Wow, I've gotta say the last thing I expected when I started writing this story was for it to reach 50 pages and only have hit the halfway point. Equally unexpected was all the positive feedback I've received along the way. I started this way back because I had literally nothing to do at 3am but had enough amp pumping through my veins to keep me up until noon at the earliest. I had no real intention of continuing it, or at least until I checked back on a whim a couple months later and saw all the comments. I may have started writing this for myself, but now I'm writing for you guys as much as I am for me and that feels pretty good. =) Special thanks to PuppyDog and nray for sticking with it from the first and keeping me on point with your criticism, I may not comment on it but it's always duly noted.
Full disclosure: I'm chronically lazy 21-year-old fuck with a whirlwind of a life that's punctuated by Hunter S. Thompson-esque drug binges, so updates are going to be sporadic at best, but I won't forget about y'all. (Not for too long, at least
)
Anyway, I'm putting the finishing touches on the end of the Thanksgiving arc, so that should be up tomorrow or at the latest Friday. Thanks for sticking with me for so long and all patience that goes with doing so. Hopefully you'll find it rewarded. :ninja:
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Michelle was sitting on the bed on her parents' room as Laura stood with her arms crossed in front of her and Paul paced in the background.
“First you have an accident when you're awake last night and now this? What's gotten in to you Michelle!?” Laura demanded.
Paul quit pacing, “You know Meredith is only going to take this as further proof you should be wearing protection right? You've even managed to convince me.”
Michelle got defensive, “It's not my fault, last night I couldn't get my pajamas off in time,” she protested, “And Katelyn was making fun of me for wetting the bed.”
Paul's demeanor changed at that last statement, “Really?” He considered this for a minute while Michelle looked on pleadingly, “You're still not blameless in this Michelle, but I'm going to speak with Arthur. Can you handle this Laura?”
“Yes,” she replied. Paul exited the room. Laura shut the door behind him and took a seat next to Michelle on the bed.
“Look honey, it wasn't right of Katelyn to make fun you for something you can't control, but what you can control is your response to it,” she began, “By taking off your diaper last night, not only did you prove to her that she can get under your skin by doing that, but you also ended up causing Meredith a lot of extra laundry.”
“I didn't know I was going to wet, I thought I'd be safe because I emptied my bladder right before I went to bed.”
“That's my point Michelle. You can't tell ahead of time when you're going to wet, that's why you need to wear protection every night. I know doing that is embarrassing, but isn't it more embarrassing to wake up in a wet bed like you did this morning?”
“I suppose,” Michelle replied as she kicked absentmindedly at some clothes on the floor.
“I'm glad we understand each other. Your father and I have decided to make a few changes, but we can talk about those when we get home. Let's just try to enjoy the rest of the day, alright?”
“What about Katelyn?” Michelle inquired.
“If I know your father, Katelyn will be having a very similar talk with her parents very soon. Now I think you should see if Meredith needs any help with the laundry.”
“Okay...” Michelle got up off the bed and sulked out of the room.
-
After helping Meredith with the laundry, Michelle spent most of the day playing with Jazmine, who seemed to have already forgotten about the events of the morning, and avoiding Katelyn, who dutifully avoided her back. Around five thirty, her father came in to the den to announce that the adults were leaving for a comedy show, and that Meredith was having someone from her church come to watch the house while they were gone.
“I'll be back around ten, be good for Meredith's friend, alright?”
“Can I come with?” requested Michelle.
“Sorry kiddo, it's 21 plus. I promise you can come with us to the next all-ages comedy show you see though.”
“I'm holding you to that,” Michelle told him.
“I wouldn't expect anything less, now come say goodbye to your Mom,” he said.
That took a little longer than anyone expected because the friend Meredith had asked to watch the kids turned out to be a little over twenty minutes late. Finally, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in!” Meredith called out, and a young brunette woman in her early twenties walked through the door.
“I'm so sorry I'm late Meredith, I lost track of time, and then there was the black Friday traffic,” she gushed.
“It's perfectly all right, but we do have to rush out of here,” Meredith explained, then turned to the children of the family, who were arranged around the kitchen table engaged in various states of electronic entertainment. “This is Chantal, and she'll be your babysitter tonight, so be good for her,” she explained. Everyone at the table besides Jazmine cringed at that statement. Meredith remained oblivious to their expressions and turned back to Chantal, “I left a list of everything you need to know on the kitchen counter, if we're going to back later than 10 I'll call to let you know,” she explained, “There's money so you can order a pizza next to the notepad. Have fun kids!” With that, the adults left the house to Chantal and her charges.
“Hi, I'm Chantal,” she introduced herself in a voice that voice adults use to speak to young children, which Michelle found pretty condescending, “like Meredith said, I'll be babysitting you all today, what are your names?”
Jazmine happily introduced herself, and then the kids all went around the table giving their names in turn.
“Well, what do you guys think about some pizza?” she asked.
“Pizzzzzaaaa!” Jazmine shouted.
Chantal laughed, “I'll take that as a yes. What kind should we order.”
