Hiking to a New Life (Chapter 39 posted 4-27-24)

[Guilend]

35 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

I may have skipped some sleep. I'm not even sure if I wrote this or it it wrote itself through my fingers. I don't even know if that makes sense.

I had started a story a while back and I found out a few days ago that I actually ended up posting like 3 chapters of it on here. I have no memory of doing so lol. I only have 3 chapters written. 

[Kat5]

14 hours ago, Guilend said:

I had started a story a while back and I found out a few days ago that I actually ended up posting like 3 chapters of it on here. I have no memory of doing so lol. I only have 3 chapters written. 

Well, if you don't mind DMing me a link, I'm always looking for more reading material!

[Guilend]

48 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

Well, if you don't mind DMing me a link, I'm always looking for more reading material!

I just did, I also sent you a link to my first story I posted. At least it's the first story I can say I posted since there was one or two I had started and was extremely short many years before the ones I sent you, but luckily they got eaten by the big story monster that got a bunch on here a while back lol

[christi]

Good chapter, Kat.  Can't say I got real emotionally involved but it all made sense and added more of a feel as to how the Amazons are wired (mentality).

[Kat5]

Chapter Twenty Nine

 

John sat with Kate on the couch not moving or saying anything while Aunt Cat helped Amanda. The door to the bathroom was still open, and Agent Praefectus was standing just inside the the storm door.

 

After only a couple of minutes they could hear the clicking of Xerxes nails on floor coming out of the bathroom, and Aunt Cat walked around the couch with a hair dryer and two towels.

 

“Okay!” she declared “Johns Mommy is going to take a much needed shower and she needs a few minutes of quiet time. And I know two littles that are about to dry a dog! Doesn’t that sound exciting!”

 

They both stared at her in disbelief for a moment. As it became obvious that she was quite serious, she walked to the wall by the window and plugged the cord of the hair dryer.

 

She turned to the two littles on the couch and asked “Okay! Who wants to use the hair dryer while the other uses the towels?”

 

John saw Kate flex briefly and then SPRING off of the couch holding up her hand “I’ve got the hair dryer, he has to use the towels!”

 

Staring indignantly for a moment, John slid off the couch and grabbed a towel. He watched Kate grab the hair dryer with both hands and get it up onto her thigh. Aunt Cat lead Xerxes over and once Kate got the hair dryer turned on, the dog sat down and tried biting the air coming at his face.

 

Aunt Cat immediately walked over to talk to Agent Praefectus and then he realized the genius of he plan. This way the two littles wouldn’t be able to hear what the ‘grown ups’ were talking about over the hair dryer. He was both frustrated about being excluded, and impressed at how subtle they were.

 

With a deep breath, he grabbed a towel and spent a couple of minutes trying to scrub the dog, before just throwing one end over the dogs torso and grabbing both ends and pulling one and then the other, back and forth with all of his weight.

 

They worked together, with Kate drying the dog’s legs and belly, and John struggling to get the top part. Every so often John would look over and he caught Aunt Cat and the ABI guy talking and writing things down. After some time he was gone, and Aunt Cat was carrying some blankets from the couch into the laundry room.

 

Their job of drying the dog was going along very well. Until the dog rolled onto his back, pulling John on top of him by the towel he was holding. Face first into wet fur.

 

John stood back up and looked indignant.

 

Kate aimed the hair dryer at him, leaving him sputtering and flailing.

 

Eventually they finished their task, and then John and Kate spent a moment laying on top of the dog, admiring how he smelt amazing and was soft like an excited squirmy cloud that kept trying to roll around on the floor.

 

They both stopped climbing the dog as the bathroom door opened. All eyes were on Amanda as she came out. John could immediately see on her face that she wasn’t as stressed, but she looked drained. Clearly she has managed to de-stress a bit, but the days events had taken their toll.

 

Abandoning anything else, John waddled around the couch and held up his arms to offer a hug. She leaned down and scooped him up into a hug and he was lifted into his usual spot high on her chest with his cheek against hers.

 

Her cheek felt puffy against the side of his face. She’d been crying. So he turned his head and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He couldn’t do much, and he knew he could never have run out into the rain here to save someones life like she had just done. But trying to comfort her was what he could do.

 

Deep in his chest he still didn’t like feeling in any way like a toddler. But for just this moment he was willing to comfort her in what ways that he had the power to. Besides, that little kiss on the cheek made her smile warmly. And right now that smile was worth a lot.

 

He propped his head onto her shoulder and heard her whisper quietly into his ear “You don’t have to behave any way that you don’t want to. But thank you so very much. It’s past your bedtime, but would you like a cuddle?”

 

Nodding into her neck a bit, he was rewarded with a pat on his booty. Then he felt himself being carried. But instead of turning around the couch, he felt himself being carried in a straight line and then saw the door frame and the taupe walls of his room.

 

As he was pivoted down onto the changing table he said quietly “Hey wait. Betrayal.” and then out loud “Betrayal!” as the foam bars just flopped over his chest. “I am betrayed. Rupert, you must avenge me.”

 

He could see her rolling her eyes and it was obvious that she wanted to laugh.

 

“John, you know it’s bedtime.”

 

He nodded.

 

She continued “We don’t want any repeats of the other morning?”

 

He shook his head vehemently. The memory of stains on her shirt from carrying him still haunting his memory.

 

And finally she sighed “So you’re just being a goofy dork?”

 

He held his left hand in the air, one finger pointed at the ceiling and declared “Yes!”

 

He was rewarded for his efforts by her laughing as she shook her head and saying “Well, you’re MY dork.” as she tugged his shorts off. He let his hands fall completely limp into the wrist straps.

 

He tried to pay attention to what her hands were doing below him as she unsnapped his onesie bottom. He had secretly tried to undo the snaps while she wasn’t looking earlier today, but for the life of him couldn’t see how they were stuck together. They must twist or something.

