Day Five

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 1

"Day Four," explained Miriam, "is when things get real. The first day, there's some confusion, everything is new, some people treat it as a lark, there's a sense of anticipation and discovery."

Julie thought back four days. The girls had all giggled, embraced their new status, had fun dressing each other and looking in the mirror. "You look adorable!" Sandy had told her.

"You're very cute too," replied Julie, "that pinafore is just darling."

Neither of them had mentioned what was underneath the childish dress. They'd been well briefed from the outset. Five young women, newly graduated and excited at a job opportunity with the secretive company, had travelled to the country house at which it was based.

Miriam had greeted them there, with two other ladies. They'd all been dressed in smart business suits, the professional attire giving them the appearance of authority, immediately supported by their words and actions.

Daphne had met each of them in turn at reception, handed them various forms to complete. "Bring these with you, you can complete them in your room," she'd said. "You'll have a couple of hours to shower, recover from your journey and get these filled in ahead of the reception at 1pm." She'd shown each of the girls their room, given directions to the dining room, and left them with an admonishment to be punctual.

Julie remembered kicking off her shoes, leaping onto a luxurious double bed and looking up at the ornate ceiling, wondering how she'd been accepted for this opportunity. Stripping off the jeans and casual top she'd worn for the journey she enjoyed a quick bath and sat in her dressing gown to go through the forms. Non-disclosure, next of kin, corporate respect policies, a medical form. Nothing that concerned her, certainly not as much as what she should wear for the lunch reception.

In the end she'd risked being too smart. She could take off her jacket, with her skirt and camisole offering a more relaxed presentation; much harder to dress up if she'd been too casual to start. Entering the dining room she found Miriam and Daphne in their severe suits and felt glad she'd dressed to match. They were talking to another lady who left them, came over and introduced herself.

"Hello, you must be Julie. I'm Alice, and over there are Miriam and Daphne."

"Hello Alice, it's nice to meet you," replied Julie, "I met Daphne when I arrived. She was very welcoming."

Alice smiled warmly and gestured to three young women stood chatting together in the corner of the room. "These are your fellow inductees," she said, "why not head over and introduce yourself."

Julie walked over to the other girls. Two of them were in smart work clothes, the third looking under dressed in casual slacks and a wide necked top. As she approached they turned to her and offered quiet welcomes.

"Hi, I'm Jane," said one of the trio, a slim girl with a broad face and coffee coloured skin. "And this is Ellie and Sandy."

Ellie was short but looked feisty, her hair in a tidy bun held secure with ornate wooden hair sticks. She nodded confidently at Julie but was content to stay quiet, letting Sandy speak instead.

"Oh gosh, it's lovely to meet you," enthused Sandy, "isn't this wonderful!"

The other girls smiled at the obvious excitement and let Sandy's happiness remove their own nervousness. Julie realised she should introduce herself too. "Hi, I'm Julie. You're right, this is excellent. I love the house, but I only got here this morning. Have you been here long?"

"Only half an hour ago," explained Sandy, "I haven't even had time to unpack. Hope they wont mind me being under dressed!"

Julie thought quickly and took off her jacket. "Here, put this on. If we're both 'smart casual' you wont look out of place."

Sandy took the jacket and grabbed Julie close, giving her a little too warm a hug. "Oh, thank you!" she wittered, "you're so kind!"

Jane had a jacket on too, which she removed and hung on a nearby chair. "There, now we're the norm," she said. Ellie was wearing a dark dress with no jacket, so just shrugged apologetically at the other three. They smiled back in understanding.

At this point Alice had walked over to join them, bringing with her another woman their own age. "Girls, meet Mia. Now that you're all here, lets have some lunch."

Mia's suit was surprisingly close in design to Alice's, but she smiled at the girls and gave a little wave as they went over to the buffet.

Lunch was quick, the girls chatting about their family, the school they went to, their thoughts about the job they were starting. Miriam, Alice and Daphne joined the conversation but avoided any job related questions. "After lunch," assured Miriam.

Indeed, after eating they moved into another room, soft chairs in a circle, a cosy collaborative set up that put the girls at ease. Miriam offered a formal welcome, then finally started to satisfy their curiosity.

"I know that we've been coy regarding the full extent of the business here at Stork Supplies. You've all joined us with hopes of a strong career in the global export markets, and we'd love you to achieve that with us. Now that you've signed the NDAs we can share with you some detail around the service we offer and the goods we supply to our many global customers.

"Our company name is perhaps a little mischievous: A core element of our business is indeed delivery of babies."

Miriam paused, and looked around the circle. The girls were all listening intently, and looked to be thinking through what they'd just heard.

Julie tried to parse it. Delivering babies seemed weird, did they mean..? She raised her hand.

"Julie, you have a query?" asked Miriam.

"Sorry, you may be about to cover this, but I'm a little confused. You're an export business, rather than midwives. Do you mean we work in the adoption sector?"

Miriam smiled, and nodded. "In a way, yes. But we don't work with children, there are already government and charitable organisations servicing that sector," she clarified, "we offer for adoption babies in their early 20s."

There were gasps around the room at that, and Sandy laughed out loud before blurting, "Babies in their 20s? What? How does that work?"

Miriam stayed quiet and looked at each of the girls in turn, until she was sure she had their attention. "There is a large market out there, people that want a baby of their own, but also a companion, someone that isn't as helpless as a child, and often a sexual partner. We work with that market, understand their needs and meet them."

"But.." exclaimed Mia, "how? Where are these babies coming from? In their 20s? I've never heard of such a thing!"

Miriam nodded, expecting the question. She looked over to Daphne and inclined her head, a clear signal to proceed with something they'd planned. Daphne stood up, some cards in her hand, and distributed them to the girls.

Julie looked at her card. It showed an infant in a baby rocker, short denim dress billowing out at the waist, thick white tights over an obvious diaper. Then she realised the person wearing these things looked her own age, clearly adult features under an infantile haircut. She looked up in confusion, showed her card to Ellie, sat next to her.

Ellie wordlessly revealed the card she was holding back. Julie let out a squeak, unable to stifle her reaction. She hadn't known whether to go 'awww' or 'ewww' at the image on the card, a little boy in denim shortalls, sat with his legs spread on a padded mat, entranced by a cloth covered cube in his hands and with colourful plastic peeking out of the wide leg opening facing her. It was the idealised one year old, except this was clearly a young man, a firm chin, prominent Adam's apple and surprisingly muscular arms.

"Ah, Simon," said Alice, seeing the card Julie had reacted to, "we had a bit of a bidding war for him."

Miriam glared quickly at Alice before continuing. "As you can see, we can indeed source some lovely babies for our customers. Finding them can be a challenge, and is indeed our largest expense." She outlined some of their acquisition routes; suicide hotlines, personals adverts, online fetish forums and other places that people desperate for a new or changed life frequent.

"Our selection process is very careful," she said, "we want to find people that will embrace an infants life, cherish the care they receive, welcome their lack of autonomy and accept the discipline a child needs when it transgresses boundaries. It's important that the baby adapts to its new life, but also very important that it will be well cared for and loved in its new home.

"In that regard we're very much like an adoption agency," she said, looking back at Julie, who nodded thoughtfully. Were there really that many people willing to abandon their adult life and go to live as a child in diapers? She looked back at the card in her hand, and blushed, embarrassed at her naivety. Of course there were, she was looking at one now.

Jane caught Miriam's eye, waited for acknowledgement and asked a question of her own. "Where do we fit in? Are we working on the supply side, handling logistics, engaging the customers?", she asked, "I can see some interesting challenges across all of those."

Miriam smiled, clearly happy with the question. "We want our teams to be skilled across the whole business," she said, "so you'll spend some time in each of those areas, as well as the back office and support functions. Accounting isn't fun but financial management is a core skill you'll need to master."

Julie panicked inside at this, and it showed on her face. Alice noticed but said nothing, and none of the girls realised she was noting down everybody's reactions as Miriam spoke. Mia and Ellie hadn't responded, Sandy had also looked a little worried and Jane had shrugged as though this wasn't news to her.

Miriam continued, "We expect that you'll find some roles more rewarding than others, and over time you'll want to focus on a specialism. That's great, and we'll support you with this, but you'll be stronger with the broad experience you'll gain up front."

With that she handed over to Daphne, who spent the next half hour sharing mundane information. Corporate structure, holiday and sickness procedures, payroll and associated benefits, the various reporting activities. Another half hour presented by Alice covered their core business process, including identifying candidates for babies and those that want them and the cross-sell opportunities around adult sized baby clothes and furniture.

After a comfort break and a pause for coffee (or in Sandy's case, a glass of orange juice - Julie wasn't sure where that had come from) they reconvened and Mia asked a pointed question. "How do you turn an adult into a baby? What if they don't like it? Talk me through the process."

Miriam looked at her calmly before answering, "Perfect timing Mia, that's exactly our next agenda item. We've developed and continue to refine a several week process that helps adults transition into the baby they want to be. It includes various checks and balances to assure their comfort and happiness, and I'm delighted to say that we get very few drop outs."

"Rather than explain it in detail today though, we'd like to start you all on our induction week. This will give you a chance to understand the process first hand, and learn more about the techniques we use, how they work and your role in them."

"First hand?" asked Sandy, "We're going to work with babies in our first week?"

Miriam laughed and looked around at the girls. "Not quite," she said, "You're going to experience our first week of baby training yourselves."

 

[herezulo]

This is one of my favorite stories of yours, glad to see you re-posting it here.

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 2

As the initial hubbub caused by Miriam's announcement died down, Mia stood and spoke confidently. "I'm sorry, I've made a mistake in coming here. I can not countenance your business model, and I refuse to participate in your business. I will not be going through your induction process."

The other girls looked at her in surprise. They were still unsettled themselves, but Julie felt Mia's straight rejection was brave and slightly intimidating. Jane smiled slightly, Sandy looked ready to wet herself and Ellie remained taciturn.

Miriam slowly nodded, and gestured to Daphne, who stood and walked up to Mia. "We understand, and thank you for being forthright. Such honesty validates our choice to give you this opportunity, but we will of course respect your wishes. If you come with me I can help arrange transport back home for you, and if you need a hotel tonight then naturally we'll cover that expense on your behalf."

Daphne walked towards the door without touching Mia, then paused, waiting for her to follow. Surprised by the response Mia looked uncertain for a moment, then regained her resolve and followed Daphne from the room, pausing only when Miriam spoke, "Remember Mia, you signed an agreement not to discuss the things we've shared with you today. Will that be a problem?"

Mia laughed quietly, and shook her head. "No," she replied, "who would believe this anyway." She left the room, still shaking her head.

Julie found herself smiling as she realised the truth of Mia's comment. This was a very strange situation and she couldn't imagine telling anybody about it. She looked at the other girls and saw that Jane and Ellie had also seen the humour, but Sandy seemed to be struggling still.

"Are you OK Sandy?" she asked, looking at the bewildered young woman.

"Y-yes." Sandy looked at Julie, then across at Miriam. "I don't understand. You want us to be babies?"

Miriam let the question hang in the air, looked around the room and in turn held the gaze of the four remaining girls, all rapt and waiting for her answer. Eventually she responded, a firm and quiet "No."

Sandy looked ready to cry. "I don't understand," she faltered, before realising everybody was looking at her and stopping completely.

Jane spoke up instead. "You wish us to experience the process, gain a thorough understanding from the inside, as it were?"

"Exactly," confirmed Miriam, "We find this lets you learn swiftly and also gain empathy for those you will be taking through the whole process. Of course, they'll enjoy several weeks of preparation but those first few days are the most intense, and where your support will be most needed."

Julie thought that through. There was a twisted logic at work there, but she realised she was still getting to terms with the whole business. This was a bit too much, too fast. "This is a lot to absorb," she said, "you've shared a lot of information and you seem to be asking us to make quite a commitment here."

"I know," said Miriam sympathetically, "it's only a couple of hours since lunch and you've had to take a lot in. I ask that you trust us, we've been through this induction process many times and this has been the quickest and easiest way for our new teams to get up to speed. Will you work with us on this?"

Julie saw Jane and Ellie nodding, and decided she'd better show her willingness to trust her new boss. "This is all very strange, but yes, I'll give it a go. After all," she rationalised, "it's only a week."

That seemed to settle Sandy too, and she indicated her acquiescence.

"Good!" said Miriam brightly, "Let's get you all started right away. Alice, could you lead our new team through to the changing room?"

Julie remembered her first sight of that room. Warmly lit by the afternoon sun the dark wooden furniture glowed, offsetting the clinical white covers on the multiple flat tops. She'd run her hand across one, feeling it give softly when she pressed down, upholstered to provide comfort to anyone sat or lying on it. They were too bare to be beds, but sized similarly, as though the room was a dormitory for six adults, waiting for bedding and pillows.

Instead one wall was lined with tidy shelves, and although at first glance it looked like neat piles of bedding and towels on them Julie quickly realised that these were diapers. There seemed to be different styles, disposable ones in plastic and with a paper like outer, and more traditional towelling. Under the shelves were closed drawers and Julie wondered what those held.

She didn't need to wonder for long. Alice gathered the girls around her and gave them a quick rundown of the room and its contents.  "OK, the changing tables are obvious, and you can see the selection of diapers on this wall. We have multiple types and most of them come in several sizes; we'll go through the various options another day and help you understand when and why to use each one. In these drawers we have plastic and rubber pants, along with diaper pins. Those are mainly for use with the washable diapers."

Alice opened a different drawer. "Here we have wipes, powder and a couple of different creams for preventing and treating diaper rash, and in this drawer," she said, opening another, "plastic gloves and some more supplies. Now, if you look.."

The tour continued for a few minutes more. Bins for used diapers, a sluice and laundry basket for the cloth ones, a door through to a room with showers and a large bath, big enough for all four girls to share. Julie recalled acknowledging the professionalism of the set up, but still viewing it with detachment, unable to visualise her participation with the room and its contents.

That felt a long time ago. Four days later she was intimately familiar with that room, gaining proficiency in using its contents to provide security and comfort to others, and benefiting directly herself.

Julie laughed to herself as she remembered that first attempt to put on a diaper. Miriam had joined them and as Alice finished the brief tour she'd drawn the group together to examine their experience.

"Who's changed a diaper before?" she asked, skipping the niceties and getting straight to the issue.

"I have. I changed my cousin's diaper like all the time," revealed Sandy. "Only until he was 8 though."

Everybody in the room paused and looked at her, including Alice and Miriam, who asked the question on everybody's mind, "He wore diapers until he was 8?"

"Oh. Oh, no. Umm!" Sandy looked flustered. "8 months! He was still a little baby."

An odd tension nobody had noticed dissipated, Jane chuckled and soon everybody joined in. Miriam let it subside before resuming, "Excellent Sandy. Anybody else? No? OK, that wont be a problem. You'll need a different technique and approach for an adult anyway." She briskly described the basics of fitting a disposable diaper, how to manage the weight of an adult, securely fastening it, assuring the comfort of the recipient. "Later we'll give you some more input around cleaning and keeping a baby healthy, but as you're all starting with a clean slate, as it were, lets use this first session to focus on fitting and fastening. Now, who's first."

Julie involuntarily stepped backwards before realising she'd done so. She saw Alice smile at her, but nothing was said and a moment later Ellie stepped forward, raising her hand confidently. She kept it raised only briefly before moving it swiftly to her side and she pulled down the zip on her dress before Miriam stopped her.

