Shifting Sands - Chapter 63 - 04/27

[Little Sherri]

4 minutes ago, Babypants said:

Is this still another mystery awaiting resolution before story's end?

This is definitely something that I have on the plan as well. I'd love to run off in all sorts of directions, but I'm afraid I'll end up writing War and Peace, and it will be 1000 pages long. I could turn the lens to Maddy, for example, and her experience at school after the jog around the block in the stroller, as some have mused about, but I'm worried that people would lose their bearings in the story or get irritated that I ran off and wrote 60 pages that didn't tackle any of the themes I've been building so far. 

[Babypants]

1 hour ago, Little Sherri said:

This is definitely something that I have on the plan as well. I'd love to run off in all sorts of directions, but I'm afraid I'll end up writing War and Peace, and it will be 1000 pages long. I could turn the lens to Maddy, for example, and her experience at school after the jog around the block in the stroller, as some have mused about, but I'm worried that people would lose their bearings in the story or get irritated that I ran off and wrote 60 pages that didn't tackle any of the themes I've been building so far. 

It's a balancing act for sure.  And there's nothing wrong with introducing a thread into a story, and then leaving it dangling for a while (this is another way to sustain reader interest).  The trick is to tie off all of the threads in a story at the resolution.  If an important thread is still dangling at the end, it's generally because it is going to be yanked on in a sequel.  

[A_Pale_Spirit]

1 hour ago, Little Sherri said:

This is definitely something that I have on the plan as well. I'd love to run off in all sorts of directions, but I'm afraid I'll end up writing War and Peace, and it will be 1000 pages long. I could turn the lens to Maddy, for example, and her experience at school after the jog around the block in the stroller, as some have mused about, but I'm worried that people would lose their bearings in the story or get irritated that I ran off and wrote 60 pages that didn't tackle any of the themes I've been building so far. 

I for one would love a War and Peace-length version of this story lol.

All joking aside, I've always found longer, more fleshed-out stories to be far more engrossing and have far more impact, but as the author, you do know best how long to make your story.

Again, excellent work so far.

[Babypants]

1 hour ago, A_Pale_Spirit said:

I for one would love a War and Peace-length version of this story lol.

All joking aside, I've always found longer, more fleshed-out stories to be far more engrossing and have far more impact, but as the author, you do know best how long to make your story.

Again, excellent work so far.

Agree 100% that this story has the legs to keep going for a long time, but Little Sherri has a real life that just might get in the way!  In any event, to see how good this story really is, all we need remember is that it is a first effort.

What we are kicking around here is a structural problem.  This story started with two narrative POV characters (Zack, Kelly), and a limited number of peripherals (Chris, Dr. Paige, Maddie), to which a few more have been added along the way (Tanner and his mom).  But as the story has unfolded, Maddie has gradually ceased to be a peripheral character, and in 19 came dangerously close to becoming a third narrative POV.  She is now in a twilight zone, with an arc of her own.  Ah, but what to do with her?  Open up the story to give her more space?  Find a way to shut down her thread?  And where does this leave Dr. Paige?  She has been off stage for a long time; can she suddenly be given a larger role in the story without diluting the tension that stems from keeping the focus on Zack and Kelly?

This is the sort of problem that makes writing fiction a challenge, but when you overcome the problem, the pat that you give yourself on the back makes all the effort worthwhile.

[Little Sherri]

29 minutes ago, Babypants said:

What we are kicking around here is a structural problem. 

I'm also running into quite variable chapter lengths, primarily dictated by how much time I have on my hands to work on it. If it's a Tuesday evening and the family is out running around and I have a couple of hours, I might bang off a chapter that is several pages long, but then on another day, I'll have a half hour to give it over lunch, and it ends up being a two-pager. 

[Babypants]

48 minutes ago, Little Sherri said:

I'm also running into quite variable chapter lengths, primarily dictated by how much time I have on my hands to work on it. If it's a Tuesday evening and the family is out running around and I have a couple of hours, I might bang off a chapter that is several pages long, but then on another day, I'll have a half hour to give it over lunch, and it ends up being a two-pager. 

Actually, your story will seem more fresh if you mix up the chapter lengths.  The four basic combinations in fiction are setting long or short, and action long or short.  You can mix setting and action in a single chapter, but it's tricky because effectiveness normally hinges on foreshadowing.  For example, we've already been in the back yard with Zack as he plans his outing to the movies, so we are well positioned to appreciate his anxiety when the floodlights go on, leaving him no place to run or hide.

One way to combine setting and action in a single chapter is to focus on setting, but in the last sentence or two begin the action sequence, but leave it dangling.  This amounts to raising the curtain to give a reader a sneak peek at what is going to unfold in the next chapter.  Of course (smiles) the next chapter may pursue an unrelated story arc, which leaves the reader off balance.  Keep the reader guessing, and you keep the reader hooked.  

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 21 - Rise & Shine

“Zackie, wake up little princess. Come on, wakey wakey…”

Zack startled awake to Kelly’s sing-song voice. He’d expected to be tossing and turning for most of the night, but at some point, had evidently fallen into a deep sleep. He sat up in bed, and his pacifier rolled off his pillow and onto his mattress. Kelly picked it up and held it out for Zack to take from her, which, after a moment, he reluctantly did.

“There we go, good boy. Come, let’s get up, it’s been a busy morning already, and we have places to be, Zackie. I baked thirty cupcakes for Maddy’s class starting at four thirty this morning, and now we’re going to drive her into school. Get up and come downstairs. I’ve picked out a shirt for you.” Kelly held up a bundle of clothing.

With that, she breezed out of the room and went down the hall, probably to harass Maddy. Zack did a quick systems check, and quickly realized that not everything that had happened the night before had been a dream. He still had something bulky and sticky in the back of his diaper, and now he was wet as well. He got up off the bed, not sure what the next move was supposed to be. Kelly had brought clothing for him downstairs with her, but he needed a change first, surely?

He decided it was probably his best bet at this juncture to follow her instructions, so he got up and contemplated heading downstairs. However, there was the issue of the nightdress to consider… did Kelly want him walking around downstairs in his sister’s sleepwear? What would Maddy’s reaction to that be? Might she tell dad?

Probably.

Did he want that to happen?

Not sure. It might bring the current situation to a halt, but then he’d probably fly to Germany next week and I’d be back under Kelly’s thumb.

In the end, he decided to thread a line midway between the extremities of his options. He took off the stupid nightie, which was a bit of a struggle, because it was snug, but he kept his pacifier in, and headed down.

