Shifting Sands - Chapter 63 - 04/27

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 19 - Marching Orders

Kelly pointed up the staircase and then addressed Zack, whose eyes were still fixed on the ceiling.

“I have half a mind to leave you just like that until your dad gets home, Zack, but that wouldn’t be a fair thing to do to him. He works hard and he deserves to be able to come home and relax at the end of the day. March yourself upstairs, and put your shirt in the laundry, and stand facing into a corner while I think about what I’m going to do with you.”

Zack turned, leaving his shorts in a heap on the floor, and sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Kelly shook her head. She wasn’t sure what, if anything, to say to Chris about the situation. Thankfully, she was going to have some time to think about it, because contrary to what she’d said to Zack, Chris was not just about to walk through the door. He’d texted and said that they were going out for drinks, and that he’d probably be home in the wee hours of the morning, and probably in a cab. Kelly went into the kitchen and fed Roofus a late dinner, patting him on the head when he scampered over.

You earned this, buddy.

Zack walked into his room and pushed the door softly shut. Alone, he was finally able to allow his emotions free range. Tears streamed down his face as he walked over to his closet and removed his shirt. He looked down at his sister’s underwear, and he wasn’t sure what to do with them. He wanted them to disappear. Forever, ideally. He briefly considered taking them off and throwing them into his diaper pail, but ignored that compulsion because he didn’t want to agitate Kelly any further.  

Apparently, she keeps a computerized inventory of all our clothes?

He looked at his dresser, and saw the Little Lambs diaper from earlier, folded in on itself, waiting for him. Kelly had taken the tabs off of the side he’d stepped out of, and put them back on their nonstick parking spots. He went over and picked it up, smelling baby powder as he did. Beside it was a purple pacifier. Zack stopped in his tracks.

This again. Jesus.

He decided to pretend he hadn’t seen it, and walked to the furthest corner in the room from his dresser, fixing his eyes on the point where the walls converged. He tried to ignore the coolness of the thin, damp material he was wearing.

The door swung open behind him. Kelly entered the room and wordlessly went to his dresser, walked over to his bed, and laid his diaper out. Zack traced her motions by the sound of her steps and the crinkling of the plastic. His nose almost touched the wall in front of him as he subconsciously tried to jam himself further into the corner.

He jumped a little when her voice pierced the silence.

“Take your panties off and get yourself situated to be diapered.”

Zack swallowed and turned, wondering if she was going to stand and watch him, but she was already heading towards the door.

Zack dropped the wet underwear to the floor, grateful to part ways with them, and crossed over to his bed. He positioned himself over the diaper and sat down on top of it before pulling the front panel forward. Because it had already been worn, it did not seem to want to spring back open, so Zack was able to put both hands behind his head, and put his feet together.

Hourglass position… just do what she wants.

He studied the popcorn stippling on the ceiling and worked to get his breathing under control. If Zack could have anything in the universe right now, he’d ask for a time machine so that he could go back and undo some of his decisions this evening. Going to the movie in a big puffy diaper wouldn’t have been ideal, but, in the dark, under the right clothes… he probably could have gotten away with it. He would have had to use his diaper at the theatre, but, that was notably preferable to wetting his pants.

Or wetting Maddy’s underpants.

“I’m ready,” he croaked. His door opened softly, and Zack closed his eyes tightly. He heard Kelly walk over, and felt her sit down on the edge of his bed. Then, she got up again, walked somewhere briefly, and returned. The silicone nipple of the pacifier was pressed up to his lips. He allowed it to intrude into his mouth. It sat, perched on his lips. He felt the front of his diaper being lifted, and he did not react, but his tongue finally pressed the teat into his palate in response, an almost involuntary reflex. He assumed Kelly had turned her eyes away, but was unwilling to risk a look to confirm it. A dusting of baby powder rained down, and then the diaper was resituated, and Kelly began applying its tapes for the second time that night. Bottom left, bottom right. Top left, top right. He straightened his legs in preparation for getting up off the bed, but Kelly’s hands grasped them, and he stopped his movement. He felt her thread something plasticky over his right ankle, and lifted his head. She was busily fitting the blue gingham plastic panties over his feet, before drawing them up to his knees. Then, she lifted both of his legs with one arm under his shins, and with the other hand, she somewhat awkwardly pulled the stretchy undergarment most of the way up his thighs, before dropping his legs, getting up off the bed, and saying “Stand up, Zack.”