"Thank you Ellie, I'm grateful to you for taking a lead here. But please, let us take over now." Miriam invited the other three girls to come closer. "Now girls, you have a new doll to undress. Show her how gentle and caring you can be, and strip young Ellie here completely naked."

Julie hesitated. She hadn't anticipated needing to be fully nude, in front of everybody. Jane though stepped forward, gently lifted Ellie's arms and in a soft voice asked her if she could keep them raised. Ellie complied, cooperative but letting Jane take control. Julie helped Jane lift Ellie's dress from the hem up over her head, then pull it clear of her arms. As Jane folded it neatly Julie motioned to Sandy to help her with the slip. Seconds later Ellie was being asked to step out of her panties and stood there entirely bare, a small smile on her lips, waiting patiently for the next steps.

Again Julie hesitated, the short muscular woman stood naked in front of her looking nothing like a baby needing care. Even Jane paused, looking to Miriam for guidance. Instead Alice reached towards Ellie, explaining, "You forgot something," as she plucked the wooden sticks from Ellie's hair, freeing it from its severe bun. Ellie shook her head to help her pale brown hair fall loose and it draped across her shoulders.

"Good, now help Ellie onto the table," instructed Miriam. Sandy put an arm behind Ellie, gently took her far elbow and led her to the nearest changing table. It was low enough for Ellie to sit without jumping, but Sandy knelt and wrapped Ellie's ankles, drawing them up and onto the table too. This turned Ellie around, and Julie reached forward to pull softly on her shoulders to lie her down.

Alice left the room as Miriam spoke again. "Keeping the diaper area clean and sterile is much easier if it's clear of hair," she explained, "and our customers also expect their babies to be clear of any adult hair." She paused, as the meaning of her words was absorbed by the four girls. Even Ellie looked perturbed and started to sit up. Julie instinctively halted her rise, and drew her back down to the table, earning a congratulatory smile from Miriam.

Alice returned, bearing a bowl of warm water. Reaching into one of the drawers on the wall she retrieved a safety razor and an aerosol can labelled with a popular brand of shaving foam. "I'm sure you've all used one of these before," she said, "on your legs and under your arms, at least. Who wants to help Ellie here with a more intimate shave?"

When none of them immediately volunteered Miriam spoke up, "There are four of you that need a shave, so each of you will get the chance to look after someone. Sandy, would you like to show us how it's done?"

Sandy shrugged, whispered a quiet, "Sorry" at Ellie and picked up the can of shaving foam. Ellie rolled her eyes and stoically folded her arms through the next few minutes of indignity. Julie tried not to stare and instead found herself stroking Ellie's hair, unsure if she was providing comfort to Ellie or herself.

"Umm. Feels weird to shave a baby," she commented.

Alice agreed with her, "Yes, but this is a one-off. In a few days enough hair will grow back to support laser electrolysis. A course of that treatment and a shave will never be needed again. Most of our babies reach us with pubic growth too long for that to work, so this helps us prepare them and also lets them adapt to their new status before undergoing a treatment that would frighten them on day one."

Miriam teased, "But please, do let us know if you'd like to experience that part of the process." Julie rapidly shook her head, causing everyone to laugh.

"So," asked Alice, "is Ellie ready?"

Sandy gave an uncertain nod, so Alice quickly checked, running her hand down from Ellie's waist. "Lovely and smooth, nice job Sandy."

This caused blushes from Sandy and Ellie, but both kept quiet. Julie looked over to Miriam, who was pulling a plain white disposable from a shelf.

"You'll need to get used to judging size," she said, "but this one will fit Ellie well. We always start with a plain white disposable, plastic backed, two tapes. As our babies progress we can use the infantile prints and some will get on better with a single tape or a paper back, but these have a sterile medical feel that helps with the initial acclimatisation."

Miriam handed the diaper to Jane, and offered instructions on how to get it onto someone the size of Ellie. "Now obviously, you can't just lift the ankles and slide it underneath as you would a normal infant," she explained, "so open the diaper, flatten it out, put it beside her."

Jane followed the instructions, then held up the leak guards and gave Miriam a quizzical look. "Are these to hold in solid waste?" she asked, her attempted professional tone unusually stilted.

"They help with all emissions," informed Miriam, "pull them away from the inner padding and the diaper's design will move them into position as you fasten it. Now, I went through this with you earlier: Roll Ellie onto her side and move the diaper underneath her."

Sandy and Julie rolled Ellie onto her side, and after Jane pushed the flat padded plastic into position rolled her back on top of it Jane smiled apologetically at Ellie, reached down between her legs and drew up the front of the diaper. As she reached for the tapes on the side she felt a touch on her hands as Alice stopped her.

"I'll do this first one," Alice said, "It's not difficult but a couple of tricks can really help prevent leaks." Ellie lay there listening as the Alice gave a recap of the various options; waist then legs, legs first, should one side be completed before the other? Alice eventually fastened the diaper at the waist before pulling it tight at the leg.

Julie interrupted the process. "Shouldn't we use powder?" she queried, "I thought diapers needed that."

Alice smiled at her and finished taping the diaper closed at the legs. "Powder can help your baby smell nice, and is sometimes used to reinforce the sense of infantilisation," she explained, "but it's entirely unnecessary for healthy diaper use. Regular changes help avoid a rash and the various creams we have are far better treatments when needed. Powder just causes a mess and if the baby suffers from Asthma can be a serious problem for them. We try to avoid using it." As she finished speaking she patted Ellie on her now padded stomach and said, "There, all done."

"Thank you Ellie," said Miriam, "we appreciate your patience. Ah, Daphne. How's Mia?"

Daphne strode briskly into the room, carrying a wicker basket. "She's in the taxi, and I've got her a room by the airport. Her flight is early tomorrow," she said, "and she has my number in case of any difficulties."

"Excellent, thank you," said Miriam, helping Daphne lift the basket onto one of the tables. "And superb timing too, we're just ready for these."

The girls looked curiously across as Miriam opened the basket and lifted clothing out. Folded flat they could only tell colours, something white followed by a larger item in a pale blue. Miriam passed them to Sandy and asked, "Shall we dress baby Ellie?"

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 3

Julie looked wide eyed at Ellie, wondering how she'd respond to the new moniker. Ellie, sitting up on the table, just shrugged and waited patiently for Sandy. They rapidly dressed her, thick white tights, a simple cotton diaper shirt with four snaps at the crotch, and what turned out to be a pinafore dress, a pretty baby blue, barely reaching the top of Ellie's thighs when she stood.

"Those are toddler clothes," commented Julie, "I thought we'd get dressed like babies."

Miriam grinned before replying. "You want the full baby treatment?" She didn't wait for Julie's horrified denial before continuing, "As with the simple diaper and, as you'll find later, keeping you on adult food, this is part of helping our babies adjust. We found that too much too soon scared them and led to behavioural challenges."

Sandy used hair bands to add two pony tails to Ellie, the little girl hairstyle making the other three girls all go, "Awww."

Alice clapped her hands, drawing their attention, and said, "OK, you've now seen how it's done. Who's next?"

"I'll go last," declared Jane, "Let's get these two baby girls diapered and dressed first."

Julie and Sandy both blushed and stood there, unwilling to volunteer but lacking the confidence to challenge Jane. Ellie belied her appearance by moving decisively behind Sandy, reaching around to the front and drawing Julie's jacket from her.

"Add that jacket to Julie's pile", requested Miriam, "I don't think Sandy will need it any more." Julie stared at her in amazement, surprised Miriam had noticed the loan.

"Come on," demanded Jane, taking Julie's hand and leading her towards Sandy, "we should give Ellie some help."

Before long Sandy was fully transformed, her pinafore a pale green but still allowing glimpses of the padding beneath. She stood there tugging down on it, not realising she kept going, "Oh. Oh! Oh."

Julie wanted to laugh but knew it was her turn, and wasn't sure she'd take it any better. She decided to make it easy for her new friends and faced Jane, held her arms out to the sides and put on a little girl voice. "Please Jane, make me a baby."

Jane, Ellie and Sandy laughed, stepped forward and started to remove her blouse and skirt. Miriam and Alice just looked at each other, smiled and said nothing. Julie stepped out of her heels, allowed the girls to remove her underwear and sat on the edge of the table, trying to show a confidence she didn't feel.

As Daphne brought over a fresh bowl of warm water Julie looked down and saw Jane pick up the shaving foam. Her confidence failed, and, feeling vulnerable, she found herself reaching down with both hands, covering her crotch. "I.. I'm.." she stuttered, before feeling her wrists being firmly drawn away. She managed not to resist and quickly found her arms above her head, held in place by Ellie, a curious compassionate implacability on her face.

"Good, Ellie," complimented Miriam, "Although perhaps you'd like some help with that."

Alice walked around the table and Julie heard a sound from underneath it, a creak and a slither, then something cold wrapped around her wrist. She looked up and saw a leather band being fastened in place, shock stopping her resisting as a second was fixed to her other wrist. "We find this helps some of our babies relax," explained Alice, "a firm restraint quells their desire to struggle and removes any sense of guilt about the process."

Indeed, Julie had subsided the moment the wrist restraints were in place. She now had no choice, and that lack of agency made it easier to accept her fate, allow Jane to shave away her adulthood. Instead she stretched back with her hands, keen to reach out to Ellie, show that she didn't resent the control imposed on her. Ellie took one of her hands between her own, held it tight, offered warm human contact that provided surprising comfort.

A cold damp feeling as she was wiped clean let Julie know that Jane had finished, so she allowed herself to be turned onto her side before being returned to her back. She could feel the padding beneath her, knew she was now lying on a diaper, and generously spread her thighs a little to allow it to be pulled taut between her legs. Looking down she saw Sandy taking charge, taping her securely in place, the incongruous sight of an adult dressed like a toddler turning her into one herself. She sighed, flexed her thighs, felt the bulk between them and wondered why she felt so calm.

"No," she heard Alice tell Ellie, "Don't release her yet."

Julie looked up, saw the uncertainty on Ellie's face and turned her own to Alice, fear and confusion in her expression even before she said anything. Alice put a finger on her lips, silencing the questions before they came, and explained to the other three, "Sometimes the babies throw tantrums, so you'll need to be able to control and care for them even when they're uncooperative. I'm sure Julie will behave.." Alice paused and gave a quick look at Julie which let her know that she had better behave. "..but this is a lovely opportunity for you to try dressing someone in restraints."

Ellie's comforting had helped Julie feel relaxed, and Alice's look didn't leave her feeling threatened. She wriggled on the table, making sure not to kick out, and flapped her hands. In a calm voice she begged, "No! Please don't dress me as a baby. I'll be good! You don't have to do this."

Jane laughed, tickled her tummy just above the diaper and replied, "But Julie, you asked me to turn you into a baby. You can't change your mind now!" Sandy burst into giggles and wheeled away, laughing too hard to help, but Jane and Ellie, holding the clothing Daphne offered them, took an ankle each and were soon pulling childish thick tights up Julie's smooth legs.

Julie had intended to bend her knees and drum her feet on the table once the tights were pulled up, simulate a toddler's tantrum and make the others laugh some more. Instead she was distracted by the sensations as the tights compressed her diaper against her, a frightening reinforcement of the confinement around her crotch.

"We'll need to release her wrists to get the diaper shirt on her," said Sandy, moving to the head of the table.

"No," said Jane, "look, there are poppers here."

Julie looked and saw Jane holding the diaper shirt she would soon be wearing, unfastening poppers at each shoulder. "Oh, that's clever," she blurted, before remembering the clever design merely meant she would be wearing it even sooner.

Jane smiled, lifted both ankles and tugged on the garment. It took all three girls rolling Julie on the table, lifting limbs and tugging on the diaper shirt to pull it onto her, but she was soon snugly dressed, the poppers refastened, and aware that it would all soon repeat with the pinafore dress.

"Good work," said Miriam, "but if Julie agrees to cooperate I think it will be quicker and more comfortable for her if we release her wrists and let her sit up while you pull her dress on."

The others agreed that this would be easier, and Julie had no intention of delaying her release. "I'll be a good girl," she promised, only to be challenged by Jane.

"Oh, no Julie," she said, "Promise me you'll be a good baby."

Miriam and Alice laughed, and Julie realised they weren't going to help her out here. "I'll be a good baby girl," she said, then to show she wasn't upset fluttered her eyelashes at Jane.

Even Ellie let out a guffaw at that, and the girls soon had Julie's wrists out of the restraints before getting her into a pale yellow pinafore that unsurprisingly was rather shorter than she'd prefer. She stood up, gave a twirl and stopped, facing Jane.

"Now then, just one baby left," she declared. Jane nodded, shrugged and invited them to go ahead.

***

Thinking back on that first day, Julie thought that getting Jane ready had been the hardest part. Jane had cooperated, made it easy for her, but she'd never had to shave someone else before, let alone so sensitive an area. She'd hesitated, stopped and started 2-3 times, missed a bit and had to redo that area, but finally finished without cutting Jane or causing her pain. Julie wondered if she was more relieved about that than Jane, but they'd never discussed it afterwards.

The rest of the afternoon had gone quickly. Miriam and her team had shown the girls to a sitting room, soft furnishings and a trolley with drinks, then left them alone, knowing it had been an intense few hours and that they'd need some time. The girls had sat quietly chatting, discussing what they'd learned, the curious situation, their new attire.

Unspoken was the one thing they all knew would come: Someone would need the toilet. Only Sandy had taken a drink from the trolley, seemingly oblivious to the obvious consequences, or perhaps accepting that it was going to happen anyway. Even without a drink Julie knew she'd soon need to go, but she could hold it for the moment and was unwilling to be first to gain this new experience.

Before long Daphne and Alice joined them. "Dinner time," said Daphne cheerfully, "but before we go through, does anybody need a change?"

Each of the girls shook her head, and stood up, but Alice stopped them. "This might seem silly,", she said, "but we can't trust babies to know when they need a change." She approached Jane, pulled up the pretty pink pinafore and reached down into Jane's tights. Jane stood there, hands on hips, refusing to be embarrassed.

"Nope, dry and clean," proclaimed Alice, then checked Sandy before approaching Julie. "Come on sweetheart, lets see how you are," she said.

Julie glowered but pulled up her own hem and held it clear from the probing hand. Alice had warm fingers but as they slipped into Julie's diaper she flinched anyway, the intimate intrusion putting her on edge.

"Lovely and dry," said Alice, confirming what Julie already knew, and moved on to Ellie who proved equally clean.

"Would you like to follow me," suggested Daphne and started towards a door they hadn't been through. Most of the group followed her, looking forward to some food.

Sandy however moved towards another door, and asked, "I just need to pop to the loo before dinner. Is there a toilet nearby or should I return to my room?"

Alice intercepted her, blocking her passage. "Oh silly, babies don't use the toilet," she said kindly. Sandy didn't respond well.

"But I need to go!" she said loudly, "Would you please step aside."

Daphne stepped in behind her and took one of her arms firmly, saying nothing. Alice focussed on Sandy's eyes, an imposing stare, before stepping forward and taking the other arm. "Sandy, you agreed to this induction process. This is part of the learning experience. Now, lets go to dinner."

Julie saw Sandy stiffen but the reminder that this was part of their training seemed to have helped, and she let the two ladies walk her into the dining room. Julie and the others followed, and found a large wooden table already laid out, simple cutlery identifying the seating spots on each side. Everybody chose a seat, except Sandy, who was walked over to a strange looking chair at one end. Julie peered at it with curiosity, it was the same size as theirs but had high arm rests and its own built-in table.

Daphne pulled that to one side as Alice helped Sandy sit in the chair, then swivelled it back in front of her. "Should I apply the straps?" she asked Alice, who shook her head.

