diaper dimension The Worst Little Ever (Chapter 13 Part 1, 01/14/2020)

[Baby Billy]

I agree with the others, Steve needs to take to Lule and tell him how moat amazons mothers would have handed his problem.  

[SGTbaby]

I think he got lucky and a little Man to man talk is important. 

[zatchie]

Big update. But now that much of the world building and major character setup is out of the way, the next chapter we will leave the hospital. Yay! I'm looking forward to seeing Luke interact with other Littles as well as Erin when Steve's not around. I don't know if your opinion of him will improve anytime soon. He is the worst little ever after all   

 

Chapter 3 Part 3

 

“She’s too young. Is she supposed to be my roommate or my caregiver?” The discussion had been going on for nearly ten minutes already.

Erin was waiting outside the room. By now, she had composed herself and realized that Luke’s reaction was mostly due to the situation he was in rather than anything she did, though she still felt terrible about laughing. When he had said he didn’t want her, she had felt physically ill, worried that Steve would immediately agree, deciding that somebody with more experience or a larger support network would be more appropriate. Of course, that didn’t happen, and Steve had been continuously defending her since, though it also seemed like Luke wasn’t even close to running out of steam. She wanted to go back in and try to defuse the situation a bit; she really just wanted whatever it took to make Luke happy outside of banishing herself as his caregiver. However, she could tell that she should probably wait at least a little while longer.

“She’s at a completely reasonable age to adopt a Little. You need to remember how your species is viewed here; your actual age is pretty much irrelevant. There are 50-year-old humans regressed to infancy, and 18-year-olds who are older toddlers. There was even the case of a 13-year-old Accidental Little; that was the one time we allowed and supported family coming here, but each of them still had their own Big caregiver, that was a mess to manage. Sure, you might be physically and mentally more mature, but by the laws in this dimension, you need someone to care for you, and Erin is well suited.”

“What about nurse Joy? I like her, I’d be okay living with her I think. She treats me more normally.”

“That’s because she has more experience with unregressed Littles than just about anybody. She’s not adopting you, for one thing, her nursing schedule would make you almost impossible to care for by herself, and I doubt you’d find the other people taking care of you as understanding. Erin will ‘get’ you really soon too. You just have to give her a chance.”

“But why does Erin even want me in the first place?! It’s suspicious that she’s interested in a human who’s here against their will, even if she wasn’t specifically looking for me. Aren’t there other regressed humans she could take care of? I think she’s trying to humiliate me! I told you already about her laughing at me.”

Steve scowled and stood up from his chair near the door. He was tired of dealing with Luke, he was definitely the most troublesome Accidental Little he had dealt with to date, mostly his reflexive refusal to agree to anything a Big suggested had Steve feeling completely done. He crossed over to Luke’s bed in two steps, leaning over and gripping the bed rail so that his head was even closer to Luke’s.

“Luke, we’re going in circles now. You know she wasn’t really laughing at you, and I told you using the toilet in the first place would not be pleasant. I’m tired of arguing with you about this, and you’re going to be talking to your parents soon. I’m gonna give it to you straight. You are SO fucking lucky to have landed in Aquitane rather than a non-Alliance country; if you had landed in one, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, I’d just be beating you every time you tried to talk. You should be grateful that there’s somebody willing to adopt you, understanding the baggage you’re coming with, and not trying to have you regressed. You literally found a diamond and are treating it like a piece of trash. I understand that this situation feels like your life is ruined, and yes, it is not going to be the life you expected, but nearly every Little in our country is happy, even the unregressed ones. So if you start being a constructive member of this situation rather than fighting tooth-and-nail on every little thing, I’ll remind you again, something you couldn’t physically do in a lot of other places, then maybe you’ll start to notice that not everything sucks, it’s just different.”

Steve had given his diatribe directly over Luke’s bed to emphasize the size and power difference between the two. He didn’t like scaring Littles, and he almost never had to, but he felt that making it clear to Luke exactly what situation his was in, and how much worse it could have been would at least be a temporary solution for his complaints about Erin. Maybe Luke would even become closer to her if he was a little scared of Steve.

Luke was a little scared, a Big had never even slightly raised their voice at him before. However, he wasn’t really impressed with Steve’s speech either: He should be grateful that the Bigs here were doing what they, at the minimum, should be doing? Should they be patting themselves on the back for doing what would be expected of them based on normal levels of human decency? He understood it would be much worse in other places, but it didn’t feel to him like they were really doing anything but trying to make him live the life of any other typical Little rather than the human he wanted to be.

Luke half-whispered. “Okay.”

“Good.”

“So when can I talk to my parents?”

“We’ll head down to the conference room right now. How about you apologize to Erin on the way down?”

Luke frowned but nodded. He figured being amenable to Steve was the safest choice. Luke still didn’t like Erin, but he wouldn’t have liked any person who wanted to adopt him. It’s hard to trust somebody who is being given the keys to control over the rest of your life. On a more personal level, he also didn’t like Erin’s style; she didn’t look like she cared for her image the way he did, and definitely not in the way girls in the crowd he hung out with did. She seemed so plain. He never really ‘got’ the nerds and less popular kids. Never actually bullied them, but didn’t understand why they couldn’t just be normal. Why couldn’t he just have a normal caregiver at least. Though even he knew that would be too much to say at the moment.

“Hey Erin, you can come in, we’re gonna get Luke prepped to go downstairs.”

Erin opened the door. She was as nervous now as the first time she met Luke. She had heard Steve’s rant, and didn’t really like what he’d done. She didn’t think that scaring a Little into short-term submission was going to help them accept their situation. She wanted to earn Luke’s trust, and felt like now they were at a place that was worse than square one.

She gave a small toothless smile. Steve stared hard at Luke.

“Um, uh, Erin, I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier.” He paused trying to think about how to explain himself. “It’s just all so different and uncomfortable, but it wasn’t really anything you did. I think the whole toilet thing was a pretty bad idea.”

“No worries Luke, apology accepted. And again, I’m sorry for laughing and making you upset.”

Inwardly Steve rolled his eyes. His only misgiving about Erin adopting Luke was that she was too much of a pushover.

 

 

 

“Okay guys, lets get going.” Steve pushed the nurse call button. This time Joy came in. The other nurse had briefed her on what at happened, so she was pleasantly surprised to see that Luke wasn’t actively glowering, and that Erin didn’t look miserable.

“I bet you’re excited to talk to your parents aren’t you! I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you and hear that you’re safe as well.” Joy wanted to get everyone into a more positive mood. Somehow Steve seemed to be the most unhappy, though he never really seemed to go above neutral on the happiness meter.

Joy moved Luke into a Little-sized wheelchair with raised handlebars to push him along. He wouldn’t be carried this time. “Yeah! I hope they’re okay. I wonder if my sister came too, or if she had to stay home and go to school?”

That he had a sister was news to everyone, even Steve. His last communication with the agency agent in the human dimension was just to confirm the time of the meeting. There hadn’t been any indication of other family members coming, and Steve hadn’t asked Luke if he had siblings, he figured Luke would’ve provided that information.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a sister Luke, how old is she?” Joy could tell that he had caught them all unawares. This would be an elegant way for Steve to save a bit of face, though she wasn’t really convinced he deserved it.

“Melody is 16. She’s about to finish her second year of high school. We kinda get along but used to argue a lot too before I went to college.” Thinking on his sister, he was sure she would make fun of him if she knew he was wearing and using diapers. Even if she knew it wasn’t his choice, it was one more weapon in the armory to needle him with.

Steve spoke this time. “I don’t know if your sister came. The agent in the other dimension just confirmed the time with me this morning, but didn’t say anything else.”

“Hmm, well let’s go talk to my parents. It’s not a big deal either way if Melody is there or not.” It was a bit of a big deal. He wanted her to be there, he was already missing all of his family even though he would technically be contacting them at least as frequently as he did while in college. The physical distance made the longing for family bigger.

While he did want his family there, he was scared to talk to them too. He didn’t want to break their hearts; their son was going to live the life of something akin to a toddler. He would never have a job, never get married, never have kids. He’d already convinced himself that he’d show his parents that he was more or less okay with it so that they wouldn’t worry too much about him. If it had been possible, Luke would have begged them to rescue him from this dimension, whatever it took. But he knew that in the current situation, it would only cause them more distress.

They arrived quickly back in the conference room where Erin and Steve had their talk. There was a booster seat in a chair that was clearly meant for Luke. Joy helped lift him into it. Steve sat directly to Luke’s right, and Erin to Steve’s right. The projector screen was to Luke’s left, facing the center of their conference table.

Joy left the room. Luke wished she’d stayed.

“Okay, so we’re right on time. You ready to talk to your parents Luke?” Steve had pulled out his tablet and hooked it up to a wire coming out of the table.

“Yep, I guess so.”

The group of three spent a minute and a half in silence as they waited for their call to connect to the other dimension. Each of them waited with different reasons for trepidation. Luke was most concerned about managing his parents’ emotions, and a little scared of what they’d say to him about what happened. Steve was concerned with how Luke’s parents would influence Luke to behave; whether they would encourage accepting his place here, or suggesting he fight tooth-and-nail. Erin was scared about acceptance from his parents. She knew that Luke’s parents would get to read her file as well and was scared that they would agree with Luke’s initial assessment: she was not fit to adopt him.

