bedwetting Afternoon in the Chokey (Updated 5-6-24)

[SashaButters]

3 hours ago, BabySofia said:

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[SashaButters]

“That dirty pig!” Jennifer nearly spat. She clutched the list he had made her write out in her fist. “That quack! That slimeball!” 

 

Mrs. Rodgers stared at her, a half amused, half curious expression on her face. She had gone for coffee while the Dr. had come in to give her privacy and what his treatment option had been had left Jennifer stunned and fuming. New medications? Fine. Good. Great. Mandatory Psychological Assessment. Understandable. But to suggest she…she… Who in their right mind would give that man-pig a license to practice medicine!?

 

“I feel like I missed something here.” Mrs. Rodgers said, but before Jennifer could reply, another person came behind the curtain. 

 

“Hello, Miss Honey, so the Dr. says since you said you live alone with just a young child with no available support options, he’s requested you be placed under an involuntary 72 hour hold since you noted on your intake form you felt you were a threat to yourself or others.”

 

Jennifer stared at the middle-aged woman with the clipboard.

 

“B-but he gave me medicine and said I could go. I can’t stay here for three days, I have a daughter waiting to be picked up!” Jennifer said. If she left Matilda with Eve for three days, there’d really be no hope she’d ever forgive her.”

 

“I’m sorry, it looks like he must have changed his mind.” Jennifer ground her teeth together.

 

“Well, wait. What do you mean by, ‘no support options?’” Mrs. Rodgers asked. 

 

“Like family to stay with.” 

 

“Nonsense, go tell the Doctor she’ll be staying with me.” Mrs. Rodgers said.

 

“But-” Jennifer tried to say but was cut off by a quick hand gesture telling her to zip it.

 

“Oh, umm, are you family? Because she can only be released into the care of a family member and Miss Honey stated she had no close living relatives.” 

 

 “Yes, she probably thought you meant close by distance. See, I live out of state, but I’m in town visiting, isn’t that right, Jenny?”  Mrs. Rodgers sent her a look that said, “agree or else.” Jennifer gulped before nodding her head.

 

“I see, and how are you related?”

 

“I’m her mother.” 

 

…

“My mother? Really?” Jennifer asked as they walked back to the car.

 

“It worked, didn’t it?” Mrs. Rodgers said with a laugh. 

 

Jennifer bit her bottom lip. Maybe she should have let them lock her up. What if she really was a danger to Matilda like her aunt-okay, hallucination of her aunt-said. 

 

“Stop that, you’re making your lip bleed again.” Mrs. Rodgers said. Jennifer dabbed at her lip with the back of her hand and stared at the blood. “Here’s a tissue.” 

 

“Thanks.” Jennifer held the tissue to her lip and climbed into the passenger seat. “Let’s get Matilda. I hope she’s okay.” And hasn’t blown anything up this time, Jennifer thought.

 

“Later,” Mrs. Rodgers said. “First, let's get your prescriptions filled, and then we’re going back to your place to get your things.”

 

“My things? What things?” she started to ask before it clicked. “Mrs. Ro- Carol, no.” 

 

“Yes, You’re staying with me, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Something's going on with you, and I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know you’re safe.”

 

“I’m fine now, really.” 

 

“No you’re not! Something scared the living shit out of you today. What did the doctor have to say?”

 

“That pig!” Jennifer growled. 

 

“Why do you keep saying that? What happened?” 

 

“He told me to…to… I can’t even say it!” She looked around the car as if someone else might be listening in before leaning in close to Carol and whispered, “He told me to…touch myself.” 

 

“Like right then and there in front of him?” Mrs. Rodgers asked. 

 

“Well n-no, but still!” Jennifer said, face now flushed with embarrassment. “He made me write out a list of things I think might set off another episode, so I had written out a few things, and one of them was, umm,” Jennifer mumbled the last part, “sex”. 

 

“Ohh, that makes more sense. Jen, you scared me, I thought you were going to say he did something inappropriate like make a move on you.” Jennifer stared at her wide-eyed.

 

“How was that not inappropriate? The only kinds of women who would do such a thing are perverted sicko’s like my aunt!” She watched Mrs. Rodgers purse her lips together until they all but disappeared. Huh? Was it something she said? All she had said was… A knot began to form in the pit of her stomach.  “No, no, no, no! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!”

 

Carol’s eyebrows shot up. “How else would you mean it? You just compared millions of women, myself included, to a raging psychopath.”

 

“M-millions?”  And oh god, and did she just say her? Is this what a normal sex drive did to people? She couldn’t imagine ever wanting sex, let alone wanting it so much she’d touch herself. 

 

“I take it you haven’t had many close female friends to discuss it with?” Carol asked. Jennifer shook her head and stared out the window. Sex was an uncomfortable topic. At least Carol wasn’t five. “Well, I can ease your mind about one thing at least. He didn’t suggest it because he’s a pervert. It sounds more like a type of exposure therapy so when the time comes, maybe you won’t be so anxious.” 

 

Jennifer shuddered at the thought. There would be no “when the time came” for her. 

 

“No, thank you,” she mumbled. 

 

“You can’t just avoid sex your whole life.” 

 

“Why not? It’s worked well for me so far.” Carol shook her head. 

 

“Don’t you think maybe that’s what’s gotten you into this situation in the first place?” 

 

“Not having sex? I don’t think they hospitalize people for that.” 

 

“Why take the chance?” Carol said with a wink. “I’m kidding, I’m referring to you avoiding your problems instead of facing them. It’s like you bottle everything and pretend it’s not there.” 

 

“No I don’t.” Jennifer said. Usually.

 

“You’ve been avoiding the question all day. What happened?”

 

“I told you what happened. I had a flashback.” 

 

“Why did you push Matilda away? And that look on your face… did you not realize it was her?” Jennifer looked back out the window again, hiding her face and the stream of tears threatening to fall any second. The guilt had returned, now more suffocating than ever. 

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.”   

 

 “Yes, we need to talk about this. We’re not leaving this parking lot until you tell me the truth. You’ve been released into my care, and now you’re my responsibility. You can’t keep carrying on like you have been.” 

 

“Look, it’s not- I mean, she was,” Jennifer let out a frustrated sigh and hid her face in her hands. 

 

“C’mon, just take a deep breath and then start again.” 

 

“Carol, I’m scared.” Jennifer said, looking at her now through the blur of tears.

 

“I know you are, but why?”

 

“I’m scared I’m turning into a monster, just like her.” 

 

Mrs. Rodgers stared at her a moment, at a loss for words. “Why on earth would you think that?”

 

“Because I think I- I’ve been, I think I’ve been grooming Matilda this whole time.” Jennifer said before breaking down in sobs. She could feel Mrs. Rodger's body stiffen in the seat next to her. “I don’t want to hurt her! I didn’t realize until today, and just the thought makes me feel so sick to my stomach.”

 

“I think, I think we should go back to my place and talk about this. I’m calling Eve and telling her they’re keeping you overnight.”

 

The ride to the pharmacy had been a quiet one, and by the time they had pulled up to Jennifer’s place, she was shaking from anxiety. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. She debated just slamming the door closed behind her and locking herself in until Carol left, but she seemed to have read her mind. She stayed by her side like a prison guard escorting a dangerous inmate. After she threw together a few outfits for herself and Matilda just in case, she tossed them in Matilda’s suitcase. She felt kind of silly packing herself a bag with butterflies on it, but it was the only suitcase they had. Her hand went automatically to the bag of pull-ups and stopped. 

 

Matilda had been good about not having accidents lately, even at night, but even so, if she was going to be sleeping in someone else's bed, might as well pack them just in case. 

 

By the time they made it to Carol’s, Miss Honey was a nervous wreck. 

 

“Go sit at the table, I’ll get us something to drink.” Carol said. Jennifer nodded and sat. She felt like a kid whose parents had told them “we need to talk”. “Here, this’ll help you relax.” Carol set a wine glass in front of her filled with a dark red liquid and sat across from her, sipping from one of her own. 

 

Jennifer took a tentative sip, she had never had wine before. She had to resist making a face. She hadn’t expected it to burn.

“Let me ask you something.” Carol said after a minute of silence. Jennifer felt her stomach clench. She took another sip of wine. “Are you having sexual fantasies about Matilda?” Jennifer nearly spat out her drink. 

 

“No, of course not!” 

 

“No desires to touch her anywhere inappropriate?” 

 

“No!” Jennifer insisted.

 

“And you’re not asking her to touch you anywhere?” 

 

“Carol! No!” 

 

“Then why did you say you’re afraid you’re becoming a monster? And you said something about grooming her. I need you to explain what you meant.” 

 

Jennifer took a larger gulp of the wine. It was starting to taste all right. 

 

“You remember when Matilda was sick?” Carol nodded. “She had asked to lay on my chest without my night gown on. I did it as a one time thing, because maybe my skin felt cooler than hers with her fever but, even after that, she’d ask after a hard day, and we’d lie in bed holding each other.” Jennifer drained the remaining liquid in her glass and waited for the disgust. “And once I had even offered.”

 

“And what were you feeling? Turned on? Excited?” 

 

“N-no, just, it-it felt nice to hold her.”

 

“Just nice, not anything else?” Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t understand.” 

 

“I got undressed and in bed with a child.” Jennifer whispered. “And then held her and let her get on top of me, and I liked it. When I had that… episode in the bathroom, my aunt was there reminding me that’s exactly how it started. She used to climb in bed with me naked when I was Matilda’s age, and now I’m doing the same thing.” Well not completely naked, they both had their underwear on, but close enough. 

 

“Let me ask you another thing.” Jennifer gripped her empty glass, but nodded. “Did you ask your aunt to do that?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“Did you want her to do that?”

 

“No.” 

 

“Jennifer, look at me.” She hesitated before slowly meeting Carol’s eyes, surprised to find a soft smile on her lips. “It’s not the same thing.”

 

“How is it not the same thing?”

 

“Your motivations for one.” She watched as Carol got up, grabbed the bottle off the kitchen counter and refilled both their glasses. “Your aunt got into bed with you uninvited. You didn’t want it or ask for it. I think it’s safe to say she didn’t have your best intentions at heart. You on the other hand were just trying to comfort your sick daughter with no ulterior motives. You followed her lead, and you were just trying to be a good mom. And that feeling you described, that’s called love. It may have been a long time ago, but I still remember how it felt to hold my son in my arms. You’re not a monster, Jennifer, you’re a mother.” 

 

“Thank you.” Jennifer said with a sniffle and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that.” 

 

“Now I just have one more question for you. It’s very important.” Carol held up something in her hand. Two somethings. “Are these what I think they are?” Jennifer padded her back pocket, it was empty. She grimaced. 

 

“Matilda found them in my old room. I had a copy of Anne of Green Gables cut in the center to hide things in. They were my aunts.”

 

“Jenn, you little Klepto.” Carol laughed. “Fitting book.” Jennifer gave her a sheepish grin. “So… got a lighter?” 

 

“Carol! They’re like eight years old!” 

 

“Just how the Trunchbull liked them.” 

 

“Carol!” 

 

“Sorry, sorry, bad joke. I blame the wine.” Jennifer dug in her other pocket and placed the lighter on the table. “Now we’re talking!”

 

“Ugh, this is disgusting.” Jennifer said between coughs, “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”  

 

“But do you feel better?” Carol asked, taking another hit. Jennifer’s head was swimming, but she was surprised to find she did feel tremendously better than she had earlier that day. 

 

“I do.” she admitted. 

 

“See, mother knows best.”  Carol said, cracking them both up. “Oh, I need to call Eve.” 

 

“Oh, let me.” Jennifer stood up, but suddenly the whole kitchen was moving. She quickly sat back down and put her head in her hands.

 

“Umm, better not. You are far from sober right now.” Carol said with a chuckle. 

 

“Some mother you are.” Jennifer groaned from the table and held her head. She had never been drunk or high in her entire life and here she was practically both! She watched as Carol began talking into the receiver but frowned in concern as a puzzled look crossed Carol’s face. 

 

“No, we didn’t give her anything. That’s odd, can you put her on? No, no, just let her sleep, she probably needs it.” 

 

“Tell Matilda I love her.” Jennifer mouthed. 

 

“Umm, Jennifer is…under sedation right now. Should be released by tomorrow. We’ll call you if anything changes.” They talked for a few minutes more, but Carol’s voice had dropped and Jennifer could no longer hear what she was saying. 

 

“What happened?” Jennifer asked when Carol got off the phone.

 

“Eve said Matilda was acting a little loopy and off balance. She asked if we had given her anything to calm her down. I said we hadn’t.” Jennifer frowned. That was strange. They hadn’t given her anything, and she was too smart to have to worry about her getting into things she shouldn’t. “Well, she’s sacked out on their couch now, I told her to let her sleep and passed on your message.” 

 

 “Thank you.” Jennifer held her head. 

 

The room was swaying now, she didn’t like it. She gripped the edge of the table to try and ground herself, but it wasn’t working. Her mind was jumping from one unfinished thought to another, each one making less and less sense, but leaving her with the feeling she was on to something miraculous if only she could see the bigger picture. And the deja vu! She had had this conversation with Carol before, hadn’t she? 

 

“I don’t mean to cut our conversation short, but would you mind if I laid down for a bit? I’m feeling a bit woozy.” 

 

“Oh, of course, just go down the hall and first door to your left. Oh and, I got you something at the pharmacy, but don’t be mad.”

 

Huh? What was she talking about? And that look on her face could only mean trouble. Jennifer watched as Carol pulled something from her pocket and tossed it at her. She tried to catch it, but wasn’t even close and watched as a small bottle of what looked like lotion skittered to a halt on the kitchen floor. She bent down and picked it up before examining it. Jennifer read the label before eying Carol with pursed lips. 

 

“In case you change your mind.” Carol said with a wink. Jennifer didn’t feel like arguing right now, so she slipped the bottle in her pocket without a word and made her way to the spare bedroom. Once there, she collapsed on the bed and moaned into the pillow. The room was swaying back and forth. Was it from the wine or the expired marijuana? Did that even expire? All she knew was never again. 

 

Something was poking her waist. Jennifer slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out the bottle and eyed it darkly as she read the label. For clitoral stimulation. Why had Carol given this to her? She had no interest in doing that. It was dirty and shameful. Without thinking, she popped the lid off and sniffed it. It smelled odd. Besides, how would this stimulate anything? It was nothing but a placebo, she was sure of it. She squirted some on her finger. It felt just like regular lotion. She rubbed her fingers together. It was a placebo, it wouldn’t work unless she wanted it to. She could probably put it on and nothing would happen. Would that prove she wasn’t interested in sex? Then would Carol drop this line of thinking? 

 

The next thing Jennifer knew, she was wiping it off on herself. It went on cold, and slimy. There, she tried it. There was a knock on the door. Jennifer quickly put the bottle back in her pocket and sat up as Carol walked in. 

 

“Hi, sorry, thought you might want an extra blanket and a bottle of water.” 

 

“Thank you.” 

 

“Are you alright?” Carol asked, looking over her with a questioning glance. Jennifer could feel heat rushing to her face, along with somewhere else. 

 

“Yes, I’ll be fine,” Jennifer said, forcing a pained looking smile as she shifted in place. It was getting warmer now. Why on earth had she gone and done that for? She had no intention of following through! 

 

“Are you sure? You look a bit uncomfortable.” 

 

Jennifer was sweating. It was too warm! Too itchy! Too…too… 

 

“Ah!” she sprung out of the bed and pumped her legs in place. “What is this?” she pulled the bottle out of her pocket and held it up. Carol stared at her wide-eyed for a moment in shock before bursting into laughter. “How much did you use?” 

 

“I don’t know! I was just smelling it and next thing I knew it was in my palm and-” Jennifer let out a groan. “It burns.” 

 

“You only needed a dab.” Carol said through her laughter. “You can wash it off in the shower.” 

 

Jennifer followed her to a closet, fidgeting all the way. There she was handed a towel, and given instructions on how to use the shower's knobs. She closed the bathroom door behind her and groaned into her hands, still hearing Carol’s giggles retreating down the hall. She didn’t even wait for the water to warm all the way before jumping in. Jennifer had to get this stuff off her. She grabbed a washcloth that was hanging on a handrail and used it to wipe herself. Ugh, slimy. She wiped again. Still slimy. How was it possible it was getting warmer? She began to frantically scrub, desperate to get it off her skin. 

 

Jennifer was starting to panic. Her heart was racing. Her breaths came in short gasps.  Then the next thing she knew, there was an electrical current running up her belly. Her lower half began to pulse and throb. She stopped scrubbing as a wave of relief washed over her. What the hell was that? It almost reminded her of the time she had… A sinking shameful feeling began to form in the pit of her stomach. No! She hadn’t been trying to! She hadn’t meant to! 

 

“Keep telling yourself that, Jen. Just like you keep telling yourself you didn’t enjoy those nighttime visits.” 

 

No! No! Not again! Jennifer slowly turned and looked out through the glass shower door. She could see the blurry outline of a figure standing in the bathroom. 

 

“I didn’t.” Jennifer mumbled weakly. 

 

“Oh really? Your mouth says one thing, but your bedsheets always said another.”

 

“No! Stop it!” Jennifer moaned. Her hands were covering her ears. She didn’t want to remember. 

 

“If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have cum.” 

 

The shame. The self loathing. She was sinking. Drowning in the memories. Or she would have been if not for the sudden, intense pain in her side. It was as if someone had taken a baseball bat to her. She bent over, moaning. She was seeing spots, but just as sudden as it had started, the pain vanished. 

