Memoirs of a Diaper Boy II
Chapter 4
A New Life
“So Brad, are you ready to head home?” I was asked as Uncle Ian and David walked through the door to my room.
“Yes Sir!” I stated enthusiastically. My saying “sir” caused my uncle to arch an eyebrow slightly.
“I mean, yes Uncle Ian.” I replied again with a slight smile. Remembering back to the conversation my uncle’s had with me a few days before about my always calling them sir. About this time a nurse came through the door with a wheelchair.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“It’s for you. Hospital policy.” the nurse informed me. I was just about to complain about this when I saw my uncle was giving me a look that told me not to even start. With a small sigh, I allowed the nurse and my uncle to help me into the chair while David gathered up all the things people had brought me once I had woken up. I was surprised when several of the nurses came up to give me a hug as we passed by them.
“What was that all about?” I asked once we had gotten on the elevator and the door closed.
“They’re just showing how happy they were to see you going home and what a good patient you’ve been the last week and a half.” The nurse replied.
“But I just did what I was told.
“Exactly. You did what we asked you to do and didn’t complain. Not all the kids we get through here do that.” I was told with a smile.
“Oh.” I said with a small smile of my own. All the moving around I had done so far must have been to much for me be cause I had drifted off to sleep before we even made it to the car. The next thing I knew my Steve was shaking my shoulder saying that it was time for me to wake up that I was home.
“Welcome Home Brad!” Brian said as his dad helped me from the car.
“Thanks.” I smiled up at him as I took the offered crutches. I had to admit that it was good to get back to a place I could call home after all my time in the hospital. As I was looking around, I looked back at the car was surprise to see that I had just been pulled out of what looked like an oversized car seat.
“Don’t worry about that right now. There are some people here that want to see you.” I was told with a smile as I felt Steve’s hand come down lightly on my padded butt.
“And then, I think you need a change of pants.” I turned a bright red when I reached back and felt that the back of the shorts I had on were soaked.
“Don’t worry about that Brad. It wasn’t your fault. Besides the diapers the hospital uses aren’t worth shit.” Steve announced when he saw the look I had on my face. I just nodded at this but still felt like a complete baby about all this. I mean how many Eleven year olds need to still use car seats and diapers.
“Your mom isn’t here, is she?” I asked nervously as my uncles and I reached the front door. Brian and David had already run ahead of us and were already in the house.
“She doesn’t live here anymore so you don’t need to worry about her any longer.” Steve explained while Ian helped me up the front steps.
“SURPRISE!!” Several people yelled as my uncles and I walked through the front door. This scared me so badly I ended up crapping my diaper. I just stood there and started crying from embarrassment as I felt the solid mass fill the back of my pants. I guess my uncles quickly picked up on what happened since Steve apologized as Ian ushered me quickly from the entryway and up to my room.
“It’s alright Brad. I know this is embarrassing but it’s nothing to get so upset about.” Ian said while thinking back to several times in the past when this had happened to him.
“You must think I’m a baby.” I sobbed when I saw that a changing table had been set up in my room.
“We think nothing of the sort. Now just quit that.” I was told sternly as I was lifted up on to the table and laid out on it.
“Sure you do. Or else, you would have put me into a car seat or gotten this changing table.” I said while looking away from my uncle.
“Brad, you’re overreacting. The booster seat would have been used anyway. Steve had noticed that the cars’ seatbelt weren’t fitting you properly due to your size. If we were to get pulled over for some reason, who ever was driving would be facing a heavy fine for not having you properly secured. Besides, Brian uses a booster seat as well. As for the changing table, it just makes things easier on everyone else. Until those casts come off and such you’re not going to be changing yourself.”
“So once the casts come off I’ll be able to do this myself and we can lose the table?” I asked hopefully while looking back to my uncle.
“Now I didn’t say that, but we’ll see how things go. Now let’s finish getting you cleaned up.” I was told as I was poked softly in the side. Given how ticklish I am this caused me to pull away a bit and flinch in pain because of my ribs.
“Sorry Brad. I forgot about the ribs. You OK?” I was asked worriedly.
“Yeah, just give me a moment.” I said through some fresh tears. My uncle just nodded and quickly finished getting me cleaned up. By the time my uncle was pulling on a clean pair of shorts the pain from my ribs had passed. As I was gently helped off the table, I noticed the diaper I had on felt different. Instead of feeling kind of scratchy against my skin the liner felt a good deal softer. It also seemed to have a plastic outer cover. Not a cloth one. More importantly, while it was still on the thin side, it didn’t feel like it was going to start leaking after the first use like the hospital diaper did.
“I guess you like the new diaper.” My uncle said with a knowing grin.
