age regression Troubles in Toddlerhood (Mature) (Chapter Nineteen)

[Baby Jemma]

This is my very first real foray into ABDL/age regression (had another one, but it went nowhere). Like all of my stories, there are mature themes, and I will warn you when we get to them - even with the content warnings in the tags; I have not led readers astray or lied to them about trigger warnings, and I'm never going to start.

About critique, feel absolutely free to tell me what I'm doing wrong; in fact, I encourage it with all my heart! I want to publish this under my pseudo penname in books for AR/AB stuff, and in order to publish without mistakes and errors, I absolutely need to know what I've done wrong. If you can't find anything wrong, then tell me what you liked, please! These things make me a better writer. I'm not soft when it comes to critique, and I'll always listen to it.

If you're ready - and still with me - let the story begin:

Chapter One: A Girls' Night Out on the Town.

 

-

 

Svetlana Volkova was going to meet her two friends, Tatiana Voronina and Galina Tigrova for a normal Sunday brunch, and she had the feeling it was going to be quite exciting - especially on the day before Halloween.

 

The three women weren’t really anything special, not really. All three were twenty-five-year-old Pittsburgh natives (from Russian parents), athletic, excellent figures (each of them were D cups), and all three were top-notch daycare workers. They had known each other since they were young, since before they could remember.

 

Each of them had mousy-brown hair that they dyed to look prettier, and each of them had piercing icy-blue eyes. Some had confused the three for triplets at first glance. It was fine by them; they were each very much close. Even when they had their fights, it was solved rather quickly and with no hard feelings.

 

Svetlana walked down the sidewalk with a purpose as her Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, knee-length black skirt and purse fluttering in the gusty wind. She brushed her shoulder-length dyed-golden-brown hair away from her eyes as she neared the stop.

 

Tatiana was the first to notice, as she waved and smoothed her Penguins jersey and golden skirt, her shoulder-blade-length dyed-auburn curls noticeable. She nudged Galina, who was busy twirling her navel-length, shockingly-dyed-royal-purple hair before she turned to see her friend and jumped to her feet out of shock (and yes, she too was wearing a Penguins jersey and a golden skirt).

 

The women walked over, hugging each other with gleeful looks on their faces.

 

“Well, you finally came here, Svetka,” Tatiana said with a smirk. “We were beginning to think you had gotten bored.”

 

“Bored? Of you girls? Never!” Svetlana was beaming.

 

“Girl, I can’t remember the last time we haven’t spoken!” Galina exclaimed. “We do this so much, they give us free food.”

 

“And we wear it well,” Tatiana laughed, causing the other two to join in.

 

Svetlana sat down with her two friends. “So, how are things with you?” she all but sang.

 

“Good! Can’t wait for the Pens game; that new swanky bar has the perfect place to watch,” Tatiana said. “You feel like coming, Svetka?”

 

“Of course, Tanya!” the woman said. “I’m surprised we’re going out barhopping, though; we don’t have a car…”

 

“Oh, come on, Svetka,” Galina said. “It’ll be so much fun.” She paused. “The only problem is, we have to bring someone else who can drive us, since our car is in the shop, and the only person we know who’s interested is…”

 

“Celine,” the three said simultaneously, as they all let out annoyed sighs.

 

Celine Fuchs was their old housemate they hated, and the feeling was very much mutual. A nosy busybody three years younger than them, Celine made no secret about having a fiancé to go back home to (it wasn’t that they couldn’t get boyfriends if they wanted; they were just not interested in dates at the moment.), and she critiqued them on every little thing, every miniscule detail, despite the fact that she was a law clerk. It was hell to deal with her.

 

“You going to call her, Svetka?” Tatiana asked.

 

“It’s not like we have a choice,” Svetlana muttered.

 

She opened her smartphone and called Celine’s number. One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

 

“Hello, who is this?” Celine asked in an annoyed tone.

 

“It’s Svetlana.”

 

“Oh, hi, Svetlana. What do you want?”

 

“Tatiana, Galina, and I were going to catch the Pens game tonight at the new bar. Was wondering if you’d come.”

 

“Oh, that would be marvelous!” Celine’s voice entirely changed, sounding genuinely excited. “Well, I’ll have to get ready. You planning on parking? Bringing money for food? What time would be best to leave-”

 

“Don’t worry, Celine, we’re all going in the same car,” Svetlana said calmly.

 

“Might as well bring my car; it’s a new one.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“It’s got multiple seats.”

 

“Okay, fine. We’ll take your car.”

 

“Can I bring my fiancé?”

 

“Sorry. Girls' night out.”

 

“Oh, well, I’ll tell him to go to our house. Where do I pick you three up?”

 

“Right at Market Square. You’ll know us.”

 

“Of course. Have a wonderful day! Go Pens!”

 

Svetlana sighed when Celine hung up on her. Her two friends looked at her. “Guess it’s a go. She’s picking us up in her car.”

 

“Ugh, she always likes to brag,” Tatiana muttered. “Always. It’s a new car, new clothes, new boyfriend, what-fucking-ever, I don’t care.”

 

“She’s so fucking insufferable,” Galina said with a sigh. “I guess riding in her car won’t be the worst thing, right?”

 

“True. It’s only one time, then never again,” Tatiana agreed with much reluctance.

 

“Let’s just go to Market Square and wait; the game starts at 5:00, and it’s already 2:00 PM.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

They finished paying for their brunch and included a generous tip before walking to Market Square (hey, they always could use exercise, even with the various male catcallers), getting there at around 3:00 PM. It was a short wait until a brand-new Honda Odyssey that all but blared that it was Celine’s car pulled up, the aforementioned driver waving at them.

 

“Hellooo!” she called. “You ready!”

 

“Yeah, we are,” Svetlana said.

 

No shit we’re ready, you dumb bitch. We’ve been ready!

 

The three women packed into the backseats, none of them wanting to sit in the front with their annoying old housemate.

 

“Look, I get you don’t like me, but…I do appreciate you bringing me with you to the bar with you,” Celine said politely.

 

Svetlana looked at her younger ex-housemate who had a genuine smile on her face. Celine certainly was fairly attractive, actually, scratch that, definitely attractive with a blonde pixie cut, inquisitive sea-green eyes, and a larger bust than even they had.

 

Tatiana was the only one to break the silence. “Sure, I mean, might as well bring you along; we know how big a fan you are,” she said.

 

“Still, it is appreciated. Still, expect this to be a one-time thing, though.”

 

“The feeling’s quite mutual,” Svetlana said bluntly.

 

If only she knew just how dead wrong her words were.

 

-

 

So, let me know if there's anything I can improve on, anything you liked or disliked, stuff like that~

[aldl4811]

Oh, nice. I like the start here and the cliffhanger. 

[D503]

Nice start. Interesting to see where it goes.

[Baby Jemma]

On 5/7/2024 at 3:04 PM, aldl4811 said:

Oh, nice. I like the start here and the cliffhanger. 

Much appreciated~ Cliffhangers are so much fun, aren't they?

 

On 5/9/2024 at 12:31 AM, D503 said:

Nice start. Interesting to see where it goes.

Thank you! I hope I won't disappoint~

 

And now, for the second chapter:

 

Chapter Two: An Unexpected Regression for Three.

 

-

 

Celine drove to the bar in friendly silence.

 

Inwardly, she was fuming. She would’ve killed to have had time to go to that bar to catch a Pens game this year, but it just had to be with her bitchy ex-housemates. They were older than she was, sure, but definitely charities cases compared to her. Probably jealous of her looks, that was it.

 

Like they understand what it's like to be beautiful; they’re ugly as sin with their stupid dyed hair and socks for boobs.

 

Okay, maybe she was exaggerating; they were extremely good-looking, but she knew she was hotter. At least she didn’t have to work with toddlers like they did…even with her shitty job as a law clerk, looking at the worst of humanity every day.

 

Soon enough, they had arrived at the bar’s parking, got out of the car, and arrived at the bar area where a tall, muscular older black man with graying dreadlocks was the bouncer.

 

“Have a nice evening, ladies,” he said with a smile.

 

“We will,” Galina said, while Tatiana and Svetlana nodded. Celine merely gave him a winning smile as the four walked into the bar, settling down and getting drinks, the bouncer giving them a wink.

 

Soon enough, the game had started in earnest on the large television screens, and of course, the Penguins had quickly gotten out to a commanding lead. Celine was hyped, but she noted that Svetlana - no, Tatiana and Galina as well - looked quite pale, not standing up.

 

Please tell me you’re not going to be sick…we paid for food and drinks, and I can’t drive you home, and I’m working tomorrow, so I can’t afford to get sick from you three…

 

But still, all three of them looked very sick - even though she felt absolutely fine, which was odd because she had shared the same food they did; maybe it was the drinks? - and she didn’t like to see anyone sick, especially when it was people she knew. So, when the buzzer on the TV rang to signal the end of the first period, she got to her feet to look at the three others.

 

“You need a restroom?” she asked Tatiana - who was sitting next to her - gently.

 

“Just…wanna go to sleep,” the curly-haired woman muttered.

 

“No, you can’t go to sleep, if you three go to sleep, I won’t be able to wake you up,” Celine said. “C’mon, up you three get.”

 

She managed to get the three women to their feet, noting with some fear that they were all looking like they wanted to close their eyes.

 

What’s wrong with them? Do I have to call a hospital? Oh, they’re sooo going to owe me after this.

 

Somehow, she got them to the lady’s room, leading them into the same stall, where they instantly passed out against the stall walls. Easier for her to check and see what was wrong with them all, and there was just enough room.

 

Wait. Celine did a double-take. These three weren’t small; each of them were 5’9” (she was the shrimp at 5’4”.), so there shouldn’t have been enough room in the stall for all of them to fit. As a matter of fact, it looked as if they had shrunk if anything, and they were slowly getting smaller.

 

Impossible. People don’t shrink.

 

And yet they had shrunk - and were still shrinking, now at a rapid pace. The devil on her shoulder told her to get a video on her smartphone; this could be worth millions, and it couldn’t happen to a better trio…but something kept her eyes on them, stunned into silence, unable to process what she was seeing.

 

The three were still shrinking, and…were they getting younger as well? She looked at Svetlana who now looked like a teenage girl, probably around thirteen, and getting younger still. Tatiana and Galina looked equally young, and like their friend, they were getting younger, too.

 

Thirteen turned to ten, ten turned to seven, their childhoods quickly catching up to them with their clothes shrinking as well, and an inner voice told Celine that it was not going to stop there.

 

Oh, God, they’re really getting younger, what if it doesn’t stop, what if they regress to nonexistence, what if I’m fucking PREGNANT with the three of them?!

 

She needn’t have worried about nonexistence or pregnancy, as the shrinking of the three women - no, she couldn’t call them “women” anymore - had stopped, as they had stopped regressing at…

 

I’d say they’re all twenty months old on the dot, given that they’re the same size as those kids they once had at daycare. But how?

 

Celine looked at the three toddlers, all of whom, it seemed, had completely soiled the floor with urine and feces, and it certainly smelled the part. Somehow - she figured it had to be magic of some kind; there was simply no other explanation - all of their clothes had disappeared, leaving them completely nude.

 

How does something like this happen? This can’t be real, I have to be dreaming, I’ll wake up soon, it’ll be some weird dream…well, until I wake up, I suppose I better clean them up. Not like they can help it…but what am I going to do with them? If I go to the police with this, they’ll lock me in psych. If I go to their parents - hell, I don’t know if their parents are even alive, I haven’t really talked to them about their lives - they’ll never believe me. I can’t exactly leave them at a church, fire station or orphanage; they don’t deserve that. But I don’t know what to do…wait, Erasmo!

 

Erasmo Zanetti, her twenty-two-year-old fiance, had five younger siblings, and the two girls in his family, Isidora and Osanna, were younger than ten; he had babysat them in the past year. She quickly gave him a call.

 

“Hello, Celi,” he said with a grin. “Penguins are doing well.”

 

“I have a massive problem, Raz,” she said. “I…found three toddlers in the bar’s women’s restroom, abandoned, my housemates went home sick, and I don’t know how to take care of kids!”

 

“Three…toddlers?” He was clearly disbelieving. “You drunk, Celi?”

 

“Do you want pictures to prove it?” she demanded.

 

“Sure.”

 

She took off her jersey, revealing a sports bra, covered the former adult women’s privates with it (for modesty’s sake and because it did look cold on the floor), snapped a picture, and sent it to Erasmo, leaving the jersey there as a makeshift blanket.

 

“Okay, okay, I believe you.” The call almost sounded…excited? “They definitely need diapers, baby wipes, car seats, blankets, three stuffed animals, one for each, pacifiers, sippy cups, a triplet stroller, cribs, high-chairs, toys for sure, three changing tables, a large playpen, possibly a baby monitor, definitely a diaper bag or two, definitely going have to baby-proof the house, oh, by the way, are they girls or boys, can we adopt them, they’re so cute?”

 

“Raz, I just…I need help.”

 

“Fair enough. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” The phone call ended.

 

“Okay, time to get you three off of the dirty floor,” Celine muttered, looking desperately for a place to put them. There was none.

 

“God, even if it was only one of you that turned into a toddler, that would be bad enough, but all fucking three of you? No fucking way I can do this. Why’d you do this to me, you stupid bitches?” She looked at the sleeping toddlers again (by the smell of it, her expensive jersey now had more baby poop on it from Tatiana) and sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t react that way,” she murmured in a tone both regretful and blunt. “You’d be better off taking care of me than me taking care of all three of you.”

 

Thankfully, no other woman was using the restroom, and therefore, nobody could see what a shit job of “parenting” she was doing. All she could do now was…wait.

 

She checked the time. Thirty minutes. What was taking Erasmo so long?

 

“Excuse me, sir, where is the lady's room?” a woman asked.

 

Oh, no.

 

Mrs. Bartolomea Zanetti, her hopeful mother-in-law, had apparently been brought along for the ride.
 

-

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Until next time~

[Babytom948]

What an odd conversation

[Baby Jemma]

4 minutes ago, Babytom948 said:

What an odd conversation

Could you specify which conversation? I'd love to know if it sounds wooden or unrealistic, so I can improve it.

[D503]

That escalated quickly! Always fun to see new and interesting twists.

[Babytom948]

On 5/11/2024 at 2:58 PM, Baby Jemma said:

Could you specify which conversation? I'd love to know if it sounds wooden or unrealistic, so I can improve it.

When she calls Erasmo red flags should be going up,lol.

[Baby Jemma]

On 5/12/2024 at 12:56 AM, D503 said:

That escalated quickly! Always fun to see new and interesting twists.

The twists certainly aren't finished from here~ Just sayiiing~

On 5/12/2024 at 8:31 PM, Babytom948 said:

When she calls Erasmo red flags should be going up,lol.

Ah, okay. There's a reason why he's not getting any red flags.

Okay, here's the third chapter of Troubles in Toddlerhood!

-

Chapter Three: The Mother-in-Law.

-

Bartolomea Zanetti was a bit heavyset, large breasts, large hips, and had curly black hair in a mop, but had a powerful and confident air about her. Celine watched the woman walk into the ladies room and take a look at the situation. When the woman gazed at her with hooded hazel eyes, Celine knew she was annoyed.

 

“Now, what if that was you, hmm? Couldn’t find somewhere other than the floor for these poor little ones?” she asked pointedly before she handed the law clerk a package of Luvs and three changing pads.

 

“I tried my best with what I had, ma’am,” Celine said politely.

 

“Hmph. Toddlers require more than ‘just your best.’ They’re starting out in life, so you need to pay attention. But I suppose your head is in the clouds, too wrapped up in being a law clerk to pay attention to the little things in life, like children.”

 

“Mom, please,” Erasmo tried to intercede, but to no avail.

 

“Hmph. She found these little ones. it’s up to you and her to properly care for them, and since she’s the one in the lady’s room, it’s up to her to change them. I can give her advice. Nothing more. If the two of you want to start a family, you can’t rely on me the whole time.” She looked at Celine with a stink-eyed glance, as she tried to put a diaper on Galina. “What in the world are you doing?”

 

“Putting a diaper on one of them? All three are girls, by the way.”

 

“You’ve never babysat before? Lord Almighty…here, I’ll show you. First, get the three changing pads, put each toddler on a separate pad, so that it soaks up any potential messes. …Well, come on, we haven’t got all night. …Good. Now, wipe down their private areas with a wet wipe; since girls have more sensitive areas than boys, you’re going to have to be very thorough.”

