Sheltered [10/07/2024] CH50 - When it Rains, It Pours

[BabySofia]

4 hours ago, D503 said:

Every now and again, I'm like - I hope there's a new "Sheltered" Chapter coming soon!

Happy Easter 🐰

There is up to chapter 55 on their Patreon account if you go join you can read those. Mee is currently on a semester abroad in Japan? Said they hoped to still update stories again here soon. Haven't heard anything more recently. Hoping to see some Patreon activity this month, last post was March 18th there. (Illegal Immigrant is up to Chapter 28 there too)

[BabySerenity]

4 minutes ago, BabySofia said:

There is up to chapter 55 on their Patreon account if you go join you can read those. Mee is currently on a semester abroad in Japan? Said they hoped to still update stories again here soon. Haven't heard anything more recently. Hoping to see some Patreon activity this month, last post was March 18th there. (Illegal Immigrant is up to Chapter 28 there too)

Some people don’t have the money to pay in order to read the stories on patreon and contribute to the funds for writing such wonderful stories!! If it’s up that high then at least should get an update here soon??

[Mee]

On 12/12/2022 at 12:20 PM, kerry said:

Wow...

What a wonderful early Christmas present! Two-chapter updates on both of your stories! I promise to be super good so that I deserve all of this!

Fank you!

Glad ya enjoyed it! And don't mind me, just responding to comments around 5 months later! If I'm not known for writing stories, I think being horrendously bad with timing is my other thing. Hope ya have been good!

On 12/23/2022 at 5:17 AM, Little_Mouse said:

Thanks for two new amazing chapters ??

Happy to share!

On 2/1/2023 at 2:03 AM, BabySerenity said:

Are there going to be anymore updates soon??

Should be! But Patreon is always my first go-to. Everything after that usually leads to me having to reformat text and make manual insertions for things that just can't/won't translate. It doesn't always take a lot, but when I'm in a go-go-go sort of flow, I usually opt for public postings later, then lose track of finding the time for it. When I don't have time to do writing in general, that's just an added delay. Sorry!

On 2/1/2023 at 10:14 AM, Disk said:

There are quite a number of chapters up on Patreon.

This is also true! However, eventually it'll all come to public boards.

On 4/7/2023 at 6:17 PM, D503 said:

Every now and again, I'm like - I hope there's a new "Sheltered" Chapter coming soon!

Happy Easter 🐰

I've fallen back into my dark ages on the public side of things again, embarrassingly. 

On 4/7/2023 at 10:09 PM, BabySerenity said:

Me too!! I really love this story!!

Thank you so much!

On 4/7/2023 at 10:38 PM, BabySofia said:

There is up to chapter 55 on their Patreon account if you go join you can read those. Mee is currently on a semester abroad in Japan? Said they hoped to still update stories again here soon. Haven't heard anything more recently. Hoping to see some Patreon activity this month, last post was March 18th there. (Illegal Immigrant is up to Chapter 28 there too)

Thank you for relaying this! I am in Japan right now, so time difference plus obligations here and daily life means not a whole lot of free time all the time to get things done. I've been here for almost 2 months now and I think I'm starting to get some time to myself again for creative activities. Either that, or Golden Week just inspired me a tiny bit.

On 4/7/2023 at 10:45 PM, BabySerenity said:

Some people don’t have the money to pay in order to read the stories on patreon and contribute to the funds for writing such wonderful stories!! If it’s up that high then at least should get an update here soon??

I don't have a strict policy for what will and won't be released publicly other than for what I have started in public places first before going to Patreon. My intent is for Sheltered and Illegal Immigrant to be fully available to everyone for free at some point once it's finished, however their public updates are intentionally delayed so I can create more than I release. I do try to release a chapter a month, but life can get in the way or sometimes I may decide to throttle it to match my pace with Patreon more.

Thank you for expressing your interest and love for this series! I'm looking forward to sharing more soon!

[Mee]

45 - Something Leaks in the Night

Being upset about something makes it impossible to appreciate any possible alternative. Frankly, Isabelle had shocked her system that night to the point where she was scared straight, if only for now.

It was that same person Joyce did not want to interact with anymore, hence why it aggravated her being the one to reach back out to her, if nothing else but for ending things amicably. But why was she the one having to make the call? Isabelle wronged her. Isabelle surprised and embarrassed the secret, but not so secret, Mommy. If Joyce was on the receiving end of cruelty then apologies and efforts should be going the same way, shouldn’t they? And yet, had Isabelle been the one calling her, the narrative would shift to be about this woman having the audacity to stir the hornet’s nest more than she already had.

It was a lose-lose situation.

And Joyce just primed the streak to continue once she finally dialed the number and gave in.

Maybe she wouldn’t pick up, or miss the call completely. That’d be nice. Very nice. Plausible deniability was probably the best gift this stranger could give Joyce. A clear conscience from making the honest effort to reconnect, but without any of the actual work that went into being the bigger person.

One buzz. Two buzz? Three…? Four…!--

“Hello?” It’d been more than a bit since that night and they only spoke once, but Joyce’s lingering grin flatlined completely at the sound of her voice.

“...Isabelle? This is Joyce,” she answered formally.

Because it was just a phone call, they could have been lightyears apart, yet the tiny gasp from Isabelle on the other line sent all the same chills over Joyce as if they were sharing a booth together all over again. “Joyce?! I almost thought you weren’t going to call!”

Probably because I wasn’t planning on it…

“Well, when I heard from a friend that you were trying to reach me…” against her better judgment, “I figured I would at least hear you out.”

“I’m glad my message got through! I spoke with the host of the event and tried to get your contact information. I’ve had some time to think about what I did, and…I definitely got carried away.”

“I would agree.”

“Even though it was that kind of event, I asked you some personal questions that made things uncomfortable…”

“Yes, you did.”

“I owe you an apology; I’m very sorry about that night!”

Isabelle was apologizing, and Joyce was annoyed over having to contemplate. Did thanking her for it create the implication that all was well again? It certainly wouldn’t be. So what, ‘thanks for the apology, but that doesn’t undo all the stress you’ve caused?’ Is that an appropriate answer?

Toddlers in daycare always had to make amends. By the teacher’s decree, no apology could go unaccepted. But unlike certain cute girlfriends in diapers, Joyce and many other adults didn’t have to answer to a higher authority.

Ultimately, an apology hardly did much, but it was enough of a bandage to close the chapter on this and cause to finally forget. Not to mention, with her treat waiting on her out in the living room, likely half-asleep by now in her jammies, being kept from that didn’t exactly ease the tension over the phone.

“Well, I appreciate it.” She appreciated it as much as the script told her to.

“I can tell that you’re still upset,” Isabelle mentioned so tactlessly, and Joyce tried not to make an aggravated noise.

Of course I’m still angry! And don’t just call that out! Don’t you get how stupid that is?! It just makes this even more awkward…!

“I would be too!” Isabelle ushered in not more than a second later, like it somehow made things better. “You have every right to be mad at me, but I’ve been so excited since I first saw you!” Whatever supposed remorse Isabelle had been carrying herself to show, on a dime it felt like she was no longer cognisant of any committed wrongdoing whatsoever.

Fascination? Excitement? For what? A sight that was seldom seen? A person with a reputation on the line, sticking themselves out for once so willingly and so foolishly jumping straight into the shark pit? It was all entertainment to this woman. Watching Joyce squirm, picking her brain just because, and this phone call now was just to get one last kick at rubbing it in a dull wound.

“Isabelle, thank you for calling.” Hardly. “But respectfully, please do not call me–”

And in a sudden outburst, one that slipped right by Joyce’s radar, Isabelle interrupted with a gleeful laugh, “--I’m a mommy too!” It slipped right by Joyce. Right by, then back around and struck her squarely in the back of her head. The imaginary blow was so strong that it transcended into reality by slightly forcing Joyce’s back off the behind of her seat.

She heard what she heard, but…was that actually what was said? “E…excuse me?”

“I should’ve opened up with that…!” Isabelle groaned, openly lamenting over a silly blunder, one that shifted Joyce from pure anger to partially confused. “Joyce, are you still there?”

Was she? Physically and digitally, she was, but the mental battlefield was a place Joyce had been suffering continuous losses as of late. “Yes…” cautiously, she answered, “I am.”

“Did you hear what I said? I said I’m–”

“Yes, I heard you!” Joyce stammered right back. Was this just a trick? Just to get back in Joyce’s good graces? “A…and?”

“And?” Isabelle repeated right back. “And…it’s the whole reason why I wanted to speak with you! I was certainly excited when we first met; I’ve been involved in that sphere for so long that I tend to be a bit more casual about things that others might find a bit more sensitive, so I’m sorry for that as well…”

Isabelle was all energy and burning fuel. She had the spirit of a child that couldn’t stop running their mouth. All the spunk and glamor Joyce would love to see in Emily, only in this case it was channeled into an adult that was seriously pressing boundaries. But Joyce was a skeptic by nature, even when she was knocked off her game. Isabelle, a complete stranger that could be so forthcoming and invasive, disrespecting limits and making matters uncomfortable, was now claiming to be like Joyce?

“If I’m being completely honest, I think I had you figured out a little after we started chatting,” Isabelle added nonchalantly, and thankfully Joyce in the privacy of herself was allowed to make a perturbed face.

“You had me figured out?” Maybe in work she could get a read on people and their intentions, but discerning their interests?

“It’s nothing to be worried about!” Isabelle laughed with herself, and Joyce was trying not to scream. What about this was funny? And Christ…! Why wasn’t she just hanging up already?! “Joyce, hon, I know this must be new for you, so please hear me out!”

“This…I’m fine, alright? Stuff like this doesn’t bother me. You’re just…you’re being very forward right now.”

“Hmm? Ah! So that means at the restaurant, those animal tails that go up the–”

“Stop!” Joyce cried the spiel into silence, only for a new wave of laughs to boil right over it, all at Joyce’s expense yet again. Her trembling hands held the phone away just to hear her bully’s laughter less. So much for putting on a front. Despite it making her look weak, Joyce hoped for an objective reminder as to why Isabelle thought that they were in any way alike.

“See? You are new to this! Joyce, Joyce! I’m not trying to tease you! I’m being honest with you, so do the same with me!”

Finally with some backbone, Joyce spoke up. “Honest? What are you talking about? You’ve done nothing but terrorize me, try to contact me through someone else, and now you’re just trying to get closer to me to laugh some more? You do know that I can hang up this call, right?”

“Aye! Okay, okay! I’m sorry! I lost track again!” And after a pause, she sounded a bit more grounded. “Joyce, I just wanted you to know that I wanted to get closer to you because we like the same things?”

“Joyce…?” Suddenly, a distant voice behind a door called.

Briefly, she muttered to Isabelle, “I need a minute.” And having lived the horror once already, Joyce didn’t make the same mistake as last time by putting the call on hold. She huffed, trying to cool down before standing up from her chair, then strolled over to the door.

“What’s up, cupcake?” Joyce smiled down at Emily from the half-open door.

Emily wasn’t smiling, partly because it felt like she was putting herself out on a limb that hadn’t been ventured before. For all she knew, Joyce was having a work discussion. Or was it still with that Isabelle person?  Was she allowed to interrupt that? Would Joyce be angry? “Is everything okay?”

Joyce, however, didn’t stop smiling as she caressed Emily’s cheek then adjusted the collar on her sleeper. “Sorry; Mommy was being a bit noisy, huh?” Now she was bothering Emily? Splendid, another reason to be pissy with Isabelle.

“No, I mean…I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” And just for good measure, Emily’s hand drifted over for Joyce’s.

After squeezing her five digits right back, Joyce said, “Yes, it is. I’m just…letting someone know that I didn’t like something that they did.”

“Uh-huh…” Emily nodded, accepting it for what it was. Mhm. She’s angry.

“Did you need some more milk?” Joyce leaned on her toes, peering past Emily’s head to  somehow spot an empty bottle.

“No, not yet,” Emily said right back, and Joyce smirked.

“Yet?”

And Emily’s face spasmed once she realized what she said.

“N-no, I don’t need more!” Emily huffed, pressing on Joyce’s stomach and forcing her back into the office. “Just hurry up already!”

“Okay, okay…!” her mommy laughed as she let herself slide inside. “Oh, wait! One more thing!” Joyce begged as she spun around, and Emily dropped her hands, waiting for what she wanted.

And Joyce lunged forward with her hands, snatching Emily by her sides and gripping the fabric of her pajamas. Then with a look of pure satisfaction, she tugged and lifted, stretching Emily’s cuddly bodysuit until the crotch was as taught as could be, treating her to a wonderful bulge. Some people liked to see panty lines, but mommies loved curves that crinkled.

“J-Joyce!” Emily slipped back, or tried to.

“Sorry, you’re just too cute!” she laughed, sneaking one last swat on Emily’s blind spot as she ran away, retreating to her fortress of pillows, cushions and blankets. “Behave~!” she jovially warned once the black head of hair whipped around the corner. Then she shut the door again, now a bit more tempered.

“Hello? Isabelle?” Joyce opened up the line again.

Isabelle was ready and prompt. “Hey there again! Am I interrupting something?”

“Yes. You are,” Joyce spoke much less kindly, and Isabelle took it in stride with another chuckle.

“Mm, well, I don’t want to be an enemy, Joyce! I just wanted to be able to meet again?”

“And meet for what? I accept your apology, Isabelle. There, can we leave it at that?”

“Did you forget where we met? I do have projects, Joyce. I was scouting is all, and I think you’d be perfect!”

“I somehow don’t think I’d be…” Given that their energy levels seemed to be in diametrically opposed places, nothing Isabelle seemed to say could be received without some form of skepticism.

“And you won’t be thinking that once we have some more time to talk! Fine! It doesn’t even have to be about business, okay? Can’t I treat you to something as a formal apology? You and a special someone, maybe?”

“Are we finished now?”

“Okay, okay! Just you!” Isabelle cried, back to playing up her emotions. “Gosh, you must be one of those stern types…”

“I appreciate the offer with trying to meet, but I don’t live in the same state as where we met,” and thank goodness for that.

“And that’s fine! Just let me know where and I’ll make it happen!” Or in other words, location and cost was seemingly of no issue. Joyce was quietly raising her brow.

“Isabelle, look, really, I appreciate you wanting to make amends, but I really don’t think–”

“You’ll be interested, I promise! What’s the harm? I just want an hour of your time, and I’m willing to pay for all the expenses! If you really weren’t interested, wouldn’t you have hung up by now?”

And calling her out like that certainly gave her reason to. But foolishly, she didn’t.

She didn’t bother hiding her sigh from the woman on the other end. “How…how soon?”

“Oh, nothing immediate? I think we might both be a bit busy… How about this: I’ll figure something out, and you just let me know if that works! Thank you for hearing me out, Joyce! I promise you won’t regret it!”

“Uh-huh…” already regretting it, Joyce answered. Isabelle had made the grand reveal that she was a “mommy,” and as revolutionary as that normally may have been, the woman had just about squandered every spec of shock it could’ve given. Her personality had just about ruined it all. By all accounts Joyce should’ve been intrigued and over the moon, yet that was the least seemingly “real” thing she was taking stock in right now.

“And don’t forget; if you want, you can bring your partner!--”

And quite deftly, Joyce’s phone beeped as she hung up the call.

“Nope. Told you I’d do it…” Joyce kicked back from her desk and sprung from her chair.

Somehow she was still involved with Isabelle. Great. Great? Not so great. Who knows. Joyce could only exhale and try to ignore whatever doubts she was having, no matter how likely they were. But at least for now she was allowed to forget about some of it. She could tune out the madness for a little bit longer and focus on what she wanted to.

“Emily!” Joyce sang down the hall. “Mommy needs cuddles!”

 

---

“Ugh…I wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow…” Joyce sighed, taking the lead and sitting on the bed. Emily was paused by the doorway, fidgeting uncomfortably as she closed her eyes, fumbling with her hands.

“It’s safe to go pee-pee on the bed, you know?” Joyce chuckled, enjoying the sight.

“I-I know…!” Emily hissed just when the hissing noise stopped coming from her diaper. “Ugh…” and she pouted as she spun her head around her back, noting the fabric of her sleeper expanding and rounding out of her protection. “Why does it have to be so snug?”

“So it brings out all your cute curves?” Joyce explained normally for a second, then she couldn’t help but laugh once Emily gave her a death glare. “What? I’m not lying!”

“I don’t like your idea of curves…” Emily kept it at that, stealing a glance at the curves she liked on Joyce, then frowning at the ones around her own crotch. Luckily the apartment was well-ventilated, otherwise the inside of her diaper would’ve been a sauna. “What happens if I need to pee tonight and I know I’m gonna leak?” she went on the grunt, pulling at the back of her pajamas. “I won’t be able to take this thing off!”

“You won’t leak,” Joyce casually dismissed her concern, “and the pajamas are meant to be Emily-proofed, honey. Keeps tykes like you from trying to play with the potty. Kinda like this morning?”

“I was gonna do it in my…! In my you-know-what!” Emily puffed with some air in her chest, marching over with a dampened crinkle and leaping on the bed. Luckily a diapered behind made for a perfect place for a hand to push her the full way on the mattress. Courtesy of Mommy, of course.

“Your you-know-what definitely got used,” Joyce remarked with a giggle. “Are you sure we didn’t watch a scary movie?” Though, her hand did press a tiny bit.

Maybe a change wouldn’t be the worst idea…

“You would know,” Emily grunted from behind Pip. “I know you like them, so why can’t we watch them? I can handle it!”

“And yet each time that somehow leads to nightmares,” Joyce sighed, also remembering her as quite the cuddle bug, for better and worse. “Didn’t we talk about dropping this whole ‘big kid’ business? I’m not gonna pretend like I magically forgot all your quirks, sweetie.”

“Nope. Forgot,” Emily said as her waist took a weighty swing, thick wet diaper and all just to get on her back.

“Forgot?” Joyce gasped with faux surprise. “Then I guess I should remind you?”

“No…that’s okay.”

“Ah– See? That’s why I can’t leave you alone for so long!” Joyce tutted. “See, the good girl I know and love always knew that she should follow Mommy’s rules. Where did my good girl go?”

“She never existed,” Emily deflected, reaching up for the sky and finding Joyce’s hands smothering them.

“Oh I know she did, and I know she still does! Secondly, my good girl knew she shouldn’t be watching scary movies. Frankly, you’re tempting me to make it a taboo subject altogether?”

“Nooo! It’s fine! I’m being serious!”

“And I’m not?” Joyce reeled back with a hand against her chest. “The good, cute little girl that I know wouldn’t fuss with Mommy when she said something? The adorable Emily that I know wouldn’t go playing with the potty. And my cute, irresistibly adorable baby girl,” she pressed on Emily’s thick, fortified front, “wouldn’t care one bit on what’s happening in their diaper?”

And Emily gave Joyce a hard look, one which Joyce was being oppositely as soft and receiving toward. Emily just wasn’t landing her hits and was being exploited with each and every dodge or misfire.

“Oh, how was your phone call with Isabelle?”

It was an instant frown from Joyce, like getting splashed with cold water. Joyce stood up from the bed and started rolling Emily like a ball over to the pillows.

“H-h-H-h-hey!” Emily giggled with each tumble and roll, finally crashing into the cushions.

Joyce turned and disappeared strutting away. “And my cute baby wouldn’t bring up boring things Mommy didn’t like talking about…!” she shouted from halfway down the hall.

Soon she was back with a bottle of milk, forcing it on Emily before she could bring up anything unpleasant again.

“Cahn I ask abouht it later?” Emily mumbled from behind the nipple.

“Mm…” Joyce contemplated. “Maybe. But not now. Drink. And only talk about cute stuff. That’s an order.”

“From big bossy Joyce?” Emily giggled, pulling the bottle out.

“From big bossy Mommy,” Joyce stuck out her lip, pushing the bottle right back in. “New rule: if you don’t have anything cute to say, then don’t say it at all.”

Emily freed her mouth once again. Took a deep breath, and then…!

“PFFFTBBBBB…!” she flapped with her wet tongue in a buzzzy noise.

“And you are so…so lucky those pajamas are protecting you…” Joyce looked down on Emily with pure pretend disdain; the smaller girl fighting a fit of laughter.

Had her stomach been bare and accessible, she would’ve shown Emily just what a real raspberry sounded like. God help the poor girl if Joyce didn’t forget about it this time come tomorrow.

“Well, now that you’ve just about broken every rule imaginable, how about we hop off to bed?”

“Mmm…okay,” Emily hummed, acting like she had a choice.

And off to bed they went.

For…only so long.

Late in the night Emily was awake, but not comfortably or willingly so. She quietly moaned with an all too familiar ache in her bladder.

Stupid milk…! She looked down at the bottle with still a quarter of contents left in it, but the other three were apparently looking to leave her body now.

Joyce, expectedly, was slumbering away, close against Emily with her arm over her like a safety rail. And while she may have been quiet, asleep and oblivious, that didn’t excuse her from the trouble and turmoil she was causing Emily right then. Peeing in the middle of the night was never fun, and unfortunately it was starting to be something that picked up in frequency as of late. Maybe she had so many continuous baby days to thank for that…

But this was her situation, and now she had to deal with it. And regretfully, deal with it she would. Without a way of taking off her own pajamas, holding her diaper to her skin like a prison, she had no other choice than to deal if it meant getting back to sleep.

She slightly stretched, feeling the snug gatherers on her ankles slide up her skin, bringing the butt of her diaper closer and closer as it compressed her padding just to maintain shape. Carefully she snaked her leg out of the grip between Joyce’s thighs, who in her sleep managed to roll partially the other way, unperturbed. Emily did the same, now staring up at the ceiling.

Sighing again, she lifted her knees for the easiest position she could manage, and surely, not so slowly, she coaxed out a trickle and quickly into a stream. Exhaling for a whole other reason, the warmth spread like any liquid would fill a container, and with Emily’s skin as the surface, she could feel every inch of it spread around her. Some was quickly absorbed, and some took a bit longer, left freely to roam around her hips and underneath her bum as the mess reached as far as it could before being swallowed by the sponge surrounding it.

And it was…relaxing. Sort of. Almost like flipping a pillow over just to feel the cool side. It was a knot of stress she could unwind and immediately reap the rewards of comfort once again, like a sweet reminder for the pleasure that there was in slumber.

The warmth was nice, and spreading. And spreading…and…spreading…?

Emily laid still, though she slightly stretched out her legs, bringing them close to the mattress. Yet the moment she did, her thighs touched the back legs of her pajamas, and the feeling was warm. Warm and wet. Half asleep and experiencing a whole new sensation, Emily’s hand drifted down below, lightly touching where it felt strange.

Wet. Very wet, but not where it should be. She lifted her hand up to her nose, hesitant, but inspecting it, and once she smelled it she–

“J-Joyce…?” Emily murmured, whispered, stuttered and clammered. She was laying on her side now like her life depended on it, hugging against Joyce desperately close, just so she didn’t fall back where it’d been… “J-Joyce…?” she whispered urgently, trying to stay calm. “P-please? Please wake up? Joyce?”

And finally, Joyce moaned with her eyes still closed.

“Hnnn… Emily…?” she whispered tiredly, reaching out and finding Emily’s face by pure coincidence.

“J-Joyce…I…I had a…” She had a sniffle, though that wasn’t what she was hoping to report.

“Baby…? What’s wrong?” she mumbled with a hush and pulled Emily’s head in, finally opening her eyes. “Is everything okay? What…what was that? Did you have a nightmare?”

If only it was just a simple bad dream. Instead she was living a reality that was wet and gross, and she had to be the one that owned up to it. But Joyce’s hand that always liked to situate itself on her back drifted a little too low, finding the shift from Emily’s diaper to her legs, then paused the moment her hand left dry shores.

“Emily…?” she tiredly mumbled, “I…I think you leaked…?”

And sniffling, she felt the poor girl nod against her shoulder.

As tired as Joyce was, somehow that didn’t seem to deter her protocol. “Okay…shh…okay. Hey, it’s alright?” she shushed and cooed, and Emily fought the tears of shame.

“I…I told you I was gonna leak…!” she quietly sobbed, and Joyce swung her legs out and off the bed so she could stand. Right after she dragged Emily over to the safe side and stood her up.

“Shh…it’s okay. It happens, alright?” Joyce tried to soothe her as Emily continued to suffer, now feeling the wet clothing against her legs much more clearly now. That brief moment of warmth beyond her diaper was gone now, whisked away by the room temperature and already feeling cool and cold to the touch.

“I feel gross…!” Emily continued to cry, and Joyce pulled her in for a hug, managing to multitask at the same time as she flicked off the cloth flap hiding Emily’s confining zipper.

She’d certainly ruined it. Amy’s wonderful clothing. How would they explain that? Asking for a new set of pajamas because Emily peed all over her last set? It made her stomach ache from just imagining the embarrassment on top of trying to digest the very real stuff she was going through now.

“I bet it feels yucky…” Joyce agreed, but moved Emily along and into the bathroom. She was feeling more awake, but her eyes certainly were not ready for the flashbang. “Okay, close your eyes for me, okay?” Emily did, but it still wasn’t invincible against the bright light assaulting her eyelids.

Joyce was squinting as she rested her backside against the countertop, clearly seeing the dark patches that’d crept down Emily’s legs. She certainly had leaked, and not by a very small margin.

“I-is it bad?” Emily hiccupped, already starting to turn her head, but Joyce’s clean hand directed her by the cheek to keep on staring into the shower.

“No, it’s fine…shh… It’s not that bad, okay? It feels a lot worse than it looks…” Probably not, though. It probably felt just about one-to-one, but Emily didn’t need to know about the aftermath. Now Joyce was slightly concerned about how the bed was going to look…

“I-I’m sorry…!” Emily whimpered, despite being the one that warned, and Joyce ignored.

“Baby, it’s not your fault…” Joyce squeezed her for a hug, kissing her. “I know you feel yucky, but if you wanna blame anyone, just blame me. Now don’t worry; you’re gonna feel great again in just a few minutes. Let Mommy work her magic, okay?”

And while Emily was trembling, she sort of nodded. She felt Joyce’s hand on her back as the zipper revved with a buzz as it traveled down the tracks, parting the fabric once held together and trapping Emily inside.

“Were you having any good dreams?” Joyce asked, doing her best to play the distraction game.

“I…I dunno…” Was she? Probably not. It was going to sleep, waking up needing to pee, and now this.

“Mhm…?” Joyce hummed, listening attentively. Whether Emily had little or a lot to say, every word mattered. “Can I tell you about a dream I was having?” Joyce was careful in rolling down the pajamas, spreading them as far as she could just to hide the wet material from Emily’s skin. “Step out for me?”

The lack of an undercarriage support now meant Emily had to endure the weight of her own waste all on her own now. Her diaper felt swollen and heavy. The wings on her waist laid snuggly against her skin as the thick crotch hung weightily between her legs. While she couldn’t see it, the slight discoloration was beginning to bleed through the white spots on her diaper.

“Step out?” Joyce asked, and with one shaky foot after the other, Emily naked for the most part was clutching her chest in tears.