“It feels better than the other one anyway.” I answered noncommittally. My uncle just smiled more broadly at this answer. It was almost like he knew what I was thinking but wasn’t yet willing to say out loud.
“Come on Tadpole lets go greet your guests.” I stopped cold and started to cry again on hearing my uncle use the nickname my dad used for me all the time.
“Brad what’s wrong?”
“My dad used to call me tadpole all the time because I was always wanting to go swimming.” I sobbed. I soon found myself being pulled into a gentle hug as I let my emotions go.
“Everything OK up here son?” A voice behind me asked.
“Yeah, Dad. We’re just finishing up. We’ll be down in a few minutes.” Ian told his father.
“Don’t take to long or the food is going to get cold.” On hearing the mention of food my stomach let loose with a loud rumble. This got both my uncle and grandfather chuckling.
“C’mon Brad. We don’t want Anna getting mad at us because we let the food get cold.” I was told with a smile.
“Here use this to wash your face really quick.” My grandfather said as he handed me over a diaper wipe. With a shrug , I accepted the wipe.
“You look much better.” I just smiled at this.
“Ian I suggest you clean your face also. You might want to change your shirt also.” Looking over at my uncle, I saw his shirt now had several large snot and tear stains on the front and shoulder of it.
“Yeah, you might be right on that.”
“So nice of you boys to join us.” Anna said as my grandfather and I entered the family room.
“Sorry, we had some extra things to take care of upstairs.” Anna was told in a kind of meek tone. I was surprised that Anna was able to command such a response from someone almost twice her since.
“Now that everyone is here we can eat.” Anna stated a moment later as my uncle came rushing into the room. He mumbled something to her that I didn’t catch. I was more than a little taken back when I saw her swat him on the butt as he walked past her. Everyone else just started laughing a bit at this.
“What was that all about?” I asked Brian as he came up to me.
“It loses something in the translation. I was told with a smile. I guess this was some kind of an inside joke.
The meal was one of the best I’d had in some time. I almost made myself sick with the amount I was eating but it was just so good I couldn’t help myself.
“Brad come over and sit by me for a bit.” My grandmother asked after I came back from a diaper change.
“I want to show you something that might make you feel a bit better about needing to wear those briefs of yours.” I was told a bit loudly as my grandmother pulled out a book that she had in the bag she had brought into the house with her
“AW C’mon mom not that.” My uncle said when he saw the book.
“Now what kind of grandma would I be if I didn’t try to embarrass my kids at least once.” My uncle was told as his mom patted the seat on the other side of her. Getting the hint, my uncle sat down next to his mom.
Over the next hour or so, I was shown pictures of all my brothers, uncles, cousins, and my father. Aside from being male, everyone in the pictures I saw had one other thing in they were all diapered at one point or another. The stories that went along with some of the pictures got everyone laughing. And my uncle turning a bright red. My Grandmother was right about one thing though, seeing those pictures and hearing the stories behind them did make me feel better about having to wear diapers again. After seeing several photos of my dad, I finally understood why everyone seemed a bit shocked when they first meet me. Him and I could have been twins. I must have drifted off to sleep at some point since the next thing I knew I was waking up in bed with several dogs laying around me.
I was still trying to get my bearings when Otto started growling Looking towards the door, I saw one of the Trips standing there.
“Easy Otto.” I said while rubbing the dog behind the ear. I motioned for whoever it was to come over to the bed.
“Bad, I scared.” I was told. With a smile, I motioned for whichever Trip it was to climb into bed with me. The toddler was quickly snuggled up next to me and soon sound asleep. After a few more minutes of just laying there I fell back asleep as well.
“Dad, you can call off the search for the Trips. I found them.” David called out while looking into my room.
“Where were they?” Ian started to call out when he saw David put a finger to his lips and then pointed into my room It was all his dad could do to keep from laughing when he saw the scene in front of him. Sprawled out on my bed was a tangle that consisted of me, Adam, Ryan, Devon, and both of the Labs. The dogs came up a bit when they heard David call out. When they noticed Ian come to the door they worked themselves out of the tangle and slowly got off the bed. Instead of chewing them out like he normally would have done, Ian just patted them gently on the head as they slinked past him. Ian did make the note to have a talk later with both the dogs and Brad about the dogs sleeping in bed with him. He didn’t mind them in the room but didn’t like them in the bed. This was especially true where the Trips were concerned and now Brad, or at least till he healed from his accident.
“Brian go get my camera please.” Steve told his son when he saw the scene before him. Knowing how the others in the family would get a kick from it. After taking several shot from a couple of different angles, Steve had Brian put the camera up.
“As much as I hate doing this, we need to get the boys up and ready for the day.” Ian told his husband and son.
