Little Sherri Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Hi, folks- I've decided to try my hand at putting a story together. This is my first attempt, so please be patient with me. This is a work of fiction; there are a couple of loosely autobiographical details in it, but for the most part, I mined the feelings I recall having had in certain situations or moments, and then expanded on them, rather than simply recounting personal experiences, most of which probably would not be worthy of documentation. The main character is more or less starting his story at an age where my personal story went in the opposite direction from his; I was growing out of diapers, and I eventually came to realize that I wanted to be back in them, whereas his response to his situation is more conventional, reflecting how I felt about my predicament when I was younger, before I had entirely grasped what it was that I wanted. I had a love-hate relationship with wearing plastic underpants, early on. I wish to pause for a moment to thank many of the excellent writers here. @MinnesotaWriter comes immediately to mind because I recently read one of his works, along with @BabySofia, @diaperedboilerman, @Babydoc49, and @Elfy but so many of you have taken the time to pen cogent, articulate, interesting, and even poignant pieces, drawn from your experiences, your fertile imaginations, or both. I'm honoured (please forgive the Canuck spelling) to be able to proffer my scribblings alongside the likes of you. Shifting Sands Chapter 1 – Privacy Not on the Menu Music broke into Zack’s sleep. Reflexively, his hand shot for the alarm clock that cradled and charged his phone, his fingers reading the unseen buttons like braille, selecting the snooze function. He rolled over under the covers and tried to swim back towards the sleep depths that he had been yanked from. However, his descent was halted by an unwelcome dampness at his right hip after he shifted. Crap. He kicked back the covers and stepped out of bed, found the remote for the LED strip lighting that encircled his room, and selected the brightest, whitest setting. The room was bathed in a blue-white glow reminiscent of a hospital corridor. In the middle of his dark blue sheet was a damp spot about the size of a dinner plate. What a pain in the ass. He flipped his blue tartan duvet over and scanned it for signs of contact with the wet spot. It seemed to be unscathed, although on that pattern, it was hard to tell. Then he felt around the bottom edge of his light blue Batman t-shirt and the waist of his matching pajama pants. Both were wet on the left side. Side leak. Again. He threw his comforter onto the floor at the end of his bed, tossed his pillows on top of it, and then deftly stripped the sheets off the bed. He ran his hand over the mattress protector and found the damp spot near the center. The plasticized surface only needed to be spot cleaned. Zack reserved washing the whole ensemble for the weekend, when he also washed the duvet cover, unless either developed a detectable odor. This was a Monday, so a complete stripping of the bed was not in the cards. Zack walked over to his dresser, took a Lysol wipe from a container, and gave the damp zone on the mattress cover a quick swab. He stepped on the peddle of the Diaper Genie stashed discretely between the end of his dresser, and the wall, and dropped the wipe inside. He pulled his pajamas off and tossed them on top of the balled-up sheets on the floor, and then surveyed himself in his mirrored closet doors. His pull-up bulged a bit at the front but didn’t seem unusually wet. He ran a hand over the stretchy side panel on the left, and it came away wet. The front of the garment was printed to look like boxer shorts with a blue camouflage motif, complete with a painted on, fake fly. However, the light blue stretchy side panels screamed ‘pull-up’. In one quick motion, he hooked the waistband at both hips with his thumbs, and dropped it to the floor, balled it up and tossed it in the genie with the wipe. He twisted the top around a couple of times, wrapping the contents in a plastic sleeve for all eternity. Diaper Genie. Why not Pull-Up Genie? Or, nothing at all? Do toilets say “Poop Genie” on them? Zack grabbed a robe from out of the closet, thew it over his shoulders, and crossed the hallway to the bathroom he shared with his younger sister. At least she wasn’t in there. He didn’t know if she was already downstairs, or still in her room. Hopefully, the former. He locked the door, stepped into the shower stall, and quickly rinsed off. There was no need to wash his hair; he had done that the previous evening, when he usually showered, because as often as not, he was returning from softball practice, at least in the warmer months. The purpose of this shower was a quick, discreet rinse. The intended discretion was derailed when Maddy, his nine-year-old sister, tried rotating the doorknob, and finding it locked, started banging on the door with a closed fist. “Zack! What the heck, dude! I need to comb my hair! You took a shower last night! Why you havin’ another shower, Zack? I’m gonna be late for my bus!” “I’ll be out in a second” he said loudly, then, quieter, “… and please SHUT UP.” Maddy, catching the seriousness of his tone, stopped hammering on the door, but remained standing directly in front of it. Zack shut the water down before it had time to get warm, toweled off, and cinched up his robe before opening the door. Maddy stood there in a pink, princess-themed nightdress, holding a purple hairbrush. “What happened?” she whispered. “You wet your bed again?” “Listen, Princess Pull-Ups, that’s none of your business.” Zack’s reminder that he wasn’t the only one still wearing protective underclothes to bed struck Maddy as an injustice that could not go unanswered, especially as she had dropped her voice, as he requested. “Yeah, well, mom says that I’m gonna be done with them soon, unlike SOME people around here.” Zack looked down at his sister. “DON’T call her MOM. She’s Kelly. She is not our mom. Now get out of my way.” He side-stepped past her before she could move, strode into his room, and used his foot to close the door behind him. His alarm clock was playing music from his phone again. He looked at the time – 7:34. He could just get a load of laundry going, and maybe wolf down a piece of toast, before his bus showed up. Extracting a grey Adidas t-shirt and a black zippered hoodie from a basket of clean laundry, he pulled the shirt on while simultaneously selecting boxers and a pair of athletic shorts from his dresser. No drawn-on fly on these. Bundling up his nightwear and his sheet, he trotted down the stairs. Unfortunately, the laundry room was located in a mudroom between the kitchen and the garage, so he was going to have to walk through the kitchen with a bundle of laundry in his hands. Again. He hoped that maybe Kelly had left early for her morning jog. His dad, he knew, would already be well on his way to work. No such luck. Kelly was sitting at the “chef’s desk” (as she called it), a section of countertop hung between two cabinets, where her Mac laptop was located. He sighed inwardly. For it to be a “chef’s desk” don’t you have to know how to cook? Kelly sighed outwardly, when she saw him crossing the room with his bundle of textiles. “Oh, Zackie. Poor boy. Did you at least sleep okay?” “I slept fine, thanks. Listen, I gotta get going – can you put a piece of toast down for me? And when is dad back tonight?” Kelly got up and walked to the fridge as Zack shouldered the laundry room door open and began stuffing the washing machine. He tossed a detergent pod into the machine, closed the door, twisted the knob to ‘quick wash’, and hit start. “Your Dad’s at a conference today so he’s probably going to be back late. I’ll make dinner for you guys.” “Sure.” “And listen, at some point, we need to talk about… that.” She glanced toward the laundry room door he had just emerged from. Yeah, like I want to talk to YOU about that. Kelly read the flash of hostility in her stepson’s eyes and quickly changed gears. “Listen, buddy boy, don’t get too big for your britches. When your dad isn’t here, I am the other parent. I can shut you down in a heartbeat.” Zack didn’t know what “shutting him down” might consist of and decided not to ask. Kelly had been his stepmother for over a year, and had been with his dad for almost three years, but neither of those realities had ever been run by Zack for approval. He was along for the ride. He felt like saying something smart in retort but decided against it. Not enough time. And, he’d have to deal with Kelly again after school; there was no point pulling the pin on her now. Anyway, Kelly was okay most of the time. She wasn’t completely intolerable, he just didn’t like her trying to dig into what he considered to be his business. She wanted to be involved in more aspects of his life than he wanted her involved with. She wants to be my mom. Not going to happen. The toast popped up and she turned to dress it. Organic multigrain, no doubt. The spread was probably vegan and made with seaweed or something. She just went ahead and slathered it on, didn’t ask. It had been bad enough having to move out of the house he grew up in, but if they could have landed on some neutral ground, maybe that would have been easier. But no, they had moved into HER house. And she had gone into full-on instant mom mode, furnishing and decorating their rooms before they even got there. There was no consultation with him or Maddy. His bedroom had motorcycle wallpaper, and he did not give a crap about motorcycles. Maddy’s room had fairies on the walls, but she was easier to please. She had positively gushed about it. Not Zack. He’d shrugged. His bed and his dresser set were solid dark wood pieces, nicer than anything he’d had as a little kid. The bed was much bigger than his old one, and the bedding was more grown up, too, none of which he minded. But within a week of moving in, Diaper Genies appeared in both of their rooms. He just came home from school one day, and it was there. In their bathroom, the garbage can had a Post-It note stuck to the lid: No Nappies. What the hell are ‘Nappies’, he had wondered? The mattress protectors went into service the same day; he didn’t realize it was even on there until he’d sat down on the bed and felt a bit of a crunch. Then, he realized that the box of pull-ups he’d thrown into the back of his closet had been partially unpacked into one of his dresser drawers. Just another sign that this might be his room, but it was her house. And evidently, privacy was not on the menu at Chez Kelly. Chapter 2 – Kelly’s Homework Zack walked out the front door and closed it behind him, a little harder than Kelly would have liked. Kids that age, in her day, where she grew up, would not have betrayed their displeasure with their seniors nearly as readily, but that was an issue with practically all the kids she knew these days. It had been three decades since she’d lived in England; she wondered if maybe things were different over there. They probably weren't. The internet encouraged a kind of cultural cross-pollination among young people that was sometimes good, but more often not, in her opinion. Thinking about the internet, Kelly decided to sit down in front of her Mac, and see if she’d had any responses to the question that she’d posed in a Moms of Bedwetters forum that one of her friends from the gym had suggested she look into. She’d thought about the wording for a while, before she posted it, and finally settled on focusing it just on Zack, rather than including Maddy’s issues. Maddy was nine, after all, and she seemed to on a trajectory that would have her out of the habit before too long. Zack, on the other hand, looked to be picking up momentum in the other direction. She reread her post. Hello; I am the mother of an eleven-year-old boy who has had bedwetting issues since he was little. We thought he would outgrow them at some point, however they seem to be getting worse, rather than better. He wears pull-up nappies to bed, but he’s been leaking through them lately, which is causing a lot of laundry, and interfering with his sleep. Plus, he would like to attend sleepovers like other kids his age can, but we can’t in good conscience allow it. We even suspect he may have had the odd accident during the day; having shown no interest whatsoever in doing his own laundry, sometimes, out of the blue, he will change and throw his outfit into the machine as soon as he gets home from school or softball. Of course, he runs just his own small load – he does not go see if there is anything else that needs washed. Help! - Concerned Mom There were several responses to her missive, recommending everything from mattress protectors (she’d already bought them), to bedwetting alarms, to restricting fluids, and suggestions for herbs, natural remedies, and pharmaceuticals that were supposed to help. The one that caught her attention, however, was one of the shortest. Hi – it sounds like you’re going through what I went through a few years ago. I tried everything before I finally turned to an expert, and I have to tell you, it has made a world of difference in our family. Look up Dr. Amanda Paige’s website. Some people here call her Dr. Diapers, but I call her a miracle worker. What got Kelly’s attention, even more than the concise post, was the number of responses after it, confirming what the post suggested. Yes definitely call Dr. Paige Dr. Diapers is the one to speak to for sure My friend used Dr. Paige and said she was a huge help Don’t let this continue – for your sanity, call Dr. Amanda, you won’t regret it, she’s a one-stop shop Curiosity piqued; Kelly punched ‘Dr. Amanda Paige’ into her browser. There were a few hits that came up: a local chiropractor, a cardiologist in another state, an obstetrician from Canada. Then, she tried ‘Dr. Amanda Paige diapers’, and the first entry that resulted looked like it was what she was looking for. Dr. Amanda Paige – Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, Child Psychologist, Sleep Therapist Do you have a child that suffers from nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting), urinary