 

And then began the usual routine of getting him diapered for bed. Lifting, scrubbing, another application of whatever that ointment was from earlier, more scrubbing, and an extra coating of powder while she observed out loud “That rash is going to take a couple of days to heal.”

 

When the change was finished, she sat him up and pulled the onesie up and over his head. After a moment she held up one of the baggy shirts of hers he had been wearing to bed, and a blue shirt in his own size with a puppy on it.

 

Guessing her intent, he pointed at the blue shirt and was rewarded with the one he pointed at being pulled unto him. She picked him up and he was being carried in just a shirt and diaper back to the living room.

 

“Wait!” he said as he squeezed her with his arms and legs.

 

With a look of confusion, she stopped and asked “What?”

 

“I’m … only half dressed.” he explained.

 

She just shook her head “No shorts are going to fit over your diaper, and Kate is about to be dressed the exact same way for bed.”

 

Just then Aunt Cat carried Kate right past them. Kate turned and stuck her tongue out at him as they passed. So he obviously stuck his tongue back out at her. That got him a light swat on the insanely thick diaper.

 

With an amused sniff Amanda said “Come on, it looks like Aunt Cat put a blankie on the rocking chair for us.”

 

Moments later he was cradled to her chest with a warm fluffy comforter over the two of them. He had a view of his door as Aunt Cat and Kate came out. Kate was in a diaper identical to his, and the shirt that he had passed on.

 

Did it look that huge on him, too? He was smaller than her, it might look even bigger.

 

As Aunt Cat got settled in on the couch, and wrapped Kate in a blanket, Amanda asked “Hey, can you toss me his stuffie?”

 

Aunt Cat immediately got up saying “That’s right, I almost forgot to get Kate's stuffy out.” She didn’t even bother to put Kate down, just carried her swaddled up in the blanket and held to her chest.

 

A big stuffie was deposited against his chest and John happily wrapped his arms around it.

 

Looking over, he could see them settling back on the couch, this time with Kate clinging onto a distorted mass of cloud. Squinting at it, he could just make out a button nose and the general shape of … a Llama?

 

Kate held up the unfathomably fluffy looking Llama stuffie and said “Duchess”

 

So with a chuckle John held up his black puppy and said “Rupert.”

 

He could see Kate smirk as she amended “Duchess Fluffy. She’s royalty.”

 

Not to let sleeping stuffies lay, he looked at Rupert and back to Kate “Admiral Rupert.”

 

And it continued on with “Duchess Fluffy, of Llamington.”

 

He had to take a moment to yawn as the warmth from Amanda and the blanket fresh from the dryer started to seep into him.

 

After a yawn break he continued the competition “Admiral Rupert Barkley, Of the Isle of Ruff."

 

He had to look to see why she was quiet and he saw her yawning too.

 

She complained “Stop yawning, you’re making me and *yawn* Duchess …”

 

Aunt Cat ended the competition by putting a fingertip to Kate's lips and said “Shhh, it’s time to nurse and get some sleep.”

 

He could hear Kate giving up on the couch and saying “Yes Mommy.”

 

Then he was shuffled around so that he was facing away from the couch and rocked back and forth slowly.

 

Whispering from above him, Amanda asked “Are you ready to nurse, too?”

 

He just shook his head and asked “Can we cuddle for a bit?”

 

“Of course we can, sweetheart.” and the rocking motion continued and they enjoyed a quiet moment together, wrapped up in a warm blanket.

 

John simply laid there taking the moment to think. He really didn’t want to be treated like a baby. But if he truly did get himself trapped here, he figured he could at least enjoy the snuggles.

 

He couldn’t help replaying the events from this afternoon in his mind. Amanda immediately taking Xerxes and running off into the rain to save a life. She didn’t hesitate or second guess at all. She just went to it. And Aunt Cat had driven out here in the rain, so that had to have happened on purpose.

 

And then Aunt Cat tried to keep them calm with some hot chocolate. When that had failed, she tried getting them to sing. He and Kate had agreed to color to get her to stop trying so hard, but even then they insisted on sitting on the living room floor so that they would be there when Amanda came back.

 

He and Kate tried all sorts of guessed about why another little would have come through the rift like he did. The best guess they could come up with was that there was a rescue party searching for him, assuming he was lost in the woods. Or dead. Probably both.

 

And his new adopted Mother, apparently, was brave. She had saved someone that may have been searching for him. And been crying because she hadn’t found them awake.

 

“Hey.” he whispered up.

 

“Yes, Sweety?”

 

He couldn’t even stop himself from saying “Thank you.”

 

He felt a kiss on his forehead. “For what?”

 

When another break for a yawn passed he explained “For being you. You’re a pretty awesome Mom. I didn't set out to come to this world. But if I had to pick any one in this world, it would be you every time.”

 

He felt arms around him squeezing him gently. Finally after a few minutes he shifted his head against her breast and she winced.

 

As a shirt was pulled up, and a bra strap unslung behind him he heard “Okay, it’s time. They’re tender.”

 

And then he found himself in front of a nipple and he knew what was expected of him.

 

This was not how he expected to be interacting with nipples at this point in his life, to say the least.

 

But at least it was delicious.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

John woke up because something next to him moved. He could feel something over his belly. He looked down to see an arm the same size as his own. Milk addled as his brain was, he barely registered it.

 

He was falling back asleep, but he stretched a bit and moved his arm around until someones head was on his shoulder instead of cutting off circulation to his arm. It was odd, he could feel two legs wrapped around one of his own, and it felt like a warm pillow was pressed against his hip.

 

With another yawn he tried to roll over, but couldn’t as he slid back into the sleepy abyss.

[christi]

Awwww, I like the ending of this chapter.  And the adult in John making more of a showing.  As always, thanks for sharing.