"No," she replied, "I think Sandy understands now."

Sandy nodded, then looked up as Miriam entered through another door.

"Ah, I see we have someone at the head of the table," said Miriam, "I'll sit by you Sandy and if you need I can help you with your food."

Sandy looked shocked but kept her manners. "Uhm, no. Thank you. I think I can cope," she said, "Can't I sit with the others?"

Miriam looked at Alice who shook her head. "Sorry Sandy," she said, "the first baby to misbehave always gets to sit at the head of the table. We find this a useful reminder to the whole group."

Julie felt sorry for Sandy so piped up herself, "Hey, it's OK Sandy. I'm sure we'll all get a go." She offered a wan smile, hoping Sandy didn't realise how worried she was herself.

Dinner progressed well after that. As promised the new girls enjoyed the same meals as their mentors, and the good food raised spirits. Julie had wondered if they'd get wine, but it seemed a teetotal table and she didn't want to be the only one to ask.

Just as desserts were coming out, things took a dark turn. Sandy had been fidgeting for a while, ignored by Miriam but watched with amusement by Alice and concern by the other three girls. They all knew what was causing it, and were struggling with a mix of empathy, disgust and anticipated dread for when they'd join her.

"I.. I can't hold it any more," sobbed Sandy quietly.

"Then let it go," advised Jane, "we'll all experience this soon."

"I know," acknowledged Sandy, "I just don't want to be first. I'm frightened." Her hands gripped the end of her chair's small table, white knuckles showing the physical tension she was under.

Julie felt sorry for her, stood up and walked to the head of the table. She crouched by Sandy, took one of her hands and spoke softly to her. "I need to go too. Shall we both pop our cherries together?"

The unlikely turn of phrase raised smiles around the table, but Sandy was too far gone to see the humour. "You'd do that for me?" she asked.

"Sure," said Julie, projecting bravado she didn't feel, "as Jane said, we're all going to eventually. Shall I count us down? Three.. Two.. One.."

Julie closed her eyes and forced herself to relax. She had no idea how she looked, whether Sandy was joining her, what the others thought. She just knew that she could feel her bladder emptying, wetting herself for the first time she could remember. She hoped the diaper wouldn't leak, wondered how it would feel, tried not to think about the walk back to her chair or what would happen when she sat down.

She missed Sandy's face switching to an expression of relief, Miriam's quiet smile, Daphne and Alice sharing a knowing look and Jane winking at Ellie.

Julie felt Sandy's increased grip on her hand relax, opened her eyes, met Sandy's gaze. "Thank you Julie," said Sandy, "I'm so sorry."

Julie smiled. "It's fine. I needed that too," she said, and stood up. "Umm. Should we change before dessert or..?" Her voice trailed off as she saw Miriam's face.

"Oh, no. Those diapers can survive more than that," assured Miriam, "take your seat and lets enjoy the rest of our meal."
 

[Cute_Kitten]

I'm very happy to see this here! To anyone who is new to this story- keep reading, you're in for a treat! This is probably my favorite work of yours, Baby Anna! 

[aldl4811]

Wow I love the depth of this

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 4

Julie had spent the rest of dinner in something of a daze, her mind overwhelmed by what she'd just done. Not just wetting herself, but on purpose, and to help someone else. She recalled the others making small talk, going over the next day's activities, discussing the shopping options in a nearby town. None of it seemed real to her, reality was a warm wet feeling around her loins, a constant reminder when she shifted position, embarrassment and shyness when someone caught her eye.

As the meal finished the others stood, followed Miriam through to another room. Daphne swivelled the table away from Sandy and helped her stand, then looked across at Julie. "Come on, you'll be fine," she said, "look, Sandy's coping."

Sandy gave her a brave looking smile and Julie realised she'd been ignoring the poor girl since taking her seat. She stood up, smiled back and said, "Lets join the others. I suspect they'll be in a similar state soon."

Daphne took Sandy's hand and led her from the room, and Julie laughed as she saw Sandy waddle slightly. That laugh stuck in her throat when she started to follow them. The diaper had somehow grown between her legs, swelling to absorb its new contents, and that interrupted her normal smooth gait. Julie gritted her teeth, focussed on walking normally and went through the door.

She found Miriam and Alice sat on comfortable looking chairs, Miriam's reclined with a raised footrest. Daphne was already joining them, having led Sandy to where Ellie and Jane were sat on what Julie could only describe as oversized baby recliners. Just as with the changing tables, there were six of them, so she decided to play ball and picked one by her new friends. As she sank into it she felt her feet rise off the floor and realised it wouldn't be easy to stand up again, but it was comfortable and she welcomed the chance to recover from the traumas of the dining room.

"Now girls," said Miriam, "We always have two members of staff on duty at all times. Anybody on duty is forbidden alcohol, to protect our babies." Julie nodded to herself, that made sense. Miriam continued, "As you're all new, Alice, Daphne and I are all on duty while you go through your induction period. But you're not, so if you like, we can offer you a bottle of wine as a treat for making it through a difficult first day."

All of the girls perked up at that. Only Jane held back, and asked, "You don't mean a bottle of wine do you, you mean a bottle of wine."

Julie looked at her in confusion. That didn't make sense! Yet Miriam smiled, and nodded at her, "Very perspicacious Jane," she said, "but would you like one anyway?"

Jane thought for a moment, then visibly shrugged. "Sure," she said, "I think you want us all to relax, and this will certainly help."

Miriam's smile broadened and she gestured to Daphne, "Could you perhaps help our young ladies with their drinks, save them having to stand?" she asked. Daphne stood and went over to a cabinet, its wood veneer polished and glossy, and pulled a tray from it. Julie realised they must have planned ahead, as there were four bottles on it, each the size of an athletic drinking bottle, their glass sides showing a deep red liquid inside. Daphne passed one to each of the girls, and as Julie received hers she heard a startled gasp from one of the others.

Looking at the bottle she immediately understood why, but also comprehended why it didn't matter. Of course it had a rubber teat on it; she should have guessed. Julie put the teat into her mouth, sucked in a mouthful of what she rapidly assessed as rather nice red wine, and paused. Jane had guessed! Julie sighed, and felt strangely naive as she sat there, rocking in an oversized baby chair, damp diaper squidging beneath her, sucking on a baby's bottle.

A couple of hours later, the strong wine still leaving her light headed, Julie had been helped from her chair by Alice and they'd all gone through to the changing room. Julie hadn't used her diaper again, and didn't know if the others had. Nobody had said anything, although Sandy was looking a little distressed.

"I know it's early," Miriam had said, "but all our babies get a nice early night. So time for you all to get a last change and dressed for bed."

Julie welcomed the chance to escape the wet diaper she'd been wearing for a while now, so offered to go first. Alice took her hand and led her to a table. "We'll help you tonight," she said, "as you'll all be tired and maybe a little tipsy. Now, as you'll be going to bed after this we can remove your outfits, change your diapers and then put you straight into your jammies."

Ellie helped Alice pull Julie's dress and diaper shirt off her, and Sandy pulled down her tights. Julie stepped out of them, sat on the table and swung her legs up.

"Would you like the wrist restraints again Julie?" asked Alice. Julie blushed and shook her head, but reached out to find Ellie's hand, wanting hers held while Jane untaped her diaper. As the front was lowered she expected to be rolled over but was instead asked by Alice to lift her hips.

"The approach we took earlier works with all babies, even the uncooperative ones," explained Alice, "but when a baby is well behaved it's much quicker if they help a little. Now, keep those hips raised Julie and we'll wipe you clean."

Julie found the position uncomfortable but felt it better to abide. At least she was free from that plastic torment; it had become clammy and uncomfortable, a key factor in her desire for a change. When she did eventually lower her hips she almost raised them again in surprise. It felt like she'd dropped down onto a towel and not a clean new diaper.

She looked at Alice in surprise. "No diaper?" she asked.

Alice withheld a laugh. "Oh, yes," she said, "it's a cloth diaper. We like using them overnight, that extra padding helps our babies embrace their status and they can last the whole night without a change."

Julie gripped Ellie's hand tight and received a quick squeeze in response, followed by a gentle caress across her forehead. She heard Alice talking to the others about the diaper now being fastened around her. "As you can see, we're using a disposable liner. That will help keep any wetness away from Julie's skin, and also makes the diaper easier to clean should she mess overnight."

Julie started to sit up at that, alarmed by the suggestion, but Ellie drew her back down. Instead she listened as Alice continued, "Some cloth diapers need folding but we're using tailored ones that have a similar design to the disposables. So you just draw it up here, and then use diaper pins here, here and.. here." At each of the closing words Julie felt the diaper fasten tighter around her and realised she was being pinned into it, something that even after the past few hours seemed to make her feel more infantile. She tried to think why that was but couldn't find a solution.

"Why does this make me feel more like a baby than even using that disposable?" she asked Alice, who gave her a serious look but didn't reply.

"Now Jane, if you could help with these," asked Alice, and Julie felt her ankles being raised again and something being pulled up her legs. She looked down and saw a large mound of towelling below her waist and a pair of plastic panties being pulled up towards it. "Lift your hips again," requested Alice, so Julie leaned back again and complied. She felt the panties being drawn over the top of her diaper and around her waist, then felt fingers running around the waistband and the leg openings.

"A quick check that everything's inside," said Alice, "and we're done. You can relax now Julie. To answer your question it's because diaper pins are inextricably linked to babies and the diapers they're going to use. Incontinent teens and adults almost always use disposables but even when they do wear washables they invariably use pull-ons or Velcro fasteners."

"Only babies," she reiterated, looking down and making sure Julie was painfully aware who she meant by that, "get pinned into diapers."

Julie had let her hips sink back to the changing table while Alice was speaking. She grimaced but said nothing to that final statement and tried again to sit up. This time Ellie helped her, gave her a quick hug and turned to Daphne who was holding out a new piece of clothing.

Julie couldn't see clearly as Ellie took it from Daphne, shook it loose from its folds and showed it to Jane who looked across at Julie and remarked, "Oh, you'll look so cute in that!"

They approached the table and started to slide soft cotton up Julie's legs, then took her hands and helped her down from the table. As she stood Julie worried that she was stood on her new clothing, before realising that was intended: it was a footed sleepsuit, which Ellie quickly zipped up her back.

Alice called for attention and showed the group a small padlock. "Idle fingers can get into trouble at night," she said, "so we find it best to remove temptation." She stepped in behind Julie, who a moment later heard a small click and guessed her zip would not now come undone.

"I'm locked in?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. She wasn't planning to remove her sleepsuit anyway, but a lock felt strangely oppressive, the element of choice removed, her subservient status subtly stated.

"It changes things, doesn't it," said Miriam drily, the question clearly rhetorical. "It's such a tiny thing, but we add it at the end of the first day and give our babies something to think about as they fall asleep."

Julie looked at Miriam, for the first time seeing the woman behind the facade. Miriam enjoyed this, she realised, more even than the business success it gave her. There was a power dynamic, and Miriam liked holding all the power.

Miriam saw the look, smiled at her, said nothing. They both knew, no words were necessary. Julie shivered and looked away.

"Aren't you just lovely," said Alice, "Now, lets who's next."

Julie welcomed the distraction, threw her energy into helping with the others. With surprise she discovered Ellie and Jane had both used their diapers at some point; they'd said nothing, drawn no attention to the fact.

Before long all four girls were in thick diapers, a warm sleepsuit hiding them from view, the tiny locks holding everything in place. Julie looked at her new colleagues and laughed. "We actually look like we're just having a sleepover," she said, "if you didn't know what's underneath."

Alice asked them to come with her and led them down a panelled corridor into a new wing of the house. The girls followed with small steps, the thick padding forcing them all to waddle a little and the sleepsuits offering little grip on the polished wooden floors. They emerged in a large room they hadn't seen before, this one definitely a dormitory.

Closed curtains and subdued lighting stopped Julie seeing the room in detail, but it was impossible to miss the beds lining each of the two long walls that stretched away from her. They looked like wooden babies' cribs, painted white, a hint of delicate patterns on the head and tailboards. But they were adult sized, and all four girls stopped as they realised these would be their beds.

"Jane?" invited Alice, standing by one of the cribs, the nearest side folded down and open. Jane walked over and lay on the mattress, watching calmly as Alice brought up the side panel, a catch at the top making a loud clunk as it closed.

"It's not impossible to open these from inside," revealed Alice, "but we've fitted simple alarms and you really don't want to know what happens if those go off and we don't find an emergency."

"What if it opens by itself?" asked Sandy nervously.

"That wont happen," assured Alice, "That loud sound as it closed tells us it's locked in place and needs deliberate action to open. Come here, you can see it yourself."

Alice had walked to the next crib, and showed Sandy the mechanism at the top before inviting her to lay down. Sandy looked back at Julie as if seeking reassurance, so Julie gestured to her to lay down and let Alice close the side. As she heard the confirming clunk she walked to the next crib herself, and saw Ellie moving to an empty one of her own.

The mattress was yielding and comfortable, but felt firm enough to support Julie as she slept. It had crinkled a little as she lay on it, and she assumed a protective cover was there for the unlikely event her thick diapers failed in their job. She looked up at Alice as the side was raised, and a hefty sound confirmed her own crib was now firmly closed, securing her until morning. Looking out she saw Daphne dropping baby style bottles in each of the occupied cribs, their contents a clear liquid.

"Daphne is giving you all a bottle of water," said Miriam, who had entered while Julie was being put to bed. "It's entirely optional whether you drink it, but as you're now confined to your cribs for the night we want to be sure you wont dehydrate, so do please have a drink if you get thirsty.

"Any questions before we dim the lights and let you get some sleep?"

"Uhm," said Sandy, then stopped.

"Yes Sandy?" asked Miriam, "It's OK, what do you need?"

"Can I have Mr Speckles? He's my bear, he's in my bag," said Sandy, "I mean, I sleep with him normally and if we're babies we should have cuddly toys anyway. Shouldn't we?"

Julie had nearly laughed at Sandy's initial request but felt it was a good point. She'd left her soft toys at home when she went to college so hadn't thought of them here, but if they were being treated as babies.. Julie looked through the bars of her crib at Miriam, who frowned.

Sandy saw this and panicked. "I'm sorry," she gabbled, "I just wanted.."

"Hush child," said Miriam, disregarding Sandy as an unwanted distraction. Julie saw Sandy quail at this put-down, and felt her own dismay. More than anything else that day, Miriam casually dismissing Sandy as any adult treats a noisy child made her realise how Miriam perceived them, revealed their true status during this induction week.

"Daphne," said Miriam, "could you come here a moment?"

Julie watched as Daphne approached Miriam, looking strangely pale even in the poorly lit room. "I'm sorry," said Daphne, "I forgot. I'll.."

Miriam sighed, and cut Daphne short. "We can discuss this tomorrow," she said, "lets not keep our girls up any longer tonight."

At this point Julie felt a soft nudge in her back, and turning found Alice poking a scraggy plush sheep through the crib bars at her. Alice winked but said nothing, and Julie realised this wasn't the time for questions. She accepted the cuddly sheep and held it close, turning to look back at Daphne.

She'd regained some colour in her cheeks but still looked very concerned. She took another soft toy from Alice and carried it over to Jane while Alice passed one through to Ellie. Miriam had approached Sandy's crib and knelt beside it. "We don't want to go through your belongings," she said, "Will you be OK with this fluffy fellow tonight?"

