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Dominoes by Donnie_m72
Kevin Bunter’s step had a jaunty bounce to it as he walked home. At the moment, everything seemed perfect for the twelve year-old seventh grader: it was Friday, his parents were working late, his bladder was delightfully full, and he had a new supply of diapers and plastic pants. The only fly in the ointment was that he had lied to Peter and his other friends about not being able to play basketball with them. Many times he had wished that there was a way to combine his diapers with his friends, but he couldn’t see how. He didn’t dare risk discovery.
“Anyway,” he thought, picking up his pace, “I can’t wait for the fun to begin!”
He imagined himself getting out of his shirt and pants, peeling off his underwear, and preparing himself. He could already smell the baby powder and feel it caressing his diaper area. And, then, the soft feel of the diaper as it wrapped around him! His new diapers were wonderful. He had purchased them slightly large so that he could grow into them. The same was true of his plastic pants. They felt buttery soft and rustled in a charming way. He could hardly wait to get home so he started to run the rest of the way. However, he suffered a crashing disappointment when he turned the corner and saw his parents’ cars sitting in the driveway.
“Why are they home?” he thought in annoyance. Then, a second later, he felt guilty. “Has something happened? Maybe to grandma or grandpa? Or to an uncle or aunt?”
He once again picked up the pace—now worried about receiving some awful news. He entered by the kitchen door and heard his parents’ voices coming from the family room.
“Is that you, Kevin?” his mother called.
He was about to answer when he saw the cardboard box on the table. The logo on the label was unmistakable: OCDC, Inc.—The Older Children’s Diaper Company. This was the company he bought his diapers from! The box had been opened, but the flaps were laying closed. He gingerly opened them and saw diapers and plastic pants in his size. His heart stopped.
“Kevin, are you there?” his mother called again.
He quickly closed the flaps and answered shakily, “Yeah, I’m getting a glass of water.”
“OK, come here when you’re done.”
Kevin turned on the tap and splashed water on his face before filling the glass. He felt hot and his knees were shaking badly. He drank only a few sips before he started to gag. He put the glass down and headed for the family room. Terrified, his steps were no longer light.
“Have a good day at school?” his dad asked casually.
“It was OK.”
“Good,” his dad responded. “Why don’t you sit down? We have something to discuss.”
Kevin’s stomach clenched and he felt a small squirt of pee flow into his underpants.
“What?” he asked.
His parents felt sorry for him. His face was ashen and his hands were trembling. They also didn’t miss the small wet spot just to the left side of his zipper.
“Did you see the box in the kitchen?” his mom asked.
He nodded and tried to keep tears from pooling in his eyes. It wasn’t working.
“Did you see what was in it?” she continued.
He nodded again. This time, the tears started rolling down his burning cheeks. More pee flowed out.
“Oh, honey,” his mother said tenderly. “Why did you try to hide it? When daddy told you about his childhood problem didn’t you understand that we didn’t want you to go through the same things he did? Didn’t you understand that these things are often hereditary? You’re not to blame foe anything—we understand that you can’t help it.”
Kevin was astounded. They assumed that he wore diapers because he had a wetting problem like his dad had had as a child. Actually, though, there was a connection. Several months ago, his dad had sat him down for a talk. Kevin thought that it was going to be a birds-and-the-bees speech. He had been flabbergasted when his dad told him the story of how, from the age of ten to sixteen, he had regularly wet his bed and his pants. His parents (Kevin’s grandparents) hadn’t been very supportive and it had been a terrible time in his life. He hadn’t gone into details but Kevin understood that his dad had been routinely humiliated and scolded over it.
Kevin had felt badly that his dad had gone through such a thing and, over the next few weeks, had wondered what it had been like to wear diapers. He couldn’t get the thought out of his mind. One day (a Friday, actually), he decided to experiment. He got hold of a towel, safety pins, a plastic garbage bag, and duct tape. It took quite a while to get the hang of pinning on the “diaper” and even longer to fashion the “plastic pants.” However, he finally managed to wet himself and it had felt deliciously naughty. He tried it again the following week and he was hooked. He next bought a bag of youth diapers and baby powder. His diaper wearing was only occasional but it quickly became an overriding passion. He had only recently purchased his cloth diapers and plastic pants.
“I’m sorry,” he stammered.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” his dad said gently.
“I was embarrassed. I was afraid that you would punish me,” he admitted.
“Oh, honey,” his mother said, tears filling her eyes. “Never! Believe us, we would never punish you for this.”
He was beginning to feel giddy. He knew that he would have to be very careful to cover it up. He needed to get away from his parents before he accidentally said or did something to make them suspicious.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” he announced.
“Yes, and when you come out we’ll get you changed out of those wet underpants and into some nice, dry diapers,” his mom answered.
Kevin felt himself blush.
“Honey,” his mom said in response, “I do your laundry. Did you think I hadn’t noticed your yellow-stained underpants?”
“Oh,” was all he could say as he raced out of the room.
“Well,” his father said after he heard Kevin close the bathroom door, “that went off better than I had expected.”
“Yes,” his mom agreed. “I just hope that it won’t take him too long to tell us the real reason he’s been wearing diapers. I hate the thought of dishonesty between us.”
“Just be patient,” his father answered. “You know what the doctor said. They’ll be no rushing this. We have to lead him along gently into realizing that we love him unconditionally, whether he has a diaper fetish or not.”
“Yes, I understand,” she sighed.
*****
In the meantime, Kevin was near panic in the bathroom. His mom’s announcement that she and his dad would soon diaper him had made him get an erection that wouldn’t go down. He tried thinking of any number of unpleasant things but nothing helped. Also, his erection prevented him from taking the pee he now urgently needed. A knock on the door made him jump.
“Is everything OK?” his dad asked. “You’ve been in there over five minutes.”
Kevin buckled his pants and opened the door.
“I couldn’t,’ he said shamefacedly.
“I understand. When I was a kid I would get frustrated, too. I’d run to the bathroom and… nothing. Then, two minutes later—without warning—I’d be completely wet. We’d better get you diapered pronto.”
The fear of having his real motives imminently discovered was enough to finally cause his erection to subside. He was back to “normal” by the time they reached his bedroom. His mom had prepared everything. A towel and a diaper were spread out on the bed, and four large safety pins and a canister of baby powder stood at the ready.
“Now, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” his mom said, reacting to his serious expression.
He allowed himself to crack a smile in response. Maybe I’m overdoing it, he thought.
“That’s better!” she said encouragingly. Then, looking down at his pants, which showed a larger wet spot than before, she added, “I’m so sorry, honey. But, don’t worry. We’ll have everything fixed in no time.”
Kevin thought he was going to explode. He could just barely keep his excitement contained. If he had been free to do so, he would have been jumping and laughing for joy. As things were, he contented himself with knowing that in just a minute or so he would be diapered… by his parents… and free to appear openly before them… whenever he wanted to! How could life get better than this?
“Kevin, honey, did you hear what I said?”
“Sorry,” he apologized, “I…”
“I know,” she said cutting him off, “but don’t be embarrassed. This is the way things have to be.”
Kevin’s father (who was standing behind him) rolled his eyes in response to how thick his wife was pouring on the sympathy. She shot him a quick reproving look and continued.
“Take off your shoes and I’ll help you undress.”
He reacted so eagerly that his father could barely suppress a smile. His mother helped him get his shirt and t-shirt off. Then, she removed his pants and underpants in one single motion.
“Oh, dear! Those will have to go to the laundry room right away. Would you mind, Harry?” she said handing them to his dad.
His mother took a baby wipe and quickly cleansed his diaper area. He became excited again but didn’t worry about it too much: he could always claim that it was because she was touching him. He was shivering with excitement when he finally lied down on his diaper.
“Are you cold?” his mom asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he lied.
She smiled reassuringly again and sprinkled him with baby powder. He could no longer suppress his happiness. He started giggling .
“Am I tickling you?”
“Kind of,” he smiled. “But, it’s OK.”
She smiled back at him. He was surprised when she lifted him up behind his knees to sprinkle and spread powder over his bottom.
“Diapers rashes are terrible. We want to make sure we avoid them,” she explained.
Kevin’s dad returned just as she lowered Kevin back onto his diaper.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“We’re almost done. Could you hand me the pins?” Kevin’s mom responded.
He questioned why his mom was using four pins on his diaper.
“Because you’re an active boy. We want the diaper to stay nice and tight. Right?”
It made sense, he decided. His prior diaper wearing experiences had been limited to just a couple of hours and always alone. Now that he was going to wear them all the time, he’d have to be careful about leaks. This thought led him to his friends. His smile faded and his eyes took on a faraway look.
“What’s wrong, honey?” his mom asked. “Am I pinning your diaper too tightly?”
“No, everything’s OK.”
“Are you sure?” she pressed.
“Well,” he answered, “I was thinking about Peter and Kelly and my other friends.”
“Let’s talk about that later,” she answered. “Right now, let’s finish you up… Harry, would hand me Kevin’s baby pants… I mean, plastic pants?”
Her mistake was intentional. She wanted to see how Kevin would react. She saw that he smiled at the reference to his baby pants as well as to his plastic pants. She was definitely going to call them baby pants in the future, just to test how far he would let her go.
*****
When his parents left him alone to get dressed he spent several minutes looking at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn’t believe his luck. He pulled his plastic pants down to his knees to examine how his mother had arranged the pins. Before pulling his plastic pants (baby pants, he giggled) up again, he caressed the soft fabric of his diaper. He then turned his attention to what he would wear. He really hated the thought of covering up his diaper and plastic pants. But, he asked himself, would he have to? What if he simply put his shoes back on and wore a sweatshirt? What would his parents think? Would they believe him if he said that his pants felt too tight over his diaper? The worst that could happen, he figured, would be that his parents would send him back to put on his pants. He so wanted to have the freedom to walk around the house in just his diapers and plastic pants that he decided to go for it. He found his mom and dad in the kitchen planning dinner
“So… would you like lasagna or roast chicken?” his dad asked, seemingly unfazed by his exposed diaper and plastic pants.
“Lasagna!” Kevin answered without hesitation.
“OK,” his mom agreed. “But you’ll need to help.
The next forty-five minutes were unadulterated bliss for everyone. Kevin was thrilled to work alongside his parents wearing his beloved diapers and plastic pants. His mom, who had had severe reservations about allowing him to go back to diapers, found herself staring affectionately at him out of the corner of her eye. She thought he looked irresistibly huggable! His dad was also very happy. The last thing he wanted was for Kevin to have as miserable a childhood as his. If diapers made him happy, then so be it.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Mrs. Bunter said with an exaggerated bow to Kevin and to her husband.
Kevin giggled at the idea of being called a gentleman while wearing diapers. Still, he politely answered, “You’re welcome.” After a second or two of hesitation, he opened his mouth to speak.
“You don’t have to say a word,” his dad interjected. “Come with me and you’ll be in a dry diaper in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
Kevin snickered at his dad’s silliness but was nonetheless grateful that he didn’t have to ask to be changed. He was even comfortable with his dad leading him by the hand all the way to his room. As promised, his dad was very quick in getting him out of his wet diaper, cleaning him up, and getting him re-diapered. (In fact, Kevin would have liked the process to have taken longer.)
“OK,” his dad announced cheerily, “who wants to watch TV while we wait for the lasagna to cook?”
“I do!” Kevin answered with a giggle.
Before he could take a single step, he felt himself being lifted up and draped over his dad’s shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Hey!” he complained (but not seriously). “I can walk, you know!”
“Not from up there, you can’t!” his dad chuckled as he playfully patted his diapered bottom with each step.
Kevin’s giggles made it clear that he was very much enjoying this babyish treatment. So much for his earlier resolve not to let his parents see or hear anything that would reveal how much he really wanted to be in diapers and treated like a toddler again!
*****
After dinner, Kevin’s parents announced that they had something important to say to him. He didn’t like the sound of that. Did they know that he didn’t really need diapers? Were they going to put a lot of rules on his diaper wearing? Would he be allowed to do it only on certain occasions? These and other thoughts had been crossing his mind all afternoon. For instance, what about his friends? Would he dare wear diapers around them? He desperately wanted to, but his better judgment told him not to even think about it.
“Mom and I have a few more things to say to you. I know particularly well how difficult it’s going to be for you to wear diapers in front of your friends. That’s why we’ve already done something to manage that situation.”
Kevin wasn’t sure what the second half of his dad’s statement meant but he was pretty excited that the first part seemed to hint that he would be in diapers all the time.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Well,” his mom answered, “we were sure that it would have been very hard for you to tell your friends about your needs so we talked to their parents and they all said that they would discuss your problem with them tonight.”
Kevin was stunned and more that a little frightened. Tears came into his eyes at the same time that he also felt anger rising.
“Why did you do that?” he asked bitterly. “They’re going to make fun of me! My life will be ruined! Everybody at school will know!”
“Now, Kevin, be reasonable,” his mom continued in an even tone. “Do you really think that Peter and Kelly and your other friends would make fun of you over something you can’t control?”
“But they’ll know that I’m wearing diapers and plastic pants just like a baby!” he complained.
“They won’t think of them as baby diapers or baby pants unless you think of them that way,” his dad pointed out. “If there’s one thing that I’m sure of, it’s that trying to hide something like this only makes everything worse. The more honest and up front you are about what you’re wearing, the more your friends… and anybody else, for that matter… will respect your needs.”
Kevin supposed that his dad was right. However, this discussion was making him feel uncomfortable about lying to his parents. His friends might make fun of him if they ever found out that he wore diapers because he wanted to feel like a baby again, but his parents would certainly be furious. For the moment, though, he didn’t want to think about that—it was his friends’ reactions that worried him now. He belonged to a youth hockey league and they would all meet tomorrow morning for a game. If they already knew, how would they treat… His musings were interrupted by the phone. His mom went to pick it up.
“Kevin! Phone!” she called.
“Who is it?” he asked in a shaky voice.
“Peter.”
“Hey, Peter.”
“Hey… Umm.. I was wondering if you were going to the game tomorrow.”
“I guess so,” Kevin answered.
“Good. Umm… I’m sorry about everything that happened to you.”
“Thanks.”
“OK, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Kevin returned silently to the den.
“Well?” his mother asked.
“He wanted to know if I was going to the game.”
“What did you tell him?” his father asked.
“I said that I guessed I was.”
“Nothing else?” his mom prompted.
“He said he was sorry about everything that’s happening and he said goodbye.”
Boys! his mother thought Why can’t they talk about important things? Out loud, she said, “See? You don’t have anything to worry about. He’s not going to make fun of you.”
“I guess,” Kevin answered.
His mom was right. No one made any comments about his diapers. (The fact that the ice rink had too many games on Saturdays to allow the boys to dress on site meant that Kevin’s diapers weren’t actually seen by any of his friends.) Still, as the weeks continued on, Kevin felt that his friends weren’t as comfortable with him as they used to be. The maddening part was that he couldn’t figure out what exactly was different. At least his time at home with his parents was as fun as he had hoped for.
*****
Thanksgiving was just a few days away. This year, Peter was going to join Kevin and his family at their riverside cabin for the long weekend starting on Friday. These plans had been made before Kevin went back to diapers and he wondered if Peter still wanted to go.
“Of course I do!” Peter said definitively. “Why? Don’t you want to invite me anymore?”
“Sure I do,” Kevin retorted. “It’s just… well, my diapers and everything…”
“What about them? I already told you that I didn’t care.”
“I know, but are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure! Would you quit asking?”
Kevin was up early on Friday morning. After eating a quick breakfast, his mom put him into a disposable diaper.
“How come I’m wearing this?” he asked.
“This is a little vacation for me, too,” she answered. “I don’t want to be washing diapers all weekend.”
“Oh, sorry.” Kevin answered solemnly. “I guess it is a lot of work.”
“Now, don’t feel sad about it. I don’t mind. But, for vacations and getaways I think that your wearing disposables with your baby pants will be better,” she said taping the last of the tapes.
The disposable felt a lot thicker than Kevin had imagined they would and he said so. In truth, he really liked wearing thick diapers and plastic pants, so this whole arrangement suited him just fine. (His parents knew this, too.) And, he didn’t miss his mom’s reference to his baby pants. She had been doing that a lot and he was beginning to wonder if she realized he liked to think of them that way, too.
“Actually,” his mom explained, “these are overnight diapers. Dad I thought that it would be safer this way.”
Kevin made to stand up but his mom stopped him.
“Wait, let me put on your baby pants.”
“Oh, OK,” he smiled as she slipped a pair over his diaper.
“There you go,” she said brightly, “All ready!”
He was shocked by the loud crinkling noises his disposable made when he stood up. He would have questioned his mom about it but he a got a second, more embarrassing shock: Peter was standing in the doorway.
“Uh, hi,” Peter said sheepishly. “Your dad sent me up here to help you bring your stuff down.”
Kevin felt his whole body heating up. Had Peter heard his mom’s two references to his baby pants? He was sure that he must be as red as a lobster. However, neither Peter nor his mom seemed to take notice of it.
“What a good idea!” his mom exclaimed. “I’ll leave you boys and go finish what I have to do. Don’t be long.”