The projector screen lit of from its screensaver pattern. Looking back at the two Bigs and one Little was a pair of Littles. Mark and Lindsey Kepplin were both in their early 50’s, both had dark hair and eyes that matched Luke’s. Mark’s hair was now interspersed with grays, and he very clearly was the one who had passed down his face shape to Luke; the sharp, well-defined jaw was apparently a family trait. Lindsey was waifish and elegantly dressed, with large, warm, brown eyes; she had been a stunning beauty when she was younger, and now she was elegantly passing through middle age. She did dye her hair, not that she’d tell anyone.

Luke, Mark, and Lindsey had all taken a small gasping breath at seeing each other on the screen. It was confirmation to Luke that he wasn’t totally alone, and confirmation to Luke’s parents that he was safe.

Steve introduced himself. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kepplin, my name is Steve Barnwell, and I’m Luke’s caseworker here in Aquitane. This is Erin Miller, the person who will be looking after Luke here once he leaves the hospital.”

Erin gave a small wave and polite smile. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kepplin, I’m looking forward to living with and getting to know Luke.”

Erin felt more insecure than she had already. Looking at Luke’s mother, dressed elegantly in a grey cashmere sweater, with matching emerald earrings and necklace, her long-sleeved top and skirt were plain by comparison. She wore no jewelry or makeup; she almost never did. Usually she was somewhat insulated from the standard judgements placed upon women by society through her current wealth, or previously by her academic achievements, though those had their own challenges and expectations.

Mark was already crying with tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t really making noise, but wasn’t in a position to talk. Lindsey seemed much more composed, and wore a welcoming, positive smile.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Barnwell, Ms. Miller.” Lindsey nodded to both of them; Mark was wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “And hi Luke! I’m so glad you’re okay! Gosh you look small.”

Everyone except Mark chuckled, he was too busy trying to stop crying. “Hi Mom, Dad, it’s really good to see you.” Luke choked up a bit, he wanted to say more but didn’t know what to say.

Steve waited a heartbeat for more from Luke, then spoke. “So we just wanted to introduce ourselves and let you know that Luke is safe and in good hands. Erin and I will step out of the room for a bit so that you can talk to Luke privately. After that, Luke will head back to his room, and Erin and I will spend some more time talking with you and answering any questions you may have.”

“Sounds good, it’s nice to meet you both, I’m so thankful you have treated Luke so well.” Mark was nodding his head along to his wife’s words.

Erin could tell now that Lindsey didn’t just look good, she was good; everything she did made you feel like you could be a better person, not in a diminishing way, but in a way that encourages you to do and be better. It also worried her that this superhero of a woman is who she would be continuously compared to.

“Okay Luke, Erin and I are gonna step out. I’ll check back in in about twenty minutes. No worries if you’re not done talking by then. Take all the time you need.”

Steve and Erin exited the room, leaving Luke facing his parents, all of them staring at each other in silence.

It took at least a minute before Mark spoke up.

“I’m so glad to see you son.” He was almost ready to cry again. “I’m so glad you’re safe and not hurt.” He was crying again. Lindsey patted his shoulder. Mark had always been a huge wimp.

“We’re sorry Melody couldn’t come, classwork and the sudden happening made it hard to drop everything and travel.”

“That’s okay. Let her know I said hi and I’m doing okay.”

“The good news is that in situations like these, the government will install a communication station in our town, at a conference room in city hall. We won’t have to travel to talk to you after this, and Melody will be able to come to all the calls too.”

Mark had composed himself to speak up again. “You are doing okay? They haven’t hurt or mistreated you have they? We do have a little power over the situation, if our agent finds out that you’ve been mistreated, they can put some pressure on the Aquitane government.”

Luke wanted to cry. He wasn’t doing okay, everything was so big, so different, so wrong. He was sitting in a booster seat like a 3-year-old, wearing a diaper like a 1-year-old, and soon to be adopted out to a woman, never to grow out of dependency.

“I really am doing okay. It is hard, everything is so big, like really really big, but the people here have been nice so far, and are being understanding of my situation. I think I’ll end up being fine, it’s just a really big change.”

Lindsey smiled, glad to see her son was trying to take a dignified approach to his problem. It’s what she had taught him. Keeping your emotions under control meant keeping more control over the situation in general.

“That’s right Luke, you can kind of think of it as having a forever vacation, or early retirement. Hah, you get to retire before me.” Mark chuckled at his own joke. He was the least okay with the situation, he thought, but anything Luke could handle, he decided he could handle.

“I really like Erin, did you know that she has her PhD? Usually in their dimension, they don’t get them until they are at least 30; she got hers at 27. Her condo looks really nice too, she has a view of the river running through Bordeu. I think you’ll have a lot of fun living with her. It’s funny that it looks nothing like the Bordeaux we have in our world though, I guess it’s just dimensional differences.”

“You actually like Erin?! I thought you would hate her, she’s nothing like you… I don’t really like her, she seems like the kind of person I have trouble getting along with, she doesn’t even look like she exercises.”

“I do like Erin. I’m not so naive as to think that there is only one way to be a good or successful person. I like her personality, she seems very pure, if a little fragile. And both your father and I have talked with you about this before, you need to work on you empathy skills. You’ve never been good at getting along with others besides people who act, look, and dress like you do. I think living with her will be a good learning experience. Perhaps you two can help each other.”

Lindsey’s smile had receded a bit. This was a continuous problem with Luke. Everything in life had gone his way: Born into a warm, loving, stable family, financially secure if not rich, intelligent enough that he had never had to work very hard in school, good looks, athletic, popular. She and Mark both regretted that they hadn’t raised him to look out for people who were not as lucky as he, they had tried, though it seemed not hard enough. His lack of understanding had hurt his relationship with his sister who didn’t have a standard fashion taste and had to work a lot harder in school than he did. Lindsey also worried that this first major challenge in life would prove disastrous for Luke, especially since she and Mark couldn’t be there to help him through it. Lindsey thought that Erin would be a person who could help Luke manage the difficulties of Little-hood, provided he didn’t ruin his relationship with her first.

The family continued talking for another half-hour. Discussing logistics of what would happen to Luke’s identity at home: Officially, he would be categorized as a volunteer adoptee who had waived his right to return; Alliance nations didn’t want anything to indicate that they had taken Littles against their free will. They talked about his university situation: He was removed from the school’s rolls officially due to family emergency; his student loans were forgiven by the government. They made small talk about family and friends, his aunts and uncles had promised to come by to chat on the phone some time in the future. His girlfriend Sasha hadn’t taken it too hard, their relationship was more physical than anything, and while she felt sorry for him, she didn’t exactly miss him.

“So do you guys know when you’ll be able to come visit?”

Mark and Lindsey shared a look, they had been briefed by their agent, and agreed in principle that it would be a good idea to give Luke time to adjust before they came to visit in person. They hadn’t really discussed what they would tell Luke though. Just that they wouldn’t be coming right away.

Lindsey felt like this was definitely a Mom job. “Honey, you know that sort of thing is quite hard to organize. Dad and I will have to get time off work, and we’ll have to take Melody out of school. Not to mention non-accidental travel and quarantine takes a long time in and of itself. We will be able to talk to you on every week, or even more often if need be, but actually travelling across dimension will take some time to set up. Probably not for a few months at least.”

Steve poked his head into the room, visually checking with Luke if they were wrapping up. Luke gave a slight nod.

“Oh, okay. But you promise we can talk every week?”

“We promise son, we won’t miss a single one. And we’re proud of you for handling this so well, you have always been a wonderful son to me and Mom. Think of this as a chance to do something almost nobody else gets to do. We’ll always be here to support you too.”

“I love you so much Luke. Be good to Steve and Erin, they care a lot about you too.” She Luke a warm smile, though her eyes were telling him to be on his best behavior.

“I love you guys too. Let’s talk soon, say ‘I love you’ to Melody for me.” Lindsey’s heart just about melted. Luke almost never told his sister he loved her.

Steve walked all the way into the room. “All set Luke? Did you guys have a good talk?” Steve was curious if Luke’s parents had made him more cooperative or defiant. From his brief interaction with Lindsey, he hoped more cooperative.

“Yeah, is Joy taking me upstairs?”

“Yep, she’s just outside. Joy, Luke’s ready.”

“Bye Mom, bye Dad.”

“Bye Luke, talk to you soon.”

Luke was rolled away by Joy in his Little-sized wheelchair.

 

 

 

Steve reinvited Erin in while Mark and Lindsey had a glass of water. They sat in the same seats as previously.

“Thank you so much for taking the time to quickly travel so you could talk to Luke. I know he was really missing you guys.”

“Of course, he’s our son. And thank you all for being so good to him. I’m so glad he didn’t land in a non-Alliance country.”

“As are we, we look forward to him being a Little citizen of our country. So how about we get down to business. I’m sure you guys have some questions for Erin and I, and I know we have some questions for you about Luke.” Steve looked at Lindsey. “Want to get the ball rolling?”

