Project Nurture: A Diaper Dimension Story (Chapter 15 - Complete)

[LostBBoyBear]

As with my previous stories, this one contains several elements inherent to the pre-established 'Diaper Dimension.' These include, but are not limited to:

• Diapers and their usage for their intended purpose
• Breastfeeding
• Non-consensual mental regression through various means (Including possible drugs, hypnosis, and/or surgery)
• References to surgery to achieve various nefarious goals
• Graphic imagery associated with any of these warnings
• Humiliation
• Giants, aka, Amazons or Bigs
• Predominantly female domination
• Babying of adults (perceived or otherwise)
• Experimentation on humans
• Coerced or manipulated actions through possible means of white lies, gas lighting, or incentives

This story has not been labeled as mature, due to a lack of specific references to anything overtly sexual, but this warning serves as a 'turn back' point for any readers who do not wish to read about the previous warnings.

Lastly, this list is subject to change during the course of writing this story. While most of the plot is ironed out, more warnings may be added if needed.

For those readers interested or do not care about the warnings listed, please enjoy the following story.

So, here is the first chapter of my next story on here. I have everything all mapped out, but I might be a bit busier in the next month. My hope is to finish posting the last chapter before I go on vacation, but if not, as a warning, there might be over a week where I don't post something new. 

(Edit: This story also connects to the 'Tell Me More' story I wrote a few months ago now. Dr. Mengell used it's findings as a catalyst for her to change her practice toward helping Littles in need.)

I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 1: Welcome to Project Nurture

My foot tapped anxiously while waiting for another conference to end. Today was the day that would determine if the so-called ‘Project Nurture’ would have been worth something more than what it had already offered to the participating Littles and Caregivers.

Of course, they had seen the immediate benefits, and each was mostly happy with the outcome we had achieved together, but I knew the Board of Directors for Diamond Technologies was something entirely different. Many were old standbys of traditional methods and had literal stock in many of them and the tools and drugs required to facilitate their execution. This experiment proved, however, that it could move us Bigs away from the old techniques of the past, which was something I was greatly in favor of.

Having been a researcher in the many ways of possible regression, I could still remember what I had seen and heard in my time with other less savory projects. “Oh please, God, don’t put me under! Please let me keep my mind… just a tiny bit! Why can’t I walk? Wah dih’ you do ta ma tun? Why does my head feel so… empty… and free? Stay in, stay in, why won’t you just stay in? I can’t feel my legs! What did you do to me? Maaa bahhh!’ I shuddered a bit. Those cries of pleading and anguish from all those patients still haunted me today. In a sense, Project Nurture was my shot at a redemption of sorts.

From my experience, I knew firsthand that all other techniques alone were too severe, some even being outright horrible in any dosage. The file I now held with me and was about to present to the Board of Directors represented a new path for us Bigs. The small USB device in my briefcase had the potential to change everything if handled correctly and could be worth billions if applied correctly. ‘What old Drakos at Juventas would give just to get a peek at all the data in here… probably pay a fortune.’

Still, my loyalty was with Diamond Technologies, and I knew if they only could accept what I had to offer from the experiments I had observed, the world would be better for it. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of such a change. It almost even seemed ironic to be presenting this information to a company that was now so infamous with its connection to Diamond Tours, but I knew that stain on their reputation would only favor me with the Board of Directors. Just then, the other conference ended, and several people started to quickly exit from the room.

I stood up and walked confidently into the emptying room to start setting up. I clicked a few switches for the room control and ensured all the systems I would need were working correctly. I had just finished checking the RealET system when a manager from the previous conference walked up to me with a large grin.

“Edgar!” Harry Carga joyfully shouted. “How are ya doin’? New presentation today?”

“Hey, Harry. New presentation to the Board of Directors in a few minutes actually,” I replied while still ensuring all my slides were good to go after I had inserted my USB device.

“Ah, wonderful! Wonderful!” Harry then got a mischievous look on his face. “Just between us old managers. You, testing division… me, marketing… is it about the new toy line… Mister…?”

“Mister Brown,” I finished quickly for him, trying to move the conversation along to better focus on my presentation. “No, that’s another project, but,” I leaned in closer and indulgently whispered to my old friend, “I can tell you this… the Mister Brown stuffed bear line’s preliminary testing has suggested that it could be a smash success in the market. In fact,” I looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping, “we even think the technology could be so useful, that it could be used as the basis for other animal lines as well.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Harry said, practically salivating over the notion. I could already see his marketing-focused brain start to spin up with all new advertisements.

“Well, it’s all still preliminary, but maybe elephants, unicorns, tigers, bunnies, and if the tech guys are to be believed… dragons.”

“Oh wow! I can just see them now,” Harry said, his eyes practically rolling into the back of his head from the mere thought of such a lucrative prospect.

“I’m sure you can, Harry,” I said, trying to refocus on my preparation once more.

“Man, with the way my Little has been behaving though… I might just be the first to get one and use one of the special features I heard so much about from the rumor mill.”

I wanted to smack him in the head right then for even implying such a thing for his Little, but I just smiled and wrapped the conversation up as quickly as I could. Bigs like Harry was why Project Nurture was so important. We Bigs needed a change and today could be the solution to get rid of the need for all those special features in the first place.

I continued to click deliberately on the correct icons from my computer’s screen to select the start of the presentation that I had crafted just for today. A lot was riding on it, especially seeing the long line of Board Members for the company that were now walking in with their propensity to always strive for innovation and progress, yet somehow always come off as traditional and even regressive in some ways. Knowing the Board of Directors, the outcome of today with these fair-weather types could either mean a total success or a setback of at least ten years if they had their way afterward.  

Our society of Bigs had been entrenched in its ideology about Littles for decades now. Bigs and Littles once lived in relative harmony in the same but slightly separated communities. Now, Bigs and Littles were integrated together fully, but the treatment of Littles had only grown more severe since the so-called ‘Inclusion Laws’ had first been enacted, as indicated by Harry only moments ago. We all knew that Littles were often kidnapped or tricked into centers for regression and then adopted out to childless couples or already large families looking to possess an always fashionable Little, but those laws increased those odds by at least 70% in the first year alone. For the lucky regressed Little, some Bigs would choose to regress them personally, rather than those awful regression centers, but this could be messy, unpredictable, and even dangerous if handled incorrectly. One Little had escaped and killed their entire adoptive family of Bigs last year. Something had to change, so I took a deep breath in to begin with what could be that very change.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” I announced in front of the room of the now-seated spectators and members of the company board. “I would like to thank you all for coming here today, and I would like to especially thank the Board of Directors of this company for green lighting this project in the first place. I’m pleased to say that your faith in our experiment was well placed.” The Board members around the desk nodded subtly and the rest of the audience behind them gave a small clap.

“So, it was a success?” Ms. Beakerman asked from the back of the table, shoving her horned rimmed glasses up her bony and hooked nose. The small applause immediately stopped.

“Yes, ma’am. This presentation,” I flicked off most of the lights and turned the front projector on, “will demonstrate the effectiveness of our latest round of experiments.” The screen popped on and flashed my name, ‘Dr. Edgar Thompson,’ and the title, ‘Regressing Littles in a New Way: Using a Combination of Tender Care, Threat of Punishment, Mild Hypnosis, and Company Medications to Achieve Similar Results to Traditional Methods of Mental Reversion,’ with the codename, ‘Project Nurture’ at the bottom.

Gasps went out over the crowd. They had of course been informed of the project last year when it was still in the planning phases, but knowing them as I did, many had likely just signed off and only agreed with some of the more senior Board members without fully reading the document. It worked in my favor for getting projects off the ground, but their rejection rates at this stage were often much higher.

“Similar results, Dr. Thompson?” Mr. Cannon asked, drumming his fingers in an annoyed manner on his rotund belly that was threatening to burst all the buttons off the white shirt he was wearing today.

“Yes. Similar results, sir, as you will see.” I clicked forward in the presentation to a slide labeled, ‘Why?’ “I will get to that in one moment if you will bear with me. I promise, your question will be answered in good time.” Mr. Cannon, the group skeptic, grumbled but waved his pudgy fingers for me to proceed.

“Of the past methods we Bigs have used to regress Littles, three have been go-to methods for decades; a new drug, a new surgery, or a new hypnosis method.” The board murmured in agreement; each having grown rich off this company’s profits with each of the three methods in the past. “Yes, yes. All good, but each has a downside as we know all too well.”

I clicked the presentation forward, now showing the three methods and images of their various failures. “A new drug often causes mass hallucinations and mental breakage of the affected Little, which means lawsuits and negative publicity. New surgeries reduce abilities but are often expensive and permanently damaging to Littles, not to mention a stain on the name of our society as being ‘more civilized.’” The board whispered in silent and obvious ashamed agreement. “And lastly, new hypnosis methods. They are faster and more permanent when done correctly, but if ever possibly broken, many Littles need to be regressed again with stronger methods or have even been committed to an insane asylum in some cases.” I was about to click to the next slide, but one member raised their hand. It was Mr. Cannon again. “Yes… sir?”

“I read an article the other day, you see… your method I’m sure is valid, and you are right about the other three, but I think you left out one.” I raised my eyebrows in curiosity, though slightly knowing where he could be going with this. “What about these nanobots I hear all this chatter about, doc?” Mr. Cannon asked inquisitively. The entire room shifted its uncomfortable focus back onto me.

I knew this was bound to come out as well, having just read the article myself in the company newsletter. “Ah yes, that’s true. Newer and faster acting nanobots have begun to pop up in several markets, even beyond our own company’s breakthroughs, but we have found that these often have some, if not all, the negatives of these previous methods. We believe that one day these will be all the rage, and we have other experiments dedicated to those that even I am involved with, but there are just too many unknowns for now.”

I knew that something being classified as ‘unknown’ was a dirty word to the Board of Directors. It could mean money lost or reputations being tarnished. As such, Mr. Cannon merely nodded along with the rest of the board and gave me the signal to proceed. Satisfied, I clicked the next slide, labeled, ‘Background.’

“This method was originally formed when during one of the raids of a Littles liberation camp, a psychology textbook from one of the portal Littles was discovered. At first the textbook appeared to possess only rudimentary knowledge of the inner machinations of their primitive minds, but our scientists postulated that an understanding of their minds is both genetics, or physical workings, and one’s background. Further, information discovered could be used to augment the psychological profile of the average portal Little, rather than just their physical attributes. While not necessarily a barometer or new method of regression, it was thought to be a potential key to unlocking the secrets of Little society, both here and there.”

The crowd leaned in further. I knew I had their attention, and I was glad that no one had outright objected so far. “In fact, what we have just been learning ourselves had been discovered when portal Littles first came here, but society at the time had caused the government to repress the information from being released to the public. ‘Our government sources still wouldn’t say why, but I’m guessing one of the corporations had their hand in it with kickbacks and the like… not to even mention all the tech from keeping Littles regressed.’

“The government only informed us two days ago… after the experiment had already concluded, however, our findings were more extensive and conducted with more concrete analysis and less… bias,” I quickly added after seeing some of the Board grow anxious for the potential of wasted money when an experiment like this had already occurred years ago. ‘Waste’ was another dirty word to them.

The Board of Directors and the other audience members before me murmured in their own ways. Something told me that my personal theory of companies paying the government off in order to sell more Little products was dead right. A few on our own Board had dealings with the government in the past but had left for ‘undisclosed reasons.’ ‘I could be talking to some of those same members who were involved with repressing the information…’

I tossed the thought out of my head, knowing it wouldn’t do me any good to dwell on, and moved forward with a click to the next slide. “Regardless, our doctors have reinforced the long-held belief that portal Littles activate a hormonal fluctuation in many Bigs which causes their protective and nurturing instincts to go into overdrive. Some estimate the reaction is almost twice as potent with portal Littles as compared to our own native Littles. So, with a declining local Little and unregressed population and the widening amount of infertility in our society, portal Littles will likely continue to be, and even grow, into one of the largest markets of Littles existing.” I switched to the next slide.

“The psychological textbook theories in the captured books were combined with years of research conducted by in-depth interviews of Bigs and even some Littles, who I should point out were not coerced in any manner. Then, Little psychologists condensed and tailored all those data points into this single experiment in its entirety to test the complete validity of this revised method into practice. I…”

“Why the hell would they want to help us? Seems a bit suspicious, doctor,” one of the senior and more traditional Bigs, Mr. Galpin, shot out.

I knew I was going to receive at least one objection from him. George Galpin’s family stretched across Libertalia in their influence, and it was common knowledge that his brother, Robert, and his wife Emily, had just adopted a Little of their own from one of the more barbaric regression institutes in the north. “Ah, yes. Mr. Galpin… You must understand,” I explained, “that the possibility of the success of this program could mean a different treatment for all Littles potentially. Not just portal Littles.” He continued to glare at me. “You see, our native Littles know that adoption is likely for at least 90% of Littles in our world, so if it can be better for them and for us, they know it’s worth their involvement.” Mr. Galpin seemed to steam in frustration for a moment but relented and leaned back in his chair. Hopeful that I had quelled his discontent, I continued with the slides.

I clicked the screen again and two subjects were shown. “Here is subject 90876A and 90876B, and this Little and Big duo will be the main focus of today’s presentation. Of the 150 test subjects in this conducted experiment, 40 occurred in this country with the same parameters beyond test subject differences. In fact, two test villages were set up in the northeast and the south with 20 subject pairs in each, just to cut down on outside variables for the initial part of testing.”  

I then held up one of the spare data storage devices that I had brought along with me. “When you leave today, each of you will take one of these home with you. They have been modified to be viewed by you only using your genetic code stored within company files. Each contains all sessions conducted with subjects 90876A and 90876B, as well as the remaining 149 experiments with conclusions drawn for each. We know you, as the Board of Directors for this company, are busy with other matters, so we will leave the investment timing of viewing your up to you. Further, of the 110 test subject pairings not in this country, they were divided amongst seven other countries to ensure a wider possibility of success with our method across the world and cultures.”

The board murmured with greedy anticipation. In truth, we could have just remained in one section of this country, but I knew that a world market meant a wider audience, and a wider audience meant more buyers of this company’s products. Despite the varied appearances before me, dollar signs illuminated each of their eyes in unison.

I clicked the slide again. “All subjects were chosen for their backgrounds, desires, and for the Big, their demeanor and current job placement. We determined that the job requirement in all our caregivers shouldn’t be too time consuming, and the subject caregiver should be able to take off if needed to complete a part of the experiment if needed. Future experiments, if approved, will test this method out with varying job parameters, but for the first round of testing, we believed that further interactions between the subjects, caregiver and Little, would be needed. We also knew that a flexibility was important in both subjects.” The board nodded their heads in agreement. ‘So far, so good, Edgar… just keep reeling them in.’

“For the Little, smaller parameters were required. Due to the theory of mentality being a combination of environment and genetics however, each of the Littles came from the same dimension. The planet is a pre-fusion society and still relies on several pollutants for fuel, so this did allow some ease of tension when Littles were inducted into our society with our various advancements in technology.”

“How were they convinced?” Ms. Beakerman asked shrilly.

“Ah. Yes, well, we will discuss Little involvement in due time, but we have promised the Bigs to be able to adopt their assigned Little by the end, barring negative mannerisms previously undetected or violation of experiment protocols. They were aware of the experiment being performed and realized they could have a potentially better behaved and more accepting Little than ever before as well. In fact, off the 150 total caregivers we selected, we had to turn down over 60,000.”

The board all appeared shocked but then resolved once more. Everyone knew about the struggles our society was facing, so honestly, 60,000 almost seemed too small a number worldwide to me at least. “Additionally, Bigs will be paid for the care of the Little with whatever tools or implements required during the process and an extra bonus will be given in the end if all regulations and procedures were followed to the letter. We believed this contributed to the fact that only one subject was ever treated incorrectly according to the regulations of the experiment. Subject 90872A and B have been noted in your files…”

“You still haven’t answered my initial question, Doctor.” Mr. Cannon growled. “My patience is growing thin.” The Board Members began murmuring in agreement soon afterward.

“I’m just getting to that, Mr. Cannon. Here.” I clicked the slide. “For years, as I noted, other harder methods are wrong and likely, illegal in most dimensions. They must stop. We, as a society, are wrong.”

A gasp went up among the crowd. I had to hook them in quick or they would tune me out for the rest of the presentation or even leave. I didn’t get the chance though.

“You’ll never get away with this!” a Big stood up from the back of the crowd and waved a gun around. The board members and I quickly took cover behind whatever we could find. ‘Damn security budget cuts…’ “There’s an order to things,” he shouted manically. “You just can’t go about and change the book. This society needs those other services, and you’re getting rid of them! You won’t get away with this!” From his appearance and general demeanor, he was obviously an outsider.

Any employee of our office knew that our company had long been at the forefront of innovation, so it was inevitable that someone would want to protest something we were doing. As such, despite their cutbacks, our security had been trained, armed, and were ready to deploy all throughout the building and its facilities within one minute. This office was closer to the main hub however, so less than thirty seconds after he had pulled out his gun, our security burst through the doors.

“Freeze!”

“Screw yo…!”

Bzzzzt!

The guard at the front of the pack quickly blasted off his stick and a charge of purple lightning struck the gunman squarely in the chest. He quickly collapsed and was neutralized. The gunman never fired a shot. As they dragged him away though, some… cleanup and air freshener were required from where the now babbling man had collapsed.

Everyone in the room got back and resumed their seats once the janitorial staff had disinfected and sanitized the room. The amount of money invested in this program and the stubborn nature of each person there ensured that a single small gunman would not deter what they had come here to see. Seeing that it would take something much more to interrupt my presentation, I pressed forward, now with a lovely smell of lavender and lemon in the air.

“As I was saying… harder methods of regression have been used since the beginning days of what we now know as the ‘Little Reclamation Program.’ These methods are effective in their own way but still brutal. Instead of pacifying the Little population, no pun intended,” a small chuckle emitted from the room, “these efforts have only galvanized more Littles against Big-led society. This movement includes those in this dimension and several of the ones arriving here. In fact, the Secretary of Commerce for Libertalia has even projected that tourism will be down by almost 40% next year from other portal dimensions. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. They are scared of us.”

“A little fear goes a long way, though,” Mrs. Gordon, a young and suited woman, quickly pointed out.

“True, but we are now experiencing the backlash of such methods.” The snooty young Board member eased back into her seat. “About five years ago, if you recall, a rebel leader of a Little resistance cell was taken and regressed through the traditional means. From the request of the government, she was almost made a near-permanent newborn in looks and abilities.” I paused and noticed that all eyes were on me. Despite the gunman and some of the more boring introductions of the presentation, all were still with me. It was a good sign. “Her cell found this out and only grew in their hate for our society and the methods the hospital had used. Not long after, the hospital was assaulted, and several were killed.”

I took a sip from my nearby glass of water. “Her mother was killed in the fighting and her father later had a mental breakdown. She is now in foster care waiting to be adopted, though her prospects are slim due to her permanent vegetative newborn state… and all that is not just one isolated case.” The Board looked wary and reflective of the event, but there were so many like that story, I doubted a few of them could even remember it. “Additionally, our company has produced a lifelike doll that mimics many of the abilities and functions of a newborn. Though we should all be congratulated on our work and success with that product, adoption prospects for vegetative newborns have been pushed even further into jeopardy. We can… we must prevent these events from occurring.”

“But how do you plan on that?” Mr. Galpin asked smugly, just as a light applause had begun.

“I’m going to show you…” I clicked the next slide. “Using the method that you’ll soon see used for subjects 90876A and 90876B, we can lift this burden from our society. We would still be able to supply the population with a stable Little population that may even choose themselves to stay and the method wouldn’t carry the weight of our original near-barbaric methods of regression. It would be a sign for a renewal of faith in our society, rather than others looking at us like a, to put it bluntly, horror show.”

To my surprise, a few of the board members clapped in earnest now. Surgeries and hypnotics were messy and almost completely irreversible as I had previously pointed out. Big society members in this dimension were looked at like monsters only yearning for fresh meat to babify, and people were starting to catch on. If something didn’t happen quickly, few Littles would ever think of coming here again regardless of our trickeries or appeal in other ways, such as our technology. Seeing a thriving space program and alternative fuel sources was nothing if said tourist came out, if at all, with the mentality of a one-year-old. Still, their reaction was at least a little surprising.

“Further, we have discovered that some of our more natural tendencies are even stronger with this method. An estimated 90% of the group registered a near complete Big-to-Little bond that parents achieve with their natural offspring using hormone and chemical levels registered in the body to verify the result.”

“What about the 10%?” Mr. Cannon skeptically and annoyingly asked.

“Yes… well, based on our preliminary research, we have come to speculate based on our findings that despite our extensive sorting and elimination methods,” I admitted frustratingly, “many of the Bigs in the selected group seemed to only want to become caregivers based on their need for power or domination, rather than with their motivations of something like love. Further, due to the lower levels of a supply of Littles, we suspect that some of them may have taken longer to breakthrough as they may have otherwise been deemed as Dark Cliff candidates.”

“Oh…” Mr. Cannon receded into the rest of the members around the table. Every Big knew of the terrible fate that awaited any that were sentenced there. ‘True tough cases if there ever were some…’

“Yes… well, now onto the main presentation. Lights, Mr. Cunningham!” One of the techs for the room quickly hit the light switch and immediately bathed the room in an inky black shadow, the projector being the only source of light with the newly designed blackout curtains all around.

“Thank you. Now, knowing that these experiments would eventually be shown to you members of the Board, we decided to use RealET, or for those of you not aware of our AV department’s latest advancements, Real Environmental Technology.” Many in the room gasped at the use of something so state-of-the-art. “Using pre-installed devices during the experiment and the projectors now in this room, we can map what occurred right before you as if you were actually there. Some thoughts and feelings may be known as well, but many have been scrubbed to avoid… potential privacy issues in most cases.”

“Can this broadcast the Olympics? Spartans are on at 6!” Ms. Beakerman jested, a known enthusiast of their national team and one of their most prominent benefactors.

“I’m afraid not right now, Ms. Beakerman, though I can put you in contact with the head of their department after today. You never know what tomorrow could bring…” She only smiled broadly, her wrinkles stretching to their limits across her face. “Now, we shall begin with the first session and move onward. There are 42 sessions in total, but for the sake of time today, we will only show a selection of some of the more important moments from subjects 90876A and 90876B journey together. Some diaper changes and tantrums may be good to see, but more than six a day would likely become tiresome, as I’m sure some of you with Littles can attest to already,” I joked.

The board laughed quietly, but I could see that each were fully entranced with the projection rendering all around them. It was hard not to with eh blue lasers rendering bits of the recording in real time. “Now, brace yourselves, this may feel a bit… weird.” I then moved over to the main control panel and as I could already begin to see my observation post for the experiment from a few months ago, I took a deep breath and pressed the lever to activate the screen. “Ladies and gentlemen of the board, I give you, Project Nurture!”

Vrrroom! Pop!

Edited July 28, 2023 by LostBBoyBear

[Guilend]

Yay. I am definitely intrigued by this new story. Can't wait to see how this new project plays out. I'm sure there's some push back on it for sure. 

[dirtydingus84]

Did Edger Brown make the regression stuffies? I like how all these stories are connected. 

[SGTbaby]

Interesting as the plot begins!

[LostBBoyBear]

2 hours ago, dirtydingus84 said:

Did Edger Brown make the regression stuffies? I like how all these stories are connected. 

Dr. Edgar only tested them out. There's another person who invented them which I will go into with another story that gives the origins of a lot of things. 

[Sararei]

im reading like 3-4 long running DD stories and its always interesting to see the different takes.  But one thing that is common among all of them is....Bigs are psychos lol. 

 

Although it wouldn't be very fitting to the nature of most the stories here, ive been having thoughts of a story involving basically a inter dimensional war.  Essentially 2-3 "little" dimensions tired of the "opps" half of our tour group got "lost" or a few abductions of a few too many high ranking people and not enough kick back for governments to supress it anymore, gather up a massive army and use some new secret portal technology to teleport in say the ocean with 10s of thousands of battleships and aircraft carriers and other various war implements and begin the attempted take over of the entire amazon planet.  With a few planets of support and likely rallying the native poplulation despite likely being more primitive in technology, could littles take over and what would that mean. lol 

 

On a more grounded level though been also thinking much smaller scale of a privately funded OG earth (ours) ops task force dedicated to recovery of kidnaped earth littles and ofcourse maybe it fails horrible once >_>

 

 

 

[LostBBoyBear]

3 hours ago, Sararei said:

im reading like 3-4 long running DD stories and its always interesting to see the different takes.  But one thing that is common among all of them is....Bigs are psychos lol. 

 

Although it wouldn't be very fitting to the nature of most the stories here, ive been having thoughts of a story involving basically a inter dimensional war.  Essentially 2-3 "little" dimensions tired of the "opps" half of our tour group got "lost" or a few abductions of a few too many high ranking people and not enough kick back for governments to supress it anymore, gather up a massive army and use some new secret portal technology to teleport in say the ocean with 10s of thousands of battleships and aircraft carriers and other various war implements and begin the attempted take over of the entire amazon planet.  With a few planets of support and likely rallying the native poplulation despite likely being more primitive in technology, could littles take over and what would that mean. lol 

 

On a more grounded level though been also thinking much smaller scale of a privately funded OG earth (ours) ops task force dedicated to recovery of kidnaped earth littles and ofcourse maybe it fails horrible once >_>

 

 

 

Most Bigs are... it's basically a trope, but I do try to add at least a few redeeming Bigs in my stories. Hard to condemn an entire race for juts their natural instincts. 

You should absolutely write about that! I would definitely read it, and I know a lot of these stories done since practically the beginning have some pretty great roots for establishing all that. I know some stories maintain that or government is complicit in us going over there, but I can't imagine that deal would last for long if everyone kept disappearing. Definitely a lot of potential in a story like that! 

[LostBBoyBear]

Sorry for the delay, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit a museum that has been closed since 2019 for renovations. I should be able to post another chapter tomorrow if everything goes well. 

Hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 2: Session 1

‘Ugh… not the easiest step off…’ I looked around the room and many of the viewers were still getting used to the unusual sensations of the RealET. Getting my bearings back, I quickly looked at the dials in front of me.

‘Good, good… and good. All safe and no one toasted or otherwise…’ Still being at the forefront of technology, RealET was subject to a host of small glitches still. Nothing obscene, but according to one of the researchers, some could experience vertigo, nausea, fainting, or even excessive sweating with this latest model. Previous models… well, test subjects were well compensated, or at least some of their families were from what I had been told when accepting the use of such a system for this project.

Taking a second to get adjusted to the virtual view in front of me, I could see the Board could plainly view my former self seated in front of a desk with several monitors and the same projection mapping technology behind me. Given my personal connection, I knew I was the only one who could hear my past self’s inner thoughts, but it was still odd to see myself in this manner, despite my previous preparation for this meeting.

My former self then began to move about as the RealET synced up with our current viewing and I breathed in deeply for what everyone was about to experience. ‘This was it. Project Nurture in its entirety. Please let this work...’

*              *              *

“Is this thing on? Hello?” I tapped on the microphone attached to my lab coat. ‘Stupid technology getting smaller. Nice the board won’t see it, but ugh… I need to see the blasted thing as well.’ I rolled my eyes a bit and then tapped on the microphone two more times to ensure my words would come through loud and clear.

Beeeeoowwwweeeeek!

“Ah! Sorry about that everyone…” I said looking at one of the cameras in front of me after my ears had stopped ringing. I knew the Board would be seeing this, so I knew I had to just move on from this beginning technical hiccup. “First day of this new technology and all. Few bumps, but I think I have it now… anyway, as I’m sure you all know by now, I’m Dr. Edgar Thompson. For simplicity purposes and your viewing pleasure, this will be the first viewing session for the following subjects regarding the experiment simply known as ‘Project Nurture.’”

