissed. She sighed, Her wounds healing instantly, the blood disappearing from Her mouth and the carpet, “Powerless, remember?” She said, “He sapped the last of it when He decided He was done with me.” she explained, her tone rich with self pity. “You fucking deserve it, you coward.” I spat. She nodded, “Yeah, I do.” She admitted, “Mira doesn’t though.” She added. I glared at Her, “You don’t get to say her name.” I warned. She smiled, “I used to know love like that.” She said, “He used to love me as much as you love Mira, or Lucy, but absolute power and all that.” She continued, “Now, I matter so little to Him that He’s fine leaving me powerless and alone without so much as a goodbye.” She said sadly. “Oh, poor God, tricked by the well documented master of lies.” I sneered, “He’s right, you are pathetic.” I added. She nodded, “I am.” She agreed, “I’d go back with Him in a second if He came to get me, knowing that He’d eventually find some new plaything to replace me, and I’d do everything He asked because He’s what I deserve.” She explained. “You deserve to be miserable for all the pain and suffering you’ve allowed people to experience,” I said, “you deserve to be degraded and used so you can feel a fraction of what the people in the realm of the living have to endure.” I continued, rising to my feet to walk over and stand above her, “You deserve to be punished for all of it, but for me, you deserve to suffer for ruining the lives of my family.” I told her. She sighed, “Is this the part where you spank me and force me into diapers or something, because that wouldn’t be so much of a punishment, honey.” She said. I shook my head, “No, you’re not worth my time and energy.” I said, “You’re going to crawl to that door and into D.E.A.T.H. and find someone that can get you back to Heaven and you’re going to tell them the truth about everything.” I commanded. She scoffed, “And why would I do that?” She asked incredulously. I smiled and knelt down, stroking Her cheek softly, “Because if you don’t, Lucy and I will find all kinds of new and interesting ways to degrade and humiliate you.” I said. She smirked, “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Ella.” She said. I slapped Her hard across Her face, “Fine, you’ll do it because if you don’t, I will spend the rest of eternity bringing you to the edge of orgasm only to deny you the privilege.” I explained, “You’ll beg and plead for release, but it won’t come, you’ll be eternally frustrated and it won’t end because none of us is going anywhere ever.” I said. She stared at me in disbelief before she smiled, “You’re a nasty little bitch, aren’t you?” she asked. “When it comes to my family? You bet your ass I am.” I said. “Now, get the fuck out of my house, whore.” I spat, folding my arms across my chest as I watched Her obediently crawl to the door. She turned to look back at me, “Once I have my power back, I’m going to ruin you.” She threatened. I nodded, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” I told her. She opened the door, revealing the cubicles on the office floor of D.E.A.T.H. and crawled through after taking a deep breath, the door shutting behind Her once She’d crossed the threshold. Once I was alone, my strong facade faltered and I collapsed into a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably as I pounded my fists futilely into the carpet and swore and screamed in rage until I exhausted myself and fell asleep after crawling to the discarded bear to cuddle for comfort. ********** Lucy and I carried on the best we could after Mira left, we removed the nursery from our house after it became obvious I was never going back into it, too many things to remind me of what I’d lost. I gave up everything baby related cold turkey, viewing that part of me as weak and stupid, focusing on work and pushing Lucy further and further away as time went on. “Do you even want me here anymore?” Lucy asked one night at dinner, the meal she’d prepared cold and uneaten as I picked at it with my fork. I wasn’t listening to her, I rarely did after Mira left. Maybe it was resentment that she wasn’t there to help me when He’d taken Mira, maybe it was me not feeling deserving of love and happiness while Mira suffered whatever was happening to her alone, but whatever it was, she left without saying goodbye and I eventually stopped going back to the home we’d built together, returning to my space at D.E.A.T.H. with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company in the times I wasn’t pouring myself into work. I’d see Lucy around the office occasionally, she’d moved on with her afterlife, started a new relationship with someone in Reaping, from what I could tell when I saw her talking to the busty blonde that seemed to hang on her every word and follow her around like a puppy. Being back at D.E.A.T.H. was for the best, it removed my ability to cry and let me feel awful without being able to release myself from the hurt, a nice eternal torture for me to savor for the rest of time. When the envelope appeared in my living space I was taken aback, the all black envelope with my name written on the front in red, the lines of the crudely scrawled letters chunky and deliberate, like a child had written it. I picked it up and opened it, pulling the paper inside out to unfold and read it. “Dear Ella, You’re cordially invited to Mira’s first birthday party. If you’re interested in attending, a door will appear wherever you are at the time of the party, all you need do is step through it. A gift would be welcome but is unnecessary if you are unable to secure one. She would love to see her big sister. Regards, Satan” I collapsed to my knees and let the letter fall to the floor, my mind racing with possibilities. I needed to tell Lucy, to convince her to join me, thinking we could get Mira back somehow if we went together to the party. I used my will to find her and went directly to her via the door to my living space. “Ella?” she asked, looking up from her book as she read on her couch, “What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise. I handed her the note, “We have to go, we can fix all of this!” I told her. She read the note and looked up at me, “You broke my heart, Ella.” she said after a long silence, “You shut me out and didn’t even try to stop me from leaving.” she explained. “I’m sorry!” I told her, taking her hands in mine, “If we get her back, things can go back to the way they were!” I explained. She pulled her hands free of mine, “No.” she said, “You lost me.” she said, moving back on the couch so she could stand up, “It took everything I had to make peace with the fact that you didn’t love me anymore, and only now am I finally starting to feel slightly better.” she explained. I stood up, feeling impossibly small as I looked up into her eyes, “Please, Lucy, Mommy,” I corrected, “I need you.” I pleaded. Her face softened as she put her hand to my cheek and leaned in to kiss my forehead, “No.” she said sadly, “I want you to go and try and get Mira back, but I’m not coming with you and-” she hesitated, “and I don’t want you to try and contact me anymore after you leave.” she said. My spirit shriveled as I searched her eyes for a sign that I might be able to change her mind, finding none, I nodded softly, “I’m sorry.” I said quietly before I turned to leave, “I fucked up.” I said, turning to look back at her, “I felt so helpless and terrible for not being able to save Mira that I didn’t feel like I deserved to be happy, but I never explained that to you.” I said, “I hope you find happiness, Lucy, you deserve it.” I added as I made my way to the door and out of her life. ********** Some time later the door mentioned in the letter appeared in my living room, black and swirling with shadows as a door to Hell was expected to be, and I got up and walked to it, placing my hand on the knob and giving it a turn and push before being pulled across the threshold, the door slamming shut behind me. I don’t know what I expected to find on the other side, pools of lava, demons, naked people being tortured in disgusting ways maybe, but what I absolutely hadn’t considered was that He’d host Mira’s birthday at a Chuck E. Cheese. “You made it!” He exclaimed, rushing up to me and throwing His arms around me to hug me tightly. He’d traded in his black and crimson finery for khaki’s and a seafoam green polo shirt, His dark aura replaced with something more akin to a candle store employee, still a hint of darkness just under the surface, but for all intents and purposes, warm and inviting. He was clean shaven now, His dark hair now brown with blonde highlights cut short and parted on the left side of His head making him look like a newscaster or weather man. “What the actual fuck is going on?” I asked Him. He pulled away, a look of shock on His face, “There are children here, Ella, let’s keep the language G rated, huh?” He playfully chided. I stared at Him in disbelief, “What happened to you?” I asked. “Fatherhood!” He exclaimed with a bubbly joy that genuinely startled me, “Having a kid changes you, man!” He said, “Hang on.” He added, stepping around me, “Hey, Karen, would you mind keeping an eye on the kids for a mo, Ella’s here to see her sister!” He called out to a bleach blonde woman in white stretch pants over by the arcade that nodded and gave him a thumbs up in response. I shuddered, “This is so much worse than what I imagined.” I thought, “So, you’re good now?” I asked Him. He chuckled and turned, throwing an arm over my shoulder as He started us walking, “Good? Nah! I’m great, kiddo!” He exclaimed, “All that time being God’s “master and commander”, living only to tantalize and torment the poor girl for my own sick pleasure turned me into a dark dude.” He explained, “But after I brought little Mira home, she changed me, devoting myself to her happiness and well being set me on a path to becoming a better person.” He explained. “But you’re not a person.” I said. He waved His hand dismissively, “I know, I know, but you know what I mean.” He said. We walked past the tables of children eating pizza and drinking soda and juice, “Who are all these kids?” I asked. He looked around as we walked, “Uh, some belong to the guys from my Daddy and Me class, some belong to parents I met at the pediatrician, and some are just damned souls that get a fun little break from the pits for the afternoon.” He explained. “I’m genuinely trying to figure out what of those three things is the most upsetting.” I confessed. He chuckled, “Oh, you!” He said, gently squeezing my shoulder, “Hey, Lucy didn’t come with you?” He suddenly asked. I shook my head, “We broke up.” I told Him, unsure why I was doing so. He stopped walking and gave me a sympathetic head tilt as He pouted, “Aww, I’m sorry, kiddo, that’s rough.” He said as He hugged me again. I gasped when I saw her over His shoulder. She was seated in a booster seat with closed holes for her legs to go through on a throne that made her look smaller than she was. Her raven hair was styled into precious ringlets, the dress she wore was the same seafoam color as His shirt, the frills and ruffles looking like they were devouring her with teeth made of satin and a gullet of petticoats, she was nursing a pink pacifier and wore a tiara atop her head, and her eyes absolutely lit up when she saw me. “Ewwa!” she squealed, wriggling in her seat futilely, arms outstretched to me. I moved to pull away from Him, to go to her, but He held me tight, “She’s happy, Ella.” He whispered, “Happy and safe, please respect that.” He requested before letting me go and stepping aside to allow me to go to her. I laughed as tears sprung from my eyes as I hurried to her, climbing the set of small stairs in front of her throne to throw my arms around her and effortlessly lift her from the booster seat, her legs wrapping around my waist as we hugged, “I missed you so much, Mira.” I sobbed. “Missed you too, Ewwa.” she burbled around her pacifier, the words on the front of it reading “Daddy’s Little Devil”, a smiley face with red horns beneath the pink lettering. He put his arm around me and leaned in to kiss the top of her head, “We’ve got some time before cake and presents if you’d like to take her to the ball pit or something.” He said. I nodded, “Can you walk, honey?” I asked her. He chuckled, “Carrying is probably best.” He said, we wouldn’t want that pretty dress to get dirty, would we?” He asked her. She shook her head, “No, Dada.” she agreed. I carried her away to the large ballpit nearby and set her down on the soft wall that contained the balls, kneeling in front of her to slip her shiny leather shoes from her feet, the white tights beneath adorned with little purple flowers, “You look so pretty!” I told her as I put her shoes in one of the little cubes nearby. She giggled, “Fankoo, Ewwa.” she said sweetly. I stood up and sat beside her to take my own shoes off and put them in one of the other cubes before raising my leg up and over the wall as I got into the ball pit and picked her up to bring her in with me, setting her down amid the balls before I sat down in the shallow enclosure with her, “Was he telling the truth, are you happy and safe?” I asked her. She nodded and flopped her arms in the balls, sending a few scattering away from her as she giggled and bounced on her butt, “Dada take good cawe of me.” she said. I smiled and wiped my tears away, “That’s good.” I said, realizing only now that I was crying, something I hadn’t been able to do since we lived at the house. I cleared my throat, “So, a whole year old, huh?” I asked. She nodded as her pacifier fell from her mouth and she brought one of the balls up to replace it, giving me my first glimpse of her drooling mouth devoid of teeth, her pink gums sliding over the surface of the plastic ball as she tried to chew on it. I sighed, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Mira.” I said quietly. She dropped the ball and rummaged around the sea of other balls for her pacifier, finding it and popping it back into her mouth before she crawled to me and pounced on me to cuddle me. She smelled like strawberries and baby powder, a soft and sweet combination that made me relax as I adjusted her so she was on my lap, the thick diaper beneath her bushel of petticoats squishing against my thigh as I softly bounced her, “I’m glad you’re okay.” I said. She pulled her pacifier from her mouth and held it up in front of my face, “Dada said you was gonna come home wif us.” she told me. I smiled and gently pushed her pacifier away and guided it back into her mouth, “I don’t think so, baby.” I told her. “Are you sure?” He asked, suddenly seated on the wall beside us, “I’ve got more than enough space, and you’d get to be with your sister forever.” He said, his tone lilting as he dangled the prospect over me. I scoffed, “Yeah, an eternity as a toothless infant?” I asked. He smiled at Mira, “It was her choice.” He said. I looked from Him to her, seeing her nodding softly, a blush in her cheeks as she avoided eye contact with me. “Why?” I asked. “Tell her.” He softly urged Mira. She sighed heavily, “Being big hurts.” she said, “I wanted Daddy to make me small but He couldn’t, but He could make it so I didn’t have anything big except my body.” she explained, her demeanor completely changed from the baby I’d just been holding on my lap to my older sister. I looked at him in stunned silence. “Teeth, coordination, speech, mobility and toilet training, all gone with a snap of my finger.” He said, “She wanted to start over and I made it happen, so this is a celebration of her first birthday in the most literal sense possible.” He explained. “Oh, Mira.” I said softly, looking at her once more, “Baby, I’m so sorry.” I said, gently rubbing her back before I hugged her tightly. “I told you before, she’s happy and healthy and safe.” He said, “And you could be too.” He added. “You can be the big sister for real, choose what, if any, aspects of childhood you want returned to you and live with her and I, a happy family.” He explained. “We had a happy family.” I reminded him, glaring at him. He nodded, “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I destroyed it.” He said, “I can’t give you that family back, unless Lucy agrees to join us, but since she wouldn’t even agree to join you in coming here, I don’t see that happening.” He pointed out, “The next best thing is a life with your sister being cared for and loved.” He added. The smell of strawberries and powder faded, replaced with the earthy aroma of a soiled diaper and I sat numbly as Mira crawled off my lap and back to Him, giggling as He scooped her up and out of the ball pit, standing with her before He extended His hand to me, “She needs a change before cake and presents, this is where you make your choice, Ella.” He said, “Take my hand and join our family, or refuse and celebrate your sister’s birthday knowing that you won’t see her until the next one.” He added. I looked up at His hand and then at His face, His expression devoid of anything but sincerity as He gently bounced Mira on His hip. I looked at Mira, her face bright with hope that I would take His hand and be with her forever. I rose to my knees and started to reach my hand out to place it in His when I saw Lucy walking over from the entrance and my mouth hung open as my eyes welled up with tears. “Sorry I’m late, traffic was a nightmare.” she joked as she walked up to the ball pit, “So, what’d I miss?” she asked, smiling at me and giving me a little wink. He cleared His throat, “I was just offering Ella a place in my family so she could be with Mira forever.” He explained. Lucy nodded, peering around Him to Mira, smiling as she reached out and playfully pinched her cheek, “Happy birthday, cutie!” she cooed. Mira giggled, “Fank you, Wucy, I glad you came!” she said happily. “I’m glad I came too!” she said, turning her attention to me, “To make sure you stay out of trouble young lady.” she said, smiling down at me. “No trouble, just an offer of en eternity of happiness and whatever little trappings she may want.” He explained. Lucy nodded as she listened to Him, “And what about me?” she asked Him, “Do I get an invite to Casa De Diablo?” she asked. He smirked, “Do you want one?” He asked. She slapped His back, “You kidder, do you really think I’d deprive these two adorable angels of a strong female influence in their afterlife?” she asked. He chuckled, “So you’d be a Mommy to them?” He asked. “Darn straight!” she said, smiling at Mira and I as we giggled at her. He nodded softly, “I do spend a lot of time on business trips, and Mira doesn’t seem to like the nannies I bring in.” He confessed. Mira shuddered, “They scawy, Dada!” she exclaimed. He sighed, “Alright, you’re invited into the family as well.” He said. He looked down at me and then to Lucy, “I trust you can handle her while I take care of Mira.” He said, looking from me to Lucy. She smiled and knelt down, resting her arms on the cushiony wall and her chin on her arms, “What do you say, girly?” she asked, “Ready to stop playing pretend and get back to reality?” she asked me. I chewed my lip softly and nodded as I rushed to her and threw my arms around her, giggling as she scooped me up into her arms and hugged me tightly, spinning us around in a circle before she set me down and kissed me deeply on the lips. “We’re going to have a long talk when we get home, young lady.” she said before kissing me once more as she took my hand in hers. “Yes, Mommy.” I agreed once our lips parted and she led me by the hand to follow Him to the bathroom. Epilogue “Happy birthday, dear Ella, happy birthday to you!” Mommy and Daddy and Mira sang. I wiggled happily in my seat and clapped my hands when they finished, leaning forward and blowing out the candle on my cake. Daddy turned the light on in the dining room as Mommy came over to take the cake to the side of the table to cut it up, pulling the little wax three from the cake and setting it onto a paper plate, “Did you make a wish, angel?” Daddy asked as He came over and kissed the top of my head. I nodded, “I did, Daddy!” I told Him. Time didn’t exist where we lived, but birthdays still happened. Mira had just turned two a short time ago, and as her big sister it was only natural that I’d be older, even if there wasn’t much difference between the two of us now apart from one little wax number that is. Everything had changed after Mommy had put me back into diapers at Mira’s first birthday party, I’d told Daddy what I wanted for myself and He’d made it all happen with a snap of His finger. I no longer knew how to use the potty, I could walk if a grownup held my hand or I could stabilize myself with a piece of furniture, I kept my teeth and my ability to talk like an adult, but chose to talk like a baby more often than not. Mommy and I stopped working at D.E.A.T.H. entirely, but she kept in contact with her trainee, the buxom blonde I’d seen her with what felt like a lifetime ago, and told Mira and I bedtime stories about God and what had become of her. It turned out that, the now former God, had obeyed me and crawled around the D.E.A.T.H. offices until she found someone that could help her get in touch with Heaven, when they did, a team of men showed up to pick her up and nobody really knew what happened to her, until a caseworker friend of Mommy’s started noticing an uptick in clients with claims of a baby that, either directly or indirectly, caused their deaths. Charlotte, as she was now known, was an infant bouncing from foster home to foster home, dropping bodies along the way. Daddy explained that He’d given little Charlotte just a tiny bit of power, enough that she could get herself into trouble, and the little firebrand didn’t disappoint. Heaven was unwilling to put the infant to death outside of her scheduled expiration, which was a good ninety one years away, so they made a deal with Daddy, very hush hush given the nature of what was to happen, and turned a blind eye when little Charlotte suddenly vanished in the night, never to be seen or heard from again. An ear piercing wail came from the living room, making all of us exchange knowing glances. Daddy excused Himself and left while Mommy sliced the cake. “Someone woke up and wanted to wish her big sister a happy birthday!” Daddy cooed as He held little Charlotte in His arms, rocking her gently as she sucked her fist and drooled. Mommy hadn’t thought bringing Charlotte into our family was a good idea, but Daddy promised that He’d take full responsibility of her and hadn’t broken that promise yet. Once Charlotte arrived, Daddy explained that He’d given her back her adult mind but hadn’t connected any of the wires, so she was basically a prisoner in her never to age infant body, and every time she cried or needed a clean diaper, I’d smile at her, knowing she was in Hell where she belonged, and not just Hell adjacent where our house was. “Alright, baby, here’s your cake.” Mommy said, sliding a paper plate onto the tray of my highchair, “And a bib to keep that pretty dress clean.” she added as she secured a bib around my neck and kissed the top of my head. I watched her set a piece onto Mira’s highchair tray and smiled at my baby sister, “Thank you, Mommy.” I said, giggling when Mira smiled back at me, drooling onto her bib as she dug her hand into her slice of cake and smushed the fistful into her still toothless mouth. Not wanting to miss out, I copied Mira and we both giggled when we saw each other’s icing and cake smeared faces. “Looks like it’s bath time after presents.” Mommy said, smiling at us both. Daddy’s watch beeped and He checked it, “Ooh, it’s time for someone’s baba!” He cooed at the squirming baby in His arms as He headed to the kitchen for a bottle of Mommy’s milk. ********** “Did you have a good birthday, baby?” Mommy asked as she settled down between Mira and I in the crib. I nodded softly and yawned as she opened her shirt and unhooked her bra so Mira and I could nurse before bed. She sighed contentedly, “Y’know, when I died, I thought that was it for me, that I’d be four years old for eternity, destined to reaping kids until the end of the universe.” she said, stroking our hair softly as we suckled from her, “But then I met you and we had the strangest journey in existence, and all of it was worth it because I have the two most perfect babies in the entire span of human history forever and ever.” she said. I looked over at Mira, her mouth working rhythmically but her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep, and I pulled Mommy’s nipple from my mouth and scooted up to kiss her cheek, “How many more birthdays until I can kiss you for real?” I asked before latching onto her breast once more. She sighed again and smiled, “Well, you’ve been a pretty good girl, so let’s see where we’re at next year.” she said, kissing the top of my head. I wiggled happily, my punishment for hurting her had been a purely parental relationship until I could prove I’d learned my lesson about being open and honest about my feelings, and Charlottedamn was it hard not being with her, but I had her and Mira and yes, even Daddy, and everything was absolutely perfect. With full tummies and pacifiers in our mouths, Mira and I cuddled in the crib as Mommy put up the side and crept out of the room. I watched the mobile overhead with drooping eyes, another yawn escaping me as my diaper warmed and turned my head to touch pacifier shields with Mira, “Love you, Miwa.” I whispered. Mira stirred lightly, crinkled her nose and passed gas before going still again, “Wuv yoo, Ewwa.” she gurgled dreamily. I sighed and smiled as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, the life I’d always wanted had eluded me for so long that I never dreamed it would actually become a reality, but it did, it was mine and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it...maybe not having to spend the night cuddling a poopy baby, but even that was kind of great in its own way. The End

