Stumbling Blocks (Parts 10 - 13 Updated)

[steadyNoon]

Teenage sisters Anna and Taylor have a lot of growing up to do in a short amount of time. It’s not a race, but does it matter who gets there first?

All characters 18+

PART 1

The morning light shone through the kitchen window onto Carrie’s white sweatshirt. Her sleeves were slightly rolled up as she used a spatula to flip three pieces of French toast on the skillet in front on her. Looking over to the stove clock, she saw the time was 8:56am. She put down the spatula and began to wash her hands. It was time to wake the girls up.

Carrie had been the only caretaker of her little cousins, Anna and Taylor, for about three months now. Ever since their mother had picked up and left town under dubious circumstances, there had been quite a shuffle within their family to find someone to take care of them. Normally, two girls their age would be ready to leave home on their own, or at least be responsible to babysit and take care of themselves. But Anna and Taylor, as the whole family knew, would require a little extra push.

Carrie walked towards the end of the kitchen and made her way up the stairs. Coming to the first door on the right, she gently knocked on the door and entered.

“Taylor,” she said, “time to wake up, sweetheart.” Carrie nimbly walked across Taylor’s room, careful not to step on any of the toy dinosaurs or Legos scattered across the floor. She came to Taylor’s bed, covered in a thin purple canopy and lifted it. Carrie rustled the eighteen-year old and said, “Breakfast is almost ready, come on downstairs.” Taylor flipped on her side, tightly gripping her green stuffed animal, a Brontosaurus. Carrie began to exit the room and head back down the hall.

Moving past the bathroom and reaching the next door on the right, Carrie knocked and said “Anna, time to wake up. Breakfast time.” Carrie navigated the equally disorganized floor, covered in dolls and tea time accessories. The nineteen year old Anna did not have a canopy setup like her little sister did, but instead had an all-white bed frame with a galloping unicorn on the head post. Carrie lightly rubbed Anna shoulder and said “I made French toast, come downstairs.” Anna groggily opened her eyes and yawned, snuggling a stuffed white polar bear. Carrie made her way out of Anna’s room and towards the stairs.

Back down in the kitchen, Carrie opened up a cupboard and pulled out three plates. She walked towards the kitchen table and laid out a wide, nondescript white plate at the head of the table. To her left, she laid out a smaller, blue and yellow Cinderella princess plate. On the opposite side of the table, she laid out the third and final, red and white checkered, Minnie Mouse plate. Heading back to towards cupboard, Carrie reached into a drawer and pull out matching silverware for the breakfast table: a stainless steel fork and knife, and two smaller, thicker gripped, pairs of silverware each themed for Cinderella and Minnie Mouse.

Anna and Taylor were both as happy and healthy as any other girls their age, but they were quite… immature. “Works in progress,” or “sheltered,” or as Carrie would like to describe them. There were many reasons why they were like this, but the single largest reason came down to their upbringing. The girls were raised in this rural, Midwestern house their entire life by their single mother. Often sequestered away from the rest of their family with limited visits, it appeared obvious, from the outside looking in, that their mother simply stopped putting in the effort to raise them at a young age. When they should’ve been going to school and attending summer camp, Anna and Taylor were being homeschooled and played in the forests by their home. When they should’ve been making friends and learning from role models, they only had each other and the same comfortable kid shows they had watched for years. When they should’ve been out exploring the world and meeting boys, they fell deeper and deeper into feedback loops of the same childish toys, games and media they had always known.

The creaking of the stairs alerted Carrie to the girls coming into the kitchen. Taylor walked down first, wearing a lavender t-shirt and pajama pants, holding her dinosaur stuffie in one hand while rubbing her eye with the other. Her long dark hair was frizzed and covered her face, but after tucking it behind her ears, her soft green eyes were drawn to the sizzling breakfast on the stovetop. Anna followed right behind her, wearing a heart-covered pink and white pajama outfit, holding her own polar bear stuffie. Her light blonde hair was tamed in a ponytail, and her piercing blue eyes stay focused on the stairs, carefully watching so she wouldn’t trip on her descent.

“Good morning girls,” Carrie said in a singsong voice. “How did you both sleep?”

“Good,” Anna mumbled. “Good,” Taylor echoed, mimicking her sister’s response.

“And did Robbie and Alfie sleep well too?” Carrie asked.

Reflexively, both girls pulled their stuffed animals close to them and nodded.

Carrie knew she shouldn’t keep encouraging the stuffed animals, but sometimes she couldn’t help herself. She was obligated to teach these girls the ways of the world and how to grow up, but at the same time, she found her own maternal instincts starting to develop by caring for them. Carrie herself was only twenty-eight years old, and hoped to be an actual mother one day. Part of why she elected to leave the city she lived in to take care of Anna and Taylor was to see what it might be like to be a parent. She felt she was doing a great job of keeping them fed, safe, and on the right track to becoming “big girls.” However her biggest, and arguably most important challenge, had still yet to be solved.

“Alright, before we get situated,” Carrie said, reaching for a black notebook planner on the counter. “Let’s do a morning check.”

Carrie brought a black planner, titled in gold lettering “Accountability”, to the kitchen table. She flipped through the initial pages, all diligently and abundantly annotated with notes, written inside boxes representing the days of the week. Words and phrases such as “PROGRESS” and “NEEDS WORK” were common on the first pages. Different symbols were adorned in the margins, such as the word “SODA” encircled and crossed through in a negative pattern, as well as “7 HOURS, NEW RECORD”, followed by exclamation points and hearts.

“All right, how are we looking this morning?” Carrie asked.

Anna and Taylor began to undo the strings of their pajama pants and brought them down to their knees. Anna was wearing a pink and purple pullup, covered in stars and flowers. Taylor was wearing a much thicker white diaper, with two blue tabs on either side.

Carrie walked over to Anna and bent down to waist level. “Ok Anna, any accidents last night? Let’s see.” Carrie peaked inside the front of the pullup while Anna stared out the window and rolled her eyes.

“All dry! Great job! That caps you off for the week at one wet night. You’re doing great, honey.”

Anna smiled confidently. “Thank you,” she said. She began to pull her pajama pants back up and take a seat at the kitchen table in front of the Minnie Mouse plate.

Carrie moved her way over to Taylor.

“Ok sweetie, how are you doing this morning?”

Taylor’s white diaper was soaked yellow near her crotch, and everyone in the room was able to immediately tell with a passing glance. Still, Carrie thought it was important to talk through both the wins and the “mornings for improvement” with the girls.

Taylor’s head hung low and she said, “I think… uh… I think I’m… not dry.”

“Yeah?” Carrie said soothingly, reaching for the wet padding on Taylor’s diaper. It didn’t take much effort to confirm.

“Well, that’s ok. It looks like…” Carrie reached back for the accountability planner, and tallied up a few dates with her finger. “That’s only four wet mornings for you this week! You’re improving!” Carrie put her hand up for a high five. Taylor made a half-smile, and gave a meek high five back to her older cousin in acknowledgement. She pulled up her pajama pants and took her seat near the Cinderella plate at the kitchen table. As the girls got situated, Carrie took her pen and wrote underneath the Saturday box, “Anna – Dry”. Underneath, she wrote “Taylor – morning for improvement”.

