Summary: A kid is adopted, and although he is treated
well, he is unable to get over the abuse he endured in his past. The adopter
later finds a way to help him relieve his trauma.
Notes:
1) This story doesn’t have diapers until Part 5.
2) This story has a connection with the
stories “Kidnap!” and “Kidnap! 2”
Alex looked out through the
window and watched the world--people, sidewalks, trees, birds, clouds--zoom
past him in a continuous, eternal line. He had just been adopted, and Alex had
so many mixed feelings that he didn't know how to react to his new situation.
He felt glad that he was adopted; the lady that took him seemed nice, and her
presence didn’t generate any uneasy feelings in him. But Alex also
half-anticipated, half-dreaded on what would wait for him, and hoped that
whatever would come wouldn't be like what he had endured before.
But, that was too painful
to remember. Every time he thought about that, Alex would feel hot, watery
tears prick his eyes, and he always needed to suck his thumb to comfort him. As
his lower lip began to tremble, Alex tried to whack the feeling out, and
managed to through the use of willpower. After awhile, the hot, shimmering feel
in his eyes faded away and his lip straightened out. However, Alex still felt
scared from wondering what would happen later today, and so he started to put
his thumb in his mouth. But that was for babies, not big five year olds like
him, and so Alex forced his hand to go back down onto his lap. He stared at
that hand for a while, being so silent that he could hear the gentle whir of
the wheels and the whistling of the wind rushing past the car. He shifted a
little in his car seat (according to his new mommy, he had to be in a car seat
because the law said that five year olds had to be in one), and then turned his
head and stared outside at the blurring world again.
While Alex was watching out
the window, his adopter, Melanie, was having her own thoughts. She reflected
back to earlier today, when she finally got Alex. It took a few months to get
him, but Melanie thought it was worth it. She had to fill out an application,
do a home study with a social worker, get references, and give out documents
like the medical report, criminal check, the child abuse clearance, and her
birth certificate. All that good stuff…and more. Melanie hadn’t even been able
to pick out a child until near the end of the process. She had happened to want
a “special needs” child, and she was quite open to the choice of kids that were
offered. Pretty much the only requirements that Melanie had was that she wanted
a little boy, one who was around the ages of four through eleven.
After much searching,
Melanie ended picking up Alex. Not only did he fit Melanie’s requirements, but
he also fitted her personality somewhat. Alex hated crowds, he was fairly easy
going, and he liked reading (actually, in Alex’s case, it was more like looking
at the pictures in a book, since he couldn’t really read). However, the reason
why he was in the special needs group was because he was emotionally
traumatized. Alex had been a victim of child abuse about two years ago, until
one day, his parents died as a result of D.U.I. Because of the physical and
verbal abuse he endured, Alex had daily nightmares of his past, and he lacked
good social skills. He was the type that would require a lot of love and
attention.
Now, after all that work,
Melanie had finally met Alex earlier today. The child that she saw had thick, straight,
pure blond hair, and his eyes were such a vivid blue that it seemed like pieces
of clear sky had been cut and fitted onto his eyes.
Although Melanie
immediately deemed that he was cute, she saw something else in Alex as well.
She saw a face that seemed incredibly depressed, one that said that it wasn’t
aware of the word “fun.” It was so shocking to see such a sunken and depleted
expression on this boy’s face that Melanie felt herself gasp softly. It was
obvious that he had gone through something terrible, and that he was still
suffering the consequences of it.
In an all too short time,
Alex felt the car slow down, causing the world outside to become clear and
solid again. He could see that the car was slowly driving parallel to a large,
front yard covered in beautiful green grass. As Alex watched, the wind that
swept through the grass made it seem to ripple and undulate like the ocean. The
house looming up behind it seemed huge as well. It was two stories high, and
took up a lot of space, both on the ground and in the sky. It was impressive
and intimidating to Alex, as the only houses he ever saw hardly had any yard
space, and were always packed in tightly with the other houses. He heard a
mechanical groan, and turned his head a little to see the garage door going up.
A few seconds later, the car curved into the driveway, and entered the dark
square bore.
As soon as the car was
incased in the garage's shadow, it stopped. Melanie turned the key to OFF, and
stepped out. Alex unbuckled his seatbelt and got out as well. He nervously
walked to her. "Let me show you around, Alex," she said. After
closing the garage door, they stepped into a room, and walked into a long
hallway. As he followed Melanie, Alex looked around at everything, awed by the sheer
size of the house. After taking a tour of the house, Melanie turned on the TV
for Alex, and she went back to the garage and brought up what little belongings
Alex had and set it upstairs in his new room.
Alex wasn't really watching
TV. He was still looking around at everything, and carefully observed each
table, chair, picture, and lamp, anything that was within reach of his eyes.
After surveying his surroundings, Alex drew his attention to what was on the
TV. He wasn't exactly interested in it, but he watched it anyway. The show was
still something that distracted him from the scariness of the new environment.
Soon, Melanie came in, and
they had dinner early. Alex ate everything within reach, though he was very
polite for a five year old. Melanie didn't mention it to him, but she was
worried about Alex. Even though she was already told that it was just Alex's
personality, she didn't like the way he was so solemn. He was also, in
Melanie’s opinion, much too quiet for a child his age. In fact, she hadn’t
heard Alex utter a word at all. If she hadn’t been told that he was just shy,
she would’ve thought he was mute. He also looked a little too skinny for his
size. At certain angles, it looked like Alex had an unhealthy pinched and pale
look on his face. Finally, though she didn't want to admit it herself, Melanie
found it a little disturbing when she made eye contact with Alex. Those sunken,
dark eyes were unsettling to see in a five year old.
Melanie thought of this,
and many other things, in the space of a few seconds. After Alex ate, she
suggested he take a bath and then added, "and you can watch TV after that,
if you want." Alex got up without a word and went into the bathroom. He
took his own bath and brushed his own teeth and got out. Soon he sat on the
couch while the Melanie turned on the TV. As he only shrugged when asked what
he wanted to watch, she turned it on to Nickelodeon, which, at that time, had
Spongebob. Alex watched this with genuine fascination, and at one point,
Melanie could have sworn that he smiled. It was only for a split second, but
that smile (if it ever happened) considerably changed his face, making Alex
look so cute that Melanie wanted to race over and hug him.
After that it was bedtime
for Alex, and without questioning her he went upstairs and burrowed himself
into the blankets. Melanie then came up and decided to read him a bedtime
story, something that Alex had never encountered before. Although he didn't
smile or say a word, Melanie thought she sensed happiness and gratitude on his
face when she tucked him in.
Alex found it hard to
sleep, considering the fact that he was in a new environment. He also had that
weird light, fluttery feeling in his chest, which the workers at the orphanage
called A-Dre-Na-Lin. Alex didn't remember what exactly this A-Dre-Na-Lin was,
but he did remember being told by the workers that it was something your body
makes when you get scared. Today, Alex found out that they were right; he had
been feeling this A-Dre-Na-Lin ever since he heard he was getting adopted.
After an hour of so of thinking about this and the rest of today's events, Alex
drifted off into sleep with his thumb in his mouth. In a short while, his mind
entered the dream world.
"ALEX?!" the
voice screamed, "COME HERE!"
Alex panicked. It was
Daddy! He was coming with the belt, and what was worse was that Daddy was drunk
again! As Daddy lunged toward him, the belt in his clenched hand penetrated the
air with a vicious, hissing crack.
Another voice, Mommy,
screamed, "ALEX?! ALEX COME HERE!"
Alex, distracted by Mommy’s
voice, was almost hit by the belt. It came so close that he felt the light
breeze it made whistle past his face. Dodging another blow, he ran away crying,
sprinting through the house. He dove into a closet and hid himself among the
chairs and boxes. A couple seconds later, he heard a set of footsteps pounding
in a frantic rhythm on the floor.
He heard Daddy roar,
"WHERE THE FUCK DID HE GO?! WHERE'S THE LITTLE SHIT?!"
"HE'S HIDING AGAIN.
LOOK AROUND HERE, I'LL GO AND CHECK HIS ROOM,” replied Mommy.
Alex curled tightly and
hung his head down while he shut his eyes. Tears streamed quietly down his face
as he heard the ominous, soft clicking sound of Daddy’s footsteps. The
footsteps grew soft, and then there was a rustling sound of something getting
open, Alex sensed a hand searching through that open thing. Finding nothing,
the footsteps went to another place.
Soon, the footsteps got
closer, louder. It paused in front of the closet and a hand came and shoved it
open. Greedy, questing fingers rummaged and groped. In a couple of seconds, the
fingers found Alex.
He screamed as hands pulled
him out into the range of the belt. The belt screeched through the air and
whacked his rear end and his back. Alex screamed and cried with pain and fear.
The belt came down again and whipped him, and it came down again, and again,
and again and again and again and again and again and again and aga--
Alex jolted out of
unconsciousness, panting, his hair and pajama top damp with sweat. He gasped
while he jumped from the hand that rested on his shoulder.
"Alex," said
Melanie, "it's me. Are you all right? You were screaming."
Alex looked directly into
Melanie’s eyes. He tried to answer, but his lower lip quivered, and instead he
collapsed into her, viciously sobbing. Melanie felt his hot, teary face press
against her chest as she firmly held his back and stroked his hair.
"Shhhhh, it was just a
dream." she whispered, "Everything's alright now."
Melanie turned on the
lights and gave him some warm milk. As Alex sipped on it, she said, “Your mommy
and daddy can't hurt you anymore, Alex."
Hearing this, Alex uttered
the first words he had said all day. With some effort, he stammered out, “I-I
know.” Then, through his tear-chocked throat, he said, "They got killed in
a car crash when they were doing bad things."
"What kind of bad
things?"
"They liked to drink a
lot. The policeman said they were doing D.U.I, and also said they were child
abeu-abeu..."
"Abusers?"
finished Melanie.
Alex nodded while tears
rolled down his face. He didn't know what abuse was, or D.U.I for that matter.
But because of the policeman, he always knew that they were bad. He sipped some
more on his milk.
"I went to the
orphanage because the policeman said I didn't have anywhere else to go." I
didn't like it there, but it was better than home 'cause they didn't
hur-hur-hur..."
Alex broke down again and
cried.
"Hurt you?"
whispered Melanie.
Alex nodded. Unable to
control it now, he put his thumb in his mouth and started sucking it. He saw
Melanie staring at him, and he immediately wrenched it out. Ashamed, he started
to cry again.
"Alex," she said
softly, "if you want to suck your thumb, go ahead. I don't mind."
Alex looked up at her,
nervously, "Really?"
She smiled back, "Yes,
really."
Hearing this, Alex slipped
his thumb back into his mouth. Melanie gently took the cup of milk from him and
set it down on a table. As she hugged him tightly, she said, "You're going
to be alright. We'll get through this together, ok?"
Alex didn’t respond. He
just rested his head on Melanie’s shoulder and sucked his thumb vigorously
while his eyes constantly dripped with tears. Eventually, he became calm again,
and almost instantly went to sleep as soon as Melanie straightened the blankets
out and tucked him back in.
Things continued in this
way for the next few days. Alex would be fine during the day, but at night was
a different story. His nightmares were frequent; coming up once, twice,
sometimes even three times a night; and he could never go back to sleep unless
Melanie comforted him.
Melanie tried to think of a
way to help relieve Alex. She thought of something, but was very tentative
about the idea. Trying to make a decision, she called up a good woman friend of
hers for help.
"Susan?" she
called, "This is Melanie. I want your opinion on something I'm considering
for Alex."
"Well, what is
it?" asked Susan.
Melanie told her her idea,
adding in, "It worked for Josh, and sounds like it did for Brian and
Chris, too. Do you think it could help Alex?"
"Well..." replied
Susan, "Alex isn't like my boys, is he? I mean, this is supposed to help
his trauma, right?"
"Yes." said
Melanie.
Susan added, "It may
work, though it's hard to tell, as he's a completely different case from my
boys. From what you've told me, it sounds like he is very depressed. This idea
might end up traumatizing him even more."
"I know, “sighed
Melanie,” but I have a feeling it could help.”
Susan replied, "Well,
just go with what you think is best. Like I said, this could just make things
worse, but, who knows, you could be right. Maybe you should just give it a
try."
"Ok, thanks Susan.
Bye".
"Bye."
Melanie hung up the phone.
She decided to test her idea. After her decision, she went to the living room
where Alex was watching TV.
"Alex." Melanie
said while placing her hands on his tiny shoulders, "I'm going to the
store to pick up some things. I don't want to leave you alone here, but I have
to this time. It's a surprise."
"How long are you
going to be gone?" asked Alex, nervously.
"Twenty minutes
sweetheart, tops. That's all."
"Ok." Alex said
in a weak, barely audible voice.
"Ok." said
Melanie, gently ruffling his pure yellow hair. "I won't be gone
long."
Alex saw her disappear into
the hallway, and heard the start of the engine. Soon the car exited the garage
and darted out into the sunlight.
As Alex watched TV, he
wondered what this surprise was. He was somewhat excited about it, but that
anticipation was barely noticeable. Alex felt scared instead. He didn't like
how his new mommy suddenly became serious when she mentioned the word
"surprise." That was frightening to Alex, so he shrugged off the idea
for now and continued watching TV.
Just like Melanie said, she
came back in about twenty minutes. Alex got off the couch and ran to her. She
was carrying a large brown paper bag that crackled between her fingers and
bulged out of her arms. As if she read Alex's mind, she said, "Don't worry
Alex. You'll find out what it is tonight." Alex nodded, staring intently
at that brown crackling bag. His nervousness amplified. He didn't know why, but
there was something about those mysterious contents that made him shudder.
Another bad sign was that his normally cheerful, laid back mommy was solemn and
grim. Whatever was in that ominous brown bag, Alex desperately hoped that it
was good.
After enduring an
incredibly slow day, Alex sat down on the couch in his pajamas, wondering what
was in the brown bag. As he waited for Melanie to call him upstairs, he
fidgeted a little, his body and hair still damp from the bath he had taken a
few minutes ago. As a result of this, Alex’s pajamas clung onto his body like a
second skin. They were a light, airy, baby blue color, the top having long
sleeves, and the bottom consisting of long pants with an elastic waistband.
Alex loved these pajamas.
He liked the color, and it also felt nice; the inside had a warm, fuzzy texture
that pleasantly clung onto Alex’s skin under normal circumstances. However,
these weren’t normal circumstances. As a result of his nervousness, they
weren’t feeling so nice to Alex right now. Instead of its regular comforting
snugness, the fuzzy interior was giving his skin a cold, unsettling prickle.
Finally, after what seemed
like hours, he was called upstairs. Alex walked slowly, his legs so saturated
with fear that they felt unstable and loose, as if he was walking on stilts for
the first time. Nervously, he entered his room.
Melanie was sitting at the
foot of the bed, the brown bag next to her. She motioned for Alex to sit beside
her. Alex obeyed.
"Alex," she said
seriously, "The...stuff, I bought today is supposed to help you recover
from the bad things you went through. Now, I know you won't like it,"--
Alex’s body grew stiff, and
his blue eyes widened with tension.
--"but, you're a big
kid, and you can handle it, right?"
Alex timidly nodded. The
tension now was unbearable. What was in that bag?! Too slowly, both of
Melanie’s hands reached inside the bag, and the bag crackled with rage as she
got out two mysterious objects: one was a rectangular shape with smooth edges
and a pastel color; the second was a white container. Finally, she brought out
a huge package, an object that Alex had seen in the nursery at the orphanage.
Although he couldn't read what it said, Alex knew what it was: diapers.
His eyelids recoiled even
further from his vivid blue irises, and he let out a hitched gasp of pure shock
and terror.
"I-I da-don't wear
a"--
"Honey, I know you
don't wear diapers, but, try it anyway. It will help you with your
nightmares."
Alex's lip trembled. He
hung his head down, covered his face with both hands, and cried.
"I’M NOT A BABY!” he
choked out, ”I DON'T WEAR A DIAPER!"
"Alex, dear, I know
you're not a baby." Melanie calmly said, "But please, try it. A big
kid would do it, because they would never try to fight it off and cry about it,
no matter how bad it was. You're a big kid, right Alex?"
Alex, without looking up,
nodded weakly.
"Ok." she
continued, "Why don't you just lie down, okay?"
Alex started to do so. But
the idea of what was about to happen was too horrible. As a result, he started
crying even harder. While he bawled, Melanie wrapped an arm around him and
patiently waited for his crying to subside.
As Alex sobbed, many thoughts
crammed themselves into his confused mind at once. Mommy said he was a big kid,
so why was she making him wear diapers? How were diapers supposed to help his
nightmares? Why did he have to wear them? He wasn’t a baby! He didn’t wear
diapers anymore! He was toilet trained two years ago! He was a big kid, not a
baby!
Thinking of all of these
thoughts, Alex sobbed miserably while his two hands weakly supported his
hanging, teary face. Eventually, his crying managed to somewhat break down.
Then for a while, he frantically wiped his running eyes and nose while he
sniffled out the last few sobs. Melanie softly asked him again to lie down on
the bed. Dejectedly, Alex obeyed.
He shut his eyes and
covered them with his hands as his pants were pulled off of him. Alex didn't
want to be seen naked, and he didn't want to wear a diaper, but, he was a big
kid, and so he forced himself to go through the ordeal.
In no time, Alex's
underwear was pulled off, and a diaper was slid under him. Alex soon sensed a
cold wipe cleaning his crotch and butt, and cool, sweet smelling powder was
dusted onto him. Then the diaper was pulled up and both sides were tightly
taped together around his waist.
Alex sat up, not daring to
look down at his diaper. Instead, he got his pants back on and sat down. As
tears splashed out of his eyes, he sucked his thumb for comfort. He loathed the
feeling of the diaper. It was babyishly soft, and the padding that tightly
cushioned Alex’s privates was thick enough to reassure him that it would provide
a nice, noticeable bulge to inform everyone that he was a diaper-wearer. The
waistband and leg cuffs grabbed Alex’s legs and waist, sealing away any worries
about leaks. The plastic cover lightly whispered a crinkling sound every time
he moved. Then, there was the taping zone, with its strip of colorful,
cartoonish characters that gleefully danced along the front and constantly
taunted Alex’s dignity. What was just as bad was the excess baby powder inside
that rolled and shifted everywhere. As it tumbled about, the powder poofed out
tiny clouds of babyish perfume that seduced Alex into embarrassment and
self-pity in his new situation.
"That wasn't so bad,
was it?" Melanie asked.
Alex only looked at her
with a depleted, unhappy expression.
"Alex," she said,
as she set him on her lap and cuddled him, "I know you don't like diapers,
and you might not like me right now, but, I promise you, you'll get used to it,
and everything will be better."
Alex absorbed this
information, not responding for a while. At last, he slipped his thumb out of
his mouth and raised his tear-stained face up to her.
"How long do I have to
wear them?" he asked softly.
"Honey, you'll wear
them as long as it takes for you to get better."
Alex's depression soared,
but he mustered the strength to ask her another question. He nervously asked,
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?"
"Just go in your
diaper" replied Melanie.
Alex didn't like this idea,
and he sobbed again. Melanie held him tightly as he cried, and gently stroked
his blond hair. After many minutes, Alex recovered somewhat, and he slowly
crawled into the blankets on his bed. He listened as Melanie read him a story,
and fell asleep soon while sucking his thumb; he was exhausted from crying.
After he was asleep, Melanie lightly kissed him on the forehead and turned off
the lights.
Alex woke up just before
the sun rose after a long night of tossing and turning. As he awoke, he rubbed
off the crust that had accumulated onto his eyes, and straightened out his
pajamas and blankets, which had become knotted and twisted during the night
during his constant tossing. He recalled a weird dream he had. It wasn't a
horrifying nightmare. Instead, it was an embarrassing dream. Alex remembered
that in the dream, his new mommy had actually diapered him. He knew it couldn't
have actually happened; the idea itself was way too bizarre. Sure, there did
seem to be something thick wedged between his legs, but to Alex’s still-groggy
state of mind, that didn’t mean anything.
After untwisting the
blankets, Alex moved his hands down so he could pull up his pajama pants, which
had somehow slid down during the night. As both of his thumbs hooked into the
pant’s elastic waistband and pulled it up, he felt something that
was...plastic-like; and he thought he faintly heard a crackling sound.
Alex let out a soft gasp
and his eyes widened. He grabbed the blankets and jerked them away from him.
His body now exposed, Alex quickly grabbed the waistband of his pants again and
shoved it down to his thighs.
There was a diaper
underneath. Its white crackling cover and colorful taping zone gleamed
mockingly at Alex as he realized that his dream really was real. As he made
this conclusion, he sensed a heavy, horrible weight of sadness in his chest,
and felt his eyes sting. Alex wanted to cry and suck his thumb again. But
instead, he decided to not give in and was motivated to prove to himself that
he wasn't afraid of a stupid diaper. After all, he was a big kid, wasn't he?
Alex decided to distract
his thoughts about the diaper by thinking about the various shows he sometimes
watched. He thought of Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Pinky and the Brain, and,
there was that new show he was introduced to recently: Spongebob. The Simpsons
and Futurama looked interesting as well, though Alex would only get to watch
them for a few seconds, if he was lucky (to Alex’s dismay, his mommy told him
that those kinds of shows weren’t for little boys like him). As he dwelt
further and further into his own thoughts, Alex's mind suddenly snapped back
into the physical world like a rubber band.
The reason for this was
simple: Alex needed to go to the bathroom. His obedience to the toilet was so
etched into him that he actually started to get out of bed. But, he realized
that he was wearing a diaper, and his mommy ordered him to go in it if he
needed to use the restroom. Alex really didn’t want to, and he was tempted to
take off the diaper and use the toilet. But, he didn’t want to find out what
might happen to him if he did that. So, as much as the idea of wetting a diaper
disgusted Alex, he eventually decided to grudgingly go along with it. Tears of
his own dignity began to trickle out of him as he prepared for the ordeal.
After some effort, Alex's bladder relaxed and let it out.
Alex felt hot liquid
flowing out and spreading in every direction. He spread his legs a little
further and straightened his sitting position as the diaper swelled up. After a
long while, he was done. By then, the front of the diaper was warm and swelled
up with Alex's urine, and the plastic substituted its normal crackling sound
for one that was squishy and sluggish. Immediately after he was done, Alex got
out of bed and raced out of his room to look for Melanie. A few seconds later,
he found her in the hallway. Alex ran up to her.
"What is it,
sweetie?" Melanie asked.
"Uh I-I um..."
Alex found it hard to
speak. It was too embarrassing to tell her. What made it even worse was that
Alex began to feel his diaper sag in his pants and he could actually smell his
own urine. Melanie took a guess on what was wrong. She knelt down and gently
put both of her hands on his shoulders.
"Do you need a
change?" she asked softly.
Alex blushed deeply with
shame, and his eyes trickled out a few tears as he meekly nodded yes. Melanie
instantly scooped him up and carried him to his room.
Like last night, she made
Alex lie down on the bed. He covered his face and cried as his old diaper was
untaped and replaced with a new one. After changing him, Melanie left the room
so Alex could dress. As soon as she closed the door, Alex got up and took out a
baggy pair of shorts and a T-shirt out of the drawer.
He dressed as quickly as he
could to minimize his viewing time at the diaper wrapped around his waist and
loins. After he did that, Alex walked over to the wall opposite of his bed,
which had a closet with a full-length mirror on it.
He checked his shorts to
see if he could notice the diaper. Luckily for Alex, the diaper was barely
noticeable under the baggy clothes. No one would even see it. After pulling up
his shorts a little to cover up the top of the diaper, Alex walked out of the
room and went downstairs.
Alex reached the dining
room, and quickly sat down in his chair. He ate silently like normal, though,
this time, he deliberately tried to not make eye contact with his mommy. He was
too ashamed, and he felt resentment towards her as well as depression. While he
avoided her gaze, he organized the thoughts that his frantic mind had created
last night.
He truly thought he could
trust his new mommy, and at first, Alex felt like he was loved. But, instead,
she betrayed him by degrading him into this state because she was only
pretending to like him. Was that it? She didn't love him? At this point, Alex
wasn't sure, and so he concentrated on something--anything--that would distract
him from his mommy and the diaper.
Soon, Alex finished eating,
and, while still thinking about unrelated thoughts, he ran back upstairs and
into his room. After closing and locking the door, Alex curled up onto his bed
in a fetal position and cried. As he put his thumb in his mouth, he elaborated
on his thoughts of his new mommy.
…she must hate him, because
she punished him with diapers. What was just as bad was that his new mommy
probably thought he was just a baby, because only babies wear diapers. But, it
didn’t make sense. What did he do to make Mommy punish him? Alex didn’t know,
but his frantic mind immediately assumed it was all of the crying he did after
the nightmares, and how he always sucked his thumb. His new mommy probably
thought that he was acting like a baby, and was now starting to treat him like
one.