Five The first thing he did was clean up the mess she’d made when she wet herself, then he placed an order to have some things delivered from the grocery store, which he did after taking a spot behind her on the floor with her sitting between his legs as he held her and rocked back and forth with his body to keep her calm and not get upset about her wet pants. “What’s that, Daddy?” she asked, pointing at the screen of his phone. He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to incite a tantrum, but ultimately deciding that if he was going to be her ‘daddy’ for the next few hours or longer, he’d have to accept that quelling a tantrum may be in the cards, “Daddy’s shopping for some things he needs so he can take care of you tonight.” he told her. Marisol wasn’t listening to him, she was leaning against him and looking up at him while trying to wrap her diminished mind around why her naughty spot was tingling so much. Order placed, he stood, helping her to her feet, and led her on uncertain legs to the bathroom connected to her bedroom, “Daddy needs to get you cleaned up because you wet your pants.” he explained, “Can you be a big girl and get your pants and underwear off by yourself?” he asked. She stood there staring at him blankly, her thumb twirling her hair around it before she stuck it into her mouth. He smiled at her, “Can I get you out of your wet pants and underwear so you can have a bath?” he asked, wanting her consent to appease his gentlemanly nature. She giggled and nodded, her toes wiggling as she wobbled slightly. Clinical was the word he chose to use to describe the undressing and subsequent bath, making sure he only touched what needed to get clean and only for long enough to get the job done. He left her bra on her but removed her shirt to keep it dry and helped her step into the filled tub and sit down gently as he got a washcloth soaped up. “You a good Daddy.” she murmured around her thumb as he washed her below the water. He smiled, “Thank you.” he said, “You’re a pretty good baby.” he added, feeling stupid the moment the words left his mouth. She wiggled her feet happily and smiled. His phone chimed as he was draining the tub and helping her to her feet, and he deftly picked her up and carried her to the bed wrapped in her towel, “Can you stay right there until I get back?” he asked. She nodded softly, continuing to suck her thumb, drooling a bit as she lolled her head to the side and smiled at him. Salvation came in plastic bags, one with a package of adult diapers, the other with a pack each of bottles and pacifiers and wipes and powder, and he honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy to get a grocery delivery as he made his way back to the bedroom, glad any future messes would be contained and eager to get her thumb and hair from her mouth. She began to fuss when he opened the pack of diapers and pulled one out, but he took charge effortlessly. “Hey, there’s no need to be upset about this.” he said, unfolding the diaper, “This isn’t some regular old baby diaper, no ma’am, this is a pack of genuine magic princess diapers!” he told her. She stopped fussing and stared up at him, her eyes wide with wonder as she gazed upon the alleged magic diaper, “Nuh uh!” she said, sounding like she wasn’t entirely sure he was lying. He nodded, “I swear!” he said, “These diapers are the most comfortable thing you’ll ever wear and the magic in them makes it so Daddy’s can’t help but cuddle you and make you dinner and play with you all night long!” he told her. She wiggled her bottom, “All night?” she asked, her thumb falling from her lips. He nodded, taking the opportunity to replace her thumb with one of the pacifiers he’d bought, “Until your eyes get too heavy to stay open and you fall asleep.” he said. She sucked the pacifier and smiled, nodding her head excitedly, “Kay!” she squeaked. The process was relatively quick, all things considered. Marisol tried to get more out of the fleeting instances of his hands touching her sensitive flesh, but Marcus was focused on the task at hand, barely looking at her nudity as he performed an act he’d carried out many times over across numerous siblings in his time on Earth. He smiled proudly when it turned out he’d guessed the size she’d need, the tapes sealing the plain white garment around her waist snugly, the smell of powder filling the air around them as he stood up and went to her dresser, “Do you have any pajamas we can put on you?” he asked. “No ni-ni, wanna fuck!” she whined, struggling and writhing on the bed as she tried and finally succeeded in slipping her bra off and quickly scrambling to retrieve her pacifier as it tumbled from her mouth to the bed in the struggle. He had to fight hard not to laugh, turning to face her, “Marisol, that’s not a very nice word for a little girl to use.” he told her. She timidly sucked her pacifier, “Sorry, Daddy.” she said glumly. He pulled an oversized shirt from the top drawer and returned to her, “Hey, I’m not mad and you’re not in trouble, but let’s not use any naughty words tonight, okay?” he asked as he slipped the shirt on over her head and guided her arms into the other holes. Scooping her up and setting her on his hip, he smiled at her, “How about we get some nummies in that tummy?” he asked, tickling her stomach gently and holding her tight as she writhed and giggled before resting her head on his shoulder. In the kitchen, he set the bottles down on the counter and did the same with her, giving her a warning that she needed to sit still if she was going to be allowed to be up high as he went to the fridge and got some milk from inside to fill the bottle with, warming it in the microwave before handing it to her and taking her pacifier from her mouth so she could drink it. “Does mac and cheese sound good?” he asked. She nodded excitedly as she sucked her bottle. The search for what he needed to make her dinner took the longest amount of time, the way Marisol had her cabinets organized, or lack thereof, frustrated him greatly, but he found a pot and the blue box of pasta and started cooking for her as she watched intently and nursed her bottle. “The secret to really good mac and cheese,” he said, tying an apron on himself, “is having a cute girl to taste test while you make it!” he told her, touching her nose with the tip of his finger and winking at her. She giggled and dribbled milk down her chin and onto her shirt, her diaper rustling softly as she bounced on her butt happily. “What did Daddy say about sitting still?” he asked her. She stopped instantly and resumed quietly sucking her bottle. He pulled out his phone and opened up his music player and found some music he thought she might like, up tempo Spanish music with lots of energy to play while he cooked for her and periodically danced, to her great delight. He caught himself looking at her periodically, telling himself he was being a responsible temporary guardian and making sure she was safe on the counter, but he knew it was a lie to absolve him from feeling creepy about himself. He wasn’t looking at her lustfully, he could honestly say that, but he was looking at her and taking in little things that were making him feel closer to her, pulling him in to something that would feel pretty amazing if the circumstances of the situation were different. He found himself noticing the way her hair frizzed just a little bit where she’d been laying her head on the bed, noticed the semicircle of flesh visible where the too big for her shirt lazily hung off to the left of her, her collarbone and shoulder a rich caramel color with a smoothness he wanted to kiss to know the feel of. He drank in the sight of her legs crossed in front of her, the dress of a shirt pooling in her lap, the fullness of her lips as she gently suckled the nipple of her bottle, every new detail he noticed made him glad he was with her and eager to spend more time with her going forward. He shook his head to regain his focus and went back to cooking, smiling to himself as he worked and thought of her. “Taste.” he said, holding up a little spoonful of orange yellow pasta in front of her. She smiled at him, her dark eyes sparkling as she opened her mouth and accepted the spoon, “Mmm!” she hummed excitedly. “Yeah?” he asked, moving to the pot to start putting it in bowls for them. She was nodding enthusiastically, “Nummy, Daddy!” she said with a giggle. He filled the bowls and took them to the table before returning to the kitchen to pick her up and carry her to the table and sit her down in the chair beside where he’d put his own bowl, “Can you feed yourself?” he asked, holding up a spoon for her. She nodded and took the spoon from him, holding it in her fist like a toddler would. An idea struck him, “How about this?” he said, picking her up once more and sitting down with her on his lap, her bowl pulled to him as he scooped some of the pasta onto it and held it to her mouth. He didn’t know what a swoon felt like, but her body relaxing the moment he set her on his lap and pulled the bowl over let him know that he’d made the right choice in her eyes. Just as he had noticed her while he’d been cooking, she noticed him as he used a silly voice to get her to open her mouth to accept the airplane spoon carrying her macaroni. Her thoughts weren’t her own currently, her rational, adult mind was taking a nap somewhere in the back corner of her mind, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t thinking, in some ways, she was thinking clearer than ever without things like inhibition and self consciousness getting in the way of her feelings. When she looked at him, she saw his strong arms that carried her and held her without a second thought, she saw how he transitioned effortlessly into a caregiver that knew every move to make to keep her safe and happy, she saw that none of the things he said or did were an act, that he was comfortable being her Daddy in a way that gave her hope he’d stay with her forever and continue to be her Daddy. “Such a messy eater.” he playfully teased as he picked a few fallen macaroni noodles from the bowl her oversized shirt had created. She giggled, thinking about a forever being with him as his baby, wondering if he’d take her to play with her brother and meet Mami and have deep, meaningful, boring conversation while she and ‘Berto crawled around giggling and playing together. “Whatchya thinking about, little one?” he asked after she’d failed to get all of another bite in her mouth. Her diaper warmed beneath her, “You be Daddy all time?” she asked. He never stopped smiling at her as he set the spoon down and took her hand in his, “Marisol, sweetie,” he started, “do you know what pretend is?” he asked. She nodded softly, she remembered playing pretend, holding a microphone and talking to his camera like a big grownup news lady, “Peetend is no wheel.” she told him. He nodded, still smiling, maybe even smiling differently, proudly, maybe? “That’s right!” he praised, “This is pretend.” he told her, his thumb stroking the top of her hand, “You’re gonna be a big girl again soon and you won’t need a Daddy to take care of you.” he explained, not sure how much of any of this was getting through to her, “But, when you’re a big girl again I will take you out to a nice restaurant, take you dancing, and we can see if there’s something between us that might lead to us being together.” he said, kissing her cheek. She smiled when he kissed her cheek and turned and hugged him, she didn’t fully grasp what he was telling her, but he was smiling and had kissed her, and that’s all she needed, that and more of his nummy mac and cheese. ********** After she was fed and he ate his meal, he set her down on the couch and turned on cartoons for her to watch, refilling and warming another bottle of milk for her while he cleared the table and cleaned up the kitchen. Once everything was back where it had been and clean, he made his way to the couch and sat down by her feet. She looked over at him and sat up, her teeth clamped down on the nipple of her bottle as she crawled onto his lap and curled up to look up at him with drooping eyes. He knew the second bottle was putting her to sleep, and gently took hold of it for her and held it so she could finish it, watching as her eyes closed as she nursed. He situated her so he was cradling her and felt something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Since he’d met her, he’d been attracted to her, she was quite beautiful and smart and enjoyable to talk to, but holding her in his arms, the warmth of her skin on his, the smallness of her form on his lap as she drank from a bottle in an oversized shirt with a diaper he knew was wet underneath made her seem like a different person while still being the same person. He imagined the feeling was something like what a parent feels when the baby looks like a shrunk down version of their partner rather than a mix of the two or an adopted child. He was falling in love with the baby version of her, not in a way that would be, in his opinion, wrong and an abuse of his power, but in a way that dictated he’d die to keep her safe and happy, to ensure that this little bundle of adorablness in his arms never felt sad or alone, that she was always loved and cared for because she had him. When the bottle emptied, he gently sat her up and patted her back, drawing out a large burp and a sleepy giggle before her lips wrapped around the pacifier he put to them and lay her back down for more light rocking until her soft breathing turned to soft snoring allowing him time to sit in the quiet of the living room once the TV was turned off and process the deluge of new thoughts and emotions he had now with regards to her. ********** It was still dark when she woke up, disoriented for a moment in the quiet darkness of the living room until she saw him, sleeping sitting up and realized she was on his lap. Her cheeks flushed as she recalled some of what had happened, her hand probing the squishy middle of the diaper she wore as a wave of shame and embarrassment washed over her. She’d made a total fool of herself in front of him, and he’d taken it all in without hesitation, stayed with her in her time of need, bathed her, clothed her, fed her, and nurtured her in a way that no coworker ever should or would for someone they worked with. She was still sucking the pacifier he’d given her when she lay her head back down on his arm and watched him sleep for a moment. This man was truly something special, he’d stayed when he could’ve run, he indulged her infantile needs when she was high on Talc, he’d given her love and attention she hadn’t felt since, she saw ‘Berto in her mind and thought of her mother. “What would Mami think of me now?” she wondered, a brief image of her and ‘Berto crawling around on the floor as Marcus and Mami watched over them flashing in her mind, “She’d love to have both her babies back at home.” she thought with a tingle up her spine that brought a spurt of warmth into her diaper. Her thoughts were straightening out, but she was still feeling the effects of the drug, the pacifier was helping to keep her calm in the face of overwhelming feelings of how big an apology would be required to make things up to Marcus for spoiling their night, though the adult part of her knew he’d hear no apology from her on the subject, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever be able to see her as anything but this version of herself going forward. Her thoughts derailed when her tummy rumbled ominously, the milk she’d drank combined with dinner and the drug still in her system made the need to poop come on quite suddenly and very intensely, and she started thinking of ways to get off his lap without waking him and get to the bathroom without waking him, remove her diaper and use the toilet without waking him and get back on his lap without waking him. As she thought, crunching numbers and extrapolating data, plotting the geometry of what she needed to do, her body gave her an ultimatum in the form of a strong cramp and she sighed softly as she looked up at him in the dark before closing her eyes and pushing down on her bowels to relieve the pain and discomfort, vowing to herself that she’d never ever in a million years tell him that the messy diaper he’d had to change on their first date wasn’t created while she was high and not in control of her faculties, that she’d merely chosen to use her diaper so she didn’t wake him, but as the mess settled in the seat of her diaper and she settled back down in his arms with a sleepy yawn, she knew that wasn’t the whole truth, but she was too sleepy to deal with the reality that being his baby wasn’t even a little bit unpleasant and that maybe Humberto had a pretty good idea after all. To Be Continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know this story is confusing and that it's probably not at all worth anyone's time, but I'm continuing it regardless of that because once I have an idea in my head I can't stop it, like when you try and stop peeing, it hurts and is no bueno for you. Anyway, this is the only time I'll ever bring this up going forward, but even if no one reads or cares, I'm going to finish this story and maybe some day someone will see it and be like "wow, people really did waste a lot of time on stupid shit back in the day", that's going to rule when it happens. Anyway, magic stuff is happening and reality is changing and Cecilia is a See You Next Tuesday and the story definitely peaked with the last chapter, not gonna lie, but maybe we'll have something good somewhere down the line, right? ...right? VIII “Like A Mule With A Spinning Wheel...” The more she thought about it, the stronger her resolve got, her fingers working the crimson jewel around her neck as she looked at herself in the mirror of the ladies room. The spell she’d cast that had turned everyone’s lives upside down was forgotten by her, the events leading to it erased from her mind in place of memories created to furnish the life she now had, but she still had power and still had the ability to affect the world around her, even if she wasn’t aware of it. The jewel was crystallized demon blood, a family heirloom that she’d gotten from her mother when she became a woman, and her life had changed from that moment onward, sometimes for the better and sometimes not, but, in the grand scheme of things, she was still new to magic and learning how to control her power. The problem with her situation now was that she had limitless power dangling around her neck in a vessel no bigger than a dime, but lacked the knowledge to fear and respect it’s capability, so, like a toddler with a shotgun, she teetered on the brink of destruction and tragedy every moment her fingers touched the jewel and her thoughts passed through her mind. Her desk was the first thing to experience changes, photos of her and Jason with their kids at Disney World shifted to accommodate the new reality, a groundwork for the new normal she was creating without knowing she was doing so. Jason had had baby Hannah on his back in the carrier he wore, his arm around his lovely wife, her right hand on Molly’s shoulder as she stood next to her brother and sister while Jason had his left hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder as they posed together in front of the huge castle near the entrance. The day had been perfect, Hannah had been so dazzled by the sights and sounds that she’d been happy and quiet the whole day, Molly had pitched in with the baby and the twins without being asked, Jeremiah and Beckah were on their best behavior and had gone almost the entire day without tantrums, though kids their age couldn’t help what happened when the dreaded N-A-P time loomed on the horizon, and Jason had been a great father and loving husband making the smiles in the picture genuine and not forced as so many other smiles in other family photos were. The picture that sat on her desk now was quite different, as was the story behind it. The frame was two connected pictures, on the left, the family together, but this time the pose was more indicative of the pecking order of the household. Cecilia stood in the back, her hands on Molly’s shoulders while Molly had one hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder and the other on Beckah’s as they stood side by side in front of her, they each had their hands on the bar of the double stroller in front of them that held Hannah on the left and Jason on the right. Cecelia’s will had distorted the family further than she’d already done starting with Jason and rippling outward. The couple’s relationship had shifted shortly after they’d started dating and she’d discovered his kinks, pushing his boundaries and keeping him under her thumb meaning that by the time the family they’d made went to Florida that Summer, Jason was cowed to the point that he allowed himself to be dressed in a matching princess dress with their infant daughter and carted around the park like any other baby. Without a strong male figure in his life, Jeremiah followed his father’s example and became as much a girl as his twin sister, in the photo, there was next to no difference between the pair as they stood in matching Minnie Mouse patterned dresses, frilly ankle socks and shining black patent leather shoes, both with their hair in pigtails and both with something significantly thicker than training panties beneath their dresses. Molly presented herself as a mature and confident young woman, like her mother, her hands on the twin’s shoulders less for the photo and more as an indication of her role as their second authority figure in the house. As it stood, Molly had been called Mommy nearly as much as Cecilia by her younger siblings, and had carried out her fair share of diaper changes and punishments to her father in her mother’s absence. The second picture was of Cecilia and David, the man she’d previously referred to as ‘Mr. Harris’ around the office, kissing in a booth at a fancy Italian restaurant the night they’d agreed to make their lust for one another more official. Cecilia kept the photo beside the one of the family as a reminder to Jason of his place in their relationship, he was loved and cared for and had blessed her with four beautiful children, but at the end of the day he was little more than another needy infant while David was the man she deserved. As the magic shaped reality, her desk became Jason’s desk, smaller than it had been before and far less professional looking as the wood changed to pink plastic and stickers appeared on the surface. The computer ceased to be sleek and modern and became chunky, childish plastic, the monitor shaped like a flower, the keyboard keys made larger for Jason’s clumsy fingers to peck away at as he pretended to work for his Mommy while accomplishing little more than making deposits into his diaper and sucking his pacifier. The walls transformed into something more likely to be seen in a little girl’s nursery, pale pink with rainbows and suns and clouds adorning them, the plaques Cecilia had accumulated in her time working for the company were replaced with a brightly colored potty chart filled with next to nothing but rain clouds and frowny faces, not that she allowed her secretary to use the potty, but rather kept track to prove to him what a complete failure he was in the arena of continence. Jason’s former office was now Cecilia’s, lavishly decorated with expensive furniture and paintings, the desk far larger than her husband’s had been when he owned it, and everything exuding success and status. Jason wasn’t allowed in her office, his regularly sticky hands were barred from touching anything when he was allowed to enter for whatever reason. She’d rendered her husband pointless at home and now had done so at work as well, his role as her secretary was merely a title, one that she would threaten to remove and send him to the daycare on the first floor if he misbehaved, not that he ever would considering what a good little girl he was for his Mommy and boss, but she enjoyed the look he got on his face when she reminded him that he could always be brought down lower. ********** Back at the house, everything changed to accommodate Jason’s new role, Hannah’s bassinet disappeared from the main bedroom, the room becoming a strictly adult’s only space while the twin’s room became the nursery for all the little one’s to sleep and play together in. With Jeremiah being as much a girl as Beckah, all traces of gender neutral decoration or things he’d owned as a boy were replaced with frilly and girly things, purples and pinks dominated every surface as dolls and dress up clothes filled toy boxes and closets. The twin bed with the low rails the twins shared became a princess canopy bed made of white wood and a crib large enough for Jason and Hannah to share appeared on the wall between the windows. With none of the occupants being able to control themselves, diapers filled the shelves of the changing table on the opposite wall and the bottom of the two closets contained enough diapers to keep up with the constant use until the twins were old enough to go to college in over a decade. History changed as the house did, David had built the crib and the twin’s bed and moved them in when they were done and spent more and more time at the house until he and Cecilia had agreed that it was far easier for him to just move in. Jason had been quite distraught when the couple broke the news to him that he’d be moving out of the grownup bedroom and into the nursery, but David had quelled his tantrum with a firm hand applied to the man’s hairless backside and then ravaged Cecilia after putting Jason down for a nap in his new crib. As the dynamic of the house shifted quickly, so too did Jason’s appetites, he’d become submissive to Cecilia out of devotion and love, but he became enamored with David’s raw, manly power every time he saw the man at work in his expensive suits or saw him shirtless around the house working on projects Jason had never gotten around to. David became the man Jason was meant to be, and the idea of David’s manliness became something that enticed Jason the way Cecilia’s maternal power over him did, leading to Jason seeking the man’s approval and attention more and more frequently, presenting himself as a little girl desperate for daddy’s attention. ********** Cecilia’s heels clicked on the floor as she crossed the threshold into Jason’s office, “It’s almost time for lunch, baby girl, are you hungry?” she asked as she crossed the room to stand before the little pink desk looking down at her husband. Jason sat on his chair, pacifier bobbing softly in his mouth as he looked up from the princess coloring book on his desk, the thick purple toddler crayon in his clenched fist as he nodded softly, his pigtails swaying forward and back in the most adorable way as he smiled up at her. “Stand up and let Mommy check your diaper.” she cooed. With a crinkle, Jason stood up and made his way around the desk to her, his pink skirt barely covering half of his bulky, princess adorned, pink disposable diaper, his smooth legs shining under the fluorescent lights, his bare feet slapping softly on the wood floor, his purple painted toenails showing signs of needing to be redone already. His top was baby blue with an adorable white kitten on it with a purple bow atop her head, the kitten on the shirt was fuzzy and made Jason happy every time he petted it with his purple painted fingernails. Cecilia’s leaned forward and probed the leg gathers of his diaper before turning him around and pulling out the waistband of his diaper, “Did you know you were stinky as well as wet, sweetie?” she asked, softly patting the little lump in his seat. He nodded, “Did a doody.” he mumbled. Cecilia smiled at him and kissed his cheek, “Good girl!” she praised, her smile turning slightly wicked as she stood upright, “Would you like to show Daddy what a good girl you were?” she asked. Jason giggled and nodded excitedly. Taking his hand in hers, she led him down the hall to the elevator, ushering him inside when the doors opened and riding up three floors, exiting and heading down the hall to David’s office. “Well, there’s my girls!” David chuckled when they entered, “Is it lunch time already?” he asked. Jason wriggled his hand free of Cecilia’s and scurried across the room to David as he rose from his chair and met the excited man to receive the big hug and give one in return. Cecilia’s heels clicked as she crossed the room, “She wanted to show you what a good girl she was.” she explained, leaning in and kissing David’s cheek. David pulled Jason from him and knelt down, “Whatchya got to show me, princess?” he asked. Jason turned around and raised his bottom toward David, “Did a poopy, Daddy!” he exclaimed. David chuckled and patted the little lump in Jason’s diaper, “Good girl!” he praised before standing up, “And do you have something to show me, my queen?” he asked Cecilia as he turned to her and put his arm around her waist to pull her in for a deep, passionate kiss. She nodded softly, “Angel, be a good girl and go ask Ms. Serena to take you back to your desk, and close the door on your way out.” she dreamily commanded Jason as she gazed hungrily into her lover’s eyes. Like a good girl, Jason obeyed his Mommy and toddled off to perform his task, leaving Mommy and Daddy to their special meeting. ********** Some time later, Cecilia returned to find Jason napping at his desk and gently roused him so she could pick him up and carry him to her office where she’d set up a rocking chair to feed him in at lunch time. The magic had made Jason as light as baby Hannah despite both of their sizes, and Cecilia settled down with him on her lap as she got her breast out and guided him onto it, rocking softly as he began to sleepily nurse from her. This part of their lives was what Cecilia craved, the power was intoxicating, the degradation of her husband was beyond arousing, but having him drink from her as their children had was the one thing that truly brought happiness to her life. She’d never admit it, of course, appearances being what they were, but she’d trade every sexual encounter with David and every instance of self gratification for being able to hold the man she loved with all her heart in her arms and listen to him gently breathe through his nose while he suckled her milk. Some part of her knew that it was only a matter of time before everything changed for them, that David would get her pregnant and she’d have to make the change she’d been putting off for the better part of her marriage to Jason, the change that would see a new ring on her finger and informing Jason that he’d have to move out and find a new life. She sighed, chiding herself for breaking him so completely that the notion he could function in the world on his own was ridiculous and almost heartbreaking to her. Looking down at him, she felt a tear roll down her cheek, wishing she could keep him safe and cared for forever while marrying David and having his child. The thrum of energy emanating from her jewel shattered Jason’s body, reducing him to nothing but atoms that absorbed into her body as quickly as he’d vanished, leaving a newly fertilized egg in her womb and a smile on her face as she contemplated names for the new life growing inside her, the massive diamond on her ring finger glinting softly in the sunlight that poured into her office as she thought of when the best time to tell her husband she was expecting would be. The pictures on her desk told the tale of the perfect, happy family, David and Cecilia on their honeymoon nearly a decade before, the happy couple welcoming Molly into their lives, the happy couple each holding one of their twins, and the four of them at Disney World together, smiles all around as Cecilia held her hand over her swollen belly containing baby Hannah who was now dangerously close to hitting her terrible two’s. Cecilia smiled wearily, the twins still weren’t a hundred percent out of diapers during the day, and were zero percent out of them at night and Hannah showed little interest in being anything but her mommy’s baby, so the notion that she’d soon have yet another baby to take care of filled her with dread, but nothing made her happier than being a mother, being needed and having little ones to look after, she was just grateful that Molly was willing to step in as much as she did and put the girl’s looming departure to college away in a distant corner of her mind. “Everything will be fine, right, baby?” she asked the life growing inside her, another smile spreading across her lips, “Life is perfect.” she thought, unaware that her jewel began to fade and go dark, its purpose for existing now fulfilled as it went dormant until she passed it on to Molly when the time came. To Be Continued...

