Michelle -- (Author) Orange

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Jul 12, 2014 at 12:04 AM
Content: First story, maybe the last, written one sleepless night. Updates when I feel like it. Cba to proofread it, but y'all can go hard with criticism; I've got thick skin.

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“Michelle, where's your suitcase?”

“I've got it!” Michelle shouted as he hefted her suitcase up the stairs.

Laura, Michelle's mom, was already in her room with several shirts laid out on the bed. “Good honey, now get packing, we're leaving at eleven so we can stop for lunch.” She said as Michelle passed the door.

“I've got it Mom,” Michelle groaned. Her mom was always the last one packed anyway. She rolled the suitcase into her room and zipped it open in front of the dresser, glancing down at her basketball shorts in the process. She looked out her bedroom window, watched the snowflakes brush against it and sighed. It's still November. She thought, what should I wear for the trip? She browsed through the dresser. A patch of red fabric logo caught her eye. Tripp pants. She smiled to herself; her mom wouldn't appreciate the irony. She grabbed a matching black T shirt reading: 'Rise Against' and went into the bathroom to brush her hair and change clothes. Double-checking her hair in the dresser mirror, she sets to work arranging two days worth of outfits. They go in her suitcase and she opens the top drawer, grabbing what looks like a pink zip-up sweatshirt. As she lifts it out it becomes unfolded and the attached feet drag on the floor as she lays the one piece footed pajamas on her bed. She looked at them for a minute, she normally tried to avoid wearing pink. Her gaze wandered to the pink camouflage bundle of fleece on top of her hamper. Pink camouflage looks way better, oh well. She stepped over to her dresser grabbed three small white bundles out and laid them on top of the sleeper. Then she folded the pajamas around them and placed the bundle in her suitcase. In the bathroom she grabbed her make-up bag, hair product and toothbrush and those went in the suitcase too. It was a long drive, so she collected a book and her sketchbook before she rolled her suitcase back downstairs. Paul, her dad, was loading a cooler with ice by the door.

“Hey princess, what page are you on?” He nodded towards the book.

“Sixty.” She replied.

“You know I bought that for you to read on the trip.” He teased, “If you're bored for the last hour I might have to practice my routine on you.”

“The horror.” Michelle stuck out her tongue. Paul laughed, an accountant, he had what he called a 'borderline healthy obsession' with stand-up comedy. “I brought my sketchbook.”

“Everybody's a critic. Maybe you should be taking notes instead of drawing.”

Michelle feigned offense, “Maybe you should be drawing instead of writing jokes.”

Paul laughed again, “Maybe I should, who isn't capable of modern art nowadays.”

“You.” Laura was dragging a suitcase down the steps.

Paul throws the bag of ice away and doesn't miss a beat, “What do you think of it honey, I call it-- Icebox!” The suitcase wheels clack down on the last step as Laura sees Michelle.

“No.” She looks Michelle over. “Are you trying to give your aunt a heart attack?”

“They're just Tripp pants mom.” Paul smiles to himself.

“Whatever, we don't have time for you to change. I'm taking your suitcase out to the car.” She stopped at the door, “Did you pack an extra goodnite like you're supposed to?”

Michelle's face flashed red. “Yes mom.”

“And spare pajamas, just in case?”

“Yes.” She lied. She had forgotten, but she wasn't about to let her send her back upstairs to get new pjs and probably make her change into something conformist. Besides, she probably wouldn't even need them.

“Ok, bring the cooler to the car.”

She picked up the cooler and went outside.

-

It was late when they arrived at Uncle Gus and Aunt Meredith's house. Michelle had been looking out the windows, it was too dark to read or draw, and she saw Uncle Gus through the window, working on a crossword by the looks of it. They pulled into the driveway and looked up from his paper and waved. Michelle waved back. They piled out of the car, picked up their suitcases and belongings and stepped inside while Gus held the door. They all exchanged hugs. “Where's Mere?” Paul inquired. “Asleep,” Gus responded, “She was up early this morning. You two can put your things in Peter's old room, Michelle you can have the guest bedroom.” Peter was Gus and Meredith's son, the same age as Michelle's older brother, off at college.

Laura yawned, “I think I going to follow Meredith's lead.”

“I think I'm going to stay up with Gus for a while. I can get the rest of your bags from the car.” Paul looked at Michelle. “I think its time for you to get ready for bed too, young lady”

Michelle made a face. “I wanted to stay up with you and uncle Gus. I drank a lot of Mountain Dew on the trip and I'm not even tired anyway.”

Paul looked at Gus, who shrugged. “Okay, go get ready for bed and I'll let you stay up for a little bit.”

Michelle hugged her dad. “Thanks!”

Paul grunted and ruffled her hair. “You remember where the guest bedroom is Michelle?” Gus asks.

“Yup!” Michelle affirms while extending the handle on her suitcase. She runs to the guest bedroom, suitcase wheeling behind.

“She's not gonna sneaking up on anyone with pants like those.” Gus says to Paul as she goes up the stairs. “Sounds like she's got the entire salvation army with their change collection in her pockets.”

Paul laughs. “They're called 'trip' pants”
“She calls them that or just in general”

“Both.”

“I guess.”

Laura is laying in bed, reading. She hears the stairs creak in quick succession and looks up as Michelle passes the doorframe on the way to the guest bedroom. She says goodnight and sweet dreams to Michelle, who bids her goodnight in return. Michelle opens the bedroom door and sets her suitcase by the bed. She looks around the room. A couple years ago Meredith had given the entire room a teddy bear theme, and there were at least ten stuffed bears in plain sight. There was even a big fluffy one sitting on the bed. Michelle made up her mind to sleep with it that night. She found it easier to fall asleep if she had something to cuddle, and while she was way beyond the age she would bring a stuffed animal with her, she wasn't above using what was provided. She unzipped her suitcase and got her makeup bag out. Then she washed her face in the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Back in the bedroom she undressed and took her pajama-bundle out, unfolded it on the bed and picked up a goodnite. Bending over, she stepped into it and slid it up her hips. Then she unzipped her footie pajamas, stepping in to them first then working her arms though the holes. To finish, she grabbed the zipper at her ankle and brought it up to her chin. She looked in the mirror and patted her butt absentmindedly. Her hand sunk into the goodnite, but that was really the only give-away as to what she was wearing under her pajamas. The thick pink fleece erased any added bulk that the goodnite added. She smiled and went into the living room.

“Hey Dad, Hey Uncle Gus.” She says, speaking over the TV.

Gus nodded, “All ready for bed sweetheart?” Paul asked.

“Yup.”

“Good, your uncle and I were just watching Thunderball. It's an old James Bond movie. It just started if you're interested.”

“What's it about?”

“Haha, I don't even remember” Paul replies.

“James Bond is hunting nuclear weapons.” Gus fills in.

Michelle fills a glass of water from the kitchen and plops down next to her dad and cuddles up next to him. He pulls a blanket over and tucks her in for the movie. Michelle follows the movie for around twenty minutes, but the long day ended up catching up with her and she was sound asleep by the end of the movie.

“Michelle.” She hears a voice her name. “Michelle, time to go to bed.” It was her dad. Then she remembered, she had fallen asleep watching a movie. Looking around, she was at her Uncle Gus and Aunt Meredith's house and the tv was on, but something was different-- she realized she was soaking wet. “Is something wrong Michelle?” He asks.

“No nothing... just disoriented.” She faked a yawn. She needed a change, badly. She couldn't believe she was wet. Usually it didn't happen like this. Sure she would wake up soaked a couple times a week, but never after only an hour asleep. She didn't want her dad to know that she had wet right next to him either. “I'm going to bed,” she got up. “Goodnight Gus, Goodnight Dad.” She said quickly and started out of the room.

“Michelle, are you wet?” She heard her dad say from behind her.

“No just tired” She keeps walking.

“Michelle...” She picks up the pace slightly.

“Michelle!” Paul's hand reached around her arm and she stops. “I know you're wet.” He points behind me and she follows his finger to two half-moon shaped dark patches on her pajamas near the top of her thighs. “You're leaking. Come on, let's you get cleaned up and in some fresh pajamas.” He took her by the hand, leading her to her room. “You don't have to lie to me about when you're wet. I'm your dad, I won't think any less of you for it.” He explained on the way there. “If you would've gone to bed wearing that goodnite you probably would have soaked one of Uncle Gus and Aunt Meredith's mattresses.” He stopped at the door. “Now go get changed and hand me your dirty pjs once you're done so I can get started on washing them.”

“Daddy...”

“Yes?”

“These are the only jammies I brought.”

“I thought you told your mom that you packed another pair.”

“I didn't...”

“Michelle! What's gotten in to you?”

“I'm sorry.”

Paul sighs, and to himself says “Laura only packed the nightgown, mere has to have something...”

“Look, go in there and get cleaned up and I'll see if I can find some pjs for you.”

He heads back to the living room to find Gus examining the couch. “Didn't reach the couch,” he said.

“That's good.” Paul pauses, “Gus, can ask you a favor? We kinda need some new pjs and I was wondering if Meredith had anything that would fit.”

Gus smirks, “You're in luck, Meredith had some she was going to give to her.”

“No shit?”

“Yep, she made pajama pants for me too, and Arthur's boys. She's been on a sewing kick lately, I'll just get 'em from the bedroom.”
“Meredith.”

Meredith rolled over and wiped the sleep from her eyes. “What is it?”

“Where did you put those pants you sewed for Michelle?”

“Why?”

“She fell asleep on the couch and had an accident.”

“So? Doesn't Laura keep her in diapers?”

“Pull-ups. And they leaked.”

“On the couch!?”

“The couch is fine, she just needs fresh pajamas.”

“Well of course she does, pull-ups always leak. I'll pick up something better for her tomorrow.”

“Pajamas?”

“Under the bed, marked SEWING.”

He found the box and opened it up, extracting black cotton pajama pants with white swirls on them. He put the box back under the bed and started out the room when he heard Meredith.

“Gus?”

“Yes?”

“Have Paul make her wear two pull-ups tonight. I don't want to cleaning up after her tomorrow morning if I don't have to.”

-

Gus returned to Paul with the pajama pants in hand. “One caveat, Mere doesn't think those pull ups are going to stop leaking. Now her and Laura can discuss this tomorrow, but could you get Michelle to wear two pull-ups for tonight, just so Meredith can rest easy?”

“She only brought three with.”

“I can go pick up some more tomorrow. Help me out.”

“Fine.” Paul responded, and took the pajamas.

Michelle was sitting on the bed wearing just a goodnite and her misfits shirt when Paul knocked at the door.

“Pajamas for you sweetheart.” She opened the door and accepted them. “Put another goodnite on first.”

“Another one? On top of this one?” Michelle was confused.

“To keep it from leaking. Just for tonight until we figure out what to do about all these leaks.”

“Okay...”

Michelle stepped into the second Goodnite, pulling it up her legs and stretching around the one she was already wearing. After shifting her two goodnites into a more comfortable position, she put on her new pajama pants. Michelle had never been one to obsess over pajamas; she let her mom pick out most of hers, but it was still felt somewhat strange, a little wrong even, to be wearing pants to bed. Most of the pajamas Michelle had owned were either nightgowns or footie pajamas. Despite that, when Michelle looked in the mirror she felt littler than when she was wearing footie pajamas. The second goodnight coupled with the tighter cut of the pajama pants served to give her a noticeable diaper bulge when she examined herself in the mirror. At least its better than no pajamas. She thought to herself as she shut off the lights and sat on the bed. Holding the big bear on the bed close, she climbs under the covers thinking I really really hope I wake up dry tomorrow.

“Wake up honey, its time for breakfast” Laura called into Michelle's room at 9:30 AM the next day.

“Breffast already?” Michelle groans.

“Yes dear, come on. Wake up and come downstairs.”

“Can I get dressed first?”

“Are you wet?” Michelle said nothing.“Breakfast's already at the table, you can get dressed afterwards.”

Michelle flips the covers off herself and looks down towards her goodnite. The tightness of the pajamas over her goodnites made it hard to tell whether she was wet or not. Her mom popped her head back in.

“Come on Michelle, the french toast is getting cold!” Yelled Gus from downstairs.

Michelle's uneasy expression broke out into smile, and Laura's face reflected it. Checking if she were wet would have to wait. She walked down the stairs with her mom, but her smile faded when she saw Aunt Meredith and Uncle Gus looking at her. It's so obvious. Michelle worried, especially the way Aunt Meredith was staring her pants. Her feet were cold on the tile floor; she wasn't used to that. She took her seat the table and noticed the extra bulk between her and the chair. “Those pjs are really cute on you Michelle,” Meredith said as she placed a slice of french toast on her plate. “I'd like to get a picture of you in them before you leave so I add it to my sewing folder.” Michelle grimaced internally and sat on her feet to warm them up. She started eating.

“Michelle?” Laura prompted.

“Ok Aunt Meredith.” Michelle said.

After breakfast, Meredith went out to do some shopping. Michelle was walking back to her room when she heard Gus say, “Are you getting dressed Michelle?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Could you wait one minute for me to grab the camera and get a picture of you for Aunt Meredith?'

Michelle shrunk down. “Gus can I just change?”

Gus paused, “Are the pull-ups the problem?”

“Goodnites” Michelle corrected.

“Goodnites. Are the goodnites the problem?” Michelle nodded. Gus scratched his chin, “I have an idea, I'll meet you in your room.”

Michelle went to her room and sat on the bed. A short time later, she heard a knock at the door. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, let's get this over with” Michelle sighed.

Gus entered with a guitar in one hand and a camera in the other. “Now if you sit here...” Gesturing towards some teddy bears up against the wall. Michelle sat and he handed her the guitar. “And if you hold the guitar like this...” He said, moving Michelle's hand to the neck of the guitar. “There.” He stepped back and surveyed his work. “The guitar covers up your pull-ups perfectly.”

“They're goodnites.”

“I'm sorry, goodnites.” He took another two steps back and snapped a picture. “See, it wasn't that bad. Now go ahead and get dressed, Mere will be happy she has this. She keeps pictures of everything she sews.”

----

An electronic chime rang as Meredith stepped into the special needs store. A bald man in his thirties and a younger blonde woman with a clipboard were tending the front desk. “Can I help you?” He said as the door came to a soft thud against the frame.

“I'm looking for your diapers, something that is sure not to leak.” Meredith said matter of factly.

“Sure, for a boy or a girl?” He replied.

“Girl, roughly forty-five kilos.”

“I'll take you to our tweens and teens section, follow me.” He said, stepping out from behind the desk and walking down a hallway. “Daytime or night-time accidents?”

“Night-time.” They entered the tweens and teens section. A plaque above the door read 12-20 in large red letters.

“Nightwear is this way.” The bald man took a left, they walked down a couple aisles of clothing racks until they reached a set of shelves set up against the wall, a hanging sign designating this particular area as incontinence related. He pointed to a package of disposable diapers. “If you're worried about leaks, this is designed ground up for absorbency. They tape on in a similar to fashion to what you'd see on a baby's diaper for a superior fit, I would especially recommend them if you've had leaks with other briefs.”

“I think I'll look around a little bit, thanks.” Meredith said.

“I'll be up front if you need any more help.” He replied.

After comparing prices, she bought the smallest package of extra-absorbent diapers she could, containing six diapers. She walked slower on way back, the nightwear section had her thinking about how left out Michelle would feel when everyone else but her opens the pajamas she sewed on Thanksgiving. All because she wet the bed, Meredith felt sorry for her. In fact, some of the clothing on the racks in incontinence nightwear section resembled the pajamas that Michelle was wearing when she leaked on the couch last night. There were three circular racks in particular that jogged her memory. She lift a hanger off one of the racks and traced her finger half-way down the zipper's soft fleece covering. These are definitely the same kind of pajamas that Michelle was wearing, Meredith thought, down to the attached feet, and she really did look uncomfortable in the pajamas pants. These can't be that expensive. She read the sign on the rack:

Princess series sleepers – 21.99
In footed and footless varieties

You can rest easy knowing your girls will be warm and toasty in Princess series sleepers, perfect for both continent and incontinent girls. There are a variety of fun prints to choose from in polar fleece, as well as a few secret design improvements for those who still have a little trouble staying dry, such as a neck to ankle zipper for easier dressing and a low cut crotch to help conceal their protection.
Perfect for sleepovers, as the one piece design keeps protective garments from showing in the child's sleep. This product is intended for light incontinence and continent individuals.*

*Refer to chart for categorization scheme.

This sounds perfect for Michelle. Meredith browsed a couple of the racks. She was surprised by how cute most of the designs were. She was even more surprised to find Hello Kitty prints on a few of the Pjs. She knew Michelle loved Hello Kitty, so when one caught her eye she took it out to examine it. It was bright blue with pink trim and the hello kitty logo emblazoned across the front. The tag said 'Butterfly series sleeper – Hello Kitty special edition.' Michelle would love these, I wonder if the special edition costs extra. She looked up at the sign:

Butterfly series footed sleeper – 21.99

There are many reasons why you prefer your incontinent children wear back zipper pajamas, but these pjs look and feel so cozy and comfortable that they'll love wearing them. Made with soft polar fleece in a variety of fun prints, the Butterly series has two changes from the Princess series to make management of nighttime incontinence easier. The zipper is located at the back of the garment and has a flap on top of it, both helping to deter removal by the wearer. The zipper flap is big enough and the snap firm enough to do the job of keeping the pajamas on until removed by the caregiver. There is also a generous cut waist region to allow for more effective protective garments. You can sleep soundly knowing they will stay warm and protected until you unzip them in the morning. This product is intended for medium incontinence.

Meredith held them out in front of her and considered them for a minute before setting them back on the rack. I'll look around a bit more before I commit to buying. There's really no rush, but I should tell Laura about this place! She headed for the counter. The bored looking woman who was holding the clipboard earlier rang up the diapers and Meredith headed outside.

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Nov 4, 2014 at 4:43 AM
Content: La deuxième partie:

Laura pulled a diaper out the plastic and handed it to Michelle. “I know you think you're too old for these, but it's only for one night.”

“Can't we go to a store and buy some goodnites?” Michelle protested.

“They're all closed right now. Now put this on and let me have a look at it once you're done.” Michelle took the diaper from her and Laura walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Michelle took her clothes off and opened the diaper up before sitting on the bed and taping the whole thing together. “Alright I'm done.” Laura opened the door, she eyed Michelle's diaper as she sat on the bed.

“Awh, Michelle, that thing will fall off of you as soon as you stand up.” She knelt in front of Michelle and retaped her diaper, pulling it snugly together in the process. She stood when she was done. “Get your jammies on, its time for bed soon. We're leaving at 11 again tomorrow so you should set an alarm.” She left the room again. Michelle stood up and felt the thickness of the diaper bow out her legs, she found her sleeper folded neatly on top of her suitcase, but she grabbed the black pajama pants from the floor near her closet. The feeling of finally wearing adult-style pajamas might help to counteract her present diapered state. But as she pulled them up her legs she realized she had a problem; they weren't going to fit over her diapers. She shoved them back down her legs and kicked them, floating softly into the closet door. Resignedly, she stepped over to her suitcase and lifted her pajamas up. The feet of the garment fell to the floor and she sighed. Someday. She put the footie pajamas on and looked at herself in the mirror once again. She pouted at what she saw; while the one-piece nature of the pajamas easily disguised a goodnite, the thickness of this diaper was clear to see. She climbed into bed and clutched the big teddy bear close to her as she drifted off to sleep, ignoring the bulk between her legs as best she could.

-

“Michelle, did you forget to set your alarm?”

Michelle awoke, turning to the voice as her eyes came into focus on Paul standing over her. A look of minor confusion passed over her, and she looked over at the clock-radio on the dresser. It read 10:11.

“Yeah, I'm sorry Dad.”

“I'm just glad I woke you up in time, even your Mom is packed and ready to go.” He surveyed the pile of Michelle's clothes next to her suitcase. “Looks like you've got some work to do, but it can wait. Meredith just finished making breakfast.”

She sat up in bed and found her image staring back at her from the room's full length mirror, her diaper obvious even from a seated position.

“Can I change out of this diaper first?”

“Maybe if you had gotten up earlier.” Paul said, “C'mon, everyone is waiting for you downstairs.”

So Michelle trudged down the stairs to the dining room. As she approached the table, she felt even more like a little girl than she did the day before. Her cheeks flushed red as the table turned to acknowledge her presence. She pulled out one of the wooden chairs and sat down. The diaper made it feel like the seat was cushioned. “Someone looks like they just woke up.” Laura joked. Michelle simply groaned and poked at the eggs on the plate in front of her. “Did you sleep well dear?” Meredith inquired. Michelle actually did have a surprisingly good night's sleep, but didn't want to admit it.

“I slept OK.”

“Well you'll have plenty of time to sleep on the way back if you're tired,” Laura responded.

“Speaking of tires, Laura, does it look like I need to check the air pressure?” Paul interjected.

Laura paused for a minute. “No it should be fine. We put air in before we left.”

Gus spoke up, “I have a compressor and all the free air you could want.”

“Thanks Gus, but really it's fine.”

The rest of breakfast progressed in relative silence. Eventually Michelle was the only one still eating, and Paul said he should probably load up the van if he was going to get any work done at one once they got home. Michelle said she was done too, but Meredith insisted on her finishing the plate. Once she was done everyone got up and left the dining room. Gus poured himself another cup of coffee and went out to the porch for a cigarette, Laura joined Paul outside and Meredith got started on dishes. Michelle figured she should probably start packing and went upstairs. She threw her dirty clothes in a bag that she brought specifically for that purpose and did a quick check over her things to verify that everything was in one place ready to be packed. During that, she realized she didn't have her book. She checked through her room, but couldn't find it. Then she went back downstairs and checked in the living room, then the den, and then asked Aunt Meredith about it just for good measure. She hadn't seen it, and while in the kitchen she saw that it was 11:13. Realizing that she had put off packing everything else to look for her book, she ran back upstairs. Gathering her makeup bag and toothbrush from her room, she made for the bathroom in near record time. She did her amended facial routine and was almost halfway done brushing her teeth when she heard her parents come back in. Once finished, she got out of the bathroom to see her mom in the hallway.

“Have you seen my book?” She asked.

“In the car.” Laura turned around to face her and was struck with surprise, “Michelle, why aren't you dressed?”

“I was looking for my book.” She replied, “I'm gonna get dressed right now.”

“Your father's already put your suitcase in the van. We were just about to say goodbye.”

Michelle tone gained a note of vexation, “Well I need to get dressed and put my toiletries away.”

Laura's tone became serious. “No, you've already held your dad up enough today. He's patient with you but he has a lot of work to get done at home before work on Monday.” She explained, “You should have gotten dressed first and then gone looking for your book, because now you are just going to have to wear what you've got on.”

“But the dia-” Michelle started.

“No buts. Like I said, you could have avoided this by setting an alarm last night or getting dressed earlier, but with how this weekend has been, I certainly don't think it's a bad thing that you're going to be wearing protection in the car.”

Michelle sulked.

“Car, now.”

Paul was waiting with Meredith and Gus on the porch when Laura and Michelle got outside. After Michelle finished getting her shoes on, they all said goodbye to Gus and Meredith. Michelle managed to pull out of her sullenness in her goodbye to Gus, because Gus was by far her favorite uncle, but fell right back into it for Meredith, whom she resented for buying the diapers and blamed for her current predicament. Meredith didn't seem to notice. Then the family piled in to the van and got underway. Michelle threw her toiletries on the seat next to her and found her book. Paul piped up from the front of the van, “Wearing your pjs on the trip like the old days huh?”

Michelle looked at her father in the rearview mirror and sighed.

“I don't want to talk about it.”

She found her iPod, selected her Twelve Hour Turn playlist and began reading.

Roughly an hour had passed when her need to use the bathroom pulled her back in to reality. She yanked out her earbuds and addressed the front seat. “I have to pee.” Her dad replied that they were stopping for gas in about 10 minutes and asked if she could wait. “Of course,” she replied, and watched the hills speed past until they became crowned with houses. Eventually the housing became thick enough that it rolled down the hillside and collected in the valleys and Paul announced that they were almost there. Laura woke up with a stretch and a yawn and looked back at Michelle.

“Doing alright back there?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

They exited the interstate and crossed the road to park at the last open pump at busy gas station. Laura went inside as Paul maneuvered through the pump authorization process. Michelle surveyed the scene through her window, frowning. “Dad, can we stop someplace else?”

“What for?”

“There's a lot people here...”

“Oh, you don't want people to see you in your diaper.”

“Shhh! Someone might hear you!”

“You can wear my jacket over the top if you'd like.”

“That's not good enough. Let's go someplace else, like now. I have to go bad.”

Paul hung up the gas pump. “Look kiddo, you're going to have to walk past some people if you want to get to the bathroom no matter where we go. It's noon on a Sunday. You can either borrow my coat and go inside or stay in here and use your--”

Michelle cut him off, “Don't say it.”

“Okay, well what's it going to be then?”

She glanced nervously out the window, “I'm not going out there.”

“So you're staying here?”

“I guess.”

“Up to you,” Paul paid at the pump and got back in the car. Laura got in her seat just as Michelle finished soaking her diaper and they left the gas station.

-=-

Michelle looked out the bus window to see the a hotel breaking through the early morning fog, finally. The speech meet was going to be held here since there was a basketball tournament going on at the host team's school. Most of the coaches found it highly convenient that they wouldn't have to bus the kids back and forth from the hotel to the school and then back again, and the hotel management was happy to let rooms go for cheaper if they could get a few busloads of kids to pick up the slack in a slow weekend. The airbrakes hissed as the bus rolled to a stop and Michelle's coach, Mrs. Spinelli stood and started to read off room assignments. Michelle perked up a little in her seat. It was the first meet she was going to where she would stay overnight, and the fact she had to share a room with someone didn't exactly help with her nerves. She hoped she would get paired off with one of the quieter girls who kept to themselves more. She had pretty good relations with most of them and doubted they would judge her based on her nightwear, and even if they did, they would probably keep it to themselves. Hearing her name brought her out of her thoughts. “Michelle Paczewski, Hannah Larssen, Room 213.”

Michelle cursed under her breath. The speech team was not really the domain of popular kids, if anything, it trended towards the opposite. However, there were a few exceptions and Hannah Larssen was the main one. She was the manager of the hockey team and she was asked to the fall dance (normally closed to sophomores) by Jared Addison, center for their school hockey team and all around hunk a grade above them. She was pretty, popular and the last person Michelle wanted to share a room with. Hannah glanced in her direction and Michelle swore she could read her mind; Ugh... not the weird goth girl. Michelle collected her poems and luggage and made her way off the bus. Mrs. Spinelli handed her a keycard. “Hannah's got the other one if you lose this one, and remember your round starts in half an hour.”

“Thanks, I remember.” Michelle replied and rolled her suitcase through the lobby doors. As the door to room 203 opened it was clear that Hannah had came and left. Papers were strewn around the room in piles and her luggage sat on the bed nearest the window. Michelle set her suitcase on the other bed and savored the fact that Hannah was involved in so many different events that the awkwardness could be postponed until after the meet was over. Heard a knock at the door and saw a brown face with glasses and a bob poke through the door. “Courtney! Come in.” Michelle cleared a seat next to her on the bed. Courtney made a face.

“Girl. You know serious duos aren't done sitting down. And I know that the Twin Nguyens are in our round. I am not about to lose to that duplicitious c-word Jenny again this season. Where's your booklet? Get up! We only have an hour to practice.”

“Not even.” Michelle replied. “Poetry starts in 15 minutes.”

“Then why aren't you up? Vamanos! We have Asians to beat.”

– – –

The awards ceremony ended around 6:30, just in time for the increasingly hungry and impatient crowd. Courtney strutted triumphantly out of the convention room and down the hallway with Michelle and a short (“fun size”), blonde in a navy dress named Jasmine in tow. They were awash with congratulations from team members and competitors who noticed Courtney and Michelle's two second place ribbons until they passed Jenny and Jake Nguyen, surrounded by their fanclub and holding one blue and one yellow ribbon each. “

Courtney!” Jake cried out. “And your friend! I just wanted to congradulate you on your well deserved second place.” His tone feigned sincerity but the emphasis he put on 'well deserved' and 'second place' gave him away. “How many red ribbons is that now?” Courtney didn't skip a beat or break stride.

“Fourth this season, you can have one if it'll make you feel better.” Some 'oohs' erupted nearby as the left the scene as quickly as they entered it.

“Those two need to get over themselves.” Jasmine said once they reached an emptier stretch of hallway.

“Jenny was actually really good in my poetry round.” Michelle added.

“They are really good.” Courtney replied, “Just not as good as us.” Michelle and Jasmine giggled. “Who's got money on a pizza?”

Jasmine, Courtney, Michelle and Courtney's roommate Adrienna pigged out on a pizza and watched funny youtube videos and reality TV for an hour before Adrienna, one of those keeps-to-themselves types that Michelle had wished she was assigned, closed her laptop and started the shower. Michelle glanced at the clock and figured Hannah would be out socializing until the everyone had to be in their rooms, so now would be the ideal time to get ready for bed. If she could be under the covers by the time Hannah got back to her room, she would be home free. Maybe they wouldn't even have to talk to each other. So she bid farewell to Jasmine and Courtney and went back to her room. The door was fully closed and she couldn't hear any loud conversations in there. (Her worst case scenario was if Hannah turned their room into the popular kid hangout room) She swiped her keycard, pressed the door open and stepped inside. Hannah was already in her pajamas, lying on top on the covers absorbed in her iPad with her phone and the remote next to her. She glanced up from the screen long enough to register Michelle's presence in the room. “You can change the channel, I'm not watching it.” The remote landed on Michelle's bed. Michelle picked it up absentmindedly and started flicking through channels. Hannah's presence in the room had thrown her off. Not only her presence, but the fact that she was already in her pajamas, and that those pajamas happened to be a pink set of two piece footed pajamas in Hello Kitty print. Michelle stared at the TV and pondered her situation, hoping that Hannah would leave for room for some unforeseen reason. Hannah, on the other hand, only took her attention off her iPad when her phone vibrated with a new message. A pang of jealously ran through Michelle, cool people like Hannah can wear whatever they want and still be cool, but if a girl like Michelle wears something similar, at best she gets weird looks, at worst a new rumor starts. Michelle sat in front of the TV for half an hour before she got tired of waiting for a divine intervention and brought her suitcase in to the bathroom, positioning it on the toilet seat lid. She wiped off her make up, washed and moisturized her face, and stripped off her clothes. Then she dug around in her suitcase for her pajama bundle. Finding it, she unfurled it on top on the rest of her clothes to reveal two goodnites. Since the bus they took to the meet was a school bus, there wasn't a bathroom on board, so her mother had insisted that she wear goodnites while she was in transit. Michelle, of course, insisted to the contrary and it was up to her dad to negotiate a compromise, which was that she should pack two goodnites: one for sleeping and one for the trip “for emergencies.” Michelle had not used the emergency goodnite yet and did not plan it, so she shoved it deep in to her suitcase. Once satisfied that it was safe from any prying eyes (especially Hannah's), she stepped in to the pink and purple camouflage footies her mom had got her from Target last year and zipped them up. Looking in the mirror, she made sure that her protection was invisible under the pajamas' fleece and brushed her teeth. From there routine dictated a glass of water, but there were no more plastic cups in the bathroom. Michelle remembered seeing a few on the desk flanking the TV, and went to retrieve them. As the door opened Hannah glanced up, and then did a double take. “Oh my gosh! You have footies too!?” She exclaimed. “You look sooo precious!” Michelle blushed at the complement.

“I like them, they're soft and comfy.” She replied sheepishly.

“I know! Especially the one-pieces.” Hannah agreed, “That is, until you've got to take a pee.” She laughed, Michelle just blushed harder. “Come on girl, let's show off our footie pj swag. It's selfie time!” Hannah bounced up off her mattress, phone in hand, and traipsed over to Michelle, taking her hand and leading her in front of the bathroom mirror. Michelle was shocked how quickly Hannah's attitude towards her had changed, and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be included in the picture. Hannah had an awful lot of followers on Instagram. It was one thing if a popular girl wore footed pajamas, but if people saw Michelle wearing them they might just think she's weird. Still, Hannah seemed genuine, and part of Michelle enjoyed Hannah's approval. More than that, calling off the picture at this point would have been rude and Michelle wasn't sure how Hannah would react. Thinking she might as well look confident if she's consigned to being in the picture, she smiled and began to pose. “Ok, let's show off the footies.” Hannah directed, balancing on one foot while raising the other in the air, bracing herself on Michelle for balance, trying to fit her foot in the phone's frame. “Move back a little... A little more... Woah!” Hannah lost her footing momentarily and kicked out with her free leg for balance, catching the telescoped handle of Michelle's suitcase and upending it, spilling its contents across the floor. “Shit. Sorry.” Hannah said once she regained her balance. “I'll help you pick it up.” Hannah looked up at Michelle, who simply stared at the pile. Because of the way the suitcase fell, everything at the top of the suitcase was at the bottom of the heap on the floor and vice versa. Her “for emergencies” goodnite was sitting right on top of a pair of jeans, in plain sight. Hannah followed her gaze.

“Oh.”

She looked quizzatically at Michelle, then to the waist of her one piece pajamas, then back to the goodnite. After a few moments thought, like it was no big deal, she said, “It's cool. I can keep a secret.” She watched the tension drain from Michelle's face and body. “I should probably let you get these on huh?”

Michelle cleared her throat and found her voice. “I... I'm already wearing one.”

“No way? I can't even tell.”

“They're supposed to be that way.”

“Even though that footie pj swag picture is pretty much out of the question now isn't it?”

Michelle smiled despite herself, “Pretty much.”

Hannah helped Michelle put her belongings back in her suitcase and she carried it outside for her. They sat down the beds. “I'm impressed that you and Courtney managed to beat the Nguyens, especially since this is your first year. They're tough customers to have in a round even when you've been doing this for years.”

“We lost to Tim Murphy and that blonde boy though.”

Hannah laughed, “Tim Murphy's mom is the host team's speech coach. I bet half the judges have known him since he was in diapers.” Michelle gave her a look. “Sorry, poor choice of words. What I'm trying to say you would've had that first place ribbon if the tournament were held anywhere else. I saw blondie in finals, he was absolute garbage.”

Hannah's words rebuilt Michelle's confidence, and the conversation ventured to Mrs. Spinelli's odd habits and rumors of why the last speech coach got fired (making service learners sew handbags for her to sell on Etsy*), to boys (to which Hannah had very little nice to say about Jared Addison) to life in general. They talked past lights out and for a few hours past. Hannah seemed to have boundless reserves of energy, but Michelle was getting tired, and eventually decided to try to sleep. As Michelle went over to turn the lights, Hannah got her attention and said, “Michelle, I'm really glad we met.”

Michelle was a little taken aback, but she smiled, “Me too.” She hopped in to bed and crawled under the blankets. “Goodnight Hannah.”

“Goodnight 'Elle.”

–

Michelle awoke to the screeching of the alarm. Her eyes fluttered open, the clock read 8 am, an hour until the bus would leave. She streched and looked around. The room was still, lit by the morning sun filtering through the drawn curtains. Hannah was sitting in the chair, still in her pjs, huge coffee in one hand and concentrating on her phone in the other. She sat up in bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes.

“'Morning sunshine,” Hannah teased.

“Morning...” Michelle mumbled, not yet fully awake, “Where'd you get the coffee from?”

“Gas station. Spinelli picked me up some. It's gross.”

“Then why are you drinking it?”

“Need my coffee in the morning. Otherwise I turn in to a monster and start eating small children,” Hannah replied matter-of-factly.

“Oh.” Michelle was too tired to think of a witty response. She wasn't quite used to staying up as late as they did last night. “Do you need the bathroom? Otherwise I'm going to take a shower.”

“Nope. Showered last night.”

“Okay.” Michelle was taken by another round of compulsive stretching and eventually pulled herself out of bed and plodded in to the bathroom with her suitcase in tow. She got the shower going, unzipped her pjs and shrugged them off. Even though her goodnite was totally dry, she rummaged in her suitcase for one of the ziploc bags she brought so she could put it back in her suitcase, away from prying eyes. Wait, Hannah's the only person who is going to come in here. What am I hiding it for? So she just pulled it off and kicked it into the garbage. After another suitcase delve, this time for shower supplies, she got in and was instantly invigorated by the feeling of hot water on her skin. While cleaning herself, it struck her how much of a relief it was to not having to worry whether someone found out about her bedwetting. Soon after it hit her how greatly she had misjudged Hannah. She had barely even talked to her before yesterday, so why had she assumed the worst about her? She seemed so arrogant before, and Michelle had heard more than a few unflattering stories about her, but had never actually witnessed her being mean to anyone. Then it made sense, Michelle had based her opinion of Hannah on what others had told her and never bothered to actually get to know her. She had unknowingly done the same thing to Hannah that many of their classmates had done to Michelle. The arrogance she had perceived in Hannah was simply Hannah's refusal to give in to all the preconceived notions people had of her. Michelle wished she could be strong like that one day, and resolved to make it so. She killed the shower and dried off, got dressed and put a little bit of make-up on. Once she finished drying her hair, she left the bathroom to see Hannah's luggage neatly packed near the door but Hannah nowhere in sight. She got to packing her own luggage. The door clicked open and she saw Hannah in the doorway with a plate of donuts and assorted fruit, still decked out in her Hello Kitty pjs but with fuzzy pink slippers on over the footies.

“Continental breakfast just ended,” she said between bites of a donut, “I figured you'd want some. The strawberries are off limits though.”

Michelle grabbed a cruller and a banana. “Thanks!” She paused, “Aren't you going to get dressed?”

Hannah looked like Michelle had just told her that it was hailing minivans in July. “Pfft. God no. It's a bus ride; I'd rather be comfortable.”

Michelle finished eating as she watched tv, Hannah had finished before her and was rearranging the bed back to how it had been before they had arrived. “You know the hotel has people for that,” Michelle said.

“Which is why I'm doing it myself,” came Hannah's somewhat cryptic reply.

Michelle finished eating and threw her plate away. Then she brought her luggage to the door, “It's nine. I'm going down to the bus.”

“Ok.”

Michelle got down to the bus, stowed her luggage and picked her seat. She cracked open the book the started on the way to the meet-- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Then she whipped her earbuds into her ears and selected The Many Faces of Oliver Hart. Before she could find the page she was on, she watched Hannah manuever her way down the crowded aisle and pick the seat right across the aisle from her.