“I had this really funny dream!” Joyce chuckled, and after enough whispering coos, she stepped Emily over the rim and into the tub. “You remember those cute sea otters we saw at the zoo? Gosh, that feels so long ago…!”

“Y-yeah…” Emily sulked, feeling the uncomfy, raw sort of feeling on the back of her thighs.

“Well, of all people, Pip was the queen of them! Or…wait, I guess the king,” she paused to deliberate, but ultimately laughing. “You get the point! The lord, or whatever, of them! He had a big crown and everything…” Joyce said as she turned on the faucet. “Now Emily,” she knelt by the edge of the tub, touching Emily’s shoulder where she was squatting. “Do you need to go any more? Did you get it all out?” More pee was probably the last thing she wanted to discuss, but for the sake of keeping things dry, it was a fair and important question.

“I…I think…” Was she all done?

“It’s okay if you do, you know?” Joyce whispered in her ear, “In fact, if you do, that’s even better. I’m gonna go check on the bed real quick, but if you need to pee, you can do it right here, okay? That way, when I change you in just a minute, you’re gonna feel nice and dry the whole rest of the night!”

More diapers? Had Emily not been frowning already, she certainly would’ve been now. “Wh-what if I leak again?” The fear and logic made her almost certain that she would.

Joyce loudly patted the tub. “Good thing you’re someplace where you’re supposed to get wet, right? And Emily: don’t be sorry, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong…” and she stood as she scratched her little girl’s scalp.

With the flick of the lights, Joyce had thankfully adjusted mostly to being out of the dark, but she was able to see the bed now, particularly Emily’s side.

“Shoot…” Joyce whispered, staring down at a clear wet patch on the sheets. It wasn’t the entire bed, obviously, but it was far from a small droplet too… She certainly did leak, and Joyce only had herself to thank for it. Emily was crying because of her own negligence, and rightfully so.

“Miss me?” Joyce came back in smiling, holding something in her hand. “Hey, look up at me?”

Emily did, and something went in her mouth.

“Perfect,” Joyce beamed down at her, smiling to see the pacifier fit so perfectly between her lips. “Would you mind hanging on to that for me? I like it when you have it the most!” and she whispered tenderly again, “Just get it all out of your system, okay? You won’t make a mess. Promise.”

Without any words, Emily leaned out, grabbing for Joyce before she could leave. With a sudden surprise, Joyce leaned back in for the hug, rubbing her back. Emily for a few reasons wasn’t much for saying anything right then, but luckily a warm, pure hug said more than enough.

“Sweetie, it’s my job to take care of this stuff, you know?” Joyce hummed contently. “You know what you can do for me? Think of a way I can make it up to you for being such a careless mommy, okay?” Then she lifted her head, looking around the bathroom. “It’s a little chilly, huh?” She stood back up, filling the quiet bathroom with a warm hum from the heater hiding in the ceiling. “Be right back. Don’t forget to go pee!” Still reminding Emily to smile with her own, she half-closed the door on the way out.

Joyce re-entered the room like a sweeping storm, stripping something off the bed with each pass she made, glancing blows and saving what she could. Pillows and blankets, comforters and the like– Pip too, of course, all came off, leaving nothing but sheets darker and wetter in places they should normally be.

With her hands posed on her hips, she frowned at the inanimate objects, somewhat glaring at the offenses which put Emily to tears.

“Okay…” Joyce sufficed quickly before gathering the final remains needing more than just some air and whisking them off to the distant washing machine. After her short trip there and back, she snuck back into the bedroom bathroom.

“Is it warm in here?” Joyce peered inside, and Emily was rubbing her eyes, sniffling again. “Awh, sweetie…” Joyce started to say, nearly following up, but then she could see that Emily had moved from one end of the tub to the other. In her last place now a small puddle remained.

Like a poor puppy cognizant of the mess they’d made, Emily from her arms looked up at Joyce guiltily. Only after Joyce gently plucked the pacifier from her lips, she spoke. “Sorry…”

“Emily…” Joyce smiled, and then a gushing spurt made Emily yelp as she nearly fell.

“J-Joyce…! Wh-what’re you doing?!” Emily cried as she tried to stumble out of the tub, slowly filling with water.

“Ah-ah!” Joyce held her by the shoulders to keep her from stepping out. “Don’t you wanna get clean?”

“B-but it’s late…!” Emily tried to reason, yet Joyce with her will alone was enough to keep Emily in place, squatting in just her diaper in the tub.

“Yes, and most definitely past your bedtime.  but given the circumstances, Mommy’s willing to bend the rules a little.” Joyce grinned, tickling the underside of her chin. “We didn’t have much time today to get you in the shower or have a bath, did we?”

And Emily looked into her girlfriend’s eyes, tired in just the moment, but energized and unyielding as always. Beyond the noise of the gushing faucet and humming heater from above, Emily leaned her head on Joyce’s shoulder, too tired to think anymore.

“Think you’re up for a bath if I do all the work?” Joyce chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.

“Can I help…?” Emily moaned back. She didn’t want a bath. She didn’t want anything. Nothing that made Joyce do anymore than she’d already done. Anything to keep the load she always hogged on her shoulders, and the burdens she always carried.

“Hmm…” Joyce’s eyes wandered, still giving the same affections from the start. “No.”

“No? Why not?” Emily whined. “You always do so much…! Can’t I just help? I wanna do something for you for once! Let me–!” But she wasn’t allowed to continue when the pacifier went right back to her.

“Emily, I appreciate the offer. Really, I do,” Joyce giggled, “but it’s too hard to coordinate with someone too busy sucking on their pacifier? We want to get this quick, don’t we?”

Emily tried to talk back, but the immovable seal on her mouth just wouldn’t let her. She tried, but she failed.

“You already do so much for me, Emily, and I’m getting a little tired of having to repeat myself,” Joyce grinned. “Guess I should have also mentioned that before we went to bed…” They were both tired and emotions were fickle. It wasn’t a serious moment like they’d been through multiple times before, but it was tender enough.

Emily gave her a look telling Joyce she wanted to say something, but her Mommy wasn’t having any of it.

“No, Emily!” Joyce quite sternly, but awfully playfully laughed. “You’re getting your bath and you’re going to behave! Now no more buts, or your butt is getting a reminder to behave, got it?”

“Mmm…!” Emily mumbled again.

“It’s too late– or, too early?” Joyce paused to guess the time, “It’s too soon to be doing this. Now be a good girl and sit in the tub!” she commanded, pressuring Emily’s shoulders until she dropped into the shin-deep water with a noisy splash. Joyce was rolling up her sleeves, but Emily looked downright mortified.

“What? What’s wrong? Emily, if this is about you being naked–” she stopped as the pacifier propelled from Emily’s mouth, dropping in Joyce’s lap.

“Th-that’s not it…!” Emily whimpered, gritting her teeth, overwhelmed by a weird, gross feeling. Sitting there on her bottom, feeling the water wash through the parts of her sitting on the floor of the tub, she grimaced. “You…you forgot to take my diaper off…!”

“H-huh?” Joyce blinked, finally done away with the last of her tiredness the moment she looked down. Half submerged and half exposed was the wet plastic and four tapes, smiling friends and all on Emily’s crotch, pulp and thick with pee and now bath water. “O-oh…!” she frowned, but sputtered.

“Y-you…you think it’s funny…?!” Emily whined, watching the corners on Joyce’s mouth rise.

“Y…yes…maybe a little…!” Joyce held up a hand to hide her mouth, but it couldn’t block the noise. “O-okay…maybe a lot!”

“Joyce…!” Emily groaned and reached for her crotch, but the curse even in these circumstances couldn’t be lifted. “Joyce!” she cried again, deflected by her partner’s hands.

“I’ll take it off, I’ll take it off…!” Joyce chuckled, standing her up from the tub, but her underwear had much more weight to it. Her truly swollen diaper now dripped an endless amount of drops into the water, precipitating between her legs like a rainstorm.

“Goodness…” Joyce marveled, prying off the tapes, watching to see how it all reacted to gravity with each adhesive. “You really did have to go, didn’t you?”

And finally the teasing had reached a point where Emily was restless. Some retaliation was needed, and it was certainly delivered. Standing in place with Joyce still kneeling on the floor, she raised her foot and sent it crashing back down, sending shockwaves throughout the water. But most importantly, a not-so-small splash of water and drops fell on Joyce’s shirt and pants.

“Uhm…” Joyce stuttered, looking down at herself.

Crossing her arms, Emily turned in place with half her diaper removed and sagging down her leg. “...Hmph!”

Joyce carefully grabbed her by the hips and turned her back, stripping the last two tapes and carefully lifting the plump diaper off and away; especially so no more splashes could be made.

“I…may have deserved that.”

“You did…” Emily pouted, crouching herself in the tub. “...The water’s cold.”

“I can tell…” Joyce said as she grabbed a towel for her lap. “Take this back for me?” she asked with the pacifier held out.

And reluctantly, Emily took it and popped it in her mouth, quickly before another trick could manifest. Spinning her on her bottom, Joyce started on her hair. If they were going to give her a bath, they may as well give her the works.

“Cahn we still use the bed…?” Emily sort of asked, though it was lisped by her pacifier.

“Mm…probably not tonight. We’ll be comfy on the couch though,” Joyce started wetting a washcloth, and it wasn’t a joke when she asked, “but you’re more than welcome to use your crib tonight?”

A great wave of water was splashed again, only perpendicular to both women like it was a warning shot. Emily’s hand fell back into her lap. While her back was turned, the message had been made.

“You’re lucky you’re so cute…” Joyce rubbed her back. “My little Herculean labor…”

In the dead of night, a brief bathtime ensued.

[Quite-Tiff]

Nice chapter.

It will be fun to see if Emily somehow manages to go to that meet-up with Joyce and Isabelle, it would make for an interesting meeting.

[diaperboymi]

Wonderful chapter😀. Always love to read updates.  Thanks!!!!!

[Little_Mouse]

Looking forward to seeing what kind of project Isabelle has in mind with Joyce.

Also interested in more about how long she has been a mother and who she is a mother to.

Maybe a playdate for Emily and Isabelle's “baby” while the two adults work on their common project?

[Mee]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:32 AM, Quite-Tiff said:

Nice chapter.

It will be fun to see if Emily somehow manages to go to that meet-up with Joyce and Isabelle, it would make for an interesting meeting.

It's always fun setting expectations for the characters, then trying to figure out all the creative ways to totally upset them, haha. Sometimes it's not as clever, but I really do enjoy setting all the pieces to make one big grand failure!

So just possibly, that might include brainstorming on how to include Emily on a particular outing...

7 hours ago, diaperboymi said:

Wonderful chapter😀. Always love to read updates.  Thanks!!!!!

Thank you for the kind words! Always love getting to read comments!

7 hours ago, Little_Mouse said:

Looking forward to seeing what kind of project Isabelle has in mind with Joyce.

Also interested in more about how long she has been a mother and who she is a mother to.

Maybe a playdate for Emily and Isabelle's “baby” while the two adults work on their common project?

The things they will cook up...! Certainly excited to see the gears turn for that.

Isabelle being a mommy is a fun and interesting challenge, because I'd like to carve out her character into someone similar to Joyce, but distinct with her own fun qualities, as well as a slightly different brand on mommying, possibly! In a funny way, she might be able to be a mentor of sorts for Joyce.

And a very good idea! Gotta keep the kiddos busy somehow while the adults are talking.

[D503]

Hoping for an update soon! 💜

[Mee]

Please Read this before reading that!

Hi everyone! This has been a busy year for me that's led to a lot of inactivity as far as the DD board goes. I've been neglecting a public release schedule that I've promised before, and I plan on making good on that now. I'm sure many of you have heard about many creators from this community losing their Patreons, and I wasn't an exception. The situation sucks, but I'm working on putting things back together. That includes a new Subscribestar which is live now with all the latest chapters of Sheltered and Illegal Immigrant. Slowly moving forward I'll be reuploading previously lost content and stories alongside new stuff that will be coming in more regularly.

If you are a previous patron and want to know where I am now, that's where I'll be! There is a public post on that page which goes into a little more detail about everything and my plans moving forward, but regarding here on the board, I'm planning to return to a regular release schedule. With that included, I have Patreon stories that I've featured on here in an incomplete state; I'll be trying to find those and post the remaining halves since it has been quite some time now. But for starters, please enjoy two chapters from Sheltered and Illegal Immigrant.

I never imagined myself reaching quite this point as being a creative with diaper stuff, but to everyone that reads or plays my stuff and in some way is entertained by it, has thoughtful feedback, comments or considerations, thank you! Maybe in a way this reset will get me back into some better habits. As per usual, please stay tuned, and consider dropping by the Subscribestar! Thank you!

Also, I'm making space for some short-story commissions at $15/1000words (10k words or less) if you're interested! For those who have discussed and we've agreed upon commissions prior, yours will not be affected. Admittedly this is a way to recoup missed opportunities given the circumstances.

But aside from all that, please read and enjoy!

---

46 - First day on the Job

“And you’re not forgetting anything?” Joyce warned her one last time. They stood on the final frontier; the point of no return.

“No, I’m not…” Emily tried not to sound pensive, folding her hands in her lap. Why was she nervous? Ugh, it’s because Joyce was making her nervous!

“Did you bring your phone? I wanna call you at lunch.” Joyce explained, then blurted out right after, “–But don’t think that means you can’t call me any sooner, okay?”

“Joyce, aren’t you overreacting?”

“Overreacting?” Had she not been sitting, Joyce would’ve taken a step back in shock. “Emily, it’s your first day! I want to make sure you have everything you need!”

“And I do…” Emily puffed her cheek as she glanced at her side. Her arm and wrist were covered by sleek and puffy coat material. Pastel blue, because even in her everyday wardrobe now the colors were getting more and more livelier.

One second she was hearing the cars and traffic nearby, but the next was a loud zipper traveling up her front.

“Joyce! Stop!”

“It’s gonna be cold, Emily! Don’t you wanna stay warm?”

“You’re worrying too much…!” Emily pouted, but even she couldn’t deny the humor, especially when Joyce could get so “serious” like this. “The door is right there!” And she leaned out from her seat just to let her finger travel across Joyce’s lap and out the window, right on the other side of the sidewalk.

Joyce turned her head to follow, showing her face again with a much more conflicted expression. “W-well…what if the wind gets really strong once you get out?”

And all Emily did was sigh as she pulled down the zipper enough to free her face. “It’s not gonna be that bad…”

“Urgh…I know,” Joyce grumbled, too disappointed with how the world worked and how little she could do (but of course, doing so “little” was a personal assessment by Joyce). Then with a hopeful smile, she asked, “Did you wanna bring Pip with you?”

Instantly Emily’s head whipped and spun on a swivel, taking a second for the same motion to reach the ends of her hair. She turned and latched her hands on the corner of her seat like a gargoyle perching on the edge of a building.

“Joyce! You didn’t actually bring him!” Emily cried in nothing short of embarrassment. Her first guess was to look in the back seats where contraband and stowaways were the easiest to hide, but thankfully they were empty.

“Th…that one was a joke,” Joyce gave it up quickly, though she tried not to giggle with a hand covering her face. “Does that mean you would’ve wanted me to?”

“No,” Emily pouted, “it doesn’t.” Then she settled back into her seat. The car was parked and wouldn’t be going anywhere. Not until Emily got out. “...Now you’re making me nervous…”

A comforting hand dropped on her thigh. “Don’t be…it’s just the mommy in me?” Joyce gave her an apologetic look, but all Emily could see was the emptiness in her partner’s eyes. There was no mommy hiding inside of her because it was already out and about, worn on her sleeve like a badge. She’d already taken out all the tools from her shed and was tinkering with her little project like always. “You’re gonna do great. You’re gonna have fun, and then you’re gonna tell me all about it tonight. Understood?”

“Mhm…” Emily nodded, tightening her grip and filling the car with a crinkle.

And quite surprisingly, the noise almost made Joyce wince.

It was far from the crinkles she liked to hear. While it came from her little girl’s lap, she was unfortunately out of diapers today and back to playing pretend grownup. The crinkle coming from her lap was a folded paper bag filled with only the finest cuisine to tide Emily over at lunch time. The crude, last-minute solution they had to use because Emily refused to bring anything else.

“You know…” Joyce side-eyed the paper bag in her lap and hands, “we can still pick out a nice lunch box after work today?”

“I said I didn’t need one…!” Emily groaned right back, remembering the “argument” they already had about this multiple times already. Frankly, bringing homemade lunch to work was somewhat of a novel concept to the girl. More often than not it’d been finding someplace nearby to eat outside the office; a time that felt like a millennia ago.

“Why? Do you think it’s embarrassing?” Joyce was quick to the point when she asked.

“N–…yes. A little…” Emily admitted bashfully.

The last time she had a lunch box was when she was in elementary school. The only association she had was from being in the fourth grade with a small meal prepared the night before by her mom. She remembered the zippered lid, the ice packs her dad always kept in the freezer, and the slight bit of condensation that always lined the pouch when she opened it up.

Since Emily was putting herself out on a limb, it was one of the few times when Joyce didn’t completely devour her. “Em, adults use them all the time? They make ones without designs on them, you know?” And Joyce was hating herself every second for suggesting it. A lunch box without a cute look to it? If only Emily had a favorite cartoon…! Dreams were often easily forgotten, but even with a slight blur Joyce could recall the “Day-One Daycare” dream. Such a good one, too. If only this Emily could be just as excited about it… But that was the challenge, and of course the real Emily was always the best.

“I know they do, I’m just being…weird. I haven’t used one since I was a kid, so…yeah.”

“Mmhm,” Joyce nodded understandingly, though that didn’t make her look at the paper bag with any less disdain. It was like a personal stain on her record as a mother. As Emily’s mommy. The looks she would get. The stares. The judgment. Her ability to care for her baby would be called into question, and the anxiety would eat the woman away because she would doubt herself too… Just like she was doubting herself now.

Be forceful? Buy her one anyway? Then Emily would be upset…but how upset? The kind that she’d easily forgive and forget? Ugh! Balancing the grownup and toddler inside Emily was always so difficult… Though, only with time had she been slowly nurturing and caring for that smaller voice inside her partner’s head. Ironically, the baby in Emily’s brain was growing up. That was always exciting to think about. Little by little, slowly but surely, another side of Emily was becoming more and more prominent.

But again, Joyce wasn’t malicious, nor was she cunning with any ill-intent. It was all a natural progression with just a little guidance… This was all a product from mutual hard work, and to even have these “difficult” discussions and think that these sorts of things were just a testament to what things were like now. Every day was a gift, and every exhaustion, crying fit, problem, trial or tribulation was only possible because they’d come so far.

And so much further they could go…

And by the time Joyce was done appreciating the moment, her lips were pulling back from Emily’s. “Don’t be so self-conscious, okay?”

The energy had clearly shifted, now after a kiss Emily could see the soft and tender look on her girlfriend’s face. Something clearly must have struck a chord for her, and that always tempered Emily awfully fast. “I know…thank you.”

“No, thank you,” Joyce smiled, and it finally gave her the strength to undo her seatbelt. “Can I give you a hug on the sidewalk?” And yet she didn’t feel the need to ask for permission to kiss.

That contradiction didn’t go over Emily’s head and she burst out laughing. “That’s what you ask permission for? Yes, you can.”

A few seconds later both women were by the car, embracing each other like it was the last time they’d see each other again.

“...Shouldn’t you hurry?” Emily worriedly asked, pressed against her partner’s bosom. “I feel bad you’re going in late today…”

“Emily,” Joyce scoffed, rolling her eyes. “This is obviously more important than that.” And on a similar note that she would not be sharing, Joyce shuddered when it crossed her mind.

Knowing Sheila a bit better now… She’d likely even understand…

“Have fun today, okay?” Joyce reminded her, and Emily didn’t look too pleased to hear the encouragement.

“It’s work, Joyce, I’m not here to play!” Emily stressed, but even she had her initial doubts. She just wanted it to be what she’d been searching for this whole time. But by the fact of how supportive Joyce was being right now, the truth was obvious. Joyce was clear already that she didn’t like Emily’s relationship with work, or at least in searching for it. If they found a medium that made Emily feel productive and put Joyce at ease, maybe it wasn’t actual work at all. But then again, maybe it wasn’t an actual job that Emily needed…

Regardless, this was temporary, and Emily in the back of her mind was still coaching herself to keep pumping out applications. Without a doubt she would be going right back to it. Even if Joyce felt differently…

“Okay, then how about this: have a good day?”

“Mmm… Okay, that one works,” Emily nodded with approval, and Joyce laughed, hugging her tighter.

“You know, I could always just pay you to be my pretty office decoration?”

“Yeah, but then I’d have to live in your office all the time?”

“Emily, I own the company…I’m allowed to take things from my office back home.”

“But what if you forgot me one time?”

“I wouldn’t.”

“But what if you did?”

“I wouldn’t because I won’t forget.”

“But what if–!”

“Okay,” Joyce in a much more stand-offish attitude lightly shoved Emily back like she was leftover lunch, and Emily couldn’t stop giggling. “Nuh-uh. I’m done with you. Go! Shoo!”

And despite the laughing, Joyce played the part of the disinterested by crossing her arms and turning the other cheek. It’s exactly why she was nearly thrown off balance when Emily collided with her again.

“Sorry!” Emily giggled, squeezing her all over again. “Wanted one last hug.”

Joyce hugged back, but finally let her go. “Okay, and for real this time: have a good day!” She gave her a small wave while watching her charge walk just a short distance over to the brick steps of a familiar store.

“Bye!” Emily waved again, opening up the door with a jingling bell.

“Tell Amy I said hi!”

Then the door closed and Emily was gone.

Finally alone, the goosebumps and the butterflies were sprouting in full force. If she didn’t get back in the car, poor Joyce would’ve been pacing.

Her first day…her first day…!

Joyce’s lips quivered, tightening her grip on the wheel with no clear sense of self. It wasn’t like daycare, unfortunately, but how couldn’t she be proud…?! Emily. Her Emily was starting her first day of work!

And an emotionally frustrated whine took the sound of her car’s silent ignition.

“Today better go by quick…!”

---

Emily waited long enough to turn and look out the front store display to see that Joyce had left. It was silly, but the absence hit her with a strange sense of loneliness, like she really had just been dropped off for the day.

A whole day away from home, without Joyce, and in a not so familiar place with a fresh face that likely had more than the bare minimum expectations Joyce always kept for her. But those same standards were being kept with Emily and held against Amy, who was characteristically not at the front of her own business.

“Amy?” Emily called out somewhat quietly. What if she had someone with her in the back of the store? That’s what she did for all of her clients, right? Joyce was one of hers…and come to think of it, Emily was too. Though, she didn’t quite handle any of the actual business that had to do with herself.

She turned her head around, almost expecting a scare to sneak up on her, but there wasn’t anything. This was feeling eerily similar like the first time Joyce brought her here, only now it was just Emily to figure out the mystery.

Should I call Joyce…?

Wait! What?! What was she thinking? Why did Joyce have to fix her problems? Who even said there was one? It was just an assumption; one that Emily out of reflex didn’t even try to solve herself.

Awkwardly, she walked behind the front desk, almost expecting some kind of alarm to go off, but either Amy wasn’t paying for upkeep on her security system, or it was all just part of Emily’s imagination. Either way, the only noise was from her own footsteps and bagged lunch slipping deeper into the domain. And just in case if the universe still needed justification for her bold behavior, the girl muttered quietly, “I do work here after all…” Sort of, at least.

The questionable employee peeked inside the workshop, dressing and display room. The sofas were empty, a nearby table with pins, threads and tiny cushions looked busy, but ultimately unattended. The multi-tiered stage surrounded by mirrors had no doll to debut clothes, and frankly the store was feeling quite empty.

“How does she just leave this place unlocked…?” Emily found herself making comments again, mindlessly tidying a small pile of sketch papers. It was a messy workshop, but Emily could only guess that there was a method to the madness. She peered up and around at the wood panel ceilings, only then seeing the one truly spotless place in the room that she herself sure wasn’t one to talk.

Emily made messes too, only that she had a mommy to clean them up for her.

“Amy?” Emily called with another sigh, finally making for the stairs up to her apartment.

Keeping her manners first, she knocked on the front door, waiting patiently by its side. Then…she knocked again. And…again.

“Come on…” with a tinge of impatience, Emily went for the handle and turned. And all forms of security and privacy be damned, this door had been left unlocked too.

It was the same, cleanly and modest industrial apartment she remembered from the first time. The same couch where she waited for Joyce and Amy to talk business downstairs…

But finally, after wandering from the entrance, through the store and finally to the proprietor’s very home, Emily was finally greeted.

The uncertainty fizzled a tiny bit and her frown perked into a cute smile. With a sparkle in her eyes, Emily cooed out, “Ashes!”

Obviously it wasn’t Amy, and obviously Emily would have to keep searching, but that didn’t change that she was suddenly catching up with an old friend.

The black ball of fur was patrolling on the square of countertop in the open kitchen, meowing as his pursuit was instant. His gait was sly and smooth and despite the speed his paws moved with grace! From off the counter he hit a chair, and from the chair and onto the floor. With no more jumps needing to be taken, the cat wasted no time in strutting right on over to the girl.

Emily dropped to her feet, already pleased to be remembered so fondly. Even in her jeans she could feel his body brush against her legs, clearly working hard to cast a new coat of cat on her to reclaim ownership. Joyce just couldn’t win…

“Did you miss me?” She giggled as she held out her hand and Ashes walked right through it from head to tail, arching his back just to feel it brush his body all over. He purred while she pet, and the reunion was sweet and refreshing. “Ashes, do you know where Amy is?” Yes, it was silly to ask a cat that sort of thing, but it was even sillier to think your stuffed animals could be as jealous as your girlfriend. Ashes didn’t speak human tongue, but at least he was something animate and sentient.

But instead of a verbal answer, the only thing Emily got was a wiggle from his tail. Though, while Ashes didn’t have anything to say, now when she stopped for a second, Emily could hear a distant noise… Like a rhythmic repetition.

“It’s not my fault if she didn’t meet me at the entrance, right?” Emily asked Ashes, and thank goodness the silence didn’t mean no.

After one last pet Emily rose to her feet and that sent Ashes pacing circles around her like a shark in the water. Though once she started moving, suddenly he had become her personal escort, taking to her side the whole trip down the hallway, venturing closer to the mysterious noise.

She stopped short of a seemingly normal, inconspicuous door. But alas, if her personal secrets taught her anything, that meant anything seemingly normal could lead to the farthest things from it.

So instead she knocked this time.

“Amy?” Emily called as she knocked, waiting for an answer. Nothing, but the noise was certainly behind this door. She looked down at Ashes who was already looking up at her, giving the feline friend a “what gives?” kind of face.

“It’s not my fault if she’s not gonna listen…! Amy!” Emily raised her voice, knocking louder again. And finally, something changed. The noise a second later had stopped, then finally she heard naked feet moving across the floor. Closer and closer…right until–!

The door swung open and Emily reflexively took a step back, face to face with her person that she was supposed to meet.