Maddy was standing at the bottom of the stairs, in a pink sundress, ready to go.

What time is it, anyway…?

“You’re still wearin’ your diaper,” she noted. Then she did a little dance on the spot and said, “I’m not!”

Kelly reappeared from upstairs with a new pull-up and a clean pacifier and put them on staircase, then addressed Maddy. “For when you get home.”

“Oh.”

Kelly eyed Zack with a mystifying facial expression, somewhere between enjoyment and irritation.

“You feel pretty enough in your own clothing, then?” she asked.

Maddy furrowed her brow. Zack said nothing.

Kelly reached over and took Zack’s pacifier from his mouth, and walked over to the kitchen, rinsed it off, and then returned with it affixed to a short lanyard that had pink and purple elephants on it, and a light blue clip.

“Look what I found while I was baking this morning!” She chirped. She held his shirt out for him, inviting him to place his arms through it, and then she pulled it down over his head. Next, she clipped the pacifier to his collar, pulled open the neck of his t-shirt, and dropped the rig inside, so that it sat on his chest like some kind of medal. That’s when Zack realized what was sitting on the table by the door, where he’d found Kelly’s keys yesterday: a large plastic baby bottle brimming with what looked like slightly yellowed milk. Kelly picked it up and held it out to him. He hesitantly extended a hand and took it from her grasp; it felt warm.

“You can take your breakfast with you in the car. We have to get your sister to school; it’s already ten minutes after eight.”

At least all the bus kids will already be gone.

Kelly motioned for Maddy and Zack to walk through the door, and Zack balked.

“Kelly… I don’t have pants on.”

“I think you’re fine, Zack. It’s warm out, and you have your plastic panties on – they look like cute little shorts.”

Maddy raised her eyebrows. “Like girls’ shorts, maybe.”

“I don’t think Zack will mind, will you, Zack…?”

Zack swallowed. Kelly put her hand on his lower back, and firmly directed him through the door.

Then, she ducked back into the kitchen and reemerged with a clear plastic box with a clear lid, and a large white leather backpack slung over her shoulder. The cupcakes. She handed the box to Maddy, and hit the lock button on the door. Zack stood, holding the baby bottle awkwardly in his right hand, while Maddy and Kelly walked over to her car. She popped the hatch and threw the white backpack inside, and then Maddy placed the cupcakes next to it, walked around and clambered into the back seat through the passenger door.

Zack looked both ways up the street. There didn’t seem to be anyone close by. Further up, a red SUV was backing out of a driveway.  Zack headed for the open car, almost at a sprint, grateful to reach the refuge of the interior, although he wasn’t looking forward to sitting down in the bucket-like rear seat.

As he lowered himself down, he felt the contents of his diaper shift and conform to the new pressure points. Kelly reached in around him and buckled his seatbelt, pausing to tug upward on the lacy waistband of his diaper cover, moving it up from under the belt. Then, she gave the bottle a tap on the side with one of her fingernails and looked him in the eyes.

“You can drink that yourself if you want, or I can feed it to you when we get back. Your call.”

Maddy watched from her seat, made a slight smirk, but said nothing. Kelly made note: her day spent in pull-ups seemed to have gotten her attention, and she was controlling her behaviour a bit better.

Zack hoisted the bottle, considered the nipple for a moment, and then put it into his mouth. The contents were chalky, warm, bland, and vaguely sweet.

Blech! Formula.

Suckling on the bottle was an unfamiliar sensation, and it produced very little flow. He also quickly realized that he had to tilt the bottle upward to get anything from it at all, as it had no internal straw. He considered his options for comfortable ways to do that, and eventually settled on slipping under his shoulder belt, and leaning over towards Maddy, uncomfortably torquing his trunk so that his hips stayed under the lap belt. He raised the bottle over his head and began drinking. Maddy looked down at him and gestured to hold the bottle for him, but he pulled it away from her. He was not ready for that.

Staring at the moonroof and at the underside of his sister’s chin, he could see mostly sky, streetlights, and the tops of trees going by through her window, as well as the cabs of large trucks. The tinted glass panel above him showed blue sky, and the occasional bridge. He realized that he’d never stared up through a moonroof before.

Zack suckled without enthusiasm. Generally, he would have found the idea of several ounces of warm milky fluid unappetizing, but the little spurts he was getting from the bottle were not objectionable, after a while. They had almost no flavour, and they were the same temperature as his mouth.

The car slowed rather suddenly, and then executed a hard right over a big bump, and Zack recognized that they had pulled into the driveway in front of the school. Cars were not supposed to drive up it during school hours, but apparently cupcake delivery trumped local ordinances. The car came to a stop, Kelly pulled up the parking brake handle with a zipping noise, and then she was out. Uncommonly, this time she tilted the driver’s seat forward, letting Maddy out that way.

Kelly looked down at him, laying sideways on the rear seat, and said “Finish your bottle and I’ll be right back.” The door thunked shut, and then the hatch popped open for a few seconds before closing as well. He heard the clicking of their footsteps receding toward the main entrance, and once he was sure they were out of sight, he risked sitting up slightly, gazing just over the top of the door panel, at the sidewalk outside the school. Most of the kids had already gone inside, and the busses were gone. Based on the fact that he was still wearing a poopy diaper from last night, Zack guessed that Kelly had signed him out of school for at least the morning, if not the day.

All of a sudden, he heard the bass rumble of a diesel idling low, and his head whipped around to the driveway entrance. A school bus, probably delayed, was turning into the driveway and heading towards the little silver Mini in which Zack was imprisoned, with a baby bottle. Not sure what to do, he leaned back down onto the seat, and pressed his face into the corner between the seat and the backrest, pushing in until it felt like he was using the leather crevice centered on his face as a snorkel. He hugged his bottle under his chest as the sound of the big engine drew up beside the car. He imagined rows of kids, all staring down into the Mini through the windows and the sunroof, looking at him jamming his face into the seating. Soon, they would swarm around the car for a better look.

Then, Zack became aware of a sensation, a coolness at the small of his back. With mounting terror, he began to suspect that in his twisted position, the lacy, blue gingham waistband of his silence panties had ridden down, and his diaper was showing above them. One hand shot out from under his chest, seeking the area like a guided missile, and sure enough, he found bare skin, and a soft, plasticky edge. He didn’t know which was worse, the giveaway white plastic of a diaper, or…. These Goddamn things. His hand found the edge of his t-shirt, and he pulled furiously down, feeling the collar pulling into the front of his throat. He was convinced it was too late. People were taking pictures, and they were being uploaded to social media. All he had to do was look up, and his identity, already suspected because of the familiar car, would be confirmed. And then they’d see the baby bottle he was lying on top of. And the pacifier clip.

