Seesaw Twins (Chapter 2 - 040618)

[randomdudesg]

A/N: This will be a 3-part short series. I'm a little out of practice, so I hope it turns out alright. This story idea was taken from HighVoltage in the "Idea Adoption Thread" https://www.dailydiapers.com/board/index.php?/topic/57308-idea-adoption-thread/

 

CHAPTER 1 – MORNING (0730 – 0935)

 

Parenting a child is manageable.
Parenting two children is difficult.
Parenting two children born at the same time... can be overwhelming at times.
Solo-parenting twins is practically impossible.
Solo-parenting twins who are almost exact opposites of each other...

… God help me.

 

They looked adorable asleep, curled up together on the same bed.. Jacen's head was resting next to Jaina's belly, while Jaina's right up lay over Jacen's head. The peaceful rhythm of their breathing was the only sound that filled the room as they ran and played in slumberland.

Gazing at them in the dim light from the hallway, my heart – once again – swelled with love. I promised myself that today, today, I would be more patient. I would be more understanding. I would be more happy, and loving,and kind, and remember that they were barely 6 years old, and that they were all that I had left of my dearest Rachel.

I stood in the doorway, letting myself enjoy the peaceful sight for a few minutes. Mentally, part of me reviewed my preparations. Wash-cloth, check. Breakfasts, check. Clean clothes, check. Itinerary for the day...

10 am., church
Noon, church BBQ
3 pm, home, kids to nap, get laundry started, plan for next week.
6 pm, dinner with Dad, Mum, Pa, and Ma, Dad's place.
10 pm, home and bed.

I was ready.

I opened the room door fully and turned the light on.

 

“GOOD MORNING my sleepyheads! Arise and shine! Time for breakfast!” I clapped my hands twice as I walked into the room.

As usual, Jacen woke up almost immediately, stretching and yawning, rubbing his eyes. He rolled over, sat up, and blinked at me as he shook the last vestiges of sleep out of his eyes. I walked over to him and picked him up as he stretched out his arms.

“Good morning daddy” he said into my ear as he rested his head on my shoulder with his arms around my neck. His diaper felt wet, although perhaps a little less wet than usual.

“Good morning, my strong Padawan. What did you dream of last night?” I murmured as I patted his back and gave him a gentle squeeze. He may be growing up quickly, but he still needed his morning hug from daddy.

He stayed like that for about thirty seconds before he begin to squirm. “I need to pee,” he whispered into my ear.

“Alright, let me get your diaper off first!” I quickly put him down and pulled down his pyjama pants. Untaping the diaper, I rolled it up into a ball as Jacen stepped out of his pants and ran into the washroom. In a few seconds, I heard a faint tinkle as he used the restroom. I knew that he would spend some time there to wash up, and so I turned to my daughter.

 

Jaina hadn't stirred at all from when I was watching her, staying deeply asleep through the light and the noise. I shook my head as I shook her gently. Unlike her brother, Jaina was not a morning person.

“Wakey wakey, Jaina,” I murmured as she finally began to stir. As usual, I noticed a slight additional pungency to the air as her diaper began to expand again. Jaina mumbled some protests as I continued to shake her, until she finally opened her eyes with a bleary frown, glaring at me slightly.

“Don't give me that look, darling,” I gently chided her as I got my hands beneath her shoulders and picked her up, carrying her like how I had carried her brother a moment before. She buried her face into my shoulder, trying to go back to sleep in denial that the day had already started. As usual, I let her.

Honestly, I empathised with Jaina. When I was in college, my day started at 12 noon and ended at 4 a.m on average. I could never take morning classes unless I hooked myself up to a drip bag of caffeine throughout the class. Rachel, on the other hand, was usually up at 6 a.m and had run a few miles, showered, did her hair, had a great breakfast, caught up with social media, and was in class punctually every day. We somehow made our relationship work, but I was still the owl and she the lark, even during the few years of our marriage.

Still, when you become a parent...

I continued to carry Jaina as she dozed on my shoulder, listening as her brother gargled noisily in the washroom. I felt her diaper cooling and a little wetness seep out onto her pyjamas as her diaper failed to totally hold in her morning flood.

 

I eventually heard the patter of Jacen's feet and he ran into the room soon after, face washed, teeth brushed, hair flattened and wet. He stopped in front of me and held out his hands for inspection.

Still carrying his sister, I crouched down and examined Jacen's hands, teeth, and face, adopting a slightly exaggerated serious expression as I did so. Jacen giggled as I passed a critical eye over his hands and face.

“Alright, soldier, everything looks good, but I've got my eye on you!” I drawled as I finished the inspection.

Jacen laughed. “Yes sir!” he exclaimed, giving a rather accurate salute.

“Soldier! Why is your butt showing? Go put on some pants!”

He laughed again “Yes sir!” he ran to his drawer, pulled out a pair of clean undies and shorts, and got into them.

“Sir, my pants are on sir!” He couldn't help giggling as he ran to me and saluted again. I laughed with him.

“Alright soldier, you better keep those pants dry!”

“Yes Sir!”

“Now go have your breakfast!” I dropped the drill sergeant voice “I made French toast today! Make sure you finish everything on your plate – especially the fruit – and wash your hands before you eat! I'm going to get Jaina ready”.

“OK! Awesome! French Toast!” He cheered as he ran out of the door

“AND NO RUNNING DOWN THE STAIRS!” I shouted after him, before turning my attention to Jaina – who somehow, had amazingly fallen into a deeper doze despite all the hullabaloo.

 

“Jaina! Wake up!” I jiggled her a little as I carried her to the washroom. She grumbled and buried her face in my shoulder again.

I sighed and put her down on the closed toilet seat in the bathroom, gently untangling her hands from my neck and pushing her to sit upright. With one hand, I took the pre-prepared washcloth and began to wipe her face.

“Jaina, wakey, good morning...” I continued in a singsong voice as she tried to avoid the cold washcloth.

“Mmmph” she whined, before finally opening her eyes and glaring at me with a hurt look. I smiled at her and carefully wiped the corners of her eyes.