-

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Nov 12, 2014 at 11:40 AM
Content: Thank you everyone for all the appreciation. It really helps me justify taking time out of my day to write this when I hear that other people are enjoying it too.

@nray: I've only jumped ahead by 10 hours in the story between parts one and two.

E: Unless you mean the end of Michelle's journey back from her Aunt and Uncle's jumping to the speech meet. That's intentional, I'm doing it on a scene by scene basis with any plot-related happenings during that interstitial five days alluded to in the scene. As to where it's going and how the pieces fit together, you'll just have to wait for an update. :}P

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Sep 5, 2015 at 1:48 AM
Content: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten aboutch'all, but this one's pretty rough so expect some edits later. I can't knock out almost 20 pages in a day without a lot of drugs and even more errors. (those two phenomena may in fact be related )

Часть третья:

The Paczewski family pulled up to Gus and Meredith's house near as the sun was beginning its descent through the clouds. They all piled out of the car as Gus and Meredith came outside. After a round of hugs and greetings, Gus helped the family unload their luggage and Meredith showed everyone to their rooms. Paul and Laura would be sharing Peter's old room, while Arthur and Alice, who had not arrived yet, would be taking the guest bedroom.

“Michelle, you can put your suitcase in Peter's room,” Meredith explained to her niece, who was standing idly in the luggage-strewn entryway. “Since we don't have enough bedrooms for everyone, you kids are going to be sleeping in the living room. I'll let you and the rest of the kids decide who gets the couches and who has to sleep on the floor once they get here.”

“Speaking of which,” Laura had returned from the bedroom, “do you know how far out they are?”

“About an hour away. I was going to start supper late bit later so it's ready when they get here.”

“Would you like some help?”

“No, no, it's not anything fancy. I can handle it on my own,” Meredith assured.

“Well I'll be in the living room if you need me,” Laura said. Michelle, seeing that she would be left to her own devices until suppertime, retrieved her book from the table and sought out a private, comfortable place to read. She settled on the guest bedroom, as her dad was napping in her parents assigned room and it would be empty until her aunt, uncle and cousins arrived. Then she gathered some pillows into an agreeable arrangement under her and began to feel the cobblestones Upton Sinclair's Chicago under her feet. She was torn from Jurgis by the sound of a door slamming shut downstairs. The rest of the family must have arrived, she thought. Imagining it would be somewhat awkward to be found lying in the bed which her aunt and uncle were sleeping in, she committed the page number to memory and went downstairs. Arthur, Meredith and Laura's youngest brother was in the entryway with two of Michelle's cousins, fraternal twins and two years her junior. Katelyn, the older sibling by a pittance, was attempting to maneuver her matched luggage around Jake, who had clearly woken up just recently and had sat himself on top of his suitcase, to Katelyn's obvious annoyance.

“Get out of the way Jake,” Katelyn whined.

Jake stretched but stayed otherwise immobile, “Just go around.”

“I can't. Move it!” she snapped, “Mom and Jaz need to get in too.”

Then Arthur intervened by way of a query, “Meredith, where should Jake be moving his suitcase to right now?”

“You and Alice are in the guest bedroom this time. The kids can put their stuff in there for the moment.” She called back from the kitchen. “I'll be over to say hello in a jiffy!”

Michelle stood between the stairs and kitchen dividing wall, bemusedly observing the situation. Twins were supposed to be preternaturally close, but you would never know by observing Jake and Katelyn. Moments like this made her glad that her and her older brother got along so well, and she wished that he had came with for Thanksgiving instead of spending it with his girlfriend in Iowa. She saw her mom set down the novel she had been reading and make her way into the combined dining room/entryway area. Michelle was always a bit shy when meeting her younger cousins, despite being older than them. Due to the distances involved, she only saw them a couple times a year, and therefore rarely knew what to expect out of them. As they had grown, she had experienced both near sisterhood and abject hate from Katelyn, while her relationship with Jake was amicable but cooled in recent years due to a lack of shared interests. However, her mom's rise from the couch precipitated her to move past any awkwardness and start greeting people. As soon as she entered an approach vector, the door opened and shut again to reveal Alice and Jazmine, her aunt and youngest cousin.

Michelle received the crowd, “Hey everyone, I'm glad you could make it.”

Her mom followed up her greeting in short order, and soon hugs and pleasantries were being exchanged by every person in the house as Laura and Meredith gathered their husbands in to the dining room. The arriving family was given a short respite to take care of any pressing business before Meredith brought a steaming serving bowl of spaghetti from the kitchen and everyone took their seats at the dinner table. Grace was said and everyone dug into a meal of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, Parmesan zucchini and a moderately priced bottle of merlot for those of age.

-dialogue maybe-

Soon the meal was finished and the family, with a couple exceptions, trickled in to the living room in order of age, with the adults sticking around at the table longer to finish conversation. Laura, Michelle and Meredith stayed behind to clean up the table as the two remaining adults' conversation drifted toward clothing stores.

“Target is one of my favorites. Their basics are total steals, and I got a really elegant dress there a couple of weeks ago. I'll send you a picture sometime, you won't believe its from a big-box store,” Laura effused, feeling somewhat gregarious from the wine. “We go there with Michelle pretty often, don't we Michelle?”

“Yeah but I prefer the mall,” she said while carrying a load of dishes back to the sink.

“Spoken like a true teenager,” Laura teased.

“You know Laura, there's a store around here called A&SC Company I went to recently that has some outfits perfect for Michelle,” Meredith said. Michelle struggled to keep herself from groaning; Meredith's fashion advice is the last thing she needed. “They even have a new store that just opened up back where you live. They have great prices.”

“Michelle and I will have to check it out sometime.” Laura replied. As Meredith turned to start loading this dishwasher Michelle shot her mom a grossed out look. Laura simply responded with a shrug.

“Oh look at the time,” Meredith began, and sighed as Laura and Michelle's eyes shot to the stove clock. “Eight thirty already. I can finish up with these.”

“Are you sure Merri?” She said, trying to locate the stemware she had used earlier before Meredith could put it in the wash.

“Oh yes, it'll only be a minute.”

Laura poured herself the last of the wine. “Then I am going to loosen up a bit more.” She gestured toward Meredith with the filled glass. Michelle rolled her eyes; her mom didn't drink often, but when she did she had a tendency to push it a little bit.

“But keep everyone in the living if you would Laura, I have a surprise for the kids when I'm done here.” They left Meredith in the kitchen and headed for the living room, joining the rest of family gathered around the television set. Michelle took a seat on the floor while Paul made space for Laura on the couch.

Jazmine was sitting next to Alice and ambled over to Michelle. “Shelley!” She said excitedly.

Michelle smiled and mimicked her enthusiasm, “What is it Jazzy?”

“I made this for you!” She held out her hand, revealing a bead and macrame bracelet that had M-I-C-H-E-L-L-E spelled out in mutlicolored square-cut plastic. She relaxed her grip as it fell into Michelle's palm. “It's a friendship bracelet.”

“Thank you Jazmine,” Michelle was dying of cuteness, “It's beautiful. I'd love to be your friend.”

“You're not my friend though...” Jazmine said, eliciting a gasp from Alice in the recliner behind her. Alice was about to stand when Jazmine started talking again. “You're my bestest friend in the whole wide world!” She exclaimed, hug-tackling Michelle, and switched immediately to a more somber tone while Alice relaxed back in to the recliner, “I missed you Shelley.”

“I missed you too Jazzy.” Michelle had overdosed on cute and couldn't stop smiling.

“Are you gonna wear it?” Jazmine asked.

“Of course I will munchkin,” Michelle gathered the strands of macrame together around her wrist and double-knotted them together.

Jazmine turned back to Alice and raised her arm up proudly, “Look Mommy we match!”

“I see that dear,” Alice said.

At that moment, Meredith appeared in the portal to the living room with several unmarked black clothing boxes. “Now I was originally going to wait to give you these for Thanksgiving, but since you're all here a day early, I might as well give hand them out now so you can put them to good use.”

“Yay presents!” Jazmine screeched as she bounced off Michelle and ran up to Meredith.

“Alright children, I want you to wait to open these up until everyone has one.” Meredith handed a box to Jazmine and then began to pass them out to every member of the younger generation, explaining as she went. “As I'm sure you all know, I've been doing a lot of sewing lately, and it's been a long time since I sewed any childrens' clothes since Peter's off at college. So I asked myself 'Why not make something for my nieces and nephews?'” A box was given to Michelle, and Meredith eventually finished making her rounds.

“You can open them now!”

Michelle lifted the black cover off the box and examined what lie inside. It seemed to be a pair of blue fleece Hello Kitty-print pajamas. Noticing that there was no zipper bisecting the front, like there was on most of her pjs, she reasoned it was a pullover shirt-and-pants combo. She also loved Hello Kitty and thought these were much better than what everyone was pulling from their boxes-- black and white swirl pjs similar to the ones she had received a two weeks ago. Then she heard Meredith announce that she wanted a family picture in which the were kids wearing the pjs she had made for them. Soon the children were whisked away into various rooms of the house to change; Michelle was carrying her box back to her parents' room, really Peter's room, musing on Meredith's sudden change in how she treated her. As she entered the room, she wondered how Peter's absence affected Meredith, if maybe Meredith was just 'mom'-ing her because she misses her own son. She had seen how difficult it had been on her own mother when her older brother had gone off to college, even though her mom had tried to hide it. She experienced how it could sometimes result in putting maternal instinct on overdrive, so had been happily surprised when Meredith had told her mom that she did not need to pack goodnites this Thanksgiving. She set the black box on the bed and removed her new pajamas. As she lifted, she watched what she believed to the pajama shirt transform in to a one-piece sleeper, complete with non-slip attached feet. Though she was disappointed that she didn't get to wear adult-style pjs, she had nothing against footie pajamas and reminded herself that she still didn't have to wear a goodnite. Unlike her other pajamas, however, this pair had a zipper that started at the waist and ran up the back, terminating in fabric button-tab upon reaching across the ribbed collar. Michelle assumed this was to avoid disrupting the pattern on the front of the garment and stripped down to her underwear. The button-hole in the fabric flap over the zipper was just barely big enough to fit the button through, and Michelle struggled somewhat trying to get it undone. Finally, she got it unzipped and stepped in to it. She felt immediately blanketed by warm, soft fleece, and once she got her arms through she reached behind herself to zip up, but she could only get the zipper up between her shoulder blades. This was going to be annoying; she called for her mom.

“Having some trouble zipping up I see,” Laura said, only vaguely trying to conceal her amusement at her daughter's predicament.

“Yeah I can't reach it,” Michelle replied, reaching back once more for emphasis, “can you help me?”

“Of course honey, turn around for me.”

Michelle presented her back to Laura and felt the pajamas grow tighter as her mom brought the zipper up her back. Then she felt some tugging at the back of her neck as her mom buttoned the tab over her zipper. “You're all set,” Laura announced, “I think everyone is waiting for you downstairs.”

They walked together down the stairs and got back to the living room, where everyone was indeed waiting. Paul and Gus were gathered around the computer while Alice and Meredith sat around the coffee table talking about sewing. Arthur was nearby helping Jake with his laptop, who was wearing black pajama pants with white swirls. In fact, Michelle noticed that she was the only kid here not wearing swirl patterned pajamas; Jazmine wore a nightgown made from the fabric while Katelyn had a button-up top with matching pj shorts. When Meredith noticed Michelle was back downstairs, she exclaimed, “Oh honey you look adorable!” It had the effect of turning every eye in the room on to her, but she was especially conscious of her cousins' reactions. Jake simply glanced up from his laptop quizatically before returning his gaze to the screen. Katelyn on the other hand was stifling giggles, pretending to look at her phone. After a survey of Michelle's sleepwear, Alice piped up, sounding surprised, “Meredith, did you sew those pajamas?”

Meredith chuckled and replied, “Oh no no no, I bought them from a local store, I made some pj bottoms for Michelle but they ended up not fitting her so well.” At the last word she winked to Alice, who caught on. Michelle hoped everyone else was too distracted to notice that wordless exchange. “Okay kids,” she said, “Let's all line up to get a picture for Auntie Meredith's sewing blog.” The camera clicked and the kids dispersed through the room as Michelle found a comfy spot on the couch and dove back into her book. About an hour had passed by when she saw her mom approach from the corner of her eye.

“Time to get ready for bed sweetie,”

Michelle set her book down and stretched. “Alright,” she yawned.

“Do you need to use the bathroom before bed?” Laura inquired, looking concerned. Michelle's annoyance perked up at this comment, but she let it go. Her mom might baby her a little still, but at least she didn't have to wear goodnites.

“Yeah,”

“Alright, come to my room and grab your stuff. I'll help you with the zipper once you get to the bathroom.”

“Mooommm... I can handle it myself,” she groaned.

“Nonsense.” Michelle just rolled her eyes, knowing better than to press the issue.

Once in her parent's room Michelle grabbed her toiletries bag and started to meander towards the bathroom, however Laura piped up before she could leave the room.

“Michelle, aren't you forgetting something?”

“Hmm...?” She turned around and Laura pushed a white bundle into her hands, crinkling loudly as she adjusted her hold on it. Michelle was speechless.

“Put it on once you're done in the bathroom and let me know when you're done so I can check the tapes and zip you up.”

“But you said I didn't have to bring Goodnites!” Michelle blurted out.

A look of disapproval crossed her mother's face, “Hush, Alice is already in bed.”

“Sorry...” Michelle said, but she didn't feel sorry. She felt mad, all the progress she thought she had made snapped back like a rubber band.

Laura cut in, “You didn't have to bring Goodnites because Meredith still has diapers here from two weeks ago when you leaked on her couch. You didn't really think that we'd let you go without protection this weekend did you? You still had to wear them when you were at home, and even then you managed to soak your pjs on Monday.”

Michelle's face flushed red with rage. “I thought you cutting me a break for once, because you understood how treating me like this made me feel, because I felt like I had made progress and it felt great, but now all of a sudden it slingshots back because now you're making me wear baby diapers to bed.”

At that, Laura's hard expression softened, she sat on the bed and sighed. “I'm sorry hun, I should have been more clear. After the last time you were here Meredith told us that goodnites might be okay for you at our house, but not here. So we had her save the diapers she picked up last time. It's been so hectic with work and the holidays that we forgot to tell you.”

“You couldn't just tell her no?” Michelle held up the diaper, “These are so thick that it feels like I'm sitting on a pillow. Even Jazmyne wears thinner ones.”

“Oh we argued with her, both your father and I, but she does have a point. It's her house, her furniture that's at risk and I will admit those goodnites usually do a good job, but you've had a fair share of leaks too, especially as you've gotten older. I should have told you but there's nothing we can do about it tonight. I'll have a talk with Meredith about it in the morning, but it's getting past your bedtime. If you go get ready right now I'll let you read for half an hour before lights out.”

Michelle was still angry, but she took the concession and marched to the bathroom in silence. As she crossed the threshold, she felt her mom grab the button tab and fumble around with it for a while, but soon she had unzipped the garment far enough for Michelle to reach it. Michelle closed the door.

“Just knock when you're ready for me to come in.” Michelle used the toilet, and then unfolded the diaper and sat down on it and taped it on. Then she pulled on her arms back through the pjs and knocked once on the door. Laura walked in and checked the tapes on Michelle's diaper. Michelle gave her a look.

“Sorry 'Elle, it's ok for tonight, but you really ought to have these tighter. You'll spring a leak if they're too loose.”

“Okay Mom,” Michelle stated, ready for this to be over. She felt the zipper rise up her back and the tab was pressed in to place. “You know Mom, you don't have to button the tab every time...?”

“Habit. Plus I think it looks nicer. Anyway, I'm going to bed. Your father be will round to say goodnight once he, uncle Gus and uncle Arthur are done with their poker game. Goodnight Ellie!” She left the bathroom.

Michelle observed her reflection as she brushed her teeth. The diapers were just as bulky as she remembered them. These new pajamas weren't as tight around the waist as her normal ones, but that didn't really help matters any. There wasn't a distinct outline with these pjs and from the front the added mass of the diaper wasn't immediately noticeable, though she doubted it would fool anymore who did more than glance, but from the side, or even worse, from behind, the rounded presence of the diaper was unmistakable. And then there was the noise, the distinct rustling that accompanied her every step, thankfully muffled by the thick fleece of her pajamas. She hoped none of her cousins were still awake-- the last thing she wanted was to see Katelyn's reaction to seeing her older cousin like this.

As she finished putting her toiletries back, Michelle got an idea. She raided the closet nearest the bathroom, pulled out a blanket, draped it over her shoulders and pulled it across her chest. Not the best solution, since one hand was dedicated to keeping the blanket in place, but workable. Thus arranged she struck out bravely into the kitchen with her book, turned on the lights and started reading, forgetting about her conundrum in the dreamscapes found within it's pages. However, it was not to last, as her father walked into the kitchen and fetched a glass of water.

“Poker game's isn't going well,” he said, pulling Michelle out of her trance, “you wouldn't happen to have a couple aces lying around would you Ellie?”

Michelle dutifully checked the sleeves of her pajamas. “Nope.”

“Darn, if I don't find something soon Art's going to driving our minivan back and we're going to have to ask your grandpa for the buggy and a couple horses.”

“Fine by me, just don't lose the house Dad.”

Paul chuckled, “No promises, but it's bedtime for you.”

“Okay,” She closed the book, “goodnight.”

“Sleep tight 'Elle.” Paul went back into the garage.

Michelle walked across the kitchen and surveyed the living room from the doorway. Jazmyne was sleeping soundly on the loveseat while Katelyn snored loudly on the couch. Two air mattresses were arrayed on the floor and Jake had taken the far one, so at least she wouldn't have to step around anyone. However, the next morning was a different story entirely. She would have to make she kept herself covered with a blanket in case she wasn't the first one up, and then would have to stay covered until she had a private place to change clothes. She resolved to be the first one up, trying to set her biological alarm for 7AM and stepped carefully to her mattress, trying in vain to minimize crinkling, but almost as soon as her head hit the pillow she drifted off to sleep.

She awoke the next morning and groggily wondered what strangely large soft object she was laying on top of. Then she remembered the diaper and rocketed to fully awake and taking stock of her surroundings. The blanket was still pretty much on her, check. She also felt dry, so that was good. Jake was still sleeping, but Jazmyne and Katelyn were both gone. She opened her ears to the house and could tell that Jazmyne, Katelyn, Meredith and her uncles were all the in dining room, which was less than ideal, as she had to go past the dining room to get to the bathroom and her parents' room. However, she was fairly confident she could slip past them without any mishaps by feigning sleepiness and heading straight for the bathroom, where she could finally be free of this massive diaper. Just as she had the night before, she gathered the blanket around her shoulders and waist, took a deep breath, and stepped in to the dining room.

Arthur took one look at her, “'morning Michelle, you look like you could use some coffee.”

Michelle made a face, “I need a shower first,” she said, doing her best impersonation of sleepiness. To top it off, she half-yawned for punctuation.
“Alice is in there right now, but you're welcome to it afterwords.”

“Thanks, have you seen my parents?”

“Laura is out running, but Paul... Gus, have you seen Paul?”

Gus grunted something that was equally affirmative and negative. “Garage probably,” he said.

Michelle ambled in towards' her parents room, hearing Meredith shout after her, “Michelle dear! Don't take too long in the shower, breakfast will be ready in twenty five minutes!”

She finally made it into her parents room, shut the door behind her, leaned up against it, let the blanket drop to the floor and let out a long sigh of relief. She made it. She could get this stupid diaper off and it wasn't a moment too soon, as she could feel some pressure building in her bladder. She reached back to the zipper tab at the base of her neck and gave it a good tug. Nothing. Undeterred, she groped around until she found the button hold the tab on and tried to thread it through the hole, but every time she got close it would slide right back out, leaving her back at square one, increasingly frustrated and desperate. She heard Alice call through the door that she was done in the shower.

“Okay, one minute,” Michelle replied, but mentally she was starting to despair. She went through all this work just to wet herself, proving Meredith right about her, at the last minute, when she was literally 10 seconds walk from an open bathroom. She went back to tugging on it, harder this time, but to no avail. She tried to stick her pinky finger under the flap to inch down the zipper, but it wouldn't budge, the tab held it in place somehow. She was just about to resign herself to another wet diaper when she heard the door open behind her. Her heart skipped a beat and she whipped around to see who it was.

“Hey kiddo, looks like you need some help with that zipper,” Paul stated matter-of-factly.

“Yes, quick,” Michelle felt the zipper tab seperate from the button and the zipper come down, cool air rushing on to her back. There wasn't any time to lose, so she grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom.

“Whew, close one huh?” She heard her dad say as she darted out, but as soon as the door was closed she ripped the diaper off and sat down the toilet. Crisis averted. After her shower, she dressed and ate breakfast, resolving not to wear those pajamas nor those diapers for the rest of the weekend.

-

Michelle was clunking plates into the dishwasher, helping her mom, Alice and Meredith clean up after Thanksgiving dinner when she solidified her plan. It was simple enough; she was the oldest out of her cousins and therefore entitled to the latest bedtime. When it got close to bedtime, she'd spill water on the pajamas Meredith bought her to keep her from insisting that she wear them tonight, which would leave her free to pick out her own. Then she would insist on waiting to put her diaper on until she was just about to go to bed. Once everyone was asleep or winding down, which wouldn't take too long after Thanksgiving dinner, she'd walk to the bathroom using the blanket trick she developed the night before, take off her diaper and hide it in her luggage, then go back to bed with the blanket as cover with nobody the wiser. Tomorrow morning she'd go immediately to the shower just as she had today, stopping in her parents' room to retrieve the diaper of course, and get ready for the day, keeping the unused diaper in clutch to present to her parents if they inquired whether she stayed dry. That was the gamble, of course, whether she could indeed stay dry, but it was one she was willing to make to keep Meredith from ruining her Thanksgiving by making her wear such thick, loud and infantile clothing. Michelle had only wet once this week anyway, and the week before only twice, so by carefully controlling her fluid intake throughout the night she reasoned that she stood a pretty good chance of getting away with it. She was torn from her plans by Jake's voice.

“Hey Michelle, you want to play Yahtzee with me, Kate and Jaz once you're done?”

“Sure,” she replied, carefully positioning a gravy boat into the already overloaded dishwasher, “Need me to help with anything else once I'm done here Mom?”

Laura looked around while dishing a vat of candied yams into a tupperware container the size of a spent artillery shell, “Actually go ahead and play. Mere, Alice and I can take it from here. Thank you for your help though.”

Meredith chimed in, “Yahtzee is on the shelf in the den, Gus can help you find it if you have trouble.”

“It's OK, we've already got it all set up,” Jake responded.

“Oh, well have fun kids,” said Meredith, “There will be plenty of leftovers if y'all are hungry later.”

Michelle and Laura both cringed when she heard Meredith say 'y'all,' she only lived in Oklahoma for two years when she married her first husband, but she felt that it made her a Southerner and wouldn't let anyone in Minnesota forget it.

“Thanks Aunt Meredith, but I've eaten too much already,” Jake said, always the polite one.

“Then you'll be bringing it home,” Meredith retorted as Michelle followed Jake into the den.

A momentary silence descended on the kitchen as the women of the family worked, but it only lasted until they were sure the kids were out of earshot.

“I wish Katelyn was as helpful as Michelle,” Alice started, “I can't get her to help me with anything around the house. How do you get her to do it Laura?”

“I wish I could tell you the secret, but she's always been that way. When she was young, she even used to get mad at me if I didn't let her help cook. I thought she was going to grow up to be a chef.”

“Peter was always like that with Gus and his carpentry, but now he's going to school for Economics.” Meredith added, “Go figure.”

“Michelle's pretty set on becoming an author right now, from what her teachers are telling me she's definitely got a way with words. Her English instructor this year said she's one of the best writers he's ever taught, including juniors,” Laura said, “Not that I'd know, she never lets me come close to any of her writing.”

“By the way, how is Michelle liking those pjs?”

“Well you certainly did right getting her a footed sleeper, she hasn't worn anything else in years, since she started having trouble staying dry at night. She also looooves Hello Kitty, so that's a plus. Where did you get them? I've never seen them with a zipper in back before.”

“I picked them up when I got her diapers at that A&SC Company place I was telling you about. They're made for bedwetters, so the zipper is in the back to make sure their diapers stay on at night, which I thought you might like.”

“We've never really had a problem with her taking off her Goodnites, but I've been meaning to ask you. Do you really think Michelle needs to be wearing those diapers? She's thinks that they're embarrassing.”

“Look, Laura, I know you think Goodnites are good enough to use at your house, but trust me, in all my years of working at a daycare there is no diaper more prone to leaks and I won't stand by and watch her leak on my stuff because she's too embarrassed to wear the real diapers that, honestly, she should be wearing every night.”

It was Alice's turn to talk, “I'm afraid I have to agree with Meredith, Jazmine's been going through the same issues as Michelle has recently and she will wet through Goodnites some nights even though she's two thirds of Michelle's size. I think for Michelle's problem you need something that can stand up to heavier wetting.”

Laura sighed and set down the plate she was working on, “I agree that Goodnites are getting less and less practical as Michelle gets older, but there's got to be some middle ground between them and what she's wearing now. They're so big and noisy that it's a miracle none of her cousins have said anything to her about them.”

Alice felt a twinge of offense, “My kids know that Michelle has trouble staying dry at night and they know better than to say anything to her about it.”

Before Laura could respond, Meredith jumped in, saying, “I don't agree with you Laura, but I see your point. I won't make her wear these diapers next time she stays over here, but I still don't want her wearing Goodnites or pull-ups or anything of that nature while she's here. If you can find her a real, less conspicuous diaper that won't leak for her to wear, I won't say anything.”

Laura smiled, “I was thinking that we might need to upgrade soon too, but I appreciate that you can see it from my point of view Meredith. Now let's finish cutting up this turkey so we can get to the vino!”

“Amen to that!” exclaimed Alice.

-

The kids were just packing up the Yahtzee materials when Alice stepped into the den, “Jazmine, it's almost eight o'clock, you know what that means...”

“Eight o'clock already?” Jazmine pouted.

“Yup, the bath's all ready for you.”

“Can I stay up late with Michelle? Pleaasee?”

“Not tonight honey, you'll have time to play with her in the morning,” she turned to the twins, “You two should be getting ready for bed soon too.”

“We have half an hour Mom,” Katelyn retorted, arms crossed.

“I know, I'm just making sure you're aware. Michelle's going to need to get in the bathroom too you know.”

“I have until 9:30, it's alright,” Michelle replied.

“Okay, but I expect both of you to be ready by 8:30 sharp,” said Alice, exiting the room.

Once she was gone, Katelyn turned to Michelle, said, “I'm surprised your bedtime isn't earlier,” and left. Michelle thought that was a little strange, as she was two years old than Katelyn, but didn't think much of it as she got embroiled in a game of Super Smash Brothers with Jake on Gus's super old school N64.

Jake went to get ready for bed after narrowly edging out a victory over Michelle in the fifth game, giving him a 3-2 score and bragging rights. Michelle was a little disappointed because she always used to beat him handily, but then again she hadn't really been playing video games as much as she did when she was younger.

She flipped the TV over to a random channel, muted it, and started writing in her journal. She had hashed out about a page when her father appeared in the doorway.

“Hey Ellie, your mom's going to be going to bed pretty soon here, so can you grab what you need out of our room real quick?”

“Sure, uh... what about the uh...”

Paul picked up on what Michelle was saying before she found a way to say it, “Meredith has one for you, but you don't need to worry about it until bedtime.”

Michelle smiled, “Thanks dad.”

She grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and then went over to her parents room and changed into her pajamas for the night: a black footed sleeper with white skulls and crossbones. She had first seen it in the boys' section at Target, but thought it was too cool to pass up just because it was in the boys' section and bugged her mom until she bought it. Then she found the Hello Kitty pajamas Meredith had bought for her, put them on the floor away from her other clothes and poured about half the glass of water on them.

“Take that Auntie,” she said under her breath, and gulped down the rest of the glass triumphantly.

She swung the bedroom door open and stood outside the bathroom with her toiletries bag in hand, waiting. The door finally opened and Jake stepped out, wearing gym shorts and blank T-shirt. Clearly he didn't like Aunt Meredith's choices in pajamas very much either.
“Want to try to reclaim your crown once you're done?” he asked Michelle, grinning cockily.

“Try? I'll be wearing it. No items, final destination,” she shot back.

He chuckled, “you're on! I'll get it set up,” and walked away.

Michelle finished up her nightly routine, opened the door, seeing Meredith in the laundry room across the hall. She must have heard the door open because she looked up at Michelle.

“No Hello Kitty jammies tonight?” she asked, looking more than a little disappointed, “I hope you like them, I felt so bad after the ones I sewed for you didn't fit.”

“No Auntie I love them!” she exclaimed, and for the most part it was true, but that zipper flap was going to get in the way of her plans tonight. “I was going to wear them tonight but I was getting a drink of water when I was changing and accidentally spilled it on them so I wore these,” she lied.

“Oh, well if it's only water go and grab them. I'll put them in the dryer, they'll probably be dry enough to wear by the time you go to bed,” Meredith offered.

Shit.

“Oh no Auntie you don't have to,” Michelle replied.

“It's no trouble dearie, these towels need to go in for another cycle yet anyway.”

Michelle was stuck, so she reluctantly grabbed the wet pajamas out of her parents' bedroom and brought them to Meredith.

“Thank you,” Meredith said as she took the pajamas from Michelle, “I'll have your jammies all ready for you when you come get your diaper from me.”

Michelle had to think fast, Meredith had thrown a serious wrench in her plans. Before she got to the den she had one. It was crazy, sure, but it just might work. She quietly snuck into the garage, making sure nobody was around, opened Gus's minifridge, grabbed a can of Mountain Dew and chugged it. It made a crash when she tossed into the recycling bin, but nobody came to investigate.

-

Jake was in the recliner, absentmindedly playing with his phone as Michelle walked into the den.

“You ready?” she challenged.

“I was born ready,” he gestured at the second player controller, “Pick how you want to lose.”

“No items?”

“Only hammers.”

Michelle made a face at him. Laura popped her head in, “Goodnight kids.” Michelle bid her mom goodnight and looked back at Jake skeptically.

“Goodnight Aunt Laura,” Jake said, then turned to Michelle, resuming the conversation, “I'm kidding, no items, stock 5. Hurry up, I'm gonna have to go to bed soon too.”

Michelle thought for a minute, picked Kirby, and ended the first game with two lives left.

“Told you so,” she stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

“Yeah, yeah, I let you win so you wouldn't feel bad when I wreck you in the next two games.”

“We'll see about that,” and was waiting for Jake to pick a new character when Katelyn stepped in to the room. She was the only one of the kids wearing the pjs Meredith had made for them. Her top was the same white swirls on a black background button-up number Michelle had seen earlier, but the pants that looked identical to the ones Michelle had received two weeks ago. That's odd, Michelle thought, Meredith must have made Katelyn a three piece set.

When she saw Michelle, her face morphed into a look of disbelief.

“Jeez Michelle, don't you ever wear anything besides footie pajamas?”

“Not in the winter, they're comfy and they keep me warm,” Michelle said defensively, neglecting to mention that her summer pajamas were pretty much the same as her winter pajamas. She tried to change the subject, “I thought Meredith made you pajama shorts. Where did those pants come from?”

“They used to be yours, but Auntie Meredith gave them to me because they don't fit over your diapers,” Katelyn said matter-of-factly.

“What the hell?” Michelle was shocked, “I don't wear diapers. Who told you that?” How did Katelyn find out?

“Kate...” Jake butted in, but Katelyn paid no attention.

“Yes you do, my Mom said so,” Katelyn retorted, “She said you wear diapers because you wet the bed at night. And no swearing.”

Aunt Alice, what the hell? Why?

“First of all, hell isn't a swear word,” Michelle tried to keep her cool, “Second, does it look like I'm wearing diapers right now?”

Katelyn scanned her up and down for a minute, “I can't tell.”

“Well I'm not,” Michelle said with finality, but Katelyn wasn't done.

“...But you were wearing diapers last night,” she said, obviously relishing saying it, “I could hear them crinkling when you moved around in your sleep.”

“Kate, cut it out,” Jake interjected.
“Butt out Jake,” Katelyn spat back.

“I was not wearing diapers,” Michelle lied, “you must have been hearing the air mattress.”

Just then Arthur's voice rang through the halls, telling the twins it was their bedtime.

“Nice Katelyn, you screwed up our game. I hope you're happy,” Jake scowled at her, then turned to Michelle, “Finish this up tomorrow?”

Katelyn cut in, “I am thank you,” then she also turned to Michelle, said, “Hope you don't mess your diaper tonight, liar.” and left.

Michelle was not about to let her get away without a response, so she poked her head out of the room, saying, “You're the liar.” Then she turned back to Jake, “Sorry, but yeah we can pick it up tomorrow.”

“I'm the one who should be apologizing, my sister can be a brat sometimes,” he said, “but I've got to go to bed, goodnight.”

Michelle wished him goodnight, changed the TV to adult swim and tried to calm down. Katelyn was definitely going to try to prove herself right tonight, and Michelle could not let that happen.

-

It was about 9:10 when Meredith came in to tell her that her pajamas were dry.

“Thanks Aunt Meredith,” Michelle replied tiredly.

“Come on, let's go get them on,” she prodded.

“But-”

“I know it's not your bedtime yet,” she replied patiently, “but the boys are outside drinking and I don't know when they're going to be back in, so it's my job to get you ready for bed before I go to there myself.”

Michelle sighed, getting ready a little early would make her plan a little easier to pull off anyway, might as well. She followed Meredith to the bathroom, where she handed Michelle her Hello Kitty sleeper followed by the massive diaper.

“Are you sure you can get that diaper on tight all by yourself?” Meredith asked.

“Yes Aunt Meredith,” Michelle was beginning to lose her patience.

“Okay, just asking. Come outside when you're done and I'll help you with that zipper.”

Michelle shut the door. She took off her skull sleeper, took a drink and then filled a glass of warm water from the sink. Thinking here goes nothing, she poured it on the diaper and let it soak in. Then she put taped the thick diaper on as loosely as she could without it falling off. It was already pretty heavy, and the all the water it absorbed made it bulk up even more, but she made it work. Realizing that Meredith might notice something was up, after she got the Hello Kitty sleeper on she spent a little bit of time trying to get the zipper as far as she could up her back. After she double checked her handiwork in the bathroom mirror, she grabbed her pajamas and stepped out of the bathroom.

“My gosh, you're cute as a button!” Meredith exclaimed, causing Michelle to blush, “now come here so Auntie can finish zipping you up.”

Michelle obeyed, heard the zipper close, and waited until Meredith finished struggling the zipper tab over the button.

“Goodnight sweetheart, I'll be in my room if you need anything.”

“Goodnight Aunt Meredith,” Michelle chimed back, as sweetly as she could.

She made her way back to the den, seeing her father on the way.

“I see Meredith got you ready for bed already,” he commented.

“Yeah, she just went to bed,” she pouted, “she said you'd be out late.”

Paul went over to her and ruffled her hair, Michelle made a face. “That doesn't mean I won't come back in to say goodnight to my favorite daughter.”

“I'm your only daughter,” Michelle replied.

“So?”

“Okay Dad, I'm going to watch TV.”

“Alright Ellie, goodnight. Don't stay up too late.”

“Goodnight, I won't,” she said. Back in the den, she watched anime and sat biding her time. It felt kind of strange to just lounge around in a wet diaper. Not super good, but not too bad either. Normally if she was wet she would change immediately just from the gross-factor, but normally she didn't purposely add water to her protection or wear bona-fide diapers. Once her show hit the last commercial break she stood up and walked over to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Time to let the Mountain Dew do its job, she thought, and tried to wet. It was harder to do than she expected, but eventually she felt the diaper become warm, and then thicker, heavier. She checked herself for leaks in the mirror and found a couple small dark patches at the top of her thighs, but nothing dramatic. Despite how much she detested the diaper, she couldn't help but be amazed at how much fluid it could hold. Undeterred, she filled a glass with warm water and soaked those areas in it until the wet spots were unmistakable in the mirror even when she was standing straight. Michelle took a deep breath and pulled the door handle. No going back now.

Luckily, Meredith's room was the bedroom closest to the bathroom so Michelle didn't have far to walk. The thickness of the diaper bowed her legs slightly, and made her feel like she was walking funny. The door was slightly ajar and it looked like a lamp was on inside, so she knocked and mustered her most timid voice.

“Aunt Meredith?”

“Michelle? Come in, what is it?”

Michelle stepped into the bedroom gingerly, she saw Meredith lying on the bed reading a Kindle. “I... uh... had a little accident,” she stammered out. Her nervousness was no longer manufactured as grabbed her stronger than ever as Meredith turned to look at her.

“Oh my! I'd say you did,” she exclaimed, “Stay here and don't sit on anything, I'll be right back with fresh pajamas and a diaper.”

Soon she was back with Michelle's skull and crossbones sleeper in one arm and a towel and diaper in the other.

“Sorry Meredith...” Michelle said, feeling ashamed both for the situation and for taking advantage of Meredith like this.

“Don't worry about it hun, that's what the diaper is there for,” she consoled and started working on unbuttoning Michelle's zipper tab, “I'll get these wet pajamas off of you while you tell me what happened.”

“Well I was watching tv and realize I had to use the bathroom really badly. I went to the bathroom and tried unzipping my pjs but I couldn't unbutton the zipper flap,” as she said felt Meredith finally work the button free, “I was going to come ask you for help, but by the time I left the bathroom it was too late.” Michelle felt the zipper being drawn down her back.

“Wow, you really soaked this thing, you might need some diaper stuffers,” Meredith said, inspecting her diaper with a slight degree of awe. She pushed back her pajamas to look at the tapes, “Oh no wonder it leaked Michelle, the tapes are barely on.” She clucked disapprovingly. “I'm going to put your pjs in the wash while you get changed now, but let me check once you're done to see if you did it right.”

“Okay,” said Michelle, annoyed at Meredith's newfound skepticality at her ability to put a diaper on herself and her failure to predict it. She shrugged off her pjs, tore off her diaper and dropped in an empty grocery bag her aunt had appropriated for that purpose. Then she put the new diaper on, taped it more tightly than before, and stepped into the feet of her sleeper prior to zipping it up. She had thought her diaper was obvious in the Hello Kitty sleeper, but these pajamas were tighter and had to stretch around her diaper, creating a an bulbous outline that was unmistakable as anything else but padding. Good thing I won't be wearing these for long, she thought, and looked at herself in the mirror a little longer. She had a little bit of a start when she heard Meredith knock at the door.