Carrie’s most immediate concern with the girls wasn’t just the bedwetting, but rather that both Anna and Taylor were truly incontinent. Well, semi-continent. Carrie thought. It’s complicated.

The most notable shortcoming of Anna and Taylor’s upbringing was that at some point, their mother simply stopped trying to potty train them. With no outside influences or other parent to push back, their mother allowed the wearing and using of diapers to become simply a normal part of daily life. This of course became a hugely limiting factor in their ability to grow outside of the context of their home, and precluded them from so many of the opportunities they needed to have to fully grow up. The family had long speculated why their mother would allow this. Was it too difficult to teach both girls at the same time? Did she condone it on purpose? Once Carrie became their primary caregiver, she had taken the girls to the doctor to see if they had anything physically wrong with them, but they were in perfect health. They simply just had to start their training late.

Despite their current age and greater understanding, the girls and Carrie had their own struggles in the initial phases of potty training. It was hard to juggle constant diaper changes between running errands, traveling to visit family, educational visits throughout the state, and all the other activities Carrie had been leading them through to show Anna and Taylor the world around them.

Carrie brought the skillet full of French toast to the table and began dropping slices onto each of the plates. “Are you guys excited for today? Did you think of anything to add to list?”

Taylor began to smile as she reached for her fork. “The pony game…” She said slyly.

“No,” Carrie chuckled, “what did I say about that? No more video games for you. When you’re in the electronics section I want you just getting the basics: chargers, batteries, phone cases. Don’t get distracted.”

“Anna,” Carrie continued, putting down the skillet back on the stove and moving to her own seat, “anything else you thought to buy?”

Anna lifted her head up in thought. “Can we get an inflatable pool for the backyard? It’s almost summer time.”

“Yeah!” Taylor chimed in.

“No,” Carrie said, slightly more exasperated. “We’re going to just get the essentials today. We’re not made of money, alright!” She rustled Anna’s hair.

“When we go to Target today, I don’t want you guys getting distracted. Part of being a ‘big girl’ is doing this busy work. And doing it fast and accurately.” Carrie added.

The girls nodded and went back to eating their French toast.

“We have to keep this in mind this summer. You both have come a long way this past spring and I’m very proud of you,” Carrie’s voice drifted into a more serious tone as she finished her thought. “But when you go away to college in the fall, I’m not going to be there.” She paused to let her the weight of her words sink in.

“But if we need you, we can call you, right? The dorms will have phones?” Anna asked, her mouth stuffed full of French toast.

“Yes, you can call me. On your phones, silly. The dorms don’t have phones. But I won’t drive all the way up there to help you do your laundry!” Carrie laughed.

Taylor lifted her head with a perplexed look on her face. “Wait… so when we’re at college, who is going to do the laundry?”

“Who do ya think, honey?” Carrie said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh,” Taylor said quietly.

“We have a lot of ground to cover in the next three months,” Carrie sighed. She stood up from her seat and headed towards the sink.

Filling up her glass, Carrie asked “Anna, since you’re still dry, do you mind wearing that pullup when we run errands? You’ve been doing well with the accidents, we might as well not waste a diaper.”

“Ok, fine by me,” Anna replied, without looking away from her plate.

“Great, just remember to use the bathroom before we go.”

“Taylor, sweetheart,” Carrie added, “I’ll change you after I clean up the kitchen. Is that alright with you?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Taylor said in a high pitched, hushed tone. She knew that Carrie was subtlety asking her was whether or not she had any other “surprises” in her diaper that she’d be uncomfortable sitting in for the foreseeable future. Since potty training began, Taylor had been lagging behind her older sister, and despite her rapid improvement, she was developing a strong sense of embarrassment to her accidents.

“Good, now I think we’ll head out to run errands around eleven. If you guys want to watch cartoons or play in the living room, we leave in about an hour and a half.”

Anna and Taylor finished up the final scraps of their breakfast and put down their silverware. They pushed their chairs out and made a dash for the living room.

“I’m putting on Nick Jr!” Taylor yelled.

“No, I’m putting on the Lion King!” Anna replied, chasing after her.

Taylor rounded the corner of their kitchen and entered the living room, leaping for the remote on the couch. She grabbed it and extended it towards the TV.

Following behind, Anna quickly grabbed the remote out of Taylor’s hand and held it close.

“Hey! C’mon! I got here first,” she grumbled, trying to pry the remote from her older sister.

“It’s mine now, you can watch after we get home later.” Anna said.

Taylor leaned back and pouted. “That’s not fair. We’re not even going to finish the Lion King before we leave. We just watched it last week too.”

She jumped off the couch in a huff and walked towards the color coded, plastic buckets of toys next to the TV. She laid down on her stomach in front of the boxes and pulled on a large yellow bucket, full of toy cars. Already putting Anna out of her mind, Taylor began studying intently which cars she wanted to line up for a hypothetical race.

Anna watched her sister from an elevated position on the couch and saw the top of her thick white diaper poking out of her pajama pants.

Geez, what a baby, Anna thought. She pointed the remote to the TV and turned it on. She followed the instructions to eventually start the Lion King.

As the opening credits began to play, Anna leaned back and relaxed on the couch. She could hear Taylor below making car sounds effects and vague narrations in her pretend race. Anna began to focus intently on the TV screen. She scratched her cheek, and absentmindedly let her hand linger near face. Engrossed in the movie, Anna didn’t even notice as she began sucking her thumb.

A few moments later, Anna and Taylor jumped at the sound of Carrie sharply whistling from the kitchen.

“Anna,” Carrie said firmly, motioning her thumb out of her mouth as a reminder.

“Sorry,” Anna said meekly.

Carrie shook her head and returned to cleaning the kitchen. Anna sighed and turned her attention back to the movie, keeping her hands by her side.

[steadyNoon]

PART 2

“Alright Taylor, are you ready?” Carrie called from the kitchen.

Taylor hardly noticed as she continued playing with her toys cars on the carpet, her legs absentmindedly kicking in the air. “Yeah,” she replied.

Carrie finish washing her hands and walked over to the large bookshelf-like cabinet in the corner of the living room, behind the couch and TV where Anna and Taylor were playing. The wooden cabinet was nearly floor to ceiling, and meticulously organized shelf by shelf for the needs of the girls. On the bottom were the basics: bottles of baby powder, cases of wipes, and half a dozen tubes of diaper rash creams. Above that were cases of pull-ups, reserved for when Anna or Taylor were progressing effectively, but not quite ready to go without protection. Above the pull-ups were normal adult diapers, sized small, since the girls were on the shorter side. On the top shelf were the thickest and most absorbent diapers, Carrie had them ordered from adult websites who printed them with over the top cutesy designs: giraffes, elephants, leopards, and other animals of the jungle. Carrie used these diapers sparingly, only for long day trips or if one of the girls had been having a particularly difficult few days.

“What do you think Taylor, regular diapers or special diapers today?” Carrie asked, looking over the cabinet shelves.

Taylor stopped playing abruptly. “Regular!” She said nervously.

“Regular? No accidents today?” Carrie asked playfully.

“No,” Taylor pouted, “I don’t need special diapers today, I’ll be ok.”