 

Jennifer stood bent over underneath the stream of water and tried to get her bearings. She looked up. The blurry figure behind the glass was gone. She slowly straightened up and felt along her side. Nothing. No pain, no tenderness. What in the world? Was it a stomach cramp? Whatever it was, she couldn’t have asked for better timing. It had snapped her out from her spiral and back to reality.

 

When Jennifer emerged from the shower, she made her way back to the spare bedroom, put on her night gown and crawled into bed. No matter how much she had washed herself, she still felt dirty. She didn’t want to think about what she had done. What she wanted more than anything was innocence. She wanted to be in her classroom. She wanted to see the light and joy in children's eyes. But what she wanted most of all was her innocence, even if she knew it was something she could never have. The last thing she thought about before sleep overcame her was her daughter. She hoped Matilda was having a better night than she was. If Jennifer couldn’t have her innocence, then the least she could do was watch out for Matilda’s. 

 

[Guilend]

Very interesting. Of course because my brain is the way it is I wonder if those pull ups will come into play later. I also wonder if she’ll start wetting the bed due to trauma or having wetting problems in general. I’m definitely enjoying both characters stories. Good job. 

[WBDaddy]

There was real depth here.  You've hung a ton of meat on the character that is Jennifer Honey, and I don't know whether it's all canon (having never read the books), but it's compelling and engaging.  You're navigating some hard issues here, and you're doing it artfully.  Great job. 

[SashaButters]

On 11/5/2022 at 10:57 PM, WBDaddy said:

There was real depth here.  You've hung a ton of meat on the character that is Jennifer Honey, and I don't know whether it's all canon (having never read the books), but it's compelling and engaging.  You're navigating some hard issues here, and you're doing it artfully.  Great job. 

Thanks. It’s barely cannon. Like maybe a 10th of it. In the book she mentions she was her aunts slave. At In the Movie, her aunt says “I’ve broken your arm once Jen, I can do it again.”

Hortensia only has like one talking scene. Mrs. rodgers and eve are made up. 

[Allman90]

oh man this is really good you need to get way more likes or something

I love it.

 

like in the last chapter you did a great job of having Miss Honey crossfade with the weed and wine, super accurate if you ask me, I don't know it just stood out.  the rest of it is great too

I wonder if miss Honeys situation is effecting Matilda because of the mind powers like i'm pretty sure there is something carrying over but Matillda hasn't figured it out yet

 

keep going i can't wait to read more

[SashaButters]

On 11/9/2022 at 6:57 PM, Allman90 said:

 

like in the last chapter you did a great job of having Miss Honey crossfade with the weed and wine, super accurate if you ask me, I don't know it just stood out.  
 

I have absolutely no idea what your talking about…. *whistles innocently*

[SashaButters]

 

Pound. Pound. Pound.

Matilda winced. Why could she feel her heartbeat in her head? She was still halfway in and out of consciousness, only barely aware of disembodied voices somewhere off in the distance. She swallowed, immediately repulsed by the sour taste that had formed in her mouth overnight.

 

"So is she special needs?" a voice Matilda didn't recognize asked.

"Something like that." a more familiar voice said after a pause. "Very intelligent, but..." But? But what? Even her semi-conscious mind knew they were talking about her. There was another long pause. Matilda's ears were burning, almost daring Eve to finish that sentence. "I've only just recently met her a few weeks ago mind you, but she just seems different."

"Different how?"  The stranger asked.

"I can't explain it, not off, just a little odd. She's a sweet girl, very intelligent like I said, but a bit slow when it comes to social cues I'm starting to learn, that, or she just has incredibly selective hearing. "

The stranger giggled.

"Eve, you said she's five. Of course, she's not going to listen. Since when has your daughter ever listened to me?" Now it was Eve's turn to laugh before letting out a groan.

"That's more because 'Tens has no respect for authority. Good lord, if I get one more call from her school, so help me!" They both giggled now. "No, Matilda isn't intentionally disobedient from what I've seen, unlike someone else we know, she just doesn't act her age."

"Oh? Still in the toddler stage? Is that why she's still in diapers?"

"No, no, quite the opposite, I'd swear she thinks she's 30. If she wasn't hurt, she'd probably try vacuuming and making you lunch instead of the other way around. It's like she has no idea what it means to be five. Her foster mom, no wait, it's a little more complicated. Her year one teacher adopted her."

"Really? Talk about taking your work home with you." More giggling.

"That woman has the patience of a saint with young kids. She says Matilda was neglected, so she has a hard time trusting people. She's very independent, but she doesn't really know her limits. You'll have to keep a close eye on her, so she doesn't make it worse."

"Make what worse?"

"Ahh, it's really my fault.  She was upset last night about her mom being in the hospital again and wasn't talking or eating. She tried to tell me in her own way she couldn't swallow, but I wasn't paying attention and made her eat. She ended up choking and I just sat there. It was 'Tens who ended up giving her the Heimlich, albeit very badly. She managed to cough it out, but not without cracking a rib. She's not very mobile at the moment. That's why she's in diapers."

"Oh, the poor thing."

"She's still trying to get up and go to the restroom on her own. Please make sure she doesn't. She's going to hurt herself even more. She doesn't want to use them, and i'm sure you don't want to change them, so if you want to work something out with her, feel free to use your best judgement. I just put them on her to get her through the night, unfortunately, she didn't seem to get the memo and still woke us all up at 3 in the morning to try and get someone to take her to the restroom."

"I wish some of that determination would rub off on Chuckie. Sounds like i've got one extreme and the other today."

"Still no luck?"

 

Matilda tuned out their conversation now that they were no longer talking about her. She felt like she could sleep for five more hours. She wished they would stop talking. Every word seemed to reverberate through her skull and her stomach along with her mouth felt sour. She didn't need this today. She was miserable enough without a -. Matilda frowned in confusion. The first word she had thought of was "hangover", but clearly that wasn't it. She had read about them sure, but she was hardly in a position to be drinking alcohol. She was five. What did someone do? Spike her milk?

While she was in the middle of taking stock of what body parts hurt where, she felt something wet land on her face, forcing her to open her eyes for the first time. It took a second for things to come into focus, but when they did, she let out an involuntary scream. There, right above her face stood a boy towering over her.

"Matilda, are you alright?" Eve asked emerging from the kitchen. Matilda looked back at the older boy standing over her and frowned. The boy let out a dopey looking grin. Now that her bearings were slowly coming back to her, Matilda took in his baby face, and nearly toothless smile. He wasn't an older boy at all. He was just the biggest toddler she had ever seen.

"You must be Chunky." Matilda said quietly once she managed to catch her breath. She wiped at her face and stared at the liquid on the back of her hand, then back to the giant toddler. Her stomach began to somersault. He had drooled on her.

"Are you alright?" Eve asked again.

"Yes, he just scared me." Matilda said. She tried to swallow and tasted more of the sourness. Her mouth was watering, filling with the taste. "Eve, I don't feel good."

"What's wrong? Is it your side?"

"I don't feel good." was all Matilda could think of to say before putting her closed fist to her mouth and swallowing again.

"Oh no, not now." Eve groaned. "You've got to be kidding." She ran back into the kitchen before re-emerging with a large mixing bowl and a little cup of pink medicine. "Can you sit up?" Matilda slowly propped herself on her elbows and inched herself up until she was in a somewhat sitting position. The mixing bowl was thrust into her hands, and before she could process anything, the tiny cup of medicine was dumped into her partially open mouth. She could feel a streak of it running down her chin. "Swallow."

Fighting against her gag reflex, she swallowed the Pepto down, before making a face and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"If Cynthia asks, tell her you ate something bad." Eve whispered in her ear. Matilda was clutching the bowl with both hands, trying to will her stomach into submission.

"She's the germaphobe. The one I couldn't ask to use their restroom." Matilda said between deep breaths.

"Yes, exactly. If she thinks you're sick, she'll pack up and leave. I can't afford to miss any more work, but I also can't get anyone to watch you on short notice."

"Hortensia's here." Matilda mumbled.

"Yes, that's what worries me." Eve said.

"She's not bad. I like her."

"That also worries me."

Matilda smiled weakly. "We won't get into trouble. I'll sleep and she'll watch tv."

"Mm hmm, and what about the problem you found yourself in last night? She can't help you, and you'll be stuck in the same diaper until someone picks you up. I don't think you'll be very happy about that. If you think she'll help you change, you're barking up the wrong tree."

Matilda scowled. Even if Hortensia was willing to help... She shuddered. There's no way Matilda would let her. There were boundaries friends didn't cross. She'd rather be left naked in the grass.

"She'd break my leg trying." Matilda said. Eve laughed.

"She doesn't know the first thing about changing a diaper, she'd probably try and fit it over your head." Matilda gave another weak smile. "I said I'd try and walk you to the bathroom before I left for work. Are you up for it?" Matilda shook her head. She'd probably puke if she tried to stand up. "I'm glad to see you're not willing to hurt yourself more over this. I'll be back later to sort you out."

Matilda closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the couch once Eve retreated back to the kitchen. Her mind couldn't put two and two together. All she could focus on was not getting sick. It had felt like only a second since she'd left, but Eve was already back. She handed Matilda a bottle of water. She gratefully accepted it and took slow, tentative sips. It seemed to help ease the nausea a bit.

"Have you gone potty yet? I've given you ten minutes." Matilda stared at her. Had she been supposed to? Matilda shook her head.

"I just want to sleep."

"Okay, if that's what you want. Cynthia will be here if you need anything. I hope you feel better."

"Thanks." Matilda mumbled. She set the mixing bowl on the floor, relieved she hadn't ended up needing it after all, and inched her way back down.

When she awoke again to the shrill sounds of a toddler screaming, she let out an audible groan.

"Give it back you little-" Hortensia was running through the house chasing Chuckie, who had taken the remote. Matilda sat up and rubbed at her temples. She didn't think it was possible to feel worse than she had this morning, but she did. At least she didn't feel in danger of throwing up.

"Good morning sleepy head." The unfamiliar voice from earlier said. Matilda turned to find one of the largest woman she had ever seen sitting on the opposite end of the couch. She wasn't fat, just incredibly tall and strong looking. She wondered if she was Samoan. It would explain the size of the kid. Matilda felt a pang of relief. This woman would have no problem picking her up.

 

"Hi," Matilda mumbled. She reached down for her water bottle and took a few sips noticing that the mixing bowl she had been given to be sick in was now filled with popcorn and sitting in Cynthia's lap. Her stomach gave another twirl of disgust. Either Eve had shoved the nearest container in Matilda's lap in a panic, or Cynthia was now eating out of the family barf bucket. The Wormwoods had kept theirs under the sink, but no one had ever brought it to her. She had been expected to fend for herself for as long as she could remember.

It had been months now, but it still felt surreal. The very concept of someone bringing her medicine when she wasn't feeling well would have been unheard of. Maybe if Jenny threw her out Eve would take her? Or maybe Mrs. Rodgers? It would be a steep decline in her quality of life, but they still showed her more kindness than she would have imagined possible months ago.

A sharp cramp in her abdomen snapped her from her train of thought, followed by a familiar heaviness. No, no, no. Not now. Not like this.

"Is something wrong?" Cynthia asked.

"Could you take me to the restroom, please?" Matilda asked through clenched teeth. Another cramp had nearly doubled her over. She couldn't let Cynthia know.

"Of course, sweetheart." Suddenly, there was a loud bang followed by a crash coming from the kitchen. Chuckie began wailing and Hortensia was yelling at him. Cynthia let out a groan. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back." Matilda wanted to beg her to stop. She didn't have time for this, but Cynthia was up and out of her chair before Matilda could open her mouth.

"You! You need to settle down right now!" Matilda heard her yell.

"What did I do? He's the one who ran into the table!" Hortensia yelled back.

"You were chasing him!"

"He stole the remote!"

Matilda was beginning to panic. The weight on her backside was growing heavier and heavier. There was no hiding she had diarrhea. Her only hope was getting to the toilet and hoping it sounded watery enough to be urine. Matilda could flush the toilet before Cynthia saw anything, that wasn't the problem. The issue was air. But as more and more time passed with Cynthia dealing with whatever was happening in the kitchen, the more Matilda doubted she would make it far enough.  She was just about to give up completely when she noticed something sitting in the other room behind her. Was that what she thought it was? There was only one way to know for sure.

Matilda focused her eyes on the white bulky object before motioning it over with a finger. It soundlessly slid across the carpeted floor until it came to rest by the couch next to her. She stared at it feeling more elated with every second. They must have brought it for her, there was no other explanation. It was half the size of a kitchen mop bucket with a toilet seat on it. It was the most beautiful thing Matilda had ever seen. The only question was how to get on it. With a grimace and moans of pain silenced by a closed fist to her lips, Matilda managed to scoot herself to the foot rest of the recliner before tearing the tapes off the diaper and pressing the button to lower herself down to the portable toilet. With a bit of adjusting and a lot of pain, she had managed to situate herself correctly just in the nic of time.

The feeling of letting go without soiling herself was near euphoria. She could have sworn her eyes had nearly rolled into the back of her head. She felt like the luckiest person on the planet, that was until the Amazon sized toddler strolled into the room and saw what she was doing.

"MINE! THAT'S MINE! GET OFF!" he screamed. Matilda saw him run back into the kitchen and shuddered when she heard him whine, "My potty! She's on my potty! Get her off!"

Her heart sunk when she realized what she had done. It hadn't been for her at all. Of course a regular training potty wouldn't fit that behemoth. She let out a soft whine of embarrassment as she heard footsteps approaching. She would have curled into a ball if she could have.

"What are you talking about? Where is your potty? I left it over here."

"GET OFF!" The toddler screamed.

"Chuckie, what are you-oh." Cynthia seemed to freeze at the sight of her. "Matilda," she asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "are you going potty or are you just sitting there?" Matilda buried her face in her hands. What kind of question was that? Why else would she be sitting on it?

"Get her off! It's mine!" Chuckie whined.

"Shush, honey. Go play."

"It's mine!" he whined again before bursting into tears.

"I know it is, but Matilda needed to use it. Can you share with her this one time? I can't get her off until she's done." The following shrieks and screams told Matilda that was a "no." It was no wonder Hortensia couldn't stand him. She had to uncover her face in order to plug her ears.

`"Sweetheart, you could have just gone to the restroom by yourself if you needed to go that badly. You didn't need to wait for me."

"Can't get up." Matilda mumbled. "Hurts too much."

"Well you must have gotten up in order to get on this." Matilda shook her head.

"I sat on the edge of the chair and rode the recliner down onto it." She could see Cynthia doing the mental gymnastics to see if that was even possible. She gave Matilda a sort of sympathetic smile.

"I know Eve can come off a bit strong without meaning to. You just didn't want to get in trouble for getting up by yourself. I understand, you can tell me the truth. I won't punish you." Matilda scowled.

"I'm not faking being injured."

"Honey, I'm not saying that at all. I know Eve said you can't get up and use the restroom by yourself, but I'm saying, if you really need to, and I'm not around to help, feel free to just get up and go." It would have been nice, if she could actually get up by herself. "Are you done?"

"No," Matilda moaned. She had been fighting back a second wave ever since they had come in. "Could you go in the other room?" she mumbled. "Please?" She must have sounded desperate enough.

"C'mon, Chuckie, let's give her some space." Cynthia said. She had managed to push him halfway out the room before the toddler let out a primal and enraged sounding scream. Matilda whipped her head around just in time to see him charging at her like an enraged bull. She tried to throw up her hands as a shield, but it did her little to no good. The next thing she knew he had collided with her, knocking her onto the floor. Someone was screaming. White-hot searing pain was all she could comprehend. She had landed on her good side, but he had slammed into the injury. Who was screaming? She had the faintest notion it was her.

"Holy shit! Ma's going to go nuclear." It was Hortensia. She was standing over her taking in the room. "It's all over the carpet."

"Yeah, well, go get the carpet cleaner and a rag and start scrubbing." Cynthia said.

"No way! That's disgusting!"

"Consider it your punishment for swearing."

"No! This is your fault. You weren't restraining your kid. I saw him tackle her!"

"Hey, I never told her to get up and use his potty. I said I was going to take her to the restroom. If she had to go that badly, she should have either used the diaper or just gone to the restroom on her own. She obviously has no problem getting up."

"No, she can't!"

"I put his potty in the hallway like I always do since your mom won't allow it on the carpet. She's the one who got up and dragged it over."

"No, she didn't! She can barely move!"

"That potty didn't just grow legs and walk over. Now will you, for once in your life, do what I tell you?"

"I ain't scrubbing shit out of the carpet because you can't control your spoiled brat."

"What have I told you about swearing? You can either scrub the carpet or scrub a kid. If you don't help out, I'm telling your mom you're misbehaving." Hortensia made a disgusted noise. Between the blur of Matilda's tears she could just make out Hortensia looking down at her, the anger quickly dissolving from her face.

"Put her in the bathtub and i'll do the rest." Hortensia said with a growl. "I can't pick her up without hurting her."

There was a pause. "Really? You will?"

"Because you obviously don't care." Hortensia said under her breath.

"That's not fair, I do care! She's just in shock. She'll calm down on her own in a minute."

"Does this look like shock to you?" Matilda felt her shirt get lifted.

"Oh Jesus." Cynthia said quietly. She felt another figure bend down next to her. "Oh sweetheart, I had no idea."