Zack pivoted on his rear and dropped his legs off the edge of the bed, before standing up. He held his hands up at shoulder height, fists clenched, as Kelly tugged the waterproof cover up into place. Then she directed him to take a step forward with her hand on his back, so that she could pull the drawstrings through the locking mechanism until the waistband was snug. Zack stood still, looking at the floor, feeling the shield of the pacifier press lightly into his lips.

“There we go…” Kelly said, seemingly to herself.  She tied the ends of the drawstring into a bow. Then she addressed Zack.

“There are going to be some new rules and routines around here, my friend, because what happened tonight is NOT going to happen again. You’re going to need to rebuild a LOT of trust. Let’s do a little count, shall we? Let’s see… I trusted you at home by yourself for a few minutes so that you could go to a movie with your friend. And in return, you… Took your clothes off. Stole my keys. Took your snap-suit off. Took your diaper off. Hid them. Stole a pair of your sister’s panties, wet them, and your shorts, and then tried to conceal it by dumping pop into your lap. Then you lied to your friend and his mom, and parked your wet butt onto the seat in their car.”

Kelly held her hands up in the air and extended a finger for each instance. “Did I miss anything? Oh, right, and you refused to admit what you’d done or show me that you had panties on, until I said that I was going to tell your dad. Very disrespectful and shameful behaviour, Zack. I wouldn’t accept this from a three-year-old, and you’re eleven.”

“So..” She continued. “I’m going to brush your teeth for you. I still have to think through what to tell your dad, and what to tell your little sister, in particular. But in the meantime, I am going to need to be able to either see your diaper, or, you’re in your tamper pants, at ALL times when you’re in this house or the backyard. Do I make myself clear?”

Zack swallowed and his pacifier bobbed. He nodded faintly.

“Good. When you leave this house, you will ALWAYS be wearing tamper pants of some sort, is that clear? And they will have been locked by a parent.”

Zack stared at Kelly. She took it for a further nod, apparently.

“Good. And under NO circumstances will you borrow ANY of your sister’s underpants, or my keys, again. And I am going to be a lot more goddamn careful where I put my keys, believe me, little man. They aren’t leaving my sight. I’ve already put away all the other clickers, too, in case you get any ideas about finding another one. If anything like… THIS… every happens again, I am going to drive you to your father’s work, march you into his office in a diaper, and leave you there for him to deal with. I hope you don’t think I’m kidding, for your sake. Ask your sister about our jog yesterday. Which was, by the way, because she called you a baby. Which, I now have to say, she may not have been wrong about.”

Zacks cheeks reddened anew.  

“Now, you’re going to wash your wet panties and hang them up in the backyard.”

Zack nodded. Kelly pointed at the bundle of cotton in the middle of his floor, and he went over and picked them up. She turned and strode out of the room and toward the staircase. Zack followed.

He paused briefly as they passed the sidelight by the front door, terrified that someone might be walking by, or toward, the entrance, and then he picked up his pace. He looked around for Maddy… if she found out about this, everybody would know inside of a day, he was sure.

Maddy was parked on the couch, under a blanket, watching cartoons on the TV, with wireless headphones on.

Kelly walked into the kitchen and picked up a bottle of dish soap, before crossing over to the sliding door and wheeling it open. Zack stood in the middle of the kitchen, looking at the sink, confused.

“Tell me what you’re to do, Zack.”

“Huh?” he stammered around the pacifier.

“What are you going to do with your panties?”

“I’m going to wath Mathies panthies and hang them to dwy.”

“They’re your panties now, Zack. Try again.”

Zack swallowed hard. What the hell did she want?

“I’m going to wath… my panthies… and hand them to dwy.”

“Good. You can use the hose in the backyard. When you’ve rinsed them out THOROUGHLY, you can hang them on the line.”

Zack looked out into the late summer twilight with trepidation, not wanting to walk outside in just a diaper and frilly plastic panties, but the rapid approach of nightfall seemed like it offered at least some cover, so reluctantly, he stepped through the threshold.

As though having read his mind, Kelly slid the door shut behind him, and then threw on the floodlights that she used to discourage skunks when she put the dog outside late at night. The patio lit up like a prison yard, and Zack froze, mid-stride. He turned back towards the door, only to be met with the sound of the lock being engaged.