“Good MORNING, sleepyhead,” I smiled

“Good morning daddy,” she finally replied, a little sulkily.

“Don't be like that,” I chided her as I pulled her pyjama top and bottom off, leaving her in just her wet diaper. “OK, now can you go and brush your teeth and wash your face?”

She grumblingly stood and squished – yes, squished, given how wet that diaper was – over to stand on a little stool in front of the sink. She grabbed her toothbrush and ran it under the tap.

“Toothpaste,” I reminded her.

She squeezed a dollop of paste onto her brush, before sticking it in her mouth and scrubbing.

“Remember to count the circles! Once you're done – and don't take shortcuts, i'll know – wash your face, comb, your hair, then come to me in your room!”

I heard her mumbled assent around a mouthful of foam as I left the washroom.

 

“Jacen! How's the toast?” I shouted down the stairs.

“Its delicious! Can I have two – no, three pieces daddy?”

“You can have as many as you like!” I shouted back down. “But make sure you finish ALL your fruit and yogurt before you start your third piece!”

“OK!”

“After you're done, wash your hands and face, and come back upstairs!”

“OK!”

“And finish your juice too!”

“OK!”

 

I popped across the hallway into my own room for awhile to check the messages on my phone. I quickly replied to a few, especially to confirm my attendance for the barbecue and that I was bringing a platter of French toast, before I heard Jaina leaving her washroom.

“Alright, lets get you changed.” I walked into her room behind her.

“Daddy, wait!" She exclaimed. "I need to poop!” she continued, and immediately squatted down.

I rolled my eyes. “Jaina, can you please poop in the toilet?” I asked her resignedly.

“No!” she responded quickly and fearfully “I want to poop in my pampers!”

From below, I heard Jacen call “Daddy I'm going poopy!”, feet running, and a door slam.

I guess that's twin synchronisation for you.

“Alright, call me when you're done!” I shouted back. I turned back to Jaina, who was still squatting. “Jaina, you CAN poop in the toilet! Its safe, I'll go with you! C'mon!”

“No daddy, I don't want to,” she began to cry. “I want to poop in my diaper!”

“But Jaina...” Just then, I heard her give a huge grunt and the point became moot. She continued to cry as she filled her diaper and after awhile, her poop smell began to fill the room. She finished off and stood up, still crying.

“Alright, I might as well rinse you off in the shower then” I told her. Red-faced and still crying, she approached me and hugged me, assaulting my nose with her diaper's smell.

Only a parent...

I hugged her and rubbed her back, carefully picking her up to avoid pushing on her diaper seat, and carried her to the washroom.

“Daddy, I'm done!” Jacen's voice came from downstairs.

“Coming!” I put Jaina down in the washroom. “Jaina, look at me. I'm going to help Jacen first, so you stay here and wait for me to come back. No buts!” I preempted her protest. “If you want to poop in your diaper, you can wait for me to come back to change your diaper.”

“Daddy...” she began to cry again as I turned around and walked down the stairs to help Jacen. I heard her footsteps behind me and turned to see her following me, rubbing her eyes, about to go into a fully-fledged meltdown.

More patience... more love... she's not a morning person... poop in a diaper is icky... she feels guilty and bad...

I sighed as I relented. “Alright... come here.” I picked her up again and this time, she wrapped her legs around me as I picked her up, forcing me to support her weight with a hand against her butt, inevitably pushing the mess around.

That's going to be a real delight to clean up...

 

I carried Jaina downstairs, wrinkling my nose at both her stink and at another stink which grew stronger the closer I got to the kitchen washroom. I put her down and turned to Jacen, who was standing next to the poop in the toilet cistern and staring at Jaina curiously.

“Alright, wipe your bum, stinky boy!” I put on my drill sergeant voice and both kids burst out laughing – even Jaina, although it was only for a flash. I checked Jacen as he wiped his butt to make sure he cleaned himself properly – great, another skill mastered! - and proudly flushed the toilet thereafter.

“Good job, soldier-clean-bum! Now go wash your hands and get back to breakfast!”

“Yes sir!” As Jacen industriously scrubbed his hands, I walked out of the washroom back upstairs with Jaina in tow.

“So when's it going to be your turn to use the potty, Jaina?” I asked her on the way up. She frowned and pouted without answering.

Sigh...

 

I carried Jaina into the bathtub in the washroom and, holding my breath, pulled the diaper off her. I pushed her poop into the commode and balled up the diaper before stuffing it into the covered trash can. I then carefully put Jaina on the toilet seat and turned on the bidet, holding her in place as the water washed the worst of the poop into the cistern. Jaina whimpered and grabbed hold of my hands tightly as she felt the water washing her bum.

She'll get used to it, I reminded myself for perhaps the thousandth time. Eventually.

I hope.

Once she had achieved a reasonable level of cleanliness, I lifted her into the bathtub and flushed the cistern, before using the shower head and soap to clean off the rest of the poop. I handed her a towel as she clambered out of the bathtub.

“Alright, dry yourself and lets get you changed, alright?” She nodded agreeably and wiped herself dry as I walked back to her room

“Jaina, hang up the towel when you're done!” I reminded her.

“OK daddy!”

 

When she returned to her room, I took her new diaper and held it out for her to step into.

“Well, Jaina, its good that you pooped in your night diaper and not this one,” I commented as I pulled the diaper up onto her. The night diaper, which used tapes, was a lot better at holding in messy accidents than a pull-up style diaper.

Jaina blushed a little. “Daddy, why must I wear diapers,” she asked plaintively.

“Jaina, you know why,” I replied gently. “You can wear underwear when you learn to use the potty for your pee, OK?”

“But I try, daddy, but I can't,” she replied sadly “I don't know I pee until I'm wet”.

“Its alright, darling,” I reached out and put a hand under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet mine. “I know you're trying, and if you keep trying, you'll definitely get it one day. Until then, the diapers will keep your clothing clean and dry so you can play with your friends.”

“If I'm dry today, can I use underwear tomorrow?” she asked.