But even with that in mind,
it still didn’t make sense. Mommy said it was going to help his nightmares, and
as strange as her reasoning sounded, Alex’s feelings told him that that was
what she really believed. However, logic kept interfering with it, persuading
Alex that the whole nightmare thing was just a cover-up to hide the fact that
his new mommy didn’t like him…
Alex continued sobbing for
a while, his five-year-old mind continuously spinning in circles over these
assumptions, not knowing what was going to happen.
Melanie stood right outside
the door. As she heard Alex crying, her mind screamed at her that she had made
a terrible mistake in her judgment. When she thought of this plan, Melanie
thought diapers would be good because it would help Alex remind him of the
times when he was a baby; when he was (possibly) given the love and attention
that he had been deprived of.
But so far, it just seemed
to make Alex even more miserable. When he was at the table, it seemed to
Melanie that he intentionally tried to not look at her, and he was more
withdrawn than usual. In addition, Alex's depression rate seemed to accelerate
to the place where it had been when Melanie met him at the orphanage. Before he
was diapered, Alex did seem happier. Melanie could sense it even though he
never laughed or smiled. But now, he was just as sad and isolated as he was
when he first came here.
Should she stop diapering
Alex? Melanie's judgment eagerly favored this option, but instead, she decided
to stick with it for a while. After all, Alex hadn’t even been diapered for a
day; it was still possible that they could help him with his trauma.
After his sobs faded away,
Alex continued to lie on the bed, still curled up in a fetal position. He
sucked his thumb calmly now, despite the fact that his eyes had become
bloodshot and deeply shadowed from the battle of tears and his blond hair hung
miserably over his forehead and eyebrows. He stayed that way for a while, not
thinking of anything in particular. Many minutes later, he slowly got off the
bed and crawled to the stack of books his mommy had given him. After
entertaining himself a little with his mirror reflection that sat at the
opposite side of the room, Alex shifted his fingers through the books until he
found the one he wanted.
It was a huge pop-up book
on frogs, and despite his inability to read, Alex loved this one because of the
huge pictures. As he intently looked at the paper poison-dart frogs that
literally sprung up from the pages, Alex's sadness temporarily disappeared and
all thoughts about the diaper ebbed away. He stared at the last of the pages,
and slid the book aside and picked up another one. This one was about snakes,
and it was another pop-up. Alex stared at the pop-ups with fascination until
his mind jolted back into reality.
By now, Alex could feel his
bowels churning, and he began to panic with his horrified reflection as he
realized what he was going to have to do. He desperately didn't want to poop in
a diaper. The very concept was even more repulsive than wetting one. Alex
weaved his fingers through his hair in terror. Like last time, he didn’t want
to go to the bathroom in a diaper, but he had no choice, his mommy told him to
do it. Realizing that it was inevitable, Alex miserably squatted down, and
pushed.
It was harder than he
thought, but, after some effort, it became manageable. Alex soon felt the warm
mess sitting in a soft, mushy lump in the back of his diaper. Urine broke out
as well, and came flooding out and pooling between his legs in a hot gush.
Immediately after he was finished, Alex fled the room to look for his mommy. He
ran across the hall, feeling his own excrement spreading in every direction.
His still reddish eyes began to ooze out fresh tears as he smelled his own
filth.
Melanie heard Alex's tiny
feet thumping down the stairs in a quick tempo. She started to get up from the
chair she was in when she saw Alex. He was whimpering as a rain of tears flowed
down his face. Melanie didn't say anything; instead she just carried Alex back
upstairs and laid him down on the bed. Alex broke out into a sob as his shorts
were pulled off and his shirt lifted up. Melanie untaped his filthy, still-warm
diaper and pulled it back. Alex cried even louder. Melanie calmly grabbed his
ankles and lifted his messy bottom up, wiping it clean and pulling the diaper
away from him. After he was clean, a fresh diaper was slid under Alex and snugly
taped up after his privates were generously dusted with powder.
Completely humiliated, Alex
continued to cry. Melanie pulled the sobbing boy's shirt down, pulled his pants
back up, and gently slung him over her shoulder while he let his sadness out.
As she sifted her fingers through his limp, tired hair and rubbed his back, she
wondered how long it would take for Alex to adjust. She didn't know the answer,
but she definitely knew that Alex would shed a lot of tears before he got
through.
A couple of weeks passed,
and Alex managed to get adjusted to his new situation. He still didn't like the
concept, but it wasn't too big of a deal. Now, Alex no longer cried every time
he used the diaper or got changed; he now accepted it as a part of his life.
Spring was now
transitioning into summer, and Alex was currently struggling with the heat of
the weather. He kept wearing clothes all the time, making sure that they were
baggy so they could prevent the diaper from bulging out. But the problem was
that it was now too hot and muggy to wear clothes, and Alex was tempted to just
go in his underwear, though, even if he wasn't in diapers, he found it
embarrassing to do it.
Melanie had no objections
to him romping about in just a diaper. In fact, it seemed to Alex that she was
encouraging it. As it turned out, she was, because (although Alex didn't know
it), Melanie personally thought the diapers amplified his cuteness. Alex
resisted though, and continued to wear clothes. At last, he finally gave in
when the temperature outside became 105 degrees F. By then, it felt incredibly
hot, even with the air conditioner at full blast.
As Alex stood in his room,
he sighed with unhappiness, and tore off his shirt, and then his shorts. He
slowly opened the door, and walked downstairs wearing just a diaper. He headed
toward the living room, where Melanie was flipping through the channels while
her slim, fit body laid on the couch in a tank top and shorts. As she randomly
clicked on the remote, she caught something in the corner of her eye, and
turned around to see it.
"Oh, hi Alex."
she said brightly. "Why don't you come sit here and watch something?"
Alex obeyed, and strolled
over and sat next to her. Melanie quickly put a hand in front of her mouth to
hide her smile. He's so adorable, Melanie thought, he looks just like a
toddler. As this thought raced continuously in her head, she asked him if
watching the new DVD she bought (The Incredibles) sounded all right. Alex
whispered that it was ok, so she put the DVD in and sat back down with Alex.
As Melanie kept thinking
about his appearance, she periodically glanced at him from time to time. At one
point, she thought he was smiling. When she saw that, she stared at him for a
little while, but, like last time, it was so quick that Melanie thought that it
was her imagination.
While she engaged in her
half-watching Alex and half-watching the movie, Alex completely devoted his
attention to the movie. The Incredibles was fascinating, and he felt himself
smile and almost laugh. It also helped that he was in just his diaper; because,
although Alex hated the idea at first, right now he thought it was just fine.
It was amazing how much better everything felt once he took off his clothes and
allowed the air to cool his hot body. Alex loved every minute of it, and he
couldn't remember the last time he had actually been this happy.
Just when the movie ended,
Melanie took another glance at Alex. She was taken completely by surprise. He
was smiling, and Melanie knew that it wasn't just her mind playing tricks; he
really was smiling! After this realization, she reached her hands out for Alex.
As Alex turned to look at
his mommy, he saw her bearing an elated, almost insane, grin. Before he knew
it, her hands grabbed him and thrust him into her lap. Alex began to giggle
wildly as she tickled his bare stomach and armpits. He looked up at her with a
beaming smile.
That grin on Alex was the
last straw for Melanie. It broke her resistance, and she dove in on him and
hugged him tightly. She tickled Alex again and made him laugh. As she attacked
him again with a tight, loving hug, Alex smiled again, his blue eyes now
crackling and sparkling with energy, his gold hair fluffy with happiness. As he
continued giggling in his her arms, Melanie smiled down at him.
As Melanie was looking down
on Alex, her smile temporarily twisted into a gaping expression of shock. She
finally noticed something that she was never able to see before: the scars on
Alex's back. His father’s whipping had caused them, and some of the belt marks
had never faded. Melanie wondered if the workers at the orphanage mentioned it;
she certainly didn't remember being informed about them. But, whether or not
they did, didn't matter, since Melanie found out about it in the end. Of
course, she wouldn't mention it to Alex, he probably already knew about it, and
it wouldn't do him any good to be reminded about his past. For now, Melanie
eliminated this thought and her gaping horrific mouth morphed back into a
sweet, loving one. A second later, she assaulted Alex with another hug. He
smiled again and laughed when he got tickled under his armpits.
After awhile, the constant
hugging and tickling stopped, and Alex calmly sat in Melanie’s lap, watching
TV. However, it was boring, and so Alex ran back upstairs to his room. When he
got in, he collapsed onto the bed and lay there on his stomach for a while. By
now his diaper had become uncomfortable. It kept in the heat, causing Alex to
sweat. He writhed on the bed, desperately looking for any remaining cold
places. Eventually, he found a good spot, and relaxed onto it, his exhausted
mind now on the borderline between consciousness and sleep.
He lied there for an
undetermined amount of time, letting the air dance on his hot, bare back. At
one point, he became so sleepy from the heat that he actually fell asleep.
A few minutes later, he
jolted awake, panting. Alex had encountered another nightmare, and he was on
the verge of tears from the experience. By reflex, he put his thumb in his
mouth and managed to get himself under control. Still sucking his thumb, Alex
dozed off to sleep again.
An hour or so later, Alex
woke up. He felt kind of groggy, and his eyes were sore for some reason. He
groaned as he stretched his back and legs, and then rolled over and lay on his
back, resting his hands under his head. As Alex started to get up to get a
drink, his aching bladder released its contents and flooded his diaper. Alex
just stood there, feeling the hot liquid spread and warm the diaper's crotch
and seat. He then jogged downstairs to get Melanie.
Melanie heard Alex's quick
pacing, and knew the reason for his appearance almost before she saw him. Her
assumptions were right. Alex's diaper was dark and yellowish with urine, and
she could see the hopeful please-change-me-look in his eyes. She did so, and
while Melanie untaped the diaper and pulled it back, she noticed that Alex's
diaper was soaked with sweat as well as urine. She immediately began wiping him
up, and Alex shivered a little as he felt the cold wipes on his skin, but
welcomed the feeling at the same time. The powder also felt good, it had that
cool, soothing feeling in it that helped combat the heat. In no time, a fresh
diaper was pulled up and snugly taped around Alex’s loins.
After Alex got a drink, he
sighed with satisfaction as he laid down on the couch.
"Alex?" Melanie
said.
"Huh?" said Alex.
"Just to let you know,
we're going to see a good friend of mine tomorrow. She's Aunt Susan."
"Is she nice?"
asked Alex.
"Yes, she loves kids.
She's got three of them. One is Josh, he's eleven, and there's also two six
year olds called Brian and Chris."
"Oh," Alex
whispered. He still didn't feel comfortable. He had always been shy, and he was
afraid to meet new people. Alex especially felt uneasy when hearing about Aunt
Susan's kids. One of his knacks was getting intimidated by kids older/taller
than him. He just hoped everything would go well.
Now that Alex didn't want
tomorrow to come, the rest of the slow day had accelerated its speed. He had
dinner what seemed like a couple minutes later. Then, before he knew it, he was
taking his bath, and then watching Spongebob. Suddenly, before he could blink,
he was listening to Melanie reading him a story, while he lied down in just his
diaper under the lone sheet on the bed (it was still hot; so Melanie had
removed all of the blankets on Alex's bed except for the one sheet).
When she finished reading,
she looked at Alex, who was still visibly nervous about tomorrow.
"Don't worry about it,
honey," she said, "You'll be fine."
She gave Alex a brief,
tight hug and tousled his hair. Melanie then turned off the lights and left the
room.
Alex was really nervous
now. As he sat in the car seat and looked out the window, he began sucking his
thumb. He hadn't felt this scared since he had speculated over the contents in
the brown bag, or when he was first adopted. For a moment, he turned his gaze
over to his clothes.
Today, Alex was wearing a
red T-shirt that had a large lime-green frog embedded onto it. This shirt was
tucked into a pair of blue denim shortalls, which Alex personally didn't like
wearing; he thought those kinds of clothes made him look like a little kid
(which they did). He didn't even pick out the shortalls; his mommy did it for
him (to Melanie's point of view, they, like diapers, made Alex cuter). What was
worse was that they weren’t very baggy, and so the diaper bulged out. (Though,
Alex was lucky that most people still wouldn’t notice the diaper, anyway). Alex
soon whipped his gaze back out onto the window.
In an unbelievably short
period of time, the car stopped in front of a driveway. Like Melanie's house,
the house that Aunt Susan lived in was quite large in Alex's eyes (a large
house was, by Alex's terms, taller than one story). Alex unbuckled and got out
of his car seat.
As he walked with Melanie
towards the front door with his hand clasped with hers, Alex’s nervousness
soared to spectacular heights. What if Aunt Susan wasn't nice? What if her kids
weren't? What if they found out he was a thumb sucker? What if they found out
about his diapers? Alex shuddered at the last two thoughts. Now, he really
wished he had asked Mommy about those. But now, it was too late, they were
right in front of the door; and Mommy was stretching her forefinger out to the
doorbell.
Alex cringed when he heard
it ring. As the doorbell displayed its crisp, clear notes, he hid himself
behind Melanie. While he did so, Alex discovered that he was still sucking his
thumb. He wrenched it out and forced his hand to go to his side. Within a few
seconds, Alex sensed the steady, clicking sounds of footsteps coming towards
them.
There was the sharp click
as the door unlocked, then a slight squeal, and finally, the door quivered
open. Then he saw Aunt Susan. She smiled at his mommy. "Oh, hi Melanie.
Come on in." Melanie smiled back, and she followed Aunt Susan into the
house.
After Alex walked in, he
heard the door slam shut, and he jumped a little. As Melanie’s hand withdrew
from his grasp, Alex observed his surroundings. They looked normal, though they
were creepy because the environment was unfamiliar.
As he continued to look
everywhere, he heard his mommy say something, then he heard his name mentioned.
A split second later, Alex felt two hands grab him by the armpits and lift him
up. "He's so adorable!" Aunt Susan exclaimed. "You're soooo
cute!" Alex just gazed at her with a confused expression, his mind still
catching up with what just happened. His mind continued to attempt catching up
as Alex was suddenly swung almost to the ground.
He was now dangling down
and only supported by a single hand that was grabbing his ankles. Alex tensed
up with fear. What if Aunt Susan saw his diaper through his short’s leg holes?
He pondered this with silent panic as he hung upside down. But Susan never
mentioned it, even though Alex was convinced that she saw his diaper (which she
did). She merely continued to dangle Alex down for a few seconds and then up
righted him again.
For an additional five
seconds or so, Aunt Susan held Alex out in front of her by his armpits, smiling
at him constantly. With a final hug of almost insane affection, Alex was set
back down on his feet. He was glad of it too; his armpits ached after being
held that way for so long. As Aunt Susan and Melanie talked, they both went
into the kitchen. Alex followed, wondering what would happen next.
As soon as Alex went into
the kitchen, he was shown to another room, which had a TV. "What does he
like?" Susan asked.
"Spongebob."
Melanie replied.
Susan flicked through the
channels until she found the right one. As Alex sat on the couch to watch,
Susan and Melanie went back into the kitchen to talk.
"So, how's the diaper
thing going?" Susan asked.
"Well, it doesn't seem
so bad right now," replied Melanie, "Of course, he hates it, but,
he's gotten used to them."
Susan quickly asked,
"But is it helping him?"
"It's hard to
say," Melanie responded, "Though, it may have, because soon after I
tried the diapers on him, his nightmares started to become less frequent. Now,
he’s not having them every night like he used to. When he does have one, he
usually just pulls himself together and goes back to sleep. But, it may also
have been that he likes living with me better than at the orphanage."
"How can you
tell?" Susan asked, "You said he's very depressed, and he doesn't
smile or laugh.”
Melanie was quick to reply,
"Actually, he's starting to smile once in a while--and believe me, he
looks even cuter when he does--but, it's hard to describe how I just know.
Yeah, he doesn't smile or laugh too often, but, you can just see it. He's
more...relaxed about things. He also doesn’t look as thin and pale as he used
to, and his eyes are brighter."
"His eyes are
brighter?" Susan asked, puzzled.
"Like I said
before," said Melanie, "it's hard to describe. Before, whenever I
looked at him, his eyes were dark and sunken, but now, they have this sparkly,
energetic feel in them. You'd know what I was talking about if you saw how he
was when I first got him. Believe me, I truly felt sorry for him when I heard
about what happened to him."
"I know, you mentioned
it to me." Susan remarked, "Child abusing parents that died from
drunk driving"--
"Also," Melanie
said, "I discovered scars on Alex's back just yesterday. They were from
the belt that his dad used on him."
"Scars?" Susan
said, shocked, "Poor little guy."
"I know, “sighed
Melanie,” but he’s getting better. He's still shy, but that’s expected. I think
it’s one of the side effects of the abuse."
"I think it is,"
Susan agreed.
"But," said
Melanie, "he's very well behaved. I've had him for about three weeks now,
and I've had no behavioral problems at all from him. He does everything that
he's told. He doesn't even talk back."
"Wow," said
Susan, awed, “You’re lucky, because I heard that sometimes, an abused child
will have an aggressive temperament. Yet, this isn't a normal five year old
that we're talking about, are we?"
"Nope." replied
Melanie. Both were silent for a couple seconds, and after Melanie went over to
check on Alex, they started talking again.
"So," Susan
began, "anything else about Alex?"
"Well...just to let
you know, Alex likes to suck his thumb when he’s nervous. He also does it
whenever he’s asleep."
"When did he start
doing that?" Susan asked.
"Don't know, he's been
doing it ever since I got him. I know it will ruin the growth of his teeth, but
I'm letting him do it. If it comforts him, it's fine with me. He's already been
through a lot, you know."
"Yeah, okay,"
agreed Susan. She changed the subject and asked, "So, you're going back to
work in a couple of days?"
"Yeah," said
Melanie, "I'm going back on Monday, before my boss thinks that I quit my
job instead of just taking a vacation."
“That’s in three days,”
said Susan.
“Yep.”
"Okay," said
Susan, "is that it?"
"I think so,"
said Melanie.
Soon, Melanie and Susan
started talking about other things. They were discussing old TV shows that they
liked when Alex ran into the kitchen, his shoes clacking a quick beat on the
tile floor. He had that desperate, pleading look on his face. He stopped in
front of Melanie, cupped his hands around his mouth, and whispered in her ear.
Melanie nodded, and excused herself to the bathroom, taking Alex with her.
After locking the door, she
laid Alex down on the floor. Melanie carefully pulled off his shortalls, and
lifted up Alex's shirt. Still leaving his shoes and socks on, she untaped
Alex's wet and messy diaper and quickly changed him. After a few minutes, she
was done, and Melanie pulled down Alex's shirt, and got his shortalls back on,
carefully inserting the leg holes through Alex's still shoe-and-sock-clad feet
and up through his legs until the pants fitted him comfortably. After putting
the shortall's straps back onto Alex's shoulders, Melanie washed her hands,
unlocked the door, and both went back to the kitchen.
While Alex went back into
the TV room, Melanie walked into the kitchen. Susan walked in at the same time.
"He needed a diaper
change, didn’t he?" she asked.
"Yup," replied
Melanie. "It was a messy one."
"Yeah," said
Susan, "I could tell, he had that look on his face."
"Yes, I know. I don't
even have to check him, because whenever he needs to be changed, he always gets
that same look. It's kinda cute."
"I know what you
mean," responded Susan, "Brian and Chris get those looks sometimes,
too."
Both went silent once again
for a couple seconds. The silence died out, though, when Josh came in (he
needed a drink).
After he did so, Susan
said, "Oh, Josh, Alex is here. You should see him."
Melanie went and called for
Alex. Alex, hearing his name, came in, walking in a fast pace. He stopped when
he noticed Josh. Since Josh was both older and taller than him, Alex felt
intimidated, and so he shied away from him and hid half of his body behind
Melanie.
"Don't worry,
Alex," said Aunt Susan, "Josh doesn't bite."
Alex didn't respond, and so
he remained in his current spot. Melanie then turned around and picked up Alex
by his armpits, lifting him up and lowering him onto her lap. Alex, unable to
hide anymore, looked down on his hands in his lap instead, nervous about
looking at Josh.
"Is he shy?"
asked Josh.
"Yeah," said
Melanie, "Alex is always like this around people, so don't take it
personally."
"Oh," said Josh.
He turned his gaze away from Alex and sat down into a chair. Next, he split his
attention between Susan, and Melanie.
As he talked with them
about things, the topic eventually turned towards movies. When Josh mentioned
The Incredibles, "Melanie cut in, "Alex and I saw that movie
yesterday, didn't we, Alex?" Alex nodded indifferently, not looking up.
His desire to suck his thumb had become unbearable now, and he was only
preventing it through his determination to not look babyish in front of Aunt
Susan, and now, this new kid, Josh.
He squirmed uncomfortably,
feeling the diaper inside his shortalls shift with him. Alex was now aware that
the room had become silent, and as he moved, he noticed that it was so quiet
that he heard his diaper crinkle. He jumped and looked up, trying to find out
if anyone else heard it. It didn't seem like they did; they merely continued on
with their conversation, and so Alex sighed with relief, believing that he was
just being paranoid.
This continued on for a
while, and Alex was on the brink of falling asleep from sheer boredom when Melanie
said that they had better get going. After that, Melanie and Alex were on their
way home.
Alex felt much better as he
was riding back home. Aunt Susan was okay, and Josh seemed fine as well.
However, Alex still felt a little uneasy with Brian and Chris, since he hadn't
met them today. However, that apprehension was balanced out by the belief that
no one knew about his diapers or his thumb sucking except his mommy. That was
good, and Alex hoped that things would stay that way.
Soon, he was back in the
house, and now, he had taken off his shoes and socks and was sitting on his
bed, looking through the pictures in his books. Alex, after going through four
books, got tired and he laid in his side in a fetal position. Normally, Alex
only went into this position to cry, but, this time, he stared outside at the
window.
While he watched the world
go by, he sank into a semiconscious state. During this time, Alex began to feel
attuned to the feeling of his clothes, sensing his red and lime-green shirt
hang down on his arms and bunch up on his ribs. He felt his blue denim
shortalls grabbing him, especially around his diaper, which hugged his skin in
a tighter--but not uncomfortable--grip. As he smelled that baby scent of fresh
powder on himself, and felt the tightness of the shortalls' straps clinging
onto his shoulders, he began to drift away.
A few minutes later,
Melanie walked in. As she came into the room, she saw Alex facing away from
her, still balled up in the fetal position. She went up to him, and noticed
that he was asleep.
"Alex. Alex?" she
said softly, while gently grabbing one of his shoulders and nudging him.
Alex stirred a little and
moaned through his enclosed lips, but remained asleep.
Melanie drew her mouth
towards his ear and said, "Dinner's ready."
As she nudged him again and
started to firmly pat his bottom, Alex stirred and groaned a little more and
his eyes sluggishly opened. He turned his head up towards Melanie.
"Dinner's ready."
she repeated softly, and left the room.
Alex slowly sat up. After
rubbing his eyes a little, he went and followed Melanie downstairs.
As Alex ate silently like
normal, Melanie asked him questions about the visit. Alex mumbled that it was
okay, but didn't say anything about his uneasiness with the unknown Brian and
Chris.
"That reminds me,
Alex." Melanie said. "I'm going back to work in three days, and,
well, I can't just leave you here all day; you're too young for that. So, Aunt
Susan was nice enough to take care of you while I'm at work."
Alex's eyes widened and he
looked at Melanie right in the eye. He was scared of being separated from
Melanie (she was the only person he trusted). But, he was thinking more about
the diapers.
Melanie, immediately
sensing what the main problem was, said, "Don't worry, Alex. She already
knows all about you. She'll change you if you need it."
This didn't help Alex at
all. He didn't want to be changed by someone he only met once. In addition,
there was something else that was bothering him.
"What if her kids find
out?" Alex blurted out.
"Honey, remember Josh,
the eleven year old?" Alex slowly nodded, "He's known about that for
a while. In fact, he already knew you wore diapers when you met him
today."
Alex felt his eyes
spreading farther apart. "He knows?"
"Yes, he does. It's no
big deal to him, because Brian and Chris both wear diapers, and they're six
years old."
Alex felt his mind overload
with shock now. "You're kidding?"
"No, I'm not
kidding." Melanie replied solemnly.
Alex thought about this for
a few seconds. When he had somewhat recovered from the shock, he blurted out
randomly, "Does Josh wear diapers?"
Melanie smiled, almost
laughed, "No, no, Alex, he doesn't. But, he started wearing them when he
was six, and wore them until he was eight."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Why did he wear
diapers when he was six?" Alex asked, in an extremely curious and excited
manner.
"He was very bad. Josh
used to beat up on other kids. But Aunt Susan punished him by treating him like
a baby. After a while, he became good, and so he got out of diapers when he was
eight. Brian and Chris were the same: they used to beat up on other kids. But
now, they've gotten better, though, Brian and Chris are still wearing
diapers."
"Why?" Alex
asked.
"Aunt Susan said she
wants to make sure they're truly good, and aren't just pretending." (That
was Susan's excuse to Melanie, though Melanie knew that those boys were still
in diapers just because Susan thought they were cuter that way.)