incontinence, difficulty concentrating, trouble with falling or staying asleep, moodiness, and other academic and social problems that can stem from these issues? We are here for you. We have helped hundreds of children, teens and their families to live better lives. Many services covered by insurance. There was a ‘Shop’ button at the top of the page, but when Kelly clicked on it, it asked for a patient number. She clicked on the contact link and copied the address and phone number into a note. Then she hit the ‘Contact Us’ option, and an email form popped up. Kelly entered her contact information and then copied and pasted her original post from the forum, into the form, with only mild editing: Hello; I am the mother of an eleven-year-old boy who has had bedwetting issues since he was little. We thought he would outgrow them at some point, however they seem to be getting worse, rather than better. He wears pull-up nappies to bed, but he’s been leaking through them lately, which is causing a lot of laundry, and interfering with his sleep. Plus, he would like to attend sleepovers like other kids his age can, but we can’t in good conscience allow it. We even suspect he may have had the odd accident during the day. He is sometimes moody and withdrawn, and he has trouble staying on task when he is tired. I was referred to you by a number of people on a bedwetters advice forum. Please let me know what the next step is. – Kelly Fischer Kelly decided to throw in the bit about difficulty with concentrating, to make sure that she ticked enough boxes to seem worthy of professional consideration. She wasn’t sure if Zack had issues concentrating at school or not – his grades were above average but below tremendous – however, at home, he seemed distracted a lot of the time. And moody. Yes, definitely moody. Kelly got up from her desk and went to let the dog, a terrier mix named Roofus (whom they often called ‘Wolfus’) out into the backyard, and then went to get changed to go for her morning jog. The late spring weather was ideal for outdoor activity, so she tried to squeeze in as much of it as she could, before the summer heat drove her back indoors. It had been an unusually pleasant spring for the Pacific Northwest, with less rain than usual, and to take full advantage of it, they had elected to head up to a cottage owned by Kelly's sister, Kim, and her family, for the week after school ended. This was yet another aspect of her life that Zack’s issues would probably impact – she’d have to find out what size his bed was going to be, so she could get a cover for it. Roofus outside, Kelly got dressed for her run, and had a quick glance at her computer as she walked past it to let the dog in. She already had a reply from Dr. Paige’s office, which Kelly found to be impressively responsive. Evidently, she had struck the right tone with her first communication. Hello, Mrs. Fischer – my name is Ellen Chan; I am Dr. Paige’s assistant. Thank you for reaching out to us. The next step in this process is to meet with Dr. Paige. You can call me at the number in my signature, to book an appointment, or, we can do it by email if you prefer. We’d like to meet Zack at the same time, if possible, and it would be useful if you could bring any medical records or prescription medications you might have for him. If you have a recent report card, that could be helpful as well. Feel free to call me. I will also note a couple of openings we have this week: Wednesday at 4 PM or Thursday at 7 PM. Next week we have more openings, so if those don’t work for you, let me know what time of day you prefer. Dr. Paige works late on Thursdays and also offers appointments every second Saturday. We are closed Mondays. Regards, Ellen Chan. Kelly open her calendar app. Zack had no softball on Wednesday. She could likely leave Maddy at one of her friends’ houses. The chances of Chris being home were slim; he usually worked until the early evening. This wasn’t something he’d likely want to attend, anyway, and it would probably be better if he didn’t, because he tended to downplay the situation, believing that Zack would outgrow these issues. He might not even agree to send Zack. Kelly wanted to at least hear what the doctor had to say, before deciding if she could be of any help. Chris had been doing nothing except buying the pull-on nappies for them, which Kelly considered reactive, at best. It was time for a proactive approach. Dear Ellen, thank you very much for your quick response. I would like to take advantage of your opening on Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM. I will bring Zack straight from school. I don’t have a lot in terms of medical records for him, and he doesn’t take any medications, but I will bring some report cards with me. I look forward to meeting with you and Dr. Paige. Best, - Kelly Fischer She hit send on the reply, put her headphones in, shoes on, and headed out into the bright sunlight to enjoy her morning run, feeling like she’d already accomplished something important this week, and it was barely 10 AM on Monday. 15 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Great job !! You got me hooked 1 Link to comment
Babypants Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 In my experience, clinical psychologists don't like it when people leave out critical information when seeking an appointment. When she finds out that Mrs. Fischer is not the birth mother but a stepmother, I would expect her to recommend an appointment with a clinician specializing in treatment of children caught up in this circumstance, or alternatively to point her in the direction of family counseling. It is the stepmother-stepson dynamic that any competent professional will seek to address because therapy focuses on cause, not effect. It will be interesting to see how you handle this. 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted January 17, 2023 Author Share Posted January 17, 2023 Chapter 3 – A Prescription for Progress Zack read the text message from his stepmother with resignation. Kelly: I’m picking you up in front of the school today. Don’t take the bus home. I will be parked across the street from the school sign. What the hell is this about? He wondered. He had the night off from softball, and had hoped to maybe get a couple of hours of Fortnite in. Kelly probably wanted to go shopping for shorts or something lame like that. Zack still fit in most of his shorts from last year, and anyway, he preferred going shopping with his dad. Kelly could play dress-up with Maddy. He wasn’t interested in being someone’s mannequin. Or doll. When the bell rang, Zack rose from his desk, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He fist-bumped a couple of his buddies, said “I’m not going to be online for a bit” to a few people, and headed to his locker to dump whatever books were in his bag that he didn’t need. Meaning most of them, in his estimation. He’d do homework tomorrow night. He was carried through the front doors of the school with a river of middle schoolers, most of whom were headed for the waiting busses, but he broke off from them, threaded his way between the large yellow conveyances (catching a stern glance from one of the drivers – you weren’t supposed to walk between them), and then he trotted across the grassy boulevard and scanned the vehicles parked in the no stopping zone across the street. Kelly’s silver Mini Cooper stood out from the other vehicles idling along the curb, most of which where SUV’s of one type or another, interspersed with a few minivans and pickup trucks. The two-door Mini looked like it had been manufactured on another scale then most of the mom-mobiles, maybe five eighths or something. She looked up from her phone and waived him over, an unnecessary gesture in his opinion. Obviously, he was heading over to her. What choice did he have? He supposed he could have bolted, or just taken the bus home, but that would have made Kelly angry, which would have made his dad angry, because when Kelly was displeased, she did not tend to keep it bottled up. He glanced left and right, then sauntered over at a pace that, he hoped, would suggest he was doing it on his own sweet time, not as a response to a direct order. He crossed behind the car, came up the passenger side, and opened the door. The front seat was tilted forward, so he tried to push it back, but Kelly blocked its return by putting her hand on the black leather headrest. “The back seat is safest, big guy.” Zack stopped and stepped back, as if reconsidering getting into the car. “Dad lets me ride in the front seat all the time.” “Yeah, well, your dad’s car is bigger, so if he thinks that’s safe, it’s up to him, but in my car, kids go in the back seat. If we get run over by a dump truck, you’ll be thanking me. You might be old enough to ride in the front, but you’re only a stone heavier than kids who use booster seats.” “What the hell’s a stone?” “Language, Zack.” “What the heck’s a stone?” “Fourteen pounds. The minimum weight for riding without a booster seat is eighty pounds, and I’d bet you don’t weigh ninety-five pounds with your shoes on.” “Yeah, but they exempt people over ten years old.” “The laws of physics don’t care how old you are when you go sailing through the windshield in an accident.” “Have you had a lot of accidents?” “Don’t be smart with me. Get in and buckle up, or I’ll pull Maddy’s booster seat out of the trunk for you.” Zack slumped into the back seat as though he was being forced into a police car, buckled his seatbelt, and took out his phone. He deliberately neglected to close the door, or pull the front seat back. “Zack, you’re being a brat!” Kelly fumed, while she undid her own seatbelt and reached across the console to try and reach the door. She had to climb most of the way out of the driver’s seat to get a hand on it. She punched at the start button, put the car in gear, and pulled out into traffic, accelerating abruptly as soon as the path cleared in front of her. Better hurry before they run out of summer clothes. Zack did his best to stare intently at gaming videos on his phone, even though the bumpy ride and go-cart like motions of the little car made watching a small image rendered on a small screen less than ideal. After what felt like an hour, but was probably twenty-five minutes, Kelly zipped into a parking structure next to a mid-rise tower in a complex close to the hospital. Zack looked up and saw a sign that read ‘Medical and Professional Office Parking’. What the hell…? Vaccinations, maybe? Great. However, he didn’t want to grace Kelly with conversation of any sort right now, so after she parked, he waited for her to open the passenger door, and then glumly stepped out, again leaving the door open for her to close. He trudged along behind her as they entered the lobby of the building, and she scanned a list of names and suite numbers on the marble wall beside the elevators. The building smelled of disinfectant and photocopying, and there was a pharmacy off the hallway past the elevators. If things had been going better with Kelly today, he might have thought about asking her to buy him a Gatorade. But he was not going to give her the satisfaction of saying no. The elevator opened before either Kelly or Zack hit the call button. A number of people filed out; a bald man in a charcoal suit, a younger guy in a lab coat, a woman pushing a toddler in a stroller and leading an unhappy looking older kid by the hand. A lady with a cart that had boxes on it. A well-dressed lady wearing too much perfume. Kelly waited for them to exit the mirrored box, and then stepped inside. Zack fixated on his phone and pretended he hadn’t noticed. Maybe it’ll take off with her in it. “Zack! Wake up!” Kelly put a hand out as if to stop the doors, although they had not started closing. Zack ambled forward, trying his best to look unhurried. Once he’d crossed the threshold, she hit the button for the fifth floor, and then held down the door close button, even though people were making their way across the lobby from the entrance. The doors shut, and the box rumbled into motion. On the fifth floor, the doors opened onto another marble lobby, this one with lower ceilings. Across from the bank of elevators, there was the entrance to a dental office on the left, and some kind of doctor’s office on the right… at least it looked like a doctor’s office to Zack. Behind plate glass, there were rows of generous looking leather chairs and benches, a TV on the wall showing a news channel, a reception desk with a woman behind it, wearing scrubs, and a man standing at a shelf of file folders behind her. To Zack, the place looked like bad news, but to Kelly, it was reassuringly professional looking. Kelly walked in, motioned him to the seats, and walked up to the reception desk to talk to the lady in the scrubs. Zack planted himself in a chair and took in his surroundings. The walls and the floor were covered in brown marble, giving the place an upscale appearance. Then he noticed back-lit, bright blue bubble letters running across a bulkhead above the desk. Dr. Amanda Paige & Associates Children’s Cognitive Behavioral & Sleep Therapy Clinic Behavioral clinic…. What is this place? Zack’s boredom turned to unease. There was no earthly reason why Kelly would have gone out of her way to bring him to one of her appointments; he could easily have stayed home alone, and would have been capable of watching Maddy, who was undoubtedly at someone else’s house right now. And anyway, the sign specified that this clinic was for children. He was just thinking that he should have asked more questions before agreeing to be picked up from school, and was considering texting his dad, when the person behind the desk stood up and walked through a door, emerging into a hallway just past the desk. She came around and shook hands with Kelly, who was still standing in front of the desk, and then she motioned for him to come over. Zack looked at the pair pensively, and did not immediately move to stand up, so Kelly shot him an impatient look that got him to his feet. He walked towards them, stopping at what he considered to be a safe distance. “Hello, Zack – my name is Ms. Ellen. Your mother has already told me a lot about