That question pulled Jake away from his laptop, “Pepperoni, Pineapple and Jalapeno, for sure,” he said, which had the effect of pulling Katelyn off her phone.
“Are you kidding me? Gross,” she stuck out her tongue, “Just cheese please.”
“Peppperrronnniii!” Jazmine was pretty wound up.
Eventually they decided on one cheese and one pepperoni pizza, to Jake's dismay. He looked over at Michelle, “Smash?”
“Sure,” she said. They went to the den to finish up their tournament. Soon they were joined by Jazmine, who provided color commentary, and then later by Katelyn, who sat on the couch on her phone. Through a series of very close matches, Michelle eventually was determined the victor.
Jake sighed, “GG,” he said, “you finally took your crown back.”
“Told you I would,” she bragged. The victory put her back in a good mood.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Everyone knew what that meant, so they migrated to the dining room as Chantal laid the pizzas out on the table.
“Looks like we've got some hungry kids, dig in everyone!” she announced happily, passing paper plates out around the circumference of the table, “And, lucky for us, the pizza guy made a mistake, so we've also got two free two liters!” Chantal then hefted a plastic bag of soda on the table.
“You got Mountain Dew in there?” Jake inquired.
“Mountain Dew AND Sierra Mist,” she answered. Jake hefted the bottle out and poured himself a glass.
“Dewwwwd,” he punned, generated groans around the table. The group dug in to the pizza and Chantal and Jake bonded for a moment over their mutual love of hot sauce as a pizza topping.
“I wanna try,” Jazmine said.
“You can try some of mine, but take a small bite, it's really hot,” Chantal offered her a slice from her plate. Immediately after Jazmine took a bite her face turned beet red.
“Hot!” she exclaimed, “hot yucky hot.” She gave the slice back to Chantal, but Michelle's curiosity had been piqued. She asked Jake to pass her the hot sauce and poured some onto her own slice of pizza.
“Careful Ellie,” Jake cautioned, “That's a lot of hot sauce.”
“Psh, I can handle it,” assured Michelle. She bit into the pizza with supreme confidence. She didn't find it all that hot, and it blended well with the pepperoni, so she devoured it in under a minute.
Chantal looked impressed, “what did you think Michelle?”
“Good,” she replied, “it wasn't that hot at all.” But as those words left her mouth, the heat level in her mouth started to crescendo. “...Okay it's getting a little hotter,” she corrected. Jake and Katelyn looked on skeptically. Before she knew it Michelle had drained her first glass of Mountain Dew and was on to her second.
Everyone at the table had a little laugh, “Here's a glass of milk,” Chantal said as she pushed a glass Michelle's way, “it will help a lot more than soda.”
Once Michelle got a drink of the milk things finally started to cool down, and after finishing the glass she said that one slice of that was probably enough for now, which brought back laughs around the table. As everyone was cleaning up, Chantal started speaking.
“I rented some movies that I figured we can all watch after dinner,” she announced, “so Katelyn, Jake, would you two mind finishing cleaning up while Jazmine and Michelle go get their pjs on?”
“Sure,” Katelyn replied without enthusiasm.
“Not at all,” said Jake.
Chantal started to leave the dining room with Jazmine in tow, but Michelle was nonplussed.
“Pajamas?” she asked incredulously, “but it's only 6:30.”
Chantal was nonchalant, “Relax Michelle, I'm not saying you have to go to bed anytime soon. I just thought it would be a good idea to get the two of you in your pajamas before the movie starts.”
Michelle was not convinced, “but what about them?” She gestured towards Jake and Katelyn. “Why don't they have to put on their pajamas yet?”
Chantal stayed perfectly calm, “they will have to soon enough, but right now it's yours and Jazmine's turn. Come on now, I'm not going to argue with you about this.”
Michelle rolled her eyes and obeyed Chantal, walking sullenly behind her towards the bedrooms. Having to put her pjs on right now wasn't the end of the world, she supposed. Indeed, back at home it wasn't necessarily a rare occurrence for her to put her pajamas on around this time, but then it was always on her own volition. It irritated her that someone she barely knew was basically ordering her to put them on, and it irritated her even more that she was being made to do it before her younger cousins had to. Whatever, she wasn't going to make a bigger deal about it than it needed to be. She went into her parents' room and shut the door behind her as Chantal tried to say something, but Michelle missed whatever it was she had to say. Not the she really cared that much about it at the moment. She plucked her freshly laundered and folded skull and crossbones sleeper off the bed, undressed, and stepped in to it. As she pulled was pulling her arms through she hoped Chantal wasn't going to try anything like this once Jazmine's bedtime rolled around. That would not be cool. Pajamas are one thing, but you do not mess with my bedtime, she thought. Michelle zipped up her sleeper and opened the door to find Chantal waiting there with her arms crossed, looking quite annoyed.
“I was trying to give you your diaper, before you quite rudely shut the door on me,” she said crossly.
Michelle was confused, “Diaper? I thought you said it wasn't my bedtime yet, that I just had to get my pajamas on.”