Sandy responded quietly. "Yes," she said, "Thank you. Goodnight." Julie saw Sandy had been given a toy of her own, and was looking shocked by the outcome of her question.

"Good girl," said Miriam, standing back up. "Goodnight all of you, and sleep well." She left the room, Daphne and Alice following, and straight after most of the lights turn off, the remaining ones dimming enough to leave only vague outlines of the cribs in the room.

Julie thought back to that night, how, exhausted by her morning travelling and an emotionally challenging day, she'd quickly fallen asleep. She remembered waking in the darkness, the evening's wine finally making its demands on her bladder, and taking the gamble that a wet diaper would be easier to sleep with than a full bladder. After all, babies slept in wet diapers all the time. In hindsight she'd made a good decision as, although damp and distressed, she'd drifted off again, and indeed, slept like a baby.

[kirababy]

Looking forward to seeing where this leads, I'm definitely hooked so far.

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 5

"On day two, everything is still new. Our babies wonder what they've got into. try to adjust, want to participate. Love and attention easily gets them through," said Miriam, then with a strange smile added, "It's also when they typically experience their first messy diaper; well, for a year or twenty."

The day had started well. Overnight the wine had made its way through all of them, and although it was strange to wake up wet, sharing the experience with the others had almost been fun, their embarrassed shrugs as they were released from their cribs acknowledging their common state.

Alice had produced a small key and removed the locks holding their nightwear closed, making it possible for them to unzip and strip each other. They had scurried naked into the shower room, told that none of them were permitted to wash herself and overcome the embarrassment by intentionally splashing soap suds around, the communal shower large enough to avoid the mess flooding the rest of the room. Back in the changing room all four of the young women took turns to put one of the others into a disposable, and dressed each other in what Julie could only describe as party dresses, the A line cut gathered at an Empire waistline to allow it to flare out over their diapers, stiff material swaying as they walked. 

There dresses were longer than the previous day's pinafores, coming to mid-thigh, modestly hiding their diapers, and the diaper shirts the girls wore to hold them in place. Julie had been pleased by that, feeling less exposed and as a result less upset by her diaper.

After breakfast they'd been shown into a small but functional lecture room, benches set out around a large screen, whiteboards on either side. Miriam and Alice took turns to take them through an initial exploration of the company's customer base, highlighting core demographics, the wealth boundaries they targeted, regions and countries both lucrative and targeted for growth. It kept the girls engaged and busy, small exercises used to assure their active participation in the training, small discussions helping them work through ambiguities and misunderstandings.

Lunch arrived surprisingly quickly, the morning gone in a blur. The girls and their instructors relaxed, switched the conversation away from work, enjoyed the pretence they were just normal adults in a normal company.

It was after lunch, sitting through an unscripted rant by Alice about Brazilian import taxes, that they were reminded that this was not a normal company. Julie recalled how she had looked across and seen Ellie showing signs of distress, sucking in her lips, occasionally closing her eyes as though concentrating deeply on something. Alice had also noticed, "Ellie, you look uncomfortable. I'm guessing your body is making certain demands." Ellie nodded, so Alice continued. "I thought so. I guess you want to find and use a toilet?"

Ellie managed somehow to do something Julie found quite marvellous. With a single shift in facial expression and shrug of her shoulders she managed to convey all at once the acknowledgement that this was what she wanted, that she knew it wasn't an option, that she was sanguine about this, but that she was still going to choose when to accede to her body's demands anyway. It was remarkably expressive and Julie found herself wishing she could physically articulate such emotions so succinctly.

"Perhaps," suggested Miriam, "this is a good time for us to take a break. I don't think Ellie's the only person seeking relief."

Julie looked at her colleagues and saw quiet agreement on their faces. The pre-lunch check by Alice had been quick, only two of the girls in damp diapers, neither needing a change. Julie had been too focussed on the training to drink much, her bladder only now reminding her it had been slowly filling since breakfast.

It wasn't however her bladder that concerned her. Julie's body had for a few hours been dictating another need, more urgent and much less welcome.

"Follow me," requested Alice, leading the group back to the dormitory, now brightly lit through its tall windows, curtains opened after the girls had left it that morning. There was another, more surprising change. Elegant modesty screens had been brought into the room and set between the cribs, allowing inhabitants a level of privacy previously unavailable.

Alice provided the explanation. "Wetting diapers is unpleasant," she said, "but it's around this time in the process that our babies usually come to terms with something they think will be much worse."

"I'm not going to lie to you and pretend otherwise. It will be worse. But we can make this first time a little easier for you: A level of privacy, and you can lie down."

"Lie down?", asked Julie, "You're going to close us in the cribs?"

"No," assured Alice, "not this time." The implication that this might happen another time gave Julie butterflies, but she tried to ignore them and inquired further.

"Why are we in here then? Why couldn't we go back to our rooms?"

Alice smiled sadly and looked at the girls stood around her. "This is your room for the week," she said, and paused before continuing.

"I've brought you here as some babies struggle to.." Alice paused again, searching for the right word. "Perform, standing up. Here you have the option, you can stand, squat or lie down in your open crib, with the privacy screens helping with the embarrassment that everybody feels."

Three expressions changed, become thoughtful and contemplative. Sandy though looked more confused, articulating it as a question, "Can we sit? Wouldn't that feel more natural? I mean, I'm used to being sat on a toilet for.."

As her voice tailed off Jane replied wryly, "Yes, but.. not with the lid down." The resulting mental image made everyone smile.

"Right, everybody stand by their crib," commanded Alice, and waited while the girls obeyed. "Now, flick the clasp at the top closed."

Julie reached up, manipulated the lock that held up the side of the crib, heard its clunk echoed around the room as the others did likewise.

Alice had continued speaking, "This is going to be difficult for you all, so I'm going to pop out and let you go in your own time. When you're ready for a change, open the clasp again and the built in alarm will let me know you're ready."

"I wont come back," she warned, "until you've all sent that signal, so try to be kind to your colleagues and avoid delay."

After Alice's footsteps faded into the distance Jane had laughed quietly. "They didn't mention this during recruitment," she said, "or I'd have asked for a higher salary."

The others laughed with her, but everybody soon quietened. Julie stood by her crib, realised how unnatural it would feel to try and relieve her internal pressures in that stance and squatted down. As she went lower she could feel her diaper growing taut around her bottom and realised that this would be barely better than sitting. She stood again, then sat on the edge of her crib, reluctant to lie down and surrender to the inevitable.

"Oh!" she heard, Sandy's accent obvious. A succession of further sounds came through the screen hiding Sandy from her, a range of discernible vowels mixed with grunts and groans. They started surprised, temporarily turned woeful then ended drawn out, almost orgasmic in nature.

Julie couldn't help herself and burst out laughing, hearing Jane and Ellie joining in. "What?" asked Sandy loudly before going, "Oh. Ummm. Sorry." As the others stopped laughing she asked, "Have you all..?"

"Ah. No. Sorry Sandy," said Julie contritely, realising that she was now stopping Sandy getting a much needed change. Julie committed herself mentally to following Sandy's lead. After all, millions of people did this every day; at least she had control over the timing. 

She lay down on the mattress and smoothed her skirt beneath her as she raised her knees, giving herself leverage to lift her hips slightly. The position felt strange, a prelude to intimacy with a lover, soft absorbent padding an unlikely barrier. Her body disregarded that, welcomed the instinctive relaxation and pushed, immediately giving Julie a clear understanding of the noises Sandy had made. Initial resistance was uncomfortable but soon replaced by a sense of guilt, embarrassment at the act, a horrible feeling as her bottom grew warm beneath her. Despite that her body felt palpable relief and Julie couldn't prevent a small sigh as she finished, blushing as she realised the others may have heard.

She stayed in that awkward pose, unwilling to rest her hips on the bed, long seconds passing slowly as she coped with the whirling emotions. Maybe millions of people did do this every day, but she didn't, wasn't used to the surprising heat beneath her, couldn't reconcile her mental revulsion at the act with her body's feedback to it.

Eventually Julie relented and rolled to the side, trying to support her weight on her hips, still clean beneath the diaper. She gingerly stood, wincing at unwanted sensations from below her skirt, feeling a soft weight shift against her skin then fall away, the resulting cold air strangely uncomfortable, as though she'd been cosy before. Julie sighed again, silently this time, a physical sign of her acceptance that a threshold had been crossed. She reached up to open the clasp then stood there, immobility her only defence against further tactile reminders of her humbled state.

The wait had been uncomfortable, desire for it to end making interminable the scant minutes before Julie heard footsteps from the hall, a clack of heels as someone entered the room.

Julie felt apprehensive, not wanting to be seen like this, sure that a single glance would reveal her sorry state. She wondered if the others felt the same, whether they'd all emerge from behind the partitions and blush together, the sharing of their humiliation failing to reduce its intensity.

Rather than find out she delayed, then realised that would leave her making a solo entrance, receiving the full attention of the group, and stepped quickly out towards the aisle in the centre of the room. As she passed the edge of the screen she found out everybody else had been similarly reluctant, all of them coming into sight at the same time. Julie realised they were all avoiding eye contact, Sandy looking down at her feet, Jane finding unusual interest in the painted decoration on her crib, Ellie looking at each girl's waist.

"Well done girls," she heard, and looked in surprise as she realised it was Miriam speaking.

"Normally we don't tell our babies too much about the process we're putting them through," Miriam told them, "obviously you're getting a lot more detail as we want you to understand it from both sides. This next piece of information though we do share with them."

She paused, and looked at uncomfortable girls before her, all of them now torn between curiosity and the desire to remove their soiled clothing.

"Everybody holds back, defers that first time as long as possible. We find that the second afternoon is when discomfort finally challenges embarrassment, and bringing you here for some privacy shifts that balance, makes physical respite the more attractive option.

"Now, I know you all need a change, and if you want one, Alice is waiting in the changing room." Miriam held up a hand as she spoke, a physical caution for the girls to wait until she finished. "But I wouldn't recommend it."

Julie looked at her aghast. What could they be planning that was worse than her current situation, the contents of her diaper smearing against her skin at the slightest movement, the room already thick with a nauseating smell. Her expression was matched by the others.

Miriam saw their looks and snickered briefly before address their obvious fears. "No, don't worry, she'll just get you cleaned up and into a new diaper," she said, then added a stern, "But."

As she paused Miriam looked at each girl in turn, catching their eyes, making sure she had their attention. It was unnecessary, her words were both their route to much needed release and a threat to it. She enjoyed having their full focus, selfishly basked in it longer by speaking slowly, teasing them with a delayed explanation.

"Because you held on long after your body was ready," she informed them, "what you've just done is effectively unplugged yourself. In ten to twenty minutes you'll find you need to go again, as your colon discovers space it can now fill. So although you can go and have a nice clean diaper you will almost immediately feel the need to use it again, and, well, babies don't get two changes ten minutes apart."

Miriam stopped speaking, left a silence that let the young women around her think about what they'd heard and what it meant for them.

"So we should..?" Julie started to ask, but found herself unable to continue the question to its logical conclusion.

Miriam showed some sympathy and answered anyway. "I would recommend you wait a little," she said kindly, "I know you want a change 
now, but do you really want to be stuck in a dirty diaper, straight after getting out of one?"

"Now, close your crib clasps again and only open them when you're ready for a change. We'll wait for all four alarms again, but you can trigger them now or," Miriam controlled herself, avoided the snigger, "when you're sure you're ready."

She turned and they heard the clack of her heels again as she left the room, not waiting for their response.

The girls looked at each other. "I guess we'd better agree on this," suggested Jane, "how does everybody feel?"

"Wait!" demanded Sandy, "How does she know that? She doesn't know how long we waited."

"She knows exactly what you have and haven't done since before lunch yesterday," observed Julie, "and from what I heard a few minutes ago I think we probably all do."

"Sorry," she added as Sandy blushed, "that was cruel." She reached out to Sandy and took her hand, mouthing, "I'm sorry" again to her.

As Sandy leaned towards Julie and gave her a forgiving hug, both taking care to touch only shoulders and arms, Jane shared her thoughts, "I'm already getting hints that Miriam was right. I'd prefer to hang on a few minutes before a change if you're all OK with that?"

The other three nodded in agreement then found further consensus in an unspoken return to their cribs, seeking privacy once more. Four loud clicks showed that they'd all remembered to reset the clasps before the room fell silent again.

Julie looked at her crib and realising she didn't want to try lying down in her already dirty diaper stood there, uncertainty making her pause. She heard Jane's voice, "Definitely more pay." This time the humour had an edge to it, and nobody laughed.

Fearing the consequences of squatting Julie instead sank to her knees, leaning her elbows on the mattress, her head in her hands. She shook her head quietly, trying to believe this was actually happening, that she wasn't in a dream, someone else's nightmare. Tentatively she tightened the muscles in her belly but had no response, her body not yet ready. She dropped her head, resting her eyes on her folded arms.

Trying to forget her lower body, ignoring her increasingly sore knees and fed up of self-pity Julie forced herself to look up again, staring at the far side of her crib, letting the regular pattern of the bars distract her mind. It helped, her thoughts wandered and she ended up stifling a laugh before deciding to share with the others.

"So Ellie," she called, "What did you do at work today?" Julie was rewarded by a snort of laughter, and for a moment the room seemed a happier place.

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 6

Julie had knelt by the crib and thought about the situation. She knew she wanted this job, had been delighted when it was offered to her, and even the unusual approach to induction hadn't scared her away. That gave her comfort that she was doing the right thing in general, but this was a very specific situation. She thought through it from several angles, the embarrassment a core factor but mitigated by the others being in the same position. She tried to strip the emotion away and think logically, rationalising to herself that this was part of induction, she wanted to succeed, and that meant wearing and using a diaper. Not only that but if she wanted to enjoy the rest of the day in comfort, no demands from her body, she should indeed make sure she filled this one again - if Miriam's predictions were correct.

A couple of quiet minutes later Julie had confirmation, her body letting her know that Miriam's prediction was indeed proving accurate. Tensing her muscles again she felt resistance and felt oddly happy, convinced she was doing the right thing in the circumstances. Julie renewed her efforts and concentrated, finding herself holding her breath and pushing hard. It worked, too well, and she suddenly had to cope with the revolting feel of a soiled diaper filling further at the same time her bladder released, a riot of intense physical sensations forcing her to continue even as she mentally recoiled in disgust.

"Ewww," she said and slumped forward onto the mattress, glad the diaper was sagging away from her body, unwilling to move and disturb its contents. Her shock at her actions, the relief they'd given her despite their horrible consequences overwhelmed her, left her reeling, too shocked to cry. As she recovered she remembered the alarm and leaned to her left, putting all of her weight onto that knee and bringing her right foot forward ready to stand. That simple movement shifted her diaper and she winced, hating the feel against her skin. Julie gritted her teeth and finished standing up, opened the clasp and stood there, breathing deeply and slowly to try and calm herself.

This wait seemed shorter, and the footsteps this time stopped in the corridor. "Come through," called Alice, "I think you're all ready for a change."

As she stepped away from the crib Julie realised this was going to be nasty. Her heavy diaper seemed held up only by her diaper shirt, its function below her dress now apparent, stopping the diaper falling off completely. Instead it was held almost in place, hanging away from her bottom but instead rubbing against her thighs as she walked, the plastic mildly abrasive, worrying her that she'd get a rash. That wasn't helped by her involuntary waddle, a wide gait she'd unconsciously adopted while trying not to jostle her diaper with her walk. She realised the others were doing the same, and that like her they were looking purposefully forward, avoiding each others' gaze.

