Shifting Sands - Chapter 68 - 01/25

[Tracey]

Twice tonight she could have found Zach if she had not been more observant and not rushing about like a mad woman. The cop buying diapers should also have been a alarm bell for her to investigate, when she eventually finds him she is definitely going to be surprised by the fit of new diapers he is wearing. It also looks like he is in for a surprise, unless she is intending to take little Maddie down a peg or two as well.

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 64 – Changing Times

Mrs. Katrina went through the contents of the boxes on the floor of the large, closet-like cabinet, but she could not come up with anything that looked like it would easily slide over the boy’s large plastic cast contraption.

And we’ll need access to his diaper in any case – I can see why he was in the outfit with the snaps.

But the romper, or whatever it was, was soiled and damaged – he needed to wear something else.

Zack half stood, leaning on his scooter behind her, trying to look over her shoulder occasionally, but also trying to mostly keep his gaze on his scooter or the floor. He felt exposed, wearing the just giant hospital diaper, surrounded by police officers, going about their business. It reminded him of being in the emergency room again, being examined by a raft of medical professionals, wearing just a soggy diaper.

That one was soggy because I’d been swimming in it. This one is just… soggy.

He sighed and looked down along his tummy. The front of his diaper was closer to his nipples than it was to his navel. The white plastic was stretched taut by the blue-tipped upper tabs that nearly met in the middle of the it. A narrow band of light green showed at the edge, where it had folded down by a fraction of an inch in response to him leaning on the handlebar of his scooter. He could feel a corresponding corrugated line of plastic running across his bare back, and he shivered involuntarily.

I hope that they find me something better than this to wear.

The social worker was getting tired of bending over into a cabinet – it was starting to strain her lower back. With a flourish, she pulled out a longish light blue tank top, holding it up in front of her. She realized it was likely a coverup for the beach or beside a swimming pool, but it could serve to give the child a little coverage, without having to be pulled up over his injured leg, or wrestled with during his diaper changes. She turned it around, and then frowned… the front of it had characters from a children’s TV show on it that, she knew, was aimed at a younger audience. There was a princess in a purple dress, and a tiara, holding the reigns of a horse, but at least there was also a princely character standing on the other side of the horse, wearing a green waistcoat, although both of them looked like they were six.

She turned towards Zack. “Let’s see if this fits on you, buddy. I know it’s probably not to your tastes, but at least it goes down past your waist, and it’s blue.”

Zack barely raised his eyebrows as he lifted his arms for the lady. Wearing anything was better than wearing nothing. And the way his luck was going today, the outcome could have been worse. He thought about the nightie he’d been put in up at the trailer, and shuddered.

“It’s fine,” he whispered. Mrs. Katrina unrolled the light cotton fabric once it was past his head, and then she pulled the hem down as far as it would go. It reached the top of his thighs, covering the front of his diaper, although some white plastic remained exposed behind him. But still, it was an improvement. She reached into the box again and came back with a light purple hoodie that zippered up at the front. It kind of worked with the coverup, in that the tone of the colours matched. It looked like it would fit him, if snuggly.

Mrs. Katrina blew a breath out between pursed lips. He needed something to wear outdoors over the sleeveless top. She folded it without showing it to him, and tucked in under one arm, then quickly pushed the boxes back into he cabinet as far as they would go, and closed the door.

Back in the interview room, Zack drank a bit more of his orange juice while Mrs. Katrina typed something on her phone. Then, there was a tap on the door, which was resting in a closed position, but not latched. Mrs. Katrina pulled the door open, allowing Officer Riley admittance to the room.

The officer held the package of diapers aloft. “I managed to find these at the pharmacy – they had them behind the counter. They’re called Run N’ Play, not Roll N’ Play, but I figured they’d work for you. They’re size for up to eighty-five pounds – I assume you probably don’t weigh much more than that, Adam.”

Adam raised his eyes but made no expression. He scanned the package she was holding, his eyes surveying the two designs – a yellow rubber ducky, or, the animal print.

They look like baby diapers. I think these are actually the ones Kelly was showing me in the car, the new ones from that doctor’s office.

He raised his eyebrows slightly. At least they’re not enormous.

Mrs. Katrina did a semi-squat and put her forearms under Zack’s arms from behind, in preparation for lifting him off of the scooter. Officer Riley stepped around her and put her hand on the scooter to steady it, and then Zack found himself levitating and being placed onto the table that was affixed to the wall. He slid himself onto it to assist the lady, who was grunting with the effort.

Officer Riley rolled the scooter out of the way, and then the social worker put a gentle hand on Zack’s chest, and another one behind his head, leaning him back so that he was in a prone position on the desk, with his legs hanging over the edge. She took the purple sweatshirt and folded it into a square, before tucking it behind his head. He looked up at the yellowing and stained drop-ceiling above him, and fixated on a sprinkler head that protruded through it, as the police officer rolled the hem of this shirt up until it was almost under his chin, in order to uncover the oversized diaper underneath it.

Mrs. Katrina tore along a perforated line on the top of the bag of diapers the officer had found, extracting one of the rubber ducky ones. She thought about asking if Adam had a preference, but then changed her mind. He’d be in all of them, sooner or later, so there was no point opening up an avenue for debate.

With swift, efficient motions, Officer Riley ripped open the upper and lower tabs on the child’s outer diaper. Some of the cover material tore away with the tabs, so she rolled the diaper into a bundle as she pulled it out from underneath him, even though it was mostly dry. There was a damp spot in the rear of the larger diaper, but evidently the smaller one that he was wearing inside it had shouldered most of the workload.

She was slightly surprised to note how swollen the toddler diaper had become – the front of it was yawning open, and the tabs, which were barley at the edges of the diaper, looked strained. The core of it was almost cylindrical between his legs, and everything around the lion cub printed on the front was now of a yellow hue. There was a slightly stronger pee smell present now, but it still wasn’t very strong.

“You should write a testimonial for Huggies, my friend, because I think this little diaper went above and beyond the call of duty today. But it’s time to get this one off – I’m sure you must be tired of being wet for so long. Are you okay if we open it up?”

Zack took his eyes off the ceiling and found the stern, kind face of the police officer. Blushing heavily, he nodded, and then he kept his eyes on hers, looking for signs of disgust or disappointment, but he saw only kindness and concern, as she pulled back the tabs and then slid the sodden disposable out from under him, leaving his back and bottom in contact with the cold, hard desk. He shuddered involuntarily.

The officer deftly bundled up the diaper, securing it into a ball with its tabs, before putting it on top of the outer diaper. Then, she changed her mind, and ended up wrapping the inner diaper in the outer diaper, before depositing both into a waste basket on the floor in the corner of the room.

“The cleaners are going to be looking for blood when they find this,” she said to the room.

The social worker moved in next, unfolding the new diaper as she stepped up to Zack.

“This looks like it’s much better suited to what you need, little guy,” she said, then paused, before clearing her throat. “I don’t suppose you bought any diaper cream at the pharmacy, officer? It looks like he has some diaper rash.”

The officer came over and had a look, partially lifting his uninjured leg with her hand at his ankle. There was indeed two patches of skin between his legs that were pink, with raised, irregular edges. Furrowing her brow, she looked at the social worker, then said, “Give me a moment.”

She walked out of the interview room, leaving the door sitting partially open. Zack blushed harder, as the social worker scooped up his legs under the knees with one arm, bending his waist up like he was doing leg lifts, before sliding the back of the new diaper underneath his rear, and then laying him down on top of it.

She reached between his legs and pulled the front up, so that it was lying on his tummy, where it went just past his belly button, rather than up to his chest. She kept one hand on top of the diaper.

“We’ll pause here for a moment, Adam – I think officer Riley has gone looking for some diaper cream.”

A moment later, two police officers walked up the hall and glanced through the open door, before quickly looking away. Zack made momentary eye contact with one of them, a tall, older man with grey hair and a mustache. He turned his head away from the door and now studied the wall off to his left.

A couple of minutes past with agonizing slowness, and then the female officer breezed back into the room.

“I remembered that one of our desk sergeants had just come back from mat leave, so I thought she might have something in her purse that we could use, but she did me one better, and pulled her diaper bag from her car, so I have diaper cream, and I have baby powder.”

“And,” she said, with a slight note of humour in her voice, “I have some gloves I extracted from the first aid kit. Katrina, do you want me to…” She let her voice trail off, but the tone suggested that she hoped that Mrs. Katrina did not want her to do whatever it was that she didn’t finish saying.