After that last reply, Alex
fell silent again, his mind still attempting to recover from the shock.
"Am I bad?" he
asked.
"No, of course not,
Alex. You're actually the best-behaved boy I've ever seen. And I'm not kidding.
But"--Melanie quickly added in, before Alex could ask it--"you're
wearing diapers because I want you to get better from the bad things that
happened to you. I think they're helping, too. You don’t have nightmares as
much as you used to. And when you do, you act like a big kid, and you just pull
yourself together and go back to sleep all by yourself."
Alex felt proud of this,
but he still didn't feel comfortable with his future stay at Aunt Susan's. He
felt even more nervous now that he heard about her kids' former personalities,
so he asked, "What if her kids beat up on me?"
"They would never do
that, Alex." Melanie reassured him, "All three of them are very nice;
trust me. But if for some really weird reason they do, Aunt Susan would punish
them. None of them would ever get away with picking on you."
"Oh" Alex said in
his soft, tentative voice. He looked down on his lap, where his hands rested.
He stared at them until he asked another question, "How long are you going
to work?"
All day. I'll drop you off
with Aunt Susan in the morning, and I'll pick you up in the afternoon."
Alex felt uncomfortable
again. His mommy was going to be away for that long?
"How many days are you
going to be gone?" Alex went on, dreading the answer.
"You'll be with Aunt
Susan for five days each week, and then on Saturday and Sunday, you'll stay home
with me. All right?”
"How many weeks?"
"I don't know,
sweetheart. It's going to be a long time. All year, actually."
Alex didn't like this
response. As his fear and depression rose, he gazed down at his lap again. He
was scared of what was to come, and so he brought his thumb up into his mouth
and started sucking it.
Melanie noticed his
apprehension, and she reached across the table and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Alex.
You'll be fine. I'm sure you'll get along with Aunt Susan. She already likes
you, because you're well behaved."
Alex, still looking down at
his lap, simply nodded, dreading the day he would be separated from Mommy.
Naturally, those two
remaining days went by way too quickly. Before Alex knew it, the third day had
come and he was in the car on the way to Aunt Susan's. Although he already knew
what the destination was going to look like, he still felt scared in the fact
that he was going to be away from his mommy all day. Like in other scary
situations, Alex just sat silently while sucking his thumb. He stared at the
blurred world outside to avoid looking at his clothes.
This time, he had a bright
green T-shirt with a huge lizard stamped onto it; which was tucked into the
same pair of shortalls that he wore three days ago. His dislike for shortalls
was as great as it ever was, and he almost protested against Melanie when she
wanted him to wear them again. But in the end, Alex decided to go along with
it, because he was too afraid to express his disagreement.
In what seemed like a
couple seconds, they pulled into the driveway of Aunt Susan's house. Alex
unbuckled his seatbelt, pulling out his thumb at the same time. Before he got
out of the car, he also took the books that he brought with him (he wanted to
look at the pictures while staying with Aunt Susan). Both him and Melanie
walked quickly to the door hand in hand.
While the doorbell rang,
Alex, like the last time, hid himself behind Melanie. At the same time, his
thumb sucking hand writhed at the side of his shortalls. As it rolled, the thin
film of saliva that had accumulated onto Alex's thumb began to dry off from the
constant friction with the blue denim. In no time at all, the clicking rhythm
of footsteps became louder and louder. The door opened, and Alex and Melanie
walked in.
Alex stood silently in the
foyer, still holding Melanie’s hand. He was glad that he wasn’t able to suck
his thumb right now, because that’s what he really wanted to do. (Alex was
holding the books under his arm, and since his other hand was holding
Melanie’s, he wasn’t able to switch the books to his other arm and suck his
thumb).
Meanwhile Melanie handed
Susan a diaper bag for Alex, and informed her with some last minute things
about him.
"By the way,"
Melanie said, just before she left, "Alex doesn't take naps."
"Ok," said Susan,
"Don't worry about him. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I'm sure he will,
too. Bye."
"Bye" said Susan.
Melanie then tried to
leave. But she couldn’t. Alex’s hand was still clasped with hers, and he wasn’t
letting go. His grip was so firm that Melanie had to wrench her hand away from
him.
Finally free of Alex,
Melanie left for work. Alex watched her as she walked through the doorway and
close the door behind her. He was really scared now. Mommy wasn’t with him
anymore; he was now all alone with someone he barely knew. As he thought about
this, Alex felt his chest hitch from a suppressed whimper. He wanted to cry,
but he forced himself not to. Instead he grit his teeth and mentally told
himself to get a grip. He then turned around to Aunt Susan.
The first thing she did was
show Alex around the house. He walked behind Aunt Susan, wincing as he heard
the soft sound of his diaper crackle, which revealed itself at each step. After
touring the first floor, they went upstairs. Alex felt particularly scared on
the second floor. He sensed the presence of the mysterious Brian and Chris up
there. Alex didn't know, however, how much of a surprise he was in for.
So far, everything was
fine. Alex saw Aunt Susan's room, and then he visited Josh's room, and a few
other miscellaneous places. Near the end of the hall, Aunt Susan led him into
another room. She said that this room was where Brian and Chris slept, and that
they were in this room right now. Alex tensed up with fear. Aunt Susan led him
into it, and Alex stopped where he was while his blue eyes widened with
surprise.
The whole place was built
like a nursery. Alex turned his head sharply in as many directions as he could.
There were two gigantic cribs, a huge toy box, and a changing table. He even
noticed that the wallpaper was babyish, with its pastel blue tone and endless
cartoonish motif. In addition, Alex sensed a strong smell of baby powder that
encompassed the entire room. After looking through it, he laid his eyes on two
figures sitting in the middle of the carpeted floor, both of which were staring
back at Alex.
They locked eyes for a
moment, staring at each other with curiosity. After a few seconds, Alex turned
his head away out of shyness, and he went out of the room, while Aunt Susan
followed. After a couple more rooms, they were done, and they walked back down
to the first floor and sat on a couch in the TV room.
"Did your mommy tell
you about Brian and Chris, Alex?" Aunt Susan gently asked.
"She said they wore
diapers, but I didn't know they slept in a crib." Alex responded.
"Did she say why
they're treated like that?"
Alex hesitated, afraid to
mention it, but managed to blurt out, "She said they beat up on other
kids."
"That's right."
Aunt Susan said, "and they're still treated like babies because I want to
make sure they're good."
"That's what Mommy
said." Alex added in.
He fell silent for a while,
debating over whether he should ask the question that was gnawing on him. He
was very tentative about it, but his curiosity got the better of him, and so he
asked, "Did Josh really wear diapers? My mommy said he did."
"Yes, he did. But he's
good now, so Josh doesn't wear diapers anymore."
Alex nodded, his questions
answered. He fell silent again and he shuffled through his books and opened one
up. As he sat down looking at the pictures, Susan said in a kind voice,
"If you need anything, Alex, just let me know, okay?"
"Ok," mumbled
Alex.
"Ok, I'm going
upstairs. Make yourself at home."
"Ok," Alex
mumbled again, not looking up from his book.
Aunt Susan then went up to
the second floor. Alex still didn't look up, his attention was too absorbed
into the pictures to really notice. Not even his nervousness bothered him right
now.
After looking at the
pictures for a while, Alex felt the need to go to the bathroom. In fact, he
really needed to go, because he had stomach cramps that angrily jabbed at his
insides. There was also an aching, sore sensation in his bladder, though; Alex
was too distracted by the cramps to really feel it. He desperately tried to
hold it in (he didn't want to have a poopy diaper at Aunt Susan's; that would
be too embarrassing), and so Alex took both of his hands and rubbed his stomach
as the rest of his body moaned, twitched, and wriggled from the pain. The
cramps faded away, and then came back in a minute or two, and faded away again.
This continued on for several agonizing minutes until, finally, the cramps
stopped all together. Alex let out a sigh of relief. He then proceeded to look
through his books again until his bathroom needs came back.
The stomach cramps had
returned, though this time they were a dull throb. What was worse was that
Alex's sphincter muscles now had a hard time fighting back the waste that
demanded to be let out. Once again, Alex squirmed in agony, his legs twisting
themselves together while trying to retain control of his bowels. Little by
little, Alex began to lose, and eventually, the mess came out and into the
diaper.
It came out in a mushy,
soft form, spreading everywhere, and Alex even felt it creep up near his crotch
and squirm up his back. Simultaneously, urine spilled out and soaked
everything; it even saturated the diaper's seat. Now, Alex's diaper had become
incredibly thick and hot with waste. It sagged badly, too, though the shortalls
prevented it from hanging down too much, and so the diaper was forced to
constantly hug Alex's privates. Alex immediately got up and ran upstairs to
look for Aunt Susan, all the while feeling the warm mess squish and slosh
between his legs.
He ran through the hall,
quickly checking each room for Aunt Susan. At last he found her, she was in
Josh's room, and was talking to him. She stopped when she heard Alex's quick
pacing. As she and Josh turned their heads to look for the source of the sound,
they found Alex standing right outside the room, his face desperate and
pleading. Aunt Susan excused herself from Josh and went over to Alex, already
knowing why he was there.
Susan bent down and
whispered to Alex if he needed a diaper change. Alex replied with a sheepish
nod and a very deep blush of embarrassment.
They reached the nursery
soon. As Alex walked in, he noticed that Brian and Chris were still in there.
He tried his best to not look at them and focused on following Aunt Susan. Not
to his surprise, she stopped at the changing table.
Alex was very hesitant to
go there. He really didn't want to get changed right in front of other people,
but he realized that he had no choice. As he tried to ignore the stares from
Brian and Chris, he forced his shaking legs to walk to where Aunt Susan was.
Blushing deeply the entire time, Alex finally managed to walk to Aunt Susan,
who immediately scooped him up and laid him down on the changing table.
Alex jumped when his body
touched it. The changing table had a thick mat on it sheathed in plastic, which
crackled loudly when it came in contact with Alex’s body. He avoided looking at
Aunt Susan, and his eyes explored more of the room. When his gaze started to
focus on the floor, the corner of his eye spotted Brian and Chris, still
staring at him with intense curiosity. Alex snapped his head away from their
direction. As he did so, his eyes became coated with hot, stinging tears, and
his lip began to tremble.
Luckily, Susan saw that
Alex was about to cry from the embarrassment, so she mildly scolded Brian and
Chris and warned them not to stare at Alex. They obeyed, and then both boys
started up a conversation, though, they still made occasional discreet glances
at Alex.
After that was done, Aunt
Susan undid both of Alex's shortall straps. Then she slid his shorts down until
it had been weaved through the shoes and socks and completely separated from
Alex (like Melanie, Susan didn't remove a kid's shoes and socks during diaper
changes.) She lifted up his shirt to his armpits, and then took out a belt and
fastened it around Alex's stomach. As he saw the belt wrapped around him,
Alex’s eyes became slightly larger, and his body tensed up. Susan noticed his
nervousness over this, and said, "Don't worry Alex. The belt’s there to
make sure you don't fall and hurt yourself." Alex heard this and his tense
body relaxed somewhat, though his fiery blush did not cool down.
His sagging, loaded diaper
finally exposed, Susan brought her hands down on the tapes and ripped them from
the sides. Next, she peeled the front away from Alex and brought it down.
Alex's blush intensified,
and he tried even harder to not look at Aunt Susan. Susan, though, didn't
grimace at all. Even though Alex had made a particularly large mess, her three
boys' diapers had had far more unpleasant surprises in the past. She simply
grabbed both of Alex's ankles and lifted his messy bottom high into the air and
wiped him down. In a short time, the old diaper was slid out from under him as
well. She wiped him up for several minutes, and then slid a new diaper under
him. Next, Susan squirted some pink baby lotion into her hand, and coated
Alex's diaper area with it, and soon dusted a fair amount of powder after that.
Finally, she grabbed the front of the diaper, wrapped it around Alex's waist
and loins, and tightly taped it. She then unbuckled the belt, pulled Alex's
shirt down, and returned his shortalls.
Done with changing Alex,
she picked him up and held him close to her for a couple seconds. "Feel
better?" Susan asked softly. Alex nodded, visibly relieved, his blue eyes
sparkling with gratitude. Susan smiled and gently patted his bottom, and then
set him back down on the ground. Still trying not to look at Brian and Chris (who
remained engaged in their conversation), Alex walked quickly out of the room,
carrying with him a better mood.
As Alex walked back
downstairs, he sensed a strange, new feeling in his diaper. It was caused by
the lotion that was applied to his skin, which was unusual, as Melanie had
never used lotion on him. It made his skin have a thick, greasy feel, and
caused his privates to slide and rub smoothly over the diaper's cushiony
interior, which somehow made him more aware of the diaper's touch every time he
moved. In addition, the baby powder clung onto Alex better now that the lotion
was there. Despite this weird new sensation, Alex acted as if nothing happened,
and went back to his books.
His posture was more
relaxed now that he was clean again, and so he sat on the couch for a long
time, engaged in the pictures. At the same time, Alex was reading the few words
that he recognized. He knew "frog," "stop," "a,"
"of," or", "and," and could also point out most of the
words for different colors; among a few other things. Alex was so absorbed into
his activity that he never heard or saw Aunt Susan come down with Brian and
Chris.
She was carrying both of
them, one arm wrapped around each of them. As Alex continued looking through
his books, Susan set Brian and Chris down on the floor. After taking out a huge
playpen, she picked up Brian and Chris one at a time and plopped them into the
playpen. Next, she turned on the TV and turned it to Spongebob.
Alex jumped from the sound,
and turned his head in curiosity. In less than a second, he saw that it was
Spongebob, and so he positioned his body so that it was facing the TV screen.
However, as he did so, Alex's eyes widened slightly. Brian and Chris were in
the room with him. Unlike last time, he didn't try to look away from them; in
fact, right now, it was hard to not look at them.
Since they were both a year
older, they were slightly bigger than Alex. One of them had light brown hair,
while the other had very dark, almost black hair. What was most surprising
though, was that both were in a playpen, and each was clad in just a diaper.
Alex stared at their diapers in particular; they were enormous, and Alex could
simply not help noticing the diapers' sheer thickness. The fact that the
diapers’ and playpen mattress’s plastic covers made a thundering crackling
sound didn't help, either.
Neither Brian or Chris
seemed to take notice of Alex, though; they were watching Spongebob with him.
At the same time, Brian and Chris's mouths were gagged with pacifiers, which
Susan had put in to make sure they wouldn't attack Alex with questions (she
respected Alex's shy personality.)
When Spongebob was done,
Aunt Susan came to ask Alex if he was hungry. Alex mildly nodded, even though
he was actually starving.
As he sat down at the table
in the kitchen, he discreetly glanced at Brian and Chris some more. They were
both sitting in highchairs, and were bearing huge bibs on their otherwise bare
chests. As each of the two boys swung their legs back and forth like pendulums,
Alex saw that Aunt Susan was coming to feed them.
While he started to eat,
Alex continued to watch Brian and Chris. He noted how Aunt Susan fed both by
the spoonful, and how each had their bibs removed and their faces wiped up
after eating. Then, to Alex’s bewilderment, Aunt Susan slung one of them over
her shoulder and started patting his back. At first, he couldn’t figure out
what was happening. But within a few seconds, Alex answered his own bafflement
by recalling a cartoon he once saw. He remembered that the cartoon showed a
mother doing the same thing to a baby, and it was then that he realized that
the kid was being burped. Seeing that it wasn’t anything unusual (at least for
an infant), Alex’s interest began to wane to the point where he didn’t even bother
to look as the second kid was being burped.
However, Alex’s interest
soon came back when he saw Aunt Susan checking their diapers. From the looks of
it, the kid with the light brown hair was the one that needed to be changed,
because after the dark brown haired one was put back into the playpen, he was
carried upstairs. Several minutes later, Aunt Susan came back downstairs and
put the light brown haired one into the playpen as well. Seeing that there was
nothing interesting left to watch, Alex went and finished eating.
Following that were the
introductions. It was this time that Alex found out that Chris was the one that
had the dark, almost black hair, and Brian had the light brown hair. After the
introduction, Alex watched TV for a little while.
For the rest of the day,
Alex continued to look at his books, and he got his diaper changed every so
often. A while later, Alex heard the voice of Aunt Susan calling his name out,
adding in that his mommy had come to pick him up.
The trip back home seemed
fairly short, and soon, Alex had removed his shoes and socks and was up in his
room. While Melanie was making dinner downstairs, he was amusing himself with
his mirror reflection on the closet. Alex stared intently at his reflection as
it molded his face into various grins and frowns. He entertained himself in
this way for a long time, until he heard Melanie calling him from downstairs.
While both were eating,
Melanie asked Alex about his day. Alex responded that it was okay, and Melanie
saw from reading his face that he was speaking honestly. This reading gave her
reassurance that Alex felt at least somewhat comfortable at Aunt Susan's.
However, she still felt nervous, since the thought of asking Alex about his
past was continuously racing in her head.
Meanwhile, Alex sensed that
something serious was going on in his mommy’s mind, but he wasn't able to
determine what it was. Like with the brown bag, he found it to be a bit
unsettling, but he ignored it and continued eating.
After he was done with
dinner, Alex raced to the bathroom to take his bath. He turned on the lights,
locked the door, and stripped everything off, including his diaper, which he
threw in the trash. Next, Alex filled up the tub with water and soaped his body
and shampooed his hair. Alex rinsed himself off and unplugged the drain. He
dried himself off, and wrapped the towel around himself. Then he brushed his
teeth, picked up his old clothes, and got out after turning off the lights. As
soon as he was done dumping the old clothes into the hamper, Alex went into his
room, where Melanie was.
In a couple of seconds,
Melanie had lain Alex down on the bed, and removed the towel, exposing a
completely naked Alex. She quickly wiped and powdered him, and taped a fresh
diaper on him. As soon as she was done, Alex went downstairs to watch
Spongebob; still clad in just a diaper.
Melanie sat with Alex as he
was seated on the couch. He leaned his small body against Melanie's larger,
adult form. Although his diaper was fully exposed to her, Alex no longer felt
embarrassed to have his diaper constantly shown in front of Melanie. He didn't
really care. It was summer, and the nights were hot. Because of this, Alex
decided to not wear his pajamas.
While Alex watched
Spongebob, Melanie was still thinking about discussing his past with him. On
one hand, she didn't want to, because discussing that subject was a guaranteed
way to make Alex cry, which Melanie didn't like seeing. But on the other hand,
she was curious to see if Alex really was hiding something; and if so, perhaps
finally telling it would relieve him a little more. In the end, her curiosity
won out, and Melanie resolved to discuss Alex's past with him as soon as
Spongebob was over. She knew that Alex wouldn't like this, but Melanie was prepared
for the worst.
When Spongebob was over and
the TV was turned off, Alex automatically got up and intended to go upstairs to
his room. Instead, Melanie grabbed him and tickled the five year old under the
arms as he was led back to the couch.
Alex giggled wildly and
smiled as he looked up at Melanie. His happiness increased when he was bundled
up onto Melanie’s lap and lovingly hugged. Now his eyes became an energetic,
baby blue color. Melanie lightly smiled back and said in a chillingly calm
voice, "Alex, I need to talk to you about something."
"What?" asked a
still smiling Alex.
"I want you to tell me
everything that happened to you. Everything, when you were with your mommy and
daddy and at the orphanage. I think there are some parts of your past that you
haven't told anyone. I want to know what they are."
As Alex listened to this,
his grin began to shrink. By the time Melanie finished speaking, his smile had
completely disintegrated. Simultaneously, the sparkle in his eyes flickered
out, causing the intense baby blue tone in Alex's irises to dull down to a
murky, watery color. Back to his solemn, depressed stage, he looked up at
Melanie.
He truly didn't want to
talk about what happened to him. Those events had been so painful that he had
been trying to forget it for the past two years. Mommy already knew what
happened to him, he had told her during his first night here. Why did she have
to know any more?
Alex thought about this,
wondering whether or not he should come clean and tell her everything. Despite
all his objections against it, he decided that he should. He loved Melanie, and
besides, he was a big kid, so Alex cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and
began his story, starting at when he was with his mommy and daddy.
Alex remembered that his
mommy slapped and yelled at him all the time. She said to him on a daily basis
that she wished he were never born and that he was "an accident."
[Like the words D.U.I. and abuse, Alex didn’t know what “an accident” meant,
but he could tell by his mommy’s tone of voice that it was a bad thing]. Daddy
always used a huge belt on Alex, and sometimes used him as a punching bag.
Things got even worse when
Mommy and Daddy were drunk, which seemed to happen every day. Alex ran away
several times, but, being a three year old, he couldn't go very far, and so his
parents always caught up to him and dragged him back to the house to whip and
yell at him some more. As they abused him, they would mention that they didn't
want him to run out and blab to the neighbors. If he told anyone, they would
kill him. Alex, believing that they were telling the truth, kept quiet about
it, but that didn't always stop his escape attempts.
Alex now started talking
incomprehensibly, his words becoming garbled from the effort of letting it all
out. He halted his story abruptly. His chest was heaving up and down, his voice
was cracking, his eyes started to overflow with tears, and his nose was
running. He put his thumb in his mouth and wiped his eyes and nose as Melanie
hugged him tightly. Within a few minutes, Alex felt easier, and he continued on
with his story.
The fateful day that Alex
would remember for the rest of his life came on a fairly typical day. While
Alex was being slapped, whipped, and yelled at as usual, he decided that he
should attempt another run away. First, he waited for Mommy and Daddy to go to
sleep [Alex didn't know that his parents were actually passing out from all the
alcohol, so he assumed it to be sleep]. He checked them a while later, and saw
that they had been asleep for a long time. After that, he put on some shoes and
socks and carefully walked through the house on his tiptoes.
He considered using the
front door, but it made too much of a squealing sound, which might wake up
Mommy and Daddy. Instead, he sneaked out the back door, and swiftly jogged
toward the gate. After many nerve-racking minutes and much effort, Alex managed
to claw his way up and over the gate. As soon as he was back down on the
ground, Alex suddenly felt something.
It was one of those
instinctual feelings that he got whenever something bad was going to happen.
Although his frantic state of mind pushed it aside for now, enough of it
remained to tell him that Mommy and Daddy were waking up, and he should get
away NOW. Alex didn’t hesitate, and so he started running with all his might.
The three year old pumped
his legs madly, attempting to cover as much ground as he possibly could. He ran
and ran, and forced himself to keep moving despite the fact that his heart
ached and a stitch bit at his side. Though his arms were tired as well from the
gate climbing, they pumped as hard as his legs. All the while, that fluttery
feeling in his chest that he later knew as A-Dre-Na-Lin coursed though his body
and saturated his muscles with energy. Alex had no idea where he was going to
go. Right now, all he was thinking was to just get away from Mommy and Daddy.
After a couple of minutes
of running, Alex heard the roaring sound of a car, and as he turned his head,
he saw that it was Mommy and Daddy. Despite the fact that they looked half
asleep in their throbbing, hangover state, both of them struck cold, black
veins of fear into Alex. His terror accelerating, he pumped his legs even
harder. However, his three-year-old legs were no match for a car, and it caught
up to him within seconds.
Alex stopped in his story
again as tears uncontrollably flowed down his face. Melanie hugged him again
and whispered some soothing words. Alex, as soon as he felt better, knuckled
away his tears and continued.
Suddenly, the car crashed
into a pole that was behind Alex. He turned his head again and saw the car in a
mangled, twisted wreck, with the airbags exposed out like bloated, sick
balloons. He saw Mommy and Daddy, though they were slumped back like limp
dolls. Alex stopped where he was in his tracks, shocked by the reality that his
parents were dead. He couldn't take all of this, and so he backed up against a
wall and cried.
The next thing Alex knew, a
policeman was there, along with a police car, which had glaring lights that
ominously rotated again and again. He told the policeman what happened as best
as his tear-chocked throat would let him. As he answered the policeman's
questions, Alex sat miserably on the ground, sensing the training pants that
were under his simple attire of a T-shirt, shorts, and shoes and socks.
Although Alex didn't realize it until later, he had been so scared when his
parents chased him that he saturated his training pants with urine.
Alex paused now. He didn't
remember this part too well, because he had been crying, and didn't really pay
attention to anything else at the time. But, he recalled as best as his memory
could let him, and so he went on.
The next thing he knew, he
was at the orphanage, and was told this was his new home, as he didn't have
anywhere else to go; no relatives, no friends, no one.
During that time Alex was
extremely emotionally shocked and distressed by everything. As a result,
virtually all he did for the first couple of days was cry and wet his training
pants. Eventually, he calmed down somewhat, but was soon tormented by one of
the kids at the orphanage.
Alex never knew what this
kid's name was, but he knew that he was six years old. This kid, in Alex’s
opinion, was just as bad as his parents were. He didn’t physically hit him like
his daddy. Instead, he tortured Alex through verbal abuse like his mommy often
did to him.