Thank you! I'm sorry I haven't updated this story and that it took me so long to reply, but fear not, I am committed to continuing AND finishing this story, I've been super busy with life stuff and finding time to round robin the three stories I currently have going AND do the Halloween story I just posted yesterday has been a struggle. I greatly appreciate your kind words and am super happy you're enjoying the story, don't give up hope, it will continue soon™️!

Hey, thanks! Glad you liked it!

Is it haunted?! Cursed?! An SCP?! We don't know, sis, we just gonna have to find out! I hope you enjoy this tricky treat and if you do let me know and if you don't let me know, and if you think Halloween is awesome then you might be a little awesome yourself, and if you think Halloween is stupid and like Christmas is better, we can't be friends, I'm sorry. Dayscare By: The Unknown Author Ouija_Look_At_That has started streaming! “Hola, bitchachos! It’s your fine ass guide to the world of the weird and macabre, Ouija and I am here at the Glenwood Pines Mall for my fourth annual Livescream!” Ouija said in an excited tone. Ouija didn’t look like a guide to the world of the weird and macabre, she didn’t look like she should even be out of bed at nine thirty on a school night, let alone be breaking into a building that had been abandoned for longer than she’d been alive. Standing at an absolutely dizzying four feet six inches and dressed like she’d shoplifted her whole personality from a Hot Topic bargain bin, the edgy streamer made her way through the entry area of the mall as she began her highly anticipated event. “Alright, so in case you’re not hip to the story, this mall used to be THE spot for everyone in the tristate area to come and piss away their time and money.” Ouija explained as she hopped up onto one of the tile benches connected to a large planter in the middle of the entryway, “The mall was so big and so popular that it had its own daycare center, a place called Bright Beginnings.” she continued as she spread her arms out to her sides and walked along the edge of the planter like a balance beam, “The owner and CEO of Bright Beginnings was a woman named Mary Gallagher and literally the only pictures I could find of her made her look like a fucking schoolmarm ghost all full of vengeance and shit.” she said as she reached the end of the planter and hopped down. Ouija’s setup for her exploration was a camera harnessed to her chest so her face was always onscreen and allowed her hands to remain free unless she was using one of her handheld cameras, and another camera attached to her head to allow everyone to see what she saw. On her forearm was a tablet that allowed her to read her chat and switch to whatever camera she wanted as well as playback what they recorded in real time. This was her fourth “livescream’, an event where she went to spooky or allegedly haunted places and explored them with her audience overnight on Halloween. Her record was spotty at best for being the bravest of explorers, her first livescream ending prematurely when she’d tripped over a lip she hadn’t seen in the showers of a women’s insane asylum and broken her camera, her second had gone significantly better despite her wetting herself when a chunk of ceiling crashed down in the room beside her while she was exploring an old doll factory. Last year’s livescream was what had put her on the map though, a flawless exploration of a children’s hospital from around the turn of the century that saw her peak at three thousand live viewers and millions of views after that. No one knew the lengths she’d gone to to make her events perfect, the hours of research and location scouting, the equipment setup, the extra protection she now wore for the event to prevent anyone from finding out she’d wet or soiled herself out of fear, all of it was done for the benefit of her legion of fans and the sizable paycheck she got out of it was a bonus that helped her bruised ego deal with the fact that beneath her dark clothes and tattoos and piercings was a small girl wearing absorbent underwear with childish patterns on them. “Bright Beginnings was nestled between The Cookie Cookery and an upscale pen store called ‘Fountain of Couth’, which is a legit amazing name and was in operation from 1989 to 1993.” she continued explaining as she approached the dilapidated escalators ahead, “An estimated two and a half million kids spent at least one hour at the daycare in those four years, which is a metric fuckton of snotty noses and shitty diapers.” she joked as she assessed the stability of the escalator and opted to take the nearby stairs after noticing significant amounts of rust and decay in the metal steps of the escalator. “I know, you’re probably wondering why the mall itself was abandoned, and we’ll get to that, but before we do, we need to understand what happened at Bright Beginnings that caused such damage to the reputation of the mall.” she continued as she trudged up the stairs, stepping over chunks of ceiling and broken glass as she made her way to the second floor. “Ouija” was obviously not the girl’s given name, but she’d gone to great lengths to keep her identity a secret, and to even greater lengths to keep her former persona and content from being discovered. Two years before she’d “gone to the dark side” and made decaying buildings her playground, she was known to her small band of a dozen or so followers as “Snugglecorn” and focused solely on the ABDL lifestyle and being as cute and sweet as she could for her viewing audience, but then she’d picked up a creeper that had scared her so badly in his attempts to connect with her that she’d purged everything of that life, fallen into a deep depression and become a harder, darker person because of it. It was only when she started seeing success as “Ouija” that she softened and allowed herself to be less severe all the time, adding pink highlights to her ebony locks and finding cute things to wear that also happened to be on the darker side, like the skeletal cat on her sweatshirt that was dribbling milk below it from its open ribcage as it lapped at a saucer. “In 1993, an anonymous tip came in to the police about some weird sounds coming from the owner’s office and lo and behold, they found a door behind the bookcase that led to a whole section of the building no one knew existed.” she explained as she reached the top of the stairs and looked down at the first floor, the pitch black abyss making her shudder softly as she continued on. “In the hidden area they found this entire other daycare setup that was sized for adults and found almost twenty people confined in one way or another inside.” she said as she peered over the railing to the ground below on her way down the length of the upstairs area as she headed toward her destination. Something she’d never told her followers when she’d first stumbled across the Bright Beginnings saga was that she’d been enthralled by the idea that a normal daycare had had a secret adult daycare in back, something that the less than completely vanished from within her Snugglecorn had broken out her pacifier for after her very important grownup work was done, imagining herself in such a place, ignoring the awful aspects of the story in favor of happier fantasy scenarios. “Y’all, when I say shit was fucked up, I mean it was six ways from Sunday bat shit.” she told her audience as she shone her flashlight into the vacant buildings lining the upstairs promenade, “Some people were restrained in cribs, others in highchairs,” she stopped walking, “one report claimed that one of the men had been,” she made a gesture with her index finger and hand to illustrate that an appendage the man had previously had had been removed against his will, “but nothing concrete was ever really said about any of the victims, just that they never spoke again after they were rescued.” she added as she started walking again, looking at her chat as she did. DarkDesire: Hey from Ontario, Ouija! ❤️ Devil’s_Plaything: I heard the place is mad haunted. PanicWithTheCrisco: How did you even get into the mall? News said cops were guarding it because of you. Sad_Tromboner: This place is hella sketch be careful little girl BoneFairy: This better be scarier than the time you shit yourself “Hey, DarkDesire, thanks for joining the fun!” she said with a smile, “DP, I’m hoping it’ll haunted, but nobody died in ‘the incident’, so we may just have dust bunnies and disappointment.” she said to Devil’s_Plaything, a channel regular and one of her biggest supporters, “Cris,” she started, shortening the longer than she wanted to say name of the third commentor, “your girl is extremely crafty and her stealth game is on point.” she finished saying a second before she kicked a beer can she hadn’t seen and sent it rocketing forward where it clanged loudly against the metal railing and fell down to the first floor where it clattered loudly. She stood still with her shoulders hunched and teeth gritted until the sudden noise stopped, “Anyone makes a comment about that, we’re not friends anymore.” she teased as she caught her breath and took stock of just how much she’d peed when the silence was suddenly broken. She rolled her eyes at the last two comments, “I may be a smaller than average girl, but I am NOT a little girl, Tromboner, and fuck you, BoneFairy, I maybe peed a little but in my defense, a fucking whole ass ceiling collapsed like twenty feet from where I was sitting, so I’d say I handled it pretty well.” she said, trying not to get into a fight with randos on the internet, but also setting the record straight before anyone else wanted to act up about her height or the one time she’d had an accident out of fear. BoneFairy: Just saying, maybe keep an eye out for a diaper that got left behind Devil’s_Plaything: Ignore the haters, Ouija, you’re badass for doing this! More responses agreeing with Devil’s_Plaything and shutting down BoneFairy poured in as she continued to walk, “Anyone ever play the game Condemned?” she asked, shining her light into a broken store window with a battered mannequin torso laying face down in the broken glass, “It was this first person game where you go to creepy abandoned places and one of the levels was a department store and psycho ass homeless people wore mannequin masks and stood super still until you walked past.” she explained, a shiver of fear running down her spine as she remembered screaming so loud she woke her parents up and then she slept with the lights on for three days afterward. Ouija was a persona, like Snugglecorn had been, aspects of them were from her real personality, but she was nowhere near as brave in real life as she was when she was Ouija, much the same as she was far less of a baby than she was when she’d been Snugglecorn. Her true personality lived in the space between those two, she embraced her small size and liked to be seen as cute and little, but she also had a penchant for the darker things in life and she’d been contemplating finding a way to allow her to be herself on her channel, but feared losing her audience if she revealed the lighter side of herself to them. She continued forward down the upstairs promenade, shells of stores flanking her, graffiti and broken glass everywhere she looked as her flashlight beam danced over the decayed ruins of the mall, and then she saw her destination looming in the inky blackness and everything became far more real. In the mall, she was just a girl alone in an abandoned building, but Bright Beginnings was a legit crime scene, a place where truly bizarre and unexplained things had happened and somehow she was just now feeling the weight of her choice to visit this place. “Okay, I think I see Bright Beginnings.” she said, struggling to keep her nerves in check so her voice didn’t let everyone watching know that she was really scared now, “Are you guys seeing this?” she asked. The Cookie Cookery had been destroyed by vandals, the menu that had hung on the back wall behind the counter had been smashed and torn down, the counter itself obliterated by a small stack of broken cinderblocks, the appliances gone leaving hanging wires and cracked walls and tiles in their place. Likewise, Fountain of Couth looked like a car had driven through it, the display cases inside smashed to pieces, the sign above the entrance blocking most of the entryway as it dangled lifelessly from the wires that had set it aglow years prior, but Bright Beginnings was in pristine condition. “This place hasn’t been touched.” she said in a hushed tone of transfixed amazement, “I mean, every other place in here looks like it went twelve rounds with a wrecking ball, but Bright Beginnings doesn’t even have dirty windows!” she marveled as she approached the daycare. The front of the daycare had panels of glass ten or so feet high that stretched about ten feet across to allow the shoppers outside to see the playroom in front and to allow the kids to look out if they wanted to, making everything brighter and less like the prison for toddlers a daycare is. The sign above was a cutesy cartoon trio of suns, a mother and father and a baby, the mother sign hovering above pale pink high heels, her face adorned with lipstick and earrings that floated on the side of her head connected to nothing while the father sun had a hat, briefcase and tie to convey how professional he was, and then the baby sun floated between them with a diaper cupping the bottom curve of the baby’s body as he held his parent’s hands, smiling behind his pacifier. C.H.U.D._Nelson: I’m no scientician, but that building shouldn’t be in perfect condition. CrunkBunny: Right?! Even if the people that fucked the rest of this place up didn’t touch it, time would’ve done something to it. SignalFire: RUN OUIJA SHIT IS HAINTED, YO! Ouija wasn’t looking at the comments, she was looking at the front window and approaching it slowly, looking into the playroom beyond as she held her flashlight above her head to shine in. The playroom was immaculate, like normal business would begin the next morning as though decades hadn’t passed without anyone being inside. “Alright, I’m going in, so here’s the rules for the night,” she said, her heart racing with anticipation and fear, “once I’m in, I can’t leave until morning, in addition to periodic polls I’ll be putting up for you guys to vote on, donations of certain amounts will allow you to give me tasks to carry out, which, as always, does not include sex stuff.” she explained, warning the perverts in her chat not to waste their money to try and see her tits. The chat erupted in hundreds of messages of support and excitement as she took a deep breath and went to the front door, placing her hand on the handle and giving a firm tug, only to find the door locked. “Well, that sucks.” she said glumly, giving the bottom of the door a kick, “Maybe there’s an access point from next door.” she mused as she headed toward the Cookie Cookery, stepping through the remains of the splintered counter carefully as she made her way to the back to the storeroom of the bakery, the door hanging limply by one screw in the top hinge, the door itself splintered like Jack Torrence had decided he really needed cookie making supplies suddenly. The storeroom was little more than a closet, broken boxes and debris from whatever had been inside them strewn about the floor, but all Ouija cared about was the metal grate on the back wall that was miraculously undamaged. “Alright, guys, that vent shares a wall with the daycare, so it’s my best shot of getting inside.” she told her audience as she looked around for something to stand on so she could reach the vent to see what she needed to do to open it. She decided to lug a few of the more complete cinderblocks into the storeroom and use them as a base for a metal trashcan she found that was only slightly dented. “Wish me luck!” she said as she climbed up onto the edges of the cinderblocks and then shakily onto the trashcan, rising to a standing position as she balanced on the bottom of the can and reached up to the vent, “Shit, it’s screwed in and I don’t have anything with me to take the screws out!” she lamented, a sour expression on her face as she climbed back down. Defeated, she walked out of the storeroom, “I’m sorry, guys, I guess we’re not going to be able to get in tonight.” she informed her audience glumly as she saw her viewer count begin to drop as negative comments poured in slamming her for her various failures with regards to prep and scouting. QueenShark: Umm, the door is open? Ouija read the comment and the numerous others echoing it, in addition to the spams of “OMG look out behind you, they have a knife” and turned to see the front door of the daycare standing open, “What the actual-” she whispered as she cautiously approached the open door, moving far from it as she went in case someone jumped out at her as she shone her light into the building beyond, “You guys heard me try the door, it was locked.” she said. YourMomIsMySideChick: Yeah, I wouldn’t… “Okay, I know it’s super fucking weird and not at all normal, but if it means we can go in, I’m going in.” Ouija said as she took a few steps forward, scanning the area around her and looking through the front window for any sign that someone was waiting for her. The difference between the mall outside and the interior of the daycare was something she’d never experienced before, she’d gone from outside of a creepy building to inside and felt the heaviness of the place close in around her, the staleness of the air suffocate her, but this was new. The mall had felt hollow, like the decaying shell that it was, it smelled dirty and dusty and was chilly because of numerous broken windows that allowed the Fall night air to compromise the otherwise enclosed space, but Bright Beginnings was warm, like the heat was running to combat the chill. Crossing the threshold was like stepping into a hermetically sealed space that hadn’t appeared to age or decay in any way that she could see. Her light danced from place to place in the entryway, to her right was the check in counter, cream colored Formica and yellow pine waiting to receive the patrons of the establishment with messages taped to the counter’s surface and a silver bell with a little sign that cheerfully requested someone ring the bell for assistance. Across from the counter was a cutout with a narrow bench built into it, cubbies beneath for shoes, some still containing little shoes left behind when the daycare had been suddenly shut down. Behind the counter was a line of hooks for coats, with several hooks still containing small jackets of various bright colors, and even a few umbrellas and hats. “This is fucking creepy.” she said softly as she shone her light around to the other side of the entryway to the four or so foot high wall with a thin wooden top and a small door in the middle, the set up making her think of a bar or a skating rink or something, a way to keep the little one’s corralled but also allow parents to look in on the kids at pick up or drop off times. She closed and locked the front door behind her, to keep anyone from coming in from outside, and made her way to the little door, she felt her cheeks flush at the knowledge that she’d have to go through it because she couldn’t actually see over the wall to the playroom on the other side, and took hold of the knob and gave it a little turn and letting gravity take over as the door gently moved away from her to allow her access. Beyond the little wall, the playroom sat silent and dark, bins of various sizes lined the walls, some with closed lids and some with toys piled high or spilling over. The expansive open area was littered with toys for various stages of development, the little art table in the corner still had open coloring books and loose crayons on it, one of the chairs laying on its back on the floor as though the occupant had literally jumped up and run from the place. BabaYaga: It’s like a time capsule. Ouija nodded when she read the comment, “Nothing about this place feels like it’s been abandoned for decades.” she said in disbelief. The little door gently struck the wall when it reached its fully open position and she jumped and spun around to shine her light on it, chuckling nervously as she closed the door to keep it from banging again later. The thing that struck her was the smell, she’d been in abandoned buildings before, and they all had some degree of must, moldy walls or floors, standing water, something pungent that made her breathe through her mouth for the duration of her investigations, but this place smelled like a daycare, she smelled baby powder and plastic and cleaning supplies used to disinfect toys and surfaces, she smelled warmth and life and care, like a home would smell. She’d claimed the place creeped her out for the benefit of her audience, but really, apart from being dark and knowing something fucked up had happened in the back room, she felt safer here than she’d ever felt during her other investigations. Devil’s_Plaything: Heads up, Ouija, but I hit up your socials to let people know you got in, I saw that some people left after the vent didn’t work. She smiled, “Thanks, DP, I really appreciate it!” she said, making her way to the row of low cabinets to set her camera down, “I guess we’ll take a small break here to wait for people to come back.” she said, looking around the room, “I’m going to set up a few cameras in here so we have other angles and see if I can find a ladies room before we start.” she explained as she took her backpack off and set it down to get set up. ********** The audience had not just returned to its former glory, but had nearly doubled in the time it took her to set up her stationary cameras to allow for the whole main room to be visible. She’d found the staff bathroom, but the door had been locked, so she’d simply taken a moment to relieve herself in her pull-up and change into a fresh one off camera. With everything ready to go, she picked her camera back up and put her headset camera back on. “Alright, everyone, we’re here in Bright Beginnings, the abandoned daycare that allegedly housed a secret adult nursery in the back room, and I’m ready to explore this place, how about you?” she asked the audience, nodding and smiling as hundreds of comments agreeing with her poured in. Off the playroom was a corridor that led to a small kitchen/break area on the right, a bathroom for the kids on the left with a trough sink and half a dozen partitioned alcoves with plastic potties set up in them. She felt a pang of shame at having willingly wet her pull-up when she could’ve peed in either the sink or one of the potties, but shame was a big turn on for her, so she chose to enjoy the feeling rather than be self conscious about it. At the end of the corridor was the locked staff bathroom, and just to the right of that was a closet. “So, the kitchen/break area smells like burnt popcorn, fucking Deborah and her blind trust that the popcorn button on the microwave would do its job.” she joked as she panned her light and camera around the small room before making her way to the cabinets, opening the ones below that she could reach to reveal exactly what you’d expect to find, supplies for the kids meals, plastic baggies, containers of dry cereal, cans of fruits and veggies, paper towels. One of the chairs allowed her access to the higher cabinets which she found contained babyfood, coffee cups, bottles and sippy cups, nothing out of the ordinary. On the counter was a wicker basket piled high with folded bibs and in the corner beside the trash can was a stacked washer and dryer and a laundry basket with soiled bibs and blankets and even a few articles of kids clothes. She went to the fridge and opened it, shining her light into the dark appliance at the juices and veggies and things for fresh snacks as well as bottles with tape on them and names written in sharpie to denote which child got which bottle. The middle shelf was full of medicine, also labeled for the appropriate child, and the top shelf was for the workers lunches and drinks. “Shouldn’t this all be rotten and just a fucking nightmare?” she wondered, reaching in and picking up a container of juice that was shockingly still cold. “Okay, this is cold, you guys.” she said, “This place doesn’t have power though, I checked.” she explained. Comments flooded in about ghosts and someone being behind her with a knife as she left the kitchen for the bathroom across the hall, where jokes about her height and youthful appearance began, taunts about her accident prone previous adventures and jabs about her ability to use the toilet made her roll her eyes as she gave a cursory inspection of the room for the audience and continued to the closet beside the employee bathroom. She had legitimately never seen so many diapers in her entire life, unopened packages of diapers and training pants stacked on the floor below the bottom shelf, the bottom shelf designated for the largest size baby diapers and getting smaller as the shelves went up. BoneFairy: There’s the closet you’ve been looking for! BoneFairy: We promise to all look away while you change. She shut the closet door and sighed, “Look, man, I know you think you’re hilarious or whatever, but it’s kind of sad that you think it’s funny to belittle someone for something as lame as accidentally peeing her pants because she was scared.” she explained. BoneFairy: You’re right, babies like you can’t help that kind of thing, I’m sorry. She rolled her eyes, “Anyway, this is all just normal daycare stuff, nothing crazy or weird, so