“No, I’ve got it. I’m sure you have things to do, Officer Riley. Thank you very much for your help with our young friend here. This is my situation now. Do you want to thank the officer for being so kind to you, Adam?”

Zack, at barely above a whisper, said one word. “Thanks.”

“It was nice to meet you Adam, and we may be talking again, if I can figure out if someone is looking for your, or what, but in the meantime, be a good boy for Mrs. Katrina, okay? And don’t be afraid to tell her anything you want to. You would be doing both of us a big favour, if you could tell us a bit more about yourself. I’m sure someone, somewhere, is very worried about you.”

With that, the officer left the room, and Mrs. Katrina pulled a blue medical glove on one hand, before opening the tin of diaper cream with the other. She applied it gingerly at first, but then with a heavier hand, because the rash under the child looked irritated. She wanted to bring it to a halt. She finished with a generous sprinkling of baby powder, and then she stripped the glove off and tossed it into the receptacle, before once again drawing up the front of the diaper, and then snuggly fastening the single stretchy tabs on either side, one at a time. They came to just inside his hips, where they left the rubber ducky unobscured.

Zack felt the diaper close, and with that, a bit of relief. At least he wasn’t completely exposed anymore. Opening and closing his legs slightly, he immediately ascertained that the new diaper fit him better than either of the previous ones had, and that it was soft and warm and not excessively bulky. It was also fairly muted, not really making a sound. It would produce a soft crunching noise if he moved notably, such as when he sat up, with the help of a hand behind his head from the social worker, but the cacophony of crunches and crinkles that had accompanied his every motion up to now were gone. As he slid down off of the table and gingerly put some weight on his casted leg, he could feel that the diaper flexed and moved with him.

For once, the description on the packaging seems to be accurate. This feels like a larger version of the baby diaper that lady gave me.

Zack took a cautious step forward, feeling the soft material flex between his legs and the stretchy side panels conform to his waist. He reached down and lifted the hem of his coverup, which had fallen down to his waist when he got up off of the table, and looked at his diaper, following the yellow dashes of the wetness indicator down to where the diaper folded and disappeared underneath him. It’s not bunching up too much.

He smoothed the fabric down as best he could, achieving total coverage of his diaper at the front. He did not know what the situation was out back, but felt that most of the diaper was probably covered.

Mrs. Katrina put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hang on there, my friend – let me get your scooter. I don’t want to be taking you to the hospital tonight, because you’ve damaged your leg any further.”

She pulled his scooter over to him, and he positioned himself on it, enjoying the feeling of being warm and dry, at least for a little while. A soft baby powder scent hung in the room as they turned out the lights and walked towards the main office, where several people wearing uniforms were working at desks.

“Wa… wait…”, Zack said in a low voice. The social worker stopped and looked down at him. He was looking back over his shoulder at the interview room. Inside his head, a battle was raging. Part of him wanted to walk away and leave the pacifier and the romper way behind him. But he kept thinking about what might happen if Kelly somehow managed to track him down.

“M.. my… paci…” the words died in his mouth. He took a breath and looked at the floor and spat out what he was trying to say. “My pacifier is in my romper.”

“Oh…., okay, sorry, let me go get it for you – we probably shouldn’t leave your old clothes lying around in any case. Is it okay if I throw out the romper after I get your… pacifier?”

Zack nodded solemnly. Mrs. Katrina walked back into the interview room, happy to note that it hadn’t locked behind them. She flicked the lights on and picked up the torn garment, flipping it over in her hands until she found the tether clipped to the inside of the collar, and then she used it to extract the purple soother from inside the material. Finished, she tossed the damaged romper into the trash can, on top of the folded diapers, flicked the light off again, and walked back out to Zack.

“Do you want your paci in your basket, or on your new shirt?”

“Basket…” Zack whispered.

Mrs. Katrina placed it in his basket, and then she guided him down the hall and into the main office.

“To whom do I owe a thanks for these baby products…?” she asked the room. A lady sitting at a desk in the middle of the room raised her hand. She looked a bit younger than Katrina, but older than Officer Riley.

Mrs. Katrina walked towards her, trailing Zack behind her with one hand, and carrying his bag of diapers with the other. The lady looked at Zack, who was just about at eye level with her from her seated position.

“Did they get your bum tidied up, little man?”

Zack nodded, blushing deeply once again.

Mrs. Katrina placed the baby powder and the diaper cream on the desk. The lady looked up at her. “Do you think he’ll be needing them again?”

The social worker squinted in thought. “Well, he will need to be changed again, and he does have a bit of a diaper rash going on – I think he wasn’t changed often enough.” She turned her gaze towards Zack. “You’ve had a busy day, haven’t you?”

Zack looked up and then quickly looked away.

“I have a plastic bag in my drawer,” the lady offered. “I’ll throw these in it for you. I have a bunch more at home – my mom threw me a baby shower, and I still have enough infant supplies to stock a small store.”

“How old is your little one?” Mrs. Katrina inquired, as the seated officer pulled a bag from a desk drawer. She turned a picture that was on the corner of her desk around, showing a smiling infant wearing a light blue hat and white one-piece pajamas, propped up in a chair. 

“He’s five months old. I would have liked to have stayed on leave longer, but my husband just took a new job, and we needed the stability of my full paycheck.”

“Awww, he’s so cute. What’s his name?”

“Anthony, after my father-in-law. But we call him Anthie.”

“Well, thank Anthie for us, for giving a couple of his baby shower gifts to Adam here. Isn’t that right, Adam?”

Zack nodded. Mrs. Katrina took the bag from the sergeant’s outstretched arm, and then she placed it in the basket on the front of his scooter.

“I’ll carry your diapers, you can carry your changing supplies, fair?”

Zack nodded again, now feeling like his cheeks were completely aflame.

Mrs. Katrina put a hand on his back and guided him out towards the lobby, which was a different entrance than Zack and Officer Riley had come in through. There was a young, pretty female police officer stationed at a very large, curved counter that had a desk built behind it. There were all sorts of radios and forms and screens behind the counter, but the officer looked slightly bored, leaning over a ledger of some sort. Her brown hair was up in a tight bun, just below the brim of her cap. She looked up as they came into the area behind the counter.

“Do I need you to open the doors into the lobby?” Mrs. Katrina asked the officer.

“No, they will open from the inside if you hit the green button on the wall. Hit the button and then the silver square beside it, and the door will open automatically, so it will be easier to get the scooter through.”

She directed a friendly smile at Zack, who responded by pulling his shirt down further at the front. However, he had to conduct an awkward three-point turn to get out from behind the counter and follow Mrs. Katrina back into the office and around to the door that allowed admittance to and from the lobby.

He directed a shy smile back at her, but then quickly turned his head when she met his eyes and gave him another smile.

She saw my diaper for sure. At least the back is plain white.

He put his head down and rolled along behind Mrs. Katrina as she punched a green knob on the wall, and then a square metallic plaque beside it. The windowless lobby door unlatched and motored outward, into the lobby, which was floored and walled in marble, and looked distinctly upscale, compared with the back of the operation.

Zack headed towards the main doors, searching for a button that would open them, but Mrs. Katrina put a hand on his shoulder again, and said “This way, Adam.” She steered him towards a slatted wooden bench that was across from the long counter.

Putting a hand under his arm, he intuited that she wanted him to transfer from the scooter to the bench, so he did. Then, she put his bag of diapers down next to him, and wheeled the scooter across the room, to the corner where the counter met the wall, leaving it standing there. She leaned over the counter.

Zack strained to hear what she was saying to the officer.

“I’m going to go out to my car and make some phone calls – is it okay if I leave him here for a few minutes? I moved his scooter away from him, because we don’t know his history and he may be a runaway. But he’s not going to get very far without it.”

The lady behind the counter appeared and looked over at Zack.

Looking at her, Zack closed his legs and tugged his shirt over his thighs as far as it would go, but then realized that he was sitting next to an open bag of diapers, in any case. He let go of his shirt and dropped his eyes to the floor.

“If he makes a break for it, I have the radios right here, I can have a chopper up within five minutes,” the young officer said, causing Zack to look up again. She gave him a wink.

Mrs. Katrina laughed. She turned towards Zack and spoke while walking to the glass and metal doors that opened up into the well-lit parking area at the front of the building, where a nondescript blue sedan sat in a parking spot in an otherwise empty row.

“I’m going to head out to my car and make some phone calls, Adam. Stay here with the officer, and I’ll come back to get you in a few minutes.”

Zack nodded.

What other choice do I have…?
 