His taunting consisted
purely on calling Alex a baby. The six year old gave proof of this by
mentioning how Alex never talked; he sucked his thumb and cried a lot, and wore
diapers at night for his bedwetting. In addition, the kid pointed out that Alex
was also still in training pants at age three. Since Alex wasn’t even toilet
trained during the day, the six year old asked him why he wasn’t wearing
diapers all the time. After all, the six year old said, Alex already acted like
a baby, so why were the orphanage workers even bothering to toilet train him?
Shouldn’t they just keep him in the nursery and change his diapers with the
other babies instead?
Despite this horrible
treatment, Alex never told anyone about it. He was tempted to tell on him many
times, but, was afraid that the kid was going to hit him if he tattled.
Instead, Alex just endured the abuse. As a result, his shy nature was encouraged
to become even more withdrawn, and a talent for being intimidated by
older/taller kids sprung up from the taunting.
Luckily for Alex, this
abuse lasted for maybe a week (though, to Alex, it was more like a month, since
he didn't exactly know how to count time). The reason for this was because the
kid had been adopted. Needless to say, Alex was extremely grateful for this.
However, he would go to his grave never finding out why anyone would ever want
to adopt such a kid; not even the other kids liked him.
Despite the fact that Alex
never saw this kid again, he made a lasting impact on more than just Alex's shy
nature. Since he had made fun of Alex for wearing training pants, Alex forced
himself to get toilet trained as fast as he could to prove that he wasn't a
little baby. Eventually, after much effort, he had also managed to eliminate
his bedwetting.
However, Alex could never
give up his thumb sucking. Often, he had tried to become attached to a blanket
or a teddy bear. But no matter how hard Alex tried, the comfort that the thumb
sucking gave him could not be replaced by anything else. Despite his best
efforts, Alex cried too, since his daily nightmares of abuse constantly
traumatized him.
As his words became
jumbled, Alex stopped once again; his voice cracking and his chest hitching
from suppressed sobs. A few tears trickled silently down his face while his
nose ran. He brought his thumb up toward his quivering mouth, but remembered
how he had been taunted for doing it. Ashamed, he moved his thumb away from
him. But as he lowered it, his arm was unexpectedly caught by Melanie's hand,
which gently, but firmly, moved his arm up towards him, causing his thumb to
creep back into his mouth. Alex didn't resist, and he allowed his thumb back
in.
While he sucked it and
allowed mute tears to dribble out of his eyes, Melanie asked him if that was
all. Alex nodded as he wiped his eyes and nose. At the same time, his tears
became louder and more frequent. In a few seconds, he collapsed onto Melanie
bawling, while both of his arms were tightly wrapped around her.
Melanie pulled Alex off of
her midsection and slung him over her shoulder, one hand patting and rubbing
his back, while the other hand firmly supported Alex's diapered seat. As Alex
wailed and buried his hot, teary face into her shoulder, she soothingly spoke
to him to help him calm down. For several minutes, Alex only sobbed, his horrid
memories still sharply cut into his mind. After a long performance of sobs, he
started to calm down, and his crying was reduced to whimpers.
Still slung over Melanie’s
shoulders, Alex was carried upstairs to his room, and was tucked under the lone
sheet on the bed. As Melanie read his usual bedtime story to him, his whimpers
shrank to hitchings and snifflings. When she was done reading the story,
Melanie cooed some more to Alex and played with his hair. She gently kissed him
on the forehead and said good night to him.
The night was peaceful for
several hours, until suddenly, Melanie woke up. She heard Alex moaning in his
room. He was having a nightmare, and to Melanie, it sounded like an unusually
bad one. Our talk probably triggered it, thought Melanie. Concerned, she rose
from her bed and went to the room next door.
As soon as she stepped into
his room, Melanie was right: Alex was having another nightmare. Still asleep,
he was moaning while violently tossing and turning, twisting the sheet that
covered him. Soon, Alex started to whimper in his sleep, and that's when
Melanie turned on the lights and went over to Alex. While she walked over to
him, Alex jolted awake, panting, his hair tangled and damp with sweat. He was
then blinded by the light in his room, and when his eyes finally got adjusted
to it, he turned to Melanie, who was sitting beside him on the bed.
"Are you okay,
Alex?" she asked, while gently resting a hand on his shoulder.
Alex nodded, even though
his eyes were brimming with tears and his thumb was in his mouth.
"Do you need
anything?" Melanie continued.
Alex took his thumb out and
said, "I need a drink."
"Do you want some
water?"
Alex nodded.
"Okay. Just stay right
here. I'll be back in a second."
Melanie then got up and
went downstairs.
Alex huddled with fear as
he waited for Mommy to come back with the water. Not only did his parents hit
him in his dreams tonight, but also, the discussion he had had a few hours ago
triggered his memory into creating a nightmare version of the kid that taunted
him. That kid was almost worse in his dreams than his mommy and daddy. In spite
of the hot temperature, Alex shuddered and wrapped the sheet around him more
tightly.
Melanie came into the room
a few seconds later, carrying a glass of water with ice cubes floating in it.
Alex drank it slowly, feeling the cold liquid pass through his dry throat and
down into his chest and stomach. After drinking about half of the glass's
contents, he looked up at Melanie and asked, "Can you change me? I'm
really hot."
"Sure, Alex."
Melanie said.
Alex set the glass of water
on a table and lied down on the bed. Melanie untaped his diaper and pulled it
back. He didn't use it, but it was soaked with sweat. She wiped him up first,
and left Alex completely naked for a little while so his privates could cool
down a little. Then Melanie powdered him up and diapered him. When she was
done, Alex looked up at her and softly said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome,"
she replied with a smile. As she picked him up and cuddled him, she asked,
"Do you need anything else?”
Alex was about to say no,
but he hesitated when he felt his eyes sting with tears again from the pain of
the nightmare. He tightly wrapped his arms around Melanie and cried softly.
Melanie, realizing that he needed to be comforted, held and cooed him.
In a short time, Alex had
recovered, and she then asked him if he wanted to keep the glass of water next
to him, in case he needed another drink. Alex said yes to this. After that was
settled, Melanie laid Alex back down on the bed and affectionately ruffled his
hair. She tucked him in, wished him a good night, and turned off the lights.
After Susan went and
checked up on Alex, she went back upstairs to look after Brian and Chris and
teach Josh today's lesson (Josh was home schooled). Just like the previous day,
Alex spent several hours just looking through the pictures in his books and
mumbled the few words that he could read. Of course, he was changed several
times by Susan. Although Alex was still embarrassed to be changed by her, Susan
could tell that Alex was starting to feel more comfortable around her.
In the afternoon, Melanie
came, and Alex was happy to see her. Though, he found out that they wouldn't be
immediately leaving because Melanie told him that she wanted to talk to Aunt
Susan first. So while Alex went back into the TV room to look at his books
again, Melanie waited for Susan to come into the kitchen. (When Josh came to
answer the door, Susan had been busy upstairs changing Brian and Chris's
diapers). In a few minutes, she came down, and both women sat around the
kitchen table and discussed the talk that Melanie had had with Alex the
previous night.
"So, I assume Alex
didn't like telling about his past?" Susan asked.
"Nope." responded
Melanie, "Not at all. Because of it, he had an unusually bad nightmare. It
was so bad that I had to comfort him to get him to sleep again. Though, I did
find out some more about his history. From the way he recalled it, it sounds
like parts of it were being told for the very first time."
"What parts?"
Susan asked curiously.
"Well, when he went to
the orphanage, Alex said that he was teased by a six year old because he was
shy, he sucked his thumb, and was a bedwetter and still in training
pants"--
--"Wait, wait. Alex’s
a bedwetter? I didn't know that."
"He was a
bedwetter." Melanie corrected, "But he managed to stop it after a
while."
"But the part where
you said he was still in training pants? I thought he was only three when he
went there. A three year old in training pants isn't unusual." Susan said.
"It isn't."
Melanie agreed, "But according to Alex, that was one of the reasons why he
was taunted."
"So he never told
anyone about this kid?" Susan asked.
"Nope. Alex said he
wanted to many times, but was afraid that the kid would hit him if he did. So,
he kept quiet about it."
"No wonder he didn't
like it there." Susan said, "Poor little guy. He's really been
through a lot, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, he has."
Melanie agreed, "I almost cried myself when he told me what happened.
Especially when he was with his parents. Until last night, I didn't know that
he was treated as poorly as he was. He said that it got so bad that he ran away
several times, but he was always caught and was beaten for it. The stuff he
told me was...awful. I already told you about how he was whipped, but did you
know that his father also punched him, and his mother told him how he was an
accident and wished he was never born?"
"My God. I'm surprised
Alex is still in one piece after all of that. Do you think"--Susan paused,
afraid to say it. She took a deep breath and said in a low, fearful voice,
"Do you think his parents might have beaten him to death someday? If they
didn't die in the car crash?"
"I wouldn't be
surprised if they would have." Melanie said gravely, "In fact, it
sounds like his parents almost killed him the day they died. Alex said that on
that day, he was running away again, and his parents caught up to him while
driving drunk. Then they somehow ran into a pole on the sidewalk and got
killed. I personally think that that pole saved Alex's life. If it wasn't
there, the car might have just crashed into Alex instead."
"Why would anyone want
to do that to Alex?" Susan pondered, "He's such a sweet little
boy."
"I don't know,
Susan." Melanie responded.
The conversation stopped,
and Melanie thought it was time to go home. She called for Alex, who came
racing towards her excitedly, bearing a smile. As Melanie bent down and picked
him up, Alex attached himself to her in a tight hug and his grin split even
wider. After setting him down on the ground, Alex looked calmly at Aunt Susan
and gave a shy, weak smile that revealed his mild affection towards her. Susan
smiled back. A few seconds later, Alex and Melanie were in the car and on the
way home.
The days passed by, and
before anyone knew it, it was Friday. Alex was excited because tomorrow was
Saturday, where he would be home with his mommy all day. Even though he liked
Aunt Susan, too (she, like Melanie, had gained Alex's trust because she was
nice), Alex nonetheless looked forward to Saturday. As he sat sprawled on the
couch looking at the pop-up pictures, with his unworn shoes and socks lying
next to the couch, Alex continuously thought of this concept.
Soon, Alex sensed the need
to go to the bathroom. Without hesitating, he just went in his diaper, and ran
upstairs to get Aunt Susan. As soon as he got there, he said in an unwavering
voice, "Aunt Susan, I need a change."
"Okay, sweetie."
Aunt Susan simply said.
She led him over into the
nursery and laid him down on the changing table. In a few seconds, Alex's pants
were removed and his shirt was lifted up, fully exposing his wet and messy
diaper. Alex calmly lay still as the diaper was untaped and pulled away from
his body. He didn't even blush or turn his head away. (By now, Susan had
changed enough of his diapers so that it wasn't a big deal anymore). After
wiping, lotioning, and powdering Alex's privates, a fresh diaper was tightly
wrapped around him.
A couple hours later, Alex
was watching Spongebob along with Brian and Chris, both of which were still
clad in just a diaper. A few minutes into the show, Alex's nose detected the
putrid odor of a poopy diaper, and he was just about to call for Aunt Susan
when she walked in. Like Alex, she smelled a dirty diaper, and asked,
"Alex, do you nee"--when Alex shook his head no. Seeing this, she
went over to Brian and Chris instead, both of which had "looks."
Susan checked them by
grabbing the rear waistband of their diapers and pulling it back, looking down
inside to see if anything was going on. Susan went to Brian first, and found
out he was messy. She then went over to Chris. As it turned out, he contained
an even larger load than Brian. Judging from her peek inside Chris's diaper, it
looked to Susan like someone had stashed a giant chocolate cake and threw a
couple of grenades in with it. She immediately scooped up both Brian and Chris
and carried them over to the nursery.
When she got there, she
plopped Brian down on the floor and laid Chris down on the changing table.
After pulling the belt over his stomach, she ripped the tapes and peeled the
front away. Behind that diaper was a truly terrifying sight: excrement covering
every inch of Chris's privates, as well as the diaper's interior. While Chris
was occupied on sucking a pacifier, Susan lifted his butt up and began wiping
him. After many minutes of wiping, Chris was clean, and was quickly lotioned,
powdered, and diapered. Brian was next, and after he was changed, both boys
were plopped into their cribs for their naps.
Just as Susan was going
downstairs, she saw Alex running up to her with the please-change-me-look on
his face. Susan didn't say anything; she just picked up Alex and carried him
over to the nursery. Unlike Brian and Chris, Susan changed Alex's diaper very
quickly, because he was only wet. Alex then went back downstairs to the couch.
A few hours and a couple
diaper changes later, Melanie had come over. Alex automatically put on his
shoes and socks and was there to greet her with a smile. But like on Tuesday,
Melanie told him that she was going to talk with Aunt Susan before they went
home. Alex nodded, and went back to look at his books. While he was engaged
with the pictures, Susan and Melanie were in the kitchen.
"So," said
Melanie, "you're done with your first week of watching Alex. How is
it?"
"Actually," Susan
replied honestly, "Alex is great. You're right, he's very well behaved,
and he's a joy to take care of. I don't even mind changing him."
"Good." Melanie
replied.
Silence fell into the
kitchen. For a while, neither one said anything. Melanie was about to get up and
leave when Susan said, "You know, Melanie, I don't think Alex could get
any closer with you."
"What do you
mean?" asked Melanie.
"Haven't you noticed?
Alex smiles whenever he sees you. It's happened every single day this week. I
can tell he really likes you. I don't think he could love you any more than he
does already."
"Why would he love me
that much? I'm the one who put him in diapers. He hates diapers."
"I know."
responded Susan, "But I think you're the first person that has actually
given Alex affection. Even if you put him in diapers, he still likes you
because he knows he's loved."
"Think so?"
Melanie asked.
"Yeah." replied
Susan.
Melanie thought about this
for a couple seconds, and then called for Alex. Alex raced over to Melanie
bearing a huge smile, his baby blue eyes sparkling intensely. He hugged her
tightly as she picked him up. "See what I mean, Melanie?" asked
Susan, smiling.
"Huh?" Alex
asked. He looked at Melanie, puzzled, "What does Aunt Susan mean,
Mommy?"
"Nothing, Alex."
Melanie replied, smiling at him. "Let's go home, ok?"
"Ok." Alex
responded, still bearing a smile.
As Alex sat in just a
diaper on Melanie’s lap and watched Spongebob, Melanie looked down at Alex with
pity. She was staring at those hideous scars that were ingrained into his back,
recalling all the horrible things that Alex told her about. But despite all of
his experiences, Melanie believed that Alex had adjusted fairly well with her,
and she was surprised at how much he had changed in the four weeks she had had
him.
A month ago, he was
extremely quiet and solemn from emotional issues. Now, those problems were
rapidly fading away, and Alex was quite a cheerful tyke, at least when he was
around Melanie. He was also looking a lot healthier as a result of his newfound
happiness. Although Alex was still on the skinny side, his body looked fuller,
and didn’t have so many bones sticking out. In addition, Alex’s face had now
abandoned its once pale, sickly hue for a healthier, richer color.
As she thought about this,
Melanie began to wonder how much longer Alex would need diapers. He still had a
ways to go, since he still had nightmares a few times each week, though it
wasn’t nearly as bad as it used to be. But Melanie wanted Alex to abandon the
nightmares completely before he got out of diapers. In addition, Alex was still
a thumb sucker, and it would be nice if he gave up that, too.
So, how long would this go
on? Would it be a couple more weeks, a few months? After a few seconds of
pondering this over, Melanie came to the conclusion that she didn’t know when
Alex would be out of diapers. Dropping the concept out for now, she went and
affectionately wrapped one of her arms around Alex’s bare chest, while her
other arm lifted its hand up and used it to continuously weave through Alex’s
baby soft, yellow hair.
While she played with his
hair, Alex, unlike Melanie, wasn’t thinking about his past at all. He was only
concerned with the two wonderful days where he was going to be with his mommy
all day. He still thought of this wonderful idea when he raced up the stairs
and buried himself under the sheet on the bed. Melanie came up after him, and
sat down next to him to read him a story.
Alex intently listened. He
loved the bedtime stories. In fact, he looked forward to them every night. It
was strange, because he used to always dread the night, because it was the time
for the nightmares to reign supreme. But because of the love and attention he
now got, the night didn’t seem as bad.
During that time,
everything felt perfect. His hair felt softer and no longer scratched at his
scalp. His eyelids felt pleasantly heavy from sleepiness. The mattress under
him and the pillow below his head cushioned his body with comfort. Even his
diaper felt good, with its warm, tight padding lovingly wrapping his privates
and loins and waist in babyish softness, while the pleasant scent of fresh baby
powder drifted about the room. When all these elements combined with Melanie’s
soft, soothing voice, Alex felt safe and loved, reinforcing his secure belief
that all his miserable, hurtful days were over.
By the time Melanie was
done reading, the weight on Alex’s eyelids had grown heavier, and he had almost
fallen asleep. Despite this, Alex managed to sluggishly lift his eyelids. He
sleepily looked up at Melanie as she lovingly straightened the sheet out and
tucked it under Alex’s chin. She softly said good night to him and kissed him
on the forehead. Alex smiled happily and Melanie smiled back as she weaved her
fingers through his yellow hair one last time. Just as Alex drifted off into
sleep with his thumb in his mouth, she went over and flicked off the lights.
When the sun pushed itself
up over the horizon, Alex woke up. He hadn’t had any nightmares last night, and
so he felt unusually well rested. His content grew as his memory reminded him
that it was Saturday, which meant that Mommy was going to be with him all day
and the next day. Alex sat happily in the bed while he thought of this. In a
minute or so, he got up and went to the dresser to put some clothes on.
Alex put on a T-shirt and
shorts, and then went downstairs, where he watched cartoons until Melanie woke
up and made breakfast. After breakfast, Alex got his diaper changed, and he was
up in his room both looking at his books and entertaining himself with his
mirror reflection.
While he was sitting down,
Alex sensed his bowels churning. Nonchalantly, he let his diaper handle
everything, and he walked over to Melanie. She changed him again, and both had
lunch afterwards.
Following lunch was Alex’s
time to go out to the backyard, a little part of which he had claimed for
himself. His “property” consisted of a large pile of dirt, which he used for
making tunnels, with the help of some sticks he had gathered throughout the backyard.
As his hands got dusted with soil, he reflected back to about a week ago; the
first time he had started digging the tunnels.
Melanie had had no
objections to him digging tunnels in the yard, but she had wanted him to take
his clothes (or, at the very least, his pants) off whenever he went outside to
play in the dirt. That way, Alex wouldn’t get his clothes dirty, and he would
be cooler, too. (However, in all honesty, Melanie was just using those reasons
as an excuse to have Alex romp around in just his diaper again).
Although Alex was usually
completely obedient to Melanie, this time he didn’t listen to her; he didn’t
want to go out with his diaper exposed to the whole world. Even if it was just
in the backyard, Alex thought that someone still might see him. Besides, he
didn’t need to be cooler; his entire tunnel digging area was situated right
under a huge, shady tree. So, he pushed aside Melanie’s words and did what he
wanted.
Melanie, of course, was
disappointed, though she wasn’t upset with Alex at all; she understood his
reasoning. Finally facing reality, she allowed Alex to play outside with his
clothes on.
As Alex thought of this, he
now fully realized how daring he had been. He felt kind of surprised that he
had had the guts to actually disobey Mommy. What was even more surprising was
that Mommy never punished him for it; in fact, she didn’t even seem angry with
him.
Although he felt proud of
himself for doing this, Alex wisely thought that it was something that he
shouldn’t try again. Yes, he was tempted to tell Mommy that he should be out of
diapers, or at least be allowed to stop wearing those stupid, babyish
shortalls; but Alex decided that he shouldn’t push his luck and protest against
her a second time.
Finishing that thought,
Alex focused all of his attention on his tunnel digging. He worked nonstop for
half an hour, until he felt something. His bladder was feeling tingly, and
because of this, his diaper started feeling ticklish. Realizing that he needed
to pee, Alex stopped digging, sat still, and relaxed his bladder.
As he wet his diaper, the
sides and undersides of Alex’s thighs began to sense the diaper’s outer plastic
heat up and soften from the hot urine. Meanwhile, Alex’s privates felt the
interior-padding swell in size.
When he was finally done,
Alex ran back into the house. After a diaper change and a drink, Alex went back
outside to play some more.
Silently, Alex scratched at
the dirt and carved out more tunnels. He worked at it persistently for a
several hours; being so focused that he didn’t even come to Melanie when he wet
his diaper again. When he finally got around to it, his diaper had become cold
and soggy. Melanie commented on this while she was changing him.
“Wow, Alex,” she said, “it
looks like you’ve been wet for a while.”
Alex blushed slightly when
she mentioned this, but didn’t reply to her comment.
When Melanie was done
changing him, Alex went outside once again for a couple of hours until Melanie
called him in to take his bath. After he took one, he watched TV, and then went
upstairs to his bedroom, listening to Melanie reading him a story. When Alex
fell asleep, Melanie kissed him on the forehead and left the room.
Sunday was very much like
Saturday, with Alex doing his routine of reading, watching TV, digging tunnels,
and getting diaper changes.
The only thing that was
different was that the social worker came to visit them. Alex wasn’t worried;
Mommy had already told him about that, and he was well aware that he was just
there to make sure everything was ok. He also knew that the social worker was
coming to visit for the first six months or so. Alex didn’t have to really do
anything; he just went about his normal activities, and besides, the social
worker found everything to be all right, anyway, so there wasn’t any stress on
his part.
Like the previous day, Alex
had enjoyed himself immensely, and was ready to go back to Aunt Susan’s when
Monday zoomed up to him.
Monday came, and before he
knew it, it was Friday again. Then, after the weekend was over, the cycle
started again. A few weeks went by, when, on a Wednesday, Alex encountered
something unusual.
The day started out
normally. Alex woke up, watched cartoons, ate breakfast, got his diaper
changed, and was dropped off at Aunt Susan’s. Nothing unusual. Everything was
nice and pleasant. As usual, Alex had removed his shoes and socks and was
sitting on the couch looking at his pop-up books, when he began to feel
uncomfortable.
His stomach was very sore,
and Alex wriggled around in pain before he finally relieved himself in his
diaper. The poop was watery, and there was so much of it that Alex even felt it
smother his crotch and lower back; and it all came out so fast that at one
point Alex was afraid that his diaper was going to leak. But luckily, it
didn’t, thanks to the elastic waistband and leg cuffs. However, the diaper had
reached full capacity, and was going to leak if Alex used it again.
Knowing this, Alex went up
to Aunt Susan as fast as he could, and was quickly lying on the changing table.
Although he was used to having Susan change his diapers, Alex still blushed
immensely and avoided her gaze as she pulled the diaper back and exposed his
filthy crotch and bottom. He knew that Aunt Susan wasn’t in the least bit upset
with him, but still, Alex felt both ashamed and embarrassed for making such a
huge and disgusting mess for her to clean up.
Many minutes later, Alex
was finally in a clean diaper. But not long after that, Alex’s stomach was
irritated again, forcing him to use his still-new diaper. He went back up to
Aunt Susan to get changed again.
This happened again and
again with no stop in sight. Susan made Alex drink a lot to replace the water
his body had lost. She also gave Alex some diarrhea medicine, which managed to
soothe his stomach. Unfortunately, Susan discovered too late that she had given
Alex the medicine after he had gone through all of the diapers that Melanie had
packed for him.
Susan mentioned this to
Alex while she was changing him, and told him that he would have to use Chris
and Brian’s diapers for the rest of the day. She also added in that when he was
wearing their diapers, he wouldn’t be able to wear any pants, because the
diaper was too big.
Alex’s body tensed up a
little as his terror began to rise. Needless to say, he hated the idea of
having his diaper exposed to everyone. Yet at the same time, Alex knew he
didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t just walk around without any underwear; so,
he unhappily nodded in response to Aunt Susan.
She quickly wiped the rest of
the watery excrement off of Alex’s butt and crotch, and applied lotion and
powder. While Alex remained naked from the waist down, Susan grabbed one of the
diapers under the changing table and brought it out. In a swift, steady move,
she grabbed Alex’s ankles, lifted his butt up, and slid the diaper under him.
Immediately after bringing his legs down, she pulled the diaper over Alex’s
crotch, and held the front in place as she tightly taped the two sides
together. As Aunt Susan pulled his shirt down and unbuckled the belt over his
stomach, Alex lay on the changing table; surprised by the new diaper he was
wearing.
It turned out to be so
thick that it actually forced his legs to spread apart; and Alex wasn’t even
able to make his knees touch together. It was also high rising, covering half
of Alex’s stomach and stretching up to his lower back. Also, the taping zone
characters were larger, the plastic cover was crinklier, and the elastic
waistband and leg cuffs grabbed at Alex’s skin in a tighter grip.
A second later, Susan
picked him up and carried him downstairs. She said it was easier to watch him
on the first floor where everybody else was. Alex began to panic, and Susan
went on to reassure Alex that no one would tease him; she would make sure of
that.