[Guilend]

I love the drying the dog scene, it was great. The second part was sweet and cute. Now I want to sit between the two beauties and watch them nurse their babies. Do you think they'd mind if I, um, finished drinking whatever they don't drink? Strictly because I'm a good friend and don't want them feeling uncomfortable with boobies still with milk left, no other reason at all. And as an Amazon I'm sure their milk won't effect me the same way as the Littles and I totally won't be waking up in wet and possibly messy panties right? I'd definitely ask them for any leftover milk, hate for it to go to waste.

[SGTbaby]

Great chapter! I am feeling spoiled by the amount of chapters this week!  The dog scene and nursing are so sweet. I am curious if we will find out about the other portal little? And is he sleeping with Kate for the night? Looking forward to more!!!

[CDfm]

Great chapter.  I almost missed it.  For some reason none of the new chapters being posted showed up earlier today.  
I liked the friendly competition between the two Littles. 
Still have us hanging on the new little girl so I am really excited to see more. 

[BabySofia]

Aww… cute ending scene!

[Kat5]

22 hours ago, Guilend said:

love the drying the dog scene

Trying to dry a dog that is hyperactivity trying to bite the air coming out of the hair dryer is a pretty interesting challenge. I imagine the dog being the size of a horse would not help matters one bit.

19 hours ago, SGTbaby said:

Looking forward to more!!!

I'm hoping to be healthy enough to submit more in the next few days. So far my health challenge is improving, if a bit slowly. 

1 hour ago, CDfm said:

liked the friendly competition

Stuffed naming is important business  my friend. Or maybe I'm just a teeny bit nuts. Possibly both?

1 hour ago, BabySofia said:

Aww… cute ending scene!

Thank you very kindly! Snuggles are important.

[Kat5]

Chapter Thirty

 

Amanda watched her friend Cat carry Kate into the little’s bedroom. She came back out a minute later and went to the bathroom. By the time John was done nursing and asleep, Cat had seemed to have all the dirty clothes and towels just shoved into the washing machine.

 

Stopping to pull her bra straps back up, she started to scoot forward in the rocking chair to get up. Cat walked by and took her elbow and insisted on helping her stand.

 

Whispering “Thank you.” she shifted him up a bit and reached down to grab his stuffie and pacy. As she carried him to the bed, she poked his lips with the pacy until he took it without waking up. She stopped to swing half of the gate open and looked at Kate against the back wall of the crib.

 

Hearing Cat walk up beside her she whispered quietly “So should we lay them side by side? Put the pillow between them?”

 

Cat looked for a moment and asked in hushed volume “Where do you usually put the pillow?”

 

With a motion toward the front, Amanda answered “I put it here toward the front because I heard him rolling into the gate in his sleep.”

 

Cat nodded and pulled the pillow up to the front of the crib and then gently slid Kate forward up against it.

 

With only a nod, Amanda laid John down next to his little friend, and they both put their stuffies next to their littles. They each took a turn to lean over and kiss their littles goodnight on their cheeks before closing the gate and heading back to the living room to sit down.

 

With a great sigh, Amanda went ahead and asked the obvious “Okay. What did Agent Praefectus have to say while I was in the shower?”

 

“Oof.” Cat exclaimed “Right to it, I see. He asked me a couple of things. First he asked me if you were the kind of person that would drive to the city for counseling. When I said no he was not surprised since you seemed so headstrong to him. Which is a polite way of saying stubborn. So the ABI is going to send a counselor out here tomorrow afternoon.”

 

Amanda sat upright and asked “Say what??”

 

Cat just shrugged at her and said “A Counselor. No expense to you, but he wasn’t asking. He said you assisted the ABI and were obviously shaken up. They are required to send someone to check on you. Mental health is important. Plus he was really impressed with you, you know.”

 

Flopping back onto the couch and looking up at the ceiling, she sighed again “I don’t really want to sit with a counselor and recall this day.”

 

If Cat made a gesture, she couldn’t see it looking at the ceiling, but the reply came all the same. “And you know … you made a VERY good impression with him…”

 

Amanda didn’t even look where she aimed, she just grabbed the couch pillow next to her and flicked it at Cat.

 

“Hey, I’m just saying…”

 

Amanda cut that off right there “Too bad, I’m already feeding Mike.”

 

“Oh? You’ve claimed the delivery man as yours then?”

 

She reached without looking, but was out of pillows so she sat up and looked at Cat. “I’ll have you know that he is sweet, seemed very kind, John already admires the man, he knows how to check PH levels in garden soil, and Xerxes seems to trust him.”

 

Cat just nodded along and added “Uh huh, and…….”

 

“And he’s cute. Yes, I have a crush. But you’ve been pushing me to date for years, so you don’t get to complain.”

 

Cat scooted closer “And when do I get to meet him?”

 

Amanda waved a hand dismissively “Eventually. Just let me see how things work out first.”

 

As Cat gave in and leaned back, Amanda looked over to her computer with a sigh “Okay. I’m caught up on work, but I have to type out everything that happened with John today, and since Kate was also on the tablet, I’m certain that they will have questions.”

 

Inquisitively Cat asked “So what’s the deal with that, anyway? Is that what you said about them testing John?”

 

All it took was a nod “Yeah, John just has to do puzzles for at least an hour or two once or twice a week. I have to document his progress and be frank about his mental state and any regression that he experiences. Small things like how he originally called me Amanda, and now he’s calling me Mom. Occasionally Mommy, but that’s happening if he’s talking in his sleep more than awake.”

 

Naturally Cat asked “Why would they want to track things like that?”

 

Only able to really shrug, Amanda answered honestly “I think it’s more to do with wanting to know how long it takes rift littles to acclimate under ideal circumstances, and the ways to handle them so that adjusting to life here isn’t so jarring to them. Imagine the good they could do if they had rough guidelines on how to comfort new littles that get trapped here.”