“Of course, I guess my first question is how is he actually doing? I know he said he was more or less fine, but I’m guessing he’s taking it really hard.”

“You guessed right. He had a small violent incident when he learned about what it means to be an Accidental Little, that’s fairly normal, I’ve had it happen before…”

Mark caught that Steve had more to say. He didn’t like his son being talked badly about, but everything Steve and Erin had done so far had been positive or helpful. “And… what else?”

“Well I’d say he’s been a lot less accommodating than any other client I’ve had. The majority of my interactions with him end up with him having emotional outbursts. Erin has had the same, if not more trouble, and she’s a lot more flexible than I am.”

Lindsey wasn’t that surprised, though she was a bit disappointed. “I’m so so sorry about his behavior. I’m sure some of it is because of the huge change, but I think part of it has to do with the kind of person he is.” She stopped for a second, was she really going to talk this badly about her son? She decided that them knowing where he was coming from would help them understand his behavior at least, and help them manage him as well.

“I’m not trying to throw Luke under the bus here, but he’s never really had any hardship in his life. Everything he’s ever wanted he’s pretty much gotten, not because we were spoiling him, though I suppose we did a little bit, but it kind of always felt like the deck was stacked in his favor. He was always extremely popular, good with girls, athletic, that sort of thing. He never really developed empathy for people who didn’t fit in because he didn’t understand the advantages he started with, or at least the ones he lucked into. Him coming to your dimension might end up being good for him, though given the circumstances, this isn’t really what any of us wanted.”

“Ah, I kind of get it now, this is his first time facing adversity. Do you have any suggestions for managing his anger outbursts?”

Mark responded. He didn’t like that Lindsey was so frank about Luke’s shortcomings, but agreed that a situation like this would have arisen sooner or later. “I think you should be pretty firm with him. He respects authority, mostly because his social position gave him some kind of authority. Just keep it in the back of your mind what he’s dealing with…” He didn’t want them to be too hard on Luke, they were so big.

Lindsey looked to Erin. “I think especially for you Erin, you need to be mentally tough. I’m guessing you were not really with the popular crowd in high school or college?”

Erin blushed a little, Lindsey had seen right through her and was now going to mite out her judgement. “Um yeah, I was always in the science and math club. I wouldn’t say I was unpopular, but I wasn’t a ‘cool’ kid.”

“Oh, Erin, don’t worry about a thing, this isn’t a ‘you’ problem, this is a Luke problem. Just based on your file, I think you are awesome, you just gotta realize it. But in regards to Luke, think back to how popular boys interacted with less-popular girls. Not really positive right?” Erin nodded her head, if she hadn’t taken the science path that lead to wealth, she would have wanted to be Lindsey.

“You need to make yourself an authority figure in his eyes. I’m guessing he might fight it at first, but you need to be firm with him, otherwise I think he might take advantage of you in terms of what he can get away with. Once you guys have your relationship established, you two can probably learn a bit from each other.” This was the closest Lindsey would come to criticizing Erin, she had lovely skin and beautiful hair; if she put a bit more effort into her appearance, and gained a bit more confidence, she’d be turning heads.

“Okay, I’ll try to be tough.” She smiled and tried to pull her posture up a little straighter. She knew it would be hard, she’d never had to really face down a popular boy before, and even knowing Luke was a little, the idea of it was still intimidating. Mean words can hurt.

“Do you guys have any other questions?” Steve liked Luke’s parents a lot more than he liked Luke.

Mark asked. “Um will Luke actually have to wear and use diapers? Isn’t that a little infantilizing?”

“He will, remember the size discrepancy. Nothing is really built to fit humans. Also, if he didn’t use diapers, he’d probably be the only human in Aquitane doing so. He and Erin already had some challenges associated with that.” Steve filled them in on the story.

“Well at least I’m not the one who will have to change his diapers this time.” Lindsey laughed.

They talked more about Luke’s likes and dislikes. He was a very health eater, but also liked to party, and they were pretty sure he was drinking alcohol (he wouldn’t be allowed to do so in Aquitane they assured). He exercised a lot and was very conscious of his image. He liked to watch sports but didn’t play that much. They, like Erin were concerned about his ability to have a social life, but there was no easy answer for that at least in the beginning. Erin promised she’d bring some of her more open-minded friends over. They asked about Steve’s check-ins: once every other week at least to begin with. And Erin’s ability to make their weekly calls: she promised to would be the absolute priority; in their dimension they could even take the calls at home.

“So what’s the plan for him moving in with you Erin? Is it happening soon?”

“I think he’s getting discharged from the hospital tomorrow.” She briefly looked at Steve for confirmation, who nodded. “Then I think he will spend one night at the adoption center for orientation, and I will pick him up the next morning. So in a little less than two days.”

Steve spoke up after a short pause. Everyone was just taking everything in. “So that’s all for questions on our end. Anything else from you guys?”

“Nope, I think that’s it. Take care of our little boy, once you guys get along, I’m sure you’ll love him just as much as we do.”

“I’m sure I will.” Erin smiled. As much as Luke intimidated her, she was really looking forward to having a little in her house.

“Okay, well, we’ll chat again in a week. I guess your government will have the communication equipment set up in your town by then. Let your agent know if there’s anything else to share with us before then.”

“Alright, will do. Take care.” The screen went black.

“I thought that went really well, Luke’s parents are a lot more reasonable than Luke.”

“Yeah, I guess I have to work on being tougher. I kinda thought we could just be buddies with me giving a bit more care, but I guess every Little is different.”

‘Understatement of the year’ Steve thought in regards to Erin’s toughness. He didn’t understand how she could go through a PhD with her sanity intact given her seeming lack of fortitude. Perhaps she really was just a genius.

The two made their way upstairs and bade their goodbyes to Luke. Communicating some of what they talked about with his parents, but not all of it. He was cooperative and stable, but mostly seemed tired. It was time for his midday nap.

[SGTbaby]

Erin has her hands full and gotta love Motherly instinct. 

[WBDaddy]

I have to think Luke is going to wind up being forcibly regressed despite both his caregiver's and his own feelings on the matter.  This one's going to go badly for our intrepid hero, I think....

[zatchie]

1 hour ago, WBDaddy said:

I have to think Luke is going to wind up being forcibly regressed despite both his caregiver's and his own feelings on the matter.  This one's going to go badly for our intrepid hero, I think....

I think I'd hesitate to call him either a hero or intrepid ?Everyone's on team Erin except for Luke, and maybe Erin herself. I think what happens to Luke depends on how Erin develops as a person.

[Pierry Louys]

Now I am love with Lindsay what intelligent woman ! And I think she told how to handle her little boy and I think that in the future she gonna love to babying a little her little boy rsrsrs 

[zatchie]

1 hour ago, Pierry Louys said:

Now I am love with Lindsay what intelligent woman ! And I think she told how to handle her little boy and I think that in the future she gonna love to babying a little her little boy rsrsrs 

I like her a lot too! I didn't know what to write for that parents' phone call. It was obvious to me that one was necessary if this wasn't to be a kidnapping story, but what went into the call was kind of made up on the spot where most of the rest of the story is planned. I think I might end up incorporating his parents (at least Lindsey) into the story a bit more than I was planning on previously.

[Pierry Louys]

Great !!! I really ansious to see where you gonna take us !!! And I admit that I am curious to see the first diaper change between Erin and Luke especially a poopy one , and I think it’s gonna be so cute seeing Luke wearing a sleeper and being rocked in a rocking chair to sleep rsrs 

[LtlGary]

Loved the update. Luke's attitude change and the parental advice will go a long way to smooth things over. Or will it? ?

[littleTomás]

I can't wait to see what Luke's time at the adoption agency will be like. I hope they train him to be a little...

[zatchie]

Chapter 4

 

 “So you ready to go?” Steve was sitting in Luke’s room while Luke was finishing his lunch. Some light-meat animal, veggies, bread, and water. Luke was still adamant that he didn’t want Little food.

“Yeah I guess so. I’m staying at the adoption center for one night, right? Why’s that?”

“Well, partly it’s protocol: all incoming Littles stay for at least one night, just gives us a chance to make sure everything is okay with them, a lot of them have some procedures done upon arrival, and this also gives them a day of recovery their parents don’t have to deal with. I think all the other Littles will be asleep though, probably sedated for recovery from surgery or interdimensional travel.”

“And the other part?” Luke had a little trepidation about meeting other humans, there was a subconscious fear that if he acknowledged their existence, then he would somehow accept or encourage the treatment that they were receiving to be performed on him.

“It gives you a little chance to dip your toes into the pool if you will. You’ll probably be treated a bit littler at the adoption center than you will at Erin’s place, not that we will be treating you as if you’re regressed; you’ll just get more leeway with Erin.” Steve didn’t feel the need to mention his ulterior motive: Perhaps Luke would be happier to move in with Erin after being treated littler during his day at the center.