[CDfm]

Loved this chapter.  “Adam” actually seems to be pretty pleased with his new diapers.  If he could have something to cover the duck he might actually even like them. At least he is dry and comfortable.  I know that having a rash isn’t fun at all. 
I am looking forward to seeing more.  Still curious about who will get notification first,  Dad or Kelly.  

[Little Sherri]

4 hours ago, CDfm said:

Still curious about who will get notification first,  Dad or Kelly.  

I'm working through this right now! I'm mostly caught up on the story - I used to run six or seven chapters ahead of what was "published" but now I'm basically a chapter ahead. It's so hard to find the time. 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

30 minutes ago, Little Sherri said:

I'm working through this right now! I'm mostly caught up on the story - I used to run six or seven chapters ahead of what was "published" but now I'm basically a chapter ahead. It's so hard to find the time. 

We appreciate all the time you're putting in this story, it's excellent!

And another well-written chapter!

[CDfm]

18 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

I'm working through this right now! I'm mostly caught up on the story - I used to run six or seven chapters ahead of what was "published" but now I'm basically a chapter ahead. It's so hard to find the time. 

I completely understand the lack of time.  As a society we all spend way too much time working. And not nearly enough time doing the things that relax us.  I DO greatly appreciate all the work you put into these stories. 

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 65 – Running Man

“So you’re a runner, are you?”

The pretty cop was leaning over the counter, fixing Zack with a wry smile.

Zack kept his eyes on his lap. He tried crossing his legs, but that felt like he was exposing the back of his diaper. He pulled at the sides of his t-shirt and said nothing.

The officer tried to engage him again. “Do you go to school, Adam?”

Zack looked up slightly. The friendliness of her smile made him feel bad for rebuffing her attempts at making conversation, so he nodded solemnly.

“What grade are you in?”

Zack’s eyes widened slightly. What did I tell the other police lady? But she’s not here now… still… make something up.

“I’m in the eighth grade,” he said quietly.

“Grade eight, you say? I would have guessed a bit lower than that – you must be smart for your age. Are there any girls you like in your class?”

Zack’s cheeks blazed heat as he thought about the girls in the classroom he had left behind, which seemed like a thousand years ago now. He had some girls that he liked, and one that he thought might like him back, but that whole universe had been laid to waste, he was pretty sure, when he’d run into a classmate in the children’s hospital, while he was strapped onto a changing table in a woman’s washroom, having his diaper tended to, looking like a toddler.

At that moment, the dull ache in his injured ankle went up a notch in volume, as well.

Tears started to well up in his eyes, and then a yawn attacked him from nowhere, and he put his hand over his mouth. The young lady was amazed to see the strange boy seemingly fall to pieces. She stood up and then appeared to disappear, which was a relief to Zack, but then he heard her say something from behind the desk, and then a moment later, the heavy door to the lobby buzzed open, and she came walking out, just as another, older police lady appeared behind the desk.

The officer crossed the lobby and kneeled in front of Zack, before changing course and sliding his bag of diapers over, so that she could sit down beside him. She put an arm over his shoulder and pulled him into her, an action which he resisted at first, but then acquiesced to, allowing himself to slump into her side, and turning his head into the nape of her neck. He felt his shirt ride up and knew that part of his diaper was probably exposed, but couldn’t summon the energy to be concerned about it.

He took deep, hitching breaths, relieved not to have to hold up his end of a conversation that he would have to script on the fly. He just didn’t have the energy for it, and he was afraid that he’d reveal something that would let them figure out who he was.

“There, there, little guy, it’s okay, I was just trying to get to know you. We don’t have to talk. You’re safe here. Just relax.”

Yeah, but I’m not going to be here much longer, and I have no idea where I’m going next… and anyway, “here” is a building full of cops who investigate people for a living.

Zack smelled the lady’s shampoo, and felt her hand rubbing his shoulder, and his breathing steadied. He kept his eyes cinched shut, willing the lady not to ask him anything else. Her hand came down to his hip and he felt her tug his shirt over.

He heard the lobby door open, and felt a change in the sound pressure in the room as the heavy glass door momentarily allowed street noises to cascade in, unmuted. He pretended not to notice. Shoes scuffed over the marble flooring. Zack assumed it was the social worker, but did not want to look, in case it wasn’t, and he’d have to endure a sympathetic glance from yet another person, or worse, another attempt to talk to him.

A gentle hand touched his hair. “Adam, it’s time to go.” He recognized Mrs. Katrina’s voice, and looked up without moving his head.

“You’re exhausted, aren’t you?”

Zack nodded.

“Sorry, that took a bit longer than I thought it would, but I had to make a few phone calls. I ended up with two options for you, Adam, both emergency placements in foster care, but one family typically houses kids around your age and a bit younger, and the other takes in mostly young kids. I decided to put you with the youngsters, because I thought you’d have an easier time there, and they also have more experience with… well, more experience.”

With diapers. Zack finished her sentence in his head with what he thought she was probably alluding to.

“We have a bit of a drive ahead of us, Adam. I have a blanket in the car you can use if you get sleepy.”

Zack pulled away from the partial embrace of the pretty cop whose name he didn’t know.

“Thank you,” he whispered, and then he straightened his back and wiped his face with his hands.

“You’re welcome,” she said, and then she stood and ruffled his hair, before reaching across the bench and sliding the bag of diapers back over beside the boy. She walked across the lobby and came back with the wounded scooter, as the social worker shouldered his diapers, using the built-in clear plastic strap on the bag.

Mrs. Katrina putting a hand under Zack’s bicep, said, “Up you get, Adam,” and then aided him as he pivoted onto the mobility device. He felt the back of his shirt ride up, and gave his shirt one short tug, as the officer with the bun in her hair, went over and hit the flat chrome panel on the wall that caused the main door to motor open slowly.

“Thanks for everything,” Mrs. Katrina said over her shoulder, as they entered slight chill of the evening air. The parking area was well lit, but out beyond the lakes of light, there was heavy darkness. The nondescript rental car of a sedan emitted a heavy click, the marker lights flashed, and the headlights came on. Mrs. Katrina kept a hand on his back and steered him towards the driver’s side of the vehicle, before opening the back door wide and guiding his scooter in beside the seat.

Zack looked into the car interior, which was grey, and dimly lit by a central dome on the ceiling. In the back of the car were two car seats, one an inclined, rearward facing baby seat, on the passenger side, and the other, a large, forward-facing seat with prominent side bolsters and a headrest that had angled side panels to it. His eyes sought out the space between them, but he realized with a sigh that it was too confined for anyone to sit there.

He looked up at Mrs. Katrina. “I don’t need to sit in one of those.”

She raised her eyebrows and gave him a smile. “Well, I think you’re pretty close to the weight rating of this seat, Adam, and anyway, I don’t have a choice. Our rules require children up to age ten to be in a safety seat, and, I don’t know how to take it out, even if I wanted to.”

Zack looked glumly at the seat again, and then eyed the doorsill, trying to figure out how he would get into the seat, but then Mrs. Katrina abruptly leaned in and bearhugged his midsection, giving him just enough of a boost to allow his butt to perch on the edge of the car seat.

Zack slid back into it reluctantly, feeling the heavy padding on the sides constrain his shoulders and his hips and upper thighs. Mrs. Katrina got him to lean forward partially, and then fished a tangle of straps out from behind him, pulling his arms through them, before reaching down between his legs, and pulling a strap with a seatbelt catch on the end of it out from under him. She snapped a plastic shield together on his chest, then fed two metal tines that together formed one buckle, into the catch, which had a red button on the front of it. Then, she reached above his shoulder and pulled another strap, one that he hadn’t noticed, and immediately, he was pulled back into the seat by the chest harness, and his thighs were pulled down against the bottom of the chair.

His purple t-shirt was folded up onto his belly, and the black central strap was straining into the front of his diaper, so Zack tried to tuck his shirt down between them, but was unable to get his hands in under the thigh straps.

“I’ll get you a blankie, Adam,” Mrs. Katrina said, seeing him trying to adjust his clothing. “You can’t tuck material in around the straps, it’s not safe.” She reached down and pulled his shirt back up, then went around to the trunk.

While she was behind the car, an imposing police SUV angled into the parking spaces in front of the station, illuminating him with its lights, and he strained to turn his head and look into the windshield, but his restraints, and the glare from the headlamps, prevented him from seeing who it was. A door opened, and a silhouette approached him, and then as it got closer, he realized it was Officer Reilly.

She leaned into the car and put a hand on his lower thigh, avoiding the scraped part of his knee. “I see you’re buckled in tight and ready to go Adam. Here, I brought you this.”

