Little Sister Briana CH 40 (The Finale!) 11/07/21

[YourFNF]

On 8/29/2022 at 11:59 AM, SolSombraYSoldados said:

Closing her eyes and gently sucking on Veronica's nipple drove the horrors of the night out of Briana's mind. By the time she'd finished off both breasts she was sleepy and limp. Exhaustion like she hadn't known in years sapped everything from her. Briana was asleep as soon as she was tucked in, before Veronica even raised her crib bars.

Wooofff yeah.... This is a hot mess....

[SolSombraYSoldados]

41 minutes ago, YourFNF said:

Wooofff yeah.... This is a hot mess....

Maybe sometimes... DO go full baby? But then like, don't run away from your caregivers into the freezing snow to commit B&E.

Baby crimes and real crimes don't mix!

[YourFNF]

2 hours ago, SolSombraYSoldados said:

Baby crimes and real crimes don't mix!

Fully agreed. I feel like Veronica is kinda sending mixing signals though with the whole "trust your family and come to us" thing but then isolating Briana as a punishment? I understand her being desperate though and trying to get through to someone who isn't fully cognizant but that kinda makes punishment seem even less effective?

[SolSombraYSoldados]

1 hour ago, YourFNF said:

Fully agreed. I feel like Veronica is kinda sending mixing signals though with the whole "trust your family and come to us" thing but then isolating Briana as a punishment? I understand her being desperate though and trying to get through to someone who isn't fully cognizant but that kinda makes punishment seem even less effective?

This is a common complaint for the end of this chapter, so it's something I've got to fix in the edit.

The intent is that most of the time Briana will have a babysitter or family member on hand, just not every minute. 

She won't be able to participate in stuff that's going on in the house though, that's the big punishment.

I obviously wrote it to be pretty unclear  I think it's how much Briana protests her punishment, and the language she chooses.

[YourFNF]

16 hours ago, SolSombraYSoldados said:

obviously wrote it to be pretty unclear  I think it's how much Briana protests her punishment, and the language she chooses.

Ahh okay! That makes sense

[SolSombraYSoldados]

Things have been crazy, to put it mildly. It's time for some Rosa & Melody, and a beautiful series of moments.

-----

 

Chapter 21

 

Melody flipped through their phone while they waited for Rosa to get home from work. They hadn't seen Briana since Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully their little sister was okay. Melody wondered if Briana would be okay with them calling her that. It felt good to do privately at least, felt right.

Briana was on some kind of super mega lockdown, she was probably upset and needing a friend. Veronica could probably use more babysitting help too. Instead of helping, Melody was sitting in Rosa's apartment, doom-scrolling. They couldn't face the house after the text Veronica had sent.

>> Briana retrieved something from Beatrix's house. Please let me know if you want to talk about what's going on with her.

Melody touched the reply box with their thumb and tried to think of a response for the sixth time. Nothing came to mind. Nothing that they would be able to press send on. At least reading it didn't grip their chest with panic like it had when Veronica had first sent it.

Rosa had been awesome. She didn't ask any questions, just let Melody grab stuff from their room at the house and stay with her. Even though Melody knew she was burning with curiosity about what had spooked Melody out of the house. Not to mention that being cooped up together with no school had made their above-the-waist-only make outs even more stressful.

"She's so great." Melody said to the empty living room.

Better than I deserve, they thought.

Rosa's roommates were away for break. It was nice, but made the whole no sex thing even more difficult. That was one thing Melody could fix. They'd grabbed diapers as well as clothes from home when they'd packed, but Veronica wasn't here. They didn't need to wear protection every single minute.

When Rosa went to work her shift at Red Retail Hell, Melody determined that she'd have a nice welcome back. Eight hours was a long time. Long enough to grocery shop, do some cleaning, and fix dinner. A lot of cleaning had gotten done, actually. Anything was better than dwelling on what she was going to tell Veronica, or worse, the whole situation with Beatrix.

Outfit choices had been super limited by what they'd packed Thanksgiving night. The best Melody could do was a button up shirt, jeans, and panties. Rosa didn't need to deal with Melody's weird fetishes on their first time.

It felt weird not being padded after so many weeks. Worse than that, Melody had wet themselves a little while scrubbing the kitchen. Letting go any time the urge came up had become way too easy. Luckily, they'd been wearing yesterday's clothes while cleaning. Those clothes were in the wash now, with extra detergent.

The door opened, Rosa stepped listlessly in, wearing her store's trademark unflattering red shirt. Melody was pretty sure they'd rather be wearing that color on the Enterprise then at Target.

"Hey Rosa." Melody hopped up from the couch with an eager smile.

"Hey babe." Rosa set her bag down and did a double-take on Melody's outfit. Her eyes wandered around the living room, growing wide. "Did you clean? Did you cook?"

"I did. I hope that's okay. I wanted stuff to be nice for you when you got back."

The fierce hug that lifted Melody off the floor was a pretty good indicator of Rosa's reaction. Melody smiled and kissed their girlfriend eagerly.

"This is awesome. Thank you hon." Rosa squeezed Melody's rear and raised a brow. "You're not..."

"Not tonight." Melody said softly. "I uh, didn't want it to get in the way if we ended up um, doing stuff."

"This is the best way to come home from work." Rosa said with a grin. "I can't decide what to eat first!"

"Uh, the dinner probably won't taste as good as..." Melody blushed profusely. "I mean uh – I'm not saying that I taste um – oh god."

"I bet you taste delicious." Rosa said, tickling Melody out of their bashful cringe. "I'm sure dinner will too. What'd you make?"

"Shepard's pie. It's not fancy. Just like uh – ground beef and carrots with boxed mashed potatoes on top."

"Sounds amazing. I'm starved. I just need to change out of my uniform, okay?"

"I'll get stuff on the table."

All they had to do was pop the casserole out of the oven and put it on the table. Nice place settings were already set up, something they'd learned from lots of roommate dinners at Veronica's. After a bit of internal debate, Melody lit the candles they'd picked up at the grocery store.

"Did you clean the whole apartment?" Rosa asked excitedly from her room.

"Uh, I didn't go into your roommates' rooms."

"I get a candlelight dinner too?" Rosa said, returning from the bedroom with a pair of shorts and a tank top on. "You are awesome. Thank you."

"I'm not – I just wanted to do something nice for you." Melody said.

"I love it." Rosa pulled Melody in for a short kiss before eagerly taking a seat at the table.

Melody watched Rosa carefully as they ate. She seemed to like it, especially after Melody suggested putting more salt on the casserole. Dinner was low on conversation and high on Rosa stuffing her face. Melody figured that must be a compliment.

Even with Rosa home, Melody couldn't stop their anxieties from creeping into their thoughts. If anything, it was worse. Dinner cleanup happened in a daze. Melody found themselves under their girlfriend in bed, exactly where they wanted to be. Unfortunately, the worries still piled on.

What does Veronica know about Beatrix?

What happens when Rosa finds out about Beatrix?

What if I get so into this that I wet myself again?

What if Rosa doesn't have fun and breaks up with me?

"Hey, Melody?" Rosa said, pulling away from a kiss. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry, uh, I was distracted. I'll be better."

"That's not what I'm asking for." Rosa said, sitting up.

She looked so good straddling Melody with her top off. Melody couldn't believe they had something this good and kept trying to screw it up.

"I'm sorry Rosa." Melody said hastily. "I just have a lot of stuff on my mind with the whole Briana thing and..."

"And whatever is happening at home that makes you not want to go back?"

Melody bit their lip. "It's not that exactly – I mean, it is kinda but..."

"Melody." Rosa's smile was at once concerned and caring. "Hey, you can stay here the whole break if you want. After that I'd have to talk to my roommates, but I want you here."

Melody nodded, feeling a bit less frantic. "The break is more than fine. Thanks."

"Are you nervous because you're not wearing a diaper?"

Yes. The thought leaped into Melody's mind and almost to their lips, before they managed to stop it. Unfortunately, their face must have given them away.

"I thought that might be happening. Is it kind of like a security blanket?" Rosa asked, unbuttoning the last buttons on Melody's shirt and pushing it open so she could stroke their belly.

"It's not – that makes me sound like a baby."

"Oh of course." Rosa's voice was still kind, but a smirk was invading the corner of her mouth. "I don't want to make you feel like a baby when we're talking about your diapers."

"That's not what it's about!" Melody protested.

"No? Hon, you told me it's called Adult Baby Diaper Lover." Rosa planted her hands to either side of Melody's shoulders and gazed down at them. "Please tell me what this means to you. I want to know. I want to be a good girlfriend, a good lover for you."

"I'm not trying to be confusing." Melody said softly. "I'm confused too."

"Would you feel better if you had one on? Honestly."

If they were going to lie to their girlfriend about Beatrix, the least they could do was be honest about everything else. Especially when she was asking. Melody took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes. I don't know about a security blanket but it is um – comfortable. Comforting."

It was Rosa's turn to hesitate, her own voice soft. "Can I put it on you?"

Melody shivered. The idea sounded amazing. Being diapered by someone who actually cared about them, but wasn't just a caregiver like Veronica was a dream. A sexy, enticing dream that sent little bolts of electricity down Melody's spine.

"I would – like that." Melody said. It was a massive relief to see compassion and desire on Rosa's face. No disgust or hesitation crossed her features at all.

"Let's do it." Rosa said.

While Rosa was searching the bag they'd brought, Melody squirmed out of their shirt and bra. After a moment's hesitation they shucked off their jeans, but left their panties on.

"You're so hot." Rosa said, returning to the bed with an armload of diaper supplies.

Hearing that while Rosa was holding a diaper, untwisted something anxious and painful in Melody's belly. They hadn't realized how much they needed to hear that from Rosa. Not in general, but during the kink stuff.

"I see you've got all the supplies." Rosa said. "I've done this for kids but never um – like this."

"It works basically the same." Melody said, propped up on their elbows.

"The part I don't know is – the sexy part is a game right? Like BDSM? But I don't know how this game goes."

Melody's belly and parts lower heated up at the image of being tied up by Rosa. Melody mentally bonked themselves into horny jail. They needed to concentrate on what was happening now.

"It's uh – well I've never done it properly. With a – lover. But usually with the stuff online um – they sort of play pretend. L-like one person is y-younger and needs – needs some help."

Melody's heart was pounding. Even after saying all that, they didn't know if they wanted it. What was Rosa thinking right now? At what point did she get tired of this and decide to get a normal girlfriend that didn't need special pronouns and diapers and all kinds of other...

"I like your panties." Rosa said.

Her fingers and palm gently stroked Melody's mound. The dark blue fabric was immediately damp against Melody's slick folds. The touch drove the heat from Melody's belly into their crotch and obliterated all thoughts from their mind.

"They do seem a little wet though. I know you don't normally wear adult stuff like this." Rosa said hesitantly, watching Melody's face carefully.

Melody nodded in answer to Rosa, shyly biting their lip.

"Let's get you out of these and into a diaper, okay? Then you won't have to worry about having an accident."

"Okay." Melody whispered.

"Good girl." Rosa said. She was probably pulling that phrase from BDSM, but it worked just as well in ABDL. Well enough to elicit a needy whine from Melody.

Rosa pulled Melody's legs up and slid their panties up and off. She laid them back down apart and took a moment to inspect Melody. At least, that's all Melody thought she was doing. A stroke of Rosa's soft tongue caught them completely off guard and drove a loud moan out of them.

"I just had to have a little taste." Rosa said, lifting her head and grinning. "I was right. You're delicious."

Melody had heard that at some point in BDSM, pain and pleasure merge into the same thing. They'd never been enough into that scene to find out. The same thing was happening now with their embarrassment and arousal. Their whole body was trembling, but it just felt good. The anxiousness was replaced with anticipation. Flush and blush merged into one.

"Hmm, is this – Melody, you have diaper rash." Rosa said.

"Um, yeah, it's getting better."

"It is? Because it looks pretty bad." Rosa lifted Melody's hips to better inspect their rear, driving Melody deeper into a little role. "Veronica didn't notice?"

"She did but..." Melody couldn't finish without uttering the forbidden name.

"I know she has her hands full with Briana right now but this isn't okay." Rosa set Melody's butt down on the diaper. "You need someone to take better care of you. I'm going to get this cleared up for you, okay?"

Along with the warmth in her crotch and along her skin, Melody felt warmth blossom in her chest. "Really?"

"Of course baby." Rosa said, leaning over so she could stroke Melody's hair. "I'm going to take good care of my uh..."

"Little one." Melody supplied hesitantly.

"Little one." Rosa said, trying the phrase on for size. She smiled broadly. "Yeah, my little one. You lie back and let me help you, okay?"

Smiling dreamily, Melody flopped back and closed their eyes. Rosa was just as thorough in applying the medicated lotion as Veronica, but this time every touch was a caress. The order that it was applied was a little different too, with Rosa saving Melody's sex for last. Soft silky touches across their labia set Melody shamelessly moaning and flexing their hips upward.

"I think you need a little more than medicine." Rosa said, wiping her hands on a washcloth. "Let's get all those moans out of my little one."

Melody squirmed as Rosa snuggled up next to her, one hand in Melody's crotch and their lips nearly touching.

"What about you?" They asked, cupping Rosa's breast.

"Little ones always get taken care of first, right?" Rosa said, pushing Melody's hand back down on the bed. "Relax baby."

With any guilt at going first out of the way, Melody let themselves become lost in the feeling of Rosa's fingers sliding up and down their slit. Soft, whimpering moans were devoured by Rosa's lips and interrupted by her tongue. When those touches became soft circles around Melody's clit, they broke the kiss to moan and gasp at the ceiling. Little by little Rosa built tension with her fingers and Melody's back arched to match. With a shout they collapsed against their girlfriend, sweaty and quivering.

"Good girl." Rosa said, licking her fingers clean.

Melody couldn't answer. There was only warmth and bliss without room for thoughts. Their limbs felt almost numb. The scent of powder wafted up to Melody's nose, a simple smell that had become oh-so complicated recently. It picked up yet another emotion as Rosa wrapped the diaper around Melody's hips and fussed with the tapes.

It wasn't smooth, like being changed by Veronica, but it was perfect as far as Melody was concerned. The fumbling fingers that took several tries to get the tapes set were proof of how much effort Rosa was putting into this.

The moment Rosa was finished, Melody rolled over and clung to their girlfriend. Rosa made a surprised sound and held Melody tightly.

"You okay? Was this just intense or is there something else?"

Melody couldn't answer verbally. They tried holding on to Rosa even more tightly, hoping she'd understand. Nothing was said for a while. Melody clung to Rosa, and she held them tight.

"I don't know what's going on, but I don't need to." Rosa said softly. "You need somebody to take care of you, don't you?"

"Yes please." The need was strong enough to push worries about scaring their girlfriend off out of their mind.

"I uh – did a little research. I don't know how I feel about you calling me Mommy. I like the idea of being a caregiver though." Rosa kissed the top of Melody's head. "Can I take care of you?"

Melody nodded into Rosa's shoulder.

"Melody," Rosa said, pulling them away with some effort. "I need you to use your words on this one. Do you want me to be a caregiver for you when you're being Little?"

"I do." Melody said quietly. "But uh – it could be too much, so you don't have to."

"I'm not saying we should go twenty four seven, or lifestyle or whatever right now." Rosa said. "We can take it slow. Right now I was thinking the rest of the night."

"Yes please." Melody pleaded, in the littlest voice she'd used since she was in grade school.

"You got it, Little One." Rosa said. The warm smile that broke over her face was like the sun. "I guess we should set some rules."

Melody waited quietly.

"Heh, I guess you want me to set them, huh?" Rosa nodded. "Just tell me if uh – there's something that's not okay about a rule. That's different from you not liking a rule."

Melody squirmed. "O-okay."

"If you have an accident," Rosa patted Melody's butt, "I'll change you. But you usually don't have number two accidents, right?"

"Right." Melody said, nodding emphatically.

"Okay, so for that just tell me, so I can help you get your diaper off." Rosa watched Melody hesitantly, gaining confidence when she got another nod.

"You have to do as I say. No uh – watching TV without permission."

Melody tried to pout at that, but it was half-smile. They nodded in agreement to the latest rule.

"Finally um – I decide your bedtime." Rosa said.

"Okay Rosa." Melody said, squirming again. Getting rules from Rosa was a lot more fun than getting them from Veronica.

"Great." Rosa said, looking relieved. "Now, what do you want to do?"

"Can we play?" Melody asked, blushing. Their hand reached out to caress Rosa's side. "Can we play uh – something that makes you feel good?"

"You want to do that even – when we're doing this?"

"Is it okay?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, it's super okay." Rosa said. "I uh, am still pretty worked up."

"Well, you know how babies are." Melody said with a giggle. "We put everything in our mouth."

"Dios mío." Rosa said as Melody's lips met her breasts.

Melody spared a few minutes for Rosa's breasts, but was soon wiggling their way down her body, kissing all the way. Above the belt had already happened a lot. They were excited about the new territory they were kissing now.

Melody's lips wandered across Rosa's hips and tracked up and down her thighs. They were having a lot of fun teasing, until Rosa grabbed their head gently with a frustrated groan.

"Okay, that feels good baby. Let me uh, show you another place to kiss."

Melody let Rosa guide their head down to her soaking sex. As they gently licked in time to Rosa's moans, Melody was in heaven. It didn't take long to make Rosa flop back on the bed and quiver, not that Melody had any intention of stopping.

Happy blissful sounds from Rosa rose in pitch to desperate moans and back down again. Three times, until Rosa weakly pushed Melody's head away from her crotch.

"Come snuggle me. Now."

Melody crawled back up their girlfriend, crinkling all the way. They fit perfectly together. Comforted by the heat radiating off of Rosa and feeling safe in her arms, Melody dozed. It was a soft, dreamy feeling that never quite became sleep. They came back to waking tucked under a sheet, little spoon to Rosa's big.