Luke was still looking for any way out of having to move in with Erin (he didn’t even want to think of it as an adoption). Nurse Joy had taken an early shift so that she could see Luke one more time before he left. He had taken the chance to ask her directly at breakfast that morning whether she would consider adopting him instead (he had used the ‘A’ word that time). Her answer wasn’t the one he was hoping for, though he knew that asking in the first place had been a long shot. Joy tried to convince him that Erin would be a much better fit: Erin had a lot more free time than Joy had, Joy was already married and had a kid, and Erin probably had more money than Joy and her husband combined (definitely true, though Joy didn’t know that for sure). Luke didn’t necessarily think Erin having more time for him was really a good thing, but wanted to show Joy he could handle it; he wanted to leave a good impression just incase there was a chance for her to adopting the future.

“Well, I’m ready to go I guess.” Steve had brought Luke some clothes for his trip to the adoption center. As it was still early spring, Steve had brought a pullover sweater in dark blue, it had been a significant effort to find one without any childish designs, and khaki pants with an elasticated waist: the hospital diapers were relatively thin, so Luke didn’t have much of a diaper butt. Steve figured Erin would be getting him thicker, higher quality ones. Finally, the one childish article of clothing besides his diapers (which were plain) were his shoes: they were sneakers splotched with red, blue, and yellow as if a naughty Little had run around a shoe factory with dripping bottles of paint in his hands. Luke was less than impressed.

“Really? Those are the shoes you chose? I’ll look like I’m going back to preschool! They’re even Velcro!”

“Would you have rather had the ones with firetrucks, or dogs on them?” Steve was having a bit of fun, there had been plenty of plain, regular, lace-up sneakers for Littles, he just wanted Luke to have something that showed he wasn’t a miniature Big. “Besides, Velcro is practical, even some Big shoes use them. If you really don’t like them, you can ask Erin to help you get some other ones.”

“Fine, let’s get going.”

Luke got himself dressed; Steve had done a good job estimating his size, and his clothes seemed well-made, better than the fast fashion he had been used to purchasing back in his dimension. Joy had come back in with a Little’s wheelchair again.

“Wow! That looks really good on you Luke! You’re very handsome.” She had helped him take a shower earlier in the morning; Joy wasn’t bothered seeing Luke’s adult body by now, though it was extremely blushy for Luke who hadn’t been bathed by anyone but himself since he was like 7. However, Luke did feel sort of handsome after the shower; the light bathing that happens in a hospital bed doesn’t make one actually feel clean.

“Uh, thanks. Why’d you bring the wheelchair again? Can’t I walk out? I feel pretty much fine.”

“Well, you are still recovering, even if you feel a lot better. You’ll be a little weak for quite a while. Remember what the doctor said about keeping up with exercises and such. Plus, it’s pretty far to the entrance, and we walk a lot faster than you do.”

Dr. Hansen had told Luke that the dimensional travel was extremely traumatic on his body, and while Luke still had a very good physique, if he wanted to maintain it, he would have to keep up a serious, consistent exercise routine. Something about the unprotected dimensional travel made it a lot easier for him to lose muscle than for somebody who came through normally. Luke was a little concerned, but didn’t really mind, he enjoyed exercising, and thought that not even Erin would try to prevent him from doing so.

After Luke got his sneakers on while sitting on the edge of the bed, Joy lifted him down. Luke walked from the bed to his wheelchair near the entrance of his room. He had done some physical therapy the night before, but his legs still felt a little wobbly. Whether it was from the dimensional travel or the extended period in bed, he wasn’t sure.

The travel from Luke’s hospital room to the entrance of the hospital where Steve’s car was waiting took longer that Luke expected. He realized that he probably wouldn’t want to walk that sort of distance with his legs in their current state, though his pride said that he could if he really needed to.

At last they reached the entrance and Luke stepped out of his chair. Joy was kneeling down, wrapping Luke in a big hug before he could take more than a single step.

“Congrats on your discharge Luke! I know it seems really tough right now, but I promise you’ll enjoy your life here faster than you think. Just remember that your job here is to find things you enjoy and do them.”

Joy knew that it would be harder than that; keeping an unregressed Little stimulated was always a challenge, even more so when the Little doesn’t want to be there in the first place. She hoped he’d be able to make some friends or come to enjoy things that made him feel Littler, if neither of those happened, she thought it would be a long while before he could accept his life let alone be happy.

“I hope so, and I’ll try. I hope I can see you again nurse Joy.” Luke squeezed her a bit harder, she was still definitely his favorite person here in this dimension.

“Aww bud, I’m sure you will.”

 

 

 

“Okay, my car’s that one there.” Steve pointed to forest green station wagon that may as well have been an army Tank as far as Luke was concerned. He had vaguely gotten used to the size of the stuff in the hospital, but now, really paying attention to stuff outside, everything seemed giant again.

Luke waved goodbye to Joy one last time and began walking with Steve to his car. Here at the hospital entrance, Luke saw many more people than he had previously: There were Bigs walking around with various purposes in mind dealing with appointments, picking up others, going about their jobs. All the Bigs were huge: the shortest was Joy at just under 12 feet, the tallest was clearly well above 13 feet, pushing 14. There were a few Big children, toddlers were about the same size as he was, and they definitely had more mass, elementary school aged kids would be bigger than even the biggest humans at home. Finally, there were a few Littles other than himself; it was easier to tell them apart from toddlers through their leaner frames and more developed facial features even if they had all been de-aged to some extent. The Littles were all dressed less maturely than he was, though he did notice at least one other Little with lace up shoes.

Steve opened the rear door to his car, he had two car seats installed in the back for when he needed to transport more than one Little; his wife’s car was what they used when they were taking friends somewhere.

Luke looked up at the seat with a sigh. He hadn’t really been expecting this, but he hadn’t been not expecting it either. He pursed his lips into a frown and thin a small smirk. Steve was preparing himself for another angry or sarcastic quip.

Luke exhaled through his nose with a smile, a tiny laugh. “Don’t worry, I understand this one is necessary. This shit is huge.” He liked to think that cursing would be off-putting for Steve a little, but if anything it made Steve like Luke a bit more.

“Well that’s good. The drive’s pretty short anyway.”

Steve lifted Luke and strapped him into the car seat. The center buckle pulled tightly against his diaper, making him more aware of it than he was usually. He was slightly wet, as he was normally – he didn’t like the feel of the hospital diapers when they were dry, and he didn’t want to ask Steve to change him, a guy, especially Steve changing him somehow seemed worse than anyone else, including Erin.

The drive to the adoption center was quite quick. The hospital was apparently located near the center of Bordeu. Luke didn’t get to see a lot from his car seat, but he did see a number of massive marble or granite buildings, often short and squat, only rising a few stories, but covering nearly a whole Big city block. Interspersed with those old buildings were shiny new ones. Shiny steel, reflective glass, clean geometric lines: Bordeu was half historical masterpiece and half futuristic metropolis.

They crossed the river running through the city on an old limestone bridge. A massive tree-filled park lined the river on either side, full of walking and biking paths. Combined with the elevation of the bridge, Luke was finally able to see more than just the upper floors of buildings: there were tons of Bigs, children, and Littles; the park was extremely busy, and given that it was around noon, Luke figured that today was a weekend day, though he didn’t really know for sure.

The adoption center was in one of the old granite buildings. The Bordeu adoption center of the Aquitane Department of Little Services was only one of the pieces of the DLS: there were many other offices and adoption branches throughout the country. Unlike in many other countries where adoptions are regulated at the federal level but actually carried out through private agencies, in Aquitane, all adoptions and management of Little welfare were handled by the DLS, ensuring that all adoptions followed the policies set out by Aquitane and Alliance nations.

They parked in an underground garage below the building. “So I’m gonna take you up to our care facility and make sure you’re settled. Alyson will be there to take care of you. After I’ve dropped you off, I have to go back to the hospital and pick up the other Littles who will be adopted out tomorrow.”

“Who’s Alyson? She knows I’m an Accidental Little right?” Luke didn’t particularly want to hang out with Steve, but having to stay with someone he hadn’t me was scary in its own way.

“She’s the care worker at the center today. Usually the Littles we get are sleeping, so she usually just changes diapers and makes sure everyone gets fed. Once in a while there will be an awake Little to look after. We have a smallish daycare area for that. You’ll probably hang out with her there today.”

“And she knows I’m not regressed right…?”

“She does, but remember, this is not just a one-night stop. It’s your chance to get a little bit acclimated with how Littles are normally treated here. Erin might treat you more as an adult, but there will probably be times when she can’t take care of you. During those times, even if the caregiver knows you’re unregressed, you will still probably be treated more like a typical Little than you’re used to.”

“So Alyson is going to treat me like I’m regressed?” Luke thought that if he was just going to be treated like a baby, he’d rather go directly to Erin’s house. He may not like her, but at least she more or less knew how he wanted to be treated.

“Sort of, but unlike a Little who is actually regressed, you’ll be able to ask questions and get answers about your treatment during the process. Also, if it really gets to be too much, you can ask her to stop. Though some policies about Little treatment at the Center will make you feel Littler regardless. Bottles and cribs are requisite.” Would an unregressed Little know the word ‘requisite’? Steve thought so.

They entered the elevator, Steve pressed the button for the second floor. Luke chose to keep silent. He realized he would have to jump about as high as he could if he had wanted to push the button himself. Even then, he wasn’t sure he would be able to reach it.