I got up from my seat and walked over to another set of monitors nearby to view a few of the other candidates that had been sent to me. “Due to the extensive nature of 150 subjects spread across eight different countries, I tasked a few of my subordinates to monitor and observe all the subjects and report back the most promising ones given a few specific criteria that I had given to them. Today, will be the first session viewing submitted subjects 90876A and 90876B, otherwise known as Joy Spelding and Ronald Plimpton, respectively.”

I turned a few dials below the monitors which then switched to a view of a chestnut-haired and average-sized Little from his experiment file in our records. “90876B, Ronald, or as he prefers, Ron, was selected for a variety of reasons. Ron was a portal Little like the rest of our subjects for this batch of testing and was eventually ensnared by a legal loophole with a caretaker service that we have some loose ties with. We were promptly informed of his retained status and our company legally adopted him to cooperate with governmental standards in such matters. Further, we have designated Joy as his proxy caregiver for the time being as outlined in section 2B.1A of those same guidelines.” I turned the dial away from the picture of the Little and to several profile pages that he had accumulated over the years. “Based on profile pages like these, internet search history, and past online personality tests that we were able to acquire from his own dimension, via agents embedded in their tech industries and government, we know that he is susceptible to wanting a new life and to form a new and caring relationship. Further, we also noted that his height shrunk from 5’8” to 5’2”. While not a guarantee of compatibility to be a perfect Little, the old wife’s tale may be partially true, and we often find that those susceptible to shrinkage in the portal transfer may end up as better future regression candidates.”

I switched the dials again and showed the file’s picture of a well-proportioned and approximately mid-30s and comfortably dressed blonde woman. “Subject 90876A, or Joy, was selected on numerous factors, one of the largest being her desire for a family given the deaths of both her parents and lack of siblings. Her work with previous Littles combined with her desire for a loving family, both serve as potent factors in seeing this process through effectively and without any pre-warning signs for potentials of Little abuse.”

I then switched the monitors back to the main room where Joy was waiting for Ron to arrive. “Before we focus in on their first meeting, I should note that the selected caretakers were able to narrow down what Littles they would be paired with, but only broad parameters could be selected and not specific Littles. Today, will be the first time they have ever met in any form.” I cranked up one dial and a ghostly visage of myself appeared in the room alongside Joy. “My image has been altered in this environment to seem almost spectral, not unlike your own if you haven’t noticed yet,” I said, knowingly including the Board and other potential visitors on the explanation. “If this were being viewed in real time, one could mistake us using the RealET system for a bunch of ghosts, but here, this is merely so our own image of ourselves will not interfere with anything in the environment that could be of importance. Trust me when I say you don’t want your own hand blocking your view of something critical…’ I lightly joked. ‘What I wouldn’t give for a few real time audience members…’

The entire view then switched about the living room of Joy’s given house, before settling on a single view of her and her twiddling thumbs. I knew that she knew that, if desired, she could keep the house and continue to live in the community built for this experiment and others if all protocols were followed. It was one of many benefits upon successful completion of the project, so I couldn’t blame her for her apparent nervousness. Besides, Littles were such a mixed bag. For all she knew, anyone from the perfect angel to hell’s own spawn could be showing up at her door any minute now.

“Oh, one last thing,” my near-disembodied voice spoke while the view was still on Joy waiting on the couch, only thin wisps of my form coming back into the main view. “Joy has been informed of the various rules she needs to abide by for this experiment. Many will be explained by her as they come up naturally in her interactions with Ron, as he, however, will not likely know any of them when they first meet.” A little button flashed nearby, and I saw two figures approaching the front door. “Oh. Here he comes now!”

The front doorknob jiggled for a moment but then the large, white door soon opened, and more sunlight immediately began streaming in than had already trickled in through the partially draped windows of the living room. Each caregiver could select their own décor, and the room and the rest of the house could easily be summed up with the words ‘cozy comfort.’ The added sunlight only added to this visage as Joy immediately stood up and flattened out her above the knee light blue dress that nearly matched her inquisitive but warm eyes.

“Joy Spelding?” the muscular correctional officer asked, now lumbering through the wide door, yet still struggling a bit. The Little he was practically dragging let out the faintest of snickers at the sight.

“Yes, that’s me,” Joy answered softly, going as far to even give out a small cutesy wave and moving on from the Little’s reaction to the officer’s struggles.

“Mhhhmmm… just sign here. Gotta be legal and all.” He held out a tablet in his monstrous and thickened hands, and Joy then walked over and looked at the electronic form that had been presented to her.

“I see.” Joy began to flip through the pages of the electronic form and neatly signed where was indicated. She then paused for a moment and asked, “May I ask why an officer is bringing…” Joy looked down at the diminutive 5’2” Little before her that only came up to her thigh, being 10’9” herself, “uh… this… man to my house? Wasn’t he supposed to be brought over in a van alone and not… cuffs?” I too then noticed the padded cuffs around the Little’s meek arms, Joy now staring back intently at the man before her and waiting on his answer to her question.

“Sorry… regulation from Carer+. Just finish signing and the cuffs can be removed,” the large man said briskly, obviously wanting to leave as soon as possible and make at least one more delivery for today.

Joy looked highly upset over this turn of events and so just quickly finished signing the forms in front of her. In truth, we knew this would be a possibility, but we felt that uninformed caregivers in this instance would seem more genuine and could garner a better and more positive response from the subject Little. From the way that Ron had calmed down slightly, I suspected this postulation was correct.

Once the forms were completed by Joy and then handed back over, the correctional officer looked them over and then nodded his head back toward Joy. “Ma’am…” He then gave her the electronic key and left without another word. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning back around once out the door, but I saw that another flash of anger from Joy sent him quickly out of sight. She wasted no time slamming the door shut and then recollecting herself afterward.

Now, with the two all alone with each other, I could see that Ron was just adamantly glaring solely at the floor while Joy looked sympathetically at him and the cuffs on him from vantage point high above. After a minute or so of pure silence, she sighed and then crouched down. “Now, I’m going to take these off, okay?” Ron just nodded listlessly, and Joy began to remove the cuffs with the electronic key she had been given.

Errrrr… Click!

Without a second’s hesitation, once the cuffs were fully removed by Joy, Ron then bottled for the nearby door that had been open only seconds before. As soon as he reached it though, an electric charge sparked through his hand as he reached out and touched the doorknob.

Bzzt.

“Ow. What the…?” Ron shook his hand from the small zap he had received. It was designed not to be painful, at least on paper, but we had given it just enough juice to be shocking enough to discourage repeated attempts by unruly and potential escapee Littles. Despite his initial shock though, he tried again, much to the apparent worry of Joy standing behind him.

Bzzt.

“Damn it!” he shouted in frustration, the spark still acting like more of an annoyance than anything. From his rear, Joy quietly and cautiously inched forward. She was careful, but Ron spotted her movement somehow and spun around defensively to face his captor. “Let me out! Now!” he angrily demanded.

Joy only sighed from her towering position and seemed disappointed in how things were unfolding with the new Little in her charge. “I was really hoping we were going to get off on a better foot, Ronald, or actually, do you prefer to be called Ron instead?”

Of course, Joy knew that he preferred to be called Ron, but from her background in caring for other Littles previously, she also knew that they were stubborn like no other being in this world at this preliminary stage with introductions, particularly if their entry had been… rocky. She knew very well that he had to be the one to open to her first.

The Little still clenched his fists, but then sputtered out a single word. “Ron,” he said with a slight hint of disdain.

“Well, good to meet you, Ron. I’m Joy.” She held out her hand and smiled as amicably as seemed possible, but Ron didn’t take the bait or shake the offered gesture. Looking a little disappointed over his initial rejection, but still knowing that the first moves were important, Joy pulled her hand back without any further action. “That’s okay. We can work up to that.”

Ron rolled his eyes and simply turned around and reached for the doorknob again.

“I wouldn’t do that!” Joy loudly cautioned, almost reaching out to stop him physically, but still having the good sense to restrain herself at this time. Ron swiveled around to face her again in annoyance. “You’ve seen it twice already, Ron, and no, it isn’t just static electricity or something like that if that’s what you were thinking.”

“I wasn’t…” he practically growled.

“Well, that’s good,” Joy quickly spoke, “but I think we might just need to have a small chat about a few things. I promise that if you want to try the door again after, it might hurt, but I won’t stop you from trying.” Joy then calmly gestured over to the nearby large couch in the living room near the entrance where they both still were standing. “Just a small chat… can we do that at least, Ron?”

Ron looked like he was about to reach for the door again, but at the last minute just shoved his hand firmly into his pants pocket. Joy observed the small motion and smiled before allowing Ron to go first to sit down.

Joy had been given some reading material before all this, to be used as one of our methods to ensure a more even distribution and knowledge base amongst the subject caregivers. Additionally, the techniques outlined in the manual were the first phase of Project Nurture and had been emphasized multiple times. It wasn’t necessarily required reading, but it was quickly apparent that she had read them all and, at least based on our initial theory, she knew that giving Littles some control now would only serve to pay off later in their relationship.

Ron shuffled across the entryway and to the couch that Joy had gestured to. Having been sized for a Big, he simply stared at the waist-high couch cushion in front of him for a moment. It certainly wasn’t the biggest thing in this world, but it just served as another obstacle for the captured Little and yet another he would need to overcome. With a resigned sigh, he began to attempt to mount the towering and yet comfortable-looking couch before him.

Edging close behind, Joy watched the Little struggle with such a simple task. The look on Joy’s face clearly and immediately showed that she had an inner desire to help him out, but it was also apparent that she was also visibly steadying herself. Between the two range of emotions, she readied herself to ask if he needed her help after about a minute of Ron continually huffing and bouncing to get up. “Do you nee…?”

“I’ve got it!” Ron shot back in frustration, now thudding back to the floor after his at least 15^th try to get up.

Joy retreated a bit to give the Little some space and after about another minute, the obviously less than athletic Little was able to climb on board the couch. Joy simply smiled and took her seat cautiously on the opposite side of where Ron had started to situate himself.

As Ron wedged himself in the corner, Joy took a breath to prepare herself to begin their true conversation about moving forward together. It was a potential make or break moment, and she knew it well. The day had gone as well as it could, but now, she knew from the information we had provided previously that she could screw it all up on her first day with him.

As she prepared and mentally readied herself, I picked up my nearby recording device on my side as I watched her mull things over for how to begin. “Project Note: Subject 90876A, and others like her, were given some leeway on first introductions to their corresponding subject Littles. While encouraged not to stray away from the eventual outcome we hope for, starting levels of regression and immersion into a regressed environment have been left vague on purpose. While it has been acknowledged that this could create some variables in testing’s, we believe this could add a larger variety of potential promising outcomes for future studies and implementation to more users of our method,” I said into my recorder while still observing the two. I then looked at the stack of notes before me from the other experiments I had been recommended to view directly so far. “It should be noted though that it seems the majority of subject caregivers have chosen to ease their subject Littles into the lifestyle. Further analysis and observation will need to occur to determine if it is the result of knowingly being observed or just the normal tendencies from the particular subject caregivers we have chosen.” I then turned back to Joy and Ron, who both now seemed ready to discuss their business and this arrangement.  

“So, Ron… I’m not sure what you know or don’t… and I don’t want to presume you know or don’t know anything, so I’m just gonna lay it all out here and we can go from there. Does that sound okay?” Wearing a perpetual frown still, Ron just nodded in his soured gloom.

“Good,” Joy said, obviously trying to move forward without taking his expression too much to heart. “Now, I know you were taken by an organization… doesn’t matter which for today, but they declared you unfit for one reason or another and I, as a volunteer to take in such… personages as yourself, their custody, under the law you see, was transferred… to me.” Ron sat in his corner of the couch unblinking. It was difficult to tell through his deepening scowl if he had been told about all this or not beforehand. ‘Probably not…’

Joy seemed like she was trying to determine that as well, but also getting nowhere in deciphering his looks, she just continued. “Now, what that means is that, at least in one sense, I’m your guardian… and before you bolt,” she said, noticing Ron’s posture had suddenly upended slightly from his corner of the couch, “that doesn’t mean I want to treat you like you may have seen others treat people like yourself.” Ron’s back was still peeled away from the couch, but his shoulders and brow seemed less tense now at the prospect of maybe a different Big than the ones he had been introduced to so far.

Obviously satisfied that she had put his escape attempts on hold for now, Joy let out a small sigh of relief, but still proceeded with palpable and understandable caution. “So, all that being said, as you noticed, the doorknob is charged a bit. This is mainly to prevent burglars from entering but can also serve to keep those not authorized to access it, inside the house.”

“So, authorize me then,” Ron said bluntly.

“I can, but that takes some time… so for now, I would suggest if you wanted to leave, just ask.” Ron breathed in as if to say something, but Joy spoke up first, knowing she had to seize her moment of reality now or risk losing Ron altogether. “Before you ask however… just know that you have been marked.” Ron briefly panicked and looked down at his body. Joy smiled and let out a miniscule giggle. “No, not that type of mark. In our system I mean… your profile is on our governmental database now. I know you’re a portal Little, but after being remanded to our care, you were registered.”

“Registered? Like a citizen?” Ron asked, almost with a note of hope in his voice.

“Uh, well, sort of… more like… uh, a minor…” Ron’s eyes bulged at the word and Joy tensed up at seeing his reaction. She held up her hands to brace against his apprehension and spoke quickly. “Easy there, Ron. I know you probably have a million and one things going through your head, but I promise… I’m not like all the other Bigs you’ve probably encountered already.”

“That’s what they all say… then bam!” He smacked his hands together to emphasize his point. “I’m in another situation like this. I keep going down on the totem pole for what my status is. Not sure where else to go from here with the label ‘minor’ and all… lobotomy maybe?”

Joy shifted uncomfortably, obviously not being able to discern if that was a joke or a legitimate fear of his. I could tell she knew the situation was delicate, so, her next move meant that half-truths were now in order. The purpose of this whole experiment was to regress Littles, yes, but it was also to do it in a way of framing it like giving a wheelchair to a paraplegic if you will. Maybe not the most ideal of situations overall, but it was something now needed to maneuver about in society. Being a Little was obviously more than that to us Bigs, but unregressed Littles needed a little prior… cajoling, if you will.

“I would never give you a lobotomy, Ron. I can promise you that… cross my heart,” Joy said, marking an ‘x’ on her chest with her pointer finger, smiling all the way to try and frame the situation like a joke. Ron took the bait and eased up for a brief moment. I could see the tension diffuse a bit in Joy and she continued. “So… I think we just need to go over a few things…”

“Like?” Ron asked impatiently, still evidently not on board with all this.

“Well… you’re under my roof and, at least technically, my protection as well.” Ron’s hands clenched at the implication. “Meaning,” Joy quickly continued, noticing his tense gesture, “that I just want what’s best for you. Think of it like when you fall and cut yourself, I’ll be the one to give you a band-aid or put it on you myself in some cases. Doesn’t mean I’m going to push you down some stairs or on the sidewalk or anything, but I’ll be there if you need help with a particular… problem. Does that make sense?”

I could see the gears turning in Ron’s head. He had every right to be suspicious, but Joy was doing a good job so far in talking him off the proverbial ledge of escapism or worse. Her ability to speak to Littles in what almost amounted to a code would be an asset that I knew would suit her well here, especially considering the still pondering Little that had been assigned to her.

Finally, Ron spoke up. “Fine. I don’t like all this one bit, but I can agree on that at the very least.” He then wiggled and crouched forward with his hand held out in front of him. “Shake on it?” Joy leaned in, but Ron pulled his hand away before they could shake. “Don’t shake unless you mean it,” Ron stated seriously.

Joy smiled, and while she didn’t say anything, her simple hand movement encroaching forward to Ron, put a smile on his face. “Okay then. It’s a deal. I’ll stay as your… guest, and you do the protection and help thing.” Joy only nodded and he then leaned back and wore an almost smug look of satisfaction on his face as if he had just made the deal of a lifetime. ‘Oh, Ron… she may not help you along with some of the more major milestones, but we will… Project Nurture demands a few… pushes.’

“Now, what’s next?” Ron said, still reclining back on the couch with a look of accomplishment.

Joy stood up and gestured to the rest of the house. “Well, I suppose with our deal, you intend to stay…” Ron’s face darkened a bit at the implication of giving in to her, “at least for a little while…” She then walked over to the door. “If you remember, the door is to keep people out and in.” Ron nodded. “Yes, so for now, I’m going to keep it charged and not have you added to be able to access it.”

Ron scowled and shot forward a little on the couch as if he were about to protest being kept inside like an animal. Joy beat him to it though and spoke first. “I know, I know. I’m not proud of it, but it’s for your safety, Ron. Honestly.”

“Bull!” he shouted back angrily, evidently not believing her sincerity of self-guilt.

“Not bull,” Joy said, obviously having read some of the common idioms and curses from Ron’s original dimension, “just truth. I really want to keep you safe.” Ron squinted back at Joy in frustration, but also with a mix of curiosity and maybe even confusion.

“Out there,” she continued, “is everyone else and all that comes with it. You see, in here, you are Ronald Plimpton, an adult man by your standards at the very least, but out there, you are just another highly desired Little. What’s more, remember I said you were registered?” Ron nodded. “Well, that’s for a lot of things. The biggest one for you to care about though is that if one of the local or government agencies catches you, that’s the game, Ron. No second chances. Do you understand what that means for you being a Little?”

Ron nodded slowly, but Joy continued with a fierce expression that even gave me the chills a bit. We both knew the seriousness of our society by heart by now. “Well, I’m just going to remind you of this then. You are a Little. Get caught again, and you’ll end up like any of those horror ads you see out there. I’ll try and find you, but you won’t care who I am by the time I do. You’ll just want to be warm, comfortable, and fed. Crawling will be considered your accomplishment of the day and don’t even worry about the potty. If you notice anything to do with it, it will just be when I change you. You won’t be you anymore. No ego, no potty, no boxers or food that even remotely looks like its original form, if that… in short, Ron, it’s practically nothingness for you. You’ll just be a Little forever and always. Do you understand me?” Joy asked with her still warm yet stern and authoritative voice. ‘Yes… we had chosen her very well as a caregiver…’  

Ron shook his head quickly, seemingly too stunned to say more. Having been out in society, I guessed he had seen one or two Littles that probably would perfectly match the description she had just given. ‘Didn’t we all know someone like that by now in this society of ours?’

Joy’s expression relented immediately upon seeing Ron’s more demure nature and returned to her own more nurturing demeanor. “I don’t want to scare you completely, Ron. I swear. I just want you to know the stakes here. I hope you won’t escape, but just know that’ll be your life if you do.”

The two existed in only silence for a moment. It was awkward and almost painful to watch as an outsider, but I liked what was unfolding before me. Joy was only exhibiting sympathy and concern toward Ron. She had made her point and now, based on the expression Ron was giving off from his tiny corner of the couch, he was likely having serious doubts about leaving here anytime soon, if at all.

Of course, I knew that Joy had lied a bit. There were second chances around here due to Ron being in our program, but he didn’t know that, and besides, that was a reality in places like Catalon an many others. Libertalia around here was more… forgiving in a way, but laws often changed quickly for Littles. What is true today might not be tomorrow. ‘Such are the whims of a Little-focused government…’

“I understand… I won’t escape now…” Ron finally said, almost sounding a bit defeated, his smug look of satisfaction having all but disappeared by now.

“I’m glad,” Joy said calmly. “Would you like to move on? I can show you the rest of the house if you want, or just where you’ll be staying. Up to you. There are probably other things you’ll need to know, but that’s the important stuff for now at least.”

Ron looked towards the other rooms of the house from his vantage point and then to the stairs. He sighed and then started scooching off the couch. “Might as well see the rest of the house now… I’m not really tired or anything.”

Joy beamed pleasantly at the Little now trying to get off the couch. He was accepting her offers and abiding by what she was saying rather than sequestering himself to be alone upstairs. Most Littles would block themselves off if placed in a similar rocky start, but she had calmly pushed where she had needed and comforted him where she could. I immediately could tell why these two subjects had been flagged for my viewing.

Joy was about to ask if Ron needed help once again, but the Little simply plopped to the ground with another thud. He had gratefully landed on his feet, but Joy’s expression showed that she had regretted not asking if he had wanted her help to begin with. From what I had seen, it was only a matter of time.

Shuffling past her as quickly as his smaller legs could, Ron made his way to the kitchen where Joy’s outstretched arms had gracefully still been gesturing toward. Once he had made his way past her, Joy walked gingerly behind him. I could tell from her nervous glances downward that she didn’t want to accidentally run into the small Little before her or to outpace him. Ron needed some control and Joy seemed determined to give it.

Once inside the kitchen, Joy began to show several areas that almost neared normalcy to the new portal Little. Food was called different things and larger than the food from where he had come according to our research and records, but portal Littles could still recognize most of the food products in front of them. From Ron’s stalking and tense posture around the room, I could only surmise he was checking how young he would be treated based on dishes, food selection, or even furniture.

Joy seemed to catch on and spoke first as Ron gave up his search in there and then began in the dining room. “Not to be psychic or even rude Ron, but if you’re looking for a highchair, there isn’t one here. I can get one if you would prefe…”

“No, no,” Ron defended himself. “I’m okay with that… honestly. I just…”

“Wanted to check what age I was thinking of treating you like? As a Little or Big, huh?” Ron nodded affirmatively and Joy smiled at her correct guess. “Well, we can always change things only if needed, but for now at least, I can tell you that you may need help with your current… size, so I got you a booster and some smaller utensils. We can try to the other Big-sized stuff first, but I just wanted to be prepared.”

Ron looked like he wanted to protest even the notion of such items more than anything, but he ultimately just nodded his head in at least passive acceptance of this next chapter in his life. Afterall, in a world made for people twice your size, it seemed that Ron was finally beginning to understand that compromise and patience were of paramount importance.

The backyard, her office, another guest bedroom, and a few bathrooms, and other minor rooms all went about the same, Ron’s suspicion seemingly growing smaller with each visit and subsequent examination of the given room they were in. By the time the two made it to the top floor and the last room on the right side, Ron almost looked relaxed. ‘Although thinking about it now… how relaxed could a Little be in the home of a Big without a Little already to quell their known powerful inner maternal or paternal desires?’

Regardless, Joy stepped in first and flicked on the overhead light. Inside was to be Ron’s new room, but again, we left the theming up to the subject caregivers as much as possible. One subject I had seen was to immediately sleep in a crib, but Joy had opted for a simple wood frame and traditional bed that could accommodate almost two Littles. Beyond the bed, Joy had opted for a minimalistic approach to the bedroom, going as far as still keeping the walls their practically sparkling white and barren original appearance. As Ron progressed, he could select more theming elements, of course, all being increasingly meant solely for regressed Littles, but he didn’t know that yet.

“So, what do you think?” Joy asked with a slight unease and yet hopeful tone.

Ron continued to stare at the nearly empty room. “Good,” he said finally. “Spartan almost. Nothing Little about it. Uh, could use some… color maybe?” he said hesitantly, obviously trying not to insult Joy or even show a glimmer of giving in to being a Little.

“Color sounds wonderful actually. I didn’t want to paint it or add anything else until someone was actually staying here in your… position,” she gently mislead. “Might have even gone for pink or something. Not that a Little like you can’t have pink wal…”

“No!” Ron stopped her before she could finish. “No pink. Not bad, but just something… else.”

Joy smiled. “I figured as much.” In truth, the experiment would allow for more flexibility on the gender scale with Littles, but Joy had indicated her preference for a male Little for whatever reason when initially asked. It wasn’t unheard of for a Big to lean more into the male Littles, but it was just more of a rarity on the whole.

“So…” Ron shifted back and forth, obviously not sure of what was next now that the tour of the house had ended, “what now?”

“Now?” Joy pondered the question for a moment. “Now… I think I’ll leave you to relax or whatever in your room. I know the people that handled you today can be a bit rough, and I also know that all this would be a bit much… for anyone.” Ron looked around the room and then nodded. “So, just take it all in. I’ll be downstairs if you need me…”

Joy began to exit the room when Ron plopped down on the bed. An immediate crinkling noise could be heard. “What the…?”

Joy spun back around. “Oh that. Right. Sorry,” Joy said apologetically. “I wasn’t sure of the state of the Little I might get… you know with all the extra encounters a Little may face out there…” she tried to imply subtly, “so I just left the plastic sheets on. Just in case and all…”

“But I don’t need… plastic sheets,” Ron defended with an annoyed tone, now poking at one corner of his new and crinkly bed.

Joy smiled sympathetically toward the Little before her. “I know you don’t, Ron. It’s more just about the possibility of Littles in general.” Ron still angrily glared at Joy. She then sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. “Tell you what… you sleep on them for tonight and if everything goes well… I can think of removing them or switching out the mattress entirely. Can’t remember if they’re one piece or not. Got them a while ago…”

“So just one night?” Ron asked defeatedly, incorrectly assuming that it was sleep on them tonight or likely nothing at all. There was a backup plan, but we fully anticipated most Littles to not protest a still amazingly comfortable bed.

“Maybe… if they’re one piece though… could be longer…” Joy stared at the recently renewed scowling Ron for a moment. I could tell that she genuinely wanted to help him out, but I could see her inner conflict with this experiment as well.

In truth, all Little mattresses that we provided came with plastic sheets built into their design. They could be removed for washing, but for our purposes, they were important to begin to enter the subject Little’s mind. Noises and smells were powerful triggers and the addition of protection for the bed would only serve to reinforce their new and future status.

“Very well… the bed is comfortable at least…” Ron conceded.

Joy smiled in her now usual way again and her look of worry and concern began to slowly melt away. I knew, and I could tell that Joy knew, that Ron didn’t need to add that last bit to his statement. He could have just complied and that was it. Instead, he had tried to be courteous and give a compliment toward his host. In the grand scheme, it was nothing, but it represented another positive first step and on more obstacle that had been avoided with relatively few lies and fewer angry expressions or actions.

“I’m glad to hear that, Ron,” Joy said, beginning to leave the room again. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me, but otherwise, have a good night.”

Ron gave a half smile to his new host as she passed through the threshold to the room. “Thank you, Joy. Have a good night as well…” Joy then left the room and the two were now separated.

Seeing the portion of the highlighted recording was now complete, I leaned back in my own office and turned off the view of the RealET system. I sighed immediately in contentment and began to review the highlights from the day in my head.

Subjects 90876A and 90876B had both met and were firmly entrenched into their new dynamic. With a few caring and cautious manipulations, Joy had been able to keep Ron in the house, likely avoid possible future escape attempts, align herself as a figure of aid and safety, and settle her subject Little into his room all without a major escalation of violence. Given Ron’s previously gruff and noted hostile attitude when he had originally been picked up by Carer+, Joy had practically performed a miracle.

I had some concerns over the lack of Ron’s regression progress based on the initial parameters that Joy had set for him, but I trusted in her judgement. Likely, a better rapport with Ron now would only serve to further the project’s interests in the later stages. After all, a Little forced into diapers and a crib on their first day would only feel natural and even duty bound to rebel further down the line and try to escape from their obvious perceived enemy and torturer. Three of the control experiments had already been noted as such, so all together, I was pleased with what I was seeing at least for the time being.

Sitting down and leaning back in my chair, I made a few notes for posterity and the Board and looked forward to the next session with subjects 90876A and 90876B. It was a good first day, but I knew that it was only the beginning. After all, we always had a few milestones to keep Ron… in line.

[LostBBoyBear]

So, here is the third chapter. The next chapter is nearly complete, but I may have a family matter tomorrow, so I may not have the time to post another chapter then depending on how things go. I just finished outlining the story last night, so everything should be on track to be finished before August is over and maybe even before my vacation at the end of the month as well. I'll post on here when I have a better idea of it's completion date later on.

For now though, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 3: Session 3

The recording blipped for a moment and then refocused back onto me. “Hello, hello? Yeah…” I adjusted some calibrations on the machine and then wheeled back and checked the frame displayed on a separate monitor. “Yeah… that should be good.” Ahem. I cleared my throat and started again.

