The Gift by donniem

 

 

I had just been handed the biggest gift of my 12 year-old life and I didn’t want to blow it. It was an unintentional gift and I would be taking an awful risk if I did anything with it, but I simply couldn’t resist. The possibilities were making me dizzy and I laughed out loud. Luckily, I was alone in the house.

My name is Blane Hinson. I’m the youngest of three boys. Casey, my oldest brother is a junior in high school and Quinn, two years older than me, is a freshman. Our parents are Neal and Alanna. For adults, they’re usually pretty cool, so I can’t really complain. The big problem in my life is my brother Quinn. Ever since I was a little kid, he has gone out of his way to make my life miserable. He picks on me because of my size (which is a lot below average—4’ 6”, 70 lbs, boys’ size 10) and he takes every opportunity to embarrass me around my friends. For instance, he told them that I still wear cartoon character underwear. I couldn’t call him a liar because it’s true. I don’t want to wear them anymore but my mom is making me, until I outgrow them. And that’s just one little example out of a thousand.

So… this is where the gift comes in. Quinn has an odd school schedule. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he doesn’t have class until 9:30 because he takes shop, which meets late in the afternoon. This means that he is alone for one and-a-half hours on those mornings. One Tuesday, I noticed that the family computer was still turned on when I got home from school. I decided to mention it at dinner. Mom and dad hate it when we do stuff like that, and since Quinn was the last one home, they would blame him. It wasn’t much in the getting-even department but I was used to taking what I could. Anyway, I sat down and moved the mouse. The screen came up and I was faced with my amazing gift. It was a picture of Quinn on the floor in front of the couch. He was on his knees, leaning on his elbows, twisted around a little bit with his butt facing the camera at an angle—wearing black high top sneakers, white socks, dark gray t-shirt, his favorite brown knit cap pulled over his ears, and (Yes! What I could do with this!) a shiny, thick disposable diaper. His eyes were slightly squinted and he had his typical “I-dare-you-to-challenge-me” expression on his face.

I loaded photo paper and printed out an awesome 8” x 10” picture. From the menu, I chose ‘File’ and ‘Save as…’ and followed the path to a subfolder. I hit the jackpot. There were more than fifty pictures of him in diapers. I didn’t have enough paper (or time) to print them all so I burned a CD. Now, whatever happened, I had the proof of what he had been up to.

I watched him closely when he came home. He couldn’t stop glancing over to the computer every few seconds. It was obvious that he was terrified that he had left an incriminating picture on screen. I left the room and made noise like I was going upstairs. I doubled back quietly in time to hear him sit at the computer. I peeked into the room as he breathed a sigh of relief at the empty desktop. Still, he sat there quietly for a few seconds. He wasn’t sure what had happened. I could see him wracking his brain trying to remember if he had shut down the photo program or not.

“Dad,” I said at dinner, “you want us to tell you about weird stuff with the computer, don’t you?”

“Of course,” he answered.

I hesitated for a second and looked over to Quinn. I thought he was going to faint. His face was white and his fork, which he held right at his mouth, was shaking.

“Well,” I said turning my attention to dad, “the computer was on when I came home today.”

He and mom both looked at Quinn who now seemed even more nervous. His lower lip was quivering.

“Sorry,” he squeaked, “I guess I forgot to shut it off.”

“Anyway,” I said to bring the attention back to myself.

Quinn, however, was intent on stopping me from going on.

“I… I was working on a school report,” he lied. “I lost track of the time. I barely made it to school for my class. It was for English. I think I did a really…”

“Alright, Quinn,” mom cut in. “Let Blane finish.”

“Yeah,” I said, throwing him a glare. “Like I said, the computer was on and when I moved the mouse, the whole desktop blew up.”

“Blew up?” my dad asked in surprise.

“Well, I mean, everything went funny and I had to reboot the computer. That’s all.”

Quinn recovered quickly as a result of the lecture mom and dad gave him about power surges and leaving the computer unattended. Even though I was the only who knew what I had just put him through, it felt good. .

^^^^^^

I spent a couple of days wondering what to do. I was alone Thursday afternoon and looked more carefully at the pictures. I wondered how long he had been into this. Some of the pictures were definitely taken last year when he kept his hair shorter. Also, no matter how he posed—on his stomach or back, standing, or kneeling—he made sure that his thick diaper was as obvious as possible. He used lots of props, too: baby bottles, plush toys, pacifiers and plastic pants. I wondered where he hid his stuff. I turned off the computer and went looking. Unlike Casey and me, Quinn is pretty fussy about his room. I thought that his attention to neatness would make it easier to find his stuff but it didn’t. I was stumped. I had looked everywhere and found nothing.

The next Tuesday, I tried again. I searched the cellar, the attic, and the garage. Nothing. I was really getting frustrated. Finally, I decided that finding his stuff wasn’t important. What I needed to concentrate on was a plan to expose him to mom and dad. I eventually figured that I should set up the picture to be found in exactly the same manner as I had found it. My chance came Sunday afternoon. Dad asked us if we had any homework to do on the computer. Quinn said that he needed to finish a science project.

“OK. Let me know when you’re done. I have to work on our taxes.”

I stayed out of the room while Quinn finished, so that he wouldn’t associate me with what was about to happen. I heard him print stuff off and yell to dad that he was finished. When I was sure that he had gone upstairs, I ran into the room and loaded the program and brought up the picture I wanted. I immediately put the computer to sleep. My heart thumped with excitement as I went up to my room. It seemed a very long time before dad called for Quinn to come downstairs. I smiled to myself as he passed my door completely oblivious to what was about to hit him. Everything was quiet for about a minute.

“I don’t know anything about this!” I heard Quinn screech.

“Of course you do!” mom answered.

This was great. Both mom and dad knew. Mumbled talking went on for a long time. My curiosity was getting the better of me so I decided to go downstairs to ask if I could have a soda. Quinn was sitting on the couch between mom and dad. Neither of them seemed very mad but he was crying. They said it was OK for me to get a drink and that I should take it upstairs to my room. This wasn’t turning out the way I expected. Quinn was certainly upset and embarrassed, but mom and dad seemed calm. I wanted them to go ballistic. A little while later, they came upstairs and went into the attic. I snuck out of my room and stood at the foot of the stairs. I heard the sound of scraping wood.