 

It was a moment of quiet contemplation before Cat responded “Yeah. That makes sense. I know that Kate certainly did not take the public nursery well at all. A basic guide for how to prevent them from being traumatized would have helped her a lot. Poor thing rides on my hip when we have meetings in that place. She bites on her training pacy so hard it inflates, and refuses to look at anyone. She had nightmares for the first month.”

 

With a bit of scooting over, Amanda hugged her life long friend and explained “You’re doing really well with Kate. I remember when you first adopted her. It’s good that your cat insists on napping with her.”

 

Laughing, Cat explained “She kept feeding the cat. That’s why the cat took a liking to her.”

 

“You know …” Amanda mused out loud as she thought “I wonder if all littles are obsessed with feeding animals, or just dimensional ones.”

 

Cat just shrugged “No telling. You get to typing, I’ll go get changed for bed. It’s nearly our bedtime too.”

 

Amanda sighed as she went over to the computer and tapped the button to make it come out of standby. He notepad was still there and she had one message waiting for her.

 

With a click she was reading the message “A new little has used the tablet. This is fine as it is more metrics and encourages your little to play on it anyway. Please describe the little and where they are from for our records.”

 

Musing “Huh. Okay, I thought they would be at least a bit upset.” Amanda set about describing Kate as a portal little that got lost, how long she had been here, the circumstances for her coming to visit and their playful/competitive relationship that they seemed to have so far.

 

Honestly as she typed it she wondered if they got along so well because they were from the same dimension. So without a second thought she typed that into the message to the research team. Never hurts to have more thoughts on paper for later.

 

After hitting send, Cat set a mug of chamomile tea down next to her. Sipping it while she looked at where her notes left off, she tried to think back to the morning. Normally remembering that same morning in detail was as simple as breathing. But today that was not the case.

 

Rubbing her temple she thought out loud as she remembered in bits “twenty four minutes from coffee to diaper change … went almost feral over the egg yolk ...seemed downright melancholy about the rain and not being allowed to go outside … nap on dog …

 

And having run through the day that way she spent less than five minutes rapidly typing out anything relevant from the day.

 

Groaning, she realized “Crap. They’ll want to know there’s another rift little because they’re rare.”

 

Cat came over, sipping her own cup of tea “What was that?”

 

Amanda looked over and up as she explained “The research group would probably be interested in knowing that the rift is active enough that another little came through. I guess I have to …”

 

Cat leaned down and hugged her before saying “I’ll stand right here while you type. You do what you have to do and I’m right here with you.”

 

With a grateful ‘thank you’, she turned back to the screen and tried her best to be brief and downplay her own role in things, mentioning the motion sensors and only mentioning her and the dog being there to assist. That the little they found was shivering but unresponsive.

 

And still, by the time she was done she teared up a bit thinking of that poor little against her chest, completely limp.

 

Reluctantly she hit the button to submit the days report. No sooner did she hit send did Cat lean down and hit the button to send her computer back to standby and started pulling on her hand.

 

“Hey, what are you doing?”

 

Cat just shook her head and said “You’re going to sit next to me on the couch. Sometimes bigs need cuddles too.”

 

Amanda gave in and accepted cuddles from her friend for a half hour.

 

It may not have been much, but it made her feel better. With a deep yawn she admitted that she needed to get some sleep because she had a little to take care of in the morning.

 

Patting her friend on the shoulder, she said “Okay Cat, I’m heading to bed.”

 

Cat nodded and let her up.

 

When Amanda went to her bedroom, Cat was still there behind her.

 

“Okay Cat, what’s going on?”

 

Pushing her toward the bed while talking, Cat explained matter of factly “I’m sleeping next to you. You’ll sleep better that way. Now scoot.”

 

Unable to resist rolling her eyes, Amanda tried to interject “We have not slept together in years.”

 

Cat just kept prodding her and shaking her head “We’re not up to anything naughty. Now I’m sleepy too, so get over there.”

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Four hours later Amanda woke up with a start, her eyes snapping open instantly as she sat up in the bed.

 

Apparently she’d had a bad dream. Or was it a flash back?

 

After a few moments an arm came up and gently pulled her back down toward the bed where she gave up and rolled over. A warm body scooted closed and pressed against her back.

 

Focusing on that contact she slowly drifted back off to sleep.

[christi]

Nice addition.  Once again, thanks for sharing.

[CDfm]

Wow is is Christmas again?  New chapters almost every day.  Yes we must have been good.  
I am glad the ABI requires counseling.  Often times you don’t even realize an event affects you.  Then when you start breaking it down, you break down.  
We still don’t know the status of the new little girl but now that the researchers are aware I have a feeling more is about to happen.  
One other new twist to consider now is that Amanda might have to make a choice between two suitors. 
I certainly enjoyed the latest chapter but I still have a strong desire for more. 

[SGTbaby]

Sweet chapter. I like similarities in John and Amanda’s behavior upon briefly waking up. Made it little cuter overall. The additional chapters this week makes me feel spoiled. I am still curious as to what happens with the other Litttle and am glad the ABI is concerned with mental health. Looking forward to more!

[Kat5]

1 hour ago, CDfm said:

Yes we must have been good.

Maybe it's a combination of me liking y'all, and enjoying writing as a hobby. Also being passionate about writing and maybe pushing myself oh so slightly before my health is back to 100% because nothing makes someone want a cookie more than telling them that they can't have a cookie.

Besides, It gives me a little smile when I get the little "you are on the leaderboard" from time to time. It's not my motivation, but it brightens my day and I appreciate it.

1 hour ago, CDfm said:

I certainly enjoyed the latest chapter but I still have a strong desire for more. 