“Ok,” Carrie said. She grab one regular diaper from the middle shelf, some baby powder, cream, wipes, and a rolled up mat.

Walking over to Taylor on the floor, Carrie began to unfurl the bright red mat and asked, “Did you let everything out?”

Taylor got up off her stomach and onto her knees. She looked back down at her toy cars and mumbled, “Yeah, I think so…”

Carrie began to lay the diaper down and open the case of wipes. “Really? Try again for me. C’mon.”

Taylor sighed and rested back on her heels. She placed her hands on her thighs and closed her eyes. She let out a sigh and was still for a moment.

“Pssssss……” Anna teased from the couch, imitating the flow of water.

Taylor opened her eyes “Hey! I can’t do it if you’re watching!”

Anna laughed and turned away, focusing back on the musical number the animals from the Lion King were singing. She grabbed the remote down the volume.

Taylor closed her eyes again and concentrated. Exhaling, she relaxed her muscles and a soft hiss was heard throughout the living room.

“Good girl,” Carrie said, before Taylor was even finished.

Taylor opened her eyes and reached between her legs. “Didn’t leak,” she said confidently.

“Wouldn’t have to worry about leaking if you didn’t wet the bed in the first place.” Anna said, still watching the TV.

Taylor glared at Anna and reached for a pillow on the floor beside her. Grumbling, she threw it at her sister. Anna laughed and swatted it away.

“Hey!” Carrie said, “Enough of that! Anna, stop being mean to your sister, it wasn’t so long along you were peeing your pants too.”

Anna ignored her and went back to watching TV.

“Ok, now come here,” Carrie ordered, she reached for Taylor’s shoulders and helped lay her down on the mat. Pulling the sides of her lavender pajama bottoms, Carrie revealed a very wet diaper taped around Taylor’s hips.

“Let’s get you all cleaned up.”

Pulling the tapes apart, Carrie began to undo Taylor’s diaper. Distracted, Taylor reached to her side for a small blue racecar and played with it in her hands above her face as Carrie went to work.

Pulling the diaper back, Carrie grabbed a wipe and began to wipe between Taylor’s legs. Taylor continued to play with her racecar unaffected, while Carrie reached for the clean diaper. “Up,” she commanded. Taylor rose her butt off the ground as Carrie swapped the soaking wet diaper for a dry one. Taylor instinctively lowered herself as Carrie grabbed the baby powder and diaper rash cream.

“So Anna,” Carrie said as she worked, “for Aunt Sandra’s wedding next weekend, we’re going to need a few things from the store today.”

“Mhm…” Anna said.

“You’re going to be responsible for finding some snacks for our car ride, an umbrella for if it rains, and a toaster for their registry. Got it?” Carrie said, liberally applying diaper rash cream to Taylor.

“Definitely.” Anna mumbled.

“And for you, honey,” Carrie said, reaching for the powder. “Do you know what you’re getting?”

“Three phone chargers, three phone cases, and a pack of AA batteries.”

“Good job!” Carrie said, sprinkling baby powder on Taylor’s midsection.

Carrie began to tape up Taylor’s fresh diaper and said, “Alright, let’s get a move on. You both go upstairs and put on some big girl clothes and I’ll meet you outside by the car.”

Taylor sat up and inspected her expertly changed diaper. Anna began to stir on the couch and turn off the TV.

Carrie got up to put back the diaper changing supplies and quickly looked at Taylor.

“And no, no princess skirts today.” She said sternly.

Taylor rolled her eyes and followed her sister up the stairs.

PART 3

“Cappuccino, extra milk please,” Carrie said.

“Thank you. And your name?” The clerk replied.

“Carrie, thanks.”

Anna and Taylor hovered behind their cousin in line as she ordered at the coffee shop inside their local Target. Reaching into her purse, Carrie pulled out two credit cards. The first she used to pay for her drink and passed to Anna. The second she gave to Taylor.

“I hope I don’t have to say this, but only the essentials. No treats or toys.” She said.

“Cappuccino for Carrie!” The clerk announced a few yards to their left.

Carrie led the girls out of line and grabbed her cappuccino. She motioned for her little cousins to follow her towards the front of store.

“Alright, so we all know what we’re getting, correct?” She said, taking a sip of her drink.

Anna and Taylor nodded.

Carrie reached into her purse and pulled out two phones, giving one to each of the girls.

“Here are your phones, call me if you need anything. No scrolling or playing games on them as well. You each have three tasks, and twenty minutes to find them and check out. This is what big girls do all the time. Now, any questions?”

The girls shook their heads.

“Ok I’m going to wait right over here and drink my coffee. Meet me back here in twenty minutes.” She took out her own phone and began a timer.

“Good luck!” Carrie said, and turned around to start looking for an open seat at the coffee shop.

Taylor looked vaguely at her older sister to take the lead. Anna silently walked over to the plastic basket tower and pulled two off for them. Handing one to Taylor, she said “Let’s split up, you head to the electronics section since all your items are over there. I’ll be throughout the store for my stuff.”

“Ok,” Taylor acknowledged. She took her basket and walked briskly off to the faint glow of dozens of TVs.

Anna started making her way towards the food aisles. She walked past the produce and beverage sections, and soon found herself coming up to an aisle full of boxes of snacks. Anna was a fan of pretzels, but knew Taylor was fond of popcorn, and that Carrie like crackers best.

Well, I’m in charge of groceries today, so I’m getting pretzels! She thought to herself. She grabbed two large plastic bags of pretzels and placed them in her basket.

Anna left the aisle and began wandering the perimeter of the store. She passed the bedding section and clothes racks, and eventually came up to an aisle of utility items. She scoured the shelves, seeing tape measures, tools, and wall mounts. At the end of the aisle she saw a large container of black umbrellas. Without much of a thought, she plucked up one from the bin and kept moving about the store.

As Anna made her way to the appliance area to search for a toaster, a bright array of pink color caught her eye. To her left she saw the girls’ toy aisle, adorned with dolls, stuffed animals, kitchen playsets, and miniature houses.

I have some time to spare, Anna thought.

Mesmerized by the wide selection of toys, Anna walked down the aisle and gazed at the plastic unicorns, tiny play ovens, and princess attire. Her eyes fixated on a large wooden dollhouse towards the back of the aisle. It had two floors, with a miniature family of people, one person in each of the various rooms. It wasn’t as ostentatiously bright and pink as some of the cheaper, gaudier dollhouses in the aisle. This one had more of simple and refined look, and seemed to resemble more of a normal home than something out of a cartoon.

Still inspecting the dollhouse, Anna heard a voice from the end of the aisle. “Anna!” Taylor yelled, walking down the aisle. “Hey, did you find everything you need?” she asked her older sister. Anna broke her concentration and turned to Taylor. “Oh, hey. No, I haven’t yet, I was just checking out the toys quickly.”

“You better hurry up,” Taylor warned. “I have a timer set up on my phone too, to match Carrie’s. We only have ten minutes left. Look, I got a phone case for you with your favorite–”

“Ugh, ok,” Anna grumbled, feeling annoyed. She walked briskly past her sister and started looking for her final item.

Taylor frowned. “You’re welcome!” she yelled to Anna.