"Didn't Ma tell you?" Hortensia asked sounding doubtful.

"I mean, she mentioned she had gotten hurt, but I figured it was something minor. Little kids tend to exaggerate, you know?"

"She's not like that. You see how hurt she is, if she actually got up and dragged that thing over, she did it for you, despite how much pain she's in. We told her you don't like germs, so she probably thought it would be easier on you to empty a bucket rather than carry or change her. I can't believe you're over here blaming her for this."

Cynthia let out a pitiful whimper. If Matilda wasn't in so much pain she would have laughed. Way to lay on the guilt.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry." She felt Cynthia wave a hand through her hair, but Matilda couldn't stop crying enough to tell her to keep her hands off. "Don't you worry, your big sister Hortensia's going to make it all better." Big sister? Ha! "Shh, shh, it's going to be alright." Matilda felt herself get lifted into the air as if she were a bride getting carried over the threshold. A very stinky and messy bride that was. The moment of impact had caused her watery bowels to empty, and she doubted it had made it into the bucket. A bucket of which had been knocked over onto her, Chuckie, and the carpet.

She could feel herself getting rocked in the air. Matilda fought, scratched, clawed, screamed and lashed out in any way she could, even if it only compounded the pain. This woman had the nerve, no, the audacity, to blame her for this? No wonder Hortensia didn't like her.

 

"Matilda, please, try and calm down." Cynthia begged. "I know you're in pain, but you're only going to make it worse if you keep moving like that."

 

Pictures on the walls were beginning to wobble and shake. There was a loud crash as a glass fell off the table and shattered onto the floor. She was losing control again.

Matilda heard Hortensia swear before taking a step back and making a run for it. Fine! Matilda didn't care. Go on and leave! Go on and leave her like everyone else in her life did! Her parents didn't want her, Jenny didn't want her. Why wouldn't Hortensia leave too? She was starting to wonder if she would bring the whole house down on top of them when something was forcefully shoved into her mouth with instructions to bite down.

All at once, everything went still.

 

"Put her in the bathtub!" Hortensia said. Matilda stared at her. She had come back? Was it her who had forced this object in her mouth? What was it? It felt familiar, but it couldn't be. It was much too large and filled her whole mouth. She couldn't cry or scream. Only silent tears fell from her eyes as she bit down on what felt like rubber.

 

"Try sucking on it instead, you might feel better." Cynthia whispered. Matilda wanted to do the exact opposite of anything she said out of spite, but curiosity had won out in the end. By the time she had been lowered down in the tub, she was sucking on it for all she was worth. There was no question now on what it was, but she didn't think they made them so big. She didn't want to admit it, but it was a welcome distraction. The more she fiddled with the thing in her mouth, the more down to earth she felt. It was like breathing in a bag. She hurt, yes, oh god she hurt, but she could see through the pain. There was a world on the other side and the more she sucked on the knob in her mouth and counted in groups of twos, three's, four's, and five's, the more in control she felt. And then, all at once, the world seemed to slam into picture perfect focus, and she realized she was stark naked, sitting in a tub covered in her own feces with the closest thing she had to a best friend dumping cups of warm water on her.

 

"Do you hear that?" Hortensia asked. Matilda listened. She could hear Chuckie wailing in the other room.

"YOU DO NOT SHOVE OTHER PEOPLE TO GET WHAT YOU WANT!" Cynthia yelled. There was a loud hollow thump sound followed by more sobbing.

 

"I've waited so long to hear that." Hortensia said, before dousing her with another cup of water. "He's a little shit." Matilda pulled what looked like the largest pacifier she had ever seen out of her mouth, and took a few gulps of air before answering.

 

"I noticed." Matilda said weakly.

 

"So is she." Hortensia said much more quietly.

 

Again Matilda said, "I noticed."

 

"This is taking too long." Hortensia complained. "Knock the shower head down, I can't reach it from out here."

 

"What makes you think I can? You're taller than m-oh, right." Matilda said, feeling a little embarrassed. It still didn't come naturally to her. She still found herself hopping up on chairs to reach tall places. Then there was the time her stomach was hurting and Hortensia had to get Jenny because she couldn't bend over to pick up the pull-up. She could have just willed it in her hand.

"How do you forget you have powers? I'd never get off the couch. Oh, and the pranks! What you did to Mr. Larson was great and all, but that was small stuff."

 

"When Miss Honey came to get me from my parents, I convinced them I was possessed. I made all the furniture fly around the room. You should have seen how scared they were."

"So that's how you came to live with her?" Matilda nodded. "If you can make furniture fly around the room, how come you can't get a shower head down?" Hortensia asked skeptically.

Matilda was breathing heavy now, concentrating as hard as she could, but all she could manage was to gently jostle it around in its holder. Matilda broke the contact, too exhausted to keep trying.

 

"I was angry then, really, really angry."

 

"Didn't you want to live with Miss Honey?" Hortensia asked, stepping up onto the rim of the bathtub, so she could manually pull down the shower head.

 

"I did, but it's one thing to think your family doesn't want you, and another to see it's true. I know why Miss Honey talked about me the way she did, but it still stung. The whole conversation, it was never about giving me a better life, it was about how much their lives would be better without me. They traded me for the idea of owning a parking lot. When I saw how easy they were willing to give me up, I just snapped. I doubt they'd take me back. You think your mom would let me live here when Jenny throws me out?"

 

"What?" Hortensia said dumbfounded. "Miss Honey ain't throwing you out."

 

"I don't think she wants me anymore." Matilda said, before sputtering on the blast of water sprayed directly into her face. "Hey!"

 

"I told you! She ain't giving you up."

 

"How would you know?"

"She always gets this weird sappy look on her face whenever she sees you, like she's looking at a puppy or something. Personally, I don't see the appeal, if you were a puppy you'd probably shit yourself less."

 

Matilda stared at the shower head in Hortensia's hand and twisted a finger, making it turn in her hand and spray its holder.

 

"Hey! Hey! Quit it! I'm doing you a favor here! " By the time she released the power in her eyes, Hortensia, and the bathroom, were soaked. There was a knock on the door.

 

"Everything okay in there? I hear screaming." Cynthia said. Before either of them could respond, the door swung in. "What in the word?" She eyed Hortensia up and down before raising her eyebrows.  "What happened to you? Did you fall in?"

 

"I think I picked the wrong kid." Hortensia said. She wiped her wet hair back with a hand before blowing up at the semi dry strand that refused to stay. "We're done here anyway."

 

"Not my fault you sprayed yourself with the shower head." Matilda said with a snicker. Hortensia scowled, picked up the pacifier off the edge of the tub and shoved it into Matilda's mouth.

 

“Thank you,” Cynthia said. “It’s nice to see you still have a sweet side. I haven’t seen this side of you since your little boyfriend ran away.” Matilda yanked the pacifier out of her mouth.

 

“Hortensia had a boyfriend?” Matilda asked with a laugh. 

 

“He was not my boyfriend.” Hortensia growled. “And he didn’t run away.”

“‘Tens,” Cynthia said, “I thought you would have grown out of that by now. You know the police found evidence of him wanting to run away in his room.” 

 

“That doesn’t mean he did! I’m telling you, the Trunchbull got him.” 

 

“Hortensia, your headmaster was not some monster who went around murdering children. Sure, she was a bit eccentric, but she was just some grouchy old lady who liked to scare disobedient troublemakers.”

“Who are you guys talking about?” Matilda asked as she was wrapped in a towel after being set on the bathmat.

“He was a friend of mine when I was younger. I told you about him, here.” Hortensia sprinted out of the bathroom leaving Matilda alone with Cynthia. 

 

“The police say he ran away to go live with his dad. His parents were going through a nasty custody battle. Hortensia’s never been able to accept it.” 

 

“Did he ever turn up at his dads?” 

 

“He says no, but then moved to the States soon after, so it's assumed he was hiding him and smuggled him out of the country somehow. Most missing children cases are the result of one parent taking off with the child to spite the other.” 

 

“Oh.” Matilda said. It was true. She knew most child abductions were because someone didn’t get their way in court and almost 70% of the time, it was the father. 

 

“Here, this is him.” Hortensia said pointing to a photo in a yearbook. Matilda snickered at a much younger Hortensia, hair done in pigtails with her arm around a small boy. 

 

“Nice hair.” Matilda said with a grin before the teasing smile was wiped from her face as she read the caption. 

 

Hortensia Strickland (L)and Billy Reyes (R) . 

 

[SashaButters]

“Look, this boy is clearly crying. Don't you recognize him?"

 

"Yes, I recognize Billy Reyes."

 

Matilda was lost in thought, so lost in thought even that she hadn't even put up a fight when Cynthia put her back in a diaper with only one of Hortensia's shirts to cover it.

 

"Let's stay in your room." Matilda said. Hortensia looked at her hesitantly.

 

"Only if you promise not to shit in my bed." Matilda rolled her eyes.

 

"I believe you." Matilda said when they were left alone. "About your friend." The name had been driving her nuts. She knew she had heard it before, but she never connected it to the missing boy Hortensia had told her about. One of several, she remembered. "I don't think he ran away either."

 

Hortensia perked up. "I knew you were smart."

 

"When Miss Honey had her, um, episode, we were at her aunts house cleaning it out. She found a box full of dirty magazines and, uh, adult toys. One of them actually fell open on top of her, it was pretty hilarious." Hortensia wrinkled her face in disgust.

 

"No wonder she had to go to the hospital. I would too if something that had been in  the Trunchbull touched me. Miss Honey probably has leprosy now."

 

"That's not how you get leprosy, it's not an STD, anyway, when she was putting them away-"

 

"What's an STD?" Hortensia asked.

 

"Oh," Matilda bit her lip. It was one of Miss Honey's cardinal rules-She let her learn about anything she wanted to, including human biology, but only on two conditions. She couldn't ask Jenny any more personal questions about her private life, and she couldn't share what she learned with the other kids. It was strictly for educational purposes only. "It's nothing, it's just a family of illness, like viral or bacterial." Hortensia narrowed her eyes at her.

 

"You're lying."

 

"Do you want to hear what happened or not?" Hortensia grumbled but waved a hand to go on. “When she was picking up everything off the floor they found a couple pictures. I didn’t see them, but then Miss Honey and Mrs. Rodger’s started freaking out and called the police. I may have, sort of been eavesdropping and heard them mention one of the pictures had been of Billy Reyes.” 

 

“Why would she have a picture of him?” Hortensia asked with a scowl. Matilda had a good idea why. The timing of Jennifer’s escape and Billy Reyes abduction was a little too coincidental. It also explained the crushing weight of guilt Matilda had been feeling via Jennifer. Miss Trunchbull was a woman who had demanded absolute control and having her live in play thing slip out of her fingers must have been a crushing blow to her pride. If Billy had been anywhere near as troublesome as Hortensia, what better way to feel in control again than to flex her power over a student she saw as a nuisance. 

 

“As a trophy.” Matilda said. 

 

Hortensia remained silent for a long time. If real life was like a cartoon, Matilda was positive she would have been seeing smoke coming out of her ears. 

 

“I knew it. I knew she’d accidentally kill someone some day. You can’t just throw kids out a window or over a fence and expect them to be fine.”

 

Matilda didn’t have the heart to tell her it most likely wasn’t an accident. She had a feeling he was targeted. From what she had overheard, he was locked in Jennifer’s room, and he had been crying when the picture was taken. Matilda felt a horrible sick feeling. There was a reason the picture had been in that box. 

 

Matilda winced as she slowly situated herself into a more comfortable position. She didn’t want to think about this anymore.  She didn’t need the reminder of what Miss Honey had gone through and how powerless Matilda was to help. Jennifer tried so hard to keep the truth from her, but Matilda knew. Matilda had always known. It was in the way the woman carried herself, and the way Miss Honey shied away from another’s touch. It was in the way she couldn’t make eye contact, and most of all, it was in her nightmares. The first time Matilda heard Jenny beg in her sleep for her aunt to stop, she had silently cried in bed next to her. 

 

“Would you read to me?” Matilda asked without looking up.

 

“Uh, what? You can read just fine on your own.” Hortensia said after a long pause.

 

“Just until I fall asleep. Please? It doesn’t matter what, I just don’t want to think anymore.” Matilda would listen to a microwave manual if that’s all Hortensia was willing to read. Without saying a word, the older girl got up and rummaged in her closet for a bit before coming back with a comic book. 

 

“X-men is one of my favorites.” 

 

Hortensia read awkwardly at first, but after a few minutes she seemed to forget she had an audience. Matilda was in and out of consciousness as she listened. At one point she could have sworn the door had opened, and a voice had said something along the lines of “adorable.” By the time Matilda had lifted her head, the door was closed and there was no one else in the room but her and a red-faced Hortensia. After a few more minutes, she was gone entirely.

 

……

 

Jennifer was sitting at the kitchen table, her face resting against the cool wood. She had the worst headache she had ever had in her life. The lights in the kitchen were dimmed to only a small glow, and she had been nursing a cup of tea Carol had made for her. 

 

“What have we learned?” Carol asked with an amused look on her face.

 

“You’re not a real nurse.” Jennifer mumbled. Carol chuckled.

 

“I was going to say drink more water next time.” 

 

“No next time.” She felt nauseous and shaky. Jennifer had a hard time believing people did this for fun. 

 

“These will help.” Jennifer was reluctant to take anything Carol offered her at this point, but when she looked up, she was relieved to find it was just a bottle of Excedrin. She poured two tablets out and took them with her hot tea. “I was going to bring you some water.” 

 

“I’m not sure if it was from, umm, what we were doing last night or what, but have you ever had a memory, and you’re not sure whether it really happened or if it was just a dream?” Jennifer asked after a moment of silence. 

 

“Probably from what we were doing last night, especially if it was your first time, although those joints were the weakest things i’ve ever had. I didn’t even get high. I doubt you did either given how old they were. We most likely just smoked an empty wrapper and dust.” Jennifer frowned. Then why all the spinning? “Placebos are a powerful thing.” Carol said as if answering Jennifer's unspoken question. 

 

“Then I was just drunk?” 

 

“If you were, you’ve got the lowest tolerance to alcohol I’ve ever seen. That wine was only 4% alcohol.” Carol said amused. 

 

“I have no idea what that means.” Jennifer admitted.

 

“A normal wine is around 13%. You drank the equivalent of one, maybe two light beers. You may have been a little buzzed, but certainly not drunk. Just enough to get you to drop your guard a bit and loosen up.” 

 

Jennifer scowled. “You tricked me?” 

“You think i’m going to bring you over and get you drunk and high after having a mental break-down? I didn’t even intend for you to get buzzed.” 

 

Jennifer hid her face in her hands. All those things she had told Carol, and she hadn’t even been under the influence of anything. A horrifying thought crossed through her head.

 

“And the lotion?” 

 

“That was real. I wouldn’t give you anything to put down there that wasn’t meant to be. That’s a good way to get an infection.” 

 

Jennifer let out her held breath. 

 

“Why do I feel so sick if I didn’t do anything?” 

 

“Some people have a bad reaction to alcohol, even in small amounts. You could be one of them. So what was this dream you weren’t sure was a dream?” 

 

“I think,” Jennifer paused to try and remember more. She had been positive it had been a memory when she had woken up, but now it was fading back into her subconscious. “I think there was a time I did ask for help. I wrote a letter and gave it to someone.” Jennifer frowned. “I gave it to a giant.” Maybe it had been a dream after all. 

 

“A giant?” Carol asked. 

 

“Not a literal giant, I was a little girl then, and he was the tallest man I had ever seen. I must have given the letter to him because he looked like he could take my aunt. In my dream, or whatever it was, I had put so much hope in him coming to rescue me, but in the end, nothing had ever come of it.” 

 

“Where did you see the man? Out shopping, or at a bus stop?”

 

“He was at school.” Jennifer said. “Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen him since.” 

 

“It could be a memory,” Carol said after thinking about it, “or a mix of both.     The mind can’t make up faces in a dream. They’re always people you’ve seen before.” 

 

“We never did find what she did with the missing money.” Jennifer said. “Or the missing kids.” 

 

“I don’t think you should be thinking about that right now.” Carol said. 

 

“Mr. Trilby’s set up a meeting for tomorrow with the board of education to go over the missing funds. He wants to introduce me as next year's new headmistress.” Jennifer said. There was a sour taste in her mouth at the thought. 

“Or that.” Carol chirped. “How about once you’re feeling a bit better, we go pick up Matilda and play some board games here. Something to keep your mind off current events.” 

 

She felt another pang of guilt. She had forgotten about their fight. Fight? It was Jennifer who had shoved her away. Jennifer rubbed at her temples and sighed. Best to get it over with as soon as possible. Maybe she wouldn’t be too angry with her… she hoped. The memory of Matilda, tears streaming down her face while mouthing her safe word played over and over in her head. It was hard to believe it had only been yesterday.

 

Jennifer had been so lost in thought she hadn’t noticed Carol get up from the table until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped on instinct and nearly spilled her half drunken cup of tea. 

 

“Relax.” Carol whispered. She shuddered again when she felt something make contact with the top of her head, before gently sliding down. Jennifer sat in the chair feeling both on guard and puzzled. It took her a near solid minute until she realized what was happening. Carol was brushing her hair. She wasn’t sure how to feel. She felt irritated at the invasion of her personal space, and yet, she felt touched. No one had ever brushed her hair before. It was such an odd, yet intimate gesture. Jennifer was surprised to find she felt disappointed when Carol had finished. 