“There’s a secret space back here,” I heard Quinn sniffle.

“And these two boxes are everything?”

“Yes,” he answered.

I ran back to my room and waited. They came down to his room and shut the door. I heard voices and even laughing. This was definitely not going in the direction I wanted.

“OK, sweetie,” mom said. “Go downstairs and we’ll join you shortly.”

I gasped when Quinn walked past my open door and smiled at me. He was dressed just like in the pictures (except for the knit cap, which mom wouldn’t let him wear inside the house). The crinkling of his diaper faded away as mom and dad came into my room.

“That was a very nasty trick you tried to play on Quinn,” dad said sternly.

“Trick?” I attempted to ask innocently.

“Don’t make this any worse,” mom warned. “You set that picture up, didn’t you?”

“What picture?” I asked, continuing my stonewalling.

“This is your last chance,” dad said. “How long have you known that Quinn likes to wear diapers?”

“I don’t know anything!” I insisted.

The answer seemed hollow even to my ears. Plus, it was the wrong answer. The right answer should have been something like, “Huh? Quinn wears diapers?”

“That night at dinner... a week and-a-half ago… when you said the desktop blew up... is that when you found out? Quinn has already told us that he forgot to turn the computer off that morning. It’s too much of a coincidence to believe that a power surge would have conveniently stopped you from seeing the picture he left there. You planned that little scene to scare him, didn’t you?”

I was beginning to sweat. It was obvious that I had been caught.

“But he’s so mean to me!” I complained. “He makes fun of me all the time!”

“That’s no excuse. He gets punished when he teases you.”

But not enough, I thought.

“You’re not fair!” I said out loud. “Everybody gets away with everything, except me.”

“Wait here,” dad said. “You are not to leave this room until we say you can.”

I alternately seethed and worried for the next hour until mom and dad returned. I spotted the two large bags of overnight diapers right away. I also knew that they weren’t for Quinn. I started to cry.

“No! Please, no! I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to Quinn. I’ll do all his chores for a year!”

I would have promised anything in my state of panic.

“Of course, you’ll apologize to Quinn. You know that that is always expected. Now, take your pants off,” mom ordered.

I stood paralyzed. I couldn’t move my eyes away from the diaper she had taken out of the package. Dad took over and unbuckled my belt. I started fighting him as he pulled my pants down.

“No! Stop! I don’t want to! I’m not a baby!”

“Then take your punishment like a big boy and stop acting like a baby.”

I fell to the floor and curled up into a ball. I was totally out of control. Dad lifted me onto the bed and finished taking off my pants and underwear. I tried to get away but he held me down. Mom couldn’t get the diaper under me because I was kicking wildly. Suddenly, dad rolled me over and gave my bottom five stinging swats.

“Are you going to settle down?” he roared.

I was really scared now. Dad had never hit any of us. I promised to behave. Mom powdered and diapered me. I was still whimpering when she led me by the hand to apologize to Quinn. He was in the den watching television. He accepted it really well.

“Alright, that’s better,” dad said. “Brothers shouldn’t fight or play tricks on each other. Blane, listen carefully; you need to hear and understand something. Quinn is allowed to wear diapers as long as he wants to. The only rule is that he can’t hide it anymore. Also, if he wants to play baby games and drink from baby bottles or do any other things that babies do, no one is going to tease him about it. As for you, you are grounded for a month. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not your only punishment, of course,” mom added. “You are going to wear diapers whenever Quinn feels like wearing them himself. This will go on until you and he don’t have a single fight for a month.”

“A month!” I cried. “But Quinn could make up something to get me into trouble!”

“He won’t,” mom answered. “If he does, he’ll lose his diaper privileges for a month.”

I thought about this for a second.

“How often will Quinn wear diapers?”

“Why don’t you guys have a nice quiet chat about that?” mom answered. When it looked like I was going to argue, she added, “And, no fighting! Remember, behave well and your grounding ends in a month. To get out of wearing diapers, you’ll need to maintain perfect peace between you and Quinn for a month.”

This was so unfair! I didn’t want to talk to Quinn! I pouted for a full minute before I headed for the door.

“You’d better not do anything to make mom and dad more pissed off than they already are,” Quinn said calmly.

I stopped. I wiped away tears that had started running down my cheeks. I turned around and sat next to him. The crinkling sound of my diaper was humiliating.

“So, what are you going to do?” I asked without looking up at him.

“Mom and dad say that I can wear diapers anytime I want to. So, I’m going to wear them whenever I’m home.”

I sighed.

“Are you going to wear pants over them?”

“No.”

I sighed loudly.

“Look, you’re grounded anyway. You can’t have friends over. No one will know.”

“What about Casey?” I asked.

“He already knows. He caught me playing last April. He was cool about it.”

I looked up at him. He seemed completely serious.

“Yeah,” he confirmed with a smile. “It’s true. You didn’t have to be a jerk, you know.”

“I am not a jerk!” I answered hotly.

“OK! I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that you had choices. You didn’t have to try setting me up.”

“Yeah,” I agreed glumly. “About mom and dad… how come they didn’t go ballistic over you?”

“I guess because they already knew.”

“They already knew! How?”

“Casey told them right after he caught me. I didn’t know it, but they asked him to encourage me to be up front with them. Casey bugged me about it a couple of times, but I was too scared.”

^^^^^^

I barely got through the night without a meltdown. I was so embarrassed when Casey got home and found out. He was trying to be nice but I would have preferred a good fight. Then, I found out that Quinn had been given permission to poop his diapers as well as wet them—and that I would be expected to do the same. The last straw was the announcement that Casey and Quinn had permission to change my diapers when necessary.

“I don’t want them to! They’ll make fun of me!” I complained.

“No, they won’t” mom said. “Quinn would lose his diaper privileges and Casey would get grounded.”