"Oh man," Rosa yawned. "We passed out."

"Yeah." Melody giggled softly.

"It is way past your bedtime." Rosa said, releasing butterflies into Melody's tummy.

"We're already in bed." Melody observed.

"But you need to brush your teeth and stuff." Rosa said, sitting up and tossing the sheet aside.

"Don't wanna." Melody yawned. "Come sleep with – eep!"

Rosa laughed and released the waistband of Melody's diaper. "Still dry, good little one!"

"Don't." Melody whined.

"Don't what? Embarrass you? Turn you on?" Rosa smirked. "Get your butt up so I can get you ready for bed."

Melody put up a good front of grumbles when Rosa lead them to the bathroom. They were a little worried that Rosa would start finding the game weird, but she seemed more into it than ever. She set a timer and made Melody brush her teeth for a full two minutes. Rosa even insisted on scrubbing Melody's face herself.

Most embarrassing of all was having her diaper pulled down and put on the potty by Rosa. Not the potty, the toilet, Melody tried to correct themself. Unfortunately, that's what Rosa was currently calling it, just to twist the embarrassment a little higher.

After all that, Rosa made Melody drink a huge glass of water, teasing them gently about wetting the bed. The thought of doing that was at once horrifying and enticing. It was a very conflicted little one that Rosa lead back to bed and tucked in alongside her.

"Sorry I don't have a binkie for you to suck on." Rosa teased.

"Shut up." Melody protested, snuggling closer to Rosa's big spoon.

"Hmm, maybe I should impose some language rules too. You're awfully lippy for a little one."

"Goodnight Rosa." Melody said hastily, closing their eyes and fake-snoring.

"Uh huh." Rosa giggled and kissed Melody's neck. "Goodnight little one."

If the fake snores were quickly replaced by real ones Melody didn't know. They didn't remember anything else from that night, so snores or not, sleep came immediately.

-----

Melody woke up more comfortable than they'd ever been in their life. Rosa was spooning them again. The bed was warm and the air outside the covers nice and chilly. Even their diaper was a nice comforting presence. The only problem was that they had to go. Badly.

Their attempt to get out of bed was foiled by Rosa, who was already awake. Melody struggled sleepily against Rosa's arms for a moment until they realized that they were being deliberately held.

"Good morning Melody." Rosa said blissfully.

"Morning Rosa." Melody squirmed against Rosa's grip again, to no avail. "Uh, I have to go."

"Just pee right?" Rosa said quietly into Melody's ear. "If that's all, no reason we should stop snuggling."

Melody swallowed a lump in their throat. "Are – are we still playing?"

"If you want to." Rosa said. "You're still diapered and I still want to take care of you."

"But you really want to deal with..." Melody couldn't finish the sentence, so they tried to escape the bed again. Rosa pulled them closer, putting dangerous pressure on their belly.

"If we play like this I'll have to sooner or later." Rosa said. "Now's a good time as any. If you want me to let you go, you have to say 'Rosa, I want to stop playing now.' Otherwise I'm holding you here."

"Rosa..." Melody began. They hesitated, the rest of the sentence hanging on their lips. A tiny spurt of liquid escaped into their diaper and Melody let the choice be made. They whimpered as their full morning flow poured hot into the diaper. The padding was super soggy right away. The physical feeling was good, but the embarrassment was knife-sharp.

"What's that, baby girl? Oh, were you telling me that you had an accident?" Rosa reached down and cupped Melody's padded crotch. "Wow, you really did. And you still are."

Melody whimpered, a flash of heat traveling across their skin. Their nipples crinkled immediately and they realized they were panting. Getting so turned on by wetting in front of Rosa was even more embarrassing. The loop fed back on itself until Melody's squirms were from horny distress rather than an attempt to escape.

"This really does it for you, doesn't it, little one?" Rosa kissed Melody's neck, eliciting a moan.

"Is it okay for – for you?" Melody said, hiding their face.

"It's still pretty new for me, but watching you get this turned on is hot. Really hot."

Rosa shifted, pressing her breasts against Melody's back. One hand wrapped around their chest to hold a breast, the other dipped into the diaper and slipped a finger between Melody's folds.

"Oh, Rosa!" Melody pressed back against their girlfriend. They fell back to the state of embarrassed bliss they'd felt when Rosa first diapered them.

"You know what else is hot?" Rosa asked, gently stroking Melody's clit. "Thinking about how you're going to need to pee every morning. I could wake up next to you every morning, wetting your pants and getting crazy horny. That is hot like the sun."

Melody writhed happily against Rosa, already nearly to their climax. They hadn't thought through the morning wakeup implication of being Rosa's diapered little one, but she wasn't wrong about how hot it was.

"Come for me, baby doll." Rosa said gently, rubbing her finger a bit more firmly. "That's my dolly..."

"NO!" Melody screamed the word before they fully registered what Rosa had said. They had thrown themself out of her grasp at the same time. Last night's clothes made a lumpy landing zone as Melody pitched out of bed.

"Melody?" Rosa peeked over the bed with a worried expression. "What happened?"

"Can't say that." Melody whimpered, shaking. "Can't call me that. Please don't say that."

Rosa nodded urgently. "I promise I won't. It was the last thing I said? D – "

"Yeah that one." Melody said, cutting Rosa off. "Not from you."

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. I'll never say that again." Rosa climbed out of bed and hesitantly reached for Melody.

Now that Rosa felt safe again, Melody threw themself into her. Just like when they'd been unable to open up to Veronica, there were no sobs. Tears poured silently down their cheeks. Rosa didn't say anything, just held them and stroked their back. It was perfect. Sooner than they would have expected, Melody wiped their eyes and sat back with a squish.

"You don't have to tell me what that was all about unless you want to." Rosa said gently. "Do you want to stop playing for now?"

"No." Melody whimpered. "But I'm not feeling sexy anymore. I can make you feel good though."

"Shh." Rosa kissed Melody tenderly on the lips. "That's not what either of us needs right now. You need a shower, a fresh diaper, and breakfast. Sound good?"

"Yes please."

A nuclear hot shower smoothed out the panic-driven knots in Melody's muscles. A non-sexy diapering from Rosa was another first. A good one that made them wish they were at the point of saying the L word. Wearing Rosa's pajamas was nice too, even if they were kind of girly. That was okay because they weren't Melody's. They belonged to their girlfriend.

After breakfast they were snuggled on the couch in a happy tangle. The clouds that had descended with Beatrix's pet name for Melody had finally been banished.

"Do you hafta go to work today?" Melody said, catching the baby talk only after they'd already said it.

"Yeah, but you can stay here and I'll take care of you when I get home." Rosa didn't seem to mind it, but she didn't say anything either.

"I should go home." Melody said sadly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, people will be worried. Veronica has a lot to worry about already."

"I like having you here." Rosa said. "I don't mind taking care if you."

"We have to talk about that." Melody said reluctantly. "You come home from work tired. You shouldn't have to take care of me then."

"I'd do it for you." Rosa said.

"That's sweet but..." Melody sighed and sat up, shrugging off the fuzzy PJ top leaving them in just the plain undershirt. "I don't want it to be a chore. I want it to be a fun thing we do. Plus, you're my girlfriend. I want to take care of you sometimes too."

"You did last night." Rosa said, smiling. "Seriously, my chores for the week are done, dinner was great, and I have leftovers to take to work."

"I'm glad." Melody said with a soft smile. "I can come see you more over break. But I should go home and spend at least one night there."

"Just one night?" Rosa grinned. "How many clothes are you going to leave here?"

"No way! If we move in together, you should move into my house."

"Oh?" Rosa considered. "That makes sense actually. You've got that nice convenient changing table just down the hall from your room."

"Rosa!" Melody disappeared behind their hands.

"Haha, I'm never going to get tired of that. You're adorable." Bit by bit she pried Melody's hands apart so she could deliver a kiss.

"It's Briana's stupid changing table." Melody insisted.

"So Veronica never changed you on it?"

"Well uh – that's not the point!"

"Wanna sit on my lap and watch cartoons?"

"You're changing the subject." Melody said.

"Yep. Go get us a couple of those lemonades that are in the fridge. The bag of kettle corn too."

"Why do I have to get everything?"

"Because until you tell me otherwise, we're still playing and that means I'm in charge." Rosa leaned over and squeezed a nice crinkle out of Melody's diaper. "Go on, diaper butt."

Blushing and smiling despite their grumbles, Melody retrieved the snacks. It was nice to be smaller than their girlfriend, they fit almost as perfectly on Rosa's lap as snuggling in bed. By the time the third episode rolled around Melody had abandoned all pretense and was singing along with the theme song.

"We, are the crystal gems...

[dmavn]

YEAYY ANOTHER EPISODE,.. booo i read it already an now’s i gotta wait another week.

My emotions are soo conflicted..

[YourFNF]

Whelp that trigger through me for a loop after I just ummmm.... ???

But seriously Rosa is such an amazing girlfriend. It would be rough but I think she would be sympathetic after time to calm down if Melody told her.

[SolSombraYSoldados]

10 hours ago, YourFNF said:

Whelp that trigger through me for a loop after I just ummmm.... ???

But seriously Rosa is such an amazing girlfriend. It would be rough but I think she would be sympathetic after time to calm down if Melody told her.

The trigger is rough for sure, but the Little One is not alright.

Luckily they do have Rosa. She's pretty great. ❤️ d

Now if they could just accept help...

[SolSombraYSoldados]

What's this? Siblings having a good time together? Where's the tragedy? Where's the drama?

-----

 

Chapter 22

 

There was nothing worse than being lonely. Except, of course, being lonely and deserving it. Briana sat against the corner of her playpen and listlessly batted her stuffies back and forth. The Round Table of Cloudland had been demoted from proud knights to pillows, chew toys, and stuff to toss around the playpen.

All of them except Alanna. She sat on the other side of the playpen, perched on a cloud-blue blanket. Leading the Round Table made strong like Mom and Dad. She was a merciless lioness. Alanna didn't blame Briana for what she'd done, but she insisted that the little girl take her punishment without complaint.

So she had. Briana had done her best to smile at anyone who came to visit her, saving the tears for the times that only the baby monitor was watching. Obviously Mom and Dad had the other monitor and knew she was crying, but she couldn't keep from crying all the time.

"I was just trying to help." Briana whispered to Alanna. She didn't understand how it had gone so wrong. There was proof now that Beatrix was doing horrible stuff and they still couldn't help Melody. What was the point of all the stupid grown up rules if you couldn't help your big sibling?

In a soft sad voice, Briana sang the Cloudland Anthem to Alanna.

There's a place in my mind,

No one knows where it hides,

And my fantasy is flying,

It's a castle in the sky.

Her voice stilled after the first verse. She couldn't bear to sing the parts about taking up her sword and fighting dragons right now. Briana sighed and crawled over to a different spot in the pen for some variety.

It's not like she hadn't had any visitors. All her roommates had come to see her. Even Gary had come, though just to fill in the babysitting schedule. She'd wanted to ask about Tamira, but Mom got angry every time her name was even mentioned. Briana didn't have her phone to text anybody with.

There was one glaring hole in the list. Technically not all her roommates had visited, because Melody hadn't. They weren't even in the house. Nobody knew why, or would say, but Melody hadn't been home in over a day.

That was her fault too, Briana guessed.

With a sigh, she flopped over on her back. Being grounded to her room was a really intense, little-time experience. Especially with Mom visiting her two or three times a day for snacks. If she wanted to she could easily let all her grown up thoughts melt away and be a babbling baby for while. It was hard not to, really.

That wouldn't be facing up to her punishment though. Alanna would be disappointed in her. Briana would be failing her knighthood, again. Worst of all, she wouldn't know when Melody came home.

The door opened and Briana eagerly spun around to see who it was. She didn't have to fake a smile when she saw it was Mom. Since Briana's promise to never run away, she felt like she needed Veronica around all the time.

"Hi there Bumblebri." Veronica said. She was wearing fancy clothes, a pretty black dress with decoration on it and jewelry and stuff. It looked great, but it meant she was going out soon.

"Hi Mommy." Briana said, pulling herself up to her knees on the side of the playpen.

"How are things going?" Veronica pulled a chair up to the playpen and gently rubbed Briana's back.

"It's okay." Briana said, trying to make her voice as cheerful as possible.

"You having fun playing with your stuffies?" Veronica asked.

"Uh, not really." Briana shrugged.

"Do you need something more enriching to do?" Veronica said. "I thought by now you'd be extremely little and the stuffies are usually all you want when you're like that."

"I want to be." Briana said with a sigh. "But I can't."

"Oh?"

"It wouldn't be right." Briana said. "I'd be avoiding my punishment."

Veronica's brow furrowed. "You need some more activities for sure then. I don't want you sitting here with nothing to do but to castigate yourself."

"It's okay." Briana said. "I have a lot of stuff to think about. I'm not sorry that I tried to help Melody. But I am sorry that I made a lot of trouble and worry when I did."

"You are such a good girl in your heart, do you know that, Briana?" Veronica asked.

"You think so?"

"I know so, darling." Veronica leaned down to kiss Briana's forehead, carefully so as not to smudge her lipstick. "I'm proud of the thinking you're doing, and I'm proud of your good heart. I have to go to a meeting at school, but when I come back we'll set you up with some games and coloring books."

Briana looked over at Alanna, then back up at Veronica. "It's okay. I know I did a bad thing."

"There's a fine line between processing a mistake you made and hurting yourself." Veronica said. "I don't want you having nothing to do and getting depressed. I'll read you a story tonight too, okay?"

That made Briana light up genuinely. The holidays had been way too busy for nighttime stories. "Can it be the first Alanna book?"

"Again?" Veronica asked. "We never got further than the third book. We could finish the series."

"I want to start over." Briana said.

"We can do that. I'll make sure that I make time so we can finish this time."

"Is Dad going with you to the party?" Briana asked.

"No, she's going to be here. It's a work meeting, Jane isn't invited."

"Mom." Briana said, leaning on Veronica's knees through the playpen mesh. "When you have time can we think of ways to help Melody?"

"Sweetie, Melody has to ask us for help with this."

"But what if the whole thing they need help with is asking for help?"

"That's one of the hard things about helping someone who's grown up." Veronica said. "Sometimes you can't."

"But, they aren't grown up, are they?" Briana looked up, meeting Veronica's gaze.

"Well, Melody and I don't have the same kind of relationship that I do with you." Veronica said. There was doubt in her voice and uncertainty in her expression.

"You do kind of." Briana pressed. "You didn't with me, until it happened."

"I – would like to be doing more than I am doing." Veronica said. "I guess we can have this discussion, since you're feeling pretty grown up right now. I tried to start that conversation with Melody, and their response was to stay with a friend instead of here."

"That's why they aren't here?" Briana frowned. "That just proves that they need help to get help!"

"I agree with you." Veronica said. "I don't want to push them away. Then they'd really be on their own."

"Then I'll do it!" Briana said. "They won't run away from me."

"Are you sure?" Veronica said in a cautionary tone. "I didn't expect that big of a reaction from my message either."

"I'm sure." Briana said. "I'm going to tell them that I love them, that they're my big sibling, and that we want to help."

"That could be a lot to put on Melody all at once."

"They have to know." Briana said. "Mom, Melody has to know that they're family. No guessing, no maybe. They're super bad at believing that someone cares about them."

Veronica smiled fondly. "You are amazing. If anyone can do it, you can. Just – don't force Melody into anything, okay? Encourage, but don't demand. Support, but don't make choices for them."

"Yeah okay." Briana sighed. "That sounds smart. Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome. I love you very much, Briana."

They shared a long, extra tight hug and then Mom was gone. Dad didn't come up either, she was probably busy with school or house stuff. Briana stared at her ceiling and tried to figure out the best way to tell Melody that they were part of the family.

Once she had a good script figured out, Briana was at loose ends again. Nobody had come up to visit her since Mom. She was wet, but not so much that she needed to cry for Dad. Maybe she should have asked Mom to put some coloring books in her playpen before she left for the party.

With nothing else to do, Briana forced herself to face up to Alanna again. She was surprised and gratified to see the lioness was proud of her. Briana felt good about what she was going to do, Mom had agreed with it, and now Alanna was in full support too. For the first time since she'd invited Beatrix in, Briana was feeling some hope that everything would be all right.

Briana broke into the Cloudland Anthem again, in its usual happy tone this time. She followed the first verse up with the second right away.

It's a world of our past,

Where the legend still lasts,

And the Queen wears the crown,

But the magic spell is law.

An answering voice from the hall jumped in with the third verse. Briana fell silent in surprise.

Take your sword and your shield,

There's a battle on the field,

You're a knight and you're right,

So with dragons now you'll fight.

The door opened to reveal Melody, singing beautifully. Tears in her eyes, Briana joined her sibling for the next two verses.

And my fancy is flying,

It's a castle in the sky,

Or there's nothing out there,

These are castles in the air.

Fairytales live in me,

Fables coming from my memory,

Fantasy is not a crime,

Find your castle in the sky.

"Melody!" Briana cried out as they both trailed off for the instrumental bit of the song.

"Hey Briana." Melody said. They looked peaceful, better than Briana expected.

Melody walked over to the baby monitor and shut it off. Briana looked at them curiously, but no explanation was offered. Instead, Melody leaned on the corner of the playpen and smiled shyly at Briana.

"Can I hang out with you for a while?"

"Of course! Please!" Briana bounced, squishing her diaper.

"I'm babysitting you right now." Melody said. "But I was thinking there's enough room for two in there if you don't mind."

"Yeah, tons!" Briana scooted over to give Melody room.

After a few moments' hesitation, Melody kicked off their shoes and stripped down their jeans. They were wearing a diaper, but the tapes were all messed up to Briana's expert eye.