She handed him a bottle of blue liquid with a squeeze top, almost like the top of a dish soap container. He recognized it as being a sports drink.

“It was nice to meet you, Adam. Have a safe trip to… wherever you’re going.” She gave all of Zack’s straps a quick tug, and then nodded approvingly.

Mrs. Katrina spoke over the officer’s shoulder, as she handed a blanket in to Zack, overtop of the leaning officer, who then took it and tucked it around the car seat so that it covered him up to the middle of his chest.

“I’m taking him out to a foster care family I have in the outskirts of the city, for the night. I’ll let you know where he goes from there.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s in the Olympia area.”

The officer made eye contact with Zack, from less than a foot away, stopped over as she was, inside the open door of the car. “Today’s your lucky day, Adam – that’s where you said you were from, didn’t you?”

Zack swallowed hard.

The social worker went around behind the car, and Zack could tell from the noises she was making that she had loaded his scooter into the trunk. She returned and leaned into the car, clipping his pacifier to the collar of his shirt once again. Officer Riley looked towards the doors of the building, and then looked back at Zack.

“I think you’re a minor celebrity tonight, Adam…” she said as she stepped back. The officer with the bun leaned into the car next. She extended a hand to Zack, who by reflex, pulled his hand out from under his blanket and took it in a handshake.

“It was nice to meet you, Adam, and I wish you all the best on your adventures. If you need anything, you can call me anytime, okay? My name is Officer O’Connor – Maddy O’Conner.”

“My sister’s na……” Zack snapped his mouth shut. He’d almost told them his sister’s real name. He clenched his eyes shut and blew his breath out heavily through closed lips.

Officer O’Conner smiled at Zack, and then gently tweaked his nose with her index finger, and gave him a wink. She picked his pacifier up, touching the silicone nipple to his lower lip. Zack accepted his soother, happy to have an excuse not to talk any further. The door closed and then he could hear the low murmur of adults talking through the glass. Zack tried to reposition himself so that he wasn’t so reclined in the seat, but the straps held him resolutely in place. Picking up the squeeze bottle from his lap, he pulled out his pacifier and pulled out the pop-up top with his teeth, before taking a haul from the contents. Slightly cool, sweet, generic berry-flavoured blue liquid filled his mouth. He had a few more sips, studiously avoiding looking out the window, and then he pushed the top closed and let the bottle drop onto the blanket covering his lap. He looked at his pacifier, and somewhat reluctantly put it back in his mouth.

It’s better than having to talk.

Mrs. Katrina opened the front door and sat down in the driver’s seat, giving a wave to Officer Riley, as the bright lights of the police SUV pulled back, leaving the inside of the car dark, but for the instrument lights. She punched an address into her phone, which then appeared on a display in the dashboard. Looking into the rearview mirror, she could see her charge had his head back in the car seat and was idly sucking on his soother. His sports beverage was sitting on his lap.

He'll be asleep in five minutes.

________

 

Zack woke up and immediately noticed an absence of noise – no wind noise, no tire slapping, no vibration. The dome light in the middle of the headliner was on, and Mrs. Katrina was standing outside the car, talking to someone. The driver’s door was open but resting against the latch.

He tried to sit up and look around, once again fighting the straps of his car seat. His legs were going numb where they were pinned into the seat, although he could still detect a dull aching from his damaged ankle.

Then his door opened quickly, startling him, and a large, bearded face appeared directly in front of him, displaying a wide smile. Zack noted that the man had a bun in his hair as well, although it was on top of his head, rather than behind.

“Oh, hallo, you not sleep! Come, we go inside!” the man said in a heavy accent that Zack could not place. Before he had a moment to react, the blanket was pulled off of him, his sports bottle was handed out to someone outside the car, and then an enormous hand reached down between his legs and pressed the release button on the center latch. The straps holding him down went slack, and then the giant hand was joined by another, and they both fiddled with the clip in the center of his chest, until it relented and opened with a click. The two hands then found his armpits, and in one motion, Zack was lifted from the car seat, tilted like he was on amusement park ride, and withdrawn from the car. He felt his shirt ride way up over his waist but was powerless to react.

Next came the sensation of being tossed into the air, and then caught in the crook of a very large, hairy arm, and suddenly he was hovering well above the car, and above the heads of the social worker, and another woman, who was about the same height, but with wiry brown hair that was pulled into a tuft at the back of her head. He felt like he was seven feet in the air, which he basically was, since his vantage point was now above the head of the man who was effortlessly carrying him.

Zack wasn’t afraid of heights, generally, but he was startled to have been lifted so high so quickly, and he felt like he was going to topple backwards, so he threw his right around the man’s burly neck. The man grabbed Zack’s good ankle with his right hand, and then laughed and tilted Zack back at a steep angle, using the ankle to counterbalance the boy’s upper body, which caused Zack to yell around his pacifier and grab at the man’s red flannel vest with his left hand.

The man laughed heartily, but the lady he was with shot him a severe look, and shouted “Olek, you’re scaring him!” Then she dropped her voice. “He doesn’t know you yet! No crazy rides at this time of night – he was just sleeping, now he has woken up flying through the air in the arms of a crazy man.”

Olek nodded his head in apology but raised an eyebrow at Zack, as though asking if he was really scared, or if he wanted more, as he pulled him back up to level, still sitting on his arm.

Once he regained his balance, Zack looked around. He badly wanted to take the pacifier out of his mouth, because he felt ridiculous, with his shirt hitched up under his arms and his diaper entirely unobscured. But at the same time, he didn’t want to invite any questions, although he himself had many questions. He also had an unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling… he knew his diaper was a bit wet, because it was pressed against him, and he felt that perhaps Olek would know it, too, because he was sitting on Olek’s arm.

I guess I peed while I was sleeping.

As though reading his thoughts, Olek took his hand from his ankle and put it into Zack’s left armpit, then shouldered-bumped him gently so that his weight was on that arm, before hoisting him one handed for a moment while he took his left arm out from under Zack and caught him under the other armpit.

“Olek, don’t put him down – I told you before, his leg is badly injured!”

“Podguznik…” Olek said, as he hovered Zack, who’s eyes were as wide as they could get, in front of the much shorter woman. Zack felt the rear waistband of his diaper being pulled outward, but there was nothing that he could do, short of making a kick for Olek, which did not seem like a winning strategy. His cheeks immediately went crimson.

“Nea, he’s fine,” the lady said, giving him a gentle smack on the bum. Olek spun Zack in the air like he was a stuffed animal, and caught him with a right arm under his thighs, putting his left arm across Zack’s chest and suspending him in the air as though he were seated on a church pew. Zack felt the man’s beard against his left ear. He took in the lady in front of him, who was wearing an amorphous, long, brightly-coloured dress, a riot of reds and yellows and whites.

“I am sorry, Adam, where are my manners – I am Natalya. This is Olek. Katrina tells us that you will be staying with us for a period of time. Please forgive Olek – he likes to play rough but he usually can’t with the babies we watch. He is thinking you are a bigger baby and can take it, but you let him know if it’s not to your liking. He doesn’t speak a lot of English, but he understands some.”

Mrs. Katrina spoke next. “Adam, Natalya and Olek are emergency placement foster parents. I only had a couple of choices that had openings tonight, and the other family primarily deals with older kids. Natalya & Olek usually look after babies and toddlers for us, but given the, uh, circumstances, I thought you might fare better here than you would in a group home with teenagers. Plus, they have more experience with…”

Zack watched the social worker’s eyes drift down to his midsection.

“…well,” she continued, “they have more experience. You’ll be fine here. They’re lovely people.”

“Thank you so much, Katrina,” Natalya said with a bright smile. “We are very excited to have Adam – most of our clients don’t say very much – this will be a chance for Olek to practice his English. And the little ones will be fascinated by this contraption on your leg – you’ll have to tell me all about that when we get inside. Does he have any belongings?”

Katrina went to the trunk of the car while manipulating the key fob. The trunk sprung open, and she reached in, before handing Natalya the purple hoodie she’d pulled from the donation box at the precinct. Next, she pulled out the bag of diapers.

“There you go… oh wait, I also have baby care products for him – they’re in the basket of his scooter.”

“Scooter?” Natalya asked, gazing into the trunk.

“It’s a mobility device – I’d say since you have stairs, you probably want to just leave it in the garage – he can’t use it in the house, it’s not safe. And, as we discussed…” Here, she dropped her voice slightly, then continued, “we think he may have run away from wherever he was before he was found by the police. So… best keep the scooter put away.”