Kevin was a wreck. Instead of picking up his pants to put them on first, he picked up his socks. As he was putting them on, Peter kept chatting away about the weekend but Kevin barely heard a word. After fumbling with his pants he finally got them on. Lastly, he reached for his t-shirt and shirt. He was still dismayed by the loud crinkling noises coming from his disposable but Peter didn’t seem to notice.
“This box says cabin. Should we take it?”
“I don’t know,” Kevin answered.
He knew that it contained a generous supply of his cloth diapers.
“Mom!” he called. “Do you still want me to take the box that says cabin on it?”
“Yes, dear,” she called back. “You’ll still wear your cloth diapers at night and we’ll leave a supply up there so that we won’t have to take them with us every time we go. Also, take the little box, too. It has your baby pants.”
Peter felt his face flush with embarrassment once again. This open talk about his diapers and –worse yet—his baby pants was something he hadn’t been prepared for. Once again, though, Peter took it all in stride without any outward reaction. Peter carried the boxes while Kevin took the bag his mom had packed along with his backpack, which contained electronic games and his iPod. When they got to the garage, Kevin noticed that a case of ninety-six ‘youth medium’ disposable overnight diapers had already been loaded. Obviously, he was also getting plenty of those stored for him at the cabin. He looked over to Peter to see if he had noticed but, once again, he couldn’t detect any reaction. They finished loading the SUV and arrived in the vicinity of the cabin in time for an early lunch. It was decided to stop at the Pleasanton Inn, a family favorite. There were few early diners and Kevin felt that all eyes turn to him and his noisy diapers as the hostess led them to their table. Peter took the opportunity to speak openly for the first time about his friend’s diapers.
“You know,” he said quietly after the hostess left them their menus, “people wouldn’t look at you so much if you didn’t have a scared look on your face all the time.”
“I don’t have a scared look on my face all the time!” Kevin objected.
“OK,” Peter conceded, “but you had one just now.”
Before things got heated, Mr. Bunter interrupted with his opinion. “I think that Peter is right. Try to relax a little. Consider it like a game where you’re trying to fool people. If they look at you funny, look back at them as if they’re the ones with the problem.”
Kevin considered these words for a few seconds and then broke into a big smile.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “it’s their problem”.
He punctuated this statement with a little giggle that Peter echoed. A few seconds later, the Bunters were glad to see that Kevin was back to normal, talking an incomprehensible language about some video game or other.
*****
Peter, who had never been invited to the cabin before, was amazed at how big and modern it was. Mrs. Bunter laughed at that, wondering what he was going to say when he found out that there wasn’t any TV. They unloaded their luggage, food, and Kevin’s diapers and decided to take a walk along the river.
“It’ll give time for the cabin to warm up and for us to stretch our legs,” Mr. Bunter said. “We’ll build a fire when we get back.”
The afternoon was crisp but calm. The late autumn air was clean and the sun was dazzling. The boys had a great time running along the river spotting fish and skipping stones across the surface of the water. Later on, the boys also had fun helping build the fire in the big double-sided fireplace that opened out to both the kitchen and the great room. Dinner followed, and then an evening of games. As bedtime approached Kevin became increasingly nervous. Even though Peter hadn’t said anything derogatory when he had seen him in his diaper and plastic pants earlier that morning, he was rather worried about what he would think when he saw how babyish he looked in his night diapers and pajamas. It was with a sense of dread that he heard his mom announce that it was time for them to brush their teeth and get ready for bed.
“But it’s only nine-thirty,” Kevin complained.
“I know. You can stay up as late as you want. I want you to be ready for bed, that’s all.”
Kevin had expected Peter to give him some privacy while his mom changed him into his night diapers but he followed along toward the bedroom. He looked questioningly at his mother but she didn’t get the point either. Peter headed for his bag and took out his pajamas and toothbrush while Kevin and his mom got his night things organized. Peter nonchalantly got undressed and into his pajamas while Kevin got undressed down to his diaper. Much to Kevin’s relief, Peter finally went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Kevin’s mom got him out of his very wet disposable and cleaned his diaper area. She was just beginning to pin him into his cloth diaper when Peter returned. Kevin wanted to die.
“Mrs. Bunter, what should I do with my dirty clothes?” Peter asked.
“Put them in the hamper in the bathroom. I’m going to do a wash before we leave on Sunday.”
“Wow,” he marveled, “you have a washer and drier here, too?”
Kevin was just pulling up his plastic pants when Peter returned again. This time Kevin was annoyed and his mother saw it in his expression.
“Which pajama do you want to wear?” she asked before he could vent his frustration at his friend.
“What do you mean?” he wondered.
“I brought two. We’ll leave one here. Which do you want to wear tonight?”
Kevin’s mouth dropped when he saw what his mother was holding.
“Where do those come from?” he asked in a shocked voice.
The pajamas she held up were not the plain blue or green pajamas he had been wearing. These were both colorful prints: one had a yellow background covered with Dalmatian puppies and the other a baby blue background with toy trains and airplanes. He was aghast at having to choose either one.
“Do I have to wear one of those?” he asked.
“Of course you do!” she answered. “It’s going to be cold tonight. Here… let’s try this one,” she said unfolding the yellow one.
His mouth dropped open again when he saw that they were baby-style sleepers. He had fantasized about having pajamas like this, but not in front of his best friend!
“Come on,” she coaxed. “You want to go back downstairs to play some more, don’t you?”
He reluctantly stepped into the covered feet of the sleeper while trying to look at his friend out of the corner of his eye. Once again, Peter didn’t react negatively, although he had a cryptic smile on his face that unnerved Kevin. His mom zipped him into the sleeper.
“Now, brush your teeth and come join us downstairs.”
For the rest of the evening he was mortified by the loud rustling sounds that his plastic pants made as they rubbed up against the material of the sleeper. Still, he had to admit that Peter didn’t give any sign that he thought that his friend was weird or acting like a baby. By eleven o’clock, the boys were having trouble keeping their eyes open and Mr. and Mrs. Bunter were also very tired. Uncharacteristically, Mr. Bunter decided not to listen to the eleven o’clock news on the radio. This is why they didn’t know a thing about the rapidly strengthening blizzard that was aimed straight for them.
*****
Mrs. Bunter woke up at three o’clock to the sound of the howling wind. Had she gotten up and looked outside she would have seen that there was already an accumulation of almost eight inches, with drifts over three feet. Instead, she rolled over and snuggled up to the warmth of her husband. She woke up again just before first light and knew that something was wrong.
“The power must have gone out in this wind storm,” she thought.
She reluctantly got out of bed and hurried to get into her bathrobe since the room was icy. She sized up the situation as soon as she looked out the windows of the great room. The first thing she did was to stoke the fire and get it blazing again. Her husband joined her just as it was beginning to throw off appreciable heat.
“Well, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a surprise,” he said.
“Yes,” she agreed, looking out at the swirling snow.
“The boys will be happy,” her husband continued. “Especially if it means that we won’t be able to leave tomorrow. I’m sure they won’t be too sad to miss school on Monday,” he chuckled.
“Yes,” she concurred with a smile. “At least we have adequate supplies. There’s plenty of food, drinking water, and firewood. How are we on propane?”
“I hooked up a new bottle the last time we were here. Remember? We should be fine for cooking. I’ll start transferring food to the ice chest and put it out on the porch. That ought to keep the milk and other perishables cold enough. Have you checked the phone?”
“Not yet,” his wife answered.
A half-hour later they had a good idea of where they stood. Luckily, the kitchen phone was still working and their mobile phone batteries were about seventy percent charged.
“Maybe if we turn them off completely, they’ll last a little longer.”
But, there was no running water since the pump at the well was electric.
“I don’t suppose the boys are going to mind not being able to shower for the next couple of days. But what about toilet facilities?” Mrs. Bunter asked.
“I found the portable toilet but we’ve only got a minimum amount of supplies.”
Mr. and Mrs. Bunter stared at each other for a few seconds.
“I’m thinking something that I probably shouldn’t be thinking,” Mr. Bunter admitted.
“What’s that?” his wife asked.
“We know that Kevin wants to be in diapers. How hard do you think it would be to convince him to use them for all his toilet needs?”
“With Peter here? We don’t stand a chance!”
“What if we recruited Peter? The way he hung around when Kevin was getting changed last night seems to indicate that he is pretty curious about the whole thing. If we can get him to agree to use diapers for the next few days, I’m sure that Kevin will follow along.”
“How are we going to manage that?” Mrs. Bunter wondered.
“By telling the truth and then appealing to their generous natures,” he said confidently.
It was another hour before the boys got up.
“Mom!” Kevin called from the top of the stairs. “There’s something wrong with the heat in my room.”
“No, there isn’t, honey,” his mom answered. “There’s been a power failure. Haven’t you noticed that we’re having a blizzard?”
“We are?” he exclaimed.
This was followed by the clatter of two boys running down the stairs.
“Wow!” Peter exclaimed, looking out the windows of the great room. “This is so cool!”
“You may not think so for very long,” Mr. Bunter said.
“Why not?”
“Well, for one thing—no electricity, no heat.”
“But it’s plenty warm down here with the fire,” Kevin pointed out.
“True,” his dad admitted. “And, if the power is still out tonight, we can always camp out down here, I guess.”
This idea clearly appealed to the boys.
“But, there’s more,” Mr. Bunter added. “The pump is out. There’s no water, either.”
“But we’ve got plenty of other stuff to drink,” Kevin pointed out.
“Yeah, but I was thinking about the bathrooms—no water, no flushing of toilets.”
“Oh,” the boys said.
“We do have a portable toilet but I’m afraid that there aren’t enough supplies for everybody to use it. That’s why we need to ask you guys a favor.”
“What kind of favor?” Kevin asked warily.
“To use only diapers for your bathroom needs until the water comes back.”
For a moment, Kevin didn’t understand the entirety of what the request meant. When it hit him, he was shocked speechless and it was Peter who spoke up.
“How long will that be?”
“I honestly don’t know. The way the wind is blowing and the snow is falling I would say that this storm is going to last at least several more hours.”
“Oh,” Peter answered thoughtfully. “In that case, can I have a diaper now? I really have to go to the bathroom!”
Kevin was the most astonished of all that Peter had agreed so readily. His heart started beating fast and he felt an erection growing in his diaper. He and his best friend were going to be diapered together! This felt just as good as the first day his parents put him into diapers! Mrs. Bunter went with Peter to help him out.
“How about you?” Kevin’s dad asked.
“I’m kind of wet,” he answered.
Arriving upstairs, they found Mrs. Bunter and Peter gathering diaper supplies.
“It’s too cold to change the boys up here so we’re taking what we need downstairs,” Mrs. Bunter explained.
The boys collected their outer clothes while Mr. and Mrs. Bunter sought out the diapers, plastic pants, baby wipes, powder, and other changing supplies. They went back to the great room. The boys were told to lie down on the towels that had been spread out. Kevin was trying not to appear excited but he could barely contain himself. Surprisingly, Peter also couldn’t stop giggling as he removed his pajamas. Kevin assumed that he was nervous about what was about to happen; however, Peter didn’t seem to be the least bit embarrassed that he was completely naked in front of his friend and the Bunters. He stretched out on the towel and lifted up so that Mrs. Bunter could put a diaper under him. His giggles increased as she taped it up.
“Does the diaper tickle?” she asked.
“No,” he answered sincerely, “it feels nice and soft.”
That’s exactly how I feel about them, Kevin thought in surprise.
“Are you ready to get dressed?” she asked Peter.
“No, ma’am,” he answered. “I need to use it right away.”
“Do you want a blanket or something to keep warm?”
“I’m OK. The fire is warm enough. I think it will only take a few seconds.”
A sharp giggle followed his last statement. Mrs. Bunter announced that she was going to the kitchen to fix breakfast for everyone. In the meantime, Mr. Bunter had removed Kevin’s cloth diaper and was in the process of cleaning his diaper area. Kevin looked over to Peter and saw that he was smiling at him. A second later, Kevin heard Peter begin wetting his diaper. It seemed to go on forever.
“Kevin, lift up, please,” his dad said.
Without taking his eyes off Peter, he mechanically lifted his bottom and allowed his dad to powder him and tape up the diaper. Peter had an even bigger grin on his face when he stopped his wetting. Kevin no longer thought that Peter was nervous about wearing and wetting a diaper. Instead, he strongly suspected that he was enjoying it.
“OK, Kevin, you can get dressed,” Mr. Bunter said while handing him a pair of plastic pants. “Now,” he said turning his attention to Peter, “are you ready to be changed?”
Peter giggled and nodded his head. It only took a few seconds for Mr. Bunter to get Peter re-diapered.
“OK, you’re done.”
Peter stood up and hesitated. “Mr. Bunter, didn’t you forget to give me my baby pants?”
Kevin almost choked. He had to find a way to talk his friend about diapers.
*****
I didn’t take long for the subject to come up and Kevin didn’t have to raise it. Shortly after breakfast, the boys were sitting by the window of the great room looking at the swirling snow.
“This is fun!” Peter said enthusiastically.
Kevin heart skipped a beat. “What is?”
“Everything. The blizzard… being stuck here… pretending.”
“Pretending what?” Kevin was becoming more excited. To him, pretending had a special meaning, completely related to diapers.
“You know, like we’re someplace deserted an no one can get to us.”
“Oh, yeah,” Kevin answered with disappointment.
“We might even miss school on Monday!” Peter added.
“That would be cool,” Kevin said with only moderate enthusiasm.
“And,” Peter added in a softer voice, “I’ve also found out about something that I was kind of wondering about?”
“What’s that?”
“Diapers,” Kevin admitted, blushing.
“You were wondering about diapers!” Kevin said, perking up. “Why?”
“I don’t know, exactly. After my mom said that you were going to have to wear them again I just started wondering.”
“Wondering what?” Kevin asked, trying to keep his emotions in check.
“Well,” Peter answered sheepishly, “I kind of wondered what they felt like when they got wet.”
“Oh,” Kevin answered noncommittally.
“Yeah, and what they felt like under your pants.”
“Oh,” Kevin answered again.
“Yeah, I think it’s kind of cool to wear diapers,” Peter said blushing one more time.
“You do?” Kevin marveled.
“Well… I mean…” Peter said trying to backtrack, “I guess if you have to wear them, they’re not so bad. And, I was kind of wondering something else.”
“What?”
“Do you ever stop feeling that your pants are too tight?”
This produced a smile followed by a laugh from Kevin. “Not really. But my regular diapers are cloth diapers that are thicker than disposables.” Since Peter seemed willing to discuss diapers, Kevin decided to reveal the secret, “That’s why I don’t wear my pants at home anymore.”
Peter covered his mouth and giggled.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Kevin pouted.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. Could we ask your mom and dad if we could that here?”
Kevin once again found himself momentarily speechless with surprise.
“Ask what?” Mr. Bunter wondered as he walked in from the kitchen.
Since it was Peter’s question, Kevin waited for him to ask it. Peter was reluctant but Mr. Bunter’s kindly smiled reassured him.
“Well,” he continued self-consciously, “our diapers feel kind of tight under our pants. Could we take them off… you know, to feel more comfortable?”
Mr. Bunter may have looked innocent to the boys, but he and his wife had overheard most of their conversation from the kitchen.
“I guess you could,” Mr. Bunter agreed. “As long as you stay here in the great room or the kitchen. The rest of the cabin is too cold for you to go around in just your diapers and baby pants.”
“Thanks, Mr. Bunter,” Peter said smiling.
Kevin was really beginning to wonder about his friend. He hadn’t even reacted to his dad calling their plastic pants baby pants.
*****
Kevin began observing Peter carefully, in an attempt to figure out how he actually felt about wearing diapers and plastic pants. First of all, he noticed that Peter seemed completely relaxed about going around without his pants. [He even commented on how much better it felt not to have to wear them.] Peter also seemed unable to sit still—to the point that Kevin wondered if he was deliberately trying to make his diaper crinkle noisily. The last thing that seemed to indicate that Peter enjoyed diaper wearing was that he kept bringing it up.
“I guess wearing diapers makes it easier to concentrate during a hockey game. I mean… you don’t have to worry about going to the bathroom,” was his first unsolicited comment.
A few minutes later, he declared, “It must be nice to be able to get on the bus after school and not worry about making it home in time.”
His most revealing statement [in Kevin’s mind, anyway] was: “It’s good that we’re not wearing pants. Your mom and dad will be able to tell when we need to be changed.”
Kevin sensed that Peter wanted him to pick up on each of these topics but he was afraid to discuss his feelings in his parents’ hearing. This was really frustrating. He desperately wanted to talk about these things with Peter but he was afraid that his parents would figure out that he wanted diapers, not the he needed them. He was sure they would ‘read’ his enthusiasm for all the things that Peter had mentioned: how much he loved playing hockey in diapers, having kids at school know that he had them on; and, most especially, receiving his parents’ attention during diaper changes and at bedtime. Kevin sensed Peter’s disappointment but he smiled when Kevin whispered they could talk about this stuff when his parents weren’t around.
*****
The storm continued into the morning just as fiercely as ever. Mr. & Mrs. Bunter stayed in the kitchen, each working on paperwork that they had brought. Kevin and Peter stayed in the great room listening to their iPods and occasionally talking. By late-morning, Kevin became more and more distracted.