“No, it's not your bedtime. I only mentioned pajamas because I didn't want to embarrass you by telling you it was time to put your diaper on in front of your cousins.”
“If it's not my bedtime then why do I need to put a diaper on?” Michelle started to get angry, but was also trying to keep her cool, be logical.
“Meredith told me about the problems you have staying dry before bedtime. She wanted me to make sure that nothing will get ruined if either you or Jazmine don't make it to the bathroom in time, which, from what I'm told, isn't exactly uncommon.”
“I'm not going to wet, okay? I'll put it on when I go to bed but not right now.”
“The problem is Michelle, you don't know that. I don't know why this is such a big problem for you, Jazmine didn't even make a fuss when she had to put her diapers on. I'd say she handled it more maturely than you are right now.”
At that last comment Michelle lost her cool, “Look, there is no way in hell I am putting on a diaper right now.”
“Look Michelle, you can either put it on by yourself right now and this conversation stay our little secret or I can call your parents, tell them about this conversation, and get their permission to put you in one myself. It's your choice.”
“Fine,” Michelle said, “I'll do it myself.”
“Good,” Chantal rummaged around the bag slung around her shoulder, took out one of the same diapers Michelle had worn every other night spent here and offered it to her, “the stuffer is already in there, so just put it like you normally would.”
Michelle took the diaper reluctantly.
“By the way,” Chantal added, “Meredith also said that you can't be trusted to keep your diapers on at night, so you're supposed to wear your sleeper with the zipper in the back tonight.”
“For real?” Michelle asked, she had no fight left in her.
“Yep. I'll be waiting outside for when you need to be zipped up.”
Michelle sighed, “Okay,” she said, and shut the door gently. Then she unzipped her pajamas, shrugged them off and they fell around her feet. She kicked them off and they hit the closet door before they floated gently to the floor. Then she unfolded the diaper, put it on the bed and took a seat on top of it. How much thickness the stuffer added became apparent as she started taping it around her waist, it reminded her of wearing the diaper she had poured all that water into, except this time it was totally dry. She stood up and tried to touch her knees together. It was possible, but only barely. In fact it was so thick that she was forced to walk a little bow-legged over to get her Hello Kitty sleeper. She sighed once more, unzipped it and stepped in to the footies. She didn't even bother to try zipping it up after she'd put it on, just opened the door and let Chantal turn her around.
Chantal bent over and inspected her diaper instead of zipping it up her pajamas, explaining as she went. “I was told to check your diaper first to make sure that you put it on correctly,” she pushed her pajamas back and checked the tapes on the other side, “...but it looks like you did. Good job! Now to get you zipped up.” Michelle felt the zipper rise up her back, enclosing her in the fleece of the pajamas. She silently prayed that Chantal wouldn't see the tab. “...and button up the tab here to make sure we're not allowing any naughty hands to reach their diaper with permission.” Michelle felt Chantal's hands tug on the zipper tab at the back of her neck.
“There, all done,” she patted Michelle's diapered butt gently. “That wasn't so bad was it?”
Michelle didn't respond, so Chantal repeated herself, “Was it?”
“No...” Michelle responded.
“Good, now let's go watch that movie.”
Michelle stared at the ground as she followed Chantal in to the living room, allowing her cousins to see her wearing diapers for the first time.
Jazmine, who was laying on the floor in a pink footed sleeper, was the first one to respond, “Shelley's wearing a diaper too!” she exclaimed ecstatically, running over to her and enveloping her in a hug, “we're diaper sisters!”
Soon she found the zipper tab to Michelle's pajamas and started playing with it, “Chantaaaaal?” she asked, “Why is Shelley's zip on the back?”
Chantal calmly responded, “So Michelle doesn't take off her diapers until she has permission.”
“Oh, like she did last night?” Jazmyne inquired innocently, though much to Michelle's chagrin.
“Exactly,” Chantal said, and then she got up and dropped the DVD into the player. Michelle waddled over to the couch and took a seat next to Katelyn, crinkling loudly as she sat. “I'm going to go make some popcorn for all of you during the previews,” Chantal announced as she left the room.
As Chantal left the room it became clear to Michelle a line had been drawn. Chantal was the adult and therefore the boss. The twins, Jake and Katelyn, were young adults and to be treated as such, as was apparent by the fact that they still didn't have to get ready for bed. Jazmyne and Michelle were the children and they were going to have to listen to their 'elders'' orders whether they liked it or not. Even though Michelle was technically the oldest bar Chantal, right now she felt closer in age to Jazmyne. When Katelyn got dressed for bed, whenever that would be, she'd wear a nice mature shirt-and-pants combo, but Michelle was already wearing footie pajamas and would be the rest of the night. Girls Michelle's age don't wear footie pajamas, girls Jazmyne's age do. That logic went into overdrive when she considered her diaper, which even Jazmyne was pushing the acceptable age to still be wearing. She started to feel a little more uncomfortable sitting there with the thickness of a diaper between her legs, and shifted her weight, generating another round of crinkling as she got settled.