“Welcome back. This will be the third session that I’ve been sent for subjects 90876A and 90876B.” I clicked one of the monitors which now showed both Ron and Joy sitting in the living room and watching TV together. “Continued from the session sent to me yesterday, not much occurred. If these subjects remain as valued as I believe, some sessions may be edited out of the final presentation to you members of the Board. As such, I will begin each session by recapping what has happened and what I hope will happen for the current session.”

I clicked the screens to a previous image of the two subjects from yesterday. “Subject 90876B, Ron, continues to settle into the routine that subject 90876A has established. He is no longer showing outward signs of combativeness or aggression toward Joy and even complies with most of her requests.” I looked back at the screen and saw a clenched fist still from Ron in the image I pulled up.

“It should be noted that the subject still appears to have internalized anger, or at least an ambivalent attitude, towards his current lot in life, but this is largely to be expected at this point. In fact, the presence of this anger, or whatever true feeling he has, will be a better catalyst to exhibit the potential of this program to span a variety of different Little’s feelings. After all, not all Littles can be expected to be compliant during this process.”

“For example,” I looked again at the fist and slight almost hateful look in Ron’s eyes, and I saw that Joy had noticed it as well, “this session from yesterday encapsulates one of the typical interactions so far between the two.”

Ron and Joy sat quietly and watched a local program on TV. Suddenly, the program was interrupted, and an unfolding top news story appeared before them. “Breaking News!” the news anchor broadcasted, “Little at Dark Cliff Prison, under their new caretakers has come out with their entire ordeal in one story. Details are to follow…’ The news story then flashed several highlights from the Littles tale, and each was grizzlier than the last. Everyone knew the reputation of Dark Cliff, but this… it was something else entirely to behold.  

Trying to make the best of the situation, and to possibly gauge Ron’s reaction to other Little’s lives, Joy tried to strike up a conversation regarding the latest new story. “Geez. That Dark Cliff Prison sure is nasty. Corruption, coercion, bribery, abuse, sex trafficking… makes one sick… don’t you think?”

Ron only responded with what practically amounted to a grunt of recognition that Joy had just spoken, but his feelings on the matter, if he had any despite being a Little himself, were still entirely unknown and could only be guessed at. The man was nothing if not the definition of a brick wall when it came to interacting with Joy on most occasions since he had arrived here.

“Currently, however,” I continued after refocusing on my own observations from my viewing station, “I believe Joy’s form of care, her maintenance of an outward dangerous world, and her insistence of Ron only remaining safe and healthy have contributed greatly toward his compliance, regardless of his own attitude. I feel I can safely say this as by the third day, most Littles would have often grown violent and would have made at least one escape attempt. This has not occurred with Ron.”

I then switched the view to look at Joy closer, the picture from today’s session clearly exhibiting her empathetic and concerned eyes toward the Little in front of her. “I can honestly say that selecting Joy as a caretaker has been a pleasure to watch compared to some of the others. She knows this project well and her manipulations, though still present and slightly regrettable toward establishing what most would consider a true trust, have come off more as to keep Ron safe than to outright lie to him. I see this course of action going very well if she is careful and Ron doesn’t catch on.”

I popped the dials back on with the RealET system and stood up from my desk. Soon, I was bathed in my ethereal light and placed within the video simulation of today’s session. “If Joy maintains the schedule that we have set for all caregivers for certain milestones to reach, today should introduce Ron to hypnosis for the first time.”

Ron continued to watch the TV while Joy appeared to be more subtly interested in Ron himself than what was playing before them today. A look of concern flashed over her face briefly after she looked at the time after dinner. “It is regrettable,” I continued, “that such measures are warranted at all, but from the parameters of this project, the hypnosis will introduce more of a suggestibility than the pure mind control of other regression treatments.”

Ron shifted uncomfortably on the massive couch, maintaining a palpable distance from Joy on the opposite side of it. “To test the system, the project will introduce a comfort item into Ron’s life, amongst various other subtleties. This will exhibit and prove Ron’s suggestibility for future endeavors and could potentially start the regression process if done correctly.”

The television program then ended, and Joy let out an audible sigh. “Oh, this is it,” I said, my image starting to fade into its semisolid state. “Fingers crossed all goes well.”

Joy then stood up from her end of the couch and stretched. “Goodness me, where has the time gone?” she asked rhetorically while checking her watch subtly. Ron only looked at her blankly and then refocused on the TV, obviously unconcerned about her presence. ‘I wonder how much longer that will last after today?’

“Well, I need to go plan a few things for tomorrow. You going to be okay here by yourself, Ron?” she asked cheerfully of the sullen and resigned Little before her.

“I’m fine… thanks,” he mumbled, obviously still trying to maintain his gracious nature with his host in this strange and hostile place, all the while keeping his defenses up still.

“You’re very welcome,” Joy said appreciatively. If Ron had been looking, he might have caught Joy’s worried and almost longing face, but he was too preoccupied with what was on TV at this point… just like we wanted.

Joy then quietly picked up the remote and walked out of the room. Back in the living room, the TV glitched slightly, but soon resumed its normal picture, Ron only groaning for a moment but then thinking nothing of it. What he didn’t know is that Joy had just activated the project’s first subtle hypnosis program.

Normal hypnosis on TV was often dangerous and long-lasting. While it served regression methods well for many decades now and could range from just implementing a thumb sucking habit to full infantile regression within minutes, it was too intense for the purposes of our project.

One of our own product placement commercials for absorbent diapers then ended, Ron having mostly tuned it out like he did most things pertaining to Littles, but his attention was immediately captured by the new program on before him. ‘Good, Ron… just keep watching.’

The program was of our design and while it appeared to be a nature documentary about the various cryptids inherent on our world and not others beyond mere myth. For a portal Little, it was just interesting enough to capture their attention, while also not overstimulating enough to cause the more… frightened Little to shrink away and find something else to do. Just in case though, the program had been imbedded with the usual ‘glue method’ to ensure the Little wouldn’t look away during its duration. Additionally, the subject caregiver had been instructed to remove the TV remote away from the subject Little, as Joy had just done.

Ron swayed subtly and his eyes noticeably widened. ‘Perfect, Ron. Just a bit further…’ I stared back at the screen, and all looked normal, but I knew full-well that imbedded images and sounds had been planted into the program, so I was very grateful for the progress RealET had made.

Initially, the RealET technology was thought to be just a simulation of reality, but the scientists had done their job a little too well it had seemed, and all sensations were fully activated and in play with the first model. A reconstruction of a bomb had led them to quickly revising the program to ensure no physical harm would come to the viewer and a viewing of one of these types of simulations previously had led them to ensure no hypnosis could be translated through the technology either. I’m told that particular viewer was compensated highly and just graduated to pull-ups during the day.

Regardless, I looked back at Ron and saw Joy walk back in the room with her approved eye protection. We knew that even accidental exposure to this hypnosis could be undone within a week, but it was best not to tempt fate with a program designed to increase suggestibility amongst other effects. She could still hear the subtle wording being played, but we had ensured one would need both the visual and auditory experience for the hypnosis to truly work.

Joy then waved her hand in front of Ron’s face, but the Little did not move. He merely blinked once and continued to watch the program. Joy sighed in a way to note that she was both unhappy and yet relieved that the hypnosis was working so effectively on the Little before her. Bigs could often enjoy watching the regression process unfold, but true caregivers always had a slight sadness during the process, and Joy was no exception. As odd as it may have sounded in conjunction with our ultimate goal, it was actually a good sign to see her continued slight discontent with the project. It just meant that she cared more about Ron and that was definitely something that we wanted to see.

Soon, the program ended, and Ron just sat on the couch for a few good minutes, still unblinking. Joy took the opportunity and put her protective eyewear away before she then crouched down to a nearby bag and dropped it on the ground as if to shuffle the contents back in, just in case Ron was aware of what was going on around him.

Bam!

“Wha…?” Ron still looked about half-dazed from the effects of the hypnosis and was obviously trying to get his bearings back. He would be fine, but his head was likely swimming with the new and strange sensations that had just been planted there, and he looked halfheartedly back at the TV as if to try and piece together what had just happened. Of course, our program had now ended and the documentary about food production had clicked back on, picking up right where it would have been if the hypnosis had never occurred.

“You say something, Ron?” Joy asked, forcibly playing innocent in all this.

“I…” Ron shook his head as if to try to clear his sinuses, “never mind. Must just be tired or something. I could’ve sworn I was just watching something…” Ron drifted off for a moment and he genuinely looked confused. His profile had indicated at least an above average intelligence, so he was likely trying to logic his way out of what had just happened. Without any evidence to go off though per our design of this moment, he just shook his head once more.

“Yeah… I think you’re probably just tired,” Joy reinforced. “Maybe wise for an early night.” She looked at the still-puzzled Ron with sympathy. “Probably just our world on you portal types… you know, with all the time changes and day extensions and all…”

“Right… always forget your all’s…” Yawn. “Days are a bit longer… must be it,” Ron tried to rationalize, especially after his self-reinforcing yawn.

Joy just nodded and the two then wandered upstairs toward Ron’s bedroom. Joy hadn’t done this the night before, but Ron made no mention of her shadowing him. Further, Ron made no mention of Joy pulling out his pajamas for the night when he came back from washing his face and brushing his teeth. Joy walked out of the room to give him his privacy, but she still waited outside for him to finish, Ron still making no comment about anything. It was immediately apparent that Ron was changing. ‘But how much is the real question… let’s see.’

As if to answer my question, he then further proved his subtle change when he announced that he was done, and Joy walked back into the room. Ron’s pajamas were still ‘adult’ in appearance, but the Little just stood by the bed with a confused expression on his face. The second part of the hypnosis was now kicking in, after his compliance with her presence being the first, and Joy gently guided him to the bed and under the sheets without a word, likely in fear that she would mess something up.

All was fine though, and Ron’s expression immediately relaxed as Joy gingerly tucked in the covers around him. “Thank you, Joy,” Ron then said without hesitation now.

Joy warmly smiled back and patted his still uncovered arm. “You’re very welcome, Ron.” It wasn’t a big deal compared to diapers or pacifiers mind you, but Ron hadn’t fussed for a single moment when Joy had been tucking him in. What’s more is that his gratitude was given freely without any pause or embarrassment. One could be mistaken in thinking it was just good manners on his part, but for someone like Ron to say it to a Big here, it meant something far more; Ron was beginning to accept Joy into his life. The second part of the hypnosis was all a success.

Joy then stood up. “I actually have something for you tonight… a gift if you will.” Ron’s eyes bulged out and he couldn’t help but wiggle slightly under his covers. Joy then went to his previously and purposefully closed closet and retrieved three items. Ron stopped wiggling immediately when he saw them.

“Wha… what are those?” he asked suspiciously of the three objects.

“These?” Joy asked as innocently as she could. “These are the gifts. I figured you might want one… you don’t have to though…”

“I…!” Ron bolted upright on the bed but then shrunk back down a little bit, obviously embarrassed over his sudden outburst. “I… I can take one. I don’t want to be rude…” he said more calmly.

“Nonsense, Ron. You won’t be rude, but I’ll tell you what… I’ll let you choose between them.” Joy then held up the three items more closely to Ron. Ron couldn’t help but nearly freeze in place at their sight. The first was a soft, baby blue blanket, the second was a Little-sized stuffed monkey, and the third was a bright red non-punishment pacifier.

Ron’s eyes darted between the three objects, but I couldn’t tell if his expression was more from panic over the three obviously-meant-for-Little’s objects, or if his expression was more of an undecided nature of which to choose from the three in fact wonderful objects.

In truth, however, the items represented an important determination factor for Ron. The hypnosis, though mild and could be mostly erased in about a week at this point, could be more potent for some affected. While all three objects would eventually be introduced in some form, Ron choosing the blanket or pacifier could indicate a previous desire to be regressed. It was rare, but it could hurt the outcome of the project as the Little would be more compliant with further practices. Project Nurture needed to take a mature adult and turn them into a regressed and adorable Little, suitable for any desiring Big. Other Littles had their uses, but they would be more helpful elsewhere.

I could see Joy waiting with bated breath as well and I swore I could almost hear her yelp a tiny bit when Ron almost chose the blanket. To both of our reliefs though, he chose the stuffed monkey, as was the desired outcome.

Joy’s tension immediately left, and she handed the brown stuffed animal to Ron with glee. For his part, Ron took the object with some trepidation at first. He didn’t look at it like a dirty thing or even a bomb like he may have yesterday, but his intense and almost puzzled look showed that Ron was exactly where he needed to be. Accepting but not salivating over a new toy. That would come later.

“Thank you…” Ron finally managed to say after looking at his new companion for a moment.

“You’re welcome, Ron. I figured you could use a friend… or something like that,” Joy quickly added, just in case Ron’s hypnosis was still fragile and subject to breakage with the wrong phrasing used.

“Yeah…” Ron said almost dreamily, “a friend…”

With the third trial passed, Joy and I could both tell the hypnosis had done its job, but from Ron’s current expression and demeanor, we could both tell that it was still obviously registering within his mind. More subtle techniques often had the drawback of not fully sticking in a Little’s mind, but the benefits for us outweighed the potential drawbacks.

“Well… does your friend have a name?” Joy’s face flinched slightly as the words left her mouth. It was likely a step too far and she knew it.

“No… I have to think about that…” Ron said shockingly calmly.

“Oh…” Joy said, obviously as shocked as I was. “Well, just let me know when you do, okay?”

“Yep! Will do!” Ron said cheerfully, though immediately after he shook his head. If the scene had occurred anywhere else, several follow-up questions would have been asked. Being here and knowing what was likely happening to Ron’s mind though, Joy just smiled and started to leave the room.

As she got to the door though, Ron said one more thing that I could tell shocked Joy as well as myself once again. “Thank you, Joy. It means a lot to me.”

Joy almost halted like they did in the cartoons, but then calmly turned around with a near plaster look of calm on her face. “You’re wel…”

“No… I mean it, really,” Ron interrupted. “I came here all alone and I think I can admit to you that I think it was a mistake coming here. I heard this place was hard and dangerous from some rumors before I left, but… it’s different actually being here in person. If it wasn’t for you…”

Ron trailed off and I could see that Joy was practically itching to run over and hug the Little before her. Instead, she just gripped her fists and took a breath. Ron was in a delicate state now. Caution was the way forward and I could tell that Joy took her briefing about this fact to heart. “Well, thank you for saying that, Ron. It means a lot to me. More than you could really know…” Joy trailed off and the two just stared at each other for a moment.

There was some unspoken bond forming between the two. Both could see the meaning of the other from their facial expressions alone and it was beautiful to see as an outside observer. It was the unexpected moments like these that gave me real joy in these types of experiments. One could control all the variables they wanted but a genuine connection forming between a Big and a Little at this stage was a wonderful sight to see.

The moment soon concluded, and both said goodnight to each other, before Joy silently turned off the lights and closed the door to her Little’s room. Outside the room, she only gave a small, satisfied smile over what had occurred today. If I was a betting man, she likely felt a relief over her position now.

Often, when regressing a Little, the said caregiver could feel a heavy burden of guilt for practically destroying the being before them. Sure, instincts are powerful, but tears and angry fits can shake any resolute Big to the core of their beliefs, given they’re not a sadist or something of the sort of course. After tonight though with Ron though, I suspected that I would no longer see the regret or pain in Joy’s eyes in future sessions. Ron could shed many tears and beat his fists bloody in future days, but I could see that Joy now knew this was the right decision for her new Little.

I followed Joy for a little bit, but I quickly fast-forwarded the recordings I had been given until I saw Joy begin to creep back up the stairs to go to bed herself. Before entering her own master bedroom though, she made sure that the hallway lights had been turned off, leaving only a small emergency light on in their place to help her on her final task for the day. She then quietly pressed on Ron’s door and peeked in.

Illuminated by the diminutive hall light, asleep on the bed was a curled-up Ron, sleeping peacefully and all wrapped around the stuffed monkey that he had just received tonight. Satisfied, Joy then backed out and headed to bed with a warm glow all about her.

The recording ended and I felt a wonderous joy leap inside my own chest. The fourth and final test of today had been a complete success. Ron was now exhibiting signs of a growing bond with Joy and had accepted, however hesitantly, the stuffed monkey that he now freely slept with. The light hypnosis today had been small but was evidently the perfect key to unlocking something more in Ron. The combative and traditional initial portal Little had been at least covered up and only a Little with so much potential could be seen now. If today was any indication, I now knew that Ron, and not just Joy, would likely be the perfect candidate for this program. Knowing what was ahead for the Little, it was a wonderful outcome to bear witness to. I could only hope for such results when more… challenging aspects were introduced.

[Sararei]

Man, the Gaslighting is going to be STRONG with this one lol.   I am a bit strange when it comes to hypnosis in this type of media, a part of me loves it and seeks it out, but thats assuming my over empathetic side doesn't come out and slap me upside the head.  It gets worse with longer stories but i have ways to quell it a bit lol  but its already at odds with each other in this one.  I guess i get there faster with DD stories when they are portal littles, i always wonder why they never seem to add that to thier argument, i mean id be like , first off, im NOT a LITTLE, im a human being from Earth and im equal to you in equivalency.  I am held prisoner in a forign land and am not allowed to return to my life or family.  I always feel a statment , while likely not changing anything, would atleast give the satisfaction of gut punching any "nice" bigs but i digress.

 

Regardless...

This is no comment to the method of the story to be clear, but from the perspective of a person in this fictional world i find that "minor tiny not such a big deal hypnosis" to be pretty much the same level as any other, i consider any mind alteration "mind mutilation" and am glad we dont have it in IRL. (god how fked up would real life be if hypnosis was like it was in fiction :z )   While it was subtle in this experiment, its like a gateway drug that induces un earned trust and paths to him accepting his fate (as intended of course)

anywho, rant done,  I look forward to more !

 

[SGTbaby]

Love the updates and how the story flows really well. I think the mild hypnosis is interesting but I thought the point was of nurturing was not to use it? Either way I look forward to more!

[LostBBoyBear]

1 hour ago, Sararei said:

Man, the Gaslighting is going to be STRONG with this one lol.   I am a bit strange when it comes to hypnosis in this type of media, a part of me loves it and seeks it out, but thats assuming my over empathetic side doesn't come out and slap me upside the head.  It gets worse with longer stories but i have ways to quell it a bit lol  but its already at odds with each other in this one.  I guess i get there faster with DD stories when they are portal littles, i always wonder why they never seem to add that to thier argument, i mean id be like , first off, im NOT a LITTLE, im a human being from Earth and im equal to you in equivalency.  I am held prisoner in a forign land and am not allowed to return to my life or family.  I always feel a statment , while likely not changing anything, would atleast give the satisfaction of gut punching any "nice" bigs but i digress.

 

Regardless...

This is no comment to the method of the story to be clear, but from the perspective of a person in this fictional world i find that "minor tiny not such a big deal hypnosis" to be pretty much the same level as any other, i consider any mind alteration "mind mutilation" and am glad we dont have it in IRL. (god how fked up would real life be if hypnosis was like it was in fiction :z )   While it was subtle in this experiment, its like a gateway drug that induces un earned trust and paths to him accepting his fate (as intended of course)

anywho, rant done,  I look forward to more !

 

I absolutely agree. There's a lot of DD stories that have the Little say these things, but usually they just end up more 'mind mutilated' by the end. 

For this story. I still wanted them to use some of the methods that I had seen in the past. The project could be a step in the right direction, but they are still Bigs taking us normal humans otherwise and turning us into the Littles they desire. It's a contradiction in this created world, but I think it works well with most stories and the plots we're all trying to accomplish.

In all honesty, I think only happy Littles by the end with their lot in life can be considered anywhere near good. These stories always usually contain some dark elements and the endings aren't always positive. I'm still trying to put a story together where all this comes about naturally and where the Big comes out looking like the good guy, but it is very hard!

Hope you and everyone else enjoys the next few bits with this story!

15 minutes ago, SGTbaby said:

Love the updates and how the story flows really well. I think the mild hypnosis is interesting but I thought the point was of nurturing was not to use it? Either way I look forward to more!

You are correct in the sense that they don't want to use the traditional mind breaking methods. In a sense, if you will, it's more like unlocking the door to a person's mind, rather than smashing the door down completely. It's there, but the Little could always go back to normal afterward, or at least that's how I'm writing it in this case. Still a bit of trickery going on, but that's just Big society for you!

Maybe in a hundred years or so, they'll truly change...

[Sararei]

Dont take any of the bits of my rant wrongly, just in case , thats normal brain forgetting its not real life lol Ungabunga brain loves it

[LostBBoyBear]

Sorry for the lateness of posting this today, but I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 4: Session 6

I clicked on the monitor again and sighed. “Well, today is session six. Subject 90876B has almost been living with subject 90876A for a week now and has passed nearly all tests with flying colors. That being said, today could be a major step forward or breaking point for the two subjects. Today, we will begin introducing accidents into the Little’s daily life.”

I internally hated this step in any regression process, but I knew it was a necessary one for uncountable reasons. “While Ron has shown an attachment to his monkey once asleep and to Joy in times of stress around the house or random events, diapers will only serve to strengthen both bonds. Both forms of comfort should be secondary nature if this project is to be considered a success and based on previous subjects and general observations, diapers serve this purpose well.”

I looked over a few other files that had been brought to my attention that I had been reviewing earlier today as well. “Several other subject Littles were introduced to accidents on their third day with their caregiver, so in fact, Ron is actually a little behind. This could work to our advantage of showing their normality with their usage already by others, and while Joy’s promise of no direct manipulation with Ron has slowed some his progress, as evidenced by the other night, this could only serve to establish a better trust and ultimate bond between subject Big and subject Little.”

I clicked on the monitor and the entire room began to refocus into the RealET system once more, now settling onto a scene of the two at breakfast. “Oh, one more thing that I need to point out. Joy has begun tailoring Ron’s food more towards the juvenile variety. Traditional Big foods have caused some digestive stress in Ron and portion sizes, as served, have proven too large. Due to the on-going building of a relationship between the two and size disparities, Ron has not been allowed a knife, so Joy has begun to cut up his food for him.” My image faded into the background, and I began to refocus on the two subjects before me.

Ron stared at his cut-up sandwich before him, divided neatly into four squares. “I still don’t get why I can’t cut up my own food…” he said despondently.

Joy mulled about with her own food and picked up the knife she had just used to cut her own sandwich in half. “Do you see this, Ron?” Ron nodded silently upon viewing the nearly 15-inch knife before him. Joy could have used the smaller, 10-inch blade, but the lesson of the day needed to stick more and a knife that appeared more like a machete was just the impetus needed for it. “This thing is long enough to cleave you in two. I trust you, Ron, but not necessarily with this thing. Why take the risk of you accidentally cutting yourself with something so unwieldy to your size?”

Ron eyed the gleaming silver of the knife’s edge and looked at his own hand and then to the nearby Little-sized cutlery. He looked like he was about to protest, but then just buried himself back into his own food. His reluctance to argue with Joy was another sign of his progression in the project, but he was probably also recalling when he had nearly choked on food and then slipped with the knife when he tried to cut it up the other day. Joy may have been exaggerating a bit with her words, but Ron accepted the truth that he could see being presented before him. All signs pointed to just accepting her help in this case.

As Joy started to clear the dishes once they were both finished eating, Ron hopped down from his booster seat, a useful addition he couldn’t argue with after he had trouble eating at his normal height at breakfast on his first full day here. “You know, I would have protested the finger food you slipped on my plate more, but…” Ron looked slightly embarrassed.

“Doesn’t hurt that all the food is just so good here, huh?” Joy asked innocently as she washed off their two dishes in the sink.

“No… no, it doesn’t,” Ron said, savoring the memory of the fresh and fluffy scrambled eggs that Joy had prepared for the two of them this morning.

“Well, there’s plenty more where that came from,” Joy noted, now drying off the dishes. She then noticed Ron making some weird mouth movements and calmly and instinctually went over to the fridge. “Thirsty much there, Ron?”

Ron looked up as if he was caught doing something wrong. “Actually… yes,” he then freely admitted.

“Perfect. How about some juice?”

Ron looked like he was about to protest again, but only nodded his head. He had some of the juice the last few nights during dinner and as much as he tried, he couldn’t muster the strength to hide his joy over the new fruity beverage that he had been introduced to. For her part, Joy only smiled and poured a glass of juice for him.

Ron eagerly took the glass and walked into the living room to sit down and read a little for the day. Just before walking into her office to finish up some work for the day, both Joy and I saw Ron struggling to get up on the couch to sit in his designated corner. After a minute of watching, Joy decided to speak up this time. “Ron? Do you need help getting up there?”

Ron stopped and turned around to face the towering Big behind him. The embarrassment of his helplessness was apparent, but he only nodded his head, while slightly rubbing his left hip from where he had fallen yesterday while attempting to get up on the couch. It was a painful but useful reminder that he needed help in some form in this world. To me, it was an unexpected turn of events, but I was appreciative nevertheless that it had played right into the project’s ultimate goals for Ron’s acceptance of receiving more help from Joy.

Joy only smiled in return and walked over to give him a boost on the tall and comfortable cushions where they had first met the other day, still making no comment about the situation one way or another. In this case, the less said was probably better for Ron’s own ego.

Ron simply grumbled for a moment but then just plopped into his corner as he began to read the book that Joy had given him the other day. It was a detective novel of some kind and a little cheesy, but it was distracting and entertaining enough for him to continue with. Satisfied that the Little would be good for some time, Joy left the room.

I stayed and watched Ron for a bit, but like all good things, my waiting soon paid off. Ron began to squirm slightly, but a look of panic then overtook his face. He immediately plopped the book down and scooted off the imposing couch with a thud to the ground. Dusting himself off for a moment, Ron then quickly raced to the restroom on this floor.

Giving him the dignity of privacy, at least for now, I waited outside the door and could only hear a slight patter and then a subsequent sigh of relief. I was slightly dismayed by the lack of an accident just then, but I knew it was bound to happen eventually, especially with the urgency that Ron had just displayed so suddenly.

Ron then washed his hands and exited the bathroom with a look of concern painted across his face. The modified toilet had been a blessing in disguise for him from Joy and I knew that it alone had likely saved Ron from his first accident with its accessibility. Based on Ron’s face as he entered the bathroom, any delay would have likely been disastrous for him.

Hearing the flush though, Joy exited her office space and looked at the Little before her. She knew the routine, but I couldn’t quite make out what her look would imply. Instead, she simply sighed. “All good?”

“Yeah…” Ron said, still a bit distracted from the suddenness of the situation.

“I’m glad to hear it. You know,” Joy started, looking out her front window, “we’ve been cooped up here for a few days now. What would you say to a nice walk around the block and then go through the park on our way back?”

Ron’s face showed his displeasure with leaving the safety of the house, but I could see that the beautiful day outside beckoned to the currently sequestered Little. “Yeah… that might be nice.” Joy was practically beaming at the opportunity to get some fresh air, and after a moment, the two exited the house and began to walk around their small, planned community.

The whole area had been designed for experiments years ago and its citizens had gotten a nice permanent tax relief as a benefit to living here. True, oddities did occur here more than other areas for sure and there were some bylaws that all had to follow, but the community was still a marvel of beauty and innovation, having been designed to attract its citizens to stay in the face of potential… hazards being in such proximity to our tests. As such, I was always supremely grateful that we owned the local paper. I doubt many would want to stay or return if they knew about some of the fates of previous residents. ‘After all, not every experiment can be a winner.’

The two walked for some time and I could tell that Ron was having a bit of a hard time keeping up with Joy. It was all part of the project to eventually have him concede to asking for more help in various ways, but a slight panting from him was just going to have to do for today. Fortunately, for any viewers of the RealET technology, the recording could move with them to prevent long or strenuous hikes as they continued to follow their subject. It could be turned off, but knowing the Board could be watching this eventually, they were probably very grateful to get to stay in just one spot.

The two talked for a while about simple subjects and what surrounded them, but Joy finally asked a more direct and important question that I had been curious of myself. “So, how are you liking it here so far, Ron?”