 

Celine started with Galina again, who had peed on her hands during the change; somehow, all three toddlers were still asleep. She went to wipe them off with the same wipe in disgust, but Mother Zanetti stopped her immediately.

 

“Nope, use a different wipe. Babies will do those things when they aren’t potty-trained. Now gently lift up her bottom, slide the diaper underneath. The colored side should be facing you. Now tape it up, make sure it’s not too snug or loose; you should be able to run two fingers between her stomach and the diaper area. Hurry up, we still have two more toddlers.”

 

Celine quickly finished the task, and Mrs. Zanetti quickly checked…before nodding in approval, picking up Galina who was drooling on the older woman’s shoulder, somehow still asleep.

 

“Now, before the next baby, make sure to wash your hands beforehand. …Good. Since you know how to do these things, now for the next one.”

 

“Why don’t you help?” Celine muttered, glowering at the older woman.

 

“Because if you’re taking care of these three, sometimes, you won’t have help,” Mrs. Zanetti said calmly, although her eyes betrayed her annoyance at her son's fiancée. “This is good practice. Come on now, we don’t have all night.”

 

The young law clerk quickly changed Svetlana and finally Tatiana before looking at her ruined jersey.

 

Thanks a lot, Tatiana. I paid over $120 for this custom-made jersey, and now you pooped all over it. Thanks again.

 

“Don’t they look so precious?” Erasmo said, his hazel eyes warm with fatherly love, despite his goth-like look with shaggy black hair, a loose-fitting black shirt with a skeleton pattern, baggy black jeans, and combat boots.

 

Not really? They’re just former daycare workers who just so happen to need diapers for giant messes.

 

It was what she wanted to think, but she had to admit that the three looked pretty damn cute as toddlers.

 

“Now for the blankets; they’ll get chills otherwise.”

 

Mother Zanetti, interrupting tender moments since the beginning of time. Celine sighed before grabbing the pink blankets, swaddling the three, as the group moved out of the ladies room. The older black bouncer was busy holding curious patrons back, whispering, “Shh…little ones are sleeping.”

 

“Well, I better get back home,” Mother Zanetti said with a sigh. “I left Ottavio in charge of the house, but he, Angelo, and Ulisse are a handful in their own right. Teen boys…”

 

The woman walked out of the restaurant, shaking her head in what seemed like disgust with her future daughter-in-law…or maybe the teenagers wrecking the house? Hell if she knew.

 

She looked at Erasmo in annoyance. “I don’t suppose you got stuffed animals for them?” the law clerk asked him sarcastically.

 

“As a matter of fact, I did,” her boyfriend said with a smile; he either ignored the sarcasm or didn’t care. “New ones, too.”

 

Celine froze when she saw the stuffed animals, and she realized that her old housemates turning into toddlers was, in no way, a coincidence, as they put the three toddlers into car seats.

 

She quickly brought up her Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages on her phone, as Erasmo drove them back to their place. Normally, Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina would have full Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube profiles; Svetlana did song covers (with an admittedly beautiful high soprano), Galina wrote scary short stories (and had them published), and Tatiana did anime drawings (which she had sold).

 

None of their pages existed.

 

Hospital records, there has to be some mistake…

 

Celine’s eyes widened in horror as she saw the dates of birth of her three former housemates: June 30th of last year. Even the time born, down to the second, was the exact same for all of them.

 

But that wasn’t the worst of it. The mother and father on the birth certificate? Her and Erasmo, even though she knew she had never gotten pregnant.

 

What the FUCK is going on?!

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Okay, I've delayed enough. Time for the next chapter:

 

-

Chapter Four: Woke Up On the Wrong Side of the Crib.

-

Tatiana was having a nice dream. A nice peaceful river. A nice warm fuzzy feeling around her body, except squishy in her bottom, huh?

 

She snapped awake in an instant to see bars surrounding her, something in her mouth dropping out.

 

Jail! I must’ve gone overboard with the drinks, probably a disorderly charge.

 

But something didn’t feel right. This didn’t look like jail. It looked like a normal room, except for two huge cribs on either side of her.

 

Weird, I’m at the daycare center, I guess?

 

But why were the cribs huge then? And what was with the-

 

Oh, God, I’M in a crib! Weird dream, but…

 

The squishy feeling was very much pronounced right now, cold, clammy, uncomfortable. She looked down to see…was that a DIAPER on her?! And worse still, it was absolutely soaked. Nothing else covered her body aside from her diaper. Her breasts were no longer there, just a bunch of baby fat. It hit her in an instant.

 

Oh, no, I’m a fucking BABY!

 

Tatiana began screaming her head off, tears freely flowing down her chubby cheeks, and it woke up the other occupants of the cribs, both baby girls with mousy brown hair and bleary blue eyes, both about 20 months old. They could’ve passed as her twins, which meant-

 

Svetka?! Galya?!

 

The other toddlers looked down, and they started wailing as well, sounding all the world like babies who were terrified, like she was sounding exactly like.

 

She heard footsteps, and a giant Celine entered the room.

 

“Oh, no…I was concerned you’d react like this…” she said in a gentle tone, her eyes showing Tatiana that it was definitely not some kind of punishment fulfillment fantasy of her ex-housemate’s. “Svetka, Tanya, Galya, I know things aren’t okay, but-”

 

“Yu baaabii!” Svetlana screamed before wailing even louder at her inability to pronounce anything other than babble, except to Tatiana, the words “You bitch!” were clear as Celine’s English.

 

“Look, can I get you out of your diapers?” Celine asked. “I can’t imagine they’re very comfortable right now.”

 

“Nu shagaabaa!” Galina babbled in a stupidly-high-pitched voice before bawling, clearly unable to enunciate the word “shit”.

 

“Faaabaaa yu!” Tatiana snapped.

 

Can’t even fucking curse when I WANT to!

 

Celine sighed. “Tatiana, I’m going to ignore you saying that, if that’s what I think you mean. Look, this isn’t my idea of a great time either. You guys turned into toddlers after passing out. You ruined my best jersey because you shit and pissed all over it. And I have my future mother-in-law on my ass about taking care of you.”

 

You fucking selfish WHORE! We’re fucking BABIES over here, for fuck’s sake, we possibly have to grow up all over again, and you’re bitching about YOUR life?!

 

It was obvious that Svetlana felt the exact same way with her tearful glare at her former housemate. Galina was still bawling like an infant would.

 

“Hey, I’m coming up, I’m coming up.” A new voice, male this time.

 

Has to be the stupid fiancé.

 

Tatiana was right, as Erasmo (she knew his name because Celine had always talked about him) walked over to Galina, picking her out of her crib and bouncing her in his arms.

 

“Shh, shh…it’s okay, Galina,” he whispered.

 

Tatiana’s eyes went wide with anger. “Haaheo nay?” she spat.

 

Can’t even say, “How does he know our names?” Just perfect.

 

“Hey, honey, can I change them in private for a moment?” Celine asked, taking Galina from his arms, as she was sniffling, as the adult gave a quick kiss on her fiance’s cheek.

 

“Of course. I’ll get their food ready.”

 

Erasmo left with a hum in his tone. Celine got Svetlana and Tatiana out of their cribs after setting down Galina, putting them down next to her.

 

“He doesn’t know that I had housemates. Nobody does. As far as everyone except me knows, you three were born twenty months ago - to both me and Erasmo - on the same birthdate and time as well, which is absolutely freaky. I’ve checked hospital records, and I have proof if you don’t believe me.”

 

Tatiana shook her head in disbelief for a second, and then her eyes - and the eyes of her friends - widened at the undeniable proof shown on Celine’s phone.

 

“All Erasmo knows about you girls are your first names. Believe me, I hate that you’re going through this, I really do, but as far as the world is concerned, you are babies. Might as well make the most of it.”

 

“Hwawo?” Galina wailed.

 

“Well, look at it this way: at least you get to play with toys all day without being asked to do chores?”

 

Tempting, but no, I have a job, I have an adult life to go back to!

 

Tatiana looked at Svetlana and Galina, knowing they felt the same way, and the look in their eyes was equally angry.

 

“I know you’re angry about this, I know I’m not helping. I’d be angry too. But you simply can’t take care of yourselves, so I’m your best bet of understanding how you feel. Okay?”

 

The three lifelong friends looked at each other and nodded in resignation.

 

“Okay, I’ll change your diapers now. Try to let me know if I’m doing a good enough job.”

 

It was done quicker - and admittedly better - than Tatiana had expected; clearly Celine was trying her best, even though she could do better. The diaper was nice and comfy as well, especially compared to a wet one.

 

Ugh, you’re not supposed to think that; you’re supposed to be a healthy adult and not wear your fucking toilet!

 

But at the same time, Tatiana realized that she was about as far away from adulthood as it got. Might as well wear the comfiest of clothes as possible, even if the diaper was thick enough to prevent her legs from squeezing together.

 

“And now, for clothes. Can’t spend all day in diapers alone. Unfortunately, my fiance’s mom picked out pink onesies for you, but I promise that I’ll spend as much as I can on clothes you like and want to wear for you.”

 

“Me hewwawp!” Svetlana demanded.

 

“Me tawoo!” Tatiana echoed.

 

“Me tawee!” Galina fussed.

 

“Of course, of course, but if you need help, I’m here.”

 

The three toddlers - with a lot more help from Celine than any of them wanted to admit - managed to get their onesies on. They were each a light pink pastel color, each with different patterns (Tatiana’s had blue clouds, Galina’s had purple flowers, and Svetlana’s had red hearts). The three looked around the room curiously.

 

The walls seemed to have been painted a while back with a floral pink hue that was almost comfy and cozy. The floor was soft carpet, tickling Tatiana’s bare feet, making her feel like drumming them against the ground in an infantile action before she stopped herself (unlike Svetlana who was happily squealing while doing it). A giant diaper pail lay next to three changing tables, each stacked with tons of supplies. And then there were the cribs.

 

Definitely a nursery for us…but the thing is, I don’t think Celine’s responsible for us becoming toddlers. I’ve never believed in magic before, but this could be magic. No way did she have time to set the paint. No way did they get all of this stuff moved in that short amount of time.

 

“Svetka, Tanya, Galya, I know that you may be too old for stuffed animals, but…well, it’s just more proof, if you need it.”

 

Celine gave each of them a stuffed animal, and it was then that Tatiana knew it was magic and believed everything the now-older ex-housemate said.

 

The black raven seemed to stare into her face, same with the wolf of Svetlana’s and the tiger of Galina’s. It was a friendly face, but the subtext was enough.

 

They took pride in their surnames. Svetlana Volkova. Wolf. Galina Tigrova. Tiger. And her. Tatiana Voronina. Raven. It was the cruelest punchline of a cruel joke.

 

Tatiana threw the raven plushie and began to bawl her lungs out, throwing herself onto the floor in a giant temper tantrum.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Going to post another chapter. Here it is:

-

Chapter Five: Sunday Morning

-

Galina saw Tatiana start to throw a tantrum like some of the younger toddlers she watched who had had enough. A part of her wanted to do it too. She saw Svetlana cuddle up against her wolf, and she did the same with her tiger, after realizing the ultimate horror of such an action.

 

We’re not just toddlers in body. It’s emotional and psychological too. It’s only mentally that we’re still adults. Aside from that, we might as well BE toddlers.

 

She sniffled, hugging her tiger more, as Celine held and cuddled Tatiana as she screamed and cried. She wasn’t sure how long they waited for Tatiana to calm down, but eventually, she did. Celine gently wiping Tatiana’s snot and tear covered face with a gentle wet wipe, like Galina, Svetlana, and Tatiana herself had done for many other toddlers.

 

Galina felt a rumble in her stomach, seeing Tatiana reluctantly take her raven back and hug it.

 

“Oh, I forgot, you must be hungry,” Celine said in a guilty tone. “Hang on, I can’t carry all of you out of the room, and Erasmo’s babyproofed a lot of stuff, and…well, highchairs. I’ll get him.”

 

Celine called down, “Raz, are you done making breakfast for everyone? I need your help carrying the girls.”

 

“I am!” the friendly male voice called back. “I’ll be here.”

 

Galina saw the giant guy walk in, a bit uncomfortable around him at first sight, but the sheer aura of gentle protectiveness won her over. And she did have fun bouncing in his arms.

 

C’mon, Galina, you have to snap out of that. You’re not an actual toddler. You still have your adult mind.

 

And yet, when he carried her down the steps…she wanted him to bounce her a bit. Maybe not while carrying her, but definitely on his lap.

 

He’s an absolute hunk, and he seems extremely nice. Celine, you’ve got yourself a keeper.

 

Erasmo placed Galina in a highchair (with her name on it, only confirming what she feared; this was magic, and someone did it on purpose) before strapping her into place (yep, she did that with babies and toddlers herself when she fed them to keep them from falling, and now she was going to be fed just like them. Life loved its little sense of irony, if nothing else.) and going upstairs to get Svetlana and Tatiana.

 

If there was one fun thing about being a toddler, it was definitely her diaper. She had forgotten just how comfy a thick padded diaper could be, even though it spread her legs out, preventing her from fully closing them; it was like wearing a soft pillow.

 

She turned to look at the noise coming down the steps - although her turning-power was limited by the strap - seeing Celine carrying Tatiana and Erasmo carrying Svetlana before setting them into their own highchairs, Erasmo gently strapping them in before going into the kitchen. As Celine tied a bib around each of their necks, Galina realized that breakfast had already been finished.

 

Hmm, what’s for breakfast today? I smell waffles.

 

Galina was right; there were waffles…just not for them, as he set the plate of waffles away from the three former daycare-workers for him and Celine to eat. For them, there was…warm oatmeal, set on each of their trays. Probably mixed with milk and pureed berries.

 

She saw Tatiana give Erasmo a disgusted look, but Svetlana merely looked resigned, grasped her tiny spoon in her pudgy toddler hand…and ended up getting most of the oatmeal on her face and bib, as she pouted.

 

“You want to get it up your nose, Svetka?” he said with a laugh, before using the spoon to scoop off the large bit of oatmeal off of Svetlana’s face and feeding her the spoonful, as she closed her eyes.

 

“Open up, Tanya,” Celine said. “I promise, it’s not bad.” Tatiana merely turned her head and pointed at the waffles.

 

“Sorry, that’s big girl food,” Erasmo said with a chuckle. “But if you want to grow up to be a big girl, you’ve got to eat your oatmeal.”

 

Galina’s belly was grumbling in annoyance. She was hungry, and yet all of the attention was on Svetlana (who had eaten most of her oatmeal and was using what little dexterity she had to maneuver the sippy cup straw to her mouth) and Tatiana (who had eaten none and was silently protesting). Without thinking, she stuck her hand in the oatmeal, trying to get most of it in her mouth and failing.

 

“Aww, Galya, don’t think I forgot you,” the lone male said in a singsong voice, wiping her hand with a wet wipe.

 

He sang ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ to her before feeding her the oatmeal each time around. She clapped her uncoordinated hands to the beat, giggling and chortling while drumming her legs against her highchair in infantile glee. Sure it wasn’t hardcore death metal (her favorite music), but it wasn’t like babies listened to that anyway. And Erasmo had a fantastic tenor of a voice.

 

Tatiana merely tried to reach for the waffles, but it proved to be a difficult task, as she started to fuss.

 

“Tanya, you have to eat sometime,” Celine said firmly. “Would you rather have baby food? You have a choice: oatmeal or baby food.”

 

Galina giggled at Tatiana’s face as she realized she was beaten and swallowed the oatmeal, first tentatively, then acting like she couldn’t get enough. Soon enough, her face was even messier than Svetlana’s or Galina’s.

 

Each of their faces were gently wiped down, and one, no, two loud farts echoed almost simultaneously through the quiet kitchen.

 

“Ooh, two of you made some stinkers,” Erasmo chuckled. “Who’s the lucky number three?

 

Galina felt a rumble in her stomach…and then the third fart.

 

“Oh, no, three stinkers! Now you’ll have to feel the wrath of the Tickle Monster!” Erasmo said in a mock-dramatic tone, as he quickly tickled Galina, who squealed, not even feeling herself fully flood her diaper until it made an audible squish against the highchair. He followed up with Tatiana and Svetlana, both of whom reacted the exact same way.

 

After being taken out of their high chairs - and given a much-needed diaper change - the three were set in a locked playpen with their stuffies (sadly, there weren’t any toys), none of which replaced a nice Xbox Series X like what the three of them had. So they spent their time chatting, knowing the adults couldn’t understand them anyway. No fear of bilingual adults listening in on grown baby conversation.