 

“Thank you.” Jennifer said quietly unsure of what else to say. 

 

“Scalp massages increases the blood flow and helps with headaches.” 

 

“Oh, I see.” Jennifer said, rubbing at her upper arms in an attempt to lower the goose bumps that had risen there.

 

“Well, let me know when you’re feeling up to going over there.” Jennifer picked up her cup and downed the rest of its contents in three large gulps before setting it back down.

 

“Let’s go.” 

 

When they knocked on the front door, Jennifer was surprised when a stranger, and not Eve, answered the door. She did a double take at the address to silence the intrusive thoughts which told her she really was high from last night, and was now standing naked in a random neighborhood inquiring about a daughter she didn’t have. She subtly padded her blouse just in case.

 

“Are you here for Matilda?” the stranger asked before Jennifer could formulate a sentence.

 

“Yes!” Jennifer said a bit too enthusiastically. She inwardly cringed and silently chastised herself to act normal. 

 

“You must be Miss Honey, come in.” The stranger beckoned them in. Jennifer wrinkled her nose when they stepped inside. The house smelled strongly of cleaning products. The stranger led them into the living room where three or four rags were laying on a large wet patch of carpet in front of the couch. “Sorry about the smell, there was an incident this morning.” 

 

“What kind of incident?” Carol asked. The stranger looked glum.

 

“I’ve been trying to potty-train my youngest son, but he’s shown little to no interest until today.” The stranger shifted her feet, now looking more uncomfortable. “Matilda had a bit of an upset tummy this morning and couldn’t hold it until she got to the restroom.” 

 

“Oh no, not on the carpet.” Miss Honey said with a wince. 

 

“Umm, no. She ended up using my son’s training potty.” 

 

“Oh.” Poor Matilda, she must be sick again. “She must have been positive she wouldn’t have made it.”  

 

“And my son saw this, and, tackled her off.” The stranger admitted with a grimace. Carol let out a snort of laughter. 

 

“I’m sorry, I’m just picturing her getting blindsided by a baby.” Carol said. “He must have really caught her by surprise.” 

 

“He sent the whole thing flying, both the kids and the carpet ended up getting covered in…yeah.” she gestured to the rags and damp patch on the floor. “Hortensia’s been a big help with her today, got her all cleaned up and calmed down for me.” The stranger lowered her voice and leaned in. “I’m honestly still in shock, I haven’t seen this side of ‘Tens in years. I even walked in on her reading out loud to Matilda. It was adorable.” 

 

Jennifer smiled. Matilda had a way of getting past the walls people erected. Jennifer herself had always wondered what Matilda saw in that foul-mouthed troublemaker, but she must have seen past Hortensia’s hard exterior. Who knew the school bully would have a soft side? 

 

“She left on her bike saying she was going down to the corner store to get a ginger ale for Matilda’s stomach but,” the stranger looked at her watch and frowned, “that was nearly an hour ago.” 

 

“Where is Matilda?” Jennifer asked. She was growing increasingly anxious the more she put off their reunion. 

 

“She’s sleeping in Hortensia’s room. I’ll go wake her up and let her know you’re here.” Jennifer was tempted to go get her herself, but she felt going into one of the students rooms without them was crossing a line somehow. Suddenly, she felt an elbow bump her. She turned to see Carol pointing something out to her-no not something, someone. A very large someone. 

 

“You don’t suppose he’s the one who knocked her down, do you?” Carol asked. Jennifer stared at the massive child and felt a wave of worry. Looking at him from the back, she would have assumed he was nearly eight, but when he turned around, she saw he barely had any teeth and a line of drool and snot were trailing from his mouth and nose. 

 

The young boy turned and made eye contact with them. His eyes narrowed in a glare, and he stomped his foot. 

 

“MINE!” He yelled. The two women watched taken aback as he stormed past them, before turning around and giving them another dirty look. He stopped at the foot of the hall before dropping his pants and sitting on what Jennifer could only assume was the training potty the stranger had told them about. 

 

“Well that’s one way to mark your territory.” Carol said. “Possessive little booger, ain’t he?” 

 

“Oh! You’re using it without being reminded? Mommy’s so proud of you! You’ve made so much progress today!” they heard coming from the back of the house. 

 

“Mine!” The toddler shouted, still glaring at the two intruders. 

 

“You cheated.” Carol leaned over and whispered to her. “You got to completely skip this phase.” 

 

“You haven’t seen her when she loses control. There’s self-help books for the Terrible Two’s, but none for So You Adopted a Stephen King Character. I gave her detention once, and she shattered all the lightbulbs in the hallway.” Jennifer whispered back. Carol made a silent “O” with her lips. “I wouldn’t trade her for anything.” 

 

“Just don’t let her go to prom.” 

 

They stood in the living room for a few more minutes before Jennifer began to wonder if something was wrong. She could hear the frantic opening and closing of doors and footsteps pacing from room to room. 

 

“Is everything okay?” Jennifer finally asked when no one had emerged. Finally, the lady from before appeared with a deep frown and guilty expression.

 

“I can’t find her, I just checked on her fifteen minutes ago, and she was sound asleep.” 

 

A knot began to form in her stomach. Matilda was hiding from her. She didn’t want to see Jennifer. 

 

“She’s still angry with me.” Jennifer said sadly. 

 

“Hey, she was probably just having too much fun and isn’t ready to come home yet.” Carol said. Jennifer shook her head. 

 

“I knew she could walk.” the stranger muttered under her breath. 

 

“Do you mind if I have a look?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia’s privacy be damned. “Where did you last see her?” 

 

 “Down this way, Oh, I’m Cynthia by the way, Eve’s neighbor.” Cynthia led her down the hall to a bedroom in such disarray she wasn’t sure if it was robbed or her daughter had had another supernatural fit. “She was sleeping in the bed.” 

 

“She’s still in here.” Jennifer said. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew just the same. 

 

“I looked everywhere. Under the bed, in the closet, in the other rooms.” 

 

Jennifer picked up the blankets before looking under the bed. Not enough room even for someone as small as Matilda with the storage bins underneath. She eyed the closet before letting out a sigh. Matilda was in there. She was positive. Matilda knew she hated small spaces, but even then, something was calling her to it. She couldn’t explain it any more than she could explain how Matilda could move things with her mind, but she knew what she had to do. 

 

Jennifer went to the door and opened it, ignoring the other woman telling her she had checked there three times. 

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, she’s not in here.” Jennifer said before putting a finger to her lips. She crept inside and closed the door behind her. She waited patently, standing as still as possible and listened intently. There, to her left. She heard something crinkle. 

 

“Come on out, Matilda. I know you're there.” Jennifer said softly before lowering herself onto an unknown pile of clutter. “Come on out and let's talk.” She sat in the dark and listened. There, in the far corner came a quiet voice.

 

“I don’t want to leave.” 

 

Jennifer let out her held breath. Was that all this was about? Was it like Carol said? She was simply having too much fun? No…

 

“You don’t want to go home?” Jennifer asked confused. She frowned even more when she heard a quiet sniffle.

 

“I don’t want to leave home.” came the strained emotional reply. 

“Matilda, I don’t understand. Where are you? Won’t you come out and talk to me?” 

 

“I can’t.” More sniffling. Jennifer was sure now she was crying.

 

“Why not?” 

 

“I’m stuck.” 

 

Jennifer stood and reached around blindly for a light switch. Once the closet was illuminated, Jennifer could see a tiny arm reaching out from a large pile of clutter. She brushed aside boxes of puzzles, clothes, stuffed animals and comic books before uncovering the small girl underneath. Jennifer eyed her up and down. She briefly wondered why she was in a diaper, but that didn’t matter much right now. 

 

“There’s my girl.” Instead of opening the closet and ushering her out, Jennifer scooted as much stuff out of the way before sitting down next to her. “Come here, sweetheart.” Jennifer patted her lap.

 

“You told me not to touch you.” Matilda whispered. Jennifer sighed. 

 

“I’m sorry, dear, I’m really truly sorry. I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t in the present.” 

 

“Please don’t send me away.” Jennifer watched in confusion as Matilda dissolved into a wave of fresh tears. 

 

“Matilda,” Jennifer said softly. “I would never send you away. Why would you think that?” 

 

“You don’t want me anymore.” Jennifer let out another deep sigh and bent over to scoop her up but froze when Matilda flinched.  Now it was Jennifer’s turn for her eyes to water.  

 

“Please don’t be afraid of me.” Jennifer whispered through her constricting throat. More slowly this time, she hoisted Matilda up by the armpits and set her down in her lap where they were facing each other. “I love you, Matilda. Nothing's going to change that. I’m your mother now, whether you want me to be or not. I can’t just send you away, nor would I ever want to.” 

 

“I want you to.”  Jennifer’s heart sank. She was almost afraid to ask.

 

“You want me to send you away?” 

 

“No, I want you to be my mother.” She could feel a wave of calm relief wash over her. 

 

“And I want to be your mother. Forever.” 

 

Jennifer repositioned the two of them so that Matilda’s head was resting on her shoulder with one arm under her cold and damp diapered bottom and the other on the back of her head slowly combing her fingers through Matilda’s hair. No amount of rocking, humming or soothing words seemed to comfort her though. Jennifer frowned in concern as she took in Matilda’s trembling frame. 

 

“What’s the matter, baby. Are you cold?” She put a hand to Matilda’s forehead to check for a fever and was relieved to find it felt normal. 

 

“My body hurts.” Came a pitiful sounding response. 

 

“Where does it hurt?” 

 

“Everywhere. When I heard you coming I panicked and crawled in here even though it hurt to move, and now it hurts even worse.” 

 

“Why did it hurt to move?” 

 

“From yesterday.” She felt Matilda pull away and lift her shirt. At first Jennifer didn’t see anything until she pulled up the T-shirt more. She let out a gasp.

 

“Matilda,” Jennifer said. Tears were now blurring her vision. “D-did I do that to you?” Matilda shook her head. “Please tell me the truth,” she begged. She was terrified of the answer, but she needed to know. She hadn’t thought she had used that much force, but Matilda seemed to get hurt so easily.

 

“No, it happened last night.” Matilda filled her in on all the details. Hortensia seemed to be full of all sorts of surprises lately. After taking a moment to process everything, Jennifer let out an exasperated sigh.

 

“I swear I can’t let you leave the house without covering you in bubble wrap and making you wear a helmet. How is it you keep getting hurt?”

 

“I don’t know.” Matilda moaned. 

 

“Well, I’ll have to take you to the hospital today.”

 

“No!” Matilda said, burying her face into Miss Honey’s neck and crying anew. Jennifer rubbed her back feeling puzzled. Sure she had had a few rough visits, but this sort of reaction over seeing a doctor was new. 

 

“I need to make sure you’re okay, sweetheart. It looks awfully painful.” Matilda nodded in agreement. “The doctors can help you feel better faster, you know that, so why all the tears?”

 

“That’s w-where y-y-you take kids you d-d-don’t want anymore!”  

 

“Matilda, where on earth is this coming from? I’m not going to abandon you, you understand? Look at me.” She could feel the girl bury herself even further down. What had happened to make her think Jennifer didn’t want her anymore? Was this all about the incident yesterday? Jennifer scrambled to try and come up with something that would calm her down enough to get her willing to talk, but her mind kept drawing a blank-except for one thing. There was a song she often hummed when the two of them were cuddled up together, but she had never outright sung the words, even though they encompassed the very thing Matilda made her feel. So with a shaky breath, Jennifer began to quietly sing. 

 

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You’ll never know just how much I love you

Please don’t take my sunshine away” 

 

  She could feel Matilda violent sobs begin to ever so slowly ebb away. It was progress, so Jennifer sang it again and again, until Matilda’s wails were nothing but quiet sniffles. 

 

“Can you tell me what’s got you so upset?” Jennifer asked after a few minutes of silence. “Where is this line of thinking coming from?” She waited patiently, unsure if she would get a response or not, but a small muffled voice from her shoulder spoke.

 

“Because of what I did.” Now they were getting somewhere. Relief rushed through Jennifer. It wasn’t yesterday, at least not entirely. 

 

“You’re feeling bad because of something you did?” A small nod. “Would you tell me?” Silence. “I promise, no matter what you did, I’m not going to abandon you.” More silence. “I bet you’ll feel loads better if you get it off your chest. It might not be as bad as you think. You know, the reason I had that issue yesterday was because I was carrying a lot of guilt too, and it finally caught up to me. I had a good talk with Mrs. Rodgers about it last night, and she assured me this bad thing I thought I had done had only been in my head. I probably would have gone on punishing myself forever if I hadn’t opened up about it.” 

 

“What did you think you did?” Matilda asked. 

 

“Well, I, umm, my aunt, you know, she did some inappropriate things to me, and I thought, I was doing the same to you, in a way.” 

 

“It’s not like you molested me like your aunt did to you.” Jennifer froze, unable to respond. “What?” 

 

“H-how do you know about that?” She could feel her mouth going dry. “W-who t-told you?” She had tried so hard to keep this from Matilda. She didn’t need to know life was full of monsters just yet. It was bad enough she had seen the scars of the years of physical abuse, but it was the sexual abuse which left the open festering wounds, only they were invisible to the naked eye. At least she thought they were…

 

“I’ve always known. It’s not hard to put two and two together. You could have just talked to me about it, I would have told you you weren’t doing anything weird.” 

 

“You make it sound so simple.” 

 

“Maybe it is that simple.” 

 

“No, Matilda, it’s not. It’s like there’s an infected open sore inside me that refuses to heal. I can always feel it throbbing just under my skin and if I address it or acknowledge it in any way, the infection will spread. If I show it to you, it will only cause you to be infected too, that’s why I have to keep it from you. It’s nothing personal, I just can’t risk doing irrevocable harm to you.” 

 

“Mom,” Matilda groaned pushing off from her, so she could look her in the face. “If there’s an infected open sore inside of you, you’re doing exactly what you’re not supposed to do. You can’t just seal an infection and expect it to get better. It’s going to hurt, but you have to cut it open and work the puss out, or it will never get better.”  

 

“I didn’t mean there’s a literal infection inside of me.” 

 

“I know, but it’s the same idea really. Don’t let this eat you from the inside out.” 

 

“Enough about what’s eating me, I want to know what’s eating you? Out with it. What did you do?” Matilda looked away, mumbling something Jennifer couldn’t make out. She tried to bury herself back in Jennifer’s chest, but she stopped her with a palm to her forehead. “No, no running away, time to come clean.” 

 

“Only if you answer mine.” Jennifer bit her lip. That sneaky little… 

 

“Depends on the question.” 

 

“Mrs. Rodger’s said you pushed me because you thought I was someone else. Is that true?” Jennifer sighed. Carol had left her the perfect out, but she had a sinking suspicion Matilda would know if she lied and was testing her. 

 

“No,” Jennifer said after giving it some thought. “I knew it was you, but I had no intention of pushing you down to the ground and hurting you. I had what’s called a flashback. In my mind, I was eleven again, and Miss Trunchbull was telling me I was just like her, and I was going to do these very bad things to you. I wanted you to stay away from me, not because I didn’t want you with me, but because I wanted you to stay safe. Does that make sense?”

 

“Yes.” Matilda said quietly. 

 

“Alright, my turn, does what you’re feeling guilty about have anything to do with what happened the last few days?” Matilda shook her head. “Hmm, then does it ha-”

 

“It’s my turn.” Matilda said before she could finish. “Are you sad about your aunts' death, despite everything she did to you?”  Jennifer should have known these wouldn’t be typical five-year-old questions like, “What’s your favorite color?” and “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Jennifer answered honestly. “I don’t miss her, but it was very sudden, and I don’t think i’ve given it much thought. Ok, i’ll change it up before I go for the big guns. Did you wet the bed again? Is that why you’re wearing a wet diaper?”

 

“That’s two questions.” Matilda said with a scowl. “No, I didn’t wet the bed. Are you afraid of being in this closet?” 

 

“As long as you're with me, no.” Jennifer said giving Matilda’s hand a squeeze. “Why are you wearing a wet diaper?”  Jennifer laughed quietly as Matilda’s face began to turn a shade pink. 

 

“Because Eve and Cynthia think I’m a walking accident waiting to happen.” she grumbled. “I tried yelling for Cynthia like a hundred times to take me to the restroom, but she couldn’t hear me from out there. Okay, this is going to sound weird but, were you drunk last night?”  

 

Jennifer sputtered. The question had caught her so off guard she began to choke on her own saliva. “Why are you asking me that?” she finally managed to get out.

 

“Were you?” Matilda asked again. 

 

“I, umm, wasn’t drunk, I was just, well, I had a couple glasses of wine. How did you know?” 

 

“Because I swore I woke up today with a hangover. My head was pounding, I was nauseous, my stomach was upset.” Matilda narrowed her eyes. “Since when do they serve wine at the hospital?” 

 

“Since the person who took me pretended to be my mother to break me out and took me back to her house to talk.” Jennifer said with a guilty expression on her face. “They let me go last night, but Carol wanted to talk just the two of us.” 

 

“You mean I could have avoided being tackled by the Not So Friendly Giant out there?” 

 

“Sorry.” Jennifer said with a pained expression. “Alright last question before I ask you the main thing. How would you have a hangover if I drank alcohol?” 

 

“Because I can somehow feel what you do, if you feel it strong enough.” Matilda said with a frown. “You already knew that.” 