“Of course, of course, he won’t need a scooter in the house, we have an Olek! Olek, come, take this from the trunk – my hands are full.”

Olek tossed Zack into the air again and caught him on one arm, using his other hand to extract the scooter, which he rotated in the air, as though it were made of light plastic.

“Garazh?” he said to Natalya, as Zack did his best to keep his balance while being carried like a sack of potatoes. He once again found himself using the man’s neck as a grab point.

The man carried Zack and the scooter up the driveway, allowing Zack to take in the house they were in front of for the first time. It was tall, narrow, and had a single car garage, but even in the darkness, the yard and the entranceway looked neat and clean. There was a black pickup truck and a brown SUV on the driveway, which was designed for one vehicle in width but had been widened to accommodate two.

The tall man located a black plastic keypad, screwed to the door jam at head height for most people, but elbow height for him. He flipped a hinged lid up and punched in some digits that Zack couldn’t make out, because his enormous hand completely eclipsed the little keypad. The garage door emitted a creak and then trundled up, revealing a garage that was jammed with tricycles and little four-wheeled vehicles that toddlers could sit on and steer – firetrucks and dump trucks and a couple of pink and purple cars. Olek walked into the garage, and with his free arm, he hoisted the scooter up to a wooden shelf that was suspended from the ceiling, and primarily occupied by tires. There was an empty section on the side of it closest to the door, and he wedged the scooter in there, before once again throwing Zack into the air, this time catching him on a shoulder, before spinning him over his ducked head, so that he ended up sitting on the man’s broad shoulders.

Zack looked up and realized that he could touch the ceiling if he wanted to, but before he got his bearings, Olek bent at the waist while bracing both of Zack’s knees with his hands, causing the sensation that Zack was going to shoot over Olek’s head like he was a rodeo horse, and land face-first on the concrete floor, except that Olek used the back of his head to balance Zack’s torso. The dramatic ducking maneuver was to prevent Zack from being scraped off Olek’s shoulders by the garage door frame, which hung down below the ceiling by more than a foot. Once out from under it, Olek stood up again, and Zack put his hands on the man’s forehead to steady himself. He realized that his teeth were clenched on his pacifier.

“Olek!” Natalya barked, “I told you to be gentle with him!”

Olek said something in another language… Russian? And then he started to bounce from foot to foot, causing Zack to rise and fall on the back of his neck. Zack once again became conscious of the damp padding beneath him, although the diaper gave no indication that it was in any danger of leaking – Zack did not feel like he was sitting in a bowl of soup, as he had earlier, wearing the overused toddler diaper. Still, repeatedly squishing it against the man’s broad neck was making him self-conscious.

“Take him in the house, you big Lokh. Such a joker. He thinks he has a son! Don’t break him! He’s somebody else’s baby!”

Katrina spoke at Zack’s back as he was borne up the front walkway towards the front door. “I’m going to come back and see you tomorrow, Adam. You have enough diapers for a few days. Please be good for Natalya and Olek!”

Zack looked back over his shoulder, and then braced himself for another aerobatic maneuver, knowing that he was going to collide with the top of the doorframe going into the house if the towering man didn’t do something. What he did was to take a couple of long steps and pantomime running for the door, causing Zack to throw his hands up in front of his face and turn his head, before an arm came up and hauled him sideways from his perch while the man opened the door with his other hand.

But, in the process of dismounting him, Olek swung his injured leg too wide, causing the cast to bounce sharply off the doorframe. Zack emitted a high-pitched grunt as a bolt of pain shot up from the area, the dull level-three ache having been taken up to a momentary level seven or eight.

Olek winced and sucked in his breath, throwing an arm under the back of Zack’s knees and cradling him tight against his chest as he walked through the entranceway and into a living room that was narrow but long, with a kitchen and a patio door at the end of it. He laid Zack down on a plush burgundy velvet couch that was like nothing Zack had ever seen before, not that he was paying much attention to the décor.

Natalya came in behind them, carrying the diapers and changing supplies with one arm, and Zack’s sweatshirt with the other. Zack looked at her through the tears in his eyes, sitting partway up from the couch. He was surprised to see her throw the sweatshirt through a door that was off the entranceway.

“Take that filthy shirt off him, Olek…” and then she said something else in Russian, or whatever it was. Zack realized that she’d actually said the same thing, because Olek put a hand behind his back, sat him up, detached the paci clip from the collar, and then pulled the long t-shirt up over his head and tossed it through the air, where it landed by the lady, who picked it up and threw it through the same doorway.

“We’ll wash those and give them back to you in the morning, Adam. It’s warm in here. You’ll be fine….” She paused, seeing the pained look on Zack’s face. “Did Olek hurt you?”

Zack looked up at Olek, who, for all his menacing height and bulk, genuinely looked concerned behind his red-brown beard. He shook his head gently. “I’m othay,” he mouthed around his pacifier.

Natalya looked skeptical, but Olek looked relieved, and he patted the boy on the shoulder and then went to take Zack’s care items from his wife. Just then, Zack heard a scattering of clicking noises on what sounded like wooden stairs, and then a slower thump, thump, thump.

A girl who looked about eight or nine emerged from inside the kitchen, and Zack realized as he looked over at her, that the house was multiple stories high, and that every floor had a staircase that went up, and another one that went down, at either end of the house. The blond-haired girl wiped sleep from her eyes, as she shuffled into the room in a purple knee-length nightie, carrying some kind of stuffed animal, and followed by a medium-sized tricolour spaniel mix that looked like it was wearing makeup. 

“What’s going on,” the girl whispered, looking over at Zack, and then back at her parents.

“Veronika, this is Adam. Adam is a new baby for us tonight – he will be staying for a little bit.”

Veronika stopped and eyed Zack. “That’s not a baby,” she stated simply.

“Well, sweetheart, you should be in bed. You can do me a favour and please take his diapers up with you, and put them in the yellow room – that’s where he will sleep for now.”

She pointed at the countertop where Olek had deposited them. The girl looked sleepy and confused, but she went over to the bag.

“How many diapers, mama?”

“Take a few, baby. Thank you. Good girl.”

The girl reached up and lifted the bag down from the counter then reached in and extracted a bundle of diapers, before putting them down on a bar-height chair that was pushed up to the countertop, and fanning them out.

“Cute,” she said. “There’s ones with animals, and ones with just a duck, like he’s wearing now.”

“Maybe you can try one if you like them,” Natalya said with a smile.

The girl shot back a cross look, and then she gathered them under her arm with the stuffed animal she was carrying, and turned back towards the stairs. The little dog followed her as she disappeared from view and thump-thump-thumped back up.

Natalya walked over and picked the bag of diapers back up from the floor, putting them on the chair, and then she went into the kitchen, while at the same time speaking Russian with Olek, who had disappeared into the room where the clothes were thrown. Zack sat up and watched the proceedings, not sure what to make of it.

After a minute of fiddling with something, the lady went to the fridge and opened it, withdrawing a carton  – milk, Zack assumed. Then, she walked back over to where she’d placed his belongings, and picked up the remaining sports beverage. She unscrewed the cap on the bottle and poured it into the sink, before tossing the plastic remains into a cabinet below Zack’s line of sight.

A moment later, she came walking over with a purple sippy cup that had two pink handles on it which were scalloped to look like feathered wings. She carried it past Zack and then sat herself on the couch next to him, where his head would have been if he weren’t craning his body to see what was going on. Wordlessly, she extracted the pacifier from Zack’s mouth, picking it up by its tether and laying it on a side table, while she pressed the nipple of the sippy cup to his lips. Zack, exhausted, slumped back into her lap, and started listlessly suckling. He’d been bottle-fed before and knew the drill, although the sippy cup required a bit more of a deliberate pull than the baby bottles he was used to.

It has some kind of valve that lets air in…

With her other hand, the lady picked up a remote and flicked on a TV that Zack hadn’t noticed when he exploded into the room in Olek’s arms – it had looked like a piece of art, hung over a fireplace that was barricaded off at ground level by interlinked plastic gates. A baking show came on, a bunch of stressed-looking people all making the same thing at separate stations while judges walked around and interrupted them with questions.

At least it’s in English…

The softness of the plush couch and the warmth of the room, plus a complete lack of interest in the programming the lady was watching, conspired to cause Zack’s eyes to close as he suckled, and once the last of the milk gurgled out of the sippy cup, his breathing became rhythmic around the silicone spout.

Natalya felt the weight of the cup declining, and then noted that the boy had stopped sucking on it, so she waited until she was sure it wouldn’t disturb him, and then gingerly withdrew the sippy cup, replacing it delicately with the purple pacifier he had come in with.

