A Small Break From Teaching: A Diaper Dimension Story (Epilogue - Complete)

[Guilend]

I'm not going to lie, I've been thinking about this story all day. Especially this last chapter. So far it's my favorite. I'm so excited to see what happens next. I really like how you handled Emma and the regression. I also had a feeling she knew her stuffy was "alive" even if she's pretty sure it's because she thinks she's crazy lol

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Yay! We’re now over halfway through this story. There’s a lot more to tell and while some of it will just be going over some of the events I already mentioned in my previous story, I promise there’s going to be lots of twists and turns in store.  

Went to a Littles party yesterday actually and while that was pretty fun, there was just no way I could edit another chapter in time to be put out before my busy day today. Tomorrow is another busy day unfortunately, and while I will try all that I can to get another chapter out, I might not be able to post again until Monday.

Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known.

As usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 9: A Healing Fieldtrip

Memory can be a fickle thing in one’s life, especially if one suddenly found themselves in the midst of a post-regression and post-locked-in state like I had. On one hand, I was remembering so many things, but I also found that with every pro I found, a con was sure to follow.

Remembering that I’m Emma, and it wasn’t just a term to refer to me as, such as ‘girl,’ ‘Little,’ or any other name, was a positive. Feeling like I was called something else at one point and still not remembering it though, not so much. Remembering all the good times with my friends and Nancy felt so wonderful. Remembering how far I had fallen or the new maternal bond that Nancy now insisted we share however, likewise came with a lot of negatives as well.

While her temper had improved tremendously, I felt a fear regarding Nancy’s new personality. At first, I thought she would be thrilled as I began to progress in my maturity, but each time I did, I felt a little cloud of maternal yet potent anger hover over her. Even if it was something as simple as crawling across my nursery’s floor one day, I felt like I was in the wrong. In no time at all, I found myself afraid that at any moment, she would snap and try to get me back to where I was as practically a newborn… by any means necessary.

Still, while I was at daycare, which soon almost oddly became my sanctuary away from most of my drama back home, I was reunited with both my magical stuffy and my friends. And, if that wasn’t enough, I was progressing much faster here than anyone else had anticipated. I was still in the Burrows room and probably would be for another three months at this rate, but I could tell that I was quickly being retrained in order to go back to the Meadows room one day. While before it felt like a prison, now however, I felt it was a lofty goal for me to strive towards.

“Come on, Emma!” Miss Tully cheered from the end of my crib in the Burrows room. “Crawl just a little more for me. Come on, sweetie!”

Her encouragement flowed through me, but I felt something else surging in my body lately. It always seemed to be around my magical stuffy, so I figured it was just him working his little powers on me again. I wanted to question it all a little more, but not wanting to deny my little extra help, I had just accepted his seeming magic more and more, regardless of if I wanted to or not.  

At first, that lack of control sometimes scared me, but I quickly realized it was pushing me the exact amount I needed to be to get to the next step. So, for today as an example, on what was probably the fifth time I was struggling to make it across the crib, I just wanted to stop. Miss Tully freely encouraged me with all her might, but I was dead tired. I could use a nap for sure, and if post-lunch patterns were anything to be believed, a diaper change as well.

Still, I tried to move on with all my might, but it didn’t seem to be enough anymore today. Right then though, I heard something float through my head like it had happened on the first day I reawakened. ‘Come on, Emma… come on… just a few crawls more…’ It was strange and almost ethereal with how little it came through, but it was still there. Moreover, I suddenly felt a willfulness in my limbs that almost seemed beyond me.

Now, relearning everything that I had once known, that sensation was just kind of strangely common these days, but today, each of my near useless legs began to shuffle back towards Miss Tully. Thinking it was likely just me, Miss Tully cheered me on. “Thatta girl, Emma! Come on! Come to me. That’s it, baby!” Her encouragement felt babyish, but undoubtedly nice.

Halfway through, I almost gave up again as my body began to falter for a second time, but once again, another voice floated through my head. ‘Come on, Emma… you can make it!’ It was the last push I needed to get through the final stretch. With almost a burst of energy, my limbs sped, or at least sped up, all the way to the other side of the crib.

Miss Tully immediately beamed down at me and gave me a huge smile. “There you go, Emma!” She then picked me up and started bouncing me around. Considering my previous confinement to my crib, these new sensations that I was just freshly remembering again were nearly pure bliss. It was almost unbelievable to go from being essentially just a lump in a crib to being praised for crawling across the very same object.

And things like that just started happening more and more to me. It was a grueling process, but not long after, despite a few setbacks every time I left the daycare and nursed from Nancy still, I had already gained the ability to walk when I could at least hold onto something or someone. Fortunately for me, it was just in time to go to on the field trip to the zoo.

Nancy had protested that I wasn’t ready yet, but surprisingly, several of the staff members stood up for me, even going as far as to say that ‘it would help my overall progress.’ Nancy didn’t like that at all, but she begrudgingly accepted, which is why I now found myself being pushed in a stroller by Miss Tully. Despite being able to walk long distances now, like would be required at a zoo, something like a stroller was still unfortunately required. To help my self-image and acceptance of it though, I just imagined myself being carted around like I would if I was a queen of some kind.

“Lookie, Emma!” Miss Tully shouted out, pointing over to a large bear. “Isn’t he just amazing?” I could only stare back at the bear for a moment in terror.

He was at least triple my size and my head could have easily fit inside his tremendous mouth. I didn’t even see his claws full length but considering that just one of them seemed like a butcher knife ready to come for me, I just wanted to keep my distance. Likely sensing my apprehension, Miss Tully moved on and found several other animals I was interested in.

Now, despite the details of my life still being fuzzy from before Nancy and Mrs. Tatum’s foster home, I very well knew that I was from a different place than here and hadn’t ever encountered some of the even just common animals to this place. What they saw as the average equivalent of a giraffe, to me, may have been a long dead or just a myth. So, it was no mistake that I was more fascinated with something like a woolly mammoth than a pond of flamingos, despite their double size here.

It seemed pretty boring honestly, but when it thundered out its cry and shook the building, I was instantly hooked. Miss Tully, being who she was, noticed. “Aww! Do you like the woolly mammoth, sweetie?”

Still unable to articulate more than a few syllables, I took some comfort that I could now speak in full sentences. If someone could understand them was another matter though, so in this case and not wanting to put up with the complex translation process, I just enthusiastically nodded.

Fortunately for me, Miss Tully had been taking a special interest in me and was doting her personal attention sole on me today. So, having a free moment and seeing an opportunity for me to interact with the great beast, she quickly rolled me over to the line waiting nearby.

It was a bit tedious and I kinda got bored at one point and began to fuss a bit, but finally, it was our turn. So, to better enjoy the experience, Miss Tully unbuckled me and held me in her arms. “Look, Emma. The mammoth is trying to say hello.”

Right in front of us and to my utter amusement, I saw the mammoth approach us and wave its long trunk around. It let out another blast, and while several other Littles seemed terrified being so close now, I just giggled and reached out to touch it. It was an annoying habit I still retained from being nearly completely regressed to feel out the world around me, but today, it actually paid off.

“Does she want to feed the mammoth, ma’am?” the zookeeper asked us from nearby.

Miss Tully looked down at me and seeing my opportunity to interact with something so unique, I once again enthusiastically nodded my head. Both Bigs chuckled and Miss Tully nodded her head to continue with the mammoth interaction. “Yes, thank you. That would be very nice for Emma here.”

“Emma… what a pretty name… no doubt short for Emily, huh?” the zookeeper said normally, but also with a strange note that somehow, she was more than a zookeeper. Miss Tully didn’t seem to notice, but as a keen outside observer now from my still static and somewhat regressed mentality, I had started to notice a lot of things. Fortunately, now, I could actually remember what had happened when I did see something. ‘If only I could remember the same with Mrs. Gillies and Nurse Bee…’ It felt important to remember whatever I saw individually between the two of them, but for now, the zookeeper only smiled back and handed Miss Tully a small bag of peanuts.

“Okay, Emma. Let’s try this together first.” I nodded, and smiling, Miss Tully emptied a few peanuts into her palm and used her other hand to guide mine underneath hers up to the tips of the mammoth’s trunk. To my delight, seconds later, each of the peanuts was plucked out. Not being able to help myself and finding everything so amusing now, I giggled loudly.

“I guess someone liked that, huh?” Miss Tully asked as she nuzzled with me for a moment.

Not being able to contain myself anymore, and not even caring that one syllable versus another to Miss Tully would just sound the same, I didn’t care. I still wanted to be heard. “Dah!”

Smiling and guiding my hand up once more with some peanuts, I just giggled in happiness as this time, my hand was on top. And again, the mammoth used its trunk and plucked each of the peanuts away. To be honest, it kinda tickled.

Satisfied over a successful time seeing the mammoth and other animals of that enclosure of the zoo, Miss Tully used my smiles and limited input to next choose the birdhouse to visit. “Hee!” I shouted out next, hoping to go to one place in particular. As we walked there, we would occasionally see another cluster or two of Littles from the daycare, but today was specifically Littles Day, so everything was extremely crowded as we meandered through the various spaces.

To my enjoyment, I even saw Anna and Lilly here today. I waved to both, and while I could still see their sadness and hesitancy over my present condition, I could also see a spark of joy as well. Being told that your friend may never regain their maturity must have been a bitter pill to swallow, even in this society, so seeing me slowly getting better I had to imagine was a big relief.

Getting to the birdhouse, I marveled at the immaculate steel and glass structure all around us practically sparkling in the sunlight. It very much looked like one of the old birdcages from the outside, letting plenty of light in on the inside. Dozens of species of birds flocked around and above our heads as electronic barriers kept all the birds inside as extra safety precaution. It was one of the crown jewels of the zoo, which also meant that today, it was very crowded inside.

Miss Tully wheeled me through the enclosure, and we saw birds from all over the world. To the east were birds from Asia, the north side had those from Europa, and the west and south sides had a mix of species all over elsewhere ranging from Australia to Metzlum.

In each exhibit of the birdhouse, Miss Tully and I saw each of the birds in wonderment, but for me, it wasn’t enough. I was still strapped in my stroller, and I had been getting antsy for a while now. It might have been my diaper riding up or just the straps being too tight, but I wanted out.

Miss Tully tried to convince me otherwise and get me to calm down, but she knew a losing battle when she saw one. Quickly being unbuckled, I practically sprang to the near invisible wall in front of me, separating the visitors from most of the birds. I felt I could almost just reach out and touch one of them, but my hand soundly colliding with the barrier was about as close as I got.

Unfortunately for Miss Tully’s soon-to-be frayed nerves, a whole mass of other daycare Littles had just arrived at the group and were quickly crowding me. Now, I wasn’t exactly a slouch anymore as far as my physical abilities were concerned, but it didn’t take long for me to give way and slowly be edged away. Not being too tall either, she didn’t see me, and being too distracted by the wonderous birds, I didn’t even realize I was slowly getting pushed away from her.

I thought I heard some woman yelling as I moved onto the next enclosure, but it didn’t take long for me to get distracted and see a dodo bird standing right in front of me. He was so goofy looking, and I wanted to touch him. I knew it was impossible on one level, but my still regressed instincts remained a powerful force in my body. Getting a little too close though, the dodo bird flapped away. “Bih!” I cried out before following the fascinating creature. Soon, I was in a part of the birdhouse that didn’t seem to be very popular.

The birds were more ordinary and could be even found locally in some cases, so most groups avoided the area unless they were trying to be alone on purpose or were here on a school field trip and needed to complete their mandatory scavenger hunt. I just wanted to see the dodo bird up close coming in here, but soon, something else caught my easily distracted eye.

I wasn’t sure of what it was at first, but my eyes were quickly drawn to the shiny nature of the object on the ground. I tried to will every ounce of my body away from the red shiny spot in front of me, but with my regressed instincts and still partially uncontrollable body, I dashed to it as fast as I could.

In retrospect, I probably looked like a cat jumping over a laser on the ground, and part of me wanted to groan over my perceived immaturity with something as simple as an object being shiny, but my movements just powered forward. “Shi! Shi!” It wasn’t long before it darted just out of my reach, so, now hooked, I chased after it. “Shi! Shi! Doh go! Nu! Co ba hee!”

With my waddled stance, I ran as best I could after the ever-moving dot. A few corridors, down some stairs, and even through a pair of doors. I had no idea where I was, but the shiny dot soon stopped in the middle of the room. Determined to catch my prey, I leaped over on top of it. ‘I got you now!’ But when I uncapped my clasped hands, instead of seeing my prize in all its glory, nothing was there.

Frustrated, I could feel a few tears begin to mist my eyes. In desperation, I looked around, but the shiny spot was gone, and I realized two things with a growing sense of terror. First, I had no idea where I was, now seeing that the bright lights of the birdcage were completely replaced by concrete walls and dim lighting. Second, I started to hear noises all around me.

I tried to scamper to the door I thought I had come through, but in seconds, the room was filled by at least five people. I feared the worst and that I was now about to be kidnapped by Bigs and sold into Little’s slavery, as had become horrifyingly popular again, but as my scared eyes opened a crack when I wasn’t immediately seized, I saw they were almost all my size.

“Easy, easy, sweetie…” the one a little bit out front of the others said as she held her arms up as if she was surrendering to me. “We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to help…”

I only could stare back at her, namely her clothing. Tactical gear adorned most of her body and there were some painted shapes on her shoulders I didn’t recognize, but thinking back, they quickly reminded me of what Sarge often looked when Jimmy outfitted him for one of his mock wars in daycare with the other stuffy’s. “Sodoah?” I asked inquisitively.

The other members of the group looked at each other questioningly, but the leader came closer to me and stared deeply into my eyes. “I don’t think you’re asking for a soda, and while my friends here think you’re a lost cause, I don’t think you are.” She squinted her eyes back at me as if she was trying to read my mind. It made me a little scared to be honest. “Hmmm… let’s do this. I ask a few questions and you just nod back. So, first, can you understand me?”

I wasn’t sure if this was a trick and the guns a few of them carried definitely frightened me, but the leader just seemed to have kind eyes. I wanted to know more about her and who she was, but not seeing the harm in indulging her question, I nodded.

Her face quickly lit up. “Perfect. Now, is your name… Emma?” I nodded. “Good. Is your caregiver, mommy, mistress, nanny, babysitter, or foster caretaker named Nancy?” I wasn’t sure about some of those labels, but I recognized a few as belonging to Nancy, so again, I nodded.

She grinned back at her friends. “Three affirmations. Is that good enough for you, Martinez?”

One of the shorter ones in the back of the group sighed and then rolled their eyes. “Yeah, Bree. It’s enough. Just get it over with so we can get out of here. Netsky is already getting back chatter of a missing Little. This area’s going to be swarming soon.”

The leader, Bree, nodded her head and smiled back at me for a moment, before looking extremely serious. “Sorry, Emma. This isn’t personal. We just need you back in play.”

I started to question what was happening, but two of the group soon lunged and gripped me tightly by the arms. I felt a sudden warmth in the front of my diaper, but I was far more focused on what my eyes were now seeing as a giant needle headed straight for me. “Way! Way! Nu!”

I tried to struggle as much as I could, but I was still no match for any of those now holding onto me. I did everything in my power to resist, but the other member of the group walked right up to me and stuck my exposed upper arm with the shot without an ounce of hesitation.

It hurt something awful, and I probably would have screamed out in terror, but the members were well prepared and quickly plugged my mouth with a massive pacifier. Scared out of my mind, I saw as Bree walked closer to me and forced me to look directly at her. Oddly though, her gesture was soft and tender… not angry or brutal as I might expect in these situations. I was so confused what was happening.

Bree then sighed. “I’m very sorry. I know that probably hurt a lot, but since I know you can understand me, I’ll just start talking while it takes effect. As you heard, we don’t have much time left together.” She closed her eyes for a moment and then pulled out a photo of Nancy and showed it to me.

“This is Nancy, right?” I quickly nodded, but I also started to feel a funny feeling up in my head. Oddly enough, it almost felt… more awake, but the feeling was intermittent, and I really couldn’t tell if there was a pattern to it or not.

Bree sighed again and pocketed the photo. “We normally don’t intervene in your types of situations. We wish we could, but we would never accomplish any of our other goals with everyone needing help. Helcats can focus on that portion of Littles.” She then paused and gestured to her friends. “See, we extract or awaken Littles like you to gather information or force actions into play that are beneficial to us in the long run. For you, we need to see what Nancy does with how you are… or at least will be. We believe she is connected with a dangerous figure high up in the pro-big movement.”

I tired to rack my brain about who it could be, but I was still coming up blank, even as they removed my pacifier. “Soeee… No can hewp you…” I wanted to say more, but I then realized I actually could say more.

The others in the group giggled over my reaction as my arms were set free. Bree smiled back. “Yeah. That’s the drugs working alright. Say you hit your head or something like that when you’re asked later about your ‘miraculous’ recovery, and they should just accept it. It’s the sad positive and negative with them using new experimental super drugs on us Littles. Outcomes can always vary.”

My mind wheeled about with what had all just happened, and while my body still felt very much the same, portions of my brain I thought were long dormant, almost seemed to start waking up. My memory sadly was still massively full of holes, but it was a huge relief to feel more or less like… well, me.   

Still, even with all my relief, I still had one pressing question. “Who aww you?”