I ... guess....

You know what? I'll put in a word with the Author for you. I bet she's working on chapter 31 as her health allows.

34 minutes ago, SGTbaby said:

Made it little cuter overall.

The best part of having a list of plot points and freehanding it from one point to another is that I can sneak in easter eggs here and there.

11 hours ago, christi said:

Nice addition.  Once again, thanks for sharing.

Thank you very kindly! I've been enjoying this.

[erik_hamburg]

Hi @Kat5,

I was wondering if you can give an update on when to expect the next part... don't want to push, I am just curious. 

Thanks

[Kat5]

1 hour ago, erik_hamburg said:

Hi @Kat5,

I was wondering if you can give an update on when to expect the next part... don't want to push, I am just curious. 

Thanks

Thank you for checking in! I've had the health trouble still, but all in all, I'm doing a bit better. I've been working on the story at night again as I'm able. Should be just a couple of more nights for the next chapter.

Thank you for the patience!

[christi]

The story can wait, your health is the main concern.  Take care of yourself or...  I spank!  Seriously, get better, Kat.

<Sends a hug Kat's way>

[Kat5]

2 hours ago, christi said:

The story can wait, your health is the main concern.  Take care of yourself or...  I spank!  Seriously, get better, Kat.

<Sends a hug Kat's way>

(Psst. Can I get cuddles -and- some light spanking?)

Edit: I'm allowed to be greedy about these things. I'm a little.

[Guilend]

Where's my spankings? I deserve spankings, then cuddles. I'm a mid, so I need I bit more then light lol.

I just had to say something with all this talk of spanking lol

[Kat5]

Chapter Thirty One

 

 

 

John stirred as something shook him. He rolled onto his side and the shaking stopped. He heard something like complaining behind him. He went back to sleep.

 

Some time later he rolled over onto his other side and felt something warm beside him so he draped his arm over it and yawned really well, intent on waking up later. As long as later wasn’t soon.

 

Something in front of him moved and something weird was ticking all over his face and nose, so he started swatting at it in his sleepy state. His hand got tangled up in some hair.

 

Cracking one eye open as he pulled his hand back, he heard “Stop pulling on my hair.” from someone else that also sounded sleepy.

 

Curious now, John pushed himself up into a seated position. The moment his weight went onto his butt he grimaced and tiredly grumbled out “uh umh” and shuffled to get his legs under him so his weight was on his thighs and not the contents of his diaper.

 

Rubbing his eyes, he looked over and down at Kates legs and diaper clad butt sticking out from under a blanket. He poked her foot.

 

She pulled her foot away and said “Lay back down, you were keeping me warm.”

 

He thought about it a moment before he gave up and flopped back down and pressed his back against her.

 

At first, John closed his eyes and started to doze back off. But slowly his brain processed things and he reached back and patted and felt a hip.

 

Mustering the full might of his early morning brain capacity, he asked clearly:

 

“Mm?”

 

She twisted and turned her head to look at him. Then he felt her look back forward and whisper “You’re one of those people that don’t brain in the morning, aren’t you?”

 

“Nnn...mmmm”

 

He felt the person against his back take a deep breath and sigh “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

 

Giving up on using his eyes for now, he mumbled “Bleh.”

 

Over the course of the next ten minutes or so his brain slowly chugged into life and they started to have a conversation while laying there. While they were talking he kept noticing that he could feel her against his head and shoulders and back, but that their butts seemed to be several inches apart. He would have never thought that not feeling someone against your butt would be strange.

 

Eventually though, Kate addressed the elephant in the room first by saying “Phew. We stink.”

 

John took his turn to sigh and ask “So this is just what mornings are like for all littles here?”

 

The softly spoken reply came “Yeah. This is our mornings. Laying in a crib in a diaper waiting for Mommy to come change us.”

 

They were quiet again for a moment, but finally he admitted “It’s gross. At first I thought a wet diaper was disgusting. But right now I could sit in a wet diaper and not complain.”

 

After another bit of quiet, he heard the reply from behind him. “Yeah. This place changes the way you see everything. All this technology and we’re still the babies here.”

 

Finally, John had enough “I’m not laying on my side anymore.”

 

Kate snorted a bit “You can try to lay on your back if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

 

Pushing himself up onto all fours, John said simply “Nope” and crawled up around Kates head, past her and halfway up onto the pillow and just flopped onto it. Sinking contently into it with most of the weight off of his butt, he let out a sigh.

 

Kate immediately pinched her nose and complained “Oh m… my face is right here by your…”

 

John didn’t even look, he pointed up “I left you plenty of room on the other side of the pillow.”

 

Immediately up onto all fours, Kate crawled around to the other side of the pillow, just past halfway up onto it and flopped. Now it was her turn to sigh.

 

“Oh my g…” she exclaimed and then squeezed the pillow “I’m asking Mommy for a giant pillow.”

 

After a few quiet minutes of the duo luxuriating on their giant fluffy pillow, John found himself thinking back to the previous day.

 

“Hey.” he mumbled.

 

“Yeah?” came a comfortable sounding response.

 

Floundering for words a bit “My … uhhh Mom? Yeah, I guess it’s more a title than a name?”

 

There was a quick humored exhale above his head “Yes John, she’s your Mom. Eventually you’ll call her Mommy like I do mine. I don’t know why, but you probably won’t mind it either.”

 

He nodded against the pillow and explained “Well, Mom was … I guess I can only say she was super cool last night.”

 

There came an agreement “Oh yeah!”

 

It took a moment of thought before he could add “I think that it was super hard for her because she’s just going to think she she didn’t find her before she got too cold? She seems like the kind of person that would feel bad about that.”

 

“John?”

 

He looked up to see Kate looking at him “Yeah?”

 

She said “You have no idea how over protective the bigs are here.”