She looked at her new charge, as his chest rose and fell. The social worker hadn’t been sure of his age; he claimed to be older, she said, but as far as she could tell, he was probably nine or ten years old, however he was likely developmentally delayed, and in some ways, was acting much younger. She looked at his diaper, with its slight discolouration below the print on the front, and nodded to herself.  Although, Mrs. Katrina had said that he seemed bright enough, clearly, what was laid out on her lap, was not neurotypical. Her own daughter, Veronika, was nine, and she had been dry during the day for six years. At night, it was a different story, but Natalya suspected that had something to do with the ever-rotating cast of babies and toddlers they hosted for Child Protective Services – Veronka enjoyed being the big girl, but, Natalya mused, sometimes she wanted the attention that the little children commanded.

The baking program drew to a close, and she looked the clock on her phone; it was nearly 11:00 PM, late for her, let alone for the child. However, she looked at him again. He would need a diaper change before bed – the social worker had said he had a diaper rash. And, he was filthy; if she was going to have to wake up, anyway, to get him ready for bed, then she might as well give him a bath.

Rather than shouting for Olek, which might have woken up Adam, or any of the children asleep upstairs, some of whom had only a tenuous relationship with normal sleep/wake cycles, she chose to send him a text, assuming that he was probably in the basement, tinkering with something in his workshop that smelled of grease and solvents down there.

Sure enough, Olek came tromping up the stairs moments later.

“Da, Dorogoy…” he said, using a term of endearment.

Natalya motioned for him to come over to her, then asked him to go upstairs and pour a bath for the boy, and to “Come up with something so that his leg stays dry.”

Olek nodded and disappeared upstairs. Several minutes later, he reappeared, nodding that he had done what she asked. His wife motioned towards the comatose child, and said, “take the boy up and remove his diaper.”

Olek walked around to the front of the couch and very carefully lifted the sleeping boy, leaving him in a reclined position as he was carried up the stairs. Olek walked him into a back bedroom that was not currently occupied – a toddler had been in it earlier, however they had moved him over to a playpen in a larger room, when they heard that Adam was coming. He seemed to have adapted and fallen back to sleep. On one side of the room was a wooden changing table with a waterproof mat on it, next to a dresser. A few of the boy’s diapers had been placed in a neat stack on top of the dresser.

Delicately placing the boy onto the changing table, Olek noted that his legs were going to hang off of it, so he changed tactics, and lifted him back up with one hand, while dragging the changing table over until it was up against the dresser, which was nearly the same height.

Laying Zack down again, the boys legs were now on top of the dresser. Olek swiftly removed the boy’s diaper, which was somewhat wet, but not soaked, and then he bundled it up and put it aside. Natalya walked in a moment later, and she picked it up, carrying it with her as she motioned for Olek to bring the boy. She walked to the main bathroom on the other side of the hall, and deposited it into a white plastic diaper can they had in there, with a top that opened via a peddle.

Zack was stirring now, and when he opened his eyes, he was momentarily confused as to what was going on, but then he looked up at Olek’s vast beard, the texture of steel wool and the colour of copper wire, and he remembered where he was. Feeling a slight urge to pee, he relaxed… and all of a sudden Olek was holding him aloft and away from his chest.

“He piss on me! Silly baby.”

Zack’s eyes went wide as he realized that his diaper was no longer accompanying him.

“Thorry!” he said around the pacifier, turning beet red with embarrassment, both at what he’d done, and, what he was, or rather, was not, wearing.

“It’s not your fault, Adam – you were asleep!” Natalya said, as Olek stepped into a green, brightly-lit bathroom with a green apple-themed wallpaper border running around the top of the walls, which Zack noticed first, because he was looking up at the ceiling as he was being carried, in order to avoid looking Olek in the eyes.

When he saw his destination – a bathtub full of sudsy water – he began to object, worried that his leg would get wet, but also mortified by his circumstances. However, Olek lowered him into the tub without heeding his “Wait, wait… wait!” exclamations, and that’s when he realized that a plastic stepstool had been placed on the bottom of the tub, and that it stood a few inches above the surface of the water. Natalya guided his cast onto it, and he felt his body sink into the comfortably warm water. The bubbles closed around him, and he felt a bit less exposed than he had.

“Adam,” Natalya started, “you are getting a much-needed bath, my little friend. I will be careful when I clean your injured knee, and I will not get any water into your cast, but I am going to clean your feet, and the rest of you. You are having a bit of diaper rash, so somebody has not been keeping you clean, I’m afraid, but you don’t have to worry about that here – I have the cleanest babies on the block!”

Natalya turned and chattered away at Olek in their language, while she took a washcloth and squirted some lavender-scented baby shampoo onto it, before dragging it over his face and head, causing soapy water to transit along the silicone nipple of his pacifier and into his mouth. He took it out and tried to spit the water out, so the lady ran some fresh warm water from the tap, into her hand, and then held it up to Zack’s mouth. He looked confused, but then bent to sip it, and then let it run down his chin, and then the lady rinsed his pacifier, put it on the side of the tub, and took a measuring cup that was sitting in the corner by the faucet, using it to scoop up tub water and rinse off his hair and face. She held his pacifier in front of his face, and he took it, after which she worked her way downward and along his extremities, working carefully around his knee and the case, and rinsing as she went.

“Olek, lift his leg for me,” she said, and then when he lifted the casted leg almost vertical, her hand and the cloth went under the water, and he could feel her swabbing his diaper area thoroughly, and he clenched his eyes shut and took a hissing intake of breath.

“Your rash hurts, baby? That’s okay. We need to clean it for it to heal.”

Zack shook his head but said nothing. It’s not the rash that hurts, it’s my dignity.

Eventually, the ordeal was over, and he was once again weightless in midair, in Olek’s arms, while Natalya dried him and then wrapped him in a towel. Olek carried him back into the yellow room he had come from, and laid him back on the changing table, before lifting his legs with an arm under his shins, so that his wife could apply diaper cream, prompting another intake of breath and an episode of furious blushing, on the part of Zack. Then, one of the diapers was positioned underneath him, and his hips were lowered, before the front was pulled up and the tapes were quickly and snuggly secured by Natalya’s expert hands.

“Keep him here for a moment, Olek, I am going to go borrow something from Veronika for him to wear.”

The lady disappeared out of the room, reappearing a minute later with a smallish green and purple nightgown that had Dora the Explorer on it, and a frilly lower hem.   

“We don’t usually have boys your age, Adam, so I had to borrow something from my daughter. You are close in size to her – it will work until we wash your clothes from earlier,” she said, more to herself than to Zack.

Zack pulled his arms in and hugged his chest, but Olek reached over and peeled them off, and they quickly went slack, as Zack once again resigned himself to his fate. The nightie was pulled down over his head, and the frilly bottom covered most of his diaper. Small mercy…

Olek picked him back up and wordlessly carried him to the bathroom, where he was seated on the countertop. Natalya opened a new toothbrush and squirted a dollop of pink, fruit-flavoured toothpaste onto it, before removing his paci and brushing his teeth thoroughly. Zack had a hard time getting used to the feeling of someone else probing the corners of his mouth – it felt like being at the dentist.

He expected to be offered a glass of water for a rinse at the end, but Natalya smiled at him and said, “It’s baby toothpaste – you can swallow it.” And then she put his pacifier back in his mouth.

Olek carried him back to the bedroom, this time in the crook of his arm again, rather than cradled, and Zack was able to discern his destination before he arrived at it. Once again, his heart sank, as he eyed two white painted cribs that were up against the wall, across from the changing table. Olek positioned him in the closer one, landing his legs at the near end, and then laying him back, so that his head was at the far end. He could feel his hair brushing up against the smooth wooden bars. Natalya leaned into the crib and passed him the same sippy cup he had drunk from earlier, this time filled with water, and then she put a white, crocheted blanket on top of him. He looked around, and realized there was no pillow in the crib.

Natalya fiddled with something on a side table, and then she turned out the light in the room, and a moment later, a night sky star-scape was projected onto the ceiling, accompanied by soft classical music. The stars slowly transited from one side of the ceiling to the other, occasionally overlaid on aurora borealis-like clouds of pink and green.

Zack felt around for the sippy cup, and drank some water from it, to try and banish the cloying taste of the toothpaste, before he put his pacifier back in, yawned widely around it, and, involuntarily drifted off to sleep.

[thedman]

Poor Zack just falling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.