 

“I mean, I suppose it isn’t all bad,” Galina said diplomatically, as she tried to have her stuffed tiger interact with his fellow stuffies; it wasn’t Mass Effect Andromeda, but it was something to do while they talked. “I mean, yes, I could do without the outbursts of emotion, but at least Celine’s making it bearable. And Erasmo…damn, she’s lucky to have him.”

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t find shitting my diaper to be all that fun,” Tatiana muttered, crossing her arms across her chest. “And the oatmeal? Instead of waffles? Blech!”

 

“You’re lying, Tanya,” Svetlana all but sang as she and her wolf stuffie played along with Galina’s stuffie. “You really did like the oatmeal. You didn’t have to be a brat about it.”

 

“Well…it was that or baby food,” she said defensively.

 

“You liiiked it,” Galina sang.

 

“Well…yeah, it was tasty. And it was kinda fun having Celine feed me.” Tatiana giggled, rolling on her back, kicking her legs out, before rolling back. “But seriously, us turning into babies? Freaky as hell.”

 

“You’re damn right about that,” Svetlana said darkly. “We’re babies now. Our old surnames? Gone. Our parents? Never had us. Our new parents? These two. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages? Never existed. And the only person who knows is Celine. Something rotten smells in Denmark.”

 

“You sure it’s not our diapers?” Galina snarked. The three toddlers laughed. “But yeah, it’s…it’s very much scary. I’m just glad Celine and Erasmo are caring parents. Imagine if this happened with our folks.”

 

An awkward, fearful silence ensued. “Don’t even joke about that, Galya,” Svetlana said, a look of fear in her eyes. “That isn’t funny.”

 

“I wasn’t intending it to be funny,” Galina said. “Our parents were awful, enough said. We have a new chance to grow up again, and what’s more is that we’ve kept our minds.”

 

“Please, let’s…let’s not talk about…that,” Tatiana whispered, tears in her eyes. “Let’s not even think about that.”

 

Galina instantly became as silent as a mime, tears in her own eyes. That was all she could think about when it came to their (real) birth parents.

 

It was something best left unsaid, something someone born with a silver spoon like Celine could never dream about in her worst nightmares. It didn’t matter how old they were, if they would even grow up. Scars like that lasted forever.

-

 

Hope you enjoyed~

[D503]

Nice. It's quite interesting they don't hate it.

[Baby Jemma]

Well, might as well post this next chapter, but first, the reply:

 

@D503 - Well, I wouldn't say they aren't fans of being turned into toddlers again, but they are getting as used to it as they possibly can.

 

And now, the chapter (as a CONTENT WARNING, there's implied child abuse).

 

Chapter Six: Even More Alterations.

 

-

 

Celine was watching the three toddlers talking, thinking it would be a lot easier once they were a year older and she could understand them.

 

She wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but she knew that by the way they had gone completely silent, it was a heavy topic. She had not known the friends not to talk to each other at every opportunity; it was clear they loved each other like triplet sisters, even if they weren’t actually triplet sisters.

 

She felt the cold claws of fear grip her own heart. She sure as shit never had sex with Erasmo or anyone, didn’t ever become pregnant, didn’t ever give birth to Svetlana, Tatiana and Galina, was especially damned sure she never breastfed them, and yet the hospital records clearly stated that she had done all of it. She had dug as deeply as she dared, and the rabbit hole had turned into a fucking abyss: her pregnancy, ultrasounds, due date, pregnancy days off from work - as a law clerk, no less - complaints about morning sickness, hell, even the actual giving birth (via Caesarian section; for whatever reason, she couldn’t do vaginal delivery, and all three came out holding each other’s hands), nearly dying from it, and the doctors saying that she was using a breast pump and her confirming it.

 

What the hell kind of magic is this, to rewrite entire people’s ages, to make years of history disappear and appear, to alter entire lives? It is not natural, and it is not right.

 

Celine didn’t even know if she could still breastfeed the three, and the real scary part was that a tiny sliver of her mind wanted to try it, much like she knew that three former adults once older than she was, had regressed into emotional and psychological babyhood, as well as physical.

 

It wasn’t just Tatiana’s complete temper tantrum, which was scary enough. It was Svetlana drumming her legs on the carpet like a baby would, Galina being soothed by Erasmo by being bounced like an infant, none of them being able to so much as feed themselves, let alone talk.

 

She was scared that she was going to lose her housemates’ adult minds, and then the last bastion that would hold together the part of her that held her sanity would snap like a twig, that she would fall into the role of a mother of three adorable babies - if they ever grew up again - and she didn’t want that.

 

Would they grow up again? That’s what she asked herself. Were they all stuck in some sort of weird time-loop or alternate universe where the four of them were the only ones who knew what was going on? Would giving into those slight mothering instincts break the loop? Or would it destroy the last semblance of sanity for all four?

 

“Hey.” She turned to face Erasmo. “You think we should put on Blue’s Clues? They’re not really playing much, and they look a bit…sad. Maybe I could bounce each of them while they watch?”

 

“Whatever’s fine with them,” Celine admitted.

 

“Okay, I’ll turn the TV on for them.”

 

Yeah, they did look sad, and it wasn’t because of the lack of toys, nor the stuffed animals (although Tatiana had seemed to warm up to her raven). They had been laughing, but as they continued their conversation in baby talk, something didn’t seem right. Something had made them sad, and it broke her heart, knowing that she had no idea what it was.

 

Why am I feeling that way? I left their house on shaky terms. I got a fiance. I moved on. They shouldn’t be in my life anymore! I never asked for this!

 

So why did she feel so heartbroken to see them sad?

 

Well, the sadness had at least stopped; Erasmo had put the girls on his lap and was bouncing them, one at a time, with all three chortling with glee while he played with them. Their icy-blue eyes were wide and focused on the television screen that featured Blue. She noticed all three started sucking on their thumbs, and the fear increased.

 

Apparently, her fiance noticed as well. “Oh, you want your binkies!” he said, quickly putting in pink pacifiers that said “Princess” in their mouths, and she watched as the toddlers started rhythmically suckling on the pacifiers, their eyes closing into sleep.

 

“They look so precious,” she whispered to herself.

 

“Ah, but you can’t understand them.”

 

A male voice, a familiar voice, but not Erasmo’s. Celine’s instincts were torn. Part of them screamed at her to not listen to the voice, but another part told her to hear him out.

 

“I do wish to understand them, to help them... But I can wait until they get older.”

 

“But the mother vixen, while she is patient, still has her wants, and is willing to do anything to help her little ones grow.”

 

Even the part of her that told her to hear the voice out was screaming for her to run. “Look, I appreciate your…philosophy class, but-”

 

“You said you wanted to understand them? Very well. I shall show you.”

 

“What? No, I-”

 

“You said ‘I do wish to understand them’, and while I’m no genie - far from it - how can I say no to such an eager person?”

 

“NO!”

 

Celine was shrinking out of her clothes, her eyes wild with terror.

 

Oh, God, he’s going to turn me into a damn toddler, too!

 

“Your God has abandoned you a long time ago. All you have left is me, but why settle for mere toddlerhood? I have so much more fun planned for you, little one.”

 

“Stoppith!” she screamed, eyes wide at her lisp. “No! NO!”

 

She was still shrinking, words becoming so much harder to form from her toothless gums. She began to bawl her eyes out, wailing at the inability to form words, as she peed and pooped for a while on the floor.

 

“Oh, silly Celi, you shouldn’t have taken your diaper off. Don’t worry, Mommy’s here.”

 

She saw the woman’s long green dress swish across the carpet, her waist-length curly black hair, the gentle hooded hazel eyes, and absolutely enormous breasts with milk tickling the tips of the areola, and knew that Erasmo had been genderswapped. She babbled as much as her mouth would allow her, but the woman who had been her fiance didn’t seem to hear her.

 

“Yes, you cutie, I’m here,” she said, getting out a fresh diaper.

 

No, no, no, no, I’m too old for that!

 

“Your age is just fine for that, unless you want to have accidents all over the floor. Humans, thinking they can and do rule the world, eh? Hah! Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, that’s all you are. And the sooner you accept that you’re not escaping my world, the better. But for now, do all of the things a twelve-month-old can do.”

 

Celine was bawling, as she was diapered for the first time in two decades. And of course it was an extra thick one. Surprisingly comfy, but still, a diaper! She was a damn adult, and she would not-

 

“It’s okay, time for din-”

 

The doorbell rang.

 

“Coming,” her fiancé (or fiancée? This was getting really confusing and annoying.) sang, carrying Celine in her arms. She was breathing in fear, who could it possibly be?

 

“Oh, Erminia, open the door.”

 

Oh, no, not her, not her!

 

The door swung open to show Bartolomea Zanetti, giving her son/daughter a quick peck on the check. “How’re the babies doing?”

 

“I was just about to feed little Celine and put her in her crib,” Erasmo (sorry, Erminia was definitely not a cuter name than Erasmo) said, tickling Celine’s stomach as she helplessly peed her diaper.

 

She felt a surge of simultaneous joy and terror. Mommy tickling her was nice, even the warm pee in her diaper felt nice, but what did she mean by “crib?” And she realized in horror that by “feeding her”, Erminia meant…

 

And her fiancé did, pressing Celine’s face against her breast, tickling her mouth with the nipple. “It’s okay, Celi, you’re such a good girl, yes, you are.”

 

“She’s going to be more beautiful than you when she grows up,” the elder Zanetti said with pride. “And the other three babies?”

 

“Oh, they’re asleep in their cribs. They were all tuckered out after I bounced them.”

 

“I’d love to see them when I’m free from Isidora and Osanna. I don’t understand why their parents treated them the way they did…”

 

“I don’t know either. They’re at least eight months older than little Celi, and they’re adorable…”

 

“Fucking Russian parents.” The growl from the Zanetti matriarch scared Celi enough into opening her mouth, where the nipple filled it entirely, she was going to suffocate, oh, God- “Bad enough they beat their children, but to sell them into-”

 

And then a jet of milk spurted into her mouth, and she shivered in delight, not hearing any more of the conversation, not caring about the conversation, as she nursed from her Mommy’s breast, oh, God, this was the sweet nectar of the Greco-Roman gods, better than the best milk chocolate, she wanted more, more, more!

 

She eventually sucked it dry, letting out a fuss, before she was shifted over to the other one, yes, yes, Mommy! She fell into an infant’s headspace, losing herself in Mommy’s milk, there was nothing but her and Mommy, as her eyes drooped a bit, and she fell asleep.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter~ See you soon~

[Baby Jemma]

I know this is late, but here's the next chapter.

A QUICK CONTENT WARNING: THERE IS PARENTAL ABUSE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND ADULT THEMES LIKE TEENAGE HOMELESSNESS AND SEX-TRAFFICKING MENTIONED BY THE CHARACTERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

-

Chapter Seven: Revelations.

-

Svetlana woke up from her nap to hear an infant crying from behind a pacifier.

 

“C’mon, Tanya, Galya, enough crying, I’m tired,” she grumbled.

 

“That’s not me,” Tatiana said, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.

 

“Guys.” Galina’s voice was scared. “It’s not me either, but I know who it is.”

 

“Then tell me who-”

 

“Aww, my little Celi’s up, and so’s Svetka, Tanya, and Galya!”

 

Svetlana’s icy-blue eyes grew wide as she saw the woman, and immediately knew what was up.

 

“Tatiana? I think we’re not the youngest anymore,” she said, her eyes filled with fear. “And I don’t think there’s a man in the house either.”

 

“Are you shitting me?!” Tatiana snapped in perfect baby talk. “I want to know who is screwing us over and why. This is not - fucking - fair!”

 

Svetlana watched as Celine - she assumed she was only a year old on the dot - was quickly fed from the woman’s breasts before she lay her back down in the crib along with a fox stuffie, a mobile of stars hanging from above the crib as the genderbent former boyfriend/fiance/whatever closed the door.

 

“Hey, Celine!” Galina said. “Can you hear us? Can you talk to us?”

 

“That…magic. I hate it…and he had to include a fox stuffie because of my last name…”

 

“Wait, he?” Svetlana asked. “You heard this guy?”

 

“Yeah, he…he turned me into a baby like you.”

 

“Sorry, but you’re at least eight months younger than we are, Celine,” Tatiana said bluntly.

 

“...Fucking great. The voice grants me the ability to understand babies, but I become a baby. This sucks…”

 

“HOW DO YOU THINK WE FEEL?!” Tatiana shouted, causing Celine to start crying.

 

“Hey, ease up,” Galina said defensively. “She’s in the same boat we are; we’re all babies here. It’s okay, Celi, breathe. In and out, just…breathe.”

 

A pregnant pause ensued. “Stars are pretty,” Celine said in a dreamy tone.

 

“No, don’t fall asleep on us now,” Svetlana said. “You have to remember what happened.”

 

“Oh, um, Mommy, er, Erminia, no, Erasmo and…her Mommy talked about you girls.”

 

The three froze. “What did she say?” Svetlana asked gently.

 

“Your…parents…beat you?” Celine ventured. “And something about…sold?”

 

Svetlana sighed. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag now,” she said, starting to tear up. “Our parents were…GRU agents. Deep undercover. It was a cycle of abuse; both of them had been abused themselves.”

 

“Wait, both? You mean…six, right?”

 

“No. The Russian government hid it well…but no, we were triplets, aiming to carry on the ‘family legacy’,” Tatiana said coldly. “We were given different surnames at birth…but our middle name is the same: Levovna from our father, Lev. We learned that we couldn’t tell anyone about it. ‘Family secret’, they said.”

 

“They…they beat us for crying,” Svetlana sniffled as she recounted the horrors. “For asking for food. For asking for help. For not using the toilet. They were always too busy for us, so we had to self-sustain at a very young age.”

 

“And that was before…the men, the gun runners, the sex-traffickers came,” Galina said, bursting into tears, trying her best to stop herself from wailing like a baby. “They…sold us. Our parents sold us to them. The only reason they didn’t use us as sex-slaves was because…because we were too young for them…”

 

“Oh, God.” Celine was crying.

 

“So, we ran, first chance we got,” Svetlana continued, her voice hardened, but still crying. “We’ve not had any trouble with our old names being used; our parents never gave that to the traffickers, said, ‘Call them what you want; they’re your whores now.’ Just so long as we lay low, don’t use credit cards or anything that can trace us…they won’t find us.”

 

“So, what’s your sob story?” Tatiana said harshly. “What makes you such a rotten bitch to everyone who meets you? What makes you think you’re so high and mighty that you criticize everything we do, even if it’s a job that we love and would never throw away for anything in the world because guess what? Not everything’s about lots of money, fancy cars, fancy clothes, and a fancy fiancé like you think it is! Not everything can be solved by flashing dollars, and you dare, you DARE criticize us for what we do?!”

 

“Tanya, plea-” Galina whispered.

 

“Shut it, Galya. She has no excuses for-”

 

“My cousins gang-raped me when I was five.”

 

The answer was so frankly stated that all of the sisters were brought to tears. “What?” Tatiana said in a very small voice.

 

“You heard me,” Celine said coldly. “I don’t want to talk about it…”

 

“Just, what-”

 

“Okay, fine, you fucking bitch, you want context? I lived in Arizona once. I had four male cousins - all of them teens whom I admired because I thought they were ‘brave’, that they’d ‘protect me from all harm’ - decide that they wanted to hurt someone. So they chose me because I was an ‘easy target’ and because I ‘wouldn’t talk about it.’ They didn’t care about the sex; it was all about the power. It happened again, and again, and again, and I thought it would never stop. And my fucking horrible excuses for parents hid the whole fucking thing because I embarrassed them!

 

“So, I left. I skipped town, ran away from home when I was ten by hopping on a Greyhound with after stealing money from my mom and dad, was a homeless drifting vagabond for my entire fucking adolescence. You wonder why I brag about being pretty, about all of the stuff I earned? Because I fucking earned it! I graduated from high school somehow wondering if I’d get jumped for what little I owned! I graduated college worried that some guy was going to have his way with me like my cousins did! I made my way up through law school - which I fucking hated, by the way - while wondering when the next meal was coming in!

 

“And while I love Erasmo, and God knows he’s treated me like a queen, I don’t think I ever want to have sex with him. I don’t want to have sex with anyone! I don’t want kids like he wants! I hate the idea of sex, I hate the idea of pregnancy, I hate the idea of giving birth, I hate kids, I hate teens, I even hate little toddlers and babies!