^^^^^^

Quinn was home when I got back from school on Monday. He was already in a diaper and plastic pants.

“Is mom home?” I asked.

“No,” he answered. “She’s still at work. Why?”

“Who put the diaper on you?”

“I did. I’m allowed to do it myself.”

“Then why can’t I?”

“I don’t know. Do you know how?”

I didn’t, but that couldn’t stop me from grumbling about how unfair everything was. We went up to my room. I kept my eyes shut the whole time. When he was finished I said that I wanted to lie down for a while. As soon as he left, I started crying. To my surprise, he came back.

“Hey, bro, don’t cry. It’s not that bad.”

“Not for you, it isn’t,” I sniffled. “I think they’re gross.”

“Think of the advantages. You won’t miss any of your programs to go to the bathroom. And, once you get plastic pants, you won’t need to be changed as often.”

“I can’t wait for that!” I answered sarcastically.

Instead of getting mad or walking out, he started tickling my legs.

“Quit it!” I said half-heartedly.

He ignored me and started tickling me under my shirt.

“No!” I giggled. “Not that! Stop!”

I guess I didn’t want to be mad anymore. I laughed while trying to fight him off. He picked me up and carried me downstairs..

“Mom says we have to do our homework before she gets home.”

My very own plastic pants (along with more for Quinn) showed up on Wednesday. This led me to experience a whole new wave of humiliation: mine were so small compared to his! Even the sizing chart seemed to rub it in—my size was recommended for the average nine or ten year-old. There were a couple of side benefits, though: they deadened the crinkling noises my diaper made and they helped keep in the poopy smells a little bit. Quinn was the first to put me into them.

“You really don’t need these with disposables,” he admitted. “I just like wearing baby pants.”

I was stunned by Quinn’s openness (and also that he had called the plastic pants baby pants). He finished checking that the diaper was completely enclosed and then gave me a gentle swat on the bottom.

“You’re done,” he said.

For the two weeks or so, things went pretty well. My friends all knew that I was grounded so they stayed away. Quinn and I got along better than ever. He didn’t make fun of me even once and I didn’t make fun of him for drinking from baby bottles or sucking on pacifiers. Don’t get me wrong: I hated wearing the stupid diapers and being stuck in the house, but I thought I could hold out a few more weeks until things got back to normal. Then, Quinn dropped a bombshell. It was Saturday afternoon and mom had just announced that we would go out to dinner.

“Mom, can I wear a diaper to the restaurant?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to argue. A quick look from mom told me that I had better be careful.

“If that’s what you want,” she answered. “I’ll have to make up some kind of diaper bag for you guys.”

“Cool!” he replied.

I stomped up to my room. He had done that on purpose to embarrass me. What if one of our friends spotted us? Didn’t Quinn care? I wondered if I could talk him out of it.

“No way,” he answered. “Look, I’m not stupid—I’ve experimented with this.”

“When?” I asked skeptically.

“The last time was Thursday. I wore a diaper and plastic pants to shop class. I changed in the bathroom right after English. Nobody noticed a thing. Then, last weekend, I wore a diaper to the movies with Kevin and Jorge. It was cool!”

I could see that there would be no changing his mind. I was on my way back to my room when I decided to try a last-ditch appeal to mom.

“No, honey. You know the rules—you wear diapers when Quinn wears diapers. Didn’t he tell you that he’s worn them in public before?”

“You knew?”

“Yes. Don’t you get it? He experimented to see if it would cause a problem. He doesn’t want to embarrass you or put you into risky situations.”

Truthfully, I didn’t get it. I thought that Quinn hated me. Why would he care if I got caught wearing diapers in public? I chose my loosest pants. I checked myself in the mirror and had to admit that I didn’t look any different. Quinn, on the other hand, seemed to want people to notice.  I felt that I had to say something to protect myself.

“How come you’re wearing those pants?” I asked.

“What’s the matter with them?” he asked in return.

I knew that he was messing with me. Normally, I would have said something nasty but I didn’t want to get into more trouble.

“You know what’s wrong,” I answered (trying to keep the whininess out of my voice). “It’s obvious that you’re wearing a diaper.”

“No it isn’t. This is exactly what I wore to the movies. You should wear tighter pants… they’ll stop your diaper from crinkling. Watch.” He demonstrated by bending his knees as if he were walking. “You try it. I bet your diaper crinkles a lot.”

I was horrified to discover that he was right. I ran back to my room and changed into another pair of pants. The diaper bulge was obvious but the noise was almost completely gone. I followed Quinn to the car. His butt looked really round and padded. I hoped that mine didn’t. The restaurant was really crowded. As we stood waiting for a table, more people came in. I think that Quinn was getting even with me… maybe for that night at the dinner table. Several times, he reached down to my padded butt and pushed me out of people’s way. He smiled every time he did it. I thought about complaining to mom but I didn’t want to talk about it in public.

After dinner, I needed a change. I had peed the diaper several times and I really needed to poop. I leaned over to dad and whispered.

“OK. The waiter will be here with the check soon. Casey, please take your brother to the men’s room and change his diaper.” Then, turning to Quinn, he added, “What about you? How’s your diaper?”

Dad didn’t know that the waiter was standing right behind him. I felt myself turn as red as a tomato and even Quinn was blushing.

“I’m OK,” he squeaked.

Casey picked up the makeshift diaper bag and we left. The men’s room was crowded and we had to wait for the handicapped stall to become available. I was extremely embarrassed as Casey and I went inside. What would people think? He made me take off my pants and my shirt. I had pooped while waiting; at least the smell had blended in with all the others. He carefully took off my plastic pants and my diaper, using part of it to wipe the majority of the poop from me. I thought the whole thing was disgusting, but he, like the rest of my family, took it all in without comment. After I had on a fresh diaper and plastic pants, I hurriedly dressed while Casey put the dirty stuff in a plastic bag.

“Come on!” I said impatiently. “Let’s get out of here!”

He hurriedly closed the diaper bag and we went out to the sinks. Suddenly, the man who had taken the handicapped stall after us came out.