“Oh, Emily!” Amy blinked then smiled. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with a pair of headphones resting around her neck. She smiled, but then frowned as her eyes looked like they were trying to see her own thoughts. “Wait…oh, wait,” she looked up and down, recalling where they were and where they were meeting right then. “Oh shoot! What time is it? Agh…! Sorry! Really sorry! I was supposed to be waiting for you downstairs!”

“Uhm…it’s okay, I just…wasn’t sure if I should come up here or not.”

“No, no!” Amy waved her off dismissively. “It’s good that you did. I usually listen to music while I work… Sorry I didn’t hear you knock at all. Uhm…” she pursed her lips as with her body taking up the doorway, she peered back into the room behind her. “Think you could give me a sec?” she gave an apologetic smile. “I’ve got uh…top secret stuff. Just lemme go hide it, kay?”

“K…ay…?” Emily repeated, and her own awkwardness didn’t impact Amy’s delight.

“Thanks! See Ashes already found you!” she laughed, then shut the door again.

Both pets standing in the hallway exchanged another wordless look with each other. But turning on her shoe, Emily with her escort walked back down the hall. It may have been making use of an expired offer, but Emily sat down on Amy’s couch with a stiff posture, holding her hands on her knees while she waited. With enough space between her backside and the couch, it left ample room for Ashes like any other cat to make surgical and affectionate movements by creeping behind her just to sit on her right side.

“Why do you like me so much…?” Emily wondered with a grin, petting the cat some more.

At least with Joyce Emily could try and ask her questions, even if she didn’t always fully understand the answer. Maybe the magic in that mystery made it all seem unconditional. Fitting for a mommy, but perplexing for a cat she’d only met on a few occasions. An affinity for pets, perhaps?

“Sorry, sorry!” Amy returned with the same energy Emily always seemed to know her for. She was short of her headphones and just in some loose pants and a long sleeve shirt. “Were you waiting long? Not just now, but like,” she twirled her finger in the air, “since you got here?”

“No…not too long,” Emily shook her head. “Do you really keep all your doors unlocked though?”

“No, not usually!” Amy pleaded for mercy as she excused herself to the kitchen. “I knew you were coming, so I left things unlocked just in case…” she explained over the noise of her fridge filling a glass with water. “I know, it’s bad. I’m scrambled enough to forget to keep track of the time, but reasonable enough to keep from having you locked out… So…?” She shifted her tone and hung her head over the window looking into both rooms. “How’ve ya been?”

“I’ve been…good,” Emily answered, though in a very delicate manner. She was brave enough to have done what she did when she called Amy the first time, dressing in Joyce’s clothes, but she sure didn’t want to share it. In fact, it felt like there was a whole lot of her life that was just off limits to conversation topics now. Every talking point now somehow involved her in diapers with Joyce… Maybe if she just skirted some of the unnecessary details…

“Hmm?” Amy hummed curiously, but kept a knowing look on her face. “Yeah? That’s good. How about Joyce? Has she been busy or are you two up to stuff regularly?”

Stuff? What did she mean by stuff? Was she implying…? Or was it just a normal kind of “stuff?”

“She’s been…good. U-us too, yeah. Yeah…”

“Would it be easier if I talked about myself?” Amy politely asked, and as shameful as it was, Emily had an appreciative look. So right after laughing, Amy took the lead. “I always seem to be working on something! But it’s the good kind of busy. Lots of different things people want, so, you know, gets the creative juices flowing and stuff.”

Emily found herself asking, “Do you take breaks?”

“Sometimes!” Amy groaned with a stretch leaning from side to side. “I take the usual holidays off, but other times I might take an unscheduled sorta thing. Can’t say I go far though,” she pointed her finger right at Emily, or rather, the animal right next to her. “Got my hands full with that little guy.”

Emily nodded, petting the cat again.

“Thanks again so much for agreeing to help me out, by the way! Having the occasional assistant is a huge help for me,” and then she caught Emily right before she could interject, “--even if that assistant can’t sew!”

“Yeah, of course,” Emily smiled, but the awkwardness didn’t subside.

Does she even really need my help? This isn’t even a job-job…it’s just to keep me busy… Did Joyce ask her to do this? Was this all some big plan just to get me out of the house?

“Oh!” Amy stammered, and Emily blinked back in surprise. “What’re you still doing with your jacket on?” She walked over immediately, beckoning with her hands as a sign for Emily to disrobe. “Be comfy, okay? Not like there’s a dress code, or anything…” and suddenly a second set of hands was taking the jacket off her, and Emily watched her deposit it on one of the few hooks still empty by the door. “Shoes too!” she barked without even needing to turn, and with a jolt Emily was already fidgeting with her laces.

Apparently Amy put the “Fuck that!“ in formal.

“Is this your lunch?” Amy was already picking the bag up off the floor.

“W-wait, I can get that!” Emily reached for the bag, but she was too late. Maybe if she could’ve kept her mouth shut it wouldn’t have happened, but the urgency must have compelled Amy to look. She lifted the bag just a bit higher, softening her look once she saw it.

“D’awh…!” Amy fawned at the seemingly normal paper bag, then kept leaning out just to see the look on poor bashful Emily’s face. “Did Joyce write this? Does she always do stuff like this?”

“N-no…” It wasn’t even the right word, but for lack of a better one given how embarrassed Emily was suddenly feeling, Joyce had exacted her revenge on being denied a dedicated lunch box for her girl.

“How else are we gonna know which lunch is yours?” Joyce said in a not so distant memory.

“Guess we’ll know which is yours,” Amy chuckled, and Emily wanted to go back into hiding.

On the front of her bag, illustrated in thick black marker was a large heart with Emily’s name, all in big capital letters scribbled right on it.

Maybe I should have just turned the bag inside out…

“Does it need to be refrigerated?” Amy asked as she was already taking it away.

“Yes please… Only if you have the space…?”

“Yes, I have the space! Emily, don’t be so stiff! Can I get you something to drink? Sit back on the couch some more!”

“Sorry…” Emily muttered as she did as she was told and “got comfortable.”

“Don’t apologize either,” Amy said as she shut the fridge door. “So how’d you get here?”

“Joyce dropped me off… I feel bad because she’s going in late today because of me.” An alternative could have easily been worked out, especially just either from taking the train or a bus; something Emily in a pre-Joyce era wasn’t a stranger to. This wasn’t even considering being a burden to Joyce’s chauffeur.

“Well I think she wouldn’t have if it would’ve actually been a problem, Emily,” Amy said as she forced a glass of water into Emily’s hands.

And having an unfortunate track record with open cups on solfas, Emily was quick to stand up with her drink, wandering over to one of the bar stools.

“You don’t work on weekends, do you?” Emily asked after sipping her water.

“Mmm…well,” Amy’s eyes started to dramatically drift, “If it tends to be something fun, I can sort of be a slave to it… It’s kinda like a fifty-fifty.”

“Is it okay for me to ask what you were working on in there?” Emily pointed past her shoulder and at the door just a little bit further down the hall.

“Sure, you can ask,” Amy smiled, then smirked, “but that doesn’t mean I have to answer? Top secret is top secret, unfortunately. More importantly, it’s still a bit early, isn’t it? Did you have breakfast already?” she pulled back and turned in place, surveying her kitchen like it was her first time seeing it. “We…have…stuff. Mm, yeah. We have stuff if you’re hungry. Want anything?”

“No, that’s fine,” Emily politely refused. “Uhm…Joyce already made me something.”

“Oh yeah? Is she a good cook?”

“Yeah, she’s honestly really good… She’s really amazing at everything she does, it feels like.” In spite of her flaws, those felt like the only pesky little technicalities that kept her girlfriend from seeming like genuine perfection. Maybe that was just the love talking, though.

“Oh,” Amy suddenly scoffed, and Emily gave her a weird look. “Hm? Oh! No, definitely, Joyce is an awesome person. Buuut…” Amy started, then pursed her lips. “Actually, never mind!”

Emily raised an eyebrow. “What? But what?” She was a gullible and innocent type of girl, hence why she could be baited so easily. Well, that may have been describing her to an extreme, but Joyce had certainly gaslighted her into being one.

“Truth be told,” Amy laughed apologetically, “Joyce already gave me a preemptive talking to… Something about not telling you details about her.”

“What? She didn’t!” Emily suddenly retorted, and her boss giggled.

“She did, I swear!” Amy said, and while she didn’t know, the whole reason for the restriction was all in part to Emily’s curiosity and Sheila’s unexpectedly loose lips. “So sorry, nothing specific about the J-word.”

“Really?” Emily asked again, but was already frowning. There wasn’t anything against Amy, of course, but it’d become yet another interaction filled with redactions by someone not even present to be censoring things live.

“Really,” Amy confirmed, “really…ish.”

“-ish?” Emily squinted just so she could read better in between the lines.

“-ish as in: keep chatting me up and yeah I’ll probably let something slip,” Amy shrugged like it was something simply inevitable.

Emily was certainly here to work and get things done, but she’d be lying if she said that Amy’s casual approach wasn’t comforting. All the same though, it was wearing down any sense of officiality that this got together may have had.

Shifting topics, Emily asked, “So if I’m gonna help clean up, you mean your workshop downstairs?”

“The workshop? Oh, the studio?” Amy clarified. “That sounds like a great idea, actually! Would it work for you if I showed you what you could sort downstairs, then I come back up here to finish some work?”

“Top secret stuff?”

“Super top secret,” Amy nodded affirmatively like her life depended on it. “Don’t worry though, once I finish up what I need to on an order, I’ll come down and work with ya. Makes it easier to chat that way. You can give me dirt on Joyce while you’re at it, too.”

“You want me to give up secrets on Joyce?”

“Of course! Just because I’m not supposed to talk about her, doesn’t mean you can’t? Unless…did she give you a gag order too?”

“No, she didn’t,” Emily grinned, suddenly learning just all the mischief Amy seemed to have. “But actually, would you rather I waited to start…? I don’t wanna take your workspace from you.” Was it the reason why she was working out of a room in her apartment this morning? Because she planned on Emily coming over?

“You’re not taking up my workspace, though?” The confusion wasn’t exclusive, but soon it was once Amy struck something inside her head. “Actually, guess I never told you or Joyce. Downstairs is kinda just the dressing-slash-studio area. I use that to let clients try their stuff on in-house where I can get feedback pretty quickly. Up here in my apartment is where I really get work done. Actually, we took your measurements downstairs that one time, didn’t me?”

“Uh…yeah, we did…” Emily answered much more weakly once the memory hit her in full. It was the first time they had met and all three of them were in the back room. It was the same day Joyce wanted to run some “errands” and that was the last one of the day. Errands were all well and good, however what wasn’t was when Joyce was pushing the envelope on things.

All she remembered about her clothes was that they were snug and one of her first dreaded diapers was hiding underneath… And just seeing Amy from across the kitchen window made her feel squeamish just remembering how close this woman was against her in one of her most vulnerable moments. Her padded rump contributed to those very numbers she’d been measuring and could have skewed her sizes… But they didn’t. They didn’t because she had worn something made by Amy before and it fit her perfectly. In other words, Amy knew about the diaper factor, and that was either because Joyce had told her or it was easy enough to determine that herself.

Was it because of that day Amy had started to know? Or was it something else? Coincidence? Bad luck, or calculated plans?

She was peppy, cheery and funny; all the things that made it so difficult to read any kind of ulterior thoughts and feelings. It made Emily want to ask, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. It was a double-edged sword. Just to satisfy the morbid curiosity she could learn to ignore, she’d be throwing the spotlight on something so touchy all over again.

And when her back was turned, Emily gave Amy another judgmental look. This was the first time with each other alone and she was as lax as could be; like it was just another day with another friend. How could she just do that? Unbeknownst to Emily, Joyce often felt conflicted by the same exact things…

“Ready to take a trip downstairs?” Amy asked.

“Sure…oh, I can take care of that?” Emily reached for her own cup as Amy took it away.

“Don’t worry, I’m closer, anyway!”

“Okay… Thanks.”

“No problem! If there’s anything you want, just let me know, okay? Or you can get it yourself, if you’re feeling brave,” Amy chuckled, and Emily smiled back.

“Wait, what happens if someone comes to the store when you’re upstairs?” It was an important question as they were headed down the stairs.

“Mmm, that shouldn’t happen. No one’s scheduled to come in earlier today. Just in case though, shoot me a text or give me a call, kay? I can take care of it from there. Either way, it shouldn’t come to that!”

“Mhm…” and Emily hoped the same. She didn’t like the idea of dealing with people on day one, especially in a role that felt as formless as a block of untouched clay. Where was the training? The orientation? She really was just coming over to a friend’s house…except without all the experience as friends…and she was getting paid. How much, she had no idea, but nor was she planning on asking. Being paid to stay busy in general right now was technically what she’d been looking for, and given how pseudo supportive Joyce had been, it probably wouldn’t end well if Emily outright refused. Not that she wanted to.

“Didn’t you say you needed me to try on some stuff for you?” Emily added as she watched Amy tidy up stray ends of her messes.

“Yyyyes! Yes, I did. That’s actually what I’m gonna bring down later. Oh–” and Amy turned her head to follow something around the room, casting a scowl. “Don’t suppose you mind company?”

“Hm?” Emily asked but was answered by a purring head rubbing against her again. “Ashes? S-sorry…” She apologized, and her four-pawed friend didn’t seem to mind much when she lifted him, gently holding his hanging body against hers. “I didn’t close the door; do you want me to bring him back up?”

“Believe me, I love him, but he’s always playing with my fabrics! I swear, he does it just because he knows it bothers me…!” and Amy made sure to give her seemingly innocent pet a death stare. “But nah,” she smiled again, “he can stay down here since there’s no customers. If you get tired of him though, just lock him back upstairs. So, that means best behavior, got it?” Amy warned her cat, and all Ashes did was meow right back.

With an understanding probably having been reached, Emily set the cat back down, leading him to quietly slip away, always hanging nearby and in sight.

Amy’s gaze followed her pet with the same playful disdain she always seemed to have for him. “Y’know, maybe I can convince you two to babysit him just so I can go on a real vacation…”

“Really?” Emily asked honestly, and Amy laughed.

Amy chuckled, sounding like she wasn’t quite serious until Emily. “Yeah? I’m sure he’d be low maintenance around you two. Whenever Joyce comes by he always wants to play with her.”

“Really? Does Joyce like pets?” It never quite crossed Emily’s mind. They didn’t talk about that much, if at all.

“She seems like it…but, I don’t think she’s super keen on having one permanently.”

“What’d she say?”

“Mmm…I’m gonna leave it at that,” Amy deflected, looking like she was reminiscing on a sweet memory. “However! Joyce likes cute things. That’s your little factoid for the hour.”

“So that means you’re gonna tell me more?”

“That means my head is gonna be on a stake if I tell you too much. Gosh, you really don’t know how scary your girlfriend can be, you know?”

“Yes I do!” Emily quipped back with a laugh. And going for a case and point, Emily started to say, “Like a few weeks ago, Joyce went to this investor thing, and she left the nurs–” and as fast as she fell into the story the realization hit her like a brick wall. Her eyes went wide and the panic was immediate. In her haste to contribute to the conversation and share a story she’d gone out on a limb she wasn’t supposed to.

The room was quiet, and Emily was afraid to look at Amy head on. Did she notice what she was about to say, or was she just confused? Was it obvious that Emily messed up? Was she just going to let it go?

“Yeah? What about your nursery?”

The word was used and a sentence was finished, but it didn’t come from Emily. It didn’t come from Ashes, either. It came from the one other person privy not only to Emily’s diapers, but apparently her nursery now, too. If Amy didn’t know about it before, Emily clearly tipped off to it now.

Emily balled her hand as she crookedly straightened out, glancing up at Amy who looked just as interested and curious like it was any other conversation topic. She wasn’t seething with judgment, strangeness or disgust. Just simple, transparent interest. Like any good listener would be.

“Uh-uhm…nevermind…” Emily retreated with a quiet voice, but the attitude Amy had didn’t shift.

“Okay,” Amy shrugged with a smile, acting like they’d just been talking about the weather, or something equally normal or socially acceptable. Did…did she even realize what she just said? She used the N-word! Nursery! Was that lingo for a workshop or something in the seamstress world, or did she actually know? She had to…she’s seen Emily in a diaper before…!

“Want me to show you the best spots to start?” Amy didn’t skip a beat in asking the next question, moving on like they hadn’t hit a single bump. Carrying the conversation and keeping the rhythm as always.

“Sure…” Emily agreed and followed her over to some shelves in the wall, now coming off as much more self-conscious.

“So…it’s a lot of bits and bobs. Like,” Amy looked around the immediate space. “A lot. You can use these if you want,” she pulled out plastic drawer after drawer, showing and explaining where most stuff once was, and probably should still be.

“And don’t worry about those high shelves…!” Amy groaned as she stretched on her toes, failing to reach as a live example. “I gotta get on a chair for those…” And another fun piece of information that Emily didn’t get to know: Joyce would kill Amy if Emily had to be in a high place…

“So yeah? Just try to piece things out and maybe just sort what seems like they should go together. Anything’s better than what I have now, honestly.”

“Uhm…okay, sure. Yeah, I can do that,” Emily nodded, and Amy smiled appreciatively.

“Great! I’ll try to hurry up and finish upstairs so we can get started on some things down here. Remember: call me if you need me, and kick this guy out if he gets too annoying.”

After one more nod, Emily let Amy leave, focusing herself on the mess Amy had left her to work on.

“Oh, and Emily?”

She turned her head, finding Amy crouched on the final step.

“With everything I’ve done with Joyce, I don’t mind chatting about stuff like that?” And just in case there was room for misunderstanding, “Now you’ve got me all curious about the nursery!” she grinned and laughed. “Promise I’m good for venting, so if ya feel like it, chat away!”

Then she left, and Emily stood by herself, feeling her anxieties stalking her from the high shelves out of reach.

“How…” Emily whispered, “how can she just say it so easily…?”

Talking was difficult. Very difficult. Good thing she didn’t have to do that now, though. The only conversation she had to have was one with Ashes, remembering to pet and pamper him and his fur every moment or so while she became engrossed in a therapeutic deep clean.

Working for the woman holding second place in the diaper-spotting contest…

And just as casual about it, apparently…

---

“Thank you for moving my meetings up, Sheila…” Joyce dropped the passing remark as she walked by her employee’s station and into her office.

“Of course, Ms. Summers,” Sheila answered on her tail with a bundle of papers in hand. “Do you want to hear what you have today?”

“...Sure,” Joyce answered as she took her seat behind the desk.

“There was an earlier brief this morning on adjusting the amount of volume we’re producing for ventilators… After that you were scheduled to take a look at a few internal reports, but that can be done at any point this week…” Sheila rambled and listed, but Joyce was already staring off in space.

“Ms. Summers?”

“H-hm?” Joyce’s head perked up and the finger leaning against her temple fell back on the polished wood. “Yes?”

“Do you need me to repeat any of that?”

“...No. A volume report, right? Just give me some advance before it’s time for that… Is there something I can do from my computer?”

Work was stupid. Make no mistake, Joyce liked it, and sometimes even loved it. She absolutely did, but not as much as she loved Emily. She loved her so much that any new situation for her girlfriend was just secondhand shakes and worries for the supposedly dominant one in the relationship.

Joyce could be fragile when Emily was, and at least to her attentive, snooping secretary the signs were just as obvious.

“Is everything okay, Ms. Summers?” Sheila asked, but naturally a whirlwind of thoughts were going through her head. Not only for whether things were truly fine, but also what might be causing it… For starters, it wasn’t hard to imagine that coming in late today was part of the equation.

“Everything’s fine, it’s just…” Just…nothing. “Nevermind.”

There was no change in the look her secretary was giving her, but Joyce knew immediately she had already given her more than enough crumbs to work with. How was she supposed to hide secrets from someone she had to work so closely with? From the person responsible for managing her entire day?

In order to separate Sheila from what she partially slipped herself into, it required Joyce to impede what was her very job. How ironic. How difficult.

And in Sheila’s shoes, she was deep in thought. Crunching numbers and considering alternatives, but every simulation seemed to end in upsetting her boss… Sheila remembered their meeting after her night with Emily quite vividly. It was a clear sign she had crossed a line, both because she overstepped her bounds and her boss had already been pushing her in that direction.

A mutual making of the circumstances, but it was what it was. And Sheila had been forthright and honest to a fault. There would be no more lies, no more secrets or absences of truth, and that started with confessing her interest and love for what happened with Emily. How much fun it was, how nostalgic. It was being just as honest when she also said that she didn’t quite understand why, or to what degree and what she liked particularly. It was shameful, but she wanted more. Another chance to experience what she had yet to fully grasp.

It was a poor analogy, and a bit cheesy, but she needed more experience. More data? A conclusion couldn’t be reached quite yet, but she wanted another chance…

So she looked at her boss quietly, wondering if something like that was even remotely possible anymore.

“Okay,” Sheila nodded, letting it stay at that. “Should I bring you something to drink?”

“Please.”

And Sheila was gone.

And Joyce was working, or at least trying to. Too busy thinking about Emily with a head stuffed full of worries, excitement and thoughts she couldn’t even begin to vent. Like many other times it was distracting, and even if she didn’t vent about it normally, just knowing she had to walk on eggshells around Sheila now was what made it that much more difficult. It was simply knowing that she couldn’t talk about it.

But it was for the best… It was separating the spheres that mattered. It wasn’t fair to involve Sheila if Joyce was just going to get upset all over again… Lord, she hadn’t even told Emily the full extent yet…

So distracting…

So distracting…

But as conflicted as she felt, it didn’t stop the passage of time. Like all plans though, most seemed to fall through. She had a chance to call Emily during lunch, but it wasn’t long. Of no fault of Sheila’s, but a shifted schedule meant less time to eat and less time to chat.

Past the midday, however, what was peculiar was a phone call again from Emily, and so soon?

“Emily?” Joyce answered the phone mid-walk down one of the halls of the building.

“Hi Joyce…”

“What?” Joyce was cradling the phone with both hands. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Emily murmured, sounding awfully reserved. “Uhm…can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can?”

“Can…can I wear a diaper?”

---

47 - Lunch

“Pins should go…” One turn. Two turns. Negative half a turn, and she found the bin. “There.”

Sifting through the little things was obviously the biggest problem. In trying to sort and clean through Amy’s workspace, it gave the clueless girl an awful lot of insight into the job of a seamstress, and possibly someone that just lacked organization. To the best of Emily’s knowledge Amy didn’t own a dog, but if she did, a rainbow-colored husky could have very well been the breed.

Stringy strands of different colored thread were just about everywhere. God forbid her understanding of the craft was far too shallow, Emily stuck the miscellaneous of the miscellaneous in a different bin conveniently located right next to the waste basket.

There were random buttons that seemed missing from a pair or set, but unlike socks at least they had enough individual character to possibly be deemed worthwhile. Hence why Emily had a separate tub just for that, too.

After the initial mess was gone, to the untrained eye at a distance, you’d might think Amy’s display room was actually clean. Far from it, however, once you took a fine-toothed comb to it. Or specifically once you had Emily on her hands and knees looking underneath the couch.

“How does this get down here…?” She looked down at a spool still thick with unused thread and added it to the rest of the pile. Accumulated messes meant over time the most bizarre things could wind up in the most random places. And as Emily walked around in her thin and flimsy socks, she was hoping dearly that with each logistical failure she found that Amy was at least professional enough to never leave a sewing needle out on the floor…

Only halfway through the cleaning though did a simple yet strange thought pop into her head.

When was the last time I saw a mess…?

It was a broad question to ask with likely a thousand different ways to shoot it down, but thankfully in just the company of herself (and Ashes), she only had to deal with a biased critic.

Just about nothing ever seemed to spiral out of control, as of late. When blankets, sheets and comforters got rustled, nine times out of ten Joyce had them straightened out at some point in the day. Emily helped too, but management seemed to be very strict about her doing much of anything other than recreational activities. Such as…playing with toys, or getting handsy with her mommy.

But even the toys. Re-learning how to enjoy handheld things that weren’t electronic, or at least didn’t have a digital screen was embarrassingly a novel concept for the modern-age girl. She’d play with Pip, drag him around from one room to another in the apartment, sometimes bring a bottle with her too, but also forget it in other places. Sometimes she may have forgotten Pip too…

Emily could leave small messes quite often, but Joyce moved like the wind in her wake to take care of it. And to repeat, it wasn’t like this for a lack of trying. Emily was discouraged from helping clean up. From cleaning up her toys, cleaning her own face, or…actually, on the topic of…not clean, even her own diapers…

Maybe that was it? Joyce just liked cleaning? Did that explain why she wanted to be a mommy?

And while Emily missed the mark on her thought exercise, she petted her assistant who had yet to contribute anything to the effort other than meows and demands for more affection. Who would ever want someone like that?

Emily kept petting the cat anyways, possibly just so she didn’t read into the thought too much.

“I wonder what her actual workshop room is like upstairs…” Emily mused, nearly straddling the top of the same couch Ashes was resting on. Then she stroked his fur some more, getting a tad bit distracted. “I wonder if we’d ever get a pet…?” Maybe. Maybe not. Emily wasn’t even sure how Joyce felt about pets, though if personal experience was any indication of anything, she sure was good at taking care of stuff…

I wouldn’t want her being the only person who takes care of them, though…

Case and point, Emily was certainly a good pet petter. A single finger for chin scratches could make Ashes pur like an engine.

But maybe Joyce didn’t want a pet? After all, she essentially had one already. A bubbly, blushing, embarrassed pet that helped out on rare occasion.

I’m not a pet…

“Emily? You down there?”

And she may have sprung off the furniture in a totally not cat-like fashion.

“Y-yeah!” the startled employee called up to the banister.

The wooden steps whispered tiny creaks and squeaks with each foot dropping by a level. Amy was hunched over, leaning her head into the room with pure awe and an open smile.

“Woow! Look at this place!” her head kept turning until it finally ended on Emily with her hands sandwiched between her legs. “It’s almost like I never even touched it!” And while Emily smiled appreciatively, Amy had no qualms in laughing at her own expense. “You did such a great job!” Amy said it again, and it was another pleasant tickle for the girl.

“Thank you…but uhm, I still need to organize a few more things…and I didn’t fully check over–”

“Oh, that’s fine, it’s fine! You don’t need to do that now,” she shrugged it off. “I wasn’t keeping track of the time; it’s just about time for lunch, isn’t it? Wanna come upstairs and eat?”

Was it really that time already? Sure enough, a glance at her phone was indicating a time just shy of noon. Time really did fly by…

“Er…” Amy interrupted with an exaggerated worry, “Please come upstairs and eat?” Then her eyes darted around, looking for the bugs or plants that were assuredly listening in on their most secret of conversations. In a not so whisper she said, “Joyce said I should make sure you’re free soon to call her…”

“O-oh,” Emily stammered back, remembering what Joyce had asked her to do earlier that morning. Call her during lunch. They talked about that in the car, so… “W-wait, Joyce told you that?”

“You work for a very strict union, Emily! Now scooch!” Amy paced around surprise and shock personified and was the caboose kicking the locomotive into motion. Then like an afterthought, showing affectionate disinterest like her partner in crime did the same for her, she glanced back at Ashes. “Oh, and I suppose you’ve earned a break too, freeloader.” And after a dramatic stretch the cat hopped from its pedestal to the floor.

“Do…do you always talk to him like that?” Emily half-stumbled up the steps, watching for the cat that assuredly followed.

“Do I sound crazy?” Amy laughed as she brought up the rear. “It’s either that or I start talking to my mannequins, but at least Ashes is alive!”

Then with reluctant honesty, each word from Emily was another step down the slope of decibels, flattening out into an almost muted whisper. “No, I mean…I…kind of do it…too…”

“Hm? Oh yeah? Who’s your sound board?”

“Huh? I guess it’d be…–! It’s Ashes! I mean, I was doing the same thing with Ashes…” Was it really lying if she bounced from one truth to another? Poor Pip. If only the world was ready for their relationship.

It was on the straight and narrow from then on to the second story, watching the door ahead like nothing mattered. Just as Emily crossed the threshold a light brush on her back sent her through.

“One chickling…” Amy sang, then hung by the doorway, waiting for the last soldier to scurry in, “Two…” Then with a soft click the door was closed. “Okay. Lunch time,” she clapped her hands and departed for the kitchen. “Oh, if you’d prefer to watch something while you eat, feel free to turn on the TV. After you call Joyce?” and Amy gave her the kind of look any expectant mother might. Thank goodness she was just an employer, though.

And before the phone could touch Emily’s ear Ashes was meowing, ever so impatiently at his owner.

“Shut it, I'm working on it!” the proprietor complained all the way to the pantry.

One buzz…

Two buzz–

And not a third. Instead Emily had the misfortune of dialing the wrong number out of her contacts list. Rather than her mommy elsewhere in the city, sitting in her skyscraper office ready to eat right around the same time, it was instead a prim, prip and posh female fellow warmly receiving the other end of the line. “And to whom is this that I have the utmost pleasure of speaking with?”

But alas, there was no danger afoot, as Emily was well-trained in the art of stranger danger.

“Sorry, wrong number!”

“Wait–” Too late. Bye-bye.

“Wasn’t Joyce?” Amy asked on the trip back with a large bag of pet food in her arms.

“Nope,” Emily shook her head and swung her legs off the bar stool. “It was.”

“It was?” she cocked her head up over the pouring bag. “So then why’d you…?”

Then Emily’s hands got the jitters, but not from nerves this time; technological vibrations. The phone had to have been cursed. There was simply no other explanation. Radioactive? Haunted? Those kinds of bomb defusals weren’t her wheelhouse, so with caution she held out the phone far away and made for a blind swipe with her finger on the screen.

“Emily Sen!” A stern tone erupted from the speakers, and even without the mode in effect Amy had heard enough to laugh.

“Emily, you didn’t!” Amy as a new spectator was equal parts shocked and amused, and having a supporter made the culprit grin sheepishly herself.

“Joyce? Hello?” she choked down a laugh.

“Did you just hang up on me, missy?” Joyce, a woman that when she sneezed wiped her nose with millions and could make the world move on a whim, had finally met her match; a tricksy little girl who thought herself apparently untouchable just because they weren’t in the same room.

“NoOOo…” Emily exaggerated, just as poorly as Joyce did her impression. “Someone else picked up the phone!”

“That so? Guess that means my voice must’ve been that good!” Certainly. If Joyce didn’t make it as an entrepreneur, at least by Emily’s story time standards she’d be a shoe-in as a voice actress. Come to think of it, Joyce would be great at a lot of different things… “Buut… Next time you hang up on me, you’re gonna make me sad. Understood?”

“Gotcha,” Emily giggled, and her girlfriend was a bit toothy herself on the other end. “Are you on your lunch break now?”

“Getting to the end of it, actually,” Joyce sighed, staring down her digital clock at the corner of her desk like it was evil incarnate.

“Should I have called sooner?”

“No, you called at just the right time,” Joyce opted for a not so honest answer. The last fifteen minutes had actually been spent drawing circles with her finger in her binder, hoping the stars would somehow align before time ran out, and thankfully they did. “So? How’s your first day?”

“It’s been fine, but I can talk about that stuff at home. How’s your day?”

“Boring,” Joyce flatly answered. And very busy. Who knew coming into work late meant a compressed schedule? “And yes, but you can also talk about it now?” Hiding her enthusiasm around Emily was a sport she was more than happy to lose at. “Soo, what have you been doing?”

“Cleaning, sorta,” Emily shrugged, even if the gesture didn’t quite translate over the phone. “Amy said she was gonna have me help her with what she really needed later, so it’s probably gonna be after lunch. You know that room she took us to? Behind the front desk? She’s having me organize that.”

“Well that’s nice of you to do!” Joyce beamed, and Emily as appreciative as she was, embarrassingly side-stepped the comment.

“I mean, I guess, but she’s paying me…”

“True,” Joyce admitted, “but still doesn’t mean I can’t be proud of you!”

“Oh, and Ashes was downstairs with me too, so I had some company.” Very unhelpful company.

“Well that’s nice; I think he plays favorites with Amy, though. She always says that he tries to give her the cold shoulder when someone he likes shows up,” she laughed, thinking of all the times he’d be nuzzled right against her leg, purring so sweetly.

“He’s a nice cat, though,” Emily started to spin in her seat. “But really, is today just boring?”

Her partner’s lips popped from the other end. “Unfortunately, it just is! More importantly though,” seemingly important, Joyce’s tone lowered an octave and the matronly might became heavy. “And Emily Sen, do not lie to me, understood?”

Emily knew that voice. That horrible, worrywart-inducing voice. Instantly it was a moment of self-reflection. The girl’s mind raced from cabinet to cabinet inside her head, searching for the one, itty-bitty piece of incrimination; something she had done to warrant the scolding she was just about to get. But she couldn’t think of anything and the search was fruitless. What could she want?

“Did you climb up on anything today?”

And suddenly her big ball of panic popped like a balloon. “Joyce!” Emily whined, losing her composure with her back to the stage, leaving Amy to quietly watch with a speculating grin. “Wh-what are you talking about?!”

“Is that your way of telling me you do?”

“No! I didn’t!” she cried into the phone, cognizant enough to process the embarrassment, but not to remember who was listening in on her pout. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t!”

“Oh yes it absolutely does. Emily, I said I didn’t want you climbing in the kitchen before, didn’t I?”

“Y–!” she was about to agree, but for once she could see the tripwire lying in wait. “That…that was different! That was when I…” Finally, her memory kicked in and her audience was acknowledged. Her rage sputtered out into a quiet ember as she whispered into the phone, “I thought that was different…?” Hopefully it wasn’t vague enough, coupled with that the only real secret they ever tried to keep had to do with diapers. Joyce made rules during baby time, so seeing them flare up during grownup days was certainly alarming.

“Emily, no.” And Joyce leaned out from her seat, looking for a silhouette that wasn’t there on the other side of her foggy glass door. It’d become an opportune moment so she rose from her chair, pacing around the office. “Rules like that are to keep you safe and from getting hurt. No diapers is no excuse to put yourself in dangerous situations. Do I make myself clear?”

Were they really doing this now? Emily tried to stay inconspicuous, turning her head just slightly to see if Amy was hopefully distracted. She saw a phone in her hand and her eyes on it. Perfect! Amy was distracted.

“Joyce…” she started up again, wary of her words, and jealous that by the sound of it Joyce didn’t have to be. “I’m fine, okay? I don’t need those kinds of rules when I’m like…this…”

And it was the pushback. The tiny, itty-bitty retaliations that tickled Joyce so sweetly. Danger was danger and her fear was real, but discussions like these always made her giddy. How couldn’t mothers not love it when their kids throw a tantrum? The indignance, the back-talking, and rebellion. It was a chance for their kid to make their opposition clear, and by the same token it was the perfect moment for the parent to make a crushing, iron-willed teaching moment.

“Emily?” Joyce’s voice was patient, but the expectation for a response was thick and heavy. And while she waited with her loving intensity, she peeked outside her office one last time, making sure there was absolute secrecy.

And Emily, with her sixth sense finally active and detecting the shitstorm she just waltzed herself into, delicately slipped off the stool and nervously walked herself away to Amy’s couch. “Yes…?”

It’s too fun getting to come up with this stuff… “Who wears the big girl pants?”

Big girl…? And let it be Emily’s one and only allowed moment of weakness, but her eyes as if needing a second opinion other than her own sanity slowly glanced down at herself. “Me…?”

“Nuh-uh. Try again.”

“Us…both?”

“Halfway there!” Joyce praised the answer, yet patronizingly beckoned for more. “Come on, sweetie, who?”

“...You?”

“Ah-huh, that’s right. Mommy wears the big girl pants, and that means Mommy makes the decisions. And because I do, you need to understand that I don’t make those decisions lightly, okay?”

“Joyce…” Emily leaned from side to side, dearly hoping that Amy was really invested in something interesting on her phone… Emily in a hushed voice tried to rush the conversation along, “Can’t we talk about this later? I get it, okay? I understand…”

And all she got in response was more syrup and sugar, making her feel smaller and smaller with each passing syllable. “I know you do, baby, but I also know that sometimes you need reminders?” Maybe she didn’t, but Joyce certainly needed recharges like this. Who was this really for? “But, okay, I think I’ve made my point. But Emily, who makes the rules?”

Every question was like pulling a tooth, assuming the feeling was hardstuck and difficult, but erupted in a euphoric feeling. So probably not quite like pulling a tooth…

“...You do…”

“Mhm,” and by the tone of her hum, Emily could practically hear the solemn, motherly nod happening at the same time. “And who’s job is it to follow them?”

“...Mine…” They were in separate rooms and separate buildings, but even that sense of distance didn’t seem to add any more slack to the emotional and mental harness Joyce had her strapped in.

“Good. Very good!” Joyce beamed, then chuckled, as if the harbinger to announce that all was well and peppy again. “Okay, go eat your lunch now, alright? And make sure to have a good rest of your day!”

If it was within the means of being a Mommy, Joyce was scarily adept at flipping her mood switches. Emily was still trying to come off the headspace she’d just been forced into, but was stable enough to close out the conversation.

“Okay…” Emily exhaled quietly, “Mhm. You too.”

“And Emily?”

Oh no. More? “Yeah?”

And then a quiet hum started, growing and growing in noise and joy as Joyce made a happy cheer. All courtesy of a private office on an executive floor.

“Mommy loves you soooo much!”

“J-Joyce, are you actually at work?” Emily couldn’t hide the concern given how liberal her partner was being. Was there really no one around to hear this?

And all Joyce did was laugh.

“Yes, would you believe it, I am! Now I’ll say it again since you didn’t say anything back; Mommy loves you!”

And just like the first, Emily was glad she was sitting to hear it. The mantra made her legs weak with joy. To consider how warped she was to be so happy over such a little thing had a hand to her head like she was ready to catch the loose parts ready to fall out of her ear.

“I love you too…”

“Mwah!” Joyce kissed into the speaker. “Bye-bye!”

And they hung up.

It was like returning to another dimension once she put down the phone. Emily looked around the open apartment like she’d forgotten where she was. Another second gave her time to remember that it wasn’t her home. She was working, with Amy, and it was time for lunch. The atmosphere was cooling down and she had a look to keep up. A persona to maintain. Something with a semblance of maturity and composure just long enough until Joyce came and picked her…–

“Emily?” Amy made a small wave from the kitchen. “Still want lunch?”

“Y-yes, please,” and Emily with a half-broken mind was back on her feet and rushing over. “Sorry about that…”

“Sorry about what?” Amy chuckled and motioned for Emily to sit. “Thank goodness you called Joyce; she probably would’ve thought that I was slave-driving you, or something. You really have no clue how scary she can be–!” then with a self-disgusted gasp Amy clamped down on her own mouth. “See!?” she giggled, setting Emily’s bagged lunch down. “I told you stuff like that was gonna slip! And I hereby use my unlimited ‘Please don’t tell her I said that’ pass for the first time!”

“Okay, okay, sure,” Emily laughed right back and finally went into her lunch.

“So, she make you anything good?”

“Don’t know,” didn’t know what it was, but knew it’d probably be good, “she made it early this morning so I didn’t get to see.”

“Gosh, she keeps everything a secret, doesn’t she?” and Amy watched for the reveal, perching her chin on her knuckles.

Until the secret was no more. Before her was a hearty spread. A ripe banana, a cup of yogurt, sandwich, and a thermos. Though, when she wrapped her digits around the metal it didn’t feel warm. A drink?

“Oh wow, that looks good, huh?” Amy remarked as she turned away. “Here, lemme get you a plate to eat that on…”

“That’s fine, you don’t need to…” Emily insisted as she shuffled her lunch around, finding even a small stack of complimentary napkins as well. On top of a plastic spoon, Joyce really did think of everything…

“Emily, quit being such a stranger!” Amy chuckled with a firm quip, and dishware clattered until a wide black saucer was placed in front of the girl. “And also, keeps crumbs off the counter.”

Finally though she bit the bullet and ceased her complaining. “Thank you,” Emily settled and set her food on a new foundation. “I’ll make sure to wash it when I’m done.”

“And you shall do no such thing,” Amy’s eyes rolled with a smirk. “Either I’m gonna clean it, or my dishwasher will, and you are neither of those things,” she enunciated with a fat finger. “You’re gonna eat, enjoy yourself, chat with me a little, then we’re gonna go downstairs, work some more, and chit-chat the whole time. Do I make myself clear?”

The talking-to was swift and unexpected, leaving Emily in a daze that felt eerily nostalgic from just minutes prior. For a moment she was back to being in an obedient and attentive place, but only after Amy cocked her head did Emily snap out of it.

“O-okay, yeah… Thank you,” Emily finally accepted with a smile, then slightly sunk her head while she fumbled with the top of the cyan thermos.

“Good,” Amy didn’t seem deterred, then made the short trip back to the island where her food was. “So was Joyce on lunch too?”

“Yeah, I think so,” the girl with her dedicated sandwich container said as she pried off the lid. “I think she was busy, though…all because she took me here today.”

“Well if she is, I highly doubt she’d be surprised,” Amy shrugged. “She knew what she was getting into, Emily. Obviously you matter more than a tighter schedule?”

It felt awfully narcissistic to agree to a comment about herself, so Emily didn’t say much of anything to that. Instead she was reflecting on all the ways she’d been a bother today. Making Joyce get up earlier than usual just to make her lunch, making her even more busy at work just to drive her around, and effectively killing whatever attempt Amy made at trying to be friendly simply because she couldn’t disassociate from all the baby brain Joyce was infecting her with.

“Amy? Uhm…sorry, by the way…”

“Sorry for what?”

Here she was, apologizing for something she couldn’t even put into exact words. And yet, Amy undoubtedly knew it, and obviously Emily too, and yet the girl had hardly the courage or want to mention any of it in specifics.

“Just being…” her hands had fallen into her lap where her thumbs could mingle. “Reserved, and stuff? I’m just…” she sighed, “I’m being weird.”

“Yeah, you are,” Amy agreed, shoving Ashes off the counter and from her food at the same time. Cue the annoyed meow, and promptly ignored. “But it’s not like I wasn’t expecting that,” she chuckled. “Emily, I’m not gonna force you to talk about anything, but it’s the baby stuff, right?”

Again, her words were like ripping off a bandage, and to that point Emily nearly flinched. But slowly, she nodded remorsefully.

“I just want you to know it’s not like a taboo or anything, with me. If you’d like though I could be honest with you. Joyce pays for it, but I’m still kind of your seamstress, and all…” She let that sink in, staring Emily in the eyes, then sinking down to her lower half hiding on the other side of the counter. “Emily, need I remind you that the day we met I was taking your measurements when you were in a diaper?”

And what was thought to be a national secret was apparently public information. Emily’s eyes were as wide as her plate with a frightened gasp.

“Y-you knew?!”

“Your clothes fit, don’t they?” And Amy watched with a hand on the counter as Emily couldn’t keep her mouth closed, slowly slipping out of reality.

She knew that Amy knew about the diapers. It was obvious. She could have found out a million different ways, and yet…but…!

“Emily, you-houu? Hey?” A pat on the shoulder was what roped the girl back in. “I know about the diapers. I know about the clothes, because hey, I made them? The nursery,” possibly because somebody admitted to it… “and how much Joyce cares about you, too. I’m not saying this stuff to hold anything over your head, hon, but I’m trying to make a point that there’s no real secret between us?”

“B-but…” But what? But nothing! She knew. Obviously. Of course. The reserved attitude, the anxiousness, all of it today had just been formality, especially with how forthcoming Amy had been. She was standing at the halfway point since the day started, patiently waiting for Emily to finally open up about what she already had an understanding of. It was just being polite and maintaining formality.

“Look, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Amy stood back with her hands still glued on the marble top, smiling warmly.

Friends? Wasn’t she friends with Joyce, though? Kids weren’t friends with their mommy’s…– Lord, how bad was Emily? More aptly, wasn’t it weird to be friends with your girlfriend’s commissioned seamstress? Sure, maybe, but wasn’t it also weird for them to know about the diapers you wore, the nursery you had, and all the big baby clothes you needed too? Absolutely. Relatively speaking, friendship was the lowest in the pecking order. By monumental magnitudes.

“No?” Amy grinned, letting enough silence go by. “We’re not?”

“We are!” Emily stammered, then quickly settled herself back in. “I just…how can you talk about it so easily?”

“Because I am who I am?” Amy gave another clueless shrug. “Emily, I love making clothes for you. The cute ones, specifically,” she pointedly corrected. “If you asked me why, all I’d say is because I like cute things? I don’t know? Making them for an adult is just a…really cute juxtaposition,” she pinched her chin while she thought about it. “Point is, I like it, and that’s all there is to it. You wear diapers,” and Emily really did flinch that time, “and that’s also all there is to it, too? There’s a reason, I’m sure, but I don’t care, and you don’t need to either. I hope that I’ve made it clear already, but just so there’s no misunderstandings: Emily, you’re into baby stuff and that’s fine. I am too. So let’s not put up any walls around us because you’re nervous about spilling any secrets, okay? So who is it you talk to other than Ashes? Who, a stuffed animal?”

“N-no!”

“Ah! See?” Amy accused her with a finger, “No lying,” with a playful finger she sliced her own neck. “Who is it?”

And finally with her back against a wall, Emily bit her lip and made a nervous leap of faith. “...P…Pip. It’s Pip.”

It was supposed to be a gateway into a relaxed discussion, yet Amy drilled further like it was an interrogation. “What animal are they? Do they stay at home?”

“He’s…not an animal. He’s stuffed mochi. And yes, he stays at home.”

“Mhm?” Amy nodded attentively. “Wait,”she had a double take, “Mochi? What’s that?”

“It’s like a dessert, so it’s not really an animal…”

“Do you play with him?”

“Not…not completely…”

“But a little?”

“No, not a little.”

“Not a lot?”

“No, not a lot.” Emily shook her head skeptically. Didn’t they start with that?

“Well what do you do with him?”

“I dunno? I just…bring him into other rooms, and stuff.” Why did she even want to know?

“Here,” and in the midst of the questionnaire, Amy had Emily’s yogurt in her hand, peeling off the foily top. “Have that while we talk.” And Emily, the demure and domesticated, actually accepted it. “So you take him with you around the house? That sounds like playing to me?”

“How? I just…use him like a pillow, and stuff.”

“So cuddles?” Amy clarified, like she was about to pull out a dictionary. “Sorry, Em,” she gave her a hopeless look, “sounds like playing to me.”

“Wh-what does it matter if I play with him, or not?”

“That’s the whole point,” Amy frowned right before grinning, “it doesn’t.”

It didn’t matter who or what Emily played with. It didn’t matter what she did, what she wore or how she acted. Amy was clear from the start that she didn’t care to the point of foregoing all judgment completely. She made it clear that she was interested and willing to bounce back on any kind of conversation, as long as Emily was brave enough to pull out what Amy already knew. So many obstacles and so many gymnastics over a pointless chase.

“Emily,” Amy sighed with a hand against the nearby beam, “you’re kinda putting me on the spot here? Can’t I just chat with my friend, or am I gonna have to be bored and keep to myself all day?” Then she turned the pressure up just a little more. “Still wanna know about the nursery…!” Amy sang, and Emily was either on the brink of shutting down or blowing up completely. She needed a heaping helping of yogurt to deliberate.

“That strawberry?” Amy peered over the chunks of red hiding in the creamy white.

“Yeah…think so…” Emily murmured from her seat. It was their constant sidesteps and casual shifts into much tamer topics that kept throwing the girl off. She couldn’t code switch like Amy could. Amy was a sewing machine, rapidly and vigorously tying together all topics entirely; until there was no more distinction and separation between casual and confidential. The entire day was just a melting pot of emotions and ideas. Casual was exactly that, even if it meant the weather or Emily’s latest punishment.

She swallowed her treat, and Amy was already fussing with removing a banana from its peel.

“Do…do you really wanna know?”

But first, with a naked fruit in her hand, Amy asked, “Want me to cut this up?”

Damn it. Another juggle in topics. Every swap was like a lossy translation. Every switch meant some kind of steam was lost. She had to be secretive and guarded, but not when it came to things as mundane as her own lunch. She couldn’t keep going from sharp to dull without slowly averaging out in between. What kind of mind games was this woman playing? “N-no…”

“Okay,” and the woman took the trash with her. “And yeah, Emily, I’ve asked like twice now! Tell me what’s up! Or don’t? But if you don’t then we’re gonna need to find something else to talk about because I don’t wanna just hear my voice all day.”

More yogurt was consumed and so was some of her banana. Perfectly ripe. Soft, but not too soft and with just the right amount of firmness… Joyce probably wasn’t that methodical, but even in times like these Emily couldn’t help but think about her. This was her chance, wasn’t it? Someone to talk to? To vent? Joyce was always her number one confidant, but even with her, especially with how intimate they were– with this, she for lack of a better explanation was too close to the crime…

“Well it’s…it’s not even that big of a deal…”

“Ugh, perfect then!” Amy slapped her counter, “that means you can tell me! The more you make me wait, the more curious I get! Right, Ashes?” Amy barked at her pet with a sharp pivot on her neck, and on command with impeccable comedic timing, the cat meowed right back. “Oh! He actually meowed!” Amy laughed in a moment of self-surprise. “But I swear, I’m not a crazy cat lady or anything!”

Even Emily in her mental muck, stuck at a crossroads found it in herself to smile and even giggle. Her toes were anxiously pressing against the wooden panel underneath the counter and her bare elbows hung off the edge, but all those adrenaline-fueled sensations were starting to drop as the tempo relaxed and her guard was being disarmed.

So she wiped the corner of her mouth and finally and truly surrendered herself. “...So do you remember how I mentioned about Joyce going to an investor thing…?”

“Yes,” Amy nodded attentively, but didn’t spare another second in interrupting. “Actually, wait!” she held out a stopping finger. “Let me make some coffee real quick?”

And like a cold splash of water Emily was halted on the tracks. “Oh, uh, sure. Actually…could I have some too?”

“Yyyes…” Amy answered half-heartedly, obviously with her head in a different place, and her eyes on something else. “What’d Joyce pack you in that thermos?”

Emily looked over at the blue metal tube, “Oh right, I forgot…” and she fumbled with the cap and unscrewed the top. It was hard to see, but it certainly wasn’t anything hot.

“Want a cup?” Amy, a lot like Joyce, seemed to shoot while she asked her questions.

“Thanks,” Emily accepted the glass which became the perfect moment for Amy to take the thermos for herself.

“Think it’s wine?” Amy tried to tempt her with an excited look, and Emily gave her a skeptical smirk. “Yeah,” she dropped the suspense, “probably not…”

And out poured into Emily’s cup a familiar amber substance. Juice. Apple, to be specific.

“Apple juice, too?” Amy sounded nothing but impressed. “Jeez, she really does treat you like a royal, huh?” and so did she by screwing the cap back on for Emily. “Alrighty, actually, just chat with me anyways while I make my stuff. I’m listening!”

Apple juice, yogurt, a banana, and a sandwich. A spread fit only for the most kingly of kings, or princy of princesses. While she balanced her intake of all the different sides of her meal, Emily finally opened back up. “So you remember the event I mentioned?”

“Yeah, the one Joyce went to?”

“Mhm. So it was an overnight thing and she had to take a plane early in the morning. And when we…” the first roadblock was always the hardest because it meant covering new ground. “Whenever we…do our thing, the nursery is open… So when we aren’t, Joyce keeps it locked…” As honest as she was being, her voice and volume were hardly up for the challenge. And yet Amy seemed to be hearing it all without issue.

“Do you guys have like a key for it?” Amy asked over the noise of her squirbling coffee machine.

“Yeah, but Joyce has it, and as far as I know there’s only one…” Maybe they had two, but Emily didn’t even know where Joyce kept the first. On her person at all times? It was bad timing, but a small, mischievous activity was suddenly coming to mind. Now she had a small scavenger hunt she could try and do someday…

“That’s a good idea, though. To keep people from accidentally walking in, and everything,” Amy openly thought.

“Yeah,” Emily nodded, though she could imagine a few more reasons why she had a key for it… “But anyway, I think she was in a big rush that morning, because she forgot to lock it.”

“Oh!” Amy gasped, despite hardly knowing the gravity. But she wasn’t ignorant to storytelling, which is why she kept looking back excitedly from her coffee pour. “So did you go in? Do you guys have a rule about that sort of thing?”

“W-well…” Emily was certainly good at following rules. Even as a kid, barring her occasional upsets that was fair to expect from any typical child, held them in high regard. She understood the concept of cause and effect; consequences. Breaking rules begets punishments. Simple as that. “Since it was just gonna be me there the whole day…” Why was she looking away? Why were her eyes off to the side? “I may have gone in…”

“Emily!” Amy gasped again, and the sound of surprise was almost paralyzing. It sounded like round two with Joyce all over again, except with a totally different vibe. The disappointment and disapproval was all there, but unlike Joyce’s cool, tough and teasing love approach, Amy’s was lush and uncut. She sounded like an actual…you know. Like little Emily, the sweetest girl she’d known for the toddler’s entire life had just committed a crime so severe, sitting so far above whatever standard or expectation she held her to.

“I-it wasn’t even that bad!” Emily cried and an instinctual switch put her on the defensive. “I-I went in because no one would know!” It was round two all over again, as if Amy were Emily’s second shot at making a plea to a case that had already been solved and shut.

“Yeah, but I’m guessing she did?” Amy raised an eyebrow, and all it took was the guilty look starting to show for the woman with a mug a coffee to laugh again, shaking her head. “What’d you even go in there for if you’re not supposed to?”

“Just for clothes! Those pajamas you made me!”

“One of the onesies?”

“No, the footie ones!”

“Ahh! So you guys keep that stuff in there?” she brought a hand to her chest, “I’m touched!”

“I think it’s the only clothing we keep in there…” Emily propped up her head on a knuckle, chewing her bite of sandwich. “It was just a lazy day and Joyce made the mistake, not me! I just wanted to wear something soft!”

“Yeah, but it was supposed to be locked up, right?”

“Yes!” Emily threw out her hands at the sign of a growing comradery. Great! So Amy was seeing it too!

“So you knew you weren’t supposed to be in there?”

And suddenly the spark had fizzled and Emily’s mouth was sagging by the corners. Meanwhile, Amy was giving her an expectant look.

“But she left it unlocked…” the girl tried her line of reasoning again, like the result would somehow be any different.

“Yeah, but it sounds like you knew it wasn’t intentional,” Amy chuckled. “All I’m hearing is that you broke the rules?”

“Maybe, but doesn’t Joyce get in trouble for making a mistake too?”

“Ahp!” Amy caught her like Ashes swiped her tongue. “That’s different, though! She made a mistake and you made the choice to do what you did! Gotta say, Em, didn’t think you had that kinda mischief in you…!”

“Yeah well,” Emily puffed out her cheek, “Guess I’ve been getting it from somebody.”

And the side remark had Amy in stitches, giggling before and after a sip from her mug. The she asked the million dollar question, “So she obviously found out, right?”

And like it was admitting to a stain on her flawless record, after crossing her legs, un-crossing, then finishing the rest of her yogurt, Emily muttered without eye contact, “Yes…she found out.”

“Well now I gotta ask how? Does she memorize the way she organizes them, or something?”

God forbid, Emily had yet to test the waters like that. If Joyce really was that superhuman then there really would be no secrets to guard from her. No, instead, Joyce as deductive as she was had actually been thrown a very obvious bone by a very clumsy criminal.

“No…I…took it off at one point because someone came over and didn’t want them to see me like that… So I…left it under the bed in the room Joyce and I sleep in.”

“What?” Amy pulled back her head, “Emily, no!” She couldn’t stop laughing. “That’s like borrowing rule number one! Put it back where you found it!”

“She found it under the bed,” and Emily sighed, remembering the consequences that eventually led to her wetting the bed, including her pajamas, “and she wasn’t happy…”

“Learned your lesson, I take it?” The implication of a punishment was clear even without directly asking.

A solemn nod came back.

“Mm. Well, then for both our sakes, let’s not do anything to get you in trouble, huh? Or I guess me, for that matter… Almost done with your lunch?”

“Yeah, and thanks for helping me get it together…”

“Yeah, of course! It’s nice getting to help every now and then. Oh, actually, do you mind if I ask a kinda personal question? Just cuz it’s related to the clothes, and all.”

“Uh, yeah…sure? What is it?” How personal could it be? Emily just got finished explaining the whole nursery debacle and practically felt secondhand scolded because of it.

“When you wore those pajamas, were you in a diaper?”

Bold and unashamed. There was hardly a cloud in Amy’s mind when she asked, and Emily as per usual was taken aback.

“Uh…no…”

“Mhm,” Amy nodded appreciatively, taking down internal R&D notes. “Just wanted to know how the fit felt without them. Any reason why ya didn’t?”

“It fit fine, but…” But what? Was it truly fine to tell Amy whatever she wanted? “We…sort of have a rule about…diapers…”

“Uh-oh, you didn’t go breaking another one, did you?” Amy looked as if she feared for the worst while she nursed the edge of her coffee mug. “Ah, don’t forget about that juice, by the way,” she quietly pointed out the cup that still needed some draining.

“No, not this time.” Probably because I can’t even imagine how severe the punishment for it would be… Emily paused to finish her cup of juice. “I’m not…uh…” her fingers started weaving, “I’m not allowed to put on my own diapers…”

And instead of an awkward noise, an offhand comment or general disgust, all Amy did was, “Ahh…” and she nodded. “Yeah, Joyce kinda sounds like a real Mama bear. I’d be wary if I were in your shoes, too… So uhm…actually…how does that rule work?”

How does it work? “I mean…it’s just that I can’t put on a diaper…Joyce said she wants to…be in charge of that stuff.” Not like Emily was looking to assume any of that responsibility, though.

“So even if you asked, Joyce wouldn’t let you put on one?”

“No…probably not.”

And Amy quietly nodded, though for once she wasn’t immediate with a follow up. Like she was thinking.

“Well, uhm, hey, how about we clean up here and move downstairs?” Amy clapped her hands together. “Thanks for being so open with me, but the way,” and she stepped beyond the barrier again by patting Emily on the shoulder. “It’s fun getting to hear stories from you, you know! I take it that you’ve got more for me?”

And in spite of the subject material, Emily’s smile was slowly starting to come back. “If…if you just let me think a little?”

“I think I can manage that,” she agreed herself with a serious nod. “And also, Emily? You’ll do what you think is the smart decision, but please,” she leaned in closer, “don’t break too many rules? I still need Joyce leaving you in one piece if you’re gonna come over and help me out…!”

And all it took was that to get both women laughing. A tense lunch had dissolved and become something far more freeform than Emily could have ever imagined. With far less restraint she somehow managed to actually talk about her own experiences. She opened up for once! She got to complain and vent about something so bizarre, and yet Amy listened wholeheartedly, even if she seemed to be a little more in Joyce’s camp… But with no other way to describe it, just having someone like Amy…who knew it could have felt this…good?

“Oh, I can get that, honey,” Amy assured her by taking the empty plate out of her hand. “By the way, don’t forget to bring your juice downstairs!”

And obediently, Emily took the thermos and dropped down to her feet without a comment. After rinsing her hands she was the first one headed for the stairs, giggling a small bit once Ashes was fast to find her and join the carpool.

Hanging out with Amy isn’t all that bad…?

[LilRedAli]

Sweetness the gals return!! Thank ya kindly for sharing their story some more! 

[Bel George]

I'm very happy to see the continuation of this story here. It is without a doubt one of my favorites.

 

[ausdpr]

Mee I was curious, was there any post you made in the hours before Patreon booted you? For some reason myself and Princess Pottypants haven't been booted, and I can't understand why, though have held off posting and some of her posts were already pre-scheduled, so I thought maybe it would only apply to new posts which pass through a moderator queue. However there was no email update saying that you'd posted something new on Patreon, so it sounds like it probably wasn't that.

[Mee]

4 hours ago, LilRedAli said:

Sweetness the gals return!! Thank ya kindly for sharing their story some more! 

Thank you for the kind words!

4 hours ago, Bel George said:

I'm very happy to see the continuation of this story here. It is without a doubt one of my favorites.

 

I'm happy to share again, and apologies for the delay!

5 minutes ago, ausdpr said:

Mee I was curious, was there any post you made in the hours before Patreon booted you? For some reason myself and Princess Pottypants haven't been booted, and I can't understand why, though have held off posting and some of her posts were already pre-scheduled, so I thought maybe it would only apply to new posts which pass through a moderator queue. However there was no email update saying that you'd posted something new on Patreon, so it sounds like it probably wasn't that.

Nope. I hadn't made a post in at least a handful of days. It is what it is and I'm just moving on/rebuilding. Or from a different perspective, I'm not trying to think too much on it because I don't think I'll find a meaningful answer, if at all, nor will it affect me moving forward. Not much to say other than that. Best of luck!

[zzzz50]

Thanks for the update, your writing is excellent. Maybe I have just missed it in the story, are Emily and Joyce lovers? Or are they just mother/little girl relationship. Emily mentioned getting handsy in these last chapters, otherwise I keep waiting for some passion to show, maybe it is just in the background and not part of the story so far.

[D503]

Thanks for the update! I really do hope we see a nice "little" support group form around Emily to help her feel safe regressing and Joyce gets to realise all her maternal needs. Maybe Emily needs another little to feel safe, and hopefully not be mortified by.

[Mee]

20 hours ago, zzzz50 said:

Thanks for the update, your writing is excellent. Maybe I have just missed it in the story, are Emily and Joyce lovers? Or are they just mother/little girl relationship. Emily mentioned getting handsy in these last chapters, otherwise I keep waiting for some passion to show, maybe it is just in the background and not part of the story so far.

It's a little bit of both; predominantly lovers dictated by a kink, I'd say right now. While there is attraction to one another, unless I'm forgetting something definitive that I've brought up before, I'm not necessarily trying to label the two as anything other than what the reader interprets it as right now. As far as writing anything explicit in this story, nothing is certain, but I don't have plans for that between these two characters, as I want to emphasize their love for each other in different ways.

Hope that gives some insight. Thank you for reading!
 

9 hours ago, D503 said:

Thanks for the update! I really do hope we see a nice "little" support group form around Emily to help her feel safe regressing and Joyce gets to realise all her maternal needs. Maybe Emily needs another little to feel safe, and hopefully not be mortified by.

Seeing the circle expand a little would definitely be fun, and I'm sure that Emily could come around to the idea of involving others, as far off as that might sound... Thank you for reading!

[D503]

Hope we see an update soon. 

Happy Easter 🐰 

[BabySofia]

1 hour ago, D503 said:

Hope we see an update soon. 

Happy Easter 🐰 

If you want to read further, MaybeMee has posted through Chapter 62 on his SubscribeStar.

[Mazamune]

Hey there !!!

You can't even start to imagine how happy I was to see the topic was updated a few days ago (considering I'm dumb enough to miss some chapters even by checking every couple months, I was left with Joyce finding about Sheila).

Reading about Emily and Joyce is always a treat and the last developments promise some fun moments with them learning to open about their interests with others.

I've finished reading this morning and I'm still excited about it !

Thanks again for sharing !

Cheers!!

[Mazamune]

Hey, 

I don't know how I forgot to comment about it but

HOW DARE YOU! 😄

Leaving us hanging like that at the end of chapter 46. How could Amy persuade her to do that ?

An other quick question I have after reading the whole story again : what's the timeline between Joyce's parents visite and the last chapters ? I tried to do with the indications you left and the description of the weather but I'm a bit lost.

Cheers !

[diaperboymi]

OMG, Absolutely Wonderful story😍.  Thank you so much for the update😊

[Mee]

On 4/8/2024 at 3:27 PM, Mazamune said:

Hey there !!!

You can't even start to imagine how happy I was to see the topic was updated a few days ago (considering I'm dumb enough to miss some chapters even by checking every couple months, I was left with Joyce finding about Sheila).

Reading about Emily and Joyce is always a treat and the last developments promise some fun moments with them learning to open about their interests with others.

I've finished reading this morning and I'm still excited about it !

Thanks again for sharing !

Cheers!!

Thank you very much for reading, and I really appreciate the kind words!

On 4/29/2024 at 3:48 AM, Mazamune said:

Hey, 

I don't know how I forgot to comment about it but

HOW DARE YOU! 😄

Leaving us hanging like that at the end of chapter 46. How could Amy persuade her to do that ?

An other quick question I have after reading the whole story again : what's the timeline between Joyce's parents visite and the last chapters ? I tried to do with the indications you left and the description of the weather but I'm a bit lost.

Cheers !

Apologies for the delay on this response! I've been a bit quiet on this site lately due to IRL things! As for specific timelines, unfortunately I'm no good for that in this story. It reaches multiple points where the whole point is that some amount of time goes by, so it could be in the realm of a couple/few weeks to maybe a month or so. This is assuming I did not seemingly indicate a much larger jump than that...

On 5/2/2024 at 6:39 PM, diaperboymi said:

OMG, Absolutely Wonderful story😍.  Thank you so much for the update😊

Thank you very much!

48 - Being Brave

“So…” Amy slowly set down her needle and thread, and Emily on her toes as she reached for a bin tried to look extra busy right then. “You…dripping wet, butt naked, started running all over the apartment?”

“Y-you…you had to be there…” Emily grunted especially hard just to hide the stutters.

“Be careful, by the way; I wasn’t kidding when Joyce said I had to stick to some rules,” Amy said again with her watchful eyes still on Emily.

“I won’t climb on anything, I promise,” Emily assured right back and dropped back to the flats of her feet. “And yeah, Joyce went running after me, but I was faster,” it felt really good to say that. Finally getting a one-up on Joyce! Well, sort of. Joyce had longer legs and bigger strides, but Emily used the house like a playground. Just because mama bear could sprint didn’t mean she could swing from vines… “But then I slipped and hurt my nose…” Emily reminisced a lot less fondly.

“...There’s a saying, you know,” Amy raised her eyebrow, maybe thinking twice about the things she was letting her assistant handle, “about playing silly games and getting silly prizes?”

“And now I’m not allowed out of the bathroom until I’m completely dry…” she dodged the criticism and finished her grand tale. “But get this: Joyce doesn’t have to be dry! She can walk out whenever she wants!”

“Sounds like you’d run?”

“Not anymore! I don’t wanna break my nose!”

“You won’t if you just dry off in the bathroom. And maybe run in the house a little less…”

Still choosing either to ignore or just not see the problem, Emily sighed. “Joyce is such a hypocrite at times…”

“You know, I said I’d listen and all, and I will, but I’m almost starting to think that Joyce is as overbearing as she is for good reason…” And as Ashes strolled by, the seamstress brushed her hand across his back.

“No, she’s not!” Emily claimed, and Amy hung a hand on her face just to hide her oncoming smirk. “Like, some rules make sense, but other ones are just ridiculous! Like…! Oh! Yeah! So whenever she wants, she just decides what time we’re going to bed!”

“Both of you?” Amy would have guessed Emily being sent ahead first…

“Yes! And whenever I try to argue or debate it, she always somehow throws it back at me and uses that as a reason just to build up her point.” Joyce was rubber and Emily was glue…

“Well, she’s…” Amy sighed as she smiled, never quite realizing just what kind of reasoning she’d be getting herself into, “...crafty?”

“Yes!” Emily nearly jumped as she worked. “Don’t you see what I mean? It’s so unfair! She makes up all the rules whenever she wants, and I just have to listen! I think it’s only fair if I get to make some rules too…” In all fairness, Emily did make rules, only when they were having adult discussions, though. Given that this was somewhere…in-between, her credibility and authority were beneath the threshold.

“I think if you’re wanting rules just for the sake of having them, that kinda defeats the purpose, Em,” Amy chuckled. “Oh, can you hand me that swatch right there?”

Like a gopher, Emily spotted the destination with her eyes, grabbing a small stack of squares off a nearby table and handing it over to her boss.

“Is this what you needed me to try on?” Emily couldn’t help but look on from the side. It did look like a pretty dress…

“Mhm,” Amy answered quietly, leaning out and in from her chair, holding the sample under a light and away from it across the outfit. “Just playing with some options right now, though. But– oh, where were we? Right. How does the saying go? Made your bed, so sleep in it?”

“Joyce doesn’t let me make the bed,” and Emily certainly rolled her eyes at that. “W-well, sometimes she does. When it’s my chore for the day...”

“Oh that’s good; keeping busy around the house?” Amy played sort of dumb. She knew about the chores since that one time she spoke with Joyce. Though, she wasn’t looking to divulge any details about that. She only made clothes, but surely that still fell under client confidentiality?

“Yeah, but–” she paused for the sound of the sewing machine.

“It’s okay, I can still hear you!” Amy encouraged.

“But it’s just little stuff. Nothing major. And it’s weekdays only. Otherwise Joyce wants to do it.”

“Gosh, the battery that woman must have…” Amy shook her head hopelessly. “Guess we’re all built pretty differently.”

“Mm…” Emily nodded, going quiet and contemplative.

Her work for the day has mainly just been waking up, eating breakfast, doing a chore, browsing the computer a little, and waiting for Joyce. It wasn’t as boring as before, now with just a tiny bit more structure, but it was far from filling up her entire day. Searching for work was harder now, too. She was as earnest as she started, truly, but now due to certain parental locks it was just another hurdle trying to get in… If she wanted to use the computer when Joyce wasn’t home, somehow she could “request” for permission, whatever that meant. It probably sent something to Joyce’s phone, but she didn’t like bothering Joyce during work, as much as she loved to bother her now in general.

“Enough about Joyce, though; let’s go back to us,” and she killed the machine and held up her handicraft. “Think you can try something on for me?”

“Yeah, of course,” and Emily was about to take it, but Amy playfully tugged it back.

“Sorry, this one has a zipper on the back. Might be easier if we do it as a team,” Amy smiled, and Emily nodded. It was one of those once in a blue moon situations where she could actually go down to just her underwear without totally blushing.

“Want some help stripping?”

“No thanks, I’m uh, fine. So should I go…?” Emily looked around, like there was a dedicated changing room.

“Oh, no, it’s fine to do it right here,” Amy nonchalantly waved. “Let me go lock the front door though, actually…”

Maybe it was weird to admit, and maybe it was definitely weird to be feeling, but Emily couldn’t help but have a sense of unease as she lifted her shirt. Almost like…she was doing something wrong? Only because Amy was here. Another body, another person that was watching her or at least being near her while she got naked. Guilt? Was that what she was feeling? The intent was honest and pure, but that wasn’t enough to affect the strangeness.

If Joyce saw me like this…would she get jealous? Infidelity? Was it cheating if her seamstress saw her undressing?

“Emily? Everything okay?”

“H-huh?” Emily perked up with her rolled shirt halfway down and off her arms, bringing out the red spots on her cheeks. “Y-yeah, I…nevermind.” Amy made it clear she was fine with the personal stuff, but Emily still wasn’t cool sharing her stupid.

Stupid Joyce and her stupid jealousy… Apparently other things were starting to rub off on the girl.

“By the way, uhm…Amy, do you have any family, or anything?”

“Hmm?” Amy’s interest had been piqued. “What makes you ask that?”

“Just…cause you’re a person that makes clothes, and all…” and with still a small bit of trained and learned hesitation, Emily undid the button on her jeans. “I was wondering if you make stuff for your family, or anything.”

“Ugh, believe me, Emily,” Amy sounded with playful disgust, “the less my family knows about what I do, the better.”

“They don’t know?”

“They do…but I don’t go around reminding anyone, you know? Here– let me take those, I’ll fold them…” She moved Emily’s clothes in a neat pile to the couch. “Great family, and I love them, but with so many of them, just doing one favor for every person would ab-so-lutely destroy my schedule!”

“Do they ask for big stuff?”

She scoffed and Emily nearly flinched. Apparently they’d hit a passionate tangent.

“Big, small, medium; all of it! And difficult stuff, mind you! I’ve had cousins before that want me to essentially build a whole new outfit over an existing one! I couldn’t even save the fabric!”

Emily listened as she stepped into the dress on the floor.

“Put it like this:” Amy started, but stopped so she could pan them over to a mirror, “when a mechanic finishes up work for the day, the last thing they wanna do when they go home is work on another car. Make sense?”

“Yeah it does… What…what you do for me and Joyce…that’s not off-work stuff, is it?”

“Nope, that is very much my work,” Amy haughtily chuckled as she lifted the outfit up Emily’s legs. “You, my munchkin, have given me a whole new branch of things to play with, and I cannot be excited enough for it! Do me a favor: if Joyce ever thinks about dropping me, try and warn her discreetly that I’m gonna throw a tantrum, ‘kay?”

“Uhm…yeah…I will…” Emily hesitantly agreed, and while she felt conflicted about a line being crossed, she didn’t notice Amy’s smile.

“Joking! Just jokes,” she laughed, and Emily swallowed another bitter gullibility pill. “But no, Joyce and I kinda have a special deal going because I’m kinda into it, too. She’s got me on retainer, so I get paid to play around with ideas and Joyce can request something specific if she wants.”

“Has she done that before?” More backdoor dealings without Emily knowing? Or if Amy told her, was it not that secret after all?

“What, requested something?”

Emily nodded.

Some of Amy’s gears were turning, as the question was processed the dress fitting had stopped. But she spoke and said, “Uh…can’t say,” then zipping her lip and tossing the key. “Confidentiality, and all.”

“Can you really not say anything about Joyce at all?” Emily finally started to give the woman a sideways look in the mirror. “I’m telling you a lot…” Seriously, shouldn’t they be trading secrets here?

“I won’t tattle about your detective work, but I’m not gonna get in the crossfire,” Amy held up her hands, ready for arrest. “Intentionally, at least,” then she went back to tugging the dress in places. “Does it feel comfy?”

“Uhm…kind of, I guess?” Emily tried not to turn, but she did try to get a fettling of the fabric. “It’s a little loose though…”

“That’s fine. Like I said, you’re similar to another client, but not exact. They’re a bit bigger than you.”

And Emily stood there and watched herself a bit longer while Amy muttered and took notes.

“You’re kinda different when you’re serious…” Emily thought out loud.

“Yeah?” Amy giggled, “am I?”

“I– All I mean is that when you’re taking notes and stuff…”

“I gotta be if I’m gonna make nice things…” she murmured as from a lower pedestal step she lifted a piece of the dress’ hem. “You don’t even wanna know how much research I’ve done for you, kiddo.”

“You do research too?”

“The ideas don’t come completely from trees!” Amy laughed, and Emily felt embarrassed for not realizing the obvious. “That’s usually how I start new projects. Hear from the client what they want, gather and study some references, sketch it out, then make it! Sometimes though, I might just strike lightning and go straight to the sketching part.”

“W-well…” Emily went meek as her hands fumbled with themselves. “What…stuff did you research for me?” Was Amy getting into the kink side of things, too? Did she have to dive in the deep end like that because of her and Joyce? For what Emily knew her to do, pushing this woman off the deep end like that didn’t seem fair for what normal stuff she is likely used to…

“Oh, kid’s fashion!” Amy said it simply and cheerily, and Emily almost fell over. “What?” she held her model up by the shoulder, “not what you expected?”

“Not really…” Emily mumbled, not keen to mention her thoughts. “You look at kid’s fashion?”

“Ya-huh. Lots of cute ideas to take from there. Though, that kinda brings a new challenge to it, which is I’ve never had to quite ‘age’ up my references before…”

“What’s aging up…?” Could Emily be blamed? After all, Joyce only ever taught her how to age down.

“Just taking something and considering how it might change for someone older,” Amy explained. “For example, you’re not gonna find a toddler or kid with adult breasts or curves. Depending on what we’re going for, those are just a couple things to consider. And also, that day that I came over to your house to see the clothes; were you wearing a different diaper?”

“H-huh?”

“Do you guys use different ones, or just the same kind?”

“I-I think we use the same kind,” Emily answered, though nervously just a few steps behind the casual introduction of her diapers. “I don’t know where Joyce gets them, though…” Somehow through Sheila, apparently.

“Mm, well, I wish Joyce would have told me so I could account for it…” Amy said with the slightest bit of annoyance.

“Does it really affect that much?” Who was Emily, the not-seamstress, to ask?

“No, it doesn’t,” Amy admitted with a defeated sigh, “but if you like perfection you gotta scrutinize the details.”

Things had been moving so fast that Emily didn’t register what Amy said until she had time to digest. “W-wait,” she turned her head to Amy, “you noticed a difference?”

“Had a hunch,” Amy answered like it was asking for the weather, “your bum looked a little bit more puffier! Which is cute, by the way!” and Amy, the master of damage control, made a loop with her fingers and signaled the universal “OK” sign.

Though her attentiveness opened the door for more questions, but ones that Emily was far too embarrassed to ask. What, “how did you know that my diaper just wasn’t wet?” What a great argument that would make; built all on the stage of self-sacrifice.

“If I know what the bare minimum is like, I can consider the stretchiness for stuff that wraps around it,” Amy explained. “Too much and it either gets too loose, or suddenly your diaper isn’t getting the support that it needs.” Amy stayed calm and casual, even when indicating the obvious and terribly embarrassing. Diapers only needed support if they were hanging on to extra baggage. Either way, she sounded just like Joyce, but without all the tension, but the same exact lack of reservation.

So instead of calling a bluff or doubting her claims, it was far more worth Emily’s pride and dignity if she just let Amy be right.

“That’s another thing I kinda had to study, by the way,” Amy included, looking like the brunt of the burden was Emily’s fault. “Figuring out diapers isn’t easy, you know?”

It was like layer after layer of discovery for the poor girl that just had to stand there and model a piece of clothing. While it was interesting to listen to Amy talk, she was completely unprepared to introduce or contribute anything to it. Diaper studies? What, was she supposed to talk about how comfy hers felt, or snug and secure they could be? Maybe they were on the same subject, but the lenses were totally different.

“L-like what?”

“Again, it’s all tiny stuff, but it’s worthwhile information. Just knowing the difference between plastics and cloth. Disposable and cloth. Oh– those are two huge differences, by the way! Maybe I was kinda going down the rabbit hole, but it also helps with my sketches if I know one is kind of non-negotiable for the model. Otherwise she gets punished,” Amy grinned, and Emily blushed. “If it’s like a onesie or sleeper you’re in, I need to consider the types of fabrics that I’m using if I know what kind of underwear you’ve usually got. Helps avoid extra wear on friction between materials. Lets me know if I can keep certain spots fluffy and soft”

“Oh…well…uhm…you thought of a lot…” Emily was rightfully at a total loss for words, and Amy was at least self-aware to a point.

“Sorry! Did I overwhelm you? I have a little file built on you, is all I mean. You and Joyce are pointing me in new places, but as a seamstress I’m better for it!”

“Glad we can help…”

“Glad I’ve been blessed with this work! Mmm…okay! Ready to get that dress off?”

Emily blinked, and apparently that’s how long it had taken. “That’s it?”

“That’s it!” Amy nodded. “Easy though, right?”

“It was easy, yeah…” the girl agreed, but it didn’t change that an entire day was reserved for what, just ten minutes of her time? On some level it felt very much like a “Joyce’s assigned one chore of the day,” but where they differed was at least Amy supplemented with other things…

“So…now what?” Emily asked while she let Amy undress her. Unlike where she was just obedient for Joyce, this was Emily fearing that she might ruin or tear an unfinished product. Maybe that’s why Amy also offered her help at the beginning…

“Now, we take this off, you can put your normal clothes back on, and…mm, well, I guess that is kinda it then, huh?”

“Are you gonna have me come back again?” Emily asked, wondering if her need had been exhausted entirely.

“Oh yeah!” Amy nodded assuringly. “I’m gonna be making some tweaks to this over the next little bit and have you try it on again. Sorry in advance if that sounds boring!”

“No, it’s not,” after all, chatting with Amy for the most part was pretty fun, “but I’m just a little surprised, is all.” Not that anything they discussed over the phone could’ve been false advertising, but maybe Emily’s expectations got ahead of themselves.

“I know, I know,” Amy apologized, “it’s not a whole lot… I’ll see what I can do about giving you some more stuff to do for next time!” Amy said it confidently, and Emily nodded as she started to re-dress herself.

Emily had the chance to look at the time, finding the new predicament that came with a light workload.

“So…that’s it then?” Emily stood, taking that as her cue to leave. After all, the work was done and the day was over.

“Oh, Emily, that doesn’t mean you have to leave!” Amy exclaimed, finally catching on. “Stay and be comfy! We can still hang out while I work? I have some stuff I can do down here anyway. Or, if you get bored of me you’re more than welcome to the TV upstairs.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t wanna interrupt anything… Should we write down the time, or something? I think I got here at around nine, so…” and while she was nearly ready to resort to her fingers, Amy had a hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit.

“Don’t worry about the hours; I have that all taken care of,” Amy dismissed. “And no, you are not imposing! Don’t be afraid to use your phone or anything, by the way. Sorry though; this doesn’t quite fill up your day like work normally should…”

“Really, it’s fine,” Emily insisted, and in fact, “Besides, if I wasn’t here, I’d kinda be at home by myself…” she watched her leg for a minute, wondering if what she would say was all that workplace appropriate, “I like getting to talk with you, so…I don’t mind.”

Her words must have fired like bullets out of a gun. Amy held a hand to her chest, delightfully taken aback by such a small but meaningful gesture.

“Well I like getting to talk with you, you know!” Amy laughed. “Besides, you were nice enough to invite me over to your house, so obviously I should make the same gesture, shouldn’t I?”

“Well…that only sort of happened because I was too scared to come over here…dressed like that.”

“Everyone’s got their comfy space, right?” Amy shrugged, dusting off worry and wonder every time Emily could muster some kind of doubt. “So you’re gonna stay, right? Otherwise it’s between you and the cops once Joyce can’t find you here to pick you up,” she taunted with a grin, and Emily couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“Okay, fine, I’ll stay.”

“Perfect.” Amy smiled, and all was well again. For only a little bit, however. A matter of seconds, really.

“...Hey, actually…Emily?”

It felt like the first meaningful pause she’d heard from Amy ever. Emily’s hand stopped petting Ashes and she looked up almost nervously.

“Y…yeah?”

“First: you can refuse, okay?” she held out a halting hand. “If this sounds like too much, just let me know. It’s just…well…I may have one other thing that I might need you to try on…”

“For a client?” Emily was already getting up from her seat. Another chance to model was another chance to work. Contribution felt good, after all.

“Yes, for a client,” Amy chuckled, “but specifically for you.”

“For me?” The groundwork was already laid that made it clear Amy was producing for her, but that wasn’t to say she ever expected an opportunity to see it. Especially without…

“But…I thought I couldn’t see anything Joyce was having you make?” Eternal Christmas presents that wouldn’t be under the tree until Joyce said so. It’d be enough to make all the good boys and girls unionize.

Amy was already flipping through pages on her table and tidying up her fabrics, then finally folding the dress. “How about I go get it, then I can explain.”

“O…kay…” and Emily watched Amy hurry upstairs. The woman was still forward and cheery, but there was an air of reservation, only now coming from the other end.

And as Emily heard her feet coming down the stairs, Amy was already jumping straight into explanation.

“So normally– no, I can’t show you stuff; both because that’s what Joyce wants, and I don’t like sharing unless it’s fully finished, but this is something very close…” The white box Amy was holding was nondescript and hardly an indication of anything, but Emily could tell it wasn’t normal attire that was inside. After all, Joyce didn’t pay to make Emily look mature. “And, well, I wanna be extra sure this is just right.”

“Is it another…onesie?” Emily, feeling daring and brave, asked the question that just might dispel the suspense.

“No.” Amy said.

Apparently the suspense was not dead yet.

“It’s a diaper,” she continued.

Apparently it was dead now.

“A diaper?” Emily paused, but Amy didn’t, who took the top half of the box and lifted.

Like a royal treasure atop a fur-lined pillow, Emily waited to see a diaper with a nervous beat in her chest, but was quite surprised and confused by what she saw. It definitely did look like underwear, but not the disposable kind. The colors were loud and proud. Purple, yellow, red; clashing foes that somehow perfectly encapsulated the chaos that a kid could be. Panties didn’t feel accurate, but nothing else sounded better in her head. High-cut, all-encompassing ones.

Buttons were studded along the sides, and at the waist and legs there were elasticized trims of thin and light material. Most importantly, though– the most confusing part: it looked…thin. While Emily would never elect herself as the authority on diapers, surely wearing them was enough to allow her an opinion on the matter.

And while she looked down at the garment confusedly, Amy with bated breath was patiently holding her hands together.

“This is a…” Emily looked up at the woman, “...diaper?”

“Yes!” Amy enthusiastically nodded, and Emily slowly looked down at it again.

Emily went quiet, slowly reaching out her hand, waiting for Amy’s command to stop that never came. Soon she was touching the “diaper,” rubbing the material between her fingers. Though, she could hear the friction, like tiny thin fibers were rolling and sliding against each other. Sort of like…

“It kinda sounds like a bathing suit,” Emily commented, and the proprietress merely laughed.

“That’s the inner layer; I added some waterproofing to it! Because…well…” They each shared an uncomfortable look, “just in case! But the inside is soft! Feel it!”

The idea of it being a diaper was still hardly sold on the girl. Was it an invention? Where was the padding that got the job done? That made the diaper a…a diaper! She hooked her finger around the leg band, feeling the inside.

“It does feel pretty soft…” Emily agreed, but sounded like she didn’t know much else to say or how to expand on it. No way other than the kind of skepticism she felt bad giving. “Amy, I really like how it looks, but I…I don’t think this’d really do what…what a diaper is supposed to…” Where was Joyce to back her up on this?

“Well, it is a prototype,” Amy slowly admitted, like a magician that begrudgingly revealed their own trick, “But I do stand by it! It’s my first time with some real functionality in clothing. Does something seem wrong with it? It works like a normal diaper, see?”

Emily watched Amy reach out, making it a show of the button areas. Each side erupted in loud metal pops from where the buttons unsnapped, going off and off until none remained connected. Only then did Amy slowly but deliberately show that the buttoned fabrics unfolded and came apart, like wings on a disposable diaper.

“See? There’s snaps that let you take it on and off!” Amy emphasized, flipping and flopping the wing with her hand multiple times. “Cool, right?”

“Yeah, but…mm…” Emily went quiet again.

“What? What is it?” Amy verbally pushed and shoved. “You’re beating around the bush, silly. You won’t hurt my feelings!”

“You promise…?”

“Yes, I promise,” Amy held up her hand  “So? Break the news! What’s so bad?”

“It’s…it’s kind of thin… Like…a lot of thin,” Emily broke the news, and as welcomed as it was it didn’t change her guilt.

“Thin?” Amy asked to confirm, and Emily nodded again. Half the reason she didn’t want to say it was in fear of having to get specific, and they were already toeing a dangerous line.

It’s thin!

So what if it’s thin?

If it’s thin it won’t…absorb!

Absorb? What do you mean?

When I pee myself!

Or something like that. The at-home video in her head was traumatic enough.

But Amy was still quiet, like she was waiting for something else, and that only made the girl more nervous. Did she want more explanation? Was she insulted?

“Well…” Amy sounded like she was trying to be careful. Oh no, did I hurt her feelings? Should I apologize? “That’s because we didn’t add the padding, yet?”

“O–” Emily stammered. “O-oh! Oh! That’s why?” she went for an embarrassed laugh. “S-sorry! I just thought since you said it was done and all…” Stupid! Stupid! “So…wait, how does that work then?”

Amy tilted her head. “How does what work? The padding?”

“Well…yeah?” Was there some kind of misunderstanding? “Don’t…doesn’t that stuff go in the diaper before you finish making it…?” Maybe she needed to ask Joyce about that when she saw her. Again, she was a diaper wearer and nothing more. “How are you supposed to get it in now?” For all she could tell, it looked pretty sealed up.

“Emily?” ever so sweetly, Amy asked.

“Mhm?”

“Honey…do you know how cloth diapers work?”

Emily blinked.

“Sorry?”A cloth what?

Amy’s eyes widened and Emily’s oncoming embarrassment grew just a little bit bigger.

“Awh! O-oh my gosh, you don’t know? Ah!” and in a hasty rush Amy lifted the box’s interior filling, revealing varied sizes and thickness of thick cloth squares and strips. “See these?”

“Y-yeah…”

“These are the padding!” Amy explained with a whole new wave of enthusiasm, all because she had a sadly ignorant girl who was a product of the modern age. “Look– pick up the diaper, see?”

In Emily’s hands she looked at the interior of the front face of the diaper, and Amy’s hand stuck out at a place where Emily could now see a seam and where the cream-colored fabric was bundled up. She watched the woman’s fingers go near the anomalous spot, close and closer, until… Her fingers! They disappeared! Gone! Into the void! Gone and forever– then her fingers came back out.

“See this? This is where you slip in the diaper inserts! Let’s put one in now, actually,” and Amy with Emily as her vise grip parted the inner mouth of the diaper, slipping the long thick strip of material in.

“Everything is safe to get wet,” Amy explained, “and all you have to do is just wash and dry it! Cool, right? It’s an infinite diaper that can look exactly the way you want it to!”

And in admitted amazement, Amy’s efforts helped Emily cross the mental bridge that brought her from skepticism to the finished product the seamstress was trying to communicate. Instantly she felt the still soft and malleable, but sturdy pad fill out the diaper, going from thin and baggy to thick and taut. Suddenly she was holding a diaper, except…washable?

“See what I mean now?” Amy couldn’t hide her teeth, sounding more eager by the second. “Isn’t it so cool?!”

“Y-yeah…” Emily nodded, ultimately in an embarrassed place all over again. After all, Amy said it was made for her. There were no secrets about whose diaper she was holding, and yet it did nothing, or maybe even caused Amy to be so cheery. Was she expecting the girl to cheer right alongside and be just as happy? She was, and she was grateful, but… Being excited about what she got to pee in…

“Ah…!” Amy stepped away, making a dramatic sigh. “Maybe Joyce would’ve been better to show!”

“W-wait, no!” Emily in a hurry spoke up. “I-It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that…that I’m…”

A hand was on her wrist, setting the diaper down. “Relax, it’s fine,” Amy chuckled, back to her sincere self. “I know you can be a little nervous about this stuff at first. Sorry for teasing too much~!” she sang. “But I still wanted to show you.

“So does Joyce know about this?” Emily asked in her direction, but her eyes couldn’t stop going elsewhere. Somewhere specific though. Directly down at the diaper…sitting unfolded and open… It was made for her. Would it fit? Of course it would…Amy made it. It was her diaper. Tailor made and thought of. A silly, stupid design; something reminiscent of the way Joyce got her into making a messy minefield of crayons in her coloring books.

…Stylish…

“But it’s a prototype…” Amy sorrowfully explained. “Close to being done, but it needs a couple more things…” Her statement was leading, like there was more to it, and just maybe, Emily was expected to pick up on it.

“Like what? It…looks done to me?”

“Well, it’s yours,” Amy seemed to chuckle to herself over that, “so I still need to put your signature on it.”

“Signature?”

“Yeah; a little something that shows I made it and it was made for you. I do it with everything I make. Anything from me that Joyce got has her own signature too. I don’t write an actual name, or anything. Remember that denim dress of yours? The front pocket with the paw print? That’s your signature!”

Then the explanation clicked. The one reference was all she needed as a reminder to what Joyce explained way back when in the beginning. The day she got her big and bountiful birthday present.

“Oh…I guess I never remembered seeing it on Joyce’s clothes, though…” Not her dresses, which is what she imagined Amy did most for her.

“Well…” Amy averted her eyes, taking a playful finger to her chin. “Yours may not be as…discreet as what I do for everyone else.”

“Discreet?”

“Most of what I do is for formal or high-end events, so little personal touches like that are sort of a no-no. I keep that somewhere on the inside of the outfit. But with you, I don’t have to worry about that!” she laughed. “I can’t imagine you’d wanna wear your footie pajamas to a party, right?”

“N-no…” Emily agreed with a blush.

“Right, well, it started off as a small idea, but I really like how it turned out. The little pet paw I give all your stuff works great as part of the overall design. Think of it like…like your own fashion brand, yeah!” Amy sparked with glee, and Emily with far less context and passion to ride the highs smiled nonetheless. “Your own chique set. Mwah, fantastique~!” And finally her charades were infectious enough to make Emily laugh herself.

“Long story short,” Amy chuckled a little bit more after finally settling down, “it’s what turns all your clothes into a branded set. Sorta for style and identity.”

“Okay, I think I get it,” Emily nodded. “That’s…I…I mean…I know you’re being paid for this, Amy, but…thank you.”

“Hm? Of course! I’m happy to do it, but yes, being paid certainly makes me happier,” she laughed again.

“Right, but…I’m…I’m sorry for taking so long to show any of that to you.”

“Huh?” Amy’s smile sank, “hon, what are you apologizing for?”

“Ever since my birthday, Joyce told me how you made all those outfits for me… The onesies, dress, and pajamas… She said from the very beginning how much you wanted to see them…see me in them… And…only until it actually happened, I really didn’t wanna show anybody… I was nervous, scared, and embarrassed, and I still am…but none of that was being fair to you. So…I’m sorry.”

“Emily…” Amy said in a warm voice, reaching out for the somber and withdrawn. Her hand landed on the girl’s shoulder. “You don’t think I was upset at all, do you?”

And all the girl did was shrug. “Maybe? I mean, you have every right to be…”

“Emily…yes, I really did want to see you all dressed up, because, well, that’s something new for me, and it’s obviously something new to you too. But even if I made it, the fact that Joyce paid for it is as far as any obligation or responsibility you or she has for me goes. Period. Don’t feel like you had to do anything for me, okay? Because while I might say things to Joyce, I don’t want you to think I was pressuring for anything to happen, okay? ”

“Mhm…” Emily nodded. “Thank you… I’m sorry for saying all that; I guess I can overthink things a little…”

“Believe me, I think you’re the only one who’s kind enough to be honest about it. I bet half the things that go on inside your girlfriend’s head would make me go cooky…!” In a dramatic fashion she stuck out her tongue, corkscrewing the side of her head with a finger, leading to Emily’s laugh.

“You better watch what you say,” Emily giggled, “what happens if I tell Joyce?”

“Then I tell her you climbed on something high without my permission,” Amy narrowed her eyes. “Do it and I promise you mutually assured destruction.”

And the staring match lasted all of three seconds before both burst into laughter.

“I’m glad I’ve got you in a good mood again! Because…” Amy’s hand went near the corner of the box again. “This needs something else other than a signature…”

Emily waited without saying anything, but she made eye contact with Amy.

“Emily, do you wanna try this on for me?”

“Try it…on?” Emily said the words back at her, like she didn’t hear her right.

“In private, of course!” Amy suddenly stammered. “I’m not gonna make you do that here. I don’t wanna embarrass you, but since we’ve already done a fashion show once before, I figured this might be fine? You’re more than welcome to use the bathroom upstairs, or I could go up and wait for–”

“I-I can’t…”

“Sorry? You can’t?” It wasn’t doubt in Amy’s voice, but self-surprise from something she somehow overlooked.

Emily shook her head. “I…I guess I’d be willing, but…I’m…not allowed to…”

Amy blinked once, then twice, then she remembered lunch.

“O-oh! That’s right…! You’re not allowed… Joyce takes care of that, doesn’t she?”

It wasn’t in such explicit terms, but Emily bashfully nodded nonetheless.

Amy glanced down at the garment, having all the pieces but a single, tiny bit of technicality that sat in the way of her testing.

“Sorry, Amy…” Emily looked genuinely apologetic. “I’d do it, but…I like to joke a lot about rules with Joyce, but I think this one really does matter to her.” It was the one thing that truly felt inalienable and unbreakable. She could imagine herself doing it intentionally haphazardly, or taking one off in just a moment of bratty fun, but while they would undoubtedly bring harsh consequences, she could see it all as part of the lifestyle. But deliberately putting one on without mistake or some ulterior, immature motive? That was…well, it was supposed to not be Emily’s job. Babies didn’t put on their own diapers. It was their last bastion to what made this all so real, and it was one of the most important pillars that defined Emily’s willful dependence.

But that wasn’t to say this wasn’t a moment without good reason? It wasn’t actually wearing a diaper, right? It was just a fitting session? One she could do in private, but one that if Joyce ever found out about would certainly lead to questions. It wasn’t about the problems of trying to hide the lie, though, but the act of lying itself. No more secrets. Honesty.

“Let…let me call her,” Emily decided, and Amy looked surprised.

“Oh, Emily, you don’t have to do that. I appreciate it, really, but we can just do this later?”

“No, it’s okay,” Emily answered, then nodded as if affirming herself. “Besides, the worst that can happen is she’ll say no?”

“Yeah, but maybe we shouldn’t bother her while she’s at work…”

That did make the girl pause, being the very thing she did not like doing either. But this was important. And the same reasoning applied; if Joyce couldn’t pick up, then that’s all there was to it.

“I’m gonna try calling her,” Emily decided again, and with a sense of determination, she pulled out her phone.

 

---

“Uhm…can I ask you something?” Emily’s voice sounded hesitant over the phone.

Joyce creased her brows while she walked, “Of course you can?” Was something wrong?

“Can…” as much as she hyped herself up before calling, simulated training could never seem to match practical experience. “Can I wear a diaper?”

There was a long pause over the phone. Silence, and Emily’s toes couldn’t stop rubbing against one another while she watched the battle from above.

“Emily?” Joyce spoke, but she sounded conflicted… Confused?

“Y-yeah?”

“I’m headed to my office now… Just give me a second please, okay?”

“Okay… Are you mad?”

“No, I’m not.” But she sure was confused as all hell. What would Emily need to wear a diaper for, and why was she asking something like that when Joyce wasn’t there?

“Sh-Sheila,” Joyce called for her assistant with the phone held against her shoulder, “I’m sorry, but I think I left one of my binders in the conference room? Would you mind going down to get it?”

“Of course,” Sheila nodded, and she was off, and Joyce was alone as she stepped inside the room.

“Emily, are you still there?”

“Yeah.”

“Sweetie, what did you ask again?” Maybe it was just the jam-packed schedule of the day getting to her. Joyce in her many moments of failure was finally learning to try and hear things out fully and completely.

“Can…I wear a diaper?”

Okay, maybe she hadn’t misheard…

“Sweetie, I’m a little confused…are you at home right now?” Amy didn’t mention anything about her leaving. Did she miss a message?

“No…I’m at Amy’s.”

“And you want to wear a diaper…?” Was this Emily?

“...Yeah.”

“Emily, honey, is Amy with you?” She had to be. There couldn’t be any other reason for this, even if Joyce had no idea what it was.

“Yeah, she is.”

“Could you please put her on?”

“Is this taking up your time?” Emily asked with a guilty voice now. “It’s okay– I don’t have to.”

“No, no, I’m glad you called. Sorry…today’s been a tiny bit busy. Not because I brought you over to Amy’s,” good lie, Joyce, “I’ve just had some unexpected things drop on me at the last minute. But could you give Amy the phone, please?”

“Mhm…” Emily agreed, then silently held it out for Amy.

“Joyce? It’s Amy.”

“Amy? Is everything okay?”

“It’s fantastique, one might say! We’re doing fine! I’m sorry about calling like this; I suggested we shouldn’t, but Emily wanted to.”

Joyce without much back and forth cut straight to it and asked, “Why does she want to wear a diaper?”

“Look, Joyce, I know… It’s not the most exciting thing for a parent trying to potty train to hea–”

“--Amy?” Joyce cut in, sounding awfully serious. “Did you say something?” As much of a friend as she was, absolutely no one or anything would stand between her and Emily. Emily didn’t ask to do things like that on her own. Not unless provoked, pressured, or…or something else? It felt far too uncharacteristic, and the fact that Joyce couldn’t be there to understand why was making her more upset by the second.

“Joyce, everything is fine!” Amy tried to calm her. “No, so I showed Emily something from my workshop; something you haven’t seen either, nor asked for, so it’s fair game! But it’s different from what I usually do, so I wasn’t sure how it’d fit. I was willing to wait, but Emily wanted to try it on now, but she wanted to ask for your permission. I promise, I didn’t try to force her into this, and if you say ‘no,’ then I pack it up and we’ll wait.”

“...So she asked? All by herself?” Emily did? Joyce’s Emily, the girl that throws tantrums over going to the dentist?

“Yep, she did.”

“...Could you please put Emily back on?”

The phone was exchanged again.

“Joyce?” It was Emily’s voice again.

“Emily…you know we have a rule about this.”

“I know…but, I figured it might be okay, since it’s just to try something on? It comes off! It’s like clothing!”

Like clothing? Joyce shared a confused look with herself. A cloth diaper?

“Emily…no, I don’t want you putting one on yourself. Even if it’s just for a fitting.”

“I–...okay.” As much as Emily could try and debate, not only did she expect not to win, but also how much it would bother Joyce in trying to poke, prod, stretch and twist what she’d rather remain unspoken, untouched and understood.

And yet, as much as Joyce didn’t like the initial feeling, with great reluctance…

“...But yes,” she sighed, “you can wear one.”

“I-I can…?” Emily stammered. “B-but, you said…”

“Yes, you cannot put one on, Emily. That hasn’t changed,” Joyce frowned, dreading the next part. “But…if it’s an adult that I trust…then it’s different.”

“J…Joyce?”

“I’m going to need you to put Amy back on in a second, but I need to explain something else to you, Emily. Are you listening?”

The girl suddenly felt fidgety from all her nerves about to go haywire. “Yes…”

“Emily, when you wear a diaper, it’s not pretend, okay? I know you understand how much this means to me, and I know how much it means to you. That’s why I just don’t want to make any lighthearted habits out of this. It’d be different if I was there, but…this is something new for me, so I feel like I have to be strict about it.”

“No…I understand,” after all, Joyce somehow not being part of the equation that involved diapers did sound unthinkable.

“That’s why when you put Amy on, I’m going to tell her that the only way you can wear a diaper is if she puts you in one.”

Her words came down like a bombshell.

“W-what?”

“A trusted adult, Emily,” Joyce reminded her. “If you want to wear one, then Amy has to put it on you.”

“But…but she doesn’t…I…”

“I’m not trying to be difficult, Emily, but you’re the last person I want putting you in diapers.  Leave that stuff to the grownups, okay?”

And with the might of her wisdom, Emily felt the electric tingle as a part of her brain somehow melted.

And if the blow hadn’t struck hard enough already, Joyce delivered a one-two-three right after.

“And Emily, when you wear a diaper, it means the same rules apply, understood? Your diaper stays on. That means all day until I come to pick you up.”

Obediently, she murmured into the phone, “Mhm… I…nevermind…I-I’ll just wait for you.”

“Emily, could you please put Amy on?”

“H-huh? B-but I can wait, Joyce. It’s fine, really.”

But unfortunately, a door had been opened that would not be allowed to shut.

Calmly, but firmly, Joyce insisted. “Emily? Baby? Put Amy on.”

There was another long pause, and finally Emily’s head creaked up and looked at Amy, slowly, but eventually handing the phone over to her. Though, the girl was just about ready to jump ship and run. She didn’t know what kind of result she was expecting, but Amy as part of it was very much not that.

“Joyce?” Round two for Amy.

“Amy? Does Emily look upset right now?”

“...Mm, yeah, I’d say so.”

And suddenly the discomfort for both girlfriends was mutual. But at least in Joyce’s eyes it was deemed a necessary evil.

“Well, it’s because of what I’m about to tell you. I said she can wear one,” and the fact she was in second place with being so open to Amy about diapers frankly threw Joyce for an even bigger loop. “But, Amy, and this is absolutely nothing I’m asking you to do. What I did tell Emily though is that she can wear one, but she’s still not allowed to do it herself.” If they were calling Joyce, she figured Amy knew as much about that rule. “The only way I’ll let her though is if you put her in one.” Boom, a personal bombshell for Joyce.

“Sorry?” Amy spoke, but her mind was given a momentary lapse.

“Amy, Emily’s not allowed to put on her diapers. I told her you’re the only one there allowed to do it for her right now. I think she’s upset because she’s getting exactly what she’d get if she were with me,” and the fact that Joyce wasn’t there made her heart ache, but teaching moments like this were also moments to teach herself. Begrudgingly.

“But…me?” Amy repeated, at a loss, and a small glance over at Emily looking to be on the verge of tears made her even more taken aback.

“Amy, if you’ve gotten her already talking about this kind of stuff around you, you’ve clearly broken down some of her barriers,” and that fact was certainly heartwarming for the busy mommy. “But this is something largely between me and Emily. It’s our relationship, and I don’t want to force you into that. That’s why this is completely at your discretion. Whatever it is that you made, I appreciate it and I can’t wait to see it, but I don’t want to ask you to become any more personally involved than that…” Yet she sighed again. “But…what I’m saying now…if…you wanted to…you may fill that role for Emily right now…”

“I…wow…” Amy murmured. “Sorry, I…mm…I guess I wasn’t expecting things to go this way,” she chuckled.

“I didn’t either, but since it did, I think it’s good, honestly… Since it’s you, Amy, I really would rather she’s comfortable around you like that. I don’t mean acting in any sort of way, but just…in the things that she wears. ”

“No, no, I understand what you mean,” Amy nodded. “But so we’re clear…it’s up to me?”

“Yes, and I’m about to explain that to Emily. But if she wears it, Amy, it has to stay on until I’m there. I…there’s a lot to this, but right now, with something like this, I want to be firm about it, for whatever might come of it.”

“No…uhm…I understand…” Amy said again, though much more passively, like her mind was elsewhere.

“And again, you can say no, but I want it to be your decision, not Emily’s. Since she brought it up, she decided that this was a possibility now.” And she knew how afraid it would make Emily, and how nervous she would feel, but it felt…necessary. Or possibly like a breakthrough? The next step? If it even came to that. Amy could always refuse, and that would be that. No harm no foul. Was this a misplay from Joyce? Knowing Emily at this point…it didn’t seem that way.

“...Okay. Sure, yeah. Should I put Emily back on?”

“Please.”

Amy quietly walked back over to the couch where Emily was now huddled, petting Ashes in her lap, looking to be digesting some very difficult feelings at the moment.

“Em?” Amy quietly spoke up, holding out the phone. “Last time, I think.”

And slowly, Emily took the phone but still stayed curled up against the couch.

“Joyce…?”

“Emily? Baby?”

There was a sniffle. “Mhm…”

“Now above everything, you know how much I love you, right?”

“Uh-huh…” Oh lord, her stomach was already turning. Emily hated sweet talks like this because she always knew it was just to make something bitter go down easier.

“And you know that I’d only do something if I knew it was safe and in your best interest?”

She felt like she was going to be sick. “Y-yeah…”

“I just let Amy know what we talked about, but there’s one other thing, okay?”

“...What?”

“Emily, please, don’t be upset with me,”  Joyce was kind, but she knew the sound of a tone that wasn’t. Not that she held it against Emily. It was expected at this point, but sometimes bitter pills have to be swallowed. “Now, I trust Amy, and it sounds like you’ve started to trust her a whole lot more today, right?”

“...Mhm…”

“Well, that’s why I’m leaving the decision of diapering up to Amy. Whether you ask her to or not.”

“Wh-what?” Emily stammered. Up to Amy alone?! “B-but–!”

“But nothing,” Joyce said with finality. “Emily, if you’re not going to be honest with yourself, then I will. Amy’s in charge of that decision right now. If she decides to diaper you, then you listen, or that’s something we’ll deal with when I get out of work. Understood?”

“...”

Silence ensued, but what Joyce knew and Emily certainly knew was that as strict and solid as Joyce was being, there was a way to stop this. A single word that need only be spoken and the impossible would become possible again. Emily need only say it.

“Do I need to hear anything else?”

It was quiet on the other end for just a little longer.

“...I…I understand.”

“Good. And no matter what happens, I’ll be off of work in just a few more hours, okay?”

“Mhm…”

“And Emily?”

“Yes…?”

“Mommy loves you!”

It made her feel fuzzy and warm, but she knew the moment they hung up that those warm feelings wouldn’t be there to protect her from her own reckless decisions that just landed her on a one-way street.

“I love you too…”

And while things had yet to stabilize, all was well again. Enough for Joyce to softly smile. “Okay, Mommy loves you too. Remember to listen to what Amy says. Bye.”

And she hung up.

And Emily stared at the empty phone in her hands.

“She…hung up…” Emily said, suddenly feeling a vast chasm between the two now. Every sense of comfortability now was out the window and in the fire. With what knowledge that now plagued their minds, it scared Emily from even sharing the same room as Amy. But here they were, standing within a room’s width of each other.

Amy was quiet for a long while, far more pensive than she’d ever been. She walked over to the desk, staring down at the box of gifts she had brought, suddenly seeing them in a whole new light. A peculiar one. She looked over at the couch, still with Emily and half her face hiding in the cushions while she self-soothed by petting Ashes.

Then she looked down at the box again.

“...Emily?” Amy softly called for her, right as she sat down upright beside her.

Emily responded in a low, shaky and nervous mumble, “Mm…mhm…?”

“Can you sit up for a sec? Look at me for a minute?”

The one silver lining was that Ashes didn’t leave her lap while she adjusted; the last safe thing she had for comfort that didn’t judge her for her deepest and darkest secrets. Just a point of unconditional love.to get her through all her other worries.

And Emily looked, but her lower lip quivered as her mouth imploded, seeing what she did not want to see.

Resting in Amy’s lap. If only she had her cat. Too bad it was in Emily’s. Though her companion looked just as soft and just as comfy. A companion that offered a sense of security, and one that could support its owner in vastly different ways.

“I…wasn’t expecting things to go like this…” Amy did her best to look at Emily, but even she was nervous. And yet, she couldn’t help but answer the distant call to be the lead and the authority.

And Emily shuddered when she watched Amy’s hands tumble the object in her lap, spreading it and smoothing out the creases, just like Emily stroked Ashes’ back.

The same comforting hand from before was suddenly back on Emily’s shoulder, making her jump at first, but immediately falling limp to the touch.

“I know what Joyce said, but…well…”

Is…is she not going to?

“...If it really is alright with you, I…I think I do want to try putting this on you.”

And it was a quiet moment of total vulnerability, the more Amy bundled the fabric, but finally, she held up the cloth diaper like a love letter, and tilted her head with an innocent smile.

“Emily…do you think you could lay down for me?”

---

 

49 - The Places We’ll Go

It was an uncomfortable silence. Very uncomfortable. It was warm, hot, confusing, and obscenely embarrassing. The world was spinning, there must have been an earthquake because her heart was thumping tremors.

“H…” Emily breathed a sound, but her tongue felt numb. “H-h….huh?”

Never. Not ever; not in a year, ten years, one hundred, one thousand, or in the lifetime of the universe did Emily even think she’d be faced with this. As dumb and stupid as she was to have skirted the line so carelessly, she didn’t actually expect the consequences. After all, what rule had she broken?

But sitting on the same couch as her, just a few cushions down, Amy with her head tilted ever so slightly, creased her brows with the tiniest signs of a disappointed smile. Maybe if Emily wasn’t as frazzled as she was, she may have noticed even the slight blush from Amy herself. The bright yellow and purple diaper, made by Amy herself, was held against her chest by the edges where the tips of her curled fingers clutched it.

“No…?” Amy smiled as sweetly as she was shy now, but somehow able to overcome all that and project an overwhelming sense of desire.

“A-Amy…I…” The loose fabric on Emily’s legs started to collect and converge right where her hands were bunching whatever they could hold, over and over.

A diaper. A diaper was offered to her. No, not even offered, but softly forced. She saw the diaper, the soft hands, well-kept nails and casual and comforting clothes. It almost made her reminiscent of whom she could only ever think of in a case like this, but looking any higher brought clashing headaches and confusion when it wasn’t who she expected it to be.

It wasn’t her Joyce making demands. It wasn’t her mommy. She was across the city, doing other things as she saw fit, while simultaneously now ordering others to do her bidding. She couldn’t do that, but she did, and the predicament Emily found herself in now was a living example of that.

This was a proxy, that’s all it was. Joyce multitasking from another body, doing what she did best and wanted most. But…the sensation was different. The feeling.

“...Emily, I…” Amy’s lips retracted inwardly. “...I think I understand…a little.”

Understand? Understand what? What could she understand? This…she didn’t do this! She…she made clothes! Not diapers…!

The cloth diaper in her hands slowly dropped into her lap where she slowly smoothened it out over and over.  “When I make people clothes, I try to understand a lot of things about them. What they like, who they are, and how they might want to feel. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous, but I really do try and capture who they are as a person.”

“But–” Emily bit her lip anxiously, “but you do this for Joyce? I…” she sighed worriedly, “I-I like it too…I do, Amy, I….I really do… b-but this is for Joyce?”

After a quiet few seconds, Amy broke the silence.

“Is it?”

Her lowered eyes were saving her from the paralyzing feeling of direct contact, but her space was invaded again once Amy cocked her head out even further just to lower into it. It was uncomfortable and weird. Amy still felt the same and that was the most troubling. She felt just as gentle and just as accepting, only now different shocks were traveling down the same wire Emily let her plug into.

Before she opened her mouth her chin was already shaking. All the progress they’d made felt completely undone, and why was that? Were they not just talking about all the things Emily did with Joyce? Maybe that was it. Talking. There wasn’t any physical evidence of the crimes or fingerprints to convict the culprits. Words were words and this was…real. Very real. Too real. In a silly, shortsighted way Emily went out on a limb without even coming close to fully realizing just what kind of chain reaction she could have set off.

But again, miraculously, it could have been stopped.

“When I came over your house just to see you all dressed up, I really can’t tell you how happy I was, but, well,” Amy stifled a giggle, then let out a small laugh. “I think I kinda made my point when I hugged you?”

And Emily remembered it too. Yet another terrifying moment when she thought it was practically life or death whether she’d be eaten alive by an outside spectator. Christ, Amy volunteered herself as a participant at that.

“Emily, I can’t get over how adorable I think you are. –And don’t think of this as a confession, or anything!” she worriedly blurted out. “Please don’t think of it like that,” she humorously moaned. “I don’t want Joyce hating me!”

Amy’s artillery was strong, and her bunker-busting banter was unrivaled, but Emily’s self-conscious cage was just that much tougher.

The seamstress mumbled, “It’s kind of embarrassing,” Ah, touché. Amy went on, “but…I can’t get that stuff out of my head now after visiting your place… I think a whole lot about my clients and how their clothes are going to fit and look, but with you guys, it’s just…different.” If only she knew how big the word ‘different’ seemed to be in Emily and Joyce’s lives.

“B-but you…Joyce wants this stuff…” Emily muttered with the single card in her hand to play.

Amy’s sudden and immediate retort was cruel, precisely because it felt like a knife in Emily’s back. “Is that why you wanted to wear those footie pajamas on your own?” It was far from unkind, and she delivered the blow gently but effectively. Nevertheless the wound made Emily wince. She certainly was stabbed in the back. Maybe only with a foam knife, though…

“You’ve been so honest with me today, Emily, and I love getting to hear so much about you. I don’t want you to feel like you need to keep up your guard around me, because you don’t. I know what you two have. I get it. Not like get-get, but enough to know that I can tell when you’re lying, Emily.”

Oof. The accusation was more electricity and Emily’s shoulders took the shock.

“Yes, I do this for Joyce, but I do it for myself, and I do it for you. You don’t have to lie,” she stressed, and finally the flames were too strong for the girl to even look at the confrontation.

“Hey, Emily…” Amy called and even reached out for her shoulder.

“It’s…it’s not for me. It’s for Joyce.”

“No? Is it?” Amy was a friend, and she was kind, which is why it made it so much harder to hear the sickening amount of doubt her few words were saturated in. “Should I stop, then? Do you want to pretend today never happened? That we didn’t talk and hang out? About all the silly ways Joyce can be a bully, and you can be a mischief-maker?” she chuckled, and Emily nearly felt herself be swept away by the urge to grin.

“We are friends, aren’t we?” Amy asked, and finally she expressed the smallest amount of self-doubt, like there had been an unfortunate misunderstanding. As if her kindness had merely been borrowed to suit Emily for the afternoon, and nothing more.

“W-we are!” Emily stressed, reaching out just enough to stop the wreck from derailing. Her chest rose and fell uncomfortably as the words stumbled and tumbled, but they came out nonetheless. “I-I…I want to be friends, Amy, a-and I don’t know why I’m so…s-so like this…! It’s…it’s j-just embarrassing, but I know you are nice and wanna help, but I…it’s just…!”

“Wanna hug?” Amy asked with open arms, and Emily couldn’t have fallen for her faster.

The moment her head came against Amy’s chest, she stared off to the side where all the fabrics, needles and threads were, and just beyond that the shelves of bins she sorted through. It wasn’t the same as Joyce, but it didn’t feel that far from just as comforting. It was just different.

Her lips quivered and the sharp lines of the shelves and corners from the tables all started to go blurry like her camera was out of focus. The lens was just wet, though, because her whimpers went on to tears.

“I-Ih’m sorry…!” Emily sniffled and whimpered, and Amy did the same thing that Joyce did and rubbed circles on her back.

“Don’t be sorry,” Amy chuckled. “Also, how much practice do you have with Joyce? Do you know how good of a hugger you are?”

“S-sorry…” Emily immediately softened her arms like wet noodles, but a sudden firm grip on her triceps forced them back to the tight way they were.

“Did I say to stop?” Amy taunted, then laughed. “Nuh-uh, hug as much as you wanna.”

So she did, and despite the embarrassment she felt there wasn’t a second attempt to go limp. Maybe she felt ashamed, but by this point she was too well-trained by Joyce to not crave physical affection. Physical affection simply made her feel too good now to not crave them. Not when she felt like this, no matter the circumstances. Her worst enemy or agent of destruction could somehow be her best friend with just a simple gesture. One that bled from Emily’s smaller and simpler self into her adult headspace.

“You’re cute, Emily. So cute,” Amy hummed, holding her nearby the whole time. “Do I hug as good as Joyce does?”

Maybe for many reasons Emily shrugged. It didn’t quite feel like a one-to-one comparison, and also she probably couldn’t forsake herself by criticizing either woman. After all, Amy was here to hear if she was criticized, and Joyce…well, somehow had omnipotent powers.

“Good point. Probably shouldn’t make ya choose,” Amy pondered to herself, and finally the first smile shined on that dreary day. “Em, I like you, and I like Joyce. I met her first and I’ve known her for longer, but I feel like after today I’ve learned so much about you. I’m sure you can guess, but I don’t get all close and cushy like this with just anybody, you know?”

“S-sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry!” Amy admonished with a laugh. “I’m just saying that’s how it is. I like you two a lot, and I guess I like doing what I do for you two.”

“But you don’t like this…” Emily whispered with her head half-submerged in a self-conscious muck, but one that even she didn’t believe herself.

“Now you’re just trying to get me to spell it out,” Amy playfully scoffed. “I like this too,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m no therapist or anything, so I can’t pretend like I know why, but I just like it. I like cute things, Em, on top of liking you,” she emphasized, if there was any doubt that the appreciation was fleeting. “I want to see more of that side from you. The kind that can giggle and laugh, tell me all about the ways Joyce can be mean or silly, and let me make so many more things just to draw that side out even more. Hey, tell me, does Joyce make lunches like that for you all the time?”

“Kinda…” Emily murmured, still leaning into Amy’s comforting embrace. “She…she wanted me to get a lunchbox…” Amy feigned a gasp.

“And you didn’t get one?”

“It’s…embarrassing…”

“Yeah, maybe for like two seconds! You opened up to me, didn’t you? Awh…!” Amy laughed, and the woman’s comforting hug was just a little tighter. “You’re a real keeper when you’re bubbly, but feeling nervous over stuff like that is pretty good too,” she chuckled.

“You don’t get it…” Emily mumbled next, and Amy sounded with disbelief.

“Oooh no,” she refuted then shook her head. “I said that I didn’t understand some stuff, but I know exactly how you tick, missy. I can tell you like stuff like this. You like hugs, and you like feeling cute. I’m absolutely sure it makes you embarrassed, but I think you’re okay with that. If it makes you feel small and doted on, it’s your fit.” Amy’s lips were just starting to part, showing her toothy smile.

“Th-that’s not…” Emily started to say, and even with enough bravery to finally look up at Amy, but she froze. She was met with a smug, eyebrow-raised grin from the same woman giving her the affection she very much indeed liked.

And suddenly Emily was pulling away and retreating to her end of the couch.

“Oooh? Now you don’t like them, huh?” Amy teased, and Emily’s mouth quivered. Finally Amy’s smirk softened into just a smile.  “I’m not gonna ask you to spell it out, but I have noticed something…?”

And Emily, already with her tail caught by the trap, nervously waited to hear her captor’s words.

“In all this time, after all these tears…talking to Joyce, me, and acting the way you have, you haven’t once asked me to stop?” She waited for an answer, but Emily’s tongue had been long since removed, and the tiny, but oh-so important detail that Amy was finally starting to see was that it was all by choice. Emily’s choice. It was the golden and unspoken rule, but Amy had gone and dragged it out in the open.

It was the quietest she’d ever gone, and while Amy may have heard that she was making sound, the words not quite so much.  “Th-that’s becauz…I…”

Emily was still close enough for Amy to pat her knee as she stood. Emily watched the woman in her primest element, looking over her workshop like a torture chamber filled with tools. She observed her arsenal and finally landed on something that was on a shelf too high for Emily to reach

“This should work…!” Amy decided one-sidedly, looking down at a large bundle of purple fabric in her hands. She set the bundle on her desk and then grabbed the end of her coffee table, sliding it away from the couch and Emily, leaving a wide, open space right in front of her. Amy flung the fold of cloth outward, wafting it like a sheet until it was fully unfurled and laying wide, long, and flat like a big blanket. Almost like a…

Emily was a second too slow to notice Amy grab what she left on the couch while on her knees, and then the music stopped all over again with a double pat on her thighs like a gentle beckon.

“Emily? Down here, hon.”

“Wh-...B-but Amy, I…” Emily stammered and started her retreat, tucking her feet under her legs, but Amy pounced, leaping and locking her hands on Emily’s ankles like they were shackled.

“Nuh-uh! No you don’t!” she giggled, and Emily whined just barely. Her system was too shocked and the one thing she could hold on to was a cushion that popped right out of place and fell right with her.

“A-Amy, please!” Emily cried from her new spot on the blanketed floor, but her puffy shield was swiped away next and set aside. And before Emily could try and escape her feet fell victim again once two anchors wrapped around them. Amy was the predator and Emily was prey, and just like textbook biology only one of them was enjoying it.

“Emily,” Amy said it loud and clear in a way that cut through the mood entirely, like her core was being addressed. “Joyce gave me permission to do this, didn’t she?”

Crap! No! Why is she saying that?! Her look of embarrassed discomfort went up a notch at the drop of the J word. Joyce said so, so Emily had to.

“...D…” Amy started quietly, but her expression tightened just slightly some more. “Didn’t Mommy say so?”

Then the girl’s heart skipped a beat, and then another. So many skips as all the caterpillars she had for lunch were blossoming into thousands of fluttery butterflies inside her stomach. The ants in her pants were marching for conquest and her face was on fire.

The J word was always bad. All-powerful and seemingly invincible. And yet, there somehow existed a weapon of even greater mass destruction than that.

Mommy.

It was meant to be a secret that no one else knew about. Too powerful and too dangerous to be known by the masses, and even the upper echelons of the Joyce & Emily social circle.

But the nuke came crashing down, obliterating everything indiscriminately. The imaginary gust of wind blew right over the bashful girl’s face, stripping layer after layer away by the immense heated shockwave coming from the unexpected tyrant right in front of her. It was the second in command. The incarnate of Joyce Summers herself.

Everything went like a crumbling building. First her outward embarrassment was lost, then every hair on her body went erect. She felt paralyzed as the tingling sensation rocked her through in a matter of milliseconds. It was the shock from not realizing she was already dead. Emily was killed. Her entire self was wiped into smithereens, leaving nothing left but her rawest, most vulnerable self.

“Sh-she…she told me to  behave…” Emily whimpered, barely even able to see straight now that her mind was melting mush trying to solidify under the blazing sun.

Amy, of all people, had played a card in her deck that Emily didn’t even think was possible. The shock alone was enough to knock her over, had she not already been on her bottom.

The mommy card.

She was submissive before, but a dial was turned, a switch was flipped and a button was pressed. It didn’t go unnoticed by Amy, who looked taken aback for just a split-second, but no more than that. Emily wasn’t the only one swept into the momentum as the seamstress herself slipped into whatever she was feeling at a frightening speed.

“Just…just think of it as trying on some more clothes for me, okay?” Amy smiled, now with the high ground and looking down at her little model.

What kind of magic does Joyce work on her…?

Amy waited for a moment, expecting Emily to undress for her.

“Oh– right,” Amy stared through her with a slightly dumbfounded look. “I guess that part’s my job too, huh?”

“I-I…I can help…” Another whisper from the quiet and conquered, laying back while the mood and circumstances assaulted her in ways that felt unimaginable. With Joyce there was always the unexpected, and by now Emily was prepared for that. Amy wasn’t though. She was an outsider, at least she was supposed to be. But henceforth she would certainly be “in” now., and to somehow be surprised by that was ridiculous. After all, it was Emily’s own fault.

“Mmm, keep those hands where I can see them, missy,” Amy barked in a chipper voice, having the girl assume a surrendered pose. “Just do what you normally do, kay?”

What she normally did. What, chit-chat with Joyce? Try and anticipate a wet raspberry or kiss on the cheek or forehead? For just a tiny moment Emily abandoned all sense of reason, truly wondering if Amy really did somehow have Mommy’s entire playbook.

The feeling of another person’s nails gently digging against her sides made her shiver, and the talons sunk around and through the waistband of her panties, clutching her pants right with it.

“And…down-down-down-down-down!” Amy continued the game, repeating jovially with each and every tug she made, bunching it up more and more, leaving more and more of Emily and her privates to see. Something only Joyce would regularly see.

“Wanna keep your socks on? Actually–” Amy hung her head out, holding up her finger like she was testing the wind. “Nevermind. Don’t want cold feet.”

And just when Emily’s feet were free and she was able to move, her knees slowly started to rise as she hoped to protect whatever she could.

“Did somebody put rubber bands in these legs?” Amy laughed lightly, pulling them right back out, however. “Em, hon, it’s my job to work with clothes, so it’s nothing new seeing somebody naked?” she said nonchalantly, all the while making eye contact, catching Emily’s full lower naked half in view.

Pop!

Pop!

Pop!

Every snap that came undone was like a ringing gunshot. She flinched with each sound, knowing that the inevitable was closing in at a terrifying pace.

“Then we go up…!” Amy soothed as Emily’s legs were suddenly mounted on the woman’s shoulder, taking Emily to the same extremes that Joyce always did. Wasn’t that difficult because she was…bigger than a normal baby?

“Now I can see how Joyce might do it,” she chuckled, “you’re as light as a feather!”

Emily was back to turning her head, watching the underside of the couch as her poor defense mechanism. After all, if she couldn’t see it, surely she wouldn’t believe it. Maybe from this vantage point she could see anything she may have missed… Oh, look, a few small tufts of thread…

“And one-two-three!” Amy cheered as she lifted just a slight bit higher and Emily’s bum left the ground. She braced for the hard landing, but without seeing it happen, miraculously the soft fabric beneath her had somehow become even softer.

“Okay…moment of truth!” Amy announced excitedly, making that only one of them, and right after Emily’s heels touched the floor they were nudged apart. Not a moment later and a very familiar yet presently unwelcome sensation hit her. Physically and mentally so. A soft and secure bulk grew between her legs, covering her crotch and resting just at the bottom of her stomach. It felt so familiar, like it was something she went through just this morning after waking up. Maybe because that was exactly the case, only slightly different.

Her difference was the bulk was a different kind of soft, as if she was misappropriating a shirt or sweater.

“The measurements should be fine, but I’m a little nervous…!” Amy grinned as that same softness Emily felt between her legs was beginning to go the same way about her hips. As it all joined into one, the snugness and comforting sense of security came forward, regardless of how nerve-wracking it really all was. With each pop into her padded prison she became one button more trapped in her diaper. Diapered not by Mommy, but by a friend, and not even in a familiar disposable, at that.

She nearly kicked her foot out like a knee-jerk reaction when she found that the fitting wasn’t over. Amy’s finger slipped between her thigh and elastic gathering around her diaper. She traced the holes and finally clasped her hands.

“Oh my gosh…!” The woman sounded ready to squeal, but her joy was already at an impressive height. “I think it fits! It looks so good! Wait-wait! Emily? Can you stand? Please?” She reached out her hands and reluctantly Emily offered up hers to let them be had. Because Mommy said so. Mommy said to behave for all of this.

But the gravity of what’d been done was different depending on the perspective. Something like this was the kind of solid and heavy boulder that’d sit in her mind for the whole day, if only that, leaving her to chip away at it little by little just to decompress. Yet Amy despite being the agent of Emily’s newfound embarrassment was still speaking and moving like greased lightning. Like nothing was different. But how could everything not be?

Every motion the blushing girl made was more fuel for Amy to hold her hands to her cheeks, fawning, gushing, oo-ing and ah-ing all over.

“Awh…! Yes! Yes! This is just how I pictured it!”

Was she really in a diaper? Emily didn’t have the strength nor the will to look. With a heave-ho she was pulled up to a sitting position, then finally stood. It didn’t feel exactly like the diapers she wore, but the bulk factor was more or less the same. Softer, maybe, but just as oppressive and in the way. When it bunched between her legs there wasn’t the audible crinkle, save for a muffled one.

“Oh– honey, come on, let’s go over to the mirror, okay?” Amy took a hold around Emily’s farthest shoulder and steered her to the one place she absolutely did not want to go.

“W-wait– please…!” Emily shook her head, finally staring down their destination with the fear of God in her. She could feel what she was wearing, but again, seeing was believing, and she did not want to believe one bit. Not that in any way could Emily end up the way she did when she was only with Joyce. Diapers just didn’t happen unless it was with Joyce, so this couldn’t be real, but Amy was about to give her irrefutable evidence.

So with a stroke of brilliance, Emily employed the strongest tactic she had. Amy had Joyce, Mommy, but Emily had something maybe just as great. Like flicking a switch, the world around her went black.

“Okay…let’s stand right here…! Ah!” Amy squealed, “perfect! Emily! Look at how– huh?”

She was there, but she wasn’t. Gone. Disappeared. Everything. She could hear her surroundings but not perceive them. Seeing is believing, and she could not see, therefore she could not believe.

“Em, why are your eyes shut?”

“P-please…please don’t make me look in the mirror…!”

“What? Why?” Amy asked with concern. “Is everything okay?”

“I…I don’t wanna wear one…not like this!” Emily sniffled.

“Why not? Didn’t you say you were gonna try it on? Do you not want to anymore?”

“Th-that’s…that was different…!” she whined with a sniffle. “I-I said I was gonna do it…but then…then Joyce made you!”

Amy went silent for a moment, then asked in a clear voice, “...And that must have made you feel pretty uncomfortable, right?”

“Yes!” Emily stressed, and her world became no less dark. “It’s…it’s different when somebody else does it…and…and I don’t like it!”

“...Is it because you don’t like me?”

The suggestion was enough to make the girl’s eyes widen with horror. She spun her head and looked up at Amy with a deep sense of regret.

“N-no! I-I didn’t mean it like that…! I-I just…I…” She was what? Embarrassed? Nervous? Obviously, but what else?

Scared.

Fearful.

Being like this was one of the single-handedly most vulnerable states Emily could find herself in. By now she knew how malleable she could be when she was treated like a kid. The diapers just did something at this point, because it affirmed and reinforced just about every tiny tweak or installment Joyce made to her brain, her body, and emotions. And she loved it. She loved all of it.

That moment right then made it clear what she loved, and why she was so scared to accept any of it in a strange place without her significant other. Every wall imaginable inside her heart and mind crumbled whenever it was time. By the time Joyce had her up on the changing table she was nothing but soft putty ready to be played with. There was no need for an iron box to keep herself together, held together by chains and locks; only Joyce was supposed to have the key too.

But with how Emily’s younger half was trying to feel right this very minute, she realized shockingly that duplicate keys apparently existed. What Joyce could do to her…could others as well?

It suddenly became a terrifying thought of a world without Joyce. A time and a place where Emily could be convinced to feel like the small little girl she’d been trained to be, yet all without Joyce having any part in it. But it was Joyce that made her like this, not Emily! This was Joyce that made her like being a baby, right? It wasn’t herself that liked it! She liked it because Joyce liked it!

So her body felt physically ill. Her stomach was turning over and over, trying to fight the endorphins and fuzzy feelings that were essentially pavloved into leaking into her brain right when the babying began.

She wasn’t allowed to feel like this, which is why it made her restless because her body wouldn’t listen.

It needs to be Joyce! It can’t be anyone else! It has to be Mommy…!

“Emily? Honey, look in the mirror?” Amy calmly pointed, and as much as Emily didn’t want to, for some reason, she did turn her head.

Slowly her eyes fell on the reflection and there she was. Emily, wearing a diaper. The upper half was hiding underneath her shirt, but not enough to see the rest of the button snaps where the wings of her diaper fell in place. It was a cacophony of colors. Her puffy crotch was a pleasing purple, followed by her yellow buttons, and red trims. It looked weird for a second, like it was the utmost ridiculous fashion statement. Because it was, and that was the point.

But beyond that, it was her normal shirt, bare thighs, and socks that she came in. Right beside her, holding her by the shoulder was Amy, smiling simply.

“You know what I see?” Amy squeezed the frightened girl’s shoulder. “What I see is a very brave girl who was nice enough to let me indulge myself. But I also see someone a little afraid with how they might be feeling?” she phrased it like a question, but even her guesses were dead-on like her sense of size. Tearily, Emily nodded.

“But what I also see is just Emily. Emily, the same gal that came over to my house today to hang out, help me with my work, and be a really good friend. You see her too, right?”

See…herself? She…she saw the diaper. The flustered and embarrassed girl. The worried look on her face that just wanted Mommy, and so much more. But…maybe somewhere…was Emily, Emily Sen there too?

“I-...” Emily started, but her soft voice trembled.

“Take your time, it’s okay!” Amy comforted her.

“I-I…I don’t wanna feel like this…n-not unless it’s with Joyce…!”

“And why’s that?”

“B-because…!” Emily balled her hands by her sides. “J-Joyce is why I’m like this! She made me like this! I-I…I wouldn’t do any of this if she didn’t start it…! And I do like it! B-but…! She’s the reason! S-so…so I can’t do it without her! It’s not fair!”

“So the way she makes you feel…that’s how you’re feeling right now?”

It wasn’t love that she was feeling. She loved Joyce. Loved-loved. Romantically, intimately, and innocently all the same like a child loved their mother. But she didn’t love Amy. Not like that. There was no romance, and that was clear. They were friends and that was as far as it went. But the babyish sensations and headspace…it made the poor girl exhausted with each second trying to reject what by now felt so instinctual…!