“Guys it’s time to get up.” Ian and Steve said while shaking each of the boys gently. As if remembering what happened last time he tried waking Brad up Steve was ready when the boy snapped awake and took a swing at him. This time he was ready for it and caught the arm easily. Thinking how much it would have hurt had the cast encased hand would have hurt if it had connected.
“It’s OK Brad. You’re safe.” Steve said softly as he let go of the arm he had in his hand.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Brad started to sob when he saw that he had taken another swing at Steve.
“It’s Ok. No one got hurt.” Brad was told gently as Steve pulled him into a hug.
“Let’s get you cleaned up though you’re smelling a bit ripe.” With out further ado, Steve picked the boy up and carried him over to the changing table. As soon as the boy was stripped of his PJs and soaked diaper, Steve pulled out a tub of ready to use bath cloths.
“Steve couldn’t I just climb into the bath or something? I mean the doctor told me that the casts were water proof?” Brad asked as his uncle started to clean him off.
“The casts are only water-proof to a point. Trying to take a bath or shower with them on would be too much for them. Besides, until your ribs heal Ian and I don’t want to take the chance of you slipping in the shower and hurting yourself further. Okay?”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Brad replied after thinking it over for a moment.
“So are you ready for Christmas tomorrow?” Steve asked as he finished washing his nephew and reached do to get a clean diaper for him.
“I guess so.” Steve was surprised by the total lack of excitement in Brad’s response and hoped that once the festivities started the boy would perk up.
“Just so you know we normally have a Holiday party tonight for close friends and their families.”
“Oh, okay.” Brad said thinking of how bored he was going to be with all the adults around.
“Don’t worry Brad there will be lots of kids your age to do things with. You won’t be bored.” Steve chuckled when he saw the look Brad had when he responded to his last comment.
“What about my problem?” Brad asked while nodding to the diaper Steve was now unfolding and getting ready to put under him.
“Don’t worry about that. If you need to change just let Ian or I know and will get you taken care of. More importantly though, we don’t want you overdoing things tonight. If you feel like you’re getting tired just sit down for a while.”
“The other kids won’t say anything will they?”
“No Brad, the other kids won’t say anything. Most have been friends with Brian for years and they know about his problem and nothing has ever been said about it.” Steve replied frankly catching the serious tone Brad had used to ask the question. Brad visibly relaxed on hearing this Steve just smiled a bit at this. Happy that he was able to comfort some of his nephew’s fears. He could only imagine what the boy must be thinking about needing to wear diapers again full time after so many years.
“I’ll need to mention this to Ian and have him have a talk with Brad about this.” Steve thought as he quickly finished diapering Brad and got him dressed. While time seemed to pass more slowly during this time, it really only took about twenty minutes from the time Steve got Brad out of bed till he was helping the fully dressed boy from the table.
“So what movies did you guys want to go see today?” Ian asked once everyone was sitting at the table. Brian and David started rattling off several movies they wanted to see. And got rather heated in their discussion over them.
“What about you Brad?” Ian asked when he saw that Brad hadn’t said one word about the subject yet.
“Anything is fine with me.” Brad replied softly but not looking up.
“It’s fine, Brad. Don’t worry about it.” Ian told the boy kindly. Steve quickly moved the meal topic into what he hoped was safer grounds.
“Brian, Brad, do either of you need to be changed before we head out?” Ian asked several hours later.
“I changed just a little bit ago. I’m fine.” Brian told his dad as he finished getting his shoes on.
“What about you Brad? How are you holding up?” Brad just turned a deep red at this and Ian got his answer from that.
“Lets go get you taken care of.” Ian said with a smile as he led the boy upstairs.
“Brad, I know you’re embarrassed about needing to wear diapers. But you need to let someone know when you need to be changed” Ian said when he saw the almost overflowing diaper once he had pulled Brad’s pants down.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“It’s alright. You can tell when you need to pee right?” Ian asked as he started untaping the diaper Brad was wearing.
“Yeah, it’s just that by the time I feel like I need to go it’s already coming out.” Brad stated starting to get a bit upset.
“Don’t worry about it Brad. The doctor said this was going to happen till your bladder healed. Just let someone know you need to be checked after say the second time you pee. The third if it’s one of the thicker diapers. Even if it’s Brian you ask. He’ll know whether you’ll need a change or not. Alright?”
“I guess that’ll work.”
“Ok. Now I’m going to use one of the thicker diapers for the movies so you don’t have to worry about needing to be changed or leaks during the movie.” Brad just nodded at this. He was kind of surprised by how much thicker the diaper felt when he stood back up after the change was done.
“Don’t worry about it. You still can’t really tell you’re wearing a diaper unless the person knows what to look for.” Ian laughed at the look Brad had given him when he put him back on his feet. Ian did decide not to mention the slight diaper waddle that Brad had with the thicker diaper.