Bree smiled and helped me back to my feet fully. “I’m Bree, or Briana, but we’re Omega Force. Part of the pro-Littles movement. We want to help bring about…”

But right before she could say another word, a loud beeping noise could be heard. “Boss!” the one they had referred to Netsky called out. “Incoming! Suggest extraction in t-minus two!”

Bree quickly looked panicked. “Shoot! Faster than I thought.” She looked back to arm and sighed. “At least we got you pumped up, but now, follow us and we’ll get you topside without getting you into trouble.”

I was still so confused, but not really seeing an alternative and feeling they knew a lot more than they were letting on, I readily followed them out, and sure enough, I was soon bathed in the relatively still abandoned upper halls of the birdhouse. “Dank you…” I said back.

Bree smiled. “You’re very welcome, Emma. Just stay safe but go. Rejoin Miss Tully.” We both waved goodbye at each other, and I went to find Miss Tully once their team was fully out of sight. It didn’t take long before I saw the panic my absence had caused.

Security guards were scrambling all over the place and Mrs. Gillies had even arrived on the scene and seemed to really be yelling at Miss Tully. I instantly felt guilty over having wandered off before, but part of me felt everything was justified on my end at least as my brain had never felt better. So, knowing I just had to get this out of the way, I ran over to Miss Tully and Mrs. Gillies.

“Miss Tuwwy! “Missus Giwees! I wigh’ hewe!” I shouted out to a clearly panicked duo near some security guards. I expected they would have been positively thrilled to see me again and seeming much better now, but instead, I just saw dozens of confused looks stare right back at me.

The questions that followed seemed never-ending and being a loyal person to the Littles apart of Omega Force that had saved me, I didn’t reveal what really happened. Instead, I just made up some bogus story about falling and bumping my head a bit, just as they had suggested, as I tried to chase the dodo bird. Their hope for a simple explanation was my strength and I was just glad that in my new mental state, I could actually use it. So, satisfied at least for now, everyone got on the bus and left the zoo.

Once we were safely back at daycare, though, I could see the worried expressions from the staff and even a few of my fellow Littles. Littles simply did not just poof and get better. Fortunately, My Tully and Miss Valerie seemed on my side.

“Maybe it had to do with how she was regressed?” Miss Valerie offered up as an explanation.

“What do you mean by that?” Mrs. Gillies questioned suspiciously.

Miss Valerie almost responded, but Miss Tully stopped her first. “It’s okay, Val. I’ve got this. I need to speak my mind anyway.” After a nod from Miss Valerie, Miss Tully turned to Mrs. Gillies. “We all respect your hiring decisions, ma’am, but’ it’s just that… well, we don’t really know what goes into Nurse Bee’s formulas that she uses.”

“Shhh!” Miss Mindy shushed her coworker. “We don’t want everyone hearing about what really goes on here. We’re ‘Little friendly’ but we’re not ‘pro-Little.’ You want to get sued into the ground?”

Miss Tully nodded. “Right. Sorry, but honestly though… we really don’t know anything about what she uses. That’s a problem in and of itself, but maybe there’s a half-life to it or something in certain doses or even whatever formula she used.” Miss Tully then looked around the gathered group and frowned. “Where is the good nurse anyway?”

Mrs. Gillies sighed. “She’s on leave. Some personal matter. You know my policy not to pry into certain things outside of these daycare walls. She’ll be back tomorrow anyways… I suggest we ask her some questions then, okay?” The rest of the staff hesitated but then ultimately nodded at the notion. Somehow, I doubted that if any of them had objected truly that they would have noted so then.

Regardless, Nancy soon picked me up and as soon as Miss Tully whispered something in her ear, I could already see the burning flames nearly erupt out of her head. A silent car drive later and I knew that tonight was going to be a rough one with her. So, I should have known better, but I honestly had to tell Nancy about my day at the zoo. Not the shot part, but definitely all the animal’s part. She may have been going down a dark path, but there was still some part of me that wanted her to know everything about my day.

So, I started up, not even seeing the issue with doing so. “We wen’ to da zoo taday!”

Nancy halted and her face dropped. I wondered if I had said something wrong or if she had finally snapped, but I knew that wasn’t the case when her face turned into a wicked snarl. “You got better… I thought Miss Tully was just trying to get me to crack, but how?” I yelled. “How did you get better?”

Her teeth gritted against themselves, and she quickly thumped over to me and grabbed my arm and looked deeply into my eyes. “This morning… this morning… you were all cooing and babbles. Walking but still a baby… now…” If I didn’t know any better, she almost seemed disgusted with how she saw me now. I was so confused and more than a little scared.

“I’m losing you, damn it! You were mine… all mine! And now…” her emotions seemed to quickly fluctuate between sorrow and anger. I almost felt bad for her, seeing how she had finally accepted her new role only for me to already be getting better by then. It was a small feeling, and to be honest, each time I came home to find her angry over my new ability, that speck of sympathy just grew smaller.

Her face then swung back to anger, and she seemed to get an idea of some kind. “The daycare… it was the daycare, wasn’t it?” I just stood there like a statue, neither wanting to get the daycare or Omega Force into trouble. I was stuck between lies or betrayal no matter what, but a cold, slithering voice soon froze my heart.

“And just what did you expect?” a somewhat familiar voice asked rhetorically from the kitchen. “That’s just what and who they are.” To my dreaded surprise, Nurse Bee then exited and glared down at me. “They just want Littles like Emma here to take over this country. Pro-Littles the lot of them! Just you wait.”

“So, what do I do?” Nancy questioningly wailed. I could feel the pain behind her words, but these two getting together suddenly started clicking within my head. ‘Maybe Omega force is here because of their relationship… but why? What could be so important about Nurse Bee?’ I was still puzzled over the notional conspiracy theory, but Nurse Bee quickly interrupted my thoughts.

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Nurse Bee said definitively. “We’re going to strike back. They hit us, we hit them. Check all the corners of that place for anti-regression devices. Insist on it. After all, they can’t deny you forever.”

Nancy seemed hesitant though. “I don’t know… isn’t that crossing a line though?”

Nurse Bee glared back. “Don’t you want your baby Little back. Don’t you want your sweet tiny Emma back in your arms like she only was a week ago?” Nancy seemed to hesitate, but Nurse Bee just doubled down. “Look at her, Nancy. She’s already this mature in such a short period. What is she going to be like in a week? A month? Is she even going to need you anymore?”

Nancy’s brain obviously was on overload, but with each passing second, her face only grew angrier. Nurse Bee was getting through to her and I knew it wouldn’t be long before her frustrations were taken out on me. “What do we do?” she asked coldly.

Nurse Bee smiled back. “There are several things we can do. I’ll do some checking with stock and get you what you need or what I can get on short notice.” She paused and looked back at me briefly before switching back to Nancy. “So, now do you believe me about the daycare being part of the pro-Littles movement around here?”

Nancy seemed to think again for a moment, but then just nodded. “I do. I can’t believe I was so stupid, but yes, I do believe.”

I had never seen Nurse Bee so happy in my life. “Perfect.” The two then got a whole lot closer to me and looked in my direction with looks of anger, desire, and power dancing in their eyes. “For tonight though, nurse her. Force her if needed but nurse her. For now, it’s something and can tip the scales in your favor over time if they decide to get dirty in all this.”

I wished and hoped like I never had before that Nancy would somehow break off this notion and just take care of me in the ways I still needed. I wanted her to be my caregiver more than anything else by now, but Nurse Bee had knotted her up all good and proper by now. So, without the slightest hesitation, Nancy nodded and grabbed me into her lap.

I tried to struggle, but both Bigs just held me firm in her lap. Unfortunately, due to my still-present regressed instincts, as soon as Nancy was adjusted and unhooked her nursing bra, my body essentially went onto autopilot. As my lips wrapped around her engorged and somewhat leaking nipple, I could already feel my body giving in. Worse, it didn’t take long for my sucking reflex to soon kick in as well.

I tried to fight, struggle, even bite back, back her milk had done its damage to me already. While incontinence, slower thinking, sleepiness, and a slight buzzing feeling were usual side effects, another was its addictive properties. Within seconds, like an addict returning for their high, I took in the milk with greedy abandonment. Soon, my eyes closed.

I wondered about Omega Force, and I worried about my future. Plus, Nurse Bee was here and was clearly a bad influence on Nancy. I was powerless to stop any of it though, and as my belly filled with the milkshake-like milk, despite everything, I could only drift off in peace as the effects fully took ahold of me.

[Guilend]

At least that explains how she got better so quickly. And why Nancy turned to the dark side. Nurse Bee is a B. I have a feeling Miss Tully is going to be punished, probably harshly for losing Emma at the zoo. Probably have a hard time sitting for a few days or weeks depending on if she gets spanked on more then one day. Hopefully she'll have some padding to help with the pain.

And yes, I was so bored at work I was refreshing this page every few minutes since 1am my time lol

[Kat5]

Oh no! I really liked Nancy! Bad Nancy!

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Getting into the thick of the plot now, I hope everyone is ready for what is coming. I plotted a few of the next chapters out a little more thoroughly yesterday instead of editing this one, so apologies for not getting another chapter up, but I think some of the outcomes will be well worth it in the end.

Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known.

As usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 10: Seeing Loss Everywhere

Times had only grown tougher being around Nancy recently. I tried to make her happy, going as far as to start drawing her dozens of pictures while my magical stuffy, I dubbed Patch, kept me safe in daycare. It was frustrating to go there and then realize that I had lost something after nursing from Nancy, but at home, things were only worse. At daycare, progression was at least the name of the game, but at home, me being more of a Little was the true goal, Nurse Bee only encouraging Nancy the whole time.

The two had become nearly inseparable recently and both seemed to delight in figuring out new ways I had broken some arbitrary rule in which they could punish me and attempt to regress me back. Spankings, timeouts, and loss of privileges all were inflicted on me as punishments to try and tweak their formula like a bunch of sadistic scientists torturing a lab rat. While they were effective on one level and I occasionally retreated into myself and didn’t act as mature as I could, I still burned inside to break free of my former prison that was my body. It wasn’t much, but it kept me going.  

While I continued that struggle at home, daycare had become much more of a minefield lately as far as the staff were concerned at least. Mrs. Gillies seemed frustrated and perplexed about my whole situation while Miss Valerie and Miss Tully were amongst the chief instigators into Nurse Bee’s activities here. Nothing violent or sinister had happened so far, and I hoped it never would, but I just wondered how long it was until I was proven wrong. To me, it seemed more like a certainty rather than a maybe at this point if nothing happened to prevent it.

To my shock though, one day after work, Nancy had just brought me home and was starting to work on dinner for the two of us. Pleasant smells wafted to my nose, and I was just glad to be smelling something other than baby powder or other less kindly smells these days. No doubt, knowing Nancy lately, my food would be spiked with something to make me feel even more babyish, such as laxatives or numbing agents, but I still felt content in the smells for now at least.

Suddenly, though, there was a knock at the door, soon followed by a heavy pounding. It scared me a bit and I backed up behind a couch in fear of who was there.

Nancy, seemingly just as nervous as I was, approached the door carefully and then slowly opened it. On the other side was a clearly panicked Nurse Bee. “Oh? Bee? What are you doing here so late? Did I forget to write something down on my schedule between us or…?”

“No,” Nurse Bee responded quickly. “I came over here on my own, but let me in. We need to talk.” Even I could tell the seriousness behind her voice, and so it was no surprise that Nancy let her in.

After a moment of Nurse Bee sitting on our couch and Nancy retrieving her a steaming cup of tea, Nancy sat down opposite of her, clearly itching to ask some questions. “I know you have questions, Nancy… Just ask them…”

Nancy sighed and, trying to stay out of both their ways and strictly wanting to stay neutral in all this, I came out from behind the couch and just continued to mess around with a simple Princess Poppy doll that Nancy and Nurse Bee had selected out for me. I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, due to what they were trying to get it to represent in my life, but the fangirl in me with the show still appreciated her in my life. Patch, being owned by the daycare and not strictly mine, had to stay there. My own Princess Poppy served as a nice substitute in his absence at home.

“Well, what ‘s going on?” Nancy finally asked. “You obviously seem stressed about something, so just talk to me. Maybe I can help? I’m pretty good at advice and…”

Nurse Bee shook her head strongly. “No, no. It isn’t that, Nancy. It’s just that… well, I think I could be in trouble here. There’s a lot going on, but there’s something more pressing tonight as well…” Nancy raised an eyebrow to get her friend to continue with what was happening. “I quit my job tonight, Nancy…”

There was an eerie silence and I had to clutch onto Princess Poppy extra tight to keep from dropping her in shock. I thought I was done for and doomed in the daycare with the dynamic and loathsome duo of the new Nancy and Nurse Bee. Now, I felt there was hope. Small, perhaps, but still there at least.

“What?” Nancy exclaimed, clearly panicking and just as shocked as I was. “What do you mean you quit? Can you even quit that place? I thought you were just interning there or something?”

Nurse Bee nodded. “That’s right. I was, but I was also biding my time until something new came up.” She paused and still seemed flustered tonight. “That all changed this morning.”

“Oh?” Nancy seemed both happy for her friend and curious about what she was referring to.

Nurse Bee nodded. “I really can’t tell you much, but I came up with a special kind of cream. It’s a little… wicked maybe, but I just submitted it to Juventas to test out with a new position in their company that just opened there. Well, and this morning, I just got the call they want me.”

I could see the saddened look on Nancy’s face, but it soon turned to at least one of happiness for her friend. “I’m so happy for you, Bee. I really am.”

Nurse Bee smiled back. “I’m glad to hear you say that. I think someone might be watching me, but I’m just not sure.” I quickly thought back to Omega Force. “Plus, with all the heat I’ve been getting from Mrs. Gillies and the other staff members after Emma’s incident and then her sudden rebound, I felt that I couldn’t stay there for much longer anyways…”

Nancy’s smile persisted, but the rest of her face soon morphed back into one of subtle disappointment. Nurse Bee saw and rubbed her friends back. “It’s going to be okay though for you two. I know you probably think I’m abandoning you right when you need me most with Emma but let me get something from my car and I’ll be right back. I think it’s going to help you a lot.”

In her own little sad state tonight, Nancy nodded and let Nurse Bee leave the house to get something from her car. Nancy paced back and forth anxiously for a while, but finally, we both heard the locking of her car from the outside before Nurse Bee walked back in… but she wasn’t empty handed.

“What’s that?” Nancy immediately questioned, looking right at the large crate now in her friend’s hands. It seemed old fashioned, almost handmade even, but I saw a few letters on the side.

I had recently discovered my ability to at least identify letters again. Spelling them out was next to impossible beyond some of the more basic, like dog or cat, but I was still making progress. The word on the side though, was anything but simple. So, I decided to spell it out first and then maybe just try and figure it out later. ‘T-A-N-A-S-S-U-M.’

Nurse Bee smiled and set the box down in front of Nancy. “Well, I won’t tell you everything, but when you open it up, it’s got a few surprise bits that should help continue the progress we’ve already made together.” Nancy still seemed crestfallen, and likely seeing it, Nurse Bee sighed.

“Look, I’m very sorry, Nancy. I just think things are going to get massively complicated around here very soon if I continue to stay. In fact, my presence might actually hurt you if I’m even remotely correct, so I need to leave for your safety and well-being at minimum,” she explained. “Can you understand that at least?”

Nancy still seemed sad over her friend’s departure but still nodded. “It’s tough, but I get that. You’re just trying to protect me…” Nurse Bee nodded back and the two reached and hugged each other. I was still surprised over how quickly they had become friends, but there was a little part of me that still secretly suspected that they were friends for more than just their connection over me.

After a moment though, the two disconnected and Nancy wiped a tear away. “I guess this is goodbye then.”

Nurse Bee seemed regretful over that notion, but still nodded her head. “It is. At this point, I have to go soon to make it to Losantiville to start work at Juventas immediately, but I’ll be okay.”

Nancy seemed happy over that part at least. “Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?”

Nurse Bee almost didn’t seem hopeful, but ultimately smiled and placed her hand reassuringly on Nancy’s shoulder. “Of course we will, Nancy. Remember our pact?” Nancy quickly nodded. “Good. If you promise to hold on to that and stay strong, I will too. Got it?”

Nancy smiled and then clasped hands, and both shook on their renewed promise together, whatever that was. “Got it. Good luck, Bee.”

Nurse Bee gave Nancy one more hug and headed for the door. “You do the same, Nancy. Just remember though, if you ever get in a bind, you can always get ahold of me. If our contingency plan ever comes to it, I know one of the scenarios is a little scary, but we’ll always be there for each other. Just remember that…” her eyes darted to the crate on the couch still. “But also, just remember to open that crate if you ever feel the need. It should be enough for what you really want.”

The two hugged it out one more time and Nancy even left the house for a moment to see her off personally. Soon though, I could hear the revving of a car engine outside. Not long after, a still saddened Nancy walked back in and first looked at me and then at the crate. “I guess I better just store this upstairs, huh?”

And so, things went uneventfully for the most part at least for a while after that. Nurse Bee still wasn’t replaced in daycare, but Mrs. Gillies just got a local nurse to come out and assist when needed beyond the basic first aid that every staff member was apparently required to know to work there. Still, despite that single shuffle up, things remained mostly the same in my life… including the ‘Tanassum’ box.