 

“But the thing I hate the most, the absolute most? I - hate - all of YOU! Your pettiness towards me was notable from the absolute fucking jump! You all thought I was nosy about your lives, but I just wanted to know YOU because I didn’t have a single fucking friend in my life, and I needed one! I critique you on every little detail, you say? Oh, I don’t know, maybe my PTSD is showing, maybe I’m scared, which, given your story, I thought you’d understand about trauma, even if it’s just a little bit. I could fucking TELL you had trauma, but nooo, you drove me away like everyone else!

 

“And now I’ve found the boy of my dreams, except now he’s a woman, and I’m a baby! So yeah, I have a damn good reason to hate all of you! It’s all your fault!”

 

All four of the girls were crying, angry, sad, confused, scared, tidal waves of emotions surging over a sinking ship. And then the ship disappeared beneath the waves, breaking apart in the maelstrom, and they all started bawling at the top of their lungs, trying to outscream every other girl.

-

Well, that's another chapter done, if you're still here (and I don't blame you a bit if you aren't). Here's hoping I can get on a regular pattern.

 

[Baby Jemma]

Well, I've delayed this chapter for far too long. Here it is:

-

Chapter Eight: Breaking the Spell

-

 

Erminia was confused, as she played a bit of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey on the Xbox, tinkering with the computer chip in her delicate hands..

 

These…emotions were a little…odd. She didn’t ever recall having her monthly period. She didn’t recall ever using a tampon, ever using pads, even breastfeeding an infant like she had done thirty minutes ago. Something felt…off.

 

She ran her hands through her hair, feeling yet another dizzy spell - she thought she’d be used to them by now - come on. Four toddlers was a lot, even with Mom helping out. She didn’t recall who the father was for Celine, and she didn’t recall having sex, getting pregnant, giving birth.

 

“Ah, but you do, don’t you?” A male voice, someone familiar, yet when she tried to figure things out, the person disappeared like smoke on a breeze.

 

“No, I really don’t,” she said, holding her head in pain.

 

“I can have you remember the precious moments with your daughters. Perhaps you’ll meet a real man, pop out another little one or two for him.”

 

That phrase. Real man. Suddenly, everything came crashing in, and Erasmo remembered everything.

 

“Why, why the FUCK do I have boo, oh, God!” she said, holding her giant breasts, a bit of milk squirting out of them, brushing her hair out of her eyes, eyes that were stunned beyond belief. “What did you do to me? What did you do to my fiancée? What did you do to Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina?”

 

“Well, congratulations,” the masculine voice purred. “You’re the first person who’s broken my spell on his or her own accord. Bravo, bravo. As for what I did? I merely took the liberty of putting your fiancée and her old housemates in their places. Little ones should not be heard or seen. But that will have to wait because you have four screaming little ones to deal with in three, two, one…”

 

“I’m not done with you ye-”

 

A cacophony of infantile screams echoed from the upstairs room, and Erasmo quickly rushed up, her heart thumping in her chest like a frantic canary in a cage.

 

Oh, God, I’ve taken care of my siblings, but four babies at once?!

 

She burst into the room, seeing three toddlers of twenty months in their cribs and a one-year-old baby in a smaller crib with a mobile, bawling their eyes out.

 

“Shh, it’s going to be okay, I’m here, girls,” Erasmo whispered, shocked at the soprano tilt in her voice, but at the same time…

 

So that’s what happened to you, Celine. And Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina, too... I have to be your mother and father, I hope you understand…

 

“It’s okay, Celine. And don’t think I’ve forgotten you, Svetka, Tanya, and Galya.”

 

The smell of soiled diapers was heavy in the air, but she ignored it; she was used to dealing with her younger siblings and toddlers and babies at the children’s hospital she worked at.

 

Prioritize…

 

Celine needed to be changed badly, but she could let the toddlers out of their cribs, which she quickly did, picking up each toddler like she weighed nothing and setting them on the carpet with their stuffed animals to distract them from their poopy diapers, which, to her fear, they didn’t seem to notice.

 

Focus. What do we need?

 

Erasmo laid Celine on a changing table, expertly cleaning her and putting a clean diaper on, to which her babyfied fiancée gurgled in happiness, wriggling a bit and reaching for her breasts, as she set the baby back in her crib.

 

“That’s good,” she mused to herself. “Now for the other girls.”

 

It took a while, but soon enough, all three toddlers were in clean diapers, smelling of fresh baby powder, and on the carpet, holding their stuffed animals as if their lives depended on it.

 

“How about we eat some lunch and go out for a short walk?” Erasmo asked, picking Celine back up, cradling her in her arms.

 

The toddlers all looked scared, but she said the magic words, “Nobody’s going to know it’s you, and if you’re good girls, you can have chocolate yogurt popsicles.”

 

Svetlana giggled, babbling baby talk to Tatiana and Galina, who babbled back, before all three nodded their heads eagerly.

 

Nailed it!

 

Celine pouted, knowing she was far too little to have that snack.

 

“I’m breastfeeding you, Celine. That should be all of the nutrients and yummy food you need,” Erasmo stated.

She suddenly felt very awkward by saying it, should she really say that as a man, ah, she was a woman at the moment and one with four young toddlers. Of course she was breastfeeding her youngest charge, even though she felt hesitant about exposing her breasts in public.

 

She felt a jolt in her breasts as Celine began to suckle without warning, the feeling was indescribable, like, oh, God, nothing she had ever felt or could ever feel as a man. She patted Celine, as the baby switched to her other breast.

 

Erasmo noted the toddlers playing with each other’s stuffed animals, and she felt a smile on her face grow, even when Celine burped up a bit of the milk on her green dress. This was going to be a fun outing. She could do this!

 

She was not prepared for the next twist in her life.

 

-

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed~ Until next time~

[Baby Jemma]

Time for the next chapter~

 

-

Chapter Nine: Celine's Realization

-

 

Celine was annoyed at being in a baby carrier on Erasmo’s front while Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina were in the triplet stroller, and she sucked her pacifier in silent protest.

 

All of them had been outfitted for the cold weather of Pittsburgh October (various flurries were what Mommy, er, Erasmo said), all of them had their blankets and stuffies (Spots the fox was safe and sound, as were Howly the wolf, Beaky the raven, and Stripes the tiger. Yes, she named a fox “Spots” because of the tiger getting a cool opposite name, shh.), all of them had been fed lunch (She watched with a newfound empathy as Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina struggled to feed themselves their eggs and pureed veggies, thankfully with Erasmo helping them out, as well as feeding her baby formula in a bottle.), and now newly-diapered (Svetlana had a huge blowout; Celine and the others had merely soaked themselves) and ready to go.

 

To her utmost shock, she was actually beginning to really love being diapered, liking the softness between her legs, the snug fit, even the cutesy animal prints. And she especially loved being pampered by her fiancé, feeling like an infant again, not having to go to a bunch of murder trials, not having to worry about the house or mortgage or what she was being fed.

 

If I ever become an adult again, I might have to make this a regular thing! I actually really love being babied like this! …But what if Erasmo hates me for it, what if he laughs, what if he dumps me, what about my job, what if there’s no money, what if-

 

“Are we ready to go?” her fiancé sang in her high soprano, interrupting her thoughts. The large diaper bag, filled to the brim with supplies, was held on her shoulder like a pro. Celine realized with a shock that Erasmo could’ve passed for any young mother taking her babies for a walk in the park.

 

“Yeth!” the toddler sisters all cheered from the stroller.

 

“Then let’s go out. Hope it’s not too cold…”

 

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. Not with their blankets covering them. It was flurrying, sure, but it was actually nice weather for a Halloween flurry.

 

She watched in awe as lots of women walked by, some with their own kids or even toddlers and babies in costumes, cooing at the four, telling them how absolutely adorable they were. Even the men were complimenting the babies and Erasmo on how they looked, which admittedly made Celine uncomfortable (at least her fiancé now knew about the catcalling almost every woman endured) and jealous; nobody could have Erasmo but her.

 

Yep, I definitely want to be babied to the absolute max, even if I become an adult again.

 

Still, the doubts came full force into her mind, screaming at her that she was a freak, a sinful freak who deserved to be-

 

Celine started to whimper, and Erasmo held her closer.

 

“It’s okay, Celi, we’re almost at the park.”

 

“The park?” Svetlana asked in baby talk.

 

“Ooh, I want to build a snowman!” Galina sang.

 

“Not enough snow, Galya,” Tatiana said, blunt as a hammer.

 

“Oh, don’t be a sourpuss, Tanya,” Svetlana said. “We could have fun with this!”

 

“Svetka, in case you noticed, we’re not actually toddlers,” Tatiana retorted. “We’re adult women who just happen to be in toddler bodies.”

 

“Don’t forget that we have toddler needs!” Galina piped up. “You threw a temper tantrum worthy of someone in the terrible twos - which I’ll remind you, are still four months older than we are - not seven hours ago, Tanya, and none of us know how to use the potty.”

 

“We’re not toddlers, much like Celine isn’t actually a baby.” Celine froze and wet herself at hearing Tatiana’s cold words. “We all have our minds. Let’s act our age.”

 

“We are acting our age, though,” Svetlana said in a contemplative tone. “Until whatever spell or curse is broken, we’re toddlers, not only to the whole world, but to our bodies and emotions, too. C’mon, Tanya, just enjoy the feeling of being a toddler. When we become adults again, we’re not going to have this feeling again. Just…don’t be afraid to let go. Erasmo isn’t him or her.”

 

Tatiana was quiet for a while. Then a heavy grunt, and a very awful smell.

 

“You just…pooped yourself. A lot. On purpose.” Svetlana said in shock.

 

“Whatever, you want me to act like a baby? I’ll act like a baby if I wanna!” Tatiana pouted…but the silly grin on her face showed her true feelings as she kicked her legs in infantile delight. “At least I know our mommy - our current mommy - will change me.”

 

“That’s the spirit, Tanya!” Galina said with her own grunt and a loud fart of her own, giggling at the sound. “You next, Svetka!”

 

“Well, when you wear diapers in Rome,” Svetlana said with a grunt and a louder fart than even Galina’s. “Well, looks like we all made uh-ohs!” she chortled with mirth.

 

“Ooh, looks like we have a few smellypants on our hands,” Erasmo sang. “I can’t change you yet, but the park’s coming up soon, and I’ll get you clean then.”

 

Tatiana glared at Svetlana. “I blame you,” she said flatly.

 

“But-” Galina piped up.

 

“And you too.” Then the glare turned into a huge smile. “Still, being a toddler is actually pretty fun.”

 

“But babies always get changed immediately, right? That’s what you did at daycare?” Celine asked.

 

“Not all the time, but soon; you don’t want a diaper rash, trust me,” Galina cautioned.

 

“If Erasmo says he’s changing us at the park, I trust him,” Svetlana said simply. “When you become an adult, Celine, hold on to him, because whatever you’ve said, he’s the one. He’s as nice as they come.”

 

Celine was at war with her babyish thoughts.

 

Is he the one? Will he pamper and baby me? Will he?

 

He’ll leave you.

 

No, he won’t!

 

He’ll think you’re a freak.

 

“NO!” she shouted, crying, startling the other three toddlers and causing her fiancé to gently cuddle her.

 

“Shh, it’s okay, Celi,” Erasmo cooed. “If you need to be changed, I’ll do it at the park.”

 

Her face was puffy with tears, not exactly getting the exact right response from her fiancé, but at least calm with her voice. Then a funny smell made her wrinkle her nose. It was then she knew what had happened, and she gasped with shock with the realization that she had very much soiled the hell out of her diaper, and she hadn’t even noticed.

 

“That makes four smellypants,” Erasmo said with a sly smile. “Don’t worry, you’re all going to be changed, and the park’s right along the corner.”

 

Then the children’s park appeared in sight. Tatiana was fussing a bit, wanting her diaper changed now. Galina was antsy, fiddling with the straps to unlock herself with unwilling toddler hands (and like any toddler would, failing to do so), wanting to go on the slide. Svetlana had seen two people and gasped in shock, babbling at Tatiana and Galina to notice. They did and also gasped in shock. Even Celine recognized them, even though she only knew of them from her three former roommates, and even then, not nearly as well as they knew them.

 

It was two of her friends’ (could she still call them friends when she said all those mean things?) old coworkers, Dzejlana Josipovic and Zerina Ostogic, wearing their typical colorful hijabs. They were both twenty-five, and loved taking care of kids. They were also two of the other women that they had really liked to talk to, knowledgeable about sports, always patient, always with great common sense, both of whom had tried to be friendly with Celine, knew about her leaving the apartment.

 

Now they were meeting their old coworkers and their housemate as toddlers wearing very saturated and very messy diapers.

 

-

 

Do enjoy~

[Baby Jemma]

Well, it's been a while, but here's the latest chapter of Troubles in Toddlerhood:

 

-

Chapter Ten: Meeting the Co-Workers.

-

 

“Aww, aren’t they cute as can be!” Zerina cooed at the toddlers, leaning down to kiss them on the cheeks, her knowing smile making them uncomfortably aware that they really needed a diaper change.

 

“What are their names?” Dzejlana asked.

 

“From front to back in the stroller, she’s Svetlana, known as Svetka, she’s Tatiana, Tanya, then she’s Galina, Galya. The youngest I’m carrying is Celine. I like to call her Celi.”

 

“Such adorable names for such adorable babies!” Zerina said with a smile. “Do you mind if we change them? We work at a daycare close by, so we’re used to babies and toddlers. You’ll handle little Svetlana, I’ll change little Tatiana, and Dzej can change little Galina.”

 

Svetlana let out a small relieved giggle, as she squished around the mess in her sagging diaper. At least she wasn’t getting changed by her old coworkers like her sisters were.

 

Then she saw the wolfish grin on Erasmo’s feminine face. “I’m sure Svetka would love to be changed by both of you after you change Tanya and Galya,” the caregiver said with a teasing note in her tone; she could tell that the adult was enjoying this. “I can tell she loves you two already, and I want to baby little Celine just a bit more.”

 

Svetlana looked at Celine as if to plead for help, but there was an odd look and emotion in the twelve-month-old’s eyes that she didn’t know what to make of as of yet.

 

“Nu, nu, nu!” Svetlana pleaded, but to no avail, as Zerina and Dzejlana lifted Tatiana and Galina out of the stroller (which would probably need a good hosing after the mess the three of them made), and she saw both of her sisters stick their tongues out at her, until she saw the two older women lay them on changing mats.

 

At least we’re in the exact same boat, right?

 

Tatiana felt humiliated. She had talked a lot about the Pittsburgh Steelers with this girl. She was a couple months older as well. Now she was being changed into a very thick diaper by that same girl, with gentle cooing and tickling like she was a fussy baby (which, she had to admit to herself, was not far off the mark), causing her to wet in her soiled diaper even more.

 

“Don’t be a grumpypants. Santa doesn’t want to see you unhappy, Tanya; he’s going to bring you lots of toys if you’re a good girl.”

 

“Oh, God, I know Santa doesn’t exist!” she snapped at her former coworker, the Sisyphean task of speaking adult clearly too much for her.

 

“Such a grumpy baby,” Zerina sang. “If you let me put on your diaper, I’ll feed you chocolate milk in a baba. How’s that for a deal?”

 

Chocolate milk? Even if it’s in a baby bottle, it’s still chocolate. Ugh, you win this round, Zeri…

 

Tatiana relaxed in a docile manner, allowing the Bosnian woman to clean her up and put her in the thick baby diaper. She had to admit, it did feel good that someone who really knew what they were doing was changing her soiled diaper - even if this new diaper made her barely able to stand, let alone walk. And, as promised, chocolate milk in a baby bottle was given to her. Now to drink it…

 

Galina, meanwhile, was acting the part, trying to sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” (she was struggling to speak anything other than baby babble, let alone the actual words to the song, and it was a bit, well, more than a bit, embarrassing for such a very thick, babyish diaper to be put on her with her former coworker - a coworker whom she had given dating advice to - wiping her poopy butt. Still, she would only be a toddler once, so she was going to do whatever she wanted to do as one.) along with Dzejlana who was changing her like only a mother or an older sister would, her warm light-brown eyes lovingly gazing into Galina’s own eyes, filling her head with good feelings, as she felt the comfort of the thick diaper and kicked her legs like an infant would.