“Hey, kid!” he called to Casey. “You forgot your brother’s baby pants.”

I thought my head was going to explode from all the blood rushing into it as he handed him my plastic pants.

^^^^^^

Needless to say I was in a foul mood. I had no reason to suspect that Casey had done that on purpose (and his apology had sounded sincere). Nonetheless, I had been severely embarrassed and all I wanted was to lash out. I lost my head when mom told me to take my pants off when we got home.

“No!” I said pouting. “I won’t. I’m sick of being made fun of!”

Mom looked at me askance, a fiery warning burning in her eyes, “What did you say?”

“I won’t!” I repeated as defiantly as I could.

“Look, Blane,” Casey said, “I’m sorry about the bathroom. It was an accident… really!”

“I don’t believe you! [Even though I had, just five minutes before.] I hate you all… especially you,” I said directly in Quinn’s face. “You’re nothing but a thumb-sucking sissy baby!”

“Blane!” dad boomed. “That’s enough. Give me your pants and go to your room!”

I raged all the way up and slammed the door as hard as I could. I threw myself on the bed and screamed into my pillow. I was coming back to my senses and knew that I had blown it big time. I now owed everybody an apology and I would probably get at least one more month in diapers. My scream turned into sobbing. A couple of minutes later, I heard the door open. I didn’t look to see who it was. The bed rocked as someone sat down next to me.

“I’m sorry,” Casey said. “I should have looked around to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything.”

He started rubbing my back.

“I know you didn’t do it on purpose,” I choked out in between sobs. “Everything is going to be worse now!”

“I don’t know… it doesn’t have to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just let Quinn be who he wants to be. How is he hurting you by wanting to drink out of baby bottles or to suck on pacifiers?”

“People are going to laugh if they find out!”

“So what? He’s your brother. You’ve got to look out for him.”

“But he always picks on me!”

“Maybe. But now we know why, don’t we?”

“We do?”

“Sure. He was jealous. He wanted to be the baby brother who got all the attention. Let him have it. Stop trying to make him feel bad.”

I guess he made sense. Nonetheless, I pointed out that it didn’t do anything to help my current problem.

“Probably not,” he answered with a rueful smile. “You’ve got a lot of apologizing to do.”

I began right away. Quinn acted like it was no big deal. On the other hand, mom and dad weren’t about to let me off easily. I got another month in diapers along with a horrible surprise—I now had to drink everything out of baby bottles and suck on a pacifier whenever I whined or complained.

^^^^^^

Quinn and I got along a lot better after my outburst. I tried to keep in mind what Casey had said. I didn’t let Quinn’s babyish ways annoy me. In fact, one day after school, I asked him if he wanted me to feed him his snack. He got all excited and came back with a pudding cup and a toddler spoon. I played airplane with him and, by the end, he had a face full of chocolate pudding.

“Baba! Baba!” he started chanting after I had cleaned him up.

It took me a while to figure out that he wanted a bottle of milk. I held it for him while he leaned against me. I was very surprised when he fell asleep halfway through. He woke up a little while later and thanked me. It was weird.

As the days went by, my friends wanted to know when my grounding would end. I told them that I had called Quinn a name and that I had gotten another month.

“Geez!” my best friend Kelly said. “Is Quinn still bugging you? How come you don’t try to get even?”

I had to admit that Quinn hadn’t done anything this time. I surprised Kelly even more when I told him that Quinn had been really nice to me lately. He could hardly believe it. Then again, I could hardly believe it myself. I actually looked forward to our afternoons together and regretted that he came home late two days a week. I was beginning to like him as a friend. He even trusted me enough to share some of his baby feelings.

“I’m sorry my pictures got you put into diapers,” he apologized one afternoon.

“Well, it’s like you said. I didn’t have to be mean about them. If I had kept them a secret I wouldn’t have gotten into trouble.”

“I really like wearing diapers,” he explained. “Do you still completely hate it?”

“Well... I’m used to you guys seeing me in diapers at home. It’s just that when we go out, I get scared that someone will figure it out.”

“I won’t let that happen,” he promised. “If you’re really scared, tell me and I’ll let mom and dad know that I don’t feel like wearing them.”

This was unreal. He would give up diapers to make me feel better? I guess things had changed between us!

^^^^^^

I was eating Saturday morning breakfast when mom asked me if I wanted to go to a movie.

“Really? Today? Even though I’m grounded?” I asked with mounting excitement.

“Yes,” mom smiled. “Quinn suggested it. Would you like to go with him?”

“Who else is going?” I asked.

“No one,” she answered. “Yes or no?”

Of course I agreed. This would be the first time in over a month that I would go somewhere fun. We picked out a spy picture showing at the mall.

“Well,” Quinn asked, “diapers or no diapers?”

I wasn’t any less scared about going out in diapers but I felt that I owed him.

“Diapers,” I said with a little giggle. “And crinkle-proof pants.”

He laughed at my joke and we got ready to leave. I almost changed my mind when mom handed him the diaper bag.  We normally walked to the mall because it was only a half-mile away. However, dad was running errands so he dropped us off. We got good seats and waited for the movie to start. As usual, there were a zillion coming attractions before our movie came on. There wasn’t a lot of action in it and I was getting bored. Quinn didn’t seem too interested either, so I asked if he minded changing my diaper.

The men’s room was deserted. We went into the handicapped stall. I was surprised when he started undressing, too.

“I need a new diaper, too,” he explained.

“Sh!” I whispered. “Someone might hear you.”

“There’s no one here,” he answered, although in a quieter voice than before.

It didn’t take us long to change since neither of us had pooped his diaper. The hardest part was to pull our plastic pants over our shoes. I stumbled putting mine on.

“Do you need help?” Quinn asked. “You’d better be careful.  Mom will kill you if you rip your baby pants.”

We left the stall, ready to dump our diapers into the waste bin. We jumped when we saw my friends Kelly and Bill standing in the middle of the bathroom. They both had big smirks on their faces.

“Hi,” I said nervously, hiding my wet diaper behind my back.