It lay in my room where Nancy had placed it that first night and while I would occasionally see her stare at it longingly, she never opened it up to see what was inside. Like some sleeping demon waiting at the foot of my bed, it waited. I even had a few nightmares about it, but I just pushed through and hoped things would finally somewhat settle back to normal.  

Unfortunately for Nancy’s new stance about me, without Nurse Bee pushing her on, her efforts to keep me mentally younger were met with another force at daycare that saw me achieve tremendous strides. Now, I was even running on occasion and finding interest and the ability to actually have fun with some of my old activities there. My colorings after class became more articulate and colorful and I was nearly even able to read, hence why I could read the word ‘Tanassum’ now. If it wasn’t for Nancy’s surely attitude when I came home most nights, I would have almost been happy with my current lot in life. Not perfect, mind you, but certainly better than it had been when Nurse Bee was around.  

So, things kind of just bubbled along in my life, but all that came crashing down one day when Nancy and I decided to visit the park one Saturday afternoon. The gorgeous summer weather was in full bloom, and though I was seemingly always thirsty, and my diaper was a royal squelching pain half the time in the humid heat, I did enjoy the sunshine and the warmth it provided on my skin.

Today, I was visiting with my friends from the daycare while playing in one of the larger sandboxes here near to the playground and open grassy fields. While I was mulling about in my denim skirtalls, complete with a large sunflower on the front of them, Nancy was nearby and occasionally looked up from her book right at me. Her transformation into a new Big woman was nothing short of terrifying and concerning for my future well-being.

Now, while I think dressing nicely is wonderful, it didn’t take a genius around here to understand that there are a few types of maternal caregivers around her based on how one looked. There were male ones as well, but I guess after some virus or something like that, they were few and far between, especially on a single level. Regardless, while back on Earth clothing could symbolize anything, here for the carers, one’s clothing almost became a uniform of sorts to denote what type of carer you were.

For Nancy, she used to fit into more of the carer category. Nicely dressed, but also seemingly ready to pitch in to help their Little out or play with them whenever. If their makeup smeared or their clothes got dirty for whatever reason, one cleaning cloth later, and they would be back out to do it all over again. Function was typically more important than fashion for them. Now, however, Nancy was now migrating cleanly into the other category… one that tended to sway more towards the pro-Big movement.

See, the more fashionable carers were always more concerned with their looks. While there were some exceptions for this category, Littles seemed more like an accessory than a helpless individual to most of them. Additionally, any perceived flaw in their appearance was always met with scorn, so most became a little more hands-off. In truth, I wouldn’t have even been a little surprised if I suddenly found myself with a nanny one of the days. Seeing Nancy’s tall black heels and tight purple short dress combine with her regally done hair and flawless makeup, she now sadly blended right in with the other more fashionable type of carers.

“Taller, Emma! Taller!” Lilly commanded me, knocking me out of my own thoughts. Now, ever since I had rejoined the Meadows room and my friends, Lilly had taken on the eldest role in the group. It was a little annoying at some points, but her bossiness was nicely coupled with her genuine warmth and protective spirit… unlike someone like Nancy lately.

I rapidly nodded my head and got Anna to help me as well. Since Nurse Bee had left, Anna now seemed like the youngest of the group. It really didn’t matter to either of us, but sometimes I would help her and sometimes she would help me. With sand structures, I usually ended up helping her.

“Dank you, Emma,” she said back cheerily to me as we both poured more sand into our buckets to dump on the already impressive looking tower.

I smiled back. “Youw we’come, Anna…” I said back, marveling over my newly improved speech. Ever since Omega Force, I was bounding forth in so many ways. My speech had vastly improved over the past few days and instead of being jealous, Anna just celebrated with me.

Just as we piled another bucket onto our tower, a ball came hurtling through the air. Someone screamed “Watch out!” but it was too late. The big red rubber ball smacked right into the structure and like some horrific bomb going off, our once pristine and ever-growing castle was soon totaled.

“Hey you!” Lilly shouted back to where the voice of warning and red ball had come from. “Weren’t you ever taught manne…” She immediately stopped though when she turned over to face our assailants but froze in fear.

I was instantly curious and spun around myself. Unfortunately, what I saw was basically the worst type of assaulters for us Littles: Big children.

Now, while Big children and babies were more our size, hence why the Bigs treated us how they did, the Big children were taught from an early age that they were superior to all Littles from the more pro-Big movement type Bigs. It made a certain amount of sense in a terrible, been-here-too-long kind of way, but acceptance like that was just life in this society for any Little. Big children would often, even if they seemed mentally younger than any of us, command and belittle any Littles they came across. Pranks and bullying were common sights from toddler Bigs even to even the most mature of Littles.  

So now, my friends and I could only gawk in terror as a group of the Big children approached us. It didn’t take me long to spot the bulges in each of their pants, clearly marking them as the younger variety of Big children, but I still braced for the assault I knew would soon follow. As a vulnerable Little with an evolving pro-Big support caregiver, I knew I had to be extra cautious around them. Whatever the truth, I felt certain she would always take their side if it came down to it.

“Hey there,” the blonde, a sandy-haired a dimpled Big child said from the front of their group.

“Hey,” was about all even Lilly could muster out. From her eyes, I could see the intense amount of fear even the steadfast and more mature Little had right then.

He smirked back. “Name’s Dillan. Sorry about your castle, but, uh… like, can we have our ball back?”

Lilly now even seemed to be rendered mute, but I could see a spark of kindness in Dillan I often didn’t see in Big children. Feeling on top of the world and eager to get out of the cage I once found myself in, I spoke up instead. “Here ya go!” I then lobbed the ball right over to Dillan’s hands. Despite me being a Little, each of them seemed both impressed and shocked. Dillan was all those things as well, but I could almost see the gears in his head clicking around.

“That was… that was a very impressive shot. You ever play ball before?” he asked plainly with a tiny smirk painted over his lips now.

I felt it all could be a trap for a Little like me. It wouldn’t be the first time by a long shot after all, but I just felt a sense of truth with his plain-spoken words. So, I nodded. “Yep! Back on Eawth, buh… nah wha’ you awl aw pwayin’ I dink…”

Dillan’s group all seemed a little horror-stricken over that notion, but Dillan just kept smiling. “That’s okay. My friends and I picked up pretty quick and we can give you a shot if you want.”

I smiled and quickly arose to join him for a little fun. Lilly had other plans though and yanked me back down and whispered angrily to me. “Just what do you think you’re doin’? Don’t’ you know what’s happenin’ with Big children?”

I nodded. “I do, buh’ come on. He’s offerin’ an’ I’m goin’.” I could see Lilly wanted to hold me back and was genuinely just looking out for me, but I knew she couldn’t stop me today. So, giving her a little smile, I patted her hand and then soon joined in with Dillan and his friends.

Despite my newly reacquired abilities, I was still a Little inside and out. I had the signs all over me, and my speech impediment wasn’t working in my favor. So, it was just inevitable when some of the other Big children on the other team began calling me names. “Hey diaper butt!” Ooh! Did someone go potty yet?” “Baby! Baby!” The names and insults thrown my way weren’t sophisticated and it felt so strange being insulted by a bunch of at least mostly diapered Big children, but that also just made it feel worse.

Still, I persisted and once I scored a few goals in the park that day, those insults either turned into silence or even cheers. It was amazing, but I knew I was tempting fate. Lilly would have been right about all of them normally and I could have found myself in a world of hurt, but I also had something I needed to show myself and experience again. I just wanted to feel normal. The diaper hurt that image a bit, but I still ran and felt the wind go through my hair with delight.

An hour later, diapers were bulging and soaked, and some had even leaked, but our team had gone on to victory. I was praised by everyone on my team, and I was even now known excitedly as their ‘secret weapon.’ I hadn’t felt this good in a long time, but just as we were making plans to meet next Saturday, I saw a smoldering Nancy on the hill nearby and I knew my luck had run out.

Her face was all red and her arms were crossed. I readied myself for the spanking I knew would come tonight, so I just took in the tiny moment of triumph while I still could. I then turned back to Dillan. “Tanks fo’ invitin’ me, Dillan. I gotta go, buh’ it was weally nice.”

Dillan smiled. “You’re very welcome, Emma. Be sure to come back anytime. You’ll always have a place on our team here.” I smiled back at him, and we both waved goodbye to each other. I wore that smile with a badge of honor, even when I rejoined the impatient and clearly furious Nancy.

I wanted to explain everything to her. I was a good girl, and I hadn’t broken any of her recently implemented numerous rules today, so I thought that just maybe, I could wiggle out of this still. “I…”

“Not. Another. Word,” Nancy said plainly but angrily, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists tightly as she did.

I could only gulp and wave goodbye to Anna and Lilly who were being looked at by their own caregivers now as well. The big difference with them and my own current situation though was that they were getting fed snacks and being tickled. Possibly a little humiliating as I could just see them start to get their diapers changed on a park bench side by side after, but knowing what likely awaited me at home, I would have taken humiliation over punishment any day of the week. Both could only wave sorrowfully as I was soon buckled into the car and then as Nancy sped off back home. From my stories in daycare, they knew what awaited me.

Getting inside our house later, Nancy was silent and dropped my diaper bag in front of the entry way once she had slammed it shut. I tried to plead with her one more time. “No,” she said with an authority and finality that I knew by now not to question or protest. “Upstairs. Now.”

Her words were so monotone and cold. There was no sign of feelings or even love. I practically shook the whole time as I trudged into my nursery at the top of the stairs. Further, I even knew to collect the paddle that Nancy had permanently stored in here for a while now. I had named it ‘big sting.’ Nancy thought it was cute, but she now used that name in horrifyingly new ways.

Right as I bent over to collect it from underneath my changing table, I felt an immediate smack to my left thigh. It felt like a thousand tiny bee stings and surprised and a little hurt, I spun around and saw Nancy glaring at me with venom in her eyes. I knew I was screwed, but there was a part of me that burned to know why today. “Why you doin’ dis, Nancy? Why?”

Nancy’s eyes narrowed and I could almost feel the heat of her angry ripple off her and onto my skin. “Why? Why?” I nodded, knowing full well that a response then of any kind was usually better than nothing. “You were hanging out with older kids, Emma. That’s the problem. You’re just a Little and they were Bigs. You could have gotten hurt or even abused by them. I forbid you from ever seeing them again.”

I felt I was already getting the punishment of my life, so I knew what to do by now, but I also wanted to push the envelope just a little bit to try and change her mind about them. Having such a fun day, I didn’t want to accept her ruling over me never seeing them again. “I’m sowwy, Nancy, buh’ dey nah oldah. Dey woe diapuhs… an’ I felt safe… We even won!”

Nancy furiously snatched ‘big sting’ out of my hands and quickly popped me on the butt. It didn’t sting this time, but I also knew that it was more for shock value than anything else. “That’s not the point, Emma. I said they’re too old, so they’re too old. Got that?”

I should have nodded, but even with all my lessons in how to be a good Little, I had started gaining some of my independent streak back. Unfortunately, it picked right then to rear itself. “Buh’ dey was fine! Iss notta big deal. Dey just babies, wigh? How’s dat wong?”

Her fists cracked under her refreshed rage. I was clearly incorrect, and I winced over what I knew was likely coming next. “That’s not the point!” Nancy shot back. She loomed heavily over me and as if to protect myself somehow, I could almost feel my body shrinking as much as possible. “I’m a Big and your caregiver. Whatever I say goes. My word is law, and you will respect that. Do you understand me?”

I did, but I just couldn’t let things go. Some things I could tolerate because I didn’t like them, but I also knew they were for my benefit by now. Car seats, highchairs, my diapers, and so many other things were just necessary for Nancy’s ease or to prevent my embarrassment or keep me safe. They were simple to accept if one moved beyond their pure embarrassing symbology, but today wasn’t.

I didn’t feel in the wrong today. I played with some friends who could have been a disaster for me but turned out just fine in the end… liberating even. Any normal caregiver who cared in the slightest for their charge could have seen that, and I just couldn’t let that type of notion go. “Iss not faiw! You didn’ use to be dis way… sometimes… I wish I jus’ stayed with Mrs. Tatum…” I said glumly.

My words struck true and deep, and I could see them wound Nancy just about as hard as they could. I didn’t want to, but what I said, needed to be said. Nancy was becoming an issue for well-being on multiple levels lately, and I genuinely feared what lay in store for me if I didn’t make a stand at some point.

Unfortunately, with my striking words, Nancy’s resolve only seemed to double after a moment. Her saddened face soon changed and morphed into one of pure anger. I was filled instantly with regret, and I barely had time to register anything other than fear as she launched right toward me and started smacking my rear with all her might with ‘big sting.’

It didn’t take long before I was wailing at the top of my lungs. I was thoroughly protected and due to the mush that I had deposited earlier in the rear of my diaper, Nancy hadn’t removed it yet. Each smack echoed off the walls and if it wasn’t for Nancy’s other hand on my shoulder holding me firmly in place, I would have run or at least been hopping in place in tremendous pain.

Each strike swatted straight and true and I could feel my mess now suddenly splat against my butt. It was horrible, but what made it truly awful was when Nancy would sometimes aim a little lower and hit my thighs instead. Stinging sensations rippled throughout my lower half, and I lost count of how my spanks I received after 30, but that also wasn’t even halfway through today’s punishment.

So, once she stopped, I felt defeated and was a slobbering, blubbering mess. I tried to regain my composure, but each effort just ended in more failure. For her part, Nancy even seemed tired afterward but instead, to my horror, instead of apologizing like she usually did once she was done with my punishment, her eyes scrambled over to the box near my closet. ‘Tanassum’ stood prominently, and my heart sank as I realized that all my worrying was about to become a reality and that whatever was inside was finally going to hit me today.

In seconds, she practically ran over to the crate and ripped off the top before peering inside. “Oh wow… you shouldn’t have, Bee…” Her voice almost seemed full of longing and my curiosity of what was inside was poignant but also didn’t last long.

“Hmmm… the lighthouse…” Nancy said, holding up a blueish-white cylindrical object that looked very much like its namesake. I’m not sure why, but it instantly filled me with both a deep seeded fear and luxurious calm. As she read the label attached and then looked down into the crate, Nancy almost seemed like a kid on their birthday opening all their presents.

Getting a tissue from nearby to at least help with some of my tears, I could only terrifyingly watch as Nancy pulled on a single shot and a tiny vial of some liquid. “Perfect,” she mused looking at the two objects. Frighteningly, she then looked over in my direction and smiled. “Emma, baby. I’ve got something for you… Come here now, or you’ll start tomorrow with a whole series of punishments.”

Obediently, and my rear still dirty and stinging, I quickly ran over to her. In moments, she grabbed my arm and injected me without warning. I winced at the pain I soon felt, but an odd and yet somewhat familiar warmth began to spread through my arm. “There,” Nancy said smiling after a moment. “Looks like Nurse Bee is still helping us after all. Now, you should feel nice and sleepy, Emma. When you wake up, and with any luck, I think things are going to be much different.”

With that, she put the shot back in the crate and hoisted me up and into my crib. “I think someone has earned an early bedtime tonight.” I whimpered, though fading fast, and then pointed to the current state of my diaper. I could have said something, but I knew that would only make things worse for me at this point.

Nancy took my meaning though and grinned wickedly back at me. “Oh that? That’s a You-Ni-Corn diaper, baby cakes. It can take a beating and should last you until tomorrow morning.” Stunned and horrified, but nearly nodding off already, I could only watch as Nancy walked over to my dresser and placed the lighthouse on top. Soon, it emitted an eerie blue glow over the rest of my room. She then went to my door and flipped off the light, further bathing everything in a soft blue hue. If I wasn’t utterly terrified of something from Nurse Bee, I might have been relaxed at that point. “Good night, honey. Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to need the lighthouse tonight, but let’s just see.” And with that, she left my room.

Panicking and wanting to escape more than anything, I felt as the warmth from the shot soon began to flow around my brain. Distressingly, everything started to feel simpler and fuzzier. I had felt this way before, and soon after, I entered the Burrows room. I began to softly cry again as I felt that by tomorrow, Nurse Bee would have played her final trick, and I would be back in the Burrows room once again.

I hated Nancy being right lately, and today, I felt everything was going exactly her way. I was starting to feel like I was in a no-win scenario, especially as a massive wet fart soon exploded from my backside. It was all terrible and all catching up with me. I wanted to have the hope that I had felt so keenly as I played with Dillan and his friends today but all that had suddenly changed tonight. I had ultimately lost today and as my eyes drifted closed, I just wondered if this time would be my final loss as a soft noise began to float throughout my room from the lighthouse. As the world faded slowly around me into black though, my thoughts became simpler, and sadly, my future only bleaker.

[Guilend]

Omg I hate Nurse B. I don't know what's gotten into Nancy. She deserves what's coming to her. She's worse then how she thinks of Littles. She must be showing signs of regression. That's what it is. 

[kerry]

13 hours ago, LostBBoyBear said:

As a vulnerable Big with an evolving pro-Big support caregiver

Shouldn't this be a vulnerable little?

13 hours ago, LostBBoyBear said:

You’re very welcome, Nancy

How did Nancy get into this conversation? 😉

[LostBBoyBear]

1 hour ago, kerry said:

Shouldn't this be a vulnerable little?