“What’s the matter?” Peter asked.
“Nothing.”
“Yes, there is. Do you have to poop, too?” Peter guessed.
Kevin looked down at the floor and nodded. “I was kind of hoping that the electricity would come back and the pump would start working again.”
“It doesn’t look like it,” Peter answered reasonably.
Kevin let out a long sigh to signify his agreement.
“Let’s do it now and then we can get changed together.” Peter suggested. When Kevin didn’t respond, he added, “It’s going to happen sooner or later anyway.”
Kevin looked up and saw that Peter was smiling broadly.
“How?” Kevin asked, returning a weak smile. “I can’t do it sitting here.’
They discussed several ideas and eventually decided that they should lie of their backs with their knees raised. It was easier than Kevin had expected. Inside of two minutes, each boy had filled the backside of his diaper.
“I wonder what’s going to happen when we stand up?” Peter wondered.
Before Kevin could answer, Mr. Bunter entered the room in search of more papers from his briefcase.
“Feeling sleepy?” he asked the boys.
Mr. Bunter was surprised to see that Kevin’s eyes began filling with tears.
“What’s the matter?” he asked sympathetically.
Kevin was busy wiping the tears out of his eyes, so Peter answered for them.
“We just pooped our diapers. We need to be changed.”
“I see. Hang on.”
He went back to the kitchen and said something to his wife. They both returned and approached the boys. Kevin eyes were red and his embarrassment was clear.
“Honey, don’t be upset,” his mom said while smoothing his hair. “We know that this is difficult for you but we appreciate your cooperation.”
In the meantime, Mr. Bunter had removed Peter’s plastic pants. The powerful odor of poop filled the air.
“Sorry,” Peter said.
“Not your fault,” Mr. Bunter assured him as he untaped the diaper and began wiping his bottom with a clean section of it. He then took a baby wipe and began cleaning him thoroughly.
Mrs. Bunter also started in on changing Kevin. Peter’s relaxed acceptance of the situation helped to calm him down. He actually started getting excited as his mom cleaned him up. By the end, she even got him to giggle.
“There!” she said, taping up the last of the diaper. “You’re all set for a while.” Then, picking up their plastic pants, she examined them carefully. “Since we don’t know how long it will be before we can do laundry, I think we should recycle your baby pants whenever we can.”
“Mom!” Kevin objected.
“What?” she asked innocently. “I just meant that these baby pants seem to be clean enough for you guys to wear again.”
Kevin suspected that his mom really knew what he was objecting to, but he didn’t want to say the words baby pants out loud.
“OK, then, we’re in agreement. You’ll continue to wear the same baby pants for as long as possible.”
Kevin rolled his eyes and Peter giggled as the Bunters returned to the kitchen to dispose of the dirty diapers. It was a good thing that Kevin didn’t notice the smirk on his mother’s face. She probably should have felt guilty, but teasing him was quite enjoyable.
“I like your parents,” Peter commented. “They’re funny.”
“They are?” Kevin asked in surprise.
“Sure—like how your mom teases you about your baby pants.”
“Don’t call them that! It’s bad enough that my mom keeps saying it! Besides, you’re wearing them, too!”
“Anyways,” Peter said smiling, “I’m glad I came this weekend. Your family is really cool.”
Kevin wondered if Peter realized that he rubbed his hands over his baby pants as he said this. He was more anxious than ever to talk to Peter but he was still afraid of his parents’ reaction if they overheard the truth about his feelings for diapers.
*****
The storm had worn itself out by late afternoon. The winds had died and what little snow still fell, fell in scattered squalls. The boys, on the other hand, were all wound up. Their day of confinement hadn’t given them the opportunity to burn off pent-up energy. Despite their generally easy-going personalities they were starting to bicker over the stupidest things.
“I think it’s time to get these guys outside,” Mr. Bunter observed. “I’ll have them help shovel the driveway. Also, I’ll start up the car and recharge our cell phones, just in case.”
The boys were happy to get outside. A little less happy to have to shovel the car out, but they were promised some play time if they made a good job of it. The first order of business was to carefully clean around the car, especially the tailpipe area. As soon as that was done, Mr. Bunter started it and began recharging the phones. A half-hour later the job was done and the phones were over ninety percent recharged.
“Can we do our iPods now?” Kevin asked.
“Those take too long, I’m afraid,” his dad answered. “We’ve got to save some gas to get out of here.”
Their disappointment was soon forgotten as they got into a great snowball fight with each other. Darkness was just settling in when their mom called them for dinner.
“Just look at you!” she exclaimed. “You look like snowmen! Go back out onto the porch and brush the rest of that snow off.”
Mr. Bunter joined them outside with a clothes brush and managed to get almost all the snow off their jackets and pants. Their shoes and socks were pretty wet so they were placed close to the fire. Their pants and jackets were hung on a rack in the kitchen to dry, also. Dinner was roast chicken, carrots and peas, and mashed potatoes. Dessert was store-bought cookies. The whole atmosphere was rather cozy with candles and storm lamps providing the illumination.
“At least we don’t have to do the dishes,” Kevin said smugly.
“Who says so?” his mother challenged.
“No water,” he answered.
“Who says so?” she repeated. “Dad filled a couple of pots with snow. I’ve got them on the stove, heating up. One pot for washing, one for rinsing, and two boys for drying.”
“Your mom got you there!” Peter teased.
“No fair,” Kevin pouted.
*****
After each boy delivered one more poopy diaper shortly after dinner, they were put into their nightclothes. Peter seemed more than content to wear a thick cloth nighttime diaper and large plastic pants.”
“Wow! These are thick,” he marveled. “And kind of snuggly, too!”
Kevin looked at him askance.
“Well, aren’t they?” he challenged.
Peter also liked the blue blanket sleeper that Mrs. Bunter handed him. Not even the loud rustling of the plastic pants dampened his spirits. As a result, Kevin was much more relaxed than the previous night. Their blankets and pillows were brought downstairs. Mr. & Mrs. Bunter would each sleep on a couch and Peter and Kevin would share an air mattress, which they had to fill manually. They had started playing charades when the lights suddenly came on.
“Well,” Mrs. Bunter remarked, “it looks like we’ll be going home tomorrow, after all.”
This was a big disappointment for the boys—they would have to go to school on Monday after all.
“Well, I guess we won’t have to sleep down here, either,” Mr. Bunter said.
“Can’t Peter and me still sleep by the fire? Everything is set up.”
“Well, yes, I guess that’ll be all right,” he answered.
With the light back, Mr. Bunter went to the kitchen and turned on the radio. He found a local station that was broadcasting emergency information. It seemed that more than half the county was still without power and that almost all roads, except for the major highway, remained impassible. People were ordered to stay off the roads until further notice. There was also a curfew in effect. Mrs. Bunter decided that she would do laundry.
“Boys, collect your dirty clothes and put them into the plastic bags I’ve set up in the bathroom. Colored clothes in the black bag and whites in the white bag.”
The boys reluctantly went upstairs and collected their stuff.
“Mom!” Kevin called, “where did you say to put our white stuff?”
“Sorry,” she called back, “I moved the white bag to the kitchen. Bring your stuff down here.”
After these minor chores were done the boys settled back into the great room.
“Hey, we can recharge our iPods!,” Peter said.
“Good idea,” Kevin agreed.
The boys settled down again in the great room. Mr. Bunter was still listening to the radio and Mrs. Bunter was tending the laundry. The radio, the water running into the washing machine, the hum of the refrigerator, and the whirr of the furnace filled the house with pleasant background noise.
“Gee, it sure was quiet before!” Peter noted.
“Yeah, now we can talk without everybody hearing every word we say,” Kevin said with a hint of suggestion.
It had occurred to Kevin (and to Mr. and Mrs. Bunter) that Peter no longer had any reason to stay in his diaper, plastic pants, and sleeper, yet he didn’t ask to take them off. The logical conclusion seemed to be that Peter wanted to stay in them. Kevin’s curiosity about the matter was so strong that he had decided to confide all the truth about his diaper wearing to his friend. He thought that he could get to the heart of the matter quickly.
“You can take off the diaper now, you know.”
“I know,” Peter answered, but he made no move to do so.
“Do you want to keep wearing my stuff?”
Kevin held his breath. He knew that he would have to listen carefully to the tone of Peter’s answer.
“Do you mind?”
Kevin’s heart leapt for joy. Peter wanted to wear a diaper—but did that mean that he would understand that Kevin wanted to wear diapers forever?
“No, I understand. I like wearing diapers—a lot.”
“You do? How come?”
“I don’t know,” Kevin answered hesitantly. “I just do. It sort of happened accidentally.”
He then told Peter the story about his father’s childhood and how he himself started experimenting with diapers.
“So, I guess I haven’t told the whole truth. I don’t have to wear diapers, I want to.”
Peter thought about that for a few seconds and then chuckled, “I guess I can understand that. I’ve had fun wearing diapers. I wish I could do it some more. You’re lucky to have a built-in excuse.”
The boys looked at each other and understood that they have formed a deep bond of trust that would hold them together for a long time.
“Let’s go ask if we can have something to drink,” Kevin suggested. When Peter looked at him questioningly, he added, “The more that goes in here,” he said pointing to his mouth, “the more that comes out here,” he said pointing to his diaper.
Peter agreed wholeheartedly and they scampered off to the kitchen.
*****
Mrs. Bunter was once again the first to get up. Coming down the stairs she saw that they boys had kicked off their covers during the night. They were lying close to each other on their stomachs, their well-padded bottoms sunny-side up. She went back upstairs and got the camera. She knew that the pictures would be irresistible—from one angle it even appeared that they were sucking their thumbs.
The boys woke up to the delightful smell of bacon frying in the pan. They sat down at the table and began eating.
“Is dad still sleeping?” Kevin asked.
“No, the plow came by a while ago and dad cleared the driveway and went into town. He wanted to see how the roads were and whether or not we could buy gas. He should be back soon.”
The boys lingered over breakfast and the clean up of the great room. Neither boy wanted the weekend to end, and working slowly gave them illusion that it was lasting longer. Also, Peter wanted to stay in the nighttime diaper and sleeper as long as possible. Mr. Bunter came back and announced that it seemed safe for them to return home. This brought a groan of disappointment from the boys, but there wasn’t anything they could do to stop the inevitable.
“OK, everybody pick up your clean clothes in the laundry room,” Mrs. Bunter announced.
The boys went first.
“Mrs. Bunter, I can’t find my underwear,” Peter said.
She came in and searched through the laundry, even opening up the dryer to make sure that she had gotten everything out.
“Are you sure that you brought all your dirty clothes down here?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I put them in the white bag next to the door like you asked.”
“Next to the door? No, honey, the bag for the white wash was next to the kitchen table.”
She suddenly realized what he had done.
“Oh, no! That bag had your dirty disposables in it.” She called to her husband, “Harry, what did you do with the plastic bag that held the boys’ dirty diapers?”
“I brought all the garbage into town with me. Mr. Harper at the gas station kindly let me throw them in his dumpster so that we wouldn’t have to take them all the way home with us,” he explained.
“Do you have any clean underwear at all?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I put it all in there.”
Kevin knew his friend well enough to sense that he was up to something. He was willing to bet that Peter had done that deliberately.
“Well, I guess you’ll stay in diapers until you get home,” she said.
Peter appeared to resign himself to this misfortune but he wasn’t fooling anybody. Mrs. Bunter had also picked up on the fact that he didn’t seem very distraught about having to wear diapers again. In fact, he hadn’t been able to completely suppress a smile, either.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Kevin asked when they were back in his room.
Peter giggled in reply, “Was it very obvious?”
“It was to me,” Kevin answered smugly. “But I think that my mom and dad bought it.”
“Kevin,” his mother called. “You guys should take your showers now. And lay out cloth diapers for both of you. I want to keep as many disposables up here as possible.”
They congratulated each other on their extreme cleverness in fooling adults.
*****
Peter’s parents congratulated him on his maturity for going along with the Bunters request that he wear diapers during the power failure. On the other hand, they were displeased that he hadn’t paid close attention to Mrs. Bunter’s instructions and as a result had lost three pairs of underpants. In school on Monday, Peter and Kevin had a great time talking about the blizzard and being stuck in the cabin. Naturally, they didn’t talk about Peter’s diaper wearing. But that didn’t stop Peter from thinking about it all day. He daydreamed about what it would be like to sit in class and wet a diaper whenever he wanted to. He started becoming quite envious of Kevin—what luck to have a dad who had been a bed and pants wetter!
The next afternoon, Peter phoned Kevin.
“My mom washed your diaper and baby pants and she wants me to return them to you. Can I come over now?”
“OK, see ya.”
Peter arrived within five minutes. He handed the diaper and plastic pants over to Kevin.
“You don’t want to give these back, do you?” Kevin asked.
“Not really,” he admitted sheepishly.
“You can keep them. I’ve got lots. My mom would never know that one was missing.”
“Thanks, but I’d better not. My mom would probably find out and go ballistic.”
The next morning, Kevin eagerly sought out Peter.
“I’ve got a great idea!” he announced.
“About what?”
“About what we talked about yesterday.”
Kevin had all of Peter’s attention.
“You know how you walk by my street every day to get to the school bus stop?”
“Yeah, so what?” Peter wondered.
“Well, my parents have to leave early so I’m all alone at my house for at least fifteen minutes.
“OK…” Peter agreed, his interest piqued.
“You could come by my house and get a diaper to wear in school! Then, when you go home you could take it off there, too. What do you think?”
“Really? I could do that?” His excitement was genuine. “Gee, thanks!”
The plan worked perfectly. Peter came over just after Kevin’s parents had left and they made it in plenty of time for the bus. Both boys were elated: Peter because he was going to school in a diaper and plastic pants, and Kevin because he had someone to go to school with in diapers. These feeling carried them through the day. Peter could hardly keep himself from laughing out loud.
“I wet my diaper during the math lesson!” Peter declared as they walked from the bus stop back to Kevin’s house.
Kevin laughed.
“It was so cool!” Peter exulted. “Do you get excited, too, after you’ve pissed your pants in class?”
Kevin was surprised by the bluntness of the question but his giggled response and intense blush communicated everything that Peter wanted to know.
“I wish I didn’t have to wait until the afternoon,” Peter added seriously.
“Well, you’d start smelling really bad if you tried to keep the same diaper on all day. Besides, you’d probably get a rash and would have to stop wearing them until it healed.”
“I guess so,” Peter conceded. “But I still wish I could!”
Kevin was thrilled that Peter was as hooked on diapers as he himself was. A pattern was established and Peter soon became proficient at putting on his own diaper and plastic pants; although, like Kevin, he preferred being helped. As the days went by, however, Peter became less and less satisfied with being limited to wearing diapers in school only—he wanted more, much more. He became moody at home and irritable with his friends, including Kevin.
“You know,” Kevin said one afternoon, “it’s not my fault. I wish I could give you more but I can’t.”
“I know,” Peter answered contritely. “Sorry.”
“Isn’t there any way that you could sneak a couple home and wash them yourself?”
“No,” Peter practically shouted, “my mom’s at home all the time. She doesn’t have a job like yours.”
In order to gain a little more “diaper time,” Peter began spending long afternoons at Kevin’s house.
*****
The day after their return from the cabin, Harry and Laura Bunter visited Peter’s parents, Paul and Helen Berrinson. They wanted to set the record straight about several things. First, they explained that they knew that their son was faking his need for diapers and that he was wearing them recreationally, albeit discretely. The Berrinsons were surprised and wondered if they should continue to let Peter hang around with Kevin.
“We can understand your reaction,” Mr. Bunter said, “but before you decide we think that you should know the rest of the reason we came.”
Mrs. Bunter then explained her virtual certainty that Peter had deliberately “lost” his underwear on the last day at the cabin.
“Wait a minute,” Mr. Berrinson said testily, “you’re saying that Peter wanted to come home wearing a cloth diaper and plastic pants? That’s absurd.”
“Quite possibly,” Mrs. Bunter agreed. “I simply wanted you to know. That’s all.”
There was an awkward silence that Mrs. Berrinson filled.
“Laura’s observations could be right.”
“What?” her husband exclaimed.
Turning to the Bunters, she said, “After I talked to Peter about Kevin’s diaper needs he asked a lot of questions about his own days in diapers. I thought that he wanted reassurance that what was happening to Kevin couldn’t happen to him. Then, this morning before leaving for school, he asked very specific questions that seem strange to me now that I think about them. He wanted to know how many diapers he had used in a day, what kind of diapers did he wear- cloth or disposable, and, strangest of all, at what age was he toilet trained.”
“That was just because of his unusual experience up at the cabin,” Mr. Berrinson said dismissively.
“I don’t know, Paul,” his wife answered thoughtfully. “There was something behind his questions. I’m sure of it.”
Mr. Berrinson appeared to be getting upset about the discussion. Mr. Bunter decided to cut in before things got heated.
“We didn’t come here to cause friction,” he said. “We apologize if we’ve spoken out of turn.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Mrs. Berrinson said graciously. “We’ve known each other since the boys started school. Thank you for bringing this information to us.”