“Hopefully I'll still be able to hear the movie with your diapers crinkling so loudly next to me,” Katelyn prodded.
Michelle was not in the mood, “shut up Katelyn,” she said as Chantal walked back into the room with a tub of popcorn.
“Michelle,” Chantal snapped sternly, “be nice to your cousin. Apologize.”
Michelle knew to pick her battles, “Sorry Katie,” she mumbled. Chantal grabbed the remote and hit play.
As the animated images danced across the screen Michelle considered her situation. Without someone to unzip her, she was stuck in these huge diapers until morning. It wasn't SO bad to have to sleep in them, as she was unconscious for most of that, but she also had to get through wearing them around the house for the next three and a half hours to her bedtime. She curled her toes, trying to catch the fabric of the pajama feet between them, deep in thought. There was an odd feeling growing near her stomach, but she pushed it to the back of her mind without examining it, she had to think of a way out of this ordeal. However, that feeling was not going to be ignored much longer. Her eyes darted around the room.
“Katelyn,” she whispered, “where's Chantal?”
“I dunno, why?”
“I kinda have to use the bathroom,” Michelle stated, more urgently this time.
She rolled her eyes. “Why don't you just use your diaper?” responding significantly less quietly than Michelle would have liked, “it's not like anybody here expects you not to.”
“Just tell me where she is, OK?”
“She's on the phone upstairs,” Jake interjected, without looking up from his laptop, apparently Frozen wasn't exactly his cup of tea. Michelle was surprised and a little embarrassed he had even heard them, but she was thankful too. She really didn't have time to be arguing with Katelyn right now.
She stepped over Jazmyne, who was totally absorbed in the movie and hadn't even noticed, waddled over to the steps and lunged up the stairs, or went up them as fast she could-- she hadn't really gotten the hang of navigating quickly with so much bulk around her waist so lunged may be somewhat of an overstatement. Anyway, she followed the sound of Chantal's voice to the hallway between the bathroom and her aunt and uncle's room. What providence!
“Chantal, I need this diaper off. Now.” Michelle didn't wait for a break in the conversation, not that she would've if she'd had time to spare anyway.
Chantal cast her a glance of mild annoyance, started a couple more sentences and soon ended them, saying 'one sec' as she put the receiver to her shoulder.
“I'm sorry Michelle but this is a very important phone call,” her tone was terse, “I'll get you a fresh diaper as soon as I'm done.” She raised the speaker back to her ear, “I'm sorry about that. Where were we?”
Way to totally miss the point thought Michelle. She spoke up again, but Chantal rolled her eyes and cut her off before she could get two words in, raising her voice several decibels.
“Look, if you really can't wait ten minutes for a change, the supplies are in your parents' room and I'll let Katelyn help you with your pjs, but if you interrupt me one more time you're going to sit in your wet diaper until bedtime.”
It was Michelle turn to roll her eyes. Whatever, she'd take what she can get, she really didn't have time to debate this topic anyway. She thundered back down the stairs and burst into the living room. Jake was nowhere to be seen, but Katelyn had sprawled out across the couch in her absence.
“Hey Kate, I need you to unzip me,” God, Michelle thought, she really felt little asking that of her younger cousin.
“Isn't Chantal the only person who's allowed-”
“I already got permission from her. Please, quickly.”
“I don't know...”
“Katelyn!”
“Okay, but on one condition,” there was a devious glint in her eye.
“What?”
“You have to wear one AND use of Jazmyne's old pacifiers for rest of the night.”
“No way. I'm not doing that.”
“Why? You know you'll like it, but if not... then it looks like you're out of luck,” Michelle's cousin could be a serious b-word sometimes.
“Fine, I'll do it. Just unzip me okay?”
“Good, now turn around,” Katelyn flashed an evil grin.
Katelyn got up and got to work unbuttoning the tab on Michelle's sleeper. It didn't come as easy as either of them hoped it would, and the task was further complicated by Michelle's fidgeting. Only after nearly five minutes of frustrated tugging and twisting did the button come free of it.
“Finally,” Katelyn announced triumphantly, “there ya go.”
“You're not done yet, get the zipper down,” Michelle demanded. She was running out of time.
“Jeez, do I need to do everything for you?” Katelyn quipped as she yanked the zipper halfway down her cousin's back.
Michelle didn't respond, because the second she felt the zipper stop moving she was bounding as well as she could manage toward the bathroom. She made it to the door just in time, but what she saw there made her heart sink. The door was closed. She knocked urgently.
“Occupado,” she heard Jake's voice emanate inside the bathroom, “Sorry, gonna have to go upstairs.”
But it was too late. Michelle leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor as she finished wetting her diaper. She sat there for a minute with her head in her hands, angry at Chantal and Katelyn but most of all herself. She pulled herself together, sighed, and plodded over to her parents room to get a fresh diaper.
She walked past Chantal on her way to the upstairs bathroom, who had evidently just finished her phone call.
“Great timing,” Chantal commented spritely, “I'll be waiting outside for you to check the tapes and zip you up.”