Quinn grabbed it and tried to throw his and mine into the bin unnoticed. This caused my friends to snicker.

“Trying to get rid of the evidence?” Kelly asked sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Bill added. “How come you guys are wearing diapers?”

Quinn and I were in shock.

“I told you I was in trouble at home.” I said, stalling for time.

“But you never said anything about wearing diapers and baby pants! We heard you talking!” Kelly exclaimed.

“And we saw!” Bill added gratuitously.

“So what business is it of yours?” Quinn cut in, trying to put them on the defensive. “Do you always go around spying on people in bathrooms? What are you? Perverts?”

“We weren’t spying!” Kelly objected. “We just wondered why you guys were at the movies together.”

“Yeah, especially since you don’t like each other!” Bill added.

“I told you! Things are different now!” I said. “I’m here because Quinn got my mom to make an exception to my grounding.”

“But you’re wearing diapers!” Kelly said, bringing us back to the topic we desperately wanted to avoid.

We stood there silently. I couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“OK,” Quinn conceded. “I’ll tell you.”

“No!” I exclaimed. “Don’t!”

“Blane made fun of me when he found out that I still wet the bed. It was a secret between mom and dad and me. They got really mad when he kept on calling me baby names. I tried to get even with him by pouring some of my pee into his bed to make it look like he wet, too. Now we’re both punished by having to wear diapers at home for a month. Luckily, I’m not grounded but Blane is.”

Kelly and Bill had trouble believing it.

“It’s true,” I said confirming Quinn’s lie. Where did he come up with that story? “Please don’t tell anybody,” I begged.

“Geez,” Kelly said, “I’m sorry. That’s so unfair!”

“Wow! Are your parents ever strict!” Bill said in agreement.

I felt a lot better. At least we had their sympathy.

“What movie did you guys come for?” Quinn asked.

“The same movie as you. We saw you walk out,” Bill answered. “It’s kind of boring, isn’t it?

We all agreed. Instead of going back, we hung out in the mall for a while. As we were walking home Quinn asked if we could trust Kelly and Bill.

“Why?” I asked nervously.

 “I just wondered. If they weren’t spying on us, how come we didn’t hear them come into the bathroom?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they were trying to catch us having a fight?”

“Maybe,” he answered doubtfully. “I just wish that we had asked them to keep our diapers a secret.”

“They won’t tell!” I insisted. “They’re my friends!”

“I guess you’re right,” he said, ending the conversation.

I wished that I felt as confident as I had sounded.

^^^^^^

By Sunday night, I was wracked with doubt. I even had a nightmare that mom sent me to school wearing only diapers so that, as she said, “the other boys won’t tease you because they’ll know everything.” I felt grateful walking onto the school grounds Monday morning fully clothed, and not wearing diapers or plastic pants. The feeling didn’t last. The first person I met, Amy, Bill’s little sister, said hi to me and then burst into a fit of giggles. She knew! I felt betrayed and angry. I started looking for Bill. Crossing the yard, I could sense kids looking at me and whispering to the kids around them. Everybody knew! I was in one of my famous rages when I found him.

“You told!” I spat out angrily.

“So?” he answered calmly. “I didn’t lie.”

“You told!” I repeated louder.

“It’s not my fault that your mom and dad are crazy and that Quinn wets his bed.”

The other kids snickered and laughed. Without warning, I lunged at him. He was thrown off balance by his backpack and we went tumbling to the ground. I was on top of him and, before he could protect himself, I had landed three good punches to his face. His lip started to bleed.

“Get him off of me!” he screeched, his arms held up to protect his face.

I was preparing another good punch when someone grabbed my arm. I swung my other arm without looking and hit Mr. Kelson right in the stomach. Crap! I was going to be in trouble now. He pulled me to my feet and held me firmly.

“What’s going on here?”

A cacophony of words overwhelmed him. He decided to take Kelly and me away to sort things out at the nurse’s station. Kelly was a mess. His lip was still bleeding and a nasty looking bruise was developing under his left eye. I was glad. The nurse dabbed some stuff on his lip and put cream on the bruise. In the meantime, Mr. Kelson phoned the principal’s office. Mrs. O’Dey came right down. Mr. Kelson described what he had seen. It was pretty much the whole story except for what had started it.

“So, Blane, is it true that you jumped Kelly for no reason?”

“I had a reason,” I answered insolently.

“Watch your tone,” she said. “What was your reason?”

“None of your business,” I answered even more insolently.

She looked like I had slapped her in the face. She turned toward Kelly who was playing the victim’s part perfectly. He had tears in his eyes and his hands were shaking.

“What started it?” she asked softly.

“I don’t know,” he croaked. “He just jumped me and started punching.”

I think she knew he was lying. She hesitated and said, “Relax for a while and I’ll come back.” Looking down at my hands, she said to the nurse, “You’d better take care of his knuckles.”

It was only then that I noticed that they were raw and inflamed. She put some of the same cream on them before Mrs. O’Dey took me away. Mom took the phone call at work. Basically, Mrs. O’Dey told her about the fight and that I was suspended until further notice. She also said that she would appreciate her picking me up as soon as possible. She stuck me in a chair outside her office while she went back to the nurse’s station. She spent about fifteen minutes there. Mom arrived just after that. She was really angry. She and Mrs. O’Dey had a private conference before I was called in.

“Well,” mom said, turning steely eyes on me, “why did you and Kelly fight?”

“I can’t tell you,” I answered softly.

My insolence was long gone. I would probably spend the rest of my life in diapers if I pissed mom off any more.

“Is this about your punishment at home?”

 “Don’t tell!” I begged.

“So, it does have to do with your diaper punishment.”

“Mom!” I screeched, half in embarrassment and half in anger.

Mrs. O’Dey didn’t display shock at the word diaper. Mom told her how I had tried to humiliate Quinn who wore diapers (without telling her the reason why). As a consequence of my meanness, I was being punished by having to wear diapers just like him. She also told her that I had already received an increase in my punishment as a result of additional misbehavior. I was once again totally humiliated.