Melody climbed over the playpen wall and sat down gingerly, like they expected to be bitten. Briana was all for letting her sibling relax, but the urge to hug was literally overwhelming. She tackled her sibling, holding on as tightly as she could. To her delight, Melody was hugging back just as tight.

"I missed you." Briana said. She was worried she was going to cry and make it a whole sad thing, but the tears didn't come.

"I missed you too." Melody said. "I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry." Briana reluctantly eased off on the hug, staying within touching distance of Melody. "I didn't think about how I would make everyone worry. I've been thinking about it a lot while I've been grounded."

"I forgive you." Melody said. "You're safe and that's the important part."

Briana nuzzled Melody's shoulder. It was amazing, she'd literally dreamed about this exact thing so many times. Her in her onesie and diaper, Melody in a t-shirt and diaper, snuggling together in her playpen. For once the reality was as good as the dream.

"I didn't know you liked that song." Melody said.

"It's the anthem of Cloudland!" Briana declared proudly.

"What-land?"

"Cloudland. It's a big castle in the sky, so the song is perfect. There's a round table there with a bunch of knights. Alanna is the head knight."

"Oh, this Alanna?" Melody asked, patting Alanna on the back.

"Yeah!"

"I wish I had a place like Cloudland." Melody said wistfully.

"Well until you do, you can join up!" Briana said. "Can you grab my sword?"

Melody looked around until they spotted the plastic Sword of Protection on a shelf. Curiously, they leaned out of the playpen and handed it to Briana.

"Kneel." Briana said, tucking Alanna under her left arm and coming unsteadily to her feet. The playpen was a bit too squishy for a lot of standing.

With a bemused smile on her face, Melody braced herself on the side of the playpen and went down on one knee.

"Melody, do you swear to uphold the honor of Cloudland, The Round Table, and your own honor for as long as you live?"

A thoughtful expression crossed Melody's face, surprising Briana. She'd expected Melody to just humor her, but it looked like they were really thinking about the oath.

"I'll do my best." Melody said.

Briana touched Melody on the left shoulder with the sword, holding it above them again. "And do you swear to defend Cloudland and your family from whatever dangers they face?"

"Yes." Melody said in a determined tone.

Briana brought the sword down gently on Melody's right shoulder. "Then by my authority as a knight of Cloudland, in the name of Knight Captain Alanna, all the knights of the round table, and the Queen, you are a knight of the realm of Cloudland."

"You'll have to get your own sword." Briana said apologetically. She plopped down on her butt.

"I have a couple actually." Melody said, shifting to a cross-legged sit.

"Really? How come you never showed me?"

"Uh, cause they're metal and I thought your mom would be mad if I let you play with them."

"Oh, yeah, probably."

Briana set her sword carefully on the cloud blanket and restored Alanna to her seat atop it. With that done, she corrected the problem of not snuggling Melody by worming her way into her sibling's lap. Melody got the same goofy grin on their face that they had the first time she'd done that, but bigger this time.

"Feeling snuggle-deficient?" Melody asked, putting their arms around Briana to support her.

"So much." Briana sighed. "I don't know if you heard but I'm super mega ultra grounded."

"Yeah, I did." Melody said. "I uh – anyway, thanks for what you did. Even if it got me really scared, I know you were doing it for me."

It was time! Briana pulled Melody close for a quick hug and then sat back so she could see Melody's face as she spoke.

"I love you." Briana said. That was the first bit out. Strong start, simple and clear.

"I uh..." Melody stared at Briana in surprise. Just as Briana was about to speak again, Melody beat her to it. "I love you too. Like a sister. My uh – my little sister."

It was Briana's turn to hesitate in shock. There went the script. (It only lasted one sentence!)

"Really? Me too! I mean, I already said I love you, but you're my big sibling."

The glow on Melody's face was the happiest Briana had ever seen her sibling. It was amazing to see.

"That's awesome." They said. "Poggers."

Briana giggled. "I had a whole thing I was going to explain to you. A speech! But you already understand."

"You can still say it if you want."

"I don't think I have to. The only part I haven't said is that sibling isn't like, a word I use for you. I mean that you're my family." Briana said. "I know you don't think of Dad and Mom as family but..."

"I mean maybe I do." Melody said softly.

"Buh? You do?!"

"I don't know." Melody said. "Honestly. But I'm not uh – against it."

"That makes me so happy!" Briana squealed, throwing herself in to a hug that knocked them both over.

Melody seemed happy enough to let Briana lie on them. They were also super warm, prompting Briana to tangle their bare legs together.

"I don't know how they feel about it." Melody said.

"They care about you." Briana interjected.

"I know." Melody said. "But the family thing is like another level. And I'm still not totally sure about my feelings."

"Good enough for now." Briana declared. "Okay, next part. You have to ask for help. We can't help you with your bad stuff unless you ask."

Melody's tight hug went limp and listless. They didn't push Briana off of them though, so she clung to her sibling with all the love and warmth she could offer.

"Bri, Veronica told me you found something in Bea's house." Their voice was halting, pained.

Briana nodded against Melody's shoulder, giving them as much time as they wanted to talk.

It was almost a minute before Melody spoke again. "I guess um, you know some of what's been happening. Veronica does too."

"I don't want you to be sad if I can help." Briana said.

"I – I can't." Melody said, their voice quavering. "I can't with Veronica. I know, I know it's bad. But it's almost over. I just have to hold out a little longer and Bea will go away."

"Are you sure?" Briana didn't think that would happen at all.

"She gets bored, she'll move on." Melody said. "If I confront her she'll put that stuff on the internet forever. She – you saw a little of what she's like, but you don't know everything. It's better to just wait it out."

"I don't think that's right." Briana said, surprised at the depth of her own conviction. "That sounds like running away from your problem. That's not what a knight would do."

"I've only been a knight for five minutes." Melody said. "There's some stuff I can't do, and I can't do this."

"But we'll help." Briana insisted.

"Please, let me do it my way." Melody said. "Please Bri. Don't tell Veronica anything I told you here. Just, let me figure it out."

"That's not how a family works." Briana said, frustrated. When Melody didn't answer, she huffed and added. "I won't say anything. To other people. I'll still talk about it with you."

"That's okay." Melody said, sighing in relief. "If it's with you it's okay. Just you."

"You didn't tell Rosa?" Briana asked.

"No! Super no. Especially not her." Melody said. "Things are going really good. I can't lose her."

"But why would she..."

"Trust me." Melody said. "Just, yeah, it would be bad."

"I don't think she'd be mean about your diapers." Briana said.

"She's not. Uh, I told her about that and she uh – she was nice. More than nice." Melody was blushing quite a bit.

Briana's butt wiggled at the idea of Melody not only having a family to be little in, but a Gary-friend as well.

"But then why can't you talk to her?"

"There's other stuff going on with Beatrix. It's a whole – look, promise me you won't say anything at all to Rosa."

"I promise on my honor as a knight of Cloudland." Briana said. "She's your girlfriend anyway. I think you should tell people though."

"Yeah I didn't think you'd changed your opinion in the last three minutes." Melody said sourly.

That wasn't very nice at all. Briana got her revenge by blowing a huge raspberry into Melody's unprotected neck. Her sibling shrieked and giggled, thrashing to no avail. Briana clung to them like a crab.

"Augh, stop, I give up!" Melody panted on the playpen floor, inexpertly poking at Briana's sides.

Pleased that she'd made Melody laugh, and that they didn't know her ticklish spots yet, Briana relented. A warm sensation on her leg made her think her diaper was leaking, until she realized there was no wet feeling.

"Did you just wet?" Briana asked, pressing her leg more firmly against Melody's diaper.

"M-maybe." Melody said with a blush. "I'm wearing a diaper, in a playpen, it's not weird."

"It's not." Briana agreed. "Too bad your girlfriend isn't here to change you. Maybe I should call her."

"Stop that!" Melody blustered, their face beet red. "Teasing is mean. And – and it is too bad she's not here."

"She put on the one you're wearing right?" Briana asked.

"Yeah."

Briana gave Melody a gentle hug. She shifted off them and rested her head on Melody's chest. "I'm glad for you."

"Thanks." Melody was calming down. They had another doofy grin on their face. Briana decided not to call attention to it.

"Are you gonna be over at her place a lot?"

"I don't know." Melody said. "The last two nights were the first time I'd stayed over. Everything is still new."

"Don't forget your little sister." Briana said. It came out more worried than she'd intended.

"Never." Melody squeezed Briana to punctuate the word. "When I thought you were lost I freaked out."

"I'm sorry." Briana said.

"No, it's okay. I wouldn't have been able to talk with you like this otherwise. I figured out some stuff when I realized how worried I was."

"You're so different than when you moved in." Briana said.

"Thank you. It's a lot because of you."

"You're going to make me cry, dummy."

"Isn't that what big siblings do to little sisters?"

"Only mean ones. You aren't a mean one."

Melody smiled and leaned against Briana. They sat quietly for a bit. (it was awesome!)

"You know, I thought you were really hot when I moved in." Melody said.

"Really?" Briana sat up a little.

"Yeah. I'm glad we have – this now, instead."

"I'm not hot anymore?" Briana teased.

"You are, but you're also my sister. My little, bratty sister."

Melody reached for Briana's sides again, and this time they hit a spot. Briana shrieked and squirm-rolled away as far as the playpen would allow. It wasn't far enough to avoid being pinned under Melody.

"I'm glad we have this too." She said, hoping to be too sweet to be tickled again.

"Brat." Melody said, relenting on the tickles. (it worked!)

"I'm the little one." Briana said in the best innocent tone she could muster.

"Double brat." Melody chuckled and sat up, padded hip pressed against Briana's leg.

"What do you wanna play?" Briana asked.

"Uh – you don't have a lot in here." Melody said looking around. "I guess we could assemble your round table."

Briana's response was forestalled by Dad's entrance. "Dad!" She cried out in excitement, sitting up.

"Hi Bri, Melody." Jane said. "I hope I'm not interrupting. Briana probably needs a change. I know you can do it, Melody, but since you want to hang out I thought I'd do it for you."

"Melody needs a change too!" Briana said triumphantly.

Jane looked down at Melody. Briana did too, hoping for a big reaction. They were bashful but not really blushing or otherwise super embarrassed.

"Do you need one?" Jane asked.

"Uh, well so far only Veronica has in the house. You don't have to do that." Melody said softly. "I can take care of it later."

"Nonsense, I'm happy to. Give me your hand." Jane held out her hand to Melody. They took it and let Jane guide them to the changing table.

"They get changed first? I've been wet longer." Briana said incredulously. "Daddy!"

"Briana, that is not the attitude of a baby who wants her grounding to end any time soon."

Briana whimpered.

"She's fine." Melody said, lying down on the changing table. "My uh – my – little sister is a brat. I don't – I d-don't mind though."

Jane raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. She expertly tore the tapes off Melody's diaper and wiped them down with her usual efficient strokes.

"You see what a good example Melody is setting for you?" Jane said to Briana. "Don't you want to be a good little sister?"

"That's not fair!" Briana said, her mouth hanging open. Dad wasn't supposed to use her new sibling against her!

She squirmed for a bit, casting glances up at Dad who was placidly putting Melody in a new diaper. They were lying on the changing table way more calmly than Briana had expected. What happened to Melody being super blushy about diaper stuff?

"I'll be a good sister." She conceded, grumpily.

"I'm glad to hear it." Jane said. "Then I guess you can come downstairs to watch a movie with us tonight."

"Really!" Briana shot to her feet and fell to her knees, betrayed by the playpen's squish.

"As long as you play nice with your sibling." Jane said.

"I will, I will!" Briana practically climbed Jane when she returned Melody to the playpen. Dad gave her a big hug before putting her on the changing table.

"Of course, that goes for you too Melody." Jane said. "This isn't a license to get your little sister in trouble."

"I'll take care of her." Melody said gently. Dad smiled at them.

Briana felt like her heart was going to burst. She knew she was being fussy and squirming a lot through her change, but she couldn't help it. All she wanted was to be in Dad's lap or snuggling Melody, preferably both at the same time. If Mom could be there too it would be perfect.

Freshly powdered and diapered, she had to settle for a quick hug with Dad and cuddling up to Melody. When Dad left to make dinner, Melody surprised Briana by pouncing her and pinning her to the floor of the playpen.

"You thought you were going to get me in trouble telling Jane I needed a change, huh?"

"Noooooo..." Briana giggled. "I was trying to embarrass you because your blush is cute."

"Oh yeah? Well then this is because I like your laugh."

Briana shrieked at the top of her lungs as Melody expertly found her ticklish spots. Her big sibling was learning fast. No fair!

[kerry]

I always love Bri-POV chapters! They are/she is so adorable!

I'm still concerned about Melody though. Beatrix doesn't seem as if she will simply go away, no matter what Melody thinks. And I admit that I'm concerned about this entire arc in the story: the whole Beatrix thing, which was a major reach from the start, is starting to feel repetitive. A bit of lather, rinse, repeat. And even though you managed to rehabilitate Gary after the original story, Beatrix is absolutely beyond redemption.

[SolSombraYSoldados]

7 hours ago, kerry said:

Beatrix is absolutely beyond redemption.

I'm definitely not one of those "everyone gets a redemption arc" writers. 

[YourFNF]

On 9/5/2022 at 11:48 AM, SolSombraYSoldados said:

"Oh yeah? Well then this is because I like your laugh."

Briana shrieked at the top of her lungs as Melody expertly found her ticklish spots. Her big sibling was learning fast. No fair!

My heart, the feels.... Too many feels! Baka... I'm chocking up....

[SolSombraYSoldados]

17 minutes ago, YourFNF said:

My heart, the feels.... Too many feels! Baka... I'm chocking up....

This isn't because you like the story or anything!

Yeah, very nice feelsy chapter. We needed an uplifting one after stuff... and um, before... other stuff.

[SolSombraYSoldados]

Look, I'm doing a pro-writer move where we back up in time a bit for the start of this next chapter. MAGIC.

-----

 

Chapter 23

 

Earlier that evening.

Melody paused with their hand hovering over the doorknob to their house. What would they say to Veronica if she was home? Nothing came to mind. A conversation seemed inevitable. Inevitably horrible.

Melody looked around to make sure no one was watching them stand outside their door awkwardly. There wasn't anyone, but Veronica's garden-statue of a naked dancer caught Melody's eye.

Senpai of the garden, what is your wisdom? Melody mentally asked.

Get over yourself, the statue said in Melody's imagination. This isn't a meme and we aren't anime girls.

"Fucking weeb." Melody muttered at themself on the way inside.

The house was quiet, it didn't sound like anybody was home. Melody almost missed Jane sitting in the living room reading a book. She hadn't said anything, just looked up when Melody arrived.

"Oh uh, hey Jane." Melody said.

"Welcome back." Jane said with a little smile.

"Yeah – I was over at Rosa's." Melody replied, confused as to why they felt like they had to explain that to Jane.

"I thought so. I'm glad that's going well."

"Thanks." Melody dithered in the foyer, finally pulling their toque off as the house's heat soaked in. "Look uh, Veronica probably told you about um – the stuff Briana found."

"She did." Jane said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No uh, I'm good." Melody said, waiting for Jane to push back.

"Then it's none of my business." Jane chuckled at Melody's surprised expression. "I told Ronnie not to send that text. After your reaction to it, I forbid her from bringing it up with you again."

"You – forbid Veronica?" Melody blinked. Was Jane talking about the same Veronica? Queen of the goth scientists and über mommy?

"I have a very different relationship with her than you do. She listened to me because I convinced her I was right."

Jane set her book down and came over to Melody. Slowly enough for Melody to pull away, she reached out for a hug. Melody leaned into it and found themself wrapped in a solid embrace.

"I care about you a lot. If you need my help, you have it." Jane said. She pulled back, hands on Melody's shoulders. "Have you had dinner?"

"Yeah, I have. Thanks. For uh, more than offering to feed me."

"You're welcome. It's not entirely altruistic. We have a lot of leftovers." Jane squeezed Melody's shoulders and stepped back to sit on the back of the couch.

"Where's Briana? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Erin confirmed that she didn't get frostbite – and that she was lucky she didn't." Jane shook her head in frustration. "She's upstairs, grounded to her room. We haven't decided how long for, yet."

"Are you doing the around the clock babysitting thing again? I can help."

"We have people rotating through, but no one is up there right now." Jane pointed at the baby monitor. "She's quiet at the moment."

"I was really freaked out when she went missing." Melody said, unsure why they were explaining that to Jane. Something in them wanted – or more accurately needed to talk about it.

"Ronnie and I were too. So was Gary. I think that's the first time I've seen him angry with Briana."

"She did it for me." Melody said, shaking their head. "If she'd gotten hurt..."

"It still would have been her fault." Jane said.

"I know but..."

"Melody, if you want to talk to me about what Briana found, or why she was trying to help you, go ahead. If you can't, then don't beat yourself up for it. We can't always be perfect communicators." Jane smiled fondly. "Ronnie is probably the most adept person I've met at managing emotions and communications and well, she's not perfect."

"I wish – there's a lot I want to fix."

"Okay. One step at a time. What do you want to do right now?"

"I'd like to see Briana. Can I babysit her for a bit?"

"Please do. I know she'd love to see you."

"I uh – can I turn off the baby monitor while I'm up there?" Melody dug at the carpet with their toe. "I'll take care of her, but I kind of want to hang out and talk too."

"Go ahead. I could use a break from carting it around the house with me."

"Hey Jane." Melody took a deep breath, girding themself for their next statement. "Thanks for being cool about everything. I mean – that's not what I wanted to say. Um – thanks for watching out for me."

"Any time." Jane said warmly.

The emotion between them was way too intense. Melody smiled bashfully and scooted to their room to stow their bag. Upstairs at Briana's door, they heard her singing Castle in the Sky, of all things. She sounded happy, despite everything that had happened.