you. It’s so nice to meet you. Why don’t both of you follow me.” With that, she turned and walked up the hall, her heel clacks echoing faintly on the shiny stone walls. She’s NOT my mother. Zack thought about saying it instead of just thinking it but decided not to. Depending on what was about to go down, he might need Kelly on his side. This place looked weird. Part way down the hall, there was a room off to the right with glass doors on it, that said ‘Children’s Corner’ on them in more big blue letters. The doors were clear at the top, frosted at the bottom, but Zack was tall enough to make out that there were kids inside seated at tables. Ms. Ellen put her hand on Zack’s shoulder and guided him to the door, which she pulled open. Inside, there was a younger lady sitting at a small desk, with long blond hair and a bright green kerchief tied around her collar. She extended a hand to Zack. “And who have we got here?” she asked. Ms. Ellen responded: “Ms. Christine, this is Zack Fischer. His mom has a meeting with Dr. Paige, so he’s going to be joining your crew for a little bit. Zack, this is Ms. Christine. If you need anything, she’ll take care of you. Please make yourself comfortable. There are books and craft tables, and some game consoles along the back wall. There are bottles of water and juice over there…” She pointed to a low glass fridge in a corner. “…And cookies and crackers over there.” She pointed out a small cabinet. Zack cleared his throat to ask a question, but Ms. Ellen had already whisked Kelly back through the door, to head further down the hallway. He looked at Ms. Christine. She smiled and offered to take the hoodie that he wore open at the front. He declined. She sat back down at the desk and started writing something down on a clipboard. He took in his surroundings. There were a couple of younger kids sitting at a low plastic picnic table, gluing brightly-coloured beads to pieces of construction paper. A girl about Maddy’s age was reading at another table. A boy and a girl who looked closer to his age were watching a kid’s movie from a couple of years before, on a small flat screen TV in a corner that was planted with beanbag chairs. At the far end of the room was a table with four screens on it, two on each side, back-to-back, with video game controllers arrayed around them that nobody was using. Zack decided to make his way over there. When he picked up a controller, a screen popped to life… but not the one he was sitting in front of. He moved over. Hitting the menu button on the controller yielded a list of games that could be played. None of them were new, and none of them were top-tier, action-oriented games, they were all older adventure games with no guns. He found Minecraft on the list… well, he could weaponize some tools in there, he figured. Maybe he’d find a bow and arrow. Or dynamite. Zack played for about 30 minutes, without getting too into the world he was building. He had no idea when they were leaving, but felt like it could be any minute. Realizing that he needed to pee, he stood up and walked back towards the glass doors. Ms. Christine looked up from whatever she was doing. “How can I help you, Zack?” “I need to, uh, use the washroom.” She pointed to an open pass-through back inside the room that he had missed when he made his way over to the video games. “The elimination room is down that way. Just pick up an ‘occupied’ sign from the basket on the shelf, and stick it to the fuzzy plaque on the wall next to the entrance. If you see a sign stuck to the wall, it means the room is occupied, but right now, nobody is in there. Go ahead.” “Uh, thanks…” Zack looked quizzically at the doorway, saw the fuzzy plaque, and the shelf with the basket of signs. He walked over and picked one up. They were red plastic circles that said “Occupied”, and on the back of them they had a patch of Velcro that, he intuited, would stick to the fuzzy framed patch on the wall. He picked one up and pressed it into place. Then he walked through the pass-through. The room he entered hooked off to the left. It was dimly lit. There was a fish tank built into a wall at the far end. More beanbag chairs on the floor. A rocking chair, what looked like exercise mats, and a small sofa. There was a rack of books. What wasn’t there was any sign of a washroom. Zack left the perplexing space and walked back over to Ms. Christine. “There’s no washroom in there.” “You can do whatever you need to do in there. It’s okay. Go ahead. You can use it for as long as you need to, there’s no rush.” “Okay, but… what I need to do is use a washroom.” “What do you need to do in the washroom?” Strange question. “I need to pee.” “You can do that in the elimination room.” “Like on the floor or something? I don’t get it.” Zack felt like he’d stepped into an alternate universe, where up was down, down was sideways, and nobody made any sense. Ms. Christine raised her eyebrows, then looked down at her clipboard, and flipped through a couple of pages. “Oh, right, this is your first visit. Sorry, Zack, my apologies. I can see why you’re confused. No problem. If you head back out to the waiting room, there is a bathroom around the other side of the reception desk. If anyone asks you where you’re going, tell them I said it’s okay. Just knock before you open it, if the door is closed – it doesn’t lock.” Ms. Christine got up and turned what looked like a deadbolt on the glass door, releasing him into the waiting room. It was Zack’s turn to raise his eyebrows, but he nodded dutifully, and headed across the waiting area. A couple of grownups sat in chairs. He guessed that their kids were inside the Children’s Corner. Ms. Ellen looked up at him and smiled, but she didn’t say anything. He found the washroom open and seemingly unoccupied and went inside, although he didn’t like that he couldn’t lock the door. Inside, the room was bigger than he’d expected. It was paneled in the same dark marble as the hallway. There was a counter with a double sink, soap dispensers, mouthwash, Q-tips, a box of latex gloves, and at the end of the room, there was a bathroom stall that, he thought, would have a lock. But before he went in, he took in the other fixture in the room, against the wall perpendicular to the sinks. It looked like a medical examination table. It had a roll of thin paper mounted on a horizontal spool at one end, and a low stepstool in front of it. There was a shelf on the right that held a large box of what looked like wet wipes, and below that, there was a steel garbage can with a pedal that opened the lid. There were also a couple of spray bottles on the shelf, small ones that looked medical. Maybe for cleaning the table? But why is it in here? So weird. Zack went into the stall and relieved himself. It did lock, thankfully. He walked out and went to the sink to wash his hands. He was in no hurry to go back into the Children’s Corner. Ms. Christine seemed nice, but something about the whole place was off. He decided to try the mouthwash – he’d never been in a bathroom that had free mouthwash before, and his dad used it at home, but didn’t give it to him or Maddy. It was green, minty, and it burned a little. He swished it around in his mouth. “Zack… are you in here?” It was Ms. Ellen. Zack spit into the sink. “Yup, I’m done.” He made his way out. “Come over to my desk for a moment, if you don’t mind.” He followed her. While he was in the washroom, another parent and child had come into the waiting room. The dad, in a grey jacket, was reading a magazine. The girl, who looked about the same age as Zack, was wearing a long white dress, and her eyes were locked on Zack. He gave her a sideways glance and walked over to Ms. Ellen’s desk. She was standing in front of it, instead of behind it, and she produced a long ribbon from her pocket that he determined was a measuring tape. With quick, studied motions, she slung the tape around his waist, then around his hips, noting the measurements on a chart that was on the desk. Then she motioned him over to a digital scale that was tucked into a cubby hole under the desk, which she pulled out. She tapped it once with her foot. “Hang on a sec, let it wake up…” The scale showed a zero. “There you go, step up. Don’t rest your hands on the desk – that’s cheating.” Zack stepped onto the scale. After a few seconds, the display showed 94.5 lbs. Ms. Ellen wrote that down too. Then she dropped one end of the measuring ribbon to the floor and asked him to step on the little metal nub that was at the end of it. Zack complied. She stretched it taught and eyeballed the number at his forehead. She wrote something else down. “Thanks Zack, that’s all I need. I can take you in to see your mom now, and meet the doctor, if you like.” Zack didn’t know if he liked it or not, but it seemed to be the way that fate was carrying him, so he let her lead the way. He glanced over at the girl in the dress. She was slightly wide-eyed, and looked like maybe she wanted to say something to him. A warning perhaps. But the moment passed in an instant, and she looked at the floor. He followed Ms. Ellen down the hall past the strange kids’ area, to normal-looking door. Ms. Ellen knocked on it, and from inside, a female voice said “Come on in.” Ms. Ellen opened the door, stepped aside, and Zack walked into what seemed to him to be a big office. There was a hefty wooden desk in the room, and a conference table with six leather chairs around it, as well as a small couch, and more beanbag chairs in a corner. These people like their beanbag chairs. A lady wearing what looked to Zack like principal’s or vice-principal’s clothes, was sitting on one side of the table, and Kelly was sitting on the other. The lady had shoulder-length hair that was blond mixed with gray. She had a gold watch on. In front of her was another clipboard, and it looked like her and Kelly had been looking at a laptop that was in the middle of the table. The lady spoke. “High, Zack. Come in and have a seat. Your mom has told me so much about you.” Everyone calling Kelly his mom grated heavily on Zack, but his uncertainty about the circumstances caused him to reign in his tongue. “Hi.” He said simply. He took a seat one empty chair away from Kelly. “I’m Dr. Amanda Paige, but you can call me Dr. Amanda. Your mom has been telling me….” Zack interrupted softly: “Kelly. She’s Kelly.” The lady paused, glanced at Kelly, then went on. “Kelly has been telling me about some of the issues you’ve been having at night, poor sleeping, accidents, leaks. She said that it’s been preventing you from doing fun stuff like sleepovers, and important stuff, like paying attention in class. And being that tired and inattentive might even be causing you to have some slipups during the day.” Zack’s face turned bright red in a rising tide from his chin to his forehead. Involuntarily, he closed his eyes and dropped his head. What the absolute fu**?!? “Take a breath, Zack. It’s okay. This is very, very common. I have a room full of kids out there who have some of the same issues that you do, some older, some younger than you. This is not a place for shame or embarrassment, this is a place for solutions. I believe that I can help you, and help your m… Kelly… to help you as well.” Zack stared at the floor. “You and I are going to have some meetings in the coming weeks where you are going to have a chance to tell me everything you’re thinking about. Your voice is very important here. And you’re going to participate in some group jams, as we call them, where you’ll meet kids just like yourself, who are working through similar challenges. But for the moment, we’re going to address some practical considerations first. “The training pants that you’ve been wearing at night, they aren’t really meant for kids your age. Sure, they say they are on the packaging, and sure, they fit okay, but what do they always end up doing? Leaking, that’s what. The most important thing for you is getting a good night’s sleep – that’s pivotal to your social and academic life. And the first step to getting you there is… stopping the leaks! Eventually, we’ll stop you from leaking, too, but first, we need to stop your underpants from leaking, okay?” Zack looked across the glossy wooden table at Dr. Amanda. She seemed to be waiting for a response. He whispered “Okay” before he knew what he was doing. All the fight had gone out of him. Sitting here in this room with these two grownups, talking about his bedwetting like it was front page news, was more than he could process. “Okay! That’s good. We got an ‘okay’. So, Zack, I have a question for you – do you like animals, or, do you like construction equipment?” “Huh?” “Do you prefer pictures of animals, or pictures of construction equipment?” “Uhh… what kind of animals?” “Dogs, cats, bunnies.” Zack had no idea where this was going. “Probably… construction equipment. I guess.” “Good! That’s all I need to know for now.” Dr. Amanda pulled out her phone and typed a quick note to someone. “Kelly, thank you for bringing this charming young man in to see me today. Zack, I look forward to getting to know you.” She glanced from Zack, back to Kelly. “Ms. Ellen is going to give you a patient number at the front desk. Stop at the pharmacy on the way out and ask for Mr. Burke. Give him that number, and he’ll be able to pull up my notes. Drive around to the South side of the building – that’s the opposite side from the main road – and you’ll see a steel door with a ramp in front of it. If you back up that ramp and ring the doorbell, Mr. Burke will help you put everything into your car. Be careful on that ramp – I’ve nearly driven off it myself!” 15 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Oh my Zack gonna be pissed when he discovers 2 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 This remember me one that Elfy rewrite and post sometime ago I think it was tommy tribulations !! Great story ! Just like this one is promising 2 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 6 hours ago, Pierry Louys said: his remember me one that Elfy rewrite and post sometime ago I think it was tommy tribulations I just went and looked that one up, and you're right, there are parallels for sure. Elfy writes a great story. I'm honoured to have my story mentioned alongside it. 2 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 25 minutes ago, Little Sherri said: I just went and looked that one up, and you're right, there are parallels for sure. Elfy writes a great story. I'm honoured to have my story mentioned alongside it. Yeah definitely! Loved both stories and curious to see what gonna happen next 1 1 Link to comment