The elevator beeped their exit. There was a long hallway with a few junctions going towards the right. However, on the left side, about twenty feet from the elevator exit was a single door. Steve and Luke walked down the hallway approaching the door. Once they were close enough for Luke to crane his neck and get a good angle, he was able to read ‘Aquitane Department of Little Services – Bordeu Adoption Center’.

Steve knock-opened the door. Inside was more of a community room than an office space or reception area: a few round wooden tables with comfortable-looking chairs occupied the center of the room. To the right was a bar with a coffee/espresso machine and some assorted snacks and fruit. To the left were doors to individual offices and a long hallway which led to the Little care area.

Seated at one of the tables with her feet resting on top of the table was a Big woman. She was nearly as tall as Steve, with short blonde spiky hair and makeup that hinted towards got. Luke figured that this was Alyson.

Upon seeing Steve and Luke enter, Alyson stood with a big smile and walked over to them. She gave Steve a brief nod, and immediately knelt down.

“Hi Luke! I’m Alyson, I’m going to be taking care of you today! We’re gonna have lots of fun, and you’re going to learn a lot!” She wrapped Luke in a hug that he couldn’t have pulled out of if he had wanted to. She pulled him into a cradle position and stood up.

Luke was stunned. Steve was smiling politely. Alyson looked like she was having more fun than should be legal.

“Looks like you’ve got it under control. I’ll be back with a batch in a few hours. Luke, remember what we talked about. This is a good learning opportunity for you.” At that, Steve turned and left. He didn’t really need to go to the hospital this early, but he didn’t want to have to deal with Luke while he was being treated like an infant.

 

 

 

After the door closed again Luke grimaced up to Alyson. He decided to be polite. “Hi Alyson, nice to meet you. Please put me down.”

“Sure! Right after we change your diaper.”

Alyson walked from the main entrance room down the long hallway. She turned into a room that was mostly nursery with a couple of changing tables along one side of the room. There were ten cribs, five on either side of the room, all spaced evenly apart. They were all empty.

During the brief walk, Luke had tried to wriggle his way out of the tight cradle Alyson was holding him in. He hadn’t been able to budge her arms even a little bit, and she hadn’t acted like she noticed anything. Luke figured that if she hadn’t been using an arm to control his feet, he could have at least kicked at her a bit. But as it was, he was essentially immobile.

Alyson set him down on one of the changing tables and buckled the strap around his chest. “Aww, you look so precious in your grown-up outfit. You look like a miniature Big! But your shoes are still super cute!” Luke blushed a bit.

“Hey, why did you carry me all the way here when I said I wanted to be put down! And why are you acting like this? I know this is supposed to be training or whatever, but aren’t you going a little overboard?”

Alyson immediate switched into her professional voice. “Well Luke, basically what I’m doing is treating you like a regular Little. The difference is that I’m going to answer your questions while doing so. There will be a lot of Bigs who will pick you up without asking, and some of those won’t listen to you if you ask to be put down; they’ll just ignore you. If it really gets to be too much for you today, let me know. I won’t tone it down, but I can put you in your crib or a playpen to just chill for a bit if you need to decompress.”

Luke was inclined to ask her to stop it right away. This was already kind of overwhelming. He didn’t say anything though.

“Now let’s get you in some cuter diapers! The hospital ones are so thin and boring!”

“I think I can change myself.”

She kept her Little voice this time. “No way mister. It’s really hard to change yourself well. You might get diaper rash. You should always let a Big do it for you.” Alyson removed his old diaper and wiped him down. She then applied a layer of cream followed by a dusting of baby powder.

The diaper Alyson changed him into was at least twice as thick as the one he had been previously wearing. It was decorated with stars and moons and spaceships. The thickness of the diaper and the width of the gusset forced his knees much further apart. Luke was certain he would be waddling once he was put back down.

After pulling Luke’s pants up, she unbuckled him from the table and set him on the ground. His diaper butt was much more visible. Alyson didn’t tell him, but she had changed him into a nighttime diaper. If asked, she’d say it was because he’d be napping soon, but really it was to make Luke feel Littler.

“Let’s go play for a bit, then it’s your afternoon naptime. Follow me.”

Luke was having a harder time keeping up in these thicker diapers. He had to swing his legs a bit around the path they would normally take when walking. He felt like he could lose his balance at any time.

“So what sort of things do regressed Littles usually play?”

“Oh tons of things, think about what little kids play in your world. Make believe, finger painting, playing with blocks, playing on a jungle gym and slides and that sort of thing.” Alyson’s voice trailed on like she could continue listing for hours. She probably could.

“So what are we going to play?”

 “I was thinking you’d do some painting. It’s a smaller daycare here, but we have a pretty good art corner.”

Painting didn’t sound that fun to Luke. “I’m not a very good painter. I don’t think I’ve painted anything since middle school.”

“Aww, that’s no big deal. The point isn’t for you to make a masterpiece, the point is for you to have fun. That is literally your job here: find things you enjoy, do them, and share your happiness with others. Also, as a Little, you’ll have lots of time to learn new hobbies. You may find yourself becoming a very good painter.”

Luke wasn’t sure he believed Alyson’s description of his job here. It felt more like he was expected to act like a baby, and the act of taking care of him would be the thing that brought Bigs happiness. What Luke didn’t understand was that the act of taking care of him was supposed to make him happy, and that was the thing that would then make Bigs happy.

“Um, okay. I guess let’s paint.”

They got to the art station. There was a cubby full of paints and palettes. Alyson set up an easel with a canvas.

“How about you pick out a few colors. I need to grab a couple smocks.”

“Sure.” Luke wasn’t sure what he was going to paint, but the idea of painting something was sounding kind of relaxing. Maybe what he made would even look half-decent. He picked out blue, orange, green, and black.

Alyson came back with Big-sized and Little-sized smocks. She took the four paints that Luke had picked out and put a Big-sized dollop of each on the palette.

“Okay, get started. Do you know what you’re going to paint? Or is it a surprise?” She said the last bit of her sentence like she was talking to a very young child. Luke still didn’t really know what would trigger her switch from talking to an adult to talking to a regressed Little.

“I’m not quite sure yet. Maybe something abstract. Where are the brushes?”

“Silly boy, this is finger painting! We’ll clean you up at the end.”

Not what Luke expected. It seemed silly, but he felt a lot of trepidation about putting his hands in the paint. All the years of being taught to be neat and clean were being thrown away by Alyson in a single sentence.

“Umm, okay…” He dipped his index finger in the black paint and drew a cautious line across the top of the canvas.

“Oh come on! You can do better than that. Here, let me help.” Alyson gripped his left wrist and pulled his whole hand over to the orange paint. Most of it got on his palm, but some amazingly actually got to his fingers. She guided his hand up to the canvas and rubbed it in a smudge that connected almost perpendicularly to his black line.

“Could you not. I don’t want to get that messy.” Luke suspected it might be hopeless but he didn’t want to get his entire hands covered in paint. Besides, he had had something in mind for his painting, and Alyson already ruined it.

“Nope! Until you start painting like a Little, this hand is mine. Mwahahaha!” She tickled him a bit under his right ribcage, and when he pulled that arm in tight, she pushed his left hand into the blue paint. She drew another vertical smudge down from the top of the canvas.

“Hey what are you fucking doing!” Luke was getting really frustrated. This wasn’t just being treated like a Little. She was picking on him, and manipulating him so that he had no sense of agency.

“I’m not doing anything silly boy! You’re the one who is finger painting and getting all messy.” She dipped his hand in the green paint this time.

“Fine! Fine! I’ll fucking paint!” Alyson let go of his hand while Luke put a green blob near the bottom of the canvas.

“Also, Littles don’t use language like that in public. I don’t know what Erin’s rules will be, but the only reason I’m not putting you in timeout right now is that nobody else is here, and you have a painting to finish.”

Luke kept silent as he plunged his left hand intermittently into the various paint colors. He decided to not use his right hand at all, hopefully Alyson would be satisfied with a half-messy Little. Where he had initially planned to paint something, now he just wanted to be done with the activity as quickly as possible. The canvas was just an array of multicolored smudges with no intention about their placement. He though about asking to take a break, but sitting in a crib or playpen with literally nothing to do sounded more like prison. He figured it was close to his afternoon naptime anyway.

Eventually, Alyson saw that Luke had no intention of doing any more. She hadn’t intended to make him miserable; she just wanted him to try out playing the way regular Littles do, and she hoped she could provide insightful answers to questions as he did so. The other unregressed Littles she had done this with had gone along with the game at least somewhat. Instead all she got was a Little boy making angry markings in silence, not asking any questions about the life and activities of a Little.

Alyson switched to her adult voice. “Hey, how about I get you a bottle and then you can nap for a bit. You’re probably a bit tired from all the moving around today.”

“That’s fine.”

Alyson came back with a bottle and lifted Luke into her lap. His eyes flashed anger when she lifted him, but he didn’t say anything. The bottle entered his mouth. He had actually taken a bottle from Joy at the hospital when it was close to his bedtime, though she let him hold it, and she had promised not to tell Steve or Erin. He suckled on the formula.

He spoke around the bottle. “Wha isth this? Isth really good.”

“Hmmm? Oh, it’s Little formula, didn’t they give you some at the hospital? It’s made so that Littles really like it.”