A warm glow spread through Melody's chest at their sister's resilience. Joining Briana on the next verse of the song, Melody opened the door. Bri was surprised and near tears to see Melody.

Me too, little sister. Melody thought. Me too.

-----

Wearing the same diaper from yesterday was not going to be good for their rash, Melody knew. On the other hand, it was better than going to their morning session with Veronica. The third option, that they just change their own diaper, seemed as bad as dealing with Veronica.

It was dumb. Melody knew. They'd put diapers on plenty of times on their own. After being diapered by both Veronica and Rosa though, it felt different. Doing it on their own was a lonely feeling. Plus, Jane had done an excellent job on the one Melody was wearing now. Despite being pulled down several times for a shower and using the pot – toilet, the tapes were still holding it fairly snug.

Feeling at loose ends, Melody checked their phone. Rosa was still at work, because her supervisor was the kind of sadist that scheduled people for a morning shift following an evening shift. She'd be beat tonight and didn't need to take care of a little one. Melody knew they might be too clingy what with inviting themself over after the Briana-pocalypse.

Out of other options, Melody was forced to face their roommates like a regular human in the kitchen over coffee. Veronica was up with Briana, making the downstairs safe for the moment.

It was the tail end of breakfast and people were drifting away from the table. Casey was already on a run and Jane couldn't relax until her chores were done. Poor Erin was a legit zombie ever since her residency started. That left just Melody and Suzie relaxing among the leftover rolls turned-french-toast and what was left of the massive turkey omelette.

"You got Briana duty today?" Suzie asked.

"Not until tomorrow." Melody said. "I'm on for tomorrow night, last time I checked the Google sheet."

"I absolutely love that Veronica made a worksheet for it."

Melody giggled. "It's pure her."

Suzie grinned. "You watched her yesterday, right? She's not pooping in her diapers at the mo', is she?"

"No, she's Briana-normal." Melody frowned. "If you don't want to watch her, I can take your shift."

"I don't mind, sorry if that sounded bitchy." Suzie said with a shrug. "I just don't want to deal with the poop. It's a lot, you know?"

"I get it." Melody said. It was a fair thing to say. They still felt defensive over their sister. She couldn't help where her brain was at.

"You back in classes starting Monday?"

"Yeah, full speed ahead. How about you?"

"Technically we're off, but it's all-hands-on-deck to finish the sets."

"You have a performance coming up?"

"I always have a performance coming up, but yeah, I'm in a show for the school that comes out just before Christmas break."

"Isn't that in like..."

"Twenty days and fourteen hours." Suzie said.

"What's this, a non-STEM student is busy? I thought you all sat around drinking wine and quoting dead dudes."

Suzie lightly kicked Melody's ankle under the table. "That's just the philosophy department. English too."

"I'll tell Jane you kicked me." The joke was out before Melody could stop themself.

"Oh yeah? Well, she's not my dad." Suzie looked Melody over curiously. "Are you doing the whole Briana thing?"

"No! Not the whole thing. I mean, not really any of the thing." Blushing furiously, Melody stared into their coffee. "I'm working with Veronica on some stuff. It's not like – not like Bri."

"Nobody is like Bri." Suzie said fondly. "Oh hey, Gare-bear is here."

"Gare – oh, Gary? Who let him in? Does he have his own key"

"Door's not locked. He's cool to come in on his own." Suzie turned away from Melody and called across the house. "G-Man, there's coffee in the kitchen!"

"Hey Suzie, Melody." Gary said, joining them at the table with a cup. "How's our little rug rat today?"

"Which one?" Suzie asked slyly, sipping her coffee.

It was Melody's turn to kick Suzie under the table, a little harder than they'd meant to.

"Oh shiiiii!" Suzie teased. "I'm telling!"

"What's going on?" Gary asked.

"Nothing!" Melody said, glaring at Suzie. "Gary, you here to babysit or just hang out?"

"Babysit. I was supposed to get the whole weekend." He said wistfully.

Suzie took a moment from her torment of Melody to check her phone. "Fuck. The roof in the prop room leaked on the costumes. I have to go see if mine is still good."

"You're in the Christmas Carol show coming up?" Gary asked. "Who are you playing?"

"The Devil's cat familiar." Suzie said. At Gary and Melody's confused looks, she shrugged. "It's student theatre, don't think too hard about it. Anyway, see ya!"

The two of them waved as Suzie headed away from the table. In the coffee-focused silence that followed, Melody's diaper crinkled as they shifted in their chair. Gary's ears perked up at the tell-tale sound, but he didn't say anything.

Melody winced, then sighed. He couldn't be a bad guy if Briana was so into him, not to mention the rest of the roommates. They cleared their throat softly.

"Yeah uh, I'm wearing."

"Cool." Gary said. "Like a thing with Veronica or...?"

"Ugh," Melody said, in a perfect Mermista impression, if they did say so themself. "There's a lot of backstory. It's Veronica related and other stuff but uh, mostly it's for me, I guess."

Gary nodded. "I'd be the last one to judge. I'm dating Briana."

"That's kinda why I brought it up." Melody said. "I uh, told my girlfriend about it. But it's like, super new for both of us. Especially her. Do you have like – pro-strats?"

"I can share what works for me and Bri." Gary said. "But she's special in that regard. You might have more luck talking to Tamira. She has a thing going on with her boyfriend but it's not a lifestyle thing as far as I know."

"I should probably text her anyway." Melody said. "I was kind of short with her when we were looking for Briana."

"We were all freaked out." Gary said softly. "Suzie ended up taking my car keys away from me."

"You said you were sober that night." Melody said worriedly.

"I was. I was also shaking so bad that my truck spun out in the snow."

"She's safe now." Melody said, putting a hand on Gary's forearm. "We'll take care of her."

"You're damn right we will." Gary said with a grateful smile. "Speaking of, I should get up there. I'm sure I'll get scolded for getting coffee first as it is."

"It was nice to get to know you a little." Melody said.

"You too." Gary washed his cup out in the sink. "You're important to Briana."

Melody sighed happily. "I love that stupid kid."

"Me too." Gary chuckled and made his exit.

Melody stared at their phone. The phone stared back also into them. Melody groaned at their own joke and opened a text message to Tamira.

Melody >> Hi, it's Melody. I wanted to say sorry for being all snarly on Thanksgiving. I was freaking out.

The coffee was super good. Melody made a mental note to find out what brand it was. Something super high-end, no doubt. They finished the cup and were considering what video game to play when Tamira responded.

Tamira >> Hi! It's okay, I could tell from your voice. I heard you guys found her, but is she doing okay? She's not responding to texts.

Melody frowned, replying quickly.

Melody >> Nobody told you? She's fine, she's just grounded from her phone.

Tamira >> Grounded? I keep forgetting how lifestyle she is. I'm glad she's okay. I tried texting Veronica, but she is FOR REAL mad at me.

Melody >> You didn't do anything wrong. Nobody expected her to go all Deus Vult on us.

Tamira >> Explain that to Veronica. Like, please actually explain it to her.

Melody >> I will.

Melody >> Can I ask you something personal?

Tamira >> You can ask. I'll answer if I'm cool with it.

Melody >> NP if you don't. I just had some questions about you and your boyfriend. I heard that you and he do stuff like what my girlfriend and I do.

Melody >> But we're super new to it and she keeps asking if she's doing stuff right. I don't know what to tell her.

Melody >> Sorry if this is too much.

Tamira >> It's not too much, but it's too much for text. Can we meet up to talk sometime?

Melody >> Totes. I'm free today.

Tamira >> Today is fine. We could go to a coffee shop, it's neutral but public. You'd be welcome at my place too. 2pm work?

Melody >> Your place. 2 works. Address?

At quarter to two Melody was hanging out in the doorway of Tamira's dorm. They couldn't believe how sweaty they were acting. The chance for some advice, to smooth things out with Rosa, was a crazy motivator.

Melody managed to wait to press the buzzer until nine minutes before the hour. If Tamira thought they were weird for being early, she didn't say anything. The dorm was as nice as a dorm could be, Melody thought. Full one-bedrooms were hard to get.

Taking a cup of tea and a seat on the couch, Melody smiled at Tamira. "Thanks for talking to me about this. I know it was kinda out of the blue that I asked."

"I don't mind." Tamira said, taking the other end of the couch. "It's good for me too, I don't know a lot of people who do ABDL stuff locally. So are you the caregiver or the ..."

"Little one." Melody scrutinized their coffee. "I'm the little one."

"Cute." Tamira said with a smile. "I suspected. What's going on with your girl?"

"She just recently found out that I wear – diapers." Melody said with some effort. "She's been super cool and understanding, but I can tell she feels like she doesn't know what to do."

"You wear them all the time?"

"Yeah uh, I'm wearing right now." Melody blushed.

"Okay, that's different than me and Arthur in a couple of ways. For one thing, I'm the one that wanted him to wear them, and he doesn't wear them all the time. I feel you on the awkwardness thing though."

Tamira set down her tea and scratched her head. "It took us a while to do anything more than talk about it. We started super slow, until Briana came over and accelerated things."

"Yeah, she does that." Melody said, chuckling.

Tamira grinned. "Doesn't she now? Anyway, not to get all up in your business, but what have you and your girl done so far? Or should I say mommy?"

"That's one of the things. She said she doesn't want to be called that. I don't know if it's because she doesn't like the label, or if like, she's uncomfortable with the whole thing." Melody sighed.

"She might be uncomfortable, but you said she's been great about it. What stuff has she seemed to like?"

"Um, she has uh – diapered me. Changed me. Touched me while I was wearing." Melody stared at their tea, floundering. "I guess some other stuff. Made some rules. Washed my face and stuff at bedtime."

"Melody, I know ya'll don't know me well, so feel free to say no. This seems hard for you. Would it be easier if you could be little while we're talking?"

"Oh uh, wow." Melody squirmed. "I kinda never have been. Like, a tiny bit with Veronica, and another tiny bit with Rosa. I'm not really sure uh, oh fuck."

The teacup was shaking in Melody's hand enough to splash tea on the carpet. Melody managed to get it on the coffee table without too much rattling, then jammed their hands between their knees.

"Hey, you're okay." Tamira said in a soft, maternal tone. "I think we should either take a break from this conversation, or you should put your head on my lap and close your eyes."

Putting their head on Tamira's lap was an over the top, dumb baby thing to do. Totally ridiculous. Which is why Melody curled up on the couch with their head in Tamira's lap a few seconds after they'd been invited.

"Close your eyes little one." Tamira said, stroking Melody's hair. "Shhh, that's a good kid."

Melody took a deep shaky breath. It eased the pressure in their chest. Tamira didn't resume the conversation right away. She hummed instead, petting Melody's head. Bit by bit, Melody relaxed. Almost too much at the end they realized, clamping down on their bladder.

"That's better." Tamira said softly. "It seems like Rosa isn't the only one who has some discomfort around this."

"It's hard to do, but I want it so bad." Melody whispered. "I want her to like me and take care of me. What if I'm too much?"

"You aren't too much." Tamira said. "I didn't get to talk to you much at Thanksgiving, but I have eyes. That girl is crazy about you."

Melody smiled and snuggled in closer to Tamira.

"You jumped right in on being little with me. That could have been less scary with me since you have nothing to lose. I have to say though, if you're like this for Rosa you are going to straight-burst her ovaries."

"How did you convince Arthur?"

"At first he was just freaked, I thought I was going to have to drop it forever." Tamira said. "We talked. Let it chill if we were feeling weird about it, brought it up later when it seemed okay. You're wearing full time, so taking a break would be harder. The main thing is to just keep talking."

"She says she doesn't know what to do, and I know it bothers her." Melody said.

"Well, it's hard to help with that since I haven't seen you together that way. What does she do easily and what's harder for her?" Tamira brushed her knuckles across Melody's cheek. "Tell me what Rosa's like when she's your caregiver, little one."

"She's really touchy." Melody said happily. "She asks me a lot of stuff, because she wants to understand what it's like for me. I don't always know how to answer though. And uh, she thinks it's hot when I get turned on."

The last statement made Melody do a blushy wiggle.

"I think that's a great start. You know, when Arthur and I started he had a lot of trouble asking me to do mommy stuff. I thought it was because he didn't like me doing that, but then he jumped into it when Briana was here."

Tamira moved her caresses to slow circles on Melody's back. "When we talked after, it was because he didn't want to ask me to do something he wasn't sure I liked. He saw me acting like a mommy with Briana and piggybacked on to that."

Melody nodded. "You think maybe Rosa likes to do it more than I think?"

"Maybe." Tamira said. "But my point is that she might not feel comfortable asking you to be little. You need to offer stuff like that because it can feel weird to ask the other person at first."

"Oh." Melody considered that. Once they'd gotten going, Rosa had been pretty into the caregiver stuff. She hadn't been upset at all when Melody had briefly slipped into little-talk either.

"Figuring some stuff out?" Tamira asked.

"I think so." Melody said.

"If you work it out with Rosa, I'd love to do a double-date sometime. I think it really helps Arthur get into it when he's not the only one. I'm not saying I'd like to get him to Briana's level but..."

"You would?" Melody asked. "Would – would he be okay – would he like that?"

"I don't know yet. He seems really happy when we do longer sessions though."

"How do you ask him? What does he say when you ask him to do it – more?"

"Are you asking for communication tips in general or is it because you want to go lifestyle with Rosa?"

"I don't know if I want that." Melody said softly. They buried their face in Tamira's lap.

"You're already wearing twenty-four seven, right?"

"Mmph."

Tamira seemed to correctly read Melody's noise as a yes. "Then there's got to be a conversation about what that looks like at some point. Maybe you wear all the time but you're only little sometimes. Or maybe Rosa really wants to take care of you, full time."

"It's so much to ask though." Melody said, coming up for air. "I haven't even told her that I love her yet."

"Oh, you should tell her that right away. Next time you see her."

"What if she doesn't say it back?"

"That's okay. She obviously cares about you. She'll say it when she's ready. In the meantime, she'll know that you love her."

"You're good at this." Melody said. "The mommy thing."

"Thank you." Tamira said happily. "You know why? It's because I love doing it. I really love Arthur, and I love taking care of him. It's not a problem, or a chore. On tough days all I want is to hold my little boy and make sure he has everything he needs."

"I want that." Melody said in a shaky voice.

"I hope Rosa does too." Tamira said. "It's pretty magical when I can get it to work with Arthur."

"Really? I wasn't going to see Rosa tonight because she had to work shifts back-to-back. She'll be super tired."

"You should let her make that decision." Tamira said. "One, because she's your girlfriend and you should let her decide things that affect her. Second, because she's your caregiver."

"I hope she says yes." Melody said.

"I'm sure she'll want to see you at least, even if she isn't up for caregiving."

"I should text her right now – hey!" Melody protested as Tamira pulled open the back of her diaper. Worse, she sniffed. Sniffed!

"How long have you been in this thing?"

"Since yesterday afternoon." Melody said. "But I haven't used it."

"Hon, it smells like BO. Let's get you changed."

"What? But we're not – not..."

"I'm not your mommy or your girlfriend, but I did agree to take care of you for a bit. I am not sending you to your girlfriend in a smelly diaper."

Melody squirmed, blushing furiously.

"You don't have to be so bashful with me. I've changed Briana out of jeans she had an accident in."

"I don't have a spare with me."

"I guess you'll just have to wear one of Briana's then. Come on." Tamira got Melody off the couch with much prodding and lead them down the hall to the bathroom.

"Briana has diapers here?"

"She came over once when she needed a change. Before she met Arthur. I got a box of her size after that. You two are close enough."

Melody stopped in surprise at the changing table in Tamira's bathroom. It wasn't all fancy and baby themed like the ones that Veronica had. It was just a massage bench with diapers and other supplies on the shelves for oil and towels. There was a nice blanket on it, with dinosaur print. It was super sweet.

"Arthur is lucky." Melody said as Tamira helped her up on the table. "You're working really hard to make this nice for him."

"Aw well, that's really nice of you to say." It was Tamira's turn to blush a little.

While Tamira was stripping off their jeans, Melody wondered why they were so okay with being changed. Part of it was how many times Veronica had changed them by now and Jane just yesterday. A big part was having been little with Tamira, even if it was just a few minutes.

Tamira tossed the diaper and produced one from her stack. It was a Briana diaper all right, bright pink and covered in ponies. Barf. Melody really hoped that Rosa would be up to change them at least so they could get into one of the less girly ones.

"I was going to see if you needed a bath, but it looks like most of the smell is in the diaper. Silly kid! It doesn't do much good to shower if you put a sweaty diaper back on."

"I have a whole thing going on with Veronica right now and she's the one who usually changes me at home." Melody said. "So, I just wore that one."

"A personality conflict with Veronica? What a surprise." Tamira slipped the diaper under Melody and began powdering her.

"I'm sorry she's mad at you. I haven't talked to her yet."

"I can deal with it, but if you get a chance to put in a good word that'd be nice." Tamira said. "I got plenty of respect for the woman. I get that she's worried about her kid. She needs to take a heart pill though."

"She's nice though, really."

"I'm not trying to badmouth her." Tamira said, taping Melody up snugly. "I'll chill. Now sit up, this is my favorite part."

"Huh?" Melody sat up and was immediately enveloped in a hug. They sighed and rested their head on Tamira's shoulders while she held them close.

"Okay, are you going straight to your girlfriend's place?"

"Um, I guess I could. She gets home in like ten minutes and I uh, left some diapers there last time I stayed over. Why?"

"I need to get you ready, little one." Tamira deftly put Melody back in their jeans and took them to the kitchen.

Attempting to protest whatever 'getting them ready' meant got Melody shushed. They waited while Tamira put a peeled orange and some trail mix in containers. Both went into a small bag along with a juice box.

"What's all this?" Melody asked.

"You said she'd be tired. This way she doesn't have to make you food right away if you get hungry." Tamira put the bag's handle in Melody's hand and closed their fingers over it.

