Academy T (Complete)

[Mia Moore]

Chapter Ten

"Tali? Honey, are you awake?" 

Tali opened her eyes and peeked outside of her crib bars, though she knew the voice well. Her Mommy. She looked up blearily and tried to sit up, her wet diaper squishing between her thighs. 

"Mm..." 

"Come on, sweetie. Let's get you changed." 

Talita was half asleep on the changing table. She didn't usually sleep in; often it was Talita's crying that got her Mommy's attention. Today felt different, though; the sunlight wasn't streaming through the blinds and the sky outside was a dark blue. It was early. Very early.

"Mommy it’s so earlyyyyy..." Talita mumbled around the binkie between her lips, clumsily rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands. 

Her Mommy didn’t give her an immediate response; she just smiled as she went about changing her little girl. It was both very routine and very alarming at the same time. And Talita, as a Candy, was too far below the threshold of problem solving to notice just how worried her Mommy looked.

Talita was dressed in her school clothes like any other day - a pretty dress with bows in her hair - but she was too sleepy to really notice. As a matter of fact, Tali's eyes barely opened at all until she was brought downstairs and saw a stranger at the kitchen table. 

Tali stared at the man in the dark suit, then up at her Mommy. Her Daddy was on the other end of the kitchen, brewing coffee. Instinctually, Talita tried to hide behind her Mommy but Talita was lifted off the ground and deposited in her high chair. The tray snapped in place and Talita shrunk down as small as she could. The man was watching her…

"Talita, darling, we're going to have a guest here for breakfast." Her Mommy had a very firm tone to her words, an earnest importance that was certainly never wheeled out for anything but the most serious of conversations. "He'd like to talk to you, and you must do your very best to tell him the truth, okay my little sweetheart?" 

The man, for his part, remained quiet, and kept his eyes on Tali the way that Tali might have kept her eyes on a piece of candy that she really, really wanted. 

“Mommy... I'm scared.”

"No need to be scared," the man said warmly. "I just have a few questions I'd like to ask. Answer them honestly and you have nothing to worry about." 

Talita nodded, but she wasn't sure if he was telling the truth. The man had a familiar tone, one she had heard many times before. The tone of a good liar.

"I'd like to talk about some comments you made at school yesterday, Talita." Before the man could finish his thought, Tali piped up in her own defense. 

"Shae started it! She made fun of me 'cause I fell over yesterday, and said soon I'll only be able to crawl." 

"Perhaps she’s right," the man countered, his voice cold in a way that wasn't exactly threatening. "Perhaps soon you might only be able to crawl. You're sick, after all."

Talita sunk further into her high chair and looked away. The idea that she could lose even something as simple as that... well, it was as bad as when she lost her potty training. Above everything though, she didn't want Shae to be right. 

"How did you respond to Shae?" the man asked. 

"Cair did," Talita said, trying to deflect. 

"Claire Anders," Tali’s Mommy explained to the stranger.

"Mmhmm. And what did she do?" 

Talita looked at both her parents. Her Daddy sipped a cup of coffee and her Mommy ushered her on with a nod of her head. Talita didn't like to tattle. 

"Cair said... she said Shae's parents would think bad of her. Her other parents. If they even remembered her…"

"If they even remembered her?" the man asked, sternly. "Now, is that exactly what she said? I want you to think very carefully, Talita, this is very very important."

"Tali," Her Mommy added, "please think very hard, okay? And try and get this one right, sweetie. It's important to tell the truth.”

"I dun remember," Talita shrugged, looking at her hands in front of her. She picked at her fingernails and tucked her feet under the high chair. The man noticed her anxiety and leaned forward, so that he could reach out and touch Tali if he wanted to. 

"Where did Claire get such an idea?" he asked gently. "Why did she think Shae's parents wouldn't remember her?" 

"I... I dunno..." Talita tried to sound sure of herself, but tears were filling her eyes. She hated lying, but she didn't want to get in trouble either. Unfortunately for her, Claire had been questioned before Tali.

"Are you sure that you don't know, Talita? Are you as sure as sure can be?” Lying to someone who knew you were lying was... one of the worst feelings in the world. Or rather, when they revealed they had evidence of your lie. The anxiety, the guilt, the dropping into the pit formed in the stomach. Talita felt all of this the moment the man spoke next: "Claire told me the truth, Talita.”

"I didn't... I mean, I wasn't..." Tears dripped down Talita's cheeks and she shook her head in a panic. Her fight or flight response kicked in, but Candies didn't have the confidence to fight anymore. She wiggled and kicked at the high chair, but she couldn't squirm out of it. 

"Talita!" Daddy said sharply. Talita froze in place, looking up at him with wet eyes. "Answer the man's questions or you'll be in trouble. Do you understand me?" Talita nodded reluctantly and wiped her tears with the backs of her hands.

"I...I asked Cair um... um..." Talita sniffled as she tried to make the words make the most sense. "I was asking about her Mom and Dad and stuff because um… because I met this boy, um, and and…"

"Boy?" The man's voice changed. Curious. Talita nodded her head and tried to keep the tears off her cheeks. 

"Tomás... Mrs. Hopper's Candy. He, um... we, um..." 

"I knew it was a bad idea to let her go over there," Talita's Mommy whispered under her breath.

"We were um.... we were talking about his Mom and Dad and my Mom and Dad from before we were sick and um... um...." 

How much did she say? How much had Claire already said? Saying too little now would make her a liar and saying too much could get Claire in trouble! And she didn't want either of those things! 