“Helen, maybe it would put your mind at ease if you spoke to the doctor we consulted about Kevin. Her name is Paula Sather. She’s a psychiatrist. I can call her at let her know that you would like to speak to her. Naturally, her fee would be our responsibility.”
Mr. Berrinson seemed to be on the point of objecting again but his wife effectively cut him off by thanking Laura for the offer and saying that she would very much like to talk to Dr. Sather.
*****
Mrs. Berrinson spoke to the doctor on Tuesday, the same day that Peter returned the cloth diaper and plastic pants to Kevin. The doctor assured her that a diaper fetish could not be “caught” from anyone else. She went on to explain that most of the time these fetishes remained with the person for life but that they rarely had an impact on the person’s ability to function normally. Mrs. Berrinson felt very relieved after their conversation, while also promising herself to remain vigilant in regards to Peter’s behavior.
For the rest of that week, she noticed that Peter’s mood seemed to be exceptionally upbeat. She even noticed that he was leaving earlier to catch the school bus, something that she had been nagging him about for weeks. He was also spending more time with Kevin but she attributed that to the aftereffect of their weekend together.
The next week, things began sliding. Peter was moody and uncooperative. He also returned home later and later from school each day with only vague explanations as to where he had been. On the positive side, his mother was very approving that his new habit of leaving early for the school bus was continuing. Saturday was a good day but Sunday was horrible. She realized that boys could be very moody but, in light of their earlier conversation, she decided to call Mrs. Bunter. She got straight to the point: had Kevin been moody lately?
“Why, no. Not that I noticed,” Mrs. Bunter answered.
“Has he been late coming home?”
“Well, I can’t be sure. But he’s always been home when I arrive. That’s generally about an hour after he arrives from school.”
“Is it possible that Peter has been going home with Kevin… to wear diapers?”
Mrs. Bunter was on the verge of saying no when she hesitated. “Actually, now that you mention it, Kevin has been using slightly more diapers than before Thanksgiving, but only about two or three every two days… I think.”
They talked more without reaching any conclusions. Mrs. Bunter promised to keep her eyes open. The first thing she did was to go to Kevin’s room and count the number of diapers and plastic pants that he had available. The next morning, Monday, she left for work at her normal time but she didn’t go straight there. Instead, she parked around the corner and waited. Five minutes after Kevin should have left for his bus she went back. She found an important clue: one diaper and one pair of plastic pants were unaccounted for. Still, she could have made a mistake so she decided to do one more test. That afternoon, she told her staff that she was leaving early. She pulled into her driveway several minutes after Kevin should have been home. She very quietly got out of her car and entered the house. She stole up the steps to the second floor and listened.
“You really wet that one today,” Kevin giggled.
“Yeah,” Peter answered proudly.
“You’d better be careful,” Kevin countered. “Your plastic pants are awfully close to leaking.”
Peter giggled in response.
“Kevin! Are you here?” his mother called.
Kevin recognized that his mother must be right outside in the hallway. With his bedroom door open she could walk in at any second. The color had drained from Peter’s face and his eyes darted around the room looking for a place to hide. Kevin shoved him unceremoniously into the closet and pushed it shut. His mother walked into the room the very next second. Kevin hoped that everything looked normal. His mother noticed that he was breathing heavily.
“I thought I heard you talking to someone,” she said innocently.
“Uh… uh… I was listening to my iPod. I guess I was singing,” he said very unconvincingly.
His mother chose to ignore his obvious lie. She looked around the room and noticed that there were two pairs of pants on the bed, one of which clearly did not belong to Kevin.
“Really, Kevin! Your room gets worse every day. Look at this mess… dirty clothes everywhere. I’m going to do laundry now. Help me collect this stuff.”
She went directly to the bed and picked up the two pairs of pants.
“Those aren’t dirty!” he said.
“They’ve been worn… they could use a freshening up. Here,” she said handing them to him, “take off the belts and empty the pockets.”
She went around the room and picked up dirty socks, shirts, and, looking under the bed, a pair of underpants.
“I wonder how long these have been under there?” she said shaking her head. “You’ve been in diapers for weeks.”
Kevin immediately recognized them as the ones Peter had been wearing that morning.
“OK, I guess that’s it… unless you have more dirty clothes in the closet.”
“No!” Kevin screeched. “Everything is clean in there!”
Mrs. Bunter had a lot of trouble keeping a blank expression on her face. She was certain that Peter was inside cowering in a very wet diaper. However, she had no desire to handle that problem herself.
“Good,” she responded. “Go to the bathroom and bring the hamper down to the laundry room… and get the towels, while you’re at it.”
She headed down the stairs, stopping halfway. She heard Kevin’s closet open, followed by a panicky sounding conversation. She smiled the rest of the way to the laundry room.
“I’ve got to get out of here!” Peter said.
“I know! I know! Calm down! My mom will be in the laundry room for a couple of minutes.”
“Where’s my underwear?”
“That’s a problem,” Kevin answered. “My mom took them. She thought that they were mine from a long time ago.”
“Can I have a pair of yours?”
“All my regular underpants are gone. I’ve only got diapers.”
“What will I wear?” Peter answered.
“A diaper, I guess. It’s all I’ve got.”
Realizing that time was running out, Kevin accepted the inevitable. “All right, but I’ve got to change out of this one. My plastic pants are ready to leak!”
Kevin looked down and saw that Peter had wet some more and that pee had pooled in the crotch of his plastic pants. He resisted the urge to laugh knowing that Peter would probably not appreciate the humor of the situation.
“OK,” Kevin agreed, “but you’ll have to be fast. I’ll bring the hamper down to my mom but I’ll ‘forget’ to bring the towels. I’ll come back for them and we’ll figure out a plan.”
Peter knew where all of Kevin’s supplies were so he got out of the diaper and hurriedly cleaned himself up. He was just putting on his plastic pants when Kevin returned.
“I can’t find my pants.”
“My mom has got those too.”
“What?” Peter screeched loudly. “I have to wear that pair home! They’re brand new. My mom is sure to notice if I come home wearing something different. She even commented on them when I left this morning.”
“OK, OK, I’ll try to get them. But you can’t stay up here. You’ll have to wait for me in the backyard.”
Peter didn’t like that idea at all.
“But somebody could see me!”
“It’s either that or you stay up here with a 99% chance that my mom finds you wearing one of my diapers.”
Peter considered this for a second or two before accepting what seemed to be the only choice. He put on his jacket and picked up his backpack. They crept down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Oh, crap!” Kevin exclaimed. “I forgot the towels. Go outside and wait for me by the back door to the garage.”
“Hurry,” Peter implored, “I’ve got to get home before dark.”
He exited to the backyard where he felt extremely exposed. Anyone on the second floor of the surrounding houses could spot him just by casually looking out a window. He wished that his jacket and shirt were longer—they only covered the top third of his plastic pants. His knees started shaking—and not because of the cold. He wondered if he wouldn’t be better off going back inside. He went back and found that the door was locked. With a sigh of resignation, he made his way to the garage, using his backpack to shield his bare legs.
Kevin gathered the dirty towels and brought them to his mother. He breathed a sigh of relief that she was doing the white wash first—Peter’s pants were sitting on top of the pile of colored clothes. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to grab them and get them outside to Peter.
“Thank you,” his mom said. “That’s it. You can go.”
Kevin didn’t dare go too far from the laundry room. He figured that he would have only one shot to get the pants to Peter, so he’d better not blow it. He went to the den and waited. It seemed like forever but in reality it was only about four or five minutes before his mother came out. She joined him.
“It’s nice to be home early every now and again,” she said pleasantly. “Did you have a good day in school?”
“It was OK,” he answered vaguely. Then, as if remembering something, he added, “Except we got a lot of homework to do.”
“Then maybe you’d better start on it.”
“Yeah, I guess I should,” he answered.
He made a beeline for the laundry room. He opened the door as quietly as possible but his mother knew exactly what he was doing because the noise of the washing machine got momentarily louder. (She wondered how he would get Peter out of the house after he brought him his pants.) He retrieved the pants and hesitated. He would have to cross the door to the den to get to the garage. How could he hide the pants? They were too bulky to put under his shirt and, even if he rolled them into a ball, they would still look like a pair of pants. He suddenly got an inspiration. He ran up to his room and dumped out the contents of his wastebasket. He put the pants in the bottom and then placed a couple of crumpled papers on top. He walked back downstairs.
“I thought you were going to do your homework,” his mother commented as he headed for the garage.
“My wastebasket is full. I thought I’d empty it first.”
“OK,” she said. Spying the pants under the crumpled paper that had moved to one side, she realized that Peter must already be outside. Score one point for Kevin, she thought. What a clever way to get Peter’s pants back to him!
Peter waited impatiently. He jumped when he heard a couple of kids come out to play next door. He panicked when he realized that every now and then he could see them through the tall bushes that separated the yards. They might see him, too! He stood very still hoping that they wouldn’t. He was immensely relieved when Kevin finally came out.
“What took so long?” he whispered so as not to attract the attention of the kids next door.
“Sorry,” Kevin apologized. “I came as fast as I could.”
Peter quickly put on his pants and noticed that his pockets were empty.
“Where’s my belt and other stuff?” he asked.
“Upstairs in my room. Can’t I give them back tomorrow?”
“No. My mom is always yelling at me for losing my keys. She’ll notice if I ring the doorbell to get in.”
“OK, stand under my window and I’ll throw your stuff down.”
A minute later, Kevin’s window and storm window opened. Peter’s wallet came first followed by his belt and keys.
“Ow!” Peter exclaimed.
“What?” Kevin asked.
“You hit me in the head with my keys!”
Peter was emotionally exhausted by the time he got home. He plopped down on his bed thinking that he would try to relax for a few minutes before taking the diaper off. However, the longer he laid there, the less inclined he felt to do so. He stood up and walked out of his room, down the hall and back. While it was true that the plastic pants rustled a little bit he doubted that his parents would notice. He also thought that the slight puffiness of his diaper would go undetected. He decided to keep them on. If I’m careful not to pee in them before bedtime, I’ll be able to wear them all night! Almost getting caught turned out OK after all, he thought happily.
*****
Mrs. Bunter called Mrs. Berrinson as soon as she Kevin was up in his room doing homework. They agreed to meet at the mall coffee shop at 7:30.
“What did you find out?” Mrs. Berrinson asked breathlessly.
“Peter is borrowing Kevin’s diapers and wearing them to school.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I heard them talking this afternoon. ”
“What did they say?”
“I didn’t hear very much but Peter seemed to be boasting about how wet he had gotten his diaper. Kevin warned him to be careful but Peter only giggled at that. That’s about all I heard.”
Mrs. Berrinson rubbed the bridge of her nose in thought. She wasn’t so much concerned with Peter wanting to wear diapers as she was about her husband’s reaction when he found out. And, what if, like the doctor had mentioned during their conversation, he also wanted to wear other baby clothes and have baby toys? It was too much to think about all at once.
“You have more experience at this. What do you think we should do?” Mrs. Berrinson asked.
“Do you and your husband have an agreed upon course of action to take?”
“No,” she admitted. “Frankly, Paul is completely unwilling to believe that Peter could get involved in such a thing.”
“In that case, I would say do nothing until you both agree how to handle the issue,” Mrs. Bunter advised.
“How in the world will I do that?” Mrs. Berrinson replied.
“I take it that you’re willing to allow Peter to experiment with diapers and plastic pants?”
“I suppose you could put it that way, yes. But Paul would probably want to… I don’t know exactly what he would want to do, but it won’t be pretty—especially if he’s not prepared correctly.
“Has he spoken to Dr. Sather?”
“No,” Mrs. Berrinson admitted, “I didn’t want to push it since Paul was so uptight about the subject.”
“Maybe you should.”
“He leaves early tomorrow morning for a short business trip. Perhaps I could talk to him tonight and ask him to talk to Dr. Sather while he’s on the road. That would give him time think and, if necessary, cool down. I’m sure he’ll do the right thing if he has time to mull it over.”
“In the meantime, I think it would be best to leave the boys alone unless they do something that forces our hand.”
They parted with Mrs. Bunter wishing Mrs. Berrinson good luck.
*****
“Man, you really wet this one, too” Kevin laughed.
“Yeah,” Peter smirked. “It was great waking up in the middle of the night and wetting it! I wore it at breakfast, too… right in front of my parents!”
“They didn’t notice?”
“Nope,” Peer answered very pleased with himself.
Meanwhile, back at the Berrinson household Peter’s mom and dad were having a strained discussion.
“Why would Mrs. Bunter lie to me?” Mrs. Berrinson asked her husband.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Because she’s crazy? Or maybe because her kid is crazy and she wants to drag Peter and us into it, too?”
“That’s ridiculous! How could she make Peter want to wear diapers?”
“I have no idea what could possibly being going on in her head,” he answered sarcastically. “There’s no point in encouraging her. We both know that Peter has never worn, nor will he ever want to wear, diapers to school. That woman is just making stuff up!”
“Paul, would you stop and listen to yourself? Does Laura seem crazy to you?” Mrs. Berrinson asked, completely frustrated. “Would you please give Dr. Sather a call when you have a minute while you’re away? Please!”
He hesitated a long time before agreeing.
“OK. But this is a gigantic waste of time and money.”
Back at Kevin’s house, Peter breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction as his friend finished pinning up his diaper.
“This is going to sound weird,” Peter said, “but would you put my plastic pants on for me, too?”
“You mean, like you were a baby and couldn’t do it yourself?”
Peter blushed, but didn’t back down.
“Sure!” Kevin smiled. “If you promise to do the same for me this afternoon.”
*****
That afternoon, Kevin had a surprise for Peter. He told him that he would lend him a diaper to wear home every afternoon.
“Awesome!” Peter exclaimed. “But what about your mom? Won’t she think that you’re using too many?”
“I’ll tell her that I’m using more in school and—to make it look good—I’ll even start using more at home.”
“Won’t your mom get suspicious if your ask for her to change you when you’re only a little bit wet.”
“I won’t be just a little wet. I’ve already started drinking a lot of water!” he giggled conspiratorially.
Peter was in seventh heaven. Even though he couldn’t wet as often as he would have liked, he was now able to wear diapers and plastic pants virtually all day. His mother was happy to see his moodiness gone, but she detected the reason without much difficulty. Unfortunately, she now felt trapped in the middle. How could she reconcile Peter’s desires for diapers and his father’s refusal to accept such a possibility? She felt an urgent need to talk to Mrs. Bunter again.
“Have you talked to your husband to find out if he’s spoken with Dr. Sather?”
“Not yet. He generally calls between nine-thirty and ten o’clock when he’s on a trip.”
“Are you planning on telling him?”
“That depends. If he’s spoken to Dr. Sather, I might. If not, I doubt that it would be wise to mention it.”
“And what about Peter? Are you going to let him continue wearing diapers?”
“Oh, yes, as long as he wants to,” she said firmly. “Dr. Sather was quite clear that taking them away would do no good.”
“In that case, you should start gathering the necessary supplies. Peter will need quite a few diapers and plastic pants. You should also get a changing pad, baby powder, baby wipes, pins, and rash cream… oh, and a diaper bag for travel.”
Aside from giving practical advice, Mrs. Bunter was testing how committed Mrs. Berrinson was to such a determined plan of action. Would she really defy her husband, possibly at the risk of their marriage? Mrs. Berrinson didn’t waver.
“Right. And where did you order Kevin’s supplies?”
The rest of their conversation dealt with web sites and other practical matters. Mrs. Berrinson felt much better. She knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing. Now, if she could only convince her husband! She was unable to settle down until his call finally came. After a few minutes of questioning and commiserating about each other’s day, Mr. Berrinson himself took their conversation in a new direction.
“I spoke to Dr. Sather earlier tonight.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, she certainly seems to know her stuff. At least, she gives the impression of believing that she does!” he said with a chuckle.
Mrs. Berrinson took a deep breath and, without preamble announced, “Peter came home this afternoon wearing a diaper and plastic pants.”
The pause was agonizing.
“I suppose you’re sure?” he asked.
“Positive.”
Another pause caused her heart to race.
“Kids!” he grumbled under his breath. “Do you think it’s like Dr. Sather says… that he’s addicted?”
“I don’t know that the word is addicted, but he certainly didn’t take any precautions against my hearing the rustle of his plastic pants. Personally, I think he likes the rustling sound as he moves around.”
“This is only one night, though,” Mr. Berrinson noted.
Mrs. Berrinson swallowed her irritation at her husband’s refusal to admit that this was more than a one-night occurrence.
“Except, that it isn’t only one night. He’s been wearing diapers to school for at least a week if not two,” she said with all the patience she could muster.
“Why the hell did we let him go to that damned cabin?”
“Now, Paul, let’s stick to the subject. What are we going to do?”
“Do? What do you mean by do?”
“Are we going to order him his own supply of diapers and plastic pants? Are we going to attempt to stop him by forbidding him to wear diapers? Are we going to mock him for this? Are we…”
“OK, OK,” he answered in an irritated voice, “I get the picture. I take it that you think we should let him turn himself into a baby again.”