 

“Such a good girl. I think you’ve earned a treat,” Dzejlana said. She brought out a baby bottle, filled with chocolate milk, and Galina grabbed for it, trying to figure out how to best drink from it.

 

Svetlana saw the reward, saw the two Bosnian ladies smile at her and she knew that she was defeated.

 

“Dzej, Zeri, it’s Svetlana,” she tried to calmly state. “We went to that Pirates game one time, the Cardinals killed them - fuck the Cardinals, by the by -  but we went, and you had tofu burgers and-”

 

“Aww, you’re a talkative one,” Zerina cooed.

 

“Yes, she is!” Dzejlana said, tickling Svetlana, causing her to soak her already full diaper as she chortled helplessly.

 

“Try to sing this with me,” Zerina said gently before launching into the song in a mezzo-soprano, joined by Dzejlana’s own mezzo-soprano. “‘Star Light, Star Bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.’ Now sing with me. Star Light, Star Bright-

 

Svetlana tried to sing the words with her former coworkers, ignoring them taking away her very messy diaper before wiping her privates gently, ignoring them fitting a very thick diaper on her, but she couldn’t sing, and it made her upset. She started wailing, looking all the world like an infant who needed comforting.

 

“Aww…it’s okay, Svetka,” Zerina cooed, bouncing Svetlana on her lap, as her sisters watched her wailing. “You’ve been a good girl, and good girls get chocolate milk.”

 

“I-I-I c-c-can’t s-sing!” Svetlana bawled. “I s-s-sing for Y-YouTube, and-”

 

“It’s okay, honey. I’m here,” her coworker said in a gentle tone, looking into her eyes with gentle brown eyes, almost the color of a warm cup of coffee, before bringing out a baby bottle filled to the brim with chocolate milk.

 

Svetlana heard frustrated sounds, as neither Galina nor Tatiana could figure out how to drink the chocolate milk from the bottle. Dzejlana had taken both toddlers into her arms somehow (she could never figure it out, don’t ask her; it was Dzejlana who was ambidextrous) and was bottle-feeding them both at the same time, helping them nurse on the bottles until they closed their eyes.

 

She looked at the chocolate milk in a baby bottle. One last humiliating thing. A sippy cup was one thing; she knew she no longer had the coordination to drink out of anything but a sippy cup, but a bottle was for babies.

 

“It’s okay, Svetka,” Zerina said in a kind tone. “Just let me feed you.”

 

Svetlana gave in, allowing her former coworker to feed her, to allow the drink to flow into her mouth, getting into a rhythmic suckling, sweet chocolate milk the reward.

 

“There could always be worse things than being a young toddler,” a masculine voice said in her mind before she fell asleep, safe in her co-worker's arms.

 

-

 

Hope everyone enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Well, it's been a while, and I'm not sure if anyone's reading, but I'm back with another chapter~

 

-

 

Chapter Eleven: A God's Demands.

 

-

 

Celine was a ways away from the group having her diaper changed when it happened. She knew her fiancé had once met the two Bosnian women, and she trusted them to be with their now-toddler coworkers.

 

She was being double-diapered this time; clearly after they were finished on the walk, it was going to be bedtime, put back in the crib with the mobile of stars hanging above and expected to wear that diaper for the night.

 

“True love. Ain’t that a thing,” the masculine voice said.

 

Go away!

 

“Only stating what’s a fact, little one. You’re so worried, so scared, so…hopeless. I’m getting bored of you. May just shrink you down to a sperm trying to get to an egg.”

 

You can do that?

 

“Yep. I’ve done that more times than I can count. But anyway, tell me: why shouldn’t I just end your boring life here and now?”

 

Because I just…I want to be a baby.

 

“That’s your reasoning. Oh well the-”

 

I want to be a baby all the time, and I don’t care if I have to be an adult to do it. I’m tired of my work life. I’m tired of running. I’m tired of watching my back around every corner. I guess I just realized it; my profession is BABY, and I’m proud of it.

 

The voice didn’t respond for a bit, and Celine thought that it had to be the end. Then a rumble, then a cough, then a deep laugh.

 

“Well, now, aren’t you amusing, little one? I’ll follow your request, see if your boy toy - or rather, girl toy - shows you true love. It’ll be interesting for sure.”

 

She felt an uncomfortable twinge in her spine, her legs, her arms, everywhere. Then an explosion within her. She looked into Erasmo’s shocked eyes, realizing that, even though she was now an adult, she was still dressed like an infant, had pooped and wet her diaper like an infant, and it was worse than her last blowout, leaking shit and piss everywhere.

 

“Celi,” she began.

 

“I’m sorry, Raz!” Celine was bawling, almost sounding exactly like a baby. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you, but I barely knew it myself, I’m a baby, no matter what, and that’s all I want to be, big or small. I’m tired of my job, I’m tired of running, and I just want to stay with you and be your baby! Please don’t get mad or dump me?”

 

She felt a soft hand pat her on her heavily-diapered butt. “You really did fill this one, didn’t you, Celi?” Erasmo said, a soft loving smile on her face.

 

She didn’t understand. “Why aren’t you furious at me?! Why aren’t you yelling?”

 

“You want to be treated like a baby. Big deal. As a kid, I wore my mom’s dresses in secret myself, always picturing myself as a princess, but I was into rough-and-tumble boy things as well and was just…confused. I’m genderfluid as fuck, you know? Girl name’s ‘Erminia’, for clarification. I wanted to be a fairy-tale princess - hell, when we get married, I’m wearing the poofiest, frilliest, most princessy dress I can find - but I also enjoyed all of the boy things, and didn’t feel one-hundred percent either way, gender wise.

 

“I was scared, scared to tell my mom and dad when I came out at age fifteen. I heard so many horror stories, and I was scared that my folks would kick me out. Mom told me that she already knew, and that I would always be a prince or princess in her eyes, depending on how I felt. Dad said that he’d always love me for who I was, no matter what I wanted, so long as I didn’t hurt myself. And you know what? They gave me a princess-themed birthday party, and all of my presents were pretty princess dresses, and it was the best birthday party ever.

 

“And you’re just wanting to be something that shouldn’t even matter to most people. You aren’t drinking, smoking cigarettes or vaping, doing hard drugs, self-harm, stuff like that. All you want is to be a little baby, and that’s damn fine by me, so long as I get to be the one babying you. Right now, baby, you need a diaper change, and it’s time for your dinner.”

 

Erminia (might as well call her by her right name for her gender) unhooked her nursing bra, and Celine almost couldn’t believe it, like…couldn’t. She was really going to change her poopy diaper and breastfeed her in public, like everything was fine and normal. It was…love. Love at its purest form, and she knew - not that she already hadn’t heard it from Svetlana, Galina, and Tatiana - she knew that this person was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her days with.

 

And yet…a sudden panic gripped her. “What about my job?”

 

“Celi, you don’t have to work a day in your life. You know what I do on the side of working in the children's hospital? Fixing software at home and trying out video games for software companies.”

 

Celine’s eyes widened, as Erminia smirked. “Bet you didn’t know what I did in my free time, did you? I could quit my hospital job now, baby you for the rest of our lives - even take care of Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina if necessary - and not have to work another day. But I do it because I love it. And I love spending time with you, whether you’re feeling twenty-two or even two months old. And when I met you, I knew you…you’re the one. The one I want to spend the rest of my days with you, even if we are cursed like this.”

 

Celina hugged her fiancée, cuddling in her arms, as Erminia carried Celina in her arms back to the stroller…where the toddlers were asleep in their old coworkers’ arms.

 

“Ah, little one, you’ve piqued my interest again,” the masculine voice crooned.

 

You didn’t change Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina back? Or Erasmo/Erminia, for that matter?!

 

“These little ones have another job to do. You all do, even your fiancée. Prove me wrong with it. You two already did once, didn’t you?”

 

Are they going to be toddlers forever? Are they going to grow up again? Or is it just one of your sick, twisted games?

 

Celine felt a chill go through her that caused her to soak her already sagging double diapers, as the voice gained a tiny edge. “You mistake my intentions, little one. I’ve seen many, many people. Many of those humans have been bad, like your cousins, for example. Oh, I’ve spent a long time with them, and they’re completely aware of every single moment. Some humans have had good intentions. Like you trying your hardest despite your hardships. Like Erasmo, who struggled with being bullied his entire life. Like Tatiana, Galina, and Svetlana, who needed a reset on life.”

 

Wait, you’re saying human as if you’re not?

 

“You want to know why your beloved gods and goddesses abandoned humanity? Because I WILLED it. I kicked Satan off His throne, I crushed the pagan gods with an army of myself alone, I stepped in when your God ceded control to me. All of the gods have left humanity to their petty squabbles. And now, your gods are useless, and I’m tired of seeing unworthy people. I own Heaven and Hell alike, and believe me, you are LUCKY that you and Erasmo showed me a spark of good, worthy normal people, people who don’t save the world, who don’t hold the buttons to the nuclear launch codes because I would’ve ended you all if you hadn’t. I’m THAT sick of humanity.”

 

Celine shit her diaper again, this time out of fear. Whomever this voice was, it wasn’t to be fucked with, that was for absolute sure.

 

“You five have one week. Prove to me your pure intentions, and I’ll spare humanity and give all five of you anything you could ever want. Fail, and I annihilate the world in brimstone, hellfire, and shards of ice from the Ninth Level of Hell!

 

“So, have a nice week, ladies.”

 

-

 

Hope you enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Well, it's been a while since I've updated this, but here is the twelfth chapter of Troubles in Toddlerhood!

 

-

 

Chapter Twelve: A Little Alteration

 

-

 

Galina woke up with her binky in her mouth, another soiled diaper, and the terrifying male voice in her head. She whirled around to see Tatiana in Dzejlana’s arms and Svetlana, not far from them in Zerina’s lap, both of her sisters with the exact same look, the exact same pink binky, and judging by the smell, the exact same soiled diapers. She looked around to the stroller - which had somehow grown a larger seat fit for an adult - and her eyes widened in stunned disbelief as she saw an adult Celine in babyish attire that actually fit, blissfully suckling on Erasmo’s breasts.

 

“Um, the hell? How come she gets to grow up?” Svetlana snapped in a Herculean attempt to speak past her pacifier.

 

“Oh, you brought along your baby!” Zerina exclaimed to Erasmo. “She’s adorable. What’s her name?”

 

“Um, I think we’ve met,” the young woman said, her mind clearly elsewhere. “Her name’s Celine.”

 

“She’s such a precious child,” Dzejlana cooed, stroking Celine’s head, as the adult baby babbled - to Galina’s shock, in perfect baby talk, “Thank you! I hope my diapee isn’t too smelly.”

 

“It is,” Tatiana said bluntly, spitting out her pacifier. “How did you manage to leak through a double diaper, Celine?”

 

Celine looked at Tatiana calmly. “Blame the voice. He scared me.”

 

“Wait, hold on, you understand us as an adult?” Galina asked. “Speaking fluent baby as a baby is one thing, but understanding it as an adult?”

 

“But I’m not a big girl and never will be,” Celine said stubbornly.

 

“But…what about…what about us?” Tatiana asked. “We need a mom.”

 

“I can still be mommy, just not a big girl.”

 

“That. Doesn’t. Make. Sense.”

 

“I can be a mommy and a baby at the same time. I’ve talked with Mommy; she’s fine with it.”

 

“Wait, what happened?” Svetlana asked pointedly. “If you want to be an infant, sure, join the club, you’re welcome to it, honestly. It’s not like you have stuff we don’t…or won’t have eventually when we grow up. And I don’t mind being a big sister. But that voice…”

 

“How?” Tatiana was confused. “He gave us a week to ‘prove ourselves’. How do we DO that?! What does that entail? We’re fucking toddlers, and if he wants us to do more than shit and piss ourselves, I’m out of ideas.”

 

“Maybe we should be very nice to everyone we meet?” Galina suggested.

 

The others mused about it, and they nodded in agreement.

 

“Well, if we don’t have any better suggestions…” Celine said, before toddling away from Erasmo and looking at the two daycare workers before falling on her diaper, the squish audible as all get out. “Pwetty pwease change me diapee?” she asked in a sing-song voice, infantile voice; she had clearly mentally regressed to a headspace younger than a year. Not that Galina could blame her, what, with some deity-like figure threatening to destroy everything and all of the stuff she was clearly burying.

 

“Do you need your diaper changed?” Zerina said teasingly.

 

“I’ve…got it?” a masculine voice said in confusion. Erasmo had once again become a man, except he was wearing a very poofy green dress fit for a medieval princess, and he had two more thick diapers in his hands big enough to fit Celine as an adult, and babyish enough to signify her status.

 

“We’ll handle it,” Dzejlana said to Erasmo with a wink. “You rock your look, princess; it’s the best Halloween costume ever.”

 

“I…do?” Erasmo looked confused as he picked up the skirt train so that he wouldn’t trip.

 

“You look amazing, dear, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Zerina said with a nod.

 

The two ladies proceeded to change Celine as if she was just another infant, as she babbled happily in baby talk foreign even to Galina. Soon enough, the adult baby was crawling on the ground, drooling all over her snow sleeper.

 

“Celi, please, snap out of it?” Svetlana asked.

 

“That’s not being nice to her,” Galina said. “Put yourself in her diaper for a moment.”

 

“Don’t you mean shoes?” Tatiana snarked.

 

“Just listen,” Galina explained, taking a deep breath, watching Celine sucking on her fingers before Erasmo gave the adult infant her binky. “She’s obviously hidden her infant side for a very long time, even from us when she was spilling everything about herself. Being a law clerk for multiple murder trials is stressful as hell; she obviously hated her job, a job she worked a lifetime to get. And that’s not even including the shit she’s gone through. She obviously hasn’t had a childhood, much like we didn’t. Right now, we have to be her big sisters, even if we can’t do more than play with her. Okay?”

 

“That…actually makes sense,” Tatiana admitted. “I guess you’d want to go back to a time when you weren’t hurt.”

 

“So let’s be good big sisters!” Svetlana squealed as she toddled over to Erasmo and Celine. “Daddy, can we play with our little sister?”

 

Okay, maybe that’s far enough. Not sure if I can call him “Daddy” or “Mommy”...

 

“Oh, you want to play with Celi? Sure, you can…at home; we’ve all had an eventful evening,” Erasmo said, absentmindedly twirling his dress.

 

“Remember to enroll your babies in Toddler’s Tumbles one of these days,” Dzejlana said, beaming. “Here’s the daycare’s number, and my personal number.”

 

“Let’s add mine,” Zerina said, giving Erasmo her number as well.

 

“Thank you,” Erasmo said with a curtsy, which the two Bosnian ladies returned before they left. He noted the sopping wet and soiled diapers of Galina and her friends. “Let’s do a quick diaper change. It looks like you three need it.”

 

Three snug diaper changes later (Galina was actually growing to like the baby smell that came with a fresh diaper and baby powder.), the five set off back home.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Okay, it's been a couple of weeks, but we're back to Troubles in Toddlerhood, but with a couple of WARNINGS: violence and one instance of homophobic language from a character. Viewer discretion is advised for it and - especially - the next chapter (which will come out...soonish, I hope?)

Anyway, here we are. Enjoy:

 

-

 

Chapter Thirteen: A Blood Moon

 

-

 

Erasmo was concerned on the way back.

 

He knew that some of the men were staring angrily at him, and him wearing a dress could set them off, even with four babies in a stroller, particularly when one of the babies was in an adult body.

 

He had been bullied long before high school. What the voice didn’t mention was that he almost died.

 

He remembered the scene like it was yesterday. The day after his birthday party. Fifteen years old. The worst day of her life.

 

She - her gender had been female that day - had worn one of the princess dresses to high school…and the girls were the ones to take offense, even though she had never gone near the locker room, hadn’t even come close to their bathrooms (she had already gone at home, figuring that the dress would hinder her.)

 

The five girls had jumped her, scratching at her face, punching the back of her head, kicking her prone body with heels, while she cowered in fear. Then one girl hit her in the head with a brick, and she knew no more. Unconscious, breathing through a tube, induced coma to stop the swelling in her brain.

 

She woke up. She had to relearn how to walk and talk. Five consecutive surgeries. Ten months of arduous rehab, and she still had dizzy spells from the severe concussion she received.

 

Her mother had never talked about it, never shed a tear…but Dad said that this was the closest Mom had ever come to crying.