"Um..." Talita’s tears were running even more freely from the stress. "Me and um... um and me and him... maybe we think maybe we hadda same Mom and Dad and we forgots…"

"Forgot your Mom and Dad?" the man asked. But Tali shook her head. The man in the suit nodded in understanding. They forgot each other. 

"Let's pay a visit to Mrs. Hopper's shall we?" he asked rhetorically, standing up from the table. 

"I got school," Talita tried. 

"It's cancelled today," the man said flatly, pulling on his coat. Talita's Mommy came over and helped slip her shoes on her feet. Then she let Talita out of the high chair. 

"I dun wanna go," Talita muttered into her Mommy's shirt, clinging tight to her. "Please, I dun wanna… please I told you the truth and and! I wanna go to school and—" 

"Talita!" That was her Daddy. "Enough!" 

Meekly, she stopped talking and fell in line. This was the worst day of her life.

Outside the Campbells' front door, a woman in a long coat was waiting. The man muttered something to her, but Talita only caught part of it as she was fitted into her stroller. 

"...records on Tomás Hopper?" 

"Number 775," the woman said just as quietly. "His parents in Town left a few weeks back. Mrs. Hopper adopted him." 

"Compare him with 221." The woman typed something into her phone - the kind Talita used to have before she got sick, with a big screen that you could touch. Town didn't have phones like that. Then she turned the screen toward the man. 

"Well I'll be damned..." the man said under his breath. Then the two led the Campbells down the sidewalk and around the bend toward Mrs. Hopper's house.

[Mia Moore]

Chapter Eleven

Talita’s parents pushed her down the sidewalk in her stroller, following the two sharply dressed strangers. Talita sat nervously and did her best not to think about all the trouble she'd gotten herself into. She didn't mean it! She was a good girl. She obeyed her Mommy and Daddy, she wore her diapers, she surrendered her potty training, she was a good girl and this wasn't fair!

The man in the suit knocked on the front door and Mrs. Hopper opened it. She was already dressed, though the sky was still a pale blue, losing darkness to the coming day. It was too early for her to be awake, unless she had been awake before. 

"Mrs. Hopper?" the man asked, though he knew the answer. 

"Is it time?" she asked. 

"Not quite," the man said with a sigh. "Can we come in? I have something I need to discuss with you." 

"Of course." Mrs. Hopper stepped aside and let the man and woman inside. She looked quizzically at Talita's parents, then at the Candy in the stroller. If there was any word to describe everyone at that moment, it would be: confused. Once Talita was let out of the stroller and led inside by her parents, Mrs. Hopper closed the door behind them.

"There's been an... oversight." The man began, keeping his voice low as he split off with Mrs. Hopper to discuss her Candy in private. As for Tomás, given the early hour of the morning, he was probably still in his crib and fast asleep with a full diaper. Tali's Daddy lifted her up under the arms and led her to the boy’s playpen, depositing her down inside to keep her out of trouble. Honestly, Talita had no idea what to expect.

The two sharply dressed strangers spoke to Talita's parents and Mrs. Hopper a few rooms away. Talita could just barely see them, but she couldn't make out any of the words. She shook the bars of the playpen and tried to climb over them, but she wasn't strong enough to pull herself up.

She remembered how good she was at climbing trees when she was younger, but nothing prepared her to escape from an adult playpen. The floor around the playpen was raised up, so it was easier for an adult to set her inside, but from her vantage point the bars were just too high. So she did the only thing she could think to do to solve a problem: she cried.

But no one came. Actually, after a few minutes, Talita’s Daddy walked past the playpen and up the stairs. Tali couldn't figure out why her Daddy wasn't coming for her: she was crying, she was doing the right thing! Daddy was always supposed to save her when she was like that. But when Daddy came back down the stairs with a sleepy Tomás in his arms, he just set the boy down and walked away.

"Is something wrong?" Tomás asked Talita, rubbing his eyes and leaning against the wall of the playpen.

Talita looked at him with an ounce of annoyance and tears in her eyes, trying to remember him. They had to have met before this place, before last weekend. But he was nowhere in her memory. 

"It's gonna be okay," Tomás said, putting an arm around Talita. It warmed her with a sense of unexplainable nostalgia.

"Don’t you remember me...?" Talita asked the boy, her eyes as sad as a gloomy day. His eyes were happy and bright, because Tomás was sure he had the right answer. 

"Uhhuh! I do! Last weekend, ‘member? You played with my puzzle rings and stuff? I remember you, silly!”

Talita slouched down in the playpen and rubbed her tears into Tomás's sleeve. Why did it even matter? Obviously this was a trick her sickness was playing on her. So why did it hurt so much?

By the time the parents were done talking, Talita's crying had turned to sniffles and she'd grown so accustomed to the smell of Tomás's messy diaper that she couldn't be sure it wasn't her own. Her Daddy kissed her Mommy on the forehead before leaving through the front door on his own. Her Mommy paced nervously in the hallway.

"This won't hurt her?" she asked the man in the suit. 

"It won't even leave a mark," the man reassured her. The woman at his side was holding a blue-capped marker against the side of her phone, making selections by touching the screen. Then the cap of the marker changed from blue to purple, like one of those color-changing coffee mugs. She passed the marker to her colleague. 

"Could you hold her?" the man asked, but Talita's mom shook her head. 

"She's a bit too heavy for me..." 

"I can do it," Mrs. Hopper chimed in, trying to be as encouraging as she could. The situation was already awkward enough.

"Are you sure?" Talita’s Mommy asked.

"Of course, don’t worry about it. Your little one’s a featherweight, I’ll take good care of her." 

Tali was trying to focus on something. On anything. Something that wasn’t what she was doing - sitting in a playpen, with a boy who she knew from her past, dreading the future of the next few minutes. It wasn’t working. Mrs. Hopper approached the playpen with a warm smile. 