I could immediately tell that Ron was uneasy about such a question, but he knew that answering it directly to Joy was like going to be the best policy. “To be honest, I’m a little bored some days and I still have this fear of…” Ron looked suspiciously at a couple across the street, “other Bigs.”

“Well, that’s understandable,” Joy reinforced, “but you should honestly just think of this whole thing as a vacation. I know it can seem like a prison at times from your viewpoint, but just think about it. No work, practically no responsibilities, good food… sounds like the makings of a pretty good vacation to me.”

“You’re not lying,” Ron said while sighing, “but still. It’s hard to think of a place like this as a pure vacation when even leaving the house on my own could result in my immediate kidnapping and regression. I even noticed that the electric zapper was still on the door yesterday.”

“Did you…?” Joy asked, doing her best to mask her audible fear.

“No. I didn’t try to escape if that’s what you were about to ask, but I was just curious,” Ron admitted.

“Oh, I see,” Joy said, looking a bit dejected that Ron would even contemplate that type of notion. It was rational of him still, per our lax hypnosis regulations for the project and its current stage, but that didn’t make it any easier for the Little’s assigned caregiver who just wanted someone to care about. That being said, Joy knew her position well and quickly moved on. “Anyway, just remember though that I just don’t want you getting hurt out here,” she reminded, “I want to protect you from some of the more… extreme members of our society.”

Ron remained in what could only be described as a deep thought, so Joy continued her justification of the situation the two now found themselves in. “It’s been six days. I can’t remember the official statistics, but I feel pretty confident in saying that you would most likely have been kidnapped and at least partially regressed by now if you had just left like you originally wanted to on the first day.”

“I know that Joy,” Ron acknowledged as they neared a park bench. “I don’t want to admit it, but it’s actually been kind of nice knowing that you’re protecting me from all that.” Joy didn’t say anything, but I could tell that she was shocked over such a statement at this stage of the project. “I mean... take this morning. I couldn’t even properly wield a stupid knife to cut my sandwich with. I could have done it, but I also had the potential to be missing a few digits by now if I had. Stuff like that… I just want to thank you… truly.”

Ron sat on the bench after Joy and his voice seemed to almost break at the end of his expressed gratitude. I knew that long days without a proper nap and small cues in the on-going subtle hypnosis had caused Ron’s emotional state to be more unstable than usual and I also knew that it was bound to show itself in a variety of unexpected ways. In essence, it could lead to a vulnerability of some kind that Joy could use to her advantage.

Whatever that meant however, was highly varied, which is why the next few minutes were still shocking to witness, even firsthand.

I could tell that both Ron and Joy were people watching in their own ways. From my viewpoint, it was clear that Joy was watching some of the other Bigs and Littles from this experiment and others with a type of envy. Nothing untoward, but there was an unmistakable longing in her eyes. For Ron though, he was looking at another Big and Little together by the nearby pond. Though mature in many ways, the Little was obviously practicing walking with both her arms being stabilized by what could only be assumed to be her Daddy. For his part, Ron just shuddered at the notion that it could have been him if he had his way and escaped on the first day.

I suppose with such notions of the potential of so much loss, Ron did what many might do under the same circumstances, though coming from him, it needed to be seen to be believed. He slowly then turned to the silent and reflective Joy next to him on the park bench. “Joy… can I… can you… uh…” Ron held out his arms limply as he stumbled around with his words.

Joy was smart and had proven good instincts, so I could tell she was willing to take a risk at this point with everything else that she was witnessing with the Little in front of her. “Do you want a hug?” she then asked bluntly. The question hung in the air for a moment and Ron made no move to initiate or acknowledge what she had just asked, seemingly frozen in place. “It’s okay if you do. Promise… no judgment,” she clarified.

Ron only smiled and inched closer to and then all at once, quickly embraced the welcoming and now open arms of Joy. It was a truly tender moment to witness, and I genuinely wished them nothing but happiness. In all honestly, I knew that if nothing else had developed in the project, the two could become something more in the future… friends even, but I also knew that the project took precedence. This step and breakthrough would certainly not be the last.

After the hug ended, the two walked calmly back to the house, each sporting a wide smile as they did so, Ron feeling happy with his growing friendship and Joy in the knowledge that Ron was accepting her more into his life. Once back inside their house and dusted off, Ron was quick to accept another round of juice and now some delicious cinnamon sugar crackers. In no time at all, the Little, with a bit of help from Joy, was back on the couch and thoroughly enjoying his snack and continued adventures in his borrowed book.

As I continued to watch the enraptured Little, I spied the quickly emptying juice by his side. It was one of our products known as Pioneos from our research centers in Europa. Like our subtle hypnosis, if stopped, the drug would be out of his system in two weeks at the most without any permanent side effects, but I also knew that his consumption of the juice wouldn’t stop if he stayed with the project as intended. So instead, I knew that its latent effects would go to work within his bodily systems with the more that he consumed of it.

While not as potent as Big breastmilk by a long shot, it could still produce similar effects after a few days of continual use. As such, while it wasn’t as good for regressions where time was a factor, it was also able to be slipped nicely into a Littles system without raising their suspicions too drastically. As milk of almost any kind was one of the most suspicious things in this world by now, juice was an everyday item and a nice alternative for most Littles to consume. Plus, the several fruity flavors it came in didn’t hurt either and I knew that Harry Carga and his team in marketing couldn’t wait to get started on that whole marketing campaign. Within two months, I suspected that it would soon be a staple in many households with a Little present.

As I finished my envisioning of its future, nearly right on cue, its effects could already be seen yet again in Ron’s consistent squirming on the couch.

At first, it seemed like he had an itch, but this then quickly evolved into him looking like he was trying to get comfortable. Finally, there was no denying that Ron had to pee, so like before, he set his book down and quickly thudded to the floor before sprinting over to the restroom. Unfortunately, Pioneos had worked its effects a little more quickly this time and just as he began to unbutton his pants in a state of abject panic, the inevitable event that every Little feared happened. Ron wet his pants helplessly right in front of the toilet, just on the verge of success.

Now, like this morning, I had given Ron some privacy with his bathroom habits in the past six days. I didn’t need to, but I felt like I owed him that dignity as he still held onto his adult sensibilities. Now though, everything was about to change. Sure, one accident isn’t much and it’s true that many an inebriated people have an occasional accident, but for a Little, one accident was usually just the precipice of what was to come.  

Looking in on him now, Ron stood there and surveyed the damage over his khaki pants that Joy had given him as part of a welcoming package on the second day to wear beyond what he had arrived in. The coloring only emphasized what had happened, so I refocused my attention towards how Ron was feeling.

His face was a mixture of panic, frustration, and an ever-increasing amount of fear. Now normally, I would have expected some kind of ruse or hustle to cover up the fact of what had just happened. In the project’s findings so far, at least 70% had shown some impetus to cover up their accidental deed. Either from a slow acceptance of what this meant, or a serious blow to his already tender ego, Ron just stood in place in a pool of his own urine. Then, only the sound of approaching footsteps broke my observation and I knew they were set to take things in a whole different direction.

Nearing the bathroom, I could see a cautious and almost saddened Joy approach the open bathroom door. The hardwood floors between the carpeted living room and this bathroom had only echoed Ron’s footsteps to anyone who was listening in. Joy, having been in on what the Pioneos juice would eventually do, knew this moment was coming. A lack of flush had likely only confirmed what she already suspected. So, slowly but surely, Joy peeked around the corner and into the bathroom.

Ron noticed her immediately from his resigned and shocked stupor. “Joy… I…”

Joy crept into the room, and I could see she was doing her best to appear open and accepting of the fragile Little before her. “It’s okay, Ron. These things happen,” she said softly.

“But… but not to me,” he said, trying valiantly but fruitlessly to defend himself.

“I believe you, Ron, but it’s not a big deal to me. If this had been a little over a decade ago and a Friday night, you honestly might be seeing the exact same thing from me.”

Ron’s eyes widened completely at Joy’s revelation. Whether it was true or not, I didn’t know, but I did know that it was a bold move to admit that to a Little. Most of the more liberal caregivers held a sense of equality with their Littles in a public sense, but the very nature they inhabited facilitated the need for a Big and a Little, one meek and one strong. It was even in the very name of the two main groups. ‘Sorry Middles…’

Here, Joy was exposing an event from her past that almost immediately signaled their equality on some level. It could present a host of problems down the line when items like bottles or pacifiers were introduced, but I suppose that was a matter for another day in her view. Besides, for now, whether it was true or not didn’t matter… Ron believed it, and that, is what truly mattered. Based on the ease of Ron’s shoulders though, I could tell that her gamble had paid off.

“Really?” Ron asked with such hope and relief.

“Really… it was an embarrassing time, but I cleaned it up, dealt with the aftermath, and then moved on. How about we do the same here?” Ron only smiled and nodded, obviously hoping that today would never happen again. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, Ron…’

The next thirty minutes were spent in alternating steps between the two. Ron had removed his clothes and had taken a bath while Joy had provided a fresh set of underwear and clothing to him behind a closed door before going to work on cleaning up the mess in the downstairs bathroom. Of course, Joy was using Diamond Technology patented cleaning products, but that was beside the point of the events currently going on.

Having the ability to switch easily between the two with the RealET system, I could see both of their reactions in real time. Ron was awash with shame and frustration, while Joy was a mix of determination and an odd sense of finality. I rationalized that, like Ron’s reaction to the hypnosis from the other day, this accident had only furthered her resolve into finishing all this to the end. It was a good sign to see both expressions from the two subjects at this juncture. For all its worth, Project Nurture seemed to be working between the two.

Now, clean and redressed, Ron padded his way downstairs. He made no comment about the obvious fresh but cleanser-smelling bathroom as he passed by it. Instead, he just stood in the doorway for a moment and viewed the sight of his previous accident as one might of perhaps a particularly grizzly crime scene.

Passing by the bathroom from putting the cleaning supplies away, Joy stopped and looked at the partially traumatized Little before her. She almost put her hand on his shoulder, but quickly recalled it. “It really is okay, Ron.”

“No, it’s not!” he suddenly angrily barked out at her while also sliding away and giving her an evil look reminiscent of when they had first met. ‘Damn… three steps forward and one step back.’

“Ron, I know you don’t think so, but please, just trust me. I…” Joy looked like she wanted to say more and possibly even scold the Little for his outburst toward someone who was just trying to show him a kindness, but she only looked at him more intently and then crouched down to meet him at his level.

It was the most peculiar and abrupt stop I had seen yet, but even with my close-up viewpoint of the two, I still wasn’t sure what was happening. “It’s really okay, Ron. I’m not mad. You might be mad yourself… and maybe a little embarrassed, but you don’t need to be scared of me.” Then, Joy silently and gently wiped away a tear that had been forming and that was now falling down Ron’s cheek. ‘Oh…’ Everything suddenly clicked. Ron’s outburst wasn’t from anger or resentment. It was just his embarrassment and fear lashing out. Joy knew though. ‘Seems like she always did…’

“But… I’m a Little… accident… I…” Ron fumbled around with his words. I couldn’t tell if it was from a lack of knowing what to say back or the mix of his fragile emotions, but Joy just began to stroke the side of his arm as a form of further comfort.

Surprisingly, from my angle at least, Ron almost seemed to lean into the simple gesture. I guess Joy had seen it too and not seconds later, she took the plunge and quickly pulled Ron in for a giant hug.

It was all encapsulating and while Ron seemed to almost outright rebel against the sudden gesture, his body soon gave in, and he fully just went with it. After all, Joy was quickly becoming his rock in these darkening days for the Little and an accident was just another piece that had been added, at least from his view to his tragic tale upon arriving in our world.  

The two embraced for a while and it was a wonderfully peaceful and calming moment. “Thank you, Joy. I guess I needed this more than I thought,” Ron said from behind her back.

“No need to worry about it, Ron. Hugs are completely free, and they help us both. It’s a scientific fact, but if I may… it’s kind of nice regardless.”

“Yeah…” Ron said after a moment. He still didn’t want to admit to some of the acts that could possibly be perceived as coming from a regressed Little, so he just continued in his silent acceptance of the hug. ‘It was all in the name of science I’m sure…’

“Of course,” Joy continued. “All will be okay, but… we might just need to take a few steps. If this happens again that is…”

Ron seemed to panic for a moment, but he quickly just focused on the nicety of the hug between the two.

Looking back into the bathroom from her own view from the hug, I could see Joy give the smallest inkling of a smile. When I looked back into the bathroom to see what she was looking at, hidden away from the viewpoint of the much shorter Ron, was a large case of blue and themed pull-ups. ‘Happening again was just a matter of when, and not if, by now… Sorry Ron.’

[SGTbaby]

Great update. I really like how you show the internalization of everything from the narrator, Ron and Joys points of view. The pull-ups feel like they are coming in the next chapter. Almost a little hint if you will. Also I feel like they are going to start venturing out a bit more, even if only the walks. 

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone. Sorry for not posting yesterday like I had originally planned, but I was just too tired to edit this chapter. I figured that most would rather a more cohesive sounding chapter than for something to just be posted for posting sakes. I'm not sure if I'll have time to edit and post tomorrow, but if I don't, another chapter will definitely be posted on Friday. 

I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter as Ron enters into the dreaded daycare!

Chapter 5: Session 10

“Well,” I started recording, “we’ve crossed the threshold now… Ron’s been demoted to pull-ups.” I clicked the viewing screen on, and Ron had just finished getting dressed by pulling his pants up over his now clean and dry pair of blue pull-ups that Joy had initially provided yesterday.

The two had a talk after Ron woke up with his second wet bed in a row. “We’ve allowed the subject caregivers to be more lenient than what most are accustomed to, but we believe that this could help ease the transition into diapers more fully. Littles who are immediately demoted to diapers after one or two accidents could rebel, despite all evidence to the contrary, against the fact that they need diapers. A Little with several accidents under their record may in fact gladly elect to be placed in diapers to prevent a more embarrassing and noticeable incident in front of their peers.”

Ron then hobbled down the stairs and began to eat the breakfast that Joy had provided. “Joy of course framed it all to show her compassion towards his plight, and Ron, however hesitant, accepted the pull-ups with an openness I had not quite expected. He still despised them, but at least his pants stayed dry most of the time now when he didn’t make it to the small potty that Joy had set up for him in the bathroom. Ron had also accepted this new addition in his life after he had an accident by just trying to simply mount the larger toilet as he had been doing since he had arrived.” I then clicked the monitors briefly away to a scene from last night.

“Our methods have also ensured that Ron has been having nightly accidents, as previously noted, and we have ensured that Joy will reinforce the need for extra protection after a near-guaranteed accident tonight. Likely, Ron will be introduced to at least a thicker padding option.” I then spotted the extra source of warm light that now softly lit the room. “Additionally, a night light has been added to his room to facilitate a more comfortable atmosphere at night. Truthfully, I think that Ron isn’t necessarily scared of the dark, but more of the notion that each night now brings an added uncertainty as if he will have an accident or not. Further analysis will be required…”

I sighed and flipped the RealET system on to show the two eating from the morning of this next session. Joy had finished her breakfast and was busily packing two bags, one for her and one for Ron. “Today, will be another one of our more subtle steps into Ron’s regression” my ethereal image explained. “Due to some obligations that Joy needs to attend to, Ron will be going to daycare for the first time today. He could be taken with her, but he was informed that the part of town she is going to requires that all Littles be in diapers. As expected, Ron elected for the daycare instead. To be blunt, this mixture of complete truth often muddles the lines of what Joy tells Ron, but I also feel that this allows a greater believability when the truth is being stretched at other times. I have noted this down and I have suggested this method be added to any future experiments with this project.” My image then faded, and the kitchen scene came to life more as it fully synced up.

“Do I really have to go?” Ron asked, almost bordering on a whine from the seated Little.  

“No, but you remember what I said, right?” Joy responded patiently while still packing her own bag for the day.

“Yes…” Ron said dejectedly, quickly squirming about in his pull-up; obviously as a reminder that he would need to be diapered if he did go with her.

“Well, then yes, you need to go. I’m sorry I can’t just leave you here, but without me around, it would basically be like you escaping. Plus, I would get in trouble as well. You don’t want that, do you?” Joy asked, slightly testing the slowly changing attitude of her Little toward her increasing presence in his life.

“No… I don’t want that…” Ron said softly.

“Good. I’m very glad to hear that, but besides, this daycare is different than the others you may have seen or heard about. The personnel were selected specifically to deal with… the possibly more mature Littles and the facility is owned by a highly reputable company” Joy had been instructed to at least mention that last part. If Ron ever did find out about Diamond Technology’s involvement in this community, it was best to prepare him for accepting our company as one of the ‘good guys.’ ‘Ah… the perks of company involvement in community outcomes…’

Ron grumbled something I couldn’t quite make out, but then just finished the simple breakfast in front of him without another gesture or word. In truth, we Bigs all knew about the reputation that daycares maintained in our society. Most used strong and permanent hypnosis methods coupled with debilitating punishments to enforce regression and create ‘better Littles.’ Their sentiments had some validity in the long run but were also one of the many stereotypes we were trying to change with this project.

For our daycares, they are only allowed to use our same subtle hypnosis to get a Little to seek out their help or be amenable to taking direction from their usual caretaker more afterward when they are collected afterward. So-called ‘soft punishments’ could be used, but other methods should always be tried first. While slightly going against project guidelines of coming from a place of discipline rather than love, we knew that this could allow Littles to view their caretakers in a better light. ‘After all, forcing you to eat vegetables seems so minor compared to the daycare that punishes you with writing lines or extended corner time… right?’

Regardless, Ron and Joy soon packed up and left their house. Ron was seated in only a booster seat that he could control himself, but Joy and I both knew that it was truly only a temporary measure as he continued to change. After a short drive in her SUV, Joy pulled in front of a large brick building with a decently sized sign denoting it as ‘Little Haven Daycare Center,’ the name obviously chosen to elicit a more accepted appeal toward the newer Littles.

“So, this is it?” Ron asked looking out his window, obviously apprehensive over what was to come.

“Yep! I promise you’ll have a good time there. Just listen to them and I’ll pick you up later.” Ron then looked back at her as if to beg for there to be any alternative, but Joy just smiled and continued. “Have a little faith Ron, for me…” Ron only nodded slowly in resigned compliance.

“Thank you. Now, I’ve taken care of everything already and given them a few supplies just in case. Here,” she then handed him a dark blue backpack, “take this with you. It’s got a few extras of various bits you might need, but just go in there and tell them who you are. Everything else should already be set up for today.”

Ron took the backpack, groaned slightly, but then still exited his booster seat and the car. Looking back, I could see the pain etched across both of their faces. I knew that daycare wouldn’t likely be a large part of their future lives given their current demeanor and the flexibility of Joy’s job, but it was still an important milestone to cross with being or caring for a Little.

“Just try to have fun and listen to and follow all their rules. I’ve got to go, but just try… for me.” Ron silently nodded once more and slowly waved goodbye toward Joy. She gave a half smile, waved back, and then sped off and out of sight.

Alone, Ron turned back toward the building and went inside. In truth, Joy could have accompanied him, but we found that Littles left in this manner at this stage of the project would feel more isolated and vulnerable. It could backfire in some cases, but most Littles seemed to become more open to the idea of a renewed structure and order in their lives. If done correctly, Ron would easily assimilate into daycare by the end of the day.    

After announcing his name to the woman at the front desk, Ron was led to the backroom where several other Littles were. The large space was practically divided into two almost entirely separate rooms, and one was definitively of the more infantile variety. Ron shuddered at the sight of all that it contained and quickly walked over to a nearby empty cubby where he had been instructed to place his backpack. Inside, the wooden space was already slightly occupied by another fully loaded bag, but Ron just ignored it and placed his backpack neatly on top using one of the brass hooks.

After finding a space to sit in relative peace on the more mature side, Ron grabbed a nearby book obviously meant for the non-regressed and began to read. He had wanted to bring the book he had been reading from home, but Joy had said no to prevent another Little from destroying it in some way. Despite Ron’s dislike of coming here without it to positively entertain himself, he complied with her straightforward rationale. I also noticed that Ron had practically wedged his nose into the pages, but I suspected that he was just trying to ignore the cutesy designs and explosion of color all around him on the floors and walls of the daycare.  

Over the next hour or so, some Littles would come up and ask to play, but Ron only calmly dismissed each of them, being very wary to try not to cause a scene while doing so. This continued well into the day and past the first set quiet time where the younger Littles would take their first nap of the day. At snack time afterward, Ron just continued to read his book and eat his given granola bar in silence.

It seemed the day would continue like this in perpetuity, but the staff was in on the experiment as well, and thus, Ron was forced to join in a large circle for the self-prescribed ‘sharing time.’ He groaned, but obviously remembering Joy’s words, only put his book down and complied with the most recent announcement that everyone had to participate.

From the look on Ron’s face after about ten minutes on the outside of the circle, I didn’t need to guess that he was probably having one of the worst, or at least most boring, times of his life. Honestly though, I couldn’t blame him today in this singular instance. One of the daycare workers had called out sick unexpectedly, and being specifically chosen for this experiment, daycare worker replacements were hard to find. As such, some of the more advanced-in-the-project Littles or just other regressed Littles from other tests were all lumped together with the other Littles very much like Ron. One likely would have only had to use one of their senses to instantly know that there was a large difference between the Littles in the group. It was definitely not an ideal situation for furthering the progress of Project Nurture Littles like Ron. 

“An’ den we wen’ to da park!” one of the Littles announced, his bulging romper and nearly unfocused eyes giving away which of the groups he would normally belong in. The faint smell that emanated from around him didn’t hurt either.  

“That sounds like a wonderful day, Simon. Thank you for sharing that with the group,” a woman, that Ron had heard been called Mrs. Jenkins earlier, said. Ron only rolled his eyes over the sappy praise and near cookie cutter response. “Anyone else care to share?”

The circle remained quiet from many of the older Littles in the group as Mrs. Jenkins slowly began to scan the audience before her for a volunteer. Of course, several arms shot straight into the air from the more regressed members, but Mrs. Jenkins seemed deadest on not choosing them currently from where her eyes kept landing.

Soon, her eyes stopped on one person. “How about you… Ron, was it…?” she finally asked, pointing to an oblivious Ron who had obviously been paying more attention to the clock nearby. Some of the numbers looked a bit odd, but as Joy had explained the other day, many local clocks used a different numbering system. Fortunately for Ron, here, the clock had also been painted into a pie chart of sorts to denote when certain activities would occur. From the current hand landing on the red shaded area, he knew that he still had a long day ahead of him…

“Huh? Me?” Ron asked, straightening up from his seated position on the floor a bit, now looking slightly embarrassed at having been caught off guard like some distracted toddler. The rest of the circle giggled a bit, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out which of the Littles were responsible for the small fluttery outburst.

Mrs. Jenkins let out a little giggle herself, her glasses chain around her neck bouncing a bit as she did so. “Yes, you. Would you like to share with the group? I know it’s your first day and it can be really scary, but…”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Ron practically spit out. ‘Perfect! Mrs. Jenkins would provide a good irritant to Ron which would only increase the desirability of Joy when they met up later today and in the future. Just don’t get too uppity now…’

“Oh, I see,” Mrs. Jenkins smiled coyly. “Well, how about you show your… maturity to the group and speak up about something interesting that you’ve done recently.”

Ron groaned but I could also see him internalizing his anger a bit, most likely still trying to remember what Joy had said about following the rules and doing what the workers here had asked. “I’ve been reading a book lately… It’s pretty good.”

“Does ih’ have pwetty pitchus?” one of the more regressed Littles asked, failing to raise their hand, which got an immediate stern look from Mrs. Jenkins.

“No. It’s a book about space travel,” Ron replied, trying to simplify the latest book that he was reading back home from Joy and just move on. I knew, however, that it was really about a bunch of astronauts in space that had encountered a nest of enormous deadly spiders on their way back from a mission to find food and supplies for their nearby colony. ‘Something tells me that Ron had made the right choice in omitting certain details with some of the… younger members in this group…’

“That’s very good, Ron,” Mrs. Jenkins praised. “Anything else?”

“No. Nothing much else really besides some documentary TV.”

“Dat’s so borin’! We aw’ do dat. Next!” another Little called out, obviously hoping for something more exciting or at least more on his level, his dinosaur covered shoes shuffling a bit out of boredom.

“Barkley!” Mrs. Jenkins scolded. “That was very rude. We all receive a turn and silence from everyone else when we are talking. I’m sure some in this group don’t want to hear about your dinosaurs.” The Little immediately shrunk back, but Ron then mumbled something under his breath and Mrs. Jenkins immediately snapped her gaze back toward him. “Did you say something, Ron?”

“Nope,” he lied. ‘Oh, please don’t push their buttons on your first day that much, Ron. Don’t be that guy. Please…’

“Hmmm, well, did you do anything else? Like maybe play with a toy or draw a picture or maybe feed the duc…”

“I’m not one of them. Don’t treat me like it,” Ron said coldly and abruptly.

Mrs. Jenkins immediately glared back at Ron. “I just want to know what else you did, Ron. There’s no reason you need to be rude.”

Ron scowled back. “Yeah, well I’m not some pants pooping and drooling drone of yours. You don’t need to treat us like we’re all babies.”

Mrs. Jenkins’ eyes scrunched intently behind her glasses. “That’s one, Ron.”

“One? One what? One until a punishment?” Ron’s voice rose right alongside his anger, apparently not taking the hint to stop while he was ahead or feeling the slight tug on his pants leg from the woman sitting next to him. “One strike against me? One…”

“Mrs. Jenkins!” the woman next to Ron blurted out while still raising her hand.

The currently stern Mrs. Jenkins shot her look over at her. “Yes, Ashley? What is it?”

“I think being new and all is getting to Ron here. Can I show him the quiet place?” Mrs. Jenkins then just glared at the woman in jeans and pink t-shirt. “Please?” she pleaded almost comically.

Before Mrs. Jenkins could speak, Ron shot out, “I don’t need a stupid quiet… oof!”

Ashley then slightly hit Ron on his side and out of view of Mrs. Jenkins before giving him a wide eyed and knowing look that only the most regressed Littles wouldn’t understand. One also didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that she was trying to say, ‘shut up, stupid, or you’ll really regret what happens next.’ Fortunately, Ron got the idea and shrank back a little bit and waited for Mrs. Jenkins to pass her verdict.

Obviously wanting to resolve the matter as quickly as possible for the sake of the rest of the group, Mrs. Jenkins waved her hand at the two Littles. “Very well. Show him the room, but Ron, to answer your question, that is strike one. You get three a day. Don’t make me get there.”

Ashely then gave another look to Ron before he was obviously about to speak. So instead, he just nodded and got up with Ashley and quickly left the group circle. Once a little out of view of the group, she quickly pulled Ron into the room with the door labeled, ‘Quiet Room.’ Inside was awash with various implements to induce relaxation for all age groups. Blankets, stuffys, snacks, soothing music, singing bowls, light displays, and many other items crammed most available spaces along two of the walls. The rest of the space contained pillows, bean bags, and sleeping mats. Ashely quickly plopped on one bean bag and Ron followed suit with the other.

“Geez, you’re dumb,” Ashley bluntly said after a moment.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Dumb,” Ashley plainly said. “I can spell it out for you if you’re not sure. For all I know you could be dumb in a few different ways around here. Are you one of them already?”

“I’m not dumb,” Ron answered defensively.

“Fine. Maybe hard-headed, but it’s all the same here by the end.” She then rested back a bit in her bean bag. “Let me guess, been here, what, a few days maybe?”

“This is my tenth in this… situation.”

“That explains a lot. Me? I’m on my 16^th, but I think I’m pretty unique to not be drooling at this point.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, I’m calling you stupid or dumb, because remember Barkley from back there? Dinosaur kid?” Ron nodded. “Well, we came in at the same time, but he was like you. Unaccepting and rebellious here. Not long after he hit ‘three’ a few times, he got bumped into a different group and now the Little couldn’t count that high on a consistent basis if his life depended on it. You’re doing better than him overall, but not by much.”