 

He nodded and then flopped his head back down, feeling the pillow shift as she did the same.

 

Musing out loud, he said “Still, as far as I’m concerned, she’s a hero.”

 

Kate barked out a cute brief laugh “Yeah. She was all like ‘we’re not waiting’ and the agent guy just had to go and follow her.”

 

Just then they both stopped and turned their heads toward the door as they heard footsteps. In walked two tall women and the side of the crib went down. Amanda leaned on the right side crib wall while Aunt Cat leaned on the left side, each smiling down at their littles.

 

“Good Morning!” They both declared excitedly.

 

John groaned out loud “Oh my God I’m surrounded by morning people.”

 

Amanda clapped softly with a big exaggerated smile “John! You spoke an entire word before having your coffee milk!”

 

All he could muster was “Ughhhhhhhh”

 

Amanda stopped and poked him on the side while mumbling “No, I think he’s broken again.”

 

Meanwhile Aunt Cat already had Kate airborne and moving toward the changing table. When he realized that her diaper was coming off in plain view, he turned his head toward the wall out of a sense of modesty.

 

He felt Amanda’s fingertips running up and down his back. It felt really nice.

 

She leaned and whispered softly to only him “So I’m the big heroic Mommy?”

 

John felt his face and ears turn beet red and he rolled onto his side to look up at her big grin before rolling to bury his face back into his pillow.

 

He mumbled into his pillow “I’m not awake, so I didn’t say anything.”

 

Then he felt a tap on his shoulder and heard “I don’t know, that was a lot of words from a sleeping little.”

 

Taking a moment and channeling his best attempt at a B rated movie zombie he took a deep breath and said “UHNNNNnnnnnnnnn Brainnnnnnnssssss”

 

And then a fingertip found his ribs and he tried to squeal while his lungs were empty!

 

He felt his hair being ruffled and then he was being lifted and carried sideways. Although as tall as Amanda was it almost felt like she was just taking a step and swinging him over like a giant crane. As his butt hit soft weirdly plasticy mat, the bars flopped limply onto him at the same as he shuddered at the unpleasant sensation.

 

Unlike usual, Amanda playfully picked up his pacifier and poked his lips with it, stating “Here, this special zombie proof pacifier will keep me safe.”

 

He just rolled his eyes and accepted it as she went to work with the diaper change. It took an extra minute of scrubbing that he was honestly very grateful for before she came into his view holding up one rough pup diaper, and one bright blue one with a monkey on it. Oh a whim he pointed at the blue one.

 

With a nod she bapped him with it before finishing.

 

When he felt the telltale bump of her knee on some spot of the table, the bars went up and he was lifted and put onto the floor on his own two feet.

 

“Okay young man. After breakfast we have to go to the grocery store. So let’s get you dressed and presentable really quickly.”

 

For some reason the whim just took him and he shouted “You’ll never take me alive, copper!” and he tried to dart between her knees.

 

Two trunk like legs closed in to clamp him in place and he flailed comically for a moment.

 

Going limp he admitted “You took me alive.”

 

There was a feeling like someone playing bongos, but on his padded bottom. After a moment of that he went from indignant to laughing

 

“Okay!” he declared “I give up! I surrender! I’ll go along peacefully!”

 

One moment later he was back on his feet and she knelt in front of him to give him a hug.

 

With a whisper, she told him “Some times you act more like a little than others.”

 

not really knowing how to take that statement he apologized “I’m sorry I didn’t …”

 

She cut him off with a kiss to his forehead and said “No, it’s adorable and I appreciate it.” And as she stood up she pulled the shirt he slept in up and off.

 

After a moment Amanda showed John a couple of options.

 

“Okay” she explained “We’re going to get groceries, shouldn’t be gone two hours. It’s a bit cool out today, but not cold. Do you want shorts, pants, or overalls?”

 

Without hesitation, he answered “Pants, please”

 

Then she held up a shirt and a onesie. He pointed at the blue shirt with the cartoon dog wearing a cape on it.

 

Moments later he was being carried, dressed for the day, and deposited on the living room floor next to a very excited Xerxes.

 

Moments after that, Kate was deposited next to him.

 

Aunt Cat looked down at both of them and explained “Okay, we’re going to get ready for the day ourselves, and then get you two breakfast before we all hit the road.”

 

With that they each got a pat on the head, and she walked away as well.

 

Now as alone as they were going to get again John asked something he’d been wondering.

 

“Hey Kate?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why did they put us in the cr...I mean bed together?”

 

With a shake of her head, Kate answered “John, we are both littles, and we were out cold after breast feeding. What were we possibly going to do?”

 

He just sort of nodded “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

 

Kate nodded then and asked “Can I play on your tablet a bit before we have to go?”

 

The two of them sat together on the floor and John watched Kate just breeze through the color puzzles that hard started off as very simple, but then had her blending colors that he was pretty sure were only superficially different.

 

After about fifteen minutes Aunt Cat came over and leaned down to watch over their heads for a moment before they even noticed she was there.

 

Aunt Cat spoke up “That’s actually really cool, and you’re doing great!”

 

Kate looked up and smiled at her “Thank you!”

 

With a great big smile growing across her face, Aunt Cat patted them both on the head “You know what would be even MORE fun?”

 

Kate looked confused for a moment, but John’s tickle senses kicked in and he shouted to his little friend.

 

“Cheese it!” And he tried to get up and run for it.

 

He made it one step before he felt himself being lifted into the air with one arm under his back and holding him by the bottom, and some fingers in his ribs. He tried not to crack, but it only took a few seconds before he was laughing and thrashing.

 

By the time it was over he was against her shoulder while she patted his back.

 

“Breath sweety” Aunt Cat said.

 

Eventually he was deposited into his booster seat while a giggling Kate was placed in the one next to him.