“I was just trying to help…” Taylor mumbled to herself, as she made her way to the checkout area.

Anna came up to the appliance aisle and saw dozens of coffee makers, blenders, and toasters. The different models offered all sorts of features, some held four or six slices of toast, some had specialty screens embedded on them, and they came in all sorts of colors and designs.

She saw a slim back toaster for only fifteen dollars near one of the bottom shelves. Perfect, she thought. Carrie will be happy I found such a cheap deal. She grabbed it and added it to her basket. With all her items accounted for, Anna started walking towards the checkout area.

Anna saw a short line at the self-checkout kiosks. Hmmm, those are pretty complicated though. I better use the normal checkout.

She continued past self-checkout and saw the much longer lines for the regular checkout. She walked to the back of the line and began to wait.

Looking around, she tried to see if Taylor was in line. She didn’t see her at the self-checkout kiosks, nor did she see her waiting in line to be rung up. Peeking past the line and towards the coffee shop, she could see Carrie and Taylor talking and inspecting the contents of a plastic Target bag near the exit of the store. Anna pouted and turned her attention back to waiting in line.

After nearly ten minutes of waiting, Anna thanked the cashier and grabbed her two bags of goods and started walking towards Carrie and Taylor.

“Anna,” Carrie said sternly, “you’re late, young lady.”

“I know,” Anna said, “I would’ve made it on time, but the checkout line was just so long.”

“You have to be aware of these things,” Carrie instructed. “Sometimes if you’re in a hurry, you need to put the effort into self-checkout to accomplish your tasks faster. That’s what Taylor did.”

“You did?” Anna said, turning to her sister.

“Yep!” Taylor said, with a wide smile on her face. “It’s not too hard! I’ll show you next time, you just have to make sure—“

“I get it, I know how to do it,” Anna said, interrupting her sister.

Taylor grew quiet and the excitement left her face.

“Ok…” she said softly.

“Alright, let’s get ready to go,” Carrie said, beckoning the girls towards the exit. Before they reached the automatic sliding doors, Carrie stopped abruptly.

“Actually, before we leave,” Carrie said, “Does anyone have to go to the bathroom?”

Anna looked up to her cousin and confidently shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

Taylor’s eyes widened. She looked sharply back towards the bathrooms, fifty yards away.

“Taylor?” Carrie asked.

“Um, no. No, I’m alright.” She replied.

Carrie looked intently at Taylor, trying to read her. She knew Taylor might be lying but it was also important to let the girls make these decisions themselves. Taylor smiled in response.

“Ok, let’s get going then.”

Carrie walked out the front door followed closely by Anna. Taylor stood still for a moment and looked back at the bathrooms, but then turned her focus back towards the exit. She squeezed her legs tightly together for a brief moment and started quickly walking to catch up to her sister and cousin.

PART 4

Carrie looked left and right as she made a turn onto the road leading out of Target. Anna and Taylor sat in the back seat of the large blue SUV, with their bags on their laps.

“So I was thinking,” Carrie said, “We can still make it over to the Museum of Astronomy downtown, it doesn’t close for another two hours.”

Both girls groaned in the back seat.

“C’mon!” Carrie argued, “It’ll be fun! I always wondered what was going on between Galileo and the space shuttles. It’ll be a good learning experience for you both.”

“It’s just so boring…” Taylor said, exasperated, leaning her head back in her seat.

“I don’t think it’s that boring,” Carrie said.

“It’s not boring, it’s just that,” Anna began, “we’ve had a long week, we learned a lot with you from Monday to Friday. It was fun going to city hall and seeing some of the history there on Tuesday. I think we just need a bit of a break.”

“That’s true,” Carrie said, turning onto the highway.

“Could we do something fun this afternoon?” Anna asked.

“The playground!” Taylor blurted out. “Can we go to the one by the deli on Lake Avenue?”

“Well,” Carrie said, slightly surprised, “I guess we can do that. It’s a pretty small one, I don’t think anyone else is going to be there. Anna, do you want to visit the playground?”

Anna thought for a moment. “Yeah, sure, that sounds great.”

“Ok, let’s make our way over there.”

The girls drove for another ten minutes until they reached Lake Avenue, and pulled into the playground parking lot. There were only a dozen or so parking spots, all empty, for the small park. Carrie pulled into a parking spot and put the SUV into park. Before she could even get out, Taylor unbuckled and opened the door. She giggled and started running towards the empty playground, shining in the golden afternoon light.

The playground had a simple climbable fortress, with a slide for easy exit, as well as some monkey bars and a seesaw. It was tucked away in a corner of town away from the residential area, and didn’t get much foot traffic. Taylor was the only visitor as she ran towards the fortress, laughing and smiling.

Carrie and Anna were slower to exit the SUV and walked together towards the benches by the foot of the playground. “Taylor is quite exuberant today, isn’t she?” Carrie laughed to Anna.

“Yeah,” Anna said. “I wasn’t thrilled about coming here, but after seeing how excited she was, how could I say no?”

“Anna!” Taylor yelled from the top of the fortress. “Come chase me!” She said.

Anna felt like a “big girl,” and above the immaturity of the playground outing, but her own sense of fun kicked in as she heard he sister yell to her.

“Ok, I’m gonna get you!” Anna said, starting to run towards the playground.

Taylor shrieked and laughed as she ran towards the slide and slid down. She waited until Anna was gaining on her, and then ran around the fortress to try and throw her off her trail. Anna nimbly followed Taylor’s twists and turns, until they came to the seesaw.

Taylor stood behind one end of the seesaw while Anna stood at the other.

“Never gonna catch me,” Taylor taunted.

“Yeah?” Anna said.

Anna ran along the side of the seesaw towards her sister, who took off along the opposite side. As soon as Taylor made her move, Anna jumped over the seesaw dividing them and grabbed Taylor’s arm.

“Hey!” Taylor exclaimed, laughing and giggling.

“Come here,” Anna said, pulling Taylor close to her. Anna let go of Taylor’s arm and reached for her midsection. Once she has a grip, she began to relentlessly tickle her little sister.

Taylor’s laughter turned into near shouting “Hey, stop! C’mon, don’t do that!”

Anna smiled and continued to torment her. “Why, are you ticklish?” she asked, knowing the answer.

Taylor squirmed and tried to push Anna off of her but it was of no use. Taylor’s thrashing became much less pronounced as she pulled her legs tightly together. This not only failed to deter Anna, but gave her more leverage, as she continue to tickle her sister all around her ribcage.

“Anna, please! I need to…Please, just stop!”

Anna began to laugh. “What? You need to what?”

Taylor tried a few last futile twists to escape her sister’s grasp, but it was not enough. Anna refused to let up.

Taylor stopped resisting her sister and began to stand up straight. She leaned over her feet slightly, bent her knees, and stuck her butt out.

Anna could her hear sister grunt and groan slightly and she began to ease up on tickling her.

“Oh, gross! Taylor, come on!”

Anna jumped back a few steps as Taylor squatted ever so slightly more and put her hands on her knees. The top of her white diaper was peeking out above her jeans, but from a distance it easily blended into her white tank top.

“Carrie!” Anna yelled.

Carrie was sitting on the bench looking at her phone.