“That’s might not be what he’s asking for. Dr. Sather said that he could very well have a diaper fetish without a desire to pretend to be a baby again. He may simply like diapers for the sense of security they give him. That’s why we have to talk to him… and why we have to give him options. If we reject him, he will most certainly reject us in return. I don’t want that… and neither do you, I’m sure!”
“No, of course I don’t,” he answered in a softer voice. “I’ll be back early Friday afternoon. We’ll have time to talk before he comes home from school.”
“Good. By the way, I’m ordering him a starter supply of diapers and plastic pants. He can’t go on wearing Kevin’s.”
“All right,” her husband sighed in agreement.
*****
“Anything new?” Mr. Berrinson asked after kissing his wife in greeting.
He had called her again on Thursday, the second night of his trip. She told him that everything was the same: Peter was doing nothing to limit the noise of his plastic pants and he continued to appear happy about wearing diapers.
“But his plastic pants and diapers have arrived.”
“So soon?”
“Orders over $150 get free overnight shipping.”
“Oh,” he answered, wondering exactly how much she had spent.
*****
They only had about two hours to decide how to handle the situation. That morning, Mrs. Berrinson had made it clear to Peter that she wanted him to come straight home from school (although she was pretty certain that he would stop at Kevin’s house to change into a fresh diaper).
“I think that the best approach is to simply tell him what we know and that we’re not mad at him. Then, we’ll invite him to tell us about his feelings,” Mrs. Berrinson suggested.
“I agree with the first part,” her husband agreed, “but boys aren’t very good at expressing their feelings. I doubt that he’ll be able to.”
“True,” his wife agreed, “but I want him to know that we care about his feelings. It doesn’t matter if he can’t express them. The important thing is to have him understand that we’re willing to listen, now and in the future.”
Kevin arrived home at about the expected time. He was glad to see his dad, but a little worried about what was behind his mother’s insistence that he come straight home. His dad didn’t have to pay particularly close attention to notice the rustling of his plastic pants. As agreed, his wife took the lead.
“Sit down, honey. Dad and I want to talk to you about something important. We know that Kevin has been loaning you diapers to wear in school and, recently, here at home. We’re not mad but we want you to tell us about this, please.”
Peter’s reaction was totally unexpected.
“You know? And you’re not mad? Thank you! Thank you!” he exclaimed, hugging each of them in turn.
Mrs. Berrinson had planned on Peter resisting the truth or being embarrassed or angry… but never had she imagined exuberance. She was momentarily flummoxed.
“Does this mean that I can wear them all the time? Will you buy me my own? I’ll give up all my Christmas gifts to pay for them!”
“Well, of course, dear, if that’s what you want,” his mom agreed, trying to reestablish control over the conversation. “In fact, you already have a supply up in your room.”
“I do? Really? How many? Are they the same as Kevin’s? Can I go look?
Peter was so excited that they knew he would think of nothing else until he went up to his room. He ran ahead of them and was examining a pair of plastic pants when they caught up.
“They’re exactly like Kevin’s!” he exclaimed happily. “And so are the diapers!” Then, turning shy, he blushed and asked, “I just got changed over at Kevin’s but would you change me into my own diapers and plastic pants right now?”
Peter’s dad was now convinced that his son really did need diapers, albeit for some unfathomable reason. The yearning in his son’s eyes was so convincing that his heart melted and all objections that he had previously felt disappeared. His mom was equally touched, especially since she had harbored no reservations.
“Certainly,” his mom and dad answered.
This first diaper change was memorable even though it started out with a moment of awkwardness until his parents figured out that Peter wanted them to do everything, including taking off his pants. They laid him down on the changing pad and removed the plastic pants and diaper that Kevin had lent him.
“Your diaper is pretty wet,” his dad noted. “How long have you been wearing it?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe twenty minutes,” he giggled.
His happiness and excitement at being diapered were evident. He couldn’t stop giggling while his mom cleaned his diaper area and powdered him. When his very own new diaper was slid under him he shuddered with pleasure. He became very quiet and closed his eyes as his mom pinned it up. He squeaked with delight as his plastic pants were pulled firmly into place. He jumped up from the bed and, raising his shirt above waist level, viewed himself from all angles in his mirror. His parents were once again amazed at his guileless behavior. It was as if he were two years old again and totally without inhibitions. His parents looked at each other knowing that this was not the time to try to discuss his motivations (if he even knew them) for wanting to wear diapers.
He was once again effusive in his thanks. He also bombarded them with questions. Could he wear just his diapers around the house like Kevin did? Was he going to be diapered at night, too? Would he get sleepers like Kevin’s? He probably would have gone on but his parents gently reminded him to slow down. Yes, he could wear his diapers without pants around the house. Yes, he would be diapered at night if he wanted that. And, yes he would get sleepers like Kevin’s.
“Now, I have to get dinner started,” his mom announced. “Peter, why don’t you bring your books up here and get your homework done. You’ve got hockey tomorrow and we’re going to visit Uncle Karl and Aunt Margaret on Sunday.”
Peter accompanied his parents downstairs but he didn’t return to his room to do his homework. Instead, he spread his books out on the kitchen table and worked there. He obviously didn’t want to be alone. Maybe he wanted to make sure that his parents saw him in his diaper and plastic pants… as if they might forget!
“Can I ask you something?” Peter asked his dad who was reading the news on his computer.
“What, Petey?” he responded, unconsciously using a nickname that the family hadn’t used in years.
“What are they asking for here?”
He handed him an English exercise book. His dad explained that Peter was supposed to change the object nouns into pronouns. His dad pushed the keyboard aside and put the book down.
“Here, try to do the first one.”
Peter read the sentence and said the answer out loud.
“Good,” his dad answered. “Now write it down.”
Instead of pulling the book closer, Peter sat in his dad’s lap and began writing. His dad was surprised, but not unpleasantly so. He encouraged Peter to continue doing the exercise, praising him or gently correctly him as they went along. He repositioned Peter halfway through so that they would both be more comfortable. Peter giggled but continued working until the end.
“Thank you, daddy,” Peter said hopping off his dad’s lap.
Peter’s dad was quite certain that Peter didn’t just like to wear diapers—he was now prepared for Peter to start asking for baby and toddler things as well. Mrs. Berrinson who had witnessed the whole scene thought so, too.
*****
“Can I go over to Kevin’s after I finish eating?” Peter asked during dinner.
“No, honey. I think you’ve spent enough time over there already.”
“Can I invite Kevin to come over here?” he asked after a few seconds of thinking.
“Yes, but finish eating first,” his mom said as he made a move to get up.
He was so anxious to invite Kevin that he skipped dessert to make the phone call. Kevin was blown away that Peter answered the door in his diaper and plastic pants.
“Aren’t you afraid that your mom and dad will see you?”
“No,” he giggled.
“They know that you’ve been wearing my diapers!” he exclaimed. “What happened?”
“Come in and I’ll tell you,” Peter answered.
Mrs. Berrinson came up behind Peter and greeted Kevin.
“Is your mom waiting for me in the car?” she asked.
“Sorry,” Kevin apologized.
He was supposed to deliver that message to Mrs. Berrinson but his surprise at seeing Peter in exposed diapers made him forget.
“No problem, dear. We’re just going to do a little shopping.”
Peter and Kevin went up to Peter’s bedroom. Kevin immediately saw the diapers and plastic pants.
“You’ve already got your own stuff!”
“Yeah, my mom figured it out a couple of days ago. But, the important part is that they’re going to let me wear diapers all the time!”
“Do you think I could wear just my diapers around here, too?” Kevin asked hopefully.
“I was hoping you would ask!” Peter answered.
For a few seconds it felt weird to be in someone else’s house in just his diapers and plastic pants.
“This is so cool!” Peter giggled, looking over to his friend.
“Yeah, awesome!” Kevin giggled back. “So are you going to wear them in school, too?” Kevin wondered.
“Yeah, sure. Why not? I’ve been wearing them for two weeks and nobody’s noticed,” Peter said defiantly.
“Yeah, but if you wet them all during the day you’ll need to get changed like me.”
“So?” Peter asked off-handedly.
“Well, the other kids will see that you’re going to the nurse’s office a lot. They’re going to wonder.”
“Nobody laughs at you when you get your diapers changed.”
“Yeah, but you guys all knew before I started.”
“It’s going to be alright, you’ll see,” he said confidently.
Kevin wasn’t so sure but he didn’t want to spoil the moment by having an argument. Instead, they went downstairs and watched a game with Mr. Berrinson until his mom returned to pick him up.
“OK, get your coat and pants,” she ordered. “Why don’t you save time and not put your pants on… you’re just going to take them off as soon as we get home!” she said teasingly.
Kevin was more than willing to oblige. He came back wearing his coat and his pants rolled into a ball.
“Ready?” his mom asked. “…Good. Give me your pants.”
The drive home only took a couple of minutes. Mrs. Berrinson parked in the garage and asked Kevin to take the bag from behind his seat into the house. He opened the back door and bent over to retrieve it.
“Hi!” a voice approaching behind him said.
It was his friend, Kelly. He whirled around trying to hide his diaper and plastic pants with the bag. Unfortunately, it was way too small.
“Hi,” Kevin croaked. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you a little while ago. Did you go over to Peter’s dressed like that?”
“How did you know I was at Peter’s?”
“Your dad told me. How come you’re not wearing your pants?” Kelly persisted.
Peter colored brightly, not knowing what to say. His mother came to the rescue… sort of.
“Kevin is more comfortable at home not wearing pants… you know, because of the thickness of his diapers. Peter doesn’t mind. Do you think you’ll mind if Kevin does the same thing when you come over?” she asked.
Kevin was mortified. Kelly’s jaw dropped in amazement.
“No, I guess not,” he said, beginning to feel embarrassed. “I mean, if it’s really better that way.”
“Oh, it is. Isn’t it?” she asked, turning to Kevin.
Kevin wanted to scream at his mother. The trouble was that she had simply told the truth.
“I guess so,” he squeaked.
“Now that that’s settled. Let’s all go inside. It’s too cold to stand in the garage.
They trooped into the kitchen where Mrs. Bunter relieved Kevin of the bag and told him to take off his coat before he started sweating. Kevin felt downright naked.
“I have to go home right away.” Kelly announced. “I just wanted to find out if you’d be playing hockey tomorrow.”
This was a simple question but Kevin was still tongue-tied, especially since he could see that Kelly’s eyes were primarily focused on his plastic pants and diaper.
“Yeah,” he finally answered. “Why?”
“Phil and Jose are sick. I was just wondering if you were OK.”
“I’m OK.”
“Super! See you tomorrow.”
As soon as Kelly was gone, Kevin turned on his mother.
“Why did you tell Kelly?” he whined.
“Well, honey,” she said in a reasoned tone, “you looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Somebody had to say something. I just told him why you didn’t have your pants on—nothing more.”
“But you made it sound like I’ll do that when he comes over!”
“Isn’t that what you’d prefer?”
It was, but Kevin was in no mood to agree. He left the kitchen muttering under his breath. His mother didn’t call him on it. She even allowed that he had a right to be mad. But, until he came clean with them about the real reason he wore diapers, this was exactly the kind of treatment she was going to give him.
*****
A new after-school system was put into place beginning the following Monday. Their mothers decided that since they were both in diapers and that Mrs. Berrinson was usually home, it made sense for the boys to go there.
“Did you like getting your diapers changed by Miss Benson?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, she was super nice,” Peter answered. “I went three time today.”
“Did anyone see you?” Kevin wondered.
“Stop worrying about me!” Peter said in an irritated voice. “Nothing is going to happen.
Peter was wrong. Something big happened three days later when they were coming back from Miss Benson’s office. They were accosted by Barry, the eighth grade bully, and his friends. Kevin didn’t like confrontations, so he tried to ignore them and walk away.
“Where are you going, baby?” Barry asked sarcastically while grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.
The pain was excruciating but Kevin tried to not let it show. Peter exploded when he realized what Barry was doing.
“Leave him alone!” he said shoving Barry against the wall.
Barry lost his grip but the others quickly took control over both of them.
“Babies who still wear diapers should learn to control themselves,” he said scornfully, laughing at his own double meaning. “Is it true that now there are two babies who wear diapers to school?”
“Leave us alone,” Peter shouted, breaking away from the boys who were restraining him.
He jumped on Barry who easily threw him off, being six inches taller and twenty-five pounds heavier. This didn’t stop Peter from trying again. Kevin would have helped him but he couldn’t break free. Barry easily overpowered Peter and the two of them were dragged off to a quiet side of the school building.
“Since he won’t tell us, let’s see if he really does wear diapers,” Barry said referring to Peter.
“You’ll never make me show you,” Peter spat in his face.
This really made Barry mad.
“That’s what you think!” he retorted.
He grabbed Kevin’s arm again and twisted it just as painfully as before. This time Kevin cried out.
“Show us your diapers and I’ll let go of his arm.”
“You’re a pervert!” Peter shouted.
Barry increased the pressure. Kevin cried out louder.
“OK! OK!” Peter agreed, dropping his pants. “Let him go!”
Barry and the others began taunting Peter, calling him a pants pisser and lots of other names.
“Take them all the way off!” Barry ordered.
Since Barry still had Kevin by the arm, Peter complied. One of the other boys picked them up and sniffed them.
“I guess his diapers really work. I don’t think he pissed these yet!”
Peter wanted to deck the kid but Barry was still twisting Kevin’ arm.
“Let him go!” Peter shouted.
Barry had a malicious grin on his face as he applied more pressure. Kevin was sweating from the pain. Suddenly, there was a funny popping noise and Barry felt Kevin’s arm go limp.
“Oh, shit!” he shouted as Kevin cried out in agony and terror.
The others also got scared and ran away. Peter wasn’t sure what had happened but he knew that he had to get help. Kevin’s arm was hanging in a funny position as he dropped to his knees and began sobbing.
“Don’t move,” Peter said. “I’ll get Miss Benson.”
He ran back into the school building unconcerned that lots of his friends were about to see him in his diaper. The kids were surprised and laughed because they thought that he was pulling some kind of prank. He reached Miss Benson’s office. He breathlessly explained what had happened and she immediately dialed 911. His return into the hallway with Miss Benson in tow aroused everyone’s curiosity, especially since they were moving so quickly and purposefully. Miss Benson hoped that they wouldn’t all follow but they did. Taking care of Peter was the most important task so she ignored the crowd as best she could. She recognized that he probably had a dislocated shoulder and made him as comfortable as possible. By this time, one of the teachers had sized up the situation and corralled most of the children back into the building. Two of Peter and Kevin’s closest friends were allowed to stay.
“What happened to your pants?” Kelly asked.
“They took them!” Peter answered, all his anger returning in a rush.
“Who?” Ben asked. “Did they make you put on Kevin’s diapers and plastic pants, too?”
“I think that you should go inside to my office. It’s cold out here,” Miss Benson said in an attempt to save Peter embarrassment.
“No, please,” he answered. “I want to stay with Peter.”
Just then, the paramedics arrived. After all the appropriate paperwork had been produced and Kevin’s parents notified, he was taken to the hospital.
“Is he going to be alright?” Peter asked.
“Yes, they just have to pop his shoulder back into place.”
They boys winced at the sound of that and Miss Benson regretted her words.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds (but painful nonetheless, she thought to herself). He’ll be OK. Now, you boys need to return to your classroom and Peter and I have to report this to the Mrs. McKinley.”
As they headed back inside, Peter started feeling guilty about everything that had happened. Kevin had warned him that he wouldn’t get away with wearing diapers to school. Only, he wasn’t he one who had suffered, it was Kevin. Just then Mrs. McKinley met them in the hallway.
“I just got back from my district meeting. What’s happened?” she asked Miss Benson.
“I don’t really know. It seems that this young man here and Kevin Bunter ran into some trouble. I believe that Kevin has dislocated a shoulder. May we go to your office?”
Peter started feeling very embarrassed as he calmed down. Despite his strong desire to wear diapers he never intended to let the whole school see him in them!
“Would you like a glass of water?” Mrs. McKinley asked.
“No thank you,” Peter answered with a catch in his throat.
He immediately sensed that he was very close to losing control. Mrs. McKinley sensed it, too, since she suggested that Miss Benson get him some anyway. He took a couple of sips.
“Feel better?” Mrs. McKinley asked. When Peter shook his head up and down she continued, “Your parents have been called and they are on their way.”
This sent Peter over the edge. “We didn’t do anything,” he said, his lower lip beginning to quiver. “They came up to us and forced us outside… and then Barry twisted Peter’s arm and I said I would take my pants off if he would stop… and I did but he didn’t and then Peter’s arm popped…” Peter began sobbing.
“It’s alright, Peter,” the nurse said gently stroking his hair, “no one is going to blame you. Here, have some more water and then close your eyes and sit back. Everything is going to be alright.”
As he calmed down, Mrs. McKinley and Miss Benson tried to make sense of the story.
“Were there any witnesses to all this?” the principal asked. “Maybe an adult?”
“I don’t’ know. The first I heard about it was when Peter came running into my office saying that someone had broken Peter’s arm.”
“I see. Stay with Peter while I do some investigating.”