“Come in,” she said. Meredith did so, and much to Michelle's chagrin she started unzipping Michelle's sleeper without so much as a word to her as she took a knee to inspect her handiwork.

“Well, it's better than last time,” she commented, then ripped off the tapes and snugged up the diaper some more, surprising Michelle. “Sorry dear, a good rule of thumb is that you should just be able to fit your finger between you tummy and the diaper. I've done changed enough diapers that I can eyeball it, but you'd do good to remember that,” she said while zipping the sleeper back up. “All done,” she informed Michelle as she patted the back of her diaper, causing Michelle to grimace, “I'll see what I can do about finding you some stuffers tomorrow, but right now it's past your bedtime.”

Michelle swallowed her pride, “Thanks Aunt Meredith,” she said sweetly, “Can you not tell my parents about this?”

Meredith shook her head, “Too late now, I told your mom when I went to grab you clean pajamas. Besides, I wouldn't do that even if you had before I told her, it's your parents' right to know.”

Drat, Michelle thought, she was probably going to hear about this in the morning.

“By the way,” Meredith continued, “I thought you only had problems staying dry when you're sleeping?”

Michelle resented the implication, but tried to play it off, “That's when it happens most of the time, but this time I just couldn't get my pjs off in time.”

“But if someone was in the bathroom you would have been in the same situation,” Meredith countered, “though some advice for next time, don't try to unzip yourself, just ask an adult.”

“Yes ma'am,” Michelle just wanted to be done.

Meredith wished her a goodnight and shut off the lamp, Michelle returned her wishes and, after a little bit of reconnaissance, went right back to the bathroom where she took off the diaper, rolled it in her towel and stashed it in her toiletries bag. She couldn't lie, it felt good to be in a fresh diaper after sitting in a wet one for a while, but it felt good not to wear one too, and it felt especially good that whatever means Katelyn would use to try to prove that she was wearing a diaper would certainly fail tonight. She climbed under the covers grinning. Michelle had gone through a lot today, but now she got to enjoy the payoff, and boy was it sweet.

-

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Oct 21, 2015 at 9:12 AM
Content: 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:

================

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.

-

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Oct 22, 2015 at 3:09 PM
Content: Update on the last post on the previous page just so that 'next post in story' thing works. I'll edit this one with the next update.

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Feb 17, 2016 at 11:02 AM
Content: Hey everyone, I'm gonna post the unfinished and unpolished version of the next chapter just so you have something to read. It's been a hectic couple months up here: going back to school after a year off; working at a job that's not super-easy nor highly lucrative; signing on as a contributing editor to a local online newspaper startup plus working on my own fiction submissions to a couple journals and magazines; moving. And if that wasn't enough shit to deal with, my best friend overdosed last week on a mix of fentanyl and dextromethorphan while he was at his parent's house. His mom told me he was totally unresponsive and turning blue. We've been friends since 4th grade and have gone through everything together: girlfriends and breakups; sharing an apartment; tons of parties; our first cars; tagging up the city and breaking into derelict buildings; being in the same grade at the same school for 9 years and sharing classes; addictions and withdrawals; parents beating on us; getting kicked out of our respective houses; playing in two bands, touring and making music together; balling out when we were both making money and sharing everything when we were broke; hanging out almost every day for four years straight. He's like my little brother; he's way closer to me than any of my real siblings are and when I first heard what happened I thought I'd lost him, so it's been a shock. I've had more friends & acquaintances have OD than I like, but this one hit really close to home. Plus I wasn't allowed to see him while he was in the hospital and now he will be in inpatient drug treatment for who knows how long, a least a month and possibly up to six. The worst part about it is that his parents won't tell if me there was any permanent damage. Anyway, enough about my life, here's the next chapter. I'll edit this post with the full thing later:

Michelle was sitting next to her mom in the van while they drove through their hometown. Michelle was bravely baring her mother's choice in radio stations because she could tell her mom wasn't in a great mood today. She had been pretty stressed yesterday when they had gotten back from Meredith's too. Maybe it was the sleepover she had planned with Hannah for the next weekend, but if Michelle was a betting girl she'd say that it was an aftershock from Thanksgiving weekend. Her mom turned the radio down and spoke.

“I was going to wait until your Dad was around for us to talk about this, but it's better to bring it up now since we're about to go shopping,”she said.

“What is it Mom?” Michelle asked, mindful of her tone and bracing herself for whatever was to come next.

“From your performance at Meredith's these past few days and especially what Chantal told us, both your father and I think it's time for some changes around the house.”

Michelle gulped, this couldn't be good. “...like what?”

“It's nothing too drastic. Some of these you won't like but I spent a lot of time on the internet looking and your father and I came up with a few new rules that will take effect tonight,” Laura explained. “First, we want you to start getting ready for bed an hour before bedtime. Earlier is okay but if you're late there will be consequences.”

Not too bad, thought Michelle, it wasn't uncommon for her to get ready for bed early anyway. It was rare but if she was feeling sick sometimes she'd put her PJs on right when she got home from school, but it couldn't have been the only thing her mom had on her mind.

“Second, you're not allowed to remove your protection without informing us first.”

Michelle had been expecting this one at some point based on how last weekend went, but that didn't mean hearing it was any better. It would be annoying sure because she wouldn't able to sweep small accidents under the rug as easily she had before, but also kind of embarrassing having to inform her parents of her bathroom habits like that. She just nodded.

“Third, we will choose what pajamas you wear on a daily basis from now on. If you can earn our trust back, we can gradually allow you to choose again, but not until then.”

This rule struck Michelle totally out of left field. Her jaw even dropped a little bit.

“What...?” she sputtered out.

But her mom ignored her, “Fourth, you're going to have to wear night-time diapers for every trip that will take an hour or longer and fifth, if we're going to be gone for over an hour after we've gotten you ready for bed you're going to have someone there to watch you.”

All this was a lot for Michelle to take in at once. The pajama rule annoyed her most because it seemed totally arbitrary, but wearing diapers in the car and going back to having babysitters were pretty big deals themselves. She internalized all this quietly for a minutes.

Michelle knew her best approach right now was a diplomatic one, “Mom, I know I haven't been the most responsible with my problem, but where are all these new rules coming from?”

“Your father and I looked on the internet to see what had worked with other kids your age and then spoke with a bedwetting expert over the phone and these are what we came up with.”

“So I get grounded if I forget to follow one of them? This a lot to take in all at once and you know I'm trying to stop,” Michelle's shock was transmuting to frustration. How could her parents punish her for something she could barely control?

“Your father and I will remind you about them while you get used to them, and these rules aren't here to punish you for wetting the bed; they are there to teach you to handle your problem responsibly,” it was like Laura read her daughter's mind. “We got the impression last weekend that you aren't very aware of how strongly not acting responsibly towards wetting the bed can affect the people around you. We expect you to follow these rules, but we're not going to ground you if you don't.”

“Really?” Michelle couldn't believe her luck. These new rules couldn't matter that much if her parents weren't going to ground her to enforce them.

“Nope,” her Mom replied, “we don't think grounding you will do much to help you learn to follow them so we came up with alternatives. If you are not ready for bed at the appropriate time, you will have to get ready earlier the next day. If you take your pajamas or protection off without asking us first, you'll have to wear them during the daytime the next day.”

“So if I take my pajamas off at night without asking--” Michelle began.

“When you'd normally get dressed for the day you'd put on fresh pjs and a diaper and you'd have to wear them all day, yes.” Laura interrupted.

“You're going to make me wear pajamas to school!?”

“There's no need to shout,” Laura chastised,”And no, but you would have to change into them when you get home. You can still have friends over if you want, but that won't change the rules.”

“I don't even want to have friends over if I'm wearing my goodnites. And don't you think they'll think I'm weird for wearing pajamas so early?”

“You can tell them your parents are making you, but if you don't want to deal with consequences, don't break the rules.”

Michelle crossed her arms. The rest of the car ride proceeded in much the same fashion, with Michelle getting more frustrated with every response her mom had. It's not that Michelle considered the rules deeply unfair, but her Mom's allegation that she wasn't aware of her wetting's effect on others really irked her and she resented losing so much of her independence over something, in Michelle's estimation at least, so insignificant in the grand scheme of her life.

Their first stop was Target. While Laura pushed her cart towards the grocery aisle, Michelle browsed the digital cameras, soaking in price-points and specifications, daydreaming about the DSLR she'd buy with the money from her first summer job next year. Once she had exhausted the camera aisle, she went on to browse the clothes section, keeping an eye out for anything cute as she made her way towards sleepwear. Today, Laura's shopping list included new pjs for Michelle; she had worn in the feet of one pair and a couple others were just plain getting too small. After a brief detour to look at sweaters, she was standing directly under the sign marked “Sleepwear.” Michelle considered her options: the events of the previous weekend and Katelyn's ribbing had left her with a strong desire to wear something more grown-up to bed. She examined several nightgowns, contemplated a rack of flannel two-piece sets and scrutinized some sleep boxers when her phone rang. She took the phone from the pocket her black and neon green Tripp pants with a metallic rattle. It was her mom.

“Hi honey, I'm done shopping. Where are you?” She asked.

“I'm in the clothes section looking at pajamas,” right as she said that, a pair of lounge pants caught her eye: black fleece with lightning bolts, skulls and angel wings, “I think I found some I like.”

“I was going to try someplace new for your pajamas but I suppose we can get you one pair here,” Laura replied, “I'm on my way over to you now. See you soon.”

“Okay, bye,” she deposited the phone back into her pocket and lifted the pj pants off the rack. They felt like they would be pretty comfortable, but more than that, they were the more mature style of pajamas that Michelle felt a girl her age would normally wear, with no feet or cutesy patterns. With them bundled up securely in her arms, she waited for her mom to find her.

“I see you found something,” Laura said, appearing behind her with a full c art. Michelle spied a package of goodnites through the side and mentally cringed. She tried to avoid coming with when her mom was picking those up.

“Yup,” Michelle unfurled her choice for her mom to see.

Laura looked a little disappointed, “You don't want footie pajamas?”

“Well all the pjs I have at home are footies. It's not that I don't like them, I just wanted to try something different. Plus I feel like these are more my age,” she explained.

“Footies are for kids of all ages,” Laura gestured towards the nearby rack of footed sleepers, “Look, they go up to size 18, and they're on sale. You know I had a pair of footie pajamas myself when I was 17.”

“I know Mom, but I want these,” she had heard about her mom's footie pajamas hundreds of times by now.

“Okay, well why don't we go take a look at least? I'm going to put these back for now but we'll remember where they're at. Remember, we still have another whole store to check for pajamas.”

Laura placed the pj pants back on the rack and they approached the footed sleeper display together.

“Oh my gawsh, look at these,” she immediately pulled a set from the hook, “Hello Kitty! I know you love Hello Kitty Michelle,” she showed them to her daughter.

“Yeah, but I already have a set of Hello Kitty footies mom,” she said unenthusiastically. She put them back.

“Well how about these?” Undeterred, Laura lifted a lime green reindeer print sleeper from the rack, “They're nice and Christmas-y.”

Michelle just shook her head.

Laura put them back on the rack and approached her daughter, “You used to love footie pajamas? What happened?”

Michelle sighed, “I'm just tired of wearing little kid pajamas.”

“You never used to think that these were little kid pajamas, what changed?” Laura asked, concerned.

“I dunno, Katelyn was making fun of me for wearing them and...”

Laura took advantage of Michelle's pause, “Katelyn shouldn't have said that,” she interjected authoritatively, “To be honest, I think she's jealous of you because how much Jazmyne looks up to you. Regardless of why, you can't let anyone change how you act because they make fun of you. Being mean is their way of trying to control you, and if you let them do that, they win. If Katelyn does that again you make sure and tell me right away, okay?”

“Okay,” Michelle replied, still pouting somewhat.

“Now these footie pajamas are on sale right now, so why don't you go pick out a pair you like so you don't have to wear whatever silly design I choose for you,” Laura said, “Anyway, we still have one more store to go to to look for pajamas and I'll let you pick out one set of whatever you want there.”

Michelle perked up a little bit hearing her mom's offer and threw the reindeer print sleeper into the cart.

Laura chuckled, “Huh, I knew you'd like those reindeer ones. I like to think I know my daughter a little bit.”

Despite herself, Michelle let slip a hint of a grin and they walked together to the checkout line. Michelle was felt overcome with awkwardness when the cashier rang up the goodnites right after the sleeper, but the cashier didn't even give her a second glance. Nonetheless, she felt a lot better once they were safely in the van.

-

The van slowed to a stop in front of a nondescript section of strip mall. Their parking spot was nestled between GNC and Cost Cutters, facing a store named A&SC Company, which was written in colorful backlit signage above the glass entryway. Laura and Michelle hopped out of the van and entered the store, somewhere an electronic bell rang as they opened the door. A friendly-looking blonde young woman greeted them before they got more than a few steps into the store.

“Hey guys, are you looking for anything specific here today?” She asked, acting and sounding quite peppy.

“Yes,” Laura responded, “I'm here looking for pajamas for my daughter.”

“Ohh,” a look of recognition dawned across her face, “You must be Laura, I spoke with you on the phone yesterday.”

Laura smiled politely, “I am, thanks for your help by the way.”

“Oh it's no trouble,” the blonde lady said, “I'm Erica by the way, and this must be Michelle?”

“Nice to meet you Erica, and yes this is my daughter Michelle.”

“Nice to meet you Erica,” Michelle said, wondering what in the world Erica could have been helping her mom with.

“If you follow me I'll take you to the sleepwear section,” Erica said, and struck off at a brisk walk, “So how old are you Michelle?”

“Fifteen,” Michelle replied, “Fifteen and a half really.”

“Oh, when's your birthday?”

“June 16th.”

“Summer birthday huh? I bet that's fun. You're lucky, my birthday was always on the first day of school.”

Michelle stuck out her tongue, “Gross, I feel sorry for you.”

“It wasn't so bad, I just had the party on the weekend. Anyway, we're here.” As Erica finished her sentence they stepped into a section of the store marked “Teens and Tweens” by a large sign hanging from the ceiling. The aisle they were in was nearest the wall, with fitting rooms on one side and rows of circular clothing racks filled with pajamas on the other. Michelle immediately noticed that the majority of their sleepwear section consisted of footie pajamas.

“Don't you have anything other than footie pajamas here?” Michelle asked, feeling both awed and awkward at the same time.

“Not all our pajamas have built in feet, no, but we do only sell sleepers if that's what you mean,” Erica responded helpfully.

“But why?” Michelle was somewhat incredulous.

“Our store confers with both parents and incontinence experts and they agree that sleepers are the most incontinence-friendly pajamas out there.”

Laura nodded, “I could see that.” Before Michelle could concoct a response Erica started the sales pitch, sauntering over to the nearest rack of sleepers.

“I'll start out with what is by far our most popular model, the butterfly series sleeper. It has several modifications to make incontinence easier on both children and parents. First, they're made from polar fleece treated with organic waterproofing on the outside of the garment, so in case of a leak the pajamas may get wet but the bed won't. They also have a wider cut waist to allow for protective garments and, parents love this part, the zipper is located on the back so there won't be any surprises come morning. In fact, most of them come with a fabric tab over the zipper pull to keep the power to undress firmly in the hands of the caretaker. Most of them are footed, but I'm sure we have a few non-footed ones in Michelle's size.”

She continued down the aisle, halting when she came to a display marked “Princess series.”

“Now these are our Princess series sleepers. They're pretty similar to what you would find at Target or K-mart, so they're probably not what you're here for, but I'll go over their feature set just in case. They are intended for children and teens with no continence issues to mild incontinence and have a similar generously cut waist region, though the butterfly series has slightly more space. You might have noticed that the sleepers at big-box stores also have tend to have larger waist regions than the rest of their pajama selection and because of that some parents have guessed that those retailers are silently attempting to make their products more incontinence-friendly. While I wish that were true, it's actually due to lazily scaling up their designs for early-childhood sleepers instead of starting fresh from a teenager's body proportions, oftentimes not eliminating the extra space meant to fit a diaper. However, because of the differences in proportions, the amount of space allowed usually isn't enough for a full-sized absorbent youth diaper, leading to the pajamas being very tight around the diaper and causing undue noise and embarrassment.”

Erica motioned down the aisle with her hand, “Down there we have the caterpillar series sleeper, which is basically the same as the butterfly series but with attached mittens, the cocoon series sleep sack and the monkey series, but before I introduce those further have you two found anything you like?” She inquired pleasantly.

“Yes, I think we've found what we're looking for,” Laura said, precipitating a sigh of relief from Michelle; she'd had enough of wearing mittens to bed last weekend. “But just out of curiosity, what does the monkey series entail?”

Dad would've made that into a pun, Michelle thought.

“It's for individuals who are really determined not to wear their protective undergarments. That display is basically an mishmash of Princess, Butterfly and Caterpillar series sleepers that have been modified with secure zippers.”

For Michelle, standing there thinking of her father triggered a waterfall of questions: Did he know that they were going to this store? Or more importantly, was he okay with all this? She had always thought her parent's roles were pretty different than how things generally went for a teenage girl; her mother was the overprotective one; the one who would still baby her somewhat. While the idea this store existed in her relatively small city surprised her, the fact her mom would bring her here did not. It was disappointing, sure, but not at all out of character. Her father had a much more lassiez-faire approach to parenting. She knew he had faith in her decision-making skills and trusted her enough to let her to make her own mistakes and figure out the right thing to do generally without intervention. Unless it was time to do some serious parenting, Paul treated her as an equal, and trying to maintain that trust and respect kept her out of trouble as her Mom's system of instructions and consequences.

“Secure zipper?” Laura asked over her shoulder, raising two random different sizes of pajamas from the array of butterfly-series sleepers nearby, then held them up to Michelle near her neck.“Why don't you go try these on so we can figure out what size fits you best and then you can choose which ones you'd like?”

Michelle took the garments in her hands and made her way to the conveniently located fitting room, but Erica stopped her before she got to one of the doors. “Sorry,” she said, face apologetic as her tone, “ but these mandatory in the changing rooms.” She set a familiar-looking disposable on top on Michelle's fleecy pile. “Now you're all set,” Erica stated while she pressed open the red plastic door to the dressing room and gestured Michelle inside, return to Laura's side when the door was closed.

“At A&SC company we try to respond to our customer's needs as best we can. When our Butterfly-series first came out, parents with bedwetting children at home couldn't get enough of them. However it wasn't long before we realized that though the back zipper is adequate to most attempts at diaper removal, a determined child can still remove the garment and therefore their diaper. Clearly this was a problem for both our store and the parents who shop here. While we worked on the problem, we noticed that a lot of parents started to buy our mittened sleepers, meant for children with eczema, for their bedwetters because the attached mittens made it harder for them to unzip themselves and access their diapers, so we spun off our line of eczema pajamas into our incontinence range and named it the caterpillar series. Again we thought we'd be able to rest easy but our conversations with parents told us that despite the improvements there were still incidences where the Caterpillar-series didn't perform as well as we had hoped-- the diaper stays on more often, sure, but there were still issues with self-removal. We developed the Monkey-series as a response to that problem and designed it so that no parent will have to wonder whether their little bedwetter kept their protection on at night.”

Laura's interest was piqued, “That really does sound useful, can you explain how it works?”

“Of course,” Erica stated happily “I'll get one for her to try on once she knows what size she wants.”

Meanwhile, Michelle spent the first few minutes in the changing room being annoyed with Erica-- really even the store in general. She had found it pretty insulting when Erica implied that she might not be able to stay dry for the five minutes she would be in the changing room, even if it was store policy. She was similarly annoyed by the store's allegation that footie pajamas were the only pajamas that made sense for someone having trouble staying dry at night, but a little bit of pacing around the mirrored cubicle while trying to avoid looking at the diaper she was supposed to wear eventually calmed her down. Remembering Erica's apologetic expression when she handed her the diaper made her realize that she wasn't mad at Erica; just at the last few days had turned out. This shopping trip was a way for her to show her Mom that she was capable of being adult, despite what had happened over Thanksgiving weekend, and finally buying some “adult”-style shirt and pants pajamas were supposed to be a symbol of that. So that when her parents saw her at home in her PJ's they'd think of her as a young adult not an older kid, but adults don't just sit and pout when something doesn't go their way, Michelle thought to herself. It would probably feel better just to get it over with rather than sit and agonize over it for ten minutes anyway, so she stripped down and started to wrap the diaper around her waist. That part went easily: once she had it in her hands, Michelle recognized it as the same variety she had worn at Aunt Meredith's the week before. She pushed back Thanksgiving memories as she wrangled the thick diaper snugly onto her waist. Avoiding looking in the mirrors for the moment, she stepped into the feet of the size M sleeper. The garment already felt a little small on her by the time she was forcing her arms through the sleeves, but she persevered as far she could and finally spared a look at herself in the mirror.

The sleeper was fairly tight even without the back zipper having been done up and it did nothing to hide the gigantic diaper taped around her waist. If anything, it accentuated it, which was the last thing Michelle wanted. She called out.

“Moooooommm! I want a large.”

“Well come on out and let me see how it fits on you then,” Laura replied from outside the changing room, “you're going to need me to get the zipper for you before you can really tell anyway.”

Michelle shrugged the medium sleeper to the ground and got dressed in the large one: sky blue dotted with smiling white clouds. A quick glance in the mirror told her that though she was quite unmistakably wearing a diaper, it wasn't shouting its presence from across the room and would conceal a goodnite superbly. She unlatched the door to see Laura waiting outside, who promptly turned her around, zipped up the back of her sleeper and started pulling fabric in various places, checking the fit.

Satisfied, she turned and gave Michelle one last good look over. “My god you look adorable baby girl,” Laura exclaimed, “and it fits you well too.”

“I'd say,” interjected Erica, “It's literally the perfect size for you.”

Michelle blushed, half because of the compliment and half because of the baby girl comment and curled her toes inside of pajama feet, “Thanks... can I go back and change now?”

“You'd better wait until we're done, just in case you want to try anything else on,” Laura advised, “if that's alright with you of course.” She deferred to Erica.

“Totally,” she said, “I'm pretty sure you two are the only customers in the store right now anyway.”

However, Michelle didn't exactly want to be traipsing around the store in a diaper and footed sleeper even if they were the only ones here, a fact that Michelle was acutely aware could change at a moment's notice.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Dec 21, 2016 at 7:43 AM
Content: Oy, I suppose I can start writing more with winter break and whatnot. Life's been wild. I'm not sure if it just feels like my life is crazier than pretty much everyone's or it actually is. I mean, there's some stuff I read in Rolling Stone and I think if that's how low the bar is for a six-page spread I need to hit them up. I doubt they'd believe me though.

Oh well, I'll try to get crackin' after Crimbus.

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Dec 26, 2016 at 1:57 AM
Content: What does, specifically?

Edit: That said, I'm not sure what I wrote here would jive with your taste in stories. I saw you made a thread a while back looking for the rest of a story about a girl younger than fourteen that the author had stopped writing because the story was going in too sexual of a direction. Since this story has no sexual content and will have no sexual content, you may want to look elsewhere.

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Jan 4, 2017 at 1:15 AM
Content:

nray999 said:

I was going to respond to Orange's original reply that got deleted or edited i but mutatis mutandis, I'll reply to wetatnight instead.

I don't see where there is any child abuse here. If you bothered to fully read the story you would understand that the protagonist is a bedwetter who was more or less willingly wearing some "protection" but had leakage issues and compliance issues, hence the diapers for better containment and the back zip sleeper for compliance. At no point is there any physical intimidation or coercion and as written Michelle grudgingly accepts the situation, and the assertion of parental authority. There are enough commercial products out there to keep kids in their pajamas and diapers to make this an accepted practice, if justified by circumstances and behavior.
I say write on, and if necessary write elsewhere. Now that we have persuaded the author to resume the story, don't shut him down with false accusations.

[End of quote]

Heh. So someone did actually see that-- feel free to reply via PM.

I debated the intelligence of such a post for a while. It's disconcerting living almost two years of your life as a ghost, even moreso when you re-enter the day-to-day life of everyone else, having so much of your life you can't talk about, and many of your crowning achievements necessarily classified. I can't complain too much; it's the life I chose and I reaped its rewards on a rare scale, but occasionally I crave external recognition of it. It's a foolish, all-too-human urge, but I've not yet found a way to silence it.

- - - Updated - - -

To jeffy, I appreciate your kind words. I plan on working on it tonight and kerry, I appreicate your defence of art.

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Feb 6, 2017 at 3:14 AM
Content: I have probably about 4 or 5 pages done but there's some connecting tissue to put in, which is always the most arduous part.

It's going to be slower going though, I have more homework and do less stims than I used to and a lit journal I contributed to wants to make an uncompleted story of mine into a series over six issues so that takes precedence. (not to mention significantly more time per paragraph)

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Mar 30, 2017 at 9:01 PM
Content: Eh, I know I said I'd have more in the pipeline. As it stands, I'm thinking about just posting what I've got right now to tide you guys over even though it doesn't really have a logical endpoint. I might write more today, though. Got the right drugs set aside for a decent writing session.

If I don't I'll post what I've already written tomorrow. The story's all planned out in my head already. Tho tbh makes me write slower because the act of writing is less creative. Add that to the fact that I've wrote a lot of the highlights out already so all I have left to write is the boring "how did they get from point A to point B" stuff and it's not necessarily been a process I've been eager to start. Amphetamines and/or cocaine help with that. xD

One thing I have been thinking about is commissioning someone on DA to illustrate something for the beginning of each chapter. I'd throw down the money myself, of course, and I was thinking perhaps (once this thing is closer to finished) that I'd match dollar-for-dollar if you guys wanted to get some of your favourite scenes illustrated (or have a favourite illustrator) as well, then pop it into an ebook or pdf. I'd put it up for sale but post some sort of coupon code on ADISC so everybody here can download it for free-- I'd feel horrible charging you guys since you've been so patient with me. <3 Idk, just an idea at the moment, what do you guys think?

EDIT: Thinking about it now, if I did put it up for sale, I'd donate 50% of the proceeds to ADISC for giving me a place to post it in the first place. Just seems like the right thing to do.

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Mar 30, 2017 at 9:02 PM
Content:

Dayum you quick!

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Apr 4, 2017 at 3:06 AM
Content:

ClickyKeys said:

I subscribe via instant e-mail to the stories that I like that are still incomplete so that I'll get notifications when they get an update or reply.

[End of quote]


Jeffy25 said:

Not gonna lie, I'm subscribed for updates. Not often that you find an excellent story that is being currently written. I can count a dozen good stories all time, and this is one of two active ones still.

Applause to you and your writing skills.

[End of quote]

Awh, thanks. Much love. <3

nray999 said:

I really hope you post something tonight, it's been a long wait, especially knowing there was unpublished material just waiting for finishing.This is still my favorite active story, and I really want to know how it turns out.

[End of quote]

Well, I was close.

Shaunikins321 said:

Would love the update to this story, and would be happy to support illustrations and turning it into an ebook!

[End of quote]

Awesome! I'll get ahold of you once it's further along. Perhaps set up a patreon or something.

Jeffy25 said:

Anything to be posted soonish? I hate bugging you, but love this story.

[End of quote]

Yes

Jeffy25 said:

Btw, I would help pay. Because this is an awesome story. Pm me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[End of quote]

Sounds good man! I'll PM you once I get closer to the end and find a good illustrator. I'm looking for semi-realistic artist that is skilled at drawing adorable things. xD

---

Anywho, your patience is rewarded:

(a small note, this story is now 80 pages long single-spaced)

Il sesto capitolo della storia di Michelle

“I don't need to try anything else on Mom, I'm just going to get another one of the same size,” Michelle made her way back to the changing room.

“Wait up honey,” Laura called after her, “you don't know if there's anything I'd like you to try on.”

Michelle rolled her eyes while she was still facing away from her. Typical Mom. Michelle couldn't remember a single time when they were both shopping for clothes that she didn't strongly suggest that Michelle add at least one new article of clothing to her wardrobe.

“Okaaaaaaaaaay,” Michelle replied, trying to clearly enunciate her displeasure, “I'll be right there.”

No answer. Huh. Michelle plodded across the tile, taking care not to slip in her pajama feet and waddling slightly due to the diaper, to her Mom and Erica who were standing next to a large cardboard cutout of a monkey near rack of pajamas furthest from the changing room. They seemed to have finished their business over there and met Michelle halfway.

Laura handed off the pajama set she picked out to Michelle as they all made their way back to the changing room, pausing quickly to pick up another butterfly-series sleeper as well. Hopefully for the last time, thought Michelle. As if Laura read her mind, she looked directly at her daughter and said, “And can we please do this without the attitude?”

That comment took Michelle a little off guard-- an awkward “OK” was all she managed. Maybe her Mom wasn't having the greatest day either, but it was hard for Michelle to tell as she was whisked into the dressing room opposite the one she had used last time by her mother. Standing still as to make the task of unzipping her easier, she inquired about her mother's day but got nowhere. Michelle resolved to inquire further after the store, maybe the store itself was what was stressing her out.

Michelle examined the pajamas her mom had picked out for her: Unsurprisingly, it was pink. Her mom had been trying to get Michelle to dress in colors that weren't either neon or shades of black and white and pink was Laura's go-to-colour in the offensive. (Michelle had three pairs of pink footie pajamas back home as a consequence, the value of one more to her was... hard to understate.) This particular set was emblazoned with smiling panda faces and was cut from thick winter fleece. Michelle was disappointed to find the zipper running up the back of the garment, like the rest of the pajamas she'd tried on today. Unable to find anything that distinguished it from the butterfly-series sleepers she was wearing earlier save for a larger zipper pull, she simply shrugged and started to put them on.

Outside the dressing room, Erica handed Laura a small key, “Once the zipper is in the locked position, it can go up but not back down, so it's up to you whether to secure it at waist or the neck,” Erica said, “It's pretty handy actually, a lot of parents will pre-lock these pjs so right that they're secured right when the child is zipped up in them, even if the person helping them with the zipper doesn't have the key. In fact, it's in the locked position right now so all you have to do is zip her up.”

Michelle dressed herself as much as she could on her own and let her mother know she was ready to be zipped up. Then she stepped out and soon the sleeper was zipped up fully and the tab done up tight, then Laura took her by the hand and led her out of the changing room.

She spun her daughter around, checking the fit as she had before, putting pressure on the zipper from above, which didn't budge. Michelle thought that a little strange, as even she knew the design of the security tab kept the zipper in place until it was undone, but sometimes her Mom was like that.

“What do you think?” Erica asked Laura as she stepped back to take in the effect of the pajamas.

“They're nice, and they fit well,” Laura replied, “But I think we'll be okay with only the butterfly-series for now.”

“Sounds good, the Monkey-series will be here if you need it,”

“Yes, we'll definitely be coming back here,” Laura declared, eliciting an eye roll from Michelle, “Thank you for being so helpful!”

“Just doing my job,” Erica smiled despite herself and departed towards the checkout counter.

“Ok Michelle, why don't you go find a butterfly-series that you like so I can help you put it on and we can go back home?”

“What? Why?” Michelle was confused by her mom's orders.

Laura repeated herself and Michelle felt her confusion turn to annoyance, bordering on anger, but she pushed it back down. “What about my clothes?”

“Erica and I folded them up. Don't worry, she's going to put them in the bag when we check out. Now come on, pick out a pair of pjs to wear so we can get going.”

“No Mom, that's not what I mean,” Michelle said, fighting to sound calm, “It's only 4:30, why do I need to get ready for bed right now?”

Laura was losing her patience, she sighed, “Because Michelle, by the time we leave the parking lot it will be rush hour, so we could be stuck in the car for a really long time without being able to pull over to let you use the bathroom. You know as well as I do that lately you've had a lot of problems staying dry for long periods of time in the car recently and your day clothes won't fit over your diaper. You can change back into them when we get home.”

“Mom, seriously? I can make it home without wetting, let me wear my normal clothes.”

“Nuh-uh. That's what you said on the way back from your Aunt & Uncle's the day before yesterday and look how that turned out.”

“That was different,” Michelle pleaded.

“No it wasn't. I'm done arguing with you Michelle, go pick out your PJs so we can get going before rush hour starts. I asked you earlier if we could do this without the attitude but apparently we can't.”

Laura's tone had become deadly serious, but Michelle wasn't ready to give up just yet, there was too much on the line. “Mom, I'm not going to change, so just give me my clothes back so I can put them on. I promise I won't wet, OK? But there is no way you're going to get me to change back into those PJs.”

Laura simply shrugged, “Fine,” she said, and grabbed a butterfly-series pajama set at random off the rack. “What you have on now works just fine too,” she said resignedly as she grabbed her daughter's hand and dragged her towards the checkout counter amidst Michelle's unending protests but Laura had stopped responding. Eventually Michelle's arguments and recriminations turned to tears despite herself. However, she didn't cry tears of sadness, she cried tears of anger, frustration and most of all, she cried because she didn't know what else to do. She had resolved to take back her rise to adulthood at the outset of this shopping trip but ended up diapered and in her pajamas at the end of it. Worse, crying like this, especially in public, made adulthood seem even further away, made her feel like she deserved to wear the diaper and sleeper even more, which in turn made her cry more. No matter how hard she tried to stop it, the swirling vortex of emotions inside of her was too much for her to handle right now, she needed to let it out.

When they finally arrived at the counter, Michelle had stopped resisting her mother, tearfully resigning herself to her fate. Erica asked Laura why Michelle was crying.

“She had a little bit of a temper tantrum earlier over wearing her diaper in the car,” Laura responded, 'but rules are rules.”

Erica nodded, uncertain but not wanting to get involved, “Looks like you'll be taking the Monkey sleeper after all then,” she said.

Michelle’s tears decreased as they made their way to the exit. It was only when she was through the door did she realize she had wet while she was crying. The realization that her Mom was right set her off again, and she began to cry anew. Her whole point had been that she didn’t need diapers because she could stay dry for a long car ride, but it turned out she couldn’t even stay dry for the walk out of the store. Was this to become her life now? Did she actually deserve the treatment that she had believed her mother was unjustly forcing on her just prior to her accident? Could she really trust herself to stay dry anymore, even when she was awake?

On the drive back, Laura started to think about what happened in the store. She had ignored her daughter’s crying inside the store, dismissing it as a temper tantrum, and it had gradually subsided to silence after a few minutes in the car, but her sense of empathy began to kick in after the fact. It couldn’t be easy for Michelle to accept her wetting, especially the fact it was getting worse instead of better with age, being told her whole life that she’d grow out of it. Perhaps it was somewhat unfair of her to expect Michelle to be able wear a diaper on the way home. While she didn’t exactly have the best record staying dry on long car rides, she also could have found her daughter a less obvious diaper to wear on the way back, maybe one that fit under her pants instead of insisting that she wear a sleeper on the ride back. And she didn’t really plan on having Michelle wear the Monkey series sleeper, considering that to be cudgel for a problem that required a scalpel. She concluded that she’d let Michelle take off both the diaper and sleeper when they arrived at home, and she’d bring the monkey series sleeper back to the store later.

Back home, Laura brought in the sleeper from Target as well as the bag from A&SC Co., deposited them in Michelle’s room, and then called Michelle up to help her remove her sleeper. Michelle was initially resistant, but she soon relented. So Laura removed with tab with practised ease, inserted the key in the zipper-pull and brought the zipper down as far as it would go. Laura then discovered why her daughter hadn’t wanted her to unzip her-- her diaper was wet. Not soaked per se, but unmistakably wet. Instead of gloating over her successful prediction, Laura ignored it and told Michelle that she could get dressed now if she wanted. She left her daughter in her room, figuring she might want some alone time.

The diaper had held the wetting well, and the pjs were still clean. She folded them back up, replaced them in the bag they had came in and found a place for them in her walk-in closet where she would remember them. She would bring them back to the store the next time she went out.

Emerging from her bedroom, she saw Michelle making her way down the staircase to the family room. She was dressed in her black skull and crossbones footed pajamas. When she reached the foot of the stairs, she noticed her mother watching her.

“Don’t worry Mom, I put pull-ups on too,” she said, surprising her mother by pronouncing the sentence without a hint of sarcasm or annoyance.

Lost in thoughts regarding the events of the day, Laura went to the kitchen to make supper, and resolved to talk them over with her husband when he got home from work.

---

Michelle gave the heavy wooden door a good shove and stepped into her house, throwing off the trappings of a cool December afternoon as she made her way inside. Once she had fully divested her armor against the cold, she called out to let her Mom know she was home, as was routine.

“In the kitchen sweetheart!” came the reply. Michelle walked towards the sound of her mother's voice. “What time is Hannah coming over for your little sleepover?”

Resolving to ignore her mother's diminution of her activities for the time being, she replied that Hannah's mother would be dropping her off as soon as Hannah got home and packed her overnight supplies.

Michelle helped herself to a glass of juice while her mother browsed the internet on the kitchen computer and sipped a late afternoon coffee. Despite how much their friendship had blossomed in the intervening weeks, Michelle couldn't help but be apprehensive about their first sleepover. Perhaps it was some leftover instinct from being the target of bullies in her youth, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Hannah was about to play some cruel, complicated joke on her, that she would wake up the next morning to a Facebook post outing her problems staying dry to the whole school. Her parent's new rules didn't exactly help the matter any. Ideally she wouldn't change into her night-time protection until she was safely in bed, but those new rules would complicate that. She halfheartedly debated canceling the sleepover in between the problems on her math worksheet, but every excuse she came up with sounded lame and more than that she resented lying to Hannah in any capacity. After finishing her homework she snuck some of her Mom's coffee out of the pot, just finishing when her phone came alight with a new text alert.

Hannah had said, “I'm outsyde, be in soon. XO” and Michelle knew that there was no going back now. She barely had time to wash and replace the coffee cup before the doorbell rang. Michelle answered the door to reveal Hannah, blonde hair pulled back into a loose bun, wearing the same jeans and flannel that she had worn to school that day. Over one arm was a purple duffel bag and clutched in the other was large teddy bear, though Michelle barely had time to register any of this before she was pulled into a big bear hug.

“Hey babe,” Hannah said as they embraced, “Long time, no see.” She joked.