 

After a moment John found a bowl of oatmeal being slid in front of him. He was immediately unimpressed. He had never liked oatmeal a single time in his life. He associated oatmeal with ‘I can get groceries in a few days, this is what I have.’

 

Kate next to him went to town on her oatmeal and seemed like she was in heaven.

 

Amanda leaned down and gently tapped him on the shoulder before asking “You okay there baby?”

 

“Ummm…” was all he could muster.

 

So Amanda picked up the spoon and stirred the oatmeal before holding the spoon up to him to take a bite. He instinctively leaned back.

 

“I’ll make you a deal. You try a bite, and if you really and truly don’t like it, then I’ll make you some toast.”

 

He sat there in his booster seat, leaning back and looking from Amanda to the spoon and back. Nothing about her body language told him that she was going to give up. She would wait him out.

 

With a sigh he said “Fine.”

 

He opened his mouth, she put the spoon into it. And then he furrowed his brow.

 

Pausing to swallow he said “Oatmeal doesn’t taste like that!”

 

Amanda handed him the spoon and kissed him on the forehead, whispering “Here it does. Littles love oatmeal.”

 

He needed no prompting to dig in just like Kate was doing next to him. Whatever was in this oatmeal was weirdly compelling.

 

And so with heavy stomachs and each of them with a sippy cup full of juice, they were sent back to the living room. After a minute of overly full shuffling around, the two of them settled down in front of the couch, leaning back.

 

With their hips and legs pressed up against one another they looked down at the tablet home screen. It had a few new icons that weren’t there yesterday, but they chose to ignore them for now and they looked at the folder of books.

 

While they scrolled through such curious titles as “Benny the Rooh” and “The Bearenstines” John felt an elbow gently in his ribs.

 

“You need a bean bag” Kate whispered

 

Shaking his head, he retorted “I don’t need a bean bag, I have a dog.”

 

She pointed to the dogs head at the window “Your dog is outside.”

 

After a moment of quiet he admitted “Bean bags are great.”

 

While she was poking fun at him she settled in the Young Adult folder and was scrolling a bit more slowly, taking in the titles.

 

John pointed to one and asked “How about this one?”

 

“The Odyssey of Hugh?”

 

All he could manage was a shrug “I don’t know, I’m just picking one because you can only scroll for so long before you just can’t make a choice.”

 

Kate laughed at him a bit as she tapped the name and it came up with a picture of a very old looking book and a synopsis to one side.

 

So John read it out loud “The Odyssey of Hugh: An epic tale of a man on a quest, who wandered for ten years exploring far away lands. After a shipwreck left him stranded on a distant island. After a long journey, Hugh overcomes many obstacles using his wit and whatever resources he has to hand. Hugh has befriended a wild bear and saved a stranded little that have joined him on his journey along the way. This is the story of their journey to return to Hugh’s home to his wife Penelope.”

 

When he finished reading that out loud Kate used her fingers to zoom in on the cover of the book. There was a man standing on an outcrop overlooking the sea, and behind him there was a giant bear that came up to his chest, and you could see a carefully drawn little on the bears back with his own little backpack.

 

Kare shook her head “No way any sane person would ride a bear.”

 

John coughed a bit, his face turning red.

 

It took her looking at a his face before she realized “You wouldn’t?”

 

He could only nod.

 

“Well.” she added “Like I said, no sane person.”

 

He just rolled his eyes and tapped the button marked “Start Reading”

 

The two of them managed to read at about the same speed, and were both getting fully invested when they each felt a tap on the shoulder.

 

They both looked up to see their respective Mommy smiling down at them. Amanda spoke first “Have you two had fun together?”

 

They both nodded, and when She took the tablet from them they both protested in their own way. Kate reached for it and said softly “But my book” While John just went limp and sighed “We just got to a good part”

 

With Kate on her hip, Aunt Cat asked “What were you two rascals reading that you were so invested in?”

 

Kate spoke up first by answering “The Odyssey of Hugh!”

 

Now the two bigs looked back and forth between themselves and then at the littles on their hips. Then back at each other.

 

“Huh.” Amanda spoke first “Are you two good at reading?”

 

John probably looked as indignant as he felt “Hey! Where we’re from we read a lot, Mom.”

 

Kate was just nodding along in agreement.

 

Then Aunt Cat chimed in “I think I could see these two reading that just because of Hughs bear companion, Baloo.”

 

John and Kate immediately looked at each other and said in unison “Baloo?”

 

“Yeah, his bear is named Baloo.” Chimed in Aunt Cat and Amanda, both in unison.

 

The two littles tried to keep a straight face, but John cracked first as he broke into a fit of giggles, followed immediately by Kate cracking up with him.

 

The two bigs looked so confused by their littles having a laugh attack.

 

Aunt Cat put a finger into Kates side and asked “Why is the name Baloo so funny?”

 

The two went into a fresh fit of laughter and after some very patient waiting from two big women that were obviously planning to wait until they got an answer, John blurted out “Baloo is in the Jungle Book!”

 

Looking right up at Amanda’s face, he could see her lock eyes with Aunt Cat before looking down and explaining to him “No, Sweety. The Jungle Book has a bear named Fozzy.”

 

And that was it. Both littles were full on belly laughing again. Neither one of them could breath easily through the laughter. It went on for a full five minutes and they started to calm down. As John was finally catching his breath he heard from behind him.

 

“Wakka”

 

“PFFTTTTTTT” followed by another laugh attack.

 

“Oh God. Oh God. It hurts. It hurts.” was mirrored by both littles.

 

By the time they regained their composure, they were both wearing shoes and being carried to the driveway.

 

Being stood up in front of each other, John felt a pat on his padded bottom and saw Aunt Cat do the same to Kate. They both got a “You two say goodbye, you’ll see each other in two days”

 

They stood there kind of awkwardly shuffling their feet.