She didn’t have to go far. Stepping out of her office, her secretary stopped her.
“Mr. Bradford sent this note for you. He says it’s urgent.”
Mrs. McKinley opened it and saw that it related to the incident.
“When Mr. and Mrs. Berrinson arrive, show them into the office. I’ll be back directly.”
Mr. Bradford had plenty to tell. He had been in his room correcting papers when he heard a commotion outside his window. Since the children were not supposed to congregate there, he went to the window to tell whoever it was to go back to the main yard. He saw Barry Hamilton twisting Kevin’s arm and then suddenly running away. He also recognized the other four boys.
“I knew something was very wrong when the five boys all took off running—not back to the school yard but off the property. By the time I got to the door, Peter was already running to find Miss Benson so I figured I should try to catch the boys who ran away. I ran in the direction they had taken but I couldn’t find them. When I got back, the paramedics had already arrived and the end-of-lunch bell was ringing so I came back here to take care of my class and to send you the note.”
“Yes, thank you. You’ve been a big help. You’re absolutely sure about the identities of the boys.”
“Yes, I’m positive,” he affirmed.
She went to the eighth grade rooms and confirmed that all of the boys he had mentioned were absent, even though they had been in school that morning. As she went from room to room she could feel the electricity in the air. Obviously, the children knew something major had happened. She pitied the poor teachers who were not likely to get the children to concentrate on their schoolwork. She headed to the attendance secretary’s desk to ask her to notify the parents of the five missing boys that their sons were truant. The Berrinsons had arrived and were sitting on each side of Peter.
“I don’t think that we’ll have much trouble disciplining the boys involved in this.” Mrs. McKinley announced. “One of my teachers saw the tail end of the event and can identify each of the five boys who were there. The apparent leader is a known troublemaker and I’m fairly certain that the school board will act to expel him. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if his parents took matters into their own hands and sent him away to boarding school first. As for the other boys, I’m sure that they’ll face punishment also, probably in the form of suspension. Lastly. I’m afraid that you’ll have to file a report with the police; otherwise, the board might not be able to act quickly.”
There were still a lot of things to sort out but Mrs. McKinley saw no point in detaining the Berrinsons or Peter any longer.
“Yes, thank you,” Mr. Berrinson agreed. “Peter told us what happened. The only thing we’re wondering about is if Peter’s pants have been found?”
“Dad!” Peter interjected before Mrs. McKinley could answer, “I already said that Brian took off with them when they all ran away!”
Mrs. McKinley nodded her head. This at least confirmed part of Mr. Bradford’s story.
*****
Mr. & Mrs. Berrinson parted company in the parking lot. He was going back to his office and she was taking Peter home.
“But why can’t we go to the hospital?” Peter asked for the third time. “Kevin will think that I don’t care.”
“For heaven’s sake!” she admonished him again. “I’ve already explained. I’m sure that they’re not going to allow us into the emergency room and they’ve probably given him something for the pain. I’m sure he wouldn’t even remember a visit anyway.”
“But why can’t we try? His parents are there! They’ll know and they can tell him later.” Then, a look of shock crossing his face, he added, “What if his parents didn’t go to the hospital? He might be scared and all alone.”
“Of course his parents are there!” his mom answered, her patience wearing thin. “Let’s keep our wits and not invent stories that aren’t true.” The hurt look in his eyes caused her to soften her tone. “Here’s what we’ll do. As soon as we get home we’ll leave a message on their answering machine. That way they’ll know that we were thinking about them. What do you say?”
“OK,” he agreed. But he obviously wasn’t satisfied.
Two police detectives came to the Berrinson home in mid-afternoon. It didn’t take Peter long to tell his story. At the end, he wanted to know about Kevin.
“Is he OK?” Peter wondered.
“Yes,” the younger of the two detectives said. “His parents think that he’ll be allowed to go home later this afternoon. His shoulder has been reset and everything looks good.”
“What happens now?” Mrs. Berrinson wondered.
“The five boys were picked up and brought to the station. They’ll be processed as juvenile offenders and most likely be released to the custody of their parents,” the older detective answered. “After that, I imagine that Mrs. McKinley will inform their parents that they’re suspended from school until the school board hears the case.”
“So there won’t be any danger in sending Peter to school tomorrow?”
“No, ma’am. And I must say that I hope they throw the book at those kids. Picking on kids with handicaps is just awful!”
Peter’s guilt feelings intensified as the afternoon and evening wore on. He barely ate any dinner and was unable to sit still or concentrate on anything. At nine o’clock the phone rang and Peter raced to pick it up.
“Hello, this is Mrs. Bunter,” the voice at the other end of the line said.
“How’s Kevin?” Peter asked breathlessly.
“He’s going to be alright. He’s here with us. He just took some strong medicine and will sleep through the night.”
“Will he be in school tomorrow?”
“No, honey. Maybe on Monday.”
“Can I come over tomorrow after school?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”
“Oh,” Peter answered very disappointed. “I just want to talk to him.”
“I understand. He wants to talk to you, too… to thank you for standing up to those bullies and for trying to stop them.”
“He said that?” Peter asked, his voice filled with hope.
“Yes, now don’t worry. Kevin’s not blaming you for anything. Can I talk to your mom now?”
*****
Peter waited in the dark for his parents to come and change his diaper. He had woken up a short while earlier thinking about Peter. How was he? Would he get to see him today? Even though his mom said that he wasn’t mad at him, would he change his mind after he had more time to think about it? And then there was school. How would he be treated after so many kids had seen him running around in his diaper and plastic pants? More importantly, what about Kelly and Ben? How would he explain it to them? Would they even want to listen? His parents noticed his upset and they offered to make an appointment with Dr. Sather to help him sort out his feelings.
“Who’s Dr. Sather?” Peter wondered.
“She’s the doctor who recommended that you should decide whether or not to wear diapers again,” his dad answered.
“Really?” he asked with interest. “She said I should wear diapers?”
“Not exactly,” his dad corrected, “but that’s not important now. Do you want to talk to her?”
Peter thought about it for several seconds. But, just like the questions he had asked himself earlier, he couldn’t decide what the right thing was.
“Do I have to tell you now?”
“No, honey,” his mom answered. “Just let us know if and when you’re ready.”
Peter walked to the bus fearful and confused. It wasn’t so much how the other kids might react… it was Peter. He was pretty sure that the other kids were going to tease him but he doubted that there would be any more violence. He knew that he could stand it. What he couldn’t bear to think about was Peter rejecting him. They had been friends for a long time and ever since the cabin he had started thinking of him like a brother. He reached the bus stop almost before he knew it. There were the usual kids standing around waiting. He was very aware of the buzz that started as he approached. He felt everyone’s eyes looking at his pants trying to see his diaper bulge. He even found himself comparing his crotch to that of some of the other boys. I guess it is kind of obvious, he concluded.
Oddly, they stepped back when the bus arrived. They want me to get on first so they can all stare at my diaper butt, he thought. Since this was only the second stop on the route, it was nearly empty. Normally, he and Kevin would sit with Kelly.
He approached him and asked, “Can I sit with you?”
Was there a hesitation before he gave permission? In any case, there certainly was a long pause before either of them said anything. Once again, Peter sensed that Kelly was discretely checking out his diaper bulge.
“Is Kevin OK?” Kelly asked.
“I guess so. His mom said that he’s going to stay home today.”
Another uncomfortable pause stretched out.
“How come…” and “I guess you,” overlapped each other.
“You first,” Peter said.
“No, you first,” Kelly answered.
“I guess you’re still wondering why I’m wearing diapers, too.”
“Kind of,” Kelly admitted.
“It’s sort of complicated but Dr. Sather says that I should,” he said stretching the truth.
The fact that he had never met Dr. Sather made the lie easier.
“Who’s Dr. Sather?”
“Just a doctor, I guess. My mom and dad talked to her more than I did.”
“Will you have to go to the hospital or anything?” Kelly asked with concern.
“No!” Peter answered quickly. “I’m not exactly sick. It’s just that I sort of have to wear diapers until… well, I don’t know for how long.”
Kelly didn’t know what Peter was talking about but he could see that he wasn’t going to tell him any more. In fact, he was feeling somewhat guilty for forcing Peter to say as much as he had. His mother had told him that it was none of his business and that he would probably embarrass Peter if he brought it up.
“Sorry,” Kelly said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I’m not embarrassed. It’s just hard to talk about.”
That seemed to break the ice for the rest of the ride to school. Ben joined them another stop later and, except for asking if anyone knew how Kevin was, he didn’t seem curious about yesterday’s event. Perhaps he didn’t even notice Peter’s diaper bulge.
Peter remained wary for the rest of the morning. However, nothing untoward occurred despite the fact that he sensed that people were constantly checking out his diaper bulge (which he imagined grew more pronounced by the minute). He was grateful that Kelly and Ben stuck close to him—that is, until they announced that they would accompany him to Miss Benson’s office for his lunchtime diaper change.
“I can go alone, you know. Barry and his friends aren’t here today,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but other kids might try something,” Ben responded.
Peter thought that that was unlikely. He shrugged his shoulders and said that they could come it they wanted to. However, he was appalled when they walked into Miss Benson’s office right behind him. Miss Benson was also surprised to see them. Kelly answered her questioning glance.
“We don’t want anyone to think that they can beat up on Peter like they did Kevin.”
She thought about that for a second and then smiled, “That’s very sweet of you. I’m sure Peter appreciates your concern.”
Peter stood motionless, smiling weakly at his friends.
“You’d better get your things,” she said to him. “Why don’t you boys sit and wait. This will only take a couple of minutes.”
In the meantime, Peter went over to a large metal cabinet and pulled out a plastic bin that contained his diaper supplies. He removed a fresh diaper, a pair of plastic pants, baby powder, and wipes. He replaced the cover on the bin and followed Miss Benson to the hospital bed that sat in an alcove at the back of the office. She closed the privacy curtain but the boys were still able to hear what went on. First, Peter removed his shoes and pants. Then they heard the crinkling of the plastic sheet on the bed as Peter lied down on it. Next, Miss Benson asked him to lift up so that she could remove his plastic pants. After a few seconds, they heard the sound of diaper pins falling into some kind of glass container.
“Where did you put the plastic bag for your wet diaper?” Miss Benson asked.
“I think I forgot to bring one,” he answered.
“Never mind, I’ll take care of it later.”
“Can we help?” Kelly asked through the curtain.
“Do you mind if they bring me one?” Miss Benson asked Peter.
“I guess not,” he answered uncertainly.
“Boys,” Miss Benson asked, “could you please bring a large plastic bag from Peter’s bin?”
“Sure!” they answered enthusiastically.
Peter was surprised by how uncomfortable he felt as his friends rummaged through his diapers and plastic pants. His heart skipped a beat when Miss Benson opened the curtain to accept the bag. He didn’t dare look away from the ceiling toward the curtain—he would rather not know for sure if one of his friends saw him lying there naked from the waist down. The curtain closed again and Miss Benson stored his wet diaper and plastic pants. (He would transport this and any other bags home in his backpack.) He was very tense as Miss Benson cleaned his diaper area.
“Are you nervous because your friends came with you?” she asked softly.
He nodded his head.
“Don’t worry about them,” she continued.” They must be very good friends to take the time to come here instead of going to the yard to play.”
Peter knew that. His discomfort stemmed from not knowing how they would react to having intimate knowledge about his diaper changes. Had they realized that he didn’t do it himself? Would they think that he was a total baby for letting Miss Benson do all the work? And, most importantly, would they tell anyone else about these things?
“There!” she said, after making sure that his plastic pants were in place. “All ready for the afternoon. Get dressed while I put this diaper with the others.”
Once again he didn’t look, but he was sure that his friends must have seen him pulling his pants up over his plastic pants as Miss Benson opened and closed the curtain to leave.
“I didn’t know that getting your diaper changed was so complicated,” Kelly observed as they headed back to the schoolyard.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” Peter agreed, feeling a blush rise to his face.
“And your diapers are really thick, aren’t they?” Ben added.
Peter felt his face get hotter. “I guess they have to be, to hold… everything they have to hold.”
Luckily, they were back in the yard and switched to other topics. It wasn’t until well into the afternoon session that Peter realized that no one was treating him differently. Maybe he could get away with wearing diapers after all.
*****
Peter telephoned the Bunters as soon as he got home from school. Mrs. Bunter answered.
“Yes, Kevin is awake and feeling much better… Uh, huh…. Yes, you may come over for a while… I’ll let him know.”
Mrs. Bunter greeted him with a surprise.
“I just spoke to your mom and she says that you can stay for dinner. I don’t know how quickly Kevin will tire so you may have leave right after.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Bunter. Is Kevin in his room?”
“No, he’s in the bathroom getting cleaned up. Why don’t you watch TV until he comes down.”
Peter hung his coat on one of the pegs by the door.
“I doubt that Kevin will wear pants,” she added.
Kevin took the hint and handed her his pants. Kevin came down a while later. Except for his arm being in a sling, he seemed normal.
“Does it hurt?” Peter asked.
“Only if I move around the wrong way,” he answered.
But, he didn’t want to talk about himself. He wanted to know about Peter’s day in school. Peter obliged and was happy to report that there hadn’t been any trouble.
“But I guess the real test will be when those guys who attached us come back.”
“My mom says that Barry isn’t coming back,” Kevin announced. “His mom and dad called my parents last night and apologized. They’re even going to pay all the hospital bills and stuff. He’s not coming back to our school ever. His mom and dad are sending him away someplace after winter break.”
“Awesome!” Peter smiled. Then, getting serious again, he added, “But what about the other guys?”
“Mrs. McKinley called my mom today and said that they’re suspended until after winter break. If they get into serious trouble again, they could get expelled, too. They’d be real stupid to try anything again.”
Peter agreed, happy to believe that there was nothing to worry about.
*****
A little while later, there was a knock at the back door. Mrs. Berrington, who was in the kitchen, answered it.
“Who’s visiting your mom?” Peter asked.
“I think it’s probably Kelly and Ben. I invited them, too.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me? I have to get my pants!” Peter said, rising.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Kelly and Ben saw you get a diaper change today?”
“They didn’t see me!”
“They were there,” Kevin pointed out.
“Yeah, but… I was behind the curtain.”
Kevin’s smug smile said it all.
“They saw?” Peter asked, the color draining from his face.
“Only for a second… but they heard everything.”
It was too late for Peter to escape upstairs to get his pants. Kelly and Ben entered the den.
“I’ll get you for this!” Peter muttered under his breath.
“Hi, guys!” Kelly said cheerily.
Ben stood bugged-eyed behind him. “You really do wear only your diapers at home!” he said in a surprised voice. “I didn’t believe it when Kelly told me.”
Peter was staring intently at Kevin. Kevin ignored him and continued on breezily, “Well, yeah. Our diapers are really thick and we like it better this way. Does it bother you?”
“No!” Kelly answered quickly. “I’m cool.”
Peter wondered if he really was. It seemed that neither he nor Ben could keep their eyes off his and Kevin’s diapers and plastic pants, not even when Kevin recounted all the graphic details of their encounter with Barry and his friends. He was relieved when they were called to the table. At least it provided a degree of cover.
*****
Peter was still mad at Kevin the next afternoon. Kevin was getting tired of hearing his complaints.
“Aren’t you the one who told me at Thanksgiving that I shouldn’t worry about people knowing that I wore diapers?”
“Those were strangers!” Peter countered. “You should have told me that Kelly and Ben were coming over. They’re our best friends.”
Kevin rolled his eyes before answering. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. I knew that you would have gone running upstairs to put your pants on. Did you want them to sit around all night wondering if your diapers were like mine or if we wore the same kind of baby pants? Now that they know, they’ll stop thinking about it”
As soon as he said baby pants, he realized his mistake. Peter was off and running in another direction.
“And that’s another thing! I think your mom deliberately kept on calling our plastic pants, baby pants!”
“Well, duh,” Kevin said, stating the obvious, “she always does that. That’s not my fault.”
“Can’t she call them plastic pants in front of other people?”
“Maybe. But I’m not going to ask her to,” Kevin said after a moment of thought.
Peter was on the verge of saying something else when Kevin cut him off.
“Look, if you’re so embarrassed about your diapers and baby pants, why don’t you go home right now and take them off forever?”
Kevin knew very well that Peter didn’t want that.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he continued, “the more people who see me in diapers the better. They’ll get used to it and they won’t bother me about it. They’ll just think that it’s normal. I don’t care if they like me or think that I’m weird. I just don’t want to have to hide them.”
This was how Peter thought about it too, although he was unhappy about having to admit it at this exact moment. “It’s still wasn’t fair!” he grumbled.
*****
Christmas vacation was almost upon them when Peter brought up a topic that he had been thinking about a lot.
“Do you ever want to have other stuff besides diapers, plastic pants, and sleepers?”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked.
“Well, you know… other baby clothes and maybe baby stuff, too.”
“Baby stuff?” Peter asked laughing.
“Never mind,” Peter said crestfallen. “I guess I’d better go home now.”
“No! Wait!” Kevin answered.
He led Peter up to his room, closed the door, and rummaged through his closet.