“Now,” mom said, “what was that fight about?”

“He told,” I answered in a choked whisper.

“Explain,” mom said.

I wiped tears from my eyes before continuing, “At the movies on Saturday. Quinn and I had to change and Kelly and Bill saw us in the bathroom.”

“Did they tease you?”

“Sort of… at first. Then, after Quinn told them why we were wearing… those things, they seemed OK. We hung together for a while before we went home.”

“I see.” Turning to Mrs. O’Dey, she asked, “Is there anything I need to do before we leave?”

Mrs. O’Dey gave her a report to sign.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hinson,” she said, “but I have to give a copy to Kelly’s parents. They may choose to file a police report. By the way, the nurse doesn’t think his injuries are serious. His mother has already taken him home.”

“I understand,” mom answered. “Thank you.”

I tried to explain during the ride home but she told me to be quiet—she needed to think. Not surprisingly, I was immediately changed into a diaper and plastic pants and had a pacifier stuck in my mouth. Mom ordered me to stay in my room. Before she left, she took away all my good stuff; you know, my iPod, video games, and comic books. I heard her talking a long time on the phone, first to dad and then to someone else.

“Alright, get up.”

We went downstairs.

“Here, take this,” she said, handing me the diaper bag.

She picked up my book bag.

“Why?” I asked, taking the pacifier out of my mouth.

“I have to go back to work and I can’t leave you alone.”

“Where are you taking me?”

 “You have to apologize to Kelly, and his mother has been good enough to agree to watch you for the rest of the day,” she answered impatiently. “Now, put that pacifier back in your mouth and don’t take it out until you’re told to!”

“No!” I screeched. “I won’t go!”

Mom turned around and gave me a look that sent shivers through every part of me. This was worse than my nightmare. I walked outside to the car with the pacifier in my mouth, holding the bag in front of me, woefully aware that it was inadequate to hide my shameful diaper and plastic pants. Kelly lived just a couple of streets away. Mom parked in front of their house. I hesitated to open the car door.

“Don’t make me drag you out,” she warned.

I got out and ran to the porch.

“Where’s the diaper bag?”

I ran back to the car.

“Mom, the doors are locked!”

She pushed the unlock button and the car squawked loudly. I was sure everyone in the neighborhood would look out their windows to see what was going on. I retrieved the bag and arrived back at the front door just as Kelly’s mom opened it.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” mom said.

“You’re welcome… it’s not like Kelly is completely innocent in this mess.”

“Perhaps,” mom responded, “but Blane is surely the most guilty.”

I guess she agreed because she didn’t answer. Kelly came into the room. Once again, I felt sure that my head would explode from all the blood that was rushing to my face. I expected him to break out laughing but he just stood quietly, waiting.

“Don’t you have something to say?” mom prompted me. “Go ahead, you can take the pacifier out.”

“I’m sorry I hit you. It wasn’t fair.”

“And what about you?” Kelly’s mom said to him.

“I’m sorry I told everybody.”

We were then made to shake hands and promise not to fight again. It was an uneasy peace but at least he hadn’t laughed at me. Mom told me to put the pacifier back.

“Kelly, I want you to know how Blane is going to be punished for this.”

My stomach tied itself into a knot as I waited for her to continue.

“His dad and I have decided that he will wear diapers full time until your face and lip are completely healed. One week, two weeks… however long it takes.”

The room started spinning. This couldn’t be true. I was going to wear diapers to school! And everywhere else! Mom kept talking but nothing registered until Kelly nudged me.

“Come on, get your books. We’d better start our homework.”

Mom left. We sat at the dining room table.

“How do you know we have to finish this spelling sheet?” I whispered (not wanting Kelly’s mom to know I had taken the pacifier out).

“My mom called. Nothing stops her from making me do homework.”

I giggled and he smiled back.

A few minutes later, I whispered again, “Why did you tell?”

“Why did you jump me?”

“You’re bigger than me,” I pointed out. “I thought you’d get in a few punches of your own.”

“Not with you sitting on top of me and my arms all tangled up in the straps of my backpack.”

“Well, you could’ve…”

“Boys,” Kelly’s mom called, “I think you’d better talk about something else. Better yet, get back to your homework. And, Blane, put the pacifier back.”

We finished all our work.

“Mom, can we watch TV or a movie?”

“No,” she answered. “This isn’t a holiday. Go up to your room and clean it. I want it spotless by lunchtime. After lunch, you’ll clean the bathrooms. Blane, you can leave your pacifier on the table if you promise to behave.”

His room just needed stuff put away and a little vacuuming and dusting. I helped.

“Don’t get mad,” he said during a break. “Your diaper makes a lot of funny noises.”

“I know,” I sighed. “But, when I wear tight pants, you can barely hear them. That’s what I’m going to do in school. Except that that makes my diaper real noticeable.”

“Bummer,” he replied. “How obvious?”

“Nobody’s noticed yet,” I conceded, “but I’ve only worn them in places where people didn’t know me.”

 “I won’t tell anyone about your new punishment,” he promised, “especially not Bill.”

 I was slightly cheered by the thought that Quinn had gotten away with wearing his diaper and plastic pants to shop class.

^^^^^^

Quinn wondered why I hadn’t come home at the regular time. I explained that I had been suspended for fighting and that I had had to wait for mom to pick me up at Kelly’s. I told him how embarrassed I was going over there in my diaper and baby pants. I guess I wasn’t surprised when he answered that he wished he could spend the whole day at a friend’s house openly wearing diapers and sucking on his pacifier. He didn’t seem at all annoyed when I told him that the kids in my class had heard that he was a bed wetter.

“I’m the one who said it first,” he answered philosophically. “And I guess it’s true: I wear diapers to bed and I wet them. At least they don’t know that I poop them, too.”