"Talita, darling, can I borrow you for just a moment? The nice man here is just going to check that you’re healthy, okay?" She spoke in airy, condescending, fairytale tones.

Talita shook her head, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks, and shuffled away from the edge of the playpen. But Mrs. Hopper picked her up all the same and cradled Tali on her hip. For all the comfort it afforded her to be held, Talita's heart was racing. She wanted her Mommy and Daddy. She wanted to go home. Talita started to squirm. 

"Hold her tighter," the man in the suit said, pulling the cap off the marker. The tip wasn't colored or felt; it looked like a small orb of metal atop a spiral of wires. Fresh tears filled Talita's eyes and she started to kick and scream. 

"Nooo! Lemme down! Pu' me down!”

"Tali, darling," Talita's Mommy tried soothing her daughter and Mrs. Hopper held her tighter. Unfortunately, the tighter Mrs. Hopper’s grip became, the more Talita’s anxiety spiked.  She thrashed harder in the woman's arms.

"Hold. Her. Still." The man impatiently repeated. When it seemed like neither woman was going to be able to calm the hysterical girl, he made his move just the same.

Talita was sharp and methodical. She kicked the man's hand - the one holding the marker - as hard as she could. Her leather buckled shoe connected with his knuckles and he involuntarily let go of the marker, tossing it more or less in Talita's direction. It collided with the sleeve of Tali’s school dress and bounced onto Mrs. Hopper. The tip of the marker touched the caregiver’s bare arm before it clattered to the floor, but it didn’t leave a mark on Mrs. Hopper’s skin.

Talita's cries and kicks finally won out and she fell roughly to the floor onto her padded butt. She looked up at the woman who had been holding her, standing still in the middle of the room, and then at all the other adults. 

"Eli," the woman in the suit muttered, a wavering fear in her voice. "She's not a Candy. She can't be—" 

"Who do you think you are?!" Talita's Mommy shouted at the woman who had dropped her daughter. She pulled Talita off the floor and into her arms, squeezing Talita against her chest like any mother would do. "Stay away from my daughter!" 

"Take Mrs. Campbell into the kitchen," the man in the suit told his associate, picking the marker up carefully off the floor and putting the purple cap back on it. 

"But Eli, this changes everything…"

"Send Miss Porter a message while you're at it. Explain what happened."

The woman in the suit reluctantly ushered Talita and her Mommy into the kitchen, but Talita's eyes were fixated on the woman who had dropped her. She was standing vacantly in the middle of the room with a faraway look in her eye. Talita was worried about her, though she had never met the woman before in her life.

"Mommy..." 

"Quiet, Talita, shh now." Her Mommy spoke with tender care in her voice. 

"I didn’t... umm... why am I..." 

"Tali, sweetie, you just need to be quiet for Mommy, okay?" Her Mommy pressed in her pockets, one after the other, until she found the spare binkie she always kept on hand. In a deserted house like this, it was always good to be prepared.

"We'll get all this straightened out shortly," the woman in the suit said, tapping away on her phone. She didn't sound very convincing, even to Talita. 

Talita sucked nervously on her pacifier and watched the man in the suit question the mystery woman, still in view. She reached down to pick up Tomás in the playpen, but Tomás started to cry. Tali's frustration flared up in defense of Tomás and she wiggled uncomfortably in her Mommy's lap. A few minutes later, the man alone joined his partner in the kitchen.

"Her name is Angela Hopper," the man said quietly to his associate. "Start a file for her." 

"Oh yeah," the woman snapped sarcastically. "Let me just start a file for her." 

"Excuse me," Mrs. Campbell irritatedly interrupted. "Who is that woman?" 

"A new employee," the man said. "She's none of your concern." 

"I think anyone that holds my daughter is my concern," Mrs. Campbell shot back. 

"She won't come near Talita again, I promise." The man's confidence was speckled with exhaustion. He clearly didn't want to be dealing with a protective parent right now. Talita sucked her pacifier quietly and cuddled into her Mommy's shirt. 

"We should hurry," the woman in the suit said, tapping her watch. The man checked his own and nodded his head. 

"Take Talita home," he said, "and we'll be by shortly for the eval." 

"I don't know why I had to come here in the first place," Mrs. Campbell said under her breath, but she didn't hesitate to set her daughter on her feet and head to the door. Talita caught sight of Tomás in the playpen on her way out. His parents left Town, didn't they? The thought of being without her Mommy and Daddy made Talita's heart ache. She clung tighter to her Mommy's hand and followed her out of the house.

[dirtydingus84]

what's going to happen to mrs hopper? another story perhaps? 

[Personalias]

On 6/21/2022 at 10:12 PM, dirtydingus84 said:

what's going to happen to mrs hopper? another story perhaps? 

I think the thing that's most interesting is the information this chapter gives us on multiple levels.

Mrs. Hopper is a candy.  That pen thingy shouldn't have worked on her if she wasn't, which is why it was a surprise when it did. That means that a candy is some kind of inherent trait, not something you're turned into.  Like the diaper and regression thing presented in all 3 Academy stories thus far, yes, that is something you're turned into. But "big dumb diaper baby" and "candy" are not inherently synonymous.  All regressees in these stories are candies, but not all candies are regressies.

Another important thing to note is that the brother and sister were abducted and regressed at some point, and the fact that they were brother and sister was missed.  Meaning they were likely snatched at different times and locations, and besides possibly minor "disappearing" techniques (as in I'mma disappear you they'll never find you), the fact that they were brother and sister outside of town went unnoticed.  That hints that whatever makes people a "candy" isn't genetic; or at least not genetic enough for people to have their family trees and dna scoured by top secret regressing agency.  