“That won’t be me by a long shot…”

“No, you’ll be worse eventually. Already hit one on your first day and we haven’t even hit the halfway point of the day’s activities. Barkley hit one on his second day and he’s only worse than you right now because he’s come here more often. You need to chill and accept what’s going on if you’re going to make it and not follow in his and everyone else’s shoes. Those who protest all… this, never end well. There used to be more of us here…”

Ashely was right but she didn’t know that another experiment had actually just ended. Most of them had elected to live elsewhere but I couldn’t blame them. Most were testing some new drug called, FAY… FEY… FOY… something like that, and the results were… interesting to say the least.

“But how can you just accept… something like this?” Ron asked, now holding up one of the pacifiers that was stationed nearby. “Or that?” He then pointed to the music player with a song track listing nearby, many of them obviously catered to Littles, such as ‘Oh, How My Diaper Feels So Nice,’ or ‘The Bigs Love Me and I Love the Bigs.’

“Yeah…” Ashley admitted somberly, “it’s a tough path to tread my friend, but your survival as… well, you, depends on it. When I first got here, there was another Little that I think moved away or whatnot, but she said something important to me on my first day that I think you need to hear.” Ron gestured his hand for her to continue. “Faster to anger, faster to being a drooler. It’s nothing much I know, but it’s a good standby that has kept me from hitting the dreaded, ‘three.’ Well, beyond that one day that is...”

Ron raised one of his eyebrows in curiosity. “It was a bad day, okay?” she defended. “A Little hit me in the head with a block and I threw it back and hit Mrs. Jenkins, I cursed after a drink spilled on me, and I accidentally pegged one of the more regressed Littles in the head with a ball outside. All honest mistakes, but still.”

“But you were still punished?” Ron asked, a slight tone of disbelief in his voice.

“Yep, so just try and not give them an excuse. Those strikes reset every day, but the workers can get a bit stricter if you keep hitting a ‘two’ every day. Workers like Mrs. Jenkins are just waiting for a reason to hand out strikes to us…”

Ron nodded in recognition of the advice and the two then talked for the next little bit until one of the workers knocked calmly on the door and announced that it was now recess time. “Come one!” Ashley suddenly beckoned and pulled Ron out of the room. “Recess might be for the younger back on Earth, but here, it’s a means to escape the watchful eyes of the staff. We can’t miss it!”

“You’re from Earth?” Ron asked once outside, moving beyond the sight of the childish display from Ashley that he had just witnessed.

“Yep!” Ashely replied happily, walking to the far side of the fence, and kicking around a piece of mulch that had escaped the main playground area. “Most of us around here are actually.”

Ron mulled that information over for a moment and then looked at the ground and sighed. “Can I tell you something, but just promise you won’t make fun or anything like that?” Ashley slowly nodded her head and Ron looked away in the distance. “I kind of… like it here. At least parts of it,” Ron quickly defended himself.

Ashley let out a laugh as she hopped onto one of the playground platforms. “Man, I thought you were going to tell me something serious and all. Don’t be ashamed about it, Ron! Seriously, this place is catered for us to want to stay longer. It’s maddening but there are parts you just have to like sometimes. Plus, their technology and lack of pollution makes a lot of things so much nicer. I mean, isn’t all the food so awesome? One would make a fortune back home if we could get the same grub!”

“If we ever get back there…” Ron replied depressingly, as he joined Ashley at the top of one of the playground equipment.

Ashley’s face darkened a bit and just patted Ron on the shoulder like one would do to a fellow comrade during tough times. “True, but still, you just got to roll with some stuff here, though, here’s another big thing to keep in mind.” Ron leaned in. “Listen and comply with your caretaker. They can be a life saver or breaker,” Ashley said with a knowledge and confidence that only gave more validity to what she was saying.

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, “I think I’ve been noticing that.”

“It’s a true game changer for anyone here. Plenty of stories of those that didn’t. Now, they’re sucking on some milk the au natural way, and I can still use a fork. Happy Bigs are lenient Bigs...”

The two kept talking for a little bit and muddled their way through half a dozen or so topics regarding their lives here and what they did before. Ashley had been some personnel trainer of some large company and Ron had something to do with sales. In all honesty, I wasn’t paying too much attention to it, having both their records on file already, that is until both began to wiggle about slightly.

Recognizing what the other was doing, both quickly walked over to Miss Pearl, one of the kinder and bubblier Bigs in charge of outside time today. “Very well you two. I know you’ve both been trying extra hard to be good, and you did ask, so just go right in,” she said sweetly.

Ashley and Ron thanked her and then bolted inside. A few moments later and two flushes could be heard. For now, at least, both had made it in time. Ron struggled a bit with readjusting his pull-up back on up, but eventually got the hang of it and rejoined Ashley back out in the main part of the playroom. Recess was now over and a few of the other workers were now handing out a round of juice.

Each container of juice, be it a bottle, sippy cup, or glass, was labeled for each Little. Most just accepted it as a prevention of spreading germs, but I knew that some contained the Pioneos juice and others were just of the normal variety. There was no sense in giving the specialized juice to those not in the experiment or to those who had already abandoned their potty training long ago. Ashley and Ron were not among any of those and thus greedily drank the Pioneos juice down.

Soon, it was quiet time as the more regressed Littles laid down for their afternoon nap, having been fed a round of bottles and simple finger foods for lunch. Ron and Ashley both had a round of vegetables and simple sandwiches before calmly laying on mats, pillows, and bean bag chairs while watching a calming video that one of the workers had put on to entertain the less regressed batch of Littles in the classroom.

It wasn’t long however, before many of the Littles began to fidget around. A few almost seemingly went into a trance of sorts, the severity depending on which experiment they were part of, and then soon stopped their individual fidgeting. It was no secret of what they had absent mindedly done.

Ron, on the other hand, was still in the early days of all this and after a moment of squirming about, he quickly bolted upward. Ashley tried to ask him what was wrong, but Ron was too focused on making it to the restroom.

Inside, he quickly fumbled around with the latch of the single closed stall in the public restroom of the daycare and flipped his shirt up to access his button and fly with his pants. His panic obviously mounting, Ron’s fingers were losing the concentration they needed to truly be effective in a time crunch. Just as the top button was undone though, Ron froze. “Oh… oh no…”

Ron just stood in the stall as a slight hissing sound could be heard over the recently kicked-on air conditioning unit overhead. Unfortunately, Ron hadn’t adjusted his pull-up completely correctly when he had used the restroom earlier and his large accident was no match for the protection that he now wore. Two small streaks soon arced across his pants and ended just above his knees. “No…” he meekly sobbed.

For the next few minutes, Ron tried to do everything in his power to fix what had just occurred. Another accident now would be known by all, and, more importantly I knew, by Ashley. Ron had obviously taken a liking to her and being his first real friend here, I knew he didn’t want to look so infantile at this point.

Back in his world, he may have been able to sneakily hide the evidence of his accident if given enough time, but being surrounded by Bigs in a daycare here, Little safety was of the utmost concern. As such, Miss Pearl soon checked in on the restroom when Ron hadn’t emerged back out after a few minutes. “Knock, knock.” She then pushed the door open and entered the tiled room. Inside, she only found a trembling Little with his pants around his ankles and a soaked and slightly crooked pull-up about his waist.

“Oh my,” she said, trying her best to remain calm and strong in this potentially devastating moment for the new Little. “Are you okay, Ron?”

“I…” Ron drooped his head in defeat. “No…” A few tears trickled down his face and I could see that Miss Pearl wanted nothing more than to treat him like the Little she knew he was to become. For now, though, she knew he was part of Project Nurture, so she remembered her training and just bent down to start to give him a lesson and then console him right after.

“Well,” Miss Pearl said sternly, “let me guess. You tried to make it on your own and you didn’t make it.” Ron said nothing. “Hmmm… let me guess, buttons?” Ron remained silent and further drooped his head, but it was all the affirmation she needed.

“I guess this serves as a lesson to you then. If you had only asked one of us for help, then this wouldn’t have happened, huh?” Ron still made no reply but began to shake slightly in fear. “So, have you learned something with all this, Ron?”

Ron trembled, but finally managed to make something out. “I… guess I didn’t think I needed help… but… but I was wrong… I’m sorry,” he added weakly at the end. It was simple but it was just enough to soften the temporary more hardened stance of Miss Pearl.

“That’s okay, Ron,” she consoled, now back with her usual flowery energy once more. “Things like this happen all the time here. It’s not a big deal if we don’t always make it on time. So, how about this?” She then maneuvered to his rear and locked the door that led to another part of the building. “I’ll make sure no one comes in here and I can come back with a fresh pull-up and some dry clothes,” she said with a slight hint of hope in her voice, now also noticing the slightly wet pants around his ankles.

“But… Joy… she…”

“Don’t worry about her. I know her pretty well and I know she’ll be okay with all this. She really just wants to help all you Littles out. You being under her care only would make that doubly so. So no, nothing sinister about her at all. Can’t say the same for others around here… but I for one, can definitely help. What do you think?”

Ron hesitated for a moment but after a slight sway and a near audible squish, he just nodded his head in compliance with her plan.

“Perfect. Now, you just wait right here.” Ron nodded once again, and Miss Pearl exited the restroom.

While she was gone, Ron could only defeatedly look at the soaked pull-up that he was now wearing. Only ten days in the project and he was already showing great signs of progress toward the project’s goal. He still had a long way to go, but his ego was truly being smashed by everything that was happening around him. It was heartbreaking to witness, but people like Ashley, Miss Pearl, and Joy would all be there to pick up the pieces and form this Little into a perfect specimen of project success.

Miss Pearl then came back in and locked the door behind her. There was another restroom elsewhere and she knew that most of the Littles wore diapers anyway, so all the extra precautions were more for Ron’s sake than anyone else really.

Sifting through his bag, Miss Pearl then produced a fresh pull-up, this one adorned with only muscle cars to still be deemed a more mature option, as well as some fresh pants.

Ron only stared at the two items in shock and horror, but I could also see that he would not only comply with wearing them, but he also likely wanted to wear them as well. It was a subtle show of change and an obvious choice for most as compared to a wet pull-up and pants, but it was still progress.

“Okay, Ron,” Miss Pearl began, “now I know I’m not Joy, but I promise that I just want to help you, okay?” Ron tearfully nodded, now knowing exactly what was about to happen. “Okay… just stand really still and we’ll get this over as soon as possible.”     

Miss Pearl then got Ron to brace himself on her shoulder while he stepped out of his wet pants that then went into a separate bag. “I’ll put these in the wash right after and you should be able to bring them home with you.” Ron nodded listlessly, while Miss Pearl continued about her work. Two audible rips later and the pull-up soon fell away, Ron flinching from the burst of cold air around his nether regions.

I could see Ron wince at the foreign and unpleasant sensation, but true to her words, Miss Pearl just quickly went to work and began to dutifully wipe him all over with a wet wipe. Ron furiously blushed and shut his eyes, but still, there was no tantrum or outburst like that would have happened with most Littles in his same situation. Perhaps it was a bruised ego or just a desire to be clean once again, but Ron just remained still throughout the entire process, only yelping a bit when Miss Pearl decided to be extra… thorough.

Soon, the fresh pull-up was guided over his legs and into place. Ron’s pants soon followed, and Miss Pearl just continued to crouch before him with another wet wipe. “Here, let’s get all this gunk off your face. No need for the others to see what a fuss you’ve made in here, huh?”

Ron, still in his slight state of shock, just stood in place and allowed Miss Pearl to wipe his face off thoroughly. After a command to “Blow,” Ron complied as well and Miss Pearl stood up, now satisfied with a job well done with the newest addition to the daycare. The whole thing hadn’t lasted long, but I was still impressed with the job she had done in handling all the clean-up and potential pitfalls of a still-adjusting Little. ‘Gotta remember to put a note in her file for commendation of duty in this experiment…’

Ron then exited the bathroom first and tried to make as little of a scene as possible as he retook his seat beside Ashley. Ron’s eyes were fixed on the TV and the ongoing show playing, so he missed Ashley looking at him with a knowing face. Everyone knew what had just occurred, but everyone also had the good sense not to bring it up directly at that moment.

After the show had finished, the more regressed Littles were beginning to wake up and the others, including Ashley and Ron, were allowed to roam about with some free time. Ron, still worried about the incident, was now much quieter than before. Seeing his distress, Ashley boldly spoke up. “You know accidents are like breathing around here. It’s honestly weirder if you don’t have one.”

Ron’s eyes darted to her with a mix of fear and anger. “But… but… how… I…” he stumbled over his words as the shock of Ashley’s revelation hit him directly.

“Oh, relax, Ron. You come to this place, and you’re almost guaranteed to have an accident.” She then looked around, but slowly slid the right-side hem of her jeans down and revealed the side of what could only be a purple pull-up.

“You… but I thought…”

“What? That I was so mature?” Ron nodded. “Well, thanks for the ego boost, but maturity is all relative here. I don’t know if it’s the air, water, or just bad luck, but we Littles just don’t last long in normal underwear around here. I think I’ve lasted the longest wearing these puppies so far, but it’s best to just accept the fact that we’re all wearing padding around here. And, if you do… progress further,” she implied, “don’t feel bad about that either. We’ll all still accept you. Even big old mature me.”

Ron smiled and the two resumed their normal conversation like they had been doing before Ron’s accident. I was glad to see their banter and as part of the experiment herself, I was able to see a fringe benefit of the project unfolding before me. Littles who had been regressed without added duress, could often aid each other in acceptance of another step. Coping tools, regardless of if they were designed to prevent further regressions or not, only increased the stability of other events occurring. After all, Ashley could be preventing some regression here, but Ron would still be under the supervision of Joy for most of his time during the project. ‘Anything could happen then…’

The sun then started to dip close to the horizon when Joy had arrived at the front desk, so Ron was called up to leave for the day by Mildred, the current receptionist handling checkouts. After saying goodbye to Ashley, as he approached the front desk, he could overhear the two Bigs talking about him. “…yes, he had an accident today, Joy, but he was perfectly well-behaved considering it was his first day and all. He probably just needs more interaction with other Littles, but nothing extremely negative to report other than him hitting ‘one’ earlier.”

Ron was clearly devastated that Joy now knew about both the accident and that he had reached ‘one’ all on his first day, but his face was still awash with relief that she had now come to pick him up. Almost acting on instinct, Ron practically dove right into Joy’s legs in a giant hug. There might have been some effort on Ron’s part to increase the chance of mercy from her, but his affection still seemed genuine.

“Woah there,” Joy said from above, looking very shocked at the scene unfolding below her. “Everything go okay?” she asked. In truth the question was directed at both Ron, for how he was acting, and to the attendant in front of her, just to double check that they hadn’t done anything untoward to her Little. After a small shake of Mildred’s head, Joy peeled Ron off her and she crouched down to meet his gaze. “Did you just miss me after today, Ron? Is that it?”

Ron eagerly nodded his head, but still looked despondent. Joy’s face only showed puzzlement, but after a moment, asked a poignant question. “Ron, honey, do you think I’m going to be upset with you over your single strike or your accident?”

Ron hesitated for a moment but then nodded his head in confirmation.

“Oh, Ron. Look at me,” Joy commanded, slightly lifting his drooped head up to meet her own gaze. “I promise I’m not mad. It’s okay to have big feelings sometimes or even have an accident. You’re wearing your… protection for a reason. I heard you were good for them right after both incidents, and plus, I think you may have learned a lesson as well. That’s all I ever ask, okay?”

Ron nodded his head but continued to look very upset that something negative would still happen when they got home. Resolute in her promise that everything was okay, Joy spoke up once more. “Tell you what… to prove that I’m absolutely not upset with you, how about we go for some ice cream before we go home? Does that sound good?”

Now, I’m not a believer in magic, but I suppose if there was ever some magic in a single phrase, offering a Little ice cream may just have had some of that extra power in it.

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Ron’s face immediately began to brighten up. By the time she finished her statement, Ron’s eyes began to bulge out in sheer excitement and his head quickly bobbed up and down to affirm his desire to go.  

Nearby staff, some other caregivers waiting for their own Littles, and Joy all giggled a bit over the reaction. “I’ll take that as a yes then?” she asked.

“Oh, absolutely,” Ron beamed.

Joy chuckled once again and then got up from her crouched position and turned back to a cutely smiling Mildred. “If that is all, I’ll take that,” she said, now taking Ron’s backpack from her, which also contained his now clean set of previously soaked pants. “Thank you, Mildred.”

Mildred nodded and both Joy and Ron exited the building. Once secure in his booster seat and Joy had started the car, they were both off to get some of the coveted ice cream from this dimension. The chain was widely known as some of the best offered anywhere amongst the dimensions and a single scoop had hooked Ron after his fourth day here while eating desert.

After a thorough debriefing from Ron about his day, Joy only happily smiled through her rearview mirror. “So, you made a friend, huh?” Ron eagerly nodded over the thought of Ashley. “Well, I’m glad your day was good then. You shouldn’t have to go there as much as some of the other local Littles, but I’m very happy that today wasn’t absolutely horrible.”

“Definitely not! Some bad stuff happened, but… I can do better! I promise!” Ron exclaimed, evidently trying to maintain his good behavior to ensure they would still stop for ice cream, his sudden outburst going even as far as to shake the black bags that were perched next to Ron on the floor that Joy had bought today.

Joy chuckled as she saw right through his ploy. “I’m sure you can, Ron…” A squat modernist building then appeared to the left of the road with a large ice cream cone perched up on the roof of it. “Ah, here we are,” Joy said, now pulling into the parking lot in front of the already crowded building. “What will it be today? Chocolate? Vanilla? Something else special?” Joy asked, turning around to face Ron. In response, Ron just smiled and dreamed of the wonderment he would soon get to enjoy.

I leaned back and turned off the RealET. The notes showed that the rest of the day went just as smoothly as the previous ones had and there was nothing else major to report. Satisfied over Ron’s progress with making a Little friend, understanding the value of asking for help when needed, and an increasing number of accidents and reliance for comfort from Joy, I sighed in relief.

I knew this stage was the most difficult in some ways, but like most, I knew that it only would last so long. Hopefully, if the project was right about anything, the next phase of the process would go smoothly and the diapers and other supplies that Joy had just bought today and secretly stashed beside Ron in the car would be utilized within the week. Yes, Ron was turning into a good Little, but now, we also had to make him the Little that everyone else in society wanted him to be as well. Only then would the project be considered ‘successful.’

[SGTbaby]

Your pace is fine and enjoyable! I just look forward to everything overall! The chapters flow well and glad to see Ron is progressing nicely! 

[LostBBoyBear]

14 minutes ago, SGTbaby said:

Your pace is fine and enjoyable! I just look forward to everything overall! The chapters flow well and glad to see Ron is progressing nicely! 

Thank you for telling me! I know everyone is different with these stories, but I'm never sure how much I should really be posting on here, as a few writers take days or even weeks to post something new. Plus, I never want anyone to be bored with what ever I write about.

[LostBBoyBear]

So... I just wanted to giver everyone reading this story an update that I am behooved and frustrated to report.

For whatever reason, I can no longer access the Word app on my main computer. I might have an alternate solution that I will explore more tomorrow, but it seems like that, at least for now, I can no longer make further updates to this story. If I hadn't written the next six chapters out already, I would likely have just written them out directly on here, but alas. I've tried almost every solution that has been recommended out there, so at this point, I will now likely have to wait until I can get some support this weekend for this whole thing to be fixed if my alternative solution doesn't work tomorrow. If Sunday goes wrong as well, I may need to get a new computer all together and that would delay this process even further. 

I apologize for this stoppage in the story and will try to resume normal posting as soon as I can.  

[SGTbaby]

No worries…technology can only be “so helpful” sometimes…lol. Just do what you can and know you have at least one reader ready and waiting! 😁

[LostBBoyBear]

Oof. I love technology in a lot of ways, but sometimes it can be so frustrating.

I have tried all the fixes I could with my original computer, but none seemed to work. I'm still going to check to see if it can be resolved, but I'll likely need to get another computer at this point. There have been several signs and I think this was just the proverbial final nail on the head.

I have been able to use an old backup laptop that I have, but I am much slower at typing and editing on it, so please lend your patience going forward. While this likely means that I will be able to post the rest of the story by the end of this month, I have no idea of the timeline until then. As it stand right now, there are 15 chapters, so I'm sure you all can do the math (I suggest that some of you should ask an adult or using your fingers to help out...).

Regardless, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 6: Session 13

“Okay, that should do it” I said, adjusting the angle of the camera from my workstation. “Three days later now, and Ron’s accidents have only grown heavier and more frequent. At this point, Ron would be secure in diapers if this was any other scenario in this entire world. I think his own world would have even demoted him back to diapers!” I exclaimed with some mounting frustration. I knew I had a job to do as an observer, but I just wished some of these subject caregivers would hurry up a bit. 

“But,” I continued with a more calm and collected demeanor, “the project comes first. Joy was instructed to wait off diapering her Little during the day until Ron would have a public accident. A bit sadistic to be sure, but the added public humiliation would only aid in his acceptance of needing something… more protective. With luck, diapers will become a source of need rather than as something being forced onto him. To add to our thinking here, Ron has been informed at other times that crutches aren’t ideal, but they are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of aid when in need. Diapers must be viewed by Ron in much the same manner, and his deep contemplation after being told of such analogies has been encouraging.”

I then switched on the of the dials to a scene from last night. “From recent observation, Ron the Little has become more pronounced and his likes and dislikes are becoming more apparent.” The monitors then switched to times when he was scowling or on the verge of a fit or even meltdown. “The subject has an obvious dislike towards his pull-ups, accidents, his increasingly juvenile clothing, and separation from Joy. That being said, his dislike of a separation from Joy can also be counted as a positive for us and is a good sign of his overall progress on that front.”

I then switched the monitors to views of Ron in almost a semi-blissed state or highly evident and wide grin. “The subject has notable likes for things like walking, reading, TV, and his stuffed monkey. TV shows have become more diverse, and some cartoons have begun to creep into his daily watching habits… though I should note that these are more of the variety that could appeal to Bigs as well and not just Littles alone.” I then switched the screen back to last night where Ron was once again cuddling his stuffed monkey. “Further, without Joy’s insistence, Ron has yet to name his stuffed monkey. I believe this will come in time and will be a notable major milestone passed when he does.”

I then stood up and popped on the RealET system that now showed Ron and Joy walking to the park. “If progress from other subject sessions is any indication, today should be a momentous day where diapers are finally introduced. Lastly, progress after this point will be more of a natural path and will be more directed with what Joy wishes to see in her Little. We have made some suggestions and will provide the avenues in which to achieve them, but we believe that all other avenues of regression will soon be more in of acceptance from Ron or from Joy’s personal taste.” My image then faded, and the view focused more acutely on the two now walking side by side. 

“Wasn’t this a great idea, Ron? Blow off a little steam from all that’s been going on?” Joy gleefully asked, trying to remain upbeat with her despondent Little.

Ron just shrugged his shoulders in resignation. The past few days had become increasingly harder, namely with making it to the potty on time, and while Ron had begun to ask for more help in making it to the bathroom, his success rate still had a lot to be desired, failing up to 80% of the time now. Trying to distract him from his woes and get back the happy Little she had seen the other day practically who had practically inhaled the ice cream, Joy made the suggestion to go outside and have some fun. 

Once at the local park, Joy sat down on one of the benches and actively encouraged Ron to participate with some of the other Littles. Yesterday, Ron had gone back to daycare and he and Ashley had played for most of the day together and on the playground they had there. Having a good time then, Ron only needed a little convincing to join in a game of tag with some of the other local Littles today. 

Ron was unaware that over half were fellow test subjects from the group of eight actively engaged, but the interaction was still going smoothly. Perhaps based on his own faults with his accidents as of late, Ron had begun to show a greater tolerance for those seemingly younger-minded than he was. That or he was just getting used to their increasing presence in his life. 

After a little bit, Ron ran back to Joy, like the other Littles had to their own caregivers, and requested a snack. “Sure thing.” Joy then rummaged around in the bag she had brought with them. It was by no means a diaper bag at this point, but it still contained a few useful items for someone in preschool or kindergarten. Ron was neither, but his abilities and desires were starting to border on some of their own. For his part, Ron didn’t care what the bag practically looked like and only readily accepted the snack and rest period under the shade of one of the large trees hanging over the bench. 

Once the juice had been sucked dry and the crackers were now only mere crumbs, Ron popped up and started to dash toward the others. “Wait!” Joy called out. Ron spun around. “Come here. Let me check,” Joy now simply stated as calmly as she could now that she had his attention, trying not to draw to many stares to her real purpose for Ron’s sake.

Ron groaned but stepped up close to her and allowed Joy to discreetly check his pull-up. In truth, Ron had a small accident a little bit ago, but either from embarrassment or some other unknown motivation, he had neglected to inform Joy. 

Knowing the purpose of this outing, Joy only sighed and declared, “You should be good. We can check again in a bit, but just let me know if you’ve got to go.” Ron groaned but then sped off as nonchalantly as he could to join in with the other Littles who had begun to make their way back to the playground. 

Joy would have normally changed him on the spot in the nearby restroom of the large park based on the wetness she had felt and the fact that the pull-ups didn’t hold a lot, but she also knew today was the day that Ron would be reintroduced to diapers. Seeing her purchase the pack of diapers meant for Littles the other day on a separate feed, I knew that she was still struggling with some notions of this project though. She had accepted Ron in becoming her Little, but some steps still seemed too far. At this point however, she only doubled down on the reading we had provided and seemed at least partially satisfied with the notion that diapers ‘would prevent the further torture of public and noticeable accidents with a Little.’ Ron would suffer but would be better off afterward. 

I didn’t know how much she believed all that, but it was apparently enough to at least get her over the hump of today’s latest indignity for her Little. For his part, Ron just went back to playing tag and joining in on other games the Littles involved themselves with.

Now, I should point out that portal Littles come from a dimension with shorter days. As such, most Littles require naps during the day over us Bigs, being just one of the many reasons we treat them as we do. For the purposes of this project however, we knew that forcing naps could be a step too far for most Littles, so we left it up to Joy. Using her own judgement, Ron was currently experiencing the drop in energy that most Littles around him were as well, but unlike them though, Ron hadn’t been regressed enough to readily accept the concept of taking naps so freely. 

As such, Ron was soon left alone for the most part by his original group, most of them being on the slightly younger end of the spectrum and off to take their own naps back home. Looking around at the sudden emptiness, Ron spotted a set of monkey bars on the nearby playground set. The area of course had all been themed to a jungle setting, so Ron was easily able to push by the more childish nature of it all and just enjoy himself in their immersive setting, as was intended.

Ron yawned as Little needing their nap, but still prideful, proceeded to jump onto the monkey bars. Not positioned very high up for safety purposes, I could see in his face that he felt no fear, but about halfway through, he did feel a wave of tiredness suddenly hit him, as evidenced by a slight nod to his left. I saw a second wave hit, and Ron, despite trying to still valiantly hold on, didn’t have the strength to keep his grip. Slipping off, he then plummeted to the ground below. 

His feet hit first, but he then soon fell to his hands and knees from the impact of the fall. The pressure of it all was too much, and as much as Ron tried to stop the initial feeling as he got to his knees, he soon began wetting himself once more. As Joy hadn’t changed his already slightly wet pull-up, this second accident was too much for the protective garment, and it leaked visibly and all down his kneeled legs and finally onto the fake wood chips below him. 

Ron stared down in absolute terror over what was occurring, and to his horror, many of the remaining Littles had rushed over to see if he was okay. As they had no need of a nap themselves, they were of the less regressed variety, and upon seeing the large wet patch over his pants, they all began to laugh at the fallen Little before them.