I was afraid of going to school on Tuesday. I had actually hoped that my suspension would last more than one day. Unfortunately, Mrs. O’Dey called on Monday night to say that I could come back since Kelly’s parents weren’t going to make a police report. I followed Quinn’s logic and wore tight-fitting pants and a long t-shirt. It worked. No one knew I was wearing a diaper. It still wasn’t a great day. I had to put up with a lot of teasing about my now-public home punishment in diapers. At least no one pushed me so far as to pick a fight with me. (Despite the risk, I wouldn’t have backed down!)

I anxiously waited for Quinn to get home from shop class so that I could tell him how well everything had gone. He smiled as he listened patiently.

“The same for me,” he said, dropping his pants to show his diaper and baby pants.

“You wore them all day?” I asked in amazement.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Why not? If you have to wear them whenever I do, why shouldn’t I have to do the same thing for you?”

I remained speechless. Even though he wore them because he liked to, I was having trouble believing that he had worn them voluntarily all day.

“Well, you can stop gawking,” he teased. “You’ve seen me in diapers before!”

The scariest part of my day had been changing in the boys’ bathroom. It caused me to be late for class and my teacher almost reported me for it.

“Weren’t you scared to change?” I asked.

“I’ve got that all figured out,” he said. “I went to the nurse and showed her my diapers and plastic pants. I told her that I needed some place private.”

“You showed her everything!” I exclaimed.

“Uh huh,” he smiled. “Adults hardly ever challenge you if you say things up front. Anyway, she’s letting me use the private bathroom in her office. She gave me a place to store my extras and she’ll even write me a note to get into class if I need one.”

It took me two more nerve-wracking days of changing in the boys’ bathroom before I got up the courage to talk to the nurse. I was so nervous that I had to start over three times before she understood what I was asking for. Once she figured it out, she talked to me like I was five years old. I hid my annoyance and got out of there fast. I did have to admit that this was going to be better. I told Quinn all about it that afternoon.

“Good for you,” he said slapping me on the back. “The world didn’t end because you told the nurse, did it?”

Later that night, mom asked to talk to me.

“I’m glad you’ve figured out a safe place to change your diapers in school.”

I gasped.

Looking at me over her reading glasses, she said, “I’m not a mind reader. The nurse called to find out if it was OK with me.”

“It was Quinn’s idea,” I said, not knowing if she was mad or not.

“You’re not tattling on him are you? Do I have to get your pacifier?”

“No! I just meant that he thought it up. It was a great idea!” I added for good measure.

“Yes, I agree. Why did you wait two days to ask?”

I gasped again.

“The high school nurse called me on Tuesday,” she said with a smile.

Quinn laughed when I told him that mom knew that he had been wearing diapers in school since Tuesday.

^^^^^^

It was just my luck that Kelly’s lip got infected and it took two extra weeks to heal. Despite his promise to keep quiet, I was terrified during all that time that someone might discover my diaper wearing in school. As good an idea as using the nurse’s office was, I was careful to go there only when no one would notice. Considering all the talk that linked me to diapers, it wouldn’t take much for my friends to become suspicious of frequent visits to the nurse. Anyway, I made it. I was now back to wearing my regular underpants in school. On top of this, I felt really good that my home punishment had only fifteen days left to run. Quinn and I were getting along so great that I was sure that we wouldn’t fight. Speaking of him, he had decided to keep on wearing diapers to school. I was trying hard to look at it from his point of view. I guess if I really liked something I wouldn’t want to stop doing it. Casey was right: what Quinn did was his business.

This time period also saw changes to the rules covering my grounding. Mom and dad wanted to make sure that Kelly and me repaired our relationship completely. One Thursday night, they proposed a plan by which Kelly could visit me on Saturday afternoons and I could spend Tuesdays and Thursdays after school with him. I was ready to jump on it until they stressed that all the other rules governing my grounding and diaper wearing would be in full force.

“Go ahead and do it,” Quinn advised. “You’ve already been over to his house in your diapers and baby pants, and he’s seen you with a pacifier.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “but the baby bottles!”

“Big deal!” Quinn said dismissively. “They’re no worse than the pacifier.”

I hemmed and hawed some more.

“I’ve got an idea,” Quinn said. “If you say yes, he’ll come over Saturday, right? ... I’ll stay in my room for the first part of his visit. You can tell him that I’m embarrassed to be seen in my diapers…”

“Right!” I said, rolling my eyes in disbelief.

“Well, he doesn’t know any better,” he said, giving me a pretend punch on the arm. “After a while, I’ll come out and go to the kitchen to get a drink. On my way back, wherever you are—in your room or down here—I’ll ‘accidentally’ drop the bottle and have it roll toward you. He’ll see it and I’ll explain that it’s part of our punishment.”

“That’s it? That’s the brilliant idea?”

“At least I’ll be the one who’ll have to do the explaining. After that, he’ll know you have no choice.”

“OK,” I agreed reluctantly. “But you won’t carry around your teddy bear or Smurf doll, will you?”

Kelly showed up right at one o’clock as planned. We had been playing video games for about an hour when Quinn came downstairs. He acted really embarrassed when Kelly spotted him heading for the kitchen. On the way back, he ‘accidentally’ tripped and dropped his baby bottle. It rolled to within inches of Kelly’s feet. I had trouble keeping a straight face when Quinn made a funny whining sound as he chased after it. He was really red in the face when he picked it up.

“I… I mean, we…  I mean, it’s part of our diaper punishment. We have to drink all our drinks from these.”

He then ran out of the room and up the stairs. Kelly looked like he wanted to laugh out loud.

“Geez. I always thought that Quinn was cooler than that! I didn’t know he was such a geek!”

“Hey! Watch it!” I responded. “I could get into big trouble if my mom thought I agreed with you.”

“Sorry… Why is he acting so weird? I knew he’d be in diapers, and what’s the big deal about the baby bottle? It sort of looked cool. Do you think I could have one, too?”

 “Uh… OK. I guess so,” I stammered.

Quinn heard Kelly and he teased me for days about how pointless my worries had been.

^^^^^^

It’s over! Done! Eight weeks are up! No more diapers! Quinn was the first to congratulate me with a hug. It was kind of weird to feel his diaper press up against me without one of mine pressing back. Casey mussed my hair and said he hoped that I wouldn’t do something stupid to get put back into them. The only downer was that mom and dad wouldn’t let me get rid of the extra diapers and plastic pants.