“What is it?” she yelled back.

“Taylor had an accident!”

Carrie’s head popped up from her phone and she looked over at Taylor, hunched over in a half squat.

“Oh, Taylor! I asked if you needed to go twenty minutes ago!” Carrie said, disappointed.

Tears were beginning to well up in Taylor’s eyes as she began to stand back upright. She began to walk towards Carrie in a waddle, and winced as she felt the mess in her diaper squish up against her.

“Taylor made a stinky,” Anna teased in a sing-song voice.

Taylor glared back towards Anna and ran over to her. She punched Anna in the arm and went right back to waddling over to Carrie.

“Hey!” Anna yelled, half laughing.

Carrie pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Taylor, NO. You do NOT hit your sister. Come here.”

Taylor was holding back tears as she slowly made her way over to the benches in her dirty diaper. Carrie opened her arms up and beckoned Taylor towards her for a hug. Taylor came up to Carrie and grimaced as she didn’t want to sit in Carrie’s lap given the contents of her diaper.

Carrie pulled Taylor in close and sat her down on her lap. “Come here Taylor, I know you don’t like the mushy feeling, but you need a hug.” She held her little cousin in a tight embrace on the bench, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s ok, this is what the diapers are for.”

Taylor leaned into Carrie, a few stray tears falling down her cheek.
“I’m just trying so hard. I don’t want to wear diapers anymore…” Taylor said. “I want to be a big girl.”

“I know you do,” Carrie said, rubbing her back.

“Is this going to count as an accident in the Accountability book?” Taylor asked, looking up to Carrie.

Carrie looked around the park.

“You know Taylor, I don’t think there were any bathrooms here to begin with. And it wouldn’t be fair if I called this an accident when you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to use the potty anyway.”

Taylor took a deep breath and wiped a few tears from her face.

“And Anna made me do it, anyway…” Taylor grumbled.

“She did. That wasn’t very nice.”

“Hey, Anna,” Carrie shouted out. Anna was playing on the monkey bars as if nothing had happened. “Anna, come here please.”

Anna looked over to Carrie snuggling her sister on her lap, and rolled her eyes. Gosh, she’s being such a baby about this.

Anna walked over to the benches and Taylor buried her face into Carrie’s shoulder, not wanted to look at her sister.

“That wasn’t very nice of you, Anna,” Carrie said sternly. “Taylor is trying very hard to be a big girl and it doesn’t help when you tickle her like that. She’s still not on your level just yet.”

“Alright, I’m sorry, I guess.” Anna said. “We were just playing. How was I supposed to know she was going to poop her pants like that?”

Taylor groaned in embarrassment and snuggled into Carrie even more.

“What? It’s true. Maybe now we can go to the museum,” Anna smirked. “And then we can go out to dinner! And maybe see a movie afterwards…” she continued.

Taylor turned sharply around in protest. “No! I don’t want to wear this diaper all day, I want to go home!” She whined.

“Maybe I can change you in the back of the SUV.” Anna said.

Taylor’s stern glare crumbled into a frown as she began to cry again.

“No!” she wailed, turning back to Carrie, “I don’t want you to change my diaper, only Carrie.”

Taylor began to sob in Carrie’s lap. Carrie looked at Anna and rolled her eyes.

“Ok, it’s been a long day. Let’s go home. Come on, Taylor, we’ll get you all changed and clean.”

Carrie began to push Taylor off of her lap and onto her feet. She sniffled and tried to compose herself as Carrie got up and started walking back to the SUV. Anna followed and Taylor began to waddle at half the pace of her sister.

“It’s not fair…” Taylor grumbled. “I’m a big girl too…”

[steadyNoon]

PART 5

“Do you remember who Aunt Sandra’s fiancé is? I’m drawing a blank,” Taylor asked, fiddling with her stuffed brontosaurus on her lap.

“His name is Anthony,” Anna said, finishing the second braid of Taylor’s hair. “He was the one who told us that boating story last Christmas.”

“Oh yeah,” Taylor laughed, “He was funny, I liked him.”

Anna grabbed a white bow beside her on the couch and tied it onto Taylor’s newly finished braid, who was sitting below her on the floor. Her hair was braided into two pigtails, each tied with a white ribbon near the base.

“Ok, my turn,” Anna said, getting up from the couch. Taylor hopped up and switched places with her sister, and placed her brontosaurus down on the couch. Anna ran her hand through her hair and Taylor grabbed a few strands and began layering them.

“I wonder if Anthony has any younger brothers, or nephews.” Taylor said.

“Why? Do you want to kiss them?” Anna teased.

“Only if they’re cute,” Taylor laughed. “Why, don’t you want a boyfriend too? Eventually?”

Anna looked forward in thought and added, “Yeah, I suppose. I hadn’t really thought about it yet.”

The creaking of the stairs near the kitchen alerted the girls to Carrie coming down. Her long brown hair was frizzled, and she was still in tank top and pajama pants.

“Hey, are you both all showered up now? I was just laying out your dresses on your beds.”

“Yes, we are,” Anna answered. Both Anna and Taylor were clean, and wearing loose fitting t-shirts and shorts. It was one of the rare mornings they were both diaperless after their initial change, since they were waiting for their cousin to pad them up once they got ready.

Carrie walked over to the shelves of diapers.

“And you both did your business on the toilet first?”

The girls nodded.

Carrie reached for the top shelf and grabbed two of the extra thick diapers, covered in illustrated jungle animals.

“Alright, I know it’s been years since you’ve both been to a wedding,” Carrie began, “but I want to remind you, it’s going to be five or six hours long, ok?”

Taylor continued to braid Anna’s hair, as they both absentmindedly nodded.

“I know we’ve had a strong focus on making it to the bathroom over the past few months, but today we’re going to have…” Carrie searched for way to frame it, “… a break from the toilet.”

Taylor laid her hands at her side and looked over at Carrie, perplexed. Anna turned her head around with wide eyes.

“I’m going to be dressed up all nice too, and I’m not going to be able to change you both whenever you need during the ceremonies.” The girls listened intently to Carrie in silence. “I also don’t want you to be fumbling with your diapers and dresses in the bathroom all afternoon, so just for today…” Carrie paused, “… I want you to forget about using the toilet and just use your diapers.”

“What? Ew!” Taylor said incredulously.

“It won’t be so bad. It’s just a few hours. And if you really need a change,” Carrie glared at Taylor, “let me know and we can find some time.”

“Carrie, wait a second,” Anna said.

Carrie and Taylor looked over at Anna.

“Maybe I can understand Taylor wearing a diaper all day…”

Taylor pouted and crossed her arms, but continued listening.

“… but I haven’t had a daytime accident in three weeks. You can check the Accountability book on that.”

Carrie tilted her head in thought, and nodded in agreement with Anna.

“Do you think I can go without a diaper today?” Anna implored. “I think it’ll mean a lot, and it’ll make me feel like a grown up. I don’t want to go back to purposefully using my diapers.”

Carrie sighed, “You do have a point, Anna.” She looked at the two diapers in her hand.

“You know, I think you’re right. I’m glad you brought that up,” Carrie said, looking towards Anna. “I think you’ve been doing a great job and I’m glad you feel confident today. I think you’ll make a great big girl at the wedding.”