"But we might not do ABDL stuff at all today." Melody said.

"I know that as much as you do, little one." Tamira said. "But we're going to set things up for the best case, alright?"

"Okay." Melody fidgeted until Tamira put their phone in their hand.

"Go ahead and let her know you're coming over. I'll get your coat."

"I'm going right now?"

"I'm not kicking you out, I'm sending you to your actual caregiver." Tamira said. "Do you need me to drive you?"

"No, I can do it." Melody blushed profusely, shooting off a quick text to Rosa.

The blush didn't fade either, when Tamira insisted on dressing Melody in their coat.

"There you go, all set to see your girlfriend. Feel better?" Tamira zipped Melody's coat all the way up.

"Yes. Thank you."

"You're a darling kid. Tell Rosa to set up a play date with Arthur for you, okay?"

"Okay." Melody sank down into the collar of their coat.

"See you soon, cutie."

-----

It was a weird drive to Rosa's apartment. Not so much because they'd been bundled up and sent out the door like a kid to school, but that was in there too. Rosa had replied excitedly, so it wasn't that they were worried about her mood. It was the distraction of how little Tamira had helped them feel. Melody wanted to be curled up on their girlfriend's lap, not driving some stupid car.

Without thinking about it, they took the bag that Tamira had packed for them inside. After getting a big hello-hug from Rosa, they stood by the door of the apartment, clutching the bag with their coat still zipped up.

"Earth to Melody, take off your coat and stay for a while." Rosa said.

"Oh, sorry." Melody said, taking off the coat. It was a bit of an awkward process since they kept the bag in one hand or the other the whole time.

"What's up with the bag?"

"It's uh..." Melody hesitated, stuck halfway in their coat. "I went to see Tamira for some advice. She um, packed this for me."

"Let me see." Rosa took the bag and grinned when she saw what was inside.

"Is she like us?" Rosa asked. Melody trembled a little to hear 'like us' instead of 'like you'.

"I mean uh, she does a ABDL thing with her boyfriend." Melody said. "I was asking how they worked it out. Because you have a lot of questions and stuff."

"That is so sweet." Rosa said. She took Melody's coat too, hanging it up in the closet. "Are you feeling like you want to play right now?"

"I do but I don't want to be a hassle for you." Melody said. "Also, Tamira said I should tell you that – that I like the kid part of the game too. So um, when we play that's something I want to do with you. If you can't play now that's okay."

"Little one." Rosa said. She said it with care but firm force too. A mommy-tone that sent tingles into Melody's belly. "Listen to me."

Melody bit their lip and watched Rosa attentively.

"You realize tonight is a school night, right?" Rosa put her arms around Melody. "You don't have your backpack with you. You're going to have a very early bedtime tonight so you can get up in time for me to get you to Veronica's house and back to school."

"I didn't know I was coming here until Tamira and I talked." Melody laid their head on Rosa's shoulder.

"Then I'm very glad you talked to her. Veronica is still too busy with Briana to get you ready properly. My roommates will be home later tonight, but they won't bother us in my room. You're going to help me with dinner and then we'll watch something on my tablet in bed, okay?"

"Okay Mom – uh, Rosa."

Rosa was quiet for a moment, holding Melody. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet but calm.

"Say it again. Please. What you were going to say."

"Okay Mommy?" Melody ventured.

"Oh wow." Rosa shivered. She whispered in Melody's ear. "I liked that."

A too-strong emotion pressed outward in Melody's chest. They cuddled close to Rosa and whimpered.

"Shh little one. I understand. That was big."

The two of them stayed in the embrace until holding their posture made Melody fidget. Rosa drew back and stroked Melody's cheek.

"Let me take a look at you. I don't know what kind of babysitting job Tamira does – what the hell is that?!" Rosa exclaimed. She had pulled out the front of Melody's jeans, to see their diaper.

"Oh uh, Tamira changed me. Was that not okay? Because uh, Veronica does, and Jane has once and..."

"Shh baby, you're fine. I don't mind that she changed you, but what's this diaper? This is horrible, it's all pink and gross."

Something clicked in Melody. It went past the big feeling of Rosa wanting to be called Mommy. The world settled into place and felt right. They stared at Rosa in adoration. Their mommy understood. She GOT them.

"It's one of Briana's. It's all Tamira had."

"What kind of babysitter is she if she doesn't have gender-appropriate diapers? It's irresponsible." Rosa said, grinning. "Too bad you don't have to go now. You could fill this girly thing with pee before we throw it away."

"Actually, I kind of do." Melody said. "I didn't go at Tamira's."

"She changed you and didn't check if you had to go? ¿Madre de Dios, what's she even doing over there?"

Melody giggled. "She was nice, but I like how you do it better."

"You bet you do. I might use her as a babysitter sometime, but only if I'm sure she's shaped up a little. Give me your clothes."

"Huh?"

"Give mommy your clothes, little one. You had some in the washer, but they never got dried and now they're musty. We can wash these ones at the same time, since you're going to have to wear them tomorrow."

"Oh, okay." Melody started with their shirt and found Rosa assisting them. Every bit of clothing that came off was a joint effort, leaving Melody in their pink diaper in the living room.

"Your roommates aren't going to be home soon, right?"

"Two of them aren't home until tomorrow probably. Really late tonight if they make it. The other one has a plane coming in around ten." Rosa gathered up the clothes in a bundle and opened the closet that held the washer-dryer stack.

"Have a seat on the couch sweetie. Mommy will change you if you need it after I get this laundry going."

"I only kinda have to go." Melody said, sitting obediently.

"Well, if you don't that's fine, but I'm leaving you in that pink diaper until you do."

Melody pouted and tried to relax their bladder. It happened fast and more than they'd expected. Take that you stupid pink diaper, Melody thought.

"That's a big accident for someone who didn't have to go." Rosa said, squishing the padding around Melody's crotch. "Is my little one having trouble telling when they need to go?"

The fact that they'd had a legitimate accident, which is why their clothes had been in the wash, made Melody squirm in embarrassment. Rosa leaning over them and squishing their diaper made it ramp up to humiliation. Smoking hot humiliation.

"You look embarrassed but you're moaning, baby." Rosa said, rubbing Melody's crotch through the diaper. "No wonder you wear these all the time if you like them so much. It's a good thing Mommy likes it when you wear them."

"You do?" Melody managed to ask between moans.

"I like it a lot." Rosa said. "I like my horny little diaper baby. You're sexy in those diapers. You're sexy when you're wet and embarrassed and need your mommy."

"Oh god." The words came out involuntarily and there were no thoughts behind them or for quite a while afterwards.

Later, Melody would remember the burst of pleasure that left a mark on their nerves like a sunburn. They'd have other vague memories too. Rosa straddling them topless, her generous bosom in Melody's face. Kneeling between Rosa's legs and hearing her muffled shouts through the thighs pressed to their ears. Snuggling their naked girlfriend while wearing nothing themself, except a wet diaper. Being changed in the middle of the living room on a smallish changing blanket with the Target tag still on.

Dinner prep was a blur too. Melody didn't think they ended up helping much. They only started to feel more aware later, in Rosa's bed, wearing some fuzzy blue pajamas that looked as new as the changing blanket had been.

Rosa was in a jogging top and fitted athletic shorts. She picked a bowl of lentils off the tray next to them and brought a spoon of it to Melody's mouth. "Open wide."

"Lentils?" Melody made a face and turned away from the spoon.

"Yes hon, that's what we made. You were out of it, huh? Come on, open for mommy."

"Can't I have some taquitos or something?" Melody vaguely remembered a package of those in Rosa's freezer.

"No, you can't. You can eat your lentils or..." Rosa paused to think. "I don't have any formula, but I do have some carrots I can puree in chicken broth."

"You wouldn't."

"Test me and find out." Rosa said.

Reluctantly, Melody opened their mouth. Rosa carefully deposited the lentils in their mouth and prepped another spoon.

"What about your dinner?" Melody said through the mouthful of lentils, hoping to slow down the rate they were being fed. The lentils weren't bad, they were good in fact. They were also earthy and not as fun as taquitos would be.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, little one." Rosa said, holding the spoon to Melody's lips.

Getting corrected instead of their question answered pushed Melody into the little feeling they'd been slowly losing. They opened their mouth, accepting another spoonful. Rosa was skilled, between the two of them they only spilled twice. By the time the bowl was done, Melody wished a bit more had spilled. It was more than they would have eaten on their own. Their tummy was too heavy!

Melody spaced out a bit while Rosa ate her own dinner and cleaned things up. They were feeling a bit more awake and alert by the time Rosa finished the dishes and moved on to laundry. Actually, the best word for the feeling was refreshed, Melody thought.

They picked up their phone and checked a few things for tomorrow. There was a message from Tamira asking how things went. Melody answered it with a gif of Jonah Hill doing his screaming happy dance. On reflection they decided to send Jane a text letting her know that they'd be staying at Rosa's. Jane sent a thumbs up emoji back. Dork.

"Hey babe." Melody beamed up at Rosa when she returned to the bedroom.

"Hey. You feeling a little more put together? You went away there for a bit." Rosa said.

"Yeah, I feel great. You?"

"I'm really happy." Rosa said with a soft smile. "Was – all of that okay? I just went for it and didn't check in with you."

"It was amazing." Melody said, nuzzling Rosa as she scooted into the bed. "Was it okay for you? I know it's easy to get carried away when you do something new."

"I loved it. I was even a tiny bit disappointed when I saw you all adult again. But just a tiny bit."

"I think I could get there again if we watch a kids show." Melody said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, if you want. Though um, if I get really into it and the lentils kick in um..." Melody searched for the right words. How did Briana say it again?

"I uh, might need help with the potty." Melody said with a squirm.

"Of course, sweetie, mommy's happy to help." She pulled Melody close and pushed their head down to rest on her cleavage while she fired up the tablet.

"Now, what does my little one want to watch? More Steven Universe?"

"I want to watch She-Ra." Melody said.

"Ooh, can we start on the first episode? I've heard it's good."

"You haven't seen it?" Melody's adult reaction matched their little one perfectly. It gave them a big step back into their kid mentality.

"No, I haven't." Rosa said, amused. "Is it on Netflix? Oh, here it is. I like the character designs."

"That's Catra." Melody said, pointing at the screen. "And that's Mermista. She's really cool."

Rosa blinked and giggled. "Oh, is she your favorite?"

"No, Catra is." Melody said. "Oh and this is Swiftwind, he's dumb. This is Bow, he's okay for a boy. This is Glimmer, she's the best one after Catra, but only because Mermista doesn't get enough screen time."

"Let's get started then." Rosa said. "I have a lot of catching up to do."

"I can't believe you haven't watched it." Melody said, rolling their eyes.

After only two episodes, Rosa declared it to be bedtime. Melody protested heavily, right up to the point that Rosa smacked them on the butt with a sandal. The bedtime routine was the same as it had been the other night, a timer for tooth brushing, getting their face washed, and being put on the potty.

It wasn't as embarrassing this time. Mostly it made Melody feel safe and sleepy. Rosa sleeping naked meant there were a lot of blankets. It got a little stuffy for Melody in their pajamas and diaper. The warmth, along with everything else, got Melody to sleep well before ten.

As they were falling asleep Melody's thoughts wandered back through the day. It had been nearly perfect. They wished they could do this tomorrow and every other day too.

 

 

[YourFNF]

Gods Rosa is an amazing girlfriend.... I wish both me and mine could get a CG like that...

[SolSombraYSoldados]

Finally, the terrible grounding is lifted! #PlaydateForBriana

----

 

Chapter 24

 

Briana sat in her fluffy unicorn pajamas, on the floor of Veronica and Jane's front room, looking up at the two of them. They were (hopefully!) at the end of a big long super serious discussion, and Briana was getting pretty squirmy. She was doing her best to pay attention and also look like she was paying attention. A reprieve from being grounded to her room, hinged on being a good girl right now.

"Do you understand now why everyone was so upset?" Jane asked.

Briana nodded vigorously.

"Humor us." Veronica said. "Explain in your words why you were grounded."

"Because I didn't tell anyone what I was doing or even that I was gone." Briana said seriously. "And because I could have gotten in trouble with the police and ended up in jail."

"And because you weren't big enough to dress appropriately and you got frostbite." Veronica said.

"I didn't either!" Briana protested. "Erin said I didn't get frostbite."

"Erin said you got frostnip," Jane said in a stern tone, that made Briana duck her head. "Which meant you didn't have permanent damage, but it's the first stage of frostbite."

"Okay, and because I got frostbite because I was too little to deal with the cold." It sucked to admit that last one. It made her sound like a total baby, but she wasn't a baby-baby. She had a cool big sibling to hang out with and she always made it to the potty for number two!

Also she was a microbiology graduate student but even Briana didn't remember that very often. She bit her lip and sighed. Sometimes she missed the mental puzzles and talking with other students about something they were all passionate about.

"Briana, we want to trust you." Veronica said. "We love you very much. We don't want you to have to be grounded all the time. However, we're responsible for keeping you safe, and even when you're mentally little, you're physically big enough to get yourself into some very scary trouble."

"I'm sorry." Briana said. She'd been saying that a lot, but it didn't feel like it was enough yet.

"Briana." Jane said. "You are a good girl, but I think you get carried away when you're doing something you believe is right. You think it justifies bad things you're doing, because the right thing is very important."

"Even when I'm little I want to help the people I love." Briana said sadly. "I want to help my family."

"The first thing you need to do to help your family is be safe yourself." Veronica said. "It's like saving someone who's drowning. If you can't swim well enough to help them, all you've done is make it so two people are drowning."

"I know. I'm sorry Mom." Briana said.

"I think we are ready to trust you and end your grounding." Jane said.

"Really Dad?!" Briana bounced excitedly, she hadn't expected it to happen immediately. By the look on Veronica's face, this was news to her too.

"On one condition." Jane produced Alanna from behind her chair and got up to kneel in front of Briana. She set the stuffed lioness (and head knight of the Cloudland Roundtable!) on the floor next to them.

"Do you promise to treat being safe as an unbreakable rule?" Jane asked, holding her hand out.

Briana's eyes were as wide as they got, her gaze flickering from Jane to Alanna to Veronica and back. She got up to her knees and put her left hand over her heart, shaking Jane's hand with her right.

"I promise to treat being safe as an unbreakable rule." Briana said solemnly.

"I'm proud of you Briana." Jane kissed Briana on the forehead. "You're not grounded anymore."

"Yay!" Briana grinned and hugged Jane tightly.

"Honey." Veronica said in a strained voice. "Are you sure?"

Jane stood up and looked at her girlfriend. "I believe Briana. This is a promise she won't break." Jane's tone was stern and immutable, like she was pronouncing a law.

Briana shivered and nodded seriously at Veronica.

"Alright, well you're not grounded to your room anymore, but what does your new rule mean when it comes to leaving the house?" Veronica asked.

"I would have to tell somebody where I'm going and ask if it's okay." Briana said. "If it's a long way away then I'd need someone to come with me."

"What if there's no one available to ask, or if there's nobody who's able to take you to the place you want to go?"

"Then I'd have to go a different time." Briana said sincerely.

Veronica seemed to relax at that. She even smiled a little. "That's a good answer. You're a good girl."

Briana beamed!

"This is a good time to talk about Saint Nicholas." Jane said.

"Santa?" Briana perked up immediately.

"That's right." Veronica said. "Santa is coming in not too long. Unfortunately, you've recently been very naughty."

Tears sprung into Briana's eyes, but she bit her lip and managed to keep her composure. "Th-that's okay. I understand."

"I don't think you do." Jane said. "Santa has his list but he consults a lot with parents. We are going to suggest to Santa that you start over with a clean slate."

"That means you haven't been good or naughty yet, as far as Santa is concerned." Veronica said. "You'll need to be a very good girl for the next couple of weeks if you want Santa to bring you presents."

"Really?" Briana was crying now, there was no stopping it. She'd gotten presents from Santa once that she could remember, and they weren't really from Santa. They came in a plastic bag from a charity place. It had still been super awesome to get them, but she'd known they weren't really from Santa.

Now Santa was going to come, actually come to the house and go down the chimney and have the reindeer and eat the cookies and leave presents and say ho ho ho and EVERYTHING.

"Of course." Veronica said, holding out her arms. Briana was up on her lap in a flash, burying her face in Veronica's chest.

"I'm sure you will be a good girl for Santa." Jane said. "But of course we have presents for you too. All your friends do."

Jane hugged Briana and Veronica both. Briana thought she might burst at any moment. Everybody was so nice, there was going to be a real Christmas! She wasn't going to ruin this one like Thanksgiving. It was going to be a perfect, wonderful Christmas.

"M-mommy. D-daddy." Briana sniffled though her happy tears. "Thank you."

"We love you so much, little girl." Veronica held Briana tightly. Jane squeezed them both.

"I love you too." Briana sighed happily and let the hug go on as long as Mom and Dad would let it. That turned out to be surprisingly, delightfully long.

As usual, Mom wiped her face and made her blow her nose. Briana kept her seat on Veronica's lap and leaned against her.

"Can you help me get presents for everybody?" Briana asked.

"Yes we can. Thank you for being a good girl and thinking of that." Jane said.

"Don't forget to tell Santa!" Briana giggled. A thought struck her, "Oh my gosh, does Santa know about Melody?!"

"Know what about Melody?" Veronica asked.

"Know that they're little now." Briana said. "If Santa doesn't know then he won't bring them presents."

"Um, I'm not sure." Jane said, exchanging an awkward glance with Veronica. "We're not necessarily the ones that should be talking to Santa for Melody."

"You have to!" Briana said in desperation. "Please, their girlfriend isn't their Mommy yet. They can't go without presents on Christmas. I'll – you can tell Santa that Melody can have my presents if you have to."