 

“Yes, but I didn’t realize it was also physical sensati-” Jennifer stopped. Oh no. Oh no. If she knew she had been drinking, did she also know she had… “Matilda, did you…umm.” Now it was Jennifer’s turn to grow a shade darker. “Did you feel anything else strange, last night?” Matilda’s eyebrows shot up.

 

“Were you doing something else at Mrs. Rodger’s besides drinking?” 

 

“N-no, I was-I mean, I didn’t mean to, it just sort of-” Jennifer sighed. “Pass.” 

 

“Oh, no no. No passing.” Matilda said with a grin, now a flash of her usual self shone in her eyes. “You only get this flustered when someone brings up s-” Matilda’s eyes went wide. 

 

“No. No. No. Not that.” 

 

“With Mrs. Rodgers? And you?” Matilda asked, face scrunched in confusion. Jennifer’s face felt like it could light the bulb in a lighthouse.

 

“NO!” Jennifer said firmly. “We. Did. Not.” 

 

“I was going to say… she’s kind of old.” Matilda whispered. 

 

“Alright, alright, enough of this. Spill it. What made you think I was going to leave you at the hospital?” Matilda gave her a pained look. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.” 

 

Matilda took a deep breath. “I- think, I think.” She stopped and took another breath. “I think I’m the one who killed your aunt.” she whispered.  Jennifer’s eyes went wide. She stared at Matilda. What? “I didn’t mean for her to get hurt…badly! It was just a prank to scare her! I was so angry when you were in the hospital and-”

 

“Slow down. Start from the beginning.” Jennifer said. She listened intently as Matilda told her story of the spiders and the cotton ball that wasn’t really a cotton ball. 

 

“Are you mad at me?” Matilda asked once she had finished. Jennifer sighed. It was a lot to take in. It wasn’t likely the cause but… maybe they should keep this between the two of them just in case.

 

“No, I’m not mad at you, Matilda, but I am disappointed in you. I told you several times not to mess with that woman, she’s dangerous. It’s probably why she had it out for you in the hospital. If anything had happened to you, I don’t know what i’d do. I thought I taught you better than that. Revenge is never the answer.”

 

“She had to be stopped.” Matilda mumbled, head back in between Jennifer’s chest. 

 

“Yes, she did, but that was the police’s job, not yours.”

 

“I couldn’t let her keep hurting you.” Matilda said. “I didn’t mean for her to die, just get sick like you did. I thought, maybe there was a genetic link between you two. I couldn’t stand to see what she did to you. How could I not fight back?” 

 

“Matilda, you have a brilliant mind, and abilities that shouldn’t even be possible. Don’t ever let me hear of you using either one to hurt someone else again or you’ll need that diaper just to sit comfortably. I know you had good intentions, but this didn’t involve you-”

 

“How can you keep saying this doesn’t involve me?” Matilda said, tears streaming down her face. “I feel everything you do. I feel your anger, your guilt, your disgust, how much you hate yourself. I feel it all, and I don’t know why. It does involve me! I watch you have nightmares almost every night and there’s nothing I can do to help! I have abilities, but I’ve never felt so powerless.” 

 

“You do help me.” Jennifer said, placing her forehead against Matilda’s. “I’d still be in that shack alone if I hadn’t met you. You think the old me would have hit her with a chair? As for the nightmares, every time I wake up and see you, I know I’m safe. Just having you in my life has been the biggest help of them all. Now come on, let’s get out of this closet, my legs are falling asleep, and I’m afraid to know just what we’re sitting in.” 

 

“If you’re hungry, I found a snack.” Matilda said with a slight grin as she held up a moldy sandwich. Jennifer wrinkled her face in disgust before giving Matilda a kiss on her forehead.

 

“Still not getting rid of you.” Jennifer whispered. 

 

[BabySofia]

Now to get her to the hospital without them blaming her for the injuries…

I have a feeling Matilda has some serious injuries.

[Guilend]

At least Jennifer didn’t wet the bed lol. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I also wonder how much Ms Rogers takes on the mother role with Jennifer. Good chapter. 

[SashaButters]

On 11/24/2022 at 5:58 AM, Guilend said:

At least Jennifer didn’t wet the bed lol. 

Is that all you guys think about lol jk 

[SashaButters]

The hospital was the same as last time. The same dreary atmosphere. The same white walls. The same nurse who stood at the foot of her gurney, hands on her hips, giving her a disapproving stare.

 

“Miss Matilda, back so soon? What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?” The nurse glanced at the chart. “Chest and abdominal injuries. Let me guess, slammed into your bike's handle bars?” Matilda shook her head with a weak smile. “Trampoline accident?” Matilda shook her head again. “Rollerskating while hanging on to the back of your mom's car bumper?” 

 

“Heimlich.” Matilda said.

 

“Sort of.” Mrs. Rodgers threw in. 

 

“I’ve got kids in here almost every day with broken bones from skateboarding, trying to jump homemade ramps on their bikes, the list goes on, but you’re telling me you got hurt while eating?” 

 

Matilda flashed a guilty sort of grimace.  She hadn’t wanted to go to the hospital, there was nothing they could do for her anyway. Matilda had begged Miss Honey to take her home every half hour that had passed in the waiting room without getting called. The hospital seemed to be packed today.  Geriatric patients in wheelchairs complaining of chest pains and headaches filled the emergency room taking precedence over her cracked rib. Finally, after about three and a half hours, she had been called back. 

 

Miss Honey had had to carry her in. She was in so much pain from sitting up in the chair for so long she could hardly give her name and the reason for her visit. She had even ignored all attempts at small talk from the triage nurse up front who had taken her vitals in an attempt to reign in her psychic powers as they had a tendency to get away from her whenever she was hurt or upset. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a panic, although she wondered if she would be seen faster if half the emergency room left in fear of the place being haunted. 

 

“She’d also been tackled this morning by a larger child.” Miss Honey threw in. 

 

“Ah, the truth comes out, you were rough housing.” the nurse said. Matilda didn’t feel like correcting her. It sounded better than she had gotten hurt while eating and pooping, two supposedly mundane activities. “Well, let’s take a look. Go ahead and strip down and change into this gown with the opening in the front. Mom, if you want to help her.” She gestured down to Matilda, who could hardly move. 

 

By the time they had gotten her undressed, with many yelps and grunts of pain, Miss Honey decided the gown wasn’t worth the trouble of getting it on her, but Matilda insisted. If she was going to be in the hospital, she wanted the whole experience, patient identification on her wrist, oxygen monitor on her finger, and exposed bare butt in the open. She had regretted her choice the moment they had to sit her up. She had regretted a lot of her choices today.

At least she was out of her wet pants, Matilda thought, hugging the dry gown around her front. 

 

Three hours ago they had asked her for a urine sample. Matilda had thrown logic to the wind (she blamed the pain) and insisted she didn’t need help. She had even snapped at Miss Honey when she had tried to follow her in. Matilda had run into her first problem right away as soon as she had closed the bathroom door behind her. She couldn’t get on the toilet. No matter, she had thought, she didn’t need to pee in the toilet, she just needed to pee in this cup. 

 

So instead of apologizing to Miss Honey and asking for help, she instead had the bright idea to use her powers and make the cup float in midair while she stood over it. Only, once she had finally managed to lower her pants enough and get into position, she found to her great disbelief, her plan had backfired. Instead of going into the cup like she had planned, it merely trickled down her left thigh and into her pant leg. When Miss Honey had come in to check on her, she found Matilda in tears trying to dry her pants under the hand dryer. 

 

Matilda had fully expected a scolding, she knew she deserved one. Instead of rubbing it in her face or lecturing her, Miss Honey had simply helped her clean up as best she could, before they had to explain to triage they couldn’t get a sample. 

 

“You’ll have to try again later.” 

 

When they got back to their seats in the waiting room, Matilda clung onto Miss Honey’s arm and held it against herself. It was the closest she could get to a hug at the moment. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Matilda mumbled. “I can’t believe I did that.”  Miss Honey smiled gently at her. 

 

“We all do silly things when we aren’t feeling up to par. Let me help me you next time.” Matilda wasn’t happy about it, but she nodded her head in agreement. “Tell me when you’re ready.” 

 

It took a little over an hour before she thought she could try again. Miss Honey helped her down from the chair and stood her on her feet as Matilda whimpered. Unfortunately, they had lent out all their wheelchairs they had available, so she was forced to get up and down from the chair, each attempt growing more painful than the last. 

 

Now armed with a new specimen jar, Matilda hobbled over to the bathroom, Miss Honey now beside her. 

 

“Just pretend I’m not here.” Miss Honey said. Matilda pursed her lips. It was a little hard to do with Miss Honey crouched in front of her while Matilda sat with legs splayed open on the toilet. 

 

She’s my mother not my teacher. She’s my mother not my teacher, Matilda chanted in her head as she closed her eyes and relaxed. She hoped Miss Honey was able to catch it because there was no way she was doing this again. 

 

“Is that it?” Matilda nodded, still refusing to open her eyes. “It should be enough.” 

 

Then the worst possible thing happened. Miss Honey must have forgotten to lock the door because suddenly the door was forcefully swung open and in strolled another woman. Matilda thought It must have looked bad seeing an adult reaching their hand under a child's privates,   because Matilda had never seen Miss Honey jump away from her so animatedly. The woman had merely apologized and left, but the damage had already been done. 

 

“Uh, mom, you dropped the cup in the toilet.” 

 

“So I hear you’re 0 for 2 on the urine collection.” the nurse said when she came back once Matilda had been changed into her gown.  “Third times a charm.” Matilda could see she was holding another specimen jar. She shook her head adamantly. 

 

“I can’t.” Matilda said. Just the thought of trying to climb down off the bed was enough to break out in a sweat and feel woozy. It didn’t help that she hadn’t eaten anything since last night’s applesauce. 

 

“Still empty?” the nurse asked. Matilda nodded. She supposed she could have if she tried, it had been nearly an hour since the last attempt, but she had no interest in getting up and repeating the process. “We have ways to fix that.” Matilda watched her leave behind the curtain. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes. Finally, she could rest for a bit. At least that was what she thought. No sooner had the nurse left than she had returned carrying a cup of something. “Bottoms up.” she handed the cup to Matilda who looked inside and saw it was water. 

 

Matilda sighed and downed the cup before handing it back. Before she could even get comfortable, she was handed another. And another. And another. By the time she was handed a fifth cup, she could only take small sips. She felt so full and bloated now. 

 

“Ready to go yet?” 

 

“No,” Matilda lied even though she could hardly keep her legs from shuffling around. She refused to meet the nurse's all knowing eyes. 

 

“Matilda, how about we go try again?” Miss Honey suggested before lowering her voice, “you’re dancing around quite a bit.” 

 

“I don’t have to.” 

 

“Matilda.” Miss Honey said, much sterner sounding now. Matilda whimpered before motioning her to come closer.

 

“I can’t get up; it hurts too much.” 

 

“Oh. Even if I carry you?” Matilda nodded. 

 

“Is there a problem?” the nurse asked looking between Matilda and Miss Honey.

 

“Can you give her something for the pain?” Miss Honey asked. “She says it’s too painful to get up.”

 

“Is that what’s wrong? We can work around that.” Matilda scowled when she returned with a familiar looking pink object. If they would just give her something for the pain, she could get up and do it normally. “Ready?” Before Matilda could object, she was physically twisted, lifted and manipulated in the blink of an eye until she was lying on top of it with her gown wide open. She really did need to pee, but this was too much. “Well?”

 

Matilda stuttered out a weak objection. 

 

“Best to just get it over with.” Miss Honey whispered. Matilda silently grumbled. Why did this always happen to her lately? She felt like she was stuck in a never ending loop of getting hurt or sick. She stared at the ceiling tiles and tried to focus on the relief of the pressure ebbing away and not on the three adults watching her pee. 

 

Matilda made a disgusted face when she was done. She felt just as wet now as she would have if she had gone in a pull-up. Angles and gravity were not her friend today. 

 

“There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it? Just sit tight for a bit, the doctor will probably want to do some labs as well. I’ll bring you something for the pain in a bit.” 

 

It had only taken a few minutes for the nurse to return. Matilda thought it was odd she seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her as she put something into her IV, but in a few moments, Matilda was far from caring. She laid her head back on the pillow and sighed in relief. The world around her was fading and dimming. The pain, while still there, didn’t feel nearly as excruciating. She could almost even say she was comfortable. 

 

“My apologies,” Matilda heard coming from far away now, “I got distracted when I left your room earlier by another nurse. I sort of forgot what I had intended to do, and I flushed your urine sample. I’ll need another when you can.” 

 

. . . 

 

Jennifer stared at the prescriptions dropped off by the bedside. It was nearly ten at night and Matilda was out cold. She doubted the girl had even heard the doctor come in and talk to them. It was a broken rib, and just like Eve said, there wasn’t much anything could be done other than time and rest. But there was something else that worried Miss Honey. It could have been something, or it could have been nothing, the doctor wasn’t positive. It could have just been a blip on the film, but there was a possibility one of her kidneys could have been injured, and there were small traces of blood in her urine. It was invisible to the naked eye, but it had been detected all the same. 

 

Matilda needed to do another test with contrast to be sure, but it would be impossible tonight with the water she had consumed. The nurse from before came back with an appointment card a week from then and instructions on home care.  

 

A part of Jennifer was glad Matilda had slept through this. Would Matilda be scared to learn she needed to be on the lookout for blood? What kid wouldn’t be? If her at home remedy was to flush her kidneys, but she was scared of blood, would she try to put it off as long as possible? Even if the doctors had impressed she can’t put it off? So Miss Honey brought up her concern.

 

“No, I mean, she really can’t, that’s why I’m writing her prescriptions for a muscle relaxant and an over the counter diuretic. Now if there is blood in the urine, or any swelling in her limbs, come back to the emergency room.” Then he started taking worse case scenario: Dialysis, Catheters, and kidney transplants. Miss Honey’s head was spinning.

 

The car ride had been mostly silent until they had gotten a few blocks from Mrs. Rodger’s house. 

 

“How do I tell her?” Jennifer whispered. “She was so happy to be out of pull-ups, but this medicine makes it sound like it’s going to set her back.”

 

  “I mean her no ill will, but limited mobility, diuretics, and muscle relaxants.” Carol grimaced and pulled into a nearby parking lot instead of heading for home. Miss Honey frowned. Why were they back at the pharmacy? “Do me a favor? I know you don’t like to disappoint her, but, well, maybe pull-ups aren’t the answer?” Miss Honey sighed. 

 

“What if she won’t take the medicine if she knows what it’s going to do to her?”

 

“Then don’t tell her. At least you can check for bleeding without her knowing.”

 

“She’s going to demand to know why she’s in a diaper.” 

 

“Just tell her it’s the same reason Eve had her in one, so she doesn’t have to hurt herself getting up and down. If everything's good and well, and she’s not seriously injured, she’ll soak through the pull-ups, just letting you know.”

 

“Okay, I’ll get some.” Jennifer said with a sigh. “If there is something wrong, what’s the first sign?” 

 

“Blood in the urine and retention. Peeing uncontrollably is better than not peeing at all. She can restrengthen her muscles, but she can’t regrow them.” 

 

Miss Honey gave one last look to the girl asleep in the backseat. 

 

“Sorry, baby.” she whispered before sliding out of the car. 

 

[BabySofia]

Glad to see she didn't get hassled at the hospital! Maybe this will slow Matilda enough to let her be a child (toddler) for a bit with her mommy! Poor girl had a horrible real early childhood! Looking forward to your next chapter!

[SashaButters]

Miss Honey slept uneasy that night, once again plagued by old childhood nightmares. They seemed to be filled with a small tinge of hope as her small frame stood in front of her bedroom window staring out with just a smidgen of expectation. 

 

Someone would come for her. They had to. She had written the most honest detailing of her life in this hell and had given it to the largest and strongest looking man she had ever seen. He had to come for her. If not him, then the police. 

 

Someone. 

 

Anyone. 

 

Jennifer could feel a tear begin to streak down her face. This false sense of hope was the cruelest of all because she knew the ending of this story in this lucid dream. No one was coming to save her. She began to sob before slowly coming back to reality.

 

It took Jennifer a moment to realize the sobbing hadn’t been coming from her dream at all. Or from her. She willed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She scanned the room, searching for the source. Her eyes fell on the lump on the couch, and she remembered all at once. Matilda! She struggled out of the armchair she had been sleeping in, flicked on the table lamp, rushed to her side and knelt beside her.

 

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s alright. Are you in pain?” She felt little arms fling themselves around her neck. It had been a rough night in the recliner, but the moment she felt the trembling girl in her arms she knew she had made the right choice. Not even a child as brave as Matilda could be unfazed by waking up in pain in the dark, alone and in an unfamiliar place. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you. ” Jennifer whispered. 

 

Miss Honey let her calm down a bit before trying to get an answer from her, but even then it took her a few tries to make sense of Matilda’s whimpered responses. Matilda was still disoriented either from the pain or the medicine, or both. 

 

“Would you like something for the pain, dear?” 

 

“Huh?” Matilda mumbled. She gave Jennifer a thousand yard stare. 

 

“Are you in pain?” She slowly nodded her head and looked around the room with wide frightened eyes. “Do you need anything else while I’m up? An extra blanket, or a change?” She put a hand to Matilda’s forehead, relieved at the lack of warmth. 

 

“A change of what?” Matilda asked, before turning to look at her. Miss Honey gave her a sympathetic smile and wondered if Matilda would remember any of this in the morning. 