 

“Umm…” John didn’t really know how to say goodbye in this situation.

 

Kate just rolled her eyes and stepped up to give him a hug. He hugged her back, a bit haphazardly. She didn’t seem to be able to think of anything to say either.

 

Finally the two bigs gave up and picked them both up. And gave them a kiss before shuffling them into their carseats. John was buckled in and a diaper bag was slid in the usual place in front of his seat, and the door shut.

 

As Amanda slid into her seat and buckled up, John asked “So where are we going today?”

 

“Welllllll” Amanda smiled up at the mirror “We are desperately low on groceries, because some little boy ate all the eggs. You don’t know who that would be, would you?”

 

Shaking his head as though he had no idea “Nope. But you should definitely get someone on that.”

 

He could see her rolling her eyes at him as she put the car into gear and asked “If we’re quick we can make one more stop while we’re in town. Is there anything you want to get while we’re out?”

 

“Ummm…. Could we go by a pet store and get a toy for Xerxes?” He said the first thing that came to mind.

 

Once they were on the road, John took a few pulls of juice from his sippy cup and got lost in thought. He really was stuck here. At least he had someone from home to talk to sometimes.

 

Spaced out and completely lost in thought he barely noticed how much time passed until the door opened and Amandas face came into his view with a smile. Until she looked at him closely.

 

“John” She asked “Are you okay? You look a bit sad.”

 

He really just nodded slowly, saying “Yeah. Just thinking about things.”

 

She immediately unbuckled him and picked him up into a hug, whispering “Do you wanna talk about it?”

 

With a shake of his head, he admitted “I don’t think I understand it all yet, so … no”

 

That got him another squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m here when you’re ready to talk. About anything. You’re my favorite little guy and I want to help you through everything.” Then she whispered a bit lower “Are you ready to go into the store?”

 

It took a moment before he nodded. It was a struggle at the moment to remember all of the pointers and advice he had been given. One thing stuck out, though.

 

“Hey umm… Are strangers really that grabby with littles?”

 

He watched her get a funny look on her face before she said, seemingly careful about her words “I don’t know that I would say it that way *exactly* but it is normal in our culture to just check littles to see if they are wet or messy without telling the little, if that’s what you mean.”

 

John was already shaking his head “I don’t want strangers touching me like that!”

 

“Shhh shhh, hold on, hold on. Let’s get you comfy. Here, which pacy do you want?”

 

He just blinked at her for a moment. She stood there holding him without any sense of rushing him, or intent to put him down or anything. She was just waiting for him.

 

“Sweety, I’m not saying that you’re going to run a marathon or do anything like that, but I had hoped you would have your wits about you.” She was speaking softly and slowly.

 

He just nodded “Umm… I guess … please give me that pacy.”

 

“Which one?”

 

“The training pacy? If I get mad and bite down on it, or anything, will you promise that I won’t be in trouble?”

 

That got him picked up and kissed on the cheek “Sweety, if you use that to stay out of trouble, I promise you I won’t be mad at all.”

 

He just nodded as she pulled the training pacy out of the diaper bag and clipped it onto his shirt. She held it up to him, but he just shook his head. So she lowered it so that it dangled, then she held out Rupert.

 

With a kind smile, but a look that said it wasn’t a question, Amanda said “Rupert isn’t optional, you’re bringing him in with you.”

 

So John just nodded and took Rupert, holding him against his chest as Amanda slung the diaper bag and then leaned down to pick him up.

 

As he was settles on a hip, his head propped up on her chest and he couldn’t hold in the question.

 

“Hey … about that whole plasma and matter thing … what happens if someone tried to go back after coming through a rift? Like through one of those portal places?”

 

He could tell he hit something with that question because she faltered in her step.

 

He felt a kiss on top of his head and he was lifted up higher onto her elbow so she could look him in the eyes “Well… before we got the hang of what was and was not safe … a few people, bigs and littles … made it through as a pile of … goop.”

 

John just stared at her. A mental image of a person turning into goo cursed his vivid imagination.

 

“Sweety?”

 

John shuddered as he felt acid coming up his throat. Apparently her Mom senses kicked in because she turned and sprinted a few steps. As she got him aimed at a trash can his oatmeal came up.

 

He could barely even hear the comment “Thank the Goddess that they have trash cans by the cart stalls.”

 

After a moment he spit a few times and felt himself upright and being lowered into the seat of a shopping cart. Amanda put the diaper bag in the cart behind him and then wiped his face with a baby wipe.

 

She offered him a sippy cup and said “Here, swish some water around in your mouth and spit it into the trash can.”

 

So as he took a pull of water from the sippy cup and swished it around in his mouth, she rolled the cart right up to the trash can for him.

 

She got the cart aimed at the store and all he could see was their car parked conveniently next to the cart stall.

 

Amanda came around in front of him and leaned down, both of her eyebrows raised and asked gently

 

“Do you want to talk about … that?”

 

John simply shook his head and said “Never.”

[Kat5]

10 hours ago, erik_hamburg said:

Hi @Kat5,

I was wondering if you can give an update on when to expect the next part... don't want to push, I am just curious. 

Thanks

I had actually managed to get this almost done last night. I've been poking away at it as my vision allows me to read. All I really had to do was edit it.

Thank you again for checking in!

[SGTbaby]

Yeah Update!! Love the explanations and references of Baloo and Fozzy. I laughed along with the Littles. Very cute. I am curious as to how the interactions with other Bigs go. Great Job!!

[CDfm]

I was really pleased to see you are feeling well enough to be able to write some.  It was truly an awesome chapter full of love and laughter. As happy as I was to see the new chapter, I am also concerned that you are not resting enough to fully recover. I will always be happy to see another chapter but I would much rather wait and know you are getting better first.