The fact that the men in black, agent smith type characters didn't show up until candies started the (what they thought was completely made up) rumor that as they forget the outside world the outside world forgets them, is also noteworthy.

Finally, the in-fighting between the adults and the vibes of "my baby!" and genuine concern from the parental figures indicates a level of sincerity as opposed to performance that hasn't been present in the other Academy works thus far.  Whatever the Academy folks are selling, the parental characters are buying and they genuinely love the big babies.  (Though Genuine might be up for debate depending on how much of the truth the caregivers know.  Loving someone who has been turned into a giant baby against their will and loving them BECAUSE they're a giant baby and working to ensure that they stay that way or get more babyish is pretty messed up...and theirs textual evidence to support the latter.)

[Mia Moore]

On 6/26/2022 at 8:49 AM, Personalias said:

I think the thing that's most interesting is the information this chapter gives us on multiple levels.

Oh my gosh!! Personalias is reading my story!!! I'm so insanely flattered, you have no idea!!! 

Your theory is so cool and interesting!  I love all the logical leaps you're making, and I am glad you found the protective attitudes of the caregivers to be authentic.  I don't want to give spoilers or anything so I can't say a lot.  But I think its fair to speculate there's something special about Candies!  Like Ai says in A:B... "why us?" 

Thanks so much for everything you've written and the inspiration you've given ABDL writers like me.  I hope you continue to enjoy this story!!

~Mia~

[ABAlex]

This is so adorable! Keep it up!

[Mia Moore]

40 minutes ago, ABAlex said:

This is so adorable! Keep it up!

ABAlex as well?!   What is going on today?!

(I love some of your short stories!!!)

[ABAlex]

2 hours ago, Mia Moore said:

ABAlex as well?!   What is going on today?!

(I love some of your short stories!!!)

awww thanks!

And people are just liking your story

[Mia Moore]

Chapter Twelve

All day, Talita was quiet. Her head felt tired and sick. Anytime a thought came to her, it felt like a shape in water vapor. She would reach out and try to grab it, only for her hand to go straight through. She remembered getting home from Tomás's house. She remembered eating breakfast with her parents. She remembered feeling normal. After that, the next thing she remembered was waking up from her nap. 

She remembered staring blankly at the mobile and filling her diaper. She remembered the drool pooling on her pillow. She remembered sitting in the living room with her toys. She remembered wanting to play, but her body wouldn't move. She remembered screaming, but no sound came out. She remembered crying, but no tears got her parents' attention. She remembered wanting to die. 

Quiet Days always ended like that, a little bit. You were so trapped in your own body that you'd do anything to be untrapped. Talita knew she would be better by morning, but the promise of tomorrow didn't assuage the present. That night, Talita didn't have any dreams. Not even sleep could coax a thought out of the mindless girl. 

"Hey, sweetie. Feelin' better today?" Talita's Mommy rubbed her cheek. The crib bars had been lowered and her Mommy's smile was the first thing Tali saw. It made Talita well up with joy.

"Uhhuh...." Talita half cooed, half gurgled, with a happy little smile behind her pacifier. Feeling better was such an interesting term, because ever since coming here, coming to this place where her condition could be managed, everything felt better. 

Here, she had her Mommy and her Daddy, her best friend and all her other friends too. Here in Town, where she belonged, Talita had peace. And it was nice, for a change, not to be at war. Not with anybody. And not with herself. Mommy asked if she was feeling better? What an understatement.

Talita's Mommy picked her up and set her down on the changing table. She made quick work of changing Talita's diaper, dressing her into a fresh one with no complaints from her little girl. Then she stood Talita on her two feet, and she almost fell down. Maybe walking was getting to be too hard in her advanced condition. 

"Um, is school today?" Talita asked, focusing on keeping her balance. 

"Yep, it's Friday," Talita's Mommy said, getting a clean school dress out of the closet. 

"I missed a day?" Talita asked, tilting her head. That made sense. 

"School was cancelled," her Mommy encouraged. "A lot of the Candies got sick." Sick - in this sense - meant that they had Quiet Days just like Talita. The woman wearing nothing but a diaper nodded in understanding.

"I feel sorry um... when school is cancelled, ‘cause what do the teachers do? They come to school and then no Candies is there, so then what do they do, Mommy? I think maybe that's when they draw all the drawings that we color in. It must take a lot of time to draw enough of the same drawings for everyone."

Talita's Mommy smiled warmly and kissed her daughter on the top of the head. She wasn't much taller than Talita, but she was always good at making her little girl feel small. 

"Yes, sweetie. I think that's probably what they do. But I bet they appreciate the time to catch up on making coloring pages." 

Talita's Mommy finished dressing her for school, complete with pigtails, frilly socks, and buckle shoes. She took her daughter downstairs for a breakfast of pancakes - Talita's favorite meal.

Then her Daddy took her to school like any other day. She went to classes like every other day. She had lunch with Claire like every other day, and fought off Shae's brattiness like every other day. She was picked up from school like any other day, strapped into her stroller like any other day, and pushed out the doors by her Daddy like any other day. 

But when Talita got home, her day was unlike any other she could remember. She walked in to find her Mommy and Tomás sitting together on the floor of the living room. Talita waved softly and looked up at her Daddy for answers. 

"Sit down, princess," he told her, lifting her up and plopping her down on the couch with a crinkle. Her Mommy spun around on the floor so she was looking up at her daughter. 

"This might be a little weird at first," she started, using a serious tone, "but Tomás is going to be your new brother.”