kerry Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 22 hours ago, Little Sherri said: he didn’t want to grace Kelly I'm enjoying the start of this well-written story, but I have just got to know: was this an intentional play on words? 1 Link to comment
Kaleros Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 This story is starting to get interesting. It is very well written and kind of reminds me of my own childhood in a way. I wonder how this story will progress. 2 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 3 hours ago, kerry said: I'm enjoying the start of this well-written story, but I have just got to know: was this an intentional play on words? It sort of became one, after the fact. I used the term "grace" followed by her name, but then when I thought about it afterwards, I realized that was sort of picturing someone that looked like Grace Kelly as the Kelly in my story, and when I was editing, I decided not to change that accidental pairing. 1 Link to comment
Eagle0769 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Poor guy has no idea what is about to happen to him. I wonder if Kelly has a maternal side or if he dosen't compel if she will be a little stricter with him. I have an idea that this might have something to do with his real Mom. Did she pass away or leave them and my I ask how old is Zack? Hmmmm :-) 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 20 minutes ago, Eagle0769 said: Did she pass away or leave them and my I ask how old is Zack? That gets revealed. He's 11 in the story. 1 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Very curious to see his reaction!! question Kelly gonna get only diapers or the whole baby package ( stroller, crib , changing table etc) ? 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 Chapter 4 – A Slippery Slope The elevator doors opened onto the main lobby. Another small cross-section of suburban humanity stood there, waiting for an elevator. Zack and Kelly stepped out. They had shared a short, quiet ride down from the fifth floor with a guy who looked like he was maybe a courier. As is the unspoken agreement, everyone looked at the floor indicator or their phones, and said nothing. Zack had hit the lobby button, even though it was already lit up. He wanted to get away from this strange place. However, when the doors opened, Kelly banked left, down the hall, instead of heading straight across for the exit. Zack followed several steps behind. She seemed to be heading for the pharmacy, but he was no longer lured by the prospect of snagging a beverage. At the entrance, she turned and held the door for Zack, who was actively contemplating not following… but then where would he go? He trudged in with a look of annoyance on his face. “Zack, you go look at the magazines for a few minutes. I have to go speak with someone at the counter.” Zack shrugged, looked around, and saw a magazine rack next to the greeting cards, on the far wall. He went over and picked up a magazine about drones; there seemed to be a magazine for every interest, even though the internet had surely supplanted them as the best source for most of the information they contained. Kelly walked up to the pharmacy desk and asked an older, bald Indian man in a lab coat for Mr. Burke. He smiled and said that he was Mr. Burke. Kelly said that she’d just come down from Dr. Paige’s office, and then she turned her phone around and showed him Zack’s new patient number. Mr. Burke punched it into a computer behind the counter, and then studied the screen for a few moments. “I can see here that Zack is around a size 10. I do have Animal Antics and Mighty Diggers in size 10, but I’m out of Little Lambs in that size. I have size 8 or size 12 in those. I’d suggest you should probably go a size larger, rather than a size smaller, since these are primarily for sleeping, anyway.” “That should be fine.” “Did you want the Diggers or the Animals for the other ones? Oh, wait, I see here in the notes that you wanted Diggers.” “The Diggers will be fine.” Kelly looked back over her shoulder. Zack had his head buried in some kind of magazine. Mr. Burke studied his screen for another moment. “Do you want these here or do you want to pick them up out back? The boxes are somewhat bulky.” “Is it okay if drive around the back and have them loaded into my car?” “Yes, no problem. Also… did you want to sign up for an automatic reorder on these? I should be able to get Little Lambs in his size for next time. A case has 36 in it, so most people sign up for one Lambs per month, and two or three Diggers or Animals, depending on the need. If you take two or more cases at a time, delivery is free, as well. We can ship them to your address, so you don’t have to drive out here again.” “Hmmm…” Kelly rolled around the options in her head for a moment. “Maybe sign us up for a reorder on the Lamb ones in 30 days, and a case of Diggers as well, shipping to my address, if that’s okay. One thing to note, though – we’re at a cottage for the first week of July. Would it be possible to schedule the delivery for later in the month?” “Yes, yes, that will be no problem. I will make a note of it. Did you need anything else today? Any accessories, lotion, wipes, anything like that? You said you were going to a cottage – did you need swim diapers?” Kelly rolled that one around in her head. Swim diapers didn’t seem strictly necessary, but Dr. Paige had also said that she wanted to avoid a lot of transitioning into and out of diapers, which could be stressful for Zack. “Um… maybe the swim diapers? How many come in a pack?” “They come in packs of 12. They’re called Fishy Friends, and have an aquatic print on them. We have them in his size. I’ll bring them around back with the rest of your order. How old is your boy? Around 10 or 11?” “He’s 11.” “Have a look at the shop section on Dr. Paige’s website if you get a chance. Now that you have a patient number, you can access it. We run the back end of her website, so anything you order there, we can ship to you, or, you can pick it up here. She’s sourced some great tamper garments, for example.” Mr. Burke pulled a plastic bag out from under the counter and slid it across to Kelly. Inside it were what looked like light blue cotton mittens, but they were bulky, almost like small boxing gloves, with straps around the wrists. “What are these for, Mr. Burke?” “They’re called tamper mitts, but people sometimes also call them scratch mitts. If you put them over a patient’s hands, they can’t tamper with their clothing, if that becomes an issue.” “Well, I don’t think I’m going to need anything like that, but thank you.” “Have a look at some of the other options in the shop. The sleepers and onesies and plastic panties have tamperproof fasteners, but they’re also well-constructed and comfortable, and they can help with keeping his situation discrete.” Next, he pulled a sealed plastic bag from under the counter with six pacifiers in it in various colours, along with a sheet of paper that he slid over to Kelly. It was entitled ‘The Power of Pacifiers’. Kelly looked up from it. “I don’t think we’ll need these…” “These are complementary. Please read the sheet, and you can decide if you need them or not. Dr. Paige believes that many of her patients benefit from them, but it’s up to you.” Kelly took the bag of pacifiers and dropped it into her purse. “Thank you, Mr. Burke. I will have a look when I have a bit of time. You’ve been very helpful.” The pharmacist printed a receipt for the order and told Kelly that they’d send an invoice by email that she could pay online. Kelly tapped Zack on the shoulder and asked him if he wanted the magazine he was reading, which Zack declined. He eyed the sports beverages in the fridge, and even though he didn’t want to have to ask Kelly for anything, he realized that he was thirsty, and they were a ways from home. Kelly agreed to purchase the bottle of orange electrolyte-optimizing wonder fluid, and she carried it back over to the counter, however, Mr. Burke waived his hand dismissively and said that they could take it. Kelly didn’t know if that meant it would also be on their invoice, but, she appreciated that they were going to be on their way out a little faster, so she smiled, and they made their way out of the store. Kelly backed her car expertly up the ramp to the service door behind the pharmacy. The door opened before she had a chance to ring the buzzer, so she concluded that they must have a camera watching the area. A woman in her 20’s pushed the door open and locked it in place, then rolled a cart out that had two larger nondescript cardboard boxes on it, each about two feet long by 18 inches wide, and one that was smaller. They stacked up behind the rear seat of the little car with almost no room to spare. Having them delivered next time would probably make sense, Kelly mused. Once the hatch was closed and Kelly was navigating her way out of the building grounds, Zack hazarded a glance over the seatback. He could not make out what was in the boxes. He craned his neck a little further, but the plain cardboard offered no clues. Kelly caught his eye in the rearview mirror when he faced forward again. He looked out of his side window and studied the building late-afternoon traffic, doing his best to avoid any further interactions with his stepmom. Chapter 5 – A Change of the Guard Twenty-five minutes later, Kelly backed the Mini up the driveway of the house (her house). Zack unclicked his seatbelt before the car had come to a rest, and as soon as Kelly slid the transmission into park, he tipped the passenger seat forward and reached for the door release, almost in a starter’s position, preparing to bolt into the house. Kelly thought about reigning him in, but decided to just let him go. She was planning to leave two of the boxes in the garage for the moment, so only one was going into the house. She didn’t really need help with it. She hit the button on the remote for the garage door, stepping out of the car while it trundled up. Popping the hatch, she eyed the contents of her car. The two identical brown boxes, and the smaller box, had almost no markings on them, but, there were a few characters inked at the bottom corner of each. The larger ones read MD10, and LL12, while the smaller box said FF10. Kelly intuited which was which, and put the MD10 and FF10 boxes on a shelf in the garage, before locking her car and carrying the LL12 box into the house through the garage entrance. She carried it into the kitchen and placed it on the counter, took a steak knife from a block next to the cooktop, and split the tape that ran across the top of the box. Inside the box were four rectangular white plastic bags, one of which she extracted, and placed on the counter next to the box. Then she folded the flaps on top of the carton under each other so that it stayed closed, carried it into the laundry room and, by kicking a stool over, she was able to place the box on top of one of the cabinets located above the laundry equipment. Back in the kitchen, she examined the bag she’d extracted. There was a white glossy label taped across the side of the bag which featured a square of a printed pattern that presumably conformed to the contents of the bag – it featured blue, yellow and pink line drawings of lambs, interspersed with a grey line drawing of a girl wearing a dress, holding a shepherd’s crook, all on a white background. Below it was a description of the contents: Little Lambs Size 12 Qty 8 Scented Youth Overnight Disposable Diapers with Wetness Indicators Picking up the steak knife again, she carefully made a slit on the top of the bag. She reached in and grasped one of the folded plastic rectangles that were lined up snugly inside the bag, sliding it out and laying it on the counter. A puff of scented air accompanied the garment as she extracted it, smelling vaguely floral, vaguely soapy. It was a not-unsuccessful attempt at a muted, fresh scent. The folded white plastic diaper was about twelve inches long by six inches wide, and covered with a print that looked identical to the label. There were also light blue pictures of water droplets in a few places on the cover that looked like they’d been printed on the other side of the plastic; Kelly assumed that they must be the wetness indicators. Some of the moms on her Bedwetters forum had spoken about them. She unfolded the diaper she’d pulled from the packaging. These are pretty big. The daytime ones are probably slimmer. Spreading the folded wings, the diaper took on an hourglass shape. She realized that the scent she’d noted earlier was more akin to baby powder than to soap. Cute. The quilted interior of the garment looked soft and plush. There was a rectangular strip of blue padding in the middle where, she guessed, the most absorbency was required. There were two wide tapes on each side of the rear panel, folded over onto themselves with a grab edge that overhung slightly. Little fabric fences stood up from the inside of the diaper as she had unfolded it. All in all, they looked as though they had been engineered considerably better than the pull-ups Zack had been soaking through lately. She wasn’t sure if he’d be willing to put something this bulky on, without an argument. But the current situation was untenable – they had to do something. This was indeed something. She gathered up the loose diaper with the bag containing the others, and then paused to listen to the background noises in the house for a moment. She picked out the faint sound of Zack tapping on some kind of device, either his iPad or his phone. He was in the living room. Good. She headed upstairs to his room. Once she was inside, she quietly closed the door and made her way over to his dresser. She eyed the Diaper Genie wedged into a gap between the heavy piece of furniture, and the wall, uncertain