Alex buried his face into
Aunt Susan’s shoulder as he was carried down. After a long, slow walk, he was
set onto the couch in the TV room. He looked frantically around. He saw Brian
and Chris, but they weren’t paying any attention to him. That was good in Alex’s
opinion, but what he was really worried about was when Josh would see him.
Sure, Josh already knew Alex was in diapers, but Alex still thought it
embarrassing to see a big kid like Josh view him in his diapered state. He
dreaded the idea, and desperately hoped Josh wouldn’t see him like this.
Alex’s thoughts were
interrupted when Aunt Susan said one last thing to him: since his diaper was so
thick, it was there to absorb a lot. This meant that Alex wasn’t allowed to
tell her when he needed a change; she would decide that. Alex, realizing that
it could be a long time before he was changed, felt his depression accelerate
even more.
Alex, clad in only a shirt
and a diaper, simply sat on the couch. He tried to look at his books, but the
new diaper was way too distracting. Not only did it crackle loudly, but also,
the thickness was annoying. His inner thighs were aching from being spread
apart like that for so long, and it felt strange to have his butt lifted up a
couple of inches off the couch. Nevertheless, Alex finally managed to look at
his pop-ups for a little while, until he needed to go to the bathroom.
This time, he had a strong
urge to pee and release all the liquids Aunt Susan gave to him. Alex
immediately went in the diaper. He started thinking about going to Aunt Susan
for a change, but remembered that she had to decide when he needed it.
Dejectedly, Alex remained seated on the couch.
A few minutes later, Aunt
Susan came in and checked diapers. She first went to Alex, who was sure he was
going to be changed. To his disappointment, Aunt Susan didn’t think he needed
it, and moved on to Brian and Chris. Seeing that none of boys needed a diaper
change, Aunt Susan went to the kitchen to get them drinks.
She came back carrying two
bottles, which she gave to Brian and Chris, and a large cup full of juice for
Alex.
Alex drank it down
thirstily. He then asked for another cup, and another, until he couldn’t drink
anymore. His plan was simple: he would wet his diaper more so he could get
changed sooner. After a couple of patient hours, it worked. Alex thoroughly
soaked the diaper; and like he expected, Aunt Susan came and changed him.
When she was done, she
picked him up, carried him back downstairs, and set him back on the couch. Alex
was feeling happy that he was finally in a clean diaper when his body grew
rigid. Josh was now in the living room.
The eleven year old turned
and looked to see who it was. He saw the five year old and said, “Hi Alex.”
Alex didn’t respond. Josh
didn’t mind though; he knew Alex was shy, and he could see that he was
embarrassed from having his diaper exposed.
Josh simply continued
searching about the room; he knew the fly was in here, but he couldn’t see it.
For a few seconds, Josh stood while his hand impatiently weaved through his
blondish-brown hair. Suddenly he saw it zoom by and he swung at it with the
flyswatter.
Josh missed, and instead he
almost hit Alex, who jumped; suddenly reminded of the times he had been abused
with the belt. “Sorry, Alex,” Josh apologetically said as he went and chased
the fly.
Within a few seconds, he
lost it again, and the fly was nowhere to be found. However, he was sure that
it was still in the room; he could still hear the low buzzing its wings made,
so Josh went over to one of the windows and pulled the blinds up to try to
attract the fly to the light. The fly soon came, and as it settled on the
glass, Josh inched up upon it, and Alex jumped as he heard a huge SMACK that
was eerily reminiscent of the sound that Daddy’s belt made with his body.
Finally catching the fly,
Josh got a napkin and peeled the tiny corpse off of the window. He then pulled
the blinds back down and left the room.
After Alex had recovered
from the thought about his past, his mind went back to the present. He sighed
with relief from knowing that Josh understood about the diapers. He merely
acted as if they weren’t there at all. As Alex thought about this, he now
considered that spending the rest of the day in a fully exposed diaper wouldn’t
be so bad after all.
Luckily for Alex, the day
wasn’t too traumatizing. It was still embarrassing for him to have his diaper
out in plain view, but no one ever acted as if it was out of the ordinary.
Everyone was so nonchalant about it that Alex started to feel comfortable in
his new outfit. However, his relief evaporated when his ears picked up the
clear gong of the doorbell.
Of course, it was just
Mommy, but for some reason even Alex couldn’t explain, he felt discomforted
when he saw her eyes glance at him. Sure, at night, he hung around in just a
diaper right in front of her; but nonetheless, Alex still felt uncomfortable to
have Mommy see him dressed up like this.
While Alex hung his head
down with embarrassment, he heard Aunt Susan quickly explain everything. Melanie
nodded, and had Alex put on his shoes and socks. After he did so, she picked
him up as her other hand slung a diaper bag and Alex’s shorts over her
shoulder.
As Alex was carried
outside, he buried his face into Melanie’s shoulder and tried to block his
current situation out. At this point, his humiliation was incredible; his
diaper was now fully exposed for everyone in the neighborhood to see. Alex
expected someone out in the street to comment on his appearance, but
thankfully, he never heard any.
When he was finally back in
the car and on the way home, Alex looked out the window in a feeble attempt to
forget his attire. He was now wearing just a diaper, a T-shirt, and shoes and
socks; an outfit that made him feel babyish to an even further degree than the
shortalls he disliked so much. His legs ached from the titanic wad of material
wedged between them, the crackling plastic was unpleasantly loud, and the
feeling of helplessness mercilessly gnawed at his dignity.
When Melanie led the car
back into the garage and turned the key to OFF, Alex simply sat in the car seat
and waited for her to take him out. He knew that the diapers wouldn’t let him
walk; he already found that out at Aunt Susan’s. During the hours he had been
waiting to wet his diaper enough to get changed, he had tried walking through
the house. Instead, all the diaper would let him do was waddle, and Alex didn’t
like this at all; the waddling made him feel even more babyish. As a result, he
went back to the couch and sat on it for the rest of his stay with Aunt Susan.
Finally, Melanie came and
got Alex out. After she carried him up to his room, she went back downstairs to
make dinner.
Alex removed his shoes and
socks and climbed up on the bed, still embarrassed that Mommy saw him dressed
like this. He lied down on the bed, thinking of nothing in particular, until
Melanie came and carried him downstairs.
As Alex ate, he squirmed
around uncomfortably. He had wet his diaper several times by now, and he was
desperate for a change. But it still wasn’t enough to convince Melanie that he
needed one; there was no way she was letting such an absorbent diaper go to
waste.
However, luck soon turned
to Alex’s favor. While Alex was eating, he had a sudden urge to pee, a lot. He
sat still and let out as much urine as he could. If he was lucky, he would wet
the diaper enough to require a change.
Sure enough, by the time
dinner was done, Alex had completely soaked it. Soon following that was the
highly anticipated change, and Alex lay still as the enormous diaper was
untaped and pulled away from his body. Melanie then quickly wiped him up, and
left the room (it was Alex’s bath time, so she didn’t bother diapering him).
After he bathed and brushed
his teeth, Alex returned to the room, and was put into one of his regular
diapers. The difference in them was amazing; even though they were actually a
little thicker than most diapers, they felt skimpy and paper-thin compared to
the ones Alex had worn for most of the day. Happy with the fact that he could
finally walk without waddling, Alex walked downstairs and sat on the couch to
watch Spongebob.
Nothing unusual happened
for the next couple of weeks until, on a Saturday night, Melanie told Alex that
they were going to visit another friend of hers. She was Aunt Vicky. Like the
time when he first met Aunt Susan, Alex was afraid of this, and he asked
Melanie if Aunt Vicky was nice. Although Melanie told him that she was, Alex’s
shy nature refused to trust her words.
The next morning, Alex was
in the car on the way to visit Aunt Vicky. Wearing a T-shirt, shortalls, and
shoes and socks, he nervously looked out the window with his thumb in his
mouth. He tried to mentally tell himself that everything was all right; he
didn’t need to be so scared anymore. After all, he felt scared when he met Aunt
Susan, but she turned out to be nice, so why should Aunt Vicky be any
different? However, for some reason, his mind still couldn’t agree with this,
and Alex’s tension began to grow as he and Mommy came closer and closer to Aunt
Vicky’s house.
In an unbelievably short
time, Alex found himself hiding behind Melanie while her index finger made
contact with the doorbell. A couple of seconds fleeted by, and the door flew
open, revealing Aunt Vicky. Alex nervously gazed up at this new person.
Aunt Vicky was gigantic.
Her skinny body seemed to tower over Mommy, even though she was probably only
about a couple inches taller. Unlike Mommy, who’s slender body possessed long,
straight brown hair, Aunt Vicky had yellow hair tinged with a slight tea color;
sort of like Aunt Susan’s, except puffier and bouncier.
While Alex observed her
jiggling hair, he began to feel nervous. He didn’t like the way it moved. In
fact, he didn’t like the way Aunt Vicky looked at all. She had kind of a creepy
feeling, as if something bad was going to happen around her soon. Alex was
unable to explain why he had this bad feeling about her, he didn’t disregard
it. Although Alex was only five, he knew that his feelings were usually right,
even when his own logic told him that they were wrong.
As he thought about this,
Alex shivered. He held onto Melanie’s hand in an even tighter grip. His tension
amplified. He wasn’t just nervous; he was terrified of Aunt Vicky. Now, Alex
could feel his bladder tingling and the diaper under his shortalls tickle him,
as if his own fear would consume his bladder control and make him wet his
diaper without realizing it. The thumb on his right hand—the thumb that he
sucked on—felt cold and detached, as if it was some kind of alien appendage
that didn’t belong with his fingers. Finally, there seemed to be a mist around
Aunt Vicky; a cold, cruel mist that penetrated Alex’s vertebrae and chilled the
spinal cord within it into solid ice.
Now, Alex knew that he
wouldn’t like Aunt Vicky. He wanted to tell his mommy that they should go home,
or at least get away from Aunt Vicky. Despite his desire to do so, Alex knew
that Mommy wouldn’t be persuaded. As he watched that evil hair beckon to him
again, Alex miserably went with Melanie as she walked into Aunt Vicky’s lair.
A few minutes later, while
Alex was sitting on a chair looking at a book, Melanie and Vicky sat on a sofa
on the other side of the room. As they talked about him, Alex listened intently
to their conversation.
“He’s really cute,” he
heard Aunt Vicky heartedly say, “How long have you had him?”
Alex then heard Mommy
reply, “A little over two months now.”
“How’s he been?” Aunt Vicky
asked.
“Alex is great. You
wouldn’t believe how well behaved he is. Also, he’s quite cheerful now,
compared to when I got him two months ago.”
“Why,” Aunt Vicky asked,
“what happened?”
“Oh—I can’t believe I
forgot to tell you this—um, Alex used to be abused by his parents, and because
of that, he had a really bad problem with nightmares. It doesn’t happen as
often as it used to. Now, he only gets them a few times a week.”
Alex cringed a little as he
heard this. Yes, he was getting over his trauma, but it was still painful for
him to hear about his past. He shook the pain off, and continued to eavesdrop.
“Huh,” Aunt Susan said in
an indifferent tone, “So, did he have any regressions because of this abuse?
Such as bedwetting, or thumb sucking?”
“Well,” Alex heard Mommy
hesitantly say, “yes. Alex did-and still does-suck his thumb whenever he’s
nervous.”
“He still does that?” Aunt
Vicky said in a disapproving voice.
Alex once again cringed.
The evil presence around Aunt Vicky seemed to grow when she said that. Alex
could also now tell that Aunt Vicky didn’t like him, and that she didn’t have
any plans to be nice to him. Tears were welling up in his eyes from this
realization, but Alex fought them back and forced himself to listen some more.
“Well, I don’t blame him,”
Mommy said in response to Aunt Vicky’s disapproval, “He’s really gone through a
lot.”
“But it’s been two months
since he’s been with you, right? I thought he would have been over that by
now.”
“Sometimes,” Alex heard
Mommy reply, “things take time.”
The conversation
temporarily stopped. Alex nervously wondered what they would say next when he
heard the booming voice of Aunt Vicky say, “So, how did you manage to reduce
the nightmares? Was he just happy with you, or did you give him something to
lessen them?”
“Well, I think that he was
just happier” Mommy said in as nonchalant a voice as she could.
Hearing this, Aunt Vicky
became convinced that Melanie wasn’t telling her everything. She then pressured
her more on the subject, and continued to probe at her responses until Melanie
was forced to tell her everything. Broken in, Melanie told Vicky about how she
made Alex wear diapers, and the reason why he was still in them.
Unfortunately, Aunt Vicky
didn’t take this well. She bombarded Melanie about this, and went on and on,
making no effort to hide her disapproval of both her, and especially, Alex.
Soon, Alex couldn’t tolerate her comments about him anymore. Extremely hurt by
Vicky’s words, he began to cry.
When Melanie heard Alex’s
sobs, she immediately knew why Alex was upset. Wanting to comfort him as soon
as possible, Melanie broke the conversation with Aunt Vicky with some
difficulty. Then she scooped up Alex, said a quick farewell to Aunt Vicky, and
left.
Alex was still sobbing when
he was in the car. Melanie’s guilt grew as she heard him cry. She should have
known that Vicky wouldn’t have approved of Alex; she had always been that way.
When they had finally
gotten home, Melanie carried Alex into his bedroom and tried to comfort him. By
then, his crying had reduced, but he was still sniffling. While Melanie hugged
him, she reassured him that he was never going to see Aunt Vicky again, and she
apologized to him profusely for his poor treatment.
Although Alex was comforted
in the fact that he wouldn’t see Aunt Vicky anymore, he remained gloomy for the
rest of the day. The vicious words about his diapers and his thumb sucking
constantly haunted him. Alex even had a hard time sleeping, because he wore his
pajamas to cover up his diaper (he was ashamed to show them even to Melanie
because of Aunt Vicky’s words); and at first, he tried to fall asleep without
sucking his thumb; a plan which miserably failed. However, that wasn’t the last
of the effects from Aunt Vicky. Alex also had a really bad nightmare, and
Melanie had to come and comfort him.
Monday came, and Alex went
off to stay at Susan’s as usual. When Melanie arrived in the afternoon, Susan
led her into the kitchen for a talk.
“Is Alex okay?” Susan asked
in a concerned voice, “He seemed a little depressed today.”
“He’s depressed,” responded
Melanie, “because I took him to meet Vicky yesterday, and it didn’t turn out
too well. Alex started crying because he could tell that Vicky didn’t like him.
I’m never seeing her again.”
“I don’t blame you.” Susan
agreed, “She was always narrow minded.”
“Yeah,” Melanie replied grimly,
“but should have known that it wouldn’t have gone well.”
“Why? Because she was
narrow min”—
“No, not that,” Melanie cut
in, “I should have listened to Alex. I don’t know why, but he somehow knew it
wasn’t going to go well.”
“What happened?” Susan
asked.
“Alex got really agitated
when he saw her,” Melanie responded,” He was holding my hand really, really
tight, and he started fidgeting a lot; and he was pulling my arm, as if he
wanted me to get away from Vicky. I’ve never seen him do that before. He didn’t
get antsy like that when he first met you, even though he was just as nervous
about seeing you. I mean, it’s like he was precognitive or something.”
“Maybe he’s put his
instinct to use more than others, or maybe he’s just really good at telling what
feelings a person has. You know, he’s just observant.”
“Yeah,” Melanie said,
“that’s it. He’s good at sensing feelings. I should have just listened to him
and gone back.”
As she said this, Melanie
began to feel even guiltier about bringing Alex to Vicky’s. It was at this time
that her mind slipped back to many of her past events; one of them explaining
why she had always been so much closer to Susan than Vicky.
When Melanie was in
college, she hadn’t been doing so well. Her family wasn’t exactly able to
afford college. But luckily for her, she became good friends with Susan, who
happened to come from a rich family, a very rich one. Because of Susan’s help,
Melanie was able to pay off her student loans and get a place to live. In a few
years, Melanie had gotten a fairly high paying job, and was able to pay back
Susan, despite her insistence that she shouldn’t.
Around the same time she
met Susan, Melanie had also met Vicky who, though not as rich as Susan, also
came from a fairly well off family. However, she had always been a little
snobbish, and had a tendency to smoke and drink a lot. But Melanie became
friends with her because she and Vicky took many of the same classes together,
and as a result, frequently helped each other out with their homework. Despite
this, Melanie’s friendship with Vicky was always a little unstable; they were
way too different. To Melanie, Susan had always been the better friend. Sure,
she didn’t help out with homework as often as Vicky, but she was much nicer and
easier going. And, when Melanie thought about it, Susan was the one who truly
helped her out. Without her, Melanie had no idea how she would have been able
to pay off all those debts.
However, those now fifteen
years of friendship hadn’t always gone smoothly. Melanie remembered one
incident in particular that happened about five years ago. That time, Susan had
told Melanie that she planned to kidnap a bratty kid and diaper discipline him.
She only told Melanie because she was her best friend, and the only one she truly
trusted.
Melanie, of course, didn’t
think it was a good idea to break the law. However, what held her back from
calling the police was the knowledge that she had never seen Susan do something
without good reason. And Melanie’s instinct told her that this was no
exception, despite her judgment’s plea to not go along with it. Soon after
that, Susan had told her she had done it, and Melanie hesitantly went over to
see the kid.
It was Josh who had been
kidnapped. He was tied down on his stomach to a crib, clad in only a diaper.
The then six year old was furious. His eyes seemed to glow with anger, and
enraged words mumbled their way out of his pacifier-strapped mouth. Now, part
of Josh’s rage was probably due to his new situation, but even with that consideration,
Melanie could see that Josh was a bratty kid. Despite her still uneasy feelings
about this idea, she was beginning to get interested in how this diaper
discipline would turn out.
A few months later, Melanie
came to visit Susan again on a rainy winter day. Josh was sitting on the floor
playing with some toys. He was wearing a short T-shirt, a diaper, and a pair of
socks. To Melanie’s surprise, he looked up and politely said hello. Then,
Melanie’s shock increased as she and Susan talked. Even though Josh wasn’t in
any restraints, and had no pacifier strapped to his mouth, he remained silent
and still the entire time. During the conversation, Melanie had to glance at
Josh several times, not because of his attire, but because she couldn’t believe
that this polite child was the same bratty kid she had encountered not so long
ago.
Because of the enormous
success the diapers had had with Josh, Melanie didn’t object too much when
Susan had kidnapped Brian and Chris about a year ago, and—
“Melanie. Melanie?”
“Huh?” asked Melanie,
blinking.
“You were spaced out for a
while,” responded Susan, “Are you tired or something?”
“Yeah, I am. It’s from
waking up to tend to Alex. I love him dearly, but sometimes, it gets annoying
having to get up in the middle of the night just to change his diaper, or
comfort him from a bad nightmare.”
“That’s understandable,”
Susan simply replied.
The conversation now ended,
and so Melanie called for Alex. Alex came in soon enough, still depressed from
the experience with Vicky. He was dragging his feet a little, and he didn’t
seem as energetic as he usually was. His eyes were no longer bright with
childish innocence; instead they were dark and adult. Even Alex’s hair seemed
gloomy. Usually, it was cleanly parted, with some fluffy stragglers bouncing on
Alex’s forehead. But now, it was lying in a meaningless, jumbled heap. It’s
usual fluffy, baby softness was greasy and scratchy, and its bright yellow tone
seemed a little washed out.
Alex finally dragged his
body over to where Melanie was, and then glumly followed her as she walked out
the door.
Alex’s depression continued
on for another day or so. However, he managed to recover, and he was back to
his normal self by Friday.
It was now Friday night,
and Alex was lying down on the couch watching Spongebob. He felt great. The
cold breeze from the air conditioning cooled his body. His diaper was still
brand new, and had some of its coldness left. Mommy was happy with him, and she
was hugging him and playing with his hair.
But, Alex’s cheerful self
didn’t last too long. While his diaper clad body was spread out, Melanie told
him that her brother and sister—Uncle Dave and Aunt Sarah—were coming to visit
them tomorrow on Saturday. She went further to inform him that he should be
able to get along with Uncle Dave, because he really liked kids.
Alex didn’t like this.
Remembering how badly Aunt Vicky treated him, he began to feel scared. Sure,
this Uncle Dave was supposed to like kids, but would he like him if he found
out he wore diapers? What about Aunt Sarah? Mommy never said she liked kids, so
she might be mean to him like Aunt Vicky.
While these thoughts were
racing through Alex’s head, he decided to ask Melanie a couple questions that
were bothering him. He nervously blurted out, “Do they know I have to wear”---
“Yes, Alex,” Melanie calmly
responded, “they already know you wear diapers. Both of them are fine with it.”
“What about my”—
“Thumb sucking?” Melanie
cut in. Alex nodded. “They know about that, too. Neither of them has a problem
with it. Everything’s ok with them.”
Alex nodded. He felt
somewhat relieved. Uncle Dave and Aunt Sarah were fine with his thumb sucking
and diapers. But still, his experience with Aunt Vicky held him back from
complete relief.
Alex could clearly remember
that Mommy said Aunt Vicky was nice, but she wasn’t. What if Uncle Dave and
Aunt Sarah were like that, too? What if they were mean and drunk like Mommy and
Daddy? Or what if they were like the six year old at the orphanage, who called
him a baby and told him that he should be in the nursery getting his diaper
changed with the other babies?
Thinking of all these
possible outcomes made Alex even more scared. What made it worse was that time
seemed to have sped up. Before he knew it, he was in bed, and Mommy had
finished the bedtime story and was turning off the lights.
Now, Alex was alone in his
room, lying down under the lone sheet on the bed in nothing but a diaper. As he
hoped for the best outcome—that Uncle Dave and Aunt Sarah were nice—he curled
up even tighter and sucked his thumb.
It was now around noon on
Saturday, and Melanie was looking forward to seeing her siblings, whom she
hadn’t seen in a while. While imagining this, Melanie’s anticipation caused her
mind to digress back to when she and her siblings were kids.
Melanie was by far the
oldest sibling in the family. She was eight years older than her sister Sarah,
and ten years older than her brother Dave. Naturally, Melanie had been taught
how to change diapers as soon as Sarah had been born. She distinctly remembered
that she hated the chore, especially since she wasn’t rewarded in any way for
doing such a disgusting task. Luckily, the grossness of doing it faded away by
the time Dave was born. The only problem was that now there were two kids in
diapers, which meant more work for Melanie.
Although she was used to
changing diapers by now, Melanie was getting sick of having to change two kids,
but her mother forced her to do it. She told Melanie it was good practice for
when she had children of her own.
Melanie understood her
mother’s point, but still, the work was tedious. What didn’t help was that
Sarah had happened to be one of those kids that took a while to toilet train (a
rare case in girls, according to Melanie’s mother), so Melanie was changing two
kids for quite some time.
Luckily for Melanie, the
torture finally stopped about a year later, when Dave finally became toilet
trained at around age two. Melanie was in pure bliss after that, until later,
as a teenager, she babysat to make extra money, meaning that she was required
to change diapers again. However, after changing her two siblings for four
years, Melanie was used to it, and didn’t find the task to be too bad.
Melanie sighed to herself,
thinking about those days. Yes, she hated changing diapers, but Melanie also
recalled how glad she was in the fact that she had done it. No, it wasn’t
because the skill came in use now that Alex was around, it was because Melanie
had discovered that she could use her experience as a weapon against her
siblings. If Melanie was angry at them, all she had to do was rant on about how
she changed their diapers as babies, and then go into vivid detail about it
until her siblings gave in to make her shut up. She had gotten the idea from
her mother, who used the same form of humiliation on Melanie many years ago.
Melanie’s mind now snapped
back into the real world. Her memories now increased her excitement in seeing
her siblings. She couldn’t wait to show them her adopted son Alex, who,
unfortunately, wasn’t as excited about seeing them as Melanie was.
Actually, Alex wasn’t
looking forward to seeing them; he was dreading it. According to Mommy, Uncle
Dave and Aunt Sarah could come any minute. While waiting for the sound of the
doorbell, Alex sucked his thumb vigorously as his small body curled up into a
ball at the far end of the foyer. After several silent and threatening minutes,
the doorbell gonged in an ominous tone.
Alex panicked. His shy
personality wanted to be away from them, so Alex sprinted up the stairs to his
room and dove onto his bed.
Melanie opened the door and
immediately let her siblings in. They talked excitedly until Dave asked where
Alex was. Melanie explained that he was hiding in his room, and that she would
get him.
She walked upstairs and
went to Alex’s room, only to find the door closed and locked. Luckily, she had
a key, and soon got it opened.
When Melanie came into the
room, she saw Alex curled up into a ball on the bed. He was clearly scared about
the whole situation. Melanie walked right toward Alex, scooped him up, and
carried him back down, assuring him along the way that everything was going to
be fine.
As Melanie came back with
Alex in her arms, Sarah let out an annoying awwwww, while Dave’s smile widened.