“If you're dry for one week, then you can use underwear,” I replied.

“I'll try.”. She sighed. It was a conversation we had every day when I diapered her. Every day, she would complain about her diapers, but would then be wet within a few hours.

I pulled a t-shirt over her head but left her bottoms off. “OK, go get your breakfast, then come back and find me, alright?

“OK, I love you daddy,” she walked out of the door just as her brother came running up the stairs.

 

“Daddy, I'm done! Can I watch TV?”

“Let's get you dressed first, shall we? It's... oh my goodness, its 8.30, we better get things sped up!” I grabbed his pull-up and held it open for him. “C'mon, lets get you into your church gear!”

“All right, Iron Man!” He enthusiastically named the superhero on his pullup as he pulled off his underwear and shorts. He stepped into the pull up and then sat down and begin to pull on the pair of jeans I laid out for him thereafter.

“OK, remember to use the bathroom when the teacher gives you a break, OK? Even if you don't feel like you need to go,” I reminded him. While Jacen was usually able to stay dry, he would sometimes get too caught up in a game or show and forget to go, ending up wetting himself. The pull-up was there in case that happened, particularly in view of the barbecue later. The pull-up was some special “cool-n-learn” type which rapidly alerted him to an accident, and it seemed to be working well as he was only wetting himself about twice a week now.

“Do you want to wear your Iron man shirt and socks as well?” I asked him.

“Yeah!” he exclaimed excitedly. I chucked as I tossed the shirt over his head, eliciting a laughing “hey!” of protest. I put the socks next to his feet.

“Alright, once you're dressed go pack your bag with the usual things. Make sure you still have 2 extra pull-ups in there! After that, you can bring your bag with you and watch TV until we have to leave!”

“Yeah!!” he cheered. “Can I bring my Iron man toys too?”

“you can bring the mask but NOT the glove-gun! Remember if you lose it, you're aren't getting a replacement!"

“Thanks daddy!” he called after me as I left for my own room, to get myself ready for church.

 

In my room, I closed the door and flopped onto my bed.

What a morning!

After a few minutes, I tiredly mustered enough willpower to sit up, drag myself over to my closet, and change into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I chose a checked shirt to wear over the t-shirt, and walked into my bathroom. I stood before my mirror and made sure I looked alright, and my gaze fell upon Rachel's photograph.

Oh Rachel... I touched my fingers to my mouth and touched my wife's photograph tenderly with them. I could really have used your help today. The kids are great but man...

5 years had dulled the pain into an ache, which now flared up. Rachel had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer while she was pregnant with the twins. Risking her life, she refused to commence treatment until the twins had been born – but the treatment had not worked, and she passed away less than a year later.

I still miss you. I still love you. I silently told her.

I stood still for some time, until I heard a soft knock on my door and it opened slowly.

“Daddy?” Jaina walked in slowly. I realised then that I had some tears in my eyes and quickly splashed water on my face.

“Yes -” I cleared my throat “yes, Jaina?”

“I've finished breakfast. Are you OK?”

“I'm OK, darling.”

She clearly wasn't fooled, and walked over to me. I knelt down and she grabbed me and hugged me tightly.

“I love you daddy. You're the best daddy in the whole world and I love you SO much.”

Precious Jaina. She was always so sensitive to others' feelings, despite her young age. I hugged her back tightly.

“I love you, Jaina. You're my precious angel, the most precious girl in the whole world.” I whispered into her ear.

We hugged for a few moments more before mutually withdrawing. I looked at her and noticed a speck of egg still on her cheek.

“Alright, go wash your face properly and let's get you dressed for church alright?”

Jaina chose to wear her blue Queen Elsa dress, and I helped her braid her hair to match. I made sure she wore a pair of bloomers to help hide her diaper, before giving her the same instructions I gave Jacen.

Finally, finally, I was able to go into the kitchen, pack up the remaining squares of toast and grab a glass of OJ.

 

“Jacen! Jaina! Turn off the TV Now! Jacen, go make your bed! Jaina, come here and clean the table!” I shouted as I loaded the dishwasher.

“Yes, daddy!” came the response, accompanied by the sound of the TV turning off and the 2 of them running to do their chores.

“Once you're done, get your bags and wear your shoes! We're leaving in 15 minutes!”

“OK!”

15 minutes later, we were at the door when Jacen exclaimed “Wait! I need to pee!” and ran back into the house. I rolled my eyes.

“Jaina? How about you?”

“I'm OK,” she informed me, but with a little guilty note in her voice.

“Really?” I knelt down and poked her diaper – and felt gels move under my finger.

“Jaina...” I shook my head and checked how much she had wet as she looked down embarrassedly. “It's alright, you're just a little wet. I can probably change you after church, but do be aware of yourself and if you need a change before that, ask your teacher for help, alright? Remember you're wearing a pants diaper, so it may leak if you don't!”

“Alright daddy” she sheepishly answered.

“Did you know you were wet?” I asked her.

“...no...” her reply was hesitant.

“OK, pay more attention, alright?” I patted her head as Jacen came rushing out from the toilet. “Jacen, you made it?”

“Yes, only a little bit went in my pull-up!” he said proudly.

“Fine job, soldier!” I grinned back. “Alright, into the car, let's get going, we're late!”

 

The children piled into their car seats and I strapped them in, before getting into the car, starting the engine, and pulling out of the driveway.

“Oh well, we should be able to make it in time – I hope,” I muttered as I glanced at the clock, which read 9.34 am.

Oh well. At least people understand that solo parenting twins isn't easy.

[CDfm]

This was good. In certain respects it reminded me of my life. I was a single parent as well and know how difficult that can be. My wife didn’t die but I was given custody following a divorce so I raised my 4 kids. I will be looking forward to reading more. 