How did Nancy get into this conversation? 😉

Oh drats! Thanks for catching those, but I guess that's what I get for editing at three in the morning. 

[AlexTheAlex]

I can't believe I almost missed this story from you! I'm gonna catch up and follow along. It's always a delight when I get notifications that you've uploaded!

[AndTheChips]

👉🏻👈🏻 I-i think I’m too little to read this. Which is actually a really big compliment to you. Because I feel like it’s very real and I feel like I’m in Emma’s head and I just feel so sad that Nancy doesn’t love her and is being so so so cruel. Why doesn’t she love her?! She drew her pretty pictures at daycare even 🥺🥺🥺

[kerry]

I agree with AndTheChips. I have had a very hard time trying to fathom Nancy's character change as well as why Nurse Bee was tolerated at what otherwise appeared to be a generally kind daycare.

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the late posting, but family birthday celebrations and getting sick right after does not make for the best of editing mindsets. For perspective, I wrote the final little bit of this chapter last night, and despite being only about three paragraphs long, it took me almost 40 minutes. Oh well, but the nice thing is that due to a few plans being pushed or cancelled, I should be able to pop out several more chapters in a row. If everything goes how I want it to, this story should be complete by next week sometime.

And for those wondering or just reading about the Diaper Dimension, just to clarify, in the DD, it’s often canon for Bigs to go a little crazy with their Littles once they begin to bond with them. Breastfeeding only speeds this process up, and I know most of my caregivers have been nice to their Littles in past stories, but they are usually the exception to the rule. So, before anyone goes to think that Nancy was replaced with a robot or something like that, she was a good person, but bonding with Emma has brought out her more negative personality. I clarify about a few things in this chapter and the next few, so just keep reading and questions will be answered.

Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known.

As usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 11: Life Can Be Both Terrible and Fun Sometimes

A battle had begun in the one place that was supposed to be safe. After so long fighting with mainly Nurse Bee, she was now gone, and Nancy had resorted to other methods to fill in the gaps of her absence. The ‘Tanassum’ crate had contained enough FOY to last up to a year and my nightly absorption of the lighthouse all took its toll on me. If it wasn’t for my renewed progress at the daycare, I had no doubt that I would have ended up back in the Burrows room once more by now.

So, yes, I was at least grateful that I wasn’t locked-in as I once was, but now, my progress seemed to yo-yo based on the time of day. In the late nights and early mornings, I was losing progress. Concepts became simpler and lessons just learned seemed to vanish in a puff. During the day though, I surged ahead and struggled to relearn and hold onto what I could. It was exhausting, but I knew I just couldn’t give up. Not now after I had been through so much already.

Maybe ten years ago, I probably would have just sunk into the muck of the fate that Nancy now clearly wanted for me. I knew it was her hormones playing havoc with her personality on one level, but that existence didn’t appeal to me whatsoever. So fortunately for me, in recent years with movements like the pro-Little societies cropping up everywhere, more Bigs were becoming amenable to keeping Littles safe. And, while nothing is a guarantee in this society, I felt that Nancy was pushing her luck with how she was treating me. I felt that it was just a matter of time until something happened to change my life, but until then, I just had to endure the cycle.

Being Sunday, the weekend cycle was much worse than those days when I went to daycare. There was no reprieve for me or surge of my faculties. From Friday afternoon to Monday morning, it was all FOY shots, lighthouse trances, and Nancy’s little games with me.

The games had begun when Nurse Bee was around, but Nancy had amped them to a completely different level now. Anything I did was scrutinized and either praised or punished, accumulating or being doled out right on the spot. Sometimes this meant that I could receive a treat or a massive spanking at night, but both boiled down to just how much of a Little I acted like. It didn’t take long for me to try and emulate being the best Little I could around her, whether I liked it or not.

“Morning, baby,” Nancy said deceptively sweetly as she flicked on my nursery lights and came over to me. Her tone was very sweet, it always was in the mornings lately, but I knew by now it was only that way due to her satisfaction that she knew that now would likely be the time I was most regressed for the whole day.

As a result of the lighthouse and some lingering effects from nursing from her the previous night, all I really could manage to say back, was “Na-eee,” in my attempt to call out her name and just proceed with the day.

She knew what I was trying to say, but she wanted to milk my current state for all it was worth. “Oh? I didn’t quite catch that, honey. I think someone’s just a little too little right now to form any big girl words, huh? Oh well! Mommy’s got you, baby. Let mommy fix everything, okay?”

I remained motionless and silent as Nancy soon picked me up and hauled me over to the changing table. Nancy referring to herself as my ‘mommy’ only occurred in private, but it still bugged me. There was a reason she kept that type of name private as technically, she was still only my caregiver based on state law. She hadn’t adopted me, and with some of the new laws, portal Littles couldn’t be immediately adopted anymore. I still had to be under her care for another month at least until something like that occurred. So, until then, she should have just referred to herself as ‘Nancy’ to me.

As I was laid down on the changing table and Nancy began to undo my sleeper from last night to get at my likely heavily soiled diaper, I knew the only exception to the general ‘mommy rule’ was if I referred to her as such, as Nancy referring to herself as my ‘mommy’ was considered a breach of consent. Even in this messed up society, consent was getting to be an important notion for factors like that. So, as such, a regressed Little commenting themselves over the title of their caregiver was just seen as cute.

“Oh my!” Nancy exclaimed as she began to peel back the layer of my onesie to reveal my diaper underneath. “Someone’s got a smelly tushie. Yes they do! Yes they do!” I squirmed in discomfort over the notion of my once again heavily soiled diaper. Our nightly nursing sessions had essentially pulverized any hope I had of ever getting out of diapers again by now, and part of me had even accepted that, but I still hated how Nancy always made sure to emphasize it.

She then patted my butt, and I could just make out the squish down there. “Ooh! Someone made a big old messy for mommy to clean up. I bet you can’t even really feel that though anymore, can you? Can you even smell it anymore?” She grinned and knew full-well that I couldn’t anymore. It didn’t even take long, but when one’s diaper is nearly constantly wet and those types of smells just become your everyday world, one has very little choice but to get used to them. “I’ll take that as a no, huh? Just like a little baby…”

I squirmed in hatred of the woman above me and just willed the time away as she proceeded to change my diaper. It was so strange how I once held her in such esteem, and her hormones causing the change or not, I knew she had crossed a line a long time ago. I doubted that I ever really could forgive her for still trying to turn me back to how I used to be.

Regardless, some quick wipes and Nancy soon popped me over to the bath. I could at least feel my limbs and neurons firing back again, so I wasn’t fearful of drowning like I used to be but being so naked and scrubbed thoroughly by Nancy with my bath, it was still one of my least favorite activities. I think by now I would probably kill someone or eat the vilest of mush in exchange if I could just be able to luxuriate during a bath once more in life. Instead, I was stuck with the rough-scrubbing Nancy who made sure to still comment on my helplessness and babyish lifestyle every chance she could.

Still, the moment was soon over, and after a quick rediapering back in my nursery, Nancy selected out a multi-colored checkered summer dress that barely went down to my knees. Between the high waist and billowing shorter hem of the dress, I knew full well that it would practically be a miracle if I didn’t flash my diapers off at least once today. My only consolation with the outfit though was the frilled straps at the top and the small white sandals she then attached to my feet. Being a Sunday, I knew the park was a guaranteed trip and I knew that I at least wouldn’t be sweating all day.

With a little peck on my forehead, Nancy then picked me up and carried me downstairs to my awaiting highchair for breakfast. Of all her new little habits with me at home, this was actually one I didn’t mind too much. When I was just walking about normally, the stairs were a pain, but doable. Now, with my less than stellar coordination and balance plus the addition of my thick diaper, the stairs were one difficulty that I was just happy to avoid now in my life.  

And that’s I think why all this rubbed me the wrong way. See, my time in this dimension had a severe and profound impact on my life. Whether I wanted it originally or not, I knew that things would never be the same. My attention span had definitely dropped, my reading ability was still subpar, and my potty training… well, there was none. So, I knew I needed help in my life now, but Nancy didn’t want to help me. I mean I guess on one level she did, but she more wanted to control or dominate me now. If she only assisted me in life and occasionally held my hand when I got scared, I would be okay with that type of existence, but scenes like the one at breakfast showed me that she just wanted more power over me.  

“Open wide, baby. Let Mommy feed you your num-nums this morning,” she tempted me as she waved the purple rubbed coated spoon in front of me, now loaded with a heaping of peach and spinach. The peach addition made it bearable, but Nancy’s baby talk to me made this one of the low points in my day.

On the other hand, I knew if I didn’t comply, my bottom would soon find itself red and blistered from even the guaranteed spanking that would follow. Not seeing any other option, I opened my mouth to accept the revolting mush that was my breakfast.  

“Oh, that’s it. Someone wants to be mommy’ best behaved little girl, huh?” She scooped inside the jar again. “Now, open up for mommy again, baby.” I complied with her demands again, and so the routine went. She would command and I would obey. For someone like the new Nancy, this power dynamic seemed to almost thrill her to no end. For me, it was torture, but for her, it was a game. Often, she would even ‘accidentally’ miss my mouth and smear it with the goop or have it land back down on my now ever-present bib.

“All done!” Nancy finally announced as I swallowed the last of the revolting mixture. She then produced a baby wipe and roughly removed the remaining residue over my mouth. “Stop squirming Emma, or should I get Mister Spanky out again?” she asked, her eyes quickly turning fiery, using her name for ‘big sting.’

Not wanting to give her another excuse to punish me, I quickly shook my head and then remained absolutely still. Nancy smiled back wickedly. “That’s a good girl for mommy. Isn’t it just so much easier to do what I say?”

I didn’t say a word, but in my head, I just wanted to fight back with all I had. I wanted to leave Nancy for good by now, but for the life of me, I didn’t know how. So, as a result, any hope of escape or transfer to another caregiver was fading a little more with each passing day.   

My stomach soon wretched as it digested the mush that had been deposited there. Nancy picked me up and plopped me in the baby bouncer she had erected in the family room for me. I could toddle around inside it, but I absolutely hated how my diaper rode up right where I didn’t want it to.

Nancy turned on the TV and then looked back at me. “Okay, baby. You finish this bottle and watch your show while mommy goes and eats and cleans in the kitchen. Just cry if you need anything.” Not expecting a response and likely even hoping that I would cry for her, she left the bottle in front of me and retreated back to the kitchen. I quickly began to down the milky substance before me.

Despite the mixture being presented in a baby bottle, I eagerly took it to wash down all the filth that remained in mouth. The grainy texture and odd combination of the baby food from my breakfast was a lot to take in at once, but the bottle, filled with who knows what, was at least a tiny reprieve. My stomach soon bloated, and I knew that my currently at least relatively clean diaper wouldn’t last much longer.

A short time later, Nancy was finished in the kitchen, and I was done with my bottle. As she prepared for our traditional outing to the park, where Nancy would meet with some of the other strict caregivers she had met since her new persona had emerged, I sat back and watched more of Princess Poppy. Now, I was at least glad I could follow the story plots more than I once did. Before my shot at the zoo, I would only understand about half of it, and my attention would quickly deviate. Lately, it had been one of my few mercies here at home away from Nancy where I could just forget all my troubles, even if only for a moment.

“Okay, baby. Daylight is wasting! Come on!” In seconds, Nancy plucked me out of my bouncer and placed me in my new stroller before heading outside. She had purchased the contraption after I started moving around more. Before, she was often too busy, and I was too immobile to really go outside safely. Now, she wanted to show me off to the other caregivers at the park. Since I got freedom out of it, I never put up a fuss, despite the infantile look that Nancy had heaped upon me within moments.

Arriving at the park, Nancy unstrapped me and let me run about a little bit. I wasn’t exactly sure of her plan today, but as my bowels clenched and I dropped on all fours, that wasn’t the case anymore. Her plan was simple but effective as my diaper soon sagged and ballooned outward as I messed myself helplessly. Sadly, while before I would have whimpered or even cried, I knew I had no control whatsoever now, so dirtying my diapers was just part of my routine now. I just braced for the embarrassment I knew was sure to come.

“Awww, look at that. Babygirl’s makin’ a messy right in her diapie,” Nancy cooed at me as she looked on with a look of absolute glee. She had to clean me up and that was always a nice consolation, but once again, I knew she wouldn’t afford me any dignity in it either as I saw her set the changing mat right on top of the picnic table.

As I finished and Nancy soon retrieved me from the ground, I thought back to all the times I once protested this type of treatment. While I always detested the changing stalls, they at least afforded me some privacy. Being out here in the open, I knew that anyone watching would forever identify me as a helpless baby. I guess to some extent I was now, but privacy was something my at least somewhat adult mind still craved. It was one of the few things that I gained back after the shot from Omega Force that I had not enjoyed.

A flip up of my short dress and the scritching of the tapes on my diapers was my cue to shut my eyes and just block everything out. Nancy would try to take every opportunity to clean me up and humiliate me as much as possible while she changed my diaper. Closing my eyes though got everything done relatively quickly. If they were open however, Nancy was sure to show me my previously loaded diaper and belittle me as nothing but a baby with her evidence prominently displayed before me. I didn’t want to give her that satisfaction.

“Oh! What a big load you deposited!” Nancy exclaimed as she unfolded my diaper down and lifted my legs high to begin the wiping process. Closing my eyes prevented some humiliation, but Nancy’s persistence still shone through more often than I would like. “Such a smelly, smelly little baby I have on my hands. Good thing I got these extra absorbent diapers for you, huh?”

I didn’t respond back, and by now, I knew that Nancy didn’t expect me to either. It was almost a bargain between us of sorts, and it was one I respected to the letter. Less interactions with her meant less ammo she could use on me later if I ever made a mistake or broke one of her numerous rules. Still, her heavy use of creams and baby powders didn’t go unnoticed by me, but I just endured it all as she soon wrapped me back up in a thick diaper and helped me sit up.

I opened my eyes and was just thankful a crowd hadn’t gathered around this week. Last Sunday, I couldn’t say the same, but from the group of Bigs I had seen Nancy with last week, that possibility had only been a near miss as they were approaching once more. I wondered if Nancy was disappointed that she couldn’t humiliate me in that way this week. It was a small victory to disrupt her likely plans, but it was still something for my fragile mind to hold onto in this world.

Sensing the others coming over and the likelihood of them making my life difficult, I knew I had to take my shot in escaping first. “Nancy? Can I go expwowin?” Nancy looked up from her reorganization of my pink diaper bag and gave me a look that almost seemed to scream ‘no.’ Determined though, I added, “It’ll jus’ be neawby. I pwomise.”

Nancy sighed but ultimately nodded her head. “Okay, baby. Not too far. Don’t go beyond the playground on one side or the hill on the other. Got it?” I quickly nodded in acceptance of the nice but relatively small area she had give me to work with today.

She then helped me off the picnic table, but before I could toddle off and to my freedom, Nancy grasped my shoulder and spun me back around to face her. “No wondering off, Emma. I mean it. Don’t tempt my patience today if you know what’s good for your bum tonight.” I quickly nodded and just as her friends arrived, she smiled and let me go.

It was just in the nick of time too as I saw many of the pro-Big women begin to gather around and gossip with Nancy. “Oh my! Did the little miss dirty her britches?” “I don’t understand why you let her run off like that. Immobile Littles are so much better!” “Ever think of taking her to the doctor and getting a few modifications done? I’ve heard it’s all the rage now in Atlanta!”

Each of their comments froze me to my core. Seeing their Littles one day was enough to send anyone into a depression of their own. Having been here for years under their sadistic rule, most, if not all, were heavily scarred and mentally regressed. If any of them knew their names, I would have been surprised. So, wanting to stay as far or as out of sight of them as I could, I soon ducked behind some bushes.

“Emma…” I spun around and tried to look for the source of where the faint, but clear, noise had come from. For a moment, I thought I was going crazy, but I heard it again. “Emma… go in the bushes, Emma… Don’t worry about Nancy, Emma… Follow my voice.”

Okay, now before this world, I would have either been adamantly against going or just straight up run away from something like that happening to me. In a world of seemingly magical stuffy’s, adults being treated like babies, and portal travel though, my imagination and trust of the unexplained or odd was never higher. So, curious, I followed the voice a little more until I came to a different bush a little closer to the playground this time. I then parted some of the branches in front of me and walked into the bush.

Inside was cramped for a moment, but to my surprise, the untangled space of the interior soon grew bigger to the point where I could have probably almost stood up. Instead, two clusters of odd-looking leaves and twigs turned around. “Hello, Emma. How are you today?”

“Bree!” I shouted in relief over seeing the commander of Omega Force once again. I felt I owed her everything in gaining my mind and many of my abilities back in such a short period of time. The daycare would have eventually worked, but their shot gave me the edge I had needed over Nancy’s sinister plans for me now.

“It’s good to see you again, Emma,” she said smiling at me, her camo outfit slightly rustling in the breeze passing through the bush right then. “I see you’ve taken well to our shot… though… maybe not as well as we might have hoped you would have by now.”  

“All in the clear, ma’am” Martinez noted behind her. He too wore a complete camo suit as he listened in on his radio and used a camera clearly perched above the bush likely to keep an eye on other Bigs and even Nancy for me.

“Thank you, Martinez.” She then turned back to me. “So, what’s happening? Can you report anything since we last met?”