Michelle didn't respond, she simply walked into the bathroom, shut the door behind her and got to work changing. She dumped the wet diaper in the trash can and checked the bathroom clock. It was barely past seven thirty and she'd already wet. The night was not off to a good start, not at all. She got a drink of water, splashed her face and then held out her stupid Hello Kitty sleeper in front of her. At least it can't get much worse than this, Michelle told herself as she guided her feet into the sleeper's booties. The thickness of her diaper put her off balance when standing on one leg, but eventually she was dressed as much as she was able to on her own. She swung the door open. Chantal was leaning against a wall in the hallway, waiting.
“See Michelle? It wasn't such a bad idea to get your diaper on a little early after all huh?” Chantal quipped as she grabbed Michelle by the shoulder, spinning her around to check her tape-work and zip her up. When Michelle was finally secured into her pajamas, she decided to speak up.
“I wouldn't even have wet if you didn't make me wear these dumb pajamas. I made it to the bathroom but I just couldn't unzip myself,” she defiantly declared.
“Michelle, an adult knows well ahead of time when they are going to need to use to bathroom. If you have to ask for help getting your jammies off then it is your responsibility to ask ahead of time, before you have an accident. Saying that you had an accident because you couldn't get your jammies off to use a bathroom isn't an acceptable reason,” Chantal explained. “By the way, I'm getting a little tired of your attitude missy. I think you need an earlier bedtime.”
“What!?” Michelle interjected, “You can't do--”
“If I get anymore lip from you tonight it's going to get earlier,” Chantal interrupted back, “And I don't want to hear any more complaining about your diapers or your jammies either, even to your cousins. You've been warned.” And with that she turned around and went downstairs.
Michelle was stunned. She thought having to deal with Aunt Meredith was bad, but Chantal was fucking authoritarian. She trudged down to the foot of the stairs, where she saw Katelyn. Before she could react, Katelyn had pushed a large pink pacifier into her mouth and clipped it to the front of her pajamas.
“Whdd duh--” Michelle managed, trying her best to speak around the pacifier.
“Your part of the deal, remember?” Katelyn remarked innocently.
Michelle spat out the pacifier, although because it was tied to a ribbon attached to her pajamas so it simply bounced gently off her stomach.
Katelyn's hand moved back towards the soother but Michelle got to it first, “The deal's off Kate.”
“What? Why?” Katelyn looked genuinely confused and disappointed too.
“I didn't make it to the bathroom in time because you took too long helping with my pjs, so I'm not wearing, and I'm definitely not using, your pacifier.”
Katelyn pouted, “No fair, you're changing the deal. All I was supposed to do was unzip you, it's not my fault the button is hard.”
“Too bad, I'm not gonna use it. Not today, not ever.”
“Okay, well you don't have to use it... can you just wear it then?” Katelyn pleaded.
“Nope. Not happening.” Michelle stood firm and started detaching the clip from her sleeper.
“NOT FAIR!” Katelyn cried, “Ugh... fine. I just thought you'd like to have it since you obviously love wearing those pajamas so much.”
“Do you want to know how I feel about wearing these pajamas?” Michelle started to exclaim, but as the words escaped her mouth she noticed a quick change in Katelyn's demeanor. She realized that Katelyn wasn't looking at her, but behind her. She whipped around in time to see Chantal stop right behind her.
“What were you about to say Michelle?” Chantal inquired sternly, “Were you about to say that you love wearing your footed sleeper because it's warm and comfortable and because the back zipper keeps you out of trouble since you can't be trusted to wear your diapers like you're supposed to?”
Michelle choked, “er.. yes.”
“Good, then say it.” Katelyn suppressed a giggle.
“I love wearing my footed sleeper,” Michelle said halfheartedly, but Chantal shook her head.
“Nope, say the whole thing like you mean it or you're going to be going to bed the same time as Jazmine.”
Michelle injected as much faux enthusiasm into her voice as she could muster, “I love wearing my footed sleeper because it's warm and comfortable and because the back zipper keeps me out of trouble since I can't be trusted to wear my diapers like I'm supposed to.” She was really beginning to hate Chantal.
Katelyn's giggle suppression failed by the end of the sentence, but Chantal was less amused. She looked at Katelyn, “is this funny to you?”
“No,” Katelyn said between giggles.
“Would going to bed half an hour earlier be funny too?”
Katelyn sobered up pretty much instantly, “no,” she said, quite seriously this time.
“That's what I thought, now go watch the movie,” Katelyn nodded and exited the hallway posthaste. Chantal seemed to relax a bit after that. “I think that's where you should be headed too Michelle,” she intimated, and started towards the living room. However, once she got a few steps into her journey, she paused, swiveling her head back to Michelle, scrutinizing her.
Michelle tried to relax, but the jig was up.
“What's that you have behind your back?”
“Nothing,” Michelle stalled, feeling pathetic as that was all she could come up with.
“Really then? Let me see.”
Michelle slowly, reluctantly removed her hands from behind her back to display the pink pacifier to Chantal.