 

“Are you wet?” Now Matilda looked more confused than ever. Instead of looking down, she looked up at the ceiling. 

 

“Why would I be wet? Is it raining?”  Jennifer was both concerned and amused. 

 

“No, silly girl, let me take a look.” She pulled the blanket off, but couldn’t tell with the low lighting. 

 

“I’m not sitting on the remote.” Matilda mumbled. 

 

“You’re right, you’re not on the remote, and you’re still dry.” Jennifer announced after feeling the padding for herself, something Matilda normally would have complained about. Now, she just stared at her curiously with a somewhat blank expression.

 

“Of course I’m dry; I’m inside. Why would I be wet?” 

 

“Well, because I told you if you needed to go potty in the night to use your diaper, but it looks like you didn’t need to.” 

 

“Oh.” Matilda said. She looked down, seemingly noticing it for the first time. “I need to.”  

 

Jennifer let out a breath. Okay, this was good, she thought, her bladder must have woken her up. The muscle relaxant wasn’t making her wet the bed. She didn’t want to see Matilda getting discouraged about that again. Hopefully, she’d just have to pee a little more than usual, and that was it. 

 

“Alright, I’ll go get you some medicine while you go potty, okay?” Matilda’s eyes were still staring at something far off in the distance, but she slowly nodded her head. “That’s a good girl, I’ll be right back.” She gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head before turning to the kitchen to get the pills when she heard Matilda groaning. Jennifer quickly spun around. “No, Matilda, down!” Even drugged out of her mind she was still trying to get up. “You’re going to hurt yourself even more, lay back down.” 

 

Matilda frowned at her in confusion. “But you told me to go potty.” 

 

“Yes, but I meant,” Jennifer pointed at her waist. “You’re supposed to be resting, remember?” 

 

“Oh.”  

 

“Do you understand? No getting up, okay?” 

 

“Okay.” Matilda mumbled. Jennifer lingered a little longer this time to make sure she stayed put. Once she was sure Matilda wasn’t going to go anywhere, Jennifer was about to turn and go when she noticed a peculiar expression on Matilda’s face. Jennifer stared at her for a moment. It almost looked like she was strain-

“Woah! Woah! Stop! Stop!” Jennifer nearly shouted. Matilda stared up at her even more confused. “Not that! You didn’t say you needed to do that!” 

 

“But you told me to go potty.” 

 

“I know I did, just hold on a second.” Jennifer searched desperately for the shopping bag. Where was it? She spotted it, sitting on the kitchen counter. She ran to it and produced her other purchase before coming back. Jennifer ripped the tapes off Matilda’s now wet diaper, praying it wasn’t too late. She breathed a sigh of relief. All clear. She lifted Matilda up by the legs as gently as she could before sliding the bed pan underneath her. “There, now you can go.” 

 

…

 

Matilda awoke to the sound of cackling coming from somewhere behind her. She opened her eyes and looked around. This wasn’t where she last remembered being. She tried to think back. The last thing she remembered was being in the emergency room and then… nothing. How had she gotten here? And where was “here” exactly? She tried to sit up, but stopped when she was greeted to a world of pain. Matilda quietly groaned and grabbed her side. Ugh, Hortensia. No ten-year-old girl should be that strong. She tried to remind herself Hortensia had probably saved her life, but the pain in her ribs and side told her to curse her and all her descendants. 

 

“Aww what’s wrong Jen, don’t want to change a poopy diaper?” a voice said before cackling again. 

 

“It completely took me off guard. She throws a fit whenever someone suggests she pees in one. She’s only ever done the other thing twice and both times it was because she was violently throwing up. I’m so glad I bought the other thing, I was queasy enough dumping that out. I don’t think I could have handled scraping it all off her backside.”

 

“You get used to it.” 

 

“Oh, are you volunteering?” 

 

“Hey, I did my time. You’re the one who tried to skip this phase and cheat.”

 

“Mom?” Matilda asked. 

 

“Uh-oh, looks like she’s awake. You ready for an earthquake?” 

 

“Shush.” 

 

Matilda heard a chair scrape before light footsteps began to approach. Matilda felt nervous for some reason. She scooted as far back as she could against the couch’s armrest and away from the sound before throwing her blanket over her head. Why did she have the growing suspicion she was in trouble for something? 

 

“Good morning, Matilda.” She felt the blanket get lowered off her face. “How are you feeling?” 

 

“Like I want to curse Hortensia.” She grumbled back.

 

“My granddaughter might be able to help you with that.” Mrs. Rodgers said coming into view. Matilda’s surroundings finally clicked into place. She had been here before for Christmas. It was Mrs. Rogers' house. Why were they here now though? 

 

“Don’t give her any ideas.” Ms. Honey said before turning back to her. “The doctor gave you some pain pills last night, I’ll get you one. Do you need me to crush it into something, or can you swallow it?” Matilda wasn’t sure. She had never tried to take pills before. 

 

“I think I can swallow it.” 

 

“I’ll bring you some water, and if that doesn’t work, you can try some applesauce with it.” 

 

Matilda sat herself up as best she could. She debated asking Mrs. Rodgers what had happened after she fell asleep last night, but the thought of opening her mouth and talking sounded exhausting. What she really wanted was to go back to sleep, but she knew Miss Honey would be on her case about getting ready for school. She had never felt less like going to school than she did at that moment. 

 

“Why are there three of them?” Matilda groggily asked once Miss Honey handed them to her. 

 

“The doctor said you need to take one of each every four hours.” Miss Honey said. “He said it will help you heal faster.”

 

“It’s big.” Matilda said. She picked up the large white one in the palm of her hand and examined it. 

 

“That’s for the pain.” Miss Honey explained. “Do you need me to cut it in half?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Matilda mumbled, fighting to keep her eyes open. 

 

“I can give you some Tylenol instead, but this will work much better.” Matilda wrinkled her nose in disgust. Just the thought of the sickly tasting cherry syrup made her feel ill. She picked up the large pill and put it in her mouth before trying to flush it down with water. It took a few tries, but it finally went down, but not before semi dissolving in her mouth. She hurriedly drank more water in an attempt  to flush the chalky bitter after taste from her mouth. 

 

“Did you get it down?” Miss Honey asked in surprise. Matilda nodded with a grimace before moving onto the next pill. It took her just as many tries, but she was relieved the capsule left no trail of substance in her mouth or down her throat. The last was the easiest of all. She tried to hand the half full cup of water back when she had finished, but Miss Honey was adamant she drink it all. “It’ll keep the pills from coming back up.” Matilda scowled. One taste of that pain pill was enough for her.

 

“Give it about a half hour and you should feel better soon, but in the meantime, eat this and then we need to get ready to go.” 

 

Matilda ate her yogurt in silence while fighting against the urge to go back to sleep. She wondered if Miss Honey would let her sleep in class like the last time she had gotten hurt. 

 

“All done?” Matilda nodded and handed over her half eaten yogurt. Miss Honey looked down at it and frowned. “You need to eat more than this.” 

 

“I’m not hungry.” Matilda mumbled. 

 

“Two more bites.” Matilda stared at Miss Honey in mild disbelief as she scooped up a spoonful and held it in front of Matilda’s mouth. “Open.” Matilda opened her mouth to complain, but before she could get any words out, Miss Honey had taken the liberty of shoving a spoonful in. Matilda gave her a puzzled look before swallowing. This time when Miss Honey began to come forward with another serving, Matilda tried to take the spoon from her and feed herself, but Miss Honey ignored her outstretched hand. 

 

“I’m glad to see you’re more with it than you were last night. Are you sure you don’t want anymore?”  Matilda waved it away. She felt too full from the large glass of water earlier. She watched Miss Honey, now feeling a bit apprehensive, as she scooped up more yogurt onto the spoon in fear of getting force fed again, but relaxed as she watched her finish it off herself. 

 

“Last night? In the hospital?” Matilda asked. Miss Honey’s sunny disposition faltered for a moment. 

 

“Do you remember waking up in the middle of the night?” 

 

“No.” Matilda said. Had she? She racked her brain trying to remember, but all she could recall was their time in the emergency room. 

 

“For the best. You weren't acting yourself.” 

 

“What happened?” Matilda asked suspiciously. Mrs. Rodgers let out a snort of laughter. 

 

“It’s…nothing, don’t worry about it.” Miss Honey said with a fake looking smile. Matilda forced herself up a little more, her desire for sleep now forgotten.

“What did I do?” Matilda said horrified. 

 

“You didn’t do anything, sweetheart.” Miss Honey said. Matilda narrowed her eyes and looked to Mrs. Rodgers. 

 

“It’s more what you tried to do.” Mrs. Rodgers said. 

 

“Carol!” 

 

“What did I try to do?!” Matilda asked looking from Mrs. Rodgers to Miss Honey.

 

“You were trying to leave your mom a present.” Mrs. Rodgers said with a snicker. 

 

“Carol, don’t tease her.” Miss Honey said before turning back to Matilda. “It was my fault. You woke up needing to go potty, so I told you to go ahead and use your diaper.” Miss Honey said before averting her eyes. “I didn’t realize you meant you needed to…”

 

“I didn’t!” Matilda said horrified. She looked down, only now realizing for the first time she was wearing one. 

 

“You didn’t, don’t worry.” Miss Honey said. “I just noticed you were making a funny face, so I stopped you and got you situated in time.” Matilda stared at her horrified. 

 

“Why didn’t you just take me to the restroom in the first place?” She got another sad look in return. 

 

“Honey, if I set you on the toilet last night, you would have just fallen right off. You could hardly even make eye contact with me.” 

 

“Well obviously I didn’t since you had to take me there anyway.” Matilda frowned when Miss Honey avoided her eyes. “I didn’t, did I?” 

 

“No, you didn’t.”

 

“See? Now can I take this off and go to the bathroom?” All the water inside her was making her front and sides ache. 

 

“ Because I didn’t take you to the restroom last night.” Miss Honey said. “And no,” she added before taking a deep breath. “You can’t take the diaper off.” Matilda stared up at her at a loss for words.

 

“Okay, I’m sorry.” Matilda said before taking a deep breath of her own. “Can I please take this diaper off and will you please take me to the restroom?” Matilda frowned. There was that pitying look in Miss Honey’s eyes again. 

“No.” Matilda gritted her teeth. She wasn’t in the mood for puzzles and mind games. The building pressure was beginning to throb. She winced and held her stomach. If Miss Honey was looking for the right phrase or wording, she was cruel to use now as a teaching moment. She racked her brain, but she only had one idea left. 

 

“Will you please take this diaper off and-” 

 

“No.” Matilda gaped up at her. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Matilda could feel tears begin to sting her eyes.

 

“Why?” 

 

“Matilda, please go so I can get you ready. I need to go to work.” 

 

“Mom, why?” Matilda croaked out. 

 

“Jen, if you plan to go through with this, maybe you should call out today?” Mrs. Rodgers suggested. “Hell, let's all three of us play hooky.” 

 

“Carol, I can’t, what about the kids?” 

 

“Jen, I think this kid needs you more.” Mrs. Rodgers turned to Matilda. “Do you want to go to school today?” Matilda adamantly shook her head. “See? Why don’t you explain what’s going on, and I’ll talk to Mr. Trilby.” Jennifer looked back between the two of them before reluctantly nodding.

 

“I’ve missed so many days though.” Jennifer groaned.

 

“Jen, have you ever considered going out on maternity leave?” 

 

“Maternity leave? Since when have we ever had maternity leave? And it’s not like I had a baby.”

 

“We’ve always had it, but Agatha just terrified everyone too much to use it. Remember Rachel Davine? Agatha forced her to stay until the moment her water broke in the middle of class, then tried to bully her into coming back the next day. No wonder she quit.” Matilda watched as she picked the phone off of the wall and began dialing the school's number. “You don’t need to have a baby, it’s also available if you adopt so you can bond with the child.” 

 

“I never thought about it.” Miss Honey said. 

 

“Please,” Matilda said in a desperate voice as Miss Honey turned to look at her. “Please can I use the restroom? I’m not going to hurt myself and neither will you. You’re not as rough as Eve, please?”

 

Miss Honey had indecision written all over her face. Just another push and Matilda was sure she’d give in.

 

Mrs. Rodgers seemed to have the same suspicion though. “Stick to your guns, Jen. Don’t half ass this.” 

 

“I’m sorry, Matilda, but no.” Miss Honey finally said as she knelt beside her. “You’ll have to pee in the diaper.” 

 

“But why? I need to go to the bathroom anyway to brush my teeth! You’re just making it worse for yourself.” 

 

“No, Matilda, the only one making this worse for themselves is you. The sooner you stop arguing and pee, the sooner you’ll feel better.”  

 

Now Matilda could feel a tear escape and slowly fall down her face. “Why?” she tried to ask, but all that would come out was a squeak. 

 

“Because, sweetheart, starting today, you’re grounded.” 

 

Matilda’s mouth fell open. She had expected “for safety” or for “ease”, but punishment? Punishment for what?

 

 “Y-you put me in diapers to p-p-punish me?” Matilda asked, flabbergasted. She didn’t understand. This had to be a joke! She couldn’t be doing this to her! Miss Honey had always been reasonable and level headed, but this was anything but! 

 

“Don’t cry, baby, it’s only for a week.”

 

“A week!?” Matilda nearly shouted. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this! Where’s the logic?”

 

Miss Honey tried to grab her hand, but Matilda yanked it away. 

 

“You deliberately disobeyed me, Matilda. I told you she was dangerous. I told you not to rile her up, but you went behind my back and did it anyway. As a result, you got seriously hurt.” 

 

“B-b-but that was weeks ago! The Trunchbull had to be stopped, how could you expect me to sit back and not do anything when she’s killing kids. I know who Billy Reyes was, he was Hortensia’s friend. She killed him, didn’t she?” 

 

“We are not talking about that, we are talking about you using your mind and powers to purposefully hurt other people. That’s why you’re grounded. I know what you think you did was right, and I appreciate you wanting to stick up for me, I really do, but Matilda, if what you told me was true, that’s manslaughter, or worse, first degree murder.”

 

“I-I-I just wanted to scare her!” Matilda said, breaking down into sobs, “I wasn’t trying to kill her!”

 

“What if instead of driving off a cliff, she drove onto the sidewalk and seriously hurt someone? Or crashed into another car? What were you thinking? That was very irresponsible of you. I expected better.”

 

“A-a-are you going to call the cops?” Matilda asked tearfully. 

 

“No, Matilda, I’m not going to tell anyone, but I want to impress upon you the seriousness of what you’ve done. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’ve decided the best way to let that message sink in is to take away the thing you value most. Your independence. You’re going to have to learn to trust the adults in your life to take care of things from here on out. I understand you’ve never had a good example of that, and I know I myself haven’t stepped up when I should have, but that’s going to change.”  

 

Matilda scowled. She knew she deserved it; the guilt inside of her had been almost as unbearably painful as the pain in her side, but to ground her from the toilet?! What was Miss Honey thinking?!

 

“Couldn’t you take away my books or something?” Matilda mumbled.

 

“I thought about it, but I decided that would be too cruel. You don’t have many options to pass the time and I’m not about to take away your one escape.” 

 

“You could ground me from the telly, that’s what Eve does to Hortensia.”  Matilda offered. Miss Honey gave her a puzzled but amused look.

 

“Nice try.” Miss Honey said.  

 

“Please, not this, Jenny, I'll do all the arts and crafts you want! I won’t even use my powers! Please!” Matilda begged, but this only seemed to make her frown.

 

“I thought we were passed calling me Jenny.” 

 

“Fine, mom, mommy, whatever you want; I’ll do all the laundry, the dishes, I’ll cook all the meals…” Matilda pleaded. Miss Honey sighed before standing back up.

 

“You’re missing the whole point. I’m not trying to make you grow up. Making you take on more responsibility is the last thing I want.” 

 

“But…” 

 

“The answer is ‘no’ Matilda, end of discussion.” Matilda silently seethed. 

 

“What kind of parent grounds their kid from the toilet?” Matilda spat. She could see Miss Honey stop in her tracks. 

 

“Do you want a time out on top of everything else?” She asked without turning around. “Because that’s what you’re going to get if you don’t drop this attitude right now.”

 

“No, Miss Honey.” Matilda said through clenched teeth. She could see Jennifer stiffen in place before slowly turning around to face her. Matilda was expecting her to be angry, but instead she just looked sad. Matilda watched apprehensivly as she walked to the edge of the couch, grabbed something out of a bag and headed to the back of the house. A few seconds later she was standing in front of Matilda.

 

“Sit up.” she ordered.

 

“No.” 

 

“Have it your way.” Without another word, Matilda felt hands dig underneath her and lift her up.

 

“Stop it; that hurts!” Matilda yelled. “Put me down!” 

 

“Then you should have listened to me the first time.” Matilda struggled to get out of Miss Honey’s grasp, but it only made the woman grip her tighter. “Stop moving, do you want me to drop you?”

 

“If it gets me away from you, then yes!” Matilda yelled back. She tried to turn to see where they were going, but all she could see was the ceiling. It wasn’t until she had been deposited on a disposable mat on the bed did she realize she was in the bedroom Mrs. Roger's granddaughter had been staying in during the Christmas holidays. 

 

“You can come back out when you learn how to be a good girl.” Miss Honey said. 