I nodded and explained everything about what had happened since the zoo. “… an’ Nancy has jus’ been getting’ mo’ nasty to me evuh since Nuwse Bee lef’ an’ then gave her the dwugs.”

“Hmmm…” Bree mused. “Our reports said the same, but do you remember the drug she gave to Nancy, and that I’m assuming is now being given to you?”

I nodded again. “Yes. Ih was FOY.”

I could tell that Bree instantly recognized the name. “I’m sorry to hear that. That stuff is nasty to any Little taking it. Very potent and even a street drug in some forms. I honestly think it’s a minor miracle you haven’t gone permanently over the edge if she’s really injecting you with it every night… and you said nursing as well?” I nodded. “Geez. You must be very tough or have a guardian in your corner somewhere to have been so resistant to all that muck.”

I thought back to my magical stuffy, Patch. I knew he had to be behind my near miraculous continued recovery since Nancy had begun her evil work on me. I couldn’t prove it and every time I told someone about him, they just laughed. So, I just stopped telling people directly or even caring about the why at this point. I really just cared that it still happened and kept me sane against what Nancy was doing to me. As long as Patch remained my stuffy at daycare, I felt I was still at least somewhat safe.

“And you said earlier that you weren’t sure where Nurse Bee had gone off to?” Bree asked after a moment fo entering a few things into the computer on her wrist.

I nodded. “Yeah… jus’ some pwace called Jimbo? Jingles? Juvenile?” My memory was still spotty in places unfortunately.

“Wait,” Bree stopped me in mid-sentence. “Do you mean Juventas?” I quickly nodded and Bree’s face lit up. “That’s wonderful, Emma. That’s good work. Very helpful for our other branches to track her down.”

I felt so happy to be receiving praise for once outside of the daycare lately. I used to get new compliments and praise all the time from Nancy, but that hadn’t happened in so long unless I had done something particularly babyish. It was still better than her alternative attitude toward me, but not by much, especially when one of those instances was me helplessly going potty in my diaper.

“Boss…” Martinez started up, while still watching the little device in front of them. “Nancy has started to look around. I don’t think we have very long.”

Bree nodded at her communications specialist and then turned back to me. “I know all this is difficult Emma, but I just want you to hold on. We’re trying to see if we can find a way all around this where we can get you safely out from Nancy at this point, but we keep hitting some roadblocks.”

I sighed, but it was still some bit of hope. “Danks fo’ at weas twyin’.”

Bree smiled and rubbed my shoulder. “I know all this must be challenging to deal with, and it’s even harder now that Nancy is in her Big psychosis state of mind,” she explained. “It’s not recognized officially yet, but Bigs hormones can go crazy after they bond with their chosen Little. It can radically change their personality, and while some become only kinder and more caring, others can become stricter and more controlling. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you which Nancy has become…” Sadly, no, she did not.

Bree then shifted and I could tell that her and Martinez soon had to leave. “You’re doing good work for us, Emma. We’ll work the problem on our end and find you a way out of this if we can.”

I wanted to remain strong in front of her, a fellow Little who even pust most Bigs to shame, but it was hard considering Nancy’s strong negative influence in my life. “Iss jus’ weally, weally hawd. I wan’ to be stwong, buh… I jus’ don’ dink dewe’s a way ou’ anymo’…”

Bree smiled sympathetically and rubbed my shoulder again. “Have some faith, Emma. There’s always a way out with these things given enough time, but you need to stay strong until then, okay? Can you do that for me?” It took everything I had, but I eventually nodded.

“Emma! Emma! Where are you?” I heard Nancy shout angrily from nearby outside the bushes. I turned to see what was happening to see if she was close by but when I looked back at Bree and Martinez, both had vanished into the wild once more.

Now determined to be seen again to possibly prevent a future spanking, I crawled out of the bush again. Curiously, there was a ball in the bush that hadn’t been there before. ‘I wonder… did Bree give me this?’ I shrugged my shoulders and soon emerged on the other side with it tightly clutched in one of my hands. Nancy was frantically looking around and soon spotted me.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, huh? I couldn’t find you!” She then grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer. “I asked you a question, Emma. Where were you?”

My legs trembled, but still holding the ball I had found, I lifted it up to show her my alibi. “My baw… it wolled away…” I tried to make myself look as innocent as possible, and while at first, I wasn’t sure if my ploy was even going to work, Nancy soon backed off.

“Hmmm… I’ll give you a strike one for that instead of punishing you today. You better ask me before you disappear again, or you’ll be in a world of hurt. Got it?” I quickly nodded my head before she let me go and walked back off to her cheering and smiling Big friends. Each had seen what had just happened and each seemed proud of Nancy for how she handled it all. ‘Monsters…’

I then walked off and sighed. I wanted to fight back and tell her that she was being ridiculous, but I had quickly learned that was about the second biggest mistake I could have made, beyond running away from home. Any fight in me that Nancy saw was always sure to be smothered out in the most brutal of spankings when I got home. So, determined not to get any more strikes today, I toddled over to the swings and sat down. I wasn’t alone however, for very long.  

“Heyya. You o’ay?” a Little asked as he sat down next to me. His dark hair and green eyes were very striking, and his tannish white bunny was also very distinctive. I had seen him in daycare before, but he was considered one of the more leveled-out Littles now and had been assigned to the Oasis room with the others like that.

I really could only nod my head, but he seemed deadest on trying to help me. “Imma Chawwee… I seen you befo’ at daycaeh.” He then extended his hand out that wasn’t holding tightly onto his large stuffed bunny.

I nodded and shook his hand. “Emma. I seen you awoun’ befo’ as well…”

We then started to talk for a while, but not long after, the woman Big I had usually seen him with came right over, smiling the whole way. Unlike Nancy now, she was dressed a little more plainly, but there was an intelligence and kindness in her eyes that was unmistakably that clearly marked her as a bonded Big with Charley. From what Bree had told me though, I felt absolutely confident in saying her bonding had manifested the kinder and more caring version though.

“Heya Charley,” she said cheerily to her Little. “You and Hop make a new friend today?”

Charley nodded enthusiastically and I felt good knowing I had made another friend here as well. “Yeah! Dis is Emma, Mommy. She’s wiff, uh, Nancy… Dat one fwom da ottuh day…”

The woman’s eyes grew big, and it was clear that Nancy’s poor reputation now in the daycare had been spreading. Her morning searches of the daycare for bugs and devices blocking my regression were becoming the gossip of town. Some seemed to admire her while others thought she was crazy. It was clear which category Monica fell into. So, it wasn’t exactly surprising when “Oh…” was about all she could say.

It made feel so low being associated with Nancy lately, and I guess it showed on my face. The woman’s own quickly became sympathetic and she crouched down and extended her own hand out to me. “Hello Emma. I’m Monica.”

I smiled and shook her hand back. “Goo’ ta mee’ you, Monica.” I wasn’t really sure what to say after that though, but I could see that both Monica and Charley were thinking something together.

Finally, Monica broke. “I know the type of Big Nancy is, and I’m sorry if I’m speaking out of turn here, but are you okay? Do you need help or anything like that maybe?”

Now I really didn’t know what to say. I could lie and go on my merry way, or I could tell the truth and face the consequences. Foster care and being put up for adoption were best case scenarios in that case, but after rumors that Nancy did nothing to stop, I was nearly convinced that any failures or rejected candidates were shipped off to Garden State Hospital. For perspective, Nancy would have seemed like a blessing compared to that truly terrible place. So, determined not to have that happen, I shook my head. “No… I’m okay... dank you dough…”

Neither seemed convinced, but Monica sighed and seemed determined to get me to smile. “Well, let’s see if we can’t turn that frown upside down.” Without warning, she immediately started making fun faces at me. Charley soon joined in and wasn’t as good, but in minutes, I was howling with laughter from their sheer silliness.

After a little bit, Monica finally seemed satisfied and stood up before rubbing Charley’s back. “Okay, hun. I’m going to start packing up, but I just wanted to give you the warning that we’re going to need to leave soon to get to that play you wanted to see tonight.”

“Da one wiff aww da puppets?” he asked, his voice full of hope and excitement. It was almost hard to even remember those feelings anymore.

Monica chuckled. “That’s right, sweetie. You just keep talking to Emma for now though.” Her eyes seemed to arc up and down a little bit as if there was some kind of inside secret between them, and while I was a little sad to be left out, I just continued to try and swing.

Monica then left and Charley and I got to talking. First, I just had to know about the Oasis room, and apparently, it was completely magical in all its technology and theme. The room was actually two and was split into two themes. The main Oasis room was essentially just a beach and jungle theme with several water features built into the flooring and walls hidden behind a near transparent glass of some kind. Cubbies and other bits of furniture were adorned like jungle trees or rocks and beautiful flowers grew everywhere. Then, for naptime, the lights were turned off and everything changed to an under the sea theme. Trees became coral sprouts and grassy rocks soon looked like they were sunken beneath the waves. I wanted so badly to go, but I knew that would be a long time away… if ever.

“So, Hop, huh?” I asked pointed to his ever-present stuffed bunny. For a moment, I thought I swore that I saw him look right at me, and I briefly wondered if he was magical too like Patch was, but Charley spoke back up to answer my question.

“Yeah… he’s wike one of bestess fwien’s. He’s jus’ da bes!” Charley then paused and looked over at me with first suspicion and then an odd curiosity. “Don’ you have one?”

I quickly thought to Patch waiting back at the daycare for me to return to him. It was utterly ridiculous on one level, but no matter how hard I tried to act mature, I just couldn’t let him go. “He’s… back at the daycaeh…”

“Oh…” Charley said, now seeming a little guilty. “You should ask Mrs. Giwwies abou’ gettin’ him to take home wiff you… dey weally can help out a lot… especiawy if youw sad an’ aww…”

I nodded. “He’s jus’ so gweat! He’s a doggy and even had widdle wightnin’ bolts on his wegs…”

Charley suddenly became confused and then angry. “I used ta have a doggy wik dat too… I woss him…”

“Oh no!” I couldn’t believe my ears that a fellow Little could lose their stuffy. I wanted to run off and form a search party immediately. Fortunately, Charley stopped me just as I was getting up.

“Iss o’ay, Emma. He was a bad dog anyways…” His once angry demeanor quickly turned to sadness.

I didn’t like to normally pry, but still, I just had to know what he was talking about. See, with my magical stuffy, I thought Patch would never be bad in his life. His job was to protect and just be there for me. Like with all stuffy’s… ‘Right?’ Curious, I couldn’t keep it in any longer. “Wha’ do you mean by dat?”

Charley sighed and almost seemed on the verge of tears. “He… he huwt me… wike Nancy an’ you. Mommy told me aftuh she foun’ out. By da time we dih… I didn’ even wan’ him back, so no sadness fo’ me. Buh fo’ you, jus’ be caewful…”

I nodded but I knew that Patch would never do something like that to me. We shared a bond, and he was practically my guardian in daycare and in my life now. “I’ll wemembuh dat fo’ Patch…”

Charley quickly got a look of confusion.  “Wai… my doggy was named Dash. It can’t be him, buh’ that iss his name… o’ at weas ih was…”

So, with both of us eventually agreeing that it was just another stuffy entirely ‘Right?’, I had a revelation about Charley. He wasn’t the smartest or the nimblest of us Littles, but he had something that others around here sorely had a burning desire for: hope for the future. I knew I had a lot to do in order to figure out the system still and get to where Charley was at in order to have fun in this life. His circumstances were also definitely different than mine, but I also felt I just had to make sure that I avoided all the obstacles wherever possible on the way to that new dream of mine. That was the hope inside of me trying to breakthrough, but there was another side to all this as well I just couldn’t ignore.

As we both swung on the playground, for a moment, I had felt a tiny ray of hope in my fight against the dictatorship that had now become my life. Speaking of which though, I then saw Nancy glaring at me as she quickly stomped over to us sitting on the swings. Seeing my time was short, I eased on back into my swing with the push to just enjoy this time as much as I could.

So, for now, I just leaned back in my seat and went higher and higher. Seconds later, I was all laughter and joy with my new friend at the park. Life often didn’t come with such surprises as finding a new friend out here, so I just hoped that my nice feeling would last for as long as it could. Considering what was likely to come, I remembered back to what Bree had told me, and eagerly waited for the right time to flee or to stay strong and hopeful as I waited for Omega Force to help me out in their own way.

Nancy still loomed in my life, but no matter what happened later tonight though, I was just glad I had met Charley and Hop. It wasn’t even for long in retrospect, but again, it was that tiny something that I felt made my whole life now just a little more bearable. I wasn’t sure what was next, but considering the fiery hatred seething in Nancy’s eyes as she stomped over to our location at the swings, I knew there would likely be another punishment in my future tonight. I just hoped I could hold on a little longer before something truly terrible and permanent happened to me.

[AndTheChips]

Ughh it’s just too good I know I shouldn’t read it cause it’s gonna make me feel so so so so so so sad but I can’t not. I need parental controls or something. 
 

nancy’s behavior shift works with lore I just feel so sad by it 🥺I just feel like I’m Emma and I don’t understand what I did to make her so mad and there’s nothing to make her happy except really just havin a dolly. She doesn’t want a baby she wants a toy accessory and it stinks. I really really hope that she can find a mommy like her new friend has and have a good life. 
 

and oh no! Patch?! Now I’m nervous! 

[Operational Systems]

21 hours ago, LostBBoyBear said:

Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known.

 

Tell Me More Sequel

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! The story is moving right along and there’s only four more chapters to go after this one. As such, I should definitely be finishing up by next week sometime. When I get to my second to last chapter, I should have a much better idea of when the final chapter will be up, and I’ll let you all know then. Also, based on the timing of everything, I will most likely be getting right into my next story soon after and then take a bit of a longer break after that. If everything goes how I think it will, I’m going to need some time to prepare for whatever story comes after my break.

Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known.

As usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 12: How Mad Can One Big Get?

Before this life, I had never really thought of myself as a strong person. I had survived the wars and the pollution and even when the Bigs came to Earth, but through all that, I had stayed small and out of the way. I had survived, but I hadn’t fought. I wasn’t ashamed of that by any means, considering that most who did, didn’t make it, but I hadn’t challenged myself fully in that survivability situation before. Now, with Nancy, I had found a willpower I never knew I had.

Days unending of our back-and-forth standoff were starting to take a toll on me, and with the weekends without my magical stuffy helping me push through and keep my maturity, I could tell I was starting to slip. Still though, I found an inner strength to push forward and wait for Omega Force to do something to help me out. I wasn’t sure of what exactly, but it was a tiny ray of hope that I had been hanging onto for a while now.  

Such sentiments had to be placed on hold for now though. Today, to my chagrin, was yet another LPS inspection by Agent Vannessa Dawson. It had been the fourth time since I had been here, but to be honest, I had been so regressed with the last two that I had barely remembered them even happening. I just remember an unsmiling lady come to the house and ask a bunch of questions about me.

According to Nancy however, despite her insistence that it was the daycare’s fault in those inspections, Agent Dawson had still noted several concerns, even on the last visit where I had already started to bounce back. Now that Nancy had essentially taken on a new personality entirely, she kept emphasizing how this visit had to go perfectly. She knew that if it didn’t, her whole world would come crashing down as I would likely be taken away from her custody in that scenario.

Now, on the one hand, I wanted to end my time with Nancy as soon as possible. It was probably the sanest thought I had in the past few weeks by now, but one factor always held me back. If Nancy was in fact taken away from me, I would never see her again, which would honestly be okay by me, but I would also be alone. In this dimension, being alone meant going back into the foster system, like Mrs. Tatum’s house, or possibly more likely if I went through enough rejections from other Bigs, Garden Gate Hospital.

So, as the doorbell rang, I bolted up straight and tried to relax my breathing. I honestly had no idea how I wanted today to go, but I just knew that whatever the outcome, Nancy had to keep thinking it went well. Even if it didn’t, I needed her to think it did. Otherwise, I knew without a doubt that I would be in for a world of hurt tonight.

“Hello again there, Agent Dawson!” Nancy cheerfully greeted the still stoic LPS agent. She looked exactly like how I remembered her, but looking down at myself, I knew I had changed since her first visit, the only one of the three I could actually remember. My pink bubble romper left little to the imagination that I was thickly diapered unearth, and while the coverage wasn’t amazing elsewhere most of the time, it was still nice to wear on a hot late summer day like today.

“Hello Nancy,” Agent Dawson said in a monotone voice. I expected her to remain that way for her entire visit, but in seconds, she spotted me, and her face surprisingly lit up. “Oh? Is Emma better from last time?” she asked Nancy.

“I’m gettin’ bettuh,” I said defiantly, still not liking when other Bigs talked about me rather than to me. For someone like an LPS agent, I felt she should have known better.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, clearly shocked over just how different I was as compared to her last visit, one that apparently had happened only days before my reawakening with Patch. “I’m so sorry, Emma. Last time I was here, you could barely lift your head, let alone talk. To see you now… truly miraculous I’d say.”

I could hear the genuine shocked tone of her voice and I was just happy she wasn’t putting on a show. I held a little hope that maybe she could be a potential ally for myself, but with Nancy still standing there, I knew I still had to play my cards right. “I jus’ got bettuh aftuh my stuffy fweed me. Ih was hawd buh I’m getting’ bettuh evwy day,” I said triumphantly.