[A_Pale_Spirit]

What excellent writing, I can't say that enough. I can absolutely picture Olek's character in my mind, I love your descriptive writing.

And of course great chapter too! As always looking forward to what's next!

[hookahz]

Wonderful writing!

[D503]

Great stuff. Poor Zack, he's not got great options from here. He might at least get pull-ups during the day maybe. We'll see.

[CDfm]

I really really enjoyed this chapter.  

You couldn’t have come up with a better character for this story than Olek.  Just a big lovable teddy bear.  
Zack can’t seem to swing the belief from, he’s just a big baby back to, just a teenager with a bedwetting problem. I have a feeling that as long as he remains in this particular foster home he is going to be little more than a toddler.  I am not ready to say it yet, but as far as treatment is concerned, Zack might actually be better with Kelly. At least with her he still has a chance to resist and fight back a little. 
I am loving the story and look forward to seeing more. 

[kerry]

21 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

We have a bit of a drive ahead of us, Zack

Unless Katrina has somehow gained access to the full story (and wouldn't that be an interestingly meta move?) then this should be Adam. 😉

[kerry]

4 hours ago, CDfm said:

Zack might actually be better with Kelly.

I don't know about that. I think this story is much better without her, and Zack/Adam is too, though he likely wishes that some of the things in his present were different. If he wanted to go back to Kelly, well, he knows how to accomplish that very quickly. It's telling that he seems to prefer the baby treatment to being with her.

[Little Sherri]

7 hours ago, kerry said:

then this should be Adam. 😉

Thanks for that - correcting now! I try to proofread everything a few times before I "publish" it, but sometimes when you read something through often enough, finding errors can be like searching the house for your car keys, and then you realize they were sitting right in front of you. 

[Tracey]

7 hours ago, kerry said:

I don't know about that. I think this story is much better without her, and Zack/Adam is too, though he likely wishes that some of the things in his present were different. If he wanted to go back to Kelly, well, he knows how to accomplish that very quickly. It's telling that he seems to prefer the baby treatment to being with her.

I suspect he is tired from running and will give it a go again in the morning when he rested, although he wont get far without his knee scooter that Olek has put up on a shelf he the garage where Zach wont be able to reach it.
 

Kelly will by now be furious. If she ends up going home without Zach will she take her retribution out on petite Maddie and say that she is now going go be in a playpen at home and a stroller or toddler reins when out so that she doesnt also get lost. 

When Zach does finally get found he is going to be in deep trouble for all the grief he has caused Kelly.

[Tasa]

I hope we get a new part soon, cant wait to find out if Zach gets found by Kelly or gets the love and care that he deserves . Be it from Natalya and Olek or from his father (who I am still not sure about if he is good father), or some unknown third party. If he stays at Natalya's and Olek's i do hope he do's regain some of his teen privileges.

[Little Sherri]

I've been away on business but thinking about this story a lot - I have the next chapter half cooked, more or less. Hopefully I get a chance to polish it up and post it soon. Thanks everyone for your interest and patience. 

[007specialk]

Looking forward to the next chapter thank you.

[Little Sherri]

19 hours ago, 007specialk said:

Looking forward to the next chapter thank you.

I've got a chapter mostly in the can, but I travelled a lot for work over the last few weeks and just have not had time to polish it up. Thanks for your patience! 

[Little Sherri]

Chapter 66 - Darkening Skies

9:35 PM 

Kelly walked up to the back door of the car she had hired, and yanked it open, collapsing down onto the seat and startling the driver, who was looking at his phone.

She put the nursing pump kit on the seat next to her, and took a deep breath. It had been an impulse purchase, but it felt right to her. She was justifiably upset, and doing this had made her feel just a bit better. She had been discussing parenting strategies on and off with some of the contacts she had made on the Parents of Bedwetters forum, and had eventually connected with a couple of moms who invited her to message them directly, because their approaches, they had explained, were sometimes met with disdain, or even disbelief, in the public chats. But their results spoke for themselves.

However, she couldn’t talk to them right now, much as she would have liked to, because she had more urgent matters to attend to.

“Ma’am, where do you want to go?”

Where do I want to go?

She looked around her, up and down the dark, busy streets. The clock on the dash said 9:37. Chris’ dinner was going to be drawing to a close at some point, and she knew that Martha, who never neglected anything, would undoubtedly be following up with her even before that. And the city was big. And busy. And intricate. The longer this took, the further, and deeper, Zack could be intwined within its labyrinthine passages.

The little shit. I hope he’s sleeping behind a dumpster.

How was she going to buy herself the time she needed to get ahold of him again? If Chris found out his son was missing in the city, late at night, he’d probably hire a private jet to get back.

His phone…. Zack’s phone!

Kelly had wondered why Zack didn’t take it with him; she doubted it was because he thought they could track him with it – she didn’t think that Zack knew that. And now she wondered why she hadn’t brought it with her, either – as far as she knew, it was still sitting on his bedside table in the hospital room at the Children's Hospital.

“Driver, I need you to take me to Mercy Children's Hospital, right now.”

“You need to enter it in the app…”

“I’ll give you zero stars if you make me use the app, and I’ll give you two hundred dollars in cash if you drive me there right now.”

The engine in the white Volkswagen started, while the driver took himself out of service on the app, and then mapped his way to the hospital.

 

________

 

10:15 PM

 

The streets and the highway between the downtown campus and the children’s hospital in the Northern suburbs had gone from heavy traffic, to just traffic, and the ride back took less time. The white sedan pulled up in front of the same entrance where Zack had made his daring escape, hours earlier, when he spotted the shuttle bus. Kelly walked through a revolving door, after striding away from the driver, who had expected to be paid on arrival.

“I need to find an ATM,” she said dismissively over her shoulder. “And I’m not done with you.”

“Yes, but I want to be done with you!” the driver said in response, but not loudly. The lady disappeared into the large glass atrium that fronted the building, and he had no choice but to hope that she returned. Sitting back down in the car, he realized that at least she’d left her package on the back seat. He hoped it was worth something close to $200.

Kelly didn’t bother going back to security, and instead went directly to the elevators, and straight up to floor that Zack had been on.

She didn’t know if she could walk straight over to his room at this time of night or not, but that’s what she intended to do, so she breezed past the nursing station, and over to his room. She thought she heard an “Excuse me” from behind her, but she ignored it.

His roommate was sleeping in his bed with the television on, a Styrofoam cup on his bedside table. Her eyes barely flicked over him, as she scanned the room for the object she sought – the kid’s damned cell phone. It was not in evidence on his bedside table, which looked like it had been straightened up. His bed had been made as well.

Were they preparing the room for another patient?

However, Zack’s gifted bag of diapers was still on the cabinet across from his bed, and the message she had written about fastening his romper was still on the white board above it.

That feels like it was a week ago…

Kelly heard steps come up behind her, and turned around.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” an exasperated young nurse asked, in a terse tone.

“Well, I doubt if you can, but what the hell, I’ll give it a shot. My son, Zack, disappeared from this room today, and he hasn’t been seen since he left your custody. I have security looking for him at your downtown location, but right now, what I’m after is his phone, which I happen to know he left in this room. I need to know if he was chatting with anyone before he rolled out of here on that damned scooter you gave him.”

The nurse’s expression softened, going from irritated, professional detachment, to concern.

“I…. I didn’t realize he was missing. We thought you’d taken him home for a visit, or maybe out for dinner.”

“Security never spoke to you? Amazing. They’re doing an amazing job. I’m so reassured.” Kelly looked down at the shorter woman, with crossed arms.

“I… I only came onto this floor an hour ago. I’m sure they must have spoken with someone on shift earlier.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re sure, because I’m not sure of anything right now. Would you happen to know where they put his phone? Or has it been stolen?”

The nurse transited quickly over to the bedside table, and opened the drawer, withdrawing a cell phone in a black protective case. “We tend to put personal belongings out of site, if a room is unoccupied.”

“So, you do have some security protocols, just not any that pertain to the children themselves.”

“Uh, well….” the nurse began, while pulling a pen from the pocket of her green scrubs. “If you could give me your name and phone number, I’ll make sure that if we hear anything, we’ll contact you first thing…”

Kelly was already walking, her prize in hand. “You have my number in about four different places. Look it up.”

“But, ma’am, if you’re leaving with that device, I’d like to get a name… ma’am….”

But Kelly was already out the door and accelerating down the hall.

“Is there an ATM in here?” she barked over her shoulder.

“The lobby…” she heard behind her, and picked up her pace further.