we’re gonna see if we can’t find that office.” she explained. SnuggleCorn: Movement in the playroom. She read the comment and was mildly alarmed at the news that something had triggered the camera in the playroom, but the name of the user was what sent a chill down her spine, someone was using her name from her AB account and sure, it might just be coincidence, but what if all the teasing about her needing a diaper was really subtly hinting at the knowledge of what she really was and had done in the past. Staying silent, she checked the camera on the tablet on her wrist, and couldn’t see anything at first, and then she noticed that the chunky little plastic chair that had been on its back near the art table was now upright and pushed in neatly. “Okay, that’s not good.” she said, heading out to the playroom to shine her light around. “Hello?!” she called out, “If anyone is here, please show yourself or let me know that you’re here in some way!” she requested. Silence filled the room and nothing moved as she continued to pan her light around, stopping on the overflowing toybox when tinny music began to emanate from within the box, muffled by all the toys on top of whatever was making the music. Her heart was racing as she approached the box, a purple stuffed rabbit on top of the pile staring vacantly at her with its hard plastic eyes. She shook her head and stopped, “No, I need to find the office.” she told herself as she turned away from the box, noting that the music stopped playing once she began to walk away. Beyond the playroom and the hallway she’d previously explored was an area behind an accordion door that was partially open, the room on the other side lined with cribs on the wall to her left and little cots with pillows and blankets on them to her right. “Okay, so this is the nap time room it seems.” she said, her light casting eerie barred shadows on the wall behind the cribs as she scanned the row and swung her light to the other side to look at the cots and the foam mats beneath them in case the kids rolled off them in their sleep. At the opposite end of the room was a closed door that had to be the office, and she found herself blindly hurrying toward it when she tripped over something and fell flat on her face on the thick foam padding she hadn’t realized extended out into the walkway creating a barrier of sorts to separate the adult traveling area and the children’s traveling area. She’d bit her tongue when she fell, and it took everything in her not to cry at how badly she’d hurt herself, but she soldiered on, getting up on her hands and knees and then to her knees and then fully upright on the squishy floor. SnuggleCorn: Careful, Ouija BoneFairy: Maybe stick to crawling? She seethed as she checked the floor for more hazards and continued on toward the door, leaving the section of padding for the normal carpeted floor as she neared the door and quickly placed her hand on the knob to open it, finding it motionless no matter which way she turned it, “Docked.” she said, blushing furiously at how stupid and infantile she sounded because of her injured tongue. BoneFairy: What was that, sweetie? Devil’s_Plaything: Knock it off, she fell, leave her alone! Ouija felt a swell of littleness at her biggest supporter rushing to her defense, her tongue injury keeping her from doing so herself without further embarrassing herself, and found herself wishing she could take a break to tend to her aching tongue and maybe find a pacifier to suck on to get herself calmed down and back to center, but she was live and the show had to go on regardless. SnuggleCorn has donated $1000 to challenge Ouija to “spend five minutes in one of the cribs” If she hadn’t already done so, she would’ve bitten her tongue to keep from laying into whoever was behind this person that clearly knew of her previous persona and wanted to humiliate her in her current one. BoneFairy has donated $500 to challenge Ouija to: “drink a bottle from the fridge” The pain of biting her tongue combined with the shock of falling, being protected from her bullies by DP, and now these humiliating challenges was too much for her to handle all at once, and she felt her bottom lip start to tremble as her vision blurred with hot tears, “Why are you doing this?” she whimpered, “You’re ruining everything!” she shouted, stomping her foot as she looked into the camera as though she were looking only at her two antagonists. SnuggleCorn has donated $1000 to challenge Ouija to: “change into a diaper” BoneFairy has donated $1000 to challenge Ouija to: “give up pretending to be an adult and accept that she’s just a stupid baby” She’d reached her breaking point with that, and cut her feed as she howled in frustration, throwing her camera onto the padded floor and ripping the headset camera from her head to do the same with it before she sat down on the padded floor and cried. ********** She pouted as she stared at the donation messages, she’d never gotten more than a few hundred dollars in her previous streams, challenges to get into closets or lay on a bed or gurney were easy money, but between SnuggleCorn and Bonefairy, she’d amassed ten times what she normally took in, but in order to collect, she had to humiliate herself. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done something degrading for views before, she’d livestreamed an enema and release into her diaper for a few hundred dollars back when she’d been SnuggleCorn, but she was trying to be something else now, trying to be legitimate in the realm of urban exploration and not some kind of whore for viewers, a clickbait abusing little girl that would do anything for money. She sighed heavily and looked around for her cameras, finding and reapplying her headset camera once she’d managed to remove all traces of the fact that she’d just spent the last five minutes crying and feeling sorry for herself after throwing a tantrum at being picked on. Crawling and stretching beneath one of the cribs, she retrieved her handheld camera and got back to her feet and took a deep breath before turning her stream back on. “Are we back?” she asked, noting the steep decline in viewer numbers, “Technical difficulties are a bitch, man!” she joked, “Umm, not sure if those donations are still valid or not.” she said, testing the waters to see if either of her bullies were still watching. BoneFairy: Mine are SnuggleCorn: Ditto Her stomach lurched as she softly nodded and sighed, “Alright then, so, what, I have to go get a bottle from the fridge and drink it, put on a diaper, get into one of the cribs for five minutes, and,” she gritted her teeth, “stop pretending to be an adult and accept that I’m a stupid baby?” she asked. Her bullies responded in the affirmative along with a few dozen teasing comments. Shuffling back to the break room, she went to the fridge and opened it, scanning the bottles for one that looked the least gross. BoneFairy: The pink one She looked and saw the bottle, a pink lamb on the side of it, the name on the strip of tape reading “Marcy”. Picking up the bottle, she could see that it probably contained milk, given the white liquid inside, but she hoped it was only regular milk and not breast milk, the latter somehow seeming worse despite both obviously being spoiled by this point. Bottle in hand, she trudged to the diaper closet, “And who will I be wearing tonight?” she joked. SnuggleCorn: Sesame Street Pampers, please Ouija looked on the bottom shelf, the largest sized diapers, and picked up one of the specified diapers, “I’m going to set you guys down while I change in the bathroom.” she said, removing her camera and setting her handheld down on the shelf in the closet with it before going into the bathroom to make use of the changing table in the back corner, stripping off her pants and pull-up before climbing onto the changing table, panicking when it creaked in protest at new weight after such a long period of peace, and quickly powdered herself and taped the diaper on, feeling herself smile as she crinkled softly when she wiggled her butt before getting down and putting her shoes back on to go back to her cameras. “Satisfied?” she asked, lifting the bottom of her hoodie to show off her diaper, turning around for the camera. SnuggleCorn: Adorable! BoneFairy: Doesn’t that seem like a much more appropriate outfit? Her audience had returned to its former glory since she’d come back, and hundreds of people agreed with BoneFairy, much to her dismay, but she put her headset camera back on and started to head back to the nap room to finish her challenges. BoneFairy: Crawl She sighed, putting her handheld camera and the bottle in her hoodie pocket as she got down on all fours and began to crawl down the hall, the soft, tinny music from the toybox playing once more as she entered the playroom and turned left to head to the nap room. She felt a flutter in her tummy as she listened to the crinkle of her diaper, crawling like a baby in a daycare center on her way to get into a crib and drink a baby bottle of some kind of milk, she hated that she was being forced to do these things on her non fetish related channel, but she absolutely loved the fact that she was living so many little fantasies all at once without having to admit anything about her kinks. Once she reached the nap room, she crawled to the furthest crib and stood up and climbed in, raising the side and securing it before pulling out the bottle and her handheld camera. SnuggleCorn: Can you attach your camera to the mobile so we can see you, sweetie? She blushed and checked the mobile, finding a spot that she could hook the strap on the camera to the mobile so it was pointed down at her and did so, “Look good?” she asked. Thumbs up and approving messages poured in. She nodded and lay down on the mattress, her diaper and the waterproof cover beneath the sheets crinkling as she moved and got comfortable, avoiding looking up at the camera above her as she sighed and brought the nipple of the bottle to her lips, guiding it in and giving a few tentative sucks on it to taste the liquid inside. She’d tasted spoiled milk before, accidentally made a bowl of cereal and taken a bite without realizing the milk had soured, but the milk in the bottle was perfect, cool on her throat, sweet to the taste like gingerbread, and she couldn’t help but smile as she gripped the bottle with both hands and closed her eyes as she nursed it in earnest. The tablet notified her that messages were coming in, but she didn’t care, she was content to allow herself this small moment of littleness and peace in a night rife with setbacks and disappointments, an escape from the pressure to put on a good show in the face of trolls, a way for her to accept some much needed little time after months of having to set everything up for the show. She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the camera, a long dormant side of her bubbling up to the surface as she giggled bashfully and dribbled into her diaper as she nursed her bottle, this was something she could do without much effort, weeks of scouting this location and researching the history of it, breaking into the place and putting herself in danger, and in the end the thing that was going to net her more money and arguably more views, was something she’d wanted to incorporate into her streams to begin with, her baby side. She popped the nipple from her mouth and was about to bare her soul, to out herself as an adult baby, as a diaper lover, when she noticed the office door she’d tried earlier and found locked was wide open. “The office door is open!” she whispered, letting the bottle fall to the mattress and out between the rails to the floor with a dull thud as she got up onto her knees and peered through the darkness at the door. Fishing around in the bedding, she found her flashlight and shined it at the door, a desk and bookshelf beyond. Detaching the camera from the mobile, she held it up over the crib rails, “We’re going in!” she whispered. More notifications came through as she set the camera down on the mattress and tried to disengage the side of the crib so she could get out. Frustrated at her inability to successfully lower the side of the crib, she stood and put one leg over the railing, making sure her foot was nestled between the bars and on the mattress before putting her other leg over and dropping down to the floor, easily lowering the crib side from outside the crib and grabbing her camera, “If you guys are commenting right now, I’ll read them in a second, I just want to check out the office real quick.” she whispered. Her damp diaper rustled softly with each step she took toward the door, shining the light into the office and panning it back and forth to make sure no one was inside before she crossed the threshold. The office smelled like leather and books, or leather bound books, she supposed, it smelled more like a library than an office in a daycare was all she could think as she looked around. The desk was a rich Mahogany, a green mat on the surface of it with business cards and post-it notes stuck to it, a fancy golden pen holder sat beside the mat with a green shaded lamp near the corner. At the edge of the desk was a golden placard that read “Mary Gallagher” in what she assumed was the woman’s handwriting etched into the gold. The bookshelf behind the desk had child psychology books and parenting guides, but also had books about medical practices and other related things as well as general fiction peppered throughout. “Remember when you had to go to the principals office in school?” she asked her audience, “This is exactly like that.” she added, her cheeks heating up when she thought of being sent to the principal’s office dressed as she was now, bottomless save for a damp baby diaper. Devil’s_Plaything: You can take a break and change back into your regular clothes if you need to. BoneFairy: Nah, brah, I cashed in my challenge that she accepts she’s a stupid baby, so the diaper stays. Agreeing comments flooded in in support of BoneFairy. “I’m fine, DP.” she said, stopping herself from saying anything further. “Okay, if the cops and rescue workers came in and got all those people out then wouldn’t the secret room still be open?” she asked, voicing her inner thoughts. MidgetJesus: Unless the story was bullshit. She shook her head, “There were news reports about it, articles, all kinds of documentation.” she argued. BeanPole: I searched and found nothing Numerous people responded with similar claims. She shrugged, “Get good at searching then?” she said with a sneer. SnuggleCorn has donated $1000 challenging Ouija to: “pull “Understanding Infants” from the shelf” Ouija stared at the tablet screen in disbelief and shone her light at the bookshelf, “How the fuck did you pick out one title from maybe a fraction of-” she started to ask before another alert interrupted her. SnuggleCorn has donated $1000 challenging Ouija to: “Be a good girl and do as she’s told” BoneFairy has donated $5000 challenging Ouija to: “perform I’m a little teapot for the camera and poop her diaper at the end” Devil’s_Plaything: Enough with all this humiliation crap, guys, go troll some rando fetish stream if you need to jerk off or something! Ouija’s head was swimming with thoughts of what the money on offer could do for her and set her camera down on the desk, taking a deep breath with her eyes closed before she opened them and smiled, waving at the camera with one hand as her thumb went into her mouth with the other, “Hihi guys!” she squealed excitedly, finally allowing herself to share an aspect of her true personality with her audience, “Ouija here with a little intermission dance performance!” she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly where she stood and giggling behind her thumb. Her viewership numbers dropped by the tens, then dozens, then hundreds as she readied herself for her performance. “I’m a little teapot, short and stout!” she chirped, her hands on her hips as she wiggled her bottom and giggled at the soft rustle of her diaper, “Here is my handle and here is my spout!” she continued, lifting and repositioning one arm for the handle of the teapot and raising the other to be a spout. The mass exodus stopped when her audience had dwindled to two hundred, the lowest she’d had since her first live exploration back when she was an unknown internetainer. “When I get all steamed up, hear me shout!” she burbled, making a pretend grumpy face, “Tip me over and pour me out!” she exclaimed, bending to the side to pour her spout out before turning around and lifting her hoodie to show off her diaper as she squatted down and began to push down on her bowels, grunting softly and passing a bit of gas before she managed to create a nice lump in the seat of her diaper, turning around and putting her thumb back into her mouth as she rose back up and toddled to the camera to retrieve it, “Was dat a good dance?” she asked her audience. Devil’s_Plaything: I thought you were better than all those fake as attention whores SnuggleCorn: Don’t listen to the haters, baby, you did wonderful! BoneFairy: Not even a moment of hesitation, sad The minuscule audience and the flood of judgmental comments sobered her up quickly, the smell filling the room making her acutely aware of the reality of her situation. She wanted to argue, to play it all off as a joke, but who would hear her now? Instead, she sniffled softly and sucked her thumb, hating herself for ruining everything she’d built. BoneFairy: Looks like we’re done here, Happy Halloween, you pathetic fucking baby! Devil’s_Plaything: You disgust me, kill yourself With nothing but a blubbering little girl in a messy diaper to watch, the remaining viewers dropped off the stream, leaving only one. SnuggleCorn: You really should pull that book, sweetie Numb, Ouija walked over to the bookshelf and checked the chat for the book title, finding the book on the highest shelf, “It’s too high.” she whined. SnuggleCorn: Push the chair over and stand on it, baby She nodded softly and pulled her thumb from her mouth to pull the chair from the desk and position it in front of the bookshelf for her to climb up onto it and pull the book in question, a loud chunk making her jump and almost fall off the chair before she quickly squatted down and held the back of the chair for balance as she watched the bookshelf move forward a few inches before it slid to the side to reveal a door behind it. SnuggleCorn: Put the chair back and open the door, baby She got off the chair and put it back, her heart beating quickly as her hand gripped the doorknob and she gave it a turn, letting go of it as the door slowly opened and she shone her flashlight into the darkness beyond. SnuggleCorn: Three baby steps forward and you’re free, baby She furrowed her brow and started to step back. SnuggleCorn: Is it the dark that scares you? She shook her head, “What’s in the dark.” she said softly. SnuggleCorn dropped from the chat and her tablet went dark as her flashlight began to flicker, making her smack it frantically as she began to panic. “All you had to do” a deep voice suddenly said from the darkness beyond the doorway she’d just opened, “was accept my offers to be your Daddy.” the voice said as her flashlight went dark. In the pitch black, she turned to run, the corner of the desk hitting her hip and sending her tumbling to the floor as her panicked breathing came out in shrill wheezes as she looked into the darkness for a sign of the person that had spoken to her. “I sent you clothes and diapers and toys and lavished you with affection, and what do you do?” the voice asked, “You abandon your true self and put yourself in danger and pretend like SnuggleCorn never existed, didn’t you, Alyssa?” it asked. Her blood ran cold when she heard her real name spoken. “Yes, sweetie, I know who you really are.” the voice said, a malicious smile laced in each word, “You did such a good job of hiding all your personal information, except for one eensy weensy little detail.” it said, “Do you remember when you used to do your show on your playmat?” the voice asked. She’d stopped listening, rubbing the pain in her hip as she tried to get up only to have the back of her neck grabbed by someone she couldn’t see and forced against the wall of the office suddenly, knocking the wind out of her as she felt her legs give out and whimpered as she remained upright by the sheer strength of the person behind her, his other hand snaking around her waist to hold her, his hot breath in her ear. “In the background, you had a picture on your nightstand, do you remember that?” he asked. She started to cry as a choked wheeze escaped her as she tried to catch her breath. “It was you and your parents at your high school graduation.” he told her, “I know, you’re probably struggling to think of any possible way that could’ve given away anything about your identity, right?” he asked. She was seeing spots now and teetering on the brink of consciousness. “Alyssa Sharpe, class of 2020.” he said, “It took a lot of work, but I managed to clean up the screen caps I took to get your name and then when searched that and found your yearbook online, I knew I had you.” he explained, lifting her into his arms and cradling her as she slipped in and out of consciousness. “Why?” she managed to wheeze. He was chuckling softly, a brittle sounding noise that sent a chill down her spine, “Because you need a Daddy, little one.” he told her, “You’re far too little to be able to take care of yourself, tonight proved that much.” he said. She could feel that they were moving and struggled weakly in his strong arms. “Now now,” he calmly chided, patting her bottom softly, “baby is just fussy because she needs a change and a nap.” he told her as he shifted her to close the door behind the bookshelf as he carried her through it, “Once we have you all sorted out, we can begin your training.” he said, his greasy skin and prickly stubble against her forehead, his reeking breath filling her nostrils as he kissed her. “They’ll know I was here and come looking for me.” she said. The brittle chuckle returned, “Everyone abandoned your pathetic little stream, baby.” he said, “And while you’re napping, I’ll be scrubbing Ouija_Look_At_That from every platform, just like she never existed.” he told her. “Besides, this place hasn’t been relevant since the mall closed down.” he explained, “My mom owned the daycare back in the day, god was she a mean old bitch.” he bitterly spat, “But when she died she left it to me, a moldy old daycare center in a crumbling old abandoned mall, on brand, honestly.” he said. “Anyway, everything that brought you here was me laying a trail of breadcrumbs for you, BoneFairy and SnuggleCorn goading you, the pink bottle you were supposed to finish having a sneaky little dose of muscle relaxers that are probably kicking in fully now, and of course all that money you just couldn't pass up, so once that’s all gone and you’re gone, nobody’s gonna miss you, just another missing female in a sea of reckless and ignorant females that don't take any precautions to keep themselves safe." he added. She was panicking and crying as he carried her through the darkness, “Please, I haven’t seen you, you don’t have to-” she started to plead, her words evaporating as the thick bulb of a pacifier filled her mouth, too big to be comfortable, her jaw popping as it nearly choked her going in. “Lesson one, baby cannot speak.” he told her. “You’ll see Daddy plenty after your nap, but the dark is good for this situation, keeps you disoriented and malleable so you don’t act up and get hurt.” he explained. She whimpered, the pain in her jaw worsening every second the pacifier remained in place, her hands being slapped roughly when she tried to grab for it. He sighed, “I know you don’t like spankings, so I’d advise you not do anything more to earn one.” he warned. She felt herself being set down on her back on a cushioned surface and felt alone in the darkness when he stepped away “You never should’ve ghosted me.” he said, his hands suddenly ripping the tapes of her diaper, “I understand how scared you must’ve been to give yourself to me without getting to know me first, females are often quite skittish around dominant males.” he explained, “But you know what a little baby you are and how badly a little baby needs a strong Daddy.” he continued as he wiped her thoroughly, his thick fingers toying with her body in ways that would make her scream and vomit if she were able to, the smell of powder filled her nostrils and she felt her legs effortlessly lifted along with her bottom as a much thicker diaper was slid beneath her. She was hyperventilating, getting ready to pass out, or die, she hoped, just so she wouldn’t have to endure being this sick bastard’s captive any longer than she had been already. “In time you’ll learn that Daddy is all you need.” he told her as he taped her new diaper snugly onto her, then repeated the process four more times, “You won’t need to worry about talking or walking or feeding yourself or even going to the bathroom because Daddy will have all of that taken care of for you so you can just be your true self,” he said as he lifted her up and held her like a baby once more, “Daddy’s perfect little SnuggleCorn forever and always.” he whispered into her ear. The bulk of so many diapers kept her legs spread wide, rendering them uncoordinated even if she weren’t weak and disoriented and on the verge of passing out and merely remained still and silent as she was set down in what she assumed was a crib once she felt the mattress beneath her and heard the side come up and lock in place. “If you’re a good girl and take a nap without any naughtiness, Daddy will give you a special treat when you wake up.” he whispered, his thick fingers stroking her hair as she shuddered and recoiled to the other end of the crib. His hollow chuckling came around once more, “I wasn’t sure what the best part of having you would be,” he began, “I thought just having the baby I’d always dreamed of having would be it, but now I can tell that reminding you of who you truly are and returning you to your true baby self is going to be my favorite part.” he said. She whimpered and cried softly into her pacifier. “The sex might just top it though.” he added, chuckling to himself as his footsteps retreated into the darkness. Without being able to see, she was helpless and accepted that she’d have to endure some awful things before an opportunity to escape presented itself, but she really didn’t see any outcome that didn’t benefit her, either she’d escape and kill him or reach the police and send him to jail for what he’d done to her, or she’d anger him and end up dead, either way she’d be free sooner rather than later. The End Happy Halloween!