 

“You can come back in when you learn how to be a good mother!” Matilda yelled back. Miss Honey turned and left, slamming the bedroom door behind her and leaving Matilda alone with her thoughts.

[BabySofia]

Awww... I hope Matilda got that out of her system... ?

Grounding her in diapers does seem to make things a bit antagonistic though... I hope they both work this out soon. Glad to see an update today! 

[SashaButters]

Jennifer paced back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. After a few minutes of back and forth, she tried to sit down on the living room sofa, managed to stay still all of three minutes, and resumed her trek. She could feel Carol’s eyes watching her wearily from the kitchen. She glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner for the tenth time in the last hour. 

 

Had enough time passed to let Matilda out? Would she be civilized now or would she still be ornery? She had to have peed by now; she must be wet and cold. 

 

“Jen, come make yourself a cup of tea and sit down. All that pacing is making me nervous.” Carol called from the kitchen. Jennifer apologized and reluctantly joined her at the table. “You can’t take what she said personally.” Miss Honey bit the inside of her cheek. “Kids can be brats, even the well behaved ones.” 

 

“But not Mat-”

 

“Yes, even Matilda.” Carol said, cutting her off. “She’s five, she’s in pain, and she’s not getting her way. It’s like the unholy trinity. It has the power to turn children into demons.” 

 

Jennifer winced at the word “demon”. Was this what all the other moms’ felt when their kid threw a tantrum in the supermarket? She should have removed anything breakable before setting her loose in there. She hadn’t expected Matilda would throw such a fit over a time out. 

 

“I am so sorry.” Jennifer said for the hundredth time that morning. “I’ll replace anything that’s broken.” As soon as she had shut on the door, there had been a series of loud bangs, and ear splitting shrieks of anger. It had taken Jennifer so off guard all she had been able to do was stand rooted to the spot as she stared at the closed bedroom door in horror. It had only lasted a few minutes, but still. She would never have expected Matilda to act in such a horrendous way. 

 

Carol waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. 

 

“I’m serious. I just can’t believe she’d act this way over being grounded.” Jennifer admitted. “She’s normally so level headed.” 

 

“I doubt it’s about being grounded. Those weren't ‘I’m mad’ screams.” Carol said. Jennifer raised an eyebrow. “Those were coming from a much deeper place I suspect, and I believe it’s been building inside her for a long time. These last few days were probably enough to push her over the edge.” 

 

“I don’t know whether to ground her longer, forget the whole thing, or call in an exorcist.” Jennifer said, letting her head fall into her hands. “She was never really grounded in the first place. I was going to drop the whole thing once I was confident she wasn’t bleeding. I was just trying to kill two birds with one stone; dissuade her from using her powers against people and make sure everything was looking good and healthy without her knowing.”

 

“You know you’re an open book. I think she would have realized something was up if you kept staring into her used diapers like they contained the answers to the universe.”

 

“I am not.” Jennifer said, although she could feel her cheeks begin to warm. “I just didn’t want her to be angry with herself if the medication caused her setbacks. It’s no fun to hate your own body, I think I'd rather her be angry at me than herself.” 

 

“Bullshit.” Carol said, bluntly. Jennifer looked up at her stunned. “ That’s not why you decided on this.” Jennifer stumbled to come up with a response. “You want to know what I think? I think you want her to be angry at you. You’re still punishing yourself.” Jennifer opened her mouth to argue, but found her mouth had gone alarmingly dry.

 

“No,” she finally managed to croak out. She could feel the sting of fresh tears and averted her eyes. 

 

“Yes,” Carol said. “Stop bottling it up, Jennifer, and come clean.”

 

“There’s nothing to come clean about.” 

 

“Then why are you crying?” 

 

“I’m not crying!” Jennifer insisted, despite feeling the moisture on her cheeks. She buried her head in the crook of her arm and flinched when she felt Carol grab her hand and begin stroking the top of it with her thumb. Jennifer could feel the goosebumps rising on her body again and shivered.

 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the two of you really were biologically mother and daughter. You both have the worst coping mechanisms I've ever seen.”

 

 Jennifer half chuckled and half sobbed before stiffening. She could hear Carol dragging her chair around to her side of the table. She felt her breath catch in her throat when a hand rested on her back and began to rub small circles. She felt frozen in place. This was much more touching than she was used to. Her limits were a handshake here, and a quick hug there, a longer one if the person in question was under the age of ten, but this was different. It was as if Carol had picked her up and thrown her far outside her comfort zone, yet she couldn’t get herself to pull away or tell her to stop. 

 

Oh god, was she actually enjoying this? 

 

“It’s okay, Jen, breathe.” Carol whispered. The palm rubbing circles on her back had stopped and had been replaced by the tips of her fingernails running up and down her back. “You’re safe here; I promise.” Jennifer let out her held breath. “There you go. There you go. Take some more deep breaths.” Now there were two hands running up and down her back. There was an unfamiliar tingling sensation spreading from the top of her head, down her torso and up her arms. “Now take this thing you’ve been hiding inside and let it out.” Jennifer shook her head. 

 

“I can’t.” Jennifer whispered. 

 

“Yes you can; You have to. It’s eating you alive; I can see it.” 

 

She tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, but it had refused to go down. 

 

“I-I-I’m-” 

 

“You can do it, go on.” Carol whispered. 

 

“I’m so…so…pathetic. A five year old felt like they had no other choice than to step up and save me.” Then everything was a blur. She was sobbing, no, bawling into Carols’ shoulder. How had they gotten to the couch? Why was Jennifers’ arms wrapped around her as if this woman was the only thing keeping her on this earth? Was she really being rocked back and forth? Why was she telling her all these secrets she had long since buried? 

 

“That’s it. That’s it. Let it all out. It’s alright. It’s alright.” 

 

“...and the worst part of all…I-I” Jennifer said. Now she was crying harder than she had ever cried. 

 

“Say it.” Carol whispered. “Get it out in the open; get it off your chest once and for all.” 

 

“I…I… had a…a…” Jennifer stammered. She couldn’t get the word out. It was stuck. “I can’t say it.”

 

“An orgasm?” Carol offered. Jennifer nodded her head into Carols’ neck. “Is that what you’ve been so ashamed of?” Jennifer nodded again and felt Carol pull away from her. “Sweetheart.” Carol tucked a strand of hair behind Jennifer's ear. “It doesn’t mean what you think it means.” 

 

“How could it not?” Jennifer cried. “How could it not mean that I liked it like she said?” She shut her eyes. She could feel Carol wave a hand through her hair and shuddered.

 

“Of course she would say that, Jen. She was manipulating you.” Carol let out a deep sigh. “How old were you?”

 

“F-f-fourteen or f-fifteen.”  

 

“Oh, baby, no.”

 

“It had been happening longer than that, but it was the first time I had ever… She said I had lost the right to say no since I obviously liked it, and that’s when she started burning me with the cigars. When I refused to…”

 

“Oh, Jen.” Carol whispered. “It doesn’t mean you liked it.” 

 

“Why?” Jennifer croaked. “How?”

 

“Think of it like an involuntary response to stimulation. Say for instance, if you were ticklish, and I ran my fingers up the bottoms of your feet, you’d probably laugh. But would you think it was funny?” 

 

“N-no.” Jennifer admitted.  

 

“Your body was most likely doing whatever it could to protect itself. That doesn’t make you dirty, or damaged, or a monster. Whatever it was she said to you to justify her actions; It was a lie.” Carol grabbed one of her hands again and squeezed. “You did nothing wrong. You have nothing to be ashamed of. It doesn’t matter what you had to do or convince yourself of to survive. You’re the victim. You. Did. Nothing. Wrong. Now say it.”

 

“I-I-d-did…”

 

“Go on.” Jennifer took a deep shaky breath.

 

“I d-did n-nothing wrong.” 

 

“Yes.” Carol said before giving her a gentle warm smile. “How do you feel now?” 

 

It was like the bomb in her chest that had been nearing closer to 0:00 everyday had finally been diffused. She let out a weak, and shaky laugh. “B-better.” 

 

“I don’t expect you to magically be cured, but I hope this has helped clear some of the rubble so you can begin to lay a new foundation in your life, and maybe you can start to finally heal.”

 

“Thank you.” Jennifer whispered. Her eyes went wide in surprise as a pair of lips pressed against the top of her head. She had never been shown so much affection and kindness from an adult before. She briefly wondered what it would have been like to have grown up with a mother, but shook the thought away. 

 

“Damn it, Matilda!” Carol said, suddenly sounding angry. Jennifer sat up in a panic. What had she done now? “I want to kill that woman, but she already beat me to it!” Jennifer let out a shaky laugh. “Now go make things right with her; I think she can handle the truth.” 

 

……

 

Jennifer poked her head in the spare bedroom and took in the room. It was a disaster. All of their things she had brought from home were scattered on the floor. She looked for damage in the walls, and in the decorations Carol had throughout the room, but apart from her and Matilda's things, everything was in their place. Jennifer let out a relieved breath of air. She scooted a pair of pants, the ones with large metal buttons on the front, with her foot. They noisily scraped across the floor. So that had been the source of the noise, she thought. And there, lying on top of the bed was the perpetrator, now fast asleep with a towel covering her like a blanket. 

 

Was that the cause of the mess? Was she only looking for something to cover up with? Maybe it wasn’t the pants, maybe it was dresser drawers opening and closing. But the screaming…  She looked to the dresser then back to Matilda. Had she tried to force herself up to look in the  drawers? Jennifer stood and tried to mentally put the pieces together. 

 

Say Matilda peed in her diaper which made her cold. She tried to get under the covers, but couldn’t. She screams in pain trying. She opens the dressers and closet looking for a blanket, but she can’t see, so she has to take everything out of the drawers, which explains the mess… The closest thing she can find is a towel. She wraps herself up in it and goes to sleep. Maybe she hadn’t thrown a tantrum after all… She couldn’t completely give her the benefit of the doubt though. She had said some cruel things. Well, Jennifer would have to see what the defendant had to say for herself. 

 

“I’m sorry,” came a tiny quiet voice before Jennifer had even made it to the bed. Oh, so she was awake after all. 

 

“Quite the mess you’ve made.” 

 

“It was hurting my eyes, and I was afraid of breaking Mrs. Rodgers’ things.” Then in a much softer voice full of emotion. “I wet the bed. I’m sorry.” Jennifer bit her lip. So the medication was going to affect her like this. 

 

“It’s alright. It’s not like I left you any other choice, did I? It’s not your fault.” 

 

“But I need to go again.” she whimpered. “Really bad.” Jennifer could see her legs jiggling under the towel.

 

“It’s okay, go on. There’s a pad under you in case it leaks. You won’t hurt anything.” 

 

“It’s already wet.” Matilda mumbled. Jennifer frowned and removed the towel. She was greeted with a blast of ammonia. 

 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Jennifer said. She was soaked, the pad under her was soaked, even the blanket was damp, but she wasn’t 100% positive. So this was what she meant when she said she had wet the bed. She took in the squirming girl. She’d soak the bedding if she wet again and it wasn’t theirs. “I’ll go get the bed pan.”

 

“Hurry.” Matilda moaned. Jennifer darted out of the room. Matilda was desperate. She wasn’t even begging to be taken to the toilet. Where was it? Where was it? Where was it? Why couldn’t she find it? 

 

“Everything okay?” Carol asked. 

 

“She’s soaked through everything in three hours, and she still has to go.” Carol whistled.  “I might need to wash the bedding, I’m sorry.” She spotted the package of bed liners and grabbed one. This would have to do. She hurried back and spread the new liner out on the bed a little ways over. “You’ll have to pee on this. Ready?” She grabbed Matilda under the arms before she could respond, sat her up and quickly moved her over. Jennifer was a little surprised Matilda wasn’t scowling or protesting. She just sat there with a sort of dazed look on her face as her clenched body began to relax. “There’s a good girl; I’ll set you in a nice warm bath once you’re all done.” 

 

Jennifer tried not to make it obvious as she peeked into the discarded diaper Matilda had peeled off in preparation for the bed pan. She breathed a sigh of relief. No blood. 

 

“I wouldn’t have been scared.” Matilda said quietly. 

 

“Did you hear us talking?” Jennifer asked. Matilda nodded. “I guess you’ve figured out what the extra medicine does.” 

 

“I think I may have an idea. Can I take a bath now?” 

 

“All done?” Matilda nodded with a grimace. Now there was the disgust she had expected. Once she got her situated in the bath, Jennifer came back and lifted up the pads with a groan. She sighed. She shouldn’t have bought the cheapest ones. She stripped the bed and carried everything to the washer before going back to the bedroom and prying open the window to air out the room. She’d have to go back to the pharmacy and pick up better supplies. She’d need something a lot thicker, and maybe some pads to go in it as well. Jennifer wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t like she could just leave her in the bathtub to sleep at night. She had a funny thought of letting Matilda camp out in the backyard pantless, but she’d probably kill Carols’ lawn, and just the thought of sitting in the grass bare bottomed made Jennifer squirm. They’d figure something out though. This time she’d make sure to get Matilda’s opinion. 

[BabySofia]

Appreciate the rapid updates here! Honesty is probably always the best policy with Matilda, but she also has to explain herself better too! Looking forward to their conversation and hoping Matilda accepts what she needs here!

Glad to see Jennifer open up too, she really needs regular counseling for her scars there.

[SashaButters]

Matilda sat glumly on the couch, with about three or four bed liners underneath her. She wasn’t entirely sure how many Miss Honey had laid out on the couch cushion, but it seemed a bit excessive. She shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around her torso. All the windows had been opened so the house didn’t smell like urine. 

 

Matilda cringed as she heard the alarm go off from the kitchen stove. Next came the sound of chair legs scrapings against the linoleum followed by footsteps. 

 

“How ya doin’, Super Soaker?” Mrs Rodgers asked. Matilda bit her tongue. She hated her new nickname. 

 

“Fine,” Matilda mumbled, hands clenched into fists beneath her blanket. She looked longingly at the door. Why wasn’t Jenny back yet? 

 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to put on a movie for you? You must be bored just sitting there.” 

 

“I’ve got a book.” Matilda mumbled, avoiding eye contact. 

 

“Which you haven’t even cracked open. Are you feeling sick? What’s your pain level at?” 

 

“A six?” And rapidly climbing.  She was feeling irritable again, an indication the pain medicine was wearing off. It didn’t help that Mrs. Rodgers seemed to find this morning's events funny. She had even gone as far as to pocket a rosary, which she waved at her with a smirk every time they crossed paths. 

 

Matilda felt a little ashamed. Usually she had better control over her temper, but today all bets had been off. She was pissed, no pun intended. When Miss Honey had shared her theory with Mrs. Rodgers about what she thought had been going on in the back room, Matilda hadn’t corrected her. Their original assumption had been a bit more accurate. Mrs. Rodgers had given her a wink and mimed zipping her lips. She knew the truth. 

 

Mrs. Rodgers consulted her watch. 

 

“You’re a little early; think you can wait another 30 minutes or so?” Matilda grumbled. Not feeling all there had been the only thing that made any of this slightly bearable. Now that it had worn off, she was all too aware of the cold wetness she was sitting in, or more accurately, stewing in.“How about I make you a deal then? Let’s get through this without any fighting or complaints and i’ll give you your pain pill a little early? Deal?” 

 

Matilda pursed her lips and thought about it. She wanted to be out of pain, but she had been hoping Jenny would have been back by now. She needed to do more than pee. It was the reason she hadn’t cracked open her book. All her focus had been on keeping the back door shut and locked. She had been scared to tell Mrs. Rodgers for fear she’d make her go in the diaper. Poop was Jenny’s hard pass, and she was willing to take her to the toilet if it meant she didn’t have to deal with it. Mrs. Rodgers on the other hand had already told her she was immune to all things gushing, dripping, squishing, projecting and leaking that could come from the human body due to her time as an ICU nurse. 

 

Before Matilda could come up with an answer, Mrs. Rodgers had removed her blanket and was already lowering her down into a vertical position. Matilda winced at the movement. 

 

“You are soaked.” Mrs. Rodgers said, untapping the used diaper. Matilda cringed. Did she have to point out the obvious? “One, two, three…” She pulled the used pads out from under her. “If your mom can’t find something better at the store, you might really be camping out in the backyard on one of the lawn chairs.”  Matilda laid still and tense as she waited for the cold wet wipe, but instead, she felt her lower half get raised and set down on hard plastic.

 

“Empty the tank while I toss this stuff. Bonus points if you can get anything else out, you know how squeamish Jennifer is.” Matilda was all too happy to oblige. It wasn’t the toilet, but at least it wasn’t the diaper either. “All done or you need a minute?” she asked after returning from the outdoor trash can. 

 

“I’m done.” 

 

“Did you try to po-” 

 

“Yes.” Matilda mumbled. 

 

“No luck? Are you sure you don’t want to try for a little longer?” Matilda shook her head. “Okay, well, just let me know if you need to- well never mind then.” Mrs. Rodgers said when she removed the bed pan. She left to go flush and rinse it out before coming back. “Jenny will be happy.” she said before giving Matilda a frown. “You know you can tell us when you need to go.”

 

“You told me to try, so I did.” Matilda said avoiding eye contact.  

 

“I was only gone thirty seconds at most. That wasn’t a ‘I tried and something came out’, more like ‘I’m already prairie dogging’.” Matilda gave her a puzzled look. “You know how they stick their heads in and out of the holes.”

 

“Eww,” Matilda said, half smiling half grimacing as Mrs. Rodgers went back to fixing her up. Matilda winced. There was the cold wet wipe she had been expecting.