For her part, Agent Dawson smiled down on me and seemed happy with my new state. “Oh, that’s just so wonderful to hear. At LPS, we always hope that something goes a little whacky off the norm and we can save a Little.” She then turned back to Nancy. “You must be so happy now. I mean, what Big wouldn’t be, right?”

I could see that Nancy was not in fact happy right then, but I could also see the front she was putting on for the kindly agent as well. “Truly a miracle… just as you said.” I wondered what she was really thinking, but I was just grateful that for now at least, the peace remained.

“Yes… absolutely, but I guess I better get to my inspection today.” She proceeded up the stairs but then paused about halfway up. “Are you two coming or what?”

Nancy and I looked at each other suspiciously and we both could see the confusion there as well. Nancy had gone before, but this time, Agent Dawson was asking for both of us. Still hating each other in our own ways by now but both not wanting to show any issues, we both nodded to the other, and Nancy soon picked me up and placed me on her hip and walked to follow Agent Dawson upstairs.

The next hour or so was spent with Agent Dawson looking over various appliances and furniture items in the house. Half of the time, I thought she was looking for hidden locks or switches on nearly every item. It seemed that if it was large enough to conceal a slice of bread, she wanted to inspect it thoroughly. It was annoyingly time consuming but keeping my precarious situation in the front of my mind, I didn’t make a peep.

After each room, Agent Dawson would also ask us several questions. “Do you all ever sleep in the same room?” “Do you have a sleeping habit?” “What is your favorite food?” “Which is your favorite outfit?” Things like that mostly, but occasionally, she would ask a question and get a response back that she didn’t seem to favor. Nothing outwardly shocking mind you, but behind her smile, her eyes told a different story. It wasn’t long before I felt pretty confident that something was seeming wrong to her.

Eventually though, we made it back downstairs and inspected the rest of the inside and then outside of the house. The routine kept up from Agent Dawson, but after inspecting the last flower outside, she turned back to us. “Good. Very good. No poisonous plants out here. You wouldn’t believe how many plants have been pulled in the last week alone just because a Little could be poisoned by them.”

I gulped and had never even thought about something like that. When I was mentally younger, with the little movement I had, I always wanted to put something in my mouth. I wasn’t sure why, but I was now at least a smidge grateful that Nancy had mostly kept me indoors for that time. Otherwise, I might have chewed something I shouldn’t have and then probably would have laughed right afterward from my ignorance of it all before poisoning myself.

“Now then…” Agent Dawson began again, looking back up from her tablet where I saw several markings all over the page. I really wanted to get a sneak peek, but she soon shut the device off. “One last thing to do. I just need to interview Emma.”

I swear that Nancy almost dropped me right there, but she regained her composure at the last minute and set me on the ground. “I… I…” I could tell she was nervous, and considering I didn’t do this the last time, I felt Nancy might have had a legitimate reason for being nervous. The question for me though was: should I be nervous?

“It’s okay, Miss Donahue,” Agent Dawson said directly but calmly. “I just need to ask her a few questions. You know… protocol and all that. Don’t want you all to get dinged because of something stupid and small like an interview now, right?”

It seemed Agent Dawson knew how Nancy ticked very well. In moments, Nancy’s smile returned. “Oh, no, no. Please… interview Emma all you’d like.” In her haste, she practically shoved me toward Agent Dawson.

I almost giggled due to the sheer amount of effort she was putting into her little show just for Agent Dawson. I swear she even almost gagged on her words. It was a tiny moment of triumph, but as Agent Dawson then took my hand and led me back inside, while Nancy stayed outside, I realized one major glaring issue was now before me. Agent Dawson and I were going to be alone, and there was a reason for that.

Starting to get a little nervous as to the purpose of this chat inside on the couch, Agent Dawson dropped me on one of the larger cushions and sat down beside me. “Now, Emma. Seeing that Nancy is now gone, I want you to tell me the truth.”

‘Oof.’ Agent Dawson wasted no time and went straight to the heart of the matter. Still fearing Nancy though or the possible repercussions of ratting on her, I decided to play dumb. “Wh’ do you mean? What twoof? Nancy iss nice to me an’…”

“Skip the act, Emma,” Agent Dawson said, now glaring at me intently. She was clearly not convinced over my little act. “See, I know what goes on around this area. I may not be watching all the time, but I’ve got sources that say you’ve been having problems with Nancy. It doesn’t take genius to see the pattern of regression and the back-and-forth mentality in a Little. I wasn’t born yesterday you know…”

I sighed and felt my heart freeze in fear. I shouldn’t have underestimated Agent Dawson, and I felt I was on a knifes edge, balancing between my freedom and reprisals from Nancy’s revenge if I ratted on her. I wasn’t sure what to do, but with Agent Dawson peering down intently from in front of me, I felt like my options were limited. So, I tried one more time to obfuscate. “She’s jus’ a widdle… hawd on me. I dink she wans me to be young again. Imma be okay… weally.”

To my shock, Agent Dawson rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Don’t tell me you believe all that hogwash, do you?” She gave me a moment to consider, and I could see the desperation and genuine concern on her face. I didn’t want to out Nancy for her treatment of me, knowing what it would mean for my future, but I didn’t want to lie to protect her either. So, I sighed and opted for the truth and shook my head. “Good. That’s what I thought.”

Agent Dawson smiled and then looked outside. Nancy was clearly trying to listen in to us while also seeming nonchalant about the whole thing. I gulped and hid quickly behind the cushions to ensure I wasn’t seen staring back at her. There’s no telling what my punishment would be if she even suspected me of doing something to out her or move against her being my caregiver anymore.

Agent Dawson sighed. “Yeah… darn shame about Nancy. She was such a good caregiver too. During my last visit though, you weren’t really with it, but I could see the cogs turning in her mind. She wanted to change to become your mommy or whatnot, but I could see it needed to be a bit more uncovered still. Sometimes that side of a Big is… sometimes it isn’t. By now, I’m pretty certain that you know that other side of her was uncovered, right?”

I dropped my head in shame. “Wha’ tipped you off dis time?” I asked, curious as to where Nancy or I had gone wrong with our attempt at a cover up.

Agent Dawson seemed to waver back and forth for a minute. “Eh… hard to say really. You all put up a marvelous front, but there’s more evidence her in the subtlety of things.” She paused and looked around before pointing to a nearby book. “Nancy could be reading something like that to you, however, from the grape jelly thumbprint on the front cover, I’m assuming you could read it and maybe even have recently, but then I don’t see any workbooks here dedicated to helping you relearn those or any other type of skills. It’s honestly one of the reasons why we visit Littles soon after they arrive to a new caregiver’s house.”

“Wha’ do you mean by dat?” My curiosity was now definitely piqued as I started to see the more ‘human’ side of Agent Dawson. She was always such a stiff, but now, I felt like she was opening up to me more now than ever before.

“Well,” she continued, “it’s about changes. If you came here with mental deficits already, Nancy could be none the wiser as a Big conditioned to think that Littles are nothing more than babies. But she saw you more or less as an adult. She even treated you like one as much as she could in this society. So, now, when I see that you might just be able to read again and not see any resources around to help you out, especially coming from such a focused caregiver like Nancy… something just doesn’t add up. And that’s just one example around here.” I raised my eyebrows in curiosity to see if I could hear anymore. Agent Dawson seemed to take notice of my non-verbal cue.

“Well, for example, the diapers you have are top brand but are mostly used to ensure that Littles experience their loss of potty training by needing to be changed often, leaking, or releasing chemicals into the body most often associated with shame when interacting with wetness. Or your food… some of the worst combinations for Littles who also have the mental capacity to read. As I said… it’s more about all the little things adding up.”

We then sat there for a moment in silence. I still wasn’t sure what I should do. If I did any of my next steps wrong, I could literally regret it for the rest of my life. Nancy was powerful against me, and she now had friends to back her up. At the same time though, I knew something had to change, so taking a breath, I took my shot. “So, wha’s nex den?”

Agent Dawson smiled and rubbed my shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that you’re willing for some change, Emma. I know it can be scary doing something like this, but I’ll put your name on our books right after I leave here. It won’t be anything official, but if something ever happens… say out in public, that citation will then be visible and can be used against Nancy if needed in court.”

I rubbed my fingers together and tried to slow my breathing down from my nerves getting to me. Agent Dawson quickly saw. “She’s threatened you, right?” I was so desperate to look outside to see if Nancy was looking in, but I just sank further into the couch and then nodded my head.

Agent Dawson sighed and cracked her fist. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Emma. That must be terrible… worse than I probably can even imagine, but I need you to do one thing for me.” I looked up from my tiny nervous ticks. “I need you to just stay put for now. I just happen to know that you have a few people on your side at this point. I know it’s probably not what you want to hear, but just hold on. Hold on for a little while longer and help will come to you. You have my word on that, okay?”

She was right when she said it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but like with Bree and Omega Force, it was something I could hold onto. The little scraps of hope being laid at my feet were almost nothing compared to the wrath of Nancy when she really got going, but I knew I didn’t have much choice in this matter. So, a tiny shred of hope to leave was more than I could have ever hoped for at this point. Most Littles never got such a gift at this stage in the game here.

Feeling the hope add a little more protection and buoyancy to my spirits, I nodded. “I’ll twy… Iss weally, weally hawd, buh’ I’ll twy…”

Agent Dawson smiled and rubbed my shoulder once more. “Thank you, Emma.” She then wrote a few things down in her tablet and looked back up at me. “Now, just follow my lead. I’m going to get Nancy back in here and tell her everything went well. She should be convinced and if… though more like when she asks you what we talked about, just talk about daycare and if you have a special friend in your life, okay?” I nodded quickly and Agent Dawson stood up, smiled at me once more, and then went over to let Nancy back in.

As she told me, Agent Dawson passed this inspection off with full colors and soon left. When Nancy did ask me about what had happened, I remembered my cover story and repeated that we talked about daycare and Patch. Seemingly satisfied, Nancy walked away and left me to my own devices.

I wasn’t sure what would come of our meeting today, but it was something I could keep buried in my heart. During public diaper changes or feedings of rutabaga and spinach, I could pull out that tiny sliver and boost my faith that yes, one day, something would change around here.

For today though, once Agent Dawson left, it was just back to business as usual for a Sunday. I was fed lunch and seeing the nice weather out and wanting to celebrate, Nancy soon hauled me and my diaper bag into the car and drove off to the mall.

Finally wheeling me inside, I was still flabbergasted over the sheer size of the building before me. Back on Earth, a mall this size could have easily been one of the largest in the world if going off only of square footage. To Bigs though, it was just another shopping mall that one could find all over the world here. Still, to me, I always felt a little smaller as I gazed around the granite, marble, steel, and glass floors and walls of the mall.

Plus, the amount of people in here was enough to put anyone out of breath and was actually one of the few times I really actually did enjoy my stroller. It kept me out of the way of people and allowed me to retain my energy for other times where I could use it more effectively. The only downside of course was that I had no say in the direction that we were headed. I could fuss, sure, but at best, that might just elicit a chuckle from Nancy over my futile attempts to control things. So, when we entered Littleworld, I could only sit back and accept my fate for today.

“Oh, look at this sweetie! Isn’t this just the cutest?” Nancy asked rhetorically to me as she held up a tiny little sundress from one of the aisles. We had come in here before, but Nancy was taking things to whole new levels today.

Before today, we would usually just shop in the toddler section of the store. Of course, there were more classifications to that broad definition of a Little, but it was just something I kind of held onto, as it actively avoided any association to my previous sections of both baby and newborn when I had been more mentally regressed. Unfortunately, Nancy seemed deadest on solely shopping in the baby section of the store today.

Looking around, I knew it could always be worse. Littleworld specialized in regression clothing, furniture, and objects designed to subjugate all Littles to ‘their rightful place,’ or at least that’s what one of the Big moms had said the other day at the park. Looking around and seeing every item I had ever come to loathe was a sobering smack to my reality.

This morning, I was making plans with Agent Dawson to get me stay strong and out from Nancy’s grasp. As our time in the store progressed, however, I kept seeing that particular future become more and more distorted. If Nancy got her way, I knew I wouldn’t last another few months. If Agent Dawson or Omega Force had given me a date, I could have held onto something tangible, but every babyish item Nancy loaded into the cart was another hit to my resolve to stay strong. I knew I had other people in my life to help me out, but more often than not, I felt utterly alone on days like today.

“Ooh! We need more bottles to take to daycare with you, baby!” Nancy cooed and practically screamed out as she raced her cart over to the feeding section of the store. Already, I knew if I stayed with Nancy after today, my future wardrobe would mainly consist of short dresses, rompers, onesies, and other assorted purely babyish bits of clothing.

Still, we were in a public place, so for now at least, I knew that my anger and rebellion had to stay in check. If I acted out too soon, Nancy could catch on and later show it as evidence of my maturosis. It was an archaic term by now apparently, but south of New Columbia, several medical practices and courts still accepted the broad term to justify their babying of any Little acting out. So, even as Nancy filled in the cart with more You-Ni-Corn and Monkeez diapers and bottles of formula labeled ‘Tabers,’ I just remained quiet and obedient. In effect, I was the perfect Little for Nancy. In here, I had no other choice.

Once Nancy finally offloaded the last of her purchased supplies to the moving truck, a free service the store provided to be able to have it all be delivered right to one’s house, Nancy and I exited the store. She grabbed herself a pretzel and she even offered me some ice cream, but I promptly declined. I had learned the other day from Anna to avoid it at all costs if I didn’t want to temporarily regress and almost immediately fill my diaper on the spot.

So, the day proceeded like any other day at the mall with Nancy lately. She would push me around from store to store and even ended up changing my diaper at one point. Again, I shut my eyes, and willed myself into silence as I waited for the process to be over as soon as possible.

Finally, though, Nancy started to head toward the exit, but a large poster advertising a new fragrance suddenly appeared in one of the holographic advertisement boards on the wall. “Would you look at that!” Nancy exclaimed, looking back at the stunning blonde woman in the advert. “She almost kinda looks like me, don’t you think?”

I stared back at the tall Big blonde woman now standing before me. She looked like Nancy a little bit, but there was a sultry look that I had never seen Nancy express before. Also, and this could have just been me projecting at that point, but the woman in the advert also looked like she adored the Little woman cradled tightly in her arms… not exactly something I associated with Nancy anymore. Still, I had to tell her what she wanted to hear. “Sure… I can see it…” I knew it was the answer Nancy was looking for as soon as the words escaped my mouth.

“Yeah…” Nancy dreamily whispered as she continued to gawk at the image. “Maybe that could be us again one day…”

This time, I knew she wanted me to agree to that, but I was horrified over the prospect of ending up like those two. Beyond the fact that the Little was clearly nearly a newborn, she was also blonde, which I definitely wasn’t. And, as if to confirm my worst fear about the comparison, Nancy spoke up once more.

“You know… I don’t have the supplies with me today, but maybe after daycare tomorrow, I could dye your hair. I bet you would just absolutely love that!” With that, Nancy then strolled me right out of the mall and to the hot summery day. It was all beautiful, but I was too distracted at that point.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I had dyed my hair dozens of times in the past. Red, green, blue, and yes, even blonde, but each was a fad, and more importantly, my choice. Someone dying my hair wasn’t the worst that could happen to me, but it was a body modification. Nancy had screwed around with my mind for months now, inadvertently or not, but my body was still very much the same.

Granted, I supposed one could argue that with the way my mentality changed, it then affected me physically, but there was still that proverbial line in the sand. Now that Nancy seemed to almost want us to be twins, as she practically was squealing now regarding that prospect, I felt we were about to cross a terrible line.

On its own, it was just dying my hair. As I said, I had done it before, but in this society, a Big crossing that line meant a lot more. It meant that, whether a Little wanted it or not, their Big was willing to change what they looked like. Especially if they did it without any guilt afterward, it probably meant that other modifications were in store. While modification surgery had largely been banned by now, nanotechnology still existed and there was no telling what Nancy could do with something like that.

So, needless to say, I was a little distressed by the time we got back home and even through dinner and the small amount of free time I had afterward. By the time I was given my bath and rediapered, I could tell that Nancy knew that something was off. So, in her true form, she offered me a release to it all. “How about I read you a story tonight, huh? You always used to like it when I did that before. Maybe we could start it up again tonight?”

Life is all about the little choices we make in it. Turn left or right, up or down. It was just inevitable, but in this society, chances changed everything in the blink of an eye. I knew and could see that Nancy was trying tonight to get through to me. A bastion of her old personality bubbled to the surface and there was a tiny part of me that wanted to just embrace the feeling once again… but I just couldn’t let things go.

I’ll never know what might have happened that night if I had chosen to just snuggle into her, but right then, I could only think of showing her up. I wanted revenge, to spit in her eye with everything she had put me through. I know turning the other cheek is a whole philosophy which most Little embrace, but right then, I wasn’t thinking that way at all. So, I nodded my head.

As Nancy chose and then opened ‘If You Give an Alces a Koulouri,’ my mind almost snapped. This woman was offering a peace gesture to me, but she had also been the one who had started this standoff in the first place. She had spanked me, drugged me, degraded me, and was still trying to control and change everything about who I was. I knew she was a good person buried down deep, but her actions spoke much louder than that sliver that could have been there of who she used to be. I didn’t want peace. I wanted to conflict.

