Mrs. Haddlin dropped Ty off at his house. He thought about retrieving his pants from Eddie but he knew that it was useless to try to hide the truth. Mrs. Haddlin was bound to tell his mother about the shopping trip and the double diapers into which she had put him.
“I see I was right to have called Mrs. Haddlin after you left. Where did you leave your pants?” his mother asked as he walked through the door.
“You knew?” Ty answered in surprise.
“I didn’t ‘know’ anything,” she clarified. “I just suspected that you might ‘lose’ your pants on the way over to the Haddlins, especially since I knew that Mark wasn’t going to be wearing any. You still haven’t answered my question. Where are your pants?”
“At Eddie’s.” Ty answered sullenly. He hated it when his mother could figure him out so easily. “I’ll go get them.”
“Don’t bother. Eddie is coming over soon. Remember, Aunt June and Uncle Henry are coming back today. You and Eddie have to go over there and apologize for having used Bryin’s diapers and plastic pants without their permission. Phone and ask Eddie’s to bring them when he comes over.”
Bryin and his family pulled into their driveway. They had had a great time on vacation but they were all happy to be home, especially Bryin. Whenever they went away for more than one overnight, he had to wear disposable diapers. These were OK with him but his ‘real’ diapers were better. He couldn’t wait to get back into them. But first, they would have to unpack the car. (His parents had figured out a long time ago that the best incentive to get Bryin to help with the unloading was to change him into his cloth diapers only after the job was finished.)
Bryin plopped his bag down in his bedroom. Glancing into the bathroom he saw a bunch of his plastic pants drying on the rack. He cursed Ty and Eddie for having been so careless. What if his mother or anyone else had seen them first? He quickly took them down, noticing that the waist and leg bands were still slightly damp.
“They must have waited until today to wash them,” he thought to himself. “I’ll have to check if there are any diapers in the dryer.”
The car was soon emptied and Bryin was back in his cloth diapers and plastic pants, feeling extremely contented. His mother was on the phone talking to her sister, Ty’s mother.
“Hi! We’re back… Yes, just a few minutes ago… It was a wonderful trip. The children had a great time and Henry and I got to relax, too… Oh?… Well, sure, you can come over… With Ty and Eddie?… Of course… See you in fifteen minutes.”
“Who’s coming over?” Bryin asked.
“Aunt Melinda, Ty, Eddie and Eddie’s mom. Aunt Melinda says that Ty and Eddie have some apologizing to do. Did you see anything wrong in your room? I didn’t notice anything wrong around the house. I wonder what’s going on. Oh well, they’ll be here soon. I’m sure it’s nothing big.”
Considering the plastic pants he had found hanging in his bathroom, he wasn’t so sure. He was beginning to get a little nervous.
“Welcome home,” Melinda called through the screen door. “Can we come in?”
“Of course, come on in,” June and Henry answered in unison.
They were about to add more when they saw Ty and Eddie walking behind their mothers, dressed in puffy double diapers and plastic pants. Melinda noticed where their gazes were focused.
“OK, boys, explain,” she said abruptly.
Despite having already been seen publicly in their diapers, the boys were tremendously embarrassed. Ty, in particular, was worried about how his aunt and uncle would react to his having borrowed Bryin’s diapers for so many years.
Bryin was coming down the stairs when his aunt ordered Ty and Eddie to explain themselves. Without even seeing them, he knew that the subject was diapers. Nonetheless, even he was surprised to see that his cousin and his friend were dressed in just their diapers- and double diapers at that! He was jealous and felt out of place wearing pants over his diaper and plastic pants.
“Well,” Eddie’s mother prodded the boys, “everybody’s waiting.”
Ty hesitantly launched into his confession of having worn Bryin’s diapers secretly over the years. His nervousness caused the story to come out all jumbled at first. Eventually, Bryin’s parents understood that Bryin had been supplying his cousin and Eddie with diapers and plastic pants. Bryin’s parents were obviously not pleased to hear this. An uncomfortable silence fell over the group.
“Can we go up to my room?” Bryin asked.
“Yes, but you’re staying put until we (meaning the adults) figure out what we’re going to do about this,” his dad answered.
Bryin was bursting with excitement when they got to his room.
“Tell me everything that’s happened since your moms discovered you wearing my diapers,” he said taking off his pants.
By mutual agreement Ty and Eddie had earlier decided to say nothing about Mark. (Of course, Ty would make no reference to his dad, either.) They wanted to save that ‘surprise’ for as long as possible.