Luke stopped suckling while his eyes widened to take up his whole face. He pulled his mouth away from the bottle.

“WHAT THE FUCK! You decided to drug me?! You fucking Amazons think that if you have a Little who’s unhappy then the right solution is to just give them a drug to make them happier?” Luke started squirming to get out of Alyson’s grip. She hadn’t been holding him tightly as he sat on her lap, and his use of the ‘A’ word made her loosen her grip even more. Luke was able to partially slide down her legs before she could grab him.

“Hey hey, I’m not drugging you. You don’t have to drink it.” He was still squirming as she tried to hold him still. Alyson ended up dropping the bottle so that she could hold him with both hands. It wasn’t that she needed him to be on her lap, she just didn’t want him to hurt himself. Luke’s reaction had scared her a little bit.

“Let me go! Put me down! You bitch!” Luke wanted to be anywhere but Alyson’s lap, and was willing to say anything and do almost anything (he remembered not to bite this time) to get out of there.

“I’m just gonna take you back to the crib, then I’ll leave you alone for a bit.” Alyson was nervous, she normally didn’t have to deal with awake Littles, and while she had dealt with unregressed Littles swearing before, she hadn’t dealt with anything like the panic-attack/temper tantrum that Luke was having.

Luke kept kicking air and struggling against Alyson’s arms as she tightly carried him back to the nursery. His heels pounding into her upper thighs were starting to actually hurt, and she was sure that there would be bruises there tomorrow. She set him in the crib that had a cover and latched it closed above his head. He flopped into the mattress and pounded it with his fists, screaming incomprehensibles into the sheet.

“I’ll just leave a bottle of water here for you. I think you’ll feel a bit better after napping.”

“I hate you! I fucking hate all of you!”

Alyson wanted to cry. She never intended to make Luke so unhappy, and in some ways, she could clearly see how it was her fault. He obviously wasn’t ready to be so directly treated like a standard Little, and they should have been more receptive to his desires. Perhaps a more formal question-answer based orientation would have been easier on him, and they could have tried to make it clear to Erin that he would need to still be slowly eased into Little-ness. She would still make sure to do the last part.

 

 

 

Steve returned with six sleeping Littles about four hours later. Alyson had filled him in on what happened with Luke. He was dozing in his crib, still half asleep, still pretty angry. He woke up completely and sat up as Alyson and Steve wheeled in each of the Littles. The two boys were swaddled in navy blue blankets that covered them from neck to toe; the four girls were in light pink. As much as he wanted to say that swaddling an adult so that they couldn’t move was wrong, each of the Littles looked peaceful and content as they slept. Luke even thought it looked pretty comfortable, though there was no way in hell that he’d ask to be swaddled; that would just open him up to other Little things that he absolutely didn’t want.

When Steve saw Luke sitting up he held a finger to his lips asking for silence. Luke nodded his assent. Steve whispered: “We’ll get you out once we’ve finished moving these guys in.”

A couple minutes later Alyson came back, she unlatched the top of the crib and lowered the side rail while opening out her arms for Luke to be picked up. She hoped he wasn’t still mad at her.

Instead of going into her arms, Luke pulled himself to the edge of the crib and jumped down. The drop was a good seven feet, and Luke fell to his knees to absorb some of the impact. As Alyson was about to tell him that he shouldn’t jump off the crib, Luke simply walked past her. It was clear that he hadn’t gotten over the bottle or painting incident.

Without any indication that he was aware of Alyson’s existence, Luke walked into the daycare room; he didn’t want to talk or hang out with Steve either. In the daycare room Luke picked up a fist sized foam ball and walked over to some padded matting that made up a reading area. He laid down on his back on the matting and began to throw the ball in the air, only moving or adjusting his body so that he could catch the ball every time. This was something he used to do as a teenager with a tennis ball when he had arguments with his parents or sister and needed to cool down. Now he felt like it was the only thing he could do without having to interact with Alyson or Steve.

Alyson watched him, concerned for a moment, and then walked to Steve’s office. “We need to do something for him. He’s completely miserable here.”

Steve sighed. “Yeah… I figured he’d probably have a tantrum at some point during your orientation, I thought it would be good for him to experience how regular tantrums are handled. I didn’t think he’d blow up that badly. I think he has some ingrained fear about Little food, or maybe just about becoming Littler that other unregressed or Accidental Littles didn’t have.”

“Do you think Erin could pick him up today? I know it’s against policy, but technically he has had an orientation, and the overnight rule is mainly to check health. We already know he’s healthy. Physically at least.”

“I guess, I’ll go ask him. Why don’t you stay here for this one.” At that, Alyson felt a little hurt, like Steve had confirmed that she really had mistreated Luke. However, she also knew that he was right; no matter whether her actions were correct, Luke didn’t want to interact with her right now.

He was still throwing the ball when Steve walked in. Luke didn’t notice until Steve directly entered his line of sight; Bigs moved unnaturally quietly. Luke stopped tossing his ball but didn’t sit up. He watched Steve with his back flat against the floor.

Steve decided to crouch down, but kept his distance a bit. He used his ‘talking to scared Little’ voice, something he hadn’t used with Luke before. “Hey Luke. Alyson and I were just chatting a bit. We were thinking, would you rather go to Erin’s place today? You might like that more than just staying here.”

Luke turned and sat up. Would he like going to Erin’s more than being here? He wasn’t completely sure. His interaction with Erin hadn’t gone well, but he also knew that she wouldn’t be limited by government regulation, and she knew that he didn’t want to be treated like a Little. He’d have to go to her place tomorrow anyway, and his stay here wasn’t really turning out to be a reprieve from unhappiness.

“I guess so. Can she pick me up today?”

“We’ll have to call her, but my guess is yes. She might be out getting stuff for you, but I’m willing to bet that those things can be put off until later.”

“Then yeah. Call her.”

 

It took an hour and a half for Erin to arrive at the adoption center. She had been very nervous when Steve called her, thinking that something about the adoption had gone wrong, or that Luke would have to stay in the hospital a few more days. When she heard the actual reason, she was relieved, to her own shame. That Luke actually wanted to be with her made her feel better than she had over the past day or so. She went back to her apartment to drop off the shopping she had done. Did a look over on all the Little furniture she had already set up, and then did another look over trying to calm herself down. She was finally getting a Little! And while the circumstances weren’t good, the Little actually wanted to be with her! Maybe if she could make the rest of his day better, they could form a more positive relationship.

[kirababy]

lot of conflict with this one.  Erin will have her hands full.

[Babypants]

Let me play Devil's Advocate and come out firmly on Luke's side here-- the Luke that we first meet in the hospital.  Go back to the introspective paragraph in chapter three immediately above "Luke half-whispered. 'Okay'."  Here our author has beautifully got to the heart of what is wrong with this entire scenario.  We are dealing with a technologically advanced society that has sufficient humans in its polity to warrant creation of a Bureau of Little Affairs.  Why haven't they engineered a toilet for Littles?  For that matter, consider how emotionally and psychologically loaded the terms Big and Little really are.  Luke should politely but consistently refuse to play this game-- he is a Human, and they are Indigenes, and he should keep returning to this point.  It would be daring, but one narrative path here leads straight to Luke becoming the Martin Luther King, Jr. of the humans, and starting a peaceful movement to put an end to blatant discrimination in this society.  Steve's pompous claim that Luke should consider himself lucky that he did not land in a country where Littles are terrorized into submission is a nicely executed canard; his smugness reminds us all that  discrimination cannot be rooted out as a matter of law so long as those in positions of authority remain willfully blind to their own prejudice.

I like Steve, as a character.  He embodies everything that is wrong with bureaucratic complacency, and I congratulate you on drawing so sharply defined a character in such an economic fashion.  

[zatchie]

1 hour ago, Babypants said:

Let me play Devil's Advocate and come out firmly on Luke's side here-- the Luke that we first meet in the hospital.  Go back to the introspective paragraph in chapter three immediately above "Luke half-whispered. 'Okay'."  Here our author has beautifully got to the heart of what is wrong with this entire scenario.  We are dealing with a technologically advanced society that has sufficient humans in its polity to warrant creation of a Bureau of Little Affairs.  Why haven't they engineered a toilet for Littles?  For that matter, consider how emotionally and psychologically loaded the terms Big and Little really are.  Luke should politely but consistently refuse to play this game-- he is a Human, and they are Indigenes, and he should keep returning to this point.  It would be daring, but one narrative path here leads straight to Luke becoming the Martin Luther King, Jr. of the humans, and starting a peaceful movement to put an end to blatant discrimination in this society.  Steve's pompous claim that Luke should consider himself lucky that he did not land in a country where Littles are terrorized into submission is a nicely executed canard; his smugness reminds us all that  discrimination cannot be rooted out as a matter of law so long as those in positions of authority remain willfully blind to their own prejudice.

I like Steve, as a character.  He embodies everything that is wrong with bureaucratic complacency, and I congratulate you on drawing so sharply defined a character in such an economic fashion.  