Zack wears diapers, Zack wears diapers, Zack wears diapers, they’re going to chant.

Then, he heard the sound of one of the car doors opening, and his heart almost ripped itself from his chest.

They’re coming inside!!!!!!

He twisted further into the seat, trying unsuccessfully to jam the bottle into the gap between the backrest and the seat cushion. His face turned crimson, and he held his breath.

“What the hell are you doing back there, little man? Are you finished your baby bottle?”

It was Kelly. Surrounded by an army of his peers, surly. He lifted his head so that he could just barely see, without revealing too much of his face. The only face looking back at him was Kelly’s. He began to sit up, simultaneously jamming the bottle under Maddy’s booster seat, as he looked around. The bus that had passed him sat idling fifty feet up the driveway, and an organized line of kids was filing out of the school and onto the bus, past a teacher with a clipboard.

It's picking kids up for a field trip. Nobody was on it when it drove past.

Kelly stood with the driver’s door open, looking quizzically down at him.

“Are you quite alright?” She inquired, with what sounded like actual concern.

“Yeah.” He sighed, as he let out a breath.

“I saw you jam your bottle under Maddy’s seat. Nice try. Finish that up. Active suckling, please. No faking, no stopping.”

Zack took a last look around, then laid back down, extracted his bottle, and took a long pull on it.

“That’s a good baby,” she cooed with false tenderness.

Kelly put the car in gear, but instead of leaping out of the driveway with her usual jackrabbit starts, she cruised serenely past the loading school bus. The orange slab of the bus blocked his view of the kids lined up to get inside it, but there were already some kids onboard, and as their car cruised along beside it, a couple of pairs of eyes peered down at him through the moonroof. Zack sat bolt upright and jammed the bottle between his legs, but then realized that through the tinted glass panel, he could see them better than they could see him. Or so he hoped.

They’re in grade two or three anyway; they might know Maddy, but they won’t likely recognize me.

[littlebopeeper]

Does Zack's diaper cover contain the poop smell?  Kelly's car is really small, so it seems odd that neither Kelly nor Maddie appear to have caught a whiff.

[Alutheria]

Another chapter already? Man, you're spoiling us! The end of every chapter so far has only left me wanting more of this story. One of the best bits of fiction I've read on this site, and one that's sparked inspiration for some of my own ideas as well.

Zack's situation just gets worse and worse, though the writing gets better and better. I'm immensely curious to see the reappearance of Doctor Paige and the clinic, if only to see her reaction to Zack's current situation and whatever it is that Kelly placed an order for from them, and because its initial introduction from Zach's perspective of ignorance was so masterfully done.

I don't think there's much feedback I can give that hasn't been given already - I agree that the focus should probably stick with Zack, even if his sisters situation would be worthy of exploration on its own. Viewing this world and story through his eyes has been great so far. 

Looking forward to wherever you decide to take this story next.

 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

As always, another amazing chapter!

Your writing is top-notch (and I hate using that phrase lol), but incredible writing again!
I can't wait for more!

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 22 - Stopover

Zack found himself drifting off into sleepiness, lying sideways in the back of the car. He’d expected Kelly to say something by now, because he was out of position and not fully in the safety belt, but she did not comment. A small amount of formula rolled back and forth in the side of the bottle with the car’s motions, but most of it did not reach his palate as he suckled listlessly.

The car made a hard turn again, and then drove slowly before backing up. A parking lot. Zack sat up, holding his bottle low. They were parked in front of a pharmacy in a strip mall. On either side of the Mini stood towering SUV’s, seemingly unoccupied. Zack tilted the bottle back and drained the last few drops of milk from it, then extended it to Kelly when she flipped the front seat forward for him. She took it with her and put it into the hatch. Zack sat, staring at the open door, trying to envision what was supposed to happen next. Was she about to make him walk across a mall parking lot in these ridiculous panties? Kelly returned from behind the car, holding a black pair of Maddy’s legging shorts, which she held out for him.

Zack clambered out, careful to tug down his shirt, feeling a cool breeze passing over his legs at an uncomfortably high point. He felt the pacifier against his chest, creating a small, curious lump under the front of his shirt, and wondered if Kelly was going to try and make him put it into his mouth before they went in the store.

I’ll run out into the street if she does.

Kelly handed him the shorts, and he slid his feet through the legs, shoes still on, and pulled them up in perhaps the least time it had ever taken him to do so. They were snug, and betrayed the outline of his diaper, but they were still worlds better than nothing.

At least they’re black.

Kelly said nothing about the soother, leading him by one hand towards the pharmacy. When the glass door powered open, she led him inside. She made a beeline for the baby aisle, causing Zack to startle briefly, and almost pull his hand out of her grasp, but he realized that whatever she would do then would probably be worse, and create more of a scene, than just trailing along behind her. They walked right past boxes of diapers, and past the pull-ups. He recognized Maddy’s preferred brand, and his.

I never thought I’d miss wearing those things…

Next up were baby soaps, and shampoos, and powders, and creams. Finally, Kelly stopped, and considered what was arrayed on the shelf in front of her: baby wipes. She chose one from a major baby diaper brand, sniffed at the sealed lid, examined the price on the front of the shelf, and started walking towards the cashier, towing Zack by one hand behind her. He could feel the bulk of his diaper and its sticky contents being pressed against him by the form-fitting shorts. The big diaper had expanded to the point where it was forcing him to waddle slightly. Zack held onto Kelly’s hands and fixed his gaze on the white floor tiles passing beneath him, hoping that the other patrons would pay him no attention. However, he felt like there was a glowing neon sign, hovering above him, with an arrow pointing at his puffy rear.

At the counter, the cashier swiped the box, and plunked it into a bag. Kelly tapped her card, the machine beeped, and they were done, but then Kelly paused for a moment.

“Do you have an extra bag?”

“Sure.” The lady said, as she pulled one loose from the stack and handed it to Kelly. There was a sign beside the bag rack that said bags were ten cents, but apparently that only applied to ones they put things into. Kelly did not have to pay for the bag. She folded it, putting it into the bag with the wipes.

When they returned to the car, Kelly held the door open for Zack, who stepped through it and lowered himself into the back seat. Sitting down reminded him again of the soiled status of his baby pants. Kelly leaned in and buckled his seatbelt, this time making a scrunched nose face, and offering him a wink. She pulled the tether with his pacifier up out of his shirt, and dangled it in front of his face, until he took it and morosely put it between his lips. He slid down as far as he could in the seat, so that people walking or driving by wouldn’t see it.