 

He had been careful since then. Only dress like a girl if you feel like it and can pass. Don’t wear dresses. He had not dated ever, scared to find a girl that hated him, that would try to ruin his life like the mob of girls did.

 

Meeting Celine had been a dream come true, and yet the tension in him threatened to explode, until this was released. He had finally confessed his gender fluidity to her to calm her down, but really, it meant the world that she had accepted him for who he was. And she had confessed that she was a baby who wanted a parent who accepted her for who she was. All was well.

 

Unless you count that demon from Hell who’s threatened to annihilate the Earth in a week.

 

With that happy thought, he pushed the stroller into the neighborhood he called home.

 

Nobody had jumped him on the way, thank God, but one seventeen-year-old Black gangster looked really suspicious. He had walked from half-way down the park to the house, staring. Deep-ebony skin, shoulder-length frosted dreadlocks, tall, lean, covered almost entirely with tattoos, an obvious gun on his waist, with a red shirt, red hat, a red bandana, black shorts, red shoes.

 

But the eyes were the worst part. They were a cold gray, glinting silver in the dying sunlight. They were eyes that had seen so much that they had nothing but death in them, a single blood-teardrop tattoo under his left eye - prison speak for commiting a murder - showing it.

 

Erasmo knew that this kid was going to rob him, damn the consequences of the babies he was protecting.

 

He had a plan. It was stupid, maybe, but de-escalation was something he was good at. He walked over to the teen, who looked surprised.

 

“Hello, sir,” Erasmo said politely.

 

“Whaddaya you want, you queer?” the teen snapped, drawing his gun.

 

“I just wanted to invite you inside of my home,” Erasmo said calmly. “If you want to rob me, feel free. There’s nothing but baby supplies, but I’m sure the TV and other things are worth something. But before you rob me, I wanted to invite you for dinner. I hope you don’t mind seeing babies?”

 

“Includin’ that damned adult in the stroller?” the teen sneered. The gun was still trained on Erasmo, but it was wavering.

 

“What’s your name, sir?” Erasmo asked, noting that the teen’s leanness…wasn’t leanness; he was rail-thin for his height, obviously in poverty and hunger. “My name is Erasmo, but please, call me ‘Raz’.”

 

Probably hasn’t had a good meal to eat in a week, the poor kid…

 

“Street name is Lunar, bitch! Named that ‘cause I work night shifts. East-Side Bloods for life, bitch!”

 

“Well, Lunar, you’re more than welcome inside of my home. You look like you haven’t eaten in a while.”

 

“Wha - shut the fuck up!” The gun was shaking; and even though the next words were a threat, Erasmo knew that he had de-escalated the conflict. “Move inna house, you an’ the babies, even that slow ‘un. Put yo fuckin’ hands on yo head, and don’t move a fuckin’ muscle or I’ll gun ya down right here! Don’t think I won’t do it; I’ve already put one man inna ground.”

 

“Very well. You carry the kids. All four of them. I’ll put my hands on my head and won’t move.”

 

“Fuckin…get inna fuckin’ house! Get yo babies, get inna house now, ‘fore I finna blast ya!”

 

Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina were crying as Erasmo carried them into the house, while Celine was asleep, drooling all over her sleeper.

 

Erasmo looked back at Lunar who, to his surprise, was carrying the sleeping Celine.

 

He may be an East-Side Blood, but I don’t think he has it in him to murder women or children. So who did he kill?

 

Lunar glared at the man, as he gave Celine to him to hold, the other toddlers cowering in the house. “Inna house, now. Don’t call 5-0, or I’ll blast ya here.”

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Well, here we go with the next chapter of Troubles in Toddlerhood! As a WARNING: child molestation and abuse is hinted, viewer discretion advised.

 

-

 

Chapter Fourteen: Sunday Moonlight

 

-

 

Lunar looked at the house. It was definitely suited for baby girls with the pastel pink, and it made him uncomfortable.

 

My girl, my four sistas, my lil’ brotha. This could be they house. I can’t do this. I can’t blast this muthafucka in fronta his babies, especially since one o’ them is…like Jelanie.

 

He thought of Jelanie every day, the winged angel tattoo on his back only showing his love. Born handicapped with cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome, he was innocent, funny, incredibly kind, the light of Lunar’s life…before he was murdered before he reached his seventh birthday by his father. His sisters, four-year-old twins Taleisha and Dashiella, three-year-old Birala, and two-year-old Laila were innocent…before his father came back into the picture when he turned nine and performed unspeakable acts on them.

 

He had no qualms wasting his father at age eleven. He was happy he killed his father. But dear old Dad was a pig, and pig killers tended to get harsher sentences.

 

Lunar went to juvie for four years, the evidence that his father had molested his sisters only enough to lighten the sentence. He had lost contact with his sisters. He joined the East-Side Bloods, discarding his name entirely. Nobody knew him, and that was fine.

 

Until he met a seventeen-year-old named Kessie when he was sixteen.

 

Kessie and he had a fling, an off-again-on-again relationship with her at first, her not agreeing with his gang-life, but she always held down for him, and was the only one who could speak sense to him when he was mad. But then she wanted to have babies of her own, and to his surprise, he agreed.

 

Then money mattered. Robbing houses when nobody was home was a nice side hustle, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to provide for his new family, even being a Blood.

 

Kessie was the most beautiful person in Lunar’s life, and he began to feel sick, seeing the crying toddlers, and the disabled girl.

 

I can’t do it. I can’t rob ‘em. I just…maybe I’ll eat dinner. I’ve been spendin’ most o’ my cash-money tryna find my sistas, helpin’ my fam. He’s doin’ the same thing.

 

Lunar put the Glock 19 in his waistband, walking over to the dinner table. Four high chairs, one of them built for the slow girl’s size.

 

Might as well be a fuckin’ orphanage, an’ he’s the only parent.

 

“I’ve mostly got food for babies.” The man, Erasmo, Raz, whatever, appeared in that stupid dress, the fuckin’ weirdo. “I’ll have to feed the toddlers, but feel free to poke around the kitchen. There’s leftover waffles, turkey sandwiches, that sort of stuff.”

 

Sounds betta than nothing, and I am kinda hungry.

 

He looked around the fridge, eating the turkey sandwiches like a hungry wolf, but stopped as he watched the man feed his charges, who didn’t seem to be able to feed themselves, not even the adult. It was definitely interesting, that was for damn sure.

 

She’s prolly a baby in mind, man. Still, fuckin’ weird…

 

Seeing nothing interesting in the fridge (other than fruit, vegetables, and stuff, and he didn’t feel like eating fruit and vegetables), he poked around the freezer. Had to be some kinda frozen meat there that he could heat up in an oven or microwave. But all there were were brown popsicles.

 

“The hell are those?” Lunar asked.

 

“Well, those are for the babies,” the man explained. “You probably wouldn’t like them; it’s basically ripe avocado, yogurt, brown banana, cocoa powder, all pureed, put in molds, and frozen. If you’re desperate enough, you could try them; I made extra.”

 

Lunar heard something scratching in his head, the voice of a persuasive male. Not his father, thank Christ, but definitely a powerful figure.

 

“Oh, I think that sounds quite good, young man.”

 

Da fuck you talkin’ to?

 

“I’m talking to you, fool. You want the popsicle. You need the popsicle.”

 

Lunar immediately snagged a popsicle and bit down. To his utmost surprise, it tasted good, so good that he was going to lick it and the stick.

 

“What’s going-” The gangster heard Erasmo gasp. “Don’t eat it!”

 

He felt the stick get taken out of his mouth, and he pouted.

“No fair…” he muttered.

 

“No, please, don’t hurt him!” Erasmo screamed at an unknown figure.

 

Lunar felt a presence suck his dick into his body, his genitals reforming into something different. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t hurt; it just felt very weird. He watched his clothes, his Glock, all vanish into thin air, as something wet and foul-smelling exited him. He was looked up at the table, looking up at the toddlers’ height-

 

It was then that he screamed a high-pitched scream, for he realized what happened: he had gone from a badass Blood man to an infant girl. An infant girl who had pissed and shit everywhere on the kitchen floor.

 

Wha, what's goin’ on?!

 

“Just a little…redecoration. That red and black really don’t look good on you, little one.”

 

Please stop! I’ll, I’ll do anythin’, please!

 

“How about you die? Don’t worry, I’ll make it very quic-”

 

“NO!” Another voice. Erasmo’s voice. “Please spare him, he’s…she’s…she’s just trying to provide for her family…”

 

“Hmph. Drop her at an orphanage. That’s what she deserves for trying to rob and potentially kill you, another pathetic human with evil aspirations. And you really think I’m going to reverse this magic? After all of the planning I put into it? No, she stays as an eight-month-old little one. And though you may be good at rearing children, five babies is an immense challenge.”

 

“I don’t care! Luna’s staying with me. I already invited her for dinner, and I’ll be damned if you kill her or make me abandon her!”

 

Luna’s my new name? Well, could be worse. Could be my old name.

 

“We’ll see how you feel about it a week from now.”

 

The infant wasn’t sure if the voice was talking to her or Erasmo, but she felt a rumbling in her stomach and realized she was very hungry indeed. She began to fuss a bit, and she saw Erasmo pick her up.

 

“Shh, it’s okay, Luna,” he whispered, as he walked to the refrigerator and got out something: a bottle full of milk before carrying her away from the kitchen table. “I know you must be very confused, but I came prepared; I used a breast pump a bit back when I was turned into a woman. All of us have been altered in some way by that voice you heard.”

 

Luna (she was actually starting to like that name a lot more than “Lunar”) squirmed a bit in Erasmo’s arms. The part of her that was grown didn’t want to be fed breast milk like Kessie did to her.

 

Oh, God, Kessie’s my momma! I’m the lil’est sista of my family now!

 

She started to wail at that knowledge, knowing she’d never be a dad, would possibly never grow up again.

 

“But first, let’s get you cleaned up and get a nice snug diaper on you.”

 

A diaper?! NO!

 

She was bawling at this point, completely embarrassed as Erasmo got out the supplies and set her down.

 

She felt him wipe her down, shivering at the cold of the baby wipe, feeling herself involuntarily pee because of it. Then baby powder (she knew because she had seen her mom do it to her sisters when she was in the picture) was generously sprinkled on, and she was quickly fitted with a very thick diaper, the first time she could remember being diapered.

 

“All done,” Erasmo sang. “Don’t you feel clean?”

 

Luna had to admit that she did…and then she saw the bottle. She began to fuss, and tried to turn her head away.

 

“It’s okay…I know you’re embarrassed, I know you’ve still got your adult mind, but you need to eat something, and you’re far too young for most of the food we have. So please, do it for me?”

 

Luna suddenly flashed back to Dad, and she screamed in terror, moving her uncoordinated limbs trying to get away from him.

 

“No, no, no, it’s okay, Luna, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m here.”

 

She felt herself being gently rocked and cuddled, and she was shaking, crying the whole while.

 

“God, what happened to you? What happened to my poor Luna?”

 

She spilled out her entire story in infantile babbling. How Dad had sent Mom into a mental institution using his badge right after Laila was born. How he had…hurt each of her sisters at a young age. How he had murdered poor Jelanie and made it look like an accident. How she had killed Dad with his own gun after he threatened her. How she spent four long years in juvie, getting all of the tattoos of Jelanie, Taleisha, Dashiella, Birala, and Laila to remember them. How she had met Kessie, the only person who had truly loved her - and whom she had truly loved - since his own siblings. How she wanted to start a family with Kessie, and tried to rob homes without the occupants there to get money.

 

She continued to talk and talk, tears pouring down her chubby face, and when she was finished, she noticed that the slow girl had walked in a while back.

 

“I’m so sorry you had to deal with the things you’ve dealt with,” the girl said in perfect English.

 

Luna was stunned. “Wait, you understand me?” she asked.

 

“Yes, every word. I was a twelve-month-old at one time, and I still speak baby-talk.”

 

“My sistas are older than me! And since the voice said…said that I might never grow up! How do I search for them when they need me?”

 

“Maybe you need someone to take care of you first? You were the oldest. It’s okay to be the baby of the family again. We’ll always love you, Luna, no matter what. And Daddy isn’t like your horrible excuse of a father. He’s nice, and friendly, and sometimes, he’s our Mommy.”

 

Luna sniffed. “Maybe you’re right,” she admitted. “But I wanna see Kessie. I wanna see my sistas.”

 

“Where does Kessie live?”

 

“Around Middle Hill.”

 

“Okay. We can see them! By the way, I’m Celine!”

 

“But Celine...she don’t live in a nice neighborhood like this one…”

 

“I’ll tell Daddy to have her move in with us, then!”

 

“It…it don’t work like that…Kessie’s too proud to move in with someone, and…it just don’t work like that…”

 

“Then we’ll make it work.” Celine said those words with such confidence that Luna couldn’t help but feel a bit of hope. “But you need to drink your baba. Is it okay to talk to Daddy about what you told me?”

 

She froze…but then nodded slowly. She had already talked to him; it just happened to be Celine who understood it. She reached for the bottle, but Erasmo had already put the nipple into her mouth.

 

Celine talked to Erasmo the entire time while Luna was feeding, but she didn’t hear the words. The milk was sweet, creamy, delicious, better than any restaurant she had ever gone to. She didn’t stop until she felt an uncomfortable sensation in her stomach. She was hefted over Erasmo’s shoulder, felt a soft hand pat her lower back, and she burped, accidentally spitting up some of the milk.

 

“Luna, sweetie, you’ve gone through a lot,” Erasmo said gently. “If we can find Kessie, we’ll help her, I promise. What’s her number?”

 

Luna told Celine Kessie’s number, and Celine relayed it to Erasmo.

 

“Thank you, but right now, you need your sleep. Svetlana, Tatiana, Galina, and yes, even you, Celine, need your sleep.”

 

Celine pouted. “But Daddyyy-”

 

“You’re a twelve-month-old, Celi, and bedtime is 7:00 PM for those two years old and younger,” Erasmo said sternly. “But first, I need to put Luna to bed. I bet that the voice provided another crib and a stuffed animal…”

 

Sure enough, Luna saw a pink crib with her name on it, a mobile with microphones on it on top of the crib. She was gently set in with a blanket and-

 

Is that a stuffed badger? That’s Kessie’s name, the last name I want! She has to be my Mommy! How did the voice know? I’ve never told nobody…

 

She immediately cuddled with the soft girl badger, and babbled, “I’m gonna call you Diggy, because badgers dig with their claws!” She giggled at the little fact.

 

“Goodnight, my precious Luna,” Erasmo said, putting a pacifier in her mouth (which she immediately suckled on), turning on the mobile and leaving the room as the mobile spun above her head.

 

Luna listened to the infantile music coming out of the mobile with a smile, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt safe as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

 

-

 

Hope you enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

I know I usually do these in two-week increments, but it's Thanksgiving in the U.S., so I figured that I should get into the holiday spirit by gifting a chapter early~ Here it is:

 

-

 

Chapter Fifteen: The Moonlight Blessing

 

-

 

Erasmo had managed to give the other toddlers their popsicles (which they eagerly ate and apparently liked) before putting them and Celine in their cribs (yes, even Celine had a crib big enough for an adult) next to a sleeping Luna, putting their pacifiers in their mouths, reading a bedtime story, turned on the baby monitor, and watched them go to sleep before he left.

 

I hope Luna’s the last baby; I’m not sure I’m going to be able to fit any more cribs in this room, even though it’s huge. Fucking magic…

 

He checked on the supplies. They were running low on diapers (except for Celine’s) and wipes; he’d have to go to the store to get them.

 

But I can’t leave them alone, especially Luna. Daycare should help, but…that’s it!

 

“Voice, whomever you are, I need to talk to you,” he whispered.

 

It took a while for the voice to respond.

 

“Well, well, well,” the male voice crooned, and once again, Erasmo felt it was from someone he knew, someone he had met somewhere. “You need my help. How could I tell?”

 

“I need to be a woman again.”

 

A pregnant pause. “Interesting,” the voice mused. “And why would I do that?”

 

“Because I want to talk to Kessie. I want to help her out with Luna.”

 

“And you can’t do that as a man? What kind of man are you, anyway?”

 

“You know damn well I’m not always a man. And I need to have her comfortable to talk to me, and it’s to help Luna out as well. Better for a woman to talk to a white woman with children of her own than a white man, right?”

 

“That does make sense. You women are always eager to talk to another, to be catty with.”

 

“Not all the time.”