Maddy walked over to the sliding glass door and looked outside. She was amazed to see her brother standing in the middle of the patio, with a pacifier in his mouth, in plastic pants. Her hand went to the side of her pull-up, and suddenly, she felt a pang of sympathy for him.

“What’s Zack doin’ out there?” she asked.

“He has a mess to clean up,” Kelly answered. “Don’t open the door.”

Kelly walked away, and Maddy watched, perplexed, as Zack went over to the hose mounted on the corner of the house, turned his back to her, and started cleaning something small. Water ran off Zack’s hands and tears ran down his cheeks, as he rinsed and squeezed the ball of white cotton in his hands.

 

____

 

After what felt like hours, the lock on the back door clicked, and Kelly slid it partway open. Zack stepped through the threshold, grateful to be out of the glare of the patio lights, but, now he had to contend with the glare in Kelly’s eyes.

“Head up to your room and stand in your corner.”

Zack swallowed and bounded for the stairs. He jogged into his room and headed for the corner opposite the diaper pail again. He heard the sound of Kelly walking past his bedroom door a moment later, but didn’t look over.

Zack was beginning to wonder if she’d forgotten about him when he heard the door move on its hinges behind him.

“I had to look for a couple of minutes, but I knew I had exactly what I was looking for somewhere…” she said, seemingly to herself. Zack turned his head.

“You can turn around, Zack,” she said. He took a step out of the corner.

“I bought Maddy a pretty nightie when we did the summer shopping, but it’s just a bit small on her, so I was going to take it back for a larger size.”

Kelly held up what looked like a light purple t-shirt with both hands, with a pink fringe at the bottom and at the collar.

“Now I think I know what I can use it for. If you want to dress up like your sister, here’s your chance. Dress up like your sister.”

She threw the nightie across the room, which Zack was not expecting, so it struck him lightly in the chest and flopped to the floor. Fresh tears started streaming down his cheeks. He reached up and forcefully took the pacifier out of his mouth, dropping it to the floor in front of him.

“I DID NOT want to dress up like my sister,” he said in a choked strain. “I just didn’t want to wear a big friggen baby diaper out with my friend!”

“Yes, you preferred to wear Maddy’s panties, apparently. Is this the first time, Zack, or have there been others?”

He swallowed a sob and continued. “I chose the plainest thing of hers I could find!”

“Well, we’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Do you need help getting your nightie on?”

Zack looked at his feet with clenched hands at his sides.

“And put your pacifier BACK in your mouth. You are clearly incapable of controlling your emotions right now.”

Zack’s shoulders visibly sagged, and his hands unclenched. He simply had no idea how to respond to this situation. He was backed into a corner; Kelly seemed to have a checkmate. Very slowly, and with a lump building in his throat, Zack picked up the nightie and his pacifier. He jammed the silicone teat between his teeth, and then commenced trying to figure out which way the nightie was supposed to go on.

“Buttons to the front, Zack,” Kelly offered. “It goes on like a shirt.”

Zack pulled the purple garment over his head and then fed his arms into the sleeves slowly, enjoying having his face covered, however transiently. The nightdress was snug, but it fit. He tried to tug the bottom of it down as far as he could, but the pink fringe terminated just below his hips. It was indeed a bit small, even for Maddy.

“Very pretty. Now get into bed, no banket, and you stay there until I come back and get you.”

Kelly waited while Zack climbed onto his bed. She made her way to the door, started to walk out, then turned back, and with the door half open, continued her admonishments.

“I have to go now, before it gets too late to call Tanner’s mom and apologize for this ABSURD fiasco, and maybe offer to have her car cleaned or whatever we need to do, because you sat in it in pee-soaked pants like a toddler. But I’m going to tell her she doesn’t have to worry, Zack, because if she’s nice enough to ever take you anywhere again, I’m going to assure her that you will be wearing diapers.”

Kelly slammed the door shut and paused as she heard a muffled wail come from behind it. She smiled slightly, and headed back downstairs to find her phone. She realized she’d forgotten to brush his teeth.

Maybe later, after he’s had some time to think about what he’s done.

Kelly picked up her phone, paused and thought for a moment. She decided to manage communications with Chris first.

Kelly: Hi Babe, need to speak to you when you’re free

Chris: At dinner – what’s up?