[Guilend]

It reminds me of my year or so i was a single patent, i also won the custody of them, from my wife, some fays were a lot like that lol, though i had two boys, 3 years apart. As much of a hassle it was, i enjoyed every minute of it, i had too or it might have drove me mad lol

[randomdudesg]

On 5/28/2018 at 9:57 AM, CDfm said:

This was good. In certain respects it reminded me of my life. I was a single parent as well and know how difficult that can be. My wife didn’t die but I was given custody following a divorce so I raised my 4 kids. I will be looking forward to reading more. 

Glad to hear you got custody but WOW! 4 kids? Greatest respect to you!

[randomdudesg]

CHAPTER 2 – AFTERNOON (0955 – 1500)

 

We pulled into the church's car park around 20 minutes later. I quickly unloaded them and their things, and pushed them into their Sunday school class (which was in a separate room from the main service) just before 10 am.

 

“Bye, daddy!” The moment we got to the room, Jacen released my hand and dashed inside, stopping only to high-five a few teachers standing around and for a temperature check. Jaina, on the other had, clung to my leg and didn't want to let go.

“Morning, Luke! How're you doing?” The administrative staff greeted me cheerfully as I approached her desk.

“Morning, Sharon! Same old, same old” I responded as I handed over the children's registration cards, which she scanned and returned to me. “Is Julian around today?”

“Yes, I saw him earlier.” Sharon glanced through the glass window of the room “He must have stepped out for a moment, should be back anytime soon.”

“Great, I'll bring Jaina in first then.”

“Sure, go ahead!” Sharon smiled at the next person and greeted her as I took Jaina's hand and brought her into the room.

 

Jaina stuck close to my side as we entered the room and she started looking around.

“Where's teacher Julian?” she asked me fearfully.

“He's coming shortly, go in and wait for him, alright? First, go put your bag on the shelf, next to Jacen's, please” I pointed out Jacen's bag to her. However, she shook her head and burrowed closer to me, and when I looked down, I saw her burying her eyes into the side of my leg.

I sighed and crouched down, gently pushing her away so I could look into her tearful face “Come on, Jaina, you come here every week, so why so scared? See, why don't you go and join your friends over there at the games corner?”

“I don't want to...” Jaina shook her head as more tears leaked from her eyes.

“Come on...” I sighed and brought Jaina to a side of the corridor, out of the way of the main flow of traffic. Jaina snuggled close to me and grabbed my shirt, refusing to look at the people passing by.

“Jaina, you're a big and brave girl, right? You are strong,” I tried to encourage and reason with her for a few minutes, to no avail, until a familiar voice broke in.

“Hello, Jaina!” a college-aged young man crouched down in front of me and Jaina, smiling cheerfully. “Hi, Luke!”

“Julian, thank God you're here,” I said in relief. Jaina, on seeing Julian, finally let go of my shirt and reached out her hands to him. Julian hugged her and picked her up as we stood up together.

I had noticed that since young, Jaina did not warm up easily to female caregivers or teachers. However, she did not display the same guardedness with male teachers and would frequently seek them out for security and reassurrance. In the Sunday School class, she was especially attached to Julian and would only go inside easily when Julian brought her in. She would then stay close to Julian until she grew comfortable enough to interact with the other children in the class. If she was having a bad day, she would stay close to Julian and refuse to interact with anyone else until the whole program was over. I had a feeling that this would be a bad day for her.

“So sorry, I was supervising a boy's toilet train and just got back. How's she and her brother doing?” he asked.

“Same as usual, nothing's changed. I haven't heard anything unusual during the week – though she had a meltdown today morning, so she may be a little quieter or crankier than usual”

“Alright, she'll be fine,” he responded confidently. “They're still easily distracted at this age – she'll forget about it soon enough!”

“I sure hope so!” I agreed. “Alright, I should go. She's in diapers today, so don't worry about her making it to the bathroom. She's not been doing well with the toilet training and we're taking a break before trying again.”

“Sure, I'll call you if I need you!” he gave me a thumbs-up and turned to bring Jaina into the room. I looked in through the window and saw Jacen running around with another two kids, apparently engaged in some kind of imaginary game. He saw me and paused long enough to wave at me before returning to his game. Smiling, I headed to the foyer to get some coffee.

“One original glazed, please!” I paid for and took the doughnut and coffee from the coffee lady, and joined my friends at a bench nearby.

“...so then I got it – she was trying to say that she still wanted us to join her for the move, but she didn't want to come out and say it, and wanted me to volunteer without her asking! Like, why didn't she just come out and say it? What am I supposed to do, read her mind?”

I sat down as one of my friends, Ernest, was relating the details of a fight he had had with his wife that morning.“So after that, she locked herself into the bedroom for about an hour. I couldn't even get my clothes until I told her that if she didn't unlock the door, I would get the keys and unlock it myself. And then she locked herself in the bathroom, and didn't leave it even when I told her I was headed here. I don't know if she's still in there now.”

He sighed and took a long drink of his coffee.

“Women! You can't live without them and you can't live with them,” one of the others, Bradley, commiserated.

“Absolutely! So anyway, we're not going to be at the barbecue later – I gotta sort this out. The kids will be sad though, they were looking forward to it.”

“Actually, if you want to, you can leave them with me and I can send them back to your place afterwards,” I offered. “Joshua and Jacen get along, and Isabel can help me look after Jaina,”

“Would you? That would be awesome,” Ernest said in relief. “It's probably better if they aren't around while we sort things out. Today morning was disturbing enough for them.”

“Sure, brother – no worries. I have dinner at my folks' place tonight – its supposed to start at 6 but I can push it back to 6.30, so I can take them until 5.30 latest. Tell you what, I'll call you after the barbecue and see if its safe to return them then. If not, I'll drop them off on the way to my folks. How about that?”

“Absolutely, thanks so much! I'll buy you a drink next time”

“Two kids, two drinks – more if they're trouble!” I shot back with a smile.

“Deal!” we bumped fists. “Speaking of which, how're your kids doing?”

“Eh, alright, I guess. As well as can be expected. They're great kids in general.”

“I don't know how you manage working a full time job and raising those two at the same time,” another guy spoke up.

I shrugged. “You just do what you gotta do, take it one day at a time, and keep praying that you don't screw up too badly I guess!”