Like Melanie said, Dave really loved kids, even though his reaction upon seeing
Alex wasn’t as energetic as Sarah’s. Sarah was the one who wasn’t into kids.
She had nothing against them; she just wasn’t interested. However, in Sarah’s
opinion, Alex might be the exception.
“He’s really cute,” Sarah
said in genuine awe.
Alex cringed in
exasperation. Why did everyone say he was cute?
“I know, isn’t he?” Melanie
proudly said.
“Here, can I hold him?”
asked Dave.
Melanie handed Alex over to
Dave, who gave him such a friendly smile that Alex started to form a smile in
return. But it completely disintegrated within a couple seconds.
Alex still needed time to
adjust to these new people. Uncle Dave intimidated him. He was not only really
tall; he had such a muscular body that just one of his arms dwarfed Alex’s
skinny, five year old body. In a few seconds, however, Alex’s thoughts were
interrupted when Dave started tickling him in the stomach.
At first, all Alex did was
squirm a little, but then a smile spread across his face and he let out a
slight giggle. Sarah saw him smile and she let out another one of her annoying
awwws. But Alex didn’t pay much attention. He continued to smile and let out an
occasional giggle until Dave stopped tickling him. Dave then gave him a tight
hug and set Alex down on the ground.
Alex looked up at him.
Uncle Dave wasn’t so bad after all. He was huge, but he was friendly. Also, he
didn’t have a misty, acrid alcohol odor around him like Daddy, which to Alex,
was a really good sign.
Aunt Sarah was ok too,
though she was really getting on Alex’s nerves with those awwws. Alex was also
getting aggravated by how Aunt Sarah kept going on and on about how cute he was
and how his eyes were beautiful.
But still, even though Aunt
Sarah was irritating, she, like Uncle Dave, didn’t trigger any of those bad
feelings in him. That’s what truly reassured Alex: his instinct told him that
these people were okay.
The rest of the day went
smoothly. Not even the diaper changes ruined it. Whenever Alex needed a change,
he would just whisper in Melanie’s ear and she’d take him up to his room and
change him. When he’d come back down, neither Aunt Sarah or Uncle Dave said
anything about it.
Unfortunately, Uncle Dave
(and Aunt Sarah) had to leave a few hours later. Alex was disappointed. During
the time that he had spent with Dave, Alex discovered that he was extremely
funny, as well as friendly. The two got along so well that Uncle Dave managed
to make Alex laugh and smile several times without even trying to.
After they left, Alex asked
Melanie when Uncle Dave would come again. Melanie simply responded that
Thanksgiving might be the next time he’ll see him. Hearing this, Alex gave such
a dejected look that Melanie hastily added on to her statement: she promised
Alex that she would try to make Uncle Dave come back sooner. Alex smiled
happily over this, and hoped that this would come true.
Melanie had kept that
promise, and a few days later, she told Alex that she had called Uncle Dave to
see if he could come sooner than Thanksgiving. To Alex’s delight, Melanie told
him that he would try to come whenever he had the time: most likely in a couple
of weeks. Sure, a couple of weeks sounded like a long time to Alex, but, it was
at least something to look forward, as opposed to the other event that he was
now dreading.
Almost a month had passed
since he had met Dave and Sarah, and September was looming up ahead; pushing
August aside until only a week and a half remained. At the beginning of
September, right after Labor Day, Alex was told that he would be starting
Kindergarten.
Of course, Alex hadn’t
responded well to this. He hated the idea of school. The most repulsive part
was that he would be surrounded by other kids for hours at a time; kids that
might find out about his diapers, and pick on him like that six year old. It
didn’t help that Mommy told him that his diapers would get changed by the
school nurse; that was just another stranger that was going to see him naked;
and Alex was sure that the other kids were going to notice that he would
walking out of class a lot. How was he going to explain that?
Alex asked this question
specifically, and Mommy only told him that he should hold it in as long as he
could, and then use his diaper and go get changed at recess; that way people
wouldn’t notice him being gone. It was a good idea to Alex’s point of view, he
still saw obvious loopholes in it, but he didn’t ask any more questions
concerning his diapers (mainly because he knew that the answers wouldn’t help
much).
Melanie looked down at
Alex, deep in thought. Even before he said it, she knew that Alex wouldn’t like
the idea of going to Kindergarten. She had considered to have Susan home school
him like Josh; she had the skill, and Melanie was sure that she would be more
than happy to teach Alex. But there were two problems with this idea: 1)
although Susan was only home schooling Josh now, Melanie knew that she was
going to home school Brian and Chris eventually, too. Adding Alex to the three
that Susan was going to be teaching might put a strain on her. Since they were
all different ages, she was going to have to make three different lesson plans
every day (Brian and Chris were the same age, so they counted as one lesson
plan). However, this, in Melanie’s opinion, was a weak point. She knew Susan
liked Alex; and was perfectly willing to add a little more stress to her own
life to enhance his.
What really made Melanie
choose public school over Susan’s home schooling was her second thought: Alex,
though much less emotionally traumatized by now, still lacked good social
skills. He only played by himself, and when he did feel social, he only wanted
her or Susan to play with him. Even though there were a lot of kids around
Alex’s age in their neighborhood, Melanie had never seen Alex even try to
interact with them. Alex ignored even Brian and Chris. Melanie thought that
Alex would like them by now because he was familiar with them, and they also
wore diapers, so they would be more understanding towards each other. But like
almost everyone else, Alex gave Brian and Chris the cold shoulder and continued
to play alone.
Because of this, she
decided that public school was better. Having being surrounded by other kids
would teach Alex the social skills that he would need later in life, especially
when he became old enough to get a job. Nowadays, pretty much every occupation
Melanie could think of wanted their employees to have good communication
skills; something that Alex definitely didn’t have. It would be good for Alex
if he learned this skill as soon as possible.
While Melanie tended to
remain focused on the big picture, Alex continued to pick at the little things;
that kids would be there, that these kids would pick on him if (or more likely,
when, in Alex’s frightened mind) they found out he wore diapers and went to the
bathroom in the same method that a baby would. Or, Alex pondered nervously;
maybe it wouldn’t be his classmates that would find out about his diapers.
Maybe the really big kids, like the first graders, or, Alex fancied, the fifth
graders, would find out. Maybe a group of them would chase him around the
school and finally corner him, where one of them would grab his pants and shove
it down, revealing his diaper, all the while torturing him physically and
verbally without mercy….
Alex cringed while this
mental image—and many other similar ones—passed through him. He didn’t think it
was possible, but the idea of Kindergarten now sounded like one of the scariest
things in the world; almost as scary as the day Mommy and Daddy died. It was
even scarier than the day he was adopted, or the brown bag, or when he met Aunt
Vicky. Every second that Alex thought about Kindergarten, the kids he would
have to meet, how they would react if (or when, Alex mentally reminded himself)
they saw his diapers, made Alex so delirious with tension that he thought he
was going to go mad.
But, there was still
reassurance. Kindergarten was going to come in about two and a half weeks. That
was still quite a while. He wouldn’t have to worry about Kindergarten, Alex
reassured himself. It was still too far away to think about it.
Since Kindergarten was
coming close, Melanie tested Alex on his knowledge to see if he was ready. As
it turned out, he was, academically, more than ready. According to the
standards requirements, Alex was definitely ready to attend Kindergarten. He
could work independently, read and verbally spell his own name, and was able to
follow simple directions, among a few other requirements. The only one that
Alex truly didn’t meet was the same reason that Melanie had him go to public
school: the ability to interact (well) with peers. However, she knew that just
because Alex was antisocial didn’t mean that he was inconsiderate. Melanie
already knew that Alex was polite to other kids, and he was willing to share
his own possessions with them.
The other requirement that
Alex didn’t meet per se was being able to go to the bathroom by himself. Of
course, Melanie knew that Alex knew how, though, obviously, because of the
diapers, he wasn’t using this particular skill; and, by the looks of it, might
not use it for several more months.
Still, luck favors the
prepared, so despite the fact that Alex knew more than the minimum amount of
requirements, Melanie worked with him for the remaining two and a half weeks in
developing his reading and math skills. Some of these included teaching Alex
what number came after 199 (since Alex didn’t know), and expanding his
vocabulary. She also got Susan to work with Alex while he was with her.
To Melanie’s delight, Alex
learned quickly, though that didn’t necessarily mean he liked it. To Alex’s
point of view, all of this extra learning was idiotic and pointless. He knew
that he already had more knowledge than most, if not all, of the Kindergartners
that would be in his class; and he didn’t see why he had to learn more.
Besides, Kindergarten still hadn’t started, so Alex really didn’t like the idea
of wasting the rest of his precious summer days with learning how to read more
and how to add and subtract. Alex also noticed that Mommy kept bombarding him
with review questions on what he learned to make sure that he had absorbed the
information. She did it almost anywhere and anytime, while Alex was watching
TV, when he was looking at his reflection in his room, during meals, or while
he was playing out in the yard.
Alex was frustrated. He
wanted to yell at Mommy to make her and Aunt Susan stop, but like always, he
didn’t have the guts to protest against her. So miserably, Alex endured this
for several days. He eventually got so fed up with this that he found methods
to stall for time. Alex started taking longer while bathing and brushing his
teeth, and he continuously drank more so he could wet his diaper more often,
and therefore, get more changes.
Melanie saw through the
latter, and to Alex’s fury, she started to review questions even during diaper
changes. This was especially infuriating to Alex. He would be lying down on the
bed, being perfectly still while he was being wiped up, and just when Mommy got
out the baby powder, she’d ask him stupid things like how to spell the word
“river,” or what he would get when he added the number “two” with “three.”
However, Alex ended up
winning. It happened about a week into the teaching; when Kindergarten was just
around a week and a half away. He was sitting on the couch watching Spongebob
as usual, his legs drawn up to his chest, with both of his arms wrapped around
them. Instead of cuddling up next to Melanie like usual, he sat on a different
couch, taking occasional resentful glances at the other couch, where Melanie
was. He was barely containing his anger. He honestly couldn’t remember when he
had been angrier with Mommy; not even the resent he had when she first diapered
him could compare to this.
Yet it wasn’t just the
anger that was itching at Alex. The stress of the dreaded Kindergarten and all
the learning and reviewing had gotten to him, too. Alex’s nightmares started to
go up a little, his thumb sucking was becoming even more chronic, and
sometimes, when the stress was particularly high, Alex felt like he couldn’t
control his bladder or bowels anymore like he used to. Instead it would just
come out into his diaper unexpectedly.
As Alex thought of all of
this, his mind started slipping into a flashback, one of his many memories of
being with Mommy and Daddy. He had had flashbacks before; but unlike the
nightmares, they were only occasional. Alex thought that he was through with
those flashbacks, but he apparently wasn’t. Now, his stressed out mind caused
him to conjure up another one.
It was a little vague, and
it wasn’t centered on an event, more like an object. During this flashback,
Alex was reminded of his favorite object when he was living with Mommy and
Daddy. It was a pacifier, a red one possessing a yellow ring. As Alex recalled,
whenever he wasn’t eating, drinking, talking, or brushing his teeth he was
sucking on it day and night.
But one day, his beloved
pacifier just disappeared. To this day, Alex still didn’t know exactly what
happened to it. It disappeared right after Alex was taken out of diapers and
becoming toilet trained. As Alex reflected over this, he began to feel sure
that his pacifier was thrown away; it fit right in with what Mommy and Daddy had
told him. He distinctly remembered being told that since he didn’t wear diapers
anymore, he was a big boy, and big boys didn’t suck on pacifiers, either.
But of course, Alex didn’t
take this well. Desperate to find something, he started sucking his thumb
instead. It was a good substitute, and it was also convenient, because Alex
didn’t have to worry about it getting lost; it was always there when he needed
it.
The memory now faded, and
was replaced by another. This time, it swirled back to when Alex was barely
three years old, just around the time Mommy and Daddy started getting mean. As
Alex reflected, he supposed this particular beating really was his fault, but
did Mommy and Daddy have to be so mean? As his mind completely latched itself
into his past experiences, Alex concluded that they didn’t have to be. After
all, he decided, he was a little kid back then, when he didn’t know any better.
It was a vivid memory. Alex
could remember most of it very clearly, almost as if it was happening right
now. He even remembered what he wore during that event. He was clad in a white
Sesame Street T-shirt, with the sleeves and elastic collar a dark blue. The
only other thing that he was wearing was a pair of training pants (that’s what
his parents called them. However, when Alex thought about it, the orphanage
workers and the six year old called them Pull-Ups). He was sitting in a booster
seat at the table, eating. Things were fine until Mommy told him to eat
something; Alex couldn’t exactly remember what. Whatever it was, he remembered
that he really didn’t like it. The three-year-old Alex knew that this thing was
gross from past experience. He told his Mommy that he didn’t want to. Mommy
told him again to eat it, this time in a stern voice. Alex, despite the fear that
came up from the tone of her voice, said no to her again.
By now, Daddy started
getting angry, and he told Alex in a harsh voice that he should listen to
Mommy. Alex shifted a little in his booster seat, not responding, deciding
whether or not he should eat that really gross thing. While he was still
thinking about it, Daddy lost his patience with him and yelled at Alex, coming
so close to him that Alex felt his own face become laced with saliva. Before
Alex could answer, Daddy pushed back his chair, stood up, and quickly left the
room.
Alex, knowing what was
going to happen, panicked. He tried to leave the room but Mommy got up and
grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him back. Alex started crying, his body
trembling with fear while he accidentally wet himself. In a short time, he saw
Daddy come back with the belt. This belt was not a typical belt; it had been
modified for inflicting punishment. The buckle had been removed, and in the
place of the buckle was a loop for Daddy’s right hand to go into.
In no time, Mommy shoved
him to Daddy, who laid him across his lap and lifted up his Sesame Street
T-shirt and pulled down his training pants. Alex trembled
again, waiting for the belt
to come down.
Daddy only ended up
spanking Alex five times, but each one inflicted an excruciating, burning
sensation on his bottom. As Alex bawled, he felt Daddy pull his training pants
back up and push his shirt down. After he was lifted up from Daddy’s lap, Alex
started sucking his thumb.
Mommy’s hand lunged towards
Alex and grabbed his arm, forcing him to pull his thumb out. As Alex cried even
harder from the tightness of her grip, he heard Mommy yell, “ALEX!!! WHAT IS IT
WITH YOU!!! YOU’RE A BIG BOY NOW, WHY DO YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE A BABY!!! WHAT’S
SO HARD ABOUT NOT SUCKING YOUR THUMB!!! AN”--
Alex saw her head jerk
down, both of them now noticing his wet training pants.
--“YOU WET YOURSELF, DIDN’T
YOU!!! WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER POTTY TRAINING YOU WHEN YOU KEEP WETTING YOUR PANTS
LIKE A BABY!!! GRRR—I’M SO SICK OF THIS ALEX!!! IF YOU KEEP THIS UP, I’M GOING
TO…”
…at first, things weren’t
so bad after that. Alex started behaving the best he could and did whatever
Mommy and Daddy said. It worked for a while, and so Alex got along with his
parents. But then something happened that changed that. Alex couldn’t remember
much, but he did recall how Daddy was yelling that he’d lost his job; and then
went on into something about how the company laid off most of its employees,
including him; and that he couldn’t find a new one. Mommy got upset from this,
and both of them started taking their stress out on Alex, who, for the most
part, was oblivious to what was happening, though he could sense the strain
that was ever growing inside his parents.
Alex’s life soon plummeted
fast after that. Both of his parents started to become impatient with him. They
were less flexible with Alex now, and started to punish him frequently. It was
primarily because of three things (the latter two being, ironically, a result
of the stress that Alex had sensed in his parents). These three reasons were
Alex’s thumb sucking, his bedwetting, and the fact that he began to have
frequent accidents in his training pants; using them more like a diaper instead
of regular underwear.
Somewhere in this jumbled
mess of memories, Alex knew that Daddy had started drinking a lot, and so did
Mommy, making the beatings even worse. Alex also remembered that around this
time, his back started to get belt marks. Even after the agonizing sting from
the belt faded, Alex discovered in the mirror one day that the marks they left
were still there, and they wouldn’t come off no matter how hard he tried.
Alex teared up. Like his
other memories, it was hard not to cry thinking about them. He made a sincere
effort not to break down; he knew if he did, Mommy would come and try to
comfort him, and Alex didn’t want her to be around, now that she was mean with
all the reviewing and question-asking. This thought strengthened his will, and
so all Alex did was let out a slight sob. But even though it stopped him from
crying, it didn’t prevent another horrible memory from breaking into Alex’s
mind.
This intruding memory
reminded Alex of a day that occurred soon after he had noticed the scars. The
event that composed this memory was a result of Alex’s training pants
accidents. They had become common to the point where Alex was going in his
training pants more than in the toilet. He vaguely remembered that one time,
after Daddy had given him his usual spanking for wetting his training pants,
Mommy moved in and forcefully diapered Alex, calling him a baby while she did
so. A crying Alex was then shoved out onto the front yard to play while wearing
only a diaper and a T-shirt. The three-year-old Alex didn’t play; he just cried
into his hands while he sat on the lawn and bent over to rest his elbows on his
thighs. He recalled seeing a couple of people pass by out of the corner of his
eye, staring at him. Despite his bawling, the passersby just walked on,
assuming that Alex was crying because of his diapered state, even though, in
reality, that wasn’t the case.
Although that memory was a
little hazy, Alex remembered enough of it to know that his crying was actually
caused by his new life. At that time, his diaper wasn’t important; what was
important was how Mommy and Daddy were treating him. They were brutal to Alex,
constantly shouting and hitting him. He had wanted to tell the passersby what
his parents were doing to him, so they could go to jail and he wouldn’t be hit
anymore. Alex had even considered running away at that moment. But he didn’t do
either; because he knew Mommy was watching him right now out of a window.
Alex had cried until his
voice grew hoarse. His throat now sore and his face wet with tears and mucus,
he quieted down and sat still, feeling sorry for himself. His small, three year
old body felt the grass brushing up against his bare legs. The sun beamed down
and warmed his scarred, belt beaten back. In the distance, birds were chirping
pleasantly in rustling trees. Simultaneously, Alex sensed his shirt brush up
against his diaper’s crinkling plastic cover. While he felt this, Alex noticed
the diaper release its fresh, baby powder-like fragrance on him, the elastic
waistband and leg gatherers seemed to caress him; and the interior padding
cushioned his sore bottom, still tinged crimson from the spanking Daddy had
given him earlier today for his accident.
Even though the diaper was
taped up too tightly, it, like everything else, started to feel comfortable to
Alex. For once, he felt safe, and the affectionate feelings coming from his
diaper, the grass, the birds, and the sun calmed him down considerably. After a
few minutes of mute crying, he brought his knees up to his chest and loosely
wrapped his arms around his legs. He snuffed up the thin, clear mucus running
out of his nose, wiped the tears and excess snot off his face, and relaxed,
silently enjoying the warm sunlight on his body.
Sometime later, he heard
Mommy open the door and walk up to him. Alex’s calm, placid state of mind jolted
with fear. His eyes started to shimmer with tears again. She stopped in front
of him, bent down, grabbed his forearm, and forced him to stand up. While Alex
stood nervously on shaking legs, she swerved him around so that his back was
facing her. Without warning, one of her hands grabbed the rear waistband of his
diaper and pulled it back so hard that Alex thought the tapes would rip. He
felt Mommy peer down the back of his diaper, looking to see if he pooped in it.
Realizing that he didn’t, she swerved Alex around again so that he was facing
her. She then put her hand on Alex’s diapered crotch, and tightly, almost
painfully, squeezed it to feel for wetness. Finding out that he wasn’t wet,
either, she clamped her hand around Alex’s forearm and pulled him back into the
house.
When Alex was back inside,
he heard Mommy say in an unusually calm voice that since he didn’t go potty in
his diaper and kept it clean like a big boy, he could have his training pants
back. However, a second later her voice lowered a bit and thinned out into a
sinister tone, warning Alex that if he had an accident in his training pants
again, he was going to be in a diaper for the rest of the day.
Since that time, Alex tried
his best to not have an accident and trigger his parents’ wrath again. He got
close several times, but always managed to make it. Though, that didn’t mean
that Alex was through with diapers. He was still bedwetting as a result from
the stress, so Mommy diapered him every night. But even with the bedwetting
taken into account, things settled a little bit after that incident. Despite
the fact that his son was in diapers at night, Daddy was happy that Alex wasn’t
having any more accidents during the day. He was in a good mood for once,
because, from what Alex could remember, Daddy mentioned to Mommy that he might
be getting a job, because he had gotten something that, to Alex’s ears, sounded
like “innervew.”
But like before, this
relatively good life shut down. Mommy and Daddy soon became angry and drunk
again because the “innerview” didn’t go well, and they started to take their
stress out on Alex once more. By then, Alex wasn’t able to stand these
conditions any longer, and so he started running away, only to get caught and
dragged back for more verbal and physical torture. The whipping and shouting
was as worse as ever, and Alex had to go through more blinding pain, and
hurtful statements about how he was an accident and was never wanted, how he
shouldn’t have ever been born, or—
Alex couldn’t take it
anymore. Even thinking about that intrusive memory for fifteen seconds was
horrible. He let out another sob, and started bawling into the arm of the
couch.
Alex waited anxiously for
Aunt Susan to come back. She was about to give him his test, which, if he passed
it, would guarantee that he wouldn’t have to learn anything else for the rest
of his summer vacation.
Finally, Aunt Susan came.
“Sorry about the wait, Alex. It took longer to change Brian than I thought,
and”—
Susan looked curiously as
Alex was sitting at the kitchen table, squirming around frantically, with a
desperate look on his face.
“Do you need a change,
Alex, or are you just nervous about that test?”
“Nervous.”
“Ok, the first part is a
spelling test. I ask you to spell a word and you do it as best as you can, ok?”
Alex nodded.
“Now, your mommy told me
that you’re a good speller, so this part should be a cinch for you…”
Like Susan said, Alex aced
the spelling test. The next part focused on vocabulary: Susan said the word,
and Alex gave the definition. He didn’t do as well on it as the spelling, but
he passed it. The final part of the test was on a piece of paper; this was the
math portion. Alex saw the list of equations on the paper, all additions and
subtractions. Before he started, he heard Aunt Susan tell him, “You don’t need
to rush through this. Just take your time, ok?”
Alex breezed through it.
The only hard part was writing the numbers down. He had seen Mommy write stuff
down, but when he tried to do the same thing; he found it to be harder than it
looked. Today wasn’t an exception. Alex spent a while rewriting the numbers so
they didn’t look so huge and sloppy. When he was finally done, he fetched
Susan, who checked over his work.
“Wow Alex. You got 100
percent on this part of the test. And you did pretty well on the other parts.
You’ve passed!”
Alex was in a good mood for
the rest of the day. When Melanie came, he rushed up to her and excitedly told
her that he passed. Melanie congratulated him as they walked out the door. When
they had reached the car, Melanie had told Alex that since he had done so well
on that test, she decided to both let him stay up later and have two bedtime
stories read to him tonight.
Later that night, after
Spongebob was over, Alex sat in his room while wearing his usual nighttime
diaper-only outfit. He was sitting on the floor with a pencil in his right
hand—his thumb sucking hand—while staring down at his dot-to-dot book. Mommy
had given it to him, and these dot-to-dots went up to number 100. Alex honestly
didn’t think they were hard, but they were still a lot of fun to do because of
the suspense that came with wondering what animal he was going to end up with.
Plus, he could always color the dot-to-dot pictures when he was done drawing
them.
After drawing an elephant,
a snail, a tiger, and an octopus, Alex felt bored, so he tossed the dot-to-dot
book aside and crawled to one of his coloring books. He got out his
ninety-six-color crayon box and started coloring. When he got bored with that,
Alex went and got out his pop-up books, staring at both the pictures and
mumbling the words he knew out loud to himself. As the minutes flew by, Alex
yawned several times while he blinked his heavy eyes frequently. He stretched
his body and decided to relieve his aching bladder. When he yawned yet again,
he saw Mommy walk into the room. “I saw that yawn, young man,” she said
playfully, “You’re tired. Come on, up on the bed. It’s time for those two
stories.”
Alex got on the bed without
complaint. But before he crawled under the sheet, he said, “Mommy, you have to
change me, first.”
Melanie heard this and
changed Alex’s wet diaper. As soon as she was finished, Alex wriggled contently
under the sheet. However, he was more tired than he thought, and he conked out
halfway through the first story.
Since Alex wasn’t able to
enjoy the two stories that he was promised the previous night, Melanie told him
that she would read them to him tonight. Just like she said, she told Alex two
bedtime stories.
The dwindling days struck
out as quickly as lightning. They blew away so fast that before Alex realized
it, he was only one day away from Kindergarten. The happy mood that he had
maintained after the test congealed into a seething mass of fear and
depression. All his apprehensions about Kindergarten jabbed at him again and
again. There were the kids, the diapers, the school nurse, all that horrible,
horrible stuff.