"...but I don’t want a brother." Something about her words felt - all at the same time - like she was lying, like she was nostalgic, like she had déjà vu, like someone else had said them with her voice. It caught her off guard and her eyes started to water. 

"Tali Tali!" The boy's chipper, bright, and hopeful voice brought things back into focus, "you’re gonna be my sister!”

"Nuh uh," Talita said sharply, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff. "I dun want a brother! He can get his own Mommy and Daddy!" 

Talita's Daddy sighed and her Mommy put on a fake smile. 

"He has no other Mommy and Daddy, Tali. His parents left Town a few weeks ago. The committee has been trying to decide what to do about it, and you two are already friends." 

"No!" Talita shouted.

"Talita," her Daddy said sharply, "this isn't your decision. You're a little girl. Your Mommy and I have decided to help Tomás—" 

"NO! I DUN WANT TO!”

Tali didn’t mean to. She’d woken up in such a good mood, in such a happy space, she’d had such a good day. But the frustration came from deep within her, like a volcano exploding under the ocean. She reached into her pocket, clutched her binkie, and she threw it. She threw it as hard as she could, which wasn’t hard, but the act itself, and the target... those were the true sins here. She threw it at her Mommy. And it hit.

Her parents shared a glance and Talita's heart skipped a beat. She should apologize: she knew that much! But instead, she doubled down. She crossed her arms tighter and looked away from her parents.

"We thought you were past that kind of behavior," her Daddy said sharply. "Are you looking for another Bad Girl day?" 

"I dun wanna cause trouble," Tomás said nervously, to which his new Mommy pulled him in for a hug. 

"You're no trouble at all," she said. "Tali is just a very bratty little girl who throws tantrums when she can't get her way." 

"I do not!" Talita shouted, her hands balled at her sides. 

"Watch your tone, little lady," Daddy said to Talita, then turned to his wife. "If she wants to A-C-T like a B-A-B-Y, then maybe Tomás should be the O-L-D-E-R brother." 

Talita and Tomás blinked and looked at each other. Neither of them knew what their Daddy had said, but it didn't sound good for Talita. 

"Is that such a good idea?" Mommy asked, still having a private conversation amidst her two children. 

"No one else in Town has two kids, Belle. I think we have to set our own rules. And maybe Tali will finally drop this superiority complex." 

"I dun do that!" Talita tried to interject, but she didn't really know what a superiority complex was, let alone how to repeat it.

"Talita, Mommy and Daddy are talking, you hush for a moment." Her Daddy chided her, firmly but with that same gentle tone he always had. 

"No!" Talita squealed back, in the bratty, whiny, huffy tone that she seemed to favor. 

"Tali," her Mommy warned, with an air of seriousness and gravity, "if you keep this behavior up, your first night with your new older brother is going to be during a Bad Girl day."

Older? Older?! Talita climbed up from the sofa and almost fell straight to the floor, catching herself at the last minute.

"I'm not littler than him! If anything, I'm the big sister! I'm not a baby! Juss cuz I'm sick doesn't mean you get to make me do whatever you wanna! You've got no right!"

"Okay." Talita's Mommy nodded her head. "Maybe you'll trust us to make your choices tomorrow." 

Talita froze in place. A day without her Mommy and Daddy? She knew that feeling all too well. Bad Girl Days were a dime a dozen when she first got to Town, before she learned how much she needed them, but she hadn't had one in months. Now... 

"I... I didn't mean..." 

"If you need anything, I'm sure your big brother will help you," her Mommy said coldly. She got up without another word and went up the stairs. 

"Daddy...?" Talita looked at her Daddy with watery eyes. This wasn't happening…

"You’ve had every chance in the world to be good, Talita. Being a Bad Girl seems to be what you wanted, and so that’s what you’re going to get." 

Talita looked at her Daddy, and looked at her brother... her big brother, they’d said. That didn’t sound right at all! She was so much more mature, and girls grew up more faster than boys, and she’d been here longer and THIS WASN’T FAIR! In a fit of final resistance, Talita stomped her foot and sealed her fate.

[Sarah Penguin]

[Mia Moore]

Chapter Thirteen

Every Bad Girl Day started much the same way. At first, Talita didn't care. She played with her toys and colored in her books. Everything was ordinary. But this time, Tomás was still there. He played quietly in the living room and Talita did her best to ignore him. 

After a few hours, Talita - like always - wanted attention. She started screaming for her Mommy and Daddy, but they didn't come. She started knocking stuff off the table, pulling off the couch cushions, and coloring on the walls with crayons. 

At least if they locked her in the playpen, that would be something! But as her Daddy paced the kitchen, starting dinner, he didn't even acknowledge the messes she was making. The smell of barbecue ribs filled the house. Talita watched her Daddy mashing potatoes. She felt a sliver of drool drip down her chin before quickly wiping it away. In a huff, she went over to her new brother and shoved him. 

"This is your fault!”

"Taliiii, don’t push pretty please!" He didn’t even sound angry or hurt or upset. Honestly, as the older brother, it was his job to know better when his baby sister was acting out. That was what Mommy and Daddy had said. "Do you wanna play wif’ me? I got toy cars, this one's name is Thunder St. King, and this one is Fast Driver, and thi—" 

She screamed. Talita screamed, and her brother pouted.

"Um! Maybe we could color then?”

Talita walked away from Tomás in a huff. Nothing was working! Talita thought for sure she could think of something that worked, but nothing was getting Daddy's attention. Mommy wasn't even in the room. So Talita went to the stairs and climbed up all on her own. 

She had an ounce of fear near the top - she never did this without holding Mommy's hand these days - but she made it just the same. Talita shook the door handle to her parents' room. It didn't turn. She kicked and pounded on the door, but there was no answer. 