It hurt, like physically hurt, to give up the presents she just found out about. Even so, it was the right thing to do. If Briana couldn't fix what was hurting Melody, maybe Santa could.

"You don't have to do that, darling." Veronica said. "Santa will have enough presents for everyone."

"You think so?"

"I'll make sure of it." Veronica said in her mommy tone.

Briana relaxed and nodded. "Thank you."

"You really love Melody, don't you?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah! They're my big sibling! And they said they loved me, and that I'm their little sister, and they're so cool and nice to me and it means we're a family." Briana had to take a deep breath after that rush of words.

"That makes me happy." Veronica said with a soft smile. "I guess we'll have two little kids waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. You'd better make sure Melody goes to bed on time. Santa won't come if there are kids awake."

"I'll make sure of it!" Briana said, in a spot-on imitation of Veronica's mommy tone. (Santa Points +1)

Jane and Veronica both laughed, Briana joining in with them a moment later. There were a few more cuddles, a diaper check (that Briana passed!), and Veronica scooted Briana off her lap.

"I have to get in to school. You're not grounded anymore, so you can have your phone back and you don't have a babysitter. Are you a big enough girl to handle that?"

Briana nodded. "Yes Mom! Can I invite a friend over, if there's anybody available?"

"As long as it's someone we know well. No repeats of inviting over Beatrix."

"Never again." Briana agreed. "Um, so it would be okay even if that friend was Tamira?"

Veronica sighed and set her mouth in a hard line.

Jane chuckled and squeezed Briana's shoulder. "You're on your own with that one BumbleBri. I've got to get to school too." She gave Veronica a quick kiss and headed out of the suite.

Briana figured her best, first tactic would be to just be as cute as possible. She fixed a hopeful gaze on Veronica, waiting for a reply.

"Briana you know I'm upset that she helped you get information on Beatrix."

"But you told me it was my fault that went out in the snow. Not anybody else's." Briana said. "And you were right."

"Maybe you listened too well." Veronica chuckled ruefully, then sighed. "That doesn't mean she didn't also make a bad choice."

"She didn't understand about me." Briana said. "You don't hafta be friends, even if it would be cool if you were. You're a lot alike."

"Maybe too much alike." Briana added with a giggle.

"Look who's a sassy girl now that she's not grounded." Veronica said with a laugh. "Alright. I will message her. It's possible I was – a little harsh."

"I know you feel guilty that I got hurt." Briana said, "But Tamira didn't understand the situation and she was just trying to do a good thing."

"Did you just paraphrase my lecture to you, from the time you invited Beatrix over?" Veronica asked incredulously.

"It's because I listened to you, and I look up to you, Mommy." Briana said sweetly.

"Don't push your luck little girl." Veronica said, smiling despite her words. "You are entirely too smart a baby sometimes."

"I'm not a baby." Briana asserted. "I can be a little girl."

"You better work on your potty training then." Veronica said.

"Okay, I will." Briana leaned in for another hug. "Thank you. About Tamira."

"You're welcome. You're right that it's the right thing to do." Veronica said, squeezing Briana in a quick hug. "Now scoot. I really do have to get to school."

Briana grabbed her phone and skipped downstairs, pouncing on the first roommate she found.

"Suzie, I'm not grounded anymore! And I'm potty training again!"

"Double good news!" Suzie grinned. "I guess that means the whole house is available while I'm babysitting you now."

"I don't even have a babysitter anymore." Briana said, bouncing. "But if you want to hang out that would be fun."

"I can't right now, I have to head out in a bit to help make new costumes for the play."

"Sometime soon then." Briana said, unconcerned. "Did you know it's going to be CHRISTMAS soon?"

Suzie giggled. "I did, as a matter of fact. You excited?"

"So much!" Briana grinned. "You hafta help me decorate. You're the best decorator in the house."

"Aww, thank you hon. This weekend you and me will be the decorating crew."

"Yay!" Briana hugged Suzie. "Have fun at the theatre. I'm gonna make my own breakfast."

"See you kiddo." Suzie said with a laugh.

Halfway through her third bowl (don't tell mom!) of fruit loops, Briana got a new message on her phone. It took her a moment to notice, there were so many messages on there from having been grounded for a few days. When she opened it she was excited to see it was from Tamira.

Tamira >> Either you or Melody must have really gone to bat for me with Veronica. Thanks! I hear you have your phone again. How's it going?

Briana >> Hi! It's going great! Mom said I was a big girl who doesn't even need a babysitter! OMG and we talked about Christmas.

Tamira >> : D Glad to hear it. Too bad about you not needing a babysitter though. Arthur is really excited to see you again and I thought I could do a two for one.

Briana >> Maybe I could have a babysitter just to show Arthur how it goes. : 3 When were you thinking?

Tamira >> I actually have today off. I know it's short notice, but I could come pick you up.

Briana >> I can't leave the house without permission and there's nobody here. : (

Briana >> Oh but I can invite people over!

Tamira >> Arthur is up for it. He wanted to see your room after hearing about it.

Briana >> OMG I'll get the stuffies ready!

Tamira >> Sounds good, we'll be over soon. : D

Leaving breakfast forgotten on the table, Briana scurried up to her room. It was really clean, even though she'd been spending so much time there. The playpen was still set up. Briana decided to leave that so that Arthur could see it. Some arranging of stuffies and retrieving lesser-used ones from the closet was all that was really needed.

That left time to dress. Briana tossed her pjs in the laundry hamper (Santa points +1) and considered her wardrobe. The anxiety of so many outfit choices reminded her that she might need to pee. Outfits were put on hold while she raced naked to the potty. It was a good thing too, because she had to go.

Barely remembering to flush, Briana hurried back to her room and grabbed a pretty red skirt with a green blouse. It was time for the Christmas colors! She arrived in the living room, breathless, and sat down to wait for Tamira.

There was more waiting than Briana had expected. A lot more. She fidgeted on the couch. She did remember to text Veronica that Tamira and Arthur were coming over, but that only took a moment. It dimly occurred to Briana that it might take a while to pack up Arthur's stuff and drive across town. She didn't really care about that though. The important thing is that they weren't at her house.

All in all, Briana had to wait upwards of twenty five minutes, before there was finally a knock on the door. She was up in a flash, barking her shin on the coffee table and careening off a wall in her mad scramble to the door. With a bit of a rigid smile due to the pain in her shin, she threw the door open.

"Tamira, Arthur!" Briana cried.

Tamira had a small duffel bag in her hand, Arthur was looming behind her with a blushy look on his face. They hurried inside.

"You okay Briana?" Tamira asked.

"I hit my leg on the coffee table." Briana whimpered, bouncing on her good leg and holding her injured shin.

"You were that excited to see us huh?" Tamira smiled. "I'll take a look at it in a second sweetie. My little boy was pretty excited too. He had an accident as soon as we got in the car."

"Nuh uh." Arthur said defensively, covering his crotch.

Briana looked at him curiously, but Arthur was wearing sweatpants and nothing was really showing. That meant he'd had protection at least.

"That's okay!" Briana assured Arthur. "I'm working on getting to the potty in time, so I can help you not have another accident while we're playing."

"I don't have accidents." Arthur said in a frustrated tone.

"So you meant to wet yourself in the car then?" Tamira asked.

Arthur had nothing to say to that, but he looked really grumpy.

"You be nice while we're here or you're in trouble little boy." Tamira said, taking Arthur's hand. "Is that changing table still set up in the next room?" She asked Briana.

"Yeah, it's always there." Briana flounced over to the drawing room, and perching on one of the couch arms.

"It's really just us here?" Arthur asked. His steps were slow and hesitant as he approached the table.

"Yeah! Everyone is out of the house. I'm super glad you guys could come over." Briana said.

"I told you honey. We'll get you cleaned up and then we can go to Briana's room if you're worried about people coming home. Up now, be a good boy." She guided Arthur up onto the changing table.

The table had always made Briana look even more little, but Arthur's legs actually dangled off the end a bit. It was really sturdy though, not creaking at all under the larger boy's weight.

When Tamira took Arthur's sweatpants down his face went from grumpy back to blushy. The poor boy even covered his face and turned toward the wall. Briana hopped up and grabbed her big Orca stuffie. She touched Arthur lightly on the forearm and pressed the whale against his hands.

"This is Olga. She's a good friend." Briana said.

Arthur nodded a silent thanks and took the stuffie, hiding his face behind it. He was a lot more relaxed already.

"That was very nice of you Briana. You're such a good girl!" Tamira said.

"Thank you!" Briana said, taking her seat on the couch arm again. (Santa points +1)

Arthur's diapers were so big and the one Tamira was taking off was really heavy. If she could handle those she could handle anything! Well not that Briana needed that kind of help right now, but just in case. She'd be great for Melody too.

Kicking her feet while she waited for Arthur's change to be done reminded her of the pain in her shin. Briana winced and stretched out her leg. She had a nice bump on there. Looked like a cut too. Quickly she lowered her leg. She didn't want to cry when Arthur was feeling upset.

Tamira left Arthur a moment to snuggle the stuffie when she had him changed and his sweats back on. Kneeling by Briana, she carefully inspected the injured shin.

"Hmm, looks bad, it's going to have to come off." Tamira said grimly.

"Tamira!" Briana whined.

"Gotcha." Tamira winked. "You're going to be fine, but I'm going to put a little band aid on there okay?"

Briana nodded. She yelped a little when Tamira wiped the cut with a baby wipe. The sticker was a cute Frozen one, it helped the pain a lot.

"Let me check your diaper while I'm down here." Tamira said.

Briana obediently shifted her legs apart, while Tamira lifted her skirt and poked at the leg elastic of her diaper.

"Nice and dry, good job." Tamira said.

"Thanks!" Briana said. (Santa points +1) "I'm going to be a big kid like Melody."

"Oh? Is Melody a bigger kid than you?"

"Yeah! They're super cool, they have so many awesome big kid toys! Plus they have a job and still go to school and stuff."

"I saw you withdrew." Tamira said, standing up and gathering her duffel, Arthur, and finally Briana for the trip upstairs. "You're feeling okay about that?"

"I really needed to. I'm glad Mom helped me after I had an accident and went to your place." Briana hopped up the last couple of stairs and held her bedroom door open. "I kind of miss it though."

"Yeah? You want to go back?" Tamira asked.

"I think I do." Briana said softly, looking down. "I dunno if I can though."

"I'm sure Veronica can help you figure something..." Tamira looked back at Arthur, who was standing in the doorway with his mouth open.

"It's really something, isn't it sweetie?" Tamira looked around. "The playpen is new for me. Briana's really got that baby drip."

Briana grinned and danced around the room. "Arthur come in! This is where I keep my stuffies, and this is my crib, and over here is my art stuff, and I think you can fit in the playpen. It's super sturdy."

Arthur stepped into the room sheepishly. Tamira reached out to him but Briana got there first. She grabbed Arthur's hand and pulled him over to the playpen.

"Do you wanna try it with me? Melody played with me in it and it was so super fun!"

"Yeah, okay." Arthur said with a soft smile.

"Not in big boy clothes you won't." Tamira said. "Strip down young man."

"Uh, right here?" Arthur asked.

"Briana has seen you in just a diaper before and she just watched you get changed. If I have to tell you a third time, it's a spanking."

Briana watched in fascination as Arthur hesitated. He liked being spanked, she realized. That was going to be fun for some mischief later. Apparently he decided against a punishment though, and shucked off his sweatshirt and sweatpants.

While Tamira was getting the clothes out Briana took advantage of the situation and hugged Arthur. He was so big and super warm! It was cute how he awkwardly hugged her, trying to figure out where to put his arms on someone who didn't quite reach his chest.

"We're gonna have a super good time." Briana said. "Tell me if there's anything you want to do, okay?"

"I don't know what stuff you have." Arthur said.

"In here, coloring books and my stuffies. Oh, and my sword! Plus lots of books. I bet Tamira would read us a story if we asked."

"I would." Tamira said with a smile. "But right now I need this little boy back so I can get him dressed."

The outfit wasn't sized-up kids clothes. It made sense, they'd have to be REALLY sized up to fit Arthur. A pair of swim trunks that somehow were a little oversized for Arthur went on. They looked good and had nice bold colors on them. The shirt was a little undersized and had Callum from Dragon Prince on it. Briana approved of the transformation, especially when the mesh 'underwear' of the swimsuit made Arthur's diaper extra crinkly.

"Now can we play in the playpen?" Briana asked. "Um – but if you don't want to we don't hafta." She really wanted to see Arthur in the playpen, but knew she should be a good playmate. (Santa points +1)

"We can try." Arthur stepped carefully over the wall of the playpen, he didn't even have to push it down. It squished and tilted a little under his weight, but that was it. With a surprised grin and a mighty crinkle, he settled down on his butt.

Briana gleefully climbed in on the other side. Arthur took up about a third of the space on his own. As soon as she sat Briana discovered a definite slope in the Arthur direction. Giggling, she let herself roll against his legs.

"So who are all of these?" Arthur motioned at the stuffies, picking up Arnold the Pangolin.

"That's Arnold the Pangolin." Briana said. He always had to have his full name. (So annoying!)

"Hi Arnold." Arthur said.

"Noo, you have to say Arnold the Pangolin every time." Briana said in distress. "He's going to be so grumpy now. Arnold the Pangolin, he didn't know okay?"

Arthur giggled. "That's so silly." He laughed again, then addressed Arnold the Pangolin. "Sorry, Arnold the Pangolin."

"Whew!" Briana said. "I think Arnold the Pangolin forgives you." She took the stuffie and set him aside where he couldn't cause more trouble.

"This bat is Mimsey, and this giraffe is Chuck." Briana said, putting both in Arthur's lap.

"Chuck?" Arthur asked.

"He doesn't like going by Charles." Briana said.

"You know them all really well." Arthur said with a grin.

"We've been together for a while. They're all on the Round Table of Cloudland. Alanna is the head knight but – oh shit, I left her in Mom's room."

"Briana! Did I just hear what I thought I did?" Tamira asked sharply.

"Uh, oopsie?" Briana giggled.

"Oopsie is all you have to say? What would your mom do if she heard you say that word? Be honest."

Briana whined and squirmed, but Tamira's glare was relentless. She couldn't lie with Christmas presents on the line, especially after being told to be honest.

"I'd get a spanking." Briana pouted.

"Then get over here." Tamira said, taking a seat in the armchair that Veronica sat in when it was story-time. She patted her lap.

"Tamiiiiiiiira." Briana whined.

"Little girl, this spanking is getting longer and longer the more I wait."

With a squeak, Briana hopped out of the playpen and flopped over Tamira's lap. She whimpered again when Tamira flipped her skirt up and pulled her diaper down. On consideration she threw a sniffle in for extra sympathy.

Smack! If she'd garnered any extra sympathy from Tamira, Briana certainly couldn't tell. She yelped involuntarily as the sting from the first spanking flared to life on her rear. A matching smack on the other cheek made her cry out again.

"I'm soooorrrrry! It was an accident!" Briana whimpered.

"Was it?" Tamira asked skeptically, "Or did you think you could get away with it because your mom isn't here and I'm not as experienced?"

Briana hung her head. "The second one."

"Wow, you're being very honest." Tamira said, delivering two more slaps, though a lot more lightly than the first pair.

"Ow! I hafta. Santa is coming."

"I see. Well I know he won't be happy that you said a bad word." (Santa points -1)

Briana whimpered, taking two more spanks gracefully enough. After the first two slaps, it wasn't so bad, compared to Dad's spankings.

"On the other hand, I think being so honest makes up for it. Or it will as long as you learned that your behavior was wrong." Tamira slapped Briana's butt twice more.

"I did!" She whimpered.

"What did you learn?" Tamira asked, rubbing Briana's rear.

"That saying sh- that saying that word is bad."

"Good girl. Last spanking and then you're done." Two more slaps and Briana had her nice comfy diaper up on her rear again. (Santa points +1)

"Hee hee." Arthur chuckled. "You almost said shit again."

"Did you really just try to slip that by?" Tamira asked as she sent Briana back to the playpen. "Get over this knee, Arthur."

"What?" Arthur pouted. "No! I was just saying the thing that she said."

"If you think that you can be naughty just because someone else is, then you really do need a spanking." Tamira said. "Get over here now."

"It's not fair!" Arthur protested, scooting behind Briana.

"Arthur." Tamira said in a sharp tone that was giving Veronica's mommy voice a run for it's money. "One."

"Nooooo." Arthur whined. "We're here to have fun."

"If you make me say three you are NOT going to like what happens." Tamira said. "Two..."

Briana gave Arthur a sympathetic look as he climbed out of the playpen and draped himself over the chair. That look switched to horror when she saw what Tamira was pulling out of her duffel.

"Oh no, the hairbrush!" Briana said, clapping her hands to her mouth.

"What?!" Arthur shifted on the chair but relented when Tamira dug her fingers into his back. "Tam – Mom, please don't use the brush."

"You have been such a naughty boy. It's even worse because this is your first time at Briana's and you're misbehaving." Tamira yanked Arthur's trunks and diaper down.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again!"

"I know you won't." Tamira said.

That made Briana wince. Tamira brought the brush down and peppered Arthur's butt with rapid fire strokes from the brush. He was whimpering and squirming, but looked kind of used to it. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad, Briana thought as she relaxed.

"Alright, you're warmed up, now it's time for the real ones." Tamira said. "You get six, and you have to count them off."

"Six?" Arthur whimpered.

"That didn't sound at all like Yes Mommy." Tamira said.

"Yes Mommy." Arthur said quietly.

Real ones? Briana wondered. She didn't have to wonder long. Tamira's arm went way up. She swung the brush down like a tennis player. The sound it made on Arthur's butt was a resounding CRACK!

Arthur cried out, then grunted, "One."

Briana's sympathetic yelp had been lost in Arthur's cry. She put her hands over Mimsey's eyes. The girl-bat was too sensitive to see a big punishment like this.