Kelly whizzed out of the strip mall and started driving down a main street, but then she turned down a driveway and into a large park. Zack recognized the baseball diamonds on the other side of it, but at this time of day, nobody was around except a few dog walkers and cyclists. Kelly drove to the back of the empty parking lot, and backed in against a row of bushes, then put the car in park, and got out. She walked around and tipped the passenger seat forward, then leaned in and unbuckled Zack. He followed her out of the car, standing in the parking lot. His pacifier would be a distant speck to anyone driving or cycling by on the road, so he didn’t make an effort to remove or conceal it. He felt the wind tussle his hair, and heard the sound of a distant lawn tractor.

What the hell are we doing out here?

Kelly walked around to the back of the car, opened the hatch, and then leaned inside and rearranged some items. Zack was unsure exactly what was back there. Then, she leaned almost all the way into the trunk, and Zack saw the seatbacks of the rear seats fall toward the front, creating a somewhat flat floor, to extend the trunk space. Then she stood back a step and made a cheery ‘come here” gesture with her hand, like she was about to show him something amazing. He walked behind the car hesitantly. In the trunk, Kelly had laid out a sleeping bag, zipped up, and on top of that, in the center, she’d placed a mat with a plastic cover. It was white with pink bunnies on it. Next to it, she’d placed a folded Mighty Diggers diaper, a bottle of baby powder, and the wipes that they’d just picked up.

“Hop up in there and lie down, little man.”

Zack’s eyes opened wide and he spit out his pacifier, which then dangled from the collar of his shirt.

“Kelly, listen, no – let’s go home. Please. I’m fine. Let’s go back to the house.”

Kelly pointed at the trunk with a steady hand.

“Zack, we’re going to Dr. Paige’s office, and I’m not taking you in there with a poopy bum. So, either you’re getting changed now, or, I’m driving you to your dad’s office, and he can change you there. Your choice. Maybe that would be a good time to tell him a few more details about your little adventure at the movies, as well.”

Zack’s head fell, and his shoulders sagged. Hot tears once again collected in the corners of his eyes. Uncharacteristically, Kelly stepped forward, and placed her arms around Zack’s shoulders, giving him a quick hug.

“Shush, Zack, it’s okay. We’re going to get through this.” Then she placed her hands on Zack’s shoulders and gently turned him, so that he was facing away from her. She tugged his shorts low on his hips, and used the mag lock clicker on her keyring to allow her to loosen the draw strings on his silence panties, before sliding them down below hip level as well, and then she pulled both articles down to his knee level.

Zack felt the breeze and the sun on his upper thighs, and felt terribly exposed, standing in a parking lot with a heavy diaper on, out in the open, for the second time in less than an hour. Kelly had at least chosen their location well; people in cars passing back and forth on the road would have had a hard time discerning any details of what was transpiring between the two people standing behind the silver Mini with the open hatch. Still, he was wary of joggers or cyclists or dog walkers appearing in the parking lot, so he turned and sat down in the trunk of the car. His diaper made a squishing sound. Kelly stepped in front of him and lifted the pacifier from his shirt, placing it gently in his mouth, before saying in a soft voice, “Now lay back, baby. This will be quicker if we don’t have to fight about it. Hold your shirt up for me.”

Zack laid back, clenched his eyes shut, and pulled up the hem of his shirt. He concentrated on his pacifier, which, for once, provided some welcome distraction. Kelly began releasing the tabs on his diaper. He found himself again focused on the strange sensation of sunshine and wind on zones that were normally covered up, and then, the cool dampness of the wipes.

[Pierry Louys]

Great chapter 

[Dizzy Inhibition]

Does this mean that Kelly is seeing/wiping his diaper area? The whole “I will leave the room while you pull the diaper up” seemed like it couldn’t last, it’s way too much hassle for all involved.

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 23 - An Impromptu Meeting

Zack sat in the back of the Mini, feeling wind from Kelly’s open window blowing his air around. She didn’t say so, be he knew she was driving with the window open because the plastic bag on the seat next to him had a stink to it. He was amazed, in retrospect, how good a job his diaper and the plastic panties had done in containing the odor; he’d barely caught a whiff of it until everything was opened up. He no longer had the panties on because Kelly had judged that his skin needed to breath, so he was only wearing Maddy’s snug shorts over his new diaper. After she changed him, she’d just handed them to him, and rushed off to sanitize her hands, so he’d had to get up out of the car and then pull them on himself, casting glances at the distant park goers, hoping that none of them would direct a lingering stare his way before he got the shorts over his shoes and up his legs. None had.

They were going back to Dr. Paige’s office ‘to pick some things up’, as Kelly had put it. Zack sighed and focused on keeping the doorsills at eye level, so that nobody in passing cars would see his pacifier.

Not that it matters. None of them know me anyway.

After about twenty minutes, Kelly steered her car into the parking lot at the now-familiar medical professional building, snagging a spot close to the lobby entrance. She got out, tilted her seat forward, leaned in, and unbuckled Zack, before reaching over him and picking up the heavy, knotted white plastic bag from the seat beside him. When Zack leaned forward and clambered out of the back seat, his hand went to his lower back, where he determined that at least a few inches of his diaper stood above his shorts.

My shorts keep sliding down the damned plastic!

He pulled his t-shirt down as far as it would go while straightening up. Kelly handed him the heavy bag without comment, and pointed at a trash can on the concrete apron that lead to the front doors of the building. A kid a couple of years older than him was sitting on a skateboard leaning against it, fiddling with a phone. Zack’s mouth went dry, and he tried to drop his pacifier into the front of his shirt with as little motion as possible, hoping to evade both the attention of the kid, and, any possible feedback from Kelly.

Reaching the receptacle, Zack avoided eye contact as the bag landed with a notable heft. He was conscious that he was generating a more notable crunch-crunch-crunch soundtrack without the silence panties on, and that the legging shorts did little to disguise the outline of his bulky plastic underpants. Apparently, the “silence panties” did contribute some silence, although he wasn’t sure if the extra bulk and cutesy design were worth the tradeoff.

As they walked into the lobby, Kelly reached over and pulled his pacifier out of his shirt, but this time, she did not hold it in front of his face, leaving it to dangle. Zack’s cheeks reddened but he said nothing.