This time Chantal's demeanor changed instantly, voice warming a good eighty degrees as she exclaimed, “Oh how cute! Is that what Katelyn was giving you grief about?”
“...yeah,” Michelle was taken aback.
“I'll let you in on a little secret: I have a cousin who's around your age and she can't sleep without her paci either. She'd kill me if she knew I told you, but I figure since you're the same way it's okay,” Chantal smiled, for the first time actually talking to Michelle like they were approximate equals. She snatched the pacifier from Michelle's hand and plopped it right back into her mouth; Michelle was too shocked to offer any resistance. Chantal continued as she maneuvered the clip back on to the front of Michelle's sleeper, “You know, back when I was a teenager it wasn't even all that unusual for older kids to keep it a pacifier around, it was really nice to have when you're ro-- uh...” Chantal lost her words for a moment, and then quickly changed the subject, “Anyway, c'mon the movie's almost over.” She took Michelle by the hand.
“Buhhd ayhd dunn whanhha,” Michelle tried to explain her situation, but the pacifier made things difficult.
“Oh, you're afraid your cousins will make fun of you, aren't you?” Chantal's voice dripped with sympathy, “Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't. Just be brave, OK?”
Before Michelle had a chance to consider her options Chantal had pulled her into the living room, where all her cousins were still congregated, in varying levels of engagement, around the television. Jake didn't even notice her come in, he was too occupied on his laptop, but Katelyn sent her a quizzical glance.
“Just go over and have a seat on the couch, I'll be looking out for you,” Chantal whispered, sending her over with a pat on her diaper.
Michelle had to admit that she'd never felt more little than she did trekking across the living room now, wearing a footed sleeper, walking bow-legged from her thick diaper with a pacifier in her mouth, though on the other hand it felt really nice to have Chantal on her side for once, to have someone looking out for her interests, and that combined with fear of consequences kept her feet moving across the carpet until she found the couch. Plunking down with the crinkle she had come to expect with such an action, the world of Frozen absorbed her, giving her an escape from her current predicament. She absentmindedly tried sucking on the pacifier here and there and by the end of the movie was using it completely unconsciously. There on the couch under Chantal's strict gaze, her diaper was actually comforting, the fleece of her pajamas warm and snuggly and the pacifier in her mouth soothing.
However, once the credits rolled the spell was broken. Jake looked over at her, he raised an eyebrow, but spoke normally. “Finish up our smash tourney?” He asked.
“Chdur,” she replied, and then remembering the pacifier yanked it out of her mouth for the first time in half an hour, “Sure,” she corrected, cheeks turning bright red.
“Great, see you in the den,” he began packing up his laptop. If he was surprised by Michelle's behaviour, he didn't show it.
“Hey, if Shelley gets to wear a paci I want one too!” Jazmine exclaimed, finally noticing Michelle's accessory.
Chantal chuckled, “Okay, do you have one to use?”
“Yuppers! I'll go get it!” Jazmine jumped up off the floor and traipsed out of the room.
Meanwhile, Michelle let her own pacifier dangle from its ribbon, caroming gently off her chest to the rhythm of her steps as she made her way into the den. She'd have to lose it soon, now that Chantal was out of the room her approval didn't seem nearly as important and she felt altogether silly having a pacifier at her age. Deciding to ditch it after the game, she got Super Smash Brothers set up and waited patiently for Jake, who wasn't too long in coming.
“All ready?” He asked.
“Yup,” Michelle chirped, thankful for some entertainment that wasn't generally proscribed for a teenager.
“You didn't let me finish,” he grinned, “I was going to say, 'All ready to lose?'”
Michelle fired back, “No, you didn't let me finish. I was going to say, 'Yup, when pigs fly through a freezing hell.'”
Jake laughed, “Sounds like you're gonna need to donate some of your footie pjs to the devil then, because it's happening.”
“Fat chance, pick your character faster. It's already eight ten.”
Jake finally dropped his token on Link and the tournament began again. At the end of the first round, Michelle declared victory and noticed her pacifier was back in her mouth. Now it made some sense to her after all; she would always chew on something while deep in concentration: whether it be her pens while writing; her nails while lost in thought or her cheek when neither of those were available. Sucking on the pacifier sated that urge and actually increased her ability to concentrate. Though she'd still rather nibble on a pen cap, a pacifier was a pretty good substitute.
Soon after the second game ended Jazmine came bouncing into the den sucking contentedly on her own pacifier. She immediately cuddled up by Michelle on the couch, nesting next to her like a sleepy kitten. Since Michelle had won both games so far, Jake had to spend some time debating over which combatant would best face Michelle's Samus. In the intermission, Michelle took her pacifier out. Holding it in her hand, she asked Jazmine, “So you got one too?”
Jazmine nodded emphatically in response. They sat like that for the next game, where Jake managed to pull a victory out of his hat with a lucky falcon punch. Michelle felt obligated to choose a new character and while she was doing so Jazmine spat out her pacifier and tugged at the sleeve of Michelle's pajamas. Michelle looked over at her young cousin.
“Hey Shelley?”