“I think having them in your dresser will serve as a good reminder,” mom said.

I didn’t let it bum me out, though. I was free! I could go anywhere (in the neighborhood, anyway) and do whatever I wanted. I raced over to Kelly’s. Bill was already there. We spent the whole day going around finding people to play pickup games. It was great. After dinner, Quinn and I played computer games. That was great, too. The only weird thing occurred after I went to bed. I was half-asleep when I felt my underpants get damp. I jumped out of bed.

“Holy crap!” I said to myself. “I’ve got to watch that. Mom will kill me if I actually wet the bed.”

My school week is back to normal, too. However, I’ve noticed that Quinn stays up in his room a lot. I can understand it when Kelly is around: he probably doesn’t want him to wonder why he’s still wearing diapers. But, I don’t get his standoffishness when we’re alone. He’s even stopped carrying around his teddy bear and he won’t drink from a baby bottle except in his room. I asked Casey what he thought.

“You guys did a lot of stuff together during your punishment,” he said. “Give him time to get used to you not being around as much.”

Two more weeks and nothing changed, except that Quinn and I are talking less and getting on each other’s nerves more. It’s bothering me a lot. I have a few ideas that I’m ready to try out. I hope I don’t make things worse.

“Quinn,” I called from my bedroom, “can you help me a minute?”

“What is it?” he asked from the hallway. He stopped in the doorway, a stunned look on his face. “Are you sure about this?”

I had already taken off my pants and underpants. A diaper, baby pants, and powder were laying on the bed.

“Yeah. Could you diaper me, please?”

He was real happy and so was I.

“So,” he asked, “what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Whatever you want to do.”

“Do you want to come to my room and listen to music?”

“Sure. I’ll get something to drink.”

This was a good sign. Quinn is real private about his music. He doesn’t share it with just anybody.

“It’s getting late. Mom and dad will be home soon.”

“I know,” I answered smugly.

He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“If mom and dad don’t know I’m wearing diapers, how will I get them to buy me more?” I responded.

^^^^^^

The next day Quinn and I were diapered again and having a great time when Kelly and Bill showed up.

“I’ll answer the door,” he volunteered. “You go upstairs and change.”

“I don’t need to,” I answered.

“Are you sure? Aren’t you afraid they’ll tell everybody like last time?”

“If they do, they’re not my friends,” I said just before opening the door.

“Oh, no!” Kelly exclaimed. “What did you do?”

I invited them in. Bill came in hesitantly.

“We can’t stay,” he said.

“Then why did you come? Quinn and I don’t mind if you see us like this, do we?”

“No,” he answered.

“We’re going to be in diapers for a long time, so you’d better get used to it,” I added.

“How long?” Bill wondered.

“Don’t know,” I shrugged. “Our mom and dad are so mad they haven’t decided that yet.”

“What did you do?” Kelly asked, curiosity written all over his face.

“Can I tell them?” I asked Quinn.

He nodded.

Well, here goes, I thought. I took a deep breath and started.

“We tried to make mom and dad think that Casey had been drinking beer in his room.”

“What!” Kelly exclaimed. “Why?”

I looked over to Quinn. He was playing this up really well. He looked totally guilty. He was even blushing!

“Well, we’re sick and tired of our parents lecturing us about how Casey is such a good son and how we should follow his example more. Last week, I saw Mrs. Carlin throwing away unopened cans of beer. I took six of them and Quinn and I thought up a plan. After Casey went to bed last night, we snuck into his room. We hid a half empty can under the bed. Then, we put two empty cans into his wastebasket. I was going to tell dad this morning that I had smelled beer on his breath last night. Only it didn’t work.”

Bill and Kelly were listening intently.

“What happened?” Bill asked.

“Casey was awake the whole time and he figured out what we were doing. This morning, he got up first and told mom and dad everything. They even found the other three unopened cans in Quinn’s room.”

“Geez,” Kelly said, “you didn’t really think you could get away with that, did you?”

“I guess it was kind of stupid,” Quinn admitted.

“No it wasn’t,” I objected. “It could have worked.”

There were a few seconds of silence.

“So,” I asked, “are you still going to be my friends?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” they answered together.

“Are you going to tell everybody about our new punishment?”

“No,” they swore.

“It might not matter anyway,” I added. “I’m almost positive that we’re going to be sent to school in diapers.”

Bill squirmed like he had just swallowed a live snake.

“Geez, are you serious?”

Quinn and I nodded our heads slowly. He even managed to make a tear roll down his cheek.

^^^^^^

“Where did you come up with that story?” Quinn laughed.

“I don’t know,” I said shrugging my shoulders. “The same place you came up with your story at the movies?”

He laughed louder.

“Have you thought what’s going to happen if Casey hears about this?”

“No problem,” I answered. “I already told him. He even gave me advice on how to make the story better.”

“What if mom and dad find out?”

“I don’t know. Do you suppose they’ll force us to go to school in diapers?”

I’d never heard Quinn laugh so hard.

^^^^^^

My birthday has just gone by. I got a lot of really cool stuff, with two especially outstanding gifts. The first is a pair of black high-top sneakers just like Quinn’s. When I thanked mom and dad, they said that they were happy that I liked them but that the idea had been Quinn’s. The second is from Quinn himself. It’s a yellow teddy bear almost exactly like the one I used to have—only better. This one wears a diaper and baby pants. I love sitting around the house sucking on my pacifier, hugging my teddy bear, and wearing my new high-tops. It’s especially cool when Quinn and I do it together. I can’t wait for his birthday. Mom says I can buy him a diapered teddy bear, too.

OK, I admit it. I’ve become a real baby. I love wetting and pooping and being changed by my parents and older brothers.

What’s that? You say that you disapprove? OK—I’ll make a deal with you. I solemnly promise to give up my diapers and baby pants on the same day that Quinn gives up his. (snicker) Like that will ever happen!

 

 

 

The End