I definitely agree with most of your perspective here. The whole relationship and concept of Bigs and Littles is pretty toxic in my opinion (though I would jump at the chance to be adopted into that situation). I can tell you now that Luke isn't going to be a human rights leader, he definitely has some development in his future, but the story will mostly stay on a personal level. I would like to write a more politically oriented diaper dimension story sometime though...

Finally, thank you for the compliment about Steve! I also like him a lot as a character, I drew from a few people that I know in real life. They don't really have bad intentions, but too often take the path of least resistance, to the detriment of others.

[Panther Cub]

LOVE the new chapter! I generally don't like long-term stories set in countries in the dimension where all littles have no rights whatsoever (I personally prefer the ones where they have rights... but can still be "Adopted" under the right circumstances), but I am definitely hooked!

 

Also, Erin strikes me as being quite adorable!

[SGTbaby]

Love the update and how Luke overreacted but then again I imagine he isn’t over reacting. Poor Alison though. Maybe her thoughts on the situation were more right than Steve’s but it wasn’t a horrible idea. Looking forward to the next portion!

[Little Andrea]

I absolutely loved this chapter, and I love the way that this story is developing. Keep up the good work.

[zatchie]

3 hours ago, SGTbaby said:

Love the update and how Luke overreacted but then again I imagine he isn’t over reacting. Poor Alison though. Maybe her thoughts on the situation were more right than Steve’s but it wasn’t a horrible idea. Looking forward to the next portion!

 

2 hours ago, Little Andrea said:

I absolutely loved this chapter, and I love the way that this story is developing. Keep up the good work.

Thanks to both of you! I was having a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I really enjoy world building, so the first few chapters flowed pretty easily. I also have a few future chapters mostly planned already, it is just a matter of guiding the story there. But these in-between chapters are really difficult! I didn't have much sympathy for writers who dropped their stories after a period of time before getting to a climax or conclusion. Now I do! The whole reason I'm writing this story is because I really like my first planned climax, and so I want to at least get there and farther, as the climax doesn't really bring closure. Not too sure how far we are from it though, certainly a few chapters at least.

[Jayme]

Hopefully Erin and Luke have a better time together than the first meeting. Luke may have an ingrained fear of little food, however Alyson could have explained the engineering of little foods and how some are not "drugged" (possibly)

[littleTomás]

I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for Luke. That guy has no adversity whatsoever and I think he’ll be a bad and unhappy little until he learns not to throw tantrums after getting time out.

[zatchie]

Thanks for all the comments everyone! They really made my day and put my writing into overdrive. So we have our next, albeit shorter chapter. A mix of fun and 'Bad Little' scenes. This is the first one where Luke isn't actively freaking out, so that's a positive change! The next chapter will hopefully come soon as well.

Chapter 5

“Hi Erin, thanks for getting here so quickly. How about we go into my office to finalize the pick-up paperwork. Luke, do you mind waiting out here for a bit?” Luke was sitting at one of the round tables near the entrance, his knees were tucked up to his chest and he was staring out into nothing. He had acknowledged Erin with a nod when she came in.

“Sure, I’ll be here.” Anything to get out of here ASAP.

Alyson was already waiting in Steve’s office. Steve and Erin took a seat at the small square table he used to meet with potential adopting parents in private.

“There’s only a couple pages to sign. We really wanted to bring you in here to talk a bit more about Luke.”

“Yeah, you said that he had another really bad reaction to how he was treated today. What was that about?”

Alyson filled Erin in about what had gone wrong with the finger painting. “At first I thought he was just being a snarky unregressed Little, I didn’t realize how uncomfortable he actually was.”

“And then with the Little food…”

“Yeah, I didn’t know he had that aversion to Little food.” Alyson glared briefly at Steve who was carefully studying the form document he’d used to sign out Littles to their new families thousands of times.

“That is pretty weird though. I mean, what Little doesn’t like Little food? It’s literally made for them.”

“Oh, he really likes it. He doesn’t trust it because it is made so that he’ll like it. He’s also concerned about addiction or something.”

Steve jumped in. “A lot of Little formulas in non-Alliance countries have chemicals added so that they are addictive, one more way ensure dependence from their Littles I guess. Additionally, we know the breastmilk from Bigs is moderately addictive to Littles as well. If Luke heard some stuff about our dimension in his world, it would make sense for him to have some fear about Little food. Trying to explain it hasn’t worked well so far. I’d just let him eat regular food for now.”

Erin thought that she’d have to hide all the Little formula she purchased before Luke found it and became convinced she was planning on drugging him. At least until he trusted Little food more.

“And what about getting him used to treatment as a Little? That was what this orientation was for right?” Erin suspected that Luke basically didn’t really have an orientation, he was just treated as a Little to the point of mental breakdown.

Alyson and Steve shared a guilty look. “Yeah, it didn’t really go well. I think the best thing to do for the time being is to let him live in the way he wants to – like a Big probably. Very gradually you can introduce him to Little things. You’ll have to insulate him from people who would treat him like a normal Little, I really can’t stress how important that is for his mental well-being right now. He’s really sensitive.”

Alyson spoke up. “Help him find things he enjoys, Big or Little. I think he hasn’t really had any positive experiences here yet. Once he knows that he can be happy here, maybe he’ll be more open to being treated in a standard manner. Just don’t take away those things he likes, even if they are Big focused.”

This was all review to Erin, and basically what she had been planning on doing in the first place. The only additional work for her would be protecting Luke from well-meaning but overbearing Bigs who would treat him like a normal Little. She was a little disappointed that Alyson and Steve hadn’t been kinder to Luke, even though Luke had treated Erin worse than just about anyone else.

“I think I’ve got that under control. I wasn’t looking for a typical Little anyway. And if he eventually does decide to be Littler, that’s fine too. Let’s sign the paperwork and I’ll go see if I can’t make his day better.” Erin just wanted to be out of there with Luke. She felt a bit uncomfortable leaving him in the main room unsupervised, though she knew she would be leaving him to do his own thing a lot of the time. She just didn’t have control over this specific environment.

Papers were quickly signed and Luke arrival certificate was briefly amended. In Aquitane, all Littles took on the family name of their caregiver, whether they asked to or not. Luke Kepplin was now Luke Miller, whether he wanted to be or not, though Erin and Steve both thought it would be better not to tell him. There would be no need for him to know unless some official issue occurred in the future.

The three Bigs returned to the main room wearing a smile. Steve and Alyson looked both nervous and relieved, while Erin was truly happy that she would get to take this big Little boy home. Luke kept his outward appearance towards uninterested, today though, he was willing to cooperate in just about any way to get away from Steve and Alyson.

“Hey Luke, the paperwork’s all signed. You ready to go? You got everything?”

“Yep, I’m ready.” He climbed down from the chair and frowned slightly. He didn’t have anything to take with him; even the clothes he was wearing came from the current dimension.

Alyson came up to him, knelt down again, this time without going for a hug. “Hey Luke, I’m sorry again that things didn’t work out here. Just remember what I said about your job in this dimension. You being happy is the thing that will make your Big happy.”

Steve walked up and sat in the chair Luke had been sitting in. Luke still had to tilt his head a ways up to make eye contact. “Good luck Luke. I think you and Erin will get along really well. You’ll have calls with your parents every week. And for at least the first three months, I’ll be checking in every other week as well.”

Luke nodded to both of them. “See you guys later. Let’s go Erin.” It wasn’t spoken meanly, but it was clear that Luke had had enough of these two Bigs.

“Sure.” She walked over and reached down to take Luke’s hand. Waiting for him to put his in hers.

Luke didn’t get it at first, and then realized. He didn’t really want to hold Erin’s hand, but figured humoring her would be the fastest way to get out of that building. He lifted his arm, his hand was engulfed by Erin’s, and she supported most of his arm’s weight.

They left without looking back towards the adoption center workers.

 

 

When they got to the parking garage Luke took a bit more care looking at Erin’s vehicle than he had Steve’s. This would be the car he’d have to ride in all the time. It looked like Erin was driving a luxury sedan, though Luke didn’t know brand names, it was clear the car was nicer than Steve’s. The car seat in the back was an elegant combination of black, red, and gray. Luke approved, though he also thought that if it had been just black and gray it would look a bit cooler.

“Do you mind if I put you in the car seat? You can try to climb in if you want, but I think it will take a lot longer and be a bit tricky.”

“Let me give it a try first. Just to see.” Erin shrugged and Luke pulled himself into the car. The frame bottomed out at his upper thigh, so a very high step got one leg in, and he crawled his body and other leg into the vehicle. Standing on the floor of the rear passenger area, he gripped the car seat and pulled himself again. He was able to get his belly onto the seat, and then wriggled the rest of his body up. Finally, he flipped himself around, so that he was looking towards the driver’s chair. It took nearly 5 minutes in total, Luke was sweating and meekly grinning, Erin was smiling noncommittally; this attempt would be worth it if Luke didn’t want to do it again.

“I think you can handle it in the future.” Luke was a little proud of himself for having made it in: this was by far the most physical exertion he’d experienced since coming to the new dimension. But 5 minutes to get into a car seat was too long.

The car seat itself was also much nicer than the one he had ridden in with Steve. He could tell that the fabric was of a higher quality, the buckles and straps simply seemed to be made better. The best thing however was the headrest, instead of a normal foam padding, this one was memory foam, and Luke’s head was gently encompassed as he let the seat take his weight.