“Aren’t Steve and the Trips coming with us?” Brad asked as he, his uncle, and cousins headed to the car.
“Steve is setting up for the party tonight and the Trips don’t do very well at long movies so they’re going over to my parents for the day” His uncle replied. Brad just nodded at this and stood by the car door waiting for his uncle to help him in.
“You going to be okay with all we have planned today?” Ian asked his nephew as he helped Brad into his seat and strapped him in.
“Yeah, I should be. And Uncle Ian?” Brad said as his uncle started to close the door.
“Yes?”
“Thanks for including me in all this. I really appreciate it.” Brad told his shocked uncle.
“You’re welcome. Just let someone know if you start getting tried or something.”
“Okay.” Brad replied as his uncle shut the car door and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“All this babying is getting old fast.” Brad thought as the car pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street. While he knew he needed the extra help he was getting till the casts came off and the rest of his injuries healed, Brad still hated all the extra attention he seemed to be getting. It was almost like people were pitying him for the hell he had been through so far in his life, and this annoyed him most of all. The only reason he didn’t say anything is he didn’t want to embarrass anyone in case he was wrong.
“You’re really going to like this, Brad.” Brian said excitedly breaking his cousin out of his thoughts.
“Huh?” Brad asked not having caught what his cousin had just said.
“I said, I think you’re really going to like this. This is supposed to be the best movie to come out all year.” Brian stated with even more excitement.
“If you say so.” Brad said. He couldn’t really understand his cousins excitement. Since he couldn’t really remember having ever seen a movie, in a theater, before. I thought I should have been equally excited as my cousin at this prospect, if not more so, but I just couldn’t see what was all that exciting about it.
“Brad, time to wake up.” Ian told his nephew while giving the boy a small shake.
“Huh?” I replied with a start and realized that I must have fallen asleep at some point during the movie we were watching. I just couldn’t remember when it happened.
“I’m sorry. I..” I stammered before getting cut off.
“It’s alright Brad. I should have known that a double feature was too much for you at this point.” I was told as my cousins were led from the theater.
“How are your pants doing?” Brian and I were asked as we past by some restrooms.
“I’m doing OK. It should hold till we get home.” Brian said like it was nothing if anybody around us heard what he was talking about.
“Brad?” I was asked.
“Uh, I think I’m OK.” I answered none too confidently.
“David you and Brian stay right here while I take Brad in to get checked out.” Ian told his sons as he steered me towards one of the family restrooms. Once the door had closed behind us, I felt my pants being unfastened and pulled down.
“It looks like you could probably do with a change.” I was told as my uncle took a look at the front of the diaper I had on. Before I could say anything I felt myself getting lifted onto a nearby counter. I quickly figured out that this is what passed as a changing table.
“I’m going to need to remember to bring a changing pad next time.” my uncle said when he saw me wince a bit in pain when my sore ribs came in contact with the hard surface of the counter. I just kind of nodded in agreement at this. From this point, I felt the tapes being pulled away from the front of the diaper and it being pulled away from my front. I turned really red when I suddenly started to pee. Luckily, it was just a weak stream and not the fountain that Dev had launched at me the previous day. I guess my uncle must have expected something like this since the stream had barely started before he had the diaper back up over my front.
“You done?” I was asked a few moments later.
“I think so.” I said while giving my bladder a few trial contractions. Since I didn’t feel anything else come out I assumed I was finished.
“Don’t worry about this. It happens.” I was told before I could even open my mouth to apologize.
“Ok.” I answered with some embarrassment. With this said, my change continued. I was kind of surprised when I saw my uncle bring out a thinner diaper that the one he had just gotten done removing. My uncle must have seen the question in my eyes because he started explaining what was going on.
“I didn’t feel you or Brian were going to need one of the heavier diapers after the movies were over if you need to be changed at all. We’ll be heading home after a light lunch and this should be enough to hold you over till then”
“Oh.” I said as I just kept quiet and took in the feeling of comfort I was getting from getting diapered. I didn’t really understand all the feelings I was getting from what was happening to me at this point. I mean, I was almost a teenager and here I was getting diapered like a little kid. I didn’t really like needing to wear diapers full time again. It wasn’t so bad while I was asleep since I was getting better sleep since I started wearing diapers to bed again. I mean, I shouldn’t really like that either but Brian never seemed to complain about them so I was determined not to either. One thing that I was still trying to wrap my mind around was the fact that since I had moved in with my uncles and cousins was how nice everyone was treating me. Steve’s mom not included. Brian and David had even brought in several of their friends to meet me while I was in the hospital and they all seemed really nice. I guess I would just have to see how things went from here.
“You’re all done, Brad.” I heard my uncle say bringing me back to where we were. We soon were joining back up with Brian and David.