"I'll clean you all in the order your alarms went," Alice said as they entered the changing room, "Sandy first, then Ellie, Julie and, sorry Jane, you'll have to wait."

Julie was annoyed she would have to wait for a change but Jane looked shocked and for the first time seemed to lose her composure. She turned to the others and apologised. "I'm so sorry, I thought I was one of the first!" she told them, "I didn't mean to make you wait."

"It's OK," said Sandy and Julie together, then looked at each other and laughed. Ellie just took Jane's hand, gave it a quick squeeze and let go again as Alice resumed.

"Jane, could you help me with Sandy? After that Sandy can help me with Ellie, who can help me with Julie and," Alice looked at Julie, "I'm sure you can guess."

Julie nodded but Alice had already turned back to Sandy, "OK, jump up."

None of the girls were surprised when Sandy took a more measured approach to getting onto the changing table. Alice said nothing, waiting patiently with a soft smile that suggested amusement at Sandy's laboured attempts not to sit on her well used diaper.

Julie recalled Sandy's gratitude as Alice and Jane had changed her, Alice giving a commentary as they went, blue plastic gloves and soft wipes moving surely around and across Sandy's body, cleansing, preparing. A new white diaper was soon in place, Sandy taped into the promise of future embarrassment, yet thankful for it, sharing her delight at being clean once more.

Alice and Sandy had turned their attention to Ellie, quickly giving her the same treatment, Sandy patting her padded bottom as she hopped down from the table. "All clean," she proclaimed, "Now it's your turn Ellie."

Sandy and Ellie looked over at Julie and Ellie beckoned her closer. Julie hesitated, eager to escape the awful mess between her legs but nervous about sitting on the table, letting the others see the state she was in.

Alice seemed to understand. "You'll be fine, and we'll have you clean in no time at all," she said reassuringly.

"I know," acknowledged Julie, "it's just.." She stepped forward anyway, let Ellie take her arm, draw her to the changing table. 

Julie found herself looking at Ellie, allowing the sympathy in the young woman's amber eyes to support her as she sat. That proved worse than she'd expected, the feeling of her diaper against her skin painless yet horrifying, an ordeal she tried to shorten with quick movement. Swinging her legs onto the table Julie gasped and winced as the diaper and its contents moved against her and the elasticated plastic rubbed against her already sore thigh.

Ellie gave her a sad look and helped Julie lie back, where she tried to relax, looking at the lights inset in the ceiling above her, anything to distract her mind. Ellie went to help Alice and as the two women pulled Julie's skirt up to her waist she heard Alice draw in her breath and say, "Oh dear. You poor thing." 

Julie tried to sit up in alarm, asking, "Is it a bad rash?" and saw Ellie looking at her, amused but sympathetic and shaking her head. 

"No," replied Alice, "I can see where your diaper's rubbed on your thighs a little so we'll put some cream there, but that's nothing for you to worry about."

"What then?" asked Julie, starting to worry anyway.

"Just a little leak. Lie back, we'll sort it," Alice assured her, then spoke to Jane, "Could you help get her dress and diaper shirt off completely? Undo the shirt at the shoulders and we'll slide it down, that'll stop the mess going over her body."

Julie flushed hotly in embarrassment as Alice continued, this time to Sandy, "As you're already nice and clean maybe you could find Daphne for me, ask her for a clean diaper shirt. Let her know it's for Julie, she knows the size."

"Where will she be?" asked Sandy, but Alice was unsure.

"She might be helping remove the screens from your room, or could be in the lounge or the dining room or getting the lecture hall ready for our next class," she said, then looked down at Julie. "Don't worry sweetheart, we'll get you cleaned anyway and if Sandy isn't back in time you'll be fine in just your dress for a few minutes."

Sandy returned surprisingly quickly, while Jane and Alice were still drawing Julie's diaper shirt down to her waist, asking her to lift her hips so they could pull it past her diaper and down her legs. Miriam was with her, and explained, "Daphne and I had just finished in the dorm so Sandy caught us on our way here," she said, "Daphne's picking up a clear shirt and will join us in a moment."

"How are you doing Julie? Sounds like you've had quite a half hour."

Julie blushed again at the reminder but forced herself to stay professional, as much as an adult having a messy diaper changed could. "It's been an interesting challenge," she said, drawing smiles from the women stood around the table, "but it could be much worse."

She paused, gave an impish smile to Alice and Ellie, and added, "at least someone else has to deal with.." Julie gestured to her now visible diaper, its discoloured swollen state testament to the job at hand.

Miriam nodded, appreciating the positive attitude, then laughed as Ellie reached across and tickled Julie on her tummy, getting some revenge for the teasing. Julie squirmed uncontrollably then exclaimed through her unwanted squeals of laughter, "No, stop! Oh! Argh, that's awful." She reached to hold Ellie's hand, an automatic reflex, anything to stop the tickling and the wriggling it caused.

Alice laughed as she told Ellie, "Well, it was a bad enough mess before. You're on your own now, I'm not helping with that." She pointed at Julie, the diaper now in a terrible state.

Ellie looked bashfully at Jane who laughed too, "Errr, I helped with Sandy. I think this one's yours."

As Sandy backed away before Ellie could even ask, Julie softened her hold on Ellie's hand, gave it a small tug to draw her attention and looked up at her. "Can you change me?" she asked quietly, "Please?"

Ellie looked down, offered Julie a look of compassion and moved down the table, her glare at Alice hidden from Julie's view. 

By the time Ellie had finished her foul task, her look of distaste not reflected in her gentle ministrations, Daphne had arrived with clean clothing, a diaper shirt and also a new dress. "I wasn't sure if the dress needed changing too," she explained, handing them to Alice.

"No, just the shirt," said Alice, "Julie only leaked between the thighs and the diaper shirt caught it."

Hearing them discuss her in that way appalled Julie but she knew they weren't being unkind and made sure she avoided an overt reaction. Nonetheless she couldn't help scrunching up her features in an inadvertent facial wince at their words. Julie forced her expression to drop and stretched her fingers, using physical release of tension to calm herself before opening her eyes, saw Alice observing her.

"I'm all clean now," Julie said, confirming it to herself as much as the others, not wanting the conversation to linger on her prior state, "Thank you Ellie!"

Ellie finished taping a clean diaper in place, looked at Julie and, holding the hem of her short dress, dipped her knees in a dainty curtsey.

"Very nice," laughed Alice, "now apply this cream to that little sore spot there and then we need to get Julie dressed. Poor Jane is still waiting."

Julie remembered back to that point. It was the first time since breakfast that day that she'd felt clean, didn't need the toilet, wasn't being discomforted by her body's emissions, before or after she expelled them. She'd been happy, enjoying the feel of a clean diaper, clean clothes, and had shared her happiness infectiously with Jane, now climbing onto the table herself.

Moments later the mood had changed. Alice and Julie had drawn Jane's skirt and then diaper shirt up to her waist, past the diaper, and although Julie regretted being the only one to leak she'd been glad she wouldn't have to help Jane with a comparable problem. But even so, when Alice indicated to her to unfasten Jane's diaper and pull the front down Julie found that coming face to face with a dirty diaper was beyond her. Heaving she fled the table, ran to the sluice, stood there retching, trying not to be sick.

She felt a hand on her back, gentle rubbing motions, heard Miriam's voice, "Deep breaths now, don't worry, you'll be fine. Daphne?" Footsteps as Daphne responded, some unspoken signal conveying the actual request.

In the background Alice was speaking to Jane, reassuring her, telling the others that it wasn't unusual for someone to struggle with their first diaper. Julie stood there, leaning down over the sluice, her hair held by Miriam, deep breaths fortunately not becoming tears, until Daphne returned, passed Julie a beaker, an adult tumbler with water in it. Julie stood up, sipped the water, turned and, leaning on the edge of the sluice as she forced herself to calm down, looked back at the changing table.

Alice had taken over, her professionalism and experience getting Jane quickly cleaned up. She and Ellie were already helping Jane back into her dress, the change finished, Jane restored to infantile cuteness.

Julie returned to the changing table as Jane stood, dropped her eyes, then raised them again, a sincere look of contrition as she spoke, "Oh Jane, I'm so sorry, you must feel terrible. I.."

Julie stopped, unable to find the words, hating the embarrassment she must have caused to Jane but not knowing how to express her apology. Jane understood, stepped close, reached around and gave Julie a comforting hug, a strange reversal that Julie welcomed.

**

The day had improved from there, further training, Miriam and Alice keeping the women focussed intellectually, their physical comfort restored, no time to dwell on that afternoon's events. During the break before dinner Julie had sought out Jane again, started to apologise once more.

"It's fine," assured Jane, "you wouldn't believe how close I was to doing that myself." She looked over at Sandy, sat doodling with a colourful marker on some loose paper. "Lucky escape," she said pensively, then looked back at Julie and brightened up. "But hey, at least we're all lovely and clean for dinner!"

Julie joined the jestful celebration, raising her arms and leaning back, a loud happy, "Hurrah!" bouncing off the high ceiling.

"Someone sounds happy," said Alice, entering the room, "Are we all ready to eat? I'm starving!"

They all made their way through to the dining room, this time everybody sitting on the sides of the table, the strange chair at its head empty. Miriam followed them in and commented on this, "I see everybody's been good today. Well done, I'm proud of you all."

A quiet happy hum filled the room as everybody chatted over dinner, good food in a relaxed atmosphere, a semblance of normality resumed.

**

That evening, as they enjoyed another post dinner bottle of wine, Miriam had interrogated the girls. "You recall that I invited you to spend a little longer in your messy diapers," she reminded them, "and empty yourself before you were changed. Why do you think I did that?"

Sandy raised her hand tentatively. "Because you're nice?" she asked, "You want to minimise our discomfort?"

Julie wisely kept her silence but internally she derided Sandy's suggestion. Miriam wasn't nice. Everything she did was professional and that included putting people at ease and caring for them, but she didn't do it because she was nice. She did it because it was good for business.

Jane spoke up, "I think there's a little more going on," she said, cleverly avoiding the multiple dangers of contradicting Sandy's suggestion, "you presented an incentive to wear a messy diaper, and actually enlisted our support in filling it further. You made us want to mess in our diaper."

Julie looked at her in shock. She hadn't thought about it in those terms, but she knew immediately that Jane was right. Miriam's quiet and supportive words had lulled her into consciously choosing to use her diaper in the nastiest way possible. Worse, she remembered her conviction she was doing the right thing, that she had properly thought about it first. Was she that easy to manipulate?

Sandy expressed confusion. "I don't.. I don't understand" she said.

Daphne looked at her and put it simply. "She made you want to shit yourself," she said, then visibly quailed at a harsh glance from Miriam.

"I think I preferred Jane's terminology," said Miriam, "but yes, the intent was to make you complicit in your own treatment. We didn't make you fill your diaper, you chose that for yourself. We've found this accelerates acceptance, not least because you now associate that use of a diaper with an increase in your comfort levels."

Julie remembered the physical relief she'd felt, how happy she'd been to wear a clean diaper and not feel the need to use it, and wondered how this would affect her once induction was complete. 

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 7

"Day three feels very easy," said Miriam, "our babies have already grown accustomed to wearing a diaper, most of them no longer bothered by it. They've worn and used enough for it to start to feel normal for them, no shame in just letting it happen when the need arrives, no benefit in waiting in discomfort."

Thinking of that day, Julie found herself nodding in agreement. Even waking up wet, remembering briefly rousing from her slumbers to relieve her bladder a few hours before, hadn't been unpleasant. It was just how life had become, all her colleagues waddling through for a change and demonstrating a comparable lack of concern that their diapers had been needed.

They'd played around in the showers again, any shyness overwhelmed by thick sponges assuring they were all properly washed, before making their way to find what they'd be wearing that day. Julie hadn't been able to avoid some excitement about that.

"Can't wait to find out today's outfit," she'd declared, "and you all look sooo cute as toddlers."

Alice had laughed, hearing that comment as they entered the room. "That wont be happening today," she said, enjoying the surprise shown by the girls, "we thought you'd like to try the full baby look."

The surprise was replaced by apprehension but that soon dissipated as Alice matched the girls into pairs and invited them to choose their own diaper. Julie looked at the selection offered and laughed, poking at one for a closer look. Thin crinkling plastic, a bright primary colour printed on the sides and a band across the front showing a colourful cartoon character smiling happily in its own diaper, a similar design.

"We have these manufactured for us," revealed Alice, "they're based on a design for 3-9 month old babies, suitable for sitting up and crawling. We have had to make some adjustments to suit the adult form but you'll look and feel very little in them."

Jane drew the conversation back a few seconds. "We're going to have to crawl?" she asked incredulously, "on these floors that's going to hurt."

Julie looked down at the polished wooden floor and remembered the soreness she'd suffered from just kneeling on one yesterday. 

Alice reassured them. "We could force that," she said, "a former member of our team designed restraints that stop our babies from standing and walking."

"We don't like to use those in the first week though," she explained, "so you all get to escape that part of the process." She looked towards Julie and added, "Unless you want to try them?"

Julie blushed and wondered why she was always the one being offered the additional regressive treatments. "Not for me," she stated firmly, then looked at the woman she'd been paired with, "But I'm sure Sandy would love to try."

Sandy stepped backwards in surprise and glared at Julie. "Really? You have things to learn girl," she said, her words harsher than her tone, "like who the baby here is."

She thrust the diaper she was holding at Julie, who instinctively took it from her, both hands blocking the thrust at chest height. Sandy continued her movement and pressed Julie back, making her sit on the table behind her. "Let's get this on you," said Sandy, "it's so your style."

Julie accepted Sandy's authority, glad to see her showing some self-confidence and not wanting to interrupt it. She lay back, turning her head sideways to find Jane and Ellie grinning at her, and stuck out her tongue. They changed expression, both giving her an immediate look of censure, making Julie laugh. Jane laughed back but Ellie just closed her eyes and shook her head, an adult response to an intentionally naughty child.

Julie looked away, oddly chastened, then turned her head and looked the other way as she heard someone enter the room. Daphne had brought the wicker basket back in and set it down on the next table.

"Here, you'll need this," she told Sandy, who had just finished sealing the leg tapes on Julie's diaper. Handing something to Sandy she offered, "I'll help you with Julie."

Julie sat up and let them pull a soft white top over her arms. As her head poked through its neck she realised it had a t-shirt style collar and sleeves, but in a delicate lace, lacking the scratchiness of cotton. A hand on her shoulder encouraged her to lie back and Sandy asked her to lift her hips, suggesting that this was merely a pretty diaper shirt, fumbling between her legs confirming she was being fastened in.

Daphne had reached back into the basket and pulled out another piece of clothing, wide straps dangling in a colourful print. This was pulled up Julie's legs then, her hips high again, up over her diaper. Even before she could lower her bottom to the table she heard Sandy laugh.

Julie sat up and looked down. The colourful pattern was pretty, white unicorns prancing on a pink backdrop, but it looked like a diaper shirt in design, small ruffles around her legs and buttons instead of snappers not explaining Sandy's amusement. Sandy saw her confusion and shook her head, declining to explain. Instead she pulled the bib part of the garment up Julie's front, its square shape leaving her diaper shirt visible at the sides, straps on the top corners soon tied in a neat bow behind her neck.

It was as she stood and instinctively ran her hands down her hips to smooth her new outfit that Julie discovered why Sandy had been so amused. She reached behind and felt the cloth covering her, validating her initial assumption: there were ruffles across her bottom!

The other two hadn't noticed, instead giggling at Jane's yellow and green romper, the same design.