"MOMMY!" 

Nothing. Talita sank to the floor and crossed her arms. If her Mommy wanted to wait, then Talita could wait too. She would have to come out eventually!

There was something about being a Candy that meant being ignored was about the worst possible thing in the world. So lavished in attention and affection were these girls and boys, that without it... well, they’d rather go without food, water, sleep, anything else. 

"MoMMMeee!" Tali whined and pawed at the door. "I’ll be good..." She whispered, to herself.

After a few more minutes, the door opened. Talita clamored to her feet as her Mommy stepped past her and headed down the stairs. 

"Mommy!" Talita called out, following her. 

But when she got to the stairs, she hesitated. Without her Mommy's hand, she couldn't walk down them on her own. So she got on her butt - which squished beneath her - and took each step one at a time. By the time she got to the bottom, her parents were at the dinner table and Tomás was sitting in Talita's high chair.

"That’s MY highchair!!" She was losing it. She was absolutely losing it. This boy had come into her life and made everything bad and her Mommy and Daddy were doting over him and ignoring her and she couldn’t take it anymore, she couldn’t! "MOMMY! DADDY! PLEASE! PITY PEASE!”

"How are your potatoes, Tomás?" Mommy asked the boy in the high chair. "Do you need me to help feed you?" 

"N-nuh uh..." Tomás looked nervously at his food and at his little sister, standing at the bottom of the stairs with tears in her eyes. 

"Try not to make a mess, okay?" Mommy cooed and reached over to pinch her baby boy's cheek. 

Already, Tomás had dropped pieces of broken-apart barbecue ribs on his bib. In pure, unfiltered anger, Talita waddled over to the table, climbed up on one of the chairs, grabbed at a plate of potatoes, and swatted it to the floor. It shattered on the tile, ruining all the hard work that Daddy put into it. Talita's guilt started to overwhelm her, but it was worth it. She was sure she'd get punished! But her parents didn't even flinch.

Her Daddy stood up and went to get the dustpan, and her Mommy stood up to fetch some more potatoes off the stovetop; as though none of this had happened. As though Talita didn’t exist. A ghost might as well have knocked them off, and maybe they’d have given more attention to a ghost.

Talita climbed off the chair and waddled over to Tomás. She didn't have a plan. Maybe push the high chair until he fell out of it? Then she could climb in. But on her way to the high chair, she lost her balance and fell flat on her squishy diaper. Her parents didn't even glance at her, but Tomás stared quietly. 

In embarrassment, Talita got to her feet and went back into the living room to be alone. She sat quietly with her head in her lap. Her passion and fire had fizzled out. She'd tried everything to get their attention, and the only person that even cared she existed was Tomás. Talita's stomach jealously growled.

Maybe... Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, to have a brother? Maybe she could just be a good girl. Maybe it would be nice to have someone to always play with. A boy was different, but maybe not so bad? She had visions of putting his pretty hair in pigtails, or getting matching outfits. Maybe...

But right now, all the maybes in the world weren’t worth anything. Talita was ready to be a good girl, but her Mommy and Daddy weren’t ready to see it.

Tomás was placed in the playpen after dinner, after Mommy and Daddy cleaned him up. The playpen was out of Talita's reach, though if she tried really hard she could probably climb in. Then she wouldn't be able to climb out again, and no one was going to help her right now. 

Instead, she went to the kitchen. She tried to open the fridge, but there was a little mechanism on the side that she didn't understand. She pulled on one of the cupboards where she knew Mommy kept her animal crackers, but ran into the same problem. Her stomach growled again and she felt queasy. 

"Daddy," Talita muttered, pulling on her father's pant leg. "Please, I have some food... please...?" 

Not an ounce of acknowledgement. Talita felt tears in her eyes. How was she supposed to survive without her Mommy and Daddy? Why did she think she knew what was best for herself? She only had one option, there was only one thing left she could do. She had to be a baby sister. 

Talita found Tomás in the playpen in the living room, playing with little toy cars.  She stepped up to the wall of the playpen and looked at her own feet.

"Um... um... Tomás...? Big... Big Brother…?" She hated saying that, she hated it! But... "Could you ask Mommy and Daddy... um... for some food for me? Pretty please?"

"Oh." Tomás stared at her like she had said something amazing, like she solved a universal problem. "I didn't think of that." 

"Yeah, well..." Talita stood at the edge of the playpen with pink cheeks, biting her lip. 

"Daaaaaaddy!" Tomás yelled. Even his yelling was quiet. Everything Tomás did was so soft and gentle. Predictably, Daddy poked his head into the room. 

"Hm? What's up, champ?" 

"Can I have some... um..." Tomás looked at Talita. 

"Animal crackers," Talita muttered. "And, um. Juice..." 

"Animal crackers and juice, please?" The scheme wasn't discrete at all. Talita's Daddy watched her answer the question. Everyone knew that the snacks weren't for Tomás. 

But all the same, Daddy answered, "Sure thing. Comin' right up," and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Thank you so so so so much..." Tali whispered to her would-be brother, and the boy smiled proudly in return. 

"Tha’s what Big Brothers are for, Tali! Taking care of baby sisters, even when they’re in trouble." 

Talita didn’t like the sound of any of that, but as their Daddy returned with the crackers and juice, Tali couldn’t bring herself to argue with the results. Maybe... this wasn’t so bad?

Tomás passed the sippy cup of juice and the little bowl of animal crackers through the playpen bars. Talita quickly munched them down and sunk into the carpet outside the playpen. For months, she had been on the same eating schedule; missing a meal like that made her feel terrible.