When the elevator arrived, she punched the lobby button, and then while she was waiting, she looked at the phone in her hand. Squeezing the side of it, she tried various buttons, until the screen lit up, and offered her the option to swipe upwards, to unlock it.

She swiped upwards. Face ID, it requested.

F**k.

Then it switched over to a passcode screen.

I should have the kids’ damned passcodes!

She jammed the phone into her purse, and pulled her own phone out, once again calling her sister’s cottage. The phone rang a few times, and she was just about to hang up and text her instead, when her sister’s voice, raspy with sleep, came on the line.

“Did you find him?” she asked, knowing that it had to be her sister.

“No, not yet, but I will. I need you to get Maddy on the phone.”

“She’s sleeping, Kel, we’re all sleeping.”

“Get. Maddy. On. The. Phone.”

“Kel, why don’t you… oh, forget about it. Fine. I’ll get Maddy. It’s going to take a minute – they’re upstairs.”

Kelly heard her sister put the phone down, and then there were some background noises that she couldn’t make out – she thought it might have been a television. A couple of minutes later, she heard voices drawing closer to the phone, and then Maddy’s young voice, hesitant, came on the line.

“Hello?”

“Maddy, this is Kelly – I need you to listen to me. What is the passcode for Zack’s phone? I know you know it, I’ve seen you two looking at each other’s phones.”

Maddy paused, taken aback by Kelly’s strident tone.

“Where’s Zack…?” she asked hesitantly.

“Tell me his password, Maddy, or so help me, I will come up there right now, and we can have a fun night feeding your stuffies into a bonfire. After I smash your phone.”

Maddy emitted a sharp gasp. “Kel, it’s our mom’s birthday…”

“Which is what?”

“Oh-four-two-seven. April twenty-seventh.”

Kelly made a short, dismissive “fffft” sound.

“Good girl, Maddy. Have you talked to your dad yet tonight? Maybe via text?”

“No, he’s away, remember?”

“I remember. Listen, I need you to give your phone to Aunt Kim. Are you wearing your diaper, sweetie?”

“No, I have a pull-up.”

“Okay, go get your phone and give it to your aunt. Let me talk to Kim.”

“Okay, bye…. Aunt Kim, Kelly wants to talk to you…”

Maddy’s voice faded and then Kim came on the line.

“What’s going on?”

“I needed Maddy’s help to open Zack’s phone. I’ve asked her to please give her your phone, as well. I don’t want any back-channel chatter between her and Chris while I sort this mess out. And Kim, she said she’s wearing a pull-up – I want her in a diaper. Get one of Zack’s – there’s a bunch of them in my room.”

Kim rolled her eyes, but decided not to argue with her younger sister. “Fine. Anything else we can do for you?”

“I want her in diapers until I get back there. Put Maddy back on the phone with me.”

Kelly heard the phone land on a surface with a hard clunk, and she wondered if she’d been hung up on, but then she could hear her sister’s voice in the distance. Eventually, Maddy’s plaintive cries could be heard, getting closer to the phone.

“But I don’t need to wear diapers….” Maddy’s voice trailed off and dissolved into sobs.

“Here, talk to her, ask her why!” Kim said to Maddy. She heard the phone being handled.

“Hi, Maddy – what is aunt Kim doing?” Kelly asked.

“She… she said she’s putting me in one of Zack’s diapers...”

“Do you know why she’s doing that?”

“No. My pull-up is dry.”

“She’s doing it because I asked her to, that’s why. Because no matter where I am, I am in charge of you, Maddy. Do you understand me?”

“No… I mean, yes, yes.”

There was a shuffling noise in the background, Kim said “Lay back..,” and then Maddy said “Okay, jeez” in an irritated tone. There was some background crinkling sounds, and Maddy’s breathing became heavier.

“Is Kim putting your diaper on?”

“Yes,” Maddy whispered.

“Good girl.”

_________

 

Kelly stood behind the glass, looking out at the blackness beyond the streetlamps. The white car sat with its four-way flashers on. She had been about to leave the hospital and ask to be driven back downtown, maybe to her hotel, when a thought occurred to her: just as she could have used the phone to track Zack, so it went that Chris could do the same thing. Or, more likely, ask Martha to do it. And if the phone tracked back to a downtown hotel… that wouldn’t work.

In order for her to execute her plan, she needed to communicate with Chris from here, and then shut down communications.

Or… with Martha. That would be even better.

She unlocked Zack’s phone with the passcode she’d been given, looking at the image he was using as a background, which was a scene from a video game, as viewed through a sniper’s scope.

I’m going to need to be a sniper right now. I get one shot.

Zack: Dad, are you there?

Kelly waited, staring at the screen. Outside, her confused and frustrated driver paced back and forth.

Chris: Zack, this is Martha. I have your dad’s phone. He is in a meeting.

Yes! A smile crossed Kelly’s face.

Zack: Hi Martha please tell dad im ok

Kelly left out punctuation and did her best to omit letters, mimicking the texts she got from the kids. She was pretty sure that Martha wasn’t very experienced in texting kids, anyway, but she hoped to arouse no suspicions.

Chris: Are you with Kelly now?

Zack: yes

Chris: Where are you right now?

Zack: the hospital

Chris: Which one

Zack: the kid one

Chris: Where did you get to? Why did you leave?

Zack: i got bored and took a hsptl bus dwntwn and got lost

Chris: Did Kelly find you?

Zack: yes i was gtg food n she fnd me

Chris: Your dad is going to be so relieved! I’ll talk with Kelly. You get yourself to bed and concentrate on healing.

Zack: moms phone is dead she was using it all night

Chris: Mom’s phone?

Crap.

Zack: Kelly’s

Chris: Okay. Get some sleep and we’ll call Kelly in the morning.

Zack: okay gn

Chris: Goodnight Zack. I’m very happy to hear you’re safe.

Zack: Thanks to Kelly

Chris: Yes, thank her for me, and I’m sure your dad will thank her in person when he gets a chance.

Zack: ok bye

Kelly lowered the phone. She had an urge to say more, but she felt like she could be swimming into troubled waters if she did. Brevity was best. She’d gotten lucky getting Martha on Chris’ phone – very lucky. If this whole situation blew apart, then Martha had very naively taken the word of a troubled eleven-year-old, hadn’t she? While Kelly was diligently searching the city.

But… now, she had to search the city. She held the power button on Zack’s phone down until it asked her to swipe.

 

*****

 

The uber driver had $200 in his pocket, but he also still had the irritated, tall blond lady in his backseat. He was even growing a tad nervous about being alone with her. Driving fares around within the directions of the app offered certain protections for everyone, including the driver. Nobody could claim, for example, that he had veered off course. He could demonstrate where his car had travelled within a few yards if necessary. This lady had an air about her; it seemed like everything she wanted him to do was part of some grander plan.

“Take me to the Residence Inn on 45th Street.”

He let out a breath. That wasn’t very far.

The lights of a darkened 45^th Street played over the surface of the car as the tires slapped and light Indian music played on the radio, turned almost all the way down. Still, it grated on Kelly. She was tired, and she needed a shower, space to think, maybe a drink, and some sleep.

Enjoy your night in the big city, Zack.

[CCApril]

I think I have shared my opinion about Kelly before. She is evil and needs to go to jail.  There is no defending her actions. It is totally selfish. Even to the point of controlling Maddy because she can. I hope it all blows up in her face!

Good stuff!!

[A_Pale_Spirit]

Wow what an incredible chapter. It was worth the wait!

You write Kelly so incredibly well! I can just picture her mannerisms and everything. The poor driver and nurses lol. She's the perfect example of a Karen, one that any person in a customer-facing job would dread running into haha.

 

Quote

Tell me his password, Maddy, or so help me, I will come up there right now, and we can have a fun night feeding your stuffies into a bonfire. 

This part, it was like she was a cartoon villain for a second, bahaha. So well-written.

 

Eagerly looking forward to more!

[CDfm]

So very happy to see this back.  
It is great seeing Kelly sweating a bit.  I really think she messed up with using Zack’s phone to contact his dad.  Doesn’t matter if she went through Martha.  All that needs to happen is for Zack to give the cops his dad’s number and Kelly’s goose is cooked. I know Zack is reluctant to do that right now but he might be convinced to change his mind once he’s reassured that he’s not going to be in trouble with the police. 
Loving the story and looking forward to seeing more. 

[Little Sherri]

On 7/9/2024 at 5:39 PM, CDfm said:

Loving the story and looking forward to seeing more.

I'm trying to make a commitment to write a bit every day, even if it's only for a few minutes. It takes my mind off of work for a bit.