"Even if you're not crawling yet," said Alice, "these little romper dresses give your legs plenty of freedom." She looked at Jane and Julie, leaned her head to one side and added, "and you're such darling little babies in them."

Julie found herself feeling cross at that characterisation, even if its description of how she looked was accurate, and decided to play the adult instead. "Sandy," she said, intentionally lowering the tone of the second syllable, making the name a command, "On this table." She patted the surface, indicating where she wanted the still naked girl.

A minute later Sandy was also in a diaper, Julie finishing the bow that held her romper on her, its colour a faded pink, the unicorn pattern in a rich purple. "I love that fabric," Julie said, "I could wear that normally!"

Sandy jumped down from the table, turned and placed her hands on it, bending at the waist and looked coyly over her shoulder at the others. "I'm sorry," she said, "But I just have to do this." She started gyrating her bottom, the ruffles never getting to settle as her diaper juddered beneath, moderating but not eliminating the remarkable jiggle she was managing. 

Three young woman burst into laughter and looked at each other, shrugged, and ran over to where Sandy stood. They lined up alongside her, leaning against the table and suddenly four bottoms were shaking in the air, ruffles flying, breathless giggles as the girls threw their energy into the moment.

Daphne looked shocked and glanced at Alice, who shook her head and stood there smiling, letting her charges enjoy an interlude of levity. She knew it would boost their mood and morale, the endorphin rush easily supplemented by breakfast and preparing the group for a long day of training. All that aside, she was looking forward to telling Miriam she'd missed seeing the four girls twerking, knowing the austere woman would be disappointed by the adult behaviour but distraught that she hadn't witnessed it. 

That day had begun in earnest straight after breakfast, the girls being shown straight into the lecture room and briefed on their agenda for the day. Supply chains, purchase or manufacture, key supplier relationships, margins and cost control. The material was well presented, Alice demonstrating her broad experience with support from Daphne, occasional comments or anecdotes to help the trainees relate to the things they learned.

Training had been interrupted mid morning when an unmistakeable odour permeated through the room. Alice smiled kindly at Ellie and asked, "You need a change hon?"

Ellie nodded, then noticed the shocked looks from her three new friends. She frowned, gestured at the padding around her hips then eloquently shrugged, palms upwards. 

"Yeah, fair point," said Jane with a chuckle, "Can't promise I wont be joining you before lunch."

"Daphne, Miriam's told me you're on dirty diaper duty today," said Alice, "could you..?"

Daphne didn't reply, but beckoned Ellie and they left the room together, Ellie returning a short time later looking happier, her romper hanging loosely on her hips.

An hour later Julie had found out why. She'd already wet her diaper, knowing it was unavoidable and letting it happen as she listened to Alice speak, giving her focus to the class and not her dampening diaper. This time though she'd felt a different need for relief and taking heart from Ellie's nonchalance and subsequent quick change, had forced herself to relax, allow her body's natural functions as she leaned back in her chair, bottom slightly raised.

It hadn't felt any better than the day before; if anything worse, the lack of active effort to expel drawing the process out, making her more conscious of the sensitive nerves being roused and stimulated as soft solids passed them. Frightened by the resultant intensity of feeling she tensed then squeezed her muscles, eager to finish, then relaxed down into her seat, grimacing as her diaper squashed up around her.

She scanned the room in mild embarrassment and saw Daphne standing up, looking towards her. Daphne didn't speak or interrupt Alice, just used a gentle motion with her hand to suggest Julie join her in leaving the room. 

The walk to the changing room wasn't pleasant, an enforced waddle from the diaper not heavy enough to hang loose, instead rubbing against Julie as she walked. Daphne saw her expression and showed sympathy, but said nothing until Julie was pulling herself onto the table.

"Lie back," Daphne instructed, "and if you're good I have a little treat for you."

Julie wasn't sure that a treat would be a good thing, but was glad to be getting out of her messy diaper. She felt Daphne's cold hands at the buttons between her legs, undoing her romper, and spread her knees further apart to make it easier.

"I'm finding it very difficult," she admitted, feeling less inhibited about sharing her feelings with just the two of them in the room. "This isn't what I expected. I'm trying to fit in, but.." She paused, drew her elbows back and levered her shoulders off the table, looking at Daphne.

"This is just so weird. Everybody's nice and everyone's treating it as something that's so normal and it's really interesting learning about the company and I've had some fun but it's weird."

Daphne continued with the undressing and cleaning as she listened, giving Julie the chance to vent. Sensing Julie needed a response she gave a reassuring smile and agreed, "It is weird, don't feel bad about thinking that."

"I've been here for three years now," she revealed, "and I still find it strange at times. Like this, helping someone your age get clean and comfortable."

As Julie blushed Daphne continued, "But you're doing very well. I think all of you are, and it's interesting for us to see how you all respond, what you bring to the group."

"I don't think I've been able to do anything yet," admitted Julie, "I couldn't even change Jane's diaper yesterday."

Daphne laughed as she finished wiping Julie clean. "Don't let that worry you," she said, "some people never get around to changing a dirty diaper. But you do contribute," she assured, "you help everybody have fun."

"In circumstances like this," Daphne indicated with a sweep of her arm the changing room, its tables and shelves of diapers, "your sense of humour is very valuable to us."

"Now," said Daphne, "your treat." She started to fasten the poppers of Julie's diaper shirt, explaining, "You have been cooperative and well mannered and you're paying attention to the training, so you get a couple of hours out of diapers."

Julie's eyes widened. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "That's awesome!" She paused then asked, "You're doing up the shirt? I don't get underwear?"

Daphne shook her head, by now doing up the buttons on the romper. "The shirt is clean and soft enough, and it's only for a couple of hours." She tickled Julie, a brief tease to soften her next statement, "We don't want you feel too adult, after all."

Julie rolled her eyes. "True," she said, deadpan, "I'd hate to feel like a grown woman in a romper and pink ruffles. But.. what if I need to use the loo?"

Daphne gave her a measured look before replying. "Let's hope you can hold it," she said, "We'll have you back in a diaper before long."

**

By lunch that day all of the girls had been for a change, and as they walked through to the dining room it was obvious they'd all been been given the same treat, rompers hanging loose at the hips and bottom, all of them walking normally. 

They'd found Miriam waiting for them there, and included her in their quiet chatter, the meal more of a break from training than a feast. After they'd eaten she'd given them another twenty minutes to relax then called for their attention.

"I see that Daphne's been nice to you all," she said, "that tells me that everybody's engaging well in the process. Congratulations, and thank you."

"We do find it helps to give our babies some time out of diapers," she told them, "it helps the skin recover, breathe a little. I'm afraid though that you've had your break, and it's time to give each other some protection again." Miriam left a silent gap to give the group time to understand the protection they'd be getting. "So if you can all follow Daphne, and I'll see you all at dinner."

The girls shrugged, none of them having expected to be out of diapers for long, and went with Daphne to the changing room, soon emerging ready for the afternoon's training, their rompers bulging once more.

[Bluebird67]

I’m surprised this isn’t getting more comments - it’s fun, quite thoughtful and well written.

[kirababy]

For sure, i'm really enjoying following along as we go.  

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 8

The early afternoon had gone quickly, a lecture style transfer of information, too much detail for the new employees to absorb. Alice assured them that was intentional, that they were being introduced to concepts and terminology, so that they'd be better able to engage with the individual topics on future days. They stopped for a break, the girls no longer afraid of the drinks trolley, knowing that using their diapers would happen whether they enjoyed a coffee or not.

Sandy had somehow found orange juice again, the others choosing hot drinks, Alice asking, "Shall I play mother," and pouring the tea for Daphne and Jane. Julie held her mug of coffee in both hands, letting it warm her fingers, watched the others from a distance while they mingled and chatted.

She saw Sandy stiffen, bend her knees slightly and glaze over, guessed what was going on and looked away, not wanting to watch, not wanting to be seen watching. She looked back when she heard an exclamation, Sandy proving again she couldn't avoid turning surprise into an audible "Oh!"

Sandy was stood upright again, now prodding at her romper, a look of distaste on her face. "I don't think I can sit down," she said, "I think I would leak."

Alice motioned to Julie, who was stood nearest to Sandy. "Could you check please Julie," she asked, "and if Sandy's right then go and get her changed."

Julie walked across to Sandy, stood facing her and smiled in mild embarrassment, an expression mirrored by the pretty face looking back at her. Avoiding eye contact but looking straight at Sandy, focussing on the nose of the slightly taller woman, Julie reached down and pushed her arms out to the side, a physical discouragement from interference. 

Julie reached down, felt a smooth leg, ran her hand around and up it, brought her second hand in too, palms now against the insides of Sandy's thighs. She pushed gently, a demand for greater access, and Sandy obliged, a gentle flush reaching her face. Julie could feel herself blushing slightly also, the moment strangely intimate even before she gently pulled at the elasticated leg of the romper and the diaper shirt beneath it. Using her other hand she wriggled her fingers underneath, found the diaper, reached into it, her fingers immediately sensing the wetness. Now she blushed outright, Sandy going even redder, finally looking down and away.

"Come on," she said, stepping back a little and taking Sandy's hand, "Let's get that sorted."

She turned, found that they'd had an audience, everybody in the room watching. Alice and Daphne had understanding smiles, Ellie had obviously enjoyed the spectacle and for some reason Jane was frowning, a curious expression on her face. Julie opted not to say anything, instead stepping firmly towards the door, pulling Sandy behind.

"Meet us in the lounge when you're done," said Alice, "We're heading through in a moment."

"I'm only wet," promised Sandy as they reached the changing room, then stopped and looked in surprise at Julie. "Oh! This is so wrong," she said, "'only wet', as though that's normal."

Julie grinned at her. "I know, I was telling Daphne earlier how weird this is," she admitted.

"What did she say?" asked Sandy, immediately curious.

The girls chatted as Julie removed Sandy's sodden diaper, wiped her down and fitted a new clean one. Sandy seemed reassured that she wasn't alone in finding the whole situation strange, and that Julie was finding it difficult. Julie finished buttoning Sandy's romper and said something that further helped put Sandy at ease. 

"Since we're already in here," suggested Julie, "Perhaps you could give me a quick change too?"

Sandy soon found that Julie could have easily survived without a change, but it did make sense to take advantage of the opportunity and she did enjoy babying her new friend. 

They walked quietly back to find the others, entering the lounge to the sight of Ellie and Jane sat opposite each other, Alice off to one side, Daphne apparently absent. Two other other chairs had been set a few feet apart, also facing, and Julie guessed she and Sandy should sit on those. 

"Welcome back," said Alice as the two girls sat down, "It's been a busy couple of days for you all so we have something different for you."

"You'll recall that just before dinner on the first day young Sandy here needed some support, nearly failed induction."

Sandy glared at Alice, but said nothing. Alice continued, "With our babies but also in your business career there are times a good intimidating glare will get you better results than words or actions."

"There are two types. The first is what we call The Look." Alice stopped for effect, looking at her small audience, curious faces interested in the lesson.

"The Look is natural to most women, and works primarily on men - of any age. I suspect you've all already used it many times. The Look doesn't require anything from the person giving it; the entire effect on a miscreant comes from their realisation that their actions haven't gone unnoticed, the reminder that it's not the expected behaviour, and that consequences can easily follow. Those consequences could be legal, managerial, financial or emotional; The Look works across all of those domains, uses their own sense of guilt and shame to correct behaviour without the need for words or further actions."

They discussed the technique as a group, each girl invited to remember an occasion on which she'd used it and, harder to admit, an occasion on which it had been used on them. Alice offered some suggestions, how to make it more effective, when it was best employed and cautioned against overuse.

Alice then introduced a further concept. "The Look only works when there's an implied authority," she explained, "Sometimes you need to impose your own authority on someone, use your force of will on them. This is much harder to master as it's a raw interpersonal dominance play, setting two minds against each other and establishing a strict hierarchy between you."

She elaborated on the core concept, offered examples of how it could be used then covered basic techniques, ways of exerting control through non-verbal and non-violent means. The girls found it interesting, asking questions, teasingly testing what they'd learned on each other. 

Alice soon gave them free rein to do just that. "You're sat facing each other so that you can practice Force of Will," she told them, "I'll be here if you have questions, but look at your partner opposite, see if you can impose your will on them."

Julie and Sandy looked at each other, caught each others' eyes and immediately started giggling. 

"Interesting approach," commented Alice, "but I'm not sure it'll be effective." The giggles subsided and the girls looked at each other again, intense staring, trying not to blink.

Julie found it hard, not least because she was unsure what she was trying to achieve. She decided to start by making Sandy look away, see if she could at least force the other girl to break eye contact. Initially she got nowhere, both of them stopping with a smile every couple of minutes, the technique proving hard to learn.

By the time dinner arrived Julie was feeling more confident. She could now stare down Sandy, a small but tangible advance, and a good baseline for further practice. She walked through to the dining room with the others, finding Miriam already there, stood at the near end of the table waiting for them.

"I hear you've been practicing your Force of Will," said Miriam, "it's a tremendously useful skill for you to learn. I think we should test your progress."

She smiled nastily, and gestured to the chair beside her. It was the same as the one at the head of the table, high arms, a built-in table on a hinge, straps hanging from the sides. "Force of Will is meaningless without consequences," said Miriam, "so you can pair up and seek to force your partner to accept being sat one of these seats, and restrained for the evening."

The girls looked surprised but shrugged and accepted the challenge. Ellie walked briskly to the chair at the far end of the table and Sandy started to follow. Jane reached out, caught Sandy's arm and shook her head. "No, stay here with me," she suggested, Sandy's obeisance revealing before they'd even begun who would win that battle of wills.

Julie sighed on Sandy's behalf and went to stand with Ellie. Although they'd known each other just a couple of days, already Julie considered Ellie a friend and didn't want to hurt her. Nonetheless she steeled herself, determined to win this contest. Julie made a mental commitment to be kind to Ellie after she won, show her the same care and support she'd already received so many times.

As they turned to face each other Julie leaned forward a little and stared into Ellie's eyes. She focussed on projecting herself, demanding acquiescence, but immediately found herself recoiling, intimidated by the strength of Ellie's gaze. She renewed her focus, trying not to blink, not daring to look away. Ellie waited a moment, tilted her head just slightly and took a small step towards Julie. Without realising it Julie gave way, conceding the physical contest, stepping backwards in retreat.

Ellie allowed a half smile onto her face, a confirmation that she was in control. Julie stumbled against the chair, knees buckling, her padded bottom landing squarely on the seat and she found herself looking up at Ellie, unable to break the gaze, knowing she had already lost. Ellie reached down and without looking away fastened Julie's wrists to the leather restraints they'd seen at the sides, then brought up a restraining strap between her legs, threaded a belt through and pulled it taut, holding Julie's waist to the back of the chair. Julie tensed her arms, testing her muscles against the bands on her wrists, found them unyielding, holding her in place.

"My word," said Alice, breaking the mesmerising spell Ellie had somehow cast on Julie, "remind me not to go head to head with you Ellie. That was quite stunning!"

Miriam nodded thoughtfully in agreement. "I think it's clear who the baby is in that pairing," she said, almost to herself, "no question at all."

The truth of the statement compounded Julie's humiliation and, already distressed by the ease with which Ellie had dominated her, she found herself overcome with emotion. As she started to cry Ellie immediately leaned over her, drew Julie's head to her chest and gave a tight hug, holding Julie close. Her arms held by the restraints, Julie was unable to return the hug and could only sit there, feeling helpless as the tears flowed, not seeing Ellie exchange a motherly look of concern with Alice.