 

A longer pregnant pause ensued. “Hmm…well, yes, I’ll grant this favor for one reason: you’re doing it purely out of altruism, and not because of selfish desire. But you’ll be stuck as a woman for the rest of the week, possibly forever. Is it truly what you want? Are you willing to risk losing your masculinity?”

 

“I want to help as many people as I can,” Erasmo said firmly. “Isn’t that what you want? For us to prove to you that humanity isn’t broken? That we can help each other?”

 

Yet another pregnant pause, longer than the last two combined. “Well, then. You understand a bit of what I can’t see in humanity. You understand why I’ve chosen the five of you, right?”

 

“Not exactly,” he admitted.

 

A snicker. “Modest, aren’t we, young lady? I actually like that; humans tend to think they know it all. I admire that you don’t know; it’s easier that way. Now, be prepared.”

 

“Isn’t that the Lion King’s villain song?” Erasmo said, his voice growing higher in pitch, feeling his breasts expand like balloons, his waist shrink, his hips grow wide, as he grew shorter.

 

“Indeed. And where do you think they came up with it, hmm?”

 

Soon enough, Erasmo was a 5’2” woman again, and she twirled around in her dress.

 

Might as well go by Erminia again; that’s my female name. Now, to call Kessie…and hope she doesn’t hang up.

 

She dialed the number that Luna had given her via Celine. One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

 

“Who’s this?” a young woman answered sharply.

 

“Are you Kessie Badger?” Erminia asked.

 

“Yeah, it’s her. Who are ya?”

 

She paused. “I’ve found Luna.”

 

“You found my baby?!” The woman was close to tears, and it caused Erminia to tear up as well. “Oh, sweet Jesus, thank you, God, I thought she was gone forever! Where do ya live? Where did ya find her?”

 

“She’s around Squirrel Hill South. I found her abandoned by the park, got her information, found you.”

 

“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Kessie sobbed. “I can meetcha at the park, please, can you bring her to me?”

 

“She just fell asleep in a crib, and I can’t leave; I have three other young toddlers, and my fiancee isn’t feeling well. Can you come to me?”

 

“Of course, wait, you have a girl?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Okay. Who’s ya man?”

 

“Don’t know him.”

 

“Ah, same here. I’ll come to meetcha. You have babies of your own?”

 

“I have triplets! They’re almost two. Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina.”

 

“Cute names. Okay, I’m off, just gimme directions to your place.”

 

Erminia gave her directions.

 

“Oh, thank the Lord Jesus! I’m comin’ to meetcha, should be thirty.”

 

Kessie hung up, and she sighed in relief. Apparently, the voice had made Kessie the mother of Luna. That was good; she couldn’t afford to have another baby.

 

She waited, playing a quick Shadow of War on the Xbox Series X (which she realized now had apparently been the toddlers’ Xbox when they were adults, now gifted to her) until the doorbell rang.

 

She paused the game, walked over to door and opened it, revealing an eighteen-year-old woman an inch shorter than she was with toffee-caramel colored skin, black braids with seashells, deep mahogany-brown eyes, and clearly lactating breasts, carrying a large diaper bag filled to the brim that her thin body was struggling to lift.

 

“Hello, is this the right place?” the woman, Kessie, asked.

 

“Yes. I’m Erminia Zanetti, by the way. Luna’s upstairs, she just fell asleep.”

 

The two women walked up the stairs, and Kessie and Erminia saw Celine, who, to her shock, had become a one-year-old baby again.

 

“I didn’t know you had four babies?” she mused.

 

“OH, damn, sorry, that’s Celine. She’s here like this sometimes.” Not a complete lie.

 

“Where’s my girl?”

 

“Right. Luna’s right here.”

 

Erminia saw Kessie grab the sleeping ebony-skinned infant, hugging her. All the while, Luna hadn’t dropped her badger.

 

“How can I ever thank ya, Erminia?” Kessie said, tears in her eyes.

 

“I…could you move in with me?” she blurted out.

 

Kessie’s eyebrows raised. “Now why would I wanna do that?” she asked, a warning in her tone.

 

“Look, Luna, your girl…she’s so sweet and innocent. I know that you’ve got a lot of shit to deal with-”

 

“Erryone’s got they own shit to deal with,” Kessie said harshly, almost beginning to walk out the door.

 

“But I want to help you in any way I can. I know about your parents.”

 

Kessie froze, and Erminia knew it was a desperate gamble. She turned around, a furious look on her face.

 

“How would you know?” the Black woman said, angry tears in her eyes.

 

“Because I had Luna, looked up her situation, and I wanted to know about you. I know you grew up on the streets without a family. I know you’ve been moving shelter to shelter with only a phone and your little girl. I have plenty of space in my home. I just…I want you to stay. I’ve grown to love little Luna; she’s been so happy and bubbly in the short time I’ve known her. I want to help you and her.”

 

Kessie looked at Erminia. “One night. Then I’m gone.”

 

It’s better than “no”.

 

“Thank you. I have a crib set up in a room, where you can keep an eye on your baby. I’ll show you.”

 

Erminia led Kessie to the room, praying to God that there was a crib. Thankfully, there was, as well as a queen-sized bed for Kessie to sleep on.

 

“Okay. Goodnight, Ermi.” Kessie laid Luna into the crib.

 

“Goodnight, Kessie.”

 

Erminia walked out of the room with only her thoughts.

 

I hope I’ve done well enough for you, voice.

 

The voice didn’t answer as she fell asleep on the couch.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Well, next chapter is coming up here. Here it is:

 

-

 

Chapter Sixteen: Monday Morning Breakfast

 

-

 

Svetlana woke up first, a wet and messy diaper greeting her.

 

That was fucking weird last night. The fucking gangbanger turned into a baby girl because he ate one of our popsicles. Was it a dream?

 

She saw Tatiana wake up with a yawn.

 

“Hey, Svetka!” Galina was awake. “Looks like Celine’s an infant again.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Sure enough, there was a fourth crib with a blonde-haired twelve-month-old, still asleep and in a sagging diaper.

 

“Hey!” Galina called to Celine. “Wake up, sleepyhead!”

 

Tatiana had fully woken up and started to cry, probably due to the state of her diaper, which woke Celine up. Tatiana looked at Celine come to grip with her surroundings, as she started to wail. Then Galina, figuring the only way to get attention was to cry, did so, and finally, Svetlana decided to give up and join the club.

 

She saw a female Erasmo walk in, wearing a lavender dress this time, obviously freshly showered, judging by her glistening hair. She gave kisses and cuddles to all of them to calm them down, before lifting them out of their cribs, and setting them on the floor (along with their stuffies; she never forgot the stuffies) before lifting Svetlana up and onto the changing table.

 

“Mind you, I’m running out of diapers for you girls,” Erasmo said with a smile. “I’ll have to go to the store and get supplies. Luna and Kessie - Kessie being Luna’s new mommy and former girlfriend - are in another room.”

 

Soon enough, Svetlana, her sisters, and Celine were diapered, powdered, and refitted in their pink onesies (except for Celine; she had a bunch of green clovers on a pink sleeper) and different colored skirts: red for Svetlana, blue for Tatiana, purple for Galina, and green for Celine. It was obvious that the four were going out. She watched Celine latch on to Erasmo’s breast and begin to feed, her mouth watering.

 

“Of course, I’ll get you three breakfast, hold on,” Erasmo said with a laugh, finishing breastfeeding the youngest baby, as the doorbell rang. She flicked her hair in annoyance before putting down Celine. “Sorry, that’ll have to wait.”

 

They watched as Erasmo ran out of the room before deciding to engage in conversation.

 

“So, last night actually happened, huh?” Galina said.

 

“Yeah, but we were never in any danger,” Celine giggled before rolling around on the carpet, a bit of milk still on her mouth.

 

“How do you know?” Svetlana asked. “Celi, he had a gun.”

 

“She wasn’t gonna harm us,” the baby said with a serious look on her pudgy face.

 

“Why? How do you know?” Tatiana asked.

 

“Because she had a shit past and five younger siblings, including four sisters. She may have been a gangster, but she was very much against harming us or Erminia - that’s Erasmo’s girl name - in front of us.”

 

The door opened again, this time with three adults and the infant that used to be the gangbanger: Erminia (might as well call her by her female name since she was a woman right now), a woman that looked a lot like Erminia that must’ve been her mother, and a Black woman that was holding the infant in her chest, bouncing her up and down, while the former gangster giggled.

 

“So, that’s Svetlana, Tatiana, Galina, and you already know Celine,” Erminia said with a laugh.

 

“They’re so precious,” Erminia’s mother said gently. “And your Luna is precious too, Ms. Badger.”

 

“Thank you,” Kessie said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

 

“Maybe I should talk with you in private, Kessie,” Erminia’s mother said. “Just the two of us.”

 

“I guess I could put Luna down a bit,” the  woman admitted before setting the ebony-skinned infant on the floor, her gray eyes looking at the older girls.

 

“I’ll make breakfast,” Erminia said. “It’ll be my treat.”

 

The adults left the room, leaving them behind.

 

“Why should we trust you?” Tatiana growled at Luna.

 

“She’s not going to hurt us, silly,” Celine said.

 

“I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her,” Tatiana snapped at Celine before turning to Luna. “Why should we trust you when you were going to murder us?”

 

Luna rocked in the fetal position for a bit, holding her badger stuffie. “I wanna see my sistas,” she said simply.

 

“Your sisters?” Galina asked in confusion.

 

“They older than me now,” the baby said, drooling on her pink sleeper as she talked. “Four older sistas. Dunno if they in foster care; they big girls now. Wanna see them.”

 

Svetlana’s eyes softened. “We’ll try our best for you to see them,” she said. “Promise.”

 

“I promise too,” Galina added.

 

“Me three!” Celine sang.

 

Luna’s eyes widened. “Really?”

 

Even Tatiana gave in. “I promise four.”

 

The Black baby giggled. “Then me five!”

 

The girls all devolved into giggling laughter, as Erminia came back into the room.

 

Hot damn, she looks as hot as a girl as she was as a guy. Does that make me bi? Hey, that rhymes! Maybe I should make that into a song when I grow up again.

 

“Time for breakfast,” the woman said with a wink, as she carried Tatiana out of the room.

 

“What are your sisters’ names?” Galina asked Luna.

 

“Uh, there’s Taleisha, Dashiella, Birala, and Laila,” Luna said. “An…Jelanie.”

 

She grew silent, tears glistening in her eyes, as Erminia came to get Galina and went out of the room.

 

“Who’s Jelanie?” Svetlana asked gently. “Another sister?”

 

“My…lil’ brother,” Luna sniffed. “Had cerebral palsy an’ Down Syndrome. He was my everyth-” She paused and began to wail. “My tattoos of them! They gone!”

 

Svetlana felt sympathy for the baby girl, for she and Tatiana and Galina had a tattoo of a dove on each of their left ankles (a sign of their kinship) that were now conspicuously absent.

 

Erminia came into the room with his mother and the Black woman, who hugged Luna.

 

“Guess what, pumpkin?” Kessie sang. “We stayin’ here!”

 

Luna’s eyes widened in shock, in happiness, and Svetlana could tell that she wanted to stay.

 

“I’ll have to work as a sorta babysitter for your friends when Erminia isn’t available, and I still wanna work my job as a mechanic, but we stayin’ here. We’ll never have to go hungry again!”

 

“Yaaay!” Luna babbled, waving her chubby arms around in celebration as she was lifted by Kessie. Svetlana felt so happy for her, even while watching Celine get picked up by Erminia, who cooed at her.

 

“Up, you get, Svetka,” Erminia’s mother said with a smile.

 

She lifted her in thick, yet comfortable arms as she cradled her; she felt small, and had a warm fuzzy feeling inside of her stomach that wasn’t at all like the feeling of hunger she had as well.

 

She was quickly set on the high chair, knowing that her sisters were already there, feeling the bib across her neck in anticipation of a messy meal.

 

It looked like a yogurt parfait with whipped cream on the bottom and Cheerios on top, and to her surprise, it actually looked good.

 

“I’ll feed myself!” Tatiana said, grabbing her spoon and making a mess on her face. She pouted, and Celine and Svetlana snickered.

 

“Not funny!” Tatiana snapped, yogurt parfait and Cheerios all over her face. “Like you can do better, Svetka!”

 

“You have…a beard, Tanya!” Svetlana laughed and Celine joined in.

 

“Let’s just enjoy our breakfast,” Galina said diplomatically, as she allowed Erminia’s mother to feed her.

 

“Galya, help me ou-” Tatiana tried to plead her case to a busy Galina, before Erminia put a heaping scoop of yogurt parfait in her mouth, as Celine and Svetlana laughed their asses off.

 

“More, more!” Tatiana said after the bite, yogurt parfait all over her face.

 

Svetlana’s stomach grumbled, but fortunately for her, Erminia’s mother had just scooped up a healthy spoonful and got it in her mouth, managing to feed both Galina and her simultaneously.

 

“Those kids are awfully talkative,” Erminia’s mother (Svetlana felt a little guilty that she didn’t even know this woman’s name and she was spoon-feeding her.) said with a smile, as she continued to spoon-feed Svetlana until the meal was finished. “They should learn words soon enough.”

 

“I can’t wait, Mom,” Erminia said with a small laugh, putting a scoop in Galina’s mouth.

 

“Well, enjoy them while they’re still this young; I still remember your terrible twos.”

 

“Mom, you don’t have to-”

 

“I don’t remember any o’ my terrible twos,” Kessie said. “Mrs. Zanetti, ma’am-”

 

“Please, dear, call me ‘Bartolomea’. Or just ‘Mea’.”

 

Finally, I learned your name. It’s an awesome name!

 

“Of course, Mrs. Mea. What’re they like at that age?”

 

“Oh, like any other toddler; she’ll scream, she’ll cry, she’ll throw tantrums, she’ll get into stuff she’s not supposed to, but at the end of the day, you care for her, you cuddle with her, you love her learning new things, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 

Svetlana saw Kessie smile, barely feeling her own face get washed by a wet wipe. “Thanks for the tips, Mrs. Mea,” the woman said gratefully. “You helped me more’n you’ll ever know.”

 

“Of course, dear. And if you ever need any help, why, I have five other children of my own aside from Ermi, and what sort of mother would I be if I didn’t help the children of others?”

 

Soon enough, the group was clean, and Erminia had made an announcement.

 

“Well, I’ve called Toddler’s Tumbles, and they’ve accepted you four,” she said with a wide grin. “You’re supposed to go in an hour, so I’ve packed your stuff!”

 

Svetlana, Tatiana, and Galina gave each other the same look that said the exact same thing, knowing that they were going there instead of merely to the store like they assumed.

 

…Oh, shit. My old workplace…

Now they were going as enrollees instead of employees. This was going to be a very…interesting twelve hours.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Well, it's been a while...but here's the next chapter:

 

-

 

Chapter Seventeen: Toddler's Tumbles

 

-

 

Galina held Stripes close to her as the car ride resumed. She was in a car seat, all dressed up for the weather, and ready to head out to her old workplace. She saw Tatiana with Beaky clutched in her hands, Svetlana hugging Howly, as Celine continued to ask questions about what it was like at the daycare, while cuddling Spots (Galina was confused at why she named a fox “Spots”, but she wasn’t about to question it).

 

“Well, there’s going to be at least twenty toddlers there, not including us,” Svetlana explained. “We're coming at 7:45 AM and staying until 6:00 PM. There’ll be diaper changes at 9:00 AM, 12:30 PM, 2:45 PM, and 4:30 PM, so if you need to use your diaper, do it by then, and don’t hesitate to fill it. If you poop really badly, you could be changed immediately, but don’t count on it. We’re expected to play a lot, we have story time and singalong at 10:00 to 10:30, two outside times, but if you’re bored with the toys, we can chat. Not sure what teacher’s choice is, but that’s from 3:45 to 4:00. Breakfast and lunch are at 9:30 AM and noon, respectively. Celine, there will likely be baby food for you and cut up food for us, as a fair warning. We’re all likely drinking cow’s milk, all in bottles.”
 

“I am not looking forward to this, Svetka,” Tatiana said in annoyance.

 

“Maybe not, but at least Dzej and Zeri will be there, and we know they’re good,” Galina said. “Let’s just behave for them. We can have a lot of fun times, so we better get used to it.”

 

Tatiana grumbled something that could’ve been an agreement or a “fuck this shit”, depending on whose ears were listening.