Little dynamics were hard to predict in the best of circumstances and I had been dying to try and map the Little’s psyche for years now. Knowing the experiment and subjects as I did, I knew the cases well for each of Ron’s tormentors and it was hard for me to fathom how they could possibly make fun of Ron in his current state. One sucked a pacifier, one named their stuffy ‘Bobo,’ and one even wore diapers themselves already. ‘Was it an ego boost? A deflection from their own states? What is it?’ 

I shook my head at them in my own semi-phased state. Whatever the case, their taunts toward Ron had what I guessed was the intended effect. Wounded in pride and soaked about his pants, Ron quickly began crying in a fashion that I highly doubted he could have even pretended to do a few weeks ago. A moment later, he gathered what strength he had remaining and fled away from the jeering crowd. They only stopped their taunts as Ron neared a concerned looking Joy who had just taken notice of the situation with her Little.

“Oh no, what happened? Are you okay?” Joy asked, though obviously knowing what had happened based on the evidence streaked all about his pants and the whole reason that they had come to the park today.

“I… was on the… monkey bars, but…” Ron started to hyperventilate between his loud sobbing, “I fell and it just… released… and… and they all made fun of me!” Ron then just collapsed into the still seated Joy.

Obviously overcome with her own emotions during this tumultuous event, Joy just leaned into him and began to stroke his back. “There, there. It will be okay, Ron. Those nasty other Littles aren’t here anymore. I’ve got you. You just cry it all out if you need to. Shhh… shhh…”   

It took a few minutes of Ron’s proverbial burst damn of emotions to finally subside into pitiful shakes and more sniffling than actual tears. He tried to regain composure about a minute in and use his words, but this just ended in some broken speech and near-incomprehensible noises. Sensing her moment, Joy gently pried the snotty and tear-streaked Little away from her. “It’s okay. Here,” she reached into her bag and began to take one of the tissues to clean up Ron’s face, “this should help a little.” 

After a moment of her tender wiping, she reflected back onto the more presentable Little before her. “There, that’s much better.” She then looked at the obvious wet patch now evident before her. “Now, about your pants… I’m afraid I wasn’t expecting this,” she lied, at least in part to protect his feelings from the overall goal of all this project, “so, I can give you two options.”

Ron looked up at her, obviously hopeful that his protector would have some emergency stash or miracle of some kind with her. Looking from the outside into their growing dynamic, it was an adorably cute moment that showed just how much that Ron was now caring for and holding Joy in such esteem.

“The first option is the public restroom over there,” Joy said, pointing to the small tan stone building next to a cluster of trees at the other end of the park. “They have some… supplies inside that I know we can use. I can’t do much about your pants, but I’m sure that one of my shirts wrapped around your lower half could do in pinch.”

“And the second?” Ron asked, seeming more hopeful that there had to be a better second option.

“Well, the second is that we go home right now, wet pants and all. I can wrap you in my rain jacket that I brought with us and that should hide you away until we can get you home and changed.”

Ron seemed to mull over the two options, but Joy knew the better option for Ron to cope with all this. She rationalized that despite being a Little in wet pants, he was definitely not ready for so public of a change. “If you’re stuck between the two,” she guided after sensing his dilemma between the options, “the restroom here would be in public, but you could potentially go back to playing afterward. Going home, it’s more private, but we would be done for the day out here and someone could see your accident on the way back. I’ll still leave it up to you, but I know what I would choose.”

Ron pondered for a second more, but then looked up, tears still glistening in his eyes. “The second…”

Joy smiled as best she could and then pulled out her rain jacket from the bag that she had brought with her. “Here, I’ll wrap this around you. You might still be seen, but it’s something.” Ron just nodded his head in sorrow and Joy wrapped and tied the jacket at his waist. To any discerning Big, it was still very obvious what unfortunate and yet expected even had occurred to the Little.

On their way back home, I could tell that Ron was instantly regretting his decision to walk home with wet pants on. Both options were a no-win scenario by design, but several Bigs had just stared at the pair and whispered to each other as they walked by. It didn’t take a genius to know that they were talking about the wet Little they had just seen.

Joy, noticing his distress over the moment and looking as guilty as ever, then spoke up. “You know… if you want… I could carry you. Would be faster and all…”

Ron stopped and looked at Joy as if he was genuinely considering it, but then just shook his head and quickly walked beyond her and closer to their house. I was highly curious of how much he actually wanted to take her up on the offer, but again, it was probably still a step too far for him today. One wet pull-up and public accident was enough for one day.  

Once back inside their house, Ron was directed to go upstairs immediately. Nearly dragging his feet going up the stairs, Ron then waited in his room as directed, apparently confused as to why the bathroom wasn’t his destination as it had been before when dealing with his increasing series of wet pull-ups.

Inside his room, the past two weeks had changed where he was now living in a few noticeable ways. First, his more traditional bed had been replaced by a smaller and more secure one that could have been seen in any toddler’s room from its dimensions and, unbeknownst to Ron, easy add-ons for some partial railing on the sides. New art décor was plastered over his walls depicting his favorite shows and one of the characters from a book series that he had just started reading. Little did he know, but the book was based on a movie meant more for Littles than Bigs, but I wondered how much he would care if he really knew. Lastly, what looked like a deep bookcase had been placed against one wall. Currently, it was one of the places that housed his ever-present pull-ups around the house, much to his initial dismay. Now, they were just in a convenient location to allow for a quicker change when needed.  

After a moment of standing in his room, Joy then joined him, but now carried two items. The first was a large dark blue bag with a monkey decal sewn into one side of it. The other, was a large white pad that had several straps and loops hanging off it.

“What are those?” Ron asked suspiciously.

Joy sighed and then walked over and sat on his bed. “Come here, Ron. We need to talk.” Ron nervously obeyed and then stood before Joy, still looking like she was regretting what I knew she knew had to come next. Today at the park had been designed to elicit a certain set of procedures, but Ron had peed without much control at all. Now, the next steps were more a matter of protection than mere protocol. Joy knew it, and while Ron did as well, he now needed a little push for it to be a conscious thought. 

“Listen,” Joy said, taking Ron’s arms into hers and looking deeply into his eyes, “you are a wonderful guest over here. I know we don’t always see eye to eye, but I do my best to try and treat you like I would a friend.”

“And I appreciate that a lot…” Ron said, slightly squirming and noticeably wondering where this conversation was going. 

“Yes… well, I want to respect you, Ron. I really do,” Joy said, almost sounding in pain, “but today… whatever is happening… it’s not stopping.” Ron’s previous half smile immediately went away. “Now I know this might be difficult to accept, but we need to do something more proactive. We’ve tried the pull-ups during the day, but I think after today, even you can admit that they’re just not holding up anymore.”

“I… I don’t know what to say…” Ron finally managed to stammer out.

“Then just listen.” Joy then reached over and pulled the bag that she had brought with her in between them. “After your third day of having accidents, I put this together for you just in case. I was honestly hoping that it would be fine by now and that I was just being my prepared or overly cautious self, but it’s been eight days of accidents and they’re not going away or even getting slightly better. In fact, they seem to be getting worse.” She paused and then looked deeply into the saddening eyes of the Little in front of her. “I want you to be honest with me… did you feel that you had to go at all today?”

Ron dropped his head and tears instantly formed in his fragile state, seemingly answering her question without saying a word. “No,” he managed to croak out after a moment.

Joy sighed. “That’s what I thought…” She then reached into the bag and pulled out a single white object with one hand and gently raised Ron’s sullen face up to see what it was with her other. I suspected from the entire conversation and the audible crinkling that Ron already knew what it was. Every Little did when they saw it in their nightmares. It was a diaper.

“Now, if you get better, we can go back to pull-ups in an instant, but look at your pants…” Ron did and then tearfully looked back up. “Wouldn’t it be better if you had some more protection… just in case? Think about it.” Ron looked like he did but his face only deeply blushed and he looked like he was on the verge of bursting back into tears any moment. Joy noticed and rubbed his arm a little. “Move beyond the embarrassment and all that. If you had been wearing this today, would anybody really know that you had an accident in the first place?”

Ron seemed to genuinely think about it for a moment as if Joy had magically found a solution to everything going wrong in his life. “Besides,” Joy continued, “some of those Littles that I saw teasing you earlier were wearing diapers themselves. Did you even notice?”

“They were?” Ron asked, seemingly amazed at the revelation and not even reacting to the revelation that Joy had witnessed his humiliation in the first place and could have stepped in.

“Uh huh. Bet they were probably even wet themselves…” Ron now looked deeper in thought over what he had just found out. It had been obvious to anyone he knew, but Ron had been completely clueless. It was a tiny crack in his aversion to diapers, but it was an important one. “I know it’s a lot to process, but can you at least try for today? For me?”

Ron wavered for a moment but then nodded his head in submission. “I… I can try…” he said dejectedly, blinking back a few errant tears.

Joy only smiled, stood up, and then grabbed the white pad that she had brought in with her. After a few moments of messing around with the deep-set shelving unit, it was immediately obvious that it was actually a changing table. From Ron’s current look, I suspected that he felt so oblivious and stupidly ignorant to the fact of what it really was all along. 

Once the pad had been firmly attached to the top, Joy then turned around. “Alright. I know this is going to be a little hard and embarrassing, but just go along with what I do, don’t raise a fuss or anything, and I promise that all this will be over soon.” Ron nodded and Joy just casually walked over and grabbed him and then stood him up on top of the newly minted changing table.     

After retrieving the bag from the bed, she then returned and got to work by slowly stripping Ron of his soaked pants. Once off and discarded, she sighed as she looked at the sodden mass of the pull-up before her before quickly removing it. Ron winced at the cold sensations he was now feeling, but after a quick wipe down, Joy gently guided Ron onto his back, a first for the Little under these new circumstances. 

Once there, Joy began to prepare what she needed. Satisfied with the items before her, she then looked back at her Little splayed-out on the changing table. To anyone with half a brain, it was immediately obvious that Ron was in a high state of stress and on the verge of a full-on breakdown. “Oh, Ron. It will be okay. I promise.” Ron just nodded silently, bit his trembling lip, and tried to stare anywhere but the scene going around his nether regions. 

Wasting no time, Joy quickly grabbed the still-unnamed stuffed monkey from Ron’s bed and handed him over to her trembling Little. Ron immediately took to hugging the stuffed figure with all the might he could. At last, Ron was treating his toy as he should and not as just some passive item for his unconscious body to cuddle with. It was now effectively a shield when times were tough and a companion when all seemed hopelessly lost. Joy only smiled at the interaction and at the at least temporarily paused breakdown of her scared and vulnerable Little. 

Still undaunted through the guilt she was obviously still feeling, Joy got right to work. As Ron buried himself in the stuffed monkey, she prepped all the supplies she would need. Carer+ had already applied a depilatory solution during their processing, so Ron was already nearly as smooth as he could be, much to his chagrin when he had first arrived here. Once all the supplies were laid out, Joy fluffed out an awaiting diaper and then quickly lifted Ron’s legs into the air. 

Ron let out a small whimper at the new sensation, but Joy only rested her free hand gently on Ron’s side. “Shhh… just relax. It’ll all be over soon.” The horribly embarrassed Little nodded behind his stuffy and Joy placed the prepped diaper under Ron’s rear. Having already wiped him down previously, Joy only quickly dusted and rubbed in some powder on his lower section before setting his legs back down. 

Another sprinkling of powder and rub down later, Joy quickly dusted her hands off. With one large pull, the diaper easily popped up between Ron’s thighs, both spreading slightly over the alien sensation now being applied. Joy smiled at his slight grunt from the effort and knew full-well that he would quickly get used to the process that would now occupy both of their times for the foreseeable future. Then, a quick taping on either side of the garment ensured the diaper stayed firm and yet comfortable against Ron’s stomach.

Standing back, Joy admired her work for a quick moment. She then rolled her eyes however, and quickly ran her finger along the elastic gatherings around the legs to ensure an accurate fit. This might have been Ron’s first diaper, but Joy was still relatively new at the process as well. ‘She would learn quickly as well… soon, all this will be second nature to the both of them.’

“Okay, Ron. It’s all over. You can come out now,” Joy tried to coax with her Little still hiding behind his stuffed monkey.

Ron was very hesitant but slowly pulled the monkey away from his previously covered face. He quickly took Joy’s offered hand, and then sat up. With the monkey still cradled in one arm, a horrified Ron only looked beyond his shirt at the new garment about his waist. 

Joy had elected a less juvenile design and the diaper was only covered with several colored circles, rather than the cutesy designs that Ron had become familiar with at daycare on his past two visits there. Several Littles had gone without their bottoms after leaking, and Ron had stared at them in confusion and horror that they would be so calm about exposing themselves like that. Now, after a cursory experimental poke to the thick padding and plastic that now enveloped his nether regions, a single tear dropped from his cheeks. He was to be the one in padding now. 

“Oh, Ron… it’s okay,” Joy tried to console, placing one hand on his shoulder for some measure of comfort. Ron smiled at the gesture, but then went back to staring intently at his new padded undergarment.      

“I… I know…” he sputtered out. “I hate these things… but I know… I need them… that’s why I’m sad…” Joy momentarily stopped her rubbing of his shoulder, obviously a bit shocked over the revelation, but quickly resumed to continue to aid her Little. “I didn’t feel it all today until I leaked…” Ron confessed. “I don’t know why, but I know I don’t want to be pants wetter anymore…”

“I understand,” Joy said calmly. The project’s overall plan was working perfectly, and Joy knew it well. Still, her bond with Ron was still powerful and I could tell that her feelings had only grown during recent sessions… almost exponentially so in fact. Soon, I could tell that she couldn’t hold back her feelings any longer. “Do you want a hug maybe?” she quickly asked.

Ron stopped staring at his thick and newly taped diaper and then mournfully looked up at his caregiver with the widest puppy dog eyes I think I had ever seen. “Yes, please…”

His tone and large glassy eyes melted mine and obviously Joy’s heart as well. She immediately leaned into her tiny Little still on the changing table and began to stroke his back once more as they began to tightly hug one another. The slightly shuddering Ron only leaned in further to the comfort he was receiving from their hug.

From my own view, I could see the warmest of smiles soon appear on Joy’s face. Today was going to be hard no matter what, but it was an important step to overcome in this process. Ron had coped with it well, but more importantly for the project going forward at this stage, Joy had soldiered through the ordeal. She had provided strength where she had needed, firmness against possible rebellion, and love and tender care all around in liberal doses. What’s more, she had done it all while still maintaining project guidelines. 

The hug soon ended, and Joy went to fetch a pair of shorts to go over Ron’s still-exposed diaper. Once they were wrestled on, the faintest of bulges now present in their crotch, Ron was helped off the changing table with his monkey still cradled in his arms. “You going to bring Mr. Monkey with you?” Joy asked half-sarcastically. 

From Ron’s facial expression, it was immediately apparent that he hadn’t even fully realized that he was still carrying him. “I… guess so?”

“Oh,” Joy said, slightly surprised once again. “Well, I’m sure we can have one more join us downstairs. I sure won’t mind.”

Ron then nodded and Joy started to leave the room first. Just as she was at the door, Ron spoke back up from where Joy had set him down. “Oh, Joy?”

She turned around and faced Ron once again. “Yes? Do you need something else?”

“No,” Ron said, slightly shifting in his new undergarments, obviously still not fully used to them. “You called him Mr. Monkey…” Joy nodded. “That’s not his name…” 

“Oh? Did you pick one out?” Joy asked, leaning forward slightly in curiosity. Almost two weeks in and I could feel myself doing the same.

“Yeah… it’s Louie.”

Joy just smiled broadly. “That’s a wonderful name. It’s good to meet you, Louie,” Joy said, now turning to the stuffed monkey in Ron’s arms and giving him a slight wave. Ron subtly rolled his eyes, likely over the notion that Joy was treating Louie as if he was alive, but Joy and I both knew that after naming him, it was only a matter of time before Ron would be doing the same. I could only smile broadly as Ron then exited his room closely behind Joy with Louie wrapped tightly in his arms and each step eliciting a slight crinkling noise. 

The recording stopped and I plopped back into my chair. “Man, what a day…” 

I then reviewed the notes that the initial observer had left. The observer seemed deadest on receiving the most recently announced promotion in the testing department and had noted that the name ‘Louie’ had been taken from some more primitive form of movies from the Little’s own portal dimension. Apparently, he was some king of apes or whatnot.

Regardless, I couldn’t be more thrilled over Ron choosing a new name for his stuffed animal, and what’s more is that he was now taking him out of this room. It still seemed to be an involuntary action of his at first, but it was still something major. Not as big as diapers, but still big.   

I made my notes for the day and reflected on the addition of diapers and the name, ‘Louie.’ It wasn’t Bobo or Lala, but I still liked it, and more importantly, Ron had chosen it. Just like he had at least partially accepted the need for diapers. As such, I was happy to report that Ron had become a Little in a very literal sense now. As I peered back at a smiling Joy on the remainder of the recording as she watched a funny cartoon show with Ron, I wondered which steps she would want us to pursue with this project and just how far she would go.

[SGTbaby]

Love the progression and name for the monkey. A great movie overall. The diapering was well handled by Joy who see,s to know the balance of her role very well. 

I do wonder how well this program would work with a more rebellious Little though?

[LostBBoyBear]

So, the story is coming along nicely, but as I said previously, with my current laptop, it will take me longer to write everything up and then edit it. As such, I'll probably be adopting a more every other day approach, but I'll try to post more frequently if I can. The story is all mapped out now fortunately, so it's just a matter of timing now.

Additionally, I just wanted to thank everyone so much for their support of my stories. Still being relatively new to posting my stuff, I'm very happy that my reputation on here has now just passed 300. I know it's not the thousands of ones other writers have, but it still means a lot to me. Again, thank you so much for your support. 

Now, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter where things get a bit... messier.

Chapter 7: Session 15

“We have a Little. I repeat, we have a Little,” I joked a bit as I began yet another recording session. After over two weeks of constantly watching session after session from dozens of subjects, they were starting to get to me now. Fortunately, some of the recording sessions I had done with other previous subjects were ending and their final conclusions would soon be reached. If all went well, Ron and Joy’s sessions would be amongst my last to finish for the project in its entirety at this stage.

“So, Ron is now using his diapers constantly for wetting, but… as we all know, Littles don’t just wet themselves. Ron must be fully incontinent to pass for any type of society-accepted Little, so today, we will begin to introduce him to messing accidents as well.”

I then switched the dials over to a view of Joy preparing hers and Rons breakfast this morning. While they had once looked very similar, Ron’s had started to take on the consistency of the younger palate. Food portions were smaller and cut into more manageable pieces and some items were starting to be prepared as if for a picky child. “As you can see, Joy has started to ensure Ron’s compliance with toddler-sized proportions and has also begun to introduce various other foods that should make his stool easier to pass. While not necessarily a determinant to incontinence, these softer movements will be harder to control under the right circumstances.”

As Joy continued to make breakfast, it was also very evident that Ron had begun to watch her near every move in the kitchen when not distracted by something more immediately pressing. “I have noticed that Ron’s clinginess to Joy has only increased as well, and as evidenced by the screen,” which now showed a slightly apprehensive Ron when Joy briefly left the room, “he has now begun to desire her presence more constantly. While not showing any signs outwardly to Joy in any real sense, his barriers have definitely begun to crumble when he is in distress. As predicted, the diapers have facilitated this change in behavior wonderfully.”  

Switching the view temporarily to the living room, Louie lay discarded on the couch when Ron had initially brought him down this morning. Nearby on the floor were several younger themed toys which still remained untouched. “As instructed, Joy has begun to introduce some of the toys for a younger mindset into Ron’s life, but he has still mostly refused these. For now, the addition of Louie is satisfactory enough.”

I then switched the monitor to a scene from yesterday when the two had gone to the park once more and Ron had been talking to a group of Littles near the swings. “Here, we can see Ron interacting with several Littles. This shows that he is not socially inept or shy.” I then switched to another view from a little while later where younger minded Littles then surrounded Ron. “Here, though, we can see the lack of interaction and almost disdain between Ron and these mentally younger Littles. If I had to predict, he may see himself as superior to them, however, I feel there may be another reason entirely.”

I switched the monitor one more time to a moment not long after. “Less than ten minutes later, these Littles were enjoying a game of tag which was then followed by some make believe event they formed on the spot.” Ron was evidently watching them from his seat on the swings, and just for a moment, almost seemed as if he wanted to join them. “I believe that instead of hating the idea of interacting with these Littles, Ron is more likely fearful of turning into them, and that playing with them would initiate such a change. This has been observed with other subjects and Joy was informed that he may need a few extra pushes to break through these still-existing barriers.” I then flipped on the RealET and began to observe the two calmly finish breakfast and begin to head out to the park once more, having become a favorite activity of Ron’s recently.

On the way to the park Ron and Joy were walking alongside one side of the street while a Big and his dog were walking on the other. It was a perfectly normal event that could be viewed in thousands of neighborhoods across the world, but I noticed that Ron had started to drift to the other side of Joy. I didn’t think anything of it, but his movements soon became more tense, and he began to mumble something. Getting closer, I could just make out, “Stay over there… stay over there…”

I then realized that Ron was a bit terrified of the approaching man and his dog. I passed it off as pure nervousness with another Big until the man and his dog crossed the street. “Shit!” Ron cursed a little too loud.

“Language!” Joy scolded, no doubt part of her recent initiative to curb some of Ron’s more adult tendencies that had no business staying with him as a Little. Joy then looked down at her Little, obviously expecting him to apologize, but only now saw his now slightly shaking form. “Ron?” she asked, now more concerned. “You okay?”

Ron didn’t make a sound, but as Joy spotted where he was intently looking, she quickly realized that he was afraid of the approaching man and his dog. “Oh, it’s okay, Ron. There’s no need to be scared…” Her words were genuine, but they did little to change his outward demeanor.

Resolute in trying to help her Little cope in this world, as soon as the man and his dog approached, Joy spoke up to the Big directly. “Excuse me, Bill, was it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bill replied. He then spotted the still slightly trembling Ron staring intently back at him and his dog. “Everything okay? This your new Little that I’ve heard about.”

“Well, yes… this is Ron. He’s a bit nervous today, but I think you could help us out actually.”

“Me?” Bill asked surprised. 

Joy nodded. “Yes. I’m pretty sure Ron here is a bit nervous of strangers, but I also definitely think he’s afraid of your dog more specifically at the moment,” she said, now noticing that Ron’s eyes had refused to budge from the large creature in front of him and that one of his hands was now gripping tightly onto her pant leg for extra comfort or security. 

In truth, I think Ron’s more unstable emotions had him more on edge now, but I also think that he was still highly unused to some of the size differences between his own world and our own. After all, despite looking like his own St. Bernard breed, the dog’s head stood proudly by at least an inch over his own as they both stood facing each other right now. 

“Who? Rufus here? He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Bill defended of his pet.

“I’m sure you’re right, but would it be okay for Ron here to pet him? I would be very grateful to you,” Joy stated as sweetly as she could.

The man stared down at the quivering Little and then back at Joy. “That would be just fine. Let me help.”

“Thank you, Bill.” Bill and Joy then crouched down more toward Rufus’ and Ron’s level. “Now, honey, I know you’re a bit scared, but Rufus here is very friendly. Here,” Joy said taking Ron’s hand, “just pet him like this.” Bill kept Rufus calm and only smiled at the tiny strokes that Joy was getting Ron to make.

Slowly but surely, Ron’s demeanor began to ease up and he was soon petting him without trouble. Ron recoiled for a quick second when Rufus began to growl, but everyone soon noticed that it was just another smaller dog and their owner across the street. “See?” Bill coaxed toward Ron. “Nothing to him. And look, he likes you.” 

Ron quickly looked up from his previously fixed gaze on his hand or Rufus’ face to obviously monitor for any signs of distress or aggression to retreat from, and just saw his wagging tale pass back and forth. “I’m glad you like this Rufus…” Ron finally managed to pipe up.

Joy and Bill smiled and each other, and not long after, Bill excused himself and Rufus to get back to their walk. As the two passed, I could still see that Ron had his guard up, but I could also see that he was no longer trembling in fear. While it was sometimes part of the program to introduce certain types of fear, like of the potty or the dark in general, other fears were best to be navigated around. We wanted to make better Littles… not shell-shocked and paranoid pants fillers. It was a fine line, but Joy seemed to know exactly where to draw it.

Soon, the two entered the park and Ron paused for a moment while looking at the nearby playground. Due to the revolving nature of the at least three separate experiments going on in the area, the presence or absence of a group of Littles often fluctuated greatly. While Ron had several positive interactions with some of the other local Littles previously, today was immediately obvious that a younger-minded crowd of Littles was more prevalent over his usual playmates. 

Despite now being diapered himself, I knew that his self-perception still held that he was a mature and functional member that could easily reintegrate with society if given the chance. Those odds were becoming longer, but in a small sense, they could still be true. As such, Joy knew this well and could sense his hesitancy. “You know, we could always do something else here first if you wanted…”

Ron stared back at her with a curious glint in his eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

Joy comically emphasized her thinking face and even stroked her chin. “Hmmm… well, we could feed the local water life,” gesturing to a large nearby pond with ducks, geese, and fish, “or, maybe just walk some more around the path, or… maybe that?”

Ron then looked over to where she had last pointed. There, nestled in a large field beyond a few trees was a single carousel. Normally, other entertainment options would be available but during the week at this time of year, most Littles were assumed to be in daycare. As such, only the carousel was currently operating today. “The carousel?” Ron asked skeptically.

“Yep!” Joy bounced back. “I know it’s not a roller coaster or anything, but you might just find that you actually enjoy it. What do you say? Which do you want to do?”

Ron pondered his options for a moment. Joy hadn’t purposely planned on these events, but I could see that she also knew that Ron was already tired from the walk, so more walking wasn’t likely very appealing. Feeding the local water life likely seemed too babyish but going to the playground would have him directly interact with Littles near baby-brained themselves. The choice as it stood seemed obvious now. “Fine… let’s go,” Ron said as he gestured toward the now revolving carousel.

Joy smiled and guided Ron over to the ride. Big society, as many advanced cultures had done before us, had a propensity for nostalgia and to look back on the old. This whole area had been designed as if to look like some average pre-fusion neighborhood instead of the gaudy steel and glass structures that now dotted nearly every city in the world. The carousel and its very design were no exceptions.

Getting close and while Joy was paying the small ticket price to get on, Ron surveyed the ride in its entirety. A large gold and red roof topped the round structure and several small pictures of far away lands were painted onto a series of panels on the roof and on the central core. Ron barely recognized most of them but could see at least a few were of ancient lands and cities in this world, like Atlantis. Around the core and attached to the floor and ceiling, were all types of animals that could be found in nature. Of course, this also meant that a few were some animals that were extinct back on his world, so Ron just gaped at ones like the ancient Vogel-katze, a winged cat-like beast from central and south Libertalia.  

“See one you want to ride on?” Joy said, practically causing Ron to jump in the air as she popped up behind him after getting their tickets to ride.

Once he had briefly collected himself after his small scare, he pointed to a traditional large gray horse that had a brilliant, simulated leather saddle and had also been painted with several streak of rainbows on its rear legs. “That one,” he said confidently. 

“Perfect choice!” Joy then led Ron through the gate and helped him up on the platform and then up on the massive horse. The attendant looked like she was about to protest him riding alone, but Joy then quickly adjusted the reigns tightly over his body and buckled his legs into the sides of the painted animal. As she drew back, Joy’s extra measures of safety for her Little were apparently enough. “There. All secure!”

Ron wiggled about in slight discomfort but immediately stopped when he began to produce an audible crinkling from his diaper. The blush on his cheeks showed just how uneasy he was about wearing the garment still. It was a necessity to be sure, but evidently a still undesired one. 

After setting the diaper bag down on the ride’s flooring, Joy then took her seat right beside him on a large white unicorn that was freshly adorned with more rainbows, some glitter, and of course, a pearly white horn on top of its head. “Yes. Fit for a queen, right honey?” Ron only weakly smiled and nodded his head at her, apparently still disconcerted over the feeling of his diaper. Little did he know, but due to not wearing a onesie still, Ron’s position on the horse had forced his shirt to ride up a bit and had exposed his diaper to everyone in view. Being a Little, no one made a comment about the typical sight. 