"I dun wanna make you sad, y’know? They said umm... that you had the best Mommy and Daddy in the whole town, and cause my other ones went away, it was good if I got the best ones. I hope... it's okay to share? I promise to be a good brother." 

"It's not that," Talita said with a pout. "I just... don't want you to be their favorite..." 

Talita and Tomás were both quiet for a moment until Talita got the nerve to speak again. This was hard for her. 

"I'm not always a good girl... like today. I mess up and I argue and... and Mommy and Daddy love me anyway. But if you're here, they'll know I'm bad, and maybe they'll stop loving me..." Talita wiped the tears from her eyes. "I dun try to be bad. It just takes a lot longer for me to learn than most Candies. I'm probably the worst one in Town…"

"Your... um… I mean our Mommy said you were the best one in Town... she said that if I try to be like you, I’ll be the happiest Candy inna whole town. She said that sometimes you’re umm... sometimes you get cranky, but deep down you don’t mean to, and you’re always trying, and trying to be good is the best thing inna whole world for a Candy, that’s what she said."

"She did...?" Talita asked around the spout of her sippy cup. 

"Mmhmm." 

Talita nodded her head and sat quietly. Maybe this whole sibling thing didn't have to be so bad. Maybe she could share her parents and it wouldn't be weird. Share parents with Tomás... 

"Didn't we have the same parents before we got sick?" Talita asked. 

"Mmhmm." 

"I dun remember you," she said. 

"I dun remember you either," he said. 

For some reason, Talita thought that bit was very important. But now that she had it in the forefront of her mind, she couldn't remember why that mattered. It felt a lot like using the toilet; that used to matter so much. Now she couldn't remember why. Her illness must be getting worse. 

"But if we had the same parents before," Talita went on, pausing in thought. 

Tomás finished it for her. "Then it's not so weird if I'm your brother." 

"Uh huh. And I'm your sister." Talita and Tomás both nodded in unison, though neither was looking at the other. It seemed that line of reasoning was enough for the both of them.

[Mia Moore]

Chapter Fourteen

"Please, Mommy... please, I need a change, please..." 

Mommy had just finished changing Tomás's diaper and setting him in Talita's crib. On the other hand, Talita's diaper was so wet that it sagged heavily between her legs. If she had to sleep in it, she would get a rash for sure. She might even leak! Tears dripped down her cheeks, but her Mommy simply ignored them.

"Mommmyyyyy!" 

Talita hated leaking, she hated it more than just about anything else she could feel, because leaking was one of the few things that made her feel like her wearing diapers wasn’t a good thing. Mommy and Daddy praised her for wearing diapers, encouraged her, loved her, taught her, cherished her and rewarded her. Beyond a doubt, diapers were where Talita belonged. But when she leaked, it did raise doubts; it made her start to wonder if they were made for her. And she hated doubt... 

"Tomás.... um! Please, Big Brother? Mommy can’t hear me, and I’m gonna leak and I’ve been so good..."

"Mommy?" Tomás asked nervously, leaning on the edge of the crib bars. His eyes were already sleepy; bedtime was routine in all parts of Town. "Can you pretty please change Tali's diaper?" 

Mommy tilted her head. "Who?" 

"Talita... my, um. My little sister?" 

"Oh, sweetie..." Mommy cooed. "You don't have a little sister. Maybe we'll get you one tomorrow, how's that?" 

With a kiss on the top of the head and a loving goodnight, Mommy left Tomás alone in the crib. She clicked the door shut on the way out, effectively locking Talita inside. She had forgotten how door knobs worked ages ago, like Claire. 

"F-fine..." Talita rubbed the tears from her eyes and went to the changing table. "I'll do it myself... I can do it myself..." 

Talita tugged the rocking chair over to the changing table. She pulled at the cabinet of diapers beneath the table, and surprisingly the doors opened without a problem. She took out one of the diapers with princess crowns on them and looked at it with bewilderment. How was this thing supposed to go on her body?

Tali was soft and curved and round in some places, like a... like a circle! And this thing was... was um... like that one... like a house without a roof, like um.... Like a square! This couldn’t be right. 

"I don’.... I don’ unnerstan’... where are my diapers…?"

Tomás stared sleepily through the crib bars. Talita looked up at him and back at the square of plastic. She had no idea what to do with it. But she knew she needed the current diaper off her body! So she set down the square plastic and pulled up her dress instead.

She was still wearing her school dress, and it kept falling in the way. She tried to take it off completely, but she couldn't figure out how to pull it off over her head. Finally, she wound up flat on the floor, with the skirt pulled up over her while trying to pull down the diaper like a pair of underwear. It didn't work. And like every other time Talita got frustrated, she began to cry again.

This was the worst night of her life. She wailed and fussed and wriggled on the carpet until her diaper leaked, and she was overwhelmed with a sense of failure. She was a bad daughter, a bad sister, a bad student, a bad Candy, a bad friend, a bad girl. And she wished the soggy carpet under her butt would just open up and swallow her whole.

Talita cried loudly at first. Then softly. Then exhaustion took over and she started to fall asleep while crying. Every so often, the crying would wake her up and she'd start all over again. The delirious cycle continued for the better part of an hour before Tomás sat up in the crib. 

"Tali, c'mere." 

"Nuh uh..." 

"Tali, I'm your big brother, so c'mere!" His voice almost sounded stern! Not that Candies could really be stern, but it reminded Talita of her Daddy just a little bit. So she sat up in the puddle on the carpet and looked up at her brother. 

"Bring the chair," Tomás encouraged. 