“You mean like this?” he asked, opening a box that contained a collection of pacifiers and baby bottles.
“When did you get this stuff?” Peter exclaimed.
“Not so loud!” Kevin answered. “My mom and dad might hear and wonder what I’m showing you.”
“Do you really use this stuff?” Peter asked.
“Of course!” Kevin answered with a giggle. “Here, take this,” he said selecting two pacifiers. “Let’s go rinse them off.”
They ran into Kevin’s mother in the hall. She appeared to be approaching the master bedroom, but she wasn’t. She had quietly followed Kevin and Peter and had heard their conversation. The boys continued past her down to the kitchen. She remained upstairs to make a phone call.
“Hello, Helen? This is Laura. I thought you’d like to know that Kevin just showed Peter his pacifiers and baby bottles.”
“Really? How did you find out?”
“The usual way.” Mrs. Bunter laughed. “They told me. However, this time, Kevin actually told Peter to keep his voice down after they were in his bedroom with the door closed.”
“So, what happened?” Mrs. Berrinson asked eagerly.
“The boys were in the den talking when Peter asked Kevin if he ever wanted to have ‘other baby stuff.’ Since Harry and I already know about Kevin’s stash of pacifiers and baby bottles, I wondered how he would answer. Kevin invited him up to his room and I heard him rummaging around his closet where he keeps the box hidden. They talked a little bit and then came out looking rather sheepish. Anyway, I thought you’d want to know.”
“Yes, thanks. Paul and I thought that this was inevitable. Oh well, on to round two, I guess. I hope the boys enjoy it.”
“At least yours was upfront with you. Harry and I still have to draw Kevin out to have him tell us the truth. I guess we’ll have to get more intentional about it. Time is running out.”
The boys came back upstairs and went into Kevin room, carefully shutting the door.
“OK, here’s the deal,” Kevin said. “Unless we’re talking, we have to suck on our pacifier.”
“OK,” Peter willingly agreed.
For the remaining time before Peter went home they lay stretched out on their stomachs reading from Kevin’s collection of comic books. Occasionally, they looked at each other and smiled or giggled. Each boy also thought that peeing his diaper while sucking on his pacifier was the ultimate pleasure.
*****
It was the day after Christmas. Kevin was anxious to hear about Peter’s first big family reunion in diapers. He showed up just after one o’clock. As was now their habit when visiting each other’s house, he left his pants downstairs with his jacket.
“Well?” Kevin asked after they had exchanged a short greeting.
Peter made a face as he sat down on the floor opposite Kevin. They had discussed his concerns about going to Christmas dinner at his grandparents’ house wearing diapers a few days earlier. At that time, he didn’t think he would have problems with his two oldest cousins, Amanda and Kara who were in high school, nor with his youngest cousin Billy who was not quite three. It was Matt and David, his twelve and thirteen year old cousins about whom he was worried.
“Well?” Kevin repeated when Peter remained silent for several seconds.
“It didn’t exactly turn out the way I thought it would. First of all, my mom said she wanted a day off from laundry so she put me into thick overnight disposable diapers and plastic pants. We got there first and I needed a change right away. My mom wouldn’t let me have my pants back because she thought that my cousins would tease me less if they saw that I was open about my diapers. I was really nervous while waiting for everyone else to arrive. My grandpa tried to make me feel better but it didn’t help. Anyways, my Uncle Bert and Aunt Mary arrived first with my cousins Amanda and Matt. I guess my mom had told everybody how I was going to be dressed because no one made any jokes or teased me, but they all stared at my plastic pants! Then, my Uncle Louie, Aunt Jennifer, Kara, David, and Billy showed up. It turned out that Billy was the pain!”
“Billy? But I thought you said that Billy was still in diapers. Why would he make fun of you?”
“He didn’t make fun of me,” Peter explained. “He got all excited that I was wearing diapers like him. He started begging my aunt and uncle to let him take his pants off, too. After they let him do that, he asked me why I wore plastic pants on top of my diapers. I told him that I didn’t want to have any leaks and he started asking his parents how come he didn’t have plastic pants. They whole time this was going on my cousins were snickering and smiling. They weren’t directly making fun of me but it sure felt like it! Eventually, my grandma remembered that she had some plastic pants leftover from when David (Billy’s older brother) used to spend the night as a baby. She brought them down and they fit Billy perfectly. At least David was the one who got the teasing about his old baby pants.”
“That doesn’t seem so bad,” Kevin observed.
“I guess not. But it felt weird to have a two year old be your best friend! He wanted to sit next to me at dinner and he stuck to me for the rest of the day.”
Kevin then went on to explain how he and his parents had spent a quiet day at home.
“Did you get any cool stuff?” Peter asked.
“A couple of things,” Peter said vaguely. “I guess my parents spent a lot of money on my diapers so there wasn’t much left for special presents.”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “I got mostly clothes and educational stuff.”
The boys commiserated a little more and concluded that since they were getting older they shouldn’t expect to get a lot of cool toys at Christmas.
“But we’re still going to the cabin tomorrow, aren’t we?” Peter asked.
“Absolutely! For one whole week!” Kevin exclaimed. “It’s going to be awesome! My dad says that he’s taking us to a semi-pro hockey game on Tuesday. I hope we have another power failure, too! That was so cool to sleep by the fire!”
“Do you think we could sleep by the fire anyway? I mean, we don’t need another power failure… I’m already wearing diapers!” Peter quipped.
*****
That night, Kevin became worried when his parents announced at the end of dinner that they wanted to have a family meeting. He reviewed the day and the last few weeks in his mind. Except for the incident with Barry, he couldn’t think of anything he had done that could get him into trouble. And, if the incident with Barry was the subject, why did they wait so long? It must be something else… but what? His arm was out of the sling and appeared to be almost completely healed. He only had two more therapy sessions to go before he went back to the doctor for the last time. Could there be something wrong there? He didn’t think so. Whatever, he thought to himself. Nonetheless, he was very nervous.
“Kevin, honey,” his mom began, “you know that we trust you and that we want what’s best for you, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he answered cautiously.
Were his parents laying some kind of trap?
“And, you know that in return we expect you to be honest with us, right?” his father added.
“Uh huh,” Kevin agreed.
“Good,” his dad affirmed. “Things are quite different around here, aren’t they? We mean since you went back to diapers.”
Kevin thought he knew where this was going.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I know that it causes a lot of work. I’ll do more to help.”
“That’s nice, dear,” his mom smiled. “But that’s not what this meeting is about. This meeting is about trust and honesty between us.”
“Oh,” Kevin whispered. They know that I don’t need diapers. They know that I want to wear them.
Kevin started breaking out into a sweat. Were his parents angry or disappointed? Were they going to cancel the trip to the cabin? His heart sank as he tried to think of a way to confess his feelings. At least they don’t look mad, he thought as he gazed at their expectant faces. Nonetheless, tears started to pool in his eyes. His mother took pity on him.
“Let me make it a little easier. You had a physical right before school started, didn’t you? The doctor found nothing wrong and you didn’t complain about anything. Then, dad told you about his childhood and seven weeks later you seemed to need diapers.”
“I thought you would be mad!” Kevin admitted tearfully. “I didn’t want you to think that I was a baby!”
“Kevin,” his dad responded, “whatever feelings you have, we want you to share them with us. You don’t have to lie or hide things. We will love you no matter what you feel or what you think you need.”
Kevin threw himself into his father’s arms and received a tight hug in return. He then went to his mother who hugged and kissed him.
“Feel better?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, wiping his eyes. “Can I go now?”
“Alright, but wash your face.”
“Well,” Mrs. Bunter said to her husband, “that was a long time in coming.”
“Yeah and it would still be coming if you hadn’t convinced me to force his hand. I guess you were right, though. It’s better for him and for us to have this out in the open.”
“Yes,” his wife agreed. “And this clears things for tomorrow as well.”
*****
The forecast was for crisp and clear weather with a possibility of new snow for New Year’s Day. The boys were excited about getting started for the cabin. Peter had been dropped off the previous night so that the Berrinsons could have some private time. The last order of business before leaving was for Kevin’s mom to change the boys into thick disposables and fresh baby pants. As soon as they got out on the road the boys settled down. In fact, they both had to be woken up when they stopped for lunch.
“Are we there yet?” Peter asked sleepily.
“No, honey,” Mrs. Bunter answered. “We’re stopping for food. Are you guys hungry?”
Naturally, they said that they were.
“How are your diapers holding out? Can you wait until after lunch for a change?”
Mrs. Bunter asked this question as they headed across the parking lot. The boys agreed. Their hearts jumped into their throats when they realized that two girls had heard the questions and their answers. The girls began twittering and one asked the other, “Can you believe that those losers still wear diapers?” The other girl giggled in response. Mrs. Bunter overheard them and was furious.
“Excuse me,” she said turning on them. “Do you think that it’s funny to mock people with special needs?”
The girls were shocked that they had been overheard and turned serious.
“We didn’t mean anything,” the first girl answered defensively.
A woman (perhaps their mother) approached, “Is there a problem?”
“I’m afraid so,” Mrs. Bunter answered. “These girls seem to think that it’s alright to make fun of people who are different.”
“I don’t understand.”
Mrs. Bunter explained how the girls had referred to the boys as “losers” because they wore diapers. The girls didn’t seem at all contrite as they stared at the boys diaper bulges. The boys began to squirm in embarrassment. This squirming caused their diapers to crinkle, which in turn caused them to become more nervous, resulting in more squirming and increased crinkling. The girls also noticed what was happening and, despite the scolding they were receiving, smiled mockingly at the boys. The lady finally gave up scolding them and announced that the girls would certainly have a different attitude during the month that they were going to be grounded. This caught the girls by surprise and their mouths opened in unison to protest. However, a stern look from the lady kept them quiet. The two groups (with the lady and girls in the lead) walked quietly into the restaurant. Peter wet his diaper heavily as they waited for a booth. He was glad that that hadn’t happened while the girls were staring at him.
“Are you guys OK?” Mr. Bunter asked solicitously.
“Yeah,” Kevin answered. “Besides, we’ll probably never see them again… I hope.”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “and they got grounded for a whole month!” he added gleefully.
The incident was forgotten as they ate their lunch and planned the week. After the waitress cleared away their last dishes, Peter sat back and enjoyed a nice long pee into his diaper. The sensation was wonderful, although somewhat different from peeing in a cloth diaper.
Suddenly, Kevin looked down at the bench and exclaimed, “What the…?”
Peter followed his gaze and saw that the wooden surface was covered with his pee.
“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Bunter asked.
“I’m sorry,” Peter said with tears in his eyes. “I didn’t know that my plastic pants were leaking.”
“Is that all?” she said with a slight smile.
“But he wet my pants, too!” Kevin complained.
“I already figured that out,” she responded calmly. “Stop acting like it’s the end of the world. Dad has the diaper bag. He’ll go with you to help you change.
“But everybody will see our wet pants!” Kevin complained further.
Mr. Bunter had already stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder.
“Come on. I’ll walk behind you… and cover your butts,” he said whimsically.
“That’s not funny!” Kevin said behind gritted teeth.
The boys ran so fast to the bathroom that Mr. Bunter couldn’t keep up with them. They all went into the handicapped stall.
“Take your shirts off, too,” Mr. Bunter said. “They’re wet along the bottom.”
The boys cleaned themselves up and Mr. Bunter helped them into clean diapers and plastic pants.
“I’ll throw away these disposables and get you clean clothes,” he said. “Wait here.”
“Like we were going to follow him out to the car dressed like this!” Kevin said sarcastically after his dad had left.
Peter giggled meaningfully and reached for the latch on the stall door.
“Don’t even think about it! We’re not going to play chicken in our diapers!”
Who knows how far the game might have gone if the outside door to the bathroom hadn’t opened. The boys retreated to the back wall so that their bare legs wouldn’t be seen. Whoever it was used the urinal, washed his hands and left.
“Where is he?” Kevin asked impatiently after several minutes of nervous waiting.
This time Peter unlatched the stall door and poked his head out.
‘Not here,” he said.
“Close that door!” Kevin screeched.
The outer door opened again and Peter quickly retreated inside the stall.
“It’s me,” Mr. Bunter said.
He entered the stall carrying their jackets.
“Where are our shirts and pants?” Kevin asked.
Instead of answering, he asked, “Did you guys load your bags into the SUV?”
“We brought them down to the garage,” Kevin answered.
“I asked if you loaded them into the car,” Mr. Bunter repeated.
“No,” Peter answered before Mr. Bunter lost his temper. “We put them on the floor next to the wall.”
“Then nobody loaded them. They’re not here.”
“What!” Kevin cried. “We’ve got to have clothes!”
“Here are your jackets. It’s the best we can do.”
They zipped them up and looked at each other—two-thirds of their plastic pants were visible.
“No!” Kevin said, digging in his heels. “I won’t go out there like this!”
Peter didn’t particularly want to leave either but he was calmer and could see that there was no way around it.
“I’ll lead the way,” he said.
“No!” Kevin repeated, the panic in his voice obvious.
“We can’t stay here all day!” Kevin answered in exasperation. “I’m going out.”
Peter panicked even more as his father also headed out.
“Wait!” he shouted.
Mrs. Bunter was waiting for them outside the bathroom. She led the way, followed by Peter then Kevin then Mr. Bunter. A few heads turned as they walked through the dining room but most patrons didn’t realize what was happening. This didn’t lessen either boy’s anxiety. They had just gotten outside when then heard wolf whistles behind them. The instinctively turned around and saw the two girls and lady whom they had met on the way in.
“Arrgh!” the boys shouted and ran to the car.
*****
“I’m sorry!” Peter said for the fifth time in three minutes.
“Kevin,” his mom said in a warning voice, “this has gone long enough. Stop your pouting. Peter isn’t used to wearing disposable diapers and he didn’t realize he was leaking. Now shake hands and stop this bickering.”
Mrs. Bunter watched approvingly as they performed a palm-slapping, finger-entwining, and elbow-bending ritual that seemed more complicated than any secret society handshake she had ever heard of. No matter. Kevin settled down and they were back to normal. They dozed most of the way, only waking up for the last few miles.
“Look, dad!” Kevin pointed as they approached the cabin. “There’s smoke coming out of the chimney.”
“So there is.” his dad remarked.
“Isn’t that nice?” his mom added. “The house will be nice and warm.”
“But who did it?” Kevin persisted.
“Someone who wants us to be comfortable, I guess,” his dad answered.
Kevin and Peter looked at each other and shrugged. Kevin’s parents were obviously trying to mess with their heads. They must have arranged for one of the neighbors to do it. They parked in the driveway and Mr. Bunter asked for their help to bring stuff into the cabin. It was considerably colder here than at the restaurant. The boys were happy to go inside.
“Put those things on the counter,” Mrs. Bunter directed, “and take off your coats before you begin to sweat.”
The boys did as instructed.
“Should we help dad get the rest of the stuff?” Kevin asked.
“I’ve got it all here,” Mr. Bunter said as he came through the door. “Go ahead and get settled in.”
The boys weren’t sure what that meant since their bags had been left in the garage back home. They walked into the great room and stopped in their tracks. There was a big Christmas tree in the corner with a large pile of gifts underneath. There was also a man sitting in the chair by the fireplace… a man in a red suit… Santa Claus.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” he bellowed. “So, you’ve finally arrived. You’ve caused me a lot of trouble this year by not sending a letter to tell me what you wanted. I had to do a lot of guessing. That’s why I’m late delivering them.”
The boys were shocked and embarrassed to have this man see them shirtless and in their diapers. They started to back away but Mr. Bunter was right behind them, pushing them into the room.
“You’re not afraid of Santa Claus, are you?” he asked in a kindly voice.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Santa bellowed again. “Of course not! Come here Peter! Come here Kevin!”
The boys approached warily.
“Peter, sit here on my knee. Kevin, come over here on my other knee. I know that you’ve been good little boys this year because your mommies and daddies told me so. But, how come I didn’t get a letter or an e-mail from you telling me that?”
Neither Kevin nor Peter wanted to be the one to say that they were too old to believe in Santa Claus.
“I guess we forgot,” Kevin said.
“Well, I suppose that’s understandable, especially after what that very bad boy Barry did to both of you. By the way, how’s your arm?”
“It’s OK,” Kevin said moving it around to show Santa that it was healed.
“That’s good. And don’t worry about Barry and his friends. They all got lumps of coal in their stockings!”
The boys were getting into this game and laughed along with Santa.
“Santa has to leave soon but before I go I have to check that I’ve brought you the gifts you’ve been wishing for. Close your eyes and concentrate.”
They felt Santa’s hand gently rubbing circles on their foreheads. Suddenly, they were overwhelmed by rapidly flashing visions of themselves in diapers, in baby clothes, playing with baby toys, being spoon fed... There were many other images but they passed too quickly to take in. They felt completely relaxed. They giggled and fell asleep.
*****
Kevin woke up as the SUV slowed to take the Parker Road exit off the interstate.
“Where are we?” he asked groggily.
“Just getting off the highway,” his dad answered. “We’ll be at the cabin in a minute or two.”
“But, we were just there!” Kevin exclaimed.
“Yes,” his mother laughed. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been a month since we last came up here.”