Carrie placed one diaper down on the couch and began walking back to the shelves with the other one in hand.

“What about me?” Taylor whined. “I just gotta use my diaper all day? That’s not fair.”

“Oh yes it is fair,” Carrie said, without missing a beat. She gave Taylor a kiss on the forehead as she passed her on the way to the shelf with the spare diaper. “Do you remember last week at the playground?”

“Yes,” Taylor said quietly.

“Let’s have a few more weeks without that, and then you can wear big girl underwear like your sister.” Carrie grabbed the red yoga mat and changing supplies. “Now let’s get you taped up.”

Carrie laid out the red changing mat in front on the couch and patted it. Taylor got down and began to take off her shorts. Anna sat down on the couch and reached over her shoulder for the last, slightly unfinished braid, and began to tie the last knot herself.

“Hey Anna,” Carrie said, placing the thick diaper underneath Taylor. “Could you grab that toaster for the registry and some wrapping paper from the closet? We need to wrap it before we leave.”

“Sure,” Anna said. She grabbed the last white bow she needed from the couch, and began tying it in her hair as she left the room.

Carrie sprinkled some baby powder on Taylor and began to tape the diaper up over her legs.

“How far away is the wedding?” Taylor asked.

“About an hour south,” Carrie replied. “It’s at the Meadow Creek Country Club.”

Carrie got up and started walking over to the diaper shelf, and brought the diaper bag over to where Taylor was still lying down.

“It’s a very nice club! I was there for a friend’s wedding there a few years ago, the ceremony will probably be in the large, grassy field looking over the lake.”

Carrie picked up the diaper rash cream, baby powder, and wipes and began to put them in the diaper bag.

“Hmmm, I need to grab another diaper for this bag, in case we need it…” Carrie said, poking through the bag.

“Carrie, I have the toaster,” Anna announced, entering from the other side of the living room.

“Oh great! Let’s see, I don’t think you’ve shown it to me since you picked it out,” Carrie put the diaper bag aside and turned to Anna. “Which one did you get?”

Anna placed the white and silver wrapping paper, tape, and scissors on the ground, and handed the small boxed toaster to Carrie.

Before she could even grab it, Carrie frowned. “Wait, is this it?”

“Yeah,” Anna said, “it was the cheapest one they had.”

Carrie examined it and sighed. “Anna, I know cheap is usually a good thing, but we’re buying a wedding gift for Sandra and Anthony.” She held up the box and looked at Anna. “This is just a cheap little trinket. It’ll probably break after a few uses, if it even turns on at all when we plug it in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Anna said, looking dejected.

“It’s ok,” Carrie said. “But you need to understand, when you’re a grown up, sometimes you want to get nice things. Working things, not low quality, little knickknacks. We can’t give them this, it’s embarrassing for all of us.”

Carrie got up and walked into the kitchen.

“I think I have an old Hallmark card around here somewhere, I’ll just put eighty bucks in it.”

Taylor got up off the mat with her thick diaper securely fastened around her hips.

“You girls go upstairs and get dressed, we’ll get going soon. I still need to shower and do my hair.” Carrie said, reaching into her purse. She pulled out her wallet and some cash and placed it on the kitchen counter. Anna and Taylor started walking up the stairs to their bedrooms as Carrie entered the living room.

Where did I place that card… She thought as she scanned the living room.

As she walked passed the changing mat she picked up the diaper bag and zipped it up.

Oh, I think I left it in that box of paperwork in the guest room! Carrie thought. She placed the diaper bag by the front door and turned to the hallway leading to the guest room. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and saw the time was 10:32am.

We better get a move on.

PART 6

The afternoon sun laid a gentle warmth over the patrons of the Meadow Creek Country Club. The hundred or so attendees of the wedding were completely silent as they watched the bride and groom beam at each other, while the priest standing between them flipped through a small black book. The only sounds that could be heard in the quiet, grassy field were the chirping of birds, and the soft splashing of a fountain in the lake behind the ceremony.

“Anthony, do you take Sandra to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?” The priest asked.

“I do.”

The priest turned to Sandra.

“Sandra, do you take Anthony to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Anthony, tall and olive skinned, leaned in to kiss his new wife. The shorter, red-headed Sandra met him in a warm embrace and kissed to thunderous applause.

The entire attendance of the wedding stood up from their chairs and clapped. Anna, Taylor, and Carrie were seated towards the middle of the bride’s side of the aisle, and were smiling wide with pride.

“Yay! Aunt Sandra and Uncle Anthony!” Carrie cheered.

Carrie was wearing a dark green dress and stood a few inches taller than normal in her white high heels, and was easily able to see the new bride and groom over the rows in front of her.

The more diminutive Anna and Taylor needed to get on their toes to see some of the sights of the wedding. The sisters were wearing matching outfits, and nearly looked like twins, except for the sharp contrast between Anna’s bright blonde hair and Taylor’s dark hair, and Anna’s extra inch of height.

Both girls were wearing white dresses with skirts that were so frilly and fluffy that passerby couldn’t even tell which sister was wearing a diaper. Below their dresses they wore white tights, and simple white flats, which could almost pass for ballerina shoes. Their hair was braided in pigtails, with white bows to match their outfit. On the way in, one of the event coordinators had even asked Carrie if they were the flower girls.

As the bride and groom cheerfully walked down the aisle amongst their friends and family, Taylor whispered to Anna, “Wow, that was only like an hour. What are we going to do now? Are there any games we can play?”

“No,” Anna laughed, “There’s no games. Now we get to eat and dance for a bit. The next part is called the cocktail hour.”

“Cocktail hour? I don’t think Carrie’s gonna let us drink yet.”

“We don’t have to drink, there’s food and other snacks to try.”

“Oh, ok.”

The crowd in filtered out of their rows, and made their way towards the main building of the country club. Carrie and the girls followed the crowd through lush green scenery, which was well-maintained and manicured. They saw part of the golf course, a swimming pool, and even a full gym inside the building as they got closer.

“This place has everything,” Carrie mentioned to Anna and Taylor. “This is why you want to work hard in college so you can be a part of a place like this when you’re older!”

They soon followed the crowd through two doors into a large foyer. The walls of the large room were outlined with tables of massive trays of food, and a few bars for drinks as well. The wedding attendees soon started to filter into a line and began loading up their plates.

“Wow!” Taylor said, “This all looks great, there’s fish, and steak, and fruits… and chicken and meatballs, gosh I don’t know even know what I want.”

“Don’t fill up too much,” Carrie warned. “We still have a whole dinner coming up. Just get a little bit of food to hold you over for an hour or two. I’m going to grab a drink, you two should find some of the rest of the family who’s here, they’ve missed you and want to see you.”

As Carrie began to walk towards the bar, Taylor looked to Anna. “What you are going to eat?”

Anna was looking at the last station in the outline of food arrangements, a table adorned with a chocolate fountain and dozens of types of sweets.

“Oh, they have brownies!” Anna exclaimed. “I’m going to get some.”

“Brownies, Anna? Really? We haven’t even eaten dinner yet. That should come after.”

“C’mon,” Anna said. “Aren’t we ‘big girls’ now?” She said, raising her fingers in air quotes. “If I want brownies I’m going to have some.”