“Boys, I want you to keep what ever you order on the light side since we’re going to be eating again in a couple of hours.” we were told as our group walked in to the restaurant. I think everyone was kind of surprised at how light I kept what I ordered compared to everyone else. I just didn’t feel very hungry at the moment and since I had no idea how big the meal was going to be later I didn’t want to push myself. Brian and David were soon talking about the movies we had just gotten done seeing. With what I had heard them saying about the second one, it made me sad that I had fallen asleep.
“Don’t worry about it Brad. I’ll take you to see it again some time before it leaves the theaters.” I was told softly with a knowing grin. I just kind of grinned back at this.
All to soon our outing was ending as I saw that we were pulling into the driveway of my uncle’s house.
“Boy’s I want all three of you to lay down for a bit once we get inside.” We were told as I was helped out of my booster seat and set on the ground.
“C’mon dad don’t you think we’re a bit old to be taking naps?”
“Not at all. And if you want to join in on the fun tonight you’ll do as I ask. Comprende?”
“Yea, I get ya.” David replied glumly. I frankly didn’t see what the problem was since I regularly took afternoon naps. And this was even before I got hurt.
“Ian, Mrs. Dubov would like you to give her a call when you get a chance.” Steve told his husband as we walked through the door.
“Okay, I’ll call her in a minute.”
“Guys, be quiet when you upstairs; the Trips are sleeping.” Steve informed us after giving us each a hug. I thought this was kind of unusual since we had only been gone a few hours but I wasn’t going to complain. In a way I found it comforting. What I thought was even better is I didn’t flinch nearly as bad as I normally did when a person, especially an adult, tried to touch me. After returning the hug Steve had given me, I followed my cousins upstairs.
Once in my room, I decided to strip down to just my diaper and a T-shirt. Given how David tended to sleep in the nude or just his briefs from what little I had seen of this I didn’t think my uncles would mind my doing this to much. After I climbed into bed I started thinking about everything that had happened in my life to that point and hoped things were going to keep getting better. I just hoped that once I did die, I would be able to rejoin my dad like he said. I knew only time would tell on that one. I must have fallen asleep at some point since I was soon getting woken up by David. I was kind of surprised to again find that I was cuddling a teddy bear and I knew for a fact that I didn’t have one when I first laid down.
“Dad wants you to get a shower before you get dressed.” I was informed once David saw that I was awake enough to follow any instructions.
“Okay.” I said while stretching.
“I’ll have some clothes laid out for you.” I was told with a grin. I found the grin a bit unsettling since I didn’t really know what to make of it.
“How long does this party normally last?” I asked David as I climbed out of bed and started to remove my seriously soaked diaper.
“It’s normally over by about nine or ten.” I just nodded at this and went to get my shower.
It was surprising when I saw the clothes that David had left out for me. I was expecting something a good deal more formal than the Dockers and pull-over I had found waiting for me. What really got me though was the pull-ups that I saw laying next to everything else.
“Don’t worry about those. They’re more absorbent than they look.” A voice said from behind me. I of course jumped at this since I hadn’t heard anyone come into the room.
“Sorry about that.” Brian said with a grin as handed me back the pull-up that had gone flying when I jumped.
“Anyway, these hold a lot more that they look like they do. I use them all the time for these things. I asked dad if you could try them instead of a normal diaper. You’ll be able to change these yourself instead of asking dad or Uncle Ian to change you.” Brian informed me as he showed me how the fastening system on them worked. After looking over them for a few minutes, I felt pretty sure that I’d be able to handle any changes that I needed.
“I’ve already placed some in the Rec room’s bathroom. They’re in the left hand cabinet under the sink. I came in to tell you that Uncle Ian, and my dad want to see you in the office.”
“Why?” I asked nervously.
“They didn’t say.” Brian told me with a shrug before he left the room. I was extremely nervous as I got dressed for the party. I was pleased though to see that once I had my pants on the pull-ups I was wearing weren’t even noticeable, that I could tell. Even better was it that I didn’t have any kind of a waddle that I noticed that I normally had with my regular diapers.
“Come in.” My uncle said in response to my knocking on their office door.
“You wanted to see me?” I asked nervously as I stepped into the room, closing the door behind me.
“Yes, Brad. Have a seat.” I was told as my uncle pointed to a couch along one of the walls. I was surprised to see Dr. Genault already sitting there.
“Brad, I had talked with Dr. Dubov earlier about the tests you had taken while you were in the hospital.” I was informed as I took a seat.
“It wasn’t good, was it?” I asked as I sat down.
“Not really, but the results weren’t that surprising either. Overall the tests showed that you’re at about a Fourth Grade level or a little higher with your reading skills, and about Third Grade overall.”
“Oh.”