 

“What if it’s too cold out?” Celine asked. “Mommy, er, Erminia said there was going to be a lot of snow today…”

 

“We go out anyway,” Tatiana explained this time. “It’s only two times of outdoor time, the first being one hour from 10:30-11:30, and thirty minutes at around 4:00 to 4:30. We’re toddlers; we have to have outdoor outings. Really, it’s not that bad outside. Little chilly, little slushy, but hey, that’s Pittsburgh in November.”

 

“There’s also a nap time from 12:45 to 2:45 and snack time from 3:00 to 3:30,” Galina added. “Since we’re arriving late, we meet the workers there and play from that time until 8:30. 5:00 PM to close, it’s cleaning up and free play.”

 

“And the other kids?” Celine asked tentatively. “Do we have to interact with them?”

 

Svetlana paused. “Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the kid and what activities we’re doing. I just hope Barry Burke isn’t there…”

 

“Who’s Barry Burke?” Celine asked.

 

“The biggest little shit I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet,” Tatiana growled.

 

“But what did he do?”

 

“He’s the daycare bully,” Galina explained coldly. “He’s big for a thirty-month-old, and likes to pick on smaller toddlers - especially those who aren’t potty trained like he is. It’s things like ripping off their diapers and smushing them in their faces, kicking them, stealing toys from them, that sort of crap.”

 

“Why haven’t you stopped him, then?” Celine asked in annoyance.

 

“His mom is the director of childcare management,” Svetlana said. “We’d get fired if we gave him punishment, and she just lets him run wild here. Between us, Dzej, Zeri, and Mrs. Yang, we can corral him from other kids for the most part, but we don’t know who else is working here, now that our ages have been altered to toddlerhood.”

 

“I hope to fucking God he isn’t here,” Tatiana growled.

 

They had gotten to Toddler’s Tumbles, a large colorful building with a rainbow on the front and a couple of happy yellow bird caricatures perched on top. Thankfully, Dzejlana and Zerina were at the front, greeting toddlers, and they looked at the Honda Odyssey, and saw Erminia exit the door and gasped.

 

“Oh, good, you came!” Dzejlana exclaimed, as the three adults quickly moved to get the toddlers out of their carseats and onto the sidewalk (thankfully not icy), with the daycare workers holding their hands (Celine being carried by Erminia) as they toddled with a bit of uncertainty (just because it didn’t look icy didn’t mean that it wasn’t wet from the snow, and they were in no hurry to take a spill) as the group walked inside.

 

Inside the daycare was a bright blue pastel hue all around the room. Toddlers of all ages were already playing. Unfortunately, their worst fear was confirmed: Sunny Burke and her devilchild were waiting for them.

 

“Oh, they’re just so precious I could eat them all up!” Sunny said with a wide grin. “What are their names?”

 

Sunny Burke was heavyset with dark brown hair the color of chocolate, and warm brown eyes. They knew she loved kids, maybe to a fault. Maybe that’s why Barry, with his messy brown hair, was never punished, as he leered at the four; Galina knew that he was planning something awful for them.

 

“Svetlana, Tatiana, Galina, and Celine,” Erminia introduced them by pointing. “You can call them Svetka, Tanya, Galya, and Celi, if it’s too difficult.”

 

“Oh, those are adorable names! How old?”

 

“The first three are twenty months, and Celine just turned a year old.”

 

“They’re going to be so beautiful when they’re all grown up.”

 

That much, we can agree on, Sunny, Galina thought. Looking at her sisters, she could tell that they felt pretty much the same way she had thought.

 

“That, we can agree on,” Erminia said, a knowing smile as she looked at Celine.

 

“Barry, say hello to the nice little girls,” Sunny instructed her toddler.

 

“Hello,” he said, a wicked smile on his face as he faced them, and she knew that they were going to get it the worst.

 

“Aww, isn’t my Barry so adorable and nice? Yes, you are!” Sunny smothered her child with kisses, as he laughed.

 

“Yes, he is,” Erminia said, completely unaware, as she gently handed Celine over to Dzejlana.

 

“Well, we’ll have a wonderful day,  okay?”

 

All three of the former daycare workers-turned-toddlers looked genuinely uncomfortable with Barry, but Erminia nodded. “I hope they do.”
 

Then she was gone, and they were left in the daycare. They all tried their best to stay away from Barry, as Dzejlana put Celine down next to them and walked away. Galina knew that they weren’t very far away and that they were paying attention to everything going on.

 

“What do we do?” Celine asked.

 

“We play,” Svetlana said simply. “Hell, don’t be afraid to interact with other toddlers, Barry aside.”

 

Tatiana huffed. “I hope he doesn’t come her-”

 

“Hello, babies.” It was Barry Burke with a mean smile on his face. “You wanna ‘play’?”

 

“Leave us alone,” Tatiana growled. “Not interested.”

 

“Stupid babies shouldn’t use big words.”

 

He kicked Tatiana hard, and she let out a yelp before bawling. Zerina had come over faster than the Flash.

 

“Are you being mean to little Tanya, Barry?” she asked, a calm look in her eyes.

 

“Nope, she’s just being a crying baby, and I try to make her feel better,” he said, and Galina noted the innocent angelic look on his face in anger.

 

“Of course, I’ll talk with her to make her feel better,” Galina noted the look in Zerina’s eyes that told her that she didn’t buy it for a second, even if Barry’s mother did. “You did a good job, Barry.”

 

“Thank you, ma’am!” Barry said, going over to the toys; at least he was away, for now.

 

The Bosnian woman (her hair covered by a beautiful orange hijab) cuddled Tatiana in her lap. “He kicked you, didn’t he?” she whispered.

 

Tatiana nodded, her face puffy and eyes red from tears, as she continued to cry.

 

“I’m so sorry he’s being mean. Me and Dzej know. It’s okay, honey.”

 

Galina saw Svetlana shoot a hateful glare at Barry, who merely gave them a smirk that all but said, “You’re next, and nobody’s gonna punish me for it.”

 

Tatiana had seemed to calm down a bit, and clambered out of Zerina’s lap, wanting to save the little dignity she had left.

 

“What toys do you four cuties want?” Dzejlana had walked over to the party. “Feel free to point.”

 

Celine cuddled with her fox stuffie, and the other three pointed to their respective stuffies.

 

“OH, you want to play with your cuddly little friends,” Dzej said with a big friendly smile. “How about we have them have a tea party? Are me and Zeri invited?”

 

Galina gave them a huge grin while nodding, seeing her sisters and Cerine nod as well.

 

“Ooh, thank you so much!” Zerina exclaimed. “Do you want us to help serve the tea?”

 

“Tea party, tea party!” the toddlers chanted in perfect baby talk, as all four nodded.

 

Dzejlana knew enough toddler speak to know when toddlers agreed with questions. “Oh, I’ll get the tea set. Won’t take too long. Zeri, if you could wait with them to make sure nobody bothers them?”

 

“Of course, Dzej.” Zerina looked at the four young girls. “Your friends are adorable,” she said with a smile. “I bet they have the very best names ever.”

 

Tatiana giggled, cuddling with Beaky, Svetlana and Howly were playing with Celine and Spots, while Galina tried to get a look at Dzejlana, holding Stripes like her life depended on it. Soon enough, the other woman, her golden hijab complimenting her eyes, had brought the tea set and set it up quickly.

 

It was the best tea party ever, even with Dzejlana and Zerina discussing the subject of the devilspawn known as Barry Burke.

 

“I’ve had it up to here with him, honestly,” Zerina said, trying to keep anger from her tone. “He kicked poor little Tanya when she did nothing to deserve it.”

 

“She’s not the first baby that’s been kicked by him, and if things don’t change soon, she won’t be the last,” Dzejlana said, pouring imaginary “tea” for Beaky, Stripes, Spots, and Howly. “I just wish his mother would teach him to be nice…”

 

“Sunny thinks he can do no wrong,” Zerina said, a trace of bitterness in her tone. “It would take something big for her to change her mind on him. I just don’t know what that is. He’s ripped off diapers, kicked toddlers, stolen toys and food from them, you name everything that a naughty toddler can do, he’s done it.”

 

“He has no respect for others, and we’ll get fired if we speak out without proof,” Dzejlana murmured. “We’re not allowed to bring phones here, and I don’t want to film him hurting someone anyway; that puts other toddlers in danger.” She turned to the four girls. “Isn’t this tea party fun, girls?” They nodded. “Oh, I’m so happy that you’re having fun!”

 

Galina lost herself in her thoughts. Yep, for two women who have somehow never found a man (she had no idea why; they were very beautiful women) or bore children - hell, even when you threw actual mothers in the ring - Zeri and Dzej really knew how to take care of babies and toddlers better than most. She had thought that as a grown woman of twenty-five, and now at twenty months, she could definitely confirm it from first hand experience.

 

“Galya, your ‘tea’ is getting cold,” Dzejlana said gently, pulling herself out of her thoughts, as she brought the toy cup with “tea” close to her mouth, pretending to drink. “Good girl!”

 

“Dzej, Zeri, I need your help with Daniel and Irvin! Nova and Estrella can play with the new arrivals; they need to meet new faces, trust all of our staff.”

 

Galina’s eyebrows rose. It wasn’t all that long ago that she was helping Daniel De La Rosa and Irvin Ivey, both of whom were thirty months old, go to the big boy potty, changing their pull-ups just in case. Now, she realized, she was younger than they were and much less toilet-trained than they were, too. The thought made her realize just how far away her old life was, and it made her sad.

 

Seeing Dzejlana and Zerina leave the tea party made her even sadder, and as she looked at Svetlana, Tatiana and Celine, she knew they felt the same way. She watched as two young Hispanic teenagers (both probably around seventeen - and likely high-school dropouts from pregnancy; if the size of their breasts were any indication, they had each given birth less than a year ago) - a woman with a buzzcut and lots of piercings on her ears and a woman with bleached blond box braids and glasses - walked over, huge smiles on their faces that Galina found to be genuine, even though she didn’t know the girls.

 

“Hi, cuties, I’m Nova!” the girl with the buzzcut cooed in a perky tone. “Are you, perhaps, having a tea party? Do you want Estrella and me to join in?”

 

“That’s me, I’m Estrella! It’s so very nice to meet you girls!” The other woman’s green eyes widened behind her glasses, as she looked at their stuffies. “OH, and I want to say ‘hi’ to your lovely friends! Are they enjoying their tea?”

 

Svetlana immediately nodded, and Celine followed with her own nod, (although to Galina’s inner mirth, she couldn’t help but notice Celine drooling at the breasts of the young ladies), and Tatiana looked a touch nervous, but gave a tiny nod.

 

Galina nodded happily; these ladies seemed to be very nice, and of course, they could join the tea party, and yes, Stripes and his friends were definitely enjoying the tea.

 

Nova cuddled Tatiana on her lap, and watching the look of contentment on her sister’s face, Galina let out a fussing sound, wanting to be cuddled as well.

 

“Aww, you want the cuddles as well?” Nova cooed at Galina. “Up you go!”

 

She cuddled Galina and Tatiana on her lap, seeing Svetlana and Celine get cuddled by Estrella. Galina felt a fair trickle of pee enter her diaper, but knew she wasn’t going to be changed yet, knew that it should be embarrassing to be cuddled like a baby by a teenage girl. But it didn’t matter. Being in the arms of the girl, her kindly green eyes hinting at friendly mischief…there were much worse things that could happen than this.

 

She had no idea that the worst things would happen at the daycare later today.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~

[Baby Jemma]

Time for another chapter of Troubles in Toddlerhood! It's a little short, but here you go, for your enjoyment:

 

-

 

Chapter Eighteen: Grocery Shopping

 

-

 

Erminia had driven the Honda Odyssey to the store immediately after dropping off the girls, humming to herself while she listened to Megadeth on the iPhone: her treat for having to bear the infantile songs on the CD while the girls were in the car.

 

Well, it’s not their fault they’re babies. It’s the voice’s.

 

She didn’t trust the voice, not one bit. Yes, he had listened to her, but she wasn’t sure of his motives, wasn’t sure who he was…only that she had heard him before somewhere. He sounded so familiar…

 

It can’t be my dad, right? He’s a Captain in the U.S. Navy…

 

She shook her head. Such a thing could wait, as she concentrated on the road, always defensively driving (her mother had a brilliant nugget of advice - as mothers tended to have - while on the road, always assume that everyone else on the road is an idiot).

 

Erminia thought of the stops on her list: Diaper Depot, Aldi’s, and GetGo. She was running very low on diapers (especially for Celine’s adult diapers, but she had already preordered from a babyish site. She had looked up where to find adult diapers, and the sheer amount of people on those sites surprised her; she had no idea how many so-called “littles'' there were.), low on baby wipes, low on many other necessary supplies, definitely needed to add more food to the house, and then she needed to get gas for the ride home; the car was running a bit low.

 

She arrived at Diaper Depot at 8:00 AM, taking a spot a long way away and immediately grabbed a cart from the outside, before going into the store.

 

It was packed with women, mostly; mothers with crying babies, mothers-to-be in various stages of pregnancy, and the odd father who wanted to get in, get the stuff needed, and get out.

 

Erminia wheeled the cart around and stocked up on diapers of all kinds (making sure to buy different brands; she could afford to with the money she made, and she wanted the most comfortable diapers for Galina, Svetlana, and Tatiana). The baby wipes were next, and a bunch of those went into the cart. Then she looked at many, many different clothes; she felt guilty that the onesies the girls were wearing were the only ones in the house, and she wanted all of them to look their cutest and be fresh and clean - which she had also included in her list: baby bath supplies. She was not looking forward to giving the toddlers baths, given how much their age group hated it. Those went in next.

 

Then there were the toys. She bought a ton of toys for the three siblings and her babyfied fiancée to play with before moving to the checkout line.

 

A mid-forties Hispanic lady in front of her in the checkout line looked at her, with two young baby boys - even younger than Luna, fast asleep in separate bassinets - in the cart.

 

“First time?” she asked in Spanish, a curious note in her tone.

 

“Taking care of toddler triplets and a one-year-old,” Erminia admitted in Spanish; she was pretty much fluent, thanks to her mom teaching her and learning tips from Hispanic nurses.

 

“Oh, that sounds difficult. Do you have a husband who can help?”

 

“Not really. My girlfriend helps, but she’s a bit busy with work.” Not a complete lie.

 

“Who’s the father, if I may ask?”

 

“He’s unavailable this week.” Also not a complete lie.

 

“Oh, you poor thing, taking care of all of those babies on your own, especially triplets.”

 

“It’s okay. I’m having the time of my life, feeding them, watching them grow, even changing their diapers.”

 

“Your toddlers are in diapers? How old are they?”

 

“Twenty months.”

 

“Oh, goodness, they must’ve been preemies, if you have a one-year-old baby.”

 

“They were, but they’ve grown quite big and healthy. It’s their first time at the daycare; I’ve been taking care of them when I’m off of work at the children’s hospital.”

 

“Oh, you’re a saint, helping all of those ill children. But don’t your parents help with yours?”

 

“Mom’s busy with her own kids, not including me; I’m the oldest. She helps as much as she can, though. Dad’s in the Navy.”

 

“God bless your father and your mother. Wait, you said your children were at a daycare? Which one, if I may ask?”

 

“Toddler’s Tumbles.” Erminia looked at the lady, whose brown eyes widened with shock and mirth.

 

“OH, my twin daughters work there! I’m taking care of their infants while they work; they dropped out of school to help pay for rent and utilities. Their names are Estrella and Nova. Couldn’t be more different, but they’re both sweethearts.”

 

“I’ll tell them their mother told me, ‘Hello’, Senora…”

 

“Aguilar. Leonela Aguilar.”

 

“Thank you, Senora Aguilar.”

 

“Next?” a cashier asked.

 

“Oh, that would be me,” Mrs. Aguilar said with a chuckle. “Tell my daughters I love them.”

 

“Of course,” Erminia said, marveling at how small the world seemed.

 

The checkout went without incident (the total amounted to a bit over a thousand dollars, which she paid for with her debit card without issue), and she pushed the cart back to her car, quickly unloading the supplies.

 

Now for Aldi’s.

 

The stop at Aldi’s didn’t take long either and passed without incident; nobody talked to Erminia as she bought everything on her list - and a few things not. She was making good time as well; it was 10:00 AM, and the gas station was the last one on her list before she had to go home and unpack everything.

 

The gas station was where everything went to hell and back.

 

-

 

Hope y'all enjoyed~