if the new undergarments would fit into the opening on it. She decided they probably would, if they were wrapped up carefully. If not, then she’d get him a steel trash can with a peddle-operated lid to use as a diaper pail, she decided. She opened his top drawer, which was where he kept his pajamas, and where she put his pull-ups. Gathering up the half-dozen Goodnites that were left in the drawer, she left it open and went to his closet, to retrieve the remains of the bag they had come from, which also had a few left inside. Maybe these will fit Maddy. They’re not much bigger than hers. She might not want to wear blue nappies to bed, but perhaps I can find a pink cover for them on that online store, or she can just pull panties over them. Kelly tossed the open bag of pull-ups and the ones she extracted from the drawer onto Zack’s bed, and then went back to the open drawer they had come from, and sorted through the pajama sets, removing the bottoms from each, and stacking them on top of the dresser. Then, she extracted the remaining Little Lambs diapers from the bag they had been packaged in, and placed them neatly in two stacks, one in front of the other, four each, on the fire righthand side of the drawer. She slid the drawer shut, and then carried the pull-ups over to Maddy’s room and placed them in a half-full box she had on the floor in her closet. Then she went back to his dresser and picked up the stack of pajama pants. Walking back down the stairs, she looked at her phone; it was almost 7 PM, too late to get started on dinner. She’d been thinking of making fettuccini in a cream sauce, but the ship had sailed on that project, unless she used a bottle of store-bought sauce, which she preferred not to. She tapped on the icon for a food delivery app, and simultaneously called out to Zack. “Zack – I’m going to order food and go pick up your sister. Can you think of something you’d prefer to eat?" Zack contemplated the question. So far, it hadn’t been the best day, but, at least Kelly wasn’t going to cook. “Can we get quesadillas from Las Hombres?” Kelly paused mid-step and considered the request. That restaurant also had chicken fingers, which would please Maddy, and for herself, their fish tacos weren’t too bad, as long as you asked them to go light on the cilantro. Chris wasn’t going to be home until God knows when, and would probably have eaten at the conference, anyway. She found the restaurant on the app and deftly flicked through the options. The delivery would be in about 45 minutes, plenty of time to collect Maddy. She walked into the laundry room and put Zack’s pajama components into a plastic bag, which she then put in an upper cabinet. Kelly crossed back through the kitchen while addressing Zack. “Zack, I’m going to get your sister. The food will be here in less than an hour. I’d appreciate it if you would take your shower right after dinner, so that your sister has time to shower before her bedtime.” Zack considered arguing – he’d had a shower that morning – but decided against it, because it would only serve to remind Kelly of the incident that had necessitated having a shower in the first place, and the less she thought about that, the better. Thinking about it also reminded Zack to put his bedding into the dryer. He heard the front door latch shut behind Kelly, and got up to transfer his bedding. 9 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Good chapters ! Now I am thinking how zack gonna react when he see the diapers ! And more importantly how his father gonna react ! Great chapter and a mean one cliffhanger rers 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 Chapter 6 - Disruption The dryer spun in the background with a muted hum as Zack dipped the last piece of his quesadilla into his dwindling supply of sour cream. Maddy dragged a chicken finger through the ketchup that she’d poured out for her fries, ignoring the sauce that came with them. Kelly noted with satisfaction that they had only put a whisper of cilantro on her fish tacos, which had a satisfying crunch to them. Roofus eyed the feast from his bed in the corner of the room, ready to pounce on anything that fell from above. His food sat ignored on the other side of the room, developing a skin, attractive only when there were no alternatives to consider. Kelly hoped that getting what he wanted would put Zack into a more cooperative spirit for what she had planned after dinner. She had no idea how it would go, but she knew in her heart that one way or another, it would go; the current situation wasn’t working, and it was time for someone to put their foot down. She was determined to be that someone. “Run up and get showered, Zack. You can leave your dishes on the table. Maddy, you have about 15 minutes, and then it’s your turn, so eat up.” Maddy looked up from her chicken finger, which she was using to trace patterns in her ketchup. She usually ate like a bird, whereas Zack tended to inhale his meals. He has a metabolism like a blowtorch, Kelly thought to herself. Lucky him. Zack gulped down the last bite of his dinner and jumped up from the table, happy to have been freed from the expectation that he would clear his dishes. He bounded up the stairs two at a time, hoping to rush through his shower and maybe meet a couple of friends online for a quick game or two. When he entered his room, he was also reminded by his bare bed that he needed to retrieve his bedding from the dryer. Quickly stripping down, he threw his socks and boxers into his laundry basket and slung his shorts and shirt over a chair – he could wear those again, he figured. He hadn’t done anything sweaty in them. He grabbed a blue terry robe from his closet, draped it over his shoulders, picked up his phone and headed for the bathroom. Inside, he synced his phone to a Bluetooth speaker they had on the counter, put some tunes on, and turned the faucet handle. Kelly listed at the bottom of the stairs until she heard Zack go into the bathroom, then quickly darted up to his room. She didn’t know how long he would take, and she wanted to be ready for him when he was done. She still wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to tackle the moment, when it arrived, but she wanted to give the appearance of being sure of herself, or else the odds of him attempting to opt out would increase exponentially, in her estimation. She entered his room and pulled the door shut, then made her way over to his pajama drawer and extracted one of the Little Lamb diapers. She looked over at the bed and realized that it only had the protective cover on it; his comforter was in a heap on the floor. She decided to spread the comforter quickly on top of the mattress, so that it would appear at least a bit more inviting. Then she contemplated the diaper she had in her hand, opening it partially. It had a smooth, plastic exterior, and a soft, plush liner. Any manipulation of it generated a slight plasticky crinkling sound. First, she laid it on the edge of the bed, folded back into its original shape. Then, she unfolded it, and laid it across the bed in the middle. Finally, she left it unfolded, positioning it so that it was lengthwise in the center of the bed. That was better. The other two orientations would have had her standing between his legs, which she wasn’t sure he would be comfortable with. She wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable with it, either. As he liked to remind her, she was not his mom, and even if she was, most eleven-year-olds were well past being comfortable while undressed, around their parents. The position she settled on would allow her to sit on the mattress next to him and reach over as necessary. She unfolded the wings at the front and back, and centered it lengthwise, so that he could lie down on it comfortably, if indeed comfort was a possibility, given the circumstances. She remembered back to one of the articles that Ms. Ellen had sent her a link to. It had detailed the benefits of what it referred to as “hourglass positioning”, where the person being diapered put their hands behind their head, and their heels and the balls of their feet together, creating a circle on top and circle at the bottom, the optimum position for fitting a diaper leak-free, at least according to them. Kelly stood back and surveyed the scene. She tried to imagine what Zack would make of it, by thinking of herself when she was Zack’s age, but couldn’t put herself in that headspace, in a way that felt authentic. Kids these days were very different from when she was brought up; it felt like trying to imagine what another species thinks about. She assumed that when he came home to find a proper baby’s nappy set out and waiting for him, he’d be mortified, as she had been as a child under similar circumstances, but she hadn’t been able to do anything other than comply, if wearing it was what was ordered. Her relationship with her parents left little room for negotiation. Whereas these days, children seemed to think that they were equals to their guardians, in rights if not in resources. Superiors, even. So Zack might conclude that his wearing the diaper was far from a foregone conclusion. She liked that it was indeed a proper diaper. Not superhero-themed stretchy training pants mimicking underwear, coddling their fragile egos, not “nighttime underpants”. This was a diaper – the packaging said the word in bold letters. Children who wet themselves past the age of eight or nine needed a wakeup call, she thought, and being put into a diaper might be just the ticket for Zack. He needed to get taken down a peg, in her reckoning. Dr. Paige didn’t completely agree with her philosophy, when they chatted; she felt that wetting issues at this age that couldn’t be traced back to physiological development were probably related to a sticking point in psychological development, and that walking children back in their development, and then carefully forward again, could produce positive outcomes. And, in the meantime, diapers worked better than pullups, so kids would be more confident and better able to get a full night’s sleep, all of which contributed to their overall wellbeing. Diapering also nurtured a closer bond between the caregiver and the child, and fostered a sense of dependency that often smothered defiance-based behavioural issues. In Dr. Paige’s experience, kids in her program did better in school and got into less trouble. That checked out for Kelly; it’s hard to act like the big man on campus, or the meanest guy in the prison yard, while dressed like a toddler under your trousers, she reasoned. Kelly’s line of thought was cut short by the sound of the bathroom door opening down the hall. I hope he’s put his robe on… A moment later, the bedroom door opened, and Zack walked in, hair damp, wearing his blue terry robe. “Oh… hey Kel… what’s up? Could you give me a sec to get dressed, maybe?” Zack stood just inside his bedroom door, surprised to find his stepmom standing the middle of the room, fixing him with an anticipatory gaze, like she was expecting something. He pushed the door open wider with an exaggerated motion, as though to see her out. Kelly crossed her arms. “Close the door, Zack. We need to talk. Maddy is going to be up here shortly.” Zack furled his brow. “Whatever you think we need to talk about, can it wait until I’m dressed at least?” Kelly stepped past Zack and guided the door softly closed with an extended hand. She took a breath before speaking: “That’s what I’m here to talk about, Zack – what you’re going to be wearing. I think you know as well as I do that there have been a few too many wetting incidents lately, and they’ve been keeping you awake, affecting your mood, and taking a toll on the laundry load around here. That’s why we went to see Dr. Paige – I guess I never expressly said that to you, but I thought that you’d put two and two together. Regardless, here’s the deal: Dr. Paige has prescribed some new routines for you, and some new products that are going to work a lot better than pull-on nappies from the grocery store, products that are better designed for a boy that wets as much as you do.” With that, Kelly turned her head and looked over at the bed. She was somewhat amazed that Zack hadn’t registered the object lying in wait for him on his comforter. He pays no attention sometimes. Zack followed her gaze, and saw what looked like some sort of small towel spread out on his bed. He took a few steps towards it, and then, a quick step back. “What?” Zack’s voice went up an octave as he spoke, turning a one syllable word into a two-syllable word. “I am NOT putting that thing on. What the hell is it, anyway?” “It’s a disposable nappy, Zack. A diaper. And, you don’t have to put it on yourself, my friend - I’m going to help.” Zack turned to face Kelly. “No fucking way!”, he exclaimed. As though by reflex, Kelly’s hand flew from her side and smacked him smartly, open-handed, on the cheek. Zack flinched and visibly shrank back from her. “You WATCH your language with me, boy. You don’t talk like that in this house, do you hear me?” Kelly’s voice raised as she asked him again: “DO YOU HEAR ME?” Zack, stunned, held a hand to his cheek, which stung. Both of his cheeks were burning now, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Kelly’s eyes were wide and her lips were pulled back slightly from her teeth. She looked crazy, and suddenly Zack felt very small, standing in front of her, wearing just a robe, in her house, by himself. “I’m sorry.” His voice took on a hoarse tone, and he struggled to control it. “I’m sorry I said that. I… I just don’t want… I don’t want to wear a diaper. I’ll put on a pullup. I’ll put on two of them. I won’t have any more drinks. I’ll go pee right before bed. It’ll be fine. You’ll see. I’ll get this under control. I won’t wet my bed anymore.” Kelly kept a stern tone in her voice, but softened her face. “You won’t wet MY bed anymore, Zack, or anywhere else in MY house. I spent good money on a practical solution for you, and we are going to give it a try. You and your sister and your dad are a package, and if your dad is going to live with me, then you are going to live with me, and if you are going to live in MY house, we are making some changes. Or