Five more times the hairbrush came down. Tamira was serious! She was putting her shoulder into every hit. Briana was glad she couldn't see Arthur's butt. He had to have marks for sure, maybe even bruises. By the time he counted three he was sniffling, by five he was full on crying. The sixth one left him blubbering across Tamira's lap.

"What did you learn?" Tamira said, gently stroking Arthur's back.

"Not to say b-bad words." He sniffled.

"And about being at a friend's house?"

"T-to behave." Arthur said.

"Good boy." Tamira said, leaning over to kiss his shoulder. She got a tube of lotion out of her bag and gently spread it on his rear, before pulling his diaper and trunks back up.

"You can go back and play with Briana now."

"Okay Mommy." Arthur made his way gingerly back into the playpen, electing to lie down on his stomach this time.

"Tamira, can we have a snack?" Briana asked, giving Tamira a woeful look and snuggling up to Arthur.

"I guess so." Tamira said, putting her spanking supplies away. "What kind of snack?"

"There are some cookies left over downstairs that Mom said I could have. Can Arthur have some too? They're really good and he didn't get to have them at Thanksgiving."

Tamira chuckled. "Alright you beggar. Dial it down. I'll go get some cookies."

As soon as Tamira was out of the room Briana nuzzled Arthur. "That was a rough spanking, but now we get cookies."

"I didn't think she'd spank me so hard for that." Arthur said.

"I think she felt kind of guilty." Briana said. "That's why she gave in on the cookies."

"Does that work all the time?" Arthur asked.

"Usually. My mom always looks a little guilty after she spanks me. It's a good time to ask for something you're not supposed to have."

"Wait, are you not supposed to have those cookies?"

"Mom said I could have one." Briana said. "But if Tamira brings me more than that, it's not my fault. I'm not supposed to eat them in the playpen either." She giggled.

Arthur giggled and nuzzled up against Briana. "You know all the tricks."

"I've been a baby for a while." Briana grinned. "But all by myself. I'm really glad I have you here. Can we be friends?"

"Yeah. You're a good friend." Arthur said, hugging Briana. He gave the best big squooshy hugs.

"It's going to be hard to play until your butt feels better." Briana said. "Want to get under the blanket and watch something on my phone when Tamira gets back?"

"Yeah." Arthur said. "I bet we can get her to give us juice boxes too."

Briana giggled. "You think so?"

"Watch." He grinned.

Tamira arrived with the whole plate of cookies. Briana's eyes grew huge at the sight. She started the two littles off with only a pair of cookies each, but Briana knew that was just an opening offer. If a babysitter brought a plate of cookies, they were fair game.

"Mommy, can we have juice boxes?" Arthur said cutely. "You said I could share one of mine with Briana."

Tamira rolled her eyes. "You two are lucky you're so cute."

Within minutes they had cookies AND juice boxes. Not only that but they had permission to watch more Kipo (Arthur hadn't watched it without Briana!) and there were crumbs getting everywhere. It was super warm and snuggly under the blanket.

In fact, it was so snuggly that – well Briana had only promised to work on her potty training, not be perfect at it. The original plan had been to ask for help with the potty every hour or so. Instead she just snuggled with Arthur. By the time Tamira insisted on a change of activities, Briana squished when she sat up.

They were coloring happily away when the door opened and Veronica stepped in. She looked extra tired, and she was in her fancy clothes again.

"Mom!" Briana said excitedly.

"Hi darling. Hello Tamira. Hi Arthur."

"Hey Veronica." Tamira said, getting up from the chair and stretching. "The littles have been playing well together."

"I can see that." Veronica said. "Thank you for bringing Arthur over."

"He's having a great time, it's our pleasure." Tamira said. Arthur gave a shy smile and a wave, immediately returning to his coloring book.

"You're welcome to stay longer." Veronica said. "Even for dinner if you want. We're having everyone's favorite, Thanksgiving leftovers."

"Arthur and I didn't get much in the way of leftovers so that would be great if it's really no bother."

"Not at all. If you two join us I think we can finally finish them off." Veronica said.

"Great, thank you." Tamira said. "Arthur, what do we say when someone invites us to dinner?"

Arthur broke out of his bashful concentration and blushed. "Um, thank you Ms. Veronica."

"What a darling. You're very welcome Arthur." Veronica said. "I do need a quick word with Briana."

"What's up mom?" Briana asked.

"When I went into the kitchen there was an open bottle of milk sitting next to a box of fruit loops and a dirty bowl. The milk has spoiled from sitting out all day. Is that something you'd know about?"

Briana squirmed a little further under the blanket. "Um, sorry Mom. Yeah, that was me." (Santa points -2!)

"If your friend wasn't here young lady..."

"Oh go ahead and spank her." Tamira said.

"Are you sure?" Veronica asked.

"I already gave her a spanking for cussing." Tamira said. "Arthur got one too. They've been good little lambs ever since."

Veronica smiled at Tamira. That was sorta great, because Briana wanted her mom smiling at Tamira. It'd just be better if the smile wasn't related to spanking her.

"That is actually perfect. Briana has recently had a naughty incident and while that is behind us, we did plan to be strict and immediate with punishments going into the holidays."

"Mom," Briana pouted as cutely as she could. "Please don't spank me in front of Arthur. I'm sorry I forgot the milk."

"Briana Hillary Cassingham!" Veronica said, in a tone that had Briana on her feet, before she realized she was moving. "You get your butt over here right now. You know better than to try to manipulate me when you're in trouble."

Without a hint of further argument, Briana bent over Veronica's lap. Veronica flipped her skirt up and patted the swollen diaper.

"I thought you were working on potty training hon."

"I was!" Briana insisted. "I was doing really good for a while."

"That's true." Tamira said. (what a good friend!) "She's been dry until now."

"In that case I'm proud of you. I'll help you work on it more, especially once the break starts, okay?"

Briana nodded. "Thanks Mom." She winced when Veronica pulled her diaper down to her knees. So much for her brief reprieve.

"Maybe it will help you remember to get spanked on a wet butt." Veronica said.

Briana whimpered and grabbed the side of the chair, bracing herself. Veronica slapped her butt at a steady pace. They weren't hard smacks. Unfortunately, the previous spanking multiplied them a bit. Being wet on top of that, made each hit sting and spark across her rear.

Arthur was staying mighty quiet in the playpen. He'd learned his lesson the first time. Briana wasn't going to have a spankee-in-solidarity this time. Feeling little from her playtime with Arthur and embarrassed at being caught wet by Veronica, Briana started bawling.

That didn't stop the spanking, it never did. There were just a few smacks left though. When Veronica switched to gently rubbing her butt, Briana sniffled and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry for leaving the milk and my breakfast stuff out Mommy."

Veronica paused in surprise. Briana bonked her head against the chair as she realized that it was only Tamira that made her explain why she was bad.

"Is that something that Tamira taught you to do, Bri?" Veronica asked.

"Yes." Briana said sourly.

"I always make Arthur verbalize what he did wrong." Tamira said. "I had Briana do it today too."

"I did as well this morning, though that was over something much bigger." Veronica said. "I think it's a very good idea to do it every time, don't you Briana?"

"Yes Mommy." Briana grumped. Bent over Mom's lap, with a bare butt, was not the place to pick an argument.

"Good girl. Let's get you changed."

Tamira and Veronica chatted about mommy stuff while Briana was getting changed. They were still at it when Veronica put Briana back in the playpen with Arthur.

"Would you like to go downstairs and have a cup of tea?" Veronica asked Tamira. "I have to get dinner going."

"I'll take the tea, but you have to put me to work." Tamira said. "What about these two? They're a little trouble-prone together."

"Oh that's simple." Veronica said. "We'll just use the baby monitor."

Arthur looked at Briana in surprise, blushing profusely when Veronica turned the monitor on. For her part, Briana was still a little grumpy from her spanking. She shrugged in response.

"You two play nice. You can let us know through the monitor if you need anything." Veronica said.

"Who all is going to be at dinner?" Tamira asked.

"Just the household." Veronica said. "Probably not all of us. Suzie is managing some theatre crisis, and we don't even see Erin since her residency started. Probably us here, Jane, Melody, and Casey."

"Is that going to be okay Arthur?" Tamira asked gently. "Melody and Briana both wear diapers. Everyone in this house knows about it and they don't make a big deal out of it."

"I promise that no one will make fun or be hurtful in any way." Veronica said.

"I don't know." Arthur said, curling up.

Briana sighed. She could tell that Arthur was conflicted, but the bigs were probably going to err on the side of making him go home. She snuggled up to him and nuzzled his head.

"You don't hafta if you don't want, but I think it'd be fun." Briana said. "Everybody at the table has changed my diaper before. Even Melody." Briana giggled.

It was working! Arthur looked up at her hesitantly. Briana gave him a big smile and nodded.

"Plus we can sit together and talk and not pay attention to the bigs." Briana said, more loudly so that she was sure Tamira could hear. "It'd be a super brave thing for you to do. I bet your mom would let you eat only the stuff you want!"

"Oh for..." Tamira shook her head and laughed. "You have to eat SOME turkey, but otherwise whatever you want, little one."

"Briana, what did I just say about manipulative behavior?" Veronica asked.

"I'm not doing it while I'm in trouble this time!" Briana replied sweetly. "And it's to help Arthur!"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "You were right Tamira, they are trouble together."

"It's cause we're good friends!" Briana said, squirming into Arthur's arms. He grinned and gave her a big hug.

The cuteness worked! (Santa points +2) Both moms smiled and laughed. After another admonishment to be good while dinner was being made, Veronica and Tamira headed downstairs.

"I'm so glad you're staying." Briana said. "I've never had a friend who was little like me before."

"It's scary." Arthur said. "But I believe you when you say people will be nice."

"They will." Briana nodded. "Okay, I think we can watch at least one more Kipo episode before dinner."

"But Mom said that we had too much TV." Arthur said.

"Shh!" Briana whispered, pointing at the baby monitor. "As long as we don't do anything too naughty, they won't walk all the way up the stairs to get us in trouble."

Arthur giggles. "You are so bad."

"You are too, Mr. sneak a bad word past your mom."

Arthur grinned and draped his arm over Briana. She fired up the next video, her stinging butt totally forgotten. It smelled a little like Arthur had wet, but that was Tamira's problem, not Briana's.

[kerry]

I don't think I have mentioned lately how utterly adorable this story is (as long as Beatrix stays away). ?

[Guilend]

Tbh I was expecting Mommy to punish that one girl that slipped her baby the address before forgiving her or even letting her back over. 
 

I think Vicky gets bare bottom spankings when no one is around ? 

[YourFNF]

These two are ridiculously cute together! These past few chapters have been a much needed breather. Which makes me wonder how much worse it's going to be when the storm finally breaks....

Gods I wish I could be the little girl of a polycue like this though ???

 

[SolSombraYSoldados]

32 minutes ago, YourFNF said:

These two are ridiculously cute together! These past few chapters have been a much needed breather. Which makes me wonder how much worse it's going to be when the storm finally breaks....

Gods I wish I could be the little girl of a polycue like this though ???

 

I wish I could have fit in more Briana / Arthur. They are stupid cute together.

 

Fair warning, the next chapter (25) is probably the toughest in the book, emotionally. There will be more Briana cuteness to help afterwards, promise. Chapter 26 is one of the emotional high points!

[YourFNF]

18 hours ago, SolSombraYSoldados said:

Fair warning, the next chapter (25) is probably the toughest in the book, emotionally. There will be more Briana cuteness to help afterwards, promise. Chapter 26 is one of the emotional high points!

Thanks for the heads up ?

[SolSombraYSoldados]

No funny quip this time, just a content warning.
 

((Content Warning: Depiction of severe depression))

Chapter 25

-----

 

Two major tests and a lab report completely wiped Melody's week out. On Rosa's side, dodging the worst of Black Friday meant she had to pull doubles, right through the weekend. A week without Rosa time felt more like a year. There was nothing to fear though. Melody's social penguin was about to flip from blue to red.

First, some TLC for their girlfriend. Melody had a reservation for a Board Game Restaurant and a home-spa kit for Rosa's recovery. After that, they should be able to have some amazing ABDL time together. It was a bit of a lull at school before finals hit. Melody's planning was worthy of Veronica.

Pausing in the entryway of the computer science building, Melody let themself think about Veronica. They owed her a month of rent. She hadn't said anything, but Melody had as good as dropped out of Veronica's program. Melody hadn't had a session or done anything with Veronica diaper-wise in a couple of weeks.

It was okay though, because the program worked. Everything was great, especially with Rosa. Melody had the money, and their loans were paid off. They could pay Veronica for December before the fifth and give her a big thank you. A hug too, if she wasn't mad.

"There you are!" A sharp voice cut into Melody's daydreams. Beatrix, coming in hot on Melody's three o'clock.

"Oh uh, hey Bea. Look it's been crazy busy and..."

"Yeah, I know." Beatrix said, looking a little wild-eyed. "I am so choked up that I'm about to blow. Come with me, I need some sugar."

"Hey, I have to get to class." Melody said.

They almost pulled out of Beatrix's grasp. Something in their heart stopped them. It was Beatrix. Unstoppably hot Beatrix. The girl they'd followed to this grad school after undergrad at Brooklyn College. Could Melody say no to her? Could anyone?

Beatrix didn't seem to notice Melody's conflict. She was pulling hard enough on Melody's coat that she would have expected resistance regardless. Stumbling up to an unfamiliar door, Melody watched in surprise as Beatrix produced a key and unlocked it.

Why did Bea have a key to the CS building? Melody asked themself.

The room inside was bare except for a ladder and some tarps in the corner. Melody caught a flash of what looked like a construction logo on the key's chain before Bea stuffed it back in her pocket.

"Alone at last. Shit Mel, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were avoiding me." Beatrix wasn't wasting any time. She had her coat off and her bag tossed aside already.

"I wouldn't do that." Melody said cautiously. They had been avoiding her of course. It had been easy up until now with all the tests and holidays.

"Oh, I know. You're mine. The best, most obedient and fuckable toy I've ever had." Beatrix grinned, shucking off her sweater. There was no blouse underneath, just a red lace bra holding her perfect breasts.

The spiderweb pattern in the red lace made Melody double-take. Bea had bragged about that lingerie set once. It was her lucky set. The one she only broke out for boys that mattered.

"Bea are you sure we should do this here?" Melody asked, desperate for a way out. Not that they could tear their eyes off that glorious chest.

"All the construction is in Hunter Hall right now, nobody's coming in here. Don't you pay ATTENTION?" Beatrix flicked a finger off Melody's temple.

"I know my girls are amazing." Beatrix continued, hefting her breasts. "But you don't get to stand there drooling. Get your coat off and show me that body."

"I uh – it's just that..." Melody stammered. They were about to cheat on Rosa. No, they couldn't do that. There had to be a way out that didn't involve Beatrix posting her blackmail.

"I forget how shy and nervous you are. I'll warm you up." Beatrix closed on Melody and pinned them to the wall. Her mouth was all over Melody's lips, cheeks, and throat.

Unable to stop themself, Melody stroked the silken skin of Beatrix's back. They moaned softly into the kiss. It was incredible to feel real passion from Beatrix..

Beatrix squirmed and pressed up against them with genuine desire. Her breath was hot and ragged on Melody's ear. An insane flash of insight lit Melody's brain up to Galaxy Brain status. Beatrix was hot for them. For Melody. Beatrix wanted THEM.

Melody could have Beatrix as a girlfriend.

Something literally impossible had happened. A whole new path opened up for Melody. No more diapers and weirdness, just a regular lesbian relationship. Well, a lesbian dom/sub relationship anyway. If it lasted, Melody's tech skills with Bea's ability to monetize things would be insane.

We could become a hot power couple with a billion expensive cats. On Mars.

But it wasn't right! Rosa didn't deserve to get hurt. They had something with Rosa that they'd never expected, might never get again. Something that Melody knew she needed, deep in their heart.

There had to be a way to get some space, to figure thing out. Melody needed to think. The only thing running their head now was the monkey brain.

"You're holding back." Beatrix said. She had Melody's coat open and her hands on their chest. "Don't be like that. Give me that lezzie love. I'm going to fuck you so good, someone will call campus security when you scream."

Melody's thoughts did a record scratch. Hearing Beatrix beg to fuck them was brain-meltingly hot. Until that last bit, which was more like a threat. The weirdness of it gave Melody enough control to push open some space between themself and Bea.

"Hey, Bea." Melody said, panting. "I've wanted you for so long. It's so amazing now that you want me too, that you're so hot for me. But we have to talk about..."

Beatrix froze. "Did you just pump the breaks?"

"I need to think." Melody said. "Seeing you beg is so hot it's messing me up. But I can't just..."

"You think I was begging?" Beatrix's eyes dilated until their color was gone.

"Well you were kinda..." Melody said.

"You fucking bitch!" Beatrix screamed. "Is that what you think? You think I'm – some fucking simp? That I'm whipped? BY YOU?"

Melody held up their hands in shock, trying to find the words to shut off the torrent of rage that Beatrix was vomiting at her.

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S WHIPPED!" Beatrix brought her hand across Melody's face with a resounding crack. "BY ME!"

Fury and terror warred on Beatrix's face in an ugly combination. She was trembling all over. Melody was trembling too. They touched their cheek, and their fingers came away damp and red.

"You RUINED this for me." Beatrix raged. "I just needed some goddamn stress relief and you had to fuck it up, like you always do. So now neither one of us gets anything!" Beatrix snatched up her coat, sweater, and bag.

"You're unbelievable. Ungrateful. Stupid. Bitch!" Beatrix was trembling more than ever. It was hard to tell from the intensity of her emotion, but she looked more afraid now than angry. "I'll text you later and you'd better be ready to make up for this. FUCK!"