He knew that he was more
than ready, that he was probably better prepared than most of his peers. But,
even when he disregarded the diapers, Alex felt scared.
And speaking of diapers,
Alex had been working hard in gaining more bladder and bowel control. Although
he had retained most of it, some of it had been lost due to being in diapers
for about three months. He practiced in holding it for as long as he could, and
he let it flow into his diaper when he couldn’t take it anymore. Mommy liked
this approach, and she encouraged him all the way.
But despite these
preparations, Alex was still unsure about whether or not he would like
Kindergarten. He was more inclined towards the “not liking side,” but a few of
his beliefs had rooted themselves deep into the “liking” side. He had acquired
these beliefs a while ago, but they were further reinforced when he came for
registration a few days ago. He had walked into the classroom that he would be
in. Like he always did in a new environment, Alex examined his surroundings.
When he entered the
rectangular classroom, he saw a whiteboard dominating the adjacent right wall.
Above the whiteboard was a huge long stretch of laminated paper showing the
letters of the alphabet, while a thinner, longer stretch of paper stamped with
numbers snaked around the room. The wall opposite of the door that he stood
next to had four tables, each one with a giant crayon drifting above it. The
giant paper crayons, from left to right, came in four different colors: red,
yellow, green, and blue. The tables and their corresponding chairs, Alex
noticed, looked like they were made especially for Kindergartners; they were
built at just the right size for five and six year olds. Directly behind the
tables was a set of large windows, which revealed the playground behind it. The
door leading to the playground was located to the left of the red crayon table,
directly opposite of the door used for entering the classroom. The
reddish-brown carpet that covered the floor possessed tape arranged into a grid
shape. This grid shape was situated right in front of the whiteboard. As Alex
looked around the room some more, he saw that the rest of it was decorated with
brightly colored posters, cutouts, and drawings.
After observing the room
for about four seconds, Alex was led by Melanie to a table left of the
whiteboard, where the teacher, Mrs. Steinbeck, sat. She was old, with multiple
wrinkles carved onto her face, her squinting, blue eyes cowering behind a pair
of thick glasses. Her brown hair was tightly coiled into a bun at the top of
her head. As he observed Mrs. Steinbeck, the line in front of him
disintegrated, until Alex was the next one to walk up.
Mrs. Steinbeck smiled at
Alex. Alex didn’t return it. She felt okay to Alex, no bad instinctual feelings
around her. Still, she was a new person, so Alex treated her with caution.
The first thing she asked
Alex to do was to spell his first name. Alex immediately replied, “A-L-E-X.”
Mrs. Steinbeck smiled and
said in a delighted and enthusiastic tone, “Very good, Alex.”
Alex attempted to not roll
his eyes, his intelligence feeling insulted. So he knew how to spell his name.
Big deal. But he said nothing as he watched Mrs. Steinbeck take out a crayon
box and carefully write Alex’s name in blue ink. He saw her spell it, letter by
letter. First, came his first name, A-L-E-X, and then his last name,
W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S. Finally done spelling his name, Mrs. Steinbeck showed Alex a
bunch of animal stickers and asked him to pick one to stick onto his crayon
box. Alex didn’t care for one. He had felt the need to pee, and he was trying
really hard to not dance and squirm around. It had occurred to Alex that he
could just use his diaper. However, he knew that in Kindergarten, if he just
went, and recess wasn’t going to come for a while, he would have to sit in a
wet and/or messy diaper for a long time, where, according to Mommy, he might get
a rash. Thinking about this, Alex held the urine in and picked out a goldfish
as his animal. Mrs. Steinbeck took the goldfish and neatly and cleanly stuck it
in the upper right hand corner of his crayon box. After his crayon box was set
onto a seat in the green crayon table, Alex hurried out of the classroom,
unable to hold his urine in any longer.
As soon as he was outside
and out of site from everyone, Alex let go. A look of relief washed across his
face. Melanie knew what was occurring, but didn’t mention it. She simply led
Alex to where the office was located, and gave him very specific directions to
where the school nurse was. After saying the directions several times for
clarification, Melanie and Alex drove back home, where Alex could get his diaper
changed and have a chance to think over everything that he had just
experienced.
Alex reflected on this
event uneasily. That registration day wasn’t more than a week ago, yet it
seemed like it had happened years ago. During that time, Kindergarten was still
relatively far away. But now, Alex was very close to facing the thing he had
been dreading for weeks. That last day had gone by way too fast. Alex had
desperately wanted it to slow down, but instead, it sped up.
Now, he was watching Mommy
go to the car. The whole time she was walking, Alex trotted beside her
desperately saying, “Mommy, I don’t wanna go!” only to get the useless reply
that he should stop worrying so much and that he was going to be fine.
He stopped following her
when she got to the car, where she ruffled his hair and said goodbye to him
just before she got in. Alex watched her drive away to work. When she was out
of site he turned to Aunt Susan, who was going to help him out on the first
day; making sure he knew exactly where the school nurse was. He followed her
into her car, which was parked in the driveway. In an unpleasantly short time,
Alex found himself walking up to the office, his back carrying a backpack
containing extra diapers to give to the school nurse.
Susan led him over to the
school nurse’s office, and told him to just go in there and mention his name.
She asked Alex if he needed her to repeat the directions. He shook his head no.
Next, Susan told him that she would be waiting outside for him to show him where
his classroom was. Alex nodded to show that he was listening, and nervously, he
grabbed the doorknob with his hand and twisted it clockwise. After hearing the
latch retreat into the depths of the door with a soft, crisp click, he slowly
pulled the door open and walked inside.
The school nurse was
waiting, and as soon as Alex found the courage to tell her his name, she led
him into a room that was dominated by a large changing table with a waste
container next to it. On the far side of the small room was a cabinet with a
set of compartments, each one labeled with numbers. For a few seconds, Alex
intently looked at each number, counting them until the school nurse asked him
to take out his diapers. Alex, with shaking hands, dropped his backpack,
kneeled down, and unzipped it. He handed the diapers to the school nurse, who
inserted it into the number twelve compartment. After closing the door to the
compartment, she reassured Alex to just drop by whenever he needed to. Alex
nodded, though he thought that what the nurse was saying was pretty obvious. He
then turned around, walked out of the room, and stepped back into the outside
world.
Aunt Susan asked him how it
went. Alex, still kind of disorientated by the event, weakly said it went okay.
Just before they set off to the classroom, Alex handed his backpack to Susan,
since he only brought it to carry his diapers in. As she received the backpack,
Susan pointed out his classroom. Alex already knew where it was; he had already
been there after all. Still, it was nice to have clarification.
Alex’s classroom was joined
by another room, which would also be full of kindergartners, according to
Mommy. As Alex started walking toward it with Aunt Susan, he began to realize
that while the first and second grade classrooms were clumped together, and the
third, fourth, and fifth grade ones were set into their own group, the
kindergarten building was out on its own. Unlike the other ones, it wasn’t
paired up with classrooms containing different grade levels.
However, that didn’t mean
that the kindergarten building was out in the middle of nowhere. On the
contrary, it was actually next to the first and second grade classrooms. In
fact, as Alex’s memory recalled, on the other side of the chain-linked fence
that bordered the kindergarten playground, there was a larger playground that
the first and second graders spent their recesses in. And, according to Mommy,
who had asked Mrs. Steinbeck about this, the playground that the third, fourth,
and fifth graders occupied was even larger than the first and second grade one.
However Alex couldn’t see it from where he was, because Mommy said that Mrs.
Steinbeck told her that it was on the other side of the school.
Before Alex knew it, he was
standing right outside the classroom. A few kids were already waiting outside.
In a time as short as the walk to the classroom, Aunt Susan said goodbye to
him, reminding him that she was going to pick him up at 12:00. Hearing this,
Alex panicked and was about to follow Aunt Susan back to the car, but he
resisted and stood still. He watched her go away, and when she was gone, Alex
turned around to try to distract himself from the ever-growing feeling of fear
that was writhing inside him. At this time, Alex decided to use the
time-telling skills that Melanie had taught to him over the summer. He checked
the wristwatch that was given to him only two weeks ago. As Alex raised his
left arm to look at the clock’s face, he saw that it was 8:21, only nine
minutes until Kindergarten started.
Alex shifted uncomfortably.
He took a glance at the other kids. Like him, most of them stood frozen with
fear, waiting for Mrs. Steinbeck to open the door and let them in. Others were
crying. Alex personally wanted to join them. He had been inclined to suck his
thumb and cry all morning, but he constantly forced himself not to. Still
attempting not to do this, Alex grit his teeth and stood his ground.
However, this didn’t help
at all. Instead, Alex started thinking about his diapers. He could feel it
under his shorts. The padding, the plastic, the elastic, was all grabbing at
him constantly. As Alex shifted a little, he smelled the excess baby powder on
his skin poof out a few clouds of infantile perfume. Then he heard the plastic
cover utter a subtle crackle of glee, and felt the wad of padding wedged
between his shaking, adrenaline saturated legs compress and adjust itself to
adapt to his new position.
Even though, in reality,
none of his peers had a clue that a fellow kindergartner in diapers was
standing amongst them, Alex was starting to worry that a few of them might be
aware of it. In his panicked, paranoid state, anything seemed possible. He kept
looking around to make sure that no one was sneaking up behind him and trying
to pull his pants down. He kept doing this paranoid search, stopping every now
and then to check his watch, until finally, he saw the door creep open, with
Mrs. Steinbeck smiling down at them all.
Alex reflected on this
event uneasily. That registration day wasn’t more than a week ago, yet it
seemed like it had happened years ago. During that time, Kindergarten was still
relatively far away. But now, Alex was very close to facing the thing he had
been dreading for weeks. That last day had gone by way too fast. Alex had
desperately wanted it to slow down, but instead, it sped up.
Now, he was watching Mommy
go to the car. The whole time she was walking, Alex trotted beside her
desperately saying, “Mommy, I don’t wanna go!” only to get the useless reply
that he should stop worrying so much and that he was going to be fine.
He stopped following her
when she got to the car, where she ruffled his hair and said goodbye to him
just before she got in. Alex watched her drive away to work. When she was out
of site he turned to Aunt Susan, who was going to help him out on the first
day; making sure he knew exactly where the school nurse was. He followed her
into her car, which was parked in the driveway. In an unpleasantly short time,
Alex found himself walking up to the office, his back carrying a backpack
containing extra diapers to give to the school nurse.
Susan led him over to the
school nurse’s office, and told him to just go in there and mention his name.
She asked Alex if he needed her to repeat the directions. He shook his head no.
Next, Susan told him that she would be waiting outside for him to show him
where his classroom was. Alex nodded to show that he was listening, and
nervously, he grabbed the doorknob with his hand and twisted it clockwise.
After hearing the latch retreat into the depths of the door with a soft, crisp
click, he slowly pulled the door open and walked inside.
The school nurse was
waiting, and as soon as Alex found the courage to tell her his name, she led
him into a room that was dominated by a large changing table with a waste
container next to it. On the far side of the small room was a cabinet with a
set of compartments, each one labeled with numbers. For a few seconds, Alex
intently looked at each number, counting them until the school nurse asked him
to take out his diapers. Alex, with shaking hands, dropped his backpack,
kneeled down, and unzipped it. He handed the diapers to the school nurse, who
inserted it into the number twelve compartment. After closing the door to the
compartment, she reassured Alex to just drop by whenever he needed to. Alex
nodded, though he thought that what the nurse was saying was pretty obvious. He
then turned around, walked out of the room, and stepped back into the outside
world.
Aunt Susan asked him how it
went. Alex, still kind of disorientated by the event, weakly said it went okay.
Just before they set off to the classroom, Alex handed his backpack to Susan,
since he only brought it to carry his diapers in. As she received the backpack,
Susan pointed out his classroom. Alex already knew where it was; he had already
been there after all. Still, it was nice to have clarification.
Alex’s classroom was joined
by another room, which would also be full of kindergartners, according to
Mommy. As Alex started walking toward it with Aunt Susan, he began to realize
that while the first and second grade classrooms were clumped together, and the
third, fourth, and fifth grade ones were set into their own group, the
kindergarten building was out on its own. Unlike the other ones, it wasn’t
paired up with classrooms containing different grade levels.
However, that didn’t mean
that the kindergarten building was out in the middle of nowhere. On the
contrary, it was actually next to the first and second grade classrooms. In
fact, as Alex’s memory recalled, on the other side of the chain-linked fence
that bordered the kindergarten playground, there was a larger playground that
the first and second graders spent their recesses in. And, according to Mommy,
who had asked Mrs. Steinbeck about this, the playground that the third, fourth,
and fifth graders occupied was even larger than the first and second grade one.
However Alex couldn’t see it from where he was, because Mommy said that Mrs.
Steinbeck told her that it was on the other side of the school.
Before Alex knew it, he was
standing right outside the classroom. A few kids were already waiting outside.
In a time as short as the walk to the classroom, Aunt Susan said goodbye to
him, reminding him that she was going to pick him up at 12:00. Hearing this, Alex
panicked and was about to follow Aunt Susan back to the car, but he resisted
and stood still. He watched her go away, and when she was gone, Alex turned
around to try to distract himself from the ever-growing feeling of fear that
was writhing inside him. At this time, Alex decided to use the time-telling
skills that Melanie had taught to him over the summer. He checked the
wristwatch that was given to him only two weeks ago. As Alex raised his left
arm to look at the clock’s face, he saw that it was 8:21, only nine minutes
until Kindergarten started.
Alex shifted uncomfortably.
He took a glance at the other kids. Like him, most of them stood frozen with
fear, waiting for Mrs. Steinbeck to open the door and let them in. Others were
crying. Alex personally wanted to join them. He had been inclined to suck his
thumb and cry all morning, but he constantly forced himself not to. Still
attempting not to do this, Alex grit his teeth and stood his ground.
However, this didn’t help
at all. Instead, Alex started thinking about his diapers. He could feel it
under his shorts. The padding, the plastic, the elastic, was all grabbing at
him constantly. As Alex shifted a little, he smelled the excess baby powder on
his skin poof out a few clouds of infantile perfume. Then he heard the plastic
cover utter a subtle crackle of glee, and felt the wad of padding wedged
between his shaking, adrenaline saturated legs compress and adjust itself to
adapt to his new position.
Even though, in reality,
none of his peers had a clue that a fellow kindergartner in diapers was
standing amongst them, Alex was starting to worry that a few of them might be
aware of it. In his panicked, paranoid state, anything seemed possible. He kept
looking around to make sure that no one was sneaking up behind him and trying
to pull his pants down. He kept doing this paranoid search, stopping every now
and then to check his watch, until finally, he saw the door creep open, with
Mrs. Steinbeck smiling down at them all.
Alex stared intently at his
watch, observing the second hand tick peacefully. It was 11:56, only four
minutes until the first day of Kindergarten was done. He squirmed impatiently
and adjusted his seat at the green crayon table as he waited for the bell to
ring. He looked at his watch again: 11:57. Alex sighed again and sat back. He
looked at his watch again: still 11:57. He sighed yet again.
At the same time, his
bladder began to ache. Since Kindergarten was almost over, Alex started wetting
himself without hesitance. As he did so, Alex relaxed further into his chair,
both to make the urine flow out more easily, and because he was becoming
drowsier and drowsier from the day’s events. As his diaper became warm from the
fresh urine, Alex shifted in his seat once again and looked at his watch only
to let out another sigh when he realized that it was still 11:57.
Finally, the minute hand on
his watch dragged itself up to meet with the hour hand at number twelve. Seeing
this, Alex perked up a little, and sat up straight; now excitedly waited for
the sound of the bell. After a few agonizing seconds of waiting, he heard the
bell ring, signaling the end of class. As Alex gleefully rushed out of the
classroom, he heard Mrs. Steinbeck say goodbye to them, and told them to have a
nice day.
He rushed through the crowd
of parents, desperately searching for Aunt Susan. Alex looked and looked
without success, until he heard his name being called. When he turned around,
he saw Aunt Susan waving at him. Immediately, Alex rushed towards her. As he halted
next to her, she asked him how his day was. Alex didn’t answer. Like his first
encounter with the school nurse, he was kind of overwhelmed by everything.
Susan could see this, and so she didn’t repeat her question. Instead, she led
Alex back into the car and drove him back to her house. As soon as his wet
diaper was changed, Alex dragged himself over to the couch and collapsed onto
it. He lied down and watched TV until Melanie picked him up.
When he was back home, Alex
was still silent, until Melanie couldn’t hold her curiosity back any longer and
decided to ask him what he did at school. Alex gave a very brief summary: they
learned about how the class worked (i.e. what the rules were), and they drew a
picture of their parents. Alex then inserted his hand into his pocket and
pulled out a wad of paper, which he handed to Melanie. Melanie unfolded it, and
saw a crayon drawing of herself.
Obviously, since Alex was
only five, it wasn’t da Vinci quality. Not everything was in proportion, and
the coloring was uneven in some places. But still, Melanie personally thought
that it was pretty good for a kindergartner. It was accurate, anyway. She saw
her brown hair, and her dark eyes. He even drew her as being tall and skinny.
After examining it for approximately two seconds, Melanie smiled and told Alex
that it was a really nice picture, and she asked him if she could keep it. Alex
nodded yes with in air of indifference.
Next, Melanie asked him how
it went with the school nurse. Alex simply replied that it was okay, though, to
him, it actually didn’t go okay. She wasn’t mean or anything. In fact, the
school nurse went out of her way to try to be comforting to Alex, since he was
obviously scared out of his mind. He thought it didn’t go well just because he
hated getting changed by a complete stranger that even Mommy didn’t know. In
addition, it was always unappealing to have to hold in his bathroom needs, and
then let it out when the bell rang, and then go sneak out during recess to get
a diaper change. What Alex really wanted to do was spend all of his recess time
having fun out in the playground, even if it was infested with other kids.
Sure, Alex knew that Mrs. Steinbeck allowed him to go out for a change whenever
he needed it. But, it really would be suspicious to just walk out in the middle
of class; and Alex couldn’t use the excuse that he needed to go to the
bathroom, because the classroom already had a bathroom installed.
Other than that,
Kindergarten was okay, Alex supposed. It wasn’t exactly fun; he’d rather stay
with Mommy or Aunt Susan any day; yet it wasn’t exactly bad, either. Nobody had
picked on him or even commented on him not being around at the beginning of
recess. Also, Alex had got the impression that none of the kids in his class
were bullies, because none of them had sparked any uneasy feelings in him.
Despite his conclusion that
Kindergarten wasn’t THAT bad, Alex had concluded at the same time that he
didn’t really want to go back to school tomorrow. It also wasn’t helped by the
fact that on Sunday, he was going to have to go with Mommy for something that
she called a “finalization hearing” so his adoption could be “real.” The only
thing that was keeping Alex from whining to Melanie about this was that he had
been told that Uncle Dave was coming over on Saturday. Because of this
knowledge, Alex decided to tolerate the dreaded Kindergarten with the scary
school nurse, and the evil sounding “finalization hearing.”
The days dragged on in a
speed much too slowly for Alex’s preference. But, they managed to pass on, and
Saturday finally crawled up. When the highly awaited day finally came, Alex
became so excited that he couldn’t keep still; and he took periodic glances out
the window. When he was watching cartoons in the morning, he would look out the
window. Even after he used his diaper, Alex would sneak a glance outside just
before he went to Melanie, who soon found out that his constant squirming
didn’t stop even during diaper changes. Although she told Alex several times
that Uncle Dave wasn’t coming until about noon, Alex’s wriggling didn’t cease
at all.
Like Kindergarten, the
hours took minute steps across the expanse of time, and took even smaller ones
the more Alex anticipated Uncle Dave’s arrival. By the time 11:30 came along,
Alex was so absorbed with looking out the window that he didn’t even come to
Melanie when he had wet and messed himself. He simply ignored it and sat in a
dirty diaper until Melanie came to check up on him. When she found out he
needed to be changed, Melanie had to practically drag him away from the window
in order to do so.
Then, at 11:34, Alex heard
the doorbell ring. He started to get up, but was pushed back down by Melanie,
who was trying to diaper him. Alex squirmed with impatience as she put it on
him. When Melanie was finally done, he hastily pulled his pants back up and
raced downstairs. He sprinted to the door, and jumped up to grab and turn the
deadbolt. He missed. Alex crouched down, and sprung up again, and missed it a
second time. Frustrated, he frantically called for Melanie to come and open the
door. Melanie hurried down. She turned the deadbolt with ease, turned the knob,
and opened the door.
Behind the door, stood a
UPS guy. Next to him was a box full of books that Melanie had ordered. He
handed her a clipboard holding a paper, which she read over and signed. After
giving the clipboard back to the UPS guy, he wished her and Alex a good day,
and left.
While Melanie grabbed the
box and carried it in, Alex slumped on the couch, severely disappointed. Melanie,
however, felt amused. The look on his face when he saw that the doorbell ringer
wasn’t Dave was just hilarious. Sure, it was mean, but it was so funny that
Melanie had to grind her teeth together so she wouldn’t laugh in front of Alex.
Still having this image in mind, she carried the box upstairs to her room, and
started giggling uncontrollably.
Alex lay curled up on the
couch, depressed, until at 12:11, he saw a car pull up into the driveway. He
ran over to the window to look, and a second later, he witnessed Uncle Dave’s
tall, muscular body emerge from the car. His excitement rekindled, he shouted
to Melanie that Uncle Dave was here, and he pressured her to hurry. Melanie
quickly came downstairs, and turned the deadbolt and knob once again. She opened
the door, and a second later, Alex was rushing out to meet Uncle Dave.
The next thing Dave knew,
he saw a small figure beaming up at him with intense happiness. “Hi Alex!” Dave
exclaimed as he picked him up. Almost immediately, Dave grabbed both of Alex’s
ankles with one hand and hung him upside down, causing his shirt to fall down
to his armpits and reveal his stomach and (unbeknownst to Alex) the top of his
diaper. As Dave walked into the house, his free hand started tickling Alex’s
bare stomach. Alex, his face obscured by his shirt, began laughing
hysterically. Then Dave, still holding him upside down, started swinging him
back and forth, eventually swinging him so high that a giggling Alex though
that he was going to bonk his head on the cathedral ceiling.
But long before that could
occur, Dave stopped and up righted Alex, who smiled up at Dave. Although Dave
was intimidating with his tall, muscular body and his spiked brown hair; he was
really just a pushover.
As Dave tickled Alex again
and made him smile with delight, he carried him over to the couch with him and
sat down. Still holding Alex in his arms, Dave asked him how Kindergarten was
going for him. Alex said it was okay, and then went into a long talk about what
they were coloring in class, and what he did at the playground during recess.
Uncle Dave nodded as he listened to this, and when Alex had finished, Dave told
him what he did when he was in Kindergarten. He pointed out that the playground
he used to play in still had seesaws and merry-go-rounds, and all the
playground equipment was made entirely out of wood and metal. Alex then
commented that his mommy had taken him to a park with a metal playground, but
he had never seen one with seesaws or merry-go-rounds before. Melanie then came
in and explained to Alex that they probably did have them at the park he was
talking about, since the playground was old; but they just took them out. Alex
nodded, and went on to say that!
the playground at his school definitely wasn’t made of metal,
because they weren’t silver, they were mostly red, yellow, and blue.
“Yeah,” Uncle Dave said,
“those are made of plastic. Most playgrounds have plastic equipment nowadays,
don’t they, Melanie?”
“Think so,” replied
Melanie.
Alex was about change the
subject, but was interrupted by his need to urinate. While he started to wet
his diaper, he said in a casual voice, “um, Mommy?” and slid off of Dave’s lap.
He whispered in her ear to tell her he needed a diaper change. Melanie nodded,
and both then walked upstairs.
Like before, Alex was
squirming while he was getting changed, excited to get back to Uncle Dave.
While he was wriggling around in anticipation, Melanie was having her own
thoughts. It was a twinge of mild resentment. She had noticed that while Alex
had hardly bothered to tell her anything about Kindergarten, he immediately
started going into great detail about it with Dave. Yes, Dave was nice, and it
was good that Alex was getting along well with him, but really, it was her who
had done more for him. Melanie recalled the times when he would have chronic
nightmares and cry every night, when he was horribly pale and skinny from
unhappiness. That wasn’t so long ago; it was quite recent, actually. Alex had
recovered pretty nicely, and it was Melanie who had done most of the work. She
had given him as much affection and attention as she possibly could. When Alex
woke up from a nightmare and started crying, Melanie would wake up and comfort
him, deliberately sacrificing her own sl!
eeping time so Alex could
sleep better. If he needed a diaper change in the middle of the night, well,
Melanie would wake up to take care of that, too, and even in her half-awake
state, she would carefully check his skin to make sure there wasn’t a rash
before she diapered him. When Melanie was exhausted from work and Alex crawled
up to her and expected her to play with him, she did, even when all she really
wanted to do was lie down on the couch and sleep. Yeah, she had sacrificed for
Alex, and it was times like this when Melanie suspected that Alex was taking
his luck for granted. Sure, he wasn’t when he first lived here, when he was
just about grateful for everything, but now, that was starting to slacken just
a teensy bit…
Melanie blinked her eyes a
little as she came out of her thoughts. She shook off her resentment and
finished diapering Alex at the same time. As she watched her son pull his pants
back up and rush out of his room, Melanie put away the diaper changing
supplies, went into the bathroom and washed her hands, and walked back
downstairs.