Just then, a chime sounded and people began moving into the sanctuary in preparation for the service beginning. We got up (and I stuffed the last arc of the doughnut into my mouth) and filed into the service with the rest of the crowd.

 

An hour and a half later, the service had ended and I was waiting to scan my kids' cards so I could collect them. Looking in through the window, I saw Jacen and Jaina playing a game which looked like the eagle-hen-chick game. One of the children was the “hen”, and a line of kids stood behind her, each grabbing the shoulders of the person in front of them. The “eagle” tried to get around the
“hen”, who quickly moved around to block, causing the line of “chicks” behind her to scream, bend, and eventually some kids to break off and tumble to the floor, laughing.

Unsurprisingly, Jacen was the “eagle”. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jaina was one of the “chicks”, happily laughing as she got up again. However, I noticed as she was rolling around that she was no longer wearing her bloomers, exposing her diaper, which was also clearly soaked and in need of a change.

After scanning the cards, I went into the room and called “Jacen! Jaina! Lets go” They both looked up and waved to me happily.

“Daddy!” both of them shouted, ran to me, and hugged me round my waist.

“C'mon, get your things, we gotta go!” They ran to grab their bags from the shelf. I saw Julian walking over as well.

“Hi Julian, thanks so much for your help again! How were they?” I asked him

“They're good! Jacen was his usual self, Jaina warmed up after about fifteen minutes or so, and had no complaints the rest of the day! Oh – except that one of the other kids spilled his water bottle on the ground near Jaina about ten minutes ago, which caused her pants and skirt to be wet, so we helped her get her pants off.”

“That explains it. She should have a spare set of pants in her bag though?”

“Nope, we didn't see any in there. We put the wet pants in a plastic bag and put it in her bag.”

I rolled my eyes “she must have forgotten to pack it. I didn't have the time to check their bags today morning.” Just then, the two kids came back over with their belongings. “Alright then, we're heading off! Thanks again and see you!”

“Bye teacher Julian!” the kids chorused. Jaina gave Julian a big hug before grabbing my hand and walking off together.

“Alright kids – first stop, who needs a change?” I asked.

“Not me! I went to the toilet just now!” Jacen said proudly. Jaina just looked down at her shoes.

“Alright Jaina, lets go get you changed! Jacen, go to the potty again, we're going straight to the barbecue from here and who knows when' the next time you'll get to the potty?”

I brought them both to the family restroom, which miraculously happened to be available. I put Jaina on the changing counter, pulled a clean diaper and wipes out, and proceeded to change her while Jacen pulled down his pull-ups and stood at the toilet.

“There's nothing, daddy”, Jacen informed me as he pulled his pull-ups and pants back up.

“Alright, now wash your hands and wait til I've changed your sister, OK?”

A few minutes later, we went out of the Foyer and met Ernest, who was with his two kids. Isabel was – I think – 11, while Joshua was 7. Both were staring at their phones, Isabel obviously texting and Joshua apparently playing a game

“Hi Isabel, hi Joshua,” I called as I approached. They both looked up, quickly said “Hi, uncle Julian”, before returning to their phones. Jacen and Jaina both broke free of my hands and ran to greet Ernest before staring at what Joshua was doing on his phone.

“Thanks so much for taking them, Luke,” Ernest told me, pulling me aside. “Rachel's apparently furious at me for going to church, can you believe it? I had fifty angry messages from her when I looked at my phone after the service!”

I winced sympathetically. “She sounds hopping mad, alright? What happened this time?”

“I don't know, I guess I'll find out when I get home,” he wearily sighed.

“Keep it cool, man. Call me if you need anything tonight – I should be home by around 10 pm”

“Thanks. I might need a drink tonight – or a place to sleep” he smiled wryly. We turned back to the children, who were still frozen in the same positions as earlier, deeply engrossed in the phones.

“Bel! Josh! Phones away!” Ernest commanded.

“Hold on...” Joshua said, still in his game. Isabel's fingers stopped moving and she looked up from her phone.

“Joshua!” Ernest raised his voice a little. Joshua jumped and guiltily put the phone down.

“Here's the plan for this afternoon. I won't be going for the barbecue – you heard what happened today morning, and I think mummy and daddy need some time to sort things out. You'll be going with Uncle Luke instead. Listen to him, do what he tells you to do, and he'll drop you off at home before dinner, alright?”

The 2 kids nodded their heads. Isabel asked “Are you and mum going to... you know... be OK?” I detected a slight quaver in her voice.

“Of course!” Ernest projected confidence as he reached out, ruffled Isabel's hair, and pulled her in for a quick kiss on her cheek. He repeated the same thing to Joshua. “Everyone gets into disagreements, we just need some time to deal with it and it'll blow over soon.”

“OK. I love you daddy,” Isabel replied.

“Love you too sweetheart. Alright, I'm heading off, be good – thanks so much again, Luke! Call me before you send them over, and I'll update you if there's any change of plans!” After clasping my hand, Ernest turned and strode off towards his car.

I turned back to the kids. “Alright, let's get going! Does anyone feel like having ice cream first?”

“Yes yes yes me me me me me!” the children – even Isabel - cheered as we walked towards my car.

Once quick stop at a petrol station for fuel and five ice-creams later, we pulled up at the barbecue site. It was a short drive away from the church and as such, most of the site was pretty crowded by the time we arrived. I could smell charcoal fires going and food cooking as we walked to the tables.

“Hi there, Luke!” A cheery lady from the social committee bustled up and took the container of French toast from me. “Thanks so much for this! I'll handle this, go find a place for your picnic mat and sort out your kids!” she caught sight of Ernest's children then. “Oh hi, Isabel and... Joshua, right? Where's your mummy and daddy?”

“They had something on, I'm babysitting the kids for the afternoon.” I quickly interjected. “Thanks Gloria, come on, kids! Jaina, your ice cream's dripping!”

“Oops!”

We eventually found a not-too-hot spot under a tree. It was a nice spring day – the weather wasn't too cold, the sun wasn't too strong, the wind was refreshing but not bothersome... a perfect day for a picnic.