Nancy began. “If you give an Alces a koulouri…” Her vile betrayal was laid out all before me. She was trying to be so sweet and kind as she pointed out the Alces shown clear as day on the first page. Like all good readers to kids, she made sure to pause to give me a second to look at the beautifully illustrated pictures. So, I seized my moment.

Half-remembered when I used to read it out loud myself, some of the words still seemed mixed up in my head and of course my words didn’t come out as they used to, but I began to read. “Den he’ll wan’ so’ cweam cheese ta go awon’ wiff…” And that was about as far as I got into the book. Nancy soon slammed it shut and looked at me with hatred in her eyes. I knew I was in deep trouble now, having basically, in her mind at least, just spat in her offered hand of peace to me. Not seeing any other choice with my fate, I wanted to at least go out with some pride and a smidge of fight left in me.

It seemed though that Nancy wanted to break any of that defiance out of me. In moments, she thrust me off her lap and stood up as she gazed down with pure virulent hatred strutted about her scrunched face. “I just wanted… I just wanted a little bonding with you! Why can’t you get that? I know you’re not regressed anymore, but are you such a stupid baby now that you can’t understand a peace offering when it’s handed to you? We could have had a nice night, but no! You had to go and ruin it! Why can’t you just be my little baby again?” All her anger and sadness came to the surface at once like some dormant volcano and was now spewing out everywhere all over me.

I cowered a bit in fear. I had wanted something to change, break, or just anything to happen, and I guess I got my wish. Too scared to say anything back to her now though, Nancy seemed to just take it as more of an insult to her. She immediately bounded over and grabbed ‘big sting’ from nearby. My eyes bulged in fear, but that was nothing compared to when she grabbed both my hands in one of hers and began to smack my rear end with the paddle with her other.

Still padded, it took a second for the blows to really be felt, but once they were, there was no turning that sensation off. Tears flooded my eyes and my wails echoed off the walls of my nursery.

“Why! Can’t! You! Just be! My! Baby!” At almost every single one of her words, another spank rained down on my padded rear. Again, she would occasionally miss and hit my thighs. Like thousands of bee stings all at once, her strength easily outmatched mine and I could only shiver in fear and horror over my current fate. I had poked the hornets’ nest hoping for any change, but I knew I probably poked a little too hard this time. I didn’t do much, but my single act of defiance and show of maturity was likely just too much for Nancy to handle.

Losing count after 40 this time, I was proud of myself for counting so high once again, but I was in too much pain to really care about that fact right then. Instead, I just hung loosely from Nancy’s still tight grip of my hands above my head. I just waited for the spanking to be over.

After the last spank though, Nancy bent down and glared menacingly back at me. “You just had to go and show that you wanted to be a big girl again, huh?” I didn’t make any noise or movement. “Well, I know just what to do to fix that. Bee sent me something two weeks ago in the mail, and it’s illegal in most places now, but I think I’m done playing by the rules anymore. There’s a change coming, Emma. Be happy that you won’t care in a week’s time about it.”

I wondered what she even meant by that, but my thoughts were soon interrupted as Nancy soon piled me under her arm and ran down the stairs and plopped me into my bouncer. I was stunned for a few seconds until my rear cried out in the tremendous pain of being stretched across the seating. My tender flesh was easily exposed to the padding back there, and while the stinging went away somewhat after a moment, I knew that sitting down was going to be a problem for the next few days at least.

In the kitchen though, Nancy was making something. I wasn’t sure what exactly, but I could at least see her preparing a solution of some kind from several black tubs of powder, each colored with red, yellow, or green labels. Knowing her threat against me now, I doubted I would like what was in just a single one of them… let alone all three.

Nancy then returned and shook up the large container in her hands. The substance inside of it seemed milky, but it was too chunky to be just milk and it was too bluish green to be a milkshake. Nancy clearly saw my confused face over this new substance she had. “This, Emma, is a concoction designed specifically for a little place out west. I really can’t talk about it, but D.C. has some pretty powerful toys they play with, and Bee just managed to snag me two of them. The first, is this.” She then came over to me and despite my adamant squirming, attached some sort of head gear to me with the container strapped in at the top.

“Perfect! Fits like a glove. Now… where’d it go…? Ah!” She then picked up another object, but one I quickly recognized as a pacifier. I still wasn’t hooked on them, but I knew enough about them to know that tubes shouldn’t be coming out from the end of it. “Now, open wide.”

I refused, but Nancy smacked me right on the thigh. I cried out, but Nancy had played her dirty trick and quickly inserted the bulb into my now open mouth. Strapping it around my head, seconds later, I was rendered mute. Nancy then stood up and turned on the TV in front of me. “Should’ve done this a long time ago. I don’t care what that blasted daycare has cooking… after a few times with this, you won’t be coming back so easily.”

The TV flicked on, but to my surprise, a pleasant cartoon just started playing. From above, Nancy just grinned back at me, so I knew it couldn’t be good. Still, I could close my eyes, so, I did.

“No, no, baby.” Nancy then strutted over to me and messed around with something above my head. I wondered what she had done, but slowly, the bluish green milky substance slowly began to trickle down and right toward my pacifier. I tried to fight tasting whatever it was, but soon, I was powerless to stop it.

Unfortunately, as soon as it hit my tongue, I knew it was at least partially made of breastmilk, and my conditioned babyish instincts soon took over as I began to nurse on the pacifier. To my horror, all my brain could think right then was, ‘Why won’t this stupid thing go any faster? I’m hungry and I want my milk now!’ It was terrible, but all my fight, including the impulse to close my eyes, soon faded away.

I had lost big time tonight, and Nancy knew it. Donning a pair of earplugs, she came over to me and smirked. “Well, I guess I’ll just leave you to it. Not sure how long this will last, but then again, I’m not sure how long you’re going to last either.” She smiled once more and walked away. “Sweet dreams, baby Emma…”

The lights were then flicked off and my eyes focused ever closer on the screen before me. My mind, ambition, and whole being soon went into the playful and colorful cartoon before me and the delicious substance soon entered my mouth. Both tugged on to my desires equally and just as one began to lose my interest, the other would pick it right back up. Soon, my body felt fuzzy, and my head felt dazed. I wasn’t sure about pretty much anything anymore, but I knew I had pushed too far tonight.

In a perfect world, it shouldn’t be my fault, but in this society and Nancy’s own screw-up mind, despite everything else she had done to me, I was the one who broke the peace between us. Now, I was the one facing the consequences. It was a terrible thought, and for a moment, I just wanted to stop fighting completely. Unfortunately, that was the last thing I could remember as I slowly drifted off and into my dreamy wonder of the show before me. Memory and thoughts meant nothing… only the desire to see more and feed more. I had no idea how long any of this would last, but right then, I didn’t care at all as I succumbed to all the new feelings surging throughout my body now.

[Guilend]

Omg I love it. The detail and the thought process you had to have gone through in this chapter alone. Like with how the LPS agent noticed things were off. 

My first thought when Emma thought Nancy wanted them to look like twins was that first Nancy would need to put on a thick Amazon size diaper that's the equivalent of the one she's wearing, of course lol.

[Tracey]

The build up was well paced, nice and easy, followed by wham bam, its done! Now the suspense… not the suspense… please just get on with the next day!, 

[Guilend]

16 hours ago, Tracey said:

The build up was well paced, nice and easy, followed by wham bam, its done! Now the suspense… not the suspense… please just get on with the next day!, 

Suspense is the number one reason for readers going insane. I should know 😂

[Daymare]

On 4/27/2024 at 12:38 AM, Guilend said:

 

My first thought when Emma thought Nancy wanted them to look like twins was that first Nancy would need to put on a thick Amazon size diaper that's the equivalent of the one she's wearing, of course lol.

My mind literally went there when I first read that sentence about them looking like twins. I guess that's because I'm one of the few who ever take it that far. Nonetheless, this has been a very enjoyable story to follow; one of the few I do follow on this site.

Excellent work thus far!

[Kat5]

7 hours ago, Daymare said:

My mind literally went there when I first read that sentence about them looking like twins. I guess that's because I'm one of the few who ever take it that far. Nonetheless, this has been a very enjoyable story to follow; one of the few I do follow on this site.

Excellent work thus far!

We have reached a point where I thought the same thing specifically because I thought Guilend would think that.

Guilend has become their own meme.

[Guilend]

Just now, Kat5 said:

Guilend has become their own meme.

I have finally done it. I have reached my life's goal. Just don't tell my brother @babykamperhe won't know how to handle that 😂

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! This chapter is a little shorter and lighter than most of the other ones for this story, but I felt it was also necessary to include it before the ending plots start to truly unfold. After all, there are only three more chapters after this one. So, keeping that in mind, if everything goes according to plan, the final chapter should be posted sometime on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday at the latest of this week. I will likely quickly jump into my next story, but further details about all that will be posted with my final chapter.

Also, just a small note here that I do reference the events of the other story (Dash’s Redemption), so everyone who read it should know relatively what had happened, but for those of you just reading this story only, basically, Nancy hit a kid and then assaulted the staff one morning, and as a result, Emma was removed from her care and placed into the temporary custody of the daycare. It’s a special rule, which I do mention with everything else, but it’s just temporary until Emma can find herself another caregiver. For those of you more curious about the events that unfolded with Nancy though, simply read Chapter 13: Abandonment By the Rainbow.

Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known.

As usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 13: Finding Those Who Care

It's amazing how much a single day can change your entire life. Since I had left Mrs. Tatum’s foster home, I had lived with Nancy. It was all wonderful and I felt like I had even found a friend during that time, but my continued regression in this society only heightened Nancy’s emotional state to the point where she had become the worst kind of Big out there. Now, though, all that was done.

I barely witnessed the whole incident, having been escorted out of the main lobby of the daycare right in the middle of it, but fresh off her frustration with my shown ability to read the previous night, Nancy was already highly irritable. Due to all my time in daycare with my magical stuffy, I hadn’t regressed as much as she wanted, but she remained firm that everything that happened the previous night would keep happening until I regressed once more.

Fortunately for my own mind, despite last night hurting it a bit already, I was still cognizant when a fellow regressed Little here, Travis, saw her sour mood and offered her a cupcake from the tray that he had brought for his birthday. Again, I really didn’t see too much of what happened next, but apparently, Nancy smacked the cupcake down on the floor. Travis got angry and threw it back at her, and she then hit him. It was almost too terrible to be believed, but within minutes, Nancy had assaulted most of the staff and was then escorted out of the building and promptly arrested.

Fearing what would happen to me with her absence, I had essentially broken down and was so distressed that I was temporarily put back in the Burrows room to ensure that I wouldn’t hurt myself in my distress. The staff’s caring devotion to my well-being was heartwarming, but also a little frustrating as they had been keeping me temporarily regressed until they deemed that I was more emotionally stable. It was a lot to endure, but they also had that power over me now.

Since Nancy’s arrest, I had been staying with the daycare until I could be assigned a new caregiver. I guess some law existed where temporary custody could be granted to ‘safe spots,’ like the daycare, to ensure an easier transition with an already familiar environment with the Little. I was sad to most likely never see my home again but being with Patch all the time now quickly made up for that fact.   

Still, things moved on quickly, and not long after I was deemed ‘calm enough,’ by the staff, I was immediately shown to my new potential caregivers. The first lady seemed a little too strict, and while the second man seemed nice and all, I felt the magic within my stuffy will me away from him. I was a little upset not ending up with him, but at that point, I just didn’t question whenever I felt a pull from my magical stuffy. So, when I met with Lilian and Jimmy, and Patch then kind of edged me toward them, I didn’t question it either.

At first, we all seemed shy around each other, but as they came in one day a little while later to check on me, I almost felt an odd sort of shift with both Bigs. They had more confidence, sure, but there was something else. If I didn’t know any better, I might have even called it a bond with them now. Regardless though, I was just happy to answer their questions and go along with everything as long as it was fun and not demoralizing or dangerous.

“I heard you like princesses and pink a lot, sweetie. Is that true?” Lillian asked me as all three of sat around one of the smaller tables and colored together. The couple just seemed amused to join me and I found it hilarious when they first sat down and tried to sit as properly as they could in the tiny awkward Little-sized chairs.

I nodded my head. “Uh-huh! Pwincess Poppy’s my favowite!”

Both chuckled and smiled a little bit. “I’ll definitely have to remember that then,” Jimmy noted as he finished coloring one of the paws of the teddy bear picture in front of him.

We all continued like that for a little while, but after they started asking me about my past, I started to get a little distressed. After everything that happened to me, I still wasn’t sure about a lot of things, and it didn’t take long for them to figure that out about me as well.

“Hmmm… you know… you seem oddly familiar…” Lillian mused at one point a little while later.

“I was actually just about to say that as well, dear,” Jimmy agreed with his wife. He then turned to me. “Do we seem familiar to you at all, Emma?”

I racked my brain about as much as it could, but I could only scarcely feel a familiarity with the two. “Eh… maybe? My memowy isn’ dat gweat anymo’… sowwy…”

Lillian smiled gently and rubbed my shoulder. “That’s okay, honey. We don’t expect you to be able to remember everything. That’s why we’re here. We both think you’re still a big girl though, right Jimmy?”

Jimmy quickly nodded. “That’s right. We know you’ve been through a lot, but maybe… maybe we could help you out with a few things?”

I could tell both wanted to ask me something, but I still wasn’t sure what it was. For now, their questions seemed pretty direct, so I just nodded and grinned. “Yeah… dat migh’ be nice. I’m weleawnin’ some dings… iss supah hawd dough…”

Lillian smiled and rubbed my shoulder again. “I know, honey. This place is nice but some of the other Bigs you’ve met haven’t been that way themselves, have they?”

I shook my head. Images of Kathy, Nancy, Mrs. Carter, Nurse Bee, or even Mrs. Mindy soon flooded my mind. I had gone through a lot to get here, and I knew it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to blame several Bigs by now for my current situation.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Jimmy added. “We’re not those type of people. We just want to help Littles however we can. We can’t always promise that things will always go perfectly, but we will help you… if you want us to.”

Before I could respond back, Lillian spoke first. “It’s no pressure, but Jimmy and I have been talking… See, we’re foster parents, but we’ve been looking for someone maybe in a longer-term kind of way, and that’s when we met you…”

“Funny thing too… us meeting you that is…” Jimmy recalled. “We had almost literally just dropped off our last foster kid with their new home when we received a flyer in the mail about you and a few other Littles in need of a new home. What are the chances, right?”

I immediately thought back to Omega Force or Agent Dawson. Both had promised that I would be safe and taken care of if I could just wait. I hadn’t waited for long, but I wasn’t sure how much I actually believed in coincidences around here anymore.

“That’s right, dear,” Lillian continued, pushing her glasses back to the bridge of her nose and gazing back down over at me. “So, Emma… we were kind of wondering… would you like to maybe come home with us?”

I should have known that type of question was coming, but when it did, I was still a little unprepared for it. I had been taken care of by technically three Bigs now; Mrs. Tatum, Kathy, and Nancy. While Mrs. Tatum was nice and fair in her own way, both Kathy and Nancy had turned into complete monsters that I had fled away from… both times to my detriment in their own way. I didn’t want to repeat that mistake yet again, but looking back at Jimmy and Lillian, now both intently staring at me and waiting for an answer, I knew I still had to take a second to think about the whole situation this time.

It wasn’t easy just saying yes to a couple that I had just met only a week ago. Maybe two weeks would have been fine, but at one… I just felt like I was rushing things again. That being said, I saw my alternatives. If I told them no, I knew I was running the risk of scaring them off permanently. There were certainly other Littles out there, and with them seeming to reject me and then Nancy being an issue, other caregivers could see me as being a problematic Little. That was a one-way ticket to Garden Gate Hospital, so, I felt like I needed to take a leap of faith this time with what I knew about them at this point. Stupid, perhaps, but I just hoped that maybe it would be the right decision for me as well. So, I nodded my head. “Yeth…”

Jimmy and Lillian immediately burst from their chairs and hugged me close. It was a little weird at first, but it didn’t take long for my body to get used to theirs and ease right back into their embrace. After a minute even, the whole thing just felt natural, and I was relieved that I felt I had made a good decision. I knew though that only time would tell.

So, with the paperwork going through and everyone else approving it, I left with Jimmy and Lillian to go to their house after three days. Many of the staff at the daycare bid me farewell and even though I would still be going there during the day, most of the staff likely understood that I would likely soon transfer to the Oasis room now that my caregiver wasn’t going to try and yo-yo with my mental age again. To top off the touching moment even further, I was beyond thrilled that Mrs. Gillies made it official and allowed me to finally take Patch home with me. Once she had said that, there probably wasn’t five minutes where he wasn’t by my side anymore.

Rounding the curb later, Jimmy and Lillian’s neighborhood looked very much like Nancy’s had, but I noticed one giant difference. While Nancy’s had Littles playing around, each was closely monitored and controlled by a nearby Big. Here, though, it seemed that most Littles were very much free to do what they wanted with minimal interference from their Big. It was a small difference perhaps, but it was enough of a difference that I saw it and sighed in relief.

Their house was also very similar to Nancy’s, but as we entered my room upstairs, I quickly noticed a major noticeable difference. Here, my room was blank. Concerned, I spun back around to Lillian and James. “Why’s da walls aww bwank?”