do you want to tell your dad that he can’t live here anymore? Do you want to tell Maddy? Do you think your dad likes living here, Zack?” Zack thought about shooting back with a smartass answer, but he didn’t want another smack in the face. And, truthfully, his dad, and Maddy, did seem pretty happy, most of the time. “Yes.” He whispered, looking at the floor. “But I don’t want to wear a diaper.” “Zack, wearing diapers is like taking prescription medication. Nobody wants to take medication, but, sometimes we have to. So, question number two is, do you want me to help you put your diaper on, or, do you want to wait for your dad to come home, and he can put you in it? Because I think if he has a choice between turning his life upside-down or making a smartass child wear something a doctor prescribed, he’s going to choose the latter.” Kelly tilted her head back and lifted her eyebrows. “Do you want my help, Zack, or do you want to stand in that corner over there” – she pointed to the corner with the Diaper Genie – “and hold your diaper and face the wall until your dad gets home, and then he can put it on you? Do you think that’s what he wants after being at work for fourteen hours? Is that a nice thing to come home to, having to diaper a mouthy child?” Tears were collecting on both of Zack’s cheeks. “No…” he whispered, not sure what exactly he was saying no to. “Okay! And, then, after we get your diaper on, we can go downstairs and watch something on TV, and you can have a glass of pop, and wait for your dad, and when he gets home, I’ll tell him what a helpful fellow you’ve been, and we don’t need to bring up any of this backtalk or ugliness. Does that sound like a reasonable agreement between two reasonable people?” Zack continued to look at the floor, but he didn’t refute what she said, so Kelly charged ahead. She could feel that she was on the cusp of victory, and a peace offering now, however small, might seal the deal. “Listen, Zack, I’m not insensitive. I know this isn’t easy for you. I’m willing to try and meet you part way – I know that your dignity is a little bruised right now. The truth is, it’s been a little bruised for a long time – precisely because the products we’ve been buying for you haven’t been working. But I believe that this WILL work. And that in the long run, you’ll feel better about yourself as a result.” Kelly walked over to the bed and picked up the diaper, then walked back toward Zack, who seemed frozen to the ground. She held it open like a book for him to examine. “These are called Little Lambs, Zack. They’re supposed to be very comfortable, and aren’t they sweet looking? Touch the quilted lining. Isn’t it soft?” Zack took it gingerly in his hands, as though it might explode if handled too roughly. He folded it closed , to have a look at the cover. The exterior was white plastic, with coloured sheep emblazoned on it, and the grey outline of a girl wearing a bonnet and holding a shepherd’s crook. Little Bo Peep? No. Mary – with her Little Lambs. Hence the name… Zack opened the diaper again. The white, fluffy interior seemed to yawn for him. There was a blue rectangle in the middle of the padding. He could see elastic gathers running down either side of the center, just like they highlighted in the baby diaper commercials. Except that this was no baby diaper; to Zack, it looked almost comically large. Kelly placed a finger under Zack’s chin and gently tilted his face up. “But for right now, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to turn around and face the wall. You are going to hang your robe up, get up on your bed, and sit in the middle of your diaper, and then lie back. You’ll pull the front of the diaper up over yourself with one hand, so you’re, uh… not exposed. Put your other hand behind your head. Then, I will diaper you. This is my first time doing this, too – we may need to help each other.” She nodded, took her finger from under his chin, and turned to face the door. She listened intently for any motion behind her. A moment passed, and then she heard him walking. Towards the bed, hopefully, not the door. She heard his closet door open. He’s hanging up his robe. Zack stood in the closet, feeling Kelly’s presence, even though she had her back turned. He could tell she was listening intently to what he was doing. He felt a chill run down his spine, and stifled a shudder, as he took his fluffy robe off and hung it on the back of his closet door. Even though the temperature in the room was warm, he felt cold and exposed. With no desire to prolong the awkward moment any further than he had to, he turned and looked over at his bed. There didn’t seem to be any graceful way to do this, other than to lay out the diaper, sit down in the middle of it, and lie back. She heard the bedsprings creak lightly and resisted the urge to glance over and confirm that her plan, developed by the seat of her pants, was unfolding. She heard rustling as Zack positioned himself, and then the crinkling of the diaper. He took some time getting positioned, but finally spoke. “I’m ready,” he said in a hoarse whisper. Kelly turned around and walked toward the bed. Zack was lying on top of the diaper and holding the front panel down over himself, and his other hand was resting on top of his head. His eyes were on the ceiling. She took him gently by each ankle and pushed his heels together, causing Zack to look down at her. “This is called the hourglass position, Zack. Dr. Paige told me it’s the best position to get a good fit, especially when you’re inexperienced, which both of us are. The last person I put a diaper on was my niece, and that was a couple of years ago. Put the balls of your feet together.” She squeezed his toes toward each other gently, and pushed in toward him. “Frog legs, Zack. See? Your legs make sort of a circle.” She placed her fingertips on the top edge of his diaper. “Now put your other hand behind your head – I won’t let this fell down.” Zack slowly lifted his hand and placed it behind his head, interlacing it with his other hand. “See? You look like an hourglass, circle up top, circle down below.” Zack thought he understood the reference, although he wasn’t sure why this exact positioning was necessary. But it was far from the biggest battle he had conceded today, so he wasn’t about to start arguing now. Kelly sat down on the bed next to Zack, at his waist level, careful to keep a finger on the front of his diaper, so that it didn’t fall forward. She looked at the pattern on the white plastic, line drawings of lambs in pink and blue and yellow, outlined over white, with a grey outline of a girl in a full-length dress, wearing a bonnet and holding a shepherds’ staff intermingled in. It was cute and gender neutral. The diaper was cut generously down the middle, providing a lot of girth and padding, and rose above his bellybutton up front. She looked at the positioning of the rear wings, and realized that he had indeed more or less centered himself. The back was barely higher than the front. She smoothed out the front panel with both of her hands, and then took the right rear wing of the diaper in one hand, while holding the front down with the other, and laid it over top of the front. They overlapped by a few inches. I don’t know if I’ll go with a smaller size for overnight. This looks like a good amount of protection. Maybe for daytime wearing, the smaller size will be better. But that’s a bridge we’ll cross later – one win at a time; don’t get cocky. She thought back to a document that Ellen, Dr. Paige’s assistant, had forwarded to her. She almost wished she’d printed it out – four-tab youth diapers were a new frontier for Kelly, who barely had any experience with two-tab baby diapers. She thought that they’d said to start with the leg tapes first, and that it didn’t matter what side. Grasping the exposed grab edge of the lower righthand tab, she peeled the tape back from its smooth resting place, which was designed not to provide much adhesion. Pull the tab in until the fit feels snug, and the plastic is lightly indenting the skin on his leg. Lay it over a smooth part of the front panel, on the shiny “landing zone” top cover that is meant not to tear if you have to move the tab. It should be angled downward, following the curve of the thigh. Run a finger along his hip under the lower edge of his diaper, to make sure it isn’t too snug. Zack swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt his cheeks reddening. This was happening - Kelly was diapering him. Her gentleness almost made it worse than if she were sloppy or gruff about it. Kelly slipped a finger under the edge of the diaper. The inside of the plastic had a thin cloth layer to it, which was probably more comfortable than bare plastic, she thought. It felt reasonably snug, but not excessively. Next, she removed the lower lefthand tab from its parking spot, and stretched it over the lower center of the diaper, into a similar position. Then, she reach across him for the upper left tab, aiming to land it along the top edge of the landing zone, oriented more horizontally, as the drawing in the document had shown. She slipped a finger under the upper edge at his side, and ran it forward to where the tab met the top sheet. She knew that there might be further adjustments once he stood up. “Suck in your tummy, Zack – I want your nappy snug and leak-free.” Zack pulled in his abdominal muscles, flatting his tummy. Kelly reach across him, and repeated the taping process, first snugging, then securing and checking the upper right tab, and then adjusting and securing the left tab once more. She placed her hand on the plastic over his left hip, and gave him a pat. “All done, little man. Stand up for me and we’ll check how we did.” Zack made eye contact with her, then extended his legs down into a more natural position. He felt the diaper fold and compress between them, heard the plastic crinkle. It felt like there was a lot of material down there, way more than he was used to. Even in a soaked pull-up, there hadn’t been this much feeling of bulk between his legs. He sat up, turned, and dangled his legs over the edge of the bed, avoiding Kelly, who was still sitting. He stood and then turned to face her, eyes fixed resolutely on his feet. He noticed that she had pink socks on and stared hard at them. Kelly ran a finger across his belly, under the waistband of the diaper, and noted that it had loosened up now that he was standing. The tautness over his hips remained, however. She placed a hand on each of his hips and gently turned him sideways, so that she could see the fit at the back, then she turned him back towards her again. “I’m just going to snug up the upper tapes a bit, Zack.” She noted that they made a fairly loud noise as she detached them on each side, but they came away clean. Tugging first one, and then the other, in toward the center, she laid them down again and smoothed them with a hand. “There we go, that’s much better.” She put her hands on his hips and turned him again, which he meekly followed, until his back was towards her. Then she ran a finger along the leg gathers at his upper thighs on each side, stretching them out and letting them snap into a better position. She gave him a pat on the bottom of his diaper. “I’d say we did a good job, Zack. Walk forward a few steps and then turn and face me.” Zack took four steps and then turned around, eyes fixated on the floor. He heard a click, and realized that she’d lifted her phone and snapped a picture of him. His eyes went wide and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That’s just to send to your dad, Zack, to show him what a good boy you’ve been. I’ll delete it, I promise. You look adorable….” Kelly stopped herself. Zack did not want to hear that he looked adorable, she intuited. “You look handsome. You look like a big boy, wearing his big boy diaper, not like a little kid wearing training pants. What do you think?” Zack looked down and considered her question. Walking toward the mirror over his dresser, he ran a hand across the front of the diaper. He wanted to see if he could pull some of the stuffing away from his crotch, but not while Kelly was watching. He could already feel the air inside the diaper warming up. In the mirror, he looked at the incongruous image of himself wearing what was essentially a large baby’s diaper. The back gathers pushed on his butt and the stuffing back there felt weird. He was used to boxer shorts with elastics that encircled his legs, not his rear. “It’s hot. And big. REALLY BIG. And loud.” “You’ll get used to it, buddy. I pretty much guarantee that you are going to sleep soundly tonight, and you are NOT going to be doing laundry in the morning. Speaking of that, I want you to come and see me in the morning, don’t take it off. I want to see how it did. These cost me a bit of money – I want to know if it was worth it.” “What do I do if I need to pee?”, Zack asked. “You’re wearing a diaper, buddy.” “But, I mean, before I go to bed.” “There are no in-and-out privileges when you wear diapers, Zack - it’s like a concert. And it’ll be a good test of how these are going to work out. Just do whatever you need to do. And remember, putting a diaper on or taking a diaper off is a big person job, not a little person job. They’re too expensive, and the fit is too important, for you or your sister to be playing around with them. Do you understand?” Zack rolled his eyes, unable to help himself. “LIKE I’m gonna ask Maddy to help me…” “Well, just so you understand, these aren’t toys. I’m going to tell her as well. I don’t want to start seeing teddy bears wearing four-dollar nappies around the house.” Zack’s eyes widened again. “You’re going to tell Maddy?” “We’re going to show her, actually. This is NOT going to be some big state secret around here, Zack. Dr. Paige made that very clear. That would be way too stressful for you, and not good for anyone. We are going to be open about this from the get-go. You wearing diapers is just a fact of life, and it’s no different than if you needed glasses or a cast on your ankle. If your sister thinks it’s funny then she’ll be laughing at herself, because I’ll put her in a diaper too, and send her out to walk the dog.” Zack’s