Talita did as she was told. She obeyed her big brother, tugging the chair across the room so it was adjacent to the crib. She climbed on top of it and Tomás reached his hands through the bars to make a little step for her feet. She was still wearing her school shoes - she couldn't figure out how to take them off. 

"What are you doing?" Talita muttered through her sobs. 

"Helping you in the crib," Tomás answered. 

"I'll get it wet... I'll get you wet..." Fresh tears dripped down Talita's cheeks.

"I’m already wet, dummy. I’m a Candy." His joke was paired with a cute and charming smile, the kind of cheeky grin that few people could produce as effectively as a big brother. It was like he was made for the role. "It’s jus’ pee anyway who cares? Les’ cuddle, okay? It’ll be okay.”

Talita looked into her brother's eyes - shining with certainty - and nodded her head. She put her shoe on Tomás's hands and pushed herself over the top of the crib rails. She landed roughly in the center of the mattress, squishing and leaking all over the sheets. Immediately, she began to wail.

"Shh, shh, shh!" Tomás wrapped his arms around his sister, and he pulled her head into his chest. This position, this embrace, this pose... it all felt so familiar. It felt like it was as hard coded into the two of them as breathing. For Tali, it felt warm.

Talita put her head on the pillow, facing out at the nursery. She was so exhausted, but she felt too sick to sleep. Tomás had draped his arm over her stomach, pulling her tight in a cuddle. A regular big-spoon little-spoon situation. And once again, Talita was the little one. 

For so many months, she had been fighting this place. Then she learned to accept it. To trust it. But a part of her would always be fighting. Maybe that was cultural or familial, but standing down was never an option for Talita. 

Now Tomás was here; her brother, as far as she could know. He had the same family, the same culture, the same upbringing. Sure, he was a boy, but how different could they really be?

Talita whimpered and felt a pang of discomfort in her stomach. She tried to roll away from her brother, but he pulled her close in his sleep. The seat of her diaper was pressed firmly to the front of his. She tried to hold it, but she couldn't. Talita was always destined to be a little sister.

Despite everything, despite the nightmare of the Bad Girl day, despite her tantrums, and her hunger, and the fact she’d fallen asleep in a boy's arms while messing her diaper, Talita had one of the best night’s sleep she’d ever had. But the true joy came when Talita woke up to her Mommy’s voice.

"Ohhh look at you, look at my little Tali, Mommy’s little precious princess, all cuddled up with your big brother! You two look SO darling, my goodness."

Mommy lowered the crib bars and lifted Talita out of the crib, helping her to her feet. The rocking chair had already been put back in the corner of the room. 

"Goodness, you sure are a stinky little girl, huh? And look - you leaked all over your sheets. Clearly you need some thicker diapers, don't you think?" 

Talita nodded her head with a bright smile, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. As long as Mommy kept showering her with attention and love, she'd wear anything! 

"Let's clean you up," Mommy cooed. "Then I'll get to your brother. Little sisters always go first, did you know that?" 

Talita shook her head as her Mommy helped her onto the changing table. Mommy untaped her blown out diaper and started the long, arduous process of cleaning up her smelly baby, but if she was unhappy with it even for a moment, it certainly didn't show. Talita's Mommy hummed a soft tune as she wiped, powdered, and diapered her little princess. 

"Mommy...?" Tali asked, looking up at her Mommy with happy stars in her eyes. 

"What is it, sweetie?" Mommy asked, tucking Talita's curly hair behind her ear. 

"What other stuff do little sisters get?"

Mommy smiled, kissed Talita gingerly on the forehead, and whispered:

"Everything."

[End.]

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Thanks for reading!!   And thanks especially to the commenters and the likers!  I wanted to write an ending that was a little happier (??) than the previous story.  I know people are curious about what's going on with Mrs. Hopper and the weird markers.  I promise you'll get a few more answers in the next installment!  I'm working on it now.

Stay tuned for more Academy Works in the coming weeks!  

~Mia Moore~

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Edit: Here's the next story in the series: Academy K!

 

 

[Sarah Penguin]

[Marcus23]

Okay T was certainly a much more light and brezzey story compared to what we have had so far. Felt almost like a palate cleanser before what Im guess is going to be a more serious story. With Ai showing back up in B I will be interested to see if we see Tali or Tomas show up in a later story. This one certainly felt more like a one off then something apart of the bigger more connected story at least in my mind. 

Stand out moment for me was early in the story when Tali was doing so well without a diaper and then got blindsided simply having no clue how to use a toliet. As someone who has a big kink for "unwinnable situations" that certainly hit a button and is something Id love to do to my little.

The ending did confuse me though. The way the scene with Mrs. Hopper played out and with how it was worded let me scratching my head and I read through it 3-4 times. Im guessing the fact it was told through Tali's eyes was the reason it was supposed to leave me spinning cause it 100% did ? 

 

Overall a nice and enjoyable slice of life story. Was cute and easy to get through once I started it. Excited to see where the main storyline is heading still after this pit stop.

[princesstreegirl]

In my head canon based off of Tali's point of view, the adults were trying to make her a blank slate because she was continuing to be unruly but after Potter was hit with the pen they decided to give up. They gave up because I think her parents genuinly love their daughter despite her rebellious ways and have faith she can be a good girl. Maybe her parents want the authentic experience of raising a disobedient child. All children are unruly, narcissistic, braty and rebellious.  Love is unconditional. You love a person not because they're perfect for no one is perfect. But because of all their good and bad that is part of who they are. I think they tried to mark Tali because she went too far insulting her rival and they had to reprogram her in a sense and move her to another academy. Part of me wants to read the story from the parents perspective from day one when they adopted her. There is so much stress they have to deal with I wonder how they deal with all of it?