He’d expected them to angle in the direction of the elevators, but Kelly strode purposefully towards the pharmacy. Zack followed her in, as she lined up behind a guy who looked around his father’s age, standing at the counter talking to Mr. Burke. Two girls, both the same height, wearing white t-shirts with knee-length white skirts, stood next to him, one to his left and one to his right. Zack couldn’t see their faces, but judging by their heights, he thought they were maybe a couple of years older than him. It was hard to tell. Once again, he became conscious of the diaper outline that was likely visible through his shorts, and the swinging pacifier, and he turned his back towards the counter.

Suddenly, a shock of recognition coursed through Zack, and he risked another look at the girls. Maybe they weren’t wearing white t-shirts... he noted the zippers running up their backs, mostly concealed by a thin overhang of white cotton, and the slightly elongated collar profiles, each with a white plastic button at the back of both of their necks. They were wearing snap suits! Zack blushed in response to what he had deduced. The man was talking to Mr. Burke, and both girls were looking at their phones.

Zack felt someone touch the back of his shoulder, and nearly jumped. Ellen Chan from Dr. Paige’s office had come walking up beside them.

“Hi, Zack, hi Kelly – good to see you,” she said.

“Hi, Ellen. Say ‘hi’, Zack.”

“Hi.” Zack deadpanned.

“I love your paci tether, Zack!” She reached out and pinched it between her thumb and forefinger, as though it were made of the finest silk. Zack blushed.

She turned her eyes to Kelly. “I got your email. I was coming down to see if your order was ready, and also to say hi to Heather and Laurie.” She gestured toward the girls standing at the counter. “It’s a bit of good fortune to actually run into you while they’re here. I wonder if it might help Zack a bit if we did a quick group session with them. Have you got a few minutes?”

Kelly nodded. “Absolutely. We have nowhere to be for a couple of hours.”

Ellen put her hand on Zack’s shoulder again, but spoke to Kelly. “Let me just check in with them and see if they have a few minutes.”

She took a pace forward so that she was standing at the counter next to them, and Mr. Burke paused mid-sentence and looked over at her with a smile. “Hello, Mrs. Chan. What can I do for you?”

Ellen Chan looked from Mr. Burke, to the trio standing in front of him. “Mr. Burke, please don’t let me interrupt, but whenever you’re finished, I was going to ask Mr. Douglas if had had a few minutes for me.”

The man turned and smiled at Ellen. Both girls looked up from their phones with blank faces. “Hello, Mrs. Chan – how have you been?”

“Good, good, Mr. Douglas. I was wondering if you had a few extra minutes on your hands this morning?”

“For you, Mrs. Chan, absolutely. The girls just wanted to stop by and pick up a refills of their daytime diapers, and also look at some swim diapers. After this, we’re heading up to a cottage this afternoon, so we’re in no particular rush.”

Ellen smiled, and then stepped back and looked over at Kelly and Zack.

“Lucky girls, going up to a cottage! This is Zack and Kelly. Zack just started with us, less than a week ago, and he hasn’t done any group sessions yet. Heather and Laurie are pros at group now, of course. So I thought that maybe, if it wasn’t too much trouble, we could pull together a quick impromptu family session, just briefly, so that maybe Zack doesn’t feel quite so… isolated on this journey.”

The girls looked at Zack and didn’t blink.

Mr. Douglas looked back and forth between the two girls, then said “I think that would be fine. What do you girls think?” They both looked at him, one saying “Yes” and the other saying “Sure” at the same time. He turned back to the counter, where Mr. Burke had placed three large white bags.

“These are your two bags of size ten Animal Antics, and this is …” He patted the third bag, then continued: “Is a bag of size 8 Fishy Friends swim diapers. These have a lot more stretch to them so you can easily go a size smaller. They can be pulled on like a pull-up or opened and closed like a diaper.”

“They’ll probably put them on like diapers,” Mr. Douglas mused.

Mr. Burke reached under the counter and pulled a sample of the Fishy Friends out. To Zack it looked like a pull-up with a knockoff Finding Nemo themed print on it. Mr. Burke demonstrated that where the two stretchy side panels met, there was a nearly invisible hook-and-loop strip that ran the width of the panels. He opened one side of the diaper and then closed it again. Then he held the diaper up in the air and gave the back and the front a good pull in opposite directions. The side panels stretched but did not unfasten.

“Water does not affect the closure. And you can dry these in the sun and use them more than once, if they are clean.”

Mr. Douglas again looked at the girls, and then said, “Sounds good, please put them on my bill.”

Mr. Burke nodded, smiled, and walked away to help another customer. The man handed the bag of swim diapers to one girl, one of the Animal Antics bags to the other, and he carried the third.

“Lead the way, Mrs. Chan.”

 

Chapter 24 – Group Confidential

 

The elevator doors powered open silently, and Zack was again looking in through sparkling clean plate glass, at the expansive lobby of Dr. Paige’s office. Ellen Chan held the door open for them as they filed in, waved at the ladies sitting at the desk, and walked them over to Children’s Corner. There were no children playing inside today, and Mrs. Christine was not at the desk with her strange clipboard. They walked inside.

Mrs. Chan led them over to a large oval table, and invited them all to sit down. Zack was acutely aware of the crinkling noises coming from his thin shorts, in the quiet room. Kelly and Zack sat on one side, and the man and his daughters sat on the other. Mrs. Chan sat at the end. Zack could see right away that the two girls were either twins, or, they looked so much alike that everyone probably thought they were.

Mrs. Chan spoke. “Hi, everyone, thank you for agreeing to meet like this on such short notice. I’ll introduce everyone.” She looked over toward Zack and Kelly first. “This is Zack and his mother Kelly. Zack has been a patient here for about a week, and he hasn’t done any group meetings yet, or met anyone in any of our programs.”

Next, she looked over at the party on the other side of the table. “And these are Heather, Laurie, and Mr. Douglas.”

Mr. Douglas interrupted. “John.”

“Thank you, John. These are Heather, Laurie, and John. Heather and Laurie have been coming here for about eighteen months now, and they are veterans of our group sessions. They’ve also been to our picnics, and have even mentored some of our younger clients. John, is it okay if I give Zack and Kelly a bit of background on the girls’ journey?”

“Absolutely, Ellen, go ahead.”

“John brought Heather and Laurie in to see us a bit more than a year and a half ago. Heather was having escalating issues with nocturnal enuresis. Do you know what that is, Zack?”

Zack said nothing.

“Nocturnal enuresis is what you experience, Zack – it’s just a fancy term for wetting in the evenings or overnight.”