mouth snapped shut when Kelly dropped that last line. Being sent out to walk the dog in a diaper was sort of hilarious… until you considered if what could happen to your sister could also happen to you. Not a prospect worth thinking about. He’d draw the line there. No fucking way. I WILL move out of this house before I do that. “Maddy?” Kelly said loudly, projecting towards the door. “Yes?” Came her chipmunk voice, too quickly, Zack thought. She was listening at the door. “Come into Zack’s room for a moment, please. I need you to see something.” Zack unfroze from his spot and made rapid strides towards his pajama drawer, but when he slid it open, he paused momentarily in confusion. Where his pull-ups had been, there were now diapers, and all he could find in the drawer was pajama tops, no bottoms. He hurriedly extracted one and pulled it over his head, a blue long-sleeved jersey with a grey shark printed on the front. The door clicked open behind him, and he heard his sister take an exaggerated breath. He pulled the shirt down as far as it would go, and turned around, cheeks burning bright red. He looked Maddy directly in the eyes, defying her to say something, as he stretched his shirt so that only a small triangle of his diaper was visible at the front. Maddy took in the scene in front of her as she entered Zack’s room. She could see that he was trying to stretch his shirt all the way down to his knees, and it wasn’t working. She had seen him from behind before he turned around, so she knew that he was wearing a big plastic pull-up with sheep on it. A girl’s head in a bonnet looked out towards her from below the hem of his shirt. Maddy was in a pull-up, too, but her night shirt hung down to her knees. And anyway, it wasn’t a big deal – Zack had seen her in a pull-up a million times, and she’d seen him in his. “Is that a ‘Marry Had a Little Lamb’ pull-up?” She asked. “Shut up.” Zack whispered hoarsely. Kelly responded. “Zack, don’t talk to your sister like that, she asked a perfectly innocent question. Maybe that is Mary, Maddy. I hadn’t thought of that. They’re called ‘Little Lambs’, actually – good observation. Only, they’re diapers, not pull-ups. Zack is going to be wearing diapers from now on, because he’s getting too big for pull-ups.” “Diapers…. Like, baby diapers?” “SHUT UP!” Zack said again, more stridently. “They’re like baby diapers, Maddy, but for bigger kids. Would you like to see one?” “Yes, please.” Maddy whispered, avoiding Zack’s glare. Kelly stood up and crossed the room toward Zack, who was standing like a statue, torturing his shirt. She walked past him like he wasn’t there and pulled a folded diaper out of his pajama drawer, then unfolded it and handed it to Maddy. Maddy held it out in front of her with both hands, turning it around, first looking at the interior, then, the exterior, almost reading it like a newspaper. “That’s a big diaper.” She said, almost to herself. “It’s a nice diaper, wouldn’t you agree?” Kelly asked. “I guess it’s kinda cute. When’s he gonna hafta wear them?” “He’ll be wearing them most of the time, Maddy. Do you want to see how they’d fit on you?” “Do I have to wear these, too?” “No, no Maddy. Your pull-on nappies are working fine for you. I just thought you might think it was fun to try one on.” “Okay, sure then, if I don’t hafta wear it after.” Maddy held the diaper extended in one hand, unsure how to proceed. Kelly walked over and took it from her. “Lie down on the bed.” Maddy lied down, crosswise to the bed, with her legs hanging over. “Pull your dress up, please.” Maddy reached forward and draw back the hem of her nightshirt, pulling it up to her diaphragm, keeping her chest covered, which she’d lately decided she needed to start doing. Her pink and purple princess-themed pull-up still showed fold lines because she’d just put it on. Kelly unfolded the diaper on the mattress beside Maddy, took her by the ankles with one hand, hoisted them up until just her shoulders were in contact with the mattress, and slid the diaper underneath her. Then, she dropper her back down on top of it, pushed apart her knees, and folded the diaper up over top of her pull-up, completely eclipsing it in the process. On Maddy, the waistband of the diaper was most of the way up to her chest. Happy for the practice, Kelly drew the wings up over the front of the diaper one at a time, and fastened them in place. “Stand up and let’s see how you look.” Maddy shuffled to the edge of the bed and stood up. Her pink nightshirt draped over the front of the diaper, but sat on the back of it like a ledge. Maddy took a few exaggerated steps, and then started walking bow-legged, rocking side to side. The big diaper provided a constant soundtrack of crunches. “This thing’s HUGE. I feel like I’m the baby in a diaper commercial! I’m not sure could wear one of these if I needed to walk very far.” She intoned. “Well that’s good.” Kelly Responded. “I’m glad you’re getting it out of your system. Because I don’t want to see you playing with these – they cost a lot of money, and Zack will need each and every one. I don’t want to find them on teddy bears or stuffed animals, and I if I do find that, I’ll take it off the bear and put you in it for the day, and I am not kidding about that.” Maddy nodded while her hands ran around the sides of the diaper. “And if I hear that you’ve been telling your friends about this, or making fun of Zack, the same thing goes. I’ll put you in a diaper and I’ll take you to the park and you can see how it feels. Am I clear?” Maddy nodded again, while her hands finger-walked toward the top tabs on the diaper. She wanted out of this thing. Talk of diapered park outings had caused all the wonder to evaporate from the moment. As far as Maddy was concerned, Zack’s diapers were now as attractive as handcuffs, cute print or not. “Stop, Maddy.” Maddy’s hands froze, having just found the edge of one of the tabs. “I was just telling your brother, and I’ll tell you as well. Putting diapers on and taking diapers off is a big person job, NOT a little person job. Diapers are expensive, and it’s easy to damage the tapes, and if they get put on wrong, they can leak. Do you want that diaper off?” “Yes.” Maddy said immediately. “Then say ‘Kelly, please may I have my diaper taken off?’ in a nice tone.” “Kelly, can I please have this diaper taken off?” Maddy chirped instantly. “Close enough. Lie back down on the bed.” Maddy laid down and pulled her nightshirt up above the waist of the diaper, and Kelly carefully unfastened the tabs one at a time, and put the sticky sides down against their non-stick parking spots, and then lifted Maddy’s legs up and withdrew the diaper. Maddy stood up and smoothed her nightshirt down. Kelly folded the diaper and then extended it toward Maddy. “Please go put this on the counter in your bathroom for Zack tomorrow. Somewhere DRY on the counter, please – NOT in a puddle of water or toothpaste.” “Yes, Kelly.” Maddy took the diaper and skipped out through the door toward the bathroom. “I think that went well, Zack, don’t you?” Zack looked at the floor. “Kelly, please can I have my diaper taken off?”, he whispered. Kelly smiled, shook her head, and walked out the door. 12 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 That went well I think ! Didn’t like the way Kelly threatened him saying his dad gonna move out and that he lives in her house etc , but in the end I liked the way she talk with maddy preventing her to tease zack ! I am curious to know how she gonna introduce day diapers (hope she would make he sees is for the best and not blackmail him with the photo her take of him in only a diaper) and how he gonna manage using during school hours hope summer break come soon and none of his friends discover his diapers 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted February 3, 2023 Author Share Posted February 3, 2023 Chapter 7 – Homecoming Zack walked across the kitchen toward the laundry room, not completely sure yet how to manage his strides in the bulky diaper. His normal gait seemed to compress too much material down there, but walking like a cowboy who’d just completed a day in the saddle didn’t feel natural, either. His mind recalled a diaper commercial he’d seen where they promised no more ‘cowboy walk’. I wish I was wearing one of those. He got to the dryer and had to let go of the front of his shirt, which he’d been holding downward, even though nobody was actually on this floor of the house. Kelly was still upstairs putting Maddy to bed. Zack reached into the dryer, withdrew his bedding in a bundle, and turned to walk back upstairs, when he heard the front door lock turning. Roofus let out a series of barks. Normally, Zack would have run towards the front door, because he knew that meant his dad was home, but this time, he clutched his bedding closer to his torso and sprinted for the stairs. However, Kelly had already heard the dog and left Maddy’s room, so she blocked the top of the staircase before he could get there, putting a hand on each banister. “Turn it around, mister. You can pass me that bedding if you want. Go down and say hi to your dad – he’s had a long day and he’ll want to see you in your new diapers.” Zack dropped the bedding onto the top step at Kelly’s feet, and turned morosely, slowly descending, again straining the hem of his shirt. Kelly grunted and picked up the bedding, tossing it quickly into Zack’s room, before turning to head down the stairs. Chris walked into the foyer and stepped out of his shoes, taking off his suit jacket and putting it on a hanger in the front closet. He heard Zack descending the stairs behind him, but slowly, not with his usual enthusiasm. He could guess why. Kelly had sent him a picture. He turned towards the approaching Zack. “What’s she got you in, big guy?” Zack just stared at his feet, still tugging at this shirt, which did not seem capable of getting any longer. “Let’s see it.” Zack let go of his shirt, and it snapped up like an elastic and briefly revealed most of his diaper, before settling level with the lower tabs. “That’s quite the getup. I can imagine how you probably feel. But listen, I’m proud of you for cooperating with her, okay? That was very mature of you. And I think this Doctor Paige is going to have you out of those things really quickly, and then we can just burn the rest of them, okay?” Zack could hear Kelly walking down the stairs behind him. She walked up and lifted the sides of his shirt from behind, exposing the upper portion of his diaper. “See how high these go, Chris? I think they’re going to work great.” She let the shirt drop back down and turned Zack sideways with her hands on his hip. He resisted for a moment, but then complied. “Doesn’t he look sweet?” Kelly asked in a cheery voice. “I’m sure he’s very impressed with the print.” Chris intoned sarcastically. “Enough with the fashion show. Let’s let him finish up what he needs to do in his bedroom. I’m going to freshen up, and then maybe we can watch something together. It’s only 8:00 – it feels a lot later than that, maybe because my day started at six AM.” Zack resumed pulling his shirt down at the front, turned, and walked up the stairs, feeling their eyes on him as he ascended, wishing his shirt hung further down at the back. 9 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 That was a short chapter but I liked the way his father reacts about the diapers and I sensing Kelly is liking a bit to much babying zack !! Curious to see how he gonna react about daytime diapers is she gonna make he uses for both pee and poop ? She gonna treat him like a baby with car seat highchair and etc ? 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted February 9, 2023 Author Share Posted February 9, 2023 Chapter 8 - Skin Time Back in his room, Zack quickly made his bed, and then stood, contemplating his options. He didn’t really want to go back downstairs and hang out with his dad and Kelly, dressed like a toddler, but he also wanted a chance to spend at least a bit of time with his dad, who had been working long hours lately and wasn’t often around. Kelly had somehow spirited away all the bottoms of his pajamas, which was somewhat ominous. She hadn’t minded him wearing whatever he felt like over his pull-ups, so why she’d care what he had on over this ridiculous diaper was beyond his understanding. Maybe it represented a sort of victory lap for her. His other wardrobe options fell into the category of school clothing, which he knew she would not approve of, out of concern that he’d create unnecessary laundry if he spilled anything on them, or, his sports clothes. The bottoms from his baseball uniform were kind of like pajama pants, so he decided to go with those. He pulled them off a hanger in his closet and pulled them up over the diaper. They fit snugly over it, but not absurdly so. He walked over to his mirror. The brighter white of the plastic was maybe slightly distinguishable through the dull white of the material, but in the low light of his bedroom, the childish lamb print was barely discernable. He decided that this would have to do, although he did wonder what Kelly would make of him showing up downstairs with part of his uniform on, but the alternative, spending the evening in just a diaper, didn’t make any sense. He didn’t sit around in just his underwear, either. Zack waited until he heard his dad head back downstairs, then followed a few moments later, entering the living room as his dad sat down in an easy chair. Kelly sat on a couch, almost right next to his dad, so Zack chose a seat at the other end of the couch. Kelly immediately piped up: “Good idea, Zack, testing that out. See, Chris – his uniform still fits fine.” Zack got the impression that Kelly’s comment was the finalization of a conversation that he had not been part of. “Hang on, Zack – before you sit down, squat like you’re catching a ball.” Zack looked at his dad. His dad raised his eyebrows but nodded. Reluctantly, Zack squatted in the middle of the living room floor, as though he were catching a ball rolling towards him. He quickly stood back up. Kelly looked over at Zack’s dad and gave him an exaggerated nod, as if to say “See? I was right.” Zack walked over and sat down on the couch. “That was a good test, Zack, but I’d like those pants put on the stairs, please. I’m going to make nachos, and I don’t want anything getting on them. Also, Dr. Paige said that now that you wear diapers, it would be better for your skin if you didn’t have anything on over them unless you have to. She called it ‘Skin Time’ – your skin needs time to breath.” Zack looked over at his dad, wide-eyed, but didn’t stand up. Chris dropped his eyes to the floor for a moment, and then raised them to meet Zack’s. “Listen, buddy, I haven’t got time right now to deal with any of this myself, and Kelly agreed to take it on, which I think was very nice of her. I wasn’t there for the meeting with Dr. Paige, Kelly was. Not to say that I won’t get a chance to meet with her in the future, but for right now, I have to defer to Kelly – it doesn’t make sense for me to contradict what she’s saying, when I literally just walked into the room, while she’s been researching this for a week. It’s just us here – it’s not going to kill you to wear your diaper around the house. Let’s give this a real chance, okay?” Zack closed his eyes and blew a long breath out through pursed lips, puffing out his cheeks. He dropped his head and stood up, shuffling unenergetically back towards the staircase. He figured that he’d just head upstairs and not come back down, but Kelly called out from behind him, as though reading his mind. “That’s good enough, Zack – you can just toss those pants onto the stairs.” Zack stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking longingly at the sanctuary of the upper hallway. There was nothing to be gained, he decided, by having a fight with Kelly now. His dad was tired, HE was tired, and Kelly was in her element. He looked behind him through the transom window. The street was dark and deserted. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and dropped them to his ankles, using his feet to complete their removal, and then he flicked them with a foot onto the first stair. If Kelly asked him to ‘toss them onto the stairs’, he was going to do just that, he figured. Such an invitation was fairly off-brand for Kelly, and Zack was hoping to taint any satisfaction she might be deriving from his complying with her undignified request. Kelly got up off the couch and walked forward a few steps, so she could see over to where Zack was standing in the foyer. She didn’t take the bait, deciding not to comment on the rumpled trousers now draped over the bottom step. Zack turned and resumed stretching his t-shirt down at the front, as he trudged over and sat down on the couch, his plastic diaper crunching audibly as be passed by them. “Good boy, Zack.” Kelly intoned. Zack started resolutely at the television, not paying much attention to the jungle adventure movie that was on, even though he guessed that they’d chosen it for him. His right hand reflexively held his shirt down over the front of his diaper. After a few minutes, his dad hit pause, and Kelly stood up to answer the beeping of an oven timer; the nachos were done. Kelly eventually walked over and placed a plate of corn chips covered in melted cheese, and a tall glass of ginger ale in front of Zack, then said “We probably don’t have to worry about how much you drink in that diaper, little man.” Zack rolled his eyes, picked up the plate, and put it down squarely on his lap, obscuring most of the front of his diaper, and allowing him to relinquish his grip on the hem of his t-shirt. He ate his nachos robotically, taking an occasional sip of pop, waiting to be dismissed rather than enjoying the moment. When his plate was clean, he kept it in his lap. Kelly and his dad watched the TV, but Zack spent most of his mental energy thinking about his predicament. Every time he shifted on the couch or moved his legs, he was reminded again that he was wearing something foreign. The inside of his diaper felt warm and humid, and it came into contact with his thighs in a way that most of his clothing did not. He’d been in pull-ups many times, but they tended to fade into the background rapidly, and to only remind you of their existence with aggressive physicality. Run across the room, and you knew you had a pull-up on, but walk, and you might not. Whereas Zack reckoned that he could sit stock-still in his diaper, and still be unceasingly aware of its bulk and its plastic-sealed humidity. His right hand found the upper edge of his diaper and followed it back until it traced over the tabs, and then slid downward to where the soft plastic disappeared between his hip and the couch cushion. When he leaned forward to sip his drink, he felt the rear elastic traversing his lower back. The front elastic pulled gently into his belly. Kelly stood up and came to collect his plate, which he handed to her without leaning forward. “See? I told you it was a good idea to take those pants off.” Zack furrowed his eyebrows, and Kelly leaned down toward the side table next to him, pulling a tissue from a box sitting at the back corner. She used it to wipe a glob of orange cheese that had dripped off of the edge of his plate, and onto the front of his diaper. “There you go, all clean. See how easy that was?” Zack’s cheeks reddened, and he stayed quiet. Kelly ruffled his hair and then sat down next to him, rather than over by his dad. She put the plates down on the coffee table in front of them, and dropped her hands to her sides. He became aware that the back of her left hand was now lightly in contact with the side of his diaper. He shifted his hip to the left, pressing into the armrest. Kelly turned her head and gave him a slight smile, then she leaned forward and stood up, picking up the plates and walking to the kitchen. She returned in a few minutes with an open bottle of pop, and topped up Zack’s glass, then went and sat back down next to his dad. Thank GOD. What the hell was that about? Is her goal to rub my nose in this? His dad hit play, and the jungle adventure continued. Zack sipped periodically at his pop, until it occurred to him that doing so might lead to unintended consequences. He’d basically been ambushed when he got out of the shower, and he hadn’t had a chance to go to the washroom since before dinner. That was two glasses of pop and a glass of milk ago. Zack could feel his bladder starting to issue reports. He knew from experience that ignoring those feelings did not tend to make them go away. Particularly before bed, he liked to get as much liquid out of himself as he could, although wearing this giant diaper, he mused, might take some of the necessity out of that. But this movie was only halfway to its conclusion. He decided to see if he could slip away for a moment, and pull the front of the diaper down far enough to be able to pee in the toilet. He leaned forward and stood up, trying to slip between the end table and the wall, rather than walking in between the TV and where his dad and Kelly were sitting. “Where are you headed, Zack? The movie isn’t over.” Kelly froze him in his tracks with her question. He looked over, but she was staring at the TV. His dad was looking at his phone. Zack thought fast. “I just wanted to get my iPad.” “I don’t think two screens are necessary.” Zack looked again at his dad. Apparently two screens were necessary for him, but he didn’t think that argument was going to get much traction. He sighed. “Look, Kelly… I need to go pee. I just wanted to try and get as much as I can out of me before bed.” Kelly looked over. “You can do whatever you need to do in your diaper, my young friend. I am not worried one bit about it. You have my permission. It’ll be a good test. I bet you won’t even feel it. Dr. Paige said the Little Lambs are rated for 12 hours.” It seemed to Zack that she was addressing her last comment to his dad, although his dad was studying his phone with some intensity and didn’t seem to be following the conversation. “I really don’t want to pee my pants. Can’t I just go to the washroom?” “Let me get this straight.”, Kelly responded. “Now that you’re wearing a diaper, you don’t want to go in your pants. But last week when you were on your way home from school, that was a fine time to pee in your pants, am I correct?” Zack reddened further. Kelly was recalling back to an incident that they hadn’t told his dad about, when he’d raced out of school as soon as the bell rang, but then got stuck on the bus, because another bus had had a minor fender bender with a parents’ car that was in the bus loop when it shouldn’t have been. Zack had been holding it since lunchtime, because he didn’t like the school washrooms, which he found disgusting. He probably would have been fine, but the bus company treated the exchange of paint like it was a ten-car pileup, and had made everyone sit on their busses for an hour while they took pictures and statements. Zack’s friend Rob had showed him a video on his phone of a cat leaping vertically like a wire trick from an old Kung Fu movie, in response to a cucumber, and Zack had nearly died laughing. In the process, some pee had escaped, dampening the crotch of his pants, although not enough to be visible, as far as Zack could tell. But he was acutely aware of the dampness, and wanted to change his clothes as soon as he got home. He’d made the mistake of trying to throw them into the laundry by themselves, rather than putting more of his laundry in with them, or collecting some of his sister’s clothes. Kelly had thought he might be throwing more bedding on, and decided to intercept him. She sniffed his pants and immediately knew what had happened. “That was an accident!” Zack said forcefully. The sharpness in Zack’s tone attracted his dad’s attention. Chris slung an arm over the back of his chair and turned to face him. “I don’t think it’s crazy, Zack. Short of pouring a glass of water in there, how are we ever going to know how well those things work? Sooner or later, they’re going to have to get used, Zack. And watch your tone.” Zack dropped his eyes. “Sorry, dad. I just… I….” He let his statement trail off, and slowly made his way back to the couch. He sat down, and fixed his gaze on the screen. The movie stayed paused, and finally he widened his eyes. Are they going to wait until I actually go pee in front of them?!? Finally, his dad hit play, and the movie progressed. Zack left the remainder of his ginger ale untouched, but, there was already enough of it making its way through him, that he eventually gave in to the increasing urgency of the alarms coming from his abdomen, and he felt a trickle start. It built up to a surge, lasted for what seemed like a minute, and then petered off. Zack waited, eyes fixed on the screen, mind on his undergarment. He felt the stuffing warming and swelling, felt the progression of hot liquid move from the front, down to the middle, and then out behind him a little, but there was never a feeling that any flow had escaped. He didn’t even really feel that wet, after a few minutes. When the credits started scrolling, Zack jumped up and turned to make his way upstairs, but Kelly headed him off. “Hang on there, Zack – I want to check your baby diaper. Come over here.” Chris raised his eyes at her comment, but then let them fall back to his phone. Zack shuffled over, eyes fixed on his feet. Kelly studied his diaper as though she were attempting prognosticate by reading tea leaves, and then she extended two fingers and gave it a poke at the upper left and the lower right of the front, before running a hand lightly over back of it. “I think you’re in good shape, Zack. I don’t think you’ve used a fraction of what these can hold. You should get a good night’s sleep and wake up dry and comfy like a big boy.” Zack was confused. “Can I… are you… can we change this?” “Bedtime diapers go on before dinner, and they come off after breakfast. There are no in-and-outs. We discussed this already. You’re going to be fine, Zack. And remember – don’t tamper with your Pampers!” With that, she reached behind him and gave him a gentle swat on the back of his diaper. Chris looked up in time to see that a tear had formed in the corner of his son’s right eye, and was preparing to trace a path down his reddened cheek, so he put his phone down and leaned forward in his chair. “Come on, son, you’re a big boy now. No need to get upset. This is all just temporary. Go get a good night’s sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning. Text me and let me know how you made out when you wake up – I’ll already be gone. That’s a good boy.” Chris stood up out of the chair, took a step towards Zack, and hugged him quickly around his shoulders, before sitting back down and picking up his phone. “Good night, son.” “And a dry night.” Kelly finished. Zack turned and made his way to the stairs, feeling the warm bulk of his diaper as he went. When he reached the upstairs hallway, he ran into Maddy, coming out of the washroom. She was wearing another pink nightdress. “That’s a pretty diaper, Zack. Did you pee in it yet?” “Shut up, Maddy.” 9 1 Link to comment
Pierry Louys Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 That was a good chapter I sensing Kelly wanting to baby Zack more and more , maybe she wants to fill the void since her don’t have children ! And zacks father don’t care what her do with Zack , since he don’t want to be bothered! Really want to Zack take an advantage from his situation and start a bond with Kelly since she gonna change and take care of him !! Link to comment
NoIllDL Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 @Little Sherri A fun read so far. My most picky comment: In Chapter 5, the Mexican restaurant's name should be Los Hombres, rather than Las Hombres (hombres is a plural masculine noun in Spanish). 1 Link to comment
Little Sherri Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 I actually think I typed Los Hombres at one point, because I did search that, Spanish not being my strong suit, but I don't think I saved the change. In any case, gracias! Link to comment
Babydoc49 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 On 2/9/2023 at 2:22 PM, Little Sherri said: don’t tamper with your Pampers! Haha! Love the story! Great job. 1 Link to comment
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