On that last scream, Beatrix stormed out of the room. She hadn't bothered to put her clothes back on. The door slammed behind her, hard enough to make Melody wince.

Melody stumbled out of the room a while later. Their class was halfway done. Not that it mattered. They weren't going to be able to understand a single thing a professor said. Rosa had a class that got out around this time. She might still be on campus.

The magic of text messages brought them together on an icy circle of brick, at the base of a hill that sported the University's ugliest statue. It looked like a rusty snowflake sneezing a lightning-bolt. It was especially bad next to Melody's beautiful girlfriend, beaming when she caught sight of them.

"Melody! Baby, what happened to your face?" Rosa asked, shifting from delight to concern.

"It's uh..." Melody swallowed hard, trying to figure out how they could explain.

"Let me see." Rosa took Melody's face and peered at the thin cuts that Beatrix's fingernails had laid across Melody's cheek.

"I um – the thing is Rosa..." Melody floundered.

"Wait, is this lipstick all over you?" Rosa frowned. "Mel, what's going on?"

"Beatrix – ambushed me. Kind of." Melody said. There was a yawning pit growing in their stomach as Rosa's face grew more concerned. "I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – it wasn't supposed to go that way."

"She assaulted you again?" Rosa asked in horror. "She was all over you and she hit you?"

"It was..." Melody swallowed back a wave of nausea.

That's not what happened. It wasn't assault. It couldn't be assault.

"No, not assault. I, I just didn't stop it in time. I'm sorry, I won't let it happen again."

"Melody, baby." Rosa gently took Melody in her arms, patting their back. "You have a bruise and three cuts on your face. You are trembling and you can hardly talk to me. We have to do something about this."

"I can't." Melody said, their gut roiling. "I can't. You don't understand."

"I understand that this has gone way too far. We have to get help to deal with this. We should talk to campus security, or the cops."

"No, I can't." Melody said, shaking themself free of Rosa's grasp.

"Why not?" Rosa asked. Her cheeks were streaked with tears.

"Don't cry. It's okay. It'll be okay. She'll give up. I just have to wait until she gives up." Melody couldn't make themself believe it anymore. They couldn't blame Rosa for the disbelief in her eyes.

"That is bullshit. Melody, honey, I want to help you. This is crazy." Rosa took Melody's hand gently. "Please let me help."

"She has pictures." Melody said. "P-porn. Of me. I can't. If she puts those on the internet, Rosa, it'll be there forever."

"Shit." Rosa squeezed Melody's hand. "There has to be a way to deal with it! New Hampshire has a revenge porn law. We can shut her down!"

"No, it'll still be on there. I can't – I can't stand up to her."

"You can't live like this. You have to make her stop!"

"I can't do that!"

"WHY?" Rosa sobbed.

"BECAUSE I WANT IT!" Melody screamed.

A terrible silence descended around them. Rosa's eyes were wide, hurt. Melody felt hollow inside. They both fell back a few steps. It felt like a chasm opening between them.

"What?" Rosa asked, her tone shocked and disbelieving.

"I've known her since undergrad." Melody said. They knew they shouldn't explain anything about Beatrix, but the words spilled out against their will. "I followed her to ABDU. She never, she never looked at me, but now – something happened. I can't – I can't make her stop."

"Are you and her – together?" Rosa asked. The pain in her voice shattered Melody's heart.

"No – I don't think so. Rosa, I – what you and I have is amazing. I don't understand why I can't stop Beatrix. But I can't." Melody took a deep breath.

"I tried today, but it didn't work. She was so mad! It was my fault. I shouldn't have made her mad." Melody looked at Rosa with pleading eyes.

Unfortunately, Rosa looked more upset than ever. There had to be something they could say. A dialogue option must exist, to stop this conversation from leading to a bad end.

"Melody." Rosa took a shuddering breath. "I don't understand what's happening here. But it's not your fault. You have to stop her. If you want to be with me, you have to stop what's happening with Beatrix."

"I can't! She won't let me." Melody sobbed.

"It's not her choice, it's yours!" Rosa's voice was getting colder. "You have to do something. Stay away from her at least. It might have – some consequences. But this is hurting you. It's hurting us. It has to stop."

"That's easy for you to say! You're not the one being exposed to the entire world."

"I know it's not easy!" Rosa cried, her voice cracking.

"Mel, she's already hitting you. Are pictures going to matter if she kills you? You have to stop this!"

"I can't." Melody fell to their knees. "I can't."

"Then I can't do this either." Rosa said, putting a hand to her mouth. "Melody, I – this can't be happening."

"Rosa, please." Melody said.

"Please what? Share my joyfriend, my Little One, with a psychopath? With someone who cuts your face? Watch you get hurt over and over again?" Rosa took several steps back.

"It's almost over. I just need..."

"No, Melody. No." Rosa shook her head. "Something is almost over, but it's not the thing that Beatrix is doing to you. I have to go. I need space from this."

"Rosa!" Melody begged.

"I can't watch you do this to yourself, or to us." Rosa wrapped her arms around herself. "Don't call me. Don't text me. Don't come see me unless – unless you're done with Beatrix."

Melody watched in horror as Rosa walked away. They were beyond tears. They didn't feel anything at all, not even the cold. Something had snapped. A bright and beautiful thing was lying in sharp shards at the base of Melody's heart.

The rest of the day was nothing. There was nothing. A gray campus and a gray town. A gray bank and gray streets driving home. Melody walked into their gray house and their gray room. Their roommates said hello to them, and Melody said hello back.

Though they gave Melody odd looks, their roommates didn't bother them. They told Melody that Veronica wasn't home. That was fine, if a little inconvenient. Melody put the rent money on Veronica's table in the front room of her suite.

By then, an oven pizza was done. It didn't have any taste, which was fine. A single slice made the annoying hungry feeling go away. The world was calm and gray again. With no more plans for the evening, Melody could play as many video games as they wanted.

They didn't want to play any of them.

With nothing to do, Melody went to bed. It was barely after five pm, but what did it matter? Nothing mattered. They took everything off, including their diaper. The sheets were soft. Their room was quiet. The blanket was heavy. It was the first good feeling since...

Melody stopped thinking.

Much later, they slept.

-----

Melody woke to a harsh sound. Someone was knocking on their door. Whoever it was kept calling their name. The sheets were still soft. The blanket was still heavy. Melody stopped listening and the sounds faded. Eventually they stopped.

For a long time, Melody stared into the darkness.

Then they slept.

------

They woke to knocking again. It sounded frantic. The blanket was still heavy. The sheets weren't soft anymore. They were wet, and itchy. It didn't matter. Melody stared past the walls, into nothing. The knocking would fade again....

Instead, the door burst open. Briana was there. She was crying.

No, Melody thought. Not this. Not Briana. Please, Bri, go away.

She didn't. She kneeled by the bed in her ridiculous purple-people-eater pajamas and shook Melody's shoulders. She was still crying. It was starting to hurt. Everything was starting to hurt. There was bright light from the doorway and sounds were roaring loud around Melody.

A terrible sharp pain sliced down through Melody's chest. Every moment that they stared at Briana it went deeper. They were sobbing, shaking, and crying. They couldn't stop. The tears blurred Briana out of their vision, but they couldn't stop her voice. Nothing could stop Melody from feeling Briana's arms around them.

Nothing could stop Melody from feeling.

They screamed. The pain in their chest pierced into a terrible heartbreak and sent it howling out of Melody's throat. They were shattered, all because their stupid sister couldn't stop caring about them. Couldn't leave them alone.

Melody clung to Briana like their life depended on it.

Two more sets of arms joined the hug. Someone had closed the door. Veronica and Jane were hugging Melody now. They were talking as well. Melody hoped the words weren't for them. Their brain wouldn't process whatever was being said.

Eventually Jane took Briana out of the room. Veronica stayed, sitting next to the bed. Melody closed their eyes. They let what felt like a long-time pass. When they opened their eyes, the sun had moved. Veronica was still there.

"Veronica?" Melody asked. What they were asking, they didn't know.

"Melody." Veronica smiled gently and touched them on the shoulder. "Do you remember that I said I wouldn't let you fall?"

"Yes." Melody said.

"It's still true. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"No." Melody said.

Veronica nodded. "Then we will deal with your heart later. Right now, I know what's wrong with other parts of you."

"What's that?" Melody asked.

"You need food and water. You need to get up and move a little. You also need a diaper."

"No diapers." Melody said.

"Melody." Veronica said gently. "You wet the bed."

Melody considered. The bed did feel wet. That was a good enough reason, they supposed.

"Okay." Melody said. "Because the bed is wet."

"Yes, because of that." Veronica said, stroking Melody's head. "Sit up. I'm going to take care of you."

"Okay." Melody sat up.

Everything that Veronica asked Melody to do, they did. They helped her strip them bare and walked to the bathroom in a fuzzy robe. Melody returned to their room after a hot shower to find the bed cleaned, with new sheets and blankets.

There was soup on Melody's desk. There was also a Briana and a Jane on their bed. Veronica put Melody on the bed and the four of them ate. Or at least the other three ate. Melody sat quietly, listening to them talk.

"Open up." Veronica said, holding Melody's spoon to their mouth.

"Don't want it." Melody mumbled.

"Do the airplane!" Briana said enthusiastically.

Melody was surprised to feel a tiny smile on their lips. Veronica seemed surprised too.

"Here comes the airplane." Veronica said gently, swerving the spoon toward Melody's mouth.

It was so ridiculous. How could Melody not smile at least a little?

It took a lot of airplane passes and one Top Gun reference from Briana, but Melody opened up for the spoon. The soup was really good. Something hearty and tomato-y. The airplane didn't need to make as many passes to deliver the next spoon. Even less for the one after that. Melody was suddenly really hungry.

When the soup was gone, it was perfectly natural to snuggle up to Briana on the bed. Melody didn't mind that their robe had fallen off. Everyone in the room had changed their diaper before. Besides, Briana was making silly noises. Every third or fourth one was so ridiculous that Melody was forced to giggle.

"Is this, okay?" Veronica asked Jane.

Melody was a little confused. Shouldn't Jane be asking Veronica? It was Veronica that was the psychologist. Anyway, Melody was feeling a lot better. The answer was yes, they thought. Right now was okay.

"It's more than okay, it's the right thing to do." Jane said.

That was a weird way to say yes. Melody's confusion deepened.

"Melody." Veronica said. "Would you like to play upstairs with your sister today? I know you don't have class today."

"That sounds fun." Melody said. They were still sad, but Briana would be nice for that.

"I think you need a babysitter right now, and Briana can't do it. Someone else would need to watch out for you." Veronica said. "What do you think about that?"

Melody considered. It was a weird thing to say, but less weird because Briana was involved. It sounded safe. It was a little piece of the precious thing they'd lost.

"Okay, maybe that's right." Melody said. "Tamira kind of baby sat me once, and it was – nice."

"I don't think she's available, but I'll check." Veronica said. "It'd be mostly me and Jane. What do you feel about other roommates babysitting you?"

"Suzie doesn't like to change diapers." Melody said quickly. "And Erin is too tired."

"That's your main concern?" Veronica asked curiously.

"For babysitting?" Melody asked. "Yeah, I think so."

"What if Gary were to babysit you?" Jane asked. "Even though he's a man."

Melody shrugged. "He's Briana's boyfriend and he's nice. That would be okay."

"Then that's what I needed to know." Veronica said. "I'm going to put you kids in the playpen. Can you play nicely together while I make a couple of arrangements? I'll be up in about an hour."

"Yes Mommy." Briana said. She looked really excited. It was starting to rub off on Melody a little.

"Okay." Melody nodded. "But I need something from my closet."

At Veronica's nod of permission, Melody got off the bed and crawled to the closet. There was a murmur of surprise from the bed. Briana must have done something cute. Melody was sorry they'd missed it.

With their objective rescued from a box in the back of the closet, Melody waddled back to the group on their knees.

"This is Totoro-san." Melody said. It was important to introduce him. He was missing an eye and half the wave lines on his belly. The trademark umbrella had gone long ago. He was soft though and filled with more than a decade of love.

"Totoro-san!" Briana exclaimed. "Oh my gosh, you have to meet everybody in Cloudland!"

"Then we'd better get you upstairs soon." Jane said. "You can step out if you want Ronnie. I'll get Melody dressed and the kids upstairs."

Veronica kissed Jane on the lips. She had kisses for Melody and Briana's foreheads too.

For clothes, Jane didn't go to the dresser or the closet. She opened a box that Veronica had given Melody after the makeover. At the time, Veronica had mysteriously said it was for later.

Whatever else it contained, Jane found a one-piece pajama set in dark blue. It covered Melody from feet to the hood over her head. Best of all, it had orange triangular spines sewn down the hood and back.

Melody felt good enough in the pajama to say hello to a surprised Suzie on the way to Briana's room. Cuddled up to their sister in the playpen, the two of them were wrapped around their primary stuffies.

"Melody?" Briana said. There was a big question waiting behind that one word.

"Bri don't." Melody swallowed nervously. "I can't talk about..."

"No, not that." Briana said quickly. "Different question."

"Oh okay." Melody nodded. "What is it?"

"Are we little together, right now?"

Melody considered. "I think so. It feels weird. Because I'm sad. And because Rosa..."

Melody bit their lip too late. Their cheeks were wet again. Briana nuzzled the tears away, holding Melody tightly.

"I'm sorry you're sad, but it's okay that you are." Briana held Melody as tightly as she could.

"Something bad happened with Rosa." Briana said, quickly adding. "You don't have to say what!"

Briana bumped her head against Melody's. "I'm here. I love you."

"I love you too." Melody said. They still felt like crying, in a different way now.

"Do you know how to go away?" Briana asked. "To be really little?"

Melody shook their head. Reconsidering, they said. "I'm not sure. I think maybe, one time I got there."

"Do you want to try with me?" Briana asked.

Melody nodded. "Yes please."

Briana grinned. "If we do it right, you'll get to see Cloudland."

"What if we don't imagine the same Cloudland?" Melody asked.

"Silly sibling!" Briana said. "We just add them together."

"Oh, cool." Melody smiled tentatively.

"Why did you say that Suzie doesn't like to change diapers?" Briana asked, randomly.

"Uh, I probably shouldn't say." Melody said, then shrugged. "She was asking if you were using your diapers for um, poop, when we were all doing the babysitting in turns. She didn't want to deal with that."

"She's fun sometimes. I know she loves me." Briana said. "But she's a jerk sometimes too."

"Yeah." Melody nodded. "She was teasing me about being Veronica's kid in front of Gary."

"Oh, but you're still figuring that out!" Briana said. "Well I hope that Veronica runs out of babysitters and has to use her. And when that happens, we're both so far into being little that we BOTH poop!"

Melody giggled. The giggles broke into a full-on guffaw. The laughter was a little hysterical, but it felt good. Melody was wheezing a little when the chuckles subsided.

"That... is a really complicated and inconvenient way to get revenge."

"Stuff gets strange up here sometimes, when you're little." Briana said, with a smirk.

"Yeah? Do you ever get scared?" Melody asked. Strange sounded scary.

"Sometimes." Briana said. "Sometimes my imagination is scary, or I get caught between big and little, and it hurts."

"I'll take care of you." Melody said, squeezing Briana tightly.

"Really?" Briana asked. "But you're sad, you aren't used to being little, and..."

"Bri." Melody said. "You're my little sister, remember?"

"I'll never forget." Briana said, tucking her head onto Melody's shoulder.

"Big siblings take care of the little ones." Melody said, as sincerely as they'd ever said anything.

Briana sighed happily. Melody was quiet for a bit, enjoying the moment.

"Okay, how do I go little?" Melody asked.

"How did you do it before?" Briana asked.

"I had Rosa." Melody said. It hurt, but not as much as they expected. Briana hugs were a powerful anti-sad.

"Right, there are other ways." Briana said quickly. "Let's play with our stuffies. It's going to take a while to introduce Totoro-san to everyone in Cloudland. I bet you'll be little by the time we finish."

"I bet he'd like to meet everybody." Melody said, standing Totoro up.

"Well obviously he has to meet Alanna first." Briana said. "He's a very important guest."

When Veronica came up to babysit, Melody was glad that she didn't interrupt them. Arnold the Pangolin was in the middle of a speech and if she'd interrupted, they'd have to say Arnold the Pangolin like a hundred more times.

Luckily, Totoro was a lot more patient that Melody was. They let him handle Arnold the Pangolin. Melody sat on their cloud-stool and sipped their cloud-wine. Mel was a little drunk off of it, but no one had noticed yet. They smiled a sneaky smile.

 

[kerry]

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely loathe Beatrix? I'm not sure you had made it clear before about the history Melody shared with her, but whatever: the girl is evil. And I don't just loathe her as a person; I loathe her as a character. To the point where, if I were not afraid to miss something critically important, I'd skip past all scenes with her. Basically, I just don't believe anyone could be this evil and controlling, nor that Melody would choose her over Rosa. I so hope she gets her comeuppance soon!

[SolSombraYSoldados]

1 hour ago, kerry said:

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely loathe Beatrix? I'm not sure you had made it clear before about the history Melody shared with her, but whatever: the girl is evil. And I don't just loathe her as a person; I loathe her as a character. To the point where, if I were not afraid to miss something critically important, I'd skip past all scenes with her. Basically, I just don't believe anyone could be this evil and controlling, nor that Melody would choose her over Rosa. I so hope she gets her comeuppance soon!

The backstory with Mel and Bea is something I need to expand on as I edit for sure. Some of what Melody puts up with seems a little too much without some hints of their relationship.

Bea is written to be a legit sociopath. She really does not care about anything but what she wants. No empathy at all for others. 

She'd make a great CEO!

I'm afraid you will have to wait for the climax of the story for Bea to get what's coming to her. She's our villain, and too strong a person to be easily brushed aside.

Also, Melody will have to actually ask for help so uh, that might take a hot minute.