Erin buckled Luke in and got behind the wheel.

“So I was thinking we could grab some food for dinner.” Luke immediately looked concerned, was she also going to try to drug him. Erin quickly noticed his reaction in the rear-view mirror.

“I know you’re not good with Little food, and you haven’t eaten for quite a few hours now. It’s perfectly fine for you to just eat regular food if you want.” Luke took a deep sigh, relaxing visibly.

Erin wanted to make their first meal together a positive experience. What did college age guys like to eat? Pizza? Burgers? Steak? She’d get just about anything today if it made Luke happy.

“I was thinking we could pick up something and take it home. What do you think? I could really go for pizza or a burger. Is there anything you’d like?”

Luke looked at Erin a bit and considered. Here was a person that was willing to do just about anything to make you happy. But she was also kinda pudgy, and her taste in fashion was questionable at best: her slacks were not flattering on her figure, and her sweater was a painfully eye-catching plaid of black and fuschia. Luke was already certain that Erin was a good person, but he thought he’d like her more if she was cool also; at the moment she didn’t seem like a person worth respecting, that was part of the reason the bathroom incident was so hard on him. In his mind, if he could guide her to healthier eating habits, and eventually better fashion taste, maybe they’d end up getting along better.

“Umm, I’ve been kind of craving a Cobb salad, we could both get one I think.” Cobbs aren’t actually that healthy, but Luke figured it would be a better choice than carb-heavy burgers or pizza (though a burger did sound amazing to him right now).

Erin was at a loss, he wanted a salad?! “What’s a Cobb salad? I’m not sure if we have that here.”

“Hmm, well it has lettuce, tomato, bacon, hardboiled eggs, and chicken breast. Usually with a vinaigrette dressing, and sometimes it has avocado.” Luke was pleased that she didn’t dismiss the idea outright. Maybe he could work with her.

“Oh! We call that a Posti salad. There’s a place near where we live that I like to go to sometimes. I usually just get a sandwich though.”

“Well, let’s try their Posti salad this time. Maybe it will be really good!” Luke though Erin getting a sandwich while he was stuck with a salad would probably be the worst outcome possible, not that he disliked Cobb salads. Still better than pizza or a burger though.

“Sure! I’ll call ahead so I can just run in and pick it up.”

They left the parking garage and Erin drove them back through downtown Bordeu. She spent the time pointing out various places; Luke couldn’t see much and wasn’t paying too close attention. He was thinking more about the finality of his situation. Up to this point, things had been continuously changing, and his position wasn’t solidified. Now, he was sitting in a car seat, in the car with a person who he would presumably be spending the rest of his life with. It was like a marriage, except there was no choice in the matter, well no choice for him at least. Erin got to choose him, while he didn’t get to choose her. Just thinking about it was making Luke a little grumpy.

Luke noticed that they crossed back over the river running through the center of the city again, though they took a different bridge this time.

“My mom told me that your condo has a nice view of the river. Does that mean you live close to here?”

“Yep! We live down that way, you can see the building from here, though maybe not from the car seat. We’re across the street from Riverside park, so we’ll be able to go there a lot. It’s really nice.”

Luke didn’t think he’d want to hang out at the park just yet, though he was surprisingly excited to see the inside of Erin’s place. Though she didn’t talk about it, it seemed like she was pretty wealthy, Luke wasn’t sure why, and was a bit curious. He decided to save it for later though.

Erin dashed into the restaurant that was apparently called Yuppie’s. She left him in his car seat. As it was still cool out, she left the windows rolled up, and hoped that no bystander would take issue with her leaving her Little in the car. She figured Luke would handle the issue effectively if it got to that point. She came back with two salads and a couple bottles of lemonade.

“Okay, let’s head home and eat up!” She wasn’t sure if she should try to sound excited about everything. She wanted to be positive so that he’d feel a little better, but she also knew that he might interpret it as her being demeaning, which was the opposite of what she wanted.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

The drive to Erin’s place was quicker than the drive to the restaurant. Luke could tell they had backtracked somewhat, but directions are hard when you can’t really see the street. Erin drove down into an underground parking area, taking the food, and then unbuckling and setting Luke down on the ground. This was the sort of time she was extra glad he was unregressed – she didn’t need to worry about carrying both him and her groceries or having to make multiple trips to the car.

They entered another elevator, and Erin pushed the button for the 22^nd floor. Luke knew just by looking that the button was at least 10 feet up, there was no way he could reach it. The elevator was shiny and modern-looking, making Luke think that Erin’s condo was in was of the new buildings interspersed between the historical stone structures.

It was a brief walk out of the elevator to Erin’s apartment, by Big standards at least. Luke felt like there was a lot of ground to cover, not an unreasonable amount, but it was significant. Erin unlocked the door and they walked in.

“Welcome home. I hope you like it.” She really did hope. She loved her condo and really didn’t want to have to move.

They entered through a short hallway tastefully decorated with artwork. Reaching the end, Luke could see that the condo had an open floor plan. There was a kitchen to his left, wrapping around the hallway. In front of him was the view his mom had raved about. She was right. The entire side of Erin’s condo was made from glass, and allowed him an awesome view down onto the river, park, and various buildings that made up Bordeu. There was a dining area on the left side, partially attached to the kitchen. The right side had a living room with thick, comfortable looking rugs laid out around the seating areas.

He ran up and pressed his face to the glass. “Wow! This is awesome! How could you afford all this?”

Erin just smiled. She never got tired of the view either, and was glad Luke liked it as well. “How about we eat our meal, and then I give you the official tour?”

“Sure!”

Erin got the food set up on the table while Luke kept looking out the windows. The condo wasn’t huge, but it looked like there were two or three bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. The wood floors and general quality of all the furniture kept Luke’s curiosity piqued. He figured if Erin had been born into money, then she would dress more fashionably, so how could a woman this young be so wealthy? It was obvious that she hadn’t married or anything – thus explaining her choice to adopt a Little. It was a puzzle Luke hoped to solve.

“Ready to eat? Would you prefer a booster seat or the highchair?”

Luke turned back to the dining room. He hadn’t paid much attention earlier, but now noticing the highchair, his visage darkened. Maybe Erin did plan on treating him like a typical Little after all.

“I’d really prefer neither, but I guess the booster.”

“I’ve got it set up here.” She motioned to the chair next to hers. “I don’t think you’ll want to eat at the table without one. I don’t mind you sitting in the chair, but standing to eat means a farther drop, and the chairs are a bit slippery. Especially with socks on.”

Luke walked over. “Why’d you get a highchair anyway? You knew I wasn’t going to be regressed.” Luke’s tone was reprimanding. He wanted to make it clear to Erin that he wouldn’t tolerate being treated so Little.

Erin cringed a bit. Here it comes. Maybe he was just being nice for a short period of time. “I got it because I thought you might like it sometimes. Even with the booster seat, you won’t quite be at my level at the table, while you can see higher with the highchair. Also the tray makes it easier for you to manage your own food. You can reach down instead of more horizontally, a better angle, you know.”

Erin hoped that would convince him. The reality was that she had just assumed a Little would prefer to use the highchair at home, and she had only ran to purchase a booster seat yesterday after meeting Luke for the first time. She lifted him up and set him in the seat. She thought about pulling the strap over his waist to keep him from falling out, but by the look on his face she was sure he wouldn’t approve.

“Sure…Let’s eat.” It was clear that Luke was still a bit suspicious of her. He tested a single leaf of lettuce, and a tiny drop of dressing before satisfying himself that the salad wasn’t tainted. The Cobb salad was pretty much the same here as back home. He was a little annoyed that Erin had gotten lemonade; it has tons of sugar too, but figured they were already making some progress with her eating a salad with him.

They got to know each other a bit more as they ate, though Erin kept deflecting how she was so wealthy. She wanted to have that conversation a little later at least, she wasn’t especially embarrassed or proud, but wanted to be in control of the situation when she discussed her money. Eventually they finished their meals. Erin cleaned up the dishes.

“How about that tour, and then we watch a movie or something?”

“Sounds good.” Luke didn’t want anymore action tonight. Sitting and relaxing sounded nice.

[Panther Cub]

Wow... Luke really is a piece of work! *Huffs* Excellent new chapter!

[SGTbaby]

You are doing great so far. Luke is a piece of work but I think this will be great for him and even Erin. I look forward to reading more!!

[Crimson_Wolf]

I don't know why people are railing against Luke.  Here's a guy that had a future planned out and all of a sudden is transported to another dimension and is now a little.  All of his hard work presumably has gone to rot and from what he has heard has all been negative.  So I can see why he has a certain disdain for the Amazons even though he's in a good situation.  Now for trying to get "acclimated", it didn't help that Alyson was treating Luke as a little instead of treating him like a regular person and leaving him alone to paint.  He also seems to show that he has come to accept to a degree his situation.  Erin is going to probably let him try to be independent until he gets tired of climbing up many things or walking long distances.  And for seeing how Erin lives her lifestyle, it might be good for both of them sonce it seems she doesn't eat as healthy as she could.  And he even may have a sense of fashion that can improve her looks.