Lillian smiled and picked up a nearby magazine from my bed, the once piece of furniture actually in the room. “Well, we didn’t want to force anything onto you, Emma. That being said though, we can look at this magazine together and choose what you want for a theme. Could be jungles, fantasy, sports, your choice! Does that sound good to you?”

It did, but for now, the white walls were still a little unnerving and were the most pressing thing on my mind. “How lon’ do I hafta sleep wiff whi’ walls?”

Jimmy chuckled. “Not long at all, honey. You choose now and it’s early enough that before it gets dark, most of it will be here. So, any idea on what you want?”

I nodded and the three of us quickly dove into the design book that Lillian was holding. True to their word, there was just about every type of theme possible, but to no one’s surprise, my heart longed for the fantasy princess theme combo. Then, by that night, I was already pleasantly surrounded by turrets, knights defending against dragons, and even fairies. I was now the princess of my own realm and as I drifted off with Patch cradled snugly in my arms, I felt happy for the first time in a while.

And things proceeded much according to the routine that was soon set in the house. As Lillian and Jimmy went about their morning routine, one of them would help me up and get me ready for the day. I was still very much who I was after a few weeks here, but Jimmy and Lillian were patient with me and gave me the support and understanding I needed not to feel like a failure when I still needed diapers or would spill my food occasionally, for example.

Then, on the weekends, we started to set another routine of going to one of the larger somewhat nearby parks every Sunday. It was at least three times the size of the ones I had been to before and catered to all sizes and mentalities. Unlike Nancy though with these outings to the park, Jimmy and Lillian accompanied me and tried to participate with me whenever I asked them to. I was nervous at first, but I soon realized that both had their own talents that could make pretty much whatever I did even better. Today was no exception.

“Hiyer, Jimmy! Hiyer!” I practically laughed out as he pushed me on the swings, Patch tightly tucked in my left arm beside me. I was currently competing with a Little named Jane and was determined to go higher than her. She was friends with Charley in the Oasis room, and we became fast friends once we were introduced a few weeks ago.

“Easy you two,” Lillian chided us from the nearby park bench she was sitting on. She helped me with several other things, but I found out that Jimmy’s hidden muscles were far superior to hers and could push me higher and faster. For swings, nothing else was better.

“Imma gonna beat you,” Jane teased as Suzanne, her mommy, pushed her higher still.

Not wanting to be outdone, I shouted back without a second’s thought, “No! Hiyer, Jimmy! Hiyer!” I immediately became fearful of a swift punishment from either Jimmy or Lillian for saying no to them.

Instead, Jimmy laughed, and I could quickly feel him slowing down. “Maybe later, honey. We don’t want you go launching off to the moon now, do we?”

I shook my head, disappointed by the deceleration, but I knew not to argue with either Jimmy or Lillian and was just thankful neither had pushed my use of the word ‘no.’ We had a few rough patches to begin with, but they had mostly smoothed over by now and I was still getting used to their more lenient ways. They had their own rules, but both were also fair, and it didn’t take me long to realize that most of their rules were in place to simply keep me safe. It was a strange notion as compared to Nancy’s more dominance-based rules, but I was getting the hang of it and loving the relatively more freedom I had now.  

Soon, satisfied with her win, Jane hopped off and waved goodbye to us to then go eat lunch. It wasn’t long before Lillian was calling Jimmy and I over for lunch as well. I was a little disappointed over having to stop, but Jimmy’s small little hug after reassured me that it wouldn’t be the last time he ever pushed me on the swings.

“Alright you two, come on. It’s lunchtime and no one wants an empty tummy now, do we?” Jimmy and I both shook our heads adamantly, and as he hoisted me up to the picnic table that Lillian had snagged, she started piling out the various baggies and containers that held our lunch. “Okay, we’ve got sandwiches, some fruit, a few veggie sticks, and some juices to wash it all down. That sound good to you two?”

It was simple, but it also showed me something I had started to notice with both Jimmy and Lillian. Any chance they had to treat me like an equal or at least older than a baby, they took it. So, Jimmy and I both nodded our heads in delight.

All prepared, Lillian made up my plate and set it down in front of me. I knew to wait until both of their plates had also been served as well, and again, it just further reinforced the equality of my new dynamic here with them. Unlike now, Nancy had always seemed to place herself above me, even before her change in personality. With Jimmy and Lillian though, help was never forced, but was only offered. It was a minor difference in some ways to me, but a massive one in all the important ways as well.

Hungry, I dove right into my sandwich. It had been cut into four parts and the condiments, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and meat all blended perfectly during the late fall day. I could tell winter was fast approaching and I wondered if our routine would change at all with the colder days.

“Enjoying your lunch, Emma?” Lillian soon asked, pausing her own eating.

I happily nodded, my mouth all full of food. As I swallowed and moved on, I could see that Jimmy often wanted to help me out with his tiny little hand gestures, particularly when I got to the fruit portion of the meal, but he refrained and just smiled whenever I was successful at actually getting the food in my mouth, quickly setting his hands back down. For a Little who had once struggled to hold even a bottle in their hands, I felt I was practically doing the impossible now. Still, even if Jimmy hadn’t helped me, I did appreciate that he was at least at the ready to help me if I ever needed it.

Once lunch was over, Lillian then laid out a picnic blanket and we all laid down to digest our food. Seeing the time was getting late and that my movements had begun to slow, Lillian was prepared and pulled out a book, James and the Ogre. Though I only partially remembered it from before my regression, I did remember it being one of my favorites. Apparently, to further help my transition into their house, Lillian had asked all the daycare staff about what I was like with them. A love of reading came to the minds of most and Lillian had purchased several of my favorites. After letting me choose the design for my room, it was the next best sign that I had chosen my new caregivers well.

We all got comfy and gathered around the open book as I cuddled with Patch right next to me. Just before we started though, Lillian temporarily closed the book and looked down at me. “I know you’ve been having some trouble with some of your words lately, but do you want to maybe try reading this one?”

I had never been asked that question before and it took me fully by surprise. I had to will every ounce of inner strength I had to not just have a breakdown on the spot. I still couldn’t remember much about my life back on Earth, but what I could, I knew that reading was one of my favorite things. Ever since Nancy though, it had taken on a different and more sinister meaning.

Book topics had changed to stories where the moral of the book was that Littles needed to be taken of by Bigs. Without fail, I could almost always guarantee that regardless of genre, the main character would end up in the care of a Big by the end. Space wars, time travel, fantastical other worlds, and even tales of lost treasure all ended with the main character ending up the exact same way. So, to be even asked if I wanted to read today was almost beyond my comprehension.

“I… I…” I took a breath in and tried to calm myself. I didn’t want to ruin the moment and have Lillian think that I was incapable of reading. I felt it would have slammed those doors shut forever, and I couldn’t let that happen. So, I exhaled and looked at her right in the eyes. “Yeth… I wan’ ta twy aleast…”

Lillian only smiled and reopened the book. “Perfect. Whenever you’re ready, sweetie.”

I stared at the relatively enormous amount of text in front of me. It was extremely nerve wracking and I wondered if I could even do it or not anymore, but I just breathed deeply and began. “Lon’ ago an’ in a lan’ faw fwom anywhew you evuh dweamed of, dere lived a boy cawed Jack…”

I will fully admit, there were several points where I nearly tripped over the words from almost not understanding them anymore. It was frustrating, but Jimmy and Lillian were both patient and helped me through any of them. I felt a tiny bit of shame at each point, but a reassuring smile from either and a smidge of praise in some form always pushed me through. That being said, I was still a Little and not even halfway into the first chapter, I began to doze off.

Rather than get frustrated, Jimmy and Lillian only smiled at each other and helped me to my feet and then started to clean up our little site. Moments later, I was in the car, buckled safely into my car seat with Patch nestled gently in my arms. I was out cold before the engine even turned on.

I came to later just as Jimmy was pulling into the driveway. Lillian quickly saw that I was awake. “Mornin’, sleepyhead. Have a nice nap?”

Yawning, but smiling over my pleasant rest, I nodded my head and waited to be fetched. I used to try and figure out the buckles with the car seat, but I knew my hands just weren’t nimble or strong enough anymore to do something like that. It was a small acceptance of my fate, but with Jimmy or Lillian, I never felt that the seat was a punishment. Instead, it just felt like something to keep me safe and elevated during our car rides together.

Lillian soon got out of the car and came over to me. She made quick work of the buckles, but her eyes quickly shot down to my crotch. “Okay, sweetie. Just need to check you really quick, okay?” I nodded and let her prod around my diaper. It was a little awkward at first when they started helping with my diaper issue, but both Jimmy and Lillian had been gentle and reassuring in any of their motions. I never felt in danger with either of them, and we all knew that for now at least, diaper checks and changes were just part of my personal package deal.

“Oh, would you look at that. Best get you changed, sweetie. No need for a leaky diaper, huh?” I passively nodded and let Lillian unbuckle me the rest of the way before being gathered up and taken inside.

The house always smelled fresh or even sweet or savory when either of them cooked. It was pleasantly decorated, but only to the point of taste, rather than looking like a museum. ‘Homey’ was about the best word I could use to describe their aesthetic, and the part of me that had been through everything since coming here, it was the best word I could hope for in my new home.

Going up the stairs, Lillian soon had me in my nursery and laid me on the changing table. I gazed over my pristine pink and purple nursery and still marveled over how the fairies around my ceiling seemed to almost emit a magic of sorts. Still, it wasn’t even close to what Patch did for me, and I only hugged him closer as Lillian began to change my sopping wet diaper.

Soon taped into a fresh You-Ni-Corn diaper, Lillian helped me back up and paused for a moment. Fearing the worst, I gripped tightly onto Patch. Biting her lip, Lillian began slowly. “You know… Jimmy and I were talking the other day… we want to help you out as much as we can. I’m not sure if it’s even possible, but…” She then trailed off and looked toward my closet before holding up a finger to me. “Hold on. Just one sec.”

She quickly went off and started to retrieve something from my closet. My heart raced and I could feel myself even starting to sweat and breathe deeply from how nervous I was. I used to love surprises, but after Nancy… I felt in this dimension that any surprise was always followed by some awful or frightening event. I knew I had to start getting myself used to the notion that I was with new Bigs now, but that fear from my time with Nancy persisted.  

Regardless, Lillian came back over with a large purple package nestled in her arms. “Do you know what these are?”

I squinted and tried to make out what the package was. It seemed oddly familiar, but I just could quite place it. Oddly, a bunch of the words just looked like a bunch of squiggles to me. “Aw dey fo’ me?” I asked, not really sure what else to say and attempting to cover up the fact that I couldn’t read what they were.

Nancy grinned and nodded. “Yes, you silly goose. Here.” She then moved closer and held up the name printed on the front so that I could see it plainly. Unfortunately, the words still just seemed to jumble together.

“I can’t… I can’t wead ih…” I finally said feeling utterly stupid and defeated. “I’m sowwy…”

Lillian's face quickly saddened, and she started to rub my back for a moment. “There, there. It’s okay. It’s not a test, Emma. I think Nancy might have messed with your comprehension of certain words, but I’m not sure. These though,” she said, holding the package back up, “are pull-ons or pull-ups. Whatever you want to call them, but Jimmy and I just want to let you know that we’re willing to give them a try if you are.”

I stared back at the package in disbelief. It almost seemed like a long-forgotten treasure or gold at the end of the rainbow. I didn’t think this day would ever get here, but I was also faced with a sobering reality. Lillian had just changed my diaper, which I also had no knowledge of even wetting in the first place. So, I said about the only thing I could. “I wan’ to, buh… I don’ know if I can…”

Lillian placed the package down and rubbed my back again. “That’s okay, Emma. No rush, but we just wanted to let you know that the option is available to you if you ever want it. Maybe one day, right?”

I smiled and nodded before giving her a giant hug. It seemed like such a small thing, but even their offering of that option was more of a sign to me that I had chosen my new caregivers right. No pressure or agenda, but just a mere option if I wanted to. My decision. It felt so strange to think about, but as Lillian carried me back downstairs before dinner, I just luxuriated in the feeling. The feeling, however, soon went away as I then saw Jimmy staring down at a letter in his hands with a pale look on his face.

“Hun?” Lillian asked worriedly. “What is it? Bad news?”

Jimmy sighed and held up the letter. “I don’t really know. Could be either I guess, but… it’s Nancy… it says she’s getting sentenced next week after her trial date.”

My stomach dropped over hearing that name out loud again. Sure, her name played over and over again in my head dozens of times every day, but to hear it out loud… I felt a fearful chill creep up my back. Still holding me, Lillian could feel something was wrong and rubbed my back. “It’s okay, Emma. No need to worry. We’ll protect you no matter what.” Jimmy nodded in agreement but there was still a part of me that was tremendously nervous.

See, Nancy had lost all rights to me forever and always. That court date had been straightforward and was considered a no-brainer to even the most pro-Big judge out there. Problem was though, this next and final trial and sentencing date… all that was still very much up in the air. In Virgan, many of the courts often seemed to side with Bigs on most issues like these where criminal intent was involved with the care of a Little. What most of Earth could consider abuse, the wrong judge around here could just consider as ‘strict care.’ So, while Nancy would never take custody of me again, her mere presence causing issues for me or any reprisals to me wasn’t out of the question still.

“Don’t worry, Emma,” Jimmy reassured me, setting down the letter. “No matter what happens, we’ll watch out for you and Nancy won’t ever hurt you again.”

I nodded and appreciated his confidence, but I still saw the letter. My nerves weren’t so bad with both my new caregivers’ reassurances, but the letter remained a pivotal point of contention. It existed still, so the trial and Nancy’s possible release still loomed in my mind. At one point in my life, I might have just brushed those feelings aside, but like so much else I had lost, my resolve and courage seemed to have vanished as well. For now, though, all I could do was cling tighter to Lillian and Patch. Against Nancy, I wasn’t sure how they would match up, but for the moment, they gave me comfort, and that was something.

[Guilend]

Yay. It won't be long till Nancy is standing with her nose in the corner with a very full diaper exposed and a red bottom. I hope lol

[kerry]

This is a long-awaited happy chapter, but the fact that it totally relies on events in another story renders it as a deus ex machina. One chapter ends with our protagonist seemingly about to be completely regressed forever, and then the next—with only a quick summary of events in between—she is saved and facing a new and much happier life, which apparently we would know about if we also happened to be reading along with another story simultaneously. Within this story, it comes out of nowhere.

You're not the only one to do something like this, but I find it a disturbing trend...and this is why: a story should be self-contained even if it does connect to things in other stories. A sequel, for instance, should be able to stand on its own and not force readers to go back to another source. I commend you for allowing your universe to branch out by looking at it from various angles, but not when it leads to a chapter that almost literally says if you want to understand this, you'll need to read this other story first...and does say that in an author's note. After following (and enjoying) the story all along, the reader suddenly discovers that the climax it has been heading toward isn't in it at all. 

Huh?

BTW: the trial of Nancy is a kind of deus ex machina within a deus ex machina, as we are seemingly about to be hit with the resurgence of a major antagonist who was only defeated by jumping ahead and skipping relevant and important sections. It seems obvious that you are going to free her so she can haunt a sequel...and it also seems totally unjustified by the entirety of the rest of the story.

Sorry I'm being so critical, but I hate it when a good story falls apart at its end, and this time it was so clearly avoidable.

[LostBBoyBear]

38 minutes ago, kerry said:

This is a long-awaited happy chapter, but the fact that it totally relies on events in another story renders it as a deus ex machina. One chapter ends with our protagonist seemingly about to be completely regressed forever, and then the next—with only a quick summary of events in between—she is saved and facing a new and much happier life, which apparently we would know about if we also happened to be reading along with another story simultaneously. Within this story, it comes out of nowhere.

You're not the only one to do something like this, but I find it a disturbing trend...and this is why: a story should be self-contained even if it does connect to things in other stories. A sequel, for instance, should be able to stand on its own and not force readers to go back to another source. I commend you for allowing your universe to branch out by looking at it from various angles, but not when it leads to a chapter that almost literally says if you want to understand this, you'll need to read this other story first...and does say that in an author's note. After following (and enjoying) the story all along, the reader suddenly discovers that the climax it has been heading toward isn't in it at all. 

Huh?

BTW: the trial of Nancy is a kind of deus ex machina within a deus ex machina, as we are seemingly about to be hit with the resurgence of a major antagonist who was only defeated by jumping ahead and skipping relevant and important sections. It seems obvious that you are going to free her so she can haunt a sequel...and it also seems totally unjustified by the entirety of the rest of the story.

Sorry I'm being so critical, but I hate it when a good story falls apart at its end, and this time it was so clearly avoidable.

I understand what you're saying, which is why this will be one of the last stories in this vein, but I really wanted to avoid rehashing events that already happened. For anyone who already ready the other story, I didn't want to bore them, but you have a frustratingly valid point. 

As far as Nancy goes, I have specific plans for her, and I'll just leave it as that technically, most everyone reading this story has likely already read about her outcome... they may have just not known it yet. 

I really did try to avoid a bunch of things you are talking about, but with how these stories came together, I really couldnt see another way out of it. Technically speaking, this also serves as basically the final story in this trilogy. I know some of the events take place in parallel, but plainly speaking, most would also find it odd if someone only read books 1 and 3 in any other series. Regardless, this story is almost finished and these types of issues can be avoided in the future.