Chapter Nine “A Tale Of Two Sisters” I continued to hold Mira’s hand as the door behind us closed and left us in her cubicle, guiding her around from behind me to her chair so she could sit down before I knelt in front of her. “Alright, before I turn you loose on your first day, do you have any questions for me?” I asked her, reaching up and brushing an errant strand of her hair from her face. She shook her head. I nodded once and rose, kissing her forehead before I was fully upright, “Once you’re done with a client you’re to send the file to me and then come to my office so we can go over your work, okay?” I asked. She nodded, “Yes, Ms. Smith.” she said politely. “Good girl.” I praised, patting the top of her head gently as I turned to leave the small cubicle. “Um!” she suddenly said behind me. I turned, “Yes?” I asked her. She was chewing her bottom lip and absently fiddling with her skirt before she practically leapt up from her chair and threw her arms around me to hug me, “I’m sorry I was a bad sister and a bad person and I really appreciate you being so much better to me than I was to you.” she said in a rush of words that almost bled together. I couldn’t help but smile as I hugged her back, she really had made incredible strides to soften the edges of her personality and attitude in such a short amount of time, but these random outbursts of childish sweetness were becoming more frequent the longer she was kept in her role at home and it was something I was very happy to see and be on the receiving end, “You’ve been a very good girl, Mira, and both Mommy and I are very proud of you.” I told her, “But,” I said softly as I gently released her and guided her back to her chair, “work is only for big girls, so you need to be professional here and not be a little cuddle bug like at home, okay?” I explained. She nodded, “I’m sorry, Ms. Smith, it won’t happen again, Ma’am.” she said politely, beaming proudly up at me. “Good girl.” I said with a warm smile and another quick peck on the top of her head before I left to get to my office before my own first case of the day. ********* Salvador Jimenez sat in the chair in my office shortly after I got settled in, he was a thin young man in his twenties, his short, spiked hair a silvery white, his lithe body on display as he sat completely nude before me, save for the diaper haphazardly taped around his waist and the leather collar around his neck with the attached leash resting in a small coil on the floor beside his chair. “Tell me what you remember.” I said. He nodded softly, “I was pledging a fraternity and the theme for the first week was basically that all the new pledges were babies.” he explained. “One of the brothers, Alex, was giving off vibes like he was into me, but obviously not ready to admit that he was gay.” he continued. I nodded as I typed his recounting into my report. “Anyway, Alex was assigned to be my “daddy” for the week and we went to his room,” he smiled as he looked down at the floor, “he led me by the hand like I really was his little boy, and once the door was closed he asked me if it was okay for him to take my clothes off.” he explained. “Was he initiating sex?” I asked him. He chuckled and shook his head, “No, he was too nervous to be that bold.” he responded, “There were diapers on the footlocker at the end of his bed and his job was to get me into one.” He explained, he smiled again, lost in thought, “His hands were shaking when he started to undress me, poor little confused Alex.” he mused. “Anyway, when he got to be taking a little too long, I helped him out by quickly ditching the rest of my clothes and the look in his eyes when he saw what was under my briefs let me know that he was ready to explore the real him.” he continued. I continued typing, “So, you had sex?” I asked. “I kissed him as soon as he looked up from my bottom half, and he melted, like actually started to collapse because his legs were shaking so much.” he said, his smile wide as he remembered the encounter, “Anyway, the poor thing needed me to do all the work getting him into his own birthday suit, and then I guided him to the bed as I kissed his neck and chest and that was that.” he said. I shook my head, “Not quite though, right?” I asked, “I mean, that sounds lovely for the both of you, but you’re leaving a big part out.” I said. His demeanor changed, his spirit warbling as he thought about what I was referring to, “The other brothers obviously hadn’t done anything special with their babies, and came to see what was taking us so long.” he said quietly, his smile gone, “The door being kicked in was so loud, and then everything was a blur of shouting and movement.” he explained. “I have a recording if you’d rather let that tell the story.” I offered. He said nothing but nodded softly. I started the video and sat back to watch him, make sure he was alright as the video played. Slurs erupted from several of the brothers as they entered the room to find Salvador and Alex naked together in what can only be described as a loving cuddle, both shooting off the bed as the door burst open and searching for clothes to put on. The head of the house spat more slurs as he crossed the room to Salvador and berated him while his second in command did the same to Alex. Both young men were tried, convicted and sentenced in the span of a minute, their punishment being handed down in the form of both wearing the diapers initially intended for Salvador and having leashes and collars put around their necks to be taken for a walk around campus by their “masters”. Salvador’s spirit shuddered as he watched he and Alex laid beside one another as the diapers were put on them, their hands coming so close to holding one another for support before they were yanked up and pushed down for the collars and leashes to be applied before they were made to crawl down the stairs as their “brothers” jeered them and shouted dehumanizing and awful things at them. Outside the house, the head of the house got on his megaphone and announced that the “bitch puppies” weren’t housebroken yet and ordered both young men to wet themselves. Alex was a blubbering mess as he silently obeyed, but Salvador just glared at his tormentors as he obeyed. The pair was led around campus for a short time until they arrived at an area where a large enough group had gathered for the head of the house to command the boys mess themselves, which neither boy complied with. It hadn’t been intentional, not that it mattered given the end result, but Salvador’s leash was pulled too hard and at the wrong angle, and his neck snapped, killing him instantly and leaving Alex to crawl to him and hug his lifeless body as the gathered crowd recorded and stared in horror at the tragedy that had come from a senseless act of bullying. “Are you alright?” I asked him. He nodded, “It was an accident that could’ve been avoided if those homophobic pricks hadn’t gotten so riled up, but they have to live with what they did and whatever happens to them after.” he explained. I smiled and rose from my chair to go to him and place a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry that awful thing happened to you, but your threshold for forgiveness and tolerance is very impressive for someone your age.” I told him. He smiled up at me, his spirit brightening, “Thank you.” he said. He was hesitant for a moment, “Can I ask about Alex?” he asked. I smiled back at him, “He took what happened to you very hard, but it sparked something in him and he changed his life because of it.” I told him, returning to my computer to bring up a picture of Alex, “He became a very successful lawyer and he and his husband do many civil and human rights cases for free thanks to a foundation he created in your name that runs on donations.” I explained. His spirit became blindingly bright just before he vanished from my office, a smile on his face as he transitioned to his final destination. ********* One of the perks of being Mira’s trainer is that I can summon her to my office just by willing it, which I did as soon as I got the notification that her case had been filed. Her spirit was off when she arrived, small and skittish seeming as she sat nervously in the chair Salvador had previously occupied. “How’d your first case go?” I asked as I pulled up her case on my computer. She pouted, “Awful!” she grumped petulantly. I raised an eyebrow at her demeanor and tone, “Do I need to take you home for a nap before we do this?” I asked. She sighed in exasperation, “No!” she snapped, “The lady was really mean to me and I hated her and I hate this!” she whined. I ignored her outburst for the moment as I read her report, my head beginning to shake softly as I encountered spelling mistake after spelling mistake and sentences that abruptly stopped and new thoughts beginning after them with little connective tissue between them, “Seems like you struggled to type and talk and listen all at once.” I remarked, giving her a look from the corner of my eye. She squirmed in her seat nervously and hung her head, “It’s hard to do all of that at once!” she argued, “Plus, the lady was really mean!” she reminded me. I sent the video to the screen on the wall and sat back in my chair to watch it. “Hello, Ms. Jacoby.” the recording of Mira said politely. The woman sneered, “Mrs.” she huffed. Mira looked confused, “I’m sorry?” she said, searching for clarification in her not understanding what the woman had meant. “Are you?” Mrs. Jacoby asked, “Are you sorry for my husband cheating on me with my sister?” she asked, her tone rising, “Sorry for me taking a hammer to them both while they slept?” she continued, her spirit swelling and turning darker, “Sorry for me, the victim, being put to death like some kind of ni-” I stopped the video when she started using racial slurs, “Quite the charmer that one.” I said dryly, “Why did you let her take control of what was happening?” I asked. Mira’s spirit was smaller than I’d ever seen it, “She was scary.” she admitted. I nodded, “I can see that, but she has no power here.” I said, “You do though.” I reminded her. She stared at her hands folded in her lap but said nothing. I rolled my chair to my right to clear the desk and patted my lap, “C’mere, sweetie.” I said, smiling at her as she stood and came over to me and gingerly hoisted herself up onto my lap. I put my arm around her waist and leaned her back so she was resting against my chest and kissed the back of her head as I started softly stroking her hair, “We need to finish watching, okay?” I asked, not waiting for a response before playing the video. Mrs. Jacoby had gotten to her feet, the frail looking older woman seemed to tower above Mira as she shrank in fear of the raw spiritual ferocity she was inches from, “Everyone’s sorry but no one’s willing to do anything about it!” Mrs. Jacoby shrieked. Mira clearly recalled she was to be recording what was happening and turned to do that when Mrs. Jacoby grabbed for her throat with a guttural roar that made her spirit flare up with black and red tendrils snaking outward before she disappeared in rush of energy. I hugged my sister and rested my chin on her shoulder, “You okay?” I asked her. She shook her head and her spirit stabilized in its tiny flicker. I sighed softly, “I think maybe that’s enough for today.” I told her as I gently slid her from my lap and stood to take her hand in mine. “I tried to be responsible and do a good job.” she said quietly as I led her to the door and opened it to reveal the nursery on the other side. Once we crossed the threshold, all the house rules went back into effect and I was able to pick her up as if she weighed nothing and hug her tightly as I closed the door behind us, “That wasn’t your fault, honey.” I told her as I gently patted her bottom and carried her to the changing table, laying her down and fetching her pacifier from the basket below the tabletop, pushing it into her mouth gently as I smiled down at her. With the functionality returned to our bodies at home, Mira’s tears now gently rolled from the corners of her eyes as she sucked her pacifier, “Are you mad at me, Ella?” she asked through her pacifier. I shook my head as I pulled her to a sitting position to slip her top and bra off and lay her back down to do the same with her skirt and pull-up, “Why would I be mad at you, sweetheart?” I asked as I gently wiped her and got out a diaper to unfold. She shrugged, “I belittled you and acted like I was so much better than you and then I can’t even stand up to one old woman.” she sniffled. I lifted her legs by the ankles and slid the diaper under her, “I thought we all agreed that grownup boss Mira was a bad dream we all had.” I reminded her as I sprinkled powder onto her diaper area and gently rubbed it in before cleaning my hands and taping her diaper on snugly. She sighed as I got her footie pajamas from the dresser across the room, “She was, but dreams can still hurt as bad as real stuff.” she said. I gave her a sympathetic smile as I dressed her in her pajamas and carried her to the crib, setting her down and patting her bulging bottom as she crawled to the other side and lay down, “Babies need stories before nap time, right?” I asked rhetorically as I climbed into the crib and lay beside her, pulling her close with my arm beneath her as I hugged her and rocked our bodies, “Do you remember what God made you see before she brought us back to finish our meeting?” I asked her. She nodded softly against my chest, “Didn’t like it.” she said softly. I rubbed her back and looked over at Lucy in the doorway, smiling at her before turning my attention back to Mira, “Was it the best day you never had?” I asked. She stiffened and made a sad mewling sound through her pacifier. I sighed and pulled her up on top of me, holding her to me as I rocked us, smiling as her head turned to face away from Lucy so she wouldn’t see her standing in the doorway, “If I tell you what I saw will you tell me what you saw?” I asked. Mira nodded but continued quietly sucking her pacifier as she cuddled to me. “Once upon a time,” I said, smiling at Lucy once more before I closed my eyes to see the story I was about to tell, “a young woman lived in a house with the woman she loved.” I said, “Ella was the younger of the two women and looked at Delilah as more than just the love of her life, but as something of a mother figure to her as well.” I said, seeing Delilah in my minds eye. “It was an unremarkable day when they decided to have a picnic beneath the Cedar tree a short walk from their home, and Delilah allowed her little girl to wear only the numerous layers of cloth she’d pinned around the girl’s waist, making her waddle and hold Delilah’s hand for stability.” I said, seeing myself toddling beside Delilah out to the tree. Mira giggled, “Big baby.” she playfully teased. I patted her crinkly bottom softly, “Takes one to know one.” I retorted with a smile when she giggled again and playfully wiggled her bottom. Lucy had entered the room and taken a seat in the rocking chair but stayed silent to listen to my story. “When they arrived at the tree, Delilah laid a blanket down in the sun dappled shade and began setting up the picnic while her little girl lay beside her watching butterflies and sucking her thumb as she looked up at Delilah, the sun behind her making her look like a beautiful angel as she looked at her baby with love.” I explained, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes, “Delilah fed her baby like a good mother and held her in her arms, not caring that the girl had a messy face from lunch or that the cloth pinned around her waist was drenched with pee, that’s just how babies were, regardless of size or age.” I told her. “Delilah removed her own clothes after lunch and held her baby in her arms and let her nurse from her in the warm afternoon air, the mixture of a full stomach and unconditional love combined with the temperature of the day putting the girl to sleep before she’d finished nursing the first breast.” I explained. “Was that what you wanted most?” Mira asked quietly. I nodded, “Delilah was the only person in the living world that not only understood me, but nurtured the things inside that I kept hidden.” I said, “When we were together we’d talk about owning a house in the country and living as mommy and baby as often as possible.” I explained, “But then I died and never got to have that perfect day with her.” I added. Mira hugged me tightly, “I’m sorry, Ella.” she said softly. I kissed the top of her head, “God knew exactly what I wanted most in life and used it against me.” I said, “One final twist of the dagger before the game was over.” I added bitterly. “I was with my family in my dream, my husband was still alive and the older kids were home from school and our baby girl had been born instead of dying and we were happy.” Mira said, her pacifier falling to the mattress so she could speak clearly, “We were waiting for Mother and Father to arrive for a visit, and I was so happy to see that they’d brought you along.” she explained. “Everyone in my family was surprised to see you quite pregnant, but you were all smiles when you finally waddled into the house.” she said. I snickered, “Why was I pregnant?” I asked. She shrugged, “I wanted you to be as happy as me.” she said, “Well, not quite as happy, your husband had gone to secure a home for you both but had written to say he’d met someone else and wouldn’t be returning.” she explained, “You found out you were pregnant a short time later and remained with Mother and Father because you couldn’t handle things on your own.” she explained. I smirked, “Casting me as the helpless damsel in your perfect day seems like something you’d do.” I teased. She shook her head, “Let me finish.” she chided. “Mother and Father busied themselves with present giving for the kids and you pulled me aside and asked where the restroom was and when I showed you where it was you confessed that being with child was wreaking havoc on your bladder control and that Mother had had to fashion you a supply of cloth diapers that she’d pinned you into for the wagon ride to see us.” she explained. I kept quiet as she’d requested, but was intrigued by the direction the story was going. “I told you that I’d suffered similarly with each of my four children and led you into the restroom to help you, and I did, I cared for you when you needed me to, the way I should have when we were growing up, when we lost father and you broke down and needed your big sister to carry you along until you recovered.” she explained, “The best day I never had was being a good sister to you and taking care of you.” she said, “It wasn’t more time with my family when things never fell apart, it wasn’t finding new love and happiness in my life, it was righting the wrongs I’d committed against you, Ella, because I love you.” she added, reaching for her pacifier and popping it into her mouth to signal the end of her story before she hugged me tightly and pressed the face of her pacifier to my cheek as she made a kissing noise. Lucy cleared her throat and got up from the rocking chair to come to the side of the crib, stroking my hair with one hand while she patted Mira’s bottom with the other, “I was coming home from college and my daddy had surprised at the train station,” she explained as she waited for me to scoot over and allow her to lay beside me on her side as she continued to stroke my hair. “My mother had told me he’d be in town when I arrived and not able to see me until late the following day, but there he was in his Sunday best, a smile on his face he waited for me to notice him.” she continued. She smiled sadly, “I was so little when I died that I didn’t think I remembered little things about him and my mother, but down to the last detail he was the man I’d adored when I was knee high to a grasshopper.” she said. I thought of our father and knew somehow that Mira was too. “I ran to him and he lifted me up like he’d done when I was little and spun me around, and that spin was like the hands of time turning back the clock on my life, I stopped being that college student, the first one in my family, I stopped being a strong, independent Black woman in a world that she had to fight to be taken seriously in and when he finally set me back down on my feet I felt like I was four years old again, looking up at him like the Sun rose and set by his will alone.” she explained, “Then he cemented it by calling me ‘Daffodil’, his pet name for me when I was little, and I spent the whole wagon ride back home feeling like my daddy’s little girl again.” she said. I tilted my head to face her and gave her a look to silently ask if she was alright and got a nod and a kiss on the forehead in response. “All my sisters were back home to see me, the house was full of grandchildren and tiny baby great grandchildren, but not a one of them was as happy as I was walking hand in hand with my daddy and hugging my mama for the first time in a few years.” she said with an ear to ear smile that nearly hid the tears and pain in her eyes as she swallowed hard, “I never had a real chance to be a part of a family, I was too little to know what I had in my parents and sisters, and that’s why you girls have been the best thing that’s ever happened to me in life or in death.” she explained. Mira turned her head to face Lucy, “Love you, Mommy.” she said sleepily. I smiled at Lucy and leaned in to kiss her lips, softly, “I love you too, Mommy.” I whispered. We all lay in silence for a while, getting our emotions under control, except Mira who began to softly snore atop me after a few minutes of laying with her eyes closed. “Rough day?” Lucy asked. I nodded, “Her client went ghost on her, full rage and fury and she kind of froze up.” I whispered. Lucy smiled at the sleeping girl, “Maybe she’s not ready for work just yet.” she offered. I sighed, “You know, I was really proud of her for putting all the rules she has on herself, but now I’m wondering if she was just easing into what she wanted you to run with.” I said. “Meaning?” Lucy asked. I shrugged, “Maybe she wants to be the baby of the family and thought that if she put a bunch of restrictions and rules in place to make herself littler seeming that you’d pull the trigger and bring her down to that level completely.” I explained. “Has she said anything to make you think that?” she asked. I shook my head, “No, but look at her.” I said, looking down at the sleeping woman atop me, “She was such a strong and commanding woman when she was running D.E.A.T.H., but look how little it’s taken to bring her to where she is now.” I explained. Lucy smiled and kissed my forehead, “How about this,” she whispered as she got up and gently moved Mira off of me and stroked the girl’s hair to keep her sleeping before she stood up and offered her hand to me, picking me up once I was standing outside the crib, “why don’t we have a talk as a family after nap time and we can decide who needs to be where and in what capacity then.” she said as she carried me to the changing table and lay me down. I smiled up at her, “Do I have to nap with her in the crib or can I have a big girl nap with Mommy?” I purred as she started undressing me. She smiled at me, “Well, since you’re home early from work and clearly not concerned with being put into a diaper, I think a nap with your sister is best.” she explained as she expertly got me into a diaper and footed pajamas to match Mira’s. I pretended to pout, “Fine.” I said with my arms folded across my chest, “But I’ll be spending the night with you tonight.” I told her. She smirked and kissed my lips softly, our tongues dancing with one another briefly before she picked me up once more and deposited me in the crib, watching me snuggle into my role as big spoon to Mira’s little spoon before she raised the side and turned on the mobile above us, “We’ll see.” she teased before she left us to nap. Mira’s hair still smelled faintly of the baby shampoo Lucy had washed her hair with that morning, the faint smell of powder from both of us and the hint of urine from Mira made me shudder with pleasure as I snuggled my sister, “If you can hear me, Mira, I love you and appreciate that you wanted to be a good big sister to me.” I whispered, “But I think we both know that you’re better suited as the little sister now, right?” I asked rhetorically as I closed my eyes and wet my diaper, sighing contentedly as I relaxed and let sleep take me. To Be Concluded...