Taylor rolled her eyes. “Ok, whatever. I’m going to try something new, I think that’s what being a ‘big girl’ is about.” She mimicked Anna’s finger quotes.

Taylor began to follow the crowd towards the front of the food line procession. Anna went directly to the dessert table and grabbed a small plate. On a huge circular tray, there was a pyramid of square, fudgy pastries, labeled with a placard “Prune Brownies.” Anna began piling on a handful, soon followed by a fourth, a fifth, and then a sixth onto her own small plate. She could see and feel small bits of dried prunes embedded within them, like they were nuts or chocolate chips.­

Anna picked up one of the brownies from here plate and sunk her teeth into it. They were rich and chocolatey, and the prunes added a unique sweetness that made them more enjoyable than the cheap, plastic wrapped brownies she was used to from the supermarket. As she walked away from the table, she saw an older couple in their sixties standing near a hi-top table, enjoying a fruit salad.

“Aunt Maggie, Uncle Ed!” Anna shouted, a few crumbs escaping her mouth. The couple looked up and made eye contact with Anna and smiled.

“Anna, sweet girl! Hello!” Maggie said, placing her plate down. She extended her arms, displaying her dark red dress, and embraced Anna close to with a hug, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Ed, clad in a tuxedo, stood beside his wife and said “Anna! Come here, you’ve gotten so big, I missed you.” Anna left Maggie’s embrace and hugged her uncle.

“How are you and Taylor? You both aren’t causing too much trouble for Carrie, are you?” Maggie asked.

“No, we’ve been good. It’s been fun living with Carrie, she’s been teaching us lots and taking us all over.” Anna said.

“Are you both still planning on heading up to college this year? How’s that going?” Ed added.

“It’s going well! I’m excited, it’ll be the first time I can remember being in real school, I can’t wait to start meeting friends, and going to class all by myself, and—“

“Anna, how is your condition, sweetheart?” Maggie interrupted, in a hushed tone. “Are you still wearing, you know…?”

Anna laughed, “No, look! See?” She reached down to lift up her skirt to show her aunt, but Maggie quickly tamped her hands down.

“Not here, Anna, it’s not lady-like!” Maggie chuckled, “We’re not out in the backyard, you know. But that’s great to hear, I’ve glad that you’ve really…” she paused for a moment, “…matured.”

“Me too,” Anna replied, grabbing her second brownie, and chomping off a portion.

“Come here, honey,” Ed said. He grabbed a handkerchief from his front pocket and dipped it in his glass of water. Anna drew closer to him and he wiped off a few bits of chocolate around the corners of her mouth.

“Oh! You know who’s here?” Maggie exclaimed. “Esther! She hasn’t seen you in ages, come one, let’s go over and say hi.”

Anna, her aunt, and her uncle all grabbed their plates, and walked deeper into the lively crowd spread throughout the foyer.

PART 7

“YES! Of course I remember that. What was he even doing there?”

“He was the milkman.”

“The milkman? We still had milkmen back then?”

“In that part of the county, yeah. They didn’t stop until the nineties!”

Anna sighed and twirled the plastic straw in her glass of cola. She looked up from her drink and squinted into the sun, now shining directly in her eyes. It was getting hot, and a little humid in the afternoon sun. She was seated outside at a small glass picnic table on the deck of the country club, listening to her aunts Maggie and Esther reminisce. Her uncle Ed sat beside her, checking his phone for emails. After nearly half an hour of catching up with the events in her own life, Anna felt trapped in the conversational orbit of her family, and had been listening to their stories for quite a while. She finished the last of the six brownies she had grabbed from the dessert table, and washed it down with the rest of her soda. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. Between the sun, the heat, the boredom, and a small strain on her bladder, she was growing more uncomfortable by the minute.

“Hey, Aunt Maggie,” Anna said, getting up from her seat, “I’m going to find the restroom real quick. It was nice catching up with you.”

“Oh Anna, it was so nice to catch up with you too,” Maggie said.

“Yes dear, it really was,” Esther said. “Before you leave, let’s grab a picture, I think I saw the photographer hovering around close by,” she added.

Ed looked up from his phone and surveyed the crowd, and waved his hand at a short, small man with a professional camera in his hands. The cameraman saw Ed and came over.

“Would you guys like a picture?” he asked, raising his camera.

“Yes, please!” Maggie said, getting up. She corralled Esther, Anna, and her husband into a group photo, facing the sun.

“Smile,” the cameraman said.

Anna squinted and smiled wide, until she heard the shuttering of the camera stop. As she began to distance herself from the group, she heard Maggie say “Oh, Anna, wait right there. We need to find your sister and Carrie.” Anna stopped and sighed, she turned around and walked back over to her family.

“Wait just a moment,” Maggie said, taking off into the crowd.

Anna folded her arms and looked around. She brought her legs tight together and bounced slightly.

I hope this doesn’t take too long… she thought.

A few minutes later, after standing around and admiring the surroundings, Anna saw her aunt return through the foyer’s exit doors with Carrie and Taylor.

“There you are!” Carrie said. “Haven’t seen you all day! Enjoying yourself?”

Anna politely smiled and relaxed her body language.

Taylor skipped along behind Carrie and ran over to hug her aunts and uncles.

“Ok, let’s get a picture of Carrie, Taylor, and Anna. The upstate girls.” Maggie said.

The three girls congregated in front of the camera. Carrie channeled her maternal energy, and guided each of her little cousins on either side of her and put her arms around them. Carrie stood tall and grinned, while Anna and Taylor hugged their older cousin with wide smiles.

“Adorable,” Esther said.

“Very nice,” Ed agreed.

As Anna and Taylor began to separate themselves from Carrie, they saw the bride and groom themselves walk out onto the porch, hand in hand.

“Hey folks!” Sandra said to her family. “We saw you taking pictures from way inside, and the light of the golden hour is just unreal.”

“Yes! Sandra, get a few pictures, please.” Maggie said.

Anthony and Sandra looked towards the cameraman and began to strike a few poses as the shutter of the camera clicked incessantly. They held each other’s hands while looking deeply into each other’s eyes, stood arm and arm looking into the distance, and laughed for a “candid shot.” After a few poses, Anthony tapped Sandra’s shoulder and pointed into the distance. When she looked away, he gracefully picked her up in his arms from behind and whisked her up into his arms.

“Anthony!” Sandra laughed and giggled, he red hair shining in the sun. Her husband coolly smiled and said, “I love you,” before kissing her in her arms.

“Fantastic,” The cameraman said, taking ample pictures of the impromptu moment.

“Wow,” Carrie said quietly to Esther. “Quite smooth.”

As Anthony placed Sandra back down on her feet, Taylor ran over and yelled “I want to go up! Me next, Uncle Anthony!” Her pigtails swung back and forth as she ran.

Taylor’s aunts and uncles all let out an “Aww” as their niece ran towards the groom.

Anthony laughed and opened his arms to Taylor, “Of course, honey, come here!”

“Taylor!” Carrie yelled, half embarrassed, half amused.