Satisfied, after a few more Littles and their caregivers had boarded and were securely strapped in, the attendant started the ride up. A pipe organ then began to play an upbeat and playful tune and Ron could only stare at the large instrument as they passed by that particular section of the core when the ride began to spin around. 

It was a slow and methodical pace, but the up and down motion soon allowed Ron to forget about his previous worries and just enjoy the moment. Suddenly, Joy started to yell out, much to Ron’s embarrassment. “Faster! Faster!” Joy coaxed. “I’m gaining on you!”

After getting over his initial embarrassment, Ron seemed perplexed over what she was even talking about. After all, they were both fixed in place and only moved as the ride did, but after a moment of viewing her giddiness and overall pose, his face sparked in realization over what she was doing. She was playing pretend. 

Ron had long resisted the essentially worldwide pastime of Littles, but lately, I could see his resolve begin to weaken. Further encouragements from another visit with Ashley at the daycare only perpetuated this breakage, but today seemed to be the first true test.

To mine and obviously Joy’s amusement, Ron just shrugged and began to play along. “I’m going to get ya!” he belted out.

Joy beamed at his involvement in her game of make believe and tried to press their game of make believe further. “No, you’re not! My unicorn is far faster! She’s got magic!”

“Yeah, but mine is the three-time world champion of the carousel derby. Beat that!” Ron randomly yelled.

“Oh no!” Joy joked in terror at the sudden revelation of her opponent’s previous make-believe success. 

Things went on like that for a good while longer, Joy having paid for a few rides in a row, evidently betting on the fact that Ron would come to enjoy himself. By the end of the first, he was laughing, but by the start of the third go round, Ron was initiating the make-believe race himself. In fact, he was having so much fun that he failed to notice the slight dribble of pee that entered his diaper on the fourth round. 

Sensing the slight change in her Little, even if he himself wasn’t acutely aware, Joy decided that the fourth time would be their final round. “Come on, honey. The carousel will still be here, but let’s head over to the playground now.” Ron didn’t seem like he wanted to leave but complied anyway as she unstrapped him and helped him down, and then followed her over to the playground area of the park. 

A short time later, Joy then selected a nice bench in view of several areas that was also under some shade as well. A slightly already exhausted Ron plopped on the bench with some help from Joy, and after setting his blue and monkey adorned diaper bag down next to them, she sat down as well.

After a moment, Ron got up and started to search for people to ‘interact with’ as he called it. “Ron,” Joy called out before he got too far away. Ron then spun back to face Joy. “You know that it’s okay to be afraid sometimes, right?”

“Yeah…” he said, obviously remembering the incident from their walk over here this morning and blushing a bit over the memory. ‘Was he more embarrassed of being afraid or that he clung to Joy’s pant leg for support I wonder?’

“Well, I just wanted to make sure that you knew that. Being afraid can be useful, but that’s also why I’m here,” Joy tried to rationalize to only further cement their bond and his reliance on her. “If you ever feel scared or alone again, just come to me. I’ll be able to help. Now, go on. Scoot!”

Ron only smiled, nodded, and then toddled out to the playground to find someone to interact with. For the next hour, Ron, still high off his buzz from riding the carousel, happily interacted with several of the other Littles in the park on the playground set. The sun soon reached its zenith overhead and all the Littles, including Ron, were called away for a quick bite to eat by their respective caregivers. 

While Joy enjoyed her own thick and fresh deli sandwich, Ron was highly content with his own assortment of freshly prepared items that also came out of the cooler section of the large diaper bag. Joy had named each item to teach more about their wordings for things, but Ron had only been half listening at the time, so he continued to call the food on his plate what they were from his own world: grapes, a quesadilla, watermelon cubes, and some puffed form of peanut butter chips. 

Joy just smiled cutely as she watched as he greedily inhaled all the food, leaving the yogurt to be snack later in the day, having been given the option earlier. As he finished the last grape with a satisfying pop as it entered his mouth, Joy only shook her head over the mess that now had rapidly covered his hands and mouth.

A quick wet wipe later and Ron was clean and satisfied as he leaned back and drank his milo flavored Pioneos juice from a sippy cup, the one stipulation that he had agreed to. The sippy cup was to only be used while they were out for ease of transport, and Joy had readily agreed. Of course, she also knew that it would soon be making the transition from only an out and about item to being used all the time. 

As Ron enjoyed his juice, Joy just chuckled at his insistence on calling it ‘apple flavored.’ Ron ignored her tiny amusement over his language, and while he continued to suck away, he spotted two Littles happily playing in a nearby sandy area of the park. While I could see that the sand creations had appealed to Ron, I could also see that he didn’t want to interact with the diaper-only clad Littles. This became even more apparent as both began to squat and mess their previously pristine diapers.

“I can’t believe any Little would just mess themselves like that… and look, they’re even laughing about it,” Ron said with a mixture of shock and disgust. 

Joy looked up from the magazine article that she had been reading on her tablet about a new Little diaper, unbeknownst to Ron, and saw what he was looking at. “I’m sure they can’t help it, Ron,” she said with a sigh.

“Yeah…” Ron partially trailed off, squirming a bit as if to confirm his own predicament in diapers, “but laughing about the whole thing?”

“Some do, some don’t. That’s just how it goes…” From her own reports, I knew that Joy could have made more of a scene to comfort or convince Ron, but she had instead opted to only mildly talk about anything to do with diapers. She had concluded rationally that not making a big deal of them would soon transfer to Ron. After today, she knew that it would only help to accept his diapers more as just another part of his new life. 

“I guess…” Ron said after a moment, now finishing up his juice. He then handed the now empty sippy cup back to Joy before turning around to join the other more mature Littles by the slides.

“Wait a minute,” Joy called out. Ron just sighed and walked back over to her and stood at attention. He knew what to do by now and let Joy get on with her business. Joy then discreetly snaked her hands to unbutton and then unzip the top of his pants. After a soft patting to the front and nearly snake-like motion inside his pants, Joy nodded. “You should be good to go for now. Off you go.”

Ron grimaced as she redid his pants and then quickly walked away as if nothing had happened. Due to his insistence that he wanted ‘adult’ clothing still, Ron’s pants had strained under Joy’s previous ministrations. Seeing her Little toddle off with part of his diaper all exposed at the top, Joy almost called out to him to fix his shirt and pants but knew he would just as likely be embarrassed by that comment as well, so she just let it go. Based on his activity level, it would soon resolve itself on its own. 

The Littles had thinned out a bit after lunch, and like the previous days, only a handful of the more mature Littles now remained. Due to the variations of some of the experiments, many Littles were at different stages in their progress, so while some of the potty-trained individuals could require a nap, some diaper dependent Littles didn’t. It was into this posse of various Littles that Ron then found himself as he joined in and was soon gleefully skirting down the tall slides with them, each well over 10 feet tall.

Accompanying him on each trip, by the time that Ron reached the top of the slide for the fifth time, his stomach angrily growled, and a small but audible noise could be heard from his rear as he passed a little gas. Ron’s face immediately widened in horror, but as other Littles were about to arrive up on the top platform at any moment, he hurriedly went down the slide one more time. 

At the bottom, I could see that Ron was becoming more panicked by the minute over his growing intestinal need. Another toot could be heard against the slide, and he immediately bolted up and began to walk as fast he could over to Joy. Being a prominent structure in the middle of the park, Ron could see the restroom just behind Joy, who was now talking to another caregiver, both of which were only minutes away. As with previous days, I was aware that he knew that if he could reach Joy in time, she would help him to the potty to go number two. She offered the same deal to pee, but that was seeming less likely with each use of his diaper though. 

Ron’s pace renewed with a sudden fervor, but unfortunately for the desperate Little, a field and a group of picnic tables with a party going on, lay between him and the relief that Joy would entail. He had made it about halfway through the field quite successfully but had been so focused on Joy up ahead that he failed to look to his side and the oncoming game of tag between two Littles that were chasing each other. Without regard to where they were going as well, they soon smacked right into Ron. 

Ron went spiraling to the ground and the others shot backward with an “Oof!” when they hit the ground. Desperate to make it to the restroom in time still, Ron got up from where his body had planted face down in the grass, but the sheer force of the previous impact and his new and more fluid state, gave his bowels all the excuse they needed. There, on all fours, Ron’s body essentially went on autopilot and a large mess squished out and landed in the seat of his diaper. Ron could only whimper in defeat.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, you stupid…” one of the knocked down Littles began to shout out at Ron, despite being at least partially in the wrong himself, but then stopped. “Oh… geez. Can’t believe we hit a baby!” he mocked, obviously seeing the messy accident that Ron was now having. 

Ron could do nothing but finish and remain frozen on the ground until he did. Unfortunately, a large party of mostly unregressed Littles had been nearby at one of the picnic tables. The two Littles that had bumped into Ron were now standing and their taunts of ‘baby,’ ‘poopy pants,’ and several others left little to the imagination of what they were witnessing. Naturally, and likely trying to feel more mature about their own situations, the group of Littles then rushed over and began making fun of Ron as well.

“Oh my God! How can one so tiny be so stinky!”

“Look at his diaper bulge! It’s practically straining back there!”

“Where’s his mommy? A widdle baby needs his mommy!”

“Pants pooper! Pants pooper!”

Their jeers were relentless, but as I had noted before, Littles in the midst of regression were often hard to peg down for where they would land in their support or taunting. While there had been many Littles present who were mostly unregressed, a whole other group began to form from the remnants of the more regressed who had not already left to take a nap. 

While some had vacant expressions or were nearly naked in only their own used diapers, they all swarmed Ron’s location. One of the Littles in front then took charge. “You all! Buzz off!”

“Or what? You’ll pee on us?” a red headed particularly vicious Little taunted back.

“No,” the Little said calmly. “I’ll just tell your mommies and or your daddies what you were doing here today.” The Little’s teddy bear themed shortalls left nothing to the imagination that he was thickly diapered, and the hanging pacifier spoke volumes as well, but he spoke with a confidence that I immediately recognized from another ongoing experiment. “I’m sure they will love to hear about all of you teasing another defenseless Little. That always works out so well for a Little around here, right?”

The other unregressed Littles expression soon turned to sheer panic, and they soon retreated to their picnic benches after the bold Little had made his threat. They all exchanged evil looks at one another, but the bold Little recognized the threat to one of their own was now mostly over and waved off those who had joined him around him. Determined to continue his help, the Little then crouched down and placed his hand on Ron’s back. “Hey. Hey there. You’re okay, kid.”

Ron’s head then popped up from the ground where he had buried himself and tearfully looked around. “Are they…?”

“Gone? Yes,” the Little nodded his head and continued to try and help Ron out. “You’re safe now, but…” the Little then suddenly gave Ron’s rear a few small pats. Ron only let out a small yelp but was too stunned to do much else. “Yep. That’s what I thought. Full diaper but judging by your clothes and how you just reacted, I would say you’re new to all this. Maybe even first time?”

Ron got to his knees, and after failing to stay off his diapered rear and wincing at the squelch that he no doubt was now feeling, he nodded. “Yeah… I… it just came out… I tried…”

The other Little held his hand up to stop him before he broke down any further. “I get it. I’m afraid you’ll probably just need to get used to that feeling, but it gets easier.” The bold Little then got up from his crouched position and then helped Ron up as well. “Name’s Olly. You?”

Ron shakily stood on his feet with Olly’s assistance. “Ron.”

“Good to meet you, Ron. Now, where is your momm…”

“Caregiver…” Ron blurted out in correction.

“Right…” Olly said looking slightly unconvinced. “Caregiver… where are they now?”

Ron then pointed over to the bench where Joy now sat alone, apparently having missed the large group of Littles that had formed around her Little while she was talking to the other Big. In truth, she had been talking to one of our field observers to ensure that she would stay put as the scene unfolded without her. She had been completely against the idea, so we sent someone to keep her in place until everything was over. Based on Ron’s hiding during the whole thing, I doubt he was even aware that she had to be held back temporarily.

Now, Olly and Ron walked back over to her, Ron now walking with a pronounced waddle as he did so. “Thank you…” Ron said, barely holding onto his willpower not to burst into tears at any moment.

“No need to mention it, Ron. Besides, all those Littles will probably be diapered themselves by the time they ever come back to this park. If it helps, think of it as a passive retribution.” Ron smiled but Olly could tell that the fellow Little in front of him was still highly distressed. Fortunately, the two Littles soon arrived to where Joy was sitting. 

“Miss Joy?” Joy nodded as Olly and Ron got to the bench. “I think your Little is a bit too shocked at the moment, but he just had an accident… of the messy variety.”

“Oh. Oh no,” she feigned, now looking at Ron who was still awkwardly standing bowlegged in an obvious attempt to prevent from having to smoosh his messy diaper against himself. From the flinched looks on his face and intense amount of distress as well, it seemed that it was barely working. “Oh, sweetie! Come here.” She immediately pulled him into her body as much as she could. Ron’s accident, public humiliation, lack of sleep, and everything else that had happened to him all then caught up with him right then. His limp body only collapsed into her as broke down and buried his sobbing in her legs and now folded arms around him. 

“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay, honey. I’ve got you.” Joy began to stroke his back and hair and while Ron continued his current meltdown, Joy saw Olly still standing there in front of them. “Thank you, uh…?”

“Olly, ma’am,” he replied as politely as he could. Olly was currently involved in another experiment that I had approved of being the supervisor to much of the testing team at Diamond Technologies. They were currently testing whether pure subjugation to infantile items and practices alone could lead to a compliant Little. The results were… varied so far to say the least, but Olly was proving to be one of the more successful cases.

“Yes, Olly. I think I spoke with your… caregiver,” Joy said, obviously not sure whether to call the woman his mommy or not at this stage. “Thank you very much for your help with Ron here. He’s a little distressed as you can tell right now, but I’m sure he would thank you as well.”

“Oh, he already did actually. Very courteous. I think we could be friends… if he wanted that is.”

Joy practically squealed in excitement over the prospect of a new friend for her Little. To her, Olly was practically a miracle showing up like this. He was obviously very much at ease with being an at least partially regressed Little, so she knew full-well that his presence would only aid her, Ron, and the overall project in the coming stages. “That would be wonderful, Olly. I won’t keep you any longer, but I’ll be sure to talk with your… caregiver about setting something up between the two of you.” 

“I would love that very much, Miss Joy, but also, it’s okay if you want to call her my mommy,” Olly said, deducing it was what Joy had wanted to call her in the first place. “But anyway, I’ll be off now.” Olly patted the still quivering Little in front of him on the shoulder. “Feel better Ron, but as I said, it gets easier.” Olly then smiled, waved at Joy, and then toddled off back to the playground. 

For a moment, Joy seemed practically awestruck by what she had just witnessed. Knowing her, by the end of the night, Olly and Ron would have a set playdate very soon, but for now, she had other matters to attend to. She then gazed back down at her own Little. 

Already knowing that he was messy, Joy knew that she had to reinforce the feeling of a used diaper. Plus, it was a little cruel to be sure, but per project guidelines, Ron also needed to get used to diaper checks for whatever type of accident and to not care when or where they occurred at. 

So, very deftly, Joy then leaned forward a bit more and patted Ron’s rear. The garment squished under her prodding, and I could see Ron flinch at each pat she made. He could have protested then, I knew the old Ron would have, if not having run away or hit Joy by now, but this was a different Ron now. He was messy and I knew that he knew there was not a thing he could do about the state of his diaper right now except to whimper about it or get it changed. Satisfied that Ron had truly felt a messy diaper check in public now, Joy leaned back and gently cupped Ron’s currently buried face and pulled it upward. “Ron, honey, look at me.” 

A snotty and completely physically and emotionally exhausted Ron just stared back at her. It wasn’t hard to tell that Joy’s heart nearly shattered right then, but she quickly composed herself. “Now, you have a messy diaper. I’m sure you know that full-well at this point, but I need to change you out of it.” Ron slowly nodded his head, wearily staring over at the public restroom that he just missed out on using only moments ago. 

Joy noticed his gaze at the public park restroom. “No, I don’t think that will do, sweetie. If we did that, you would be all exposed to anyone who walked in. I can tell you are very vulnerable right now, and as your caregiver, it’s my job to protect you from a host of things. A public change would be convenient and get you out of that smelly diaper, but I think that would be just too much for you to handle.”

One didn’t need to be psychic to tell that Ron wanted out of the poop-filled diaper immediately, but as soon as Joy had mentioned the public change and the idea of other possibly watching, he had just started to adamantly shake his head at his revulsion over such an idea.

Joy smiled. “That’s what I thought. Now, I saw you walking over here. That diaper can’t be very comfortable, right?” Ron quickly shook his head again. “I thought so, so, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to pack everything away and then I’m going to carry you back home.” Ron’s eyes bulged out at the prospect, but he continued to remain resigned and quiet. “I know it might not be your favorite, but I can walk much faster by myself. At this rate, we’ll be home in less than 15 minutes rather than the 30 if you walk by yourself. Again, I know not your favorite, but how’s that sound?”

Ron was about to just nod his head, but Joy immediately stopped him. “I know you’re still feeling very sad about all this, but use your words, Ron.”

Ron had a difficult time spouting out what he wanted to say, but eventually a few simple words came out. “Okay… we can do that…” If the Little had been a leaf, he would have been either crushed into dust or been blown to the four corners by now from the amount of weakness he now exhibited. Though I’m sure he would put up a fight against some things, his vulnerability practically moaned out its existence from his overall demeanor now.

Joy nodded over Ron’s affirmation of her plan, and soon had quickly packed everything back up into Ron’s increasingly present and important diaper bag. Once completed, Joy slung the bag over one shoulder and bent down to pick Ron up in her other arm, soon straddling him across her side. Ron’s diaper squelched slightly under the jostling movement of his new position, but he just collapsed into her upper chest and closed his eyes to block out the rest of the world.  

As they walked home, Ron could only whimper at each movement Joy made. It wasn’t much, but she soon started to rub his back and hold him closer. It was a marvel to witness the bond these two were now forming with one another. Joy was a good subject caregiver for the project, but it was highly evident that something more was at play between the two by now. 

Back inside their house, Joy dropped off the diaper bag in the kitchen to empty the food containers from their lunch to clean later. First, however, Ron needed a change desperately. Messy accidents were one thing, but rashes were another entirely. Righting herself around, Joy smoothly climbed the stairs with Ron still in her arms and entered the slowly forming nursery. 

The nightlight had added a lot of the more to the increasing regressed Little atmosphere that Ron was headed towards, but changed carpets and bedding had added a lot as well. Darker and more neutral colors had now been replaced with more vibrant versions of themselves, and his bed now had a small bumper rail on the side. Joy had added that yesterday as Ron, being used to the larger bed and being a heavy but spastic sleeper, had rolled out of bed. He wasn’t injured, but Joy didn’t want to take any chances. 

“Alright, here we go,” Joy said, placing Ron down on the changing table. Knowing that he was likely still too mortified over his accident and not regressed enough, or maybe ever, to really need the changing strap, she simply moved it out of the way and began to gather her supplies. 

Ron began to whimper a bit as his tired legs soon dropped to the changing tables pad. He had previously been trying to keep them up to prevent from making further contact with his messy diaper, but it was no use. Ron flinched in horror as he felt a renewed feeling of his accident.

“Here, honey,” Joy said, handing Louie over to Ron for comfort, “take your monkey. I’ll be done as quickly as I can and get you all fresh and clean.” Ron immediately grabbed the monkey and buried his head into his soft dark gray fur.

Joy only smiled at the reaction and then quickly went to work. After tossing his shoes away, she slid down his pants and revealed his practically destroyed diaper. The previous smaller wetness indicator circles had all but vanished and there was a fair amount of discoloring in the front and what she could see of his rear. “Okay. Here we go. I’ll try to be as quick as I can.” Ron’s eyes watered up and he immediately clutched Louie tighter, but just nodded his head in acceptance and resignation.

A quick scritch of both tapes later, Joy pulled down the foul-smelling diaper. Ron could only blush harder and shove his head deeper into Louie, if that was even physically possible at this point, as the smell soon permeated the room in its entirety. Joy took out several of our newly patented wipes and after lifting his legs high up in the air, began to wipe away his mess. The new scent quickly overwhelmed the surrounding air and removed most traces of the foul odor as they had been designed to do. 

Four wipes later, Joy removed the soiled diaper, rolled it up, and then tossed it in the now ever-present diaper pail next to the changing table. Satisfied with her work, Joy quickly placed a new diaper under Ron, rubbed in a lavender-scented cream, sprinkled some powder, and then wrapped everything up by securing the front end with the two new large sticky tapes on either side of the diaper. After quickly running her finger through the bottom elastic, Joy then helped Ron sit up on the table. 

“There. Now, that wasn’t so bad, right?” Joy asked, wiping away a single tear that threatened to fall onto Louie’s head.

Ron shrugged his shoulders but continued to hug Louie with a near-death grip. “I don’t know… but… thank you… for everything…”

“You’re very welcome, honey. That’s why I’m here after all,” Joy said smiling. 

“Yeah… but I don’t think I could have handled any of that if this had been… public,” he freely admitted. 

“I’m sure you could have handled it,” Joy tried to console, “but I didn’t think you needed to go through that as well today.”

“Maybe… but I’ve just been feeling so emotional lately. It’s so exhausting,” he wearily said.

“Maybe that’s your problem then?” Ron looked at her questioningly. “Maybe you just need some more sleep?” Joy then gestured over to his nearby bed.

“But I already get more sleep per night that I ever did back home,” Ron tried to justify against the notion. “Anymore and I’ll be going to sleep before the sun sets and won’t get up until midday.”

“Not necessarily… What about a nap?” Joy asked, trying to seem as casual as possible about the new notion.

“A nap? I don’t know…” Ron’s words said one thing, but his look of longing toward the comfy bed proudly declared another. 

“Maybe just try it for today? See how you like it… I mean, who knows? Maybe you’ll feel so much better afterward that you’ll practically beg me for another tomorrow,” Joy said lightly before letting out a small laugh at her own little joke.

Ron was evidently less amused but still only shrugged his shoulders once more. “I guess. Couldn’t hurt though, right?”

“Right. Now, come on. It’s the perfect time right now.” Ron nodded and Joy picked him up and placed him and Louie under the covers in his tiny bed. “Just get some shut eye and I’m sure you’ll feel much better afterward.”

“But I’m not…” Yawn. “Sleepy…”

“Right…” Joy said, obviously unconvinced. “I’ll flick off the light and you just close your eyes. If you don’t fall asleep, it might just be nice to have some quiet time after everything that happened today.” Ron nodded and Joy flicked the lights off, the nightlight still glowing in the corner of the room. “Sweet dreams…” Ron mumbled something, but Joy was already closing the door.

As she had done before when Ron went to bed at night, Joy later quietly slipped back into Ron’s room. Fearing what he would think of a monitor of any kind in here, Joy had opted not to place one in, but as she peaked in on Ron’s sleeping form, I wondered just how much longer that feeling would last.

Of course, once inside, as Joy had predicted, Ron was sound asleep. As usual, he was currently and firmly curled up in his Little-sized bed, now cutely adorned with a variety of bright and amusing colors. I knew from her own logs that Joy knew that the more juvenile sheets weren’t long behind.

Entering the room to put away the bottle of powder that she noticed was still out, Joy looked over at Ron’s peaceful form. She smiled warmly at the scene, but I could tell than also now noticed that while one arm was wrapped tightly around Louie, the other arm was curled near his face with his hand almost giving her a thumbs up. Knowing the project’s parameters, I could see that Joy knew it was too good of an opportunity to simply pass up.

Using her utmost stealth, Joy tiptoed towards Ron and gently pushed the hand and subsequent extended digit into his slightly agape mouth. Stepping back, Ron did not remove the newly placed thumb from his mouth. In fact, as Joy obviously noticed as well from her wide smile, Ron almost appeared as if he was now rhythmically pulsating on it in a state of bliss and complete peace. “Goodnight my sweet baby.” Joy then exited the room and the recording ended.

[SGTbaby]

The nap scene at the end is so sweet and wholesome. I think Joy is a great parent or will make one. I don wonder what happens for say a doctor examine or something else. I love this story!

[LostBBoyBear]

So, I got a new computer after my last one started to die, so a big yay there. I should be able to push ahead with this story now and finish writing it in the next two weeks. So, stay tuned for the next few chapters in this story.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter as Ron goes back to daycare!

Chapter 8: Session 19

I quickly wiped off one of my main lenses to do my recordings. “Hey everyone. Sorry about the mess… my remote observation post has allowed for the utmost security, but it does leave something to be desired when a storm hits. Around me were dozens of papers and a fair amount of dust that had somehow found its way in from the outside. “I have made a note to our weather control department to check out what’s going on, but I guess I just have to soldier on through the weather like they did in the old days.”

Ahem. “Anyway, some of the last of the hypnosis to be used in this program has gone through and Ron has been more amenable to seeking comfort in the worldly objects around him. Louie has become a constant companion with Ron, and he is almost always by his side when at home.” I switched to a view of Ron asleep in his bed from last night.

“Taking Louie out of the house would be our next goal, but as you can see, repeated attempts from Joy placing Ron’s thumb in his mouth have so far all been undisturbed and successful.” The Little in the monitor slowly worked the digit between his lips and looked completely at peace. “He has of course been alarmed when he has woken up, but a few calming words and reassurances from Joy that she won’t judge and that it’s okay, have gone a long way to keeping Ron calm about the whole thing. In fact, I have noticed a few times where Ron has curled his fist up and stroked around his mouth absent mindedly with it. Now, I would guess that it’s likely just a matter of time, being one of the few gestures that Littles have been known to adopt without feeling too much guilt due to the immense comfort it seems to give them in times of stress.”

I then switched to yesterday’s view of one particular incident that I had noticed start to become a pattern. “Regarding his use of diapers, Ron has crossed the threshold into using his diapers now for everything. Despite Joy’s promises to get him to the potty quickly, Ron has yet to make it since his first public messing. Further,” I gestured to the screen toward the sequestered Little, “as you can see, Ron has started to hide himself away to do his business.”

The monitor was smaller than I would like for reviewing process, but Ron’s slightly crouched presence could easily be deduced as him going poo behind the couch. “While this still shows that Ron is ashamed of his bodily functions, this is an important step toward total dependence, as he is no longer asking to be taken to the potty. Despite the Pioneos juice acting as a diuretic of sorts, Ron could still have regained total control after a few weeks. Now, that is increasingly unlikely as he will begin to atrophy his own muscles, which were previously intact but only typically just number than usual in a fully potty trained Little. The Pioneos would only spasm the full intact muscles to simulate a loss of control, but they were still there. Now, Ron is atrophying his muscles and he doesn’t even know it.”

I then stood up from my chair with a sigh and flipped on the RealET system. “Ron still exhibits his independence in all tasks possible, as we have left the discretion of this up to Joy. That being said, she has authorized us to begin introducing small and reversible cues to facilitate a move toward a further growing dependence on her.”

With my image almost completely faded, seeing the cribs in the far end of the daycare made me remember one last thing. “Lastly, despite other Little’s introductions to cribs, Joy has elected for Ron to remain in his toddler bed back home and here at daycare for his now daily naps. Ron detests them, but as suspected, his bodily needs take over and he passes out as soon as his head hits a cushioned surface.”

Ron looked around the daycare to see if anyone had paid attention to him just wetting his diaper. He may have had a shot at making it to the potty in time, but he obviously didn’t want to make a scene over something that may have just ended in failure and a change anyway. He quickly tried to act as if nothing happened, but Ashley had clearly spotted him first.

“Cheer up, bud,” Ashley said, walking back over to him after using the potty herself. “Not something that a billion other Littles haven’t done before you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Ron tried to lie.

“That’s okay. I can’t speak from my own experience, but I’m sure you’ll tell me when you’re ready…” Ashley sighed.