First, thank you for reading, I'm super happy to hear you like the story so much! As far as Humberto goes, we'll get a lot more information about him and what happened with him, but not for a little bit, Marisol is the main character and we're following her right now BUT she is going back home in the near future and our plucky reporter wouldn't just ignore a potential story, right? Four The steam from the shower hung heavy in the small bathroom as Marisol, quite clean, stood under the water and gave her current situation great thought. Truth be told, she’d been flitting in and out of focusing on the events of the day, her thoughts shifting to the women at the store and the girl at the diner and Humberto. She found herself circling back to her brother over and over again, which was out of the norm for her since they’d grown up and made friends and traveled in different circles, but with everything going on with him and everything going on with her, she found herself dwelling on whether he’d been using Talc or if he’d joined one of the gangs, if they even had a presence back home or not. She racked her brain to try and come up with any signs she might’ve seen in the past that would confirm one or both of the gangs had members where she’d grown up, but nothing readily sprung to mind as she turned off the water and stepped over the lip of the tub onto her bathmat and wrapped a towel around herself. With a weary sigh, she came out of her bathroom after the third shower of the day, and went to the nightstand when her phone chimed. Marcus: Hey, they need a camera guy for a fire up North and I agreed, you’ll probably get a call or a text from the station manager giving you the night off, just FYI Marcus’s text had come through while she was showering, but the one that she’d gotten after was in fact from the station manager and was telling her about the fire and that since they had a shortage of camera people, she didn’t have to work that night. “Thank God for small favors.” she thought as she brought Marcus’ text back up to reply. Me: Tell me you didn’t drive up North after lunch and start a great big fire just to avoid seeing me after I made a fool of myself She felt her cheeks warm at the memory of what she’d done and that she was bringing it up so shortly after it had happened. Marcus: You caught me, public displays of embarrassment send me right to arson She smiled. Me: Not that I want to talk about it, but should we? Me: Talk about it, I mean. Marcus: Is it something that might happen again? She thrust her face into her pillow and groaned loudly. Me: We should talk about it. Me: Let me know when you’re done with the fire and you can come by here for an apology dinner? Her stomach fluttered nervously. Marcus: You don’t have to apologize if there’s something medically wrong with you. She sighed. Me: The truth is, I don’t know what’s going on with me, but I know that I really like you and don’t want something stupid scaring you away from liking me too. Her phone was silent for an agonizingly long time and she chewed her bottom lip nervously until he finally responded. Marcus: Text me your address and if I’m hungry and feel like talking, I’ll stop by. She texted her address, worrying that his response felt annoyed and dismissive but fought the urge to send him another message after he didn’t respond with anything in response to her address. Setting her phone aside, she got up from the bed with a sigh and unhooked her towel, letting it fall to the floor before she walked to her dresser to find something to wear for the rest of the day. With her need to go to work gone, her desire to learn more about both the gangs in the area and the drug they peddled drove her to her laptop on her bed after making herself a cup of tea to steady her mind as she found herself jumping from thought to thought with little in the way of focus. Her video chat program began to ring just as she was getting her computer up and running for searching and documenting, and she chewed her bottom lip as she hovered over the ‘answer’ button. “Hola, Mami.” she greeted with a halfhearted smile as her mother appeared on the screen. Her mother gave a concerned smile, “What happened, did you get fired?” her mother asked, “Baby, the big city is-” she started to say. Marisol shook her head, “I didn’t get fired, Mami, they didn’t need me tonight.” she explained. Her mother looked relieved, “Oh, well, that’s good then!” she said, “Why do you look so down, honey?” she asked. Marisol chewed her lip and shrugged, looking down at her keyboard, she couldn’t tell her mother anything about what had been happening with her bladder, but a small part of her felt like a little girl again, wanting to let go of her secrets so Mami could make everything better. She heard giggling from somewhere off camera, her brother by the sound of it. The interruption had caused her train of thought to derail and she found herself looking past her mother to something behind her, a stuffed elephant she hadn’t seen since she’d deemed herself ‘too mature’ to sleep with the thing anymore, “Mami, where are you?” she asked her mother. Her mother was smiling at something beyond the camera, “Huh? Oh, I’m in Humberto’s room while your father watches the game in the living room.” she explained briskly before returning her attention to what Marisol assumed was her brother. Marisol stared at the elephant, his well worn fuzziness making it known that he had been loved and cuddled regularly in his life, and she found herself feeling a pang of guilt for abandoning him and a desire to have him with her now to tell him her secrets so she didn’t have to tell her mother. The camera on her mother’s tablet flipped to show Humberto on a colorful pastel blanket on his back, his hands holding onto his foot as he held his mouth open like a fish in anticipation for the wiggling toes he was trying so hard to get into his drooling maw. Marisol felt queasy as she looked at the garment stretched over his bulky diaper, the snaps straining to contain the mass of plastic and padding as it rustled loudly with every wiggle and jerk of his body. Her mother got up from where she’d been sitting and stood over Humberto, with the camera focused on him, “Can you say ‘hello, Mari?’” her mother cooed down to him. Marisol felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she looked at her brother trying to get his toes to his mouth, the baby blue fabric printed with “Mommy’s Baby Boy” on the chest in bubbly cartoon letters, his wordless, wet gurgles barely audible over the sounds of his crinkling diaper, “Mami.” she said faintly as she closed her eyes to stop the nauseous feeling washing over her. The camera flipped back around, “Did you say something, sweetheart?” her mother asked. Marisol opened her eyes and once again saw the elephant and the nausea subsided as she smiled at him, “Momo.” she said almost to herself, a swell of silly pride filling her up at remembering the elephant’s name after all those years. Her mother looked over her shoulder and picked up the elephant, “Who’s this?” she cooed, playfully shaking the elephant in her hand. Marisol furrowed her brow, wondering if her mother hadn’t heard her just say the elephant’s name, “Momo!” she practically shouted, covering her mouth with both hands when her mother jumped at the sudden outburst and dropped her tablet. Her mother groaned as she bent down to pick the tablet back up, “Mari, baby, not so loud.” her mother chided her, “Remember inside voices?” she asked. Marisol did remember when she and Humberto would be too loud playing in the house and their parents would tell them to use ‘inside voices’ to bring the volume down, “Sorry, Mami, I wanted to make sure you heard me when I told you his name.” she explained, genuinely remorseful for startling her mother. Her mother looked confused, “Mari, I was asking ‘Berto who the elephant was.” her mother said, her lips curling into a smile, “You used to do that for Blue’s Clues and Dora, remember, baby?” she asked. “You and ‘Berto both would shout at the TV as loud as you could so Dora and that gringo could hear you.” she mused. Marisol’s cheeks felt hot again as she felt incredibly silly for her outburst now that her mother was equating it to the toddler versions of her and her brother shouting at baby shows, an image of her and her brother now dressed as her brother was now parked in front of the TV gurgling at brightly colored cartoons flashed into her head and she felt the nausea return as she sprung up from the bed and to the bathroom where she quickly got down on her knees and flipped the toilet seat up before she vomited. Vomiting was equal to wet pants in the hatred column of life for her, the feeling was awful, the taste worse, and the fact that her eyes and nose leaked their respective fluids all while she struggled to spit her mouth clean without strands of saliva connecting her mouth to the toilet water made her feel like vomiting all over again just thinking about it. “Are you alright, baby?” her mother asked when she returned after wiping her face and brushing her teeth. Marisol nodded softly and gently rubbed her stomach as she gingerly got back onto the bed, laying down on her side with the laptop beside her. “Your brother has an upset tummy too.” her mother said, “Though his problem is focused more in the South, if you know what I mean.” she joked. Marisol rubbed her stomach with her eyes closed, she didn’t immediately know what her mother meant, but when she gave it some thought she giggled softly, “Poopy.” she mumbled with a smile. “You two must still be on that twin connection thing.” her mother said as she got up from her seat and went to ‘Berto. Marisol’s eyes shot open, “Mami, has ‘Berto been peeing his diaper today?” she asked suddenly. Her mother stared at her, “No, Mari, I just have him in them for decoration.” her mother said with a shocking amount of sarcasm. Marisol was taken aback for a moment at her mother’s response and felt very stupid for asking her question that way, “I mean-” she stopped herself as she very narrowly began to tell her mother about her accident’s, “I’m going to take some medicine and have a nap, Mami.” she said quickly, disconnecting the call before her mother could say anything else. She sighed wearily but smiled, her accident’s today had to be because of what was happening with ‘Berto and she closed her eyes once more and slipped into sleep with a smile on her face and pride in herself for having solved the mystery of her sudden bladder control lapse. ********* Her phone ringing woke her up some time later and she grumbled softly as she picked it up and swiped the screen without opening her eyes, years of muscle memory kicking in to allow her to stay adjacent to the nap she’d been roused from. She murmured a greeting that didn’t really sound like what she’d intended to say. “Marisol?” Marcus’ voice asked. She grumpily opened her eyes and rolled over onto her back, realizing with much embarrassment that her words had failed to form a moment earlier because her mouth had been filled with not just her thumb, but with some of her hair that she’d wrapped around the digit, a habit her mother had fought for years to break her of. Pulling her thumb from her mouth and clearing her throat, she blinked her eyes to focus her vision, “Marcus?” she asked. “Hey, so I’m done with the fire and was calling to make sure you still wanted me to stop by.” he explained. She nodded her head softly as she listened to him, a giddy feeling building in her stomach as a bright smile spread over her face, “Uh huh!” she agreed eagerly. He was silent for a moment, “Okay, umm, I’ll probably be back in the city in about an hour and I’ll stop by.” he said, “Do you need me to bring anything?” he asked. Her mind took a quick detour through potential answers, condoms, that fine ass, those strong arms,” her cheeks flushed as she tried to calm herself, “Maybe some wine?” she offered. His smile carried through his voice, “Is this still an apology dinner?” he asked. She fidgeted nervously, “We can start there and see where wine takes us.” she said in her best seductive tone. “I’ll call you when I’m close.” he said after a moment. “Can’t wait.” she said as the line disconnected. The events of the day vanished from her mind as she bustled around to clean up the house, wrinkling her nose at the smell of the pants and panties she’d wet at the diner still on the bathroom floor as she tossed them into the wash. She really was a neat person overall, so cleaning up didn’t take much time and she could shift to cleaning herself up and finding something to wear for the evening. She was embarrassed by the small snarl in her hair that she’d created when she’d been sucking her thumb with her hair twirled around it, but managed to fix it and make herself look, in her own humble opinion, quite pretty as she went to her closet for something to wear, dismissing her more professional looking work clothes and her dressier, well, dresses, and settled on a cream colored peasant top that made her cleavage pop and a pair of blue jeans that did the same for her butt, putting the finishing touches on her light amount of makeup just as her phone began to ring. “Are you here?!” she asked as she answered the phone, her excitement making her question louder and far more eager sounding than she realized. “Just coming up the block.” Marcus said, “Any special instructions to get to you?” he asked. She shook her head, “Nuh uh, just look for the lovely Latina.” she playfully said. Marcus cleared his throat, “Alright then.” he said, clearly not sure how to handle her directness and overwhelming modesty. Stuffing her phone into her back pocket with a squeal of delight, Marisol hurried to the front door and unlocked and opened it, stepping out into the walkway that ran the length of the apartments on the second floor where she lived. The whole thing made the apartments look like a motel, but she could see the parking area from the railing and found herself nervously and excitedly fidgeting as she looked over the railing to the cars below, a squeaking sound she’d never in her life produced before escaping her lips when she saw Marcus through the windshield of a gray SUV. “Hi!” she exclaimed, flailing her arm back and forth above her head as he stepped out of the car. He looked up at her and then gave an awkward wave and smile before leaning into the car to grab the wine he’d brought. “Did you find it okay?” she asked as he came up the stairs. He nodded and followed her back to her apartment, closing the door behind himself as she entered and immediately began giving him the grand tour, “Marisol, are you alright?” he asked, interrupting her as she was telling him about her couch. She furrowed her brow, “Yes, why?” she asked, drawing each word out as her eyes looked left and right like she was searching for the reason he might be asking such a question. He set the wine down on the kitchen counter, “You’re just really,” he paused, searching for the right word, “up?” he said, making it sound like a question. She giggled, covering her mouth as her shoulders rose up to her ears, “I made tea after my shower and I am so silly, I made sleepy time tea and it made me sick because it has something in it I’m allergic to and I threw up and then took a nap so I’m like wide awake!” she said, telling the story at such a speed that it seemed like the words were on fire and she needed to get them out before she got hurt, “And plus, I’m excited you’re here!” she said with another giggle as she suddenly moved forward and threw her arms around his middle to hug him. He held his arms up even with his chest like he was in a pool as she hugged him and gently put them down so his hands were on her arms and calmly pried her from him, “Marisol, have you taken any drugs today?” he asked, concerned but careful to keep his tone light so she wouldn’t be upset or embarrassed he’d asked. She shook her head, “Drugs are bad.” she said, chewing her bottom lip as she worried his not hugging her back and going so far as to push her away meant he didn’t like her. He nodded and smiled at her, “Drugs are bad.” he said calmly, “But if you did take some it doesn’t mean you’re bad or that I’m mad at you.” he told her. “I didn’t take anything though!” she insisted. “Okay.” he told her, putting his hands on her shoulders and gently moving in to hug her, “I believe you.” he said, his hand lightly rubbing her back. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as he hugged her, his cologne smelled like the trees she’d seen when her family went camping and made her feel more at ease, her racing thoughts and heart slowing to normal levels as she luxuriated in the feeling of his strong arms around her, “What drugs did you think I took?” she asked quietly from inside the cocoon of his arms and chest, a place she wished she could remain forever and ever. He sighed softly, “Well, Talc.” he told her. She felt a hot prickle of embarrassment on the back of her neck that ran up her scalp, “Why?” she asked. He pulled her from him and looked down into her eyes, “Yesterday you were this smart, professional woman, and today you’re,” he hesitated, worrying about hurting her feelings now that she’d insisted she wasn’t high, “you just seem to be a little more hyperactive.” he said after a sigh. Her cheeks began to heat up, “I’m sorry.” she said, looking down at her feet to avoid his gaze, realizing only now that she’d forgotten to put shoes on, her toes wiggling to illustrate the lack of shoes to her eyes. “Hey.” he said softly, lifting her chin with his fingertips, “You don’t need to be sorry about anything, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” he told her. She forced a smile and nodded as she looked up at him, “I think the stuff with my brother has just been making me stressed and this stuff with Talc and the gangs, it’s like messing with me, you know?” she explained. “Do you think that’s what caused your accident at the diner?” he asked. She felt mortified that he’d said the word ‘accident’ and not been vague to spare her the humiliation of confirming verbally that he knew exactly what had happened, but looking into his dark eyes made her calm and she simply nodded sheepishly, “Growing up, we had that twin bond, he’d get hurt and I’d feel some of the pain, that kind of thing.” she explained, “I’m wondering if maybe that’s what’s happening now because he’s acting like a baby.” she said. He nodded, “And nothing like this has ever happened to you before?” he asked. She was chewing her bottom lip again, “Like accidents?” she asked. He shrugged, “Like anything you’re experiencing.” he clarified. Her breathing had increased along with her heart rate as instances of wetting her pants throughout her life flashed through her head as she shook it softly to answer him, her desire to suck her thumb suddenly very strong to her horror. She hurried to the kitchen and filled a glass from the tap and quickly drank the water down to quell the dryness in her mouth. “You have a filter on your tap, right?” he asked. She shook her head as she drank, sending rivulets of water down her chin and neck. His eyes went wide as he watched her finish the glass and set it down on the counter with both hands, “Marisol, you haven’t been drinking tap water since you moved in, have you?” he asked, his tone steeped in concern. She nodded, “It’s not the best, but I can’t afford a filter right now.” she told him. He swore softly under his breath, “Marisol, haven’t you seen the boil water notices?” he asked, “Your apartment didn’t give you a copy of the warning from the city?” he asked. She absently shook her head, but wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying, she was admiring the way his shirt hugged his chest and arms, her fingers moving to the front of her jeans to press gently against the tickle she was feeling between her legs, a soft titter coming from her as she felt how wet he’d made her. He was moving, coming around the bar to join her in the kitchen and she imagined him hefting her up onto the counter and kissing her deeply, “Ah, fuck.” he said with a sigh as he came around the corner. She’d never felt so aroused in her life, and had never been so wet for a guy before either, the warm wetness of her jeans making her absently worried he’d see the spot she assumed was visible given how soaked the denim felt against her fingers. “Marisol, sweetie?” he was hunched and looking into her eyes, his strong hands on her shoulders. She looked into his eyes and felt her legs go weak, stopped from crumpling to the floor by his hands quickly hooking under her armpits as he lifted her up without any kind of outward strain and set her on the counter, “Strong daddy.” she purred, chewing her thumbnail as she hungrily eyed him. He smiled at her sympathetically, “Honey, the water supply is contaminated, you’ve basically been dosing yourself with Talc since you moved in.” he explained, his tone calm and even to keep her relaxed. Somewhere inside her mind she recognized that that information was alarming and should make her concerned, but she was just so head over heels in love with how attractive he was that she couldn’t manage to do much more than rub the front of her jeans and seductively show him what her mouth was capable of with her thumb as a stand in for his manhood. He slumped against the fridge and smiled sympathetically at her once more, “I’ll stay with you until you come down.” he said as he watched his coworker suck her thumb and pee her pants while she sat on her kitchen counter and rubbed herself for a moment in fascination at her transformation before he shook his head and came to his senses and lifted her from the counter and helped her to sit on the floor so she wouldn’t fall and hurt herself. To Be Continued...