Zack looked down at the table in front of him. His eyes followed his pacifier tether down into the darkness below the table. Part of him wished he could climb down there.  

“Laurie didn’t have any wetting issues – yet – but both of them also suffered from difficulty focusing on tasks, and a general inattentiveness that was affecting other aspects of their lives. We concluded that some of their issues probably sprang from poor sleeping habits. So, John and his wife made the courageous decision to enroll both girls in our program, and I think that he’d agree with me that there has been some significant improvements since they first came walking through our door.”

John nodded enthusiastically. The girls both looked at their hands.

Mrs. Chan continued. “What I wanted to accomplish here, in a few minutes, is to give Zack a sense of what the future might hold for him, if he works hard and follows the program. Kelly let me know today that he might be craving… a bit more independence than he currently has. But these things come in good time. Heather, would you mind taking me through how you and Laurie manage your requirements, these days? You’re pretty independent now, aren’t you?”

The girl on the right looked over at her dad.

“Go on, honey.” He urged.

“Well, right now, Laurie and I get two Animal Antics per day, and one Little Lambs, which we keep in our backpacks. We can change them whenever we want to.”

Mrs. Chan nodded. “And how does it work with your snap-suits?”

John chimed in. “Their mother and I both have the clickers with us, but that was just so we could know the girls were managing it, once we stopped changing them all the time. Now, they can ask us anytime they want something opened. And if we’re going out for longer than maybe a couple of hours, we’ll leave a clicker with a neighbour of ours, an elderly lady who’s been an absolute gem, who can assist them if they need it. It’s really up to them how they work the program, though – we’ve said that they don’t have to wear the tamper-proof clothes anymore if they don’t want to.”

Mrs. Chan looked at Heather. “But you still prefer them?”

Laurie spoke first. “We might as well wait until these ones don’t fit or get worn out or whatever, then maybe we’ll get new ones that don’t lock.”

Heather shrugged. “I’m used to them.”

Kelly raised her hand, and Mrs. Chan looked over. “Yes, Kelly?”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you wear over the swim diapers?”

Laurie responded. “We can wear whatever we like. It depends on where we are. At the cottage, we’ll just wear a bathing suit top with them, but if we go to a beach, I like the sunsuits. Heather was a one-piece bathing suit.”

Zack cleared his throat. “Uh… why do they hafta wear swim diapers at all…?”

John interjected, but he addressed his response to Kelly, rather than Zack. “As Dr. Paige explained, it’s about consistency, and avoiding transitions, particularly early on, when going back and forth might cause anxiety, confusion, or conflict. We’ve found that it’s best for them to always be in some kind of diaper.”

Zack went back to looking at his lap. He wanted to reach back and make sure that his diaper was fully covered, but he didn’t want to draw attention to it. His hand found his pacifier under the table, and turned it back and forth.

Mrs. Chan continued. “So, you see, Zack, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, for good boys and girls who put in an honest effort. Do your best, and I’m sure things will work out your way, if you cooperate with the program. And, stay out of your sister’s things.”

Zack’s head shot up. The two girls directed quizzical looks at each other. Mrs. Chan gave Zack a wink. John’s face remained neutral, but Kelly cracked a thin smile.

“Well, John, Heather, Laurie, thank you very much for giving us a few minutes of your time, and for your candid relating of your experiences. I’m sure this has been a big help for Zack. Maybe he’ll see you in one of the group sessions this summer. I don’t want to keep you for another minute – have a great time at your cottage! Does anyone need their bums changed before they leave?”

Laurie and Heather both shook their heads.

John and the girls pushed back from the table, stood up, and filed out into the hallway. Zack remained frozen on the spot. Clearly, Kelly had told Mrs. Chan about what he’d been wearing when he went to the movie with Tanner.

Mrs. Chan came back from walking the trio to the door. “Does Zack need his pants freshened?”

Kelly smiled. “No, no, I just changed him in the car, thank you, though. Mr. Burke messaged me that my order is at the back door, so we can get going. Thank you very much for this, Mrs. Chan.”

“Anytime, Kelly – we’re always here for you and Zack.”

Zack crossed his arms on the table, leaned forward, and put his forehead down inside them. He no longer cared if his diaper was visible behind him. Kelly put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a pat, then stood up and headed toward the door. After a moment, she heard Zack’s chair slide back, and then the gentle crinkling sound of him following her.

[A_Pale_Spirit]

I love the new chapters!

I'm always looking forward to more of this story, excellent writing like always!

[007specialk]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:31 AM, Little Sherri said:

 

Love it wonder what awaits behind door number 3 is a crib, playpen, highchair or all three... ouch poor Zack.. I bet he wishes now he just wore the diaper to the movie...

[Alutheria]

You're on fire with these new chapters man. 

Definitely interesting seeing the world open up a bit with these new characters. Perhaps poor Zach won't feel quite so alone in his situation now. Misery loves company and all. And man, Dr. Paige must make a killing on selling those diaper top-ups. No wonder she's got such a nice clinic!

[little won]

Thank you for the story. I'm truly enjoying your writing.

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 25 – The Mystery Box

Zack was so emotionally drained from the day that his position on the ride home, slouched over against the door so that his pacifier was out of view, caused him to fall asleep. He woke up with Kelly leaning over him to unbuckle his seatbelt. She stood back so that he could get out of the car, and then wiped the drool from his cheek with her hand as he walked by. He went to bolt up to the front door so that he wouldn’t have to stand on the driveway any longer than necessary, but Kelly halted him in his tracks.

“Hang on, little man. This box is for you – you can carry it inside.”

Zack said nothing. A car came driving over the hill at the top of the road, so Zack turned his face away from the road to try to shield his pacifier from view. He pulled his t-shirt down at the back. Once the car had passed, he walked to the back of the car, and Kelly handed him an eighteen-inch by eighteen-inch, unmarked box. It was relatively heavy, but squat.

Not more diapers, anyway.

He stood on the porch holding it, while Kelly unlocked the front door, mentally imploring her to hurry up, so that he could disappear from the public eye. The keypad beeped as Kelly punched in the code, and then they stepped into the foyer. Kelly pointed at the kitchen table, so he carried it over and put it down. Next, she unclipped his pacifier from his shirt, causing him to put his hand up to take it out, but then she grasped the hem of his t-shirt, and started pulling it up, instead. Zack raised his hands and tilted his head back so that the tether rolled over the rising collar of his t-shirt, and fell against his chest. Then Kelly hooked her thumbs in the waistband of the snug shorts she’d put him in, and tugged them down in one motion.