“Actually, Brad, when you take into account everything you’ve been through this is quite good. The tests showed that you’re very bright so making up the lost time shouldn’t be that hard.” Steve added in quickly when he saw the look on my face.
“It’ll still take some hard work on your part to get where you should be though.” Ian said.
“So where does that leave me?” I asked. Not really sure how to take everything I had just been told.
“Well, the school feels that it wouldn’t be fair to drop you in with the younger students so what we’re going have you listed as home schooled and hire a tutor so that you’ll be ready for Seventh Grade when the normal school year starts back up in August.”
“What about friends and such?” I asked, thinking that I was going to be kept in the house the entire time with only my cousins to keep me company when they were home.
“Since you’ll be listed home schooled, you’ll still be able to take part in after school activities as part of your schooling. Also you‘ll be joining Brad’s class for gym each day so you’ll have a chance to meet people that will be in your class this fall.”
“So I’ll be going to school with David next year?” I asked
“No, you’ll be in Brian’s classes” This announcement stunned me. I had figured that I’d be going to school with David.
“Easy there.” Dr. Genault said while giving my shoulder a light squeeze. Speaking for the first time.
“Brad, you going to class with Brian is nothing against you. It’s simply how your birthday fell. Even if you at the right level and started school when the Spring semester started you still would have been in Brian’s grade just given that you and him would have started school at the same time. Brian had his birthday back in October and yours is in April. So you both would have started school at the same time. And don’t worry, you aren’t going to be the only thirteen year old starting the Seventh Grade this coming Fall. But before that happens, you’ll need to work hard to get yourself to that level. I’ll tell you now, that if I don’t think you’re ready, you won’t be going. Okay?” I was asked. I nodded numbly at this. After a few minutes of just staring into space I spoke.
“Could I talk to Dr. Genault about this for a bit?” I asked as I still tried to bend my mind around what was happening.
“Sure. Take all the time you need.” I was told as my uncles got up from their seats each of them gave my shoulder a light pat while smiling at me as the walked past me and headed towards the door.
Once it was just the doctor and I in the room, I started to let loose with all the emotions I had been holding back during the talk with my uncle’s. After I had gotten control again, I started going over what I was thinking and feeling. I don’t know why, but I just seemed to be able to talk about things with him easier than I could with my uncles. Though this would change in time. Dr Genault helped me to understand that my uncles were doing what they felt was in my best interest. That I’d feel more comfortable waiting to go to class with people my own age than to get stuck with people several years my junior. He even told me that Ian had the same thing happen to him when he was younger. When we walked out of the office almost twenty minutes later, I felt a good deal better about myself and what my uncles had planned for me.
The party was a very enjoyable experience for me. I’ll admit that I felt very awkward at times when the other kids started doing things that I didn’t have a clue about. David, Brian and all their friends did their best to make sure I was included in most of the activities. I was surprised when David and Hutch decided to dance a little at one point. Not that they were dancing but the fact that nobody said a word about it. They did have a few close calls when Hutch’s parents came done to check on Anakin several times over the course of the night. Luckily, somebody saw them in enough time to warn David and Hutch if they happened to be in a compromising position at the time. I did find it strange at the number of times that Anakin’s parents came down to check on him. It seemed like they were looking in on him like once every hour. Where Steve and Ian had only come to see how I was doing once or twice during the entire party. I’m sure this annoyed Anakin not to mention the rest of us since we couldn’t really unwind like we wanted too since we didn’t want to take the chance of them going ballistic. I guess this meant that all the kids present knew what Hutch’s and Anakin’s parents were like.
“How you holding up there Brad?” David asked about two hours into the party.
“I’m good. I thought I’d be a lot more nervous than I have been but yours and Brian’s friends have been really cool to me.”
“That’s good. If you start to feel tired or anything feel free to find somewhere to rest. I know everyone will understand.”
“Thanks.” David returned my smile and headed off to the buffet table that our parents had set up so us kids weren’t interrupting their party to much going after food. Seeing this got my stomach rumbling so I decided to follow him over. I noticed that several of the people waiting in line either moved out of my way or gave me very wary glances as I made my way through the buffet. I found this kind of annoying, but I figured that they were just reacting to what ever rumors they might have heard and not what had really happened. I hoped that in time people would try and get to know me for who I really was and not by what they might hear about me. After another hour or so I was starting to run down a bit so I decided to sit down and rest for a little bit. I must have been more worn out than I thought because the next thing I knew I had Ryan bouncing up and down on my bed.
“Get up Bad! Get up! Santa came!” an excited voice told me as I felt the bed shake some more.
“I hope it’s later than I think it is.” I thought as I slowly opened my eyes to look over at the clock that was on the table next to my bed. I groaned when I saw that it was only Eight in the morning. I groaned even louder when I rolled over to try and get back to sleep and started having a dog lick my face and push their cold nose into my neck.