I spread out the picnic mat and sent the kids to get some drinks and snacks. Jacen and Jaina both had special cups with tight lids and straws to help ensure they didn't spill anything on the way back. Not too long later, the kids returned with plates of chips, buns, hot dogs, French toast, and other junk food.

“You know what, it's still too early to eat. Why don' t you all go play first?” I suggested.

Joshua jumped up immediately “Sure! Jacen, Jaina, let's go!”

“Hold on – Jaina, let me get you changed first!” I dug into my picnic bag and pullet out a pair of shorts, which I helped Jaina into before helping her out of her dress and into a t-shirt. I noticed in passing that Jaina still appeared to be dry and that her diaper stuck out of the top of her shorts quite noticeably when her shirt rode up.

“Be back here in an hour, tops!” I set a countdown timer on Jacen's wristwatch – a G-Shock in a camouflage pattern he had received for Christmas last year. When the watch beeped, he would know to come back. “Ready... set... go!” I shouted as I pressed the button to start the timer, and with excited whoops the 3 younger kids ran off towards a promising game of kick-ball some of Joshua's friends were playing. I noted that one of the other parents was supervising them and caught his eye.

Look out for those 3 for me, I mimed. He flashed a thumbs-up in return.

 

“So, Isabel, not going to play?” I asked her. She had been sitting down on the mat, staring at her phone once again.

“Nope,” she replied. “I'm eleven, I'm too old to be playing with them.”

“Suit yourself,” I responded, sitting down opposite her and snacking on some hot dogs. I dug into my picnic bag and pulled out my sunglasses and a squashy pillow. “I'm gonna get some winks, wake me up if anything interesting happens, hmm?”

“Uncle Luke,” I was patting the ground looking for a comfortable spot when Isabel spoke up. She had put down her phone and was looking at me. “Why is Jaina wearing diapers? I mean, she's six, right? I know she was wearing diapers last year too but shouldn't she be potty-trained by now?”

I found a comfortable spot and lay down. “Jaina has some trouble with toilet training. Most of the time, she doesn't know she has to pee until she's actually peed. Also, unlike her brother, she shows no interest in using the toilet.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Personally, I suspect she actually likes wearing the diapers, although she won't admit it to me. She asks every morning if she can use underwear, but the few times I've put her in underwear, she hasn't seemed too happy. In fact, she'd usually wet those within an hour and ask to be put back into diapers.”

“Have you tried, like, using pull-ups? Aren't they supposed to help with toilet training?”

“Yes, I did when I first started toilet training them. Jacen was successful after some time, but Jaina never really seemed to get it.” I chuckled. “I remember when I first started – I bought both of them the pull-ups and told them they will have to learn to keep their “big boy” and “big girl” pants dry. Jacen was so happy and proud that for awhile, he refused to wear anything over the pull-up! On the other hand, Jaina cried when I took her diaper off and put her into the pull-ups, and refused to leave her room until I carried her out!”

“Wow!” She thought awhile “So when did Jacen get trained?”

“He was doing quite well – within three months, he was only having maybe two wet accidents a week and one messy accident every few months. It helped that we got him the “cool alert” pull-ups – they apparently get really cold when you pee, so he would always jump and say 'uh-oh' when he wet himself. He never actually stopped having accidents, though – even now, I put him into pull-ups when we have to go out for awhile. He's wearing one now, in fact.”

“Really? I couldn't tell!” Isabel craned her neck around to look at where the kids were playing. Jacen was chasing a ball which was running away from him without any sign of discomfort or awkwardness.

“Yeah, pull-ups are really discreet. You can't tell he's wearing them unless it gets wet. They don't hold up as well as diapers though – I've had some bad leaks when his accident was too big.”

“Oh.” She was quiet for awhile. “So... Jaina's diapers are good, then?”

“Quite good! They generally are great during the day, for about four hours or so – though less if she's had a lot to drink. They're starting to leak during the night, though – I'll probably move her to the largest size soon.”

“What's she wearing now?”

“Pampers cruisers size 6. They have a size 7 for 41 lbs and above, which should suit her now. Hopefully she'll get trained before we have to find a size 8,” I snorted. Isabel laughed a little as well, but stopped soon and went into a thoughtful silence. After some time, she asked again “so... when Jaina needs changing... does she change herself?”

I frowned a little as I replied. “No, I change her. I've tried to teach her to change herself, but she can't handle the tapes. Actually, Isabel, why so many questions on this?” I peered at her over the top of my sunglasses..

“Nothing!” she quickly responded - too quickly. “I'm just curious since I saw her in the diapers.”

“Isabel...” I sat up fully and faced her, taking off the sunglasses. “is there something you'd like to talk about?”

“Nope!” she picked up her phone again and began to stare at it.

“Isabel.” I covered her phone screen with my hand and gently took it away. Startled, she looked up at me. “You can talk to me, dear. You know that I'm concerned about you, you know that I care for you – heck, I was almost your godfather. You can trust me. What's going on?”

“Nothing!” I heard a familiar quaver in her denial and was certain she was hiding something.

“You sure? I know that your mum and dad have been quarrelling lately. It can't be easy for you...” I stopped then as tears began to flow from Isabel's eyes.

“I... I...” she wiped at her eyes, but the tears continued to flow. “I...”

I reached out a hand and put it on her shoulder. The moment that happened, she began to sob.

“There, there, Isabel...” I moved myself to sit next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. She turned then to face me, giving up her self-restraint, and pushed her face into my shoulder. Her chest heaved as she sobbed into my shirt. I patted her shoulder gently with one hand while grabbing a handful of serviettes and handing them to her. She took them but didn't use them, continuing to cry into my t-shirt.

“It's OK, let it out... it's alright... don't try to talk, just let it out...”

 

Isabel continued to cry, soaking my shirt with tears and probably mucus. A few concerned mothers came over during that time to check on what's wrong, and left after I quietly explained that she was having family problems, and she needed to release stress and talk things out with someone.