Taylor practically leapt into Anthony’s arms, and he expertly lifted her in the air. As they smiled for the camera, she wrapped her arms around her new uncle’s shoulder. Anthony planted a kiss on Taylor’s cheek, and she blushed a soft red.

Anna watched the display from Carrie’s side with her arms folded. What is she doing? Anna thought. This is embarrassing for her, she’s acting like a little kid. We’re going to college soon for Christ’s sake.

As Anthony placed Taylor back down, Maggie patted Anna on the back. “Anna, let’s get a picture like that with you too. It’ll be sweet, c’mon.”

Anna’s eyes grew wide and she unfurled her arms.

“What? No, no it’s ok,” she chuckled, trying to play it off.

As she was focused on trying to dissuade her aunt, Anthony snuck up behind her and picked her up.

“Eeep!” Anna squealed as she was whisked in the air.

“It’s ok sweetheart, I got you,” He teased.

Anna grabbed onto his shoulders for stability and felt the strain on her bladder grow stronger as she was cradled in his arms.

Anthony swung her over to face the cameraman, who was already taking pictures. Anna could hear her family cooing, as they did when Taylor was in his arms. Her face grew red and hot, and she tried to smile, if for nothing else but to wipe the shock off her face. Anthony kissed her on the cheek as well, and then gently laid her back down on her feet.

“Your nieces are so adorable,” Anthony said to Sandra, standing by the rest of her family. He patted Anna on the head and rejoined his wife for more pictures.

Anna tried to stand tall, but it was tough to feel like a “big girl” after she just got whisked up the air and kissed like a baby. Her pride was also comprised by her increasingly urgent need to use the bathroom. She felt a low rumbling in her stomach. The vertical motion of her little ride was especially unsettling, given her belly full of brownies.

“That was so cute!” Maggie said. “We’ll be sure to include those in the wedding photos!”

“Yay! I can’t wait to see them” Taylor said.

“Ugh,” Anna muttered in embarrassment. She quickly turned around and made her way back towards the foyer.

“Where are you going, Anna?” Taylor called out.

“I need to go to the pott—bathroom, I’ll be back soon.” Anna replied, as she hurriedly shuffled away.

As Anna walked back through the doors of the foyer, she could her the booming voice of a man come out from the speakers on the other side of the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please start making your way to your seats, dinner will be served shortly.”

Anna could see the crowd of people drift towards a set of doors on the opposite side of the foyer. She followed behind the large group, walking in hurried steps. The crowd was funneled through a small hallway that poured into the dining room. The logjam of foot traffic soon slowed to a crawl.

Can’t they move any faster? Anna thought, trying to keep herself from bouncing or squirming.

As the crowd slowly exited the hall, Anna could see two large bathroom signs, right before the dining room.

“Yes!” She quietly exclaimed.

As she moved towards it, the crowd in front of her slowly melted away to leave a line of nearly two dozen, beautifully dressed women, waiting along the edge of the wall leading into the women’s restroom.

Anna’s face contorted in a frown. Her lip quivered, but she took a deep breath.

It’s ok. This is what big girls do all the time. She thought.

She took her place at the end of the line and peeked ahead. The women in front of her were wearing all varieties of long, extravagant gowns and dresses.

Anna’s bladder was aching. She heard her stomach rumble again. She folded her arms and crossed her legs. Becoming keenly aware of the lack of padding between her legs, she felt a shiver up her spine, but it soon passed.

[steadyNoon]

PART 8

Eighty eight.

Eighty nine.

Ninety.

Ninety one.

Anna erratically paced back and forth in a three step circle, counting her way to a hundred for the third time. She had plenty of space to move around at the back of the line for the restroom, and still had some time to wait. There were six women still in front of her.

“You doing ok back there?” the woman in front of Anna said, addressing her for the first time.

Anna barely gave her a glance between her pacing.

“They’re just taking so long in there. What are they doing?”

The woman looked to be in her mid-twenties, and was wearing a long blue silk dress. Anna didn’t recognize her, she must’ve been someone from the groom’s family.

“Well, I think it takes a while for everyone to get their dresses on and off,” the woman added. “And then maybe they’re tidying up in the mirror.”

“Ugh,” Anna groaned. She stopped pacing and stood still, crossing her legs. She had been waiting for nearly twenty minutes.

“I think there’s another bathroom on the third floor.” The woman in the blue dress said.

Anna threw her head back and bounced her legs. She nearly whined out loud, but caught herself.

“No, it’s ok.”

The woman turned back around. Anna closed her eyes and continued counting where she left off.

Ninety eight.

Ninety nine.

One hundred.

She opened her eyes and looked around, as if there might be a prize, or if she would be allowed to go the bathroom now. But nothing had changed. The pressure in her bladder was impossible to ignore. Her stomach had making audible noises for nearly fifteen minutes. She felt as if she spread her legs even two feet apart, she would…

No, I’m not going to imagine that.

One.

Two.

Three.

“ALLRIIIGHT, ladies and gentleman!” the DJ’s voice blared from the dining room.

Anna jumped in surprise. A few squirts of pee leaked into her underwear. An even louder synth piano chord echoed throughout the halls of the country club, starting a popular techno song to augment the DJ’s announcement.

No, no, no… Anna thought.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight!”

She bent over and gripped her stomach. She held her bladder back for a few more seconds, but the pressure was too great. As Anna half squatted and spread her legs for balance, she felt a stream of hot urine flood her underwear. Anna’s eyes began tearing up as she felt the pee travel down and cling to her white tights, soaking her legs and getting into her shoes. Her sudden release was so relieving, she was distracted from holding back her bowels. While a puddle began to form beneath her, a soft mushy mess escaped her behind into her panties.

Anna looked up with tears streaming down her face, but the rest of the women in line were looking towards the dining room. The loud music managed to distract them while Anna struggled. She continued to relieve herself as the warm mess spilled out of her panties and was held tautly against her body by her white tights. She cried, and continue to expel more wet, brown liquid into her dress when an older woman came up to her and put her hand on Anna’s hunched over back.

“Oh, honey!” The woman said. “Are you… Are you with someone?”

“She’s with Carrie, I think,” A vaguely familiar voice replied to the older woman. “I’ll go find her.”

Anna pulled her head up and sobbed.

“I don’t… I don’t know what happened…” She babbled between deep breaths.

“Oh, it’s alright sweetheart.” The older woman comforted here. A small crowd of unfamiliar faces was beginning to surround Anna as she squatted, leaking, by the wall of the hallway. She looked down at the expanding pool of liquid beneath her feet on the hardwood floor. Her white tights were criss-crossed with brown stains, leaving a visible trail of her bodily fluids. Her shoes were wet, and as she slightly tapped her feet to assess the damage, she felt like she was splashing in a rain puddle.

Anna began to stand up straight, and was met with the sympathetic and disappointed faces of various women who were near the bathroom line. Now that she had finished relieving herself, she was now left with the embarrassing reality of her situation. She could feel a warm pile of filth compressed tightly between her legs and up her behind. The nauseating stench had started to reach the crowd around her. She didn’t want to move and leak any further around the hallway, but also couldn’t begin to remedy her situation without someone “more adult” than her to help. Her face was hot and red, and wet from her tears. She was exactly what she appeared to be to everyone gawking at her in the hallway: a poor, