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Sheltered [12/03/2023] CH46+47 [Important Subscribestar Update]


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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)

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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??

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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!

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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.

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  • Mee changed the title to Sheltered [05/08/2023] CH45 - Something Leaks in the Night

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.

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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?

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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.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...

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…?

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  • Mee changed the title to Sheltered [12/03/2023] CH46+47 [Important Subscribestar Update]

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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