“OK, first we’ll start with how I got caught,” Ty said.
After that, they described their walk home in diapers, the trip to the medical supply store and how Mr. Goodwin waited on them, and, finally, how they had worn practically nothing but diapers ever since.
“Have a lot of people seen you?” Bryin asked.
“Lots and lots,” Eddie said proudly. “We’ve even gone shopping in just our diapers.
Bryin’s excitement increased some more. This was a fantasy he had harbored for a long time but his mother would never let him leave the house without his pants, except if he was staying close by in the neighborhood.
“Awesome,” he said dreamily. “You guys are so lucky.”
“So far, anyway,” Eddie said. “Who knows what will happen when everybody knows about our diapers?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bryin answered. “Everybody knows about mine and nobody cares.”
“Yeah, but you’ve worn yours forever. Some people might think that you have a medical reason,” Bryin pointed out. “Besides, you normally wear pants over your diapers. Me and Eddie are being forced to show off our diapers until our moms say it’s OK to wear pants again. That could mean no pants until the end of the summer.”
This was pure torture for Bryin. He would love to be forbidden from wearing pants all summer!
“Awesome!” Bryin said even more fervently. “I wonder if I could convince my parents to let me do the same?”
“I don’t know,” Ty speculated. “Your parents seemed kind of mad about you letting us wear your diapers. Maybe they’ll punish you by taking your diapers away. You’ve always said that they were never happy about you wearing them.”
“What!” Bryin said, clearly shaken. “They’ve always let me wear diapers. They wouldn’t do that, would they?” He didn’t wait for an answer but moved right along. “How come your diapers are so thick?”
Still avoiding any mention of Mark, Eddie answered.
“Oh, this is something new from today. Our moms are kind of frustrated that we aren’t embarrassed enough about our diapers so they’re making our diapers as obvious as possible. They’re forcing us to wear double diapers and really big plastic pants,” he said stating the obvious.
Bryin’s dad called them back downstairs. None of the adults looked happy.
“Sit down, boys,” Ty’s aunt said. “None of us is going to pretend that we understand what you get out of wearing diapers and we seriously doubt that you could explain it to us. We’ve never opposed Bryin’s wishes to wear diapers but we thought that we had taught Bryin to be truthful and honest. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Bryin’s dad said, speaking directly to him. “Your mother and I are very disappointed that you hid something like this from us for years. Why did you? Can you tell us?”
“I don’t know,” Bryin answered. “I thought that you might get mad.”
“Well, we are kind of mad,” his dad continued, “but not because you shared your diapers with Ty and Eddie. If you had told us about it, we could have discussed some way to handle it. We’re mad because you hid things from us over and over again for a long period of time.”
“I’m sorry,” Bryin said sincerely.
“I hope so,” his dad answered, “but that’s not enough. You will be punished. First of all, no computer privileges for the next week and you are grounded this weekend and the next, except for soccer. There’s no reason for your team to be let down. (Bryin was their top defensive player.) Lastly, we’re going to test your attachment to your diapers.”
“Oh, no,” thought Bryin, “Ty was right. They’re going to take my diapers away.” For the first time in a long time he felt like crying.
“That’s right,” his mother said, “I have always resisted your wishes to go around in just your diapers. Well, we’re changing that right now. From now on, you will not get any pants to wear and you will wear double diapers at all times. Let’s see how you feel about going everywhere in just your diapers.”
Bryin was so stunned he didn’t know how to answer. If he looked enthusiastic, would his parents change their mind? He decided to act casual.
“OK,” he agreed calmly. “When does it start?”
“Right now,” his mother answered. “Aunt Melinda brought you some special plastic pants like Tyler and Eddie are wearing. Let’s get you double diapered.”
In fact, his parents knew that Bryin would not take this treatment as a punishment. They reasoned that it would save a lot of trouble in the long run if they gave him permission to do the things he was going to do anyway. Ten minutes later Bryin came back downstairs. Ty and Eddie had moved into the den. Bryin could hardly contain his pleasure.
“I can’t believe they’re going to let me go around in double diapers all summer,” he enthused.
Eddie and Ty hoped that Bryin’s enthusiasm was justified.
“Do you think your mom and dad will let you come with us to Mark’s house right now?” Eddie asked.
“I don’t know. It might be better if one of you asked. Why?”
“Mark’s got something really cool to show you,” Ty answered. “I’ll go ask.”