This material does not resist sliding down.

He stepped out of the shorts, which Kelly picked up. She walked over to the stairs and dropped both items he’d been wearing on the bottom step, then went to the kitchen and came back with a knife. She pierced the packing tape holding the top of the box shut, and then opened the cardboard flaps.

Mercifully, he didn’t need to try on every item in the box, as he had last time; now, Kelly trusted their sizing guide. She pulled out two pairs of clear locking plastic panties, holding them briefly in the air in front of him. Then, a pair of white silence panties, two white snap-suits, then a white and a light blue sunsuit. Zack’s eyes bulged and his heart lurched when she extracted two pairs of plastic panties in light pink, but  she did not hold them up in front of him, instead putting them to the side. She rummaged inside the box and extracted a sealed plastic bag, and then three more, placing them on the table in a stack before taking the knife and slitting open the side of the top bag. To Zack, it looked like the bag contained folded bedding or something. 

Kelly extracted two squares of thick white material that were stitched around the edges, and then unfolded one of them and held it up in front of Zack before folding it back into a smaller square and placing it on the pile. Zack was mystified. Kelly saw the quizzical look on his face and spoke.

“They’re cloth diapers, sweetheart, for the cottage trip. At my sister’s place, you can wear your disposables, because they take their garbage to the dump. But when we go to my mother’s trailer, it’s deep in the woods. They try to reduce their trash output as much as possible, because they have to burn everything that they toss away that doesn’t compost, or, they have to drive it back into town with them. I don’t think we want to stand around the firepit while he tries to burn your plastic baby diapers every night.”

Zack studied the white cloth squares. He had no idea how they became diapers.

“On little babies, we’d fold these over to create layers before pinning them on, but they’ll fit on bigger babies if they’re left flat – we’ll just use a couple of them for absorbency.”

Kelly unfolded one of the white cloth squares and held the corners against Zack’s hips. “Yup, these will fit.”

Next, she reached back into the box, pulling out a cardboard blister package of safety pins with pink plastic heads. “Sorry, buddy, they were out of blue and white ones. You’re going to have to put up with pink pins. But I don’t think you’ll mind. Your sister is going to be wearing them as well, if it’s any consolation.”

Kelly gave him a wink. Next, she pulled what looked like puffy cotton mittens out of the box, in light blue.

“Here, give me your hands. Be happy I didn’t get the pink ones.”

Zack held his hands out in front of him, and Kelly slid one of the mittens on each. They didn’t have thumbs and it didn’t seem to matter which hand they went on. At his wrist, she pulled a perforated plastic strap through a clasp with one of the plastic buttons on it, like on the snap-suits, until it was snug, then she pressed down on the button before moving to the other hand and performing the same action.

“There you go, little man. Try and get those off.”

Zack held them up and looked at them, pacifier strap hanging limply as he eyed them curiously. He tried to use one hand to pull the mitten off the other, but he realized that inside the cotton was a layer of thick plastic that was hard to bend. He could not form a grip. Next, he tried pinning one mitten against his belly with the other mitten, and then pulling his hand out, but the wrist closures were too snug. Finally, he dropped his hands to his sides and looked at Kelly from behind his pacifier.

“Those are tamper mitts, my sneaky friend. From now on, if you’re not wearing tamper-proof clothes, you’ll be wearing those. Try and get your diaper off now.”

Zack looked down at his diaper but didn’t motion to attempt to remove it.

“That’s it for the fashion show, little man. Based on how sleepy you were in the car, I think it’s nap time. Head on up to your room and get into bed. I’ll come and get you up in a bit for your bottle.”

Kelly reached up in front of his face and unfastened the dangling tether strap from his pacifier. “That’ll be a bit more comfortable, I’d imagine.” She said. She gave him a light swat on the seat of his diaper, then turned and walked into the kitchen, essentially dismissing him. Zack walked away, slowly making his way up the stairs to his room.

His bedroom door was open. Once he got inside, he absentmindedly pushed it shut. Only once it had latched shut did he consider whether or not he still had it within his power to open it again. He tried squeezing the doorknob between his two hands and turning it, but the light blue cotton exterior fabric had no grip to it, and slid around the knob. If he really pressed his hands together, he thought he might be able to turn it far enough to open the door, although he’d probably have to rotate his upper body to do it. He decided that for now, it wasn’t worth the noise he might make. He was tired of Kelly, and, despite the fact that it was only late morning, he was tired of the day as a whole. He walked over to his bed and flopped down on top of the covers, pressing his face into his pillow, which only served to cause the shield from the soother to tickle the base of his nose. He turned his face to the side, concentrated on sucking the smooth silicon nipple, and quickly fell asleep.

Sometime later, Kelly tiptoed into Zack’s room, hoping to catch him unaware. That turned out to be a simple mission, as Zack was passed out on top of his covers, gloved hands under his head, breath whistling lightly around his pacifier. She placed a hand on his shoulder and rocked his placid form gently back and forth. Zack stirred and opened his eyes. He lifted his head and went to wipe his eyes with his right hand, then realized he was still wearing the mitts.

“Ready for lunch, little man?”

Zack looked at his bedside clock, nodded, and got up out of bed. He realized that his diaper had a bit more heft to it than when he’d gone to bed, but it still felt mostly dry at the back. He didn’t even make a gesture towards getting dressed, instead just following Kelly downstairs. He stopped, however, when she walked toward the sliding door, and rolled it open before stepping through.

“Whaf?” He said around the soother.

Kelly waived her hand around in a circle. “None of these people are home, Zack, and, all the upper windows are on bedrooms. Do you see one pair of blinds or curtains open? Because I don’t. And anyway, you’re going to have to start getting over yourself. You’d be surprised how little concern people have about what you’re wearing at any given moment, my friend. Nobody around here cares that you’re back in diapers.”

Zack stuck his head through the door and looked around. All of the windows were indeed covered, and this was a bedroom community. The odds were that Kelly was right about most of the rooms being vacant during the day. However, he was pretty sure she was wrong about one thing she’d said. He knew some of the kids that occupied some of those bedrooms went to his school. And he knew that they would most certainly be very interested if they saw him in a big toddler diaper. He’d probably break the internet. They’d have to put his phone in a bucket of water to cool it down.