Michelle couldn't help but chuckle, “Hey,” she replied, “Nice to see you after all these years.” They separated. “You can put your stuff up in my room for now.”

“Lead the way,” Hannah said, “By the way, this is Mr. McGrizzles, he's a doctor and superspy from Ireland.” She indicated the teddy bear in her arms.

“I didn't know there were bears in Ireland,” Michelle feigned surprise.

“He grew up in the zoo until he broke out. He was on the run until he saved James Bond's life and then they let him into MI6. I'm afraid the rest in classified.” Hannah stuck out her tongue as they neared Michelle's room.

Upon entering, Hannah set Mr. McGrizzles down on the bed and slid her duffel bag off her shoulder. “OK, well since this is a sleepover and all I'm gonna get my pjs on. I've been wearing jeans about an hour too long today anyway.” She began to root around in her duffel bag.

“Ok,” Michelle made her way to the door to give Hannah some privacy, but before she got there Hannah spoke up.

“Actually... Hey Michelle, can I borrow some of your PJs?” She said sheepishly, “I forgot mine at home.”

Michelle stopped and turned around, “Uh... Sure.” She went towards her dresser.

“We're about the same size, I'll just take a random pair of PJ pants.”

“Um...” Michelle stopped in front of her dresser with her pajama drawer halfway open, unsure of how to explain her situation.

“What?”

“I don't think I have any pajama pants.”

“That's OK. Can I take a look?” Hannah stepped over to look over Michelle's shoulder. Michelle opened the drawer fully and let Hannah look, fearing the worst.

Hannah began to sift through the folded garmets, “Where are your non-footed pjs?” She inquired.

“Uh...,” Michelle's voice betrayed her nerves, “There's some in there... There should be a red snowflake one without feet.”

“Yeah, I see it, but I mean like a nightgown or a pj set or something... you know, something that's not a one piece-- OH WAIT,” Hannah yanked out the Hello Kitty sleeper that Michelle had received from Meredith that thanksgiving. “This is sooooo cute!”

Hannah held it out over her body to check the fit. “Can I wear it? Please???”

Michelle didn't know what to say. She didn't think Hannah had noticed the zipper placement yet and explaining that was sure to be awkward, but at the same time she'd probably have to explain it even earlier if she said no. She hemmed and hawed while Hannah gave her puppy dog eyes.

“...sure,” Michelle finally replied, in reality not feeling sure at all.

“Awesome! Thanks,” Hannah ran over and gave Michelle a quick but big hug, throwing the pjs in her hand around Michelle's back as she did so. “I'm gonna change now,” she said matter-of-factly.

“OK,” Michelle pivoted towards the door.

“You don't need to leave... unless I gross you out that much,” Hannah piped up, “We're both girls here and it's not like I'm gonna be naked.”

“You're pretty and you know it,” Michelle said, rolling her eyes for sarcastic effect, “I just didn't know what you... oh whatever, I'll just turn around to give you a little bit of privacy.”

“Suit yourself,” Hannah said. A natural pause descended upon the conversation as Hannah got to changing. “So... are all of your pjs really onesies or is there actually a nightgown hidden someplace in here?”

“Uh...” Michelle had been afraid of this conversation, but Hannah's voice came across as genuinely curious, without a trace of the weirded-out tone that she had been expecting, “Yeah. I don't know... They're warm and comfortable and I've always liked them and anyway I'm not too fussy about pajamas so my Mom usually buys them and she never buys me anything different. I guess I've got other kinds of pjs from relatives a couple times... I had a nightgown when I was 12 but I never wore it because... well, you know... my aunt gave me pj pants last Thanksgiving but she gave them to my cousin because they didn't fit over my... I mean, they just didn't fit well so she got me those pjs instead. I mean, it's not like I don't want to wear more grown-up pajamas, but... I don't know,” Michelle felt horribly awkward explaining all this to Hannah so she ended up saying a bit more than she bargained for. She sighed, “You don't think I'm weird because of that do you?”

Hannah laughed, “No, not really. I wish I had this many onesies to choose from at home, I don't know if I could wear them every night though. I'm the kind of girl who needs variety.”

“Thanks,” Michelle said, feeling relieved. “I kinda wish I had something else to wear too.”

“Anyway, I think I put these on wrong,” Hannah piped up. Michelle looked over her shoulder at her friend, who had managed to get them on pretty much all the way, but upon realizing the zipper was in the back was in the process of pulling her arm out of the sleeve.

“No, you've got them on right. Here.” Without thinking, Michelle pulled the sleeve back up Hannah's arm and brought the zipper up her back. Remembering her own experiences with this particular sleeper, she left the tab undone.

Hannah was nonplussed, “But the zipper is in the back...?” She said.

Michelle's face flushed red. “Oh yeah... it's supposed to be that way,” she said quickly, wanting the conversation to be over. In the face of Hannah's acceptance of her rather childish, at least in her own estimation's, sleepwear situation, she hadn't thought of the fact that even though Hannah had picked out the sleeper herself, she still hadn't noticed the zipper in the back.

“Oh, ok...” Hannah didn't want to embarrass Michelle; to tell the truth she really liked her. Michelle was different from all her other friends, less plastic. Even before they talked, Hannah had held a quiet respect for Michelle and how she was so unapologetically different from the rest of the people in her grade. She would've never expected Michelle to be a bedwetter, much less one with a drawer full of footie pajamas, but Hannah tried her best not to hold it against her. When she started talking to Michelle, she wanted different, and yeah, maybe she got a different kind of different, but it wasn't necessarily bad. She figured the best thing to do right was to leave the room, let the conversation reset and try again later.

“I'm gonna go get a glass of water. I'll meet you downstairs?”

“Ok, I'm gonna get my pjs on then.”

Hannah shut the door behind and made her way downstairs, relatively sure she caught a glimpse of the kitchen on her way in. She ambled through the house, treading carefully when carpet turned to hardwood beneath her feet until she had evaluated the grippiness of her pajama feet and found it satisfactory. She had two sets of footed pajamas at home and the soles on both were so worn that a waxed floor could occasionally be functionally the same as ice, a fact she had learned the hard way. In fact, she was just recalling a particularly close call earlier that winter when she reached the kitchen, noticing Laura bent over a thick ream of papers, nursing an afternoon coffee.

“Hey Mrs. Pazcewski,” she said. “Mind if I grab a cup?” Though it was their first time meeting, Hannah's tone was easy and buoyant. When they talked about Hannah in the faculty lounge, her teachers called her a people person, but if Hannah heard this she would disagree. She'd argue that there is a difference between simply having not being anxious about social interaction and actually enjoying it. If pressed, she'd admit that talking to strangers made her rather tired, a circumstance she mitigated by drowning it in coffee.

“Hi,” Laura looked up from her papers and smiled, “ You must be Hannah, it's so nice to finally meet you.”

“That's me, nice to meet you too,” Hannah returned the smile before glancing at Laura's coffee somewhat jealously and mostly unconsciously.

Laura wasn't quite sure what to do at this juncture. She didn't want to give another family's child coffee without knowing how she would react to it, but Hannah seemed to approach her so naturally. It reminded her of how other smokers would approach her to bum a cigarette back before she had quit. Still, she was enough of a parent to play it safe.

“So you do normally drink coffee or...?” She probed.

“This would be cup number four...” Hannah replied matter-of-factly.

“Ever? Or--”

“Today.”

Laura raised an eyebrow despite herself. Even on a long day like this one, Laura's maximum coffee intake was set at three cups. She had to wonder whether it was healthy for a fifteen-year-old to be consuming that much caffeine on a daily basis, but on the other hand, Hannah's parents didn't say anything about when they talked on the phone earlier, and she wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls...

“It's okay,” Hannah guessed what Laura was thinking, having some experience with adult incredulity at her coffee intake, “I'm Swedish.”

Laura couldn't help but chuckle, “Well, if it's alright with your parents, I suppose I can get you a cup.”

Hannah grinned, she was in. “Totally. They bought me a depth charge from Caribou on my way to school this morning.”

Laura found a cup and filled it for Hannah, sliding it across the kitchen island to her awaiting grip.

“So, PJs already huh?” She inquired conversationally.

Hannah took a long gulp from the coffee before answering, “Yup. Can't stand to wear jeans or slacks or even socks really if I don't have to. Why not be comfortable?”

“I can understand that,” Laura had noticed Hannah's sleeper pretty much immediately. At first she thought it was Michelle's, but she did recall seeing several identical-looking sleepers at the A&SC Company store in town earlier. Maybe she shouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion: Michelle, in classic teenage girl fashion, hadn't told her mother that much about Hannah. All she really knew about Hannah was that she was on the Speech team with Michelle and that they had shared a room together at this last tournament; bonded over their mutual love of Hello Kitty, books and anime and been fast friends since. Laura had also been informed earlier this morning that “of course” Hannah was okay with Michelle's issues staying dry at night. What she did know was that the last time Michelle had a sleepover, some four years ago, her daughter made it clear to her and Paul that they had to be absolutely certain that her guest was a bedwetter too or else it would quote “ruin her life.” With these facts in mind Laura discreetly scanned Hannah's waist for evidence of protection, but she knew that sleeper was designed to conceal all but the largest diapers and her scan returned inconclusive. Figuring it would be somewhat of a faux pas to ask Hannah right now, she resolved to sleuth out the truth in a more circumspect fashion. She could always call Hannah's parents to ask them if she couldn't figure it out by bedtime, and besides, Laura enjoyed a challenge.

“So are those Michelle's PJs or yours?” Laura continued.

Hannah looked down into her coffee, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment, “Yeah, sorry. They're Michelle's... I kinda forgot mine at home so Shelley let me pick out a pair from her drawer.”

Laura dismissed her apology with a wave of her hand, “Don't worry about it, Michelle has plenty of pajamas to choose from. Besides, they look cute on you.”

Hannah had stopped staring into her coffee, but a faint twinge of red on her face betrayed her slight embarrassment at the compliment.

“Thanks,” she let out a nervous laugh, “They'd better. It took me like ten minutes to get them on, Michelle had to help me out since the zipper is on the back.”

Laura felt her maternal instinct swell up inside of her, heard her voice take on a less conversational but more caring tone, “Those pjs can be pretty difficult to get on and off, especially if you're in a hurry to use the bathroom.” she said. “If you need any help with that zipper don't hesitate to ask.”

Hannah laughed again, this time at the idea of Michelle's mom helping dress and undress her. Still, the offer seemed to come from a genuine place, so she figured she should be gracious. She took a sip of coffee.

“Thanks for the offer, but I should be okay. I’ll let you know before bedtime for sure.” Hannah returned. If they were really that hard to take off, Hannah reasoned, she might want to change in to something a little easier to get out of come bedtime for convenience’s sake, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

Interesting, Laura thought, it may just be that Hannah has a lighter daytime diaper on and only needs help with her pjs to get her night-time diaper on. There's not a whole lot else that could explain that schedule, and besides, how else was she planning on using the bathroom until then? However, Laura concluded that it would be better not to jump to conclusions-- she'd find out soon enough anyway. With all these considerations running through her head, though, it occurred to Laura that she should check on Michelle and furthermore that she could get an air mattress and bedding down for Hannah at the same time.

“Okay, well just let me know,” Laura stood as the conversation came to a close, “There's about a cup left in the pot if you want it, help yourself!”

“Gladly!” Hannah was grateful she had made it through the conversation without saying anything that would make a bad first impression. Seeing as her cup was almost empty already, she strutted over the coffee maker and poured herself another cup.

When Hannah had left the room, Michelle stepped back over to her dresser intent on finding the most grown-up set of clean pjs she could. She passed over her hooded My Little Pony set even though it didn't have feet, decided against her pin yellow Spongebob sleeper and wrote off anything with a Disney Princess on it. After throwing out a few more options, she had three reasonably grown-up, or as grown-up as footed sleepers can be, pajama sets laying on her bed for her to choose from: a pink and black striped set-- what her Dad called her “jail pajamas;” a baby blue set with moons and cows, maybe a little childish but not terribly so, and the lime reindeer print set she had got from target earlier in the week. Michelle considered her options. The striped set was too goth for a sleepover, and baby blue... not the kind of blue she was going for, so she settled on the reindeer set and put the rest of her pajamas back in the drawer.

She took a goodnite from her top drawer and debated putting off wearing it until later that night, but the idea of risking her Mom's wrath on this already-delicate topic wasn't appealing. She was about to take off her shirt when she heard a knock at the door.

“Michelle?” Laura inquired.

“What?”

“Mind if I come in? I need the air mattress from under your bed.”

“Sure, c'mon in.”

Laura entered her daughter's room. As she entered, she noticed the pajamas draped over Michelle's arm. "Changing in to your PJs too?" She inquired while retrieving the air mattress under Michelle's bed.
"Yup," Michelle replied.
Do you remember your rules from earlier this week?" Laura's tone was stern and parental.
Michelle's heart sank a little, "Yeah," she replied meekly.
Good," Michelle watched as her Mom opened up her pajama drawer and began to sort through it, asking, “So did you choose those pajamas Hannah borrowed or did she decide to wear them herself?”

“She picked them out herself,” Michelle answered, wondering how it was relevant.

“Ok,” Laura pulled the blue fleece sleeper with smiley clouds Michelle had got earlier in the week from the drawer and handed it to Michelle, “then I’d like you to wear this tonight.”

Michelle’s tone flashed indignant, “Mom! You said I didn’t have to wear back zippered pjs tonight.”

“…and the reason I gave was because you didn’t want Hannah to see them, but now that she’s wearing them there’s no reason for you not to wear them anymore. Plus you said yourself that she wanted to wear other pair, so she’s not going to think any less of you for it.”

Michelle regained control of herself. Her mother had a point, and she’d rather not start off her first sleepover in years by getting in to a fight with her mom anyway. She sighed, “Okay...”

“I’ll be waiting outside to zip you up and set up the mattress,” Laura said as she passed the doorframe, “Oh and Michelle, please remember to put on your Goodnites.”

“Yes Mom,” Michelle responded, making doubly certain her tone reflected her annoyance. She undressed, stepped into her Goodnite and then sleeper. Before opening the door, she zipped up the back as far as she could and checked in the mirror to make sure her Goodnite wasn’t showing, just in case Hannah was outside. She’d rather not have Hannah thinking that she puts on her Goodnites way before bedtime, especially as it wasn’t even 5 o’clock yet.

Michelle opened the door and turned around so her mother could zip her up. As she secured the tab, she said, “By the way, if I’m not around, please help Hannah with her zip if and when she needs it. If you--”

“--Yeah, yeah,” Michelle cut her off, “Hannah can help me if I need it. I know Mom.” Michelle really just wanted the conversation to be over with in case Hannah popped up and overheard, but Laura simply chuckled.

“No dear, if you want to try to make it to the toilet or end up needing a change, you need to come get me.”

Michelle felt her indignation flare up again, but she tamped it down, “Why?” Her voice was sharp with attitude, but at least she didn’t start arguing with her mom.

Laura felt much the same way as her daughter about it, “You and Hannah may be wearing the same kind of pjs, but as far as I know she hasn’t any issues with taking off her protection at night. You have, and remember, you need to let me know when you take off your goodnites anyway so it’s not as if you have to go out of your way to do it.”

Now that she thought about it, Michelle didn’t really want Hannah to be the one to unzip her sleeper anyway, lest she notice the pull-ups underneath. Or worse, notice she was wet. Still, the principle of it annoyed her. Compared to Hannah, she felt she was being treated like child-- Hannah could pick whatever pajamas she wanted, but Michelle’s mom picked out hers for her; Hannah could ask Michelle for help with her zipper, but she would probably get in trouble if the roles were reversed.

She sighed and shrunk down from her previously indignant pose, “Okay...”

Laura smiled, “Good girl,” she said, ruffling Michelle hair, “Now get downstairs, you have a sleepover to start!” Not a trace of annoyance was left in her mother’s voice, and Michelle thought for the first time that maybe, just maybe, her mom actually wanted her to enjoy this sleepover.

She plodded into the kitchen and took a seat next to Hannah at the breakfast bar, who was on her phone with one hand and casually sipping a cup of coffee with the other. She looked up as Michelle entered the room meekly.

Hannah broke the silence a moment after Michelle entered her view. “Copycat,” she said emphatically.

“Huh?” Michelle looked herself over in an attempt to figure out what Hannah was talking.

“Your PJs,” she explained coolly, “you saw how good they looked on me and you couldn’t stop yourself from wearing the same kind.” Hannah smiled knowingly after, as if to indicate the joke.

“Oh,” It was Michelle’s turn to smile, turning a little red at the same time, “Yeah, but it’s not like I have a whole lot of options.” Tracing the joke’s path to the fact that they were both wearing sleepers.

“I guess I didn’t really look,” she replied, “but I didn’t see very many pjs without a zip on the front in your pj drawer. Admit it,” she said, and stood, gesturing down her body, “You saw what a back zipper can do for a girl’s figure and got jealous. You saw me and figured that your normal, everyday footy jammies just weren’t gonna cut it for the classy evening we’ve got planned.”

Michelle burst out in a stress relieving giggle and Hannah soon joined in. Hannah had poured Michelle a cup of coffee in a travel mug and it didn’t take long for the coffee to have an effect on Michelle. Soon the girls had bounced upstairs to Michelle’s room, playing music and funny videos through the chromecast, talking and laughing throughout. Michelle almost couldn’t believe how much fun she was having. She felt that if she stopped her to think about it, she’d miss out, get pulled out of the moment, so she didn’t. She was had fun without thinking about it, like she used to all the time as a kid, something that had become rarer and rarer as she aged. She felt herself gravitating toward Hannah, understanding less through the abstract concept of ‘friend’ as more as an older sister. (despite her brain telling her not to, telling that it was weird to feel so close to someone you barely knew) Hannah, being a bit more socially adept, could tell that Michelle was quickly becoming attached to her. The pace of their relationship was something she consciously tried to avoid with most everyone, but with Michelle there was just something so genuine and innocent about it that made it endearing than anything. Michelle was wildly intelligent, she knew that, maybe even smarter than Hannah herself, (a feat to be sure) but as far as she could tell Michelle was also very sheltered, so her social-emotional maturity had lagged behind her intellectual maturity. And so Hannah found herself playing the big sister opposite Michelle’s role as the precocious younger sibling, and to her surprise, she was enjoying it. It wasn’t long before they were stretched across Michelle’s bed exchanging secrets and life advice, with Hannah provided the lion’s share of latter. Eventually, Hannah hefted herself from the bed and stood up.

She stretched. “I have to use the bathroom, BRB,” she said.

“Okay,” Michelle replied, catapulting herself off the bed too. “I’ll help you with your zipper!” Even though the tab was undone, Michelle didn’t want Hannah to have a chance to realize how hard the sleeper is to take off, so she wouldn’t start to wonder why the zipper was on the back instead of front. She wouldn’t want her to come to same conclusion she did.

“Haha, thanks Michelle but I think I can get it myself,” Hannah said, slightly embarassed.

“Nonsense,” Michelle said, having gained confidence in their relationship in the past hour, “It’s what friends are for.”

Before Hannah could respond Michelle had zipped the garment halfway down her friend’s back, just far enough for Hannah to do the rest herself.

While Hannah was in the bathroom, Laura came upstairs and knocked on the door to her daughter’s room, “Girls! Supper!” she declared.

“Okay Mom!” Michelle replied sweetly, having completely forgot their earlier confrontation.

“I’ll be there in a minute Mrs. Pazcewski! I’m just finishing up in the bathroom,” replied Hannah over the sound of running water.

“Sounds good,” said Laura, as she turned to Michelle and said, “You can go downstairs and wash up, I’ll stay here just in case Hannah needs help with her zipper.”
“Okay!” Michelle confirmed as she bounded down the stairs.

Laura waited patiently for the bathroom door to open and Hannah to emerge. About it a minute later, it did, and Hannah looked quite surprised to see Mrs. Pazcewski waiting for her.

“Uh… Hey Mrs. P,” she said awkwardly.

“Michelle’s downstairs washing up,” she volunteered, “if you turn around I can help you with zipping that up.”

Hannah had struggled with the zipper in the bathroom. Try as she might, she wasn’t able to get it up past her shoulder blades. Not wanting to come off as rude, she swallowed her embarrassment and put her back towards Laura, who drew the zipper up the rest of the way and button the tab at the back of her neck.

“All done,” Laura proclaimed. Taking advantage of their close proximity, she had scanned Hannah for evidence of protective garments and found nothing. While not entirely conclusive, (If Hannah only needed diapers at night, Laura doubted she would have them on this early anyway) she was beginning to doubt her earlier theory. Though she was somewhat disappointed that Michelle didn’t have a friend that could relate to her bedwetting problems, she was also heartened that Michelle had become confident enough in herself to invite a friend over who didn’t. Her train of thought was interrupted by Hannah.

“By the way Mrs. Pazcewski, I was wondering where Michelle got these pajamas. I’ve only seen ever seen behind-the-back zipping pjs for...” she searched for the word, “I mean, in smaller sizes. Did you have to special order them?”

“Well Michelle got the ones you’re wearing from her Auntie, but there’s actually a store here in town that sells them up to size 20.”

“For real?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Well...” she paused, “I kinda thought that I maybe want a pair for myself.” She blushed.

Laura smiled, she was hoping Hannah wouldn’t ask why exactly her daughter’s footed sleeper had a back zipper. She was sure Michelle would raise hell if she told Hannah her actual reasoning. “The store is called A&SC Co., I can write down the address if you want.”

“No, it’s okay, I can just Google it,” Hannah said.

“Well then, unless you need anything else up here you’d better get downstairs, the food is getting cold.”

And with that Hannah and Laura joined Michelle at the dinner table.

–

After everyone was finished eating, Laura set to work clearing the table, a task which both Hannah and Michelle helped with, she noted with approval. With the exception of her own plate, Michelle rarely helped clean up on her own. Though she was skeptical of Hannah’s influence on her daughter when she learned of Hannah’s coffee habit, she was happily surprised by this turn of events. She was happy to see her daughter so cheerful and carefree and even more delighted that Hannah was turning out to be such a positive influence. As she finished sliding the last plate into the dishwasher, she inquired about their plans for the rest of night.

“We were thinking about watching a movie,” Michelle responded.

“That’s a classic sleepover activity if I ever heard one,” Laura replied, “Have you picked one out yet?”

Michelle shrugged, “Not really. Hannah wanted me to see Spaceballs but we can’t find it on the internet.”

“Spaceballs, huh? I take it you’re a Star Wars fan Hannah?” She remembered that Michelle went through a Star Wars phase when she was younger, and had basically forced her and her husband to see The Force Awakens on opening weekend.

“Yeah,” Hannah replied, “I’ve seen every movie except Rogue One, but Michelle’s never seen a Mel Brooks movie before so I wanted to show her one.”

That’s true. Laura thought. In fact, she found it rather incredible that Michelle’s father had never watched one with her. Back when they were dating, he forced her into watching The History of the World, Spaceballs and Blazing Saddles in his tiny dorm room.

“I saw a Red Carpet Video nearby on the way here,” Hannah continued, “Do you think they have it?”

Laura thought for a moment, “I’m sure they do. Would you like to go rent it?”

Hannah’s face lit up with excitement, “Are you kidding? YES! Of course!”

Michelle looked less certain, “But Hannah we’re already in our pjs...” she said.

Hannah countered, dead set on going, “So? It’s just the video store, nobody’s gonna care, trust me. I wear my pjs out all the time.”

“But what if someone from school is there? What if they judge me cuz of my feety pajamas?”

Hannah’s tone softened, realizing her friend’s conundrum, “Don’t worry, nobody’s going to judge you for wearing feety pajamas. A lot of girls our age wear them occasionally. Plus we’re gonna be wearing our coats the entire time. If you wear your Uggs nobody will know you’re not just wearing PJ pants.”

“I don’t know…”

Hannah could tell she was making progress, she just needed to seal the deal. “How about this? If anyone makes fun of you at school for wearing feety pajamas to the video store, I’ll tell everyone they were my pjs and it was my idea.”

“You’d do that for me?” Michelle asked, a little shocked. As close as they’d become over the past couple weeks, Michelle was still acutely aware that Hannah was one of the ‘popular’ girls.

“Duh. We’re friends,” she explained, “Besides it WAS my idea to go anyway.”

“Well okay, I do want to see Spaceballs,” Michelle said, still quite uncertain about the whole endeavour, “Let’s go.”

“Then it’s settled,” Laura ruled, “I’ll get the van warming up.”

–

Much to Michelle’s relief, the video store was largely deserted-- just a couple boys in their late teens browsing the video game section in the back and a lone elderly woman manning the register. The Naked Gun was playing on various flatscreens around the store, a movie that Hannah reviewed out loud on the way to the register, but Michelle wasn’t paying attention; she had a bit of a dilemma. The coffee she drank earlier had worked its way through her system and she found herself needing to pee. She contemplated trying to use the one-person bathroom here at the store, but that meant she’d have to ask her Mom to help her. Of course she’d have to take off her parka, revealing the babyish (in her estimation) sleepwear to the entire store, but the embarrassment of she’d feel from that paled in comparison to what she’d feel from having her mom accompany her into the bathroom like a toddler who needed a diaper change, or worse yet, simply unzipping her pjs and waiting outside the bathroom door. Were that to happen, she was sure everyone in store would see her as some naughty weirdo child who couldn’t be trusted with control of her own pajamas. She could see the conversation between her Mom and the video clerk afterwords in her mind’s eye.

“Judging by those pajamas, you’ve got a little troublemaker on your hands. Have you ever thought of trying diapers for her?” The old lady would ask.

“Oh, she can be a handful,” her mom would reply, “and yes, we have. In fact, she’s wearing them right now.”

She hoped the movie wouldn’t take long to find. Luckily, it wasn’t even five minutes before Hannah tracked down the Spaceballs 25th Anniversary Edition DVD and were bringing it to the cashier. That settled it, Michelle would wait until she got home. Now that they got what they were looking for, Michelle was certain she would be able to hold it until then.

When they got to the register, Hannah insisted on paying for the rental. Laura appreciated the gesture, but said it was no trouble and Hannah should save her money. What followed, to Michelle’s obvious chagrin, was a good old Minnesota nice-off, at the end of which both parties agreed that Laura would pay for movie, and thus express that she was indeed a good hostess. In return, Hannah would buy a bottle of Mountain Dew for herself and Michelle with her own money and thus demonstrate her independence. Laura generally didn’t allow her daughter any caffeine after supper, but figured she could make an exception just this once, as she was also waiving her daughter’s bedtime. Michelle breathed an internal sigh of relief once they got into the van. She’d managed to extract herself from the store without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary about her, save the kindly old cashier complimenting Laura how cute her daughters looked in their pajamas. A comment which made Michelle’s chest swell with pride while Laura and Michelle awkwardly wondered if they should correct her, ultimately deciding to let the assumption stand.
Michelle nursed her Mountain Dew in the back seat on the drive back. The pressure in her bladder was slowly but steadily increasing. As the sun had set, sections of the road had turned icy, and so Laura did her best to drive carefully where under better conditions she’d have a lead foot. Unfortunately for Michelle, this caused the trip to go by agonizingly slowly, and the fact that her need to pee was getting urgent enough for her to have trouble concentrating on, or indeed even having, a conversation made it go all the slower. Michelle’s heart leapt when the last set of lights on journey blinked green on their approach. She was going to make it after all! She was staring intently at the light, willing it to stay green, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

“MOM!” She shouted from back, bracing herself.

Laura hammered the brake pedal and cranked the wheel into as hard of a right turn she could manage without tipping the vehicle. The van lurched sickeningly to left, momentarily lifting two wheels off the road as it skidded across black ice, narrowly missing the Silver Infiniti coupe that had ran the light and coming to rest on a snow covered embankment with an emphatic thud.

The adrenaline slowly dissipated out of the occupants of the van.

“What. The. FUCK. Was. That.” Laura said, her tone a potent mix of anger and incredulity. She didn’t normally swear around children, but today she seemed to be making an awful lot of exceptions. She turned to face the back seats.

“Are you alright back there kids?” She asked, the anger she felt melting in to concern.

“I’m okay,” replied Hannah, who was blinking repeatedly in astonishment.

“Me too,” Michelle said. She was too shocked by the near accident to do anything but replay the last few minutes over and over in head.

Laura breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad, that was way too close.” She reversed the van out of the snowdrift and got back on the road. The couple minutes’ drive from the stoplight to the Pazcewski household passed by in silence. It wasn’t her house was in sight that Michelle realized that she was totally, thoroughly, wet.

–

The garage door crept to a close behind the van and everyone piled out into the cool air of the garage.

“You two can head in,” Laura said, “I’m going to make sure there isn’t any damage.”

“Okay, we’ll see you inside Mrs. P,” said Hannah.

Michelle didn’t respond. She was deep inside her head contemplating her options. From how wet her goodnite was, she knew it was only a matter of time before she started leaking. She knew she should tell her Mom what happened, but something was stopping her. She’d had a daytime or evening accident four times in the last seven days… now five. Three of those times happened after her parents’ new rules, and all three had happened before the time when she would have had to have her goodnites on before bed. If she came to her mom again, would she make her put her goodnites on even earlier? Michelle felt the risk was especially grave since her father was not around to counterbalance her mother’s strict parenting. On the other hand, asking Hannah would risk her finding out that she was not only wearing a goodnite, but that it was wet. She had to think fast; if she didn’t ask Hannah before her mom got in from the garage she probably wouldn’t have the chance to do so again before the goodnite ended up leaking.

Once inside, the girls shrugged off their coats, kicked off their boots and Michelle had made up her mind.

“Hey Hannah?”

“What’s up Michelle?”

“I have to go potty pretty bad,” Michelle explained, mentally cursing herself for using the word ‘potty,’ “So… Uh… Can you unzip me please?”

“Oh. Uh, sure,” Hannah replied. Again, she was filled with the somewhat awkward but otherwise wholesome “big-sister” feeling, exacerbated somewhat by Michelle’s juvenile diction. She struggled with the button tab for a while before getting her hands on the zip, only getting it down halfway before Michelle tore away from her towards the stairs.

Michelle flew up the stairs and into her room, tearing open her top drawer to get a fresh goodnite before running into the adjacent bathroom and slamming the door. Once safely inside, she removed her pjs the rest of way, pulled the soaked goodnite off and put a fresh one on. Then, to complete the con, she retrieved an empty grocery bag from under the sink and placed the used goodnite within before replacing it under the sink amongst the other grocery bags her parents used as bin liners for bathroom garbage can for retrieval later.

Meanwhile, Hannah went to work figuring out the entertainment center. She found the DVD player, popped the disc in, and turned on the TV, but got lost in the plethora of input options for the TV. She traipsed up the stairs to ask Michelle for help, and almost collided with her as she exited the bathroom, startling her.

Hannah chuckled at her friend’s reaction, “Sorry Michelle, but I can’t figure out how to get the TV onto the DVD player.”

“Oh, it’s on HDMI 3,” she replied, gathering herself. She had heard someone coming up the stairs and was relieved it wasn’t her Mom, but wasn’t about to wait for her to come up too. “Can you zip me back up?”

“Sure, but you’d better come down and help. You’ve got so much stuff down there I don’t even know what remote to use,” Hannah replied as she drew the zipper up Michelle’s back and secured the button-tab over the zipper to Michelle’s irritation.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll meet you downstairs in a sec, I’m gonna grab some stuff from my room,” she wanted to move the evidence to a more secure location before the movie.

“Okaaaaay,” Hannah replied, “I’ll be waiting.”

Once Hannah was out of view, Michelle darted back into the bathroom, gathered up the grocery bag containing the wet goodnite and, clutching it close to her chest in case her mother came up behind her, ran into her room and tossed it into her garbage can next to her bed, making sure to position it at the bottom and cover it up with older, more innocent detritus. Then she pulled some spare blankets from her closet and a couple pillows from her bed to bring down as a cover.

Her mother and Hannah were already in the family room, chatting about the near-miss earlier. The spaceballs DVD menu already up on the TV. Hannah noticed her first.

“Long time no see stranger,” she said, “Your Mom helped me get the movie going.”

“Cool, I got some blankets and pillows if you want some.”

Laura thought about reminding Michelle to bring them up before she went to bed, but thought better of it. She could tell Michelle was having a great night, at least up to the fiasco on the way back from the video store, and reasoned that there wouldn’t be any harm in letting her clean up in the morning. Besides, they could all use some time to decompress after what happened.

“Enjoy the movie you two, I’ll be in the computer room if you need anything,” she said, and exited the living room.

Hannah and Michelle divided up the blankets up between them and nested on the floor in front of the television.

“So that shit was crazy, huh?” Hannah related, once she was reasonably sure her friend’s mother was out of earshot.
Now safely ensconced in her favorite blanket and no longer dealing with a wet pull-up, Michelle felt secure enough to lower her psychological defenses back to a more reasonable level and resume where Hannah and herself had left off earlier.

“I know! My mom NEVER swears!” The two girls chatted through the previews until the movie started in earnest, then snuggled up in their respective blanket-nests and settled in for the movie.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Apr 9, 2017 at 5:09 AM
Content: Rough draft, figured I'd post it. Haven't read through it yet so it probably needs some edits for pacing, word choice and errors. :detective3

But hey, a new chapter is a new chapter!

Het zevende hoofdstuk van het verhaal

Laura pressed “end call” and set her cell phone next to the keyboard on the computer desk. She stretched groggily in the chair and yawned, finally allowing herself to be tired since there was no more work to be done tonight. Standing, she left the computer room and ventured to family room, where she took in the girls’ sleepover from the limen. They were awfully cute, snuggled up in blankets and footie pajamas on the floor in front of the TV, Hannah clutching her teddy bear and Michelle her stuffed bunny rabbit, both erupting in giggles now and then. Now that she was older, she never brought her stuffed animals out of her room and rarely slept with them anymore, at least to Laura’s knowledge. It brought her back to when Michelle was barely out of toddlerhood, carrying that rabbit around everywhere she went and demanding he come with for every car trip they took. She smiled gently at the memory. She needed to speak with Michelle, but she could wait until after the movie.

–

The credits rolled across the television as Hannah and Michelle extricated themselves from their cocoons of blankets. Hannah stretched for a minute while Michelle positioned the throw pillows they had used to augment their pillow arsenal back on the couch.

“So what’d you think?” Hannah asked.

“It was great!” Michelle beamed, “They should make one for episodes one through three!”

“Haha, that’s not a bad idea,” Hannah smirked,“but it would be impossible to make Jar-Jar dumber than he is already.”

“Why does everyone hate Jar-Jar? I mean like yeah he was dumb but I thought he was kinda funny.”

“Oh we are so not friends anymore.”

From her place at the kitchen table, Laura heard the sounds of the movie die down and those of conversation rise up and take their place. She called out towards the living room.

“Michelle! Can you come speak with me in the kitchen please?”

Hannah raised her eyebrows at her friend. Uh-oh, Michelle thought, this is not good. If her mother wanted to talk to her alone, she reasoned that she had somehow found the goodnite stashed under her bed and nothing but trouble awaited her in the kitchen, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She swallowed, trying to determine some sort of valid excuse before her feet unconsciously carried her to her fate.

She entered the kitchen gingerly, nervously adjusting the sleeves of her sleeper as she faced her mother. She had nothing. No excuse, not even a figment of one. She was screwed. Totally. Utterly. Screwed.

Laura opened her mouth to speak, she looked annoyed. Michelle unconsciously held her breath.

“Unfortunately I’m going to have to fly out to join your father in Massachusetts tomorrow afternoon,” she said.

Michelle let of a sigh of relief. Maybe not so screwed after all. “Why?”

“Well he forgot folder of invoices and some other stuff we were working on for a client at the office, and he needs it for the meeting.”

Michelle was confused, “Why don’t you just e-mail it to him?”

“I would, but this client is a government contractor, and the project they’re working on is classified,” she explained and sighed, “And so, apparently, are the payroll documents. It’s technically a federal crime to scan it and it would be another one to upload it from an unsecured computer, so I have to deliver it person.”

“Cool,” Michelle said, “What are they working on?”

Laura didn’t share her sentiment, “I don’t know, and I don’t think your Dad does either. The company makes custom computer chips, so it could be anything. We just have the numbers and a handful of invoices that have been scrubbed of everything but financial data.” Laura rolled her eyes, “at least they pay well.”

“Oh,” Michelle was a little disappointed by that response, but nonetheless excited that she was connected to a secret government project in her own small way. “When do we leave?” She asked.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” her Mom replied, “I’ll be in a meetings all day and thanks to your father, I have a polygraph exam on Sunday, courtesy of the FBI. I’m not leaving you alone all day at a hotel in a strange city.”

“Please Mom, I’ll be good. Promise,” Michelle pleaded.

“No,” Laura replied, with the finality only a mother can produce, “you’ll be staying here. I called Rachel. Unfortunately she’s booked Saturday but she’ll be watching you Sunday morning until your father and I arrive that afternoon, luckily Mrs. Roundtree was kind enough to agree to watch you tomorrow.”

Michelle was a little disappointed that she wasn’t able to go with her Mom to Massachusetts, but she hadn’t really expected to either. She was similarly ambivalent about the babysitters. Once her mother announced that she was going out town, that was a given. While her parents had started letting her to stay home alone for steadily longer periods since she was 12, the rare occasion they were both gone overnight still warranted a babysitter. Michelle wasn’t sad about it, it would be nice to catch up with Rachel. Rachel had been Michelle’s primary babysitter ever since she was a baby, and they were very close despite the eleven-year age gap. She hadn’t had Clarise Roundtree watch her for years. She was older lady, maybe a few years older than her mom, and nice enough. If Rachel was Michelle’s favourite babysitter and Chantal occupied the newly minted position of least favourite babyistter, Mrs. Roundtree fell squarely in the middle.

She shrugged, “Okaaaaaayyyy. Fine. When are you leaving tomorrow?”

“My plane leaves at 12:30, so I’ll still be here to make you breakfast and do all that “mom” stuff for you,” Laura joked.

Michelle smiled, “Good. I want pancakes, and bacon, and hashbrowns, and waffles, and ham and--”

“Okay, okay,” Laura interrupted, “Go hang out with Hannah, she’s probably bored out there.”

Michelle left the kitchen, continuing to list breakfast items until she was well out of sight.