“OK! I’m Up!” I announced a bit peevishly. Ryan just giggled at this and I felt him hope off the bed. Thinking, I could now try and get some more sleep now that my cousin had left the room I turned over to go back to sleep. This turned out to be futile since the four legged annoyance hadn’t left the room yet and they started to whimper loudly. I rolled back the other way to try and ignore them. When they saw that this hadn’t really worked they let loose with a bark so loud that it made me jump a bit in surprise.
“All Right, already! I’m up!” I snapped knowing that it wouldn’t be possible to get back to sleep. This got me a happy woof in reply and another couple of doggy kisses.
Once I was sitting up in bed, I decided to take stock in how my pants were doing. I must have really been out of it the night before because I found that I was wearing some thick cloth diapers and I couldn’t remember getting put into them. I also got another question answered once I was awake enough to see that all I had on, aside from my diapers, was an over sized t-shirt.
“These should last me a bit longer.” I thought to myself after I felt to see how wet I was and it didn’t seem like I was all that bad off in the department. With that taken care of I decided to just head downstairs as I was. Since Steve’s mom was no longer here I didn’t think this was going to be to big of a problem. And I was right.
“Morning.” I mumbled to everyone sitting at the breakfast table a few minutes later.
“Morning, Brad. I’m surprised to see you up this early.” Uncle Ian replied as I sat down and placed my crutch against the wall next to me.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t given much of a choice in the matter.” I said with a pointed look towards Ryan and Otto.
“I thought I told you guys to let Brad sleep as long as possible?” the Trips and dogs were asked rhetorically. Brian, David and I all started chuckling at the looks of pure innocence that the Trips and the dogs gave my uncle in reply to his statement. This got my uncles laughing as well.
“How did everyone treat you last night Brad?” I was asked once the laughter died out.
“Pretty good. There were a couple of people that seemed like they were scared of me or something.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“Not really. But I’m not too worried about it.” I told them truthfully. My uncles nodded at this and moved the conversation off in other directions.
“Santa?” Dev asked shyly as we were cleaning up the dishes a short time later.
“In a little bit. We need to get you guys cleaned up first.” Steve said as he tickled his son.
Along with Brian and the Trips, I soon found myself spread out on the floor of the den getting my night diapers changed. I was kind of embarrassed by this since up till now Brian and David were the only cousins that had seen me in this state. True to their words once everyone that needed it was in a clean diaper we headed down to the Rec room. It was surprising to see the changes that had taken place since I had seen it the night before. All of the tables that had been set up were gone and the tree that stood in the corner of the room now had a huge pile of presents under it. I was totally taken aback by this since I knew some of the gifts would probably be for me and I hadn’t gotten anything for my cousins and uncles in return. This thought set me to crying almost at once.
“It’s okay Brad.” Ian told me while pulling me into a hug.
“But I don’t have anything for you guys.” I sobbed.
“You’ve already given us more than you know right now. We can talk about this later. I know your cousins are about ready to attack those gifts.” I was told with a smile as I got another hug. I grinned slightly as I was lightly pushed over to where my cousins were waiting to get at their gifts. I smiled even more when Devon came over and sat down in my lap once I had managed to get situated on the floor. I chuckled a bit as I gave the squirming toddler a poke in the ribs and heard him giggle at this. Looking around I saw that Brian and David also had a squirming toddler in their laps. Though they looked a bit more comfortable than I was since they were able to cross their legs. This was one more reason for me to want to get these casts off soon Unfortunately, I still had another week or two to go before they could come off.
Brad, this one is from the Trips.” Steve told me as I was handed an odd shaped box. The box was barely in my hands before Dev was helping me unwrap the gift, just like he had done with all the previous ones. I could tell his dads wanted to say something about the “help” he was giving me, but since I didn’t mind it they kept whatever comments they had to themselves.
“Thanks guys!” I said brightly as I opened the now unwrapped box and found a teddy bear inside. Before pulling the bear out I set the box aside and gave each of my cousins a big hug and a kiss. David and Brian started grinning a bit when I pulled the bear out of the box and they saw that the bear was dressed in a set of Marine Dress Blues. I didn’t find out until a few minutes later what was so humorous about this. I started chuckling a bit when Devon started whining a bit about how long I was taking in examining the bear’s uniform. To speed things up, Uncle Ian decided to explain things
“That’s a replica of your dad’s dress uniform The ribbon around his neck is a replica of the Medal of Honor your dad received in Korea. ” ,Ian told me when he saw the confused look on my face when I saw the pale blue ribbon around the bear’s neck and the other ribbons , “I called in a favor I had with a friend and his wife made that.” I started crying a bit at this point as I became totally overwhelmed by everything that had happened so far that morning.