It seemed much longer but only took a few seconds, gentle caresses on her head and back, before Julie regained her composure and pulled back a little, looking up to see a compassionate face smiling down at her. Ellie tousled her hair, turned and pulled up a normal chair alongside, ready for dinner.

Through dinner Julie had found herself wondering why the winner ended up with all of the work, Ellie having to cut all her food into bite sized pieces, lift it on a fork or spoon to her mouth, wait for her to accept it and prepare the next mouthful. It must have reduced Ellie's enjoyment of her own meal, unable to feed them both while the food was warm. Ellie hadn't mentioned needing to finish her own meal after it went cold, hadn't even hurried Julie, her patience and obvious care welcome after the earlier trauma.

It was only after dinner, the restraints still in place, Ellie and Jane enjoying the freedom to move around, stand up, play cards with Miriam and Alice, that Julie realised what she'd lost. She could only sit there, now fastened into a recliner, watching the more adult activity around her, suckling on the bottle of warm milk Ellie had chosen for her instead of the offered wine.

Julie knew she could easily escape, her hands had been left free and the straps holding her down could be easily undone. She also knew that would be a terrible thing to do, a betrayal of Ellie but also of her own integrity. Instead she turned to Sandy, similarly bound, and asked how she was doing.

"I'm bored," Sandy complained, "I need to get up. I want to move." She called out louder, across the room, "I want to move! We've had long enough, haven't we?"

Miriam looked annoyed and spoke sharply, "Jane! Can you please keep your child quiet."

Jane stifled a smile, and asked in response, "Of course, do you have a pacifier I could borrow?"

Alice did smile at this and briefly left the room, returning with something in her hands. She handed it to Jane who examined it, laughed quietly to herself and walked to where Sandy sat. Sandy struggled against her restraints, now trying to escape, frightened into silence even before Jane reached down and pressed a large rubber nipple against her lips.

Sandy resisted, unwilling to accept her new gift, until Jane placed a hand on her cheek and gently turned her face upwards so their eyes could meet. "Open your mouth," she instructed, and, having lost the battle of wills before, Sandy found herself obeying, blushing as her mouth was filled.

Julie barely registered Jane squeezing the front of the pacifier, inflating the nipple inside Sandy's mouth, making it impossible to remove, quenching any sound louder than the squeaks of surprise Sandy now made. Instead she realised that she too had forever ceded control to another, looked across at Ellie in consternation and received scant comfort from the quiet answering nod, subtle and understated, affirming their new relationship.

Hiding her inner turmoil Julie looked back to Sandy, seeing her cheeks slightly distended as she looked up at Jane, tears starting to form.

"I'm sorry," said Jane, looking down at her captive charge, "but you'll be OK." She used her thumbs to wipe below Sandy's eyes, smearing moisture across her cheeks. "Unfortunately," she continued, "since you just tried to unfasten these straps we'd better help you stay safe."

Before Sandy could react Jane knelt beside her, took one of her hands and attached a padded cuff to the wrist, holding it to the side of the chair. Sandy sagged further into the chair, offering no resistance as her other arm was similarly secured. Jane stayed kneeling there and spoke with her, subdued tones offering verbal comfort alongside the harsh physical confinement.

Miriam nodded in approval and Alice leaned towards Ellie with a quiet suggestion. Ellie smiled and indicated agreement, got up from her seat and walked towards Julie.

Trying hard to hide her sudden fear Julie shook her head quickly at Ellie, a barely perceptible movement conveying strong emotion. Ellie's brow wrinkled as her expression asked whether Julie was challenging her, and Julie immediately looked down, heat entering her cheeks as they turned red from the humiliating submission. She felt Ellie's hand on her wrist and looked up, saw a new amused question in her eyes but didn't dare say anything in response. Instead she forced herself to relax, accept what Ellie would do to her.

Ellie looked back at Miriam and Alice, sharing her amusement with them. Miriam's smile was outdone by Alice's broad grin, but Julie missed this, having dropped her eyes again, knowing she no longer controlled her fate. Ellie lifted the wrist she held then with her other hand took the now empty bottle Julie hadn't realised she was still holding. She looked up at Ellie who finally dispensed with the subtlety and gave her an expansive smile, then bent, taking Julie's head between her hands, and touched her lips to Julie's forehead, a mother's kiss, reassurance and love.

Julie looked up in wonder, emotionally confused, no chance of understanding what was happening. She watched Ellie refill the bottle, bring it back and put it gently to her lips, and allowed the nipple to enter, let Ellie feed her. Ellie waited patiently, seemed to sense when Julie's emotions were back under control and brought one of Julie's hands up so that she could hold the bottle herself.

Seeing that Julie was now feeding herself Ellie stood up, tousled Julie's hair again and walked back to Alice, who with Jane was watching in rapt fascination. Julie watched her go, glad she could still move her arms but deeply confused, her gratitude for the tenderness of her treatment clashing with an inner disgust that she'd allowed it to happen.

"Bravo," said Miriam softly, "Bravo."
 

[kerry]

I think this is my favorite chapter so far, as two of the newcomers are babied by their peers.

[kirababy]

 A wonderful chapter, and one I'll have to re read to ensure I've not missed anything.

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 9

"Day Four," reiterated Miriam, "is when things get real. This is the day that mental fortitude is needed. The babies experience internal conflict, they're bored of being treated as babies and experience a sense of rejection, a desire to return to their adult lives."

"We don't worry about that," she said, "they're still committed to the process, force themselves through their own uncertainty. We just need to support them in this, give them subtle encouragement."

Julie thought back to how that day had started. She had slept well, albeit with what was becoming a customary break in the early hours, the evening's drinks forcing her awake as her body demanded relief. Helping change the others had assured her that this was something they had all endured, Jane and Ellie no drier than she was, a lovely confirmation of Miriam's reassurance just before they'd changed for the night.

Alice and Daphne had taken the other two through to the changing room, the excuse a poor joke that Julie and Sandy wouldn't be able to help get them ready for bed, as they were a little tied up right now. After they'd left Miriam had walked over to Sandy and freed her hands, telling her, "See if you can remove that pacifier," before glancing across to Julie and adding, "You can both stand when you're ready too."

As both girls released themselves Miriam had continued speaking. "Alice will be telling the girls that they did well tonight, but that you're still their colleagues, and we expect them to treat you with respect," she informed them, "You've both done well too. I know this has been a very difficult evening for you but you've participated in good spirit and it's helped the whole group gain some valuable experience that I can assure you will be needed in the weeks ahead.

"Take a moment to stretch your legs and then I'll take you through and we'll get you ready for bed. The other two will already be in their cribs; we want to remind them they're not adults yet."

True to her word, the next time Sandy and Julie saw their colleagues they were already closed in their cribs, locked in the same footed sleepers as the previous nights, no pretence of control possible.

That message of equality was repeated the next morning. They were being dressed for the day, thick grey cable knit tights covering their diapers, a short corduroy skirt and a knitted cardigan, fuzzy wool in a bright colour, each girl's different, covering the inevitable diaper shirt. 

As they stood and admired each other Alice spoke to them all, "Remember, last night was a one-off. You're all back on even terms now, and don't expect us to play favourites." 

Julie welcomed the repeated message, reassured by it, but then caught Ellie looking at her, a quick smile making it clear that where the two of them were concerned any equality was at best tenuous. She quickly looked away, unwilling to find out for sure.

After breakfast they'd expected more lectures so it was a surprise when Alice had handed them over to Daphne. She'd taken them to a new part of the house, stone floors and dirty windows, and invited them to try on Wellington boots. Julie found a pair that almost matched her jumper, a royal blue in rubber reaching almost to her knees.

"You've been stuck indoors for days," explained Daphne, "so this morning you get a break from the training. This estate has some lovely grounds so we'll all go out for a walk, and if you promise to behave we wont make you wear reins."

"Reins?" asked Julie in confusion. Ellie turned to face her wearing a wide wicked grin as she held up some straps that Julie realised were part of a chest harness, something you'd use to control an unruly toddler and stop it wandering off. Julie went pale, worried she'd be put in the device, unsure she could resist if Ellie insisted.

"No Ellie," said Daphne, "I think Julie's going to behave for us today."

Julie nodded in agreement and promised, "Yes. Please, don't make me wear that." Ellie cocked an eye at her, causing Julie to change tone and beg directly to her, "Please?"

With a gentle smile Ellie turned and put down the strapping, then perked her head up and moved into a side room Julie hadn't explored. She returned pushing an oversized stroller, clearly able to seat an adult but following a classic stroller design, restraining bar, five point harness and a hood. She tilted her head and looked at Julie quizzically, an invitation Julie didn't want to accept.

Daphne laughed but also chastised Ellie. "Stop teasing the poor girl," she said, "or maybe we should put you in there?"

Ellie sniffed contemptuously at the idea, making sure not to look at Daphne as she did so, avoiding the personal challenge. She wheeled the chair back into the side room and rejoined the group looking unashamed with her antics, finding Julie arm in arm with Sandy as they left the house through a large door.

They crunched their way down a gravel path, wellies unnecessary in the warm autumn day, the ground dry and weak sunlight filtering through the canopies of trees lining their way. Julie hadn't seen much of the grounds as she'd arrived, the main drive passing through short cut pastures, the odd tree sheltering sheep and cattle as they grazed, uncaring of the passing taxi that had dropped her at the door. Now they were at the rear of the house and she found herself enchanted by the extensive gardens, their formal design supported with obvious care, neat borders and pruned hedges interspersed with stone statues and small decorative ponds.

"Oh, this is lovely," said Jane, "come here Ellie, look at these flowers." They left the main group, admiring a crocus bed, large dahlias flowering behind, a symphony of colour. Alice had joined them and stood speaking with Daphne, watching the two girls, content to let them wander.

This left Julie and Sandy in relative peace, and Sandy took the opportunity to share some misgivings. "Oh Julie," she said, "I'm worried."

Julie looked at her in concern, took a hand and walked through the garden with her. "Are you OK?" she asked, cursing the stupidity of the question even as she spoke. Sandy didn't seem to notice.

"I don't think this is right," said Sandy, "I mean, the whole process."

Julie tried to reassure her, as she had the day before. "We had this chat yesterday," she reminded Sandy, "I agree, it's really weird. But it's only for a week."

"No," said Sandy, "That's what I mean. I don't think it's going to end. Last night, they.. I.." She stopped walking, turned and faced Julie and took her other hand. "I don't think we'll be allowed to become adults again," she said fearfully.

Julie laughed, caught herself, forced an expression of sympathy and understanding. "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh," she said, "it's just that.." She thought quickly, admitting to herself that at times the previous night she'd been a bit unsure herself. This wasn't the time to share that with Sandy. "We're back on an equal footing with the other two," she said, "Miriam told us last night and Alice said it again this morning."

Sandy nodded, but still looked unconvinced. "But.. they turn adults into babies," she said, "and we're making it easy for them."

"This wont help," said Julie, intending it to help, "but you're being paranoid." She offered some evidence, "They can't just kidnap us, turn us into babies, sell us to some rich foreigner. People would notice, your family would miss you."

"I haven't got a family," said Sandy, "but I guess they don't know that."

Julie was shocked, and pulled Sandy close, giving her a hug, "Oh Sandy, I'm sorry." she said, "but you do have friends."

She decided to concentrate on Sandy's immediate concern. "Daphne's quite new, she must have been through this process." Julie had forgotten to ask when she had the chance but made a mental note to follow up with her.

"Anyway," she continued, "they wouldn't tell babies so much about the business. Think about all the things they've shared with us, none of that makes sense unless we're going to work with them. This is just a week long induction, and we'll have to go to work in a boring business suit next week."

Sandy drew clear of the embrace and looked at her friend. "You're right," she said, "I'm just being silly." She brightened up a bit, letting Julie's reassurance clear her concerns, wanting to believe what she'd just heard. 

"Anyway," she said, then in her more normal loud happy voice, "It's such a gorgeous day!" She skipped away from Julie, leaving the formal garden and heading up a grass slope behind.

Julie laughed, saw the others also chuckling at the now happy girl. In a way, she thought, it was almost a shame. Sandy did seem to be very good at being a toddler. As a group they left the garden, following the merrily skipping girl.

As she reached the crest of the hillock Sandy turned, her face filled with delight, the sun behind her lighting her red hair aflame. She opened her mouth to tell them something but was interrupted by a surprised Jane, "Oh! You look beautiful!"

Sandy's words didn't reach her lips but her mouth stayed wide as a deep blush on her cheeks tried to match the glow of her hair. She recovered and deflected the praise, "Oh. No," she said sadly, "I have freckles." She brightened a little, "But thank you. And come and look!"

Ellie and Julie shared a quick look. Sandy must be a late bloomer, entirely unaware how she could now outshine other women, command the attention of every man in the room with just a simple smile. Clearly they'd have to take her out after the induction was over, find some male company with which to demonstrate this. For the moment Ellie and Julie walked up to join Sandy and saw the source of her excitement.

In front of them stretched a reed lined pond, fed by a stream at one end, overflowing a small dam at the other. Geese and ducks were already swimming over to greet them, a cacophony of excited honks and quacks, expectations apparent. 

"Oh, if only we had some bread," said Julie then turned at a tap on her shoulder. Alice stood there, her big smile at Julie's words explained as she invited Julie to look into the bag she held.

"We do have bread!" exclaimed Julie, taking two slices from the bag and, breaking them into small pieces, throwing them to the eager birds.

All six women stood there for a while, happily feeding the birds, an ageless activity they could all enjoy. 

Half an hour later they had found a stone gazebo, the main house looking small in the distance and, on the other side, a view over a valley, green grass and yellow trees, a muddy river by a grey road winding into the distance. Alice and Daphne made excuses, left the girls there. "We'll trust you not to wander and get lost," said Alice, "and please come back in time for lunch."

The other three had sat on the grass, enjoying the warm sunshine but Julie sat on a bench in the small structure, a chance to think through things. She was glad she'd been able to reassure Sandy, but also looked forward to the induction week reaching its end. It wasn't even whether she was enjoying it, Julie just knew she didn't want to use her diaper, was already starting to feel uncomfortable but holding back, keen to avoid walking back to the house needing a change. 

Despite that she felt strangely embarrassed by her reluctance, worried that she wasn't conforming to the spirit of the induction, embracing the chance to learn how the adults her new employer turned into babies really felt. It didn't occur to Julie to discuss this with the others, find out that they had similar feelings of guilt and uncertainty. Instead it was only hearing Miriam's words the next day that finally helped her realise that she'd been experiencing precisely the feelings and fears that the company's babies would.

However, at the time her mind had turned to other matters. Julie recalled how Ellie made her feel, the loving care, decided she needed to learn from that, understand how to give the babies she looked after that same comfort. She allowed herself the luxury of thinking about that, what she could change, what she should look out for; even if she couldn't match Ellie's instinctive response she could look to mimic it, still play that motherly role.

Eventually Julie joined the others, idle chatter and lazily bathing in the warmth of the sun. With no way to tell the time Julie wasn't sure how long they'd been sat there but after a while it seemed time to head back and get some lunch. "Can we head back?" she asked, "it's lunchtime."

Ellie and Jane shared an amused glance, confusing Julie. "Yes, we can," said Jane, "Come on Sandy, lets go and get you fed."

Sandy said nothing in reply to that, but as she shot daggers at Jane she nonetheless stood and brushed leaves off her clothes, ready for the walk back to the main house.