–

The girls retired to Michelle’s room. Michelle plopped down on her bed, got the TV going and started channel-surfing to combat the low overall quality of late-night television. They spent the next while in comfortable silence. Michelle was getting tired, but not sleepy, caffeine still slightly abuzz in her brain. She had more fun in the preceding day than she’d ever had at a sleepover before and didn’t want it to end, especially so knowing that Hannah had to leave somewhat early in the morning. She was going to go until she dropped, and Hannah recognized Michelle’s determination to stay up as late as her and correctly guessed that she normally didn’t stay up this late.

When it came to staying up late, Hannah was an old hat. She’d dealt with relatively minor but chronic insomnia for as long as she could remember. She had no idea when it started, but she recalled having an 8 o’clock bedtime years and years ago. For every night she had memory of she watched the clock tick past 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock and finally approach midnight, going out of her mind with boredom. Doctors had prescribed her Ambien when she was 13, but it rarely helped. Even when she went behind her parents back and took two tablets she was able consciously chart the course of the drug in her body. Sleep would come very, very close-- her body would feel heavy with it, her eyelids weighed into shutting, but even then she somehow stayed a hair’s breadth away from its sweet embrace. At least the hallucinations made staying awake less boring.

Six months of Ambien passed by without improvement and her mother waived her bedtime completely. The difference was largely academic; Hannah had long since learned to circumvent her mother’s restrictions on activities after bedtime to cope with her boredom. In fact, she attributed her current intellectual bent to the innumerable books she read while waiting for a sleep that was forever slow to come. The fall MAP test pinned down her reading score at 287, a whole forty points higher than the 99th percentile (A disparity equivalent to the difference between the 99th and the 15th percentiles) and as a result the computer erroneously placed her in the hundredth percentile. She’d learned better than to brag about it though, the few friends she’d told had accused her of making up the incident. However, she didn’t consider herself a “genius” or a “prodigy,” though she was well into the 99th percentile in every other subject, reading was the only one she was capable of reaching such stratospheric heights in.

Perhaps that was why she found a kindred spirit in Michelle, with her overt bookishness and dreams of becoming an author. As far as Hannah knew, she was the only other girl her age who had reached beyond the realm of young adult literature for authors like Kafka and Lovecraft, Vonnegut and Dostoevsky. However, noticing Michelle getting under her blankets snapped her out of her reverie.

“Hey Michelle, I don’t know how to approach this without being awkward about it but… don’t you need to put a diaper on before you fall asleep?”

“Oh, uh...” Michelle’s cheeks got a little red, Hannah mentally facepalmed. She hadn’t meant to embarrass her friend. “Well, they’re actually Goodnites, and more like training pants than diapers, and I already have one on.”

Hannah’s face turned a shade redder out of sympathy, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to call them diapers, I just couldn’t think of another name for them.”

“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not something you would probably know. I prefer to call them Goodnites, which is like the brand name. You know, like Kleenex. I’d be okay if you call them pull-ups too I guess.”

“If Goodnites is the term you prefer that’s what I’ll call them,” Hannah smiled in an attempt to relieve the awkwardness she felt. “So have you really been wearing them this entire time?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Michelle felt a little embarrassed about the topic, but to her own surprise was quite willing to talk about it. As awkward as it was to talk about, it also felt good to get it off her chest and talk about it to someone her own age for once. Especially since she felt like she could tell Hannah about it without getting judged or made fun of.

“Wow. I never would’ve noticed,” Hannah paused. “Even to the video store?” She asked incredulously.

Michelle had to laugh at Hannah’s genuine surprise, “Yup.”

“That’s so brave! I’m sorry I wanted to go the video store. I never would’ve dragged you there if I knew,” Hannah related.

“Oh, it’s okay,” Michelle dismissed her concerns with a hand gesture, “Like you said, it’s pretty much impossible to notice, especially with these jammies. Besides, getting to see Spaceballs was totally worth it.”

“Now I understand why you bolted away from me so quickly before the movie, I thought you just really had to pee,” it was Hannah’s turn to laugh.

“Yeah, I didn’t want you to see that I was wearing them so early in the night. Idk, I still feel pretty awkward about it. I haven’t had a sleepover with anyone in a couple years.”

“Oh my god, really? We have to make up for lost time! This age is the prime of your sleepover life!” Hannah proclaimed, “That means you have to spend the night at my house next weekend.”

Michelle laughed again, “Okay, I’ll ask my Mom tomorrow. You don’t have any brothers or sisters do you? I want to know how much of a ninja I’ll have to be.”

Hannah laughed, ”I do, but they’re all way older than me and live on their own, you’re good. So is that why you only wear footie pajamas?” Hannah asked, “Because there’s no chance of accidentally showing someone your goodnites with them?”

“Well that’s one reason yeah,” Michelle answered, “I’ve never been to fussy about pajamas, I usually just wear what my Mom buys me and I’ve never had a reason to dislike them. They’re super-duper warm and comfy and I don’t get cold feet when I’m walking around the house before bed.” Michelle paused, thinking for a moment, “To be honest though sometimes I feel like I’m getting too old to still be wearing footie jammies to bed.” She shrugged noncommittally.

Hannah dismissed her worries with a wave of her hand, “Oh nonsense, you’re never too old for footie pajamas. Plenty of girls our age have a pair. Heck, I’m pretty sure I’ve convinced like half of my friends that footie pajamas are the shit and they need to get a pair.”

Michelle chuckled a bit at the thought of Hannah pitching the advantages of footed sleepers to her more popular friends via a profanity-laced rant. “I guess.”

“Anyway, I gotta go pee. BRB.”

Michelle tossed her covers to the side and got up from her bed, “Here, I’ll help you with the zipper.” She moved towards Hannah, who pushed her away playfully.

“Nah girl, I’ve got it.”

“Are you sure?”

By the time Hannah responded, she was already out in the hallway. “I’ve got it,” she repeated.

Michelle heard the bathroom door close, shrugged and returned her eyes to the television. About five minutes later, Hannah emerged from the hallway looking defeated.

“I don’t got it,” she said, red-faced.

Michelle approached her friend, who let her undo the tab and get the zipper started for her.

“Thanks,” Hannah said, clearly still a little embarrassed.

“Don’t mention it,” Michelle replied.

Shortly after Hannah got into the bathroom, Michelle heard a knock at the door. As it was already pretty ajar, Laura didn’t wait for a response before she opened it the rest of the way and leaned against the doorframe.

“Hey sweetie, I just wanted to let you know I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up too late,” she informed.

“I won’t,” Michelle replied, “I think we’re going to bed pretty soon here anyway.”

“Okay, remember to help Hannah with her pajamas when she needs it.”

“Yup, I know Mom. She’s in the bathroom right now.”

“Do you have to use the bathroom before bed too?”

“No, I’m okay.”

Laura regarded her daughter, just enough to ferret out if she was telling the truth, and was satisfied.

“Okay, well go ahead and wake me up if you do,” Laura instructed, “Goodnight Michelle.”

“Goodnight Mom,” Michelle said in her sweetest voice. As annoying and rule-bound as her mom could be, she did have her nights when she was really cool, and tonight was definitely one of those.

Her mother blew her a kiss from the door and closed it behind her. Michelle returned to her bed and starting flipping through the channels-- they hadn’t actually found anything good to watch; an infomercial for Bosley had provided the backing track to their prior conversation. Eventually she found a channel playing reruns of the George Lopez show and considered that a suitable compromise. Her eyelids were getting heavy. She yawned, and had just completed a luxurious stretch when Hannah returned.

Michelle stood, stretching sleepily once more, and did up Hannah’s zipper. She considered what to do with the tab. She didn’t want her friend to have trouble getting it off in the middle of the night if she needed to, but given the events of the last ten minutes or so Hannah would probably wake her up for assistance even if she left it undone. She reasoned it would also keep the zipper from poking her in the back of the neck, so she started the process of squeezing the button through the appropriate hole in the tab. It took about a minute for Michelle to actually accomplish this, but soon after the girls had retaken their respective beds and crawled back under the covers. A few minutes of quiet passed between them with both of their focus on the television until Hannah broke the silence.

“So like do you ever just say “fuck it” and go in your diaper cuz you don’t want to go all the way to the bathroom?”

Michelle took in a deep breath, “Okay well first of all it’s a Goodnite, not a diaper--”

“Crap, sorry. Goodnite. I meant Goodnite,” Hannah corrected, she looked at her friend apologetically.

“It’s okay,” Michelle said, “And second of all, no fucking way!”

It surprised Hannah to hear Michelle swear, she was pretty sure this was the first time she’d heard her use any sort of coarse language. She pronounced the word quieter than the rest of her sentence, lingering on it and relishing it a bit, like she was testing it out for the first time.

“Okay, okay,” Hannah relented, “I’m just saying that these PJs are hard enough to take off that I wouldn’t judge if you did.”

Michelle saw an opening and countered, teasing, “Are you saying that you would?”

“Well I mean if I had to wear pull-ups normally, yeah maybe,” she shrugged, “It’s not like I’d do it all the time, but I mean why go out of your way to find a bathroom if you’re technically wearing one? IDK, I guess I’m just lazy like that.” She shrugged again.

A silence descended upon the room. Michelle didn't know how to respond to that, she hadn't been expecting that honest of a response.

Hannah cut it short, “So you’ve never done it? Not even once? Never ever ever?” she probed.

“Okay maybe once… or twice, but pretty much never,” Michelle admitted, surprising herself with her honesty, but there was something about Hannah that made it so she wasn’t afraid to be herself, despite all the flaws and blemishes that entailed.

“Ha!” Hannah sat up and exclaimed, vindicated and pointing her finger to the sky, “I knew it! I know I’m crazy but I knew I wasn’t that crazy!”

In reaction to her friend’s exclamations, Michelle started to feel a little defensive, “But almost never. I swear!”

“Hey, I’m not judging,” Hannah explained, “I said I’d probably do the same if I was in your position.”

“So you don’t think I’m weird?”

“Nah Michelle, you cool,” Hannah mimicked a rapper’s diction, coolly leaning back against Michelle’s nightstand in a parody of a rapper’s movements.

“I’m serious,” Michelle said, changing to an equally serious tone; she wasn’t finding Hannah’s parody very funny. She had just divulged a secret that she didn’t think she’d ever tell anybody, this wasn’t a laughing matter. She thought Hannah was being really insensitive. “Do you think I'm weird? Yes or no.”

While Michelle was talking, Hannah had taken a pair of Michelle’s sunglasses from her nightstand. She put them on before she spoke.

“Girl, I’m sizzerious too,” Hannah said continuing the parody and pronouncing the middle of the word like a record scratch, “You a cool, cool cucumber.”

Michelle got angry. “Stop!”

She pulled a pillow out from under her and smacked Hannah across the face with it, sending the sunglasses flying across the room. Michelle realized what she had done and gasped in alarm.

Hannah dropped the impression, grinning evilly as she turned to face Michelle, “Oh it’s on now-- you wanted a pillow fight?” Immediately after finishing the sentence she hurled a throw pillow directly at Michelle’s face. Michelle was too stunned to react and it connected perfectly. By the time the first pillow left her vision she was pummeled by a follow-up strike from a larger pillow in Hannah’s other hand.

“Well you got one.”

Michelle drew her two largest pillows and wielded them akimbo, blocking and parrying with the left and striking with the right while Hannah kept up a flurry of attacks with the single pillow, spinning it like a morning star.
The fight took them all across the room, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage, and after about fifteen minutes of down and memory foam carnage, neither Michelle nor Hannah had to the energy to continue.

Hannah suggested a parlay and proffered a truce.

“Truce,” Michelle agreed, even if she could remember why exactly Hannah’s act had made her so angry, she was too tired to be mad. The girls fell into their beds, exhausted.

“To answer your question,” Hannah said between laboured breaths, “You are weird. But in a good way. Besides, normal people are boring.”

Michelle felt a wholesome warmth swell up inside of her. She’d never thought of herself that way before, but she rather liked the sound of it. Their attention turned back to the TV as they caught their breath. The minutes ticked by in relative silence.

Michelle spoke up, sounding almost half asleep, “Hey Hannah, you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up earlier, but I never asked you what you want be.”

Hannah thought about her answer, there were several good answers she used and one true answer she rarely gave out. After tonight, she thought, Michelle deserved the truth.

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Never,” Michelle responded through the veil of half-sleep emphatically. Hannah chuckled to herself, it was cute.

“I want to be a senator,” Hannah said, bracing for blowback. She knew full well that given her family socioeconomic status and their likelihood of being able to pay for any college, let alone a prestigious one, the idea amounted to little more than a pipe dream. She rarely told anyone about it, only her mother and grandmother knew, and she always expected people to laugh at her just like they had when they heard. Still, it was the truth. She thought Michelle at least deserved that much.

Michelle said nothing for a long time, and Hannah started to fear the worst when she finally responded.

“I think you’d be a great senator,” she said sleepily, in such a way that Hannah knew it was coming from the heart, “You’re popular enough to win...” she trailed off for a minute, “but you’re nerdy enough to always figure out the right the thing to do.”

Hannah considered her friend’s words for a while. She’d never looked at herself from that perspective before, and besides that nobody had ever paid her pipe dream much attention, much less considered it even remotely possible. She became lost in thought for a while, staring blankly at the television. By the time her thoughts returned to the room Michelle was sound asleep, curled up under the covers clutching her stuffed rabbit, thumb pressed up against her lips. The clock on her nightstand said 12:37.

Turning to her friend, Hannah whispered, “Thanks,” and paused for a moment.

“Goodnight little sister,” she whispered softly.

Michelle stirred in her sleep, pulling her stuffed rabbit close.

“Goodnight big sis,” she whispered sleepily.

Hannah smiled. She turned off the TV, crawled back onto her air mattress and climbed under the covers, falling asleep shortly afterward.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Apr 10, 2017 at 1:05 AM
Content:

Zoanthus said:

Excellent story that I really enjoyed! Thanks a lot for your efforts and I really look forward to read the next chapters!

[End of quote]

Thank you for reading!

PuppyDog said:

Aweeeeeeee! That was absolutely adorable!. They make such cute friends, i can't wait for the next sleepover.

Thank you for sharing.

[End of quote]

Thanks for keeping up with the story for so long. You were the second person to comment on Ch. 1 all that time ago and have kept it up through every chapter. Thanks for all the support! You da man. <3

nray999 said:

Wow! Two posts in a week. I really liked the zipper scene with Hannah "I got it" pause, "I don't got it". That would make a great comic strip panel in the illustrated version.
I am surprised that the combination of Mountain Dew and Mel Brooks didn't leave Michelle wet at the nd of the movie. Then again, that would be obvious, and the baby sitter wasn't. I'm looking forward to how that plays with Michelle's new rules.
One question is why you have Hannah's family unable to pay for college? Based on the first encounter I got the impression she was more middle-class.
Thanks for the surprise gift and please keep them coming.

[End of quote]

Haha, indeed it would.

Yeah, I thought it would've been too obvious a turn. I'm trying to keep this story as fresh as the genre allows.

Well, I feel that to really give a character life you need to base them at least partially on real people. When I initially started writing the story I was writing Michelle as myself at that age, and Hannah was largely based on my second serious girlfriend. As the characters developed I found myself writing Michelle similar to my first real girlfriend. (They're really very similar. Not just in personality type and parental situation either, she too was a bedwetter. But unlike Michelle, it was more because of a mix of latent ABDLism she refused to admit and hypochondriasis rather than bona-fide bladder control issues.) Thus Hannah started to become an amalgamation of my second girlfriend and I. Similar to my second girlfriend, Hannah's not the type of girl you would peg as economically disadvantaged until you really got to know her or happened past her house.

Thanks for keeping up with the story man! I appreciate your input.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Jul 30, 2017 at 8:50 AM
Content: So we just hit (and exceeded) 200 manuscript pages guys:

ĉapitro ok

“Time to wake up, sleepyhead.”

Michelle’s eyes fluttered open, she rubbed the sleep out of them with her shoulder as her vision came into focus on her mother standing over her bed. Her beside clock read 7:55.

“Five more minutes,” Michelle demanded sleepily, closing her eyes in protest of well-lit room.

“Nope, time to get up,” Laura insisted, gently shaking her shoulder, “I’m about to start on breakfast and Hannah has to leave soon, she’s waiting for you downstairs.”

Michelle groaned and reopened her eyes. “Okaaayyy,” she said, annoyed by lack of her usual amount of sleep. “I’m up.”

“No you’re not. You might be awake, but you’re not up until you’re out of bed,” she proclaimed, “Come on sleepyhead, up and at ‘em!”

Michelle realized Laura wasn’t going to leave the room until she was standing. She flipped over and pushed herself into a semi-upright position on the bed, registering a strange sensation on her hands as she did so. Given that she was somewhere between half-asleep and a third-asleep, it took her a while to figure out what it was, but when she did, it jolted her awake.

Shit.

She felt around the bed a little more. A wide swath of both sheets, the underside of her comforter and an area of her pajamas from her knees halfway up her torso were soaking wet. She had to get out of this situation somehow. Get her Mom out of the room, get her pajamas off, stash her sheets somewhere so she could get them in the wash after her Mom left. Mind racing, she turned to her mom, who regarded her quizzically, and realized there was no way she was going to be able to play this one off.

“Uhh… Mom…?” she started uncertainly. She tried to think of a diplomatic way to put it as her cheeks started to burn.

“Yes dear?” Judging by Laura’s facial expression, her mother was now thoroughly confused by her behaviour.

Michelle’s voice left her throat as timid, mouse-like, “I think I leaked.”

She dragged the now-heavy covers from herself and stood, thoroughly embarrassed and with nothing to hide.

Laura took in the state of the bed, then turned saw the saturated expanse of her daughter’s sleeper, countenance a jumble of shock, disappointment and awe.

“I see that,” Laura replied, not knowing what else to say. Her gaze swiveled back to the bed and then to Michelle once more before her mothering instincts kicked back in. Giving her daughter a soft and understanding look, she put her arm over her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. “Don’t worry sweetie, Mommy will take care of this. You just worry about getting yourself cleaned up.”

Michelle reciprocated the quick hug and walked dejectedly to her bedroom door before remembering something important.

“Uh, Mom?”

“Yes dear?”

“Zipper.”

“Oh, yes of course honey,” Laura stepped over to her daughter, secretly glad to have a couple seconds’ reprieve before having to deal with the wet bedding. She expertly undid the button tab and pulled the zipper down to its nadir, in the process confirming that her daughter had indeed been wearing protection during the incident. “Just leave your jammies in the bathroom,” she instructed, “I’ll take care of them when I’m done with this.”

Michelle just nodded and made her way to the bathroom, quickly clearing the hallway in case Hannah decided to come upstairs. But she didn’t and Michelle made it into the bathroom safely. A quick turn of the handle got the shower going on hot and with a quick shrug her waterlogged sleeper fell in a heap at her feet. The soaked goodnite was next to go, tossed into the trash, before Michelle stepped into the shower.

A nice, hot shower had woke her up and washing up allowed her to get some distance from the situation. The soggy footed sleeper she had been wearing not long ago still intruded into her vision from its place in the corner of the bathroom, sure, but she’d towel off and come back to a room purged of evidence of the incident and be able to forget the whole thing. She ran a blow dryer through her hair quickly, just enough to half-dry it, and followed it up with her usual synthetic/natural bristle brush combo. Once finished, she wrapped herself in a towel, took one last glance in the mirror and stepped out into the cool air of the hallway.

Upon entering her room, Michelle sensed something was amiss. Her mother was standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. She didn’t look happy.

Laura looked Michelle directly in the eye, who shrunk under her mother’s gaze. When she finally spoke, her voice was cross and authoritative, “Young lady, you have some explaining to do,”

Michelle tried to anticipate why she was angry, she quickly scanned the room for clues: Hannah’s air mattress had been put away; the sheets and blankets from both beds were gone, likely in the wash; her own mattress was bare save for a grocery bag positioned on it.
Then she remembered the contents of that grocery bag and a wave of grim realization washed over her.

“Well…?” Laura prompted.

Michelle was at a total loss for what to say. “I… I was going to-- I’m sorry Mom,” she apologized, hanging her head guiltily. “Are you mad at me?”

Laura sighed, “I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. I’m wondering why you feel the need to be dishonest with me about your accidents. I’m wondering why you deliberately disobeyed the simple rules your father and I have set out to help you and I wonder if you even understand that they are for your benefit, but frankly I don’t have the time to find out. We can talk about this when I get back, right now, there are a lot of things I need to do before I leave. Do you remember what the consequences were supposed to be for your actions last night?”

Michelle kicked vaguely at the air in front of her. “Yes...”

“Good.” Laura strutted over to her daughter’s dresser, opened it up to the pajama drawer and removed a pair at random, then she retrieved a GoodNite from the top drawer and set both on the bed. “Then you know what you need to do. Please make sure this one stays on until Mrs. Roundtree says otherwise.” With that, Laura walked briskly to the door. When she reached the hallway, her stance softened somewhat and she did an about face.

“I still need to put clean sheets on your bed so head down to the table once you’re done getting dressed for the day. I’ll be making breakfast right after I’m done here,” she said, sounding noticeably less upset now.

“Mom, I can get the sheets.” Michelle felt bad about making her Mom do all this extra work, especially before she had to leave. Even though taking off her goodnites hadn’t caused the leak, she empathized a little with how her Mom must have felt having to deal with both at the beginning of an already stressful day.

Laura sighed, “No honey, it’s OK. I need to raid the linen closet for some things anyway.” Michelle’s mother didn’t trust hotel towels, washcloths or even bedlinens and always brought her own when it was possible. It was one of the many reasons it took so long for her to pack. “Just go downstairs and keep Hannah company before she has to leave. You may be in trouble, but you still have an obligation as a hostess.” She pulled the door shut.

Michelle felt it was her turn to sigh. She did, and let the bathtowel drop to floor. She vented some of her guilt and irritation by kicking it into her hamper and wandered over to the pjs and pull-ups her mother had set on the bare mattress for her. She took the pull-ups in her hand and sat on the bed for an introspective couple minutes before shaking her head back to the task at hand. She inserted her legs into the Goodnite and pulled it just past her knees then stood up, pulling it up the rest of the way in the process. Once the training pants were snug, she picked up the footed sleeper and got to work unzipping it most of the way down the leg. After getting her feet into the attached booties, she sat down to finish the process, still feeling quite tired. From her vantage point on the bed, she examined herself in her vanity mirror. Even though the Goodnites were basically invisible in her reflection, it was hard to forget she was wearing them. It felt strange to put them on again at a time when she would otherwise change into normal underwear for the day and it felt stranger still to know she was going to have to wear them for all the rest of the day, almost as if the when and how long she would be wearing them changed the feeling of the pull-up itself. Her pajamas didn’t help that feeling either. She was pretty sure her mother had just picked a pair out of the drawer at random, and while it probably wasn’t the most childish design she had, it didn’t belong to the bottom 50% of what was childish either. Indeed, as far as pajamas go, Michelle felt Disney Princess ones definitely fell in the top quintile of infantile. This set in particular was lime green and featured Tinkerbelle flying across a gradient that faded from seaform green to blue as it went down the body and eventually purple when it reached the tops of the footies. Examining herself in the mirror, she had to admit that she did look pretty cute, but not in the way she normally aimed for; the cute that girls describe their boyfriends as to the aggravation of the boyfriend in question; the cute that guys have in mind when they say they’re looking for cute girls. The cute she saw starting back at her wasn’t cute as in “attractive,” but cute as in childlike, even babyish.

Michelle tore her gaze from her reflection-- best not to ruminate on her situation. Instead, she tried to look at the bright side: she wasn’t grounded and however she felt about the consequences she only had to deal with them until the end of the day; her mother hadn’t picked her back zipper pjs, so she wouldn’t have to go through the embarrassing process of asking Mrs. Roundtree for help with her zipper and plus she got to wear her comfy pjs all day and the only people who would see her would be her mom, Mrs. Roundtree and Hannah. It wasn’t so bad.

Laura knocked at the door impatiently, as if sensing Michelle had reached a positive note in her introspection and deciding that if Michelle had gotten herself out of her pout, she could just as well finish up with the positive self-talk somewhere that wasn’t immediately obstructing her duties.

“Are you dressed yet?” Laura called.

Pulled back to reality, Michelle yelled as non-combatively as possible towards the door, “Yeah mom I’m coming just give me a second.”

If her daughter was dressed, Laura wasn’t going to wait; she had things to do and a flight to catch. She burst into the room right as Michelle had stood. Michelle opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it and left the room, telling Laura that she would be waiting for her in the kitchen.

Hannah looked up at her friend as she set foot into the kitchen. “Cute pjs,” she commented, casually sipping a cup of coffee at the breakfast bar. She was already dressed and ready for the day, wearing jeans with a burgundy waffle-knit thermal with her hair back in a loose bun.

“Thanks,” Michelle replied. She’d take a compliment, but didn’t really want to talk about it beyond that.

Unfortunately for her, Hannah didn’t get the memo. “So are you just planning on staying around the house today or what?” She indicated towards Michelle’s sleeper.

“Uh, yeah, pretty much. What are you doing today?” She wasn’t in the mood to talk about her plans for the day either, seeing that at this point the only thing she had going on was wearing her pull-ups and footies for the rest of the day and waiting for a babysitter to arrive.

“My sister needs me to watch her kids while she’s at work, so I’m babysitting,” Hannah informed her, “You want a cup?” She asked, raising her own. The contrasting parallels between Hannah’s day and her own irked Michelle, but she wasn’t about to dwell on it.

Michelle thought about it. Laura never really formulated a policy on Michelle and coffee. Since Michelle didn’t especially like the taste, she didn’t have to. This morning, however, Michelle was short on sleep and wasn’t in an especially good mood either. These two factors compounding together brought her accept Hannah’s invitation. She went over the coffee maker and sloshed the deep black liquid into her cup, tasted it and made a face.

Hannah giggled a little. “I make it strong,” she advised, perhaps a little too late. “It’s the Swede in me. My Swedish Grandma says that there’s no such thing as strong coffee, just weak people.” She stuck out her tongue at Michelle, who returned the gesture.

Michelle set her coffee down next to Hannah’s on the breakfast bar and then went a hunt for the sugar and creamer. After dumping the recommended amount of creamer in, she opened the spout on the sugar jar and poured for several seconds.

Hannah was half-genuinely, half-mockingly, shocked. “Jesus! Have enough sugar there girl?”

“No.” Just to spite her friend, she poured in a smidgen more.

“You’re killing me. I swear that much sugar is against at least one of the Geneva conventions.”

Michelle just shrugged and charily sipped the concoction, analyzing the contents. Her additions had taken the coffee from gross to tolerable. It wasn’t something she would drink every day, but she wasn’t about to admit defeat in front of Hannah. There was a part of her that wanted to prove that she could be just as mature as her, and this coffee was her Alamo. Michelle and Hannah talked for a little while longer before Laura made her way into the kitchen and started making breakfast.

–

The girls hung out as the time edged towards 10:30, alternating between playing on Michelle’s Gamecube and doing nothing in particular. Hannah wasn’t much of a gamer, but neither was she opposed to unashamedly giving the game her all. Hannah was somewhat of a mystery to the school at large, in that not much was known about her life outside the classroom and the extracurricular activities she participated in. That’s not to say she wasn’t social, in fact, she was one of the few bridges between the academic clique (a large, loosely cohesive group of which your stereotypical nerds were but a part) and the popular clique (a less loosely organized but more hierarchical section of the school to which your classic jocks, cheerleaders and party girls belonged, as well as several addition from other cliques deemed “cool” enough to inclusion). That said, if you paid attention to her hallway conversations you would notice a curious dearth of personal anecdotes and a lack of personal detail. She was gregarious enough for most not to notice, but not enough to stop people from wondering and so her life was often the subject of rumor. However, one of the few universally acknowledged, and frankly undeniable, facts about her was that she was very, very, very competitive. That’s not to say she would cheat or plunge into poor sportsmanship, but it was clear that to Hannah, everything was a competition that she wanted to win. She had to be the fastest test-taker in the room and then have the highest score when it was graded; she not only had to win first in every forensic competition but she had to have more first place ribbons than anyone else in the state. Even if the task was gym class basketball against the star the of school team, less than 110% effort was not acceptable and winning was on her mind.
Unsurprisingly, Michelle won all the games they played in versus mode, so she started feeling bad for Hannah, not that Hannah was complaining. She loaded up Sonic Adventure so they could play co-op, but they were barely past the first mission when the doorbell rang.

Given how she was dressed, Michelle was content to let Laura answer the door and continue gaming. Ears piqued, she listened as indistinct snippets of polite conversation gave way to the familiar sound of two sets of feet going up the stairs when she realized that the person at the door was coming up to her room. She sat up, cross-legged and snatched the throw blanket from her bed, covering her legs with it. She had just finish tucking the blanket under her butt for extra security when the door to her room opened.

“Hey Hannah-banana.”

Hearing an unfamiliar voice in her room yanked Michelle’s attention from covering up even remotest possibility that someone would detect her pull-up to regard the woman standing in the limen between her bedroom and the hallway. She was short, about the same height as Michelle, and a little chubby, with round glasses and shoulder length mousy brown hair.

“Hey altogether-under-the-weather-Heather,” Hannah replied.

The woman standing in the door snorted. “Smartass.”

Hannah set the controller down and gestured towards the door, “Michelle, this is my big sister Heather. Heather, this is my friend Michelle.”

Michelle had known Hannah’s sister was older-- old enough to have children at the very least, but was a little taken aback how much older than Hannah she was. While Michelle wasn’t so great at guessing people’s ages past 20, she was well into her thirties. She hazard a guess that Heather was closer in age to Laura than she was to Hannah.

“Heya Michelle,” Heather said, “My daughter has the same pajamas.”

“Oh… uh… how old is she?” Michelle felt a little awkward. She had been expecting someone in their early twenties; she had yet to figure out how to make even the most minute amount of small talk to anyone older than that.

“She turned ten a couple weeks ago,” Heather replied matter-of-factly.

Michelle wasn’t quite sure how to take that. Her face warmed up as a tide of embarrassment welled up to complement the social awkwardness of the situation.

Hannah sensed her friend’s discomfort and looked to her older sister, “Well we’d better get going huh?”

“Up to you,” Heather said, deadpan as ever.

Hannah wheeled around and tackled Michelle with a massive hug, nearly knocking her over.

“I’ll see you later Shelley,” she said, “Thanks for a super-great sleepover!”

Michelle returned the thank-you as Hannah collected her things and joined her sister at the door.

“Wellp, nice meeting you Michelle,” Heather said.

“Yeah! Uh… you too!” Michelle replied sheepishly.

“Remember babe, slumber party at my house next weekend,” Hannah said as her sister ventured down the hallway, “Be there or be square!”

Michelle laughed awkwardly, “Yup, I remember.”

Hannah blew a kiss before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Michelle waited until she heard the storm door close before going downstairs and getting another cup of coffee. Put enough sugar in it and it’s actually not too bad, she thought.

–

It had barely been half an hour after her Mom had left when Michelle heard a knock at the door and answered it to find. Mrs Rountree standing there. She walked into the house, shrugged off her overnight bag and hung her coat and swept her charge up in a big hug.

“Well look at you, still as cute as ever,” she told Michelle, “It must have been 3 years since I last saw you!”

Michelle was a little taken aback by the enthusiastic greeting but nonetheless accepted it warmly, enjoying the affection.

“What grade are you in now?”

Michelle answered and Cerise followed it up by asking how school was going. They caught up as the babysitter deposited her things in their appropriate locations: the guest bedroom for the suitcase, bathroom for toiletries and the kitchen for a mystery novel and spate of groceries. The conversation falls quiet as Mrs. Roundtree read the note Laura had left for her on the kitchen table.

>Cerise,

>Thank you so much for agreeing to babysit Michelle on such short notice! You're a lifesaver. I know you said you didn't need payment but I've enclosed some money in an envelope for you as a token of how much Paul and I appreciate your help. You can find it in the left-hand drawer of the desk in the computer room.

>I'm sure you remember Michelle's struggles with staying dry at night from the last time you were here. Unfortunately, the situation hasn't improved since then and recently has taken a turn for the worse. She's started to trying to avoid wearing her protection, even taking it off to hide accidents from us and to top it off she's started having daytime accidents again for the first time in years. For this reason, she will already be wearing her pjs and diaper when you arrive and is to wear them for the rest of day. She can change herself and knows where everything she needs for it is located, all you need to do is make sure she's wearing her diaper the entire time and ensure she informs you about going potty before she removes and changes her diaper. There is a change of pjs in the dryer, she can pick from either the Hello Kitty set or the blue clouds set but you will need to help her put them on. Please make sure she has changed into them by nine o'clock. Earlier is fine but please make a note for me if it is much later than that. All her other pajamas are off limits for the rest of the day, but she's allowed to wear any pair she wants tomorrow morning. Additionally, we've been having an awful lot of trouble with leaks lately, so be warned. Finally, please make a note in the included notebook of the time and date of when she has wet, we plan on taking her to a specialist when we return and think the information will be helpful.

>She has some chores and homework to do as well. I've included a list of what she needs to get done this weekend on the reverse of this note.

>I will be in a series of important meetings and have no idea if I will be free or not during the day. If you need to contact me, please call after 7PM EST unless it is an emergency. My plane leaves at 3:30 tomorrow so ideally I will be back around eight but you know how air travel can be. As you know, I've arranged for another of Michelle's sitters, Rachel, to take over for you at 11AM on Sunday. Please inform her of the contents of this note or give it to her to read.

>Thank you again Cerise, our family owes you one,
>Laura Pazcewski

When she finally finished reading, she asks if Michelle if she’s kept her diapers on all day as her Mom had asked her to. Michelle noticed with annoyance she said “diapers” instead of “pull-ups” or “Goodnites” but wanted to put the subject to rest more than she wanted to correct her babysitter and simply grumbled the affirmative.

“Good,” she said briskly, “I’m sorry, but your Mother mentioned it so it’s my job to check,” she explained. “Now, I heard you have some chores to get done over the weekend?”

Michelle nodded.

Mrs. Roundtree nodded back in agreement, “Then let’s get going on those before we get up to anything fun tonight, okay?”

Michelle, though thoroughly convinced of her babysitter’s logical reasoning (She was going to have to do them AT SOME POINT this weekend anyway), was disappointed by the instruction. She acquiesced halfheartedly and left the kitchen to get to work as Cerise cracked open the murder mystery novel lying on the table.

Michelle picked the cleaned the upstairs bathroom, vacuumed her room and got started on picking up the living room from the previous night’s movie, yawning more and more as she did so. It was approaching two o’clock and the late night immediately prior had taken its toll. As Mrs. Roundtree watched Michelle struggle with the last task on the list, chronically missing spots while scrubbing the kitchen floor, she decided that Michelle looked like she needed a nap and that she wouldn’t mind one herself. Michelle’s sensitivity to having a babysitter promote the archetypal babysitter-baby relationships she remembered from so many years ago triggered a twinge of frustration that was quickly drowned in a lake of both desire for sleep and deprivation thereof. After getting a drink, she faithfully went up to her room, drew the curtains and went to bed. Clambering under the covers, Michelle noted with approval that her Mom had chosen the pinstriped sheets when changing the bedding, as opposed to the only other clean ones: a pink set beset on all fronts by Disney Princesses. She fell sound asleep within minutes.

--

Michelle opened her to eyes to a squint as she room she slept in became very bright suddenly and without warning.

“Time to wake up sweetie,” she heard an unfamiliar singsong voice declare, “If you sleep all day then you won’t be able to fall asleep come bedtime!”

As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, the circumstances of earlier in the day slowly came back to her--her Mom’s flight; pjs and pull-ups all day; the babysitter and Mrs. Roundtree specifically; the late night and attendant nap. She groaned.

“Come on sweetie,” Mrs. Roundtree chimed, “Time to get out of bed!”

Michelle shot a look at her beside clock, which read 3:37. The fact she had slept for almost two hours came as a pleasant surprise. She’d lost a mental haze that she hadn’t even realized she’d had and the omnipresent gnawing grogginess of earlier had been replaced by that which accompanies waking up from a well-needed nap. She sat up in bed, yawning as she did so. She learned from the feeling of the Goodnite between her legs as she sat up that she had wet during her nap, but she had such a restful sleep that the discovery didn’t faze her. She rubbed her eyes drowsily, blinking against the harsh overhead light.

“Oh dear...”

Mrs. Roundtree’s voice again. She looked at older woman, wondering what had her all worked up. Michelle followed the babysitter’s gaze down into her own lap and understood the reason. Michelle pulled the blankets off her lap to get a better look:

Her sleeper was wet from mid-thigh up to Tinkerbelle’s elbow up above her belly button. When she glanced back at the sheets to survey the damage, she found a dark patch on the sheets of a similar diameter. She frowned.

Meanwhile, Cerise had fully processed the situation and leapt into babysitter-mode. She took Michelle by the hand.

“Come on dear, we can worry about your bedding later, let’s get you cleaned up.” She lead her charge to her dresser and stood her in front of it. Michelle, still processing the situation, didn’t offer much resistance.

“Why don’t you pick yourself out a clean diaper and then take a nice hot shower, okay?”

Michelle comes out of her daze enough to open her top drawer. She stares into the drawer for a moment, knowing something to be amiss but unable to place exactly what it was.

Then it dawned on her, “Um… Mrs. Roundtree,” she ventured sheepishly.

Cerise stopped stripping the bed for a moment and looked at Michelle, “Yes?”

“I think I’m out of Goodnites.”

Cerise came over, taking a look over Michelle’s shoulder into the drawer herself. “That’s alright,” she reassures her before directing her to the door and giving her a gentle shove out of it. “I’ll take care of all of this, you just go get in the shower okay?”

Michelle protested that she could do it herself, but Cerise wouldn’t budge. Only when Michelle was halfway to the bathroom did she remember that her parents kept a supply of extra Goodnites in their closet and popped back in to appraise Mrs. Roundtree of the fact, who was herself in the process of gathering an armful of wet sheets from the floor.

“Thank you for letting me know sweetie,” she said, as sweet as a lady who’s dealing with armfuls of wet sheets can be, “I’ll have everything sitting on your bed for you when you get out of the shower.”

Michelle felt bad about causing the older woman so much work, but given how many times she had been shooed from her room, wasn’t quite sure that her help was wanted. Michelle reasoned the best way to make it up to her would be to do whatever she did want her to do, which in this case was a hot shower. A very agreeable proposition.