“Tell you what?” Ron asked, trying but failing to act dumb about his recent accident.

Ashely rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” Miss Pearl then announced it was outside time. “Come on! Recess is early today. They think a storm is coming!” Ashley then practically dragged her slightly waddling friend outside with her.

Despite being the most mature Little in the project still, seemingly having an almost immunity to our procedures by now, Ashley was still showing some signs of change, with or without Ron. Now, instead of climbing the playground or running around with purpose, both Littles now seemed to just freely ease into a lackadaisical sort of play throughout the playground and surrounding small field of the daycare. Further, both were highly disappointed that recess was over but then both immediately perked up when they realized that group time was next.

Despite the hiccup on the first day, group time had become one of Ron’s favorite times at daycare. Getting to spend time with Ashley was definitely a perk, but they also got to do several fun projects on a rotating basis. The last time he was here, they painted self-portraits, and the time before that was all about science. Being from another dimension, Ron eagerly lapped the information up that almost seemed like magic to him and the other portal Littles. It was all by design to get them to love coming to daycare and I was pretty proud that it all seemed to be working perfectly.

Ashley and Ron soon reentered the daycare, but another kindly daycare worker, Miss Fiona, soon greeted them instead before they joined the rest of their group. “There you are,” she directed toward Ron. “Seems like you’ve been spending a lot of time with the same people, and you’ve been selected to be part of our rotating initiative.”

“Rotating initiative?” both Ron and Ashley asked in unison.

“Yes. We do it every so often just to make sure that everyone gets to know each other. More friends and all!” she beamed, even though both Ashley and Ron looked anything but thrilled.

“So where are we going?” Ashley asked.

Miss Fiona’s face slightly dropped but she continued to try and exude her usual cheery disposition. “Oh, sorry Ashley. It’s actually just Ron switching around today.” Miss Fiona was in on the project as well, so she knew that Ron was in a lower regression tier now than Ashley in the project, but she also had sympathy for those under her charge. While Mrs. Jenkins just wanted to get the job done and thought these sympathies could be viewed as weaknesses by the Littles and therefore should not be seen, Miss Fiona didn’t care. In fact, it was for this exact reason that she was hired in the first place. Too many negatives in a single place would make a Little hate to go to daycare. Instead, we wanted the Littles to obey without question but still want to come back every day that they were dropped off by their caregivers. In essence, Mrs. Jenkins was the stick, but people like Miss Pearl or Miss Fiona were the carrot.

“Aww man!” Ashley said, stomping her foot on the ground at the realization that she would be separated from her friend now.

“I guess I don’t have a choice in this, right?” Ron asked dejectedly, seemingly almost resigned to his fate.

Miss Fiona sighed. “Not really, but we can take it into consideration when we all switch again. How does that sound? Is that acceptable to the two of you?”

Ashley was still visibly upset over the split up, but Ron only shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing I can do, so… fine I guess?” He then turned back to Ashley. “Sorry, Ash. We can still see each other after though…”

Ashley momentarily paused her anger and stared back at her friend. “Yeah… but just stay strong, Ron,” Ashley gestured with her forearm and giving a weak smile. Ron then walked away without a fuss, but I could see the grave look of concern on her face as he did so. Ashley had been here longer than Ron and had been to this daycare nearly every day, which was one of the reasons we think she was still able to stay mostly unregressed, so as such, she had seen all this happen before. Changing groups happened for a reason, and from her demeanor, I could tell that she knew that if Ron wasn’t careful, this change certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Joining back up with Ron, I could see the immediate worry on Ron’s face once he had turned away from Ashley, however, as he neared the group, I could see this look soon turn to an anger of sorts that I couldn’t quite place. Miss Fiona was the leader thankfully and led Ron toward these new people without delay.

Unfortunately for Ron, Miss Fiona was a bonus, but there were five other Littles as well that he had to contend with. Two seemed to almost be twin girls but were so seemingly entranced with each other that they might as well not have even part of the group. The rest comprised of two boys and one girl. In my own observation, calling them anything but those younger terms at this point would have just been a lie. ‘Hard to call someone an adult term of any kind who’s drooling on themselves…’  

While one of the boys, Kyle, clung to his teddy bear, he was still dressed in a mostly adult style and appeared to have his faculties intact. The other male was Simon, whom Ron had actually met on his first day at daycare. He wasn’t the most regressed Little here, but his eyes were now practically semi-glazed over and a persistent state of drool always seemed to be threatening to drip off onto his snap-crotch shortalls. Today, he was sporting a pair of forest green ones with large, obvious brass buttons all over them.  

Lastly, there was Madilyn. Ron had overheard her talking the other day and knew she had come from a wealthy family, but beyond her dress, I don’t think anyone could have considered her a lady of standing anymore. She was only a few days more into the project than Ron, but now, her diapers were almost always in some state of exposure to the public and counting beyond 20 seemed like the impossible. Her single most identifiable quality though, was her bratty behavior and mood swings. She was spoiled in her previous life and had come here seeking the best spa treatments, but her days of wealth and parties were long over. I just hoped she would learn her lesson sooner rather than later for her own sake. After all, she was already on strike two today.

“Does too, does too, does too!” Simon tried his best to repeat himself without drooling further or his speech only simply turning into a string of baby babble.

“Nah, nah, nah, nah!” Marilyn yelled, trying to block out Simon with her words and the covering of her ears. Nearby, Kyle just smiled and continued to whisper to his bear and smile occasionally. The twins looked over briefly but immediately went back to playing their own game of patty cake with each other.

“Oh Ron! I see you’ve met the group!” Miss Fiona finally interrupted after a moment as she sat down on a little couch in front of the Littles.

“Yeah…” Ron said quietly, now very aware that everyone in the group was now looking at him, having ended their own little arguments or games. Joy had nicely dressed him in a blue long-sleeve shirt and some black pants, but from their conversation earlier and his facial expressions currently, I could still tell that Ron was still paranoid about how he looked. Truthfully, his whole outfit combined with his growing curly hair just looked cute, but Ron didn’t care. He just worried about his diapers, despite that all members in this group now obviously wore them.

“Well, wonderful. Take a seat and we can get started for the day.” Ron groaned but just complied and sat in the free space between Simon and Marilyn.

Like his first day at daycare, I could easily tell that Ron was still highly against a lot of what was happening in Miss Fiona’s group from the more regressed Littles around him. The twins continued to whisper to each other, Simon kept trying to get a rise out of Marilyn, Marilyn kept clamping her ears shut and trying to shut out Simon’s nagging, and Kyle just remained behind everybody with his teddy bear.

Finally, I could see that Ron had enough when the group began to wander around to ‘stretch it out’ after Miss Fiona had just finished talking about colors in the rainbow. Considering that just the other day he was learning about fusion, I could tell that it was a major step down for him and that his frustration and boredom were mounting. “Miss Fiona?” he asked while still cringing a bit at everything.

“Yes Ron?” she answered sweetly.

“Do I need to be here? I mean, this group seems… not my speed.” I highly admired Ron for his delivery of lines to indicate the problem without name calling or anything like that. Regressed Littles could be the most impolite beings on the planet at times, but Ron still seemed determined to hold onto his patience and manners. It was an admirable trait that I really admired and hoped would continue to persist.

“As I told you before, Ron. We have a rotating system here.” Miss Fiona then walked closer to Ron and began to whisper as the other Littles were too distracted by their own stretches. “Just between us, some of these Littles had some forcible hypnosis used on them… poor dears just can’t help themselves now, so maybe Simon, Marilyn, or the twins might not be your speed, but you could be their helper in some ways. And, if nothing else, maybe you should consider talking to Kyle?”

“I…”

“Simon! Marilyn!” Miss Fiona called out as Simon started to wield a block to throw against the doll that Marilyn was holding above her head as if to strike back. She then turned apologetically back to Ron. “Sorry, Ron. I guess stretching time is over. Maybe sometime later you could talk to Kyle?” Ron just nodded haphazardly. “Good. Now, everybody gather around. It’s music time!”

A wave of giddiness could be heard with many of the members of the regressed group, but as Ron sat down, he looked over at one of the far groups that Ashley was still a part of. They both gave each other a small wave, but her group soon got back to learning about renewable energy. It was blatantly obvious that Ron would have given almost anything to be back with them.

Regardless though, being the good Little that he was, Ron just sat back down in his previous spot and watched as Miss Fiona took out a guitar that had been perched against the wall behind her. “Now, let me know if you all know this song…” Miss Fiona gathered up her guitar and began to sing. “Mother’s sleeping, mother’s sleeping, don’t wake her, don’t wake her! You may all be messy, you may all be messy, don’t wake her, don’t wake her!”

Ron rolled his eyes at the song. The tune sounded awfully familiar, but the name escaped him. Despite his ponderance though, I knew that such a song was the exact opposite of what he wanted to be anywhere near associated with right now.

“Ooh! Me! Me!” Simon cried out.

Miss Fiona then pointed to him. “Yes, Simon? Do you know what it’s called?”

“Yeah! Iss called don’ wake her!”

“No, it’s not! It’s called ee… myterra… ko…”

“No, it’s not! I’m right! I’m right!” Simon shot back. “Right Miss Fiona?”

Miss Fiona only chuckled. “You are actually both correct. Simon’s name is our version of it, but the original version is called, I Mitéra Koimátai.”

“Dat’s a big word!” Simon called out.

“Yes, it is, Simon, so you should complement Marilyn for remembering it.”

“Sowwy Marilyn…” he finally said with a bit of reluctance.

Marilyn was still determined to pout, but after Miss Fiona cleared her throat and gave her a look, she turned back to Simon and uncrossed her arms. “Thank you, Simon…”

Simon then got a wide grin on his face and before any of them could act, practically lunged over Ron and into Marilyn for a hug. Marilyn was so shocked but after a moment, gave in and reciprocated the hug she was now receiving.

“Aww,” Miss Fiona cooed over the sight. It was all very cute, but I could also see that it left Ron stuck in between and with what could only be described as a well-used diaper only inches from his face.

Fortunately for the obviously disturbed Ron, the moment soon ended, and they all went back to singing songs. Ron seemed to know a few of them, but mostly just stayed quiet throughout the ordeal. After, the group then went to the back room where a single TV stood surrounded by various blankets, pillows, and mats to lay on.

“What is this?” Ron asked, clearly not in the mood for another game.

Miss Fiona then walked up to the TV and started to turn it on. “This, Ron, is a TV.” The other Littles laughed, but Ron just fumed at the insinuation that he didn’t know what a TV was. “But I know you know that,” Miss Fiona said with a tiny playful smile. “Today, we’re going to end group time just watching a little show that I know you’ll just absolutely love.”

Miss Fiona then flicked on the TV and its brightness soon filled the small room. “Now, be good everyone and stay inside. I’ll be back to check on you all in a little bit, but I need to go and help with the others for lunchtime.”

“Yes, Miss Fiona,” the group said in unison as the TV fully turned on.

Miss Fiona then closed the door and the rest of the group just watched as the TV show began to play. Nearby, Kyle was sitting next to Ron and his own ever-present teddy bear, and then leaned over to whisper to him. “Sorry that this is your first day and all…”

“Shhh!” Marilyn hushed from the front of the room near the TV. “It’s almost on!”

Ron looked back at Kyle, but he was already firmly back in his seat watching the unfolding program before him now that the main titles had passed. With a sigh, Ron leaned over back on his own mat and got comfortable watching the TV in front of him. In moments, the ‘glue method’ took hold and Ron’s gaze was fixated on the bright lights in front of him.

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of this particular program in our project. It’s still by no means the traditional variety of hypnosis, but it’s more like when one puts on glasses that give you the simulation of being drunk with your perception of things. It could easily be erased if desired but still, it felt too invasive for our project. The only reason it was even allowed in was that one of the Board members had been on the committee to approve of the technology in the first place for use at daycares across the world. Something tells me that they got a few kickbacks as a result of approving it and then even more when they got it into our project. ‘Blasted money always talking more in the face of science…’

Still, I had to at least admire the simplicity of the program now showing on the TV. If anyone was to look in from the outside, they would have only seen a bunch of Littles watching a cartoon about a dancing giraffe. One of our testers moonlit as a comedy writer on the weekends and from what I’ve been told, had a wonderful time writing the script for the video. Small gags and adult jokes were peppered throughout it and beyond my own amusement, I think I even saw Ron begin to crack a small smile, particularly with the uncoordinated efforts of when Lyle the Giraffe attempted to dance.

Soon, Miss Fiona then walked back into the room and shut off the program. Having grown used to the weekly program, some of the Littles just eased back into conscious thought. For Ron though, he just kept trying to shake his head afterward. Miss Fiona soon noticed. “Easy sweetie. If you’re not careful, you’ll shake your brain out!”

“Ewww! Gross!” Marilyn yelled from the front.

“Yes, Marilyn,” Miss Fiona continued. “Besides, we don’t want you going anywhere, Ron, and we would certainly need to get you to a hospital if your brain just simply fell out.”

Ron blinked for a moment and then gave his head one final shake. “Yeah… just probably hungry or something…” he tried to justify to himself.

“Must be it. It shouldn’t be too much longer now though.” Miss Fiona then opened the door, and everyone started to get up and stretch to leave.

Ron smiled and got up as everyone began to exit the room. He took a single step and his knee slightly wobbled. Shaking his head briefly again, Ron took a step forward but then had to brace himself. “Woah…” The program was obviously taking effect and his coordination had taken a tiny hit.

“You okay there, Ron?” Miss Fiona asked innocently.

“Yeah… just got… dizzy for a sec there.” He stared at his feet in disbelief that he could ever trip over them after being only a little dizzy. ‘Oh, Ron…’

“I’m sure it will pass,” Miss Fiona coaxed gently. “Now, come on! I’m sure Ashley is just dying to see her old friend!”

Ron looked up, snapped out of his disbelief, and just got a giddy smile all over his face. He didn’t need to be told twice and quickly exited the room to rejoin his friend. Closing and locking the door, I could see a resigned but accepting smile arc across Miss Fiona’s face over a job well done for the time spent in group today.

Back in the main part of the daycare, Ron soon joined Ashely where she was sitting at one of the tables and putting a puzzle together. As they had predicted earlier, it was currently pouring outside, so all activities were kept inside now, and the room buzzed with life as everyone waited for lunch to be served. The most regressed Littles were now being prepped to be fed first.

The two friends talked for some time, but Ron started to respond less. Curious over his lack of speech, I moved in on the two and immediately noticed the problem. Ron was biting his bottom lip in intense concentration and was clearly trying to figure out where a single puzzle piece went that lay in front of him. The puzzle was deceptively simple and many of the pieces could easily be deduced where they went but fitting them into place was another matter entirely.

Ron’s face then lit up when he finally found the piece he was looking for, but as intended, picking the awkward piece up was clearly more of a challenge than he had originally anticipated. The second part of the program was definitely kicking in now.  

“You okay, Ron?” Ashley finally asked, now noticing his struggle with gripping the piece and putting it into place.

“Yeah… maybe…? Just this stupid piece won’t go in! I think I’m just overstressing or something…” Ron seemed moments away from pounding the piece into its proper place.

Ashley quickly got a pained look on her face, but then rapidly concealed it as she scooched closer to Ron. “Here, you show me where, and I can help you out. Stress is a killer around here…”

Ron simply smiled at the offer from his friend and gave her the piece before pointing out where it actually went. The puzzle’s progress slowed, but by the time their lunch rolled around, it was now mostly complete.

At lunch, Ron and Ashley sat together and spotted their lunch of a few vegetables and a large heaping of mac n’ cheese. The steam vapors came off it, and like a symphony of breathing, nearly every Little placed their faces over the golden mixture and inhaled deeply.

“Ah…” Ron said, his eyes practically rolling in the back of his head. “That’s good.”

“Yep!” Ashley agreed. “Now quit staring and get to eatin…”

“No! No! I refuse to eat this!” Marilyn screamed out, her fist slamming a forkful of veggies across her own table.

“Marilyn! That’s strike three!” Mrs. Jenkins yelled, immediately standing up from her crouched position where she had obviously been trying to convince the girl to eat her veggies.

The Little immediately went pale but then began to thrash about. “No, no, no! I’ll be good! No strike three! Please!”

“Nope,” Mrs. Jenkins declared, now hoisting the squirming Little away. “Strike three… and you know what that means.”

“Nooo…!” Marilyn wails echoed down the hallway she was carried off to. Soon, only the patter of utensils going back to eating could be heard.

“Right… food…” Ashley, Ron, and everyone else it seemed just focused back on their food. Punishments were limited around here, but still routine.

The next few minutes were a bit odd to witness firsthand for the pair. While the two Littles ate the same food and had the same utensil, Ron usually had to take two bites for every one of Ashley’s. Both would shovel the mac n’ cheese on their fork, but by the time it got to their mouths, Ron had dropped nearly half his load. Undeterred, he just continued and eventually finished his two heaps of food.

Both were then given a glass of milk and told to go back to the main play area. Getting back to their puzzle, the same thing happened as before. Ashley would take large sips all at once and Ron would take slower, smaller sips. I wondered why he was doing it this way until he tried taking a large gulp like Ashley but then nearly spilled the drink all over himself.

“Easy there, Ron. No need for a bath,” Miss Pearl tutted as she passed behind them.

“Yeah… will do, Miss Pearl.” He then resigned himself back to taking smaller sips. “Ugh. Just weird all over. Stress. It’s gotta be stress,” he tried to rationalize.

Ashley looked him with a growing dismay. Having seen so many before her, she probably figured out that it wasn’t just stress, but she made no comment about it to her friend. She was wise enough to know that taking away the hope of another was very dangerous around here. If done wrong, Ron would just be lost to the melancholy of being a Little and he would regress even further than if she had just remained quiet.

Nearby, Mrs. Jenkins returned to the room with a now quiet Marilyn. After her ‘treatment,’ the Little was quiet and only calmly nursed on her pacifier. The effects would wear off in a few hours, but for now, the previously bratty Little was just content to lay back on a playmat and aimlessly bat at the tiny toys dangling above her. Her eyes remained unfocused, and she clearly did not care that her diapered rear was fully on display to everyone who sympathetically and fearfully looked on. Strike three worked well on the Little themselves, but equally as well to instill a fear to any would-be misbehaving Little.

For his part, despite his initial acceptance of only taking small sips and not particularly interested in Marilyn right now, Ron was clearly growing more frustrated with the puzzle before him. Now that Ashley was concentrating back on her own pieces as she finished her milk, he had once again been left to fit his own pieces in the puzzle. Most that eventually fit into place almost seemed to flop into position rather than ‘click’ as Ashley’s seemed to do.

Having a slight competitive streak, Ron clearly did not like that Ashley was so much faster at the puzzle than he was. Popping the pieces into place was one thing, but I knew from his facial tics that he was blaming his slow drinking of the milk on his even more reduced rate of successful alignment of the pieces. So, inevitably, the impatient Ron took the glass and tried to gulp it down in its entirety in one go. It didn’t work.

Instead of merely spilling a little on his outfit as he had almost done before, the glass upended and spilled right all over the frustrated Little. Now, already primed, Ron’s emotions got the better of him and he tossed the now empty plastic glass on the floor. “Stupid glass! Stupid hands! I just… I… I…” His emotions quickly turned from frustration into sadness and tears began to fall rapidly from the Little.

Ashley just sat in her chair and stared at her friend, too horrified to console her friend. Covered in milk and now crying, Ron was having a bad day for sure, but Ashley’s face conveyed all one needed to know about what she was thinking. ‘Is this the same Little I only met a little over a week ago?’

These facial expressions however, soon turned to ones of sorrow and empathy as the shock dissipated. Regaining her senses, Ashley scooted closer and tried to console her now sobbing friend. “Ron. Hey there. Listen to me, Ron.” Ron shakily looked back at his friend. “It’s just some milk and some plastic glass. It’s okay. Promise. Just breathe…” Ron was clearly trying to get ahold of his emotions but didn’t seem to be having much progress.

Having been in on the plan for the day, Miss Pearl, Mrs. Jenkins, and Miss Fiona were all on duty today and just watched the scene unfold from their respective locations. When it became clear that more intervention was needed than what Ashley could provide and satisfied that the lesson of the day would sink in with Ron now, Miss Fiona walked over to the pair of them. “Everything okay here, Ashley?”

Ashley looked conflicted on how to answer that, but just grimaced and started to speak softly. “Ron was trying to do the puzzle and drink milk, but… I think it might have been a bit too much. Spilled the milk and all. I’ve tried to calm him down, but…” Ashley gestured subtly towards her sniffling friend, still all covered in milk from the mouth on down.

“Right,” Miss Fiona said strongly. “Thank you for your help, Ashley, but I think I can take it from here.” Ashley nodded in recognition of handing over the responsibility of the distressed Little and Miss Fiona quickly went to one of the nearby cabinets and pulled out a roll of super absorbent paper towels. In moments, most of the mess was cleaned up and Miss Fiona waved over to Mildred to come and finish the job of making sure everything was completely clean and not just dry.

Turning to Ron, she bent down and began to slowly dab the milk away from his skin and clothing. “Oh, Ron… I think this going to require a bit more effort. Come with me.” Ron hesitated but soon got up from his chair and walked sorrowfully away with Miss Fiona. Both he and Ashley looked like they wanted to say something to one another, but both just remained eerily quiet.

Clearly not caring at all where they were headed in that single moment, Ron kept sniffling and crying softly as he kept his eyes fixated on the floor in front of him. A short walk to the other side of the room and into a small alcove later, Miss Fiona promptly picked up the Little and set him up on one of the changing tables there. Not caring or too despondent now over what had just happened, Ron made no move to get off.

Surprisingly, this continued as Miss Fiona began to strip his clothing off, and seeing that his pants were wet as well, got him to stand on the table, before removing them in one swift motion. A few wipes later and Ron was clean and fresh smelling, all except for his diaper that is. Miss Fiona looked at the sodden object with sympathy and sighed. “Looks like you’ll be needing a change as well. Just lay down for me, and I’ll get you into a fresh one in no time.” Ron only nodded despondently and laid back on the table.

I’m not sure if it was the sound of the tapes ripping away or the coldness of the wet wipes on his exposed skin, but Ron’s eyes quickly bugged out about halfway through the change and he began to squirm.

“Ron! Stay still. You were being so good. Don’t make me give you another strike,” Miss Fiona warned as she rolled up his previously used diaper into a ball while still holding his legs in the air.

Whimpering, Ron ceased his struggling. “But… people… everyone can see…”

Miss Fiona then gave an understanding nod of her head. “I see… well, you need to be changed Ron. You didn’t mention your diaper being wet at all, so I’m sorry to say, but you either don’t care about going pee-pee in them, or you couldn’t feel it when you did. Either way, you need to get used to these things now,” Miss Fiona tried to rationalize as she slid a new diaper underneath Ron’s two raised legs. It might have been sterner than Joy would have phrased it, but based on Ron’s expression, everything might have just finally started to click in his head.

Ron whimpered at this new realization of just what his new diapers truly represented. With their high capacity and Joy’s near constant presence in his life before today, Ron had never been changed in front of so many people before, caring or not. Joy had wished for her to do his first public change, but she was eventually convinced that this could serve as a steppingstone of sorts to that goal later. For now, Ron was surrounded by stern but caring daycare workers who just attended to his needs and kept him in line.  

As such, Ron just lay there and visibly tried as hard as he could to shut his eyes until Miss Fiona had finished with his change. Then, he only opened his eyes to accept some new clothing being offered to him. Despite his revelations of what being diapered meant, he still wanted some covering over it.

At first, I could see that Ron was confused as to why Miss Fiona had adorned him in a shirt and then only laid him back down on the table, but a quickly pulling of the fabric from both the back and front and the addition of a few snapping noises, let him know that he was now being placed in a onesie. Helping him back up once more, Miss Fiona then popped him into a pair of shortalls and placed him on the ground by some toys nearby.

A moment later, Miss Fiona returned with a sippy cup of milk and handed it to him. “Here, I don’t want you getting thirsty or anything on my watch, so drink it all up. I’m not sure how much you drank of your last glass, but this should be good enough no matter what.”

Ron hesitantly took the sippy cup and then stared at it for a moment while allowing everything that had just occurred wash over him. Satisfied, Miss Fiona then left the Little alone with his thoughts and sippy cup of milk.

While the next few moments helped Ron realize the benefits of having a closed lid on a cup that one could still drink out of, I also saw a shame quickly engulf his face. Ron hadn’t realized it, but now fully cognizant of what was going around him, he noticed several of the Littles on the other side of the daycare were now looking at him and snickering. Ron tried to ignore them, but then yelled out, “What?” after it all became too much to endure.

The few giggling Littles dispersed quickly, leaving only a confused Ron behind. Looking around and likely checking himself for unkempt hair, leaks, goofy notes or cutesy sayings on his clothing, he clearly was still confused as he couldn’t find anything to warrant such a reaction. After a moment though, I could see the realization creep over his face over what they were giggling at. Looking around as to where he was, it was clear that he was now being counted as one of the more regressed Littles of the daycare.

He was drinking milk from a sippy cup and was firmly placed on the side of the daycare meant for the younger Littles. Additionally, he was now also wearing a puppy dog themed onesie underneath his snap-crotch shortalls, and he had just had an emotional break in front of everyone at the daycare for some literal spilled milk. To top it off, he had just been changed very publicly in front of anyone who had wanted to watch.

It was almost too much to handle, and before having another breakdown, Ron quickly toddled off to find a book to read to distract himself in the corner of the room. After a good deal of searching, he settled on one about pirates and their search of buried treasure. It wasn’t a picture book, but it was still clearly meant for a younger audience. Fortunately for Ron, the book still held his attention long enough for him to finish his milk and for it to be time for the afternoon round of naps.

“Do I have to?” Ron asked Miss Fiona as she guided him over to his nap mat nearby.

“Well, no, but I definitely want you to shut your eyes and at least rest for a little bit. That accident you had earlier with the milk and crying episode you had after may have just been prevented if you only had a nap. As such, I’m going to mark it in your chart for you to start taking naps while you’re here from now on.”

Ron pouted at the announcement, but just accepted it all as further casualties of the day and soon arrived at his provided nap mat. “Here, let me get you more comfortable.” With the precise and swift movement of a seasoned daycare professional, Miss Fiona soon had Ron’s shortalls off before he could protest.

Ron furiously blushed and tried to cover himself up. “Hey!”

“Shhh!” Miss Fiona hushed, putting her finger to her mouth. “Don’t wake the others who have already gone down for their nap. You’ll be more comfortable this way and besides, you’ll be under a blanket the whole time.”

Begrudgingly, Ron accepted her words once more and laid down on his nap mat. Miss Fiona then pulled up the blanket and tucked Ron in. “See? No one can tell. Now, can you try and rest for me?”

“I…” Ron then looked away in clear embarrassment.

“What? Do you need something?” Ron nodded but still said nothing. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, honey. Just tell me and I’ll see if I can get it.”

“I… I usually sleep with my monkey,” Ron then blurted out while still maintaining a slight whisper.

“Your… oh…” Miss Fiona then held up her finger and walked away. Less than a minute later, she returned holding a stuffed dog. “Here, it may not be your monkey, but I’m sure he can help you out. You should think about bringing your stuffy next time you’re here though.”

“Louie… stuffy… yeah,” Ron said, now noticeably losing energy to stay awake. He then sleepily looked at the dog with suspicion but took him anyway and hugged him tight under his blanket. “Thank you… but uh, what’s his name?”

“His name… oh, uh… Eddy, I think?” Miss Fiona said, clearly making it up on the spot having not expected such a question from Ron at this point.

“Eddy… okay…” Ron then snuggled into his covers once more and shut his eyes. “Thank you, Miss Fiona.”

Miss Fiona tenderly smiled at the view before her. “You’re welcome, Ron…” She then got up and left the resting Little alone. Nearby and barely audible, the rest of the Littles were watching TV or reading for quiet time, but Ron couldn’t care less by now and was soon fast asleep on his nap mat.