“It’s Ok, Brad. Just let it out.” Steve said as he reached over from where he was sitting and rubbed my shoulder a bit. I sobbed quietly as I hugged the bear tightly to my chest.
“Sorry about all that.” I said to everyone after finally get a hold of my emotions and got back to opening the gifts that I still had piled in front of me.
“Alright everyone we just have a couple more gifts here to open then we need to get going over to Grammy’s and Grampy’s.” Ian said as the last gift was opened. I was still in shock at all the things I had received so far and now we were getting ready to head over to Ian’s parents place.
“I hope you like what we got for you Brad.” Steve said as he helped me stand up.
“Uh, Steve. I think I might need to be changed first.” I told him as I felt how heavy my diaper had become over the course of the last couple of hours.
“You’ll last a little bit longer. I made sure to use one of the thicker ones when I changed you after breakfast.” Steve told me as he gave my diapered rump a light slap to get me moving. I grinned a bit at this and started moving as fast as I could with the cast on my leg and arm.
I was left speechless when I entered the garage and saw Ian standing next to a bike.
“Well come on over here so we can get everything adjusted for you.” Ian called when he saw that I had come to dead stop.
“But, I don’t know how to ride a bike.” I stammered as Steve ushered me over to where Ian was standing.
“That’s no big deal. We can teach you easy enough.” David said as he came over and excited examined the back. After declaring it a rad set up he backed off and let Steve help me on to the bike.
“You don’t need to do anything yet Brad. Just stand up like you normally would.” Steve instructed me as Ian reached behind me to bring the seat up to the right height for me. A moment later he did the same with the handle bars.
“Ok Brad, while I support you I want you to get up on the seat and make sure you can reach the pedals and handle bars okay.” I was informed as Uncle Ian helped me on to the seat and I made sure the adjustments were right.
“Everything feel comfortable?”
“Yeah. The feel fine.” I answered as Steve came up and placed a helmet on my head and got that to fit correctly as well.
“Brad, I’m only going to warn you once, if any of us see, or hear of you riding this bike without that helmet on or let anyone else use it without wearing one. If you do, you’ll have the bike taken away for as long as we think it takes you to get the message. David and Brian already know to let us know if they see this happening. And I expect you to let us know if you see one of them doing the same regardless of what ever they may promise you. If we find out that they did ride without one and you knew about you both with have your bikes taken away. Is all that understood?” Steve asked me. Seeing the looks on my cousin’s faces I knew that they would tell in a heartbeat.
“Yeah, I get it.” I said as I was helped off the bike.
“Good. I hope we don’t have to reinforce it any time soon.” Ian said as we headed back into the house.
“I want everyone cleaned and dressed in twenty minutes so we can head over to the Gramps place.” Steve said as he led me to the stairs with Ian and everyone else close behind. I was glad to hear this part because I knew by now my diaper was about ready to fall off and from what I had seen, Brian and the Trips weren’t in much better condition.
Once we had all reassembled downstairs we headed out to the garage.
“Uh, Brad we’re going to be walking.” David said as he helped his dad get a stroller set up for the Trips.
“Don’t worry Brad. They only live two blocks over.” Steve told me as I was handed a pair of crutches. Even with my slowing us down a bit we made it to my grandparents’ house in about fifteen minutes.
“Why is Grammy crying?” I asked a few minutes after we got there and I had a chance to meet all of the rest of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.
“Those are happy tears Brad. This is the first time since your dad died that the whole family has been together.” Uncle Ian explained.
“But, with my dad dead how could the whole family be here?” My uncle just pointed to a dark marble box with Marine Corps and FBI Emblems resting between a photo and a folded American flag on a table by the fire place.
“Oh.” I said softly as I started to cry a bit myself as I made my way over to the table and ran my good hand over the box lightly. I then looked at the photo and saw what my dad had looked like in life. I was a bit shocked when I took a closer look at the photo and saw how much alike my dad and I looked. It took me a moment longer to realize that the baby he was holding it the picture was me.
“He sent that picture to us about a month after you were born.” A voice said behind me. I jumped a bit at this since I hadn’t noticed that any one had come up to me or that people were watching at what I was doing.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Grammy said as I felt her pull me into a hug. I didn’t really know what to say at this point so I just stood there in the hug had looked at how happy my dad seemed when the picture was taken.
The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. I was glad that all of my cousins tried to include me into everything they were doing. A couple of the guys about my age, give or take a year, tried to give Brian and I a hard time about needing to wear diapers but their dad put a quick end to it. I’m not really sure what he told them but whatever it was it was effective.
I was so dead by the time we got back home, I pretty much just said good night to everyone and headed to my room. Uncle Ian followed me up to help me get ready and I was soon fast asleep.