After a full ten minutes at least, Isabel's cries had faded into sniffles, and the tears had stopped. After a short while longer, she gently pushed herself away from me and sat straight. I gave her some napkins and went to my picnic bag for a fresh t-shirt. I walked behind a tree a short way away and quickly changed shirts.

When I came back, Isabel was sitting with her arms hugging her knees, supporting her chin. Without saying anything, I sat next to her again and gave her a quick side squeeze.

“I'm sorry, uncle Luke,” she said after some time in a rough voice. She coughed, cleared a throat, and drank some of her drink.

“There's nothing to be sorry for, Bel. Would you like to talk now?”

She nodded and gulped.

“I... I've been wetting my bed.” She paused and looked at me out of one eye, gauging my reaction. I didn't react, maintaining a listening attitude, and she continued.

“I... I wake up every morning and my bed is soaked with pee. I don't remember going at night, but I'm wet. It doesn't matter how much I drink at night, my bed is still wet anyway.”

“When did this start?” I gently probed.

“About two months ago?” she gulped. “I remember that I woke up at night for some water and heard mummy and daddy shouting at each other. I quietly went downstairs and saw mummy and daddy pushing each other and screaming – well, mummy was screaming, daddy was trying to keep mummy calm, I think. Mummy took a glass and threw it on the floor. It smashed and some of it cut daddy and...”

her breaths had become quick and panicked. I patted her back a few times, and her breathing began to slow.

“Mummy was screaming that she wanted a divorce. She said a lot of bad things about daddy, things which I know aren't true! They didn't see me, and I was scared, so I went upstairs to my bed again. The next day, my bed was wet.”

“I see.” I handed another napkin over for her to clean up the tears, which had restarted as she was relating her story. We sat in silence until she got her tears under control again.

I broke the silence. “Thank you, Isabel, for sharing that. What you did was a very good, brave, and right thing. Have you told anyone else about this before?”

“I've told my best friends in school about the fighting, but not the bed wetting.”

“OK, do your parents know about the bed wetting?”

“Yes, daddy saw it when he came to wake me the next day. He's been helping me change and wash my bedsheets every day. He told mummy so mummy knows too, but mummy doesn't say anything to me about it. Joshua doesn't know, though.”

“So, you're thinking of wearing diapers to help with the bed wetting?” She nodded hesitantly. “have you talked to your daddy or mummy about it?”

“No,” she sniffed. “I have some money saved up so I thought I'd go and buy some on my own.”

“I see. That's a very considerate thing you're doing, Bel.”

“Are you going to tell my daddy?” she asked.

“Do you want me to?”

“I don't know. Should I?”

“I think you should. It's going to be hard to hide it from your daddy. Plus, your daddy will know he isn't washing the bedsheets every day any more. Even if you don't tell him, he's going to find out anyway.”

“True. But I don't want daddy to be worried...”

I smiled at her. “Isabel, speaking as a daddy myself, I would be very happy if my daughter came to me for help on a problem she was facing, and showed me that she had a plan for it but needed my help. It shows us that you're growing up.”

“Well... OK then. Can you help me talk to daddy about it though?” she pleaded.

“I could, but I think its better if you told him everything yourself. Your daddy loves you a lot and I think it's best if he hears this from you directly.”

“well...OK..” She bit her lip, no doubt worrying about how to broach the topic with her father.

“Let me help you – I'll swing by the supermarket on the way to your place. I'll buy some of the Size 7 Pampers there – I'll say its for Jacen and Jaina if Joshua asks. After we get to your place, I'll give you a bag, and you can bring it to your room while I distract your daddy. You'll have to get past your mummy yourself, though.”

“Will the Pampers fit?” she wondered.

“You weigh...about 70 pounds?”

“72!”

“Well, I've heard that they can fit big kids, so they should be fine! If not, you can always return them to me.”

“How will... how will I get them on?” she blushed slightly.

“Well, why don't you ask your daddy to help you? You talk to him about this tonight, and I'm sure he will be happy to help. He can teach you how to do it yourself too – then if you wake up at night, you can use the bathroom and put the diaper back on later”.

“OK.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Thanks so much, Uncle Luke. You're the best.” She gave me a quick hug before standing up. “I'm going to use the bathroom and need to wash my face.”

“Alright, see you back here shortly.” she nodded and walked off.

 

I was accosted as I was picking up all the discarded tissues and cleaning up the area.

“Well, well, Luke Wilson, what was THAT about? We could hear it all the way from the barbecue!” A middle aged, slightly plump lady bustled over and questioned me. “That was Isabel, Ernest and Jean's daughter, was that not? Where are they anyhow?”

“Oh, its a private matter. Girls at her age, you know... hormones and all that... it was nothing. Ernest and Jean couldn't make it today and asked me to help babysit them for the afternoon” I gave a light hearted answer to try to brush her off. I had always disliked Linda, who tried to get her nose in everyone's business under the pretext of 'praying for that person's problems'. She was the leader of the church's “prayer chain”, which was a polite euphemism for the stay-at-home gossip-mongers which were the curse and plague of every church.

“Well now!” she sniffed, clearly not convinced. “It certainly didn't sound like an ordinary episode! What kind of thing caused that kind of an 'episode', anyway? Surely there must be something we could help pray for?”

“Like I said, Linda, it's private. It's really no big deal and there's certainly no need to activate the prayer chain for this. We all have equal access to God, you know.”

“Well now! Good to know, good to know. I hope Isabel gets over what's bugging her soon! You know, if she ever needs to talk to a woman over womanly issues,” she gave a few significant looks, “I am always happy to be of help!”

“Thank you, Linda. I'll be sure to let her know.” I forced myself to be polite. Just then, miraculously, help came in the form of 3 bundles of tearing energy.

“Hi daddy!” Jacen was drenched in sweat and flopped down on the picnic mat. He grabbed his drink and began to suck at it thirstily. Joshua did the same, while Jaina came and tugged my hand urgently.

“Daddy, I think I need to pee!” she exclaimed, to my surprise.