So she got into the bathroom, got the shower going and stripped off her wet pajamas into a pile on the floor. She stepped out of her Goodnite, flung it into the trash can and immersed herself in the heat and cleanliness of the shower.

Spending a good twenty minutes in the shower had allowed to clear her mind and step out of it feeling reinvigorated, ready to take on whatever lay outside of the bathroom. It wasn’t the first leak she’d had and it probably wouldn’t be the last. It was pretty distressing to have it happen in the presence of someone other than her parents, especially a quote-unquote babysitter, but all that was over now. Initially, it was alarming that she had leaked twice in a single day, but Michelle inferred that leaks seemed to happen at random, so considering how many naps she had taken this year this kind of thing was bound to happen eventually, but overall it wasn’t something to worry about.

She towelled off and found another towel to wrap around herself before she embarked into the hall. An influx of cool air greeted her as she opened the door and made her way back to her room.

The first thing she noticed upon entry was her bare mattress. Mrs. Roundtree had collected all her bedding save the pillowcases, which hadn’t been touched by her earlier accident. The second thing she noticed was that her Hello Kitty footed sleeper was lying neatly folded on top of the mattress. Michelle had barely had the chance to be agitated by Cerise’s choice of sleepwear when she noticed the second and infinitely more upsetting object that she had laid on her bed.

Instead of the expected Goodnite, she was looking at a large, white disposable diaper. She recognized it as the same diapers Meredith had made her wear on Thanksgiving break and surprised, confused and infuriated in that order by its presence.

She stormed over to her bedroom door and tore it open, holding her towel up with her free hand and shouting for Mrs. Roundtree, who emerged from the guest room in short order looking concerned.

Michelle gestured towards her bed furiously, “what is that doing on my bed!?”

“What is what doing on your bed dear?” Cerise was completely serene in the face of Michelle’s emotional outburst, which had the effect of making Michelle feel guilty about yelling at her. She lowered her voice to something that could be called “passionately loud but short of shouting” before specifying what, exactly, she was so mad about:

“The diaper!”

A look of understanding unfolded on Cerise’s face.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier,” she said, “I wasn’t able to find any Goodnites in your parents’ closet so I just grabbed one of your night-time diapers.”

Michelle’s indignation was blunted by confusion, “What do you mean my night-time diapers?” She looked at diaper and then back at Cerise. “I don’t wear those.”

“Oh?” Cerise raised an eyebrow, “Then whose are they?”

Michelle was caught off guard by the babysitter’s question, “Whose? I… Wait.” she paused, took a breath and recovered, “I don’t know, but they’re not mine.”

“Really?” she said skeptically, “I must have read the name wrong then.” She left the room immediately after, only adding to Michelle’s confusion. Michelle waited in the room, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was wearing nothing but a towel. She was starting to get cold, she hoped whatever Mrs. Roundtree was doing wouldn’t take her long.

Only about a minute elapsed before Michelle heard Cerise speaking to her from the hallway.

“Nope, I read it correctly.”

She returned toting a cardboard box, nondescript save for a label sharpied on one side. She held up the label so Michelle could read it clearly.

Scrawled on the side of the box in her Mother’s uniquely messy handwriting was “NIGHT TIME DIAPERS ~ MICHELLE”

Michelle was floored, “No way.”

“Yup,” Cerise replied matter-of-factly, “And besides the one on your bed, there’s one left, so someone’s been using them.”

“I-- I can explain--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cerise interrupted.“I understand that it’s still the afternoon, and you probably wouldn’t want to put your night-time diapers on right now even if you didn’t have to wear them around an old babysitter you haven’t spoken to in years. I understand that you’re probably still emotional from waking up to a big leak and that doesn’t help the situation either. I don’t want to make you get that diaper on any more than you do, but unfortunately we don’t have any other options, so I’ll make you a deal.”

Instead of the sweet-old-lady voice Michelle was used to and the semi-sardonic deadpan tone of the last few minutes, the older woman spoke evenly and with authority-- an angry Mom voice if Michelle had ever heard one. When she paused for emphasis, Michelle, delicately balancing her apprehension with hope, waited to hear what she had in mind.

Cerise continued: “We’ll put this whole temper tantrum behind us and I won’t tell your parents a word of it. I’ll even give you fifteen minutes to look through your room for a pull-up you can wear instead, but if night-time diapers turn out to be the only option, you have to promise to put them on without any more trouble. Otherwise, I’ll call your Mother and get her permission to put them on you myself.”

Mrs. Roundtree let the terms of the bargain sink in before asking, “Do we have a deal?”

Michelle realized both that she wasn’t going to get any better terms than what were on offer and that testing her babysitter any further was a very bad idea. Despite her reservations, she accepted. When she did, Mrs. Roundtree’s cheerful old lady voice came back on like some mysterious switch had been flipped.

“Great!” she looked at her watch, “You have until 4:13, good luck!”

With that, Mrs. Roundtree left Michelle’s room and shut door behind her.

Even earlier in the day, she would have assumed Mrs. Roundtree’s offer to call her Mom for permission to put the diapers on her herself was some ridiculous bluff, but after the events of the last five minutes, she wasn’t so sure. Why did her parents have a package of the same diapers that her Aunt had bought her stashed away in their closet? Why was it labeled as her night-time diapers when she hadn’t worn them anywhere but at her Aunt’s? It occurred to her that this entire ordeal could be consequences her Mom had planned in conjunction with Mrs. Roundtree for taking off her pull-up, but her Mom had always told her of these sort of consequences in advance. It was unlike her to spring something like this on her daughter without at least some mention of it. Michelle wasn’t at all sure of the answers, but since she only had fifteen minutes to conjure a Goodnite from the recesses of her room, she didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Michelle’s first thought was to check her top drawer, where her Goodnites were normally kept, in case she missed one, but frantically shoving around the drawer’s contents produced nothing. She turned her attention beneath her bed. It was always possible a pull-up had been accidentally kicked under there, but a few minute spent shoving around the accumulated junk down there proved that not to be the case. She settled on the closet as her last, best hope.

A quick glance at her bedside clock told her she had ten minutes left. There wasn’t nearly enough time for her to root through her entire closet, so she’d have to prioritize the most likely places. A cursory search didn’t turn up any hidden Goodnites, but she did find her suitcase, untouched since she had unpacked from the last weekend at Aunt Meredith’s. If there was a Goodnite anywhere in the closet, there was a good chance it was in there. She hefted the suitcase over the collection of clothes, old toys and old, unused gifts in her closet and set it on the nearest section of open floorspace that would fit it. She unzipped it impatiently, and was disappointed when the bare interior was revealed. Michelle felt a sense of resignation well up inside of her, but she wasn’t about to give up yet. She ripped the suitcase lining from the velcro tabs that held it on, but nothing was hiding underneath, so she closed the suitcase again and started digging in the front pockets. She very rarely used the front pockets on her suitcase, and so it was possible that a pull-up from months, even years ago lurked within. The top pocket contained nothing but an ancient stick of deordorant, which she tossed behind her in aggravation, but in the second pocket her hand alighted on the edge of Zip-Loc bag and her heart skipped a beat.

The fact it was a Zip-Loc bag showed a lot of promise. It was from an old trick her Mom had used, Laura would put Goodnites in a plastic bag, so that if Michelle was wet in the morning, she could return the used Goodnites to the plastic bag and then throw them out at home, where they wouldn’t be discovered in the trash by her hosts. She yanked the Zip-Loc from the pocket, inadvertently opening it in the process. She was disappointed and then confused by what it contained.

Far from a pull-up, the bag contained the pacifier she had used at her Aunt’s house. She stared at the pacifier for a few moments, recalling that she had worn it all evening, went to bed with it clipped to her pajamas, and then awoken without it. Whoever removed the pacifier while she was sleeping must have thought it was her’s and slipped into the suitcase without her knowledge…

Michelle shook her head. While the pacifier presented quite a mystery of its own, she didn’t have time to think about it, so the Zip-Loc went the way of the old deordorant: tossed over her shoulder. The pacifier separated from the bag in mid-air, bounced once on her bed and came to a rest on the floor as Michelle left the suitcase to resume her search of the closet. If there was even a 1% chance of avoiding wearing diapers, she’d take it.

–

Michelle was still searching when the knock came.

“Time’s up. Were you able to find a pull-up in there?”

Michelle paused before answering to consider her options, but she didn’t see any way she could avoid answering. She sighed.

“No.”

“I’m sorry sweetie,” Mrs. Roundtree replied, actually sounding somewhat sincere, to Michelle’s surprise. “Just let me know when you’ve got your diaper on and I’ll come in and help you with your pjs.”

“Okay,” Michelle responded. She figured that meant she had at least a couple more minutes to look, and since she was standing in front of her closet anyway, she resumed her search. When the knock returned almost five minutes later, she still hadn’t found anything, not that she really expected to at this point.

“Ready for me to come in?” Mrs. Roundtree prompted from the other side of the door.

“Not yet!” Michelle shouted back.

“Do you need me to come in and help?” Mrs. Roundtree inquired. The sweet old-lady tone of her voice made it hard for Michelle to decipher whether it was a threat or a legitimate offer, but their common consequences was sufficiently mortifying to Michelle to spur her into action.

She darted over to the bed and unfolded the massive diaper Mrs. Roundtree had set out for her, before quickly taping it around her waist. Despite having worn the very same diapers only a week earlier, Michelle was taken aback by how thick they were. She shuffled around on the bed a little, trying to find to a position that felt a little bit more normal, but had no luck. She still felt as if she was sitting on a pillow and any adjustments to how she sat just reminded her of how loud and crinkly of a garment she was wearing-- not just sitting on a pillow, but a pillow covered in grocery bags. She shrugged her shoulders in defeat, at least getting her pjs on would cover up some of the noise.

She stood and unfurled the pajamas that Mrs. Roundtree had provided. They were her blue Hello Kitty ones. The ones with the zipper in the back. Michelle was hardly surprised. If her Mom was trying to make a point about Michelle keeping her pull-ups on, this is how she would do it. They were already unzipped for her, and so she started to step into them, but standing on one leg caused her to lose her balance and tumble back onto the bed due to the extra mass she had around her waist. Sighing once more, she stayed seated while she pulled the garment up her legs and had barely finished getting her arms into it when Mrs. Roundtree knocked for a third time.

“All finished?” She asked, sounding a little impatient this time around.
“Yeah...” Michelle replied, but without any of the verve she had in voice prior. For a brief moment she considered at least trying to bring the zipper over her diaper but quickly ruled it pointless. The fact of her diaper was painfully obvious whether it was covered or not.

And so Cerise Roundtree opened the door and gingerly stepped into the room, taking in how Michelle was dressed as she did so.

“Well don’t you just look adorable!” she commented brightly. Michelle just grumbled in response, so Cerise took a more conciliatory tack. “I know the last thing you want to do right now is put on your night time diapers early...”

Michelle, almost without thinking, interrupted her. “It’s barely four o’clock,” she whined.

“I know,” Cerise continued, “but your Mother was very clear about that I’m to make sure you wear your diapers during the day as well as at night.”

Pull-ups. They’re called pull-ups, Michelle thought, but when she opened her mouth she just said, “I know...”

Michelle sat down on her bed once again, looking at her feet.

“Besides, won’t it be nice not to have to worry about leaks all day?” When Michelle looked up at her, Cerise smiled brightly, but her gaze returned to feet. They kicked around absently for a moment before Michelle responded glumly.

“I ‘spose,” she said, “but I still rather be wearing my Goodnites.”

“I know, Cerise sighed, before beginning again more gently “and I know Goodnites have worked just fine for you for a long time. You were still wearing them the last time I was over here to watch you and that was years ago, but to be honest Michelle...”

She took a breath. Michelle looked up expectantly.

Cerise continued, “...Goodnites aren’t made for kids your age. The package in your parents’ room said sizes 8-14 and we both know you’re well past that. You’ve grown a lot since I last was here to babysit you, and your Mother let me know that you’ve been having troubles with leaks lately.”

Michelle’s face turned crimson at the mention of leaks as she looked back at the floor. Mrs. Roundtree took a knee in front of her until her head was the same height as Michelle’s and gently lifted up her chin.

“Look at me,” Cerise commanded, voice kind but firm. Michelle obeyed, guided by the older woman’s hand. Now face to face, she noticed Michelle’s lip had tightened into pout and her eyes had started to water.

“It’s not your fault,” Cerise said. Michelle’s eyes started to overflow and she let out a single sob. Cerise wrapped her arms around her charge and squeezed tightly and Michelle started to cry in earnest.

“Let it out sweetie,” she repeated tenderly, stroking her hair, “it’s not your fault. Just let it out.”

Several minutes went by until the sobbing started to subside. When she was sure Michelle was finished, Cerise loosened the hug and Michelle wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her sleeper.

“I’m sorry about your shirt,” Michelle said, voice still wavering slightly. The shoulder of Cerise’s blouse was soaked in tears.

“Don’t you worry about that, honey,” Cerise replied, “You could cry on any shirt of mine and I wouldn’t be the least bit upset with you. This seems like something that had been weighing on your mind for a long time.”

Michelle nodded, she was still pouting a little bit but otherwise she looked in much better shape.

“You know, I’ve been babysitting kids since before you were born, and there’s a couple things I’ve learned that might help you right now,” Cerise said, “one is, the good feeling a child gets when you let them graduate to something less absorbent only lasts until the first time they have an accident that’s too much for whatever they’re wearing. The other thing I’ve learned that you can never blame a child for leaks, because it’s the thing that’s leaking that is the real problem.”

Michelle had listened intently, but looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“Honey, I know you feel more mature when you’re wearing pull-ups, but they’re meant for little accidents, not bigger ones, and they’re supposed to look and fit like underwear, which means they leak a lot more often. When that happens, I’m a lot less concerned about the furniture than your self esteem.”

She paused.

“Have you ever heard the expression, ‘sometimes you have to take a step backward to find the way forward?’”

“I guess, but I’m still not sure what you mean.”

“It’s just something for you to think about hun,” Cerise said, rubbing Michelle’s shoulder.

Cerise gave Michelle another couple minutes to collect herself.

“Are you feeling a little bit better now?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Michelle confirmed.

“Good, now let’s finish getting you dressed. Your Mother mentioned that you might need my help getting your jammies on, but I’m too sure what she meant by that.”

Michelle turned just a shade redder at the question, but kept her composure.

“You gotta zip me up,” she indicated her back with her thumb. “...but do you think I could pick out another pair of PJs?” Michelle wasn’t particularly excited about being reliant on Mrs. Roundtree to get her pjs on and off.

Cerise considered it, “Well, your Mom was pretty particular about what pajamas she wanted you to wear. She said it was either these ones,” she indicated to the set Michelle was wearing, “or the smiley cloud set in the dryer. Do you want me to go get them out for you?”

Michelle sighed, “No, it’s okay.”

“Come on then, let’s get you zipped up,” she said.

Michelle stood and turned around, obediently bearing her back to the babysitter.

Cerise chuckled lightly, “Well that’s creative,” she remarked, “someone should have thought of these years ago.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I was just referring to your PJs dear,” she said dismissively. She tugged on Michelle’s diaper, “Did you get the tapes on tight?”

“Yes Mrs. Roundtree,” Michelle replied, sounding peeved despite an attempt not to.

“Okay,” Cerise replied, “There’s no reason to get an attitude with me dear, I just don’t want you have another leak tonight.”

“I’m sorry, I know,” Michelle replied, trying to sound more sorry than she felt. She could feel Cerise starting to bring the zipper up Michelle’s back. She paused, wondering if it was a good idea to pursue the point that was on her mind, but her mouth opened before she could reach a conclusion.

“What were you talking about when you said my pjs were creative?” she asked as she sensed the zipper reach it’s apex.

“What I meant was, since your parents pick out your jammies, and you're supposed to come let them know before you change into a fresh diaper, there's really no need for them to be easy for you to take off because if you're having trouble getting them off when you need a change there's always going to be someone there to help you,” she explained as she got to work buttoning up the zipper tab.

“Okay, but what about when I have to use the toilet?” Michelle was a little miffed that Mrs. Roundtree made it sound like she was never able to make it to the bathroom.

“All done!” Cerise announced, giving Michelle a light pat on the diaper to emphasize the point before continuing, “Well honey we're talking about pajamas here, so I’d hope you could excuse for thinking primarily about nighttime, not daytime,” she said, “But don't you have to let someone know either way?”

“I mean, yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?”

“So if there's no reason for you to be using the zipper without talking your parents first, it makes everything a lot simpler just to have your parents handle it now doesn't it?”

“I guess...”

“Then if you're not one who's supposed to be using it, there's no point in putting it someplace where it's easy for you to use, let alone someplace where you have to look at it all the time, because that just adds more temptation to break the rules. Better to have it out of sight and out of mind, especially since I've heard you've had a little trouble keeping your diapers on,” Mrs. Roundtree winked at Michelle conspiratorially.

“That’s not true!” Michelle blurted out, sounding a bit more whiny and a bit less indignant than she would have liked, “I don’t have any trouble keeping my diapers on!” She mentally kicked herself for calling them diapers.

Cerise chuckled, “Well I’m sure you’ve been much better at it since you started wearing those jammies.” She paused, but Michelle hadn’t expected the older lady to have had such a potent comeback and needed a little bit of time to reevaluate her argument. Cerise was old enough to know to quit when she was ahead, so she changed the subject:

“I’ve got to finish changing these sheets, so why don’t you get downstairs and finish picking up the living room from your slumber party?”

Michelle still didn’t have a sufficiently biting comeback, so she simply acquiesced. She collected her phone from the charger before setting off towards the hallway as Cerise got to work stripping pillows from their cases, starting with the ones that were strewn across the floor near the bed.

“Oh, well what do we have here?” Cerise halted her labours to stoop over and collect something from the floor.

Michelle, having not yet reached the doorway, turned around out of curiosity and was immediately mortified by what she saw. In Mrs. Roundtree’s hands was the pink pacifier she had found in her luggage.

“Aren’t you a little old for a pacifier Michelle?” She asked.

Frozen in place by embarrassment, Michelle’s face flushed the brightest shade of crimson yet, “I… uh...”

Cerise’s good-natured laugh interrupted her stammering, “Relax sweetie, I’m just pulling your leg.”

Michelle was still much too embarrassed to speak, but her red hue dropped a few notches toward normal and the worry on her face partly gave way to confusion.

“Plenty of children still keep some relic of their younger days to help them sleep,” the older woman explained, “Some children cuddle with stuffed animals; some prefer to suck on a pacifier…” She glanced towards the stuffed rabbit on Michelle’s bed, clearly worn with regular use, “...and I guess some do both. I’m not here to judge; it’s a lot better for you than sucking your thumb.”

Michelle, felt a wave of relief wash over her from how accepting her babysitter was. She quickly reminded herself that, regardless of how affirming it was that Mrs. Roundtree would withhold judgment after finding such an infantile item in Michelle’s room, she did NOT sleep with, suckle upon, or otherwise use in any fashion, a pacifier. A tiny voice in the back of Michelle’s mind reminded her that she had, in fact, slept with a pacifier not that long ago and didn’t find it absolutely horrible, but the rest of her mind swiftly reminded that voice that circumstances beyond her control had propelled her into wearing the pacifier, and she wouldn’t even have touched it if she’d had her way.

As Michelle was desperately searching for a way to believably explain that the pacifier not only wasn’t hers, but wasn’t something she ever intended on using again, Cerise interrupted her reverie.

“Would you like it now?” she asked, holding the pacifier out towards Michelle.

Michelle’s train of thought crashed at the question.

“Uhmmm…” Dammit Michelle say something.

“No!” The passion of her repudiation surprised both Michelle and her babysitter, but she quickly recovered, “I mean, no… No, I’m okay, thank you.”

Cerise stood still for several seconds looking perplexed, still a little surprised by the zeal with which Michelle had spurned the pacifier, until a glint of understanding percolated into her features.

“Silly me, of course you don’t want it, it’s been sitting on a dirty floor all day,” she shook her head, “Why don’t you be a dear and bring it to the kitchen for me then Michelle, I’ll give it a good washing after supper so it’s all nice and clean for you come bedtime.”

Having the pacifier deposited in her hands broke the spell of paralysis that held Michelle in the doorway. For a brief moment, she considered whether she should try to correct Mrs. Roundtree’s perceptions about the pacifier she had found. The quickly dismissed the truth as too complicated and bizarre to be believable. She considered telling the babysitter that one of her Mom’s friends had brought their baby over recently and had lost the baby’s pacifier in her room, but that didn’t sound believable either. Besides, the pacifier was much too large to belong to a baby. She could concoct a story about how since Hannah had to go babysit immediately after she slept over, the pacifier must have fallen out of her babysitting bag. Since her niece was ten, the size of the pacifier wouldn’t be a problem, but Michelle had a bad feeling that Mrs. Roundtree would call Hannah to try to return it. She even considered claiming that the pacifier was in fact hers’ (Michelle remembered that she was still occasionally sucking her thumb in her sleep, and VERY occasionally while awake, when Mrs. Roundtree had last babysat for her, several years ago. It was a habit her babysitter had tried her best to train her out of, but to no avail. She ended up quitting on her own about a year later.) but was something she hadn’t used in years and thus could be thrown away, but that meant she would have to actually admit it was hers, the whole ordeal she was trying to avoid in the first place. In the end, she decided that she had been through enough embarrassment already she would figure out what to do about it later that evening. Besides, it was barely past four o’clock, come bedtime Mrs. Roundtree probably wouldn’t even remember the pacifier.

When Cerise exited her bedroom to procure clean sheets, Michelle followed her out and ventured towards the stairs. She took them more slowly than usual, still getting accustomed to bulk of her new quote “night-time” diapers, and had just reached the ground floor when she heard Cerise call her name behind her.

“Yes?” She replied, loud enough to be heard in her room. Rather pointlessly, she realized, as when she turned around the woman was at the top of stairs.

As she spoke, her sweet-old-lady voice mingled with the gentle authority of a seasoned babysitter:

“I’m sure you don’t normally go around wearing your pacifier before bed, but if I see you with your thumb in your mouth that’s going to change, okay?”

Michelle wanted to yell at her, shout that she hadn’t sucked her thumb in several years at least, but she wilted under the older woman’s authoritative gaze. Perhaps it was better just to let it be. Besides, she had stopped sucking her thumb years ago, so it’s not like she had anything to worry about.

–

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Aug 24, 2017 at 12:27 AM
Content:

PuppyDog said:

Yayyy! i'm so glad this story is finally back, and its as adorable as ever!. And a little mysterious.
First a strange box of diapers, (from her aunt?) and then someone saved the pacifier?, very interesting.
Anyway here's my prediction (or is it hope? lol) for poor Michelle in the near future. aci:

Thank you for sharing.

[End of quote]

Thanks for keeping up with it! We've finally passed the halfway point! =]

If your prediction is the paci emoji, you're probably right. The rest I cannot confirm or deny. :ninja:

nray999 said:

Wow! great to see another chapter so soon, and another step in the plot. The scene with the sitter and the diaper was a flashback to Chantal, as was the surprise reappearance of the pacifier. I also appreciated the details of the Velcro suitcase lining, having seen a few. Regarding the box of diapers, I think that was part of the pajama shopping trip in the previous chapters, or something Laura picked up without Michelle. Personally I'm suspicious about the sudden disappearance of all the Goodnites. Please don't keep us in suspense too long. Also is there a Christmas story line in the works? If I'm following the timeline correctly the current chapter is 1-2 weeks after Thanksgiving weekend, so, early December

[End of quote]

Yup. Roundtree/Chantal is meant to be a good/bad, old/young and authoritative/authoritarian babysitter parallel to show how Michelle reacts differently in what is otherwise the largely the same position. Regarding the suitcase lining, I try to keep the writing relatively economical, at least in terms of extraneous description, but I'm glad you appreciated that detail. I, too, have had experience with velcro suitcase lining and have lost and hidden many an item within it.

A christmas storyline is indeed storyboarded out, but either that or new years will be the last chapter. The whole story that I initially had planned out is a little over half done at this point, with roughly one mini-arc and 4 story arcs to go until the x-mas chapter. It is currently the second Saturday in December storywise.

Jeffy25 said:

I'm so happy to see this! Will we get more? You leave us with such cliffhangers!

[End of quote]

Thanks! <3 Yup, more is on the way. I just started the next chapter earlier today.

wetatnight said:

I think michelle's parents and other conspirators are turning michelle into a baby

[End of quote]

You'll just have to keep reading to find out. =P

babycakes said:

I can't tell you how happy I am to read this next installment of your story. You have a gift for writing and I appreciate you sharing that gift with us. There is more realism in your story than any I have read in this genre and it always seems like fate/bad luck when Michelle trips herself up, which is life in general. Except for Katelyn who seems to definitely have a plan in mind for Michelle. Anyway, thanks again for the great work.

[End of quote]

Aww. <3 I really appreciate the compliments. =]

One of the reasons I decided to write this (aside from having fuck-all to do after taking some extended-release amphetamines way too late in the day) is the reliance on extensive deus ex machina and borderline-abusive caretakers in so many stories in this genre. Aside from just being lazy writing, a lot of deus ex machina breaks the immersion important to any piece of fiction, no matter how good the prose itself is, and is the reason that so many abdl stories become less believable as they go on.

Deux ex machina aside, I get absolutely zero enjoyment from reading about borderline (or occasionally not even borderline) abusive caretakers as someone who not only has many close friends who have been the victims of terrible, uncaring and abusive parents but also as someone with some experience of it myself. There's way too many abdl stories out there that make me simultaneously incredibly angry and sick to my stomach, not limited to but especially those involving sexual content. I've seen the consequences of such behaviour first hand and it's not fucking pretty. It fucks up someone's mental, social and sexual health for the rest of their lives and I've had close friends driven to addiction, mental illness and suicide because of it. Addressing abuse is one thing, but glorifying it is absolutely unacceptable.

I just wanted an abdl/regression story that's both realistic and contains a relatively normal and healthy parent/child relationship. Given that I'd read almost every story that I really enjoyed several times over and I consider myself a halfway decent wordsmith, I figured "why not write one myself?"

And once it was written, I thought, "Why not let other people enjoy it? Maybe it will influence people to write similar kinds of stories," which I hope it has. While I can't speak to my influence on it, I enjoyed "Ally's Pyjama Experience" a lot, which explored several of the big ideas and themes found within Michelle, even to the point of pre-empting (and thus causing me to re-write) a few storylines I had planned for Michelle.

You are correct about Katelyn though, she's playing her own game, the reasons for which will hopefully clear as the story develops. =]

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Aug 30, 2017 at 4:20 AM
Content: Mini-update:

Capitulum novum:

Michelle sat slouched in the back of Cerise’s old Lincoln with her phone resting on her diaper reading webcomics as the car wound through the snowy streets. There was no one in the front seat; Cerise had insisted on Michelle sitting in the back for safety reasons. This annoyed Michelle, it had been quite a while since her parents had stopped relegating her to the back seat for the same reason, but the terms of the bargain she made were quite clear and she took the seat without complaining. She was slouched low as the seatbelt would allow. Despite the inherent darkness of a winter evening and the presence of her parka, she was apprehensive about been seen dressed as she was. Being spotted by any random passerby would be bad enough, let alone being recognized by someone who went to her church or school. She recognized that the chances of such an encounter were slim, but she considered the consequences to be grave enough to warrant maximizing every resource at her disposal.

It didn’t take long for her to realize she should have used the bathroom when Cerise had offered. The car’s suspension had not aged gracefully and every bump in the road seemed to goad Michelle’s bladder a little more. The longer she was in the car, the more she realized that this wasn’t something she could wait until they got home to take care of, which presented Michelle with a devilish dilemma:

She could either A) Go in to the store with Cerise and risk being seen traipsing around the place in footie pajamas and a painfully obvious diaper, but get to a toilet and do her business or B) wet her diaper in the car and deal with the consequences of that, whatever they may be. As much as an anathema as going in to the store dressed as she was would be, she also didn’t want to disappoint Cerise.

Michelle contemplated the seemingly impossible decision lying ahead-- the choice between letting her secret out and being seen by any number of complete strangers dressed in her remarkably immature sleepwear, or acting exceptionally immature and justifying how Cerise had been treating her. Michelle understood that Cerise wasn’t trying to be mean to her, and as angry as she got with her circumstances she recognized in her heart that she couldn’t blame her babysitter. Mrs. Roundtree had simply taken what Laura had told her and the evidence around the house and extrapolated from there, using her experience as a babysitter as a guide. Michelle wanted to prove to her that she was more mature than Mrs. Rountree’s initial impression, that the diapers and the pacifier were all some big mistake.

She traced the outline that the diaper created on her pajamas between her waist and thigh thoughtfully as the consequences of going inside the store barged into the forefront of her mind. Seated, even in her extreme slouch, the diaper created a large, unmissable bump around her waist and between her legs, causing her to sit with her legs splayed apart somewhat. She was able to touch her knees together, but only with conscious effort and even the just barely. She knew from experience that the situation wouldn’t get any better when she stood up, that as obvious the diaper was from the front, it was even more so from behind. Her pjs tried admirably to disguise all the extra padding on her butt and the lines of the diaper, but there is only so much an article of clothing can do in that regard. She considered the best way to make it to bathroom, once they made it to whatever store they were going to. Hopefully the bathroom would be in front, but even if it was, Michelle realized that Cerise would have to accompany her into the bathroom to help her get her pjs off. She visualized the very awkward situation waiting for her when the bathroom, likely to be a multi-stall affair, already had people in it. Having an audience while Cerise handled the zipper would be mortifying. However, a one-person bathroom presented its own challenges: to avoid the prior problem, Cerise would have to come into the bathroom with her. That, combined with her obviously diapered state, would give the entire store the impression Cerise was simply changing her diaper for her. Michelle nibbled at her thumb nail in apprehension, even without those problems, she had never tried refastening these diapers before and couldn’t be sure that the tapes would hold up being used a second time. She was sure Mrs. Roundtree wouldn’t allow her to go without protection, even if it was just for the ride back, so Michelle would either be stuck in a stall while Mrs. Roundtree purchased new diapers for her or, even worse, she’d ask an employee if they could retrieve a package of diapers for her to use since it was an “emergency,” and promise that she would pay after Michelle had put it on. It would be obvious to everybody whom the diaper was for once she left the bathroom and she was sure that exactly nobody would attribute the emergency change to faulty tapes.

Still, as doubt and trepidation whirled around in Michelle’s mind, a significant part of her was willing to accept the challenge. Since Cerise arrived, she hadn’t made it to bathroom once, and was determined to show her that she could, determined to show Cerise that she was big girl. A big girl who maybe sometimes needed pull-ups at night, but a big girl nonetheless.

Michelle was squirming in her seat as the old Lincoln trundled over a snow-covered curb, almost causing her to go right then, and into a strip mall parking lot, finding a parking space between a GNC and a Pizza Hut.

Michelle scanned her surroundings, diaper crinkling noisily as she pivoted in the car seat. It took her a minute, but she recognized the strip mall as the one that contained the A&SC Company store. The lot was roughly half-full and she didn’t see anyone outside. This is it, she thought, be brave.

“We’re here,” Cerise announced as she engaged the parking brake. “I’m leaving the keys in it, so please stay in the car until I get back unless it’s an emergency.” She cracked the car door open and stepped out onto the snow-dusted concrete.

“Hey Mrs. Roundtree…?” Michelle asked sheepishly.

Cerise paused halfway out of the car and turned to Michelle, “Yes dear?”

Michelle marshaled all the bravery she could find, pushed her nervousness to the back of her mind and summoned the strength she needed to go in and face whatever fate had for her. Her hand moved to the seat-belt release but she hesitated.

“Michelle?” Cerise prompted.

Just then, a maroon minivan pulled in to the parking spot adjacent Michelle’s door. She caught a glimpse of a collection of boys close to her age but tore her gaze away, not wanting to make eye contact.

“...” Come on Michelle, get out of the car, she thought, who cares what those boys think?

Michelle heard the minivan doors sliding open, followed by the tromp of shoes on pavement and boisterous conversation. Cerise gave her charge an impatient look.

“Oh, uh… nevermind.”

“Are you sure?” Cerise raised an eyebrow, “Do you need me to get you something else?”

Michelle responded quickly, “No, it’s fine, I can stay here.”

“Okay,” Cerise replied, a little skeptically, “I’ll be back soon.” She shut the door behind her.

Michelle glanced back out of her window. She watched as the group from minivan, revealed as two boys and two girls, all roughly Michelle’s age, and an older woman, likely the mother of one of the kids, filed through the glass doors into Pizza Hut.

They’re inside, now’s your chance, she told herself, you can still make it if you run inside and find Mrs. Roundtree.

Michelle’s hand returned to the seat-belt release button.

She can’t get mad if I go in, this is probably exactly what she meant when she mentioned emergencies.

She visualized charging through the doors, spotting Mrs. Roundtree and informing her of the situation.

Come on Michelle. Get up get up get up!

Fighting back the urge to pee was getting harder. She bit her thumb in concentration, willing herself to get up and go into the store. She took off the seatbelt, checked the on the group inside the Pizza Hut through the glass storefront but she couldn’t will herself into opening the door. She tried for another minute before giving up and sliding back down into the seat. She settled on waiting until Mrs. Roundtree returned, at which point she’d notify her of the problem and could bring Michelle inside to take care of it, and focused on holding it until that happened. She reasoned that with enough effort she could make it ten, maybe even twenty minutes before she had an accident.

Only a couple minutes had passed when Michelle noticed the strain on her bladder start to dissipate and her diaper start to grow warm as it swelled up underneath her. Her relief was tempered by the disappointment of wetting yet another diaper, this time while fully awake. She tried to rationalize it, tell herself it was a fluke, bad luck, and that she would have made it had the van not arrived when it did, but she couldn’t shake how infantile she felt sitting in a wet diaper and Hello Kitty sleeper in the back of a car, waiting for her sitter to return from inside the store.

Michelle sniffled a little but stopped short of crying. Crying wasn’t something a big girl would do and she more determined than ever to realize that ideal.

–

Cerise didn’t take long inside the store and emerged toting a brown paper bag that she deposited on the passenger seat.

“I think you’ll like these new night diapers a lot better than the ones you have on,” she declared, “a young lady who worked there helped me pick them out after I told her a little bit about you. The store just started getting them in last week.”

Michelle winced when she heard that Mrs. Roundtree had told one of the employees about her. That fact alone almost made her glad she had stayed in the car. Almost. She thanked the older woman regardless and craned her neck to get a look at these new diapers she was talking about.

From her vantage point in the back seat, Michelle could only make out the top-most item in the bag but what she saw made her feel better. It was a package of diapers, twenty-four of them to be exact. Now earlier in the week, or even earlier in the day, Michelle would have detested seeing a package of diapers so clearly meant for her, but spending the last few hours in her quote “night time diapers” had changed her perspective.

From the markings on the package, she could tell these weren’t the super thick and crinkly “Maximum Absorbency” style of diapers she was wearing currently. Instead, they seemed to be made specifically for teens and featured phrases like “Discreet plastic backing” and “Accurate, comfortable fit” alongside such phrases as “Leak-proof” and “Day or night protection.” Importantly, they didn’t look nearly as wide or hefty as the ones she had on either. Michelle could make out another package in the bag as well, and though it was largely occluded by the first, Michelle inferred it was a jumbo pack of Goodnites by the purple colour scheme and cardboard construction.

Though it was clear that Mrs. Roundtree was still stuck on the idea of pull-ups during the day and real, tape-closing diapers at night, Michelle was glad that her time in the bulky, noisy “night time diapers” was about to come to an end. She’d still have to wear these new teen diapers tonight of course, but they were better than the alternative and tomorrow, with Mrs. Roundtree gone, she could go back to wearing Goodnites at night and only at night.

However, the good news presented Michelle with a bit of a dilemma. Should she admit her accident to Mrs. Roundtree in hopes of being allowed to wear a Goodnite until bedtime rolled around or stay in her current diaper until it’s time to get her new night diapers on, hopefully concealing the accident from Mrs. Roundtree in the process.

She shifted her weight around, trying to get a feel for just how likely a leak would be if she stayed in her diaper for the next couple hours, eliciting a cacophony of plastic rustling in the process. From that and her memory of how thick the diaper could get from when she poured water into at Aunt Meredith’s, she concluded that not only was a leak extremely unlikely, but that the diaper could even hold another wetting without making one any more likely.

As the pair drove back home the snow that had been falling all day started to get heavier and the wind picked up to match. Michelle was still turning over the dilemma in her mind when the Lincoln pulled into the garage and the garage door shut behind it, but not before a snowy flurry found its way into the garage and scattered her mother’s plastic planters across the floor.

Michelle hopped out of the car and took a moment to adjust to walking around in her diaper, which had gained a significant degree of thickness and weight since the last time she stood. She worried that her babysitter would notice the change, but Mrs. Roundtree didn’t seem to catch on, even as Michelle offered to take the bag inside for her.

“Thank you dear,” Cerise replied, “but I bought you a little surprise for tomorrow since I’m not sure when I’ll see you next. I wouldn’t want you catch a glimpse by accident and spoil the surprise.”

The concept of a surprise piqued Michelle’s interest. She scanned the paper bag intently for some sort of clue, but ended up with nothing more to go on that she already had by the time Cerise had brought the bag inside and stowed it in the guest bedroom.

Knowing any further sleuthing to be fruitless, Michelle resumed mulling over the diapers vs pull-ups debate, leaning towards the one that kept her prior accident under wraps. It was a testament to the absorbency of her diaper that, aside from the added weight and width that she was rapidly getting used to, she didn’t feel wet in the least. She laid down on the couch, turned on the TV and snuggled up in a blanket while Mrs. Roundtree returned to the garage to pick up after the winter wind.

Michelle was fully engrossed in America’s Funniest Home Videos when Cerise returned to the family room, barely registering the fact she was there until Cerise spoke.

“Okay hun, it’s time for a diaper check,” she announced, “Lay on your tummy for me please.”

Michelle’s heart sank and face flushed red. A diaper check? What?

Michelle couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had an actual diaper check. Discounting her parents asking her whether she was dry every morning, she certainly hadn’t had one in the past five years and she doubted they had ever occurred in the last ten. Even worse, she couldn’t imagine what Cerise would think when she discovered she was wet.