 

“Since you’ve been a good sport about this with me, how about we do something different?” Mrs. Rodgers offered. “How’d you like to sit out back? I can turn on the fire pit and we can make smores.” 

 

“Can I have my pain pill first?” Matilda asked. Just the thought of getting moved again sent her pain from a six to a seven. 

 

“Yes, let me get that.” She rose from the couch and went into the kitchen. “Anything in particular you want to drink? Milk? Water? The blood of a freshly sacrificed goat?” 

 

“Will you let me finger paint pentagrams with it on the patio?” She could hear Mrs. Rodgers let out a snort of laughter. 

 

“Sorry, demon summoning hours are over, the neighbors will complain since it’s after eight. It’s in my HOA contract.”

 

“They should at least extend it to nine.” 

 

“That’s what I say!” 

 

“Can I have milk?”

 

“Sure.” Mrs. Rodgers came back with a large cup of white liquid and set it on the coffee table along with four pills. Matilda’s heart sank. Four pills? Why was there an extra pill? What was this going to do to her?  “Need any help sitting up?” 

 

“I can do it.” Matilda insisted. She tried pushing up with her elbows but found herself too weak and in too much pain to get more than a few inches. She fell back down, arms shaking and out of breath.

 

“Stop being so stubborn; it’s okay to ask for help.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind during summoning hours.”

 

“I’m serious, if you need something, don’t be afraid to ask. The worst we’re going to say is, ‘no’.” 

 

“Then can I chuck the other pills over the fence?” Matilda asked, before letting out a grunt of pain as Mrs. Rodgers sat her up. 

 

“Nice try.” She handed Matilda the glass of milk and pills. Matilda looked down at them, relieved to find there wasn’t an extra pill after all. Rather, the large pain pill had been cut in half for her. It still took a few tries to get down, but the taste of the milk helped mask the bitterness of the rapidly dissolving pill in her mouth. 

 

“What do these do?” Matilda asked. She opened her palm to show Mrs. Rodgers the white and orange capsule and the little white tablet. 

 

“I thought you would have figured that out by now.” 

“I have a general idea, but what do they do specifically?”

 

“Well, one is a diuretic, so between that and all the extra liquid it must feel like we’re forcing down your throat, that’s the reason you have to pee a little more than usual.”

 

“A little more?” Matilda asked, a doubtful expression on her face. The only times she had felt dry were right after a change, and that only lasted twenty minutes or so. 

 

As much as she hated being wet, it hadn’t taken long for her to feel grateful she wasn’t getting her way. She didn’t know it was possible to hurt more than she had yesterday, but the thought of having to move her body every half hour sounded like torture. Even being carried hurt. Her only escape had been the drug induced naps the pain pills brought on. She had even stopped asking for the bedpan a few hours in when getting lifted on and off had become too much. Now she only used it in between changes in an attempt to keep the new diaper dry for as long as possible. 

 

“The other one’s a muscle relaxant.” Mrs. Rodgers finished. 

 

“That’s why I feel so weak!” Matilda exclaimed. 

 

“They didn’t want you holding it; if there is something wrong with your kidney, it could cause more damage. As much as you hate diapers; you’d hate a foley more.” 

 

“What’s a foley?” 

 

“It’s when they stick a tube up your urethra and into the bladder to drain it.” Matilda made a face. “It doesn’t hurt, but there is a much higher risk of infection and you’d have to carry around a bag of your pee with you.” 

 

“Nope, I’m never getting one.” Matilda said. 

 

“Too late for that; you’ve already had one.” Mrs. Rodgers said with a smirk as she watched Matilda’s face darken. “Not a foley, but a straight.”

 

“When did someone do that?!” Matilda asked, horrified. 

 

“When you had surgery. Usually they put it in and take it out while you’re asleep.” 

 

“Oh. I guess that’s okay then.” Matilda said. As long as she was unconscious. “Okay, I get why I’m peeing so much, but why are they making me take this? Doesn’t this just give my kidneys more work?” 

 

“I know it seems that way, but it’s actually less work since there’s less of a concentration of toxins to flush out. Did you notice it doesn’t smell anymore when we change you?”

“Really? I thought I had just gotten used to the smell.”

 

“Nope, it’s because there’s less urea and ammonia now. Now quit stalling and take your medicine.” 

 

“Only if you agree not to chase me with a hatchet.” Matilda said before popping the pills in her mouth and chugging the milk. She looked up to find Mrs. Rodgers giving her a quizzical look.

 

“Why would I chase you with a hatchet?” 

 

“It’s something Jack Torrance kept saying when he chased his family through the hotel. ‘It’s time to take your medicine.’” Matilda said as she mimed swinging an ax. 

 

“Whose Jack Torrance?” 

 

“The dad from The Shining, you know, the book about the haunted hotel they stay in during winter and he goes stir crazy.”

 

“Come play with us, Dan-ney.” 

 

“Yeah, that one.” Matilda said with a giggle. 

 

“So you like Stephen King?” 

 

“Yes! I had asked Mrs. Phelps if she knew of any books about a young girl with supernatural powers, given, you know.” Matilda gestured to herself. “She recommended Fire Starter and I’ve been hooked ever since.” 

 

“Which one’s your favorite?” 

 

“Hmm, “ Matilda thought for a moment. “Probably, ‘It’. I like his stories about kids the best.” 

 

“So what would Pennywise turn into if he ran into you?” Mrs. Rodgers asked. Matilda imagined getting chased by a clown, a red balloon in one hand and a diaper in the other. 

 

“The Trunchbull,” Matilda lied. “What about you?” Mrs. Rodgers seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. 

 

“Well, since Pennywise only goes after children, I think I’m safe.” 

 

“Okay, if you were a kid.”

 

“It would probably have to be,” Mrs. Rodgers said before pausing, “a giant chicken.” 

 

Matilda burst into laughter.

 

“Why a chicken?” 

 

“When I was little we’d go visit my aunt's farm out in the countryside on holidays. She would have chickens roaming around the property and she had this one in particular, a big nasty thing. It was brown with these black beady eyes, and I swear the moment I’d step out of the house, it would chase me. It wouldn’t chase anyone else, just me. This thing would sit watching the house and wait for me to come out.” Matilda gripped her side in pain, but continued to laugh. “My dad came out looking for me because I was late for Thanksgiving dinner, and found the beast in question circling the base of this large willow tree, with me up in the branches screaming I was going to turn it into a chicken sandwich.” 

 

It took Matilda a good solid minute to calm down. 

 

“Ready to go outback?” 

 

Matilda looked down at herself. She was still naked from the waist down. 

 

“I think you might be forgetting something.” 

 

“Don’t worry about it; just promise you won’t pee on me.” Matilda braced herself and hung on to Mrs. Rodgers neck as they headed out into the back yard. 

 

“How else am I supposed to mark who gets sacrificed and who doesn’t?”

 

“It’s after eight.” Mrs. Rodgers reminded her. 

 

“Damn.” Matilda let out a surprised yelp as the arm that had been supporting her pulled away and she felt a soft smack to her bare butt. 

 

“No swearing, you’re only five.”

 

“I’ll be six in a few months!” Matilda exclaimed.

 

“That doesn’t make it any better in the slightest.” Mrs. Rodgers said with a playful shake of her head. She set Matilda down on one of the outdoor chairs. Matilda looked down at it. It was one of those white hard plastic lounge chairs with horizontal white strips of rubber running up and down the length of it. Matilda kind of wished she was back in a diaper. It was cold out here and she had the feeling her back and butt were going to look like a candy cane by the time they went back inside. “ Don’t go anywhere, I'm going to run inside and get the lighter.” 

 

Matilda gave her a quizzical look. Where exactly did she think she could go half naked with broken ribs? 

While she waited for Mrs. Rodgers to return, she took in her surroundings. She couldn’t see much in the dark, but she could make out the fire pit in front of her with three other chairs, a grass lawn further off in the distance and what looked like a tree. 

 

Suddenly, there was a loud hoot off to her left by the patio door. Matilda whipped her head around and let out a gasp. There, resting on a large perch she hadn’t noticed before, was a large, brown, barn owl. It was both beautiful and terrifying. They both stared at each other unblinking, until Mrs. Rodgers returned. 

 

“I see you’ve met, Whodini.” The woman said before stroking the side of the owl's head. 

 

“You have a pet owl?!” Matilda asked, flabbergasted. “You just told me you’re afraid of chickens! It’s like a giant chicken that can fly.” Whodini let out a hoot of indignation. Apparently the owl didn’t appreciate being compared to a common domesticated fowl. 

 

“She didn’t mean that; don’t listen to her.” Mrs. Rodgers cood, before turning back to Matilda. “Olivia’s headmaster gave him to me so we could keep in touch.”

 

“Wow.” Matilda said. All her Headmistress had given Matilda was a crushed larynx. 

 

“I didn’t know what I was going to do with an owl around the house, but he’s been so useful! Yes you have!” Matilda watched as she stroked the owl a few more times, before taking a seat across from her. “There hasn’t been a single rabbit, mouse or squirrel destroying my garden all week. I think he’s scared them all off.” 

 

Matilda stared at the scattered bones underneath the perch. More like eaten them, she thought. 

 

In a few minutes, Mrs. Rodgers had managed to light the fire pit to Matilda, and Whodini’s, delight. The owl had flown closer and perched atop one of the empty patio chairs to enjoy the warmth of the fire. Matilda watched the flickering flames, enjoying the change of scenery as she chatted with Mrs. Rodgers about other books they had enjoyed. 

 

“Do you still have that chess set with the talking pieces?” Matilda asked hopefully. 

 

“No, that was Olivia’s, she took it back to school with her.” 

 

“Oh, bummer.” Mrs. Rodgers grinned. 

 

“She said they still won’t listen to her after you beat her so badly.” Matilda thought back to Christmas and chuckled. It was the strangest thing she had ever seen. A chess board whose pieces moved on their own, talked and attacked each other. The first round they played Matilda had won, only for the pieces to congratulate Olivia on her sportsmanship by allowing her young opponent to win on purpose. It wasn’t until Matilda’s third win in a row did it, or they, realize Olivia had not been throwing the game. By her fifth win, Olivia’s pieces had told her throwing them in the fire would be a kinder fate than taking orders from a dimwit who couldn’t even defeat a small child. That’s when Olivia packed up the game and said she wasn’t in the mood for chess anymore.

 

“Everything okay?” Mrs. Rodgers asked after about twenty minutes. “You’ve gone awfully quiet.” Matilda hung her head and mumbled. “What? What’s wrong?” Matilda sighed. 

 

“I have to go.” she mumbled.

 

“Go? Go where? Back inside?” Matilda shook her head. “Ohh, do you need to pee?” Matilda meekly nodded and averted her eyes. She waited for Mrs. Rodgers to get up and take her back inside, but instead of hearing the scraping of chair legs, Mrs. Rodgers said, “it’s alright, go on.” Matilda looked up at her, confused. “No point in wasting supplies; you won’t hurt anything back here.” 

 

Matilda looked around, then back up at Mrs. Rodgers doubtfully. The pain medicine had started to kick in and her thoughts were becoming fuzzy. “Where?” she asked, just to make sure. She didn’t trust herself to fully understand the situation in this state. 

 

“Right where you’re sitting, silly. It’s not like you can get up and walk to the grass.” 

 

Matilda looked down, then back up. “In the chair?!” 

 

“It’s plastic and it’ll just run down the gaps. I can always just rinse everything off with the hose later.”  

 

“If you’re sure.” Matilda mumbled. She really hadn’t wanted to go back inside just yet anyway. She kept her eyes focused on the fire and relaxed, cringing as it noisily began to trickle and splatter on the concrete patio below.

 

“Matilda! No! What are you doing?” Matilda clamped off the stream in fright and whipped her head around. Miss Honey was standing in the doorway looking horrified with two shopping bags in her hands.

 

“Relax, Jen, I told her to.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “Come pull up a chair.” Miss Honey pursed her lips for a moment before stepping out into the back yard. “Not that one, sorry, it’s taken.”

 

“By who?” Miss Honey started to ask before jumping back in surprise. “Is that an owl?!”

 

“This is Whodini; he’s my Mousekeeper.” The owl let out a hoot and ruffled its feathers. “Sorry, and postmaster.” 

 

“Uh, right, I’ll sit over here with Matilda.” Miss Honey picked up the free chair and scooted over as far as she could from the large bird of prey. “Has she given you any problems?” Matilda could see Miss Honey eyeing her suspiciously. 

 

“None at all.”

 

“Really?” Miss Honey raised her eyebrows in surprise. 

 

“And you’ll be happy to know she even evacuated her bowels.” 

 

Matilda could have probably heard Jenny’s sigh of relief from across the yard. She turned to look at her.

 

“Thank you for behavi-” Jenny started to say, but stopped. “What’s wrong?” Matilda’s jaw was clenched tight along with her legs, but the rest of the liquids inside her were demanding release. 

 

“Go on and finish, kid.” Mrs. Rodgers said. Matilda gave a small moan of embarrassment but the pressure was too much. The trickling beneath her began to resume. 

 

“I should really go put her in a diaper now.” Miss Honey said. 

 

“She’s fine, Jen, I mean, just look over there.” Jennifer and Matilda both looked where she was pointing.  Underneath the perch, the ground was covered with feathers, bones, and owl poop. “I need to hose everything down anyway. Don’t waste the supplies.” Jennifer pursed her lips, but said nothing. “Might want to move your chair though.” Jennifer looked down before scurrying out of the way as a stream of urine was cascading towards her shoes. Matilda grinned as she made eye contact with Mrs. Rodgers, who was giving her instructions with her hands from underneath her own chair.

 

“So did you find anything at the store?” Mrs. Rodgers asked. 

 

“Yes, I found some diapers made for night time along with some extra padding to go into it. Sorry it took so long, I had to go to several stores.” Miss Honey frowned as she looked down before picking up her chair and moving forward again away from the still oncoming stream. Matilda and Mrs. Rodgers grinned at each other.

 

“I hope it wasn’t too expensive for you. Let me know if you need me to pitch in for anything.” 

 

“No! Carol, you've done so much for us already! I’m just trying not to ruin all your furniture. I mean, we can always just go back home so you don’t have to deal with any of this.” 

 

“No,” Miss Rodgers said with a frown. “I don’t think that would be wise; it’s too soon.” Jennifer bit her lip in embarrassment and averted her eyes before her frown increased. She picked up her chair once again and walked it to the dry side of the patio. “Just give it a few more days; at least until we know something’s seriously not wrong with her. It’s a lot for you to take on by yourself.”

 

“I don’t know how I could ever thank you for helping us through this.” 

 

“You can thank me by not looking down.” Mrs. Rodgers said with a chuckle. Miss Honey’s eyes fell and she let out a startled yelp. 

 

“It’s chasing me!” Matilda and Mrs. Rodgers let out howls of laughter. Miss Honey looked between the two of them confused before the pieces of the puzzle clicked. “Matilda!” Jennifer said, jumping to her feet. She pointed to the pattern of wet cement and how one particular stream zigzagged and seemingly changed direction. Even Whodini seemingly let out a hoot of laughter.

 

“Huh, they really didn’t level this patio very well.” Carol said between chuckles. Matilda was smiling from ear to ear, before letting out a yawn. The pain medicine had completely taken hold and now she felt exhausted. 

 

“I thought you were on my side.” Jennifer said with a shake of her head. “C’mon, let’s get you ready for bed.” She bent down and picked Matilda up, but as soon as she did, Carol burst into another fit of laughter. “What?” 

 

“The chair was a little dirtier than I thought, she’s got dirt stripes all up and down her backside.” Miss Honey sighed.

 

“Into the bath with you.” 

 

After a quick bath, Matilda was carried to the back bedroom and laid out on more disposable pads. She scowled when the new diaper was taped up. 

 

“I can’t even come close to closing my legs.” she mumbled through the haze of sleep. 

 

“Maybe these will help you feel dryer longer.” Jennifer said, before lying on the bed herself. “Come here.” She pulled Matilda into her arms and let her rest her head on her chest. 

 

“I’m sorry for what I said to you this morning.” Matilda said, closing her eyes and melting into Jenny’s touch. “You’re a good mom. The best.” she said before sleep overcame her.

 

“I love you.” Jenny whispered as she rubbed Matilda’s back. “Even when you act possessed.” 

 

[kerry]

Whodini is a great name. But...Olivia's headmaster gave her an owl so she could stay in touch? Is the headmaster's name Dumbledore?

[SashaButters]

1 hour ago, kerry said:

Whodini is a great name. But...Olivia's headmaster gave her an owl so she could stay in touch? Is the headmaster's name Dumbledore?

Maybe…

[Little Giammy]

I like very much like you make a sort of cross over. I see very good Matilda to hogwarts

[Guilend]

I guess she’s lucky she doesn’t start bedwetting or having accidents or close calls just because of her and Matilda’s connection lol

[AdultInnocence]

On 1/7/2023 at 5:47 PM, Guilend said:

I guess she’s lucky she doesn’t start bedwetting or having accidents or close calls just because of her and Matilda’s connection lol

That is a good point. So far the connection has only been one direction. It doesn't mean that it couldn't start to go the other direction either.

[SashaButters]

3 hours ago, AdultInnocence said:

That is a good point. So far the connection has only been one direction. It doesn't mean that it couldn't start to go the other direction either.

It already has ?