Bryin completely lost it when he saw Mark in his diapers. He whooped and hollered and danced around like a little boy in a toy store. This was turning into the happiest and most surprising day of his life. He wanted to know everything about how this happened. He laughed uproariously when they told him how Mark’s pants had been given away. He sympathized with Mark about his ‘debut’ in diapers at the white elephant sale but he assured him that Greg would not be a problem.
“I know all the same guys you know. They’re not going to be a problem, believe me.”
“How about Howie and Ron?” Ty asked. “They saw Mark and me getting diapered in the parking lot at the computer store,”
“Stop worrying,” Bryin insisted. But he wanted to know all the details of this story, too.
That night, Bryin couldn’t fall asleep. His brain was still on overload. He could hardly believe that he now had three friends who were permanently and publicly in diapers like him. He couldn’t wait to have ‘public’ exposures like they had been having. He sensed that they were still worried about the overall effect that this would have with their other friends. He would have to work extra hard to show them that there was nothing to worry about. He had gotten away with it so far, why couldn’t they?
A second reason that Bryin couldn’t sleep was that something was troubling him. He was feeling guilty about having hidden his diaper activities with Bryin and Eddie from his parents. And, they weren’t the only ones with whom he played diaper games. Howie Masterfield and Ron Draght also liked to wear and wet his diapers. (In fact, they regularly took diapers home to wear secretly at night.) Should he try to convince them to ‘go public’? Or should he talk to his parents first? Would they insist on informing their parents if he did? Would Howie and Rod hate him for telling his parents? The questions rolled around in his head keeping him awake.
Ty also found himself restless. He could hear that the TV was still on. His dad was listening to the late news. He got up and went downstairs. Ty’s dad had already gotten ready for bed. He was dressed in night diapers, a colored t-shirt and white socks.
“Can’t sleep?” his dad asked.
“No. Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
Ty didn’t move. He blushed a little before getting the courage to continue.
“What if other people find out about your diapers because of me?”
“Oh,” his dad answered.
“Yeah. Will you be mad at me if your secret gets out?” Bryin asked.
“No, I won’t. I promise. Besides, other people already know.”
“They do?” Ty said surprised. “How come?”
“Because I told them. I should have been more honest with myself and other people a long time ago, Today I told my boss about my special needs and I told uncle Henry, aunt June and Mrs. Pfelgaur this afternoon.”
“Then, you don’t mind?” Bryin persisted.
His dad thought for a few seconds.
“I’m not like you and Bryin. I don’t want everybody to know, but if people happen to find out I’ll have to deal with it. I can tell you this, though. I haven’t felt this relaxed and comfortable in years. I guess I have you to thank for that,” his dad said sincerely.
This seemed to satisfy Ty.
“Here comes the sports report. Do you want to stay and watch it?” his dad asked.
“Sure… ummm, dad? Can I sit with you?”
His dad smiled broadly as he made room in the chair. Ty smiled at the swooshing sound made by their plastic pants rubbing together.
“Comfortable?” his dad asked as he draped his arm over Ty’s shoulder.
“Yup.”
Ty was horrified to hear that his beloved Red Sox had lost their third game in a row. As his dad opened his mouth to speak, Ty was sure that he was going to tease him about it.
“You’re still young,” his dad deadpanned. “You’ll learn how to pick good teams some day, I’m sure.”
“They are too a good team!” Ty objected. “You’ll see.”
“Yeah, yeah,” his dad drawled. “And, who knows? Maybe they’ll win a World Series by the time your grandchildren get to college.”
His dad turned off the TV and stood up.
“Time for bed,” he said.
Ty stood up, frustrated that he hadn’t thought up a good comeback to his dad’s zinger against Boston. Suddenly he felt his dad pick him up and throw him over his shoulder.
“I can get up to bed by myself. I’m not a baby, you know.”
“I guess these confused me,” his dad said, patting Ty’s diapers and plastic pants with his free hand.
“Oh yeah? Well, from where I am I can see someone else who’s wearing the same things.”
“You got me there,” his dad chuckled as he threw Ty onto his bed causing the headboard to bang against the wall.
“Oops, sorry,” his dad apologized. “I hope we didn’t wake your mother and Josie.”
“We!,” Ty objected. “You’re the one who did it.”
“OK, OK,” his dad admitted. “Now go to sleep,” he said ruffling Ty’s hair and kissing him on the forehead.
Both of them were ready for one of the best night’s sleep they had ever had.