Not wet like you’ve been twice today, after waking up, a tiny voice in Michelle’s mind reminded her, but wet after spending the entire time awake.

Michelle found her voice again as Cerise approached the couch, she had to try something.

“But why?” She asked, tone coming across with a bit more attitude than she would have liked, “I’ve never had diaper checks before.”

“Well honey it’s been over three hours since your last change,” Cerise reasoned, “and you haven’t gone potty once in that time.”

Michelle wanted to take issue with her usage of the word “potty,” and would have if there weren’t bigger problems to deal with at current. Cerise seemed to notice this.

“I’m sorry, gone to the bathroom in that time,” she corrected. “If you’re dry, it’ll only take a moment and then you can get back to watching TV and I won’t bother you any more.”

Michelle grumbled, clearly frustrated, but Cerise muted the TV and stood patiently between Michelle and the TV screen, making it clear that she wasn’t going to go away until she was done with the check. Michelle tried to wait it out for a minute longer anyway, but she couldn’t see another way out and at this point she was just postponing the inevitable.

She rolled over on to her stomach in surrender, feeling a tug at the back of her neck as Cerise undid the tab and pulled the zipper down her back. When it reached it’s nadir, Cerise let out a barely audible gasp.

“Michelle!” she said, making eye contact with her charge, “why didn’t you tell me you were this wet?”

Michelle’s frustration, obstinance and annoyance quickly sublimated into regret. Her eyes welled up and lip quivered in response before burying her head in the pillow.

“I’m sorry,” she said, voice trembling.

Cerise didn’t reply for a long while, Michelle’s sniffling punctuating the sound of the howling winter wind outside. She rubbed Michelle’s shoulder gently.

“No, I’m sorry,” she confessed, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

Michelle lifted her head from the pillow and looked up at the older woman gingerly.

Cerise continued, “It’s not your fault you didn’t know. I know you wouldn’t willingly be walking around in a wet diaper for this long and you would have told me if you knew.”

Michelle was momentarily confused, but figured out what Cerise meant in short order. She wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to correct the record. She was sure this way didn’t lead to her getting in trouble, and wasn’t so sure if the other way would pan out similarly, especially if it somehow came out that she was planning on disposing of the evidence without telling Mrs. Roundtree.

“I know it’s probably a little embarrassing for you, but this is why we do diaper checks,” she said. She sat with Michelle for several minutes, gently rubbing her shoulder as Michelle collected her emotions. Finally, she stood up.

“I think it’s time to get you into a nice fresh diaper. How’s that sound?”

Michelle nodded and followed Cerise up to the bathroom. Michelle was surprised when the diaper Mrs. Roundtree handed her was another of the super-heavy-duty ones had been wearing all evening.

“I have to run downstairs for a minute, but I’ll right outside the door to zip you back up when I’m done,” she said as she exited the bathroom, starting to close the door behind when she heard Michelle ask a question.

“Uh… Mrs. Roundtree,” she said, clearly feeling a little awkward about the ordeal, “Since it’s only 7:00, would it be okay if I didn’t put on my night time diapers until I have to get ready for bed?”

Cerise seemed to consider it for a moment. “I think it would make more sense to put them on now. It would be a waste if you didn’t end up using it. It’s not that you’re worried about running out of night diapers, are you?” She asked, “We have that whole other package I just picked up to go through yet.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Michelle couldn’t argue with her reasoning. She only half-expected to be allowed to wear a Goodnite so late in the night anyway, so she tried a different tactic. “Can I wear my new night time diapers then at least?” She tried to sound as sweet as possible.

Cerise chuckled, “I know you’re excited to try them on, but why don’t we finish up this package first instead of tearing into a new one, you’ll have plenty of time to wear them tomorrow night.”

“Please?” Michelle pleaded, “Pretty pretty please with sugar on top?”

Cerise smiled but shook her head, “That was awful cute, but I don’t think so. You’ll be okay without them for one night.” She started to close the door once more, but paused. “I’ll tell you what, if you’re that excited to try them out, I’ll give you a pair tomorrow morning and you can wear them during the day. Just don’t tell your Mom that I did.” She winked conspiratorially and closed the door behind her.

Michelle pouted. The last thing she wanted to do was wear night time diapers during the day more than she already had this weekend. She stared at the puffy white plastic item on the counter for several minutes, almost like if she stared at it long enough it would get the hint and go away, but it stayed on the counter and didn’t respond.

Oh fine! She thought, let’s get it over with.

She extracted her arms from her pajamas and tore the side of the diaper, lifting it off herself and pensively tossing it into the trash. She freshened up a little, keeping her feet in the sleeper’s booties so she wouldn’t have to try negotiating the bulk of the new diaper while balancing on one leg to get dressed. She opened the diaper sourly and laid it on the toilet seat before sitting on it and taping it up around her.

Despite her distaste for wearing diapers in general and wearing these diapers specifically, she had to admit that it felt really nice to change into a fresh one, especially after sitting in a wet one for as long as she had. She traced shapes in the air with her legs for a minute, savoring the feeling before she realized what she was doing, blushed even though nobody was watching and hastily started getting her pjs back on.

She got dressed as much as she could manage on her own besides pulling up the zipper, figuring she could save a little time if she just let Mrs. Roundtree take care of that. She exited the bathroom to find the older woman waiting for her. Michelle saw she had something in her hand.

Why does she have my pacifier? Michelle wondered. As the thought entered her mind, she corrected herself. No, it’s not my pacifier. Girls my age don’t have pacifiers. It’s Jazmyne’s pacifier that somehow got mixed into her luggage. She made a note to send it back to Jazmyne once her parents got home.

Cerise approached her in the midst of Michelle’s internal dialogue, clipping it to the front of pajamas next to Hello Kitty’s bow and letting it fall, bouncing lightly on the baby blue fleece. The act brought abruptly Michelle back to reality.

“But it’s not bedtime yet!” She blurted without thinking.

“No, it’s not.” Cerise explained, wearing a wry smile, “I suppose you thought I didn’t notice all that time you spent with your thumb in the mouth since you were in the backseat, huh?”

When Michelle remembered the incident, she mentally facepalmed, letting out a barely audible “oh.”

“But I wasn’t--”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” Cerise cut her off in her warm but authoritative babysitter voice, “but now that you have your paci, you won’t need to suck your thumb anymore, ok?”

Michelle looked down past the pacifier and fleece Hello Kitty on her chest at her feet, feeling every bit as much the guilty child getting scolded as she looked. She briefly considering making the distinction between biting her thumb and sucking on it, but it was already quite obvious that line of argument wouldn’t get her anywhere.

Cerise modulated her voice back to where it was before Michelle started to argue, sounding pleasant and warm, even motherly.

“Now turn around for me honey so we can finish getting you dressed.”

Michelle did as she was told, pouting somewhat as the tab closed over the zipper. She unconsciously began moving her thumb to her mouth but caught herself before Mrs. Roundtree noticed.

“I’m going downstairs to read,” Cerise proclaimed, giving Michelle’s diaper a playful pat as she did so, “Let me know if you need anything.”

As she descended the stairs, Cerise said aloud to no one in particular, “Weather’s getting nasty out there, hopefully the young lady taking over for me can get here alright tomorrow morning.”

In all the hullabaloo, she had completely forgotten that Rachel was set to take over Mrs. Roundtree on Sunday. She studied herself in the long hall mirror. From Hello Kitty footie jammies and pacifier clipped on to them to the large, noisy diaper that was self-evidently around her waist, the thought of her friend seeing her as she was, especially after so long, rattled Michelle. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much she could do about it. The pacifier she could probably take off before Rachel arrived, but she didn’t see a way that she could get her pjs, and more importantly, the diaper off on her own.

She trudged to her room, deep in thought, and sat crosslegged in front of her TV. After turning on the Gamecube she took a can of Cherry Coke from her secret stash under the bed. Perhaps some video games would take her mind off things for a while.

She sipped the Coke and watched the intro cinematic, then looked back at the can of Coke. Maybe she had an idea after all.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Aug 31, 2017 at 7:54 PM
Content:

Jeffy25 said:

Wow!!!!!!!!! this keeps on getting better!

[End of quote]

I appreciate the props! =] Thanks for keeping up with the story man, you're almost always the first one to comment.

Tina said:

I like this story very much. Nice style and not too hard to read for a german reader. I know a 6year old diaper girl with the name Michelle and I'm curious about how similar the girls are when my real Michelle gets older.

Greatings from the other side of our planet.

[End of quote]

Thanks for reading. I've tried to rein in my normally rather baroque style of writing for more economical prose. I feel like it still comes across in the occasionally overcomplicated sentence structure, but it allows me to push out chapters faster and makes the story less work to read. I'd never considered it's implications regarding someone for whom English isn't their mother tongue, but I'm glad it's not too much of a slog! =] Thanks for reading!

nray999 said:

It's great to see another installment. I definitely see where you are going with authoritative versus authoritarian, and Cerise definitely gets Michelle to do her bidding without the angry reaction. The last scene with Coke can leaves me wondering how much, or how little Michelle has learned since her earlier clever plans had success rate on par with Wile E Coyote.

[End of quote]

You'll just have to wait and see. There's a little twist coming up soon.

nray999 said:

As an aside, since it was never mentioned in the text, how old is Jazmyne? Based on the remark that she was almost too old for diapers and footies I was thinking kindergarten or early grade school. Anyway please keep up the pace, I'm eager to see both the "clever plan" and the surprise.

[End of quote]

Six or seven, I don't remember exactly. Thanks for keeping up with story btw! :cheers:

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Oct 5, 2017 at 6:03 AM
Content: Ruff draft:

---

"I think you've had enough video games for one night sweetie."

Hearing Cerise's voice broke Michelle's concentration on the game in front of her. She paused it and turned around, belatedly remembering to remove the pacifier from her mouth in the process. Cerise was leaning against the doorframe-- Michelle wondered how long she'd been standing there.

Seeing that she now had her charge's full attention, Cerise continued, "And anyway, it's about time for you to brush your teeth and finish up getting ready for bed."

Michelle glanced at her bedside clock. It read 8:52, not quite nine, when she normally had to start getting ready, but not early enough to make an issue of either. She made a face but muttered her agreement.

Cerise smiled, "that's a good girl. Now let's get your diaper checked so you can go brush your teeth."

Michelle looked up at her sitter, confusion plastered across her face. Another diaper check?

"Also, you can shut off the TV since you won't be using it. There's no need to waste electricity by leaving it on until bedtime."

Michelle stood up to go shut off the TV, immediately feeling the full weight of the wet diaper sagging between her thighs. As the television blinked off she heard her babysitter cry out.

"That's a wet diaper waddle if I've ever seen one," she said, surprise apparent in her tone, "So how about we skip the diaper check and go straight to getting you a new nighttime diaper?"

Michelle jumped a little when she felt Cerise feel her thigh with the back of her hand. "Looks like you had a little leak too," she sighed, "I'll have to go get your other jammies out of the dryer." Michelle winced at the disappointment she heard in the older woman's voice. She'd only meant to wet it enough to be able to wear her new diapers tonight, not soak it to the point of leaking. She'd only used it twice, how was it possible that it was already leaking?

Michelle wracked her brain for an answer as Cerise guided her to the bathroom but could only remember those two times, and she neither of them felt substantial enough to cause a leak in diaper this thick. She had a fleeting memory of an amorphous pressure building up in her bladder after those two times, but she held it and it had gone away... she had held it, hadn't she? Try as she might, she couldn't remember.

Cerise detached the pacifier and unzipped Michelle in front of the bathroom door, whistling quietly in amazement when she got the zipper down far enough to see the diaper underneath.

"You might as well brush your teeth while you're in there, I should have everything ready by the time you're done," Cerise said, "just leave your pjs on the floor and I'll take care of them."

"Ok," Michelle replied while closing the door behind her, hoping she didn't come off as churlish as she thought she might have. She pulled off her Hello Kitty sleeper, noticing for the first time where the wet spots clung to her thighs, and tore off her diaper, letting it drop to the floor with a wet plop. She cleaned herself up and brushed her teeth, turning the night’s events over in her mind as she did so. For the first time, she realized that not only had made to the bathroom once since her Mom had left, but she hadn’t even been able to tell Mrs. Roundtree when she was wet. Whether it was leak she had shortly after the sitter had arrived or the incident after returning home, Cerise had always discovered herself. It annoyed Michelle how Cerise’s diaper checks had robbed her of the chance to be responsible and tell the woman whether she was wet on her own, but she could at least take comfort in the fact that, even though things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan, she wasn’t going to have to wear those big, babyish diapers any longer.

She briefly considered what it meant that getting to wear a thinner, more discreet diaper to bed felt like such an accomplishment, but she pushed the thought out of her mind. Better not to dwell on such things, she thought. When she was done brushing her teeth, she raided the linen closet for a new towel to drape around herself (there was no way in hell she was walking back to her room naked) and exited the bathroom.

Upon entering her room, the first thing she noticed was that Cerise had changed her sheets. She had moved to her bed after the additional bulk caused by wetting her diaper made sitting on the floor uncomfortable and the leak must have soaked through the fleece of her pajamas onto the bed. Her multicolour pinstripe sheets and green comforter had been replaced with the only other clean set she had available: the pink Disney Princess bedding set she had retired when she was eleven. The new comforter featured near life-size renditions of Cindarella, Tiana, Sleeping Beauty and Belle backed by the dark pink silhouette of the Disney castle and white paisley detailing for contrast. The sheet continued the theme, with nearly the entire coterie of Princesses displayed through a checkerboard of vignettes. Despite how much she felt this added another level of insult to what was already a day full of injury to her sense of maturity, given that all her current sheets were either in the wash or going in soon, there wasn’t much she could do to remedy the situation. She noted with approval that the package containing her new diapers had been set next to her nightstand and turned her attention to the bundles laid neatly on her bed.

One she recognized as her blue sleeper with happy clouds. She rolled her eyes when she remembered her Mom decreed that her collection of normal, front-zipping footie pajamas was off-limits for tonight due to her hiding the accident she’d had the day before. After tonight, she couldn’t imagine she’d wear either this cloud print one or the Hello Kitty one she’d been wearing up until now again any time soon. In fact, she planned on relegating them to the bottom of her pajama drawer first thing after she changed out of them tomorrow morning if she could.

Next to the sleeper was a bundle almost the exact same color pink as her sheets. This, of course, must be one of the diapers she’d been waiting to wear since her and Cerise got back home. As she got closer, she noticed the baby pink in center of the diaper was bracketed by a splash of hot pink on either side and the whole thing was decorated with images of unicorns, tiaras and stars.

Funny, Michelle thought, she hadn’t imagined they would be so girly. She remembered the outside of the package being pretty gender neutral. She glanced back at the package for clues and after staring at it in confusion for several seconds, realized something was amiss-- not only was the package as gender-neutral as she remembered it, it wasn’t even open!

Michelle’s gaze shot back to the mystery diaper on her bed. Closer inspection revealed that it was roughly as thick as the ones she’d been wearing up til now, the ones that her aunt had bought her, but where had it come from? Michelle clearly remembered Cerise coming out the store with just Goodnites and the package of diapers adjacent her nightstand. She couldn’t imagine there was space in the bag for a third package of diapers. Had her aunt bought her a second package she didn’t know about?

Cerise interrupted her train of thought, “Is everything alright?” She was sat in Michelle’s desk chair, having refaced it towards the center of room.

“What’s that?” Michelle asked, voice tense.

Cerise responded with her trademark patience, “What is what, sweetie?”

“That!” Michelle almost yelped the word, pointing at the diaper with one hand and holding up her towel with the other.

“Your new diaper?” Cerise asked.

“No,” Michelle’s voice was firm, “That! On the bed!” She pointed again, harder this time, feeling her point wasn’t coming across.

“Yes, your new diaper,” Cerise repeated, clearly quite confused by the question.

“THAT is my new diaper?” Michelle could scarcely believe it.

“That’s what I said, honey,” Cerise was still very confused, but figured her charge would clear that up soon.

“B-but,” Michelle started, paused, and began anew, “No. You said I’d like the new diapers better than the old ones... that they’re more appropriate for me.”

“I did say that Michelle,” Mrs. Roundtree stated, her even, patient tone contrasting with Michelle’s building emotion, “These are specially designed for girls your age who have trouble staying dry at night. They are made to fit the female body better than unisex briefs and have a just little bit extra padding in all the right areas to stop leaks. Plus they are way cuter than those boring old white ones you’ve been wearing. I think you’ll like them a lot better than your old nighttime diapers once you get a chance to wear them for a bit.”

“But they’re just as thick as the other diapers!” Michelle blurted out.

“Of course they are honey,” Cerise said, “What kind of babysitter would I be if I didn’t know what capacity diapers you need?”

“If I really needed diapers that size, then why did you get me those!?” Michelle thrust out her hand towards the package next to the nightstand, pointing incriminatingly.

Cerise looked at package, then back to Michelle, then back to the package one more time before it dawned on her.

“Oh honey...” she said in that special way women reserve for when someone’s particularly misguided, “You didn’t really think I’d let you wear something like that to bed right after leaking through your previous nighttime diapers in less than three hours, did you?”

Michelle blinked, processing the situation, as Cerise continued. “You need something that can last from when you go to bed to when you wake up and the way you’ve been going those diapers wouldn’t last you more than an hour or two,” she explained, “Daytime diapers are meant to be changed several times throughout the day, but hopefully these new nighttimes diapers will hold until you change out of them in the morning.”

Michelle felt a little like she was slapped in the face, “Daytime diapers!?” She exclaimed. “What happened to my Goodnites!?”

“You ran out, so I picked up these instead,” Cerise answered. Michelle was amazed at her ability to say the sentence as it was the most normal thing in the world. When Cerise registered the amazement on Michelle’s face, she took a conciliatory tone, "I know it's not what you're used to, but you can't expect me to keep letting you wear Goodnites during the day after leaking through them twice in one day."

Michelle wasn't ready to concede, the consternation she had felt about her treatment throughout the day was coming to a head. Her denials got louder with every word and she was nearly shouting at Cerise. "But that's not fair! I was asleep both times!"

Cerise's tone took on a slightly harder edge in response, "That's true. However, you just proved that even when you're awake you can wet enough to leak through your night diapers, which are way more absorbent than your goodnites and even the daytime diapers I bought you. I think it's very reasonable of me to expect you to wear them after everything that's happened today, but I won't force you to wear them if you'd rather be obstinate and raise your voice at me. I'm sure having you wear your night time diapers during the day instead would work just as well-- better even.” She paused to let the point sink in, adding after a moment, “Of course, if you decide that you won’t put those on either, I’ll have to call your parents and get permission to change you myself until Rachel gets here.”

Michelle realized that she was skating on thin ice, so she took a moment to rein in her emotions and steady her tone before replying, but she wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Okay, but can I try wearing Goodnites later on in the day if I don't leak?"

Cerise shrugged, "That will be up to the young lady taking over for me, but I'd advise her against it."

"What if I can stay dry all morning long?"

"Like I said Michelle, it's not up to me."

"But will you tell Rachel it's okay to let me wear Goodnites if I do?"

"Nope," Cerise said matter-of-factly, "there's more to proving you're ready to wear pull-ups during the day than just staying dry for a couple hours. Pull-ups are for children who can usually make it on their own, but every now and then can’t quite make in time and frankly, I don't think you're there yet... you haven’t made it to the potty once since I’ve been here and it’s not like I haven’t been asking you."

Michelle had so many emotions running through her at once she didn’t know what to do herself. Part of her understood Cerise’s reasoning and another part wanted to curse her out because of it. One part swore she’d never, ever wear either the nighttime or daytime diapers and another part wanted to put them on to just get this whole situation over with and still another just wanted to sit there and cry. The emotional conflict within Michelle manifested on her face in a deep pout and far-off stare.

Cerise noticed her pouting and sat down on the bed next to her, placed her hand on Michelle's knee and squeezed it contritely. "I know it's not what you wanted to hear and please understand I'm not doing this to punish you. I know it's not your fault, but think of it like a medical problem: say you were out playing and got a nasty cut. You put a band-aid on it, but the band-aid wasn't enough to stop it from bleeding and falls off. You put another band-aid on and the same thing happens, again and again. Do you keep putting band-aids on, even though they keep falling off and getting blood everywhere or do you wrap your cut in gauze and go see a doctor if it gets too bad?"

"I'd go to an adult for help," Michelle said quietly, understanding the analogy but feeling to bitter to play along.

"Exactly," Cerise said, "And this adult is telling you that more band-aids aren't going to work."

Michelle fell deeper into her pout in response. "They worked just fine before," she said under her breath.

"Well then I think it's about time you went to see a doctor, but we can't keep sticking band-aids on the problem until then."

Michelle’s response was inaudible. The babysitter placed her arm around her charge’s shoulder and squeezed her tightly. Michelle started sniffling. Though Michelle was looking away from Cerise, she knew that her eyes were welling up and she was fighting back a cry. In response, the rubbed Michelle’s shoulder gently, catching the few errant tears falling down Michelle’s cheeks with the back of her hand and whispering words of comfort. They sat there until Michelle had collected herself, which took a while, and then for some time after that.

When Cerise was sure Michelle had cried herself out and was in better spirits, she patted the girl’s back and withdrew her hand. Glancing at her watch, she broke the silence.

“It’s getting close to your bedtime honey,” she said, “are you going to put your diapers on yourself like a good girl or do you need me to do it for you?”

Michelle frowned, but she picked up the diaper that lay next to her on the bed. “I’ll do it,” she replied quietly.

“Good girl,” Cerise stood and ruffled her hair playfully, “There’s one more thing before I leave you to it.”

She arrived at the bag from A&SC Co. and retrieved something from within.

"These came free with the package of diapers," Mrs. Roundtree explained, holding out what looked to be an opaque purple make-up bag, "I wasn't expecting to have to use them, but given what just happened, it’s rather serendipitous that they were included. I think it would be best that you wear them tonight.”

Michelle screwed up her eyes at the object in Mrs. Roundtree’s hands, trying to figure out what it was.

“Have you ever worn plastic pants before?” Cerise inquired.
Michelle shook her head. She’d heard various parents throughout the years mention them in passing, but never gave much thought to what they were talking about. She could infer they were supposed to help stop leaks, but wasn’t too clear on the rest, aside from the fact that babies often wore them. The sight of them stirred up the part of her that wanted to tell Mrs. Roundtree off, throw the disgustingly pink diaper at the wall and refuse to wear it or any other diapers Mrs. Roundtree could find, but her rational mind tamped the feeling back down. She knew it would only lead to Mrs. Roundtree taking matters into her own hands and diapering Michelle herself. If that happened, she wasn’t sure if she’d be allowed to put on her own diapers again until the babysitter left.

“In that case, why don’t tell me when you’ve finished putting your diaper on and I’ll come back in and help you with it.”

With that, Cerise left the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Michelle stared blankly into the crinkly piece of plastic in her hands, absently tracing the outline of a unicorn. The prints were awfully large compared to the few other printed diapers Michelle had seen, making it look more like an overgrown baby diaper than one meant for the teenagers as it supposedly was. She turned it over in her hands, examining it in detail, before shaking her head.

What am I doing? She thought, just put it on and get this over with.

Michelle pulled the diaper between her legs and carefully taped it on. Once she finished, she kicked and twisted a little, evaluated the feel of it wrapped around her. At first blush, it was pretty much the same as the diapers her aunt had bought her. The plastic rustling noise accompanying her movement was just as loud and the top of the diaper still ended near her belly button, but she noticed there was slightly less padding in front. However, the diaper seemed to make up for it by being slightly wider and thicker between her legs and around her butt, a hypothesis she proved when she tried to force her knees together, finding it more difficult than it had been with her other “nighttime” diapers.

Michelle’s inquest was interrupted by a knock at the door and Mrs. Roundtree asking if she was ready.

“One second!” Michelle responded as she quickly retrieved her towel from the floor, covering her breasts with it before beckoning Mrs. Roundtree in.

Cerise chuckled when she saw this. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before dearie, but if I’ll stand behind you if makes you more comfortable.”

Plastic pants in hand, she circled around behind Michelle and crouched down, holding them out near Michelle’s bare feet.

“Step in with one foot,” she directed. Michelle hesitated, a little taken aback that Mrs. Roundtree was actually dressing her, but ended up obeying gingerly, wanting to avoid another conflict with the babysitter and eager to be done with it. “Good,” Cerise remarked as Michelle’s foot found it’s way through the hole, allowing her to pull the garment up slightly. The cacophony of plastic crinkling the process generated caught Michelle off-guard, she hoped it would be quieter once it was safely in place. “...and now the other… Good.”
Cerise pulled the set of plastic pants up Michelle’s legs and set to work adjusting the elastic on the waistband and leg gathers, making sure there were no openings that a potential leak could exploit and explaining her process as she went.

Satisfied there were none, she stood. “…and that’s about how it should look when you’re done.”

Michelle looked down at the semi-transparent purple plastic encasing her diaper, blushing at her babyish attire.

“Thanks Mrs. Roundtree...” she said awkwardly, “but I think I could’ve figured that out myself.”

“I’m sure you could have,” came Cerise’s reply, “but now you can be sure of what you’re doing for next time.”

Michelle really hoped there wouldn’t be a next time. Meanwhile, Cerise collected Michelle’s sleeper from the bed and held it out in front of her. Michelle stepped in obediently, cringing as the plastic pants adapted to the movement and silent hoping that the thick fleece of the sleeper would deaden the crinkling at least a little bit.

Cerise helped manuver Michelle’s other foot inside the sleeper and brought up her waist, guiding her arms through the sleeves and tugging it snug before drawing the zipper up her back and finally buttoning the security tab. She gave Michelle a playful pat on the bottom

“All done,” she proclaimed. Michelle took back her seat on the bed, finding that the sleeper did in fact mute the noise of the plastic pants, though not as much as she had hoped.

“Oops, I almost forgot,” Cerise said to no-one in particular. She retrieved the pink pacifier from Michelle’s desk and clipped it to the front of her sleeper, letting it fall against her stomach. “Now you’re all done.”

It wasn’t until she heard the distinctive click of the pacifier clip that Michelle realized that Mrs. Roundtree had dressed her, instead of leaving her to dress herself. More than that, she realized that she had let Mrs. Roundtree dress her and gone along with it without a second thought. In the moment it felt like the perfectly natural thing to do and now she wasn’t sure what bothered her more: that she had let the older woman dress her without a second thought or how little it bothered her that she had.

She checked her watch. “You’ve got about twenty minutes before bedtime sweetie,” she said, “I’m going to make a quick run to the kitchen if you need me before then.”

Cerise exited Michelle’s bedroom, leaving the door open. Michelle finally gathered up the courage to take a look in her floor mirror. The most surprising thing about her reflection was how little seeing it made her uncomfortable. She was worried she’d see a baby staring back at her, but there wasn’t. Sure, between the pacifier, footie pajamas and the plainly obvious diaper underneath, she couldn’t deny she looked a little infantile, but the same raven hair she’d always known fell across her shoulders, even if it fell upon a smiling fleece cloud and the same bright, intelligent green eyes met her gaze.

She searched her mind for an apt description of the presence she saw in the mirror: A little babyish yes, but also… cute?

At that moment, a powerful gust of wind blew past, causing the windows to shudder and disrupting her reverie. She turned away from the mirror, stretched and stood up, resolving to find some remotely entertaining way to occupy the twenty or so minutes she had before lights out without video games or television. However, as milled around the room deciding what book to read, the bulk of the diaper felt a little less strange between her legs, the constant rustle of the plastic pants felt a little less noticeable, and snuggled in the warm embrace of her footed sleeper, the fact she couldn’t take it off on her own felt a little bit less like a problem.

Michelle settled on “Inkheart,” as she was in the middle of reading it through a second time. The first had been when she was much younger, and though she had moved on to more “adult” literature, it still held a special place in her heart. She sprawled onto the bed, cracked the well-worn spine and found the page she’d left off on, but every time she started a sentence, her mind would drift back to reflection on the past few weeks.

A certain nagging thought in the back of her mind blossomed as she did so. For all the time, effort and forethought she had put into her clever plans to thwart her parents, Aunt, Mrs. Roundtree and the consequences of her own actions, they hadn’t really got her anywhere better than where she started. In fact, several of them had blown up in her face and actually caused bigger problems than the ones they were purported to solve. Michelle dwelled on this thought for several minutes, turning it over and probing it in her mind, imaging how the events of the past two weeks would have played out had she done things differently.

She was on the cusp of a conclusion as Mrs. Roundtree rapped on the doorframe.

“It’s ten o’clock,” she said, “that means it’s time for lights out honey.”

“Okay,” Michelle replied. She laid Inkheart on her nightstand and crawled under the covers, tell-tale rustle accompanying the burst of activity. Cerise watched Michelle clamber into bed from the doorway, smiling as she turned out the lights.

“Goodnight Michelle,” she said sweetly, “sleep well and dream well.”

“Goodnight Mrs. Roundtree,” Michelle replied, “you too.”

Cerise was still smiling as left the room, leaving the door open just a crack to let a little light from the hallway in. She descended the stairs to sound of the wind howling wildly outside and stretched out on the couch, cracking open her own book just as the phone rang.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Oct 6, 2017 at 10:20 PM
Content:

nray999 said:

Thanks for getting out another chapter so soon. As usual the characterization is spot on as reality breaks through the wall of denial. I've seen similar situations with my own teenage daughter where eventually she stops resisting on principle and actually looks at the situation.
One continuity note for you is that based on chapter 7 in the A&SC store Michelle actually has 3-5 back zip sleepers since there are two mentions of Laura grabbing a butterfly series off the rack, one right before Michelle tries on the locking one and another as she heads to the register on the way out. That works out as 3 butterfly and one monkey series on the day, and the fate of the monkey series is unsaid at this point.

[End of quote]

Thanks for the props, a degree of realistic reaction is important in a story this long, where suspension of disbelief in such things is much easier when the story is shorter. It also prevents overuse of plot mechanics. Regarding the number of back-zip sleepers, I just checked back and I had those sections where she picks extra sleepers off the rack deleted on the master copy, but apparently they remained in the document when I copy-pasted it. To clarify, Michelle has two butterfly-series sleepers and one monkey-series at this point in the story.

I think Michelle's acceptance of being dressed at the end is part surrender, and part practicality, back zip stuff seems easier to be dressed in than to dress oneself in.

nray999 said:

Also, is Michelle's raven hair dyed or natural? I think black dye fits her edgy punk style, and her natural color is dark blonde like most Polish women and she thought it was boring.
Anyway please keep going since you've left us on another cliff hanger, and having made a breakthrough I'm eager to see if the holidays bring another encounter with her aunt, cousins, and least favorite sitter.

[End of quote]

Dyed, it would naturally be dark brown though. She's not a full-blooded Pole. Roughly sketched, her father is an indeterminate blend of Polish and eastern Slav and her mother is a blend of Central-European/Scandanavian.

And maaaaaaaaaan, every chapter's gonna end on a cliffhanger til it's done.

Jeffy25 said:

Michelle now into daytime diapers. Quite the turn!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[End of quote]

Yessir, thanks for reading. <3

- - - Updated - - -

PuppyDog said:

Awwwwe! That was so cute. I like that Michelle is starting to realize that her plans always backfire.
Its not something that you normally see in a hapless diapeed protagonist like this.
I'm really looking forward to seeing where this go's, there's still a mystery involving the diapers/pacifier.

Thank you for sharing.

[End of quote]

Like I said to nray, in a story this long it's important to have at some dynamism in the main characters. Prevents the beating of dead horses. If I can let you in behind the emerald curtain for a moment, the mainspring of the story is Michelle's struggle to balance her desire to grow up and become independent without surrendering the comforts of childhood that's she always known and relied on while realizing that both sides come with inextricable consequences, some she likes and some she hates.

Regarding the pacifier and diapers, all will be revealed soon. ;]

And as always, thanks for reading. <3

windelbuu said:

What a great chapter. I always love reading Michelle's new adventures and I have read the story several times. I check for updates almost every day and whenever there is a new chapter I try to read it as slowly as possible afraid that it will be over soon.

I can only hope you find the time and desire to continue her story for a long time.

Thank you!

[End of quote]

Well unfortunately there's only a few additional story arcs planned. Two or three (depending on where you demarcate the beginning of one arc and the end of another) are pretty substantial, one is more moderate in size and one is a mini-arc that will likely only be a single update long. I've been writing this story for forever and given by the time those arcs are done it will probably be significantly longer Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (It's already awful close to the length of the Sorcerer's Stone), I'll be happy to see it done. Afterwords, perhaps an e-book with a few illustrations, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes.

I do very much appreciate that you've read it (and more than that, enjoyed it =]) so many times, like I've said before, I started writing it for myself but have continued it for you guys. When I'm done, hopefully someone else takes up the mantle, there's plenty of talented writers on this site. =]

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Author: Orange
Timestamp: Feb 18, 2018 at 3:21 AM
Content: Mini-pupdate!

Kabanata sampung, unang bahagi

“Wake up sleepyhead.”

Michelle stirred in her bed, opening her eyes just long enough to read her bedside clock.

7:30? It's Sunday, she thought, and closed her eyes once more.

"Come on Michelle, it's time to get up"

Michelle groaned when the lights came on, but otherwise stayed static. Only half-conscious, the thickness between her legs told her she must have wet an awful lot overnight, but given the choice of getting up and changing into a dry pull-up and going back to sleep and dealing with it later, she'd gladly pick the latter. She squeezed her eyes shut against the light and started to drift back to sleep.

"Michelle!" Someone was shaking her shoulder. It was a gentle shake, but enough to pull her back into consciousness again. She opened her eyes and blinked the sleep away, straining to focus against the brightness casting her bedroom in harsh relief.

A figure was hunched over her. A woman. She spoke, "C'mon sleepy head, you don't want to miss breakfast."

It took a second for Michelle to recognize the figure as Mrs. Roundtree. When she did, she yanked her thumb from her mouth, hastily wiping it on her pink comforter.

Cerise just chuckled when she noticed this. "Michelle, I can't really be upset with you for sucking your thumb in your sleep," she said, booping her nose, "I still expect you to keep out of your mouth during the day, of course, but I understand that it's hard for you to help it when you're sleeping."

Cerise got up from where she was kneeling next to the bed.

"Up and at 'em," she pronounced, "breakfast is almost ready and we need to get you into a dry diaper before we can start eating."

Michelle groggily looked down at her torso for the zipper, but all she saw were happy clouds staring back at her from a sky blue background. A look of confusion crept across her face as Cerise motioned for her to flip over on to her belly. She complied, noticing a loud, distinct crackling sound coming from her diaper as she did so.

When she heard it, the events of the previous night came back to her-- the leak, ensuing argument and the new, ultra-girly night-time diapers and the pair of purple plastic pants she wore over them. She remembered the Disney Princess sheets now on her bed and how the pajamas themselves zipped up the back instead of in front like the ones she was used to.

As if on cue, she felt Cerise unbutton the security tab, a rush of cool air on her back as the zipper came down and a slight tug at her waist as the babysitter moved her plastic pants out of the way to see if stars and tiaras that covered her diaper had disappeared.

"Would you look at that," Cerise said, clearly surprised. Michelle bit her lip, wishing that Mrs. Roundtree would spare her the commentary and get to changing her.

Let me get to changing myself, Michelle corrected herself. Gosh she was tired.

"You're all dry!" Michelle felt the plastic pants return to their initial position. "Good job Michelle, I'm proud."

I'm not wet? Michelle thought, is the diaper really just that thick? Cerise gave her short, congratulatory squeeze on her bare back before zipping her back up. Michelle's heart leapt at the praise, bathing in a warm fuzzy feeling and cracking a smile despite a cynical voice in the back of her mind chastising her for how elated she was at simply waking up in a dry diaper. She'd done it hundreds of times before without such an absurd feeling of accomplishment, it said, why should now be any different?

"Since you're dry, you might as well stay in your jammies until after breakfast," Cerise said, "no sense in letting breakfast cool down any more than it needs to."

Cerise got up and Michelle sat up in bed. She gave Michelle's knee another quick squeeze, looking her in the eye.

"I knew you could do it," she told the girl, who beamed in response. She stayed seated on the bed as Cerise left, still lightly smiling before she shook her head back to reality.

She checked her phone, just pulling up Facebook when she heard Cerise shout from the kitchen that it was time for breakfast. Given that Mrs. Roundtree didn’t seem the type to be particularly enthusiastic about phones at the breakfast table, she returned it to her nightstand and waddled out of her bedroom, taking some time to readjust to walking in such a thick diaper.

She stifled a yawn as she negotiated the stairs, the combination of sleepiness and wearing a diaper whose thickness she still wasn't quite used to making the task more difficult than it really needed to be. Michelle hoped that Mrs. Roundtree would let her have some coffee with breakfast; she hadn't slept well the night before. In fact, she hadn't slept at all until close to one in the morning, a fact she partly blamed on the thickness of her diaper making sleeping on her side a nigh-impossible balancing act, though the rational part of her mind reminded her it probably had more to do with the caffeine in all the Coke she had drank. Once midnight rolled around, she was so desperate for sleep that she even tried suckling on the pink pacifier she was wearing, and she was a little embarassed to admit to herself that it worked, though she also blamed it for the strange dream she had. She tried to recall it, knowing that it would otherwise be lost to the void by the time breakfast was over. She had a goal of keeping a dream journal, and though she rarely actually wrote down her dreams, she always tried to remember them as much as possible with the intent of doing so.

The first thing she remembered was that she was wandering around her abandoned high school dressed in the same sleeper, diaper and plastic pants she was wearing now, looking for a bathroom. After wandering through the school for what seemed like hours, she finally found one, but the door handle was too high up for her to reach. She tried pressing on the door, but it wouldn't budge and right as she got up on her tip toes to reach for the handle, her cousin Katelyn appeared next to her. Katelyn told her that these bathrooms were for big girls and asked if she was lost. Michelle replied that she was and asked her cousin if she could help her find the potty. Katelyn responded by taking her hand and leading her to a large daycare situated in the centre of the high school that was apparently administrated by Mrs. Roundtree. Katelyn lifted up her cousin and placed her in a playpen, informing her that it would keep her from getting lost. Michelle pressed her hands up against the sides of the playpen and again asked her cousin where the potty was. Katelyn answered by pressing a pacifier into Michelle's mouth, telling her that the potty was for big girls and she didn't have to worry about it before leaving Michelle alone in a playpen filled with stuffed animals. Michelle tried to climb out of it, but her hands could find no purchase on the fine mesh of the playpen's walls. Eventually, she gave up and started playing with the stuffed animals. The pressure in her bladder grew as she did so, becoming increasing uncomfortable, distracting her from the stuffed animals. She looked around the room for Katelyn-- she wanted to use the potty like a big girl but first she needed to be let out of the playpen-- but Katelyn was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, Michelle's discomfort outweighed her determination and made her way to the corner of the playpen, kneeled down and willed herself to let go, flooding her diaper. It took a little while, but the diaper soaked up everything she threw at, thickening to what felt like twice the size, sagging under it's own weight.