Kelly: It’s about Zack. I think we need to change our approach a bit. He wet his pants tonight at a movie with Tanner, and wet the seat in Tanner’s car.

Chris: Jesus, what’s up with that kid? I guess he drank a bunch of pop and got distracted?

Kelly: I had asked him to wear a diaper because of the time he was coming home but he didn’t listen.

Chris: I can understand why he wouldn’t want to wear a diaper out with his friend, but having an accident must have been embarrassing. Is he okay?

Kelly paused to think.

Kelly: He’s pretty upset. I think having accidents is more embarrassing than wearing protection. I even bought him special shirts that snap over diapers to keep them concealed. I’m going to talk to Dr. Paige about it.

Chris: Good idea, whatever she thinks the best approach is, we should stick with it.

Kelly: Can you text Zack that? I think it would help if he heard it from you.

Chris: Sure.

Zack laid on his bed with the lights on, on top of the covers, the pacifier planted between his lips, cheeks flaming. He felt stupid, but he was afraid to take it out, because he knew Kelly would be coming back in at some point. His phone was on his bedside table. He heard it vibrate and picked it up. The facial recognition software couldn’t contend with the pacifier, so he took it out of his mouth for a moment, to unlock the phone. He saw that he had a text from his dad.

Dad: Zack, Kelly told me what happened at the movie. I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you okay?

Zack’s heart froze. What had Kelly told him? Not about wearing Maddy’s underwear, surely?

Did she tell him she put me to bed in a dress…?

Zack took a breath. He had to play this one straight and hope that his dad had not been appraised of his predicament.

Zack: Im ok

Dad: Glad to hear it. Listen, Kelly is going to talk to Dr. Paige about this. I want to know that she’s going to have your full cooperation moving forward. Are we in agreement?

Zack: ok

Dad: Great to hear it. I’m going to be working late tonight. Hopefully we can get a chance to chat before you head up to the cottage. Love you, big guy.

Zack: Luv U 2

He put the phone down beside him and resumed staring at the ceiling.

 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

Absolutely incredible chapter, your writing is excellent! I love the way the characters and their dialogue are written. I'm really looking forward to more!

[littlebopeeper]

Poor kids.  Maddie is going to be outed at school tomorrow, and Zach probably lost his best chance to make a cry for help when he didn't pick up on Tanner's mom's doubts in the car.  What a tragedy.  

[Dizzy Inhibition]

Yes! More Dr. Paige! Can’t wait!

[littlebabyjanner]

Gets better and better with every chapter. Can't wait to see how far Kelly takes the wardrobe change, whether it's kept to bedtime or if Zach is going to slowly or quickly find his whole wardrobe changes!

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 20 - Expanding the Circle

Kelly pulled up the text string with Debbie Thompson, Tanner’s mom, on her phone.

Kelly: Hi Debbie, I’m sorry about what happened in the car

Debbie: Hi Kelly. It didn’t happen in the car, it happened in the cinema. No harm done.

Kelly: I don’t think you have the full story. I talked to Zack afterwards. It turns out that he had a little accident in his pants, and he poured the pop on himself to cover it up.

Debbie: Oh, that’s very unfortunate, sorry to hear that. Zack must have been mortified.

Kelly: He was mortified, but also sneaky. I had asked him to wear protection but he decided not to.

Debbie: I see. Is this an issue for Zack?

Kelly: Zack has been wearing diapers to bed for most of his life, but lately he’s been having accidents from time to time. I’m working with his doctor on it.

Debbie: Poor guy. Is there some kind of treatment, or will he have to wear pull-ups?

Kelly: It’s mostly about behavioural therapy. But in the interim, he may have to be in diapers for a while. Pull-ups probably aren’t going to cut it. I will let you know what he’s wearing when he’s with you, just so we’re all on the same page.

Debbie: I won’t say anything to Tanner about it.

Kelly: It might be better if you do. He’s a good friend to Zack, and if he figures this out on his own, he might come to his own conclusions. It’s better if he knows that it’s for Zack’s own good.

Debbie: How awful for him, and for you. He’s lucky to have you. I know Chris works a lot.

Kelly: He does, and thank you for your kind words. We will beat this. I also wanted to ask, do I need to help you with having the seat cleaned in your car?

Debbie: Not at all. I had him sit on a plastic bag for the ride back.