“Yes Jazmine?”
“I'm sorry Katie is so mean to you because of your diapers.”
Michelle blushed, “Oh no, Jazmine it's not your fault.”
“She's mean to me sometimes because of my diapers too... but you make me feel okay about having to wear diapers sometimes and using my paci,” she continued sleepily.
Michelle blushed even harder. It never really occurred to her that she had that much of an impact on how her little cousin felt about herself. It stirred up a warm feeling in her stomach and she smiled a little despite herself. If at least one good thing came out of tonight, it would be Jazmine's slightly stronger self esteem. Michelle wiggled Jazmine's nose playfully.
“I'm glad I could help,” she said proudly. Jazmine just giggled.
Then Jake spoke up, “Hey, I know you two are having your own little moment over there, but Michelle you've got a token to drop if we're going to finish this before we both have to leave.”
“Oh right,” Michelle quickly sobered herself up and chose Fox, “sorry about that.”
“No apologies required,” he shrugged, “but Jazmine's mushiness was throwing off my killer instinct.”
And the third match was on at Castle Hyrule. where Michelle overestimated her skill with Fox and ended up dashing off the edge once and into more than a few cyclones, so the game went to Jake. The opponents found themselves again at the characters selection screen.
“So this one's for all the marbles,” Jake uttered with impressive gravity.
Michelle didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, so she decided a simple “indeed,” was appropriate. The dramatic moment was not to last, however, as Chantal popped into the den to collect Jazmine, who had fallen asleep against Michelle. She woke her gently and told her it was bedtime. As she led Jazmine out of the room, she made an announcement.
“Bedtime for the both of you in an hour by the way. While I'm here... Jazmine, Michelle, do you either of you need a change?”
This annoyed Michelle a little bit, as she was totally dry, so she shook her head instead of answering verbally and possibly risking Chantal's wrath. Jazmine, on the other hand, nodded.
“Okay, let's go get you into a clean diaper,” she said as she took Jazmine's hand, left, and shut the door behind her.
Once that interruption was out of the way, the epic final game of the tournament could continue in earnest. It was Kirby versus Link on Final Destination and each contestant gave it their all. Damage counts were zero with both of them on their last life and by the end of the game they reached well up into the hundreds. Michelle was behind for the entire last battle, but managed to drop a down+B on Jake right as he sword-spun back onto the platform, sending him off the map and ending the game. He dropped the controller in disbelief, but quickly composed himself.
“Good game,” he sighed.
“You too,” Michelle responded, “I thought you had me there for a while.”
“So did I,” he replied, “Oh well, here's your crown back.” He lifted the imaginary crown from his head and tossed over to Michelle, who caught it and put it on.
“Feels good to have it back,” she said jocularly.
“Feels good to have it off,” Jake stretched, “You have no idea how heavy that thing gets.”
“You only imagine it heavy,”
“Hey, gold is heavy.”
Michelle and Jake talked for a little while longer until he went to retrieve his laptop and set up some overnight downloads. Michelle watched TV for a few minutes, then made up her mind to read until bedtime. She left the den in search of her book, running into Katelyn in the living room.
“I knew you'd love the pacifier,” she teased as Michelle passed, “are you still dry or should I get the babysitter?”
“Yes I am thank you, and she's your babysitter too,” Michelle shot back. She purposely ignored the pacifier comment. There really wasn't much she could say with one dangling off of her.
“Yeah, but I don't go to her to get my diaper changed,” Katelyn countered.
Michelle rolled her eyes. “That was just once, and it was your fault anyway. Lay off.”
“C'mon Michelle, nobody here expects you to be able to stay dry anyway, that's why she had you put a diaper on so early. I don't know why Auntie Meredith doesn't make you wear them the entire time you're here, you should really be wearing them 24/7.”
Michelle's temper was starting to flare back up, “I only wet once while I was awake this weekend and that was your fault, okay? Just admit it, I don't wet before bedtime and even after bedtime its rare. Now buzz off, nobody here wants to hear what you say anyway.”
To Michelle's surprise, Katelyn looked offended at that last remark. She didn't care much though, Katelyn had been catty enough this weekend that telling her off felt more vindicating than mean-spirited. Sensing an opportune moment for an exit, she turned around and walked off to collect her book. When she returned to the den Katelyn was gone, which was a bit of a relief. The last thing Michelle wanted to deal with was whatever revenge-barbs Katelyn had cooked up. She hopped up on the couch, got into a comfortable reading position as she could without being able to touch her knees together due to the diaper and cracked open the book. Before she started reading, she cast a couple furtive glances around the room and stuck the pacifier into her mouth. She'd take the whole thing off before bedtime of course, but for now there was no-one around to see, so why not?
Several pages in her eyelids started to get heavy, the suckling of the pacifier hypnotic and she drifted off to sleep...
-
“Hey sleepyhead, it's 9:10. It's your last chance for a change before bedtime.” Chantal's voice.
Michelle's eyes fluttered open: Chantal was standing over her.
“Ndgh--,” she had forgot about the pacifier, tore it from her lips. “No I'm okay,” she said sleepily.