He remained standing on the threshold, considering his predicament. Kelly had set out a plastic bowl of what looked like macaroni and cheese, and his milk bottle from the car had been refilled. Maddy’s bib from yesterday was waiting next to his bowl. But Kelly had opened the umbrella on the patio table, which probably blocked the sightlines from at least some of the windows. Zack stepped down onto the concrete patio. He felt the sun warming his shoulders. Hesitantly, he took another step. The sun began warming his legs. The air was still.

Zack sat down on the chair in front of the purple plastic bowl full of bright orange pasta. Kelly picked up Maddy’s bib and fastened it around his neck, and then removed his pacifier, putting it next to the umbrella pole in the middle of the table.

Zack slid his chair in toward the table as far as he could, figuring that anyone who might look out one of the windows flanking the backyard wouldn’t see much of his diaper.

Kelly picked up the matching plastic spoon that she had placed next to the bowl, and started spooning the macaroni into Zack’s mouth. The pasta was bland but inoffensive, and Zack was hungry, so he quickly finished the bowl, matching his chewing speed to Kelly’s rapid spooning.

When the bowl was empty, she wiped his face with the bib. Then, Kelly picked up the bottle she’d placed on the table and carried it over to a lounger on the edge of the patio that had another umbrella over it, her preferred reading chair. She sat down on the edge of it and then invited Zack over.

“Come, Zack. It’ll be easier for you to finish your bottle if you’re lying back.”

Zack pushed his chair back, stood up, and quickly darted between umbrellas, hoping that nobody in any of the neighbouring homes were watching. He sat down on the lounger and then swung his feet up onto it and leaned against its reclined backrest. Kelly pressed the bottle’s nipple to his lips, and he reluctantly latched onto it. He went to reach for the bottle, planning to trap it between his tamper mitts, but Kelly said, “I’ve got it, Zack.” His hands fell to his sides and he fell into a rhythm. Minute spurts of warm milk hit the back of his tongue, compelling him to swallow.

“You know, Zack, part of this process involves us building a batter relationship. You have to learn to trust and work with me, and I have to learn to trust and care for you. We didn’t have much of a bond before, and Dr. Paige thinks that might have been part of our problem. I didn’t know you when you were little, and we didn’t have these bonding moments to build that trust.”  She tilted the bottle a little higher.

“These nursing sessions are part of us building that trust and that relationship. Keep sucking, Zackie. Good boy. I’m thinking that I’m going to keep you and Maddy out of school tomorrow, and we’ll head up to the cottage a little early, to beat the traffic. It’s the last day, so you’re not going to be doing much, anyway, I’d imagine. Unless you want to go and say goodbye to some of your friends?”

Zack shook his head, causing the bottle to pivot in Kelly’s hand. Dread had been slowly building in him, as he imagined what tomorrow was going to be like, trying to navigate through the last day of school without anyone noticing that he was wearing a big diaper, which, he assumed, was how Kelly was going to send him. Skipping the day was a mercy. The bottle gurgled as he sucked the last drops out of it, and Kelly put it aside, and then again used his bib to wipe his face. She walked over to the table and fetched his pacifier, before putting it straight into his mouth.

“Good boy.” She said, as she checked the snugness of the straps on his mitts. “You play outside for a while, and I’m going to go into the house and pack for a bit. One more thing – say ‘Thank you, mommy’ for me, Zack.”

Zack shook his head.

“That’s fine. You can spend the afternoon in pink plastic panties, then. I’ll get them.”

Kelly moved as though she was going to stand up.

“Sank yew mommy.” Zack whispered around his soother. Wobbly tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

“Good baby. Enjoy the sun.”

She got up, walked in through the patio door, and slid it shut. Zack heard the snicking sound of the lock. He got up and walked over to a bare section of fence between stands of shrubbery. Sitting on the grass and leaning back against the fence, he looked around. It seemed to be the spot in the yard that was best shielded from view. He felt the rough wood against his back, and the tickly grass against the back of his thighs, and wondered how long he’d be sitting there.

Zack studied the front of his diaper, the yellow excavator partially obscured by the white tapes that Kelly had carefully stretched over his hips. The wetness indicator dashes were turning from yellow, to either green or blue, down the center. He put his elbows on his knees and pressed his face into his mitts, with their soft covers and strangely stiff interiors.

 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

Another excellent chapter!

[Cute_Kitten]

I think Kelly is pressing ever closer to full blown stepmonster. There's some moments like when she wipes Zack's tears she almost seems to care- or she wants to care but maybe doesn't know how. Then there she is with putting him outside in his diapers. Perhaps she wants him to get used to them, but that's a cold and callous way to go about it. She doesn't care about the consequences of other kids seeing him. It's things like that that put her in stepmonster territory. She's trying to force a bond with Zack like the program says to do, but your can't force those kind of relationships. Unless she's aiming for Stockholm Syndrome. 

[Little Sherri]

59 minutes ago, Cute_Kitten said:

There's some moments like when she wipes Zack's tears she almost seems to care- or she wants to care but maybe doesn't know how.

I'm going to explore Kelly's background a bit in some upcoming chapters. Good observation and thanks for your feedback. 

[Cute_Kitten]

23 minutes ago, Little Sherri said:

I'm going to explore Kelly's background a bit in some upcoming chapters. Good observation and thanks for your feedback. 

Learning about Kelly's background will shed some light on her motivations and perhaps answer some questions about her character. 

[Babypants]

Kelly: "You have to learn to trust and work with me, and I have to learn to trust and care for you."

Then: "say 'thank you mommy' for me, Zack."  When he refuses, we get: "That's fine.  You can spend the afternoon in pink plastic panties, then.  I'll get them."

Cognitive dissonance?  Sadism?  Cute Kitten is right.  This is Kelly's story, not Zack's.  He is just a foil.  The mystery will only be cleared up when you give us her history and motivation.

One thing about Dr. Paige.  Her office has a lot of square footage, and at least three staff members.  This is far removed from the offices of the psychiatrists with whom I have collaborated over the years on various academic projects.  She seems to be making a fortune here.  Is she manufacturing the diapers and restraints that she's selling to people like Kelly?  Getting a percentage kickback from an outside manufacturer?  All of the details that you have provided, and you've done a first class job on Paige's office, suggests to me that she is running a very profitable con.  

[Little Sherri]

3 hours ago, Babypants said:

One thing about Dr. Paige.  Her office has a lot of square footage, and at least three staff members.  This is far removed from the offices of the psychiatrists with whom I have collaborated over the years on various academic projects.  She seems to be making a fortune here. 

This is true. I have a friend who is a child psychologist, and her office is nice enough, but it's basically two rooms, a waiting area the size of an average living room, and the office where she works. She has one receptionist/secretary.