Thanks for reading and letting me know you're enjoying the story! Chapter Eight “Ella VS God” Where I’d been disappeared in an ear splitting tearing sound as the world was literally ripped away, leaving me back in the boardroom, as I blinked the brightness away to see Lucy and Mira seated on either side of me at the end of the table where She’d been sitting. “All back from your vacations?” She asked. We remained silent, and I scowled at her, I assumed that Lucy and Mira had experienced something similar to myself based on them looking like they’d just been kicked repeatedly in the stomach, “Why would you do that to us?” I asked, swallowing my rage down. She shrugged from the other end of the table, legs out in front of Her as He, on all fours beneath most of the table, satisfied Her, “Everyone was so sour and serious,” She said, Her hand resting on the top of his Head, “Besides, this forked tongue business isn’t something you little girls should see.” She said with a shudder of pleasure as She gently pushed Him back and composed Herself while He wiped His mouth and rose to His feet. “It was cruel.” Mira said quietly. She made an exaggerated pout, “Honestly, you’re the biggest bunch of babies!” She exclaimed, “No wonder you two are the way you are!” She added with an exasperated sigh. Lucy had reached below the table to hold my hand, and I gently took it and squeezed it, “Look, whatever you’re going to do with us, can you just get on with it?!” I snapped. She smiled, “Right to the point, that’s exactly what I need.” She said. Her hands clapping together suddenly made us all jump in our seats, “Here’s the deal, kiddo’s.” She said, looking down the table at Mira, “In light of your sister’s unwavering love and desire to keep you out of Hell, I’m willing to make a deal with you, Mira.” she explained, drawing each word out to an agonizing degree. Mira remained silent, but looked down when I took her hand and smiled weakly at me as she gave mine a gentle squeeze in return. “Since you’re no longer my employee,” She began, “there’s nothing stopping me from letting Him take you away right now for an eternity of,” She looked Him up and down slowly, “delicious” She said, biting her bottom lip seductively before turning back to us, “torture.” She finished with a fake smile, “However, if you agree to my terms, you’ll be welcomed back to the D.E.A.T.H. family with open arms, all sins forgiven.” She explained. Mira looked to me for guidance, something she’d never done before. “What are the terms?” I asked for her. She smiled, “Entry level case worker, no access or power of her own and a senior case worker will sit in on every case and assess her ability to be moved up to full case worker.” She explained, “I ultimately will have final say on if and when she’s granted that promotion.” She added smugly. “No games or tricks?” I asked, “She actually has a chance of moving out of that role and not randomly being demoted or fired because her shoes weren’t tied right or something?” I added. She shook Her head, “A real opportunity to show that she can handle an actual job with actual responsibilities.” She said. I squeezed Mira’s hand and nodded to her when she looked at me. “I accept.” Mira said after giving me a nod in return. Mira’s spirit regained its strength a moment later and she looked stronger and more alert. She gave a little golf clap, “Ella.” She said, “You have a choice, remain a case worker and accept the role of Mira’s babysitter, agreeing to share her fate if she fails.” She explained, holding out one flat palm to the ceiling, “Or, enter into an apprenticeship with me to learn how to be God and when I retire, you become the big boss lady.” She said holding her other hand out in the same way. I scoffed, “You can just retire from being creator of the universe and ruler of Heaven?” I asked. She chuckled, “Sweetie, there’s never been a giant man with a beard that made everything.” She said, “The universe was created by science and a whole lot of random chance.” She explained. “Once people started existing and dying, they didn’t really know what to do, so they started lives as energy based beings in this realm, and once the dead started to be smarter than just cave dwellers afraid of the Sun, they formed this company.” She explained. “Then where did Heaven and Hell come from?” I asked. “Rival corporations.” She said simply. “Hell was formed for those that couldn’t accept that they deserved something good for eternity, so they made a place where they’d be punished forever and ever and punish those they deemed to be equally deserving, it’s pretty fucked up actually.” She explained. “Heaven, on the other hand, was created by those that felt they deserved an eternal vacation and both companies met and agreed on entry requirements that D.E.A.T.H. would keep track of and allocate the dead in adherence to those requirements.” She explained. “I am the,” She paused, counting on Her fingers, “three billion four hundred million eight hundred and seventy six thousand and fourth God to “rule” Heaven.” She said, making air quotes for the word ‘rule’. “Say I believe all of that,” I said as I tried to wrap my head around everything I thought I knew being a lie, “Why do you think I’d make a good God?” I asked. She tented Her hands on the tabletop, “You’re a good person, Ella, far kinder and forgiving than me.” She said. “There have been some great Gods over the years, but you,” She smiled genuinely, “you might actually be the best one.” She said. Both girls squeezed my hands beneath the table in agreement. “What does God do?” I asked. She shrugged, “Whatever you want.” She said. “As God, you have supreme power over everyone in Heaven and, with board approval, can affect Earth as well.” She explained. “This is the part where I’m supposed to give you the ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’ speech,” She said, making a gesture with Her hand that simulated holding a penis and tugging on it, “But that’s all boiler plate bullshit,” She said, “At the end of the day, you can come and go as you please and have your underlings run the day to day.” She explained. “Hell, I haven’t even been in my office since, God, the plague?!” She said with a giggle as She looked at Him, “I’ve been a little preoccupied.” She added. I looked at Mira and Lucy, “If I agree can I still see them?” I asked. She reluctantly turned her attention from Him, “Oh! Yeah, no, that’s actually the only real rule, no fraternization with anyone you have a preexisting relationship with from life or any position in D.E.A.T.H.” She said. “Wouldn’t want someone Me Tooing you or whatever humans worry about at work.” She said dismissively. “How long do I have to decide?” I asked. She looked up at the clock behind Him, “Until I’m done with Lucy’s offer.” She said, turning away from Him to face us once more, “Lucy, in the event that Ella isn’t a complete moron and accepts my very generous offer, I’d like you to take Mira’s old job and oversee the case workers she was in charge of.” She explained. Lucy shifted in her seat, the diaper she was still for some reason wearing crinkling softly, “What if she doesn’t accept?” she asked timidly. She sighed, “I don’t know, what do you want, sweetie?” She asked sweetly. Lucy squeezed my hand tightly, “If she doesn’t accept, I want to go back to being a reaper, the way things were so I can be with Ella again.” she said. She clasped Her hands together and held up in front of Her face, “That is just the most precious thing I’ve ever heard.” She cooed. “So, Ella, what’s it gonna be?” She asked after a moment. “You said you needed board approval for matters concerning Earth, but not for these deals?” I asked. Her lips curled into a smile, “These deals aren’t technically happening right now.” She said, “You’ll move where you need to and no one will question anything because I put the stamp on the moves.” She explained. I nodded, “So, the time to decide isn’t as concrete as you made it?” I asked. Her smile faded, “As a rule, no, but I will say that if you bore me by making me wait for an answer, the deal can change.” She explained. “Can, but won’t.” I said, standing up from my chair, “Lucy and I haven’t done anything wrong, and,” I started walking from my chair down the table toward Her, “by your own admission, I’m the best case worker around, so technically there’s nothing you can do to either of us, right?” I asked. She took a deep breath, “Technically? No.” She grumbled. “But, this is-” She started to say. I raised my finger to my lips and shushed her, noting her visible shock as I approached, “You may be a supreme being and ruler of Heaven and the devil’s whore, but you aren’t in charge here, are you?” I asked. She glared at me, “I’m in charge everywhere, Ella.” She hissed. I shook my head, “This place isn’t real, it’s not a boardroom in D.E.A.T.H. or Heaven, is it?” I asked rhetorically, “You lost your little game and you decided to bully three little girls into covering up the fact that you fucked up, right?” I asked, again, rhetorically as I neared Her. “I’m warning you, Ella.” She sneered. “No!” I snapped, “I’m warning you!” I shouted as I thrust a finger into Her chest, “Mira’s already made her deal, and I accept the role of her mentor because she’s my sister and I love her, but we’re done here.” I told Her. “Lucy goes back to being a reaper, I go back to being a caseworker, and Mira is my trainee.” I explained, “There’s no strings attached to any of us and you never darken our doorstep again, either of you.” I said, looking to Him. She sat back in Her chair, “Of all of you, I never thought you’d be the one to pull on your big girl pants and fight back.” She mused. “How did you know none of this was legit?” She asked. I pointed down the table at Lucy, “She’s still dressed like a baby.” I said, “If we were at D.E.A.T.H., she’d have changed her clothes, but you can’t, can you, Lucy?” I asked. Lucy shook her head softly as she looked at me with quiet adoration. “Heaven was out too because Lucy never wanted to be a baby and never presented herself as one, so why would she remain one in Heaven?” I asked. She nodded and smiled, “Congratulations, Ella, you’re the sharpest knife in the drawer.” She said. “I assume you’ll agree to never speaking of this to anyone ever if I agree to your terms.” She said. It was my turn to smile, “Oh, I still have terms you’ll want to hear.” I said, “I’d get a pen and paper if I were you.” I told her smugly. ********* “Nervous?” I asked Mira. She nodded, “It’s silly, but this is the first real job I’ve ever had.” she confessed. I picked up the hairbrush and began brushing her raven hair for her as she sat on the little bench in front of the vanity in her room. The negotiations between me and God went on for some time, but we finally reached an agreement and both got everything we wanted. All the major points were readily agreed to, our jobs and no sword hanging above our heads, but once I opened things up to allow Mira and Lucy to make demands was when things became more intricate. “I remember my first case,” I said as I set the brush down and began gathering her hair up to make a loose ponytail for her, “It’s not as scary in the moment as it is with time to focus on it.” I told her, “Just remember that they’re just talking and you’re just listening and asking questions where you need to so you can send them where they need to go.” I reminded her as I finished securing her hair and stepped back to look at her in the mirror, smiling at her as she smiled back at me. God had to do a lot of extra work to make us happy, and nothing was more sweet than watching Her devolve from the strong, imposing woman She’d been during Mira’s performance review to a whiny, grumpy, little girl as our demands kept coming and He got bored and left Her. The main sticking point for Her, because of the extra effort She’d had to make, was to create a space for us that fell outside the jurisdiction of Earth and Heaven and Hell and D.E.A.T.H., a space where we remained ageless but also afforded us the mortal comforts we’d gone without for so long. In our own little world, we had a house that we all designed together. “I’m proud of you.” I said, putting my arms around Mira’s shoulders and hugging her tightly. She blushed softly, “Thank you.” she said as she smiled at me in the mirror and kissed my arm. As I let her go, she rose from the bench and smoothed out her skirt as she double checked her makeup, “How do I look?” she asked, turning to face me. I looked her up and down, “Like someone that’s going to do a great job.” I told her. She nodded decisively, “I am going to do a good job.” she agreed. We went back and forth about how things would work in the space, but we eventually came to an agreement once God agreed to Lucy’s one major caveat. “Girls!” Lucy called from downstairs, “Breakfast is almost ready!” she added. As we descended the stairs, the smell of pancakes filled our nostrils, and Lucy’s humming could be heard as we rounded the corner from the hallway to the kitchen. No longer the perpetual toddler, Lucy was a woman in her thirties, allowed to grow up as part of her deal with God. “Well, don’t you look nice today.” Lucy said warmly to Mira as we entered the kitchen. Mira went up to Lucy and hugged her around the waist, “Thank you, Mommy.” she said politely as she let go and took her seat at the table. I scurried over to her next and threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly and kissing her lips softly as I stood on my tiptoes to match her new height. “Why do you wear those high heels all the time?” I asked, pretending to pout as our kiss ended. She smiled at me lovingly, “Because Mommy’s need to be bigger than their little girls.” she said simply as she plated some pancakes and set them in front of Mira before picking me up and setting me on her hip to carry me over to my highchair, sitting me down and buckling me in before attaching the tray. “Can I wear high heels again soon, Mommy?” Mira asked as she drowned her pancakes in syrup. Lucy grabbed my bib from the table and quickly put it on around my neck before she got up to get my breakfast, “You haven’t even started your first day at work yet, sweetie.” she lovingly chided, “How many cases do you have to handle correctly to get back grownup privileges?” she asked as she spooned some oatmeal from the pot on the stove into a bowl and returned to her seat to the side of the highchair. Mira pouted as she shoveled a syrupy bite of pancake into her mouth, her chin slick with the sweet topping, “One privilege for every hundred cases.” she droned with a mouthful of food. Lucy nodded, “That’s right, and I’d think that you’d have some other things you’d want back first before something as silly as high heels.” she said as she stirred the oatmeal in the bowl she’d set on the tray of the highchair. Once Lucy had floated the idea of aging up and becoming my Mommy, Mira had, very quietly and very politely, asked if Lucy would be her Mommy as well, explaining that if she had someone to love her and look after her alongside me, she’d arguably learn to be a better sister and person as a whole. To everyone’s surprise, she laid out the limitations she’d be given until she proved herself a model employee, reducing most of her abilities when she was at home to the level of a young child, even going so far as to start herself somewhere in the early stages of potty training requiring training pants when she was awake and full on diapers overnight. Lucy spooned some oatmeal into my mouth, the brown sugar and cinnamon she’d sprinkled in making my toes wiggle happily as I rolled the glob around in my mouth before swallowing it. Mira nodded, “Can I play dress up with them sometime then?” she asked politely. Lucy chuckled and grabbed a napkin to hand to her, “If you do well today then you can play dress up in Mommy’s clothes after work.” she said with a smile as she watched Mira miss most of the syrup she’d been given the napkin to clean up. “Yay!” Mira exclaimed, “Thank you, Mommy!” she cheered as she speared another too large hunk of pancake and dirtied her face anew shoveling it in. Lucy turned back to me and rolled her eyes, “Mommy might need another highchair if your sister isn’t careful.” she whispered to me with a wink. “I’m not a baby!” Mira protested with her mouth still full. Lucy nodded, “No one said you were, sweetheart.” she said absently as she continued feeding me. I’d found a perfect balance for everything in our home, Lucy and I were in love and fulfilled each other’s romantic needs when the mood struck us, which was often in this honeymoon period of bliss, but I was also her baby when either of us wanted that, when it came to Mira, I found a fluidity between baby sister, peer, and older sister that neither of us had trouble adapting to when those roles changed. Once breakfast was done, Lucy cleaned Mira’s face and checked her clothes for syrup and crumbs before she removed the tray of my highchair and unbuckled me to lift me out and once more set me on her hip, “Potty for you and grownup clothes for you.” she said, pointing to Mira first and then tickling my tummy when she addressed me. Mira’s potty was in the nursery and I watched from my spot on my back on the changing table as Lucy lifted Mira’s skirt and had her hold it for her while she slid the training pants she wore down her legs and helped her down onto the little purple plastic seat, her knees up to her chest. Lucy inspected her trainers, “These are a little damp, but I think maybe we can still give you a smile sticker if you finish in the potty.” she explained as she stood and came over to me to change me out of my soaked overnight diaper and cleaned up so I could get dressed for work. Mira managed a small dribble of pee into the potty and was happy to be picked up by Lucy to place her smile sticker on her potty training chart once Lucy had wiped her and slid a fresh pull-up onto her. As they were leaving the nursery, I was coming out of the room Lucy and I shared, dressed for the day and smiling warmly at Mira. “Did you get a smile sticker, honey?” I asked her. She nodded and smiled proudly, “Uh huh!” she said, placing her hand in mine when I held mine out to her so we could head downstairs with Lucy close behind. “Alright, who’s going to be a responsible hard worker today?” Lucy asked Mira as she knelt in front of her. “Me!” Mira declared proudly. Lucy nodded and kissed her forehead before rising and taking a place in front of me, “And who’s going to look out for her sister and make sure she does well and learns from the best?” she asked me, her tone changing from one a mother has with her young child and more one a lover has for her partner when she’s still coming down from being a baby. “Me.” I said, letting her move in to kiss me, her love making my knees weak. She smiled hungrily at me and then lovingly at Mira, “Back here for lunch, and Ella is in charge until Mommy gets home from work tonight.” She said, waiting for us to nod our agreement before she stepped to her left and opened the door, “I love you both very much.” she said. Mira squeezed my hand tightly and I stroked the back of hers with my thumb, “Love you, Mommy.” she said sweetly. “You already know I love you, Mommy.” I said with a wink as I led Mira through the door and into her cubicle for her first day as a caseworker. To Be Continued...

Yeah, I'm not on speaking terms with milk either. Hopefully this chapter gave your brain a chance to reform and be less melty for whatever happens next! Glad you liked it!

This chapter was meant to strictly be a focus on Molly and Stephanie and provide some background on their relationship as it exists in this altered reality, next chapter will be a focus on someone else who may be with another of our characters. With all the upheaval these characters are going through in such a short amount of time, I thought maybe a break might be welcome to give everyone a breather and get to know these people a bit better before we press on in whatever way we end up going. I hope that clears things up for you, thanks for reading!