Michelle felt a lot better once she was done, even if she had to waddle bow-legged around the playpen, but eventually the warmth in her diaper started the cool and her relief became balanced with the new discomfort of wearing a diaper that seemed to be at the limit of what it could hold. She tried to ignore it, but when Mrs. Roundtree stooped over the playpen to check on her, she quickly informed her of what was wrong. Or at least she tried, what she came out what largely unintelligible until Mrs. Roundtree pulled the pacifier out of her mouth.

"I'm wet," she said, a little embarrassed but unsure of what else she could do, "Can you change me?"

Mrs. Roundtree asked if she was sure. Michelle replied that of course she was, wondering why anybody would lie about needing a change. They went back a forth for a little longer.

"I don't know..." Mrs. Roundtree replied, seemingly unconvinced. Michelle sat down and crossed her arms in frustration. She couldn't believe Mrs. Roundtree was holding out on her like this. All she needed was a change. When she saw Mrs. Roundtree stand up straight again, the idea of being stuck in the playpen in her current diaper for who knows how long really hit home.

"Pleaaaaasssseeee?" She asked, coming to her knees. Then, just to make sure she added, "Pretty please... with sugar on top?"

Mrs. Roundtree seemed to think over her pleas for a moment. "Oh alright," she replied, clearly not terribly enthused by the idea, "since you asked nicely."

Mrs. Roundtree came over, lifted her out of the playpen and set her on a changing pad. She unzipped Michelle's sleeper and pulled the garment down around her legs. Michelle cooperated fully until the soft, fresh diaper was taped on and she started to get sleepy. Mrs. Roundtree had to wake Michelle repeatedly just to get her arms into the sleeves, doing the most of the work herself. Once she had a fresh diaper on and her pajamas zipped back up, she was almost asleep. Mrs. Roundtree brought her to pink crib, set her on the mattress inside and pulled up the side rail, confining her within, not that Michelle minded all that much. She found her stuffed rabbit inside, pulled it close and maneuvered the pacifier into mouth. The feeling of falling asleep was the last thing she remembered. The strangest part of the dream wasn't that she had been wearing a diaper-- she frequently dreamed she was wearing pull-ups-- or that Mrs. Roundtree had changed her, but that when Mrs. Roundtree HAD changed her that it felt entirely unremarkable. In fact, the only remarkable thing that she could remember feeling at that point in the dream was how amazingly comfortable it felt to be wearing a fresh diaper after spending so long wearing a soaked one.

She wrote it off, filing in the “strange but otherwise harmless” bin in her mind so that she could archive it later as she approached the table, enticed by the smell of home-cooked breakfast and the sudden realization of her empty stomach.

“By the way,” Mrs. Roundtree said as Michelle devoured the food in front of her, “Unfortunately, Rachel won't be able to make it over to take over babysitting you today.”

Michelle paused, holding a heaping portion of hashbrowns halfway between her mouth and plate. She had totally forgotten that Rachel was set to take over today and was simultaneously relieved that Rachel wasn't going to see her, dressed as she was, and saddened that she wasn't going to see her today.

"Why?"

"Take a look outside," she said.

Michelle excused herself and ventured to the patio door, drawing back the curtains.

She gasped. Instead of the few inches of snow piled here and there that occupied the backyard at the same time yesterday, nearly a foot of freshly fallen snow blanketed the entire area and in some places it was drifted up to the top of the fence. Michelle stood with her mouth agape, taking in the transformation the outside world had undergone overnight. Cerise came up behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

“She told me she’d be lucky if the road to the city gets plowed out by this evening,” Cerise explained, “Country roads are usually the last ones to see a snowplow. It’s one of the downsides to living that far from the city.”

Michelle nodded, still staring outside in wonder.

“That’s enough now, come finish eating,” Cerise ordered, “the snow will still be there when you’re done.” Cerise left for the dining room and Michelle shuffled after her reluctantly.

Back at the table, Michelle wolfed down the rest of her breakfast, eager to start exploring the newly-minted winter wonderland outside. While Michelle was old enough that playing in the snow had lost most of its appeal, storms like that of the previous night came so rarely that she could barely remember the last one. She wanted to get outside and take in how her neighborhood had been transformed before the sun and wind brought everything back to normal.

When finished, she got up and had almost got out of the dining room when Cerise asked where she was going.

“Outside!” she replied, excitement evident in her voice.

“Aren’t you going to help me clean up the table first?” Cerise probed, giving Michelle a look that told her the question was purely rhetorical.

Reluctantly, she returned to the table and helped Cerise gather up the dishes, rinsing them in the sink before Cerise told her that she could take it from there.

Upon hearing that she was free, she bolted out of the dining room as fast as she could, which, owing to the bulk of her night-time diaper, was more akin to a slightly-awkward speed walk than a run. First she stopped at the closet for her snowpants, which took her a while to find as she hadn’t yet worn them this year, and then bounded snow-pants-in-hand to the front door. From there, she took a quick inventory: Snowpants-- check, parka-- check, gloves, hat, boots-- check, check and check. Finding everything in order, she proceeded with pulling on the snowpants. She had one arm in her parka when Cerise appeared in the entryway wearing a thoroughly amused expression.

“Are you forgetting something?” She asked.

Michelle paused, her other arm halfway into the parka’s sleeve, and wracked her mind for anything she was missing. She came up empty.

“What?” she replied.

The grin on Cerise’s face expanded, looking like she was trying to hold back laughter. “Aren’t you going to change out of your jammies first?”

Michelle realized that she had been in such a hurry that she hadn’t even considered changing first, but the fact her sitter found it to be so amusing annoyed her and she didn’t want to give Cerise the satisfaction of letting her know that she was right.

“No,” Michelle replied pointedly, pulling her arm the rest of the way through the parka to emphasize the point.

Cerise saw through her bluff immediately, but she seemed to take it in good humor. She shrugged. “Hey, it’s no skin off my back either way,” she said, “I just thought you would’ve wanted to get into your daytime diapers before going outside.”

Michelle considered Cerise’s point. Now that it was mentioned, she did genuinely want to change out of the diapers she was currently wearing, especially as she was going out exploring and the bulk between her legs made it difficult to run around, but given that she was already close to fully dressed in her winter gear and how combination of snowpants and a long coat almost totally obscured her padding, she ignored the offer. She’d worn these quote unquote “night-time” diapers for almost the entire time her parents had been gone, she thought, another hour or two wouldn’t hurt, especially if it meant she could deny Mrs. Roundtree a win in the process. She shrugged, ignoring the comment and sat down to pull her boots on, eyeing Cerise suspiciously as the babysitter approached and knelt in front of her.

“It’s fine if you insist on wearing your jammies, but I wouldn’t want you to lose your paci out there in the snow,” she said, unclipping the pacifier and setting it on a nearby table.

Michelle rolled her eyes as she pulled her last boot on, standing, “I could’ve done that myself you know.”

“I know,” Cerise said, “but you seemed a little preoccupied and I didn’t want you to forget. If it makes you feel better, I’ll leave it to you to put it back on when you come inside.”

Michelle peevishly wondered if the alternative was any better. It wasn’t that she wanted to wear it outside, in fact, she was thankful Mrs. Roundtree had caught it when she did. It’s not exactly that she forgot she was wearing it, which was a little hard to do with it constantly bouncing around her visual field, but she’d been wearing it for long enough that she took it for granted and the idea that she should remove it got lost in the excitement of getting outside. Now that it was removed, she wasn’t particularly keen on wearing it again, regardless of who ended up putting it on.

“Okay,” Michelle replied, “I’m going outside now.” Mrs. Roundtree’s seemingly derisory concessions to her independence and quiet amusement were starting to get on her nerves just as much as the woman’s vexingly jejune approach to babysitting. She just wanted to get out the door, revel in the novelty of her neighborhood’s overnight metamorphosis and be free of her for a while.

A cold gust nipped at her face the second she opened the storm door, rattling the screen door and depositing a light dusting of snow on the wooden floor.

“Don’t go too far Michelle,” Mrs. Roundtree told her as she figured out her mittens, holding on in her mouth while pulling its companion on, “Stay where I can see you and don’t go past the streetlight at the end of the block.”

Michelle rolled her eyes one final time, “I will.”

She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. She stood on the patio for a moment, dreamily examining the ways in which her pedestrian little neighborhood had transformed into a pale, snow-laden Arcadia before bounding through the knee-high virgin powder piled on the sidewalk, forgetting the troubles of weekend completely.

-

Michelle trudged between the snowdrifts flooding her driveway, occasionally pushing through the smaller ones when she felt a shortcut was warranted. She had been outside for a little over two hours when she had chanced upon the largest snowdrift she’d ever seen and dove into it purely on impulse, regretting it almost immediately. The virgin powder’s soft embrace, while admittedly pretty amazing, lasted only for a moment and the stuff had almost completely filled the interior of her parka by the time she extricated herself from the drift.

Though she made a quite an effort at brushing off the snow stuck to her torso and the inside of her parka, it wasn’t enough to keep it from soaking into the lining of her coat and the fleece of her pajamas. She tried her best to ignore it, but the damp fleece stuck to her skin in a distracting and uncomfortable fashion, so it didn’t take her long to decide it might be best to bring her outdoor adventures to a close and made her way back to house. Another, perhaps more influential, factor in her decision-making was an increasingly urgent need to use the bathroom welling up within her. The first twinge came after barely half an hour outside, but it had subsided and Michelle forgot about it until it returned with a vengeance shortly after her dive into the snow. A rogue thought crossed her mind as the need became more urgent-- she was already wearing a diaper, why not just use it? She reasoned that it was pretty clear by now that it wasn’t as if Mrs. Roundtree expected her to make it to the toilet anyway, and she could stay outside longer if she did.

However, Michelle’s rationalizations were cut short by the rest of her mind and quickly shoved off to side. She needed to go inside to change into dry clothes anyway so she might as well use the bathroom while she was in there. If she wanted to go outside again, she could always do so afterwords. Besides, if the feeling in her midsection was anything to go by, it wasn’t the same kind of accident as the ones prior.

She hurried up the sidewalk, got inside and slammed the door behind her before she got to work stripping off her coat. She was about halfway through the process, standing up to wiggle out of her snowpants, when she sensed Mrs. Roundtree come into the entryway behind her.

“How was it out there?” She asked conversationally.

“Good,” Michelle replied quickly, “but I kinda have to use the bathroom… like bad.” Finally out of all her winter gear, she turned around to face Cerise, who raised an eyebrow pointedly when she saw the condition her pajamas.

“Let’s get you up to the bathroom then,” she said resignedly, “and maybe you can explain what happened to your jammies on the way there.”

Michelle followed her sitter upstairs, explaining the incident with the snowdrift as briskly as she could. coaxing a lighthearted chuckle out of Cerise as they reached the bathroom door.

“Wait here for a minute,” Cerise ordered, “I’ll go get your daytime diapers and some dry clothes from your room.”

Michelle did as she was told, fidgeting in place as her need for a bathroom rapidly developed into an emergency.

After what seemed to Michelle an eternity, Cerise returned carrying a loose, white diaper atop a bundle wrapped in butcher paper.

“Do you remember that surprise I told you about yesterday?” she asked.

Michelle nodded insistently, her fidgeting coming close to a full-fledged potty dance as Mrs. Roundtree deposited her cargo in Michelle’s arms. Cerise seemed not to notice as she continued, indicating the object wrapped in the butcher paper
“Well that’s it,” she said, “now you don’t need to wear all day it if you don’t like it, but I’d like you to at least try it on so I can make sure it fits.”

Michelle nodded vigorously, not trusting herself to speak lest it cause her to lose what little control she was capable of exerting. A small wave of relief crashed over her as Mrs. Roundtree causally took her by the shoulder and turned her around so she faced the bathroom door.

“Hold still for me sweetie,” she told the girl, whose squirming had finally reached what any reasonable observer would term a potty dance. “Just a quick diaper check before you’re on your way.”

Michelle normally would’ve mentally cursed the diaper check, but as she was expending nearly every mental faculty at her disposal on not having an accident right then and there, the words barely even registered in her mind. She wasn’t at all certain she could make it, but the rush of cool air on her back as the zipper reached it’s nadir told her she was approaching the finish line and gave her the second wind she needed to hold it for a little longer.

Cerise examined the wetness indicators on Michelle’s diaper-- they were a little faded, but still very much in evidence. “A little damp,” she said, tone the aural equivalent of a shrug, “but nothing we need to worry about right now.

Michelle jumped as the elastic of the diaper cover snapped back into place. Mrs. Roundtree’s succinct pat on her exposed diaper was all the blessing she needed to shoot off into the bathroom like a taut rubber band finally being released from between a thumb and forefinger. She tossed the daytime diaper and whatever “surprise” lie within the butcher paper haphazardly onto the counter, simultaneously stripping off her soggy sleeper before tearing into the side of her diaper and removing it with her plastic pants in a single motion, breathing a deep, heartfelt sigh of relief when at long last sat down on the toilet.

When she finished, she spent a couple moments basking in the feeling of raw relief that followed before turning her attention to the “daytime” diaper and butcher-paper package strewn across the bathroom counter.

She noted with approval that the diaper in question was plain white, the only concessions to polychromy being the dashed blue line of a wetness indicator and a pair of blue tapes on either side, with none of the girly princess nonsense that adorned the one she had on previously.

Though she was enjoying the vague feeling of freedom that came with being unencumbered by a diaper after such a long time spent wearing one, her curiosity got the better of her and she began taping it on.

Michelle’s first impression was of it’s thickness. While it didn’t hold a candle to either of the night-time diapers she had worn up until now, it was still significantly thicker than she expected given the blurbs she read on the packaging. When she was assured of a snug fit (she certainly didn’t want Mrs. Roundtree redoing any of her work) she got up and walked in a lap around the bathroom to get a feel for it. A light plastic crinkling noise coinciding with her steps that, while certainly not Michelle’s definition of quiet, was miles ahead of both night-time diapers and absolutely incomparable to the cacophony of walking around in plastic pants, which Michelle was certain would be obvious even to someone wasn’t listening for it, located in an adjacent room and watching TV at high volume. What was more impressive was how, despite the diaper’s apparent thickness, was how it didn’t interfere with her movement in any way at all proportional to what she would have expected. Far from the bow-legged waddle any attempt at speed would have turned into just ten minutes ago, Michelle felt, perhaps a little optimistically, she could run without much trouble.

Michelle tore through the butcher paper wrapping, uncovering a long sleeve fleece sweater. It was purple, decorated with images of cows jumping over crescent moons and luxuriously soft to the touch. She lifted it from the counter, wondering why Cerise had neglected to bring her a pair of pants. Michelle understood her reasoning as the garment unfolded, realizing the sweater was in fact a bodysuit, closing between the legs with a trio of snaps. She knew bodysuits were trendy right now; she had seen plenty of different styles browsing through the racks at Forever21, H&M and even a few at Hot Topic but none quite like this. It's long sleeves terminated in ribbed cuffs that matched the ribbed collar. It looked more like a onesie that a baby or toddler would wear than a fashionable bodysuit made for someone Michelle's age.

Her first reaction was one of extreme annoyance. Footie pjs were one thing. Though she had felt increasingly too old for them for the last couple years, it had still been largely her choice to wear them. Their comfort and familiarity had outweighed her concerns about whether they were the most appropriate sleepwear for someone her age. Despite her recent desire for some more grown-up sleepwear options, she hadn't written sleepers off entirely-- only the back zipping ones. A onesie was another matter entirely. Michelle hadn't wanted a bodysuit even when it came in trendy, adult stylings like the ones at Forever21 and she couldn't even remember how young she was the last time she had worn a bona-fide onesie. Part of her wanted to throw the onesie in the trash, storm off to her room and put on the most polar opposite garment she could think of to reclaim her maturity in Cerise's eyes. She had a pair of skull pattern Tripp pants studded with spikes and pyramids that fit the bill.

However, the realization that she'd still be wearing a diaper underneath spoiled it for her. She thought back to the previous night, and how all those clashes with her parents and sitters seemed to work against her ultimate goal, her hostility towards the garment in front of her melted somewhat. After all, she only had to try it on, then she could wear whatever she wanted.

She took the onesie in her hands and kneaded the fleece between her thumb and forefinger. Standing in the chill of the bathroom, Michelle had to admit that if you could get past the innate childishness, it did look pretty comfortable. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if she just tossed it on to cover up and stay warm on the way back to her room to find another, more mature outfit.

Resolving to take it off the minute she got back into her room, she shrugged at no-one in particular, unsnapped the bottom and pulled the onesie on over her head. She got her arms through the sleeves and finally snapped the whole thing closed over her diaper. See? That wasn’t so bad, she thought.

Against her better judgment, Michelle walked over to the mirror to observe the damage, mentally steeling herself for what she was about to see.

However, when she actually got there she was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. The figure looking back at her was far from the overgrown toddler she was dreading it might have been. Just like the previous night, her reflection was not shocking in how different it was from her self-conception, but how familiar it was. She didn’t look appreciably younger nor did her outfit seem especially incongruous or unflattering. It was her, same as it had always been, if wearing a diaper and a onesie instead of jeans and a T-shirt.

She tried a few different angles in the mirror to make sure, making mental notes of the onesie’s fit on autopilot. It didn’t do much to hide the shape of her diaper, not that she had really expected it to, and it peeked out a little from the leg holes at certain angles and in response to certain poses, but just having it covered up was nice and ironically did a lot for her feelings of maturity. As she rotated through a couple more poses, she started to appreciate how the onesie supported the diaper underneath, keeping it snug, comfortably balanced, and allowing greater freedom of movement. (As well as helping prevent leaks, she supposed) Those reasons alone went a long way towards warming up Michelle’s feelings towards Cerise’s gift, but the longer she spent in front of the mirror, the more she started to recognize another attribute: she looked, and more importantly felt, well… cute!

Since she had spent most of the last couple years wearing band tees, dark make-up and even the odd spiked choker, she didn’t recognize it at first. She revelled in the feeling for a couple minutes before becoming conscious of what was happening. Blinking a few times to reset, she stepped away from the mirror, reminding herself that she was a teenager and that teenagers do not wear onesies… well, some do, but not girls like her. And when they do they get them from Forever21, are called bodysuits and they are different from the thing she was wearing. And she just had to get past Cerise and she could change out of it and wear something less cute or babyish or whatever.

She opened the door to find Cerise waiting outside, texting in that certain exaggerated fashion that all older people have a tendency towards. Cerise looked up upon hearing the door and her eyes lit up when she saw Michelle.

“Well! Aren’t you just the cutest pumpkin in the patch!?” She exclaimed, causing Michelle to smile and blush despite herself. “How does it fit? Do you like it? I hope it’s warm enough, they had a short sleeve one but I didn’t want you to get cold.”

Michelle, already taken off-guard by the compliment, was stunned by the flurry of questions. If there was any part of her that still thought Mrs. Roundtree had bought her the onesie to embarrass her it dissipated right then. In that moment, she saw Mrs. Roundtree not as a hard-nosed veteran babysitter but a doting grandmother. Even if she was at best ambivalent about the present, she tried her best not to show it, answering her questions in order:

“Of course I like it!” She said, affecting excitement as best she could, “And it fits fine, see?”

She held her arms out to demonstrate. Cerise rapidly scanned the fit, nodding occasionally but stopped when she got to the white plastic peeking out of the leg-holes.

“Are you sure it’s not too tight down there?” She probed, “We can take it back and find you one that doesn’t ride up and show off your diaper when you put your arms up.”

Even after everything that happened the past weekend, Michelle still got a little red at the mention of her diaper, but she plowed through the embarrassment.

“No, no, no, it’s okay! I actually like the extra support,” she assured, surprising herself with her honesty.

“Are you sure?” Cerise asked pointedly, “I won’t be mad if you don’t like it.”

“I’m sure,” Michelle replied.

Once she heard that, Cerise settled down some and scooped Michelle up into a big bear hug. “I’m glad.”

They embraced for a moment, then parted. Cerise looked at her watch, “We’ve got about an hour and a half before lunch. I’ve heard you’ve got some homework to do…?”

“Yeah, a little, but can I wait to do it until after lunch?” She asked, sweetly as she could.

“I think that will be fine,” Cerise said, smiling, “Now I’ve got to text these old church ladies about why I wasn’t at church to help plan the fellowship potluck next month, but I’m sure you can find something to do in the meantime.”

Michelle nodded brightly and they went downstairs together. After seeing how happy she’d made Cerise, she reasoned it couldn’t hurt to keep the onesie on until after lunch, just for Cerise’s sake. It was only an hour and a half and the onesie was comfy enough.

“Are you sure you like the colour?” Mrs. Roundtree inquired, half-asking, half-teasing.

Michelle rolled her eyes in jest, “Yes Mrs. Roundtree,” she said, lacing the response with as much faux-sarcasm as she could.

Mrs. Roundtree chuckled in response, “You can call me Cerise, dear. I won’t mind.”

“Okay Cerise,” Michelle said. It felt strange calling the older woman by her first name, not unlike the feeling of calling her father “Paul” instead of “Dad.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about it yet, but couldn’t help feeling a little grateful to Mrs. Roundtree for the option.

They went their separate ways at the foot of the stairs, Michelle to the family room and couch within and Cerise to the kitchen. Michelle had just started the TV up when Cerise came up to her.

“I almost forgot to ask if you wanted this old thing back,” she explained, holding out the pink pacifier.

Michelle waited a moment for her to clip it to the fabric of her onesie, but Cerise gestured for her to take it.

“I seem to remember you insisting that you’d rather handle the clip yourself,” she offered, “So there’s not much reason for me to keep holding on to it. It’s all yours.”

Michelle took the pacifier, happy to finally be in charge of whether or not to wear it, but she paused shortly after taking it in her hand. A moment passed, and she offered it back to Cerise.

“You can put it on, this time,” she said judiciously, “but I still get to decide in the future.”

“Okay Michelle,” Cerise laughed, smiling broadly, “it’s a deal.” She clipped the pacifier onto Michelle’s onesie and let it fall, landing lightly on her stomach.

Michelle turned back to the TV as Cerise returned to the kitchen, feeling surprisingly wholesome about her decision.

- - - Updated - - -

babycakes said:

Your writing continues to be a delight and this is the first story I check on whenever I log on. Not meant to be pushy, just a compliment. You have a flair for realism that is truly remarkable. I can't wait to see where the day diapers and pacifiers lead as well as the plastic pants, which seem to ramp up Michelle's infantilization to new heights. Could an addition to Michelle's nighttime wardrobe be coming? Also, while plastic pants do help prevent leaks, the only "foolproof" means of avoiding leaks is more padding under the plastic pants. Can't wait to see where this leads, if anywhere.

[End of quote]

I appreciate the compliments man. Hopefully your patience is finally rewarded. No spoilers tho!

babycakes said:

I am confused by the leak in the sleepers that results in the addition of plastic pants. An excellent idea, mind you. In your Feb. 17, 2017 posting Michelle and her mother visit the A&SC Company store. The sales woman states, “’I'll start out with what is by far our most popular model, the butterfly series sleeper. … First, they're made from polar fleece treated with organic waterproofing on the outside of the garment, so in case of a leak the pajamas may get wet but the bed won't.” I thought this meant that the butterfly sleeper would not get wet on the outside. Based on the ending of your Aug. 29 update, Michelle is put in the butterfly back zip jammies by Cerise. Yet, in your August 31 update, Cerise states, “‘That's a wet diaper waddle if I've ever seen one,’ … Michelle jumped a little when she felt Cerise feel her thigh with the back of her hand. ‘Looks like you had a little leak too,’ she sighed…” At this time Michelle was still zipped into her butterfly sleeper and therefore Cerise shouldn’t have been able to detect a leak on the back of Michelle’s thigh until she had released the tab and unzipped the sleeper as Cerise does two paragraphs later. Am I incorrect that Michelle was still zipped into a butterfly sleeper at the time the leak was detected? Again, many thanks for your writing efforts.

[End of quote]

Nray's correct in his post on the subject. Someone had got on me about it the practicality of waterproof backing and I decided to get rid of it, but apparently hadn't edited the forum post about it. I'll pop in and remove that here on the forum version in a sec.

nray999 said:

I think the waterproof treatment on the sleepers is something that was in the posted draft and got dropped from the current version. I had a similar conversation about how many Butterfly Series sleepers Michelle had because the earlier posts mention grabbing sleepers off the rack, but that was edited out. I think that makes sense given the importance of leaking in the plot development.
Belatedly, I will say that Orange's comment about the conflict between moving towards adulthood and returning to childhood has me wondering if there's a psychological component to Michelle's surge in wetting in addition to any physical issues. Either way I'm hoping for an ebook version of the complete story so it's fully edited and easily read. Also I really want to know about that phone call.

[End of quote]

I shouldn't comment on how the story will develop, but at least now you know what happened with the phone call!

Jeffy25 said:

I still check frequently to see if this and another story on this site will see another update (I'm hopeful).

[End of quote]

Thanks! <3

Jeffy25 said:

Any chances of an update coming?

[End of quote]

Mebbe. :ninja:

punkboy19 said:

I share Jeffy's feelings. Michelle's (and Ally's) adventures in back-zipping PJs are simply too cute for words. I've read both stories twice in the last week and I really fell in love with the idea of back-zip PJs.

[End of quote]

Hey, welcome to the bandwagon! They're great. Both myself and my girlfriend have a couple pairs.

punkboy19 said:

I can't wait for the next chapter, but I will, as long as it takes! <3

[End of quote]

Well, you got half a chapter! Hope the wait was worth it.

OmiOMy said:

I just caught up this story in one sitting and I just have to say bravo! I'm loving the Tale of Michelle. It's cute and sweet and funny, all in the right beats. You know how to sling some ink.

[End of quote]

Thanks man! I try to keep it relatively balanced in that regard. It's far from perfect, but I want the story to feel realistic and the characters to feel human, not simply marionettes regressing further and further by means of deus ex machina.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Feb 18, 2018 at 10:03 AM
Content:

Jeffy25 said:

Yay update!

[End of quote]

Just edited it to put the rest of the chapter in too.

############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Orange
Timestamp: Dec 20, 2018 at 8:32 AM
Content: Mini-pupdate 2:

Kabanata sampung, pangalawang bahagi

Their lunch consisted of home-made soup and turkey sandwiches and once finished Michelle even helped clean up without having to be asked, a fact Cerise noted with approval. As the last dish landed in the sink, she informed her charge that it was time for her to get started on her homework.

Michelle made a face in response, but otherwise did as she was told, knowing that it was something she had to get done sooner or later… she had already put it off for longer than she normally did. So she filled her water bottle, retrieved her backpack from its hook in the entryway and brought everything else she needed to her traditional homework spot in the middle of the living room floor, spreading all the relevant notes, textbooks and worksheets out in a wide arc in front of her. The brief interlude of Michelle fiddling with her earbuds and finding the right song almost caused Cerise to intervene, but right as she was about to speak up Michelle set to work.

Cerise sat on the couch behind her, reading her mystery novel, every now and then looking up from it to check on Michelle. When she did, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the level of concentration Michelle put toward the work in front of her. In all her history of babysitting, she couldn’t think of anyone else who tackled homework with as much vim and velocity as Michelle-- she had budgeted three hours for homework and at the rate the girl’s stack of finished assignments was going, she would be surprised if it took her much longer than a third of that.

Michelle, for her part, was in a flow state. With the right music and a suitably peaceful environment, she could totally immerse herself in whatever assignment was in front of her. Time would dilate as action and awareness became one, conducting her thoughts as a conductor does a symphony. It wasn’t that the difficulty of the homework really ever necessitated such a reaction. She frankly detested the endless review upon review of remedial concepts that most homework-- even from her advanced classes-- provided, but it allowed her to get it completed and over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. There was only two assignments left when she yanked out her earbuds, stood up and stretched.

“All done?” Cerise asked, surprised. It has only been about forty minutes.

“Nope,” Michelle replied curtly, “just need a refill.” She indicated the empty water bottle in her hand to illustrate the fact as she walked towards the kitchen. On the way there she became conscious of the fact that her legs were cold, and consequentially that she had forgotten to change out of her onesie. Wearing it felt a lot less strange now than it did when she had first put it on a few hours ago. Aside from the chilly legs and toes, it wasn’t so bad.

She strategically positioned herself over the hot air vent to warm her legs up while waiting for the bottle to fill and stifled a yawn. She wondered to herself whether Cerise would let her have a cup of coffee, but after weighing her chances, decided to tough it out for moment. For some reason it felt like it would be more embarrassing to ask and be denied than to go without.

She greedily slurped from the water bottle as she returned to the living room and plopped down on the floor, diaper cushioning her bottom from the impact. She had grown used to wearing it enough that the crinkling the action generated barely registered in her mind as she found her Precalculus book and cracked it open, eager to finish her second-to-last assignment and get to the easy one she had saved for the end. This particular assignment had been left as the penultimate one because the majority of the assignment covered Gaussian elimination, and unlike just about every other mathematical technique and principle she had learned, Michelle didn’t quite get it. Sure, she could work the steps as they were laid out, but she didn’t understand it on the same fundamental level that she had always been able to rely on to get As on every other math assignment. Everything else had always just “clicked,” but so far Gaussian elimination had stubbornly refused to and it wasn’t for lack of trying. A quiz on the subject last week was the first and only quiz she could remember having received a “C” on. A “B” would happen from time to time if she misread a question or went too quickly through an assignment, but a “C” was unheard of.

Despite these reservations, she resolved to restore her mathematical honour and began the first problem in the book. The first few were easy, but the difficulty ramped up steadily as she went. She began to realize how her earlier lack-of-sleep formed a limiting factor on her cognition, synapses were slow to fire and hit the wrong targets more often. After making a few silly errors, she started having to double and even triple check her mental math, making the entire thing even more mentally exhausting than it had already been. On the cusp of solving a particularly difficult problem, she unconsciously bit down on her thumb to help focus, concentrating so hard that she didn’t notice that her babysitter was kneeling down next to her until Cerise gently removed her thumb from her mouth and replaced with her pacifier.

Her first thought was to take it out in protest, but the soothing feeling that she had begun to associate with suckling on the pacifier quickly took effect and caused her to reassess the situation. She found that the pacifier actually helped her concentration, much like chewing on a pencil, and she didn’t want to expend what little concentration she had left on a possible argument so close to the end of her homework. Instead, she marshaled it into completing the last half of her Precalculus assignment and before long forgot about the pacifier issue completely, nursing on it unconsciously. Only when the book was finally closed and the assignment filed in the appropriate folder did she remove it, to better take in the luxurious yawn that accompanied her post-assignment stretch, but in her sleep-deprived state she replaced almost immediately as a matter of course.

The finish line was in sight as Michelle collected her final assignment from the ground: a reading of a chapter from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. She laid down on her belly before cracking the spine as a concession to her steadily increasing tiredness. She had never found Steinbeck particularly exciting, but by the chapter’s halfway point the burst of concentration nursing on the pacifier had bestowed on her ebbed away to become near hypnotic. She felt her eyes get heavier sentence by sentence and the soft carpet feel more inviting second by second. She fought against the urge to sleep but blinks became breaks and those breaks soon turned into a nap, curled up on the floor using the book as a pillow.

Still tired and comfortably cocooned in a blanket, Michelle fought the urge to wake up when it came. She was successful at first, catching a few more minutes of blissful sleep each time but on the fourth or fifth attempt she realized that even another five minutes wasn’t going to happen and she might as well wake up the rest of the way.

Eyes still closed, she granted herself the luxury of a long, full-body stretch before getting up, feeling her diaper had, unexpectedly, become much bulkier over the course of her nap. A pang of disappointed faded into surprise as she consecutively realized that she must have wet in her sleep and that she must have wet an awful lot for her diaper to swell to such a size. It made sense, she had a vague memory of waking up absolutely soaked near the beginning of her nap, but she hadn’t paid it any mind until now. Given her extensive experience with goodnites, Michelle knew that when any absorbent undergarment reached capacity they started to leak and her diaper felt very much at capacity. She opened her eyes only to be met with surprise again: she had slept on the couch! A leak in her bed was one thing. A leak on the couch was another thing entirely-- she had no idea what Mrs. Roundtree would do, but there’s no way her parents-- her Mom especially-- would let it go. Panicking, her hands shot under the blanket to the lower portion of her onesie and then the couch cushion underneath. Several seconds of frantic searching before her hands (and the couch) came up dry.

Michelle hadn’t even realized she had been holding her breath until she let it out in a deep, heartfelt sigh of relief. Somehow she hadn’t leaked and stranger still her diaper felt pretty dry and comfortable for how filled it seemed… a little damp, sure, but overall startlingly dry. Maybe these diapers aren’t so bad, she thought. Not that she’d volunteer to wear them given a choice, but she couldn’t help feeling thankful for the one she currently had on. Crisis averted, she spent a minute on the couch composing herself. How had she got to the couch anyway? The last thing she remembered before waking up was lying on the floor reading “Of Mice and Men.”

Just then, a series of dreamlike events filtered in to her consciousness. Mrs. Roundtree waking her up; being stopped with a hand on her shoulder as she shuffled toward the couch; her babysitter’s insistence that she change and her own sleepy proclamations of too tired to do so, that she would be fine without. The last part of the dream she could remember was of Mrs. Roundtree holding one of her nighttime diapers and being told to lift her bottom up…

Oh my God, Michelle thought, memories flooding back to her, it wasn’t a dream.

She ripped the blanket off. Sure enough, the bright pink plastic of her nighttime diaper was sticking out from the leg-holes of her onesie. That explained the unexpected bulk she felt earlier, why she felt mostly dry now despite the distinct memory of waking up soaked.

Mrs. Roundtree changed me… and I cooperated?

Michelle face flushed red. Her memory was crystal clear now. She hadn’t just cooperated, she had chosen to be changed.

It seemed like the natural course of action at the time. Michelle had been very tired and changing herself required so much effort that letting someone else handle it seemed a far more attractive option. Her memory of the process itself was quite neutral. Mrs. Roundtree handled it quickly, efficiently and professionally, her background as a nurse clearly shining through. In fact, Michelle had been quite happy to be in fresh, dry diaper and allowed to return to sleep without having to expend any effort herself. What embarrassed her now was how naturally she had fallen in to the process. She was a big girl… a teenager! Teenagers change their own diapers, they don’t ask someone to do it for them.

It wasn’t her first time being changed like this. A couple years ago she came down with a horrible sinus infection, landing her in the hospital with a high-grade fever. She slept almost the entire four days she was there and, due to her bedwetting, wore diapers for the vast majority of it. She had vague memories of being changed by nurses, but was so groggy and out-of-it at the time that they seemed more like dreams than reality. Still… that was different. She was sick then, sicker than she'd even been to hear her parents tell it. This time she was just tired.

Michelle spent several minutes staring at the muted television, ruminating in her thoughts, before Mrs. Roundtree entered the living room.

“Good morning sleepy head,” Cerise announced in a sing-song voice, “How was your nap?”

Michelle started to speak, but soon found out that during her think her pacifier had made its way back into her mouth. She was about to spit it out when she remembered herself and removed it with her hand in what she hoped was a more dignified manner.

“Good,” she replied, feeling a little awkward. She wanted to present herself as a mature, responsible adult to Mrs. Roundtree more than ever. She took a brief moment thinking of something grown-up to say next and remembered what her Dad always asked when he woke up from his naps. “What time is it?”

Cerise checked her watch. “Almost three.”

Michelle raised her eyebrows. “How am I still tired?” She groaned, more to herself than her babysitter. “I slept for almost two hours.”

“If you’re still tired you can go back to sleep sweetie,” Cerise said non-committally, “Supper won’t be ready for a while and the rest of your homework can wait until after that.”

Michelle thought about it for a minute, but discarded the idea. She couldn’t get back to sleep earlier, she doubted she’d be able to now.

“I think I’ll just get it done now,” she declared, thinking it seemed like the responsible, grown-up thing to do.

Cerise nodded. “Sounds good to me, let me know if you need any help with your homework… though I’m sure you won’t,” she added with a smile.

Michelle genuinely returned the smile, pleased to have Cerise recognize her independence in at least that respect. As Cerise turned to leave, Michelle stopped her with a question. “Hey, uh...” Michelle started awkwardly, “...do you think I could have a cup of coffee?”

Cerise turned around, holding her chin thoughtfully. As a few moments passed Michelle thought perhaps she shouldn’t have asked. She avoided asking before to spare herself the embarrassment of being denied, what made her think Mrs. Roundtree considered her grown-up to have it now, after everything that had happened?

Just as Michelle was about to backtrack, Cerise announced her decision. “I suppose one cup won’t hurt. I assume you take yours with plenty of sugar?” She winked conspiratorially.

“Yes please!” Michelle exclaimed, beaming.

Cerise arrived from the kitchen with one of Paul’s travel mugs and handed it Michelle, who had wrapped herself back in the blanket and started back on “Of Mice and Men.”

“Here you go sweetie,” Cerise said, passing Michelle the mug, “I put it in a rambler so you don’t have to worry about spills.”

“Thank you Mrs. Roundtree,” Michelle replied sweetly. She held it in her lap. She 100% sure how travel mugs worked but didn’t want Mrs. Roundtree to catch on to that fact.

“It’s no problem pumpkin. I think you’ve earned some time with your video games once you’re done with that too.”

“Awesome.” Michelle didn’t bother disguising her excitement. She could really go for some R&R after her experience with the day so far.

Cerise laughed.“I thought you’d like that, I’ll come get you when it’s time for supper.”

“Okay!” Michelle replied.

Once Cerise was out of the room, she figured out the travel mug and began sipping at the coffee inside, happy that Cerise made some allowances for her independence and grown-up-ishness despite the fact she had changed her diapers not even two hours ago. She silently thanked her babysitter for not bringing it up before returning to her book.