That walk took only a few minutes, a more direct route than their meander to the viewpoint, and they arrived back early for lunch, Alice thanking them for not being late. She gave all four girls a quick diaper check, found they were all dry and clean, and frowned at them without comment. Julie found herself blushing in response, then blushing deeper, embarrassed at being ashamed for not wetting herself.

After eating they were met by Miriam, who gave them a stern warning. "You did so well yesterday," she said, "but you're holding back today."

"We have a treatment that assures incontinence in our babies, avoids this problem," she told them, "be glad we don't want incontinent staff members." 

Miriam then looked at Julie, who shrank back a little at the attention. "Julie. You're clenching," she said, brow furrowed, her expression that of a teacher sharing an uncomfortable truth. Demeaning as Julie found that, she couldn't deny that Miriam was right. She hadn't even realised her body was enforcing the years of toilet training, straining to avoid what just three days before had been unthinkable.

Miriam looked around the room and spoke again, "I'm going to take you all to the dormitory, you can enjoy a nice post-lunch nap and when we come to collect you I expect to need to change four diapers."

The modesty screens were back up in the dormitory, a visible reminder of their last daytime sojourn there and, in turn, what they had done at that time. This time though Miriam did ask the girls to climb into their cribs and closed the sides after them.

"All snug," she said, "Now I'll close the curtains so that you can have a snooze. But before you do, I suggest let your bodies relax and allow nature to take its course."

Julie heard the curtains being drawn, the room not going completely dark but losing its glare. As she heard Miriam walk away, another fading clack of heels on wood, she decided she'd better following Miriam's advice and stop trying to deny her body. 

Arching her back Julie found her muscles contracting in an unhelpful way, the stress position preventing her relaxing. She sighed, rolled onto her side, found the stuffed sheep toy she'd been sleeping with and looked at it. "How do I do this?" she asked it quietly, then found her answer, her body welcoming the relaxed position she'd unconsciously adopted.

As with the day before, Julie found herself pushing hard to finish, unable to bear her body's slow gentle release, hating the feel of her diaper pushing back. Her bladder also responded to her muscles' demands, adding to the heat beneath her tights and making her fear another leak. She rolled quickly onto her back and felt the warmth spread higher up her bottom, wondered if she'd flood the diaper so much it would leak at the waist.

Not that she could do much about it, she reflected. Even if she managed to undo the clasp, lower the side of the crib, stand up, it would be too late, her body enjoying the chance to achieve comfort at least on the inside. Instead Julie lay there, shaking her head slightly, found her eyes closing as she relaxed, her mind calming in response to the physical repose.
 

[kirababy]

love the progression and descriptions of this journey.

[kerry]

I too am enjoying reading this piece, Anna. Knowing your proclivities from the rest of your work, I have been expecting a dark turn somewhere down the line. I think that this chapter is the first time you have overtly hinted at it...

[occidental9]

I'm also really enjoying this story!

I love the slow build up and I'm in suspense about how the story will end. I can think of many ways the story could go, which is pretty unique for this genre.

Thanks for posting!

[BabyAnna]

Chapter 10

A loud rattle as the side of her crib was lowered woke Julie with a start. She looked up in surprise to see Daphne smiling at her, squeezed her eyes tightly closed to try and clear them and looked again as Daphne spoke, "Nap time is over baby girl, time to get up."

Julie glared in response but said nothing until she sat up and swung her legs out of the crib. "Ewwww!" she exclaimed, "That's awful!"

She'd forgotten the state of her diaper, waking for the first time in one fully used, not expecting the icky feeling as she moved within it. Sighing quietly she forced herself to stand and walked slowly after Daphne, finding herself again adopting the wide gait that revealed too obviously the state of her diaper.

"Hello sleepy head," said Alice, greeting Julie as she came into view from behind the screen, her modesty no longer protected.

The other three were stood waiting, Julie glad to find none of them with their knees together, suggesting she wasn't alone in needing a change. "Who's first for a change?" asked Alice, confirming that at least one other would be joining her.
 
Before anybody else could answer Jane looked over at Julie, smiled warmly and suggested, "I'll get this little fusspot changed first. She's clearly not happy in that messy diaper."

Julie sighed internally, not happy to be described as a fusspot. However after the previous evening she didn't feel ready to really cause a fuss so opted to deflect the slur with humour. "If being a fusspot gets me a quicker change I might need to complain a little more," she declared.

Before Alice or Jane could reply Sandy responded. "Yeah, right," she said, a sad note of bitterness in her voice, "That's working so well for me."

Julie threw a look of sympathy at Sandy, but didn't want to lose the chance to escape the sticky foulness being held tight against her. Movement caught her eye and she turned, saw Ellie giving a quick shake of her head, an unspoken suggestion to Sandy that going further might not be wise.

Julie nearly laughed at that, glad that it wasn't her being rebuked by Ellie, confirmation that she wasn't the only person considered in need of support and guidance. With a sad glance at the miserable girl Julie tamely followed Jane through to the changing room and hopped up onto one of the tables, a horrid squelch from her diaper making her immediately regret her enthusiastic cooperation. "Thank you Jane," she said, "Sorry for the mess."

"That's fine," reassured Jane, "we'll get you clean and cosy in no time."

Julie had seen how carefully Jane had walked through, and knew she too needed a change. "That'll be nice," she said, "and I can make you comfy afterwards too."

That had been a fruitless promise, broken not by choice but by the revelation that she'd leaked again. Julie had been asked to lay there while Daphne fetched clean tights, thankful for her clean diaper but mortified at another leak, a second day in a row.

Alice had changed Jane, getting her clean and into a new fresh diaper before Daphne returned and dressed Julie again, finally allowing her to sit up and get off the table, restored to her toddler look. Julie had stood up, found Ellie and Sandy sat on a changing table watching her, while Jane was having her skirt tugged back into place by the efficient Alice.

"You didn't need a change?" she asked the two observers, surprised that they'd been so long without one. 

Sandy grinned in reply. "We've had one," she said, clearly happier as a result, "it's quicker if you haven't leaked." 

Julie blushed and wished she hadn't asked, especially when she saw Ellie give her a forgiving smile.

The rest of the day had progressed without incident, wet diapers getting changed with barely a comment, the girls seeing to their colleagues' needs with a professional manner. Late afternoon training had been followed by an early dinner, the girls allowed time to themselves in the evening, nobody restrained, bottles of wine offered and accepted.

Julie wasn't surprised when she woke up that night, again finding herself lying in the dark, needing relief, unable to remove her sleeper. She sighed, forced herself to relax, accepted she'd be waking yet again in a wet diaper. She clutched her sheep close, not caring that it was a childish act, finding comfort anyway as she fell asleep once more.

**

The morning followed a standard routine, but the shower was more muted, less horseplay and splashing mess, and the girls were quiet as they emerged to be diapered for the day. Julie accepted this indignity with grace and found herself looking forward to finding out what was in the wicker basket, the daily outfits something she still found fun.

They turned out to be simple, a vest topped diaper shirt under a skater skirt, the wide elasticated waistband tight above their diapers, flowing material flaring out over the padding, a pretty layer of lace stitched just inside the hem to peek out, a final feminine flourish.

The morning was spent in the lecture room, this time Miriam presenting to them, Julie finding herself losing concentration; financial analysis of the company not drawing her interest.

She was also distracted by her diaper, or more accurately her need to use it. She resisted, fed up with the infantilisation, wanting to strip away the uncomfortable cushioned plastic and sit on a toilet, relieve herself without causing a different discomfort, damp and clammy.

Shuffling in her seat she saw that Sandy was also fidgeting, guessed that she was also trying to avoid being wet at lunch. They both succeeded, Alice returning to give them diaper checks before they ate, only Ellie needing a change. Alice took her away and returned before the rest went through for a simple meal.

After lunch Miriam called them into the lounge, four recliners set out around a chair on which she sat. This time she didn't remonstrate with them, instead giving them the verbal description of their induction so far. Julie forced herself to focus on Miriam's words instead of remembering those challenging days.

"Our babies make it through day four," said Miriam, "but day five is often just too much for them. They experience a strong desire to use a toilet, return to adulthood. They hold back, not wanting to use their diaper, preferring the discomfort until it becomes too great to bear."

Julie stared in shock. Had Miriam read her mind, or was she really going through the same experience that everybody her new employer processed, right down to her private inner feelings?

She didn't dare ask the question that would expose the depth of her desire for this treatment to end: Was their induction week a standard business week, this their final day, that escape from infantilisation soon at hand, or were there two days to go? Julie knew the answer to that question was important to her, but also felt she had to trust Miriam and the induction process.

Perhaps they had a way to make this easy? Julie decided to ask and find out, "How do you manage that situation?"

Miriam gave a contemptuous smile. "Oh Julie," she said sweetly, "You've seen how we use restraints to assure cooperation."

As Julie's stomach turned at the thought she saw movement to her side. Sandy was getting out of her recliner, an angry expression on her face. "No." she said resolutely, "I'm not taking that any more."

She continued as she started to walk towards the door, "I'm going to find a toilet, and then I'm.."

Julie never found out what she was going to do next. Jane had left her own recliner, intercepted Sandy and blocked her, stopping her from leaving the room. Alice stepped in behind Sandy who went limp, her angry statements reduced to a horrified, "No!" repeated as she was pulled back to a recliner, firmly sat down and held there by Alice. 

Julie watched aghast as Jane fastened straps and wrist restraints on Sandy, wanting to intervene, knowing it wouldn't help, scared to compromise her own chances of completing induction. 

"Don't worry," Jane said to Sandy, "I'll look after you, my beautiful baby girl."

This didn't comfort Sandy who burst into tears, unable to respond after Alice had placed a pacifier in her mouth.

"The other thing about day five," Miriam said, her obvious amusement a chilling worry, "is that it really confirms who can cope with being an employee here, and who wont make it through induction."

"We always open recruitment to five people, but we only ever have two vacancies. Experience tells us that even with careful assessment beforehand, we'll end up with candidates that just aren't suited to working for us. Mia withdrew right at the start, so we'll monitor her social media, make sure she obeys that non-disclosure, but she's harmless.

"It's clear though that Jane just claimed one of the vacancies, and at the same time poor Sandy's been eliminated."

Miriam looked at Julie. "Sadly Sandy knows too much about our business now. We'll find her a loving owner, but in the meantime, Jane can work with her to learn the full transition process. Which leaves us with two girls and one position."

"But that's illegal!" protested Julie, "You can't do that."

Miriam ignored her, looked at Ellie and sternly demanded, "Ellie. Stand up."

It was impossible to elegantly stand up from a seated position in those recliners, even when a short skirt wasn't constantly threatening to reveal well padded underwear, but Ellie retained an inner dignity as she came to her feet and stood there, a calm look of interest on her face.

"You were the only baby to wet in her diaper this morning," said Miriam, then asked in a matter of fact tone, "Do you like being a baby?"

Ellie was giving another of her gestures that indicated that she had no real choice, dressed as she was, but at Miriam's question she caught Miriam's gaze directly and giving a firm shake of her head.

"I thought as much," said Miriam, "It's very rare that someone uses their diaper voluntarily on day five. Either they really want to be a baby or they're showing tremendous strength of character. Thank you Ellie, I think that along with Jane you'll make an excellent member of our team."

Miriam looked at Julie sadly, observed the poor girl's confused expression and spoke softly to her. "Yes, it's illegal. This business is successful because it treats national and international laws as.. optional." 

"Ellie and Jane have understood and come to terms with that, and they'll be back in business suits later today," she said, paused briefly and added, "but you?"

Miriam smiled, reached behind her and turned back with something in her hand. "You have a different future," she said, revealing a baby's bottle, oversized, full of milk.

Julie collapsed down in her seat, replaying the words she'd just heard. Only two jobs available, and Jane and Ellie had them? Leaving her, where? She looked up at Miriam. "But.. my job?" she asked plaintively.

"Silly baby," cooed Miriam, "This business needs leaders, strong women that can impose their will on others. That's not you, you're too timid, too subservient. Ellie proved that a couple of days ago. No, you don't have a job sweetheart. Babies don't work."

Julie felt hands on her arms, realised Ellie and Daphne had come around behind her while Miriam was speaking, and found herself being fastened soundly to her seat, straps over her shoulders, thick leather pulled up between her legs, a buckle at her waist bringing the restraints together. As she reached instinctively to undo it the women around her gently pulled her arms away, slid her hands into stiff mittens and locked them closed. Julie opened her mouth to protest her treatment and had it filled, one of the inflatable pacifiers rapidly pumped up to silence her complaints.

Julie wriggled free from the her captors but couldn't lean away from her chair, held securely in its comfortable embrace, her arms loose but helpless, unable to use her hands or fingers. She found she couldn't even smooth her lace hem down past the wide strap that pulled her skirt up, revealing the thick diaper now held snugly against her. She felt someone stroking her head softly, knew it would be Ellie, for once couldn't find any comfort in the warm contact.

Instead she gazed across to Sandy, eyes wide, and shared a look of trepidation, understanding that day five was going to be everything they'd dreaded, no escape from their padded prisons. As Miriam had so insightfully understood, Julie had been holding back all day and now that she had no other options her mind couldn't escape the feeling of pressure in her bladder and bowels, the knowledge of what that would cause. Four days' experience had taught her the inevitable, and she knew that for her and Sandy it was going to be an unpleasant and distressing afternoon, relief only available when their former colleagues returned from their rooms, adults once more.

Unlike her. Julie for the first time all week felt real fear and her face went pale as her mind accelerated into overdrive, exploring the consequences of Miriam's words.

Miriam saw the look between the two girls, smiled at them both and cruelly added, "It's OK darlings. You've both been such well behaved babies. We wont let one of the breeders buy you. You're both too valuable for that."

Julie sobbed as she realised the full import of Miriam's phoney reassurance. All of their lessons, detailing the process, now a grim foreshadowing of her new life: electrolysis, incontinence, high chairs and bottles, no autonomy or decisions to be made, just a never ending succession of diapers and pretty dresses, auction to a foreign buyer, perpetual humiliation. She and Sandy were no longer employees but they had indeed become a core part of the business; new babies being prepped for sale, truly Stork Supplies.

Fin.-

 

[BabyAnna]

Addendum

This story came from the need and desire to share the scale and intensity of emotion actually caused by Day Five, a mental impact far greater than anticipated at the start of the week. It's hard to convey that strength of emotion in story form; Sandy's reaction at the end was too muted and Julie was far too passive in response.

It does though mean that Miriam's description of the five days is more truth than fiction. The initial premise of the story was very much 'What if you reach day five, experience that emotion and somebody doesn't let you use a toilet' but the short three chapter story grew in an attempt to capture and explore the transition from fun and fluffy to a dark and intense mix of emotions.

You don't have to believe the truth of that journey: Ask someone to put you in diapers 24/7 for a week, and see for yourself. Just hope you can trust them, as Day Five is when you'll want it all to end, want to take off your diapers and use a toilet. Maybe they'll let you. Maybe.
 

[Babypants]

By day five, will it be the diapers that are the problem, or the boredom that follows from the lack of stimuli for the adult brain?  The latter is muted in this story by interaction between the young ladies; imagine, instead, each of them being kept in isolation, with a few infantile toys the only thing to give focus to their thoughts.  A Stockholm Syndrome dynamic with their nanny would likely follow, early on in some cases and later in others.  

[kirababy]

Like the premise of this story, and found it entertaining.   The fifth day is about when things "get real" so it is an interesting perspective.   I'd be curious to see a follow up/spin off story where a new batch of babies come in and are put through the paces by the two who are now employees.  There is a lot left to explore one would think.