“OK, lets go quickly! Isabel, keep an eye on the other 2 for me – bring them to get some food if you don't mind!” Isabel, who had just returned, gave me a thumbs up. I picked Jaina up and walked quickly towards the washroom.

 

“Hurry, daddy!” Jaina told me as I locked the stall door. I had brought her into the men's bathroom as there was no family room.

“OK!” I pulled down her pants and quickly untaped her diaper, which proved indeed to be dry. I quickly put her onto the toilet seat, and immediately the musical sound of her pee hitting the water sounded.

“Great job, Jaina! Awesome!” I cheered for her, and she grinned at me as she continued to pee. The pee dwindled quickly, but the fact that she had made it to the bathroom was encouraging to both of us.

“OK, hop down!” I helped her get down before pressing the flush button. As usual, she shrank away from the noisy flush.

“Awesome job, Jaina!” I told her as I re-taped the diaper around her waist. “we can try pull-ups later, OK?” I hoped that we would be able to re-start her toilet training, which I had given up on around a month and a half ago..

“OK daddy!” She cheerfully exited the toilet and washed her hands.

We stopped by the grill line to pick up some burgers and some more drinks, before rejoining Isabel, Joshua, and Jacen at the picnic mat.

“Did she make it?” Isabel asked me.

“Yes she did!”

“Great job, Jaina!” Isabel high-fived Jaina. Then, Isabel quietly whispered into my ear “I think Jacen's wet. When we were queueing just now, I heard him say 'uh-oh' and freeze for awhile, and he was walking a little different when we walked back.”

“Did he?” I glanced and Jacen, who was chatting with Joshua. His waist did look a little more puffy than before, but it wasn't clear. “Well, thanks for letting me know. I don't think there's any rush, though. He'll probably ask for a change later.”

“Alright!” we settled down to eat, and the 3 “J"s began to tell me excitedly about what they had done earlier.

 

As the children were clearing up the residue from lunch and bringing the trash to the designated bins, I glanced at my watch and noted that it was 2.15 pm

“Alright kids! Time to get going!” I clapped my hands to get their attention. “Pack everything up, make sure there's no litter left behind! Anything you forget is a donation to the park!”

“Aww!” Jacen and Jaina whined, but Jaina was yawning at the same time she whined.

“No whining, we need to get home and the two of you need to take naps!”

“Naps?” Jacen protested. “I don't need a nap!”

“Yeah!” Jaina echoed – but then yawned again. I stifled a laugh as Jacen followed suit with his own yawn.

“Well, you certainly need a bath, and a change too!” I retorted, looking at Jacen significantly. I noticed that his hand immediately moved to his pull-up and that an uncomfortable look passed across his face. “If you don't want to nap, you can just lie down quietly alright?”.

“Fine!” he huffed.

“Great! Now let's get going, I'm leaving in 10 minutes and whoever isn't ready stays behind!”

“Wait, I need to pee!” Joshua tore off towards the toilet. I took the opportunity and crouched down next to Jacen.

“Daddy, I'm wet,” he told me, before I could ask. “I was queueing for food and suddenly my pull-up became cold!”

“It's alright, buddy, you were probably too excited today. I'll change you when we get home, OK?”

“OK,” he wasn't too happy about it, but acquiesced.

“Do you need to pee now?” I patted his bum with my hand, noting that it didn't feel swollen. “I think this pull-up can hold one more wetting so you might as well go in it if you need to.”

“Nope!” he informed me.

“Uncle Luke”, Isabel tapped my shoulder. “Daddy messaged me, he says that we should come back at around 5.30 pm later and that we'll stay at your house first.”

“Crap, I must have missed his call. Sure, you're always welcome at my place. In that case,” I lowered my voice “I have some Pampers size 7s at my place – you can check and see if they fit OK?”

“OK” she whispered back. “Thanks, Uncle Luke.”

“My pleasure.” I raised my voice to address the rest of the kids. “OK, everyone, lets go!”

[randomdudesg]

Chapter 2's up.  This should be the longest of the 3 chapters.

Some additional background of this story -

• It's basically a "Day in the life" type of tale, about a single dad with 2 kids (twins). The twist i'm trying to impart is opposites - that whenever one twin uses the toilet, the other twin wets his/her diaper. Its an interesting topic to explore.
• The reason why i title this "Seesaw Twins" is to convey the idea of opposition - one succeeds at the expense of the other. It's kind of a weak title though - i'm open to alternative suggestions!
• Honestly, for me its mainly a writing exercise to fight boredom. Is this going anywhere? No idea. Will this be expanded into a fuller story? Perhaps. Am I going to abandon it halfway? Possibly. Basically, que sera sera.

Like most authors, I appreciate feedback comments responses etc. 

Cheerio 

[CDfm]

I really liked the new chapter and now that I am ably to comment again can say I was happy to give it a like. I liked how you have done the seesaw with one twin making it to the potty and the other having an accident. I also liked the issues with Isabel. If I were Luke though I would be very cautious of changing her though. She is getting to be a young lady and he is an adult male. Just the wrong person discovering he changed her into a diaper could become a serious issue for him. I also wanted to point out a bit of a grammar issue. I am by no means the grammar police but this one just seemed to be like fingernails on a chalkboard for me.  The use of “today morning “ is not correct. It can be several different ways such as this morning or earlier today or even a specific time like 8:00 AM. It was used like that several different times. Other than that I thing you are doing a fantastic job writing this story and I am looking forward to reading more. 

[Elbs]

This reminds me of the premise of one of my stories.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16056482/chapters/37486658

It's a soulmate type setting, where when your soulmate pees, you do too. But unlike your story, the effects only kick in at puberty, and almost everyone has a soulmate. A lot of homes have two toilets in the bathroom for soulmate couples, and people who haven't found their soulmate or don't want to coordinate pee timing with them wear diapers.

Anyway, looking forward to reading more of this!

[HighVoltage]

OMG, I didn't realize my prompt was the cause of this story! Too bad it seems to be dead...