The sound of their voices woke Peter up.
“Did you have a nice nap?” Mrs. Bunter asked.
“Yeah,” he answered. “How come we’re back in the car?”
Mrs. Bunter laughed again. “You guys must have really slept soundly. Kevin woke up a little confused, too. We’ll be at the cabin in just a few more turns.”
Peter looked over to Kevin and they silently communicated their confusion to each other.
“Look, dad!” Kevin pointed out before he could stop himself from saying it. “There’s smoke coming out of the chimney.”
“So there is.” his dad remarked.
“Isn’t that nice?” his mom added. “The house will be nice and warm.”
The boys were reeling from this déja-vu conversation. This was really spooky.
“But who did it?” Kevin continued, once again unable to stop himself.
“Someone who wants us to be comfortable, I guess,” his dad answered.
The boys felt lightheaded as they left the SUV and Mr. Bunter handed them the same items that they had taken into the kitchen before.
“Put those things on the counter,” Mrs. Bunter directed, “and take off your coats before you begin to sweat.”
The boys mechanically did as instructed. Kevin consciously told himself that he wouldn’t ask the next question but it came out of his mouth anyway. “Should we help dad get the rest of the stuff?”
“I’ve got it all here,” Mr. Bunter said as he came through the door. “Go ahead and get settled in.”
The boys cautiously approached the door. They peeked into the great room and gasped. The same Christmas tree that they had seen earlier stood in the corner, although there were no presents under it. They glanced over to the chair by the fireplace and were further disappointed to see that it was empty. They jumped when Mr. Bunter patted them on the backside.
“Well, go on in,” he coaxed. “What are you waiting for? Santa Claus to come?”
“We thought that somebody might be here already,” Peter said.
“Well there is!” a familiar voice said from the top of the stairs.
“Mom! Dad! What you doing here?”
“We said that we wanted some privacy last night. We didn’t say anything about the week. Are you disappointed that we came, too?”
The Berrinsons had finished coming down the stairs and stood alongside the boys and Mr. & Mrs. Bunter.
“Where are your clothes, Peter?” his mom asked.
Peter offered a hasty explanation, leaving out all references to the girls.
“Oh, dear!” Mrs. Berrinson responded. “You boys must be cold. Maybe Santa can help.”
They boys felt a momentary dizziness at the mention of Santa Claus.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” a voice behind them bellowed.
They squealed and backed into their parents. They gaped at the man in the red suit sitting in the chair by the fireplace.
“So, you’ve finally arrived. You’ve caused me a lot of trouble this year by not sending him a letter to tell me what you wanted. I had to do a lot of guessing. That’s why I’m late delivering them.”
“You’re not afraid of Santa Claus, are you?” Mr. Bunter asked in a kindly voice.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Santa bellowed again. “Of course not! Come here Peter! Come here Kevin!”
The boys approached on rubbery legs.
“Peter, sit here on my knee. Kevin, come over here on my other knee. I know that you’ve been good little boys this year because your mommies and daddies told me so. But, how come I didn’t get a letter or an e-mail from you telling me that?”
“I guess we forgot,” Kevin said.
“Well, I suppose that’s understandable, especially after what that very bad boy Barry did to both of you. By the way, how’s your arm?”
“It’s OK,” Kevin said moving it around to show Santa that it was healed.
“That’s good. And don’t worry about Barry and his friends. They all got lumps of coal in their stockings!”
The boys relaxed a little and laughed along with Santa.
“Santa has to leave soon but before I go I want to check that I’ve brought you the gifts you’ve been wishing for. Close your eyes and concentrate.”
They again felt Santa’s hand gently rubbing circles on their foreheads. Suddenly, the rapidly flashing visions of themselves in diapers, in baby clothes, playing with baby toys, and being spoon fed came back. There were many other images but they passed too quickly to take in. They felt completely relaxed.
“Ok, now open your eyes,” Santa said.
They did and found themselves sitting on the floor in front of the tree, which now had piles of gifts under it. They turned around to look at the chair by the fireplace—Santa was gone. Their parents stood next to them, smiling patiently.
“OK, Mr. Bunter said, “shall we begin?”
The boys were confused but not scared. Part of their mind said that there wasn’t a Santa Claus, but they nonetheless couldn’t wait to see what Santa had brought them! At the moment, they didn’t really care one way or the other. They began opening presents and discovered that everything was appropriate for toddlers. They giggled and laughed at the bibs, baby shirts, diaper covers, shortalls, overalls, and onesies that they unwrapped. Finally, each of them had only one large package left. Inside, they found dozens of very thick daytime diapers—half of which were solid pastels and the rest baby-prints.
“Cool!” Peter exclaimed as he pulled out a baby-print diaper and examined how thick it was.
“Awesome!” Kevin agreed.
“Keep looking,” Kevin’s mom encouraged them.
The boys dug further and found the matching baby pants. Again, there were two basic designs—half were nearly clear white pants to wear over baby-print diapers and the others were baby-print design to wear over solid colored diapers.
“OK! Mrs. Berrinson announced. “Time to change my poopy little boy.”
“Huh?” Peter said in confusion before it dawned on him that he had indeed pooped his diaper without realizing it.
“You, too” Mrs. Bunter said, grabbing Kevin by the hand.
The boys blushed furiously. When had they pooped their diapers? More importantly, why had they pooped them? This is too weird, especially after everything else, they thought. Their moms grabbed solid colored diapers and baby-print pants. The boys were led up to Kevin’s bedroom and changed. They giggled at each other when they saw how far out their diapers protruded. Also, they enjoyed the extremely noisy baby pants!
“Are you coming downstairs to pick out clothes to wear?” Kevin’s mom asked.
“Yeah,” the boys answered, but made no move to follow their moms downstairs.
Still lying on the bed, they faced each other and giggled again at the enormity of their diapers and the extreme babyishness of their pastel diapers and baby print pants.
“Can I ask you something?” Peter suddenly asked.
“What?”
“Did you notice anything weird about this afternoon?”
This was more than enough to get the conversation started. They compared notes and agreed that they had arrived twice and that Santa Clause seemed to have appeared and disappeared suddenly.
“Could we have been dreaming?” Peter wondered.
“Both of us with the same dream?” Kevin answered skeptically.
“Yeah, you’re right. That doesn’t make sense,” Peter agreed.
The boys rehashed the afternoon’s events without making heads or tails out of any of it. In the meantime, their parents were having a quiet conversation of their own.
“Do you suppose they’ve figured it out?” Mrs. Berrinson asked.
“What?” her husband responded, “that Santa Claus was a psychiatrist trained in hypnotic therapy? I don’t think so!”
“I don’t know,” Mr. Bunter said. “They’re pretty smart kids.”
“I just hope that we did the right thing,” Mrs. Bunter interjected. “What if the boys take this too far and start acting like babies at school or while playing outside? They would become objects of ridicule.”
“You heard what the doctor told them,” Mr. Bunter answered. “He didn’t put any posthypnotic suggestions into their minds. He only assured them that we would accept them no matter how they acted. Whatever they do around us is the result of their being comfortable with us… not the result of coercion.”
“I suppose you’re right,” his wife conceded. “But… I must say that their poopy diapers were quite a surprise!”
“Yes,” Mrs. Berrinson answered with a chuckle, “I wish they had been less comfortable about doing that!”
Back upstairs, the boys gave up trying to figure out what happened.
“Come on,” Kevin suggested, “let’s go pick out fun clothes to wear!”
He sprang off the bed and immediately fell down.
“Are you OK?” Peter asked.
Kevin stayed on the floor, giggling.
“What’s the matter?” Peter asked as he got off the bed.
But, he didn’t need an answer. Their diapers were so thick that it was hard to stand up at all! He started giggling, too, and reached out to help Kevin up. Kevin took his hand and, instead of trying to get himself up, pulled Peter down with him.
“Let’s crawl!” Kevin said.
Kevin giggled his agreement and the boys set out for stairs. Once at the top they were momentarily stumped.
“I know!” Peter exclaimed. “This is how my little cousin used to do it.”
He sat on the first step and then slid his bottom down onto the next one and so on. Kevin liked the idea and started out right behind him. The noise drew their parents’ attention.
“What are you guys doing?” Mrs. Bunter asked, smiling at how cute they looked.
“Diapers are too thick,” Kevin explained.
“Oh!” she answered as they reached the bottom and began crawling toward the Christmas tree.
“Need some help there?” Mr. Berrinson asked Peter.
“Help with what?” he answered innocently.
“Never mind!” his dad laughed.
“Can we wear our new clothes?” Kevin continued.
“OK,” Mrs. Bunter answered and Mrs. Berrinson concurred. “What do you want to wear?”
They selected long sleeved onesies and corduroy overalls. As their moms were putting on their overalls, they saw that the inside seams of the legs were held together by shiny silver snaps.
“What are those for?” Peter wondered.
“For the same reason that you have snaps on your onesies... so that mommy can change your diaper without having to take off your overalls. The boys really liked this babyish feature. The last thing their moms did was to fasten a pacifier to their overall bib.
“Thank you, mommy,” the boys said in unison.
They stayed on the floor facing each other. They had chosen to wear matching striped onesies and identical red overalls.
“Cool!” Kevin exclaimed. “Our baby pants still show around the snaps.”
“Yeah!” Peter gleefully agreed. “And our diaper bulges still look huge!”
They decided to lean against the sofa and watch the fire burn in the fireplace. They didn’t have anything to say so they sucked on their pacifiers. A couple of minutes later, a flash alerted them that they had just had their picture taken by Mr. Berrinson.
“Wait! Don’t move. I want one too!” Mr. Bunter said.
“OK,” Kevin answered. “Can you take our pictures in front of the Christmas tree, too, daddy?”
More pictures were taken and it was obvious that the boys wanted their diapers to be as obvious as possible. Their dads accommodated them and they were ready to start a new cycle of pictures in just their diapers when their moms interrupted with the announcement that dinner was ready.
“That’s OK,” their dads said, seeing their disappointment at having to stop. “We’ll get lots more pictures later.”
Dinner was going to be fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas—all foods that the boys liked.
“Peter, you sit here, and Kevin, over there.”
Their dads sat to their right and tied large bibs on them. The cartoon character designs started the boys giggling again.
“OK,” Mrs. Berrinson said placing a plate (with the chicken already cut up into little pieces) in front of each of the boys.
“No forks?” Kevin asked in an oddly hopeful voice.
“No, sweetie. Your Daddy will feed you.”
This made the boys’ smiles even broader.
*****
The boys were glad to be treated like toddlers. They loved their extra thick diapers and baby clothes. The hoped that the patterns that were being established would carry on after they returned home. In particular, they wanted the bedtime rituals to continue. They adored being bathed and put into their nighttime diapers early in the evening. (In order to make the nighttime diapers different from their daytime diapers, they were put into thick overnight disposable diapers and then their usual thick cloth nighttime diapers were pinned over these. They were delighted that these made them virtually incapable of walking!)
The routines didn’t vary except on Tuesday night when their dads took them to the hockey game. They could have worn disposables and their plain white plastic pants under the only pair of normal pants that they had with them but they chose not to. They instead chose relatively inconspicuous dark blue corduroy overalls with solid colored shirts. However, some very obvious signs couldn’t be hidden: their thick diaper bulges and accompanying waddle, and the silver snaps along the inner seam of their pant legs. Still, they were happy with what they were wearing and they were confident that they wouldn’t meet anyone that they knew. Things didn’t work out that way, though. They had just arrived and were scouting out a place to sit when a familiar voice stopped them.
“Hi!” their friend Ben called out. “What are you guys doing here?”
They boys were surprised and greeted him effusively, momentarily forgetting that Ben could see their juvenile overalls under their unzipped jackets.
“My dad and I came up to see my cousin Terry play. He’s a second-string forward for the Rockets.”
“Cool,” Peter answered. “Does he get a lot of playing time?”
“Sometimes,” Ben answered.
The arena was practically empty for this mid-week game so they had their choice of seats. The first period went quickly and the Rockets were up 2-0. The boys were hungry so they asked if they could get something to eat. After getting money from their dads, they headed for the snack bar.
“Can I ask you guys something?” Ben wondered. “Did you pick out those overalls yourselves or did your moms get them for you?”
Kevin and Peter had been expecting him to ask about their clothes and, all things considered, his question seemed pretty mild.
“We got these for Christmas,” Kevin answered.
“Oh, well I guess it makes sense that your moms want to make it easy to change your diapers.”
The boys blushed at this remark—he had seen the snaps running up their inseams!
“Well,” Peter stuttered, “it is kind of handy. All our overalls have these snaps.”
“You have more than one pair of baby overalls?” he asked in surprise. “Are you going to wear them to school?”
The boys blushed again, Peter in particular for having been so clumsy as to reveal that they had multiple toddler-style overalls.
“No!” Kevin answered quickly. “These are just for wearing at home.”
“Then why are you wearing them here?”
Neither boy wanted to answer that question. Luckily, they arrived at the food stand and had an excuse not to answer. They were back at their seats enjoying their hamburgers when Ben repeated the question. Kevin and Peter looked at each other, more or less asking the other to answer. Kevin finally gave in.
“Umm, this is kind of embarrassing to talk about… umm, but our diapers are too thick to fit over our regular pants.”
“I thought that you were walking funny and that your diapers looked thick!” Ben said. “Are you always going to wear your diapers like this?”
Kevin looked over to Peter, waiting for him to answer this one.
“Well, no” he answered hesitatingly. “These are just for wearing when we’re at home.”
“Or not in school?” Ben added questioningly.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Peter confirmed.
The second period started and they boys stuck to commenting on the game. Ben’s cousin played for most of the second period. He earned an assist and the score was 3-0. Their dads announced that it was their turn to get something to eat and that they would bring dessert back with them. As soon as they were out of their sons’ hearing, Ben’s dad spoke.
“That went just about how I expected.”
“What do you mean? Mr. Berrinson asked.
“I fully expected that Ben would notice how your boys were dressed. As I’ve told you before, he’s been so fascinated by the whole idea of your boys wearing diapers that he talks about it with Kelly all the time. I’m not the least bit surprised that he’s asking them direct questions.”
“So, where do you want to go from here?” Mr. Bunter asked.
“I think we should offer him the chance to stay at the cabin with your boys until you come home Saturday.”
“OK,” Mr. Berrinson and Mr. Bunter agreed. “Let’s see what happens.”
They ordered their food and also picked up candy and chips for the boys. The third period was almost over when Ben’s dad dropped his bombshell.
“You mean I could stay with Kevin and Peter for the rest of the week?” Ben asked with a mixture of surprise and eagerness.
“Sure, why not? Their dads said that it would be OK.”
Peter and Kevin were a little less enthusiastic, fearing his reaction to all the toddler and baby things they had.
“That’s right,” Kevin’s dad said encouragingly.
“I’d really like to, but I don’t have any things with me,” Ben pointed out.
“I’m sure that Kevin and Peter would be happy to share with you. They have plenty with them.”
“Would you?” Ben asked the boys hopefully.
“Yeah, sure. Only we don’t have any regular clothes with us,” Peter said with particular emphasis on the word regular.
An excited look crossed Ben’s face and then disappeared. No one missed it. Peter and Kevin looked at each other with amazement. Did Ben want to wear diapers, too?
“Yeah,” Kevin agreed. Then, pushing the point, he added, “That is, if you won’t mind wearing diapers and baby pants.”
Another look of excitement crossed Ben’s face but he got it under control quickly.
“I guess I could
do that,” he said with barely suppressed enthusiasm. I wonder if they’ll let
me have colored diapers and colored baby pants like they’re wearing, he
thought excitedly.
*****
As soon as they got back to the cabin, the boys were told that it was time to get ready for bed. Ben was genuinely surprised to find out that he would be bathed along with Peter and Kevin but he didn’t protest. In fact, once he was diapered and put into a sleeper he was incapable of hiding his excitement any longer.
“You like this, don’t you?” Kevin observed.
“So do you,” Ben answered defensively.
“Don’t get up tight,” Peter said. “We’ll tell you everything if you promise to keep it a secret.”
Ben agreed and listened intently as they explained everything that had happened since they got to the cabin, including the unexplained Santa Claus episode. They also showed him everything they had, including their baby-print diapers, baby pants, and pacifiers.
“So, are we really weird?” Kevin asked.
“If you are, then I am, too. Can I try one of your pacifiers?” he asked blushing a deep crimson.
It was getting late, so Mrs. Bunter came up to put them to bed. She smiled approvingly as she kissed them good night and tucked them in. She had noticed that all three of them were holding pacifiers.
“You can talk for a little while. I’ll come back to let you know when it’s time to go to sleep.”
The boys were quiet for a few seconds after she turned out the light. Ben broke the silence.
“Kelly is going to be really jealous when he finds out.”
Peter and Kevin were stunned.
“You mean he wants to wear diapers, too?” Kevin screeched in surprise.
“Really, really bad. He talks about it all the time,” Ben confirmed.
“We’ll have to do something about that as soon as we get back,” Peter giggled.
“Yeah,” Kevin giggled in turn. “As soon as we get back. Let’s start making a plan tomorrow.”
The End