“Are you sure?” Chantal asked skeptically, arms crossed.
Michelle sat up on the couch and stretched. Doing so, it did seem her diaper was a little saggier and fuller than before. She wiped her eyes and took stock, noticing that her left hand was kindof wet too. Must've been from the paci, she thought. More pressing was the crescendo of realization that she had wet during her nap. Twice in one night? That was new for her. She felt a wave of shame wash over her. Her face turned beet red, was she really losing her ability to stay dry even for short periods of time? Was Katelyn right about her all along? An insistent cough from her babysitter brought her back into reality.
“Ummm...” she stalled, still trying to scheme up a way out. Nothing. “Sorry, but yeah I do need a change. I'm sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” Chantal stated, “I thought you might need another one before bed anyway. C'mon, I'll go get you a fresh diaper. You can brush your teeth at the same time.”
Michelle stared at the ground as she followed Chantal, who grabbed and stuffed a fresh diaper and then led her to the bathroom. The babysitter turned Michelle around without an ounce of resistance, unbuttoned and unzipped her pjs fully. Then she planted the new diaper in Michelle's hands as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. For the third time today Michelle taped a new diaper on and stepped into her sleeper, mulling over her spectacular failure to stay dry. She didn't even touch the zipper once she was dressed; that was for Chantal to handle. In a series of actions that seemed all too routine, Chantal checked her tapes, zipped her up and manhandled the button tab into place, then she checked the wall clock.
“Nine fourteen...,” Chantal said to no-one in particular. “Wait here for a moment sweetie,” she said to Michelle.
Michelle rolled her eyes despite herself. Thankfully Chantal wasn't gone long. When she came back, she took one of Michelle's hands and raised it in front of her.
“I know it's not quite your bedtime yet, but it makes more sense for me to do this now since I'm already getting you changed,” she explained as she produced a blue fleece mitten from a shopping bag and started to fit it onto Michelle's hand. As it fully enclosed her hand, she noticed that the mittens were thumbless. She knew better than to try to resist Chantal, but she couldn't help asking.
“What are these for?” A decent hint of bitterness leeched in to her tone and Michelle mentally winced.
Luckily Chantal was too occupied with tying the ribbons that extended from the mitten around her wrist to notice. Only when the first mitten was snugly tied on did she answer, as she pulled the ribbed cuff of Michelle's sleeper so it covered where she had knotted the ribbon. “It's an insurance policy for your Aunt Meredith. She wasn't quite convinced that the sleeper would be enough to get you to keep your diaper on so she bought these and asked me to put them on you at bedtime. Now, I know that you couldn't take off these pjs even if you wanted to, but this is Meredith's rule not mine. That lady really cares about her furniture.”
By the end of her explanation Chantal was pulling the other cuff back over Michelle's wrist. Michelle didn't know what to say. What could she say? No? Where would that get her? Thank you? Fat chance. She flexed her hands in the mittens; she had almost a full degree of movement, though her thumbs were somewhat restricted.
Chantal brushed her hands together, inspecting her handiwork. “Alright, it looks like you have fifteen minutes before bedtime, she said. And upon seeing Michelle's expression, “Oh sorry, let me get that for you,” and pressed the pacifier back into Michelle's mouth. “There, all better,” and gave her a curt smile before rallying the twins to brush their teeth.
Once Chantal was out of sight she spat out the pacifier and tried to find something to do. She tried reading, but turning the pages with the mittens on was pretty much impossible. After a few minutes of concerted effort she finally managed to get the TV to a good station, but that didn't last long before Katelyn barged into the den.
“Babysitter says its bedtime,” she declared.
“Okay,” Michelle replied and started working on shutting off the TV, during which Katelyn noticed her mittens.
“Nice baby mittens,” she said sarcastically, “Are those your punishment for wetting again?”
“No,” Michelle responded defensively, “just shut up OK?” How did she know about the second accident anyway?
Katelyn marched over, snatched the remote from Michelle's grasp, an act made much easier by Michelle's mittens, and shut off the TV. They both went into the living room where Jazmine was already sleeping soundly and Jake was just getting into bed.
“Goodnight Michelle, 'night Kate,” he said.
Michelle bid him goodnight back.
“Sweet dreams Shelley,” Katelyn mocked, “I know it's hard but try to stay dry tonight.”
Michelle originally didn't even want to justify that jab with a response, but she loose 'stupid brat' under her breath while she crawled under the covers. After Chantal came in to say goodnight, Michelle made her move and tried to remove the clip securing her pacifier to her pjs. However, the mittens didn't allow her to get a grip on the small lever. Even if she tried it with two hands it still seemed impossible but she gave her best effort. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the pacifier stayed right where it was. She thought about just saying 'screw it' and sleeping with it in anyway, but she wasn't about to let the pacifier win. It was going to be a pretty awkward thing to explain to her family, that's for sure, but she'd deal with that tomorrow. Right now, Michelle had a long day and she was tired and so she quickly drifted into the realm of sleep.
-