Kelly: He was supposed to be sitting IN a plastic bag.

Debbie: I guess he was.

Kelly: Thanks again for your understanding.

Debbie: No problem. We really like Zack, he’s a good friend to Tanner. We’ll keep his secret, and he’s always welcome at our home.

Kelly: It’s great that he has somewhere he can go where everyone is on side, it will be less stressful for him. We should plan to get them together again soon.

Debbie: Absolutely

Kelly put her phone down, but then picked it up again because it binged almost immediately. She had an email from Dr. Paige’s website; her rush order had been packaged and would be ready for pickup tomorrow.

Incredible service.

Kelly headed back toward Zack’s room, slowing down as she approached, so as to be quiet, and then quickly swung the door open. Zack remained on his bed as she had left him.

“Come, Zack – let’s brush those teeth.”

Zack stood up and walked over towards her, looking down at his feet. She took him by the hand and led him to the washroom, reaching up to unlatch it. Zack’s eyes darted up and down the hallway. He desperately hoped that Maddy was in bed for the night and would not appear in time to witness either his attire, or, him having his teeth brushed like a toddler.

With some considerable effort, Kelly managed to pick him up under his arms and plunk him on the countertop beside the sink.

Jesus, she’s strong when she wants to be…

She plucked the pacifier from his mouth and gave it a rinse under the tap, then placed it next to him, and took his toothbrush from out of a cup. She rinsed it under water, placed a squirt of Maddy’s berry flavoured toothpaste on it, and then lifted it toward Zack’s mouth. Zack opened wide and closed his eyes.

Kelly began brushing his teeth, as Zack sat and tried to ignore the deeply strange sensation of having someone who wasn’t his dentist poking around in his mouth. He also wasn’t used to the fruity toothpaste; his preferred mint-flavoured product was in a drawer rather than in the cup, but Kelly had used what fell to hand. Eventually, the toothpaste started running down his chin and dripping onto the purple nightie.

“Spit in the sink, Zack.”

Zack leaned over the sink and spit. Kelly rinsed the toothbrush and then filled a cup with water and held it to Zack’s mouth. He took a sip of it, swished, and spit it out. Kelly took a washcloth, ran warm water on it, wrung it out, and wiped his face and the bodice of his nightie. She picked up the pacifier, but before she could put it into his mouth, Zack help up a hand with one extended finger, the gesture a plea for a moment to speak.  Desperation glimmered in his eyes.

“Kelly…. please…. I need to go to the bathroom.”

“That’s what your diaper is for, little man.”

“No, I mean… I need to go number two.”

Kelly pushed the pacifier between Zack’s lips.

“Well, little man, part of showing that you’re ready to use the potty like a big boy is having control over your functions. Maybe you should have thought of this while you were on your little excursion in your sister’s undies. In any case, your diaper is on for the night, I’m afraid. I’m not going downstairs and hunting for my keys. Like I said before, there are no in-and-out privileges with diapers. If you can wait until the morning, that’s fine. If not, that’s also fine. You can do anything you need to in your diapers, Zack. That’s what they’re for. The faster you get used to that, the better.”

Zack swallowed hard, and his gaze fell to his lap again. He slid off the counter before Kelly could attempt to help him, and shuffled back to his room, leaving the door open. He left his overhead light on, climbed onto his bed, and drew his knees up to his chest. Kelly stepped halfway through the door.

“Remember, Zack – you stay in that bed until I come and get you.”

She turned off the light and walked out of the room.

Zack held his legs, closed his eyes, and tried to forget about his predicament and just go to sleep, however, the heavy feeling in his stomach and periodic rumbles kept intruding on this consciousness. He tried to remember when he’d last used the toilet. It had to have been more than a day earlier, because he’d been changed out of last night’s diaper right before leaving for school this morning. He’d felt a vague need to go in the mid-afternoon, but by then he figured it could wait until he got home. Then, he’d been ambushed by Kelly and put straight back into a diaper, as soon as he got home. He probably should have asked at that point, but he was in shock and out of sorts. Then, his disastrous mission to change his underclothes had taken up all the time he had before Tanner’s mom arrived. Since then, he’d eaten a hotdog and a bag of popcorn.