“Yes…!” Emily cried, wiping her eyes.

Was this what cheating felt like? Was she cheating on Joyce?

“I’m…I’m cheating on her…!” Emily bawled.

“Awh…honey…” And despite her cries, Amy hugged her even tighter. “Sweetheart, it’s not cheating? You’re not, I promise!”

“H-how though…! I-I’m doing what Joyce and I always do!”

“But honey, she gave us permission, remember?”

“B-but…! But that’s…!” she breathed uncomfortably.

“Emily, I’m absolutely sure that this is something special to you, because I know it sure is for Joyce. It’s okay if you’re nervous about feeling this way without her, but you gotta know that it’s not bad to feel like this?”

How could it not be bad? She felt guilty, did she not? Wasn’t that more than enough reason? Joyce got jealous all the time, and she must have been fuming right this very minute! Wasn’t she upset on the phone? Angry? Were they going to fight when they went home? Was Joyce going to even take her back?

“Honey, Emily? Look at me,” and with some steering via her chin, Emily did. “Loving Joyce, and…being a baby; those are two separate things. Joyce isn’t mad, and you shouldn’t feel guilty.”

“B-but…! But Joyce…!” Emily whined like saying it again somehow made a difference. “She’s…she’s…!” Christ, why couldn’t she think of any other way to explain it?! “Sh-she’s my mommy!”

“I…” Amy hung her words, freezing for just half a second, but holding herself together far better than Emily was right then. Either way, the woman was becoming fully aware of just what kind of box she’d opened. “I know, hon… I’m not replacing Joyce, okay? I’m not replacing Mommy. Just…think of it like this, okay? Joyce is Mommy, right? So…I’m Mommy’s friend, right? I’m just Auntie Amy. Yeah! I’m allowed to take care of you while Mommy’s at work, right? She said I could, didn’t she?”

That she did, and bombshell after bombshell kept hitting the frightened girl. Amy said it herself: she wasn’t replacing Joyce. Babying was separate from loving Joyce. Cheating was loving someone else, but that wasn’t this. It was just babying, but with another person. Not a complete stranger, but someone between Joyce and Emily, and someone that Joyce trusted enough to tell Emily to behave for her.

Auntie…

She was Amy. Auntie Amy, and not Mommy. It was difficult to digest, all because it meant going off the good faith of a person holding all the cards.

“Oh– I see those tears drying up?”

And before Emily could feel herself, Amy’s fingers brushed the last few specks of wetness on her cheeks.

“Emily, another thing,” Amy started in a soothing voice, “If Joyce was okay enough to let me do with you what she does, don’t you think that she would rather you feel the same way when it’s with her? Joyce can be…competitive,” Amy giggled for a second, “but you are the last, no– not even someone she would ever even consider trying to hurt. She wouldn’t want to see you feeling like this, sweetheart. I won’t pretend like I know her reasons, and you’re gonna get to hear them from her, but you should know that none of this was ever to make you feel upset?”

And whenever Emily got carried away by her emotions or feelings, she quite never had the mental capacity to consider what felt so obvious. Joyce never intentionally tried to hurt her. It was always from a place of good intentions, no matter what the outcome was. So…she was supposed to feel okay with this? She was allowed to?

“B-but…sh-she sounded mad on the phone…!” Emily’s voice went thick, near ready to cry again.

“Because it sounds like she had some big feelings to go through herself, but that doesn’t have anything to do with you, hon. Joyce still loves you, and nothing’s changed. Give it just a couple more hours and she’s gonna be here to pick you up, okay?”

“I-I…I wanna call her…” Emily squeaked.

“Yeah?” Amy nodded softly. “Okay, let’s give her a call. Why don’t we head upstairs though? It’s a bit cleaner up there!”

Amy’s hold on Emily wasn’t let go the whole trip up the stairs, and the silent spectator to the entire event was quietly following behind them, one paw at a time.

“You just have a seat…right here,” Amy sat Emily on the bigger couch where Ashes pounced up right beside her, brushing against her naked leg.

“He makes me feel better whenever I pet him,” Amy suggested, pointing at her friend which Emily couldn’t help but smile at.

“W-wait…” Emily looked around with worry, like the weight of the world was coming down on her all over again. “I-I forgot my phone…”

“Nope! Nuh-uh,” Amy softly refused and planted her right back on the cushion she sat. “You can use my phone. Just sit and relax, okay?”

Amy pulled hers from her pocket, pressed a few things on the screen and shortly thereafter had it in Emily’s hands, soon to be cradled against her ear.

Is…is she gonna pick up?

A horrible worry made her heart ache, suddenly wishing she wasn’t using both hands to hold the phone, just so she could pet the cat for comfort.

“Hello? Amy?” But there Joyce’s digital voice was in a hushed whisper.

“J-Joyce?” Emily stammered, already feeling the waterworks ready to burst again.

“Emily? Honey? Is everything okay?” More urgency, more concern. Like she always had whenever Emily got like this. Like things were still the same between them.

The hiccups started and now the tears were free-flowing. “A-are…a-are y-you…nn…not mad at m-me?”

“Em–...one second, okay?”

On the other end, in a very tall building, in a room filled with blazers, blouses, glasses of water and secretaries, Joyce stood from the table. She wasn’t noticed however, courtesy of the darkness that allowed the projector facing the other wall to flourish. But of course her secretary noticed.

“I need to excuse myself,” Joyce whispered into Sheila’s ear, and the tone implied no room for negotiation. So Sheila nodded, and Joyce quietly removed herself. The hallway was busy so she walked right down to the adjacent and empty conference room.

After the soft click of a heavy door, she asked, “Baby, you still there?”

“Mm-mmhmm…”

“Sweetheart, why are you crying?” Joyce sat against the table. Her heart was already a mess after the first phone call, and now this?

“I-I’m sorry I asked to wear one…!”

“Sorry? Wearing what, a diaper?”

“Y-yes…!” Emily poured out with a crying wail.

“Wh…why are you sorry, sweetie?”

“Because…! I-I made you mad…! W-we have rules, and…and I tried breaking them…!”

“Emily, baby, I’m not mad!” Joyce softly assured, and the fact all she could do was offer her words and nothing more only heightened the frustration with herself. “You didn’t try to break any rule! Did Amy put a diaper on you?”

“Y-yes… I’m sorry! I’m so sorry…!”

“Don’t apologize! It’s nothing to be sorry for…!”

“B-but I cheated…!”

“Cheated?” Romantically? With Amy? Her impulsive self was triggered for just a second, but then she tried to imagine it. Cute little Emily, getting frisky with Joyce’s friend that was given the opportunity to diaper her? Her baby getting involved romantically? Needless to say, the image hardly fit in Joyce’s mind, despite her unbelievable jealousy. “Emily, sweetheart? You didn’t cheat, though?”

“B-but I wore one without you…!”

Her heart was cracking. Is that how it felt for her? “Emily, baby, it’s not cheating, I promise you. I’m not mad, and I love you just as much, okay? You didn’t do anything that made me mad or upset.” She could admit to her own faults of admittedly being that way at first, but she dared not mention something Emily would undoubtedly try to shoulder the blame for.

“B-but…”

“But nothing,” Joyce refuted, and Emily could practically hear the smile in her voice. “You enjoy yourself, Emily. Today’s a fun day, remember? I asked Amy to do what she did because I love you, and I still do. You know, if you’re gonna call me like this in tears it’s just gonna make Mommy love you even more?”

And Joyce called herself Mommy, and that didn’t go unnoticed by the sobbing girl.

Mommy. Joyce was still Mommy, and Joyce was Joyce. She was loved and nothing had changed. Was this really all just in her head? Were things really okay?

“It’s just a little bit longer until I’m out of work, okay?” Joyce softly explained. “The first thing I’m doing when I leave here is I’m gonna drive right over there, and give you the biggest hug and kiss you’ve ever gotten, understood?”

“Mm…mhm…”

“Does that clear things up a little? You know I love you, right?”

“I love you too…” Emily whimpered back.

“And I know you do,” Joyce chuckled. “I know it must be scary right now…but I’m so proud of you, Emily. I want you to feel comfortable being yourself and enjoying all the things we do whenever you want. I…it’s too much for right now, but what you asked to do, and what I decided because of it…it’s what I wanted. It’s what I wanted, but I was too afraid to ask. You make me so happy, Emily, and there’s nothing you could do to change that.”

“Uh…uh-huh…!”

“And those better be happy tears I’m hearing!” Joyce giggled, wiping a silent tear of her own. “Are you okay now? Do you think you can tough it out for a little bit longer?”

“Mm…mhmm…”

“Good. Now, can you do me an extra big favor?”

“Yeah…?”

“Can you please put Amy on the phone for me?”

“Mhm…I…I love you.”

“And I love you so much too.”

The phone slowly left her ear, and Emily departed from a conversation she didn’t want to end. She already missed the sound of her voice, but parental orders superseded her own emotions as she shakily held up the phone to Amy.

Amy took it with a smile and held the phone with one hand to her ear. “Hey Joyce!”

“Is Emily listening?”

“One sec,” Amy paused, definitely noticing the curious girl on the couch. She grabbed the TV remote and brought the screen to life, quietly pointing Emily at the screen, then she left for the farther end of the apartment. “Okay, just us.”

“What happened? Did everything go alright?” Now without the need to a big and strong front, the woman’s worries were out on full display.

“As well as it could…” Amy spoke awkwardly. “I’ll be honest; I knew this meant a lot to you both, but I guess I didn’t fully realize that until, well…she started crying.”

“Is she mad at you?”

“No, not that I think, at least. I…admittedly, was a little excited… But I think she thinks she messed up, Joyce. Like she did something she wasn’t supposed to. But I did try telling her that what this is and your relationship are separate things.”

Joyce sighed. “They are…” but they aren’t. “I knew this would be tough, but…that doesn’t make it feel any easier… A-Amy…I’m sorry, I…I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, did I?”

“You gave me a choice, didn’t you? Like I said to Emily: I don’t quite fully get it, but…I know enough that there’s things I like about it too, so…I guess being included some way…it felt…kind of nice, I guess.” It went the same way for Amy. Without a subjective child in earshot, it somehow made it easier to be more expressive. “I…I liked it.”

“I’m glad…” Joyce sighed, then had a silent doubletake. What did she just say? She’s glad? “I-I mean…I’m glad that…it didn’t make you feel uncomfortable… Wait– what did you even put her in? What did you make?”

“Didn’t I say it’s-a secret?” Amy finally teased.

“Amy?”

“Ou,” Amy’s joking fizzled out. “Okay, okay. I made her a cloth diaper. Something Idunno…just felt like doing.”

“So she really is diapered right now?”

“Mhm,” Amy nodded to herself.

“And she hasn’t tried taking it off?”

“None that I can tell.”

“And…she didn’t say anything? Like…anything strange?”

Amy hung her head. “Strange? Like…?”

“Like…” Joyce frowned. It was easily her least favorite and most hated, but necessary evil.

“Like a safeword…”

Amy blinked. “Oh. Oh! No, nope. Nothing that I could tell. She did say a lot about how she didn’t want to or felt embarrassed after the fact, but…she never did say anything out of the blue.”

So she really did go through all of it…without any hard or immovable issue…

Another relieved sigh from Joyce.

“Okay…good.”

“And Joyce, believe me, I’m doing everything I can to make her feel comfortable, but what if I give her a breather? Take off the diaper maybe?”

“...No. If she isn’t trying to get out of it, I want her to stay in one.”

“And…you’re sure?” Amy asked skeptically.

“It…What we do, Amy…it’s not meant to be a game, and Emily knows that.” There unfortunately wasn’t much time right then to talk. “We’re both committed in our own way… So when she’s in a diaper, she stays in one. And…whatever happens,” which as the past would indicate could certainly be a lot, “it’s only a couple more hours.”

“Okay, Mommy, but don’t take too long,” Amy chuckled, and Joyce all by her lonesome was blushing with a quivering mouth. “Joyce,” she giggled, knowing exactly from the silence what she may have looked like right then, “she just called you that on the phone in front of me? That’s not including the few times she already used it with me a little bit ago.”

“Sh-she called me that in front of you?” Joyce’s heart did a somersault, but the point still stood. Emily openly acknowledged her as Mommy? In front of other people? And she wasn’t there to hear it? Her heart melted as did her annoyance flare.

“And sorry in advance, but in trying to calm her down, I may have appointed myself the Auntie position…”

“What?” Joyce sounded confused, “Al…alright,” she dismissed the confusing subject. “Listen, what’s she doing now?”

“Watching TV. Didn’t want her eavesdropping just in case.”

“Is there a bed she could use? Or the couch?”

“I can make that happen, yeah. Why?”

“She needs a nap,” Joyce decided right there and then. “And if I’m lucky she’ll be ready to get up by the time I’m there. I think that’ll help her calm down the most…”

“Yeah, I can do that. Er…should I say that you told her to have one, though?”

“No,” Joyce sounded quite clear. “Don’t use the ‘n’ word around her. Just…can you think of some way to do it?”

“Have her take a nap without suggesting she take one? What a tricky request.”

“Please?”

“I’ll get it done,” Amy laughed confidently. “Any last words I should give her?”

“Yes. Please tell her how much I love her…”

“Can do! Now go finish up work, Mommy!”

Amy laughed, and Joyce silently hung up.

“Okay…” Amy puffed out her cheek, putting away her phone. “Nap time… Nap time…” she looked around, then finally landed her eyes on a bedroom door. “Blanket.”

And she disappeared from the main room, gathering what she needed, all the while reflecting on everything that had happened thus far. Why was she going to such lengths? She wasn’t even being paid. In fact, she was the one paying Emily, the girl she was somehow about to convince to take a nap without making it explicit. She made a diaper of her own volition, and even put the very girl that it was meant for into one. Then she held and consoled her; said anything she could just to keep her from crying. And even labeled herself as an authority figure. Auntie Amy…

“An aunt, huh…” Amy murmured to herself, arms filled with a pillow and blanket.

An aunt.

Auntie Amy…

“Emily?” Amy sauntered back into the living room. “Kinda chilly in here, right? How about a blanket to warm up a little, huh?”

 

---

It was on rare occasions, almost never when Joyce, Ms. Summers was the first one to announce their leave. “Sheila, I’ve wrapped up what I needed to. I’ll be heading out first.”

Sheila blinked, far more accustomed to being the one to collect her boss first.

“Okay. If it wouldn’t be an issue, looking at the briefings scheduled for tomorrow right now might–”

“I’ve finished my work,” Joyce repeated, but quite more firmly, shushing her secretary into a silence.

Her tone had not gone unnoticed, and finally Sheila nodded simply. “Good work today. I’ll leave those things on your desk for tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” And Ms. Summers was gone.

Her heels didn’t give her the opportunity to sprint, so she race-walked across the parking garage, beelining for her car and skirting just under the speed limit where traffic didn’t intervene, going as fast as she could to the one who needed her the most. Was she asleep? Napping? Did she cry at all any more after their phone call?

So many questions, so few answers, and Joyce wanted to know the truth about everything so dearly and so badly.

It didn’t take long to park, and not much longer to race through the empty front of the store and back through the showcase room. Things looked somewhat tidy, but she noticed the displaced coffee table and giant cloth rug. A cushion was missing from the couch and laying on the floor, and sure enough, Joyce spotted an article she recognized.

She walked around and over to the items, picking them up and holding them in her hands. Emily’s pants, no doubt, and sitting inside them was also a familiar cyan pair of panties. After neatly folding them she walked up the stairs. She softly knocked on the door, and a few seconds later Amy answered.

“Hey Joyce!” Amy greeted her quietly, “Come on in–!”

“Where’s Emily?” Joyce spoke in a normal volume, but Amy quickly shushed her.

“Shh! She’s right here!” Amy whispered, pulling the surprised woman by the hand and leading her inside.

Round around the corner, there she was.

An all too familiar black head of hair, cutely disarrayed by her head against a plush-looking pillow. She was against the arm of the long couch, covered by a blanket where she slumbered so soundly.

So she really did go to sleep, and for that, Joyce was relieved.

“You convinced her?” Joyce whispered, only barely taking her eyes off the angel.

Amy looked unimpressed. “I tricked her. What, did you put some bad blood between her and early bedtimes, or something?”

“She did it herself… It’s my job to make her do the things that she doesn’t want to. Was…was she good?” It felt inappropriate to ask, at first, but considering how much Amy had already done, was it not a fair question?

“Mm…” Amy sagely nodded, right by Joyce’s side, watching Emily the same way she did.

But suddenly Joyce noticed something, and Amy was already smirking. “Wait, is that…?”

“Ya-huh,” Amy nodded.

“Hang on…” Joyce mumbled, fumbling quickly with her purse. Where was her phone…?!

“I charge, you know?” Amy joked.

“Charge as much as you want…” Joyce couldn’t hide her smile as she aimed her camera. And while there was no one to say ‘cheese’, it didn’t stop Joyce from going, “one…two…three!”

And like that another memory was immortalized and recorded. Joyce looked ready to gush as she was absolutely enamored by the picture on her phone, just peeking over it to see the real deal all over again. Hiding right beneath her short black hair was another mass of black, just as soft-looking and cuddly, only belonging to someone else. Sleeping just as soundly, save for the quiet purrs, was Ashes, right against Emily’s head and neck, halfway underneath the blanket.

“Look at our two babies!” Amy giggled, and Joyce couldn’t help but smile herself. “Wanna get her up?”

And while Joyce had one answer, just as she was about to give it, she hesitated.

“Actually…do you want to do some coffee first? Would you mind making some?”

“Should I get a cup ready for Emily?” Amy was already walking into the kitchen.

“No…not yet. Was there any juice left in her thermos?”

After a quick shake from it in the fridge, “Yeah, still some in here.”

“Then she’ll be fine,” Joyce decided. “And…how much did you plan on paying her?”

“Not a lot a lot, but I kept track of the hours…” Amy pondered, then noticed Joyce. “W-wait, Joyce, what’re you…?”

“For everything today,” Joyce offered a small amount of bills on the counter. Clearly and honestly, she said, “Thank you.”

“I…get the feeling you don’t know how this quite works…” Amy smirked, eyeing the money suspiciously. “I pay Emily. You don’t pay me anything?”

“Amy, stop,” Joyce took on a serious look. “You’ve done a lot…this obviously isn’t the same as her working for you.”

“Maybe, but she did work for me. And all this?” she glanced over at Emily. “It…” her expression grew softer. “It wasn’t work… So, no,” she gently pushed the money back. “I didn’t do this to be paid.”

“Amy, but–?” Joyce sounded confused, but Amy continued the conversation in their lowered voices.

“But nothing. Do I really have to spell it out? I…I liked it,” Amy admitted, but immediately turned her head the other way. “Gosh, even I can get embarrassed sometimes, you know?”

“You…liked it?” Joyce blinked, sounding stunned.

“What would you have done if I didn’t?” Amy taunted. “Yes, I did. I don’t know…once you offered me that choice on the phone, yeah, I was surprised, and maybe it was a little weird, but… I dunno…it just…clicked.” As happy and go-lucky as Amy could be, even she had places in her mind and emotions even she didn’t fully know, and her visible discomfort right then was a testament to that. Her playful way of lashing out was just to hide something deeper. Yet being hired as a designer for baby clothes, involving herself so deeply with befriending clients, seeing the beautiful baby herself model them, and lastly being given the chance to snap her into one of her own creations…

“I would’ve liked an apology if I was against all of this,” Amy was clear, but again, her look started to falter and her hands held her elbows. “But here I am…somehow glad I could get your girlfriend to sleep…”

Joyce listened silently in awe, unsure of what to say.

“No? Nothing?” Amy asked expectantly.

“I-I…” Joyce blinked. “Sorry…I’m just…surprised, I guess… I’m sorry.”

“Did Emily learn to say sorry so much from you?” Amy sounded cheeky again. “Don’t be sorry. Just…I hope she doesn’t hold any of this against me.”

“She won’t,” Joyce sounded adamant, and that truly did make some of the tension subside from the seamstress, even if she didn’t know she had it to begin with. “No matter what I say, Amy, it doesn’t change that you got this far with Emily… She really does trust you…” and the words came off on an almost somber note.

“And that bothers you?” Amy asked, but she didn’t sound offended, but like the inquisitive friend she’d been for so long that just took Joyce even longer to realize.

With a guilty look Joyce stared down at the counter, then up at Amy. “It did…for a few seconds… I can’t help but get jealous, but I’m not anymore. Not in the slightest about this. I know you wouldn’t try anything, and Emily wouldn’t either, but I can’t help feeling that way at first. I’m just…protective.”

“Mmm,” Amy nodded. “Can’t say Emily’s my type. I guess I like mine a little taller, more muscle…no diapers?”

Joyce raised a brow and Amy giggled.

“Though, I guess as a kind of impromptu niece, she’s exactly my kinda type. I get to say that, right? Even if I don’t know why?”

“Have you felt like this before…?” Joyce asked.

“No, not really,” she shrugged, and pulled out the pot of hot coffee. “Not until after today…or I guess, maybe since I started working on her outfits, I got more curious. Call each extra step another ounce of curiosity, until…well, today.”

Joyce nodded, accepting a warm mug for her hands to hold. “I don’t know if we feel the same, but…it feels good, right?”

“It does,” Amy quietly agreed and nodded. “I don’t have even half the experience as you though, and I basically just got my foot through the front door on…all this weird stuff, but yeah, after today, I felt good. I…maybe I was doing things already, I don’t know. Taking off her jacket…helping put together her lunch…and…when…you asked me to do what…you know. I really got her to open up to me, and I can’t describe how good that felt, and I don’t know why.”

“I’m sorry…” Joyce said again, and Amy rolled her eyes.

“Didn’t I say to stop that?”

“I’m sorry for involving you like this,” Joyce repeated, only with more clarity. “I involved you. Selfishly. This was for Emily. I…I’ve wanted her to get used to this. Eventually…involving diapers and this kind of treatment around other people. I…I used you to help Emily feel more comfortable with others treating her like a baby.”

There was silence, save for Ashes very distant and quiet slumbering purring.

“I know.” Amy answered simply, and Joyce’s mouth hung agape.

“Y-you knew?”

“Obviously. Joyce, I can tell how much Emily matters to you? How long has she been in your life now? Besides, call me selfish too, because I actually decided to listen to you and use your authority against Emily. I’m just as bad as you are.”

“To make her behave…?”

“To try and calm her down. If Mommy said so, then she has to behave. Don’t think that I liked doing that,” Amy partially frowned before sipping from her mug.

“...I won’t put you through that again.”

“I…I didn’t know if it was ‘okay’ to do, but I just did it anyway,” Amy muttered. “Is that what I’m supposed to do with her? Hold your name over her head like it’s some kind of end-all be-all?”

“As a last resort, yes. But up until that point, no. Thank you for today… I won’t do that to you again.” Joyce offered a weak smile.

“...Well…” Amy turned her head to avoid eye contact.

Joyce raised her head in surprise.

“I said I liked today, didn’t I?”

“But…”

“If…if it’s possible…and Emily is okay with it…again. I-...I want to do this again. The right way, and not start so…awkwardly.”

“Amy…are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious,” Amy answered, trying to wipe the small blush off her face. “It’s not like I’m going to stop making clothes for her, and I still want to be…involved. And fine, let’s call it what it is at this point: babysitting. Let me give it another shot…”

“Bab–...A-Amy, that’s…you realize what that means, right?”

“Yes, I do. Or, at least I think I do… What, just keep her busy, right? Come over, play a little, chit-chat, lunch?” She turned her head for a live example. “Naps? Can I have her still try some things on for me? Like, adult clothes? I could still use her help with that. But that’s all there is to it, right? I…I know I’m making it sound like a chore, but…ugh, yes, I want to do this again, but better, okay? I just want to see how I feel about it…” Today was just a tiny sliver, and like it was the forbidden fruit itself, Amy’s greed and gluttony simply wanted a greater taste.

“But you know that she wears…diapers?” Joyce cautiously asked, and Amy herself paused for a moment.

“So she does use them…” Amy concluded, exhaling with a nod. “That’s…okay. I…think. I can get used to that. Sure.”

And Amy despite her bravery left Joyce giving her a slightly skeptical look. Quite frankly, it wasn’t much of something that one decided comfortability with in just a single moment.

“Well…” Amy openly second-guessed herself, “maybe if I had an example…”

Joyce quietly nodded. An example…

“So will you bring it up to her?” Amy asked. “...Babysitting?”

The intent was clear in her voice, and the desire was shining in her eyes. Amy’s thumbs were still sickeningly green, and she had merely only watched from the other side of the fence for so long. But Joyce could see it right away. Maybe it was only a fraction of herself, or still certainly a greater part, but it was clear nonetheless. The want to be in. The desire to partake and contribute.

All this time Joyce had toyed with the idea of growing and expanding their circle. Safely and securely, somehow, and all of that on top of the impossible reality where Emily became comfortable with any of that. Yet the more she thought, the more the desires and wishes started to overflow, right up until she was in that convention in another state.

She really did confront her selfish wishes and was scared because of it. And right now, leaning against the countertop and staring at her from the other side of the island was that very second chance. A golden goose that Joyce couldn’t have imagined as a better fit. Someone just as open-minded and self-electing. Maybe people just like or similar to Joyce really did exist. Maybe…maybe Isabelle was being honest?

If Amy was genuine, what’s to say there weren’t others like her. Sh…a-and Sheila…?

Emily opened a door, and Joyce found the key leading to one even bigger than that. Monumental in size, and hiding away a path and place that seemed frighteningly exciting.

She saw Amy briefly glance over where Emily lay, eliciting a tiny smile from the woman, and it was another wonderful jolt for the woman sitting in her chair, leaving Joyce quietly astonished.

A doorway… No, a gateway. A pathway so great, it wasn’t big enough just for two people now. So…so much bigger. So much…

In the span of one morning and early afternoon, Joyce’s worldview, feelings, wants and wishes had been changed entirely. Fantasy farther away that hid in the void and recesses of her mind were suddenly being tugged forward, and phantom echoes of silly thoughts and dreams started to sharpen as tangibility took away their fuzzy shapes.

She could see it. A miraculous, exciting future; one that she wanted so dearly with Emily, and one that she now knew was completely and totally possible.

“Auntie…” Joyce quietly muttered, but loud enough for Amy to hear.

“It– I just said it to help her calm down…” Amy mumbled with a flustered look. “I don’t even know if it worked… Joyce?”

But Joyce didn’t answer. Her cheeks were rosy and her teeth were on full display as a smile grew in size on her face.

“S-sorry,” Joyce chuckled, snapping out of it. “Would you mind getting that thermos out, actually?” she looked fondly over at the couch.

“I think it’s time for someone to finish their nap…!”

[Babytom948]

Bit long in the presentation part,but a good finish

[Bel George]

Beautiful continuation of a wonderful story. So nice to be able to continue to witness the lives of Emily, Joyce and of course Amy. I hope there are many more chapters to come.

Thank you.