VII “Molly And Stephanie Are Super Duper Mega Gay For Each Other” Molly and Stephanie were born in the same hospital on the same day less than forty minutes from one another and just one room away. As it turned out, Stephanie’s parents were house hunting in the months leading up to the birth and were informed the day they got home from the hospital that they’d secured the house they’d put a bid on, the house next door to Molly’s parents. The coincidences struck the parents as endearing and they made a point to befriend one another and have their daughter’s together as often as possible as they grew up. When Molly took her first steps, Stephanie was still scooting on her butt, when Molly said her first words, Stephanie made a wet gurgling sound that may or may not have been intended to be a word, but came out as a burp instead, and when Molly graduated out of training pants, Stephanie was very happy for her friend and gave her a big hug that brought Molly to the realization that her best friend had a stinky diaper that she remedied by leading Stephanie by the hand to her mother to handle. All through their lives Stephanie was just a few steps behind Molly, but Molly never teased her or made her feel badly about it, she just hugged her friend and made her feel loved like a best friend should. The friendship became more sisterly as they matured, Molly being seen by Stephanie as the bigger of the two despite them being the same age, and Molly seeing Stephanie as the littler of the two in need of protecting from bullies and anything else that may make Stephanie upset. The roles of big and little cemented when they played house, Molly being the Mommy and Stephanie the baby without fail. Stephanie’s nighttime control being as poor as it was ensured that Molly had a supply of diapers at the ready to tape on over Stephanie’s pants, patting the girl’s crinkly bottom as she crawled around making goo’s and ga’s or settled into Molly’s embrace to drink from an offered baby bottle that neither questioned still sat in the kitchen cupboard despite them being school age. At school, Molly helped Stephanie with her classwork and fended off bullies that picked on the little blond girl for being fat and stupid and Stephanie felt safe when Molly was with her and let the hurtful names the mean kids called her evaporate from her mind when Molly wiped away her tears and hugged her when she hid in the bathroom stall. As the years went by, the hugs got closer and became kisses on the forehead, then the cheek, and by the time they were in high school Molly was kissing her lips and she was melting as Molly’s tongue teased her own. “Why do you like me?” Stephanie asked one day as they ate lunch together under the bleachers by the track on the far end of campus. Molly held her triangle of PB&J up to take a bite and stopped, “I don’t.” she said simply, biting into the sandwich. Stephanie’s heart dropped, “What? You don’t like me?” she asked, tears already welling up in her eyes as thoughts of the one person she’d trusted all her life revealing that everything had been a joke at her expense. Molly shook her head and swallowed her sandwich bite, “I don’t like you, I love you.” she said. Stephanie felt her breath catch in her throat. Molly scooted across the blanket they’d laid out on the ground and put her hand on Stephanie’s thigh, “I’m IN love with you.” she said sweetly, smiling at her best friend. Tears fell from Stephanie’s eyes, remnants of her earlier panic now elation, “I love you too!” she exclaimed, the sudden outburst making Molly jump as Stephanie threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly, “I mean, I’m IN love with you too!” she clarified. Molly hugged her back and then kissed her once they’d broken their embrace, and then Molly took the lead, as she always had in their lives, and kissed Stephanie as she guided the girl down onto her back, her free hand working at the button of Stephanie’s jeans, and a short time later and for the first time in their long relationship, Stephanie finished ahead of Molly. ********* “Penny for your thoughts, little one?” Molly asked her girlfriend. The shower they’d planned on taking once they’d finished a few rounds of full contact cuddling had ended up becoming a bath. Molly wasn’t surprised by the change, Stephanie regressed pretty hard in the milky afterglow of sex, oral fixations reaching new heights, bladder control taking a backseat, heck, Stephanie had once gone pre-verbal after Molly had tried a thing she’d read about online, the irony that Molly mouthing the letters of the alphabet while going down on Stephanie had brought her to her absolute littlest was something she still brought up from time to time just to see the red of Stephanie’s cheeks. Stephanie had crawled her way to the bathroom behind Molly, giggling as her breasts swayed gently with each forward movement and sat on a towel Molly had set out for her beside the tub, splayed legs and wiggling toes as she sucked her thumb and stared up adoringly at Molly. The tub filling made her wet the towel, but Molly had anticipated such an event, hence the towel being there in the first place, and once the bubbles were applied to the hot water, Molly helped the girl to her feet and guided her into the tub and down into the water to lay with her back against Molly’s chest, her longer and skinnier legs spread out on either side of her. The question came after some of the infantile fog had washed away from Stephanie’s mind, her thumb leaving her mouth as she sighed contentedly and rested her head beneath Molly’s chin. “Can we get married?” Stephanie asked, not directly answering the question Molly had asked. Molly rested her chin on the girl’s head for a moment, “Legally? Yes.” she teased before lifting her chin to kiss the top of Stephanie’s head, “Would you want to marry me?” she asked. Stephanie nodded softly, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” she said. Molly snaked her arms beneath the water to wrap around the girl, “I will do everything in my power to make sure you never even have to think about being without me.” she said, “What I asked,” she said softly, “was whether you wanted to be married to me.” she added. Stephanie nodded once more, “Being with you, not just in bed and stuff,” she clarified, sighing wistfully, “it’s like every moment is just better, y’know?” she asked. Molly smiled, “I think I do, but try and explain how it feels to you.” she urged, loving hearing her girlfriend articulate her feelings toward her. Stephanie was quiet for a moment, “I’ve never felt pretty or,” she paused, searching for a word that didn’t make her want to cry and failed when she said, “worthy of being loved.” she said, her voice quavering, “My parents love me because I’m their kid, but boys never looked at me as anything but the fat girl, and before you, I never really considered that I was gay.” she explained, “I always just assumed that boys were jerks and that’s why I never felt attracted to them and you were always sweet and protective of me and that’s why I wanted to be with you all the time.” she continued. Molly remained silent, allowing the swelling of her heart to overtake her. “You never laughed at me for being slower in school or for being a bedwetter or for being fat, you loved me for who I am and didn’t shy away from being seen with me even when I was totally embarrassing to be around.” Stephanie explained, her voice breaking once more. Molly hugged her tightly, “You have never been embarrassing to be around, honey.” she whispered. Stephanie scoffed, “Yeah?” she asked incredulously, “You weren’t embarrassed that you had to eat lunch in the bathroom stall with me because I couldn’t handle the name calling?” she asked, “You weren’t embarrassed that you had to take me to the nurse fairly regularly because I wet my pants?” she asked, “You weren’t-” Molly brought her hand up with her index finger extended to the girl’s lips and made a soft shushing sound, “Never means never.” she said once she was sure Stephanie accepted her request that she stop talking, “I don’t care if you do naked cartwheels in the mall and shit in the fountain, I will be right there to wipe your butt and help you escape mall security.” she said, smiling when Stephanie giggled her perfect, sweet little giggle, “People don’t love people only when it’s fun and convenient,” she explained, “well, they do, but not the true love people,” she clarified, “true love people clean up accidents and barf, they hold hands when their partner is nervous or scared, they find them exquisitely beautiful even when they’re not feeling that way about themselves.” she said. “You don’t feel like you do more for me than I do for you?” Stephanie asked softly. Molly shook her head, “You’re the biggest part of my life, honey.” she said, “We’ve been together since literally the moment we were born and the sheer fact that you exist gives me so much joy and pleasure that all I want to do is be with you and keep you happy and loved forever and ever.” she explained. “You’re my best friend, my sister, my girlfriend, my lover, and my baby, and I don’t honestly know what more you could do for me.” she added, tears of joy and love welling up in her eyes. Stephanie hugged Molly’s arms against her own stomach, “So, that’s a ‘maybe’ on marriage then?” she joked, making them both laugh as the weight of all the raw emotion that had built up lightened and allowed them to breathe comfortably once more. ********* With hours until anyone in her family came back home, Molly took her time with Stephanie after their bath, drying her off with a towel and letting Stephanie do the same for her before she took the girl’s hand, not as a caregiver but as a partner and walked beside her back to her room. “Do we hafta get dressed?” Stephanie asked with a pout. Molly bent down to be face to face with the girl where she sat on the edge of the bed and kissed the tip of her nose, “Well, that depends.” she mused, “Can two naked women go out on a romantic afternoon adventure in public?” she asked. Stephanie giggled, “According to me? Yes.” she said with a simple and decisive nod. Molly smiled at her, “I mean, according to you, ice cream can be for every meal and toilets don’t need to exist.” she teased. Stephanie folded her arms across her chest, “One,” she said with mock indignity, “ice cream is the actual best, and two, toilets are super gross in public places!” she astutely pointed out. Molly smiled at her as she pulled on her underwear and a bra from the drawer across the room, nodding as she dressed, “So, what I’m hearing is that little Stephanie needs her Mommy to plan and prepare all of her meals for her and needs to wear diapers 24/7 from now on, did I get that right?” she asked as she shimmied into her blue jeans and pulled a t-shirt on. Stephanie’s cheeks flushed, “I didn’t say th-” she started to argue. “No no, if that’s what my girl wants then that’s what my girl will get!” Molly said cheerfully, approaching the box on the floor beside the bed. Stephanie pouted, “You said we were going out for a romantic afternoon adventure!” she whined as Molly set a diaper and the powder onto the bed. Molly nodded, “That’s right.” she said, patting the center of the bed where she’d laid out a plastic changing pad for Stephanie to lay on rather than the sizable wet spot still prominently showing, “I hadn’t planned on being Mommy for it, but I can’t deny my baby what she wants!” she cooed, playfully tickling Stephanie’s exposed side. Stephanie giggled and squirmed away but obediently, albeit reluctantly, crawled to the mat and lay down as she was bidden. Molly quickly got the diaper on the pouting girl and then proceeded to get her dressed in the play clothes they’d bought from a store online some months back that she kept in the far corner of her closet in case anyone went looking in there for anything. Rising from the bed with Molly’s help, Stephanie looked at herself in the full length mirror behind her girlfriend. Her shirt was actually a onesie, a pale yellow colored long sleeve shirt with pastel pink, blue, and green hearts and cartoon kitten heads adorning it all over. Over the shirt was a pair of purple denim shortalls with snaps running along the crotch and the interior of the legs, the snaps cleverly hidden with matching colored cloth so the shortalls merely looked juvenile and not infantile. Molly was packing the diaper bag they’d also bought online, a seemingly normal backpack colored forest green with little cartoon foxes bounding all over, but inside was a pouch for snacks, round slots for bottles or sippy cups that could have an ice pack put in to keep them cold, a section that easily held anywhere from five to eight diapers depending on thickness, which they found Stephanie’s diapers filled the space with only four. The front had a pouch for a pacifier or two, the side had a pouch for crayons, and the other side held wipes and powder without any odd bulge, like the one Stephanie was staring at beneath her shortalls. “Everyone’s gonna know!” Stephanie whined. Molly stepped behind the girl and looked at her in the mirror, “And?” she asked. “And it’s embarrassing, Mommy!” she declared. Molly smiled and began brushing the girls hair to do it into pigtails for her, “I seem to recall a certain little girl having the time of her life in the ball pit of the fun zone not that long ago.” she mused. Stephanie recalled the event as well, dressed identically to the way she was now and giggling and flopping around in the ball pit while Molly watched her. “Well.” she said, following it up with nothing else. “I also remember that a certain little girl was having so much fun in that ball pit that she didn’t want to get out for pizza and her Mommy had to count and made it all the way to two and three quarters before the little girl finally scampered out.” she said as she secured one bunch of hair with a pale pink fuzzy rubber band. Stephanie blushed but just chewed her bottom lip as she waited for the impending next part of the story. “As it turned out,” Molly said as she began working on the other bunch of hair, “the little girl was having so much fun that she didn’t even notice she’d made a stinky present for her Mommy in her diaper.” she explained. Stephanie looked down at the floor and then lifted her head when Molly came around in front of her and cupped her chin with her hand to lift her gaze to her own. “And that Mommy, let that little girl eat her pizza and then wiped her face and took her to the bathroom, and then do you know what happened?” she asked. Stephanie nodded softly, “She changed the little girl’s diaper and let her go back to the ball pit.” she said, smiling at the woman she loved. Molly nodded, “I don’t care what you wear or how big a mess you make as long as you’re happy.” she said, “And do as Mommy tells you.” she added with a gentle pat on the girl’s poofy bottom. Stephanie kissed her Mommy softly on the lips, “I love you, Mommy.” she said sweetly, her voice falling into it’s little cadence and pitch effortlessly. Molly kissed her back, “And Mommy loves you, baby.” she said, taking the girl’s hand as she grabbed the diaper bag and slung it over her shoulder with her little one trailing behind her. ********* The restaurant was packed when they arrived, making Stephanie cling to Molly, squeezing her hand tightly as her anxiety brought a trickle of wetness into her diaper. They’d established a safe word in case things got to be too much for either one of them, “Phoenix” was all Stephanie had to say to get them out of the crowded restaurant and back to the car, but she’d never said the word in all the outings they’d gone on, all the scenes they’d done in public or semi public spaces, and Molly was genuinely proud of her girl for braving things she knew made her nervous. “Don’t forget to breathe, honey.” Molly whispered to the girl as the woman in charge of the small podium with table availability mapped out came back from seating the group ahead of them. The woman smiled warmly at them, giving no hint that Stephanie’s attire or the fact that she looked like she was seconds away from bolting registered in the slightest to her, “Good afternoon, ladies, how many in your group?” she asked politely. “Just two.” Molly said with an equal measure of politeness and a smile. The woman looked at the diagram on her podium, “Is a table okay, or would you prefer to wait for a booth?” she asked. “How long of a wait for a booth do you think?” Molly asked, noting the gentle squeeze to her hand from Stephanie. The woman started looking more intently at the diagram to answer the question. “It’s fine, a table will be fine.” Molly said, feeling the pressure on her hand lessen. The woman nodded and grabbed two menus from the box on the side of her podium, “If you’ll follow me.” she said, leading the way. Stephanie kept her eyes focused on Molly’s back, not wanting to accidentally meet any of the other diner’s gaze, sure that all eyes were on her as she tried her best not to walk like she had a thick diaper on, hoping that the din of the restaurant would drown out the rustling she believed was deafeningly loud coming from beneath her shortalls. When they reached the table, Molly pulled a chair out for her and she helped her push it back in once she’d sat, avoiding the smiling face of the woman they’d followed as she watched Molly take her seat across from her. The woman set the menus down in front of them and said a quick wishes for them to enjoy their meal and headed back to her podium. “You alright, kiddo?” Molly asked, reaching her hand out across the table. Stephanie nodded softly, “Yes, Mommy.” she said quietly as she put her hand in Molly’s and felt calmer once Molly’s thumb began to gently stroke the top of her hand. “I’m very proud of you for being such a big, strong girl.” Molly told her, leaning forward to kiss her hand as she lifted it. Stephanie blushed, public displays of affection were another thing that got her going, strangers that happened to look their way knowing that she belonged to a girl like Molly and that she loved her was intoxicating to her, “I wet a little when we got here.” she said, as though that was some sort of contradiction to how Molly had assessed her. Molly shrugged, “When are you not wetting a little?” she asked, smiling at her girlfriend as she let go of her hand so they could look at their menus. Stephanie let the remainder of her bladder empty as she looked at the menu, the warmth and relief bringing her down from her teetering tower of anxiety as she tried to decide what she wanted to eat. “Good afternoon, ladies, I’m Clark and I’ll be taking care of you today.” a man that looked like waiting tables was his side hustle from teaching math to unruly Summer school students in the inner city, “Can I get you anything to drink?” he asked, pushing up his round framed glasses as he held up his order pad. “I’ll have a diet coke, and she’ll have a milk if you’ve got it.” Molly said confidently without looking at Stephanie or Clark as she perused her menu. Stephanie loved Molly’s confidence, was jealous of it more often than she’d like to admit. Where Molly had decided on what they’d be drinking and gave the order without missing a beat or losing focus on what she was going to order for food, probably for both of them, Stephanie had hurriedly cast her gaze down at her menu when Clark had approached the table and chewed the inside of lip and would continue to do so until he left. “We have whole, soy, almond-” Clark began to rattle off the types of milk available. “Two percent will be fine.” Molly said, cutting him off. Stephanie’s tummy grumbled in protest, her history with dairy was well documented within their relationship, and she knew that Molly’s ordering of actual milk and not a dairy alternative meant Molly had plans for her, and her diaper, but Stephanie merely focused on her menu and chewed her lip until Clark departed. “See anything you like, sweetie?” Molly asked her. Looking up from her menu and then back down when she saw Molly was still reading, Stephanie nodded, “The club sandwich sounds good.” she said. “Not the chicky strips?” Molly asked coyly. Stephanie flushed, the childish name they regularly used for ‘chicken’ was spoken a little loud for her comfort, but she knew no one had heard, she started to respond when Clark returned with their drinks and she once again hid behind her menu. “Have we decided yet?” Clark asked. Molly set her menu down and smiled up at him, “She will have the club sandwich, no lettuce please.” Molly told him, winking at Stephanie when the girl looked up from her menu at her. “Can we substitute fries for fruit of some kind?” she asked. Clark nodded, “We have seasonal berries and melons, will that work?” he asked Molly, not looking at Stephanie at all. Molly nodded, “If you have cantaloupe and honeydew, that would be perfect.” she said. He nodded and jotted the order down, “And for you?” he asked. “I’ll have the chicken strips and fries, please.” Molly told him, reaching over to take Stephanie’s menu and placing it with her own that she held up for Clark to take. “Alright, I’ll put this in for you, ladies.” he said politely as he took the menus and departed. Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief and went to grab her glass of milk. “Two hands, please, honey.” Molly commented, smiling warmly at her girlfriend as she silently brought her other hand to the glass. Both knew the game by now, both knew the rules and planned to play their parts accordingly, Stephanie knew that Molly would give her little commands here and there or control things in small ways to tease Stephanie’s feelings of littleness while demonstrating her control over this aspect of their relationship while Molly knew that Stephanie would feel increasingly little and submissive as the day went on culminating in something they’d both find great joy in once the game ended. “Chicken strips, huh?” Stephanie asked as she set her glass down. Molly nodded, the other part of the game was Stephanie testing her, trying to find subtle ways to turn the tides of control in her favor only to inevitably be shut down and put in her place, something they both knew Stephanie loved to experience, “I figured it was best to have a backup for you in case you didn’t like your sandwich.” she said simply, unwrapping her straw and dropping it into her soda glass. Stephanie smiled, “Are you sure you’re not just curious how the other half lives?” she asked, the ridiculousness of the idea almost making her not say it, feeling that she was reaching to try and find a way to play her game. Molly scoffed softly, “You got me.” she said, folding her hands on the tabletop and looking across at her girlfriend with quiet adoration, “I’m secretly a big baby like you.” she said, sighing with mock relief, “God, you have no idea how hard it’s been keeping that bottled up inside all this time.” she said. Stephanie felt a giggle rising up in her throat but kept it down, “The diaper bag’s right out in the car if you want to make a quick change to your outfit.” she said in a quiet voice as she leaned in and reached out to pat Molly’s hand. Molly closed her eyes for a moment and nodded softly, “I should, shouldn’t I?” she asked. “I mean, you don’t mind playing Mommy for a bit while I explore this other side of myself, right?” she asked. Stephanie knew what Molly was doing and loved it. Molly had set the conversation up, with Stephanie’s help, of course, so that Stephanie would have to protest the proposed role reversal, which made Stephanie furrow her brow as she hid her giddiness, “I don’t think that’s really-” she started to limply protest. Molly pretended to looked stunned, “Don’t you think I’d make a cute baby?” she asked, her face looking hurt. Stephanie felt the stirrings within her diaper, “It’s not that.” she said timidly. Molly put on her best look of confusion, “Then what is it?” she asked innocently, playing clueless better than anyone Stephanie had ever seen. Stephanie looked down at the table, “I’m the baby.” she said softly, admitting the “truth” they were both exceedingly well acquainted with by that point. Molly stayed silent, sitting back for the best part as she sucked more of her soda through her straw. “I’m the only one that wears diapers because I’m too little to be trusted with panties.” Stephanie confessed, “I’m the only one that gets a Mommy because I’m too silly to know how to do things for myself.” she continued, her fingers uselessly pressing against the bulge in the crotch of her shortalls to try and satisfy the tingle there, “I’m too big of a baby to be in charge of anything more than filling my diaper and listening to Mommy.” she added as the previously unseen Clark set the plate with her sandwich down in front of her. Clark, to his credit, ignored the comment he absolutely heard, and echoed the wishes of the woman before that they enjoy their meals before disappearing to his other tables. Molly smiled at her blushing girl, “Tuck your napkin into your collar for Mommy, baby.” she lovingly urged as she unfolded her own napkin to set in her lap. Stephanie’s cheeks burned as she complied, the butterflies in her stomach going nuts as the hum between her thighs grew more intense, “Yes, Mommy.” she said softly as she tucked her napkin bib into the collar of her shirt and smiled to herself at the results of that portion of the game. ********* Back in the car, Molly looked in the rearview mirror at Stephanie, the girl opting to be in the backseat after everything she’d endured at the restaurant left her feeling little and horny, the back allowing her to suck her pacifier behind the tinted windows without concern anyone would see her, “Did you have a good lunch, baby?” she asked the girl. Stephanie nodded, “Yes Mommy.” she said, “My sammich was nummy.” she added, rubbing her full tummy softly. Molly smiled at her, “Mommy’s proud of you for eating all your sandwich and your fruit and drinking two milks!” she praised. The mention of the milk brought another grumble from her stomach. “Are you sleepy?” Molly asked, “Should we get you home for a nap?” she added. Stephanie shook her head, naps came and went, but the game they played when they went out was special and needed to be cherished, “I’m fine, Mommy.” she replied, leaning to the side to break wind, her diaper muffling the sound greatly. Molly did some quick math in her head and gauged that she had about fifteen to twenty minutes more before Stephanie was on the verge of messing her diaper, which meant that if everything went according to plan, her little girl had an experience she’d remember for the rest of her life in store as long as nothing put them behind schedule. To Be Continued...

But I color coded everyone's names! I appreciate you hanging in there, sorry about melting your brain.