Zack rolled over onto his back and sat up in bed. In the gloom, he could just make out the silence panties covering his diaper below his nightie, now rendered in shades of grey. He wondered if he could get out of them. Lifting the hem of his dress, he slipped his thumbs into the waistband of the panties, and he slid his thumbnails in so that they were between his diaper and the plasticky cover. He gave a tug. There was no give. They were snug, barely allowing his thumbs in. If he could somehow slide them down, then maybe he could extract an old diaper from the Diaper Genie, poop in it, roll it up, and put this diaper back on, saving him the indignity of having to actually go in his pants, and, having to stay like that for a while.

He swung his legs off the bed and stood up slowly, so that no creaking from his bed would alert Kelly that he had gotten up. He tried again to pull the gingham diaper cover down, but it would not move past his hips or over the bulk of his diaper. Next, he tried to see if he could work the entire set down, diaper and silence panties, but a great deal of effort only bought him about an inch of travel, which also suggested that if he got them off, he might never get them back on again.

Then what would Kelly do…?

Zack placed both hands on sides, sighed a deep sigh, and unconsciously took a couple of successive pulls on his pacifier. His shoulders fell and his eyes watered again. Slowly and methodically, he climbed into bed, this time, halfheartedly tugging the blankets up, before again drawing his knees upward. He tried to relax, but whenever he did, he felt motion from below, and he knew that it was only a matter of time. With resignation, he gave the slightest of pushes, and immediately felt some internal relief, as well as external pressure. There was no going back. Closing his eyes and clenching his teeth on the silicone teat in his mouth, he pushed again.

However, having quelled his intestinal discomfort, now he had some skin discomfort to contend with. He could feel that his diaper had contained the load, but, it was parked, hot and sticky, right where it had come from. Having something resting continually back there was not a common feeling, nor one that was easy to tune out. He tried extended his legs, and that helped some, allowing his diaper to tent a bit over the area, rather than being held in close contact. Rolling onto his back was probably going to push everything together again, so he opted to roll onto his stomach. He slid his hands up under his pillow, squeezed his eyes shut, and started suckling fiercely on his pacifier. Eventually, his fatigue overcame his discomfort, and he drifted into a sleep plagued by strange dreams, where he was trying to hide from groups of people, but nothing around him offered adequate concealment.

[Pierry Louys]

Poor Zack ! Gonna get diaper rash 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

Another incredible chapter!

What a chapter ending for Zack, excellent writing again!

[D503]

Great chapters. Poor Zack, what a traumatic series of events. Kelly is quite evil in her manipulations. Hopefully Tanner isn't cruel.

I wonder if Chris will find out about Zack's pooping incident - Kelly leaving out the bit about not letting him use toilet - and assume that he really does need diapers as pullups won't cut it. He might be very relieved to know theyre in "good" hands with Dr Paige. If Zack tries to set the record straight, perhaps Kelly might threaten to bring up the panties.

I also wonder what Chris will think of the Gingham pants - perhaps Kelly will explain they're just what was available, and they're not that girly, or perhaps that Zack has shown some resistance by removing his diaper and tamper pants are needed in the short term while he adjusts which is also agreed by Dr Paige.

[Cute_Kitten]

Locking Zack out of the house in just his diapers and forcing him to wash the panties out in the yard instead of the sink, turning the lights in to make him easier to see, telling his friend and the kid's mom, after she made Zack wear a girl's nightie and shit the door she smiled- that pretty much convinced me she doesn't give a rat's ass about the kids. She's enjoying her little power trip humiliating Zack. It's pushing into the realm of abuse- the locking him in the yard in just his diapers and forcing a nightie on him just for sheer power display to break his will. There's no pretense or justification that those actions are "for his own good" nor is it misguided good intentions. We have no insights into why Kelly does what she does, but her actions are escalating in intensity. 

To be clear, I'm not bashing this story. I'm simply pointing out what I observe. There are many ways this story could go and a lot of that depends on Kelly's future actions and how the kids respond to that. And how Chris does too- does he even care enough to get involved beyond the bare minimum or is he just happy to dump his kids on someone else so he doesn't have to parent them?

[Little Sherri]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Some of these questions are on the schedule to get answered, or at least touched on, in future chapters. Kelly's background is a fascinating topic for me as well. I feel like I've birthed something that has taken on a life of its own here, and that any of you could run off with it in another direction and do as well, or better, than I could, but I'll try and serve the story as well as I can. 

[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. 

[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.

[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. 

[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!