Uncle Dave left at about
7:30, and like last time, Alex was sad to see him go. Luckily, Dave had grown
attached to Alex, and he promised to come back as often as he could. As soon as
he pulled out of the driveway and drove back home, Melanie told Alex that it
was his bath time. Alex immediately went into the bathroom and took one, and he
was later sitting on his bed in just a diaper, telling Melanie the jokes that
Uncle Dave had told him. They were all potty humor jokes, and Alex kept giggling
as he told them to Melanie, who patiently waited for his giggling to subside so
she could read him his bedtime story. In time, Alex calmed down and listened as
Melanie read to him. Just before she turned off the lights, Melanie reminded
Alex of the evil “finalization hearing.” Alex cringed at the thought of this
boring—and yet scary—sounding event, but it was lessened by the thought of the
wonderful events that had taken place earlier today.
As it turned out, the
finalization hearing wasn’t that scary, though to Alex, it was definitely as
boring as it sounded. He remembered Mommy telling him that it was to make his
adoption “real,” meaning that he would truly be her son. Alex already thought
he was. To his point of view, this finalization hearing was pointless. He
already considered his new Mommy to be his real Mommy. Alex had even agreed to
change his last name, “Fletcher,” to his new Mommy’s last name, “Williams.”
However, Alex didn’t say any of this during the hearing. He just went through with
it and, within an hour, his adoption was considered official.
Alex reminisced over this
as he played on the swings. That was back in September, two months ago, which
seemed a long time ago. It was when the weather was still hot, and the
classrooms were air conditioned to the point where Alex was hugging himself for
warmth while his teeth chattered. Now, it was the opposite: the November
weather was cold, windy, and cloudy, but in the classroom, the heater was set
at what Alex believed was “volcano heat.” But, despite the fact that the rooms
were overheated, he noticed that Mommy still made him dress warmly. Instead of
wearing the shortalls like he often did during the summer, Mommy was making him
wear overalls, which Alex didn’t want to wear. It wasn’t because it was babyish
(in fact, Alex had gotten so used to wearing shortalls and overalls that he
didn’t care who saw him wearing them), it was because it made him too hot, and
that they constricted his legs from moving freely. He had tried to convince Mommy
to let him wear the shortalls instead, but she wouldn’t be persuaded.
And today was no exception.
Alex was wearing a gray sweatshirt that was tucked into a pair of overalls. He
honestly didn’t care about the appearance. It was just too hot. Even out in the
cold air, it felt hot, so Alex had rolled his sleeves up to his shoulders, or
tried to. The problem with that was that no matter what Alex did, the sleeves
always started slipping down Alex’s arm, thereby causing him to roll them up
again at what seemed like every few seconds.
However, one good thing had
arisen. Because of his constant practicing with holding his bladder and bowels,
Alex had managed to train himself so that he wouldn’t need to go to the
bathroom during the school day. Yes, he would always need a visit to the school
nurse during recess at least two to three times a week, but Alex knew that he
was making progress. What was even better was that no one had found out that he
wore diapers. In fact, no one had even picked on him. Alex found that if he
were nice to them, they would be nice to him; there were no bullies in his
class.
Although Alex was still
antisocial, he found a few peers that he could tolerate. One was Nadine, who
had blond hair, and was always cheerful and friendly to him. There was also
Rachael, a girl with red hair that happily let Alex borrow her gold and silver
crayons; and who always asked Alex his permission before borrowing something
from him, and always returning it in its original condition. In addition, was a
boy named Reid, with reddish brown hair, and an Asian kid named Taylor; both of
which were friendly and (in Alex’s opinion) intelligent. Sure, Reid obviously
wanted to be Alex’s friend, even when Alex didn’t want him to (he was, after
all, antisocial), but he was still nice.
But even when this was the
case, Alex still found problems with a few of the students. For instance, there
was Katie, a blond girl that Alex personally couldn’t stand because of her
somewhat haughty attitude. She didn’t directly bother Alex; she was just
infuriating because he could sense that she had a severe overdose of
self-esteem. Then there was Terry, a boy with black hair whose disregard to
personal hygiene reminded Alex of Pigpen in the Peanuts episodes.
There were also a couple of
students that were just plain amusing to Alex. For example, a black haired girl
named Veronica always tried to sound smarter than she actually was by saying
big words. However, she was just comical to Alex because he constantly heard
her misusing those big words.
What was even funnier was
Levi, a boy with dark brownish hair that called the teacher “Mommy” more often
than “Mrs. Steinbeck.” He was also the one that wet his pants a lot. However,
to Alex’s surprise, no one had made fun of Levi; they all just shrugged off his
amusing actions. Like everyone else, Alex didn’t tease Levi. Instead, he got
his amusement by thinking of various situations that Levi should be in. Alex’s
personal favorite opinion of Levi was that he should be in diapers. Although
the idea was kind of funny, Alex’s opinion was serious as well: if Levi wasn’t
even able to hold his own pee long enough to take the fifteen steps to go to
the class bathroom, then he really did need diapers. That was kind of sad, Alex
thought. He, after all, wore diapers, yet during weekdays, he could already
hold it all day most of the time, unlike Levi, who, in Alex’s opinion, probably
couldn’t hold it for more than five seconds.
However, Alex’s mind wasn’t
conjuring up comical images of Levi in diapers today because it was distracted
by something else. Thanksgiving was coming up; and according to Mommy, a lot of
people he hadn’t met before—including his grandparents—would show up as well.
Naturally, Alex felt nervous. This was due to both because he was afraid that
one of his relatives might not like him like Aunt Vicky, and the possibility
that one of them might be just as—or worse, more—annoying than Aunt Sarah. But
he knew that Uncle Dave was going to be there, so that was a huge plus, and it
made him feel more at ease.
Many hours later, Alex was
lying down in his bed waiting for Melanie to come up and read him a bedtime
story. He was buried up to his neck in several layers of blankets. Underneath
the blankets he wore his baby blue pajamas. It was winter, and because it had
gotten colder, it was actually more comfortable to lie in bed. Snuggling up
under the blankets in the bitter cold gave off a cozy feeling in Alex.
In about two seconds,
Melanie came in with a book. She read him several short stories, and when she
was done, Melanie reminded Alex that Thanksgiving was tomorrow on Thursday;
meaning that there was no school for four days, and that Uncle Dave was coming
up.
“Is he gonna stay?” asked
Alex, hopefully.
“I don’t know,” Melanie
said slyly, “We’ll see.”
Alex, hearing the tone of
her voice, became convinced that Uncle Dave really was staying, though he
wasn’t completely sure, yet.
However, Alex was sure
enough of the former that his once half-conscious state became fully awake, and
he lay there thinking about this long after Melanie had tucked him in and
turned off the lights.
Although Alex had stayed up
for about two hours the previous night thinking about Uncle Dave and
Thanksgiving, he woke up a little earlier than usual. As Alex untwisted his
pajamas and pulled up his pants a little, he started wetting his diaper.
Wanting to get changed, he got out of bed and ran over to the next door where
Mommy’s bedroom was.
Alex charged into the room,
and didn’t see Mommy. Seeing this, Alex suspected that she was awake; which
wasn’t surprising. Mommy did mention to him, after all, that she was making the
turkey, which, according to her, took a while to make. Remembering this, Alex
decided to go downstairs.
When his feet settled onto
the warm, fuzzy carpet at the bottom of the stairs, Alex headed over to the
kitchen. As he walked closer, Alex saw the light in the kitchen on. Both
curious and somewhat cautious, he walked in slowly, his wet, still-warm diaper
bunching up with fear between his moving legs. As soon as his feet touched the
hard, smooth cold kitchen tile floor, Alex saw Mommy, who immediately greeted
him. Before he could inform her that he needed a change, Melanie pointed to two
people Alex had never seen before sitting on barstools on the counter. They
both had light grayish hair, and seemed to be at least as old as Mrs.
Steinbeck.
“They’re your grandparents,
Alex; my mom and dad.” Melanie explained.
While she told him this,
Alex saw both of them get off the barstools and walk up to him.
His grandma bent down and
hugged him, while Alex got his hand shaken by Grandpa. Both of them showered
Alex with attention, and apologized to him that they weren’t able to see him
earlier; they lived too far away. Melanie then cut in, telling Alex that Grandma
and Grandpa drove hundreds of miles just to see him. Alex looked at them;
surprised that someone had actually wanted to meet him that badly.
For several minutes, his
grandparents talked to Alex, and asked him questions as if they were
interviewing him. Alex responded to most of them by either nodding his head
meaning yes, or shaking his head, meaning no; though he occasionally answered
in words if the question required an answer more elaborate than a simple nod or
shake. Alex, though appearing subdued, was actually in a good mood, despite the
fact that he was sitting in a wet diaper.
His grandparents seemed
nice enough; and they gave Alex the impression that they actually enjoyed being
with him. At the same time, however, Alex wanted to get away from them. He was
desperate to get his diaper changed; it was now sagging and had turned cold and
soggy. Alex shifted uncomfortably in his sodden diaper, wanting to tell Mommy
about it. Yet, he didn’t cut the conversation with Grandma and Grandpa, because
Alex didn’t want to sound rude. Instead, he continued making light conversation
with them until Melanie told him to dress out of his pajamas. As he slid off
the barstool, Alex, seeing his chance, hurried over to Melanie and whispered in
her ear.
“So, what do you think of
Grandma and Grandpa?” Melanie asked Alex as she pulled his pajama bottom off.
“They’re okay.” Alex
replied.
Melanie began to untape his
cold, swollen diaper, and as she pulled the front back, she said, “Think you
would like seeing them again?”
While he was being wiped
up, Alex responded with a simple “Yeah.”
Neither one said anything
else until Alex was in a dry diaper. As he pulled himself up into a sitting
position on his bed, Melanie told him to go back downstairs as soon as he was
dressed. After saying that, she opened the door and went back down to talk to
her parents some more.
For several unbroken
minutes, they talked about current events, like how their other relatives were
doing, or how well Alex was adjusting. They stopped when Alex, dressed in a red
and lime-green frog T-shirt and a pair of shortalls, came in. Once again, Alex
became the center of attention, and his grandparents started conversing with
him excitedly. Alex politely listened, and actually let out some comments every
now and then. As the minutes went by, Alex began to enjoy their company more,
and was talking and listening to them with genuine interest until the doorbell
rang.
Alex ignored it, and
continued talking with his grandparents. Melanie didn’t object; it was good
that he was actually interacting with others. As she walked to the door and
unlocked and opened it, she yelled to Alex that Uncle Dave was here. Alex
perked up, and immediately got off the barstool and ran to the foyer.
When Alex’s grandparents
saw Alex a few seconds later, he was curled up in Dave’s arms, smiling and
giggling excitedly. Dave, wanting to talk to his parents, ruffled Alex’s hair
and set him back on his feet. He pulled up a barstool and chatted with them,
while Alex crawled up another barstool and waited for Dave to once again turn
his attention to him.
Alex waited for countless
minutes, but eventually saw the wait as pointless. Bored, he got off the
barstool and intended to go up to his room. Melanie, however, knew what Alex
was thinking, and before he could even reach the stairs, she sneaked up on Alex
and scooped him up. Since she knew that Alex was bored, Melanie played with him
while his grandparents and Dave were talking. During this time, Melanie,
knowing that Dave would be too distracted today to give Alex much attention,
decided to reveal what Dave had told her.
As it turned out, Alex was
right: Uncle Dave really was staying over. He would be with them until Sunday;
and was going to spend most of tomorrow with Alex while Aunt Susan and Mommy
went out and had fun (a type of fun that, Alex was reassured, wouldn’t be
interesting to him). Alex, though, didn’t need this reassurance. The thought of
Uncle Dave staying during the weekend sounded exciting in itself. However,
there was one thing…
Melanie, again knowing what
Alex was thinking, said that yes, Uncle Dave would change him whenever he
needed it. Alex, not too fond of the idea, asked Melanie if Uncle Dave knew how
to handle it. Melanie replied that he did, and explained why he knew. According
to Melanie, Uncle Dave had several friends who had kids, most of whom he had
babysat at one time or another. As it turned out, many of these kids were
babies and toddlers at the time when Uncle Dave babysat them. Obviously,
because of this, he had gained experience with changing diapers (though, his
experience was not as extensive as Melanie’s or Susan’s).
Alex, reassured with this
knowledge, sat on the couch while Melanie reminded him who was coming. The
first she mentioned was (to Alex’s disappointment) Aunt Sarah, who was bringing
a friend of hers named Molly, who, Alex hoped, wasn’t annoying like Aunt Sarah.
There would also be his cousins: an eleven year old called Ethan, a ten year
old named Eddie, four year old twins called Jayna and Jasmine, a three year old
called Dean, and finally, a two year old named, coincidentally, Alex. Also,
were Melanie’s cousins, Bruce and Michelle (the parents of Ethan and Eddie),
and Dan and Lori (the parents of Jayna, Jasmine, Dean, and Alex).
After several minutes of
being held in Melanie’s arms and having her play with his hair, Alex finally
managed to get Dave’s attention. Dave had just started tossing Alex into the
air when the doorbell rang again. Melanie opened the door, and in came Bruce
and Michelle, with their kids Ethan and Eddie. To Alex’s displeasure, both boys
went straight to Uncle Dave, who set Alex back down and started talking to
them. Alex, intensely jealous, walked into the kitchen to be with Mommy, only
to find her conversing with Michelle and Grandma. His irritation still rising,
he went to the TV room where Grandpa was, who, unfortunately, was chatting with
Bruce. Having no one to talk to, Alex ran back upstairs to his room.
He shut himself up in there
for at least twenty minutes, doing his usual activities, like coloring, doing
dot-to-dots, reading, or playing with his own reflection. Alex’s exasperation
began to fade, and he started enjoying himself, until he needed to poop. Alex
resisted, and held it for as long as he could. He eventually lost, causing the
mess to spill out into his diaper.
Under normal circumstances,
Alex would immediately run to Mommy to get his diaper changed. However, in this
case, it wouldn’t be so easy to get her. Alex was sure that she was still chatting
with Michelle and Grandma, and if she wasn’t, she was probably talking to
someone else. This made things much more complicated. It wouldn’t have been so
bad if he was just wet, because he could just walk up to Mommy and whisper in
her ear, and no one would be the wiser. But with a poopy diaper, Alex knew that
that was easier said than done. The problem was that everyone would be able to
smell what was in his diaper; and unfortunately, the two year old wasn’t here,
so Alex couldn’t simply label him as the source of the odor. Considering this,
Alex decided to ignore it. He continued playing for a while, feeling the warm
mess ooze and smear everywhere in his diaper as he sat and played. But within
minutes, Alex couldn’t stand it any longer and ran out of his room.
When he reached the top of
the stairs, Alex’s desperation met up with his own fear once again. He stopped
as he heard the din of multiple voices talking and chuckling on the floor
beneath him. Nervous, Alex hesitated. On one hand, he strongly wanted a diaper
change. The smell of his own excrement irritated him, as well as the fact that
it was smeared all over his bottom. Because of the latter, the mess acted as
some kind of glue; somehow causing Alex’s diaper to latch onto his skin like
some kind of large leech. However, on another hand, Alex, despite his
condition, really didn’t want to go down and face all those people. Such a
thing would be hard to do even when not wearing a dirty diaper.
For a couple more minutes,
Alex simply stood there, semi-frozen, debating whether or not to go downstairs
and get Mommy. A few times, his feet started descending down, only to suddenly
get cold and walk back up to the second floor. Luckily, Melanie eventually
turned her attention away from the guests and realized that Alex was nowhere to
be found. Immediately knowing that he was on the second floor, Melanie started
walking towards the stairs.
She thought she saw
something dash out of sight when she reached the foot of the stairs. But then
Alex, seeing that it was just Melanie, immediately rushed towards her and
informed her of his condition. Smelling his dirty diaper and sensing urgency in
his voice, Melanie rushed Alex back to his room. As soon as his shortalls were
removed, she began to change Alex’s messy diaper at once.
As Melanie started pulling
the straps back up on Alex’s shortalls, she told him that she wanted him to
come downstairs with her and meet everybody. Alex, though reluctant, agreed. He
got off the bed and followed Melanie back down to the first floor, his
nervousness increasing as he descended down each step on the staircase. Alex,
unaware of what he was doing, started sucking his thumb. Just before he entered
the kitchen, Alex became aware of it, and pulled it out, using his shortalls to
wipe off the saliva on his thumb. Hesitating a little, Alex stopped
momentarily. He pursed his lips over his teeth and shuddered, becoming even
more nervous as he heard the low hum of voices within. Melanie, noticing his
halt, motioned for him to continue walking, and Alex, knowing that he didn’t
have a choice, obeyed.
In there, he immediately
saw, along with Grandma and Michelle, Lori, and, to Alex’s terror, Aunt Sarah.
Just as Lori started saying a friendly hello to Alex, Aunt Sarah came up and
cornered him, calling for her friend Molly to come over. To Alex’s dismay,
Molly turned out to be just like Aunt Sarah. She commented on how blue his eyes
were and how he was so cute, all the while talking to him as if he was (in
Alex’s opinion) a little kid. Aggravated by the two of them, Alex ran off to
the TV room, where the rest of his relatives were.
Although it didn’t die down
completely, the din in the room noticeably lowered when Alex came in. He
stopped and froze with fear as virtually every pair of eyes in the room turned
their attention towards him. Although this attention lasted for a mere five
seconds at the most, to Alex, it seemed like a minute, and he stood frozen even
after most of the eyes turned their attention back to the TV. However, the voice
of Uncle Dave shattered his frozen state, and as Alex’s mind crashed back down
to Earth, he heard Uncle Dave call for him again. Alex turned and looked for
him. He saw Uncle Dave wrapping either arm around Jayna and Jasmine, with Dean
and Alex on his lap. Although going to where those kids were was one of the
last things Alex wanted to do, he obeyed Uncle Dave anyway and walked to him.
“How’s it going, Alex?” he
asked cheerfully.
Alex didn’t respond, though
the two year old did.
“Super duper!” he exclaimed.
“Not you, silly,” Uncle
Dave said, “that big kid over there. His name is also Alex.”
“Ohhh,” The two year old
said enthusiastically.
Alex still didn’t respond.
He lay curled up on the floor, feeling depressed. It was one thing being around
a bunch of strangers and getting tormented with words of his cuteness and eyes,
but it was another to witness one of his favorite people giving more attention
to other kids than him. Thinking of this, Alex sighed unhappily and curled up
even more, wishing that he were upstairs again.
Dave saw this. He knew that
this would happen, and, even though he was going to stay with Alex during the
weekend to balance things out, he still felt a little guilty playing with a
bunch of kids right in front of him.
Although he hadn’t told
anyone, Dave personally thought Alex was one of the best, if the not the best,
kids he had ever met. He wasn’t sure why. It might have been because he felt
pity for Alex’s past experiences, or perhaps it was for his good behavior, or
his academic intelligence, or maybe it was just because he had a nice smile and
a cute face (an opinion that Dave shared with Aunt Sarah, though, unlike her,
he had the common sense to not say it to Alex’s face). Or, more likely, it was
a mixture of all of the above, and then some—
Someone had a poopy diaper.
Dave was sure of it. At once, he said softly, “Dean, do you a change?”
Dean said no, and pointed
to Alex (the two year old) as the source. Dave unwrapped his arm off of one of
the girls and used his free fingers to carefully weave through Alex’s pants and
into the waistband of his diaper. Slowly, Dave pulled the diaper back and
looked down and saw the mess inside. Just for good measure, he did the same to
Dean, who turned out to be lying. Like his younger brother, Dean had a poopy
diaper as well. In a swift motion, Dave stood up and carried both Alex and Dean
out of the room to change them.
Alex (the five year old)
watched Dave walk out. He thought about what he had just heard: wondering why
Dean had lied that he needed a change. This made no sense to Alex; why would
Dean want to stay in a poopy diaper? From Alex’s experience, it didn’t exactly
feel good; in fact it felt disgusting. What could Dean possibly get from having
to sit in his own mess? Alex, unable to find an answer to this, moved on to
another thing he found strange about Dean: he was three years old, so why was
he still wearing diapers all the time? When he was three, Alex knew that he at
least wasn’t wearing diapers during the day. Sure, he still wore training
pants, but really, why weren’t Dean’s mommy and daddy trying to potty train
him? Alex was sure that, unlike him, Dean wasn’t in diapers to help reduce
nightmares; it was probably because he liked being in them. Although the latter
idea sounded strange to Alex (since he had never found anything appealing in
diapers), he deduced that it was probably the most likely answer.
Settling that, Alex’s mind
went back to the gloomy state it once was, becoming even gloomier when Uncle
Dave came back with two freshly diapered boys and started to resume playing
with them and the two girls.
The rest of Thanksgiving
was, mostly, a depressing day for Alex. Sure, the food that later came was
great, and there was lots of it, but still, Alex thought that Thanksgiving
could have been way better. It probably would’ve been twice as good if Aunt
Sarah and Molly weren’t there, who, to Alex’s amazement, defied nature and got
even worse. They started following Alex wherever he went and attempted to talk
to him. Alex put up with it at first, and he even managed to escape from them
at one point by hiding behind Melanie. Unluckily for him, though, the Demonic
Duo soon found him, and by then, Alex couldn’t tolerate them anymore, so he
started crying.
Not surprisingly, both Aunt
Sarah and Molly were oblivious to the fact that they were the cause of his
sobbing. Melanie (along with everyone else) knew the truth, however, and stood
up for Alex, telling them politely, yet firmly, that Alex didn’t want to be
bothered. Fortunately, the Demonic Duo got the message, and slunk away.
Finally, after what seemed
like forever, the relatives left for home one by one. The last to leave were
Melanie’s parents, who gave Alex a tight hug and promised to visit him on
Saturday (they had decided to spend Friday visiting places, so that Alex could
spend all day with Dave). After his grandparents left the house to go to their
hotel room, Alex took a bath.
Part 44
Soon, Alex, now freshly
diapered and pajama clad, was cradled in Dave’s arms, enjoying the privilege of
staying up late (Melanie allowed this because it was a holiday). He listened
sleepily as Melanie and Dave reminisced their childhood days. When the weight
on his eyelids became too much to bear, Alex slipped into sleep.
Both Melanie and Dave
stopped as they heard Alex softly snoring. They looked at the five year old as
he gurgled babyishly in his sleep and sucked the thumb that was completely
incased in his mouth. As Melanie viewed this, she stood up and ran to another
room, telling Dave to not move. When she came back, Dave saw that she was
holding a camera.
“I can’t resist,” Melanie
said almost sheepishly.
Soon, Melanie took a
picture, look at it, and, satisfied with it, put the camera away.
Still cradling the sleeping
Alex, Dave asked, “Melanie, is there anything that I need to know about Alex
for tomorrow?”
“No, just change him when
he needs it and he’ll be fine,” replied Melanie, “Alex is pretty low
maintenance right now.”
“How’s he doing with the
nightmares?”
“Oh, he hardly has them
anymore. In fact, I don’t even think he’s had one this week. But, as you can
see,” she continued, “he still has a problem with thumb sucking. He does it
every single night, and he can’t seem to break out of it; unless he’s sucking
his thumb, he can’t go to sleep.”
“Yeah, well,” said Dave,
“I’m sure he’ll break out of it, eventually.”
“Me, too.”
After that reply, the two
switched to the subject of their parents, and how much they liked Alex.
“They must have really
liked him, “ Melanie said, “I swear that Mom made that blueberry-cranberry
sauce just for him. Alex loves blueberries, you know. I told Mom that a while
ago,” she explained to Dave.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if
they did. Did you notice that just before they left, they said that they would
visit HIM on Saturday? Mom and Dad didn’t seem to care about us. It sounded
like they’re only going to come back because of Alex.”
“I know,” Melanie replied
in a mock infuriated voice.
Both continued the
conversation for a while, until Melanie checked her watch. “Wow, I didn’t
realize it was that late,” she said in genuine surprise. It was a quarter after
eleven.
“Well, in that case,” Dave
said, “I’m going to bed.”
“Here, give Alex to me. You
can get ready and I’ll put to bed.”
Dave stood up and carefully
handed a still-sleeping Alex over. Melanie hoisted Alex up over her shoulder,
and while Dave turned off the lights in the TV room, and went into the guest
room, Melanie gently carried Alex to his room. After firmly patting his
diapered bottom, she laid him on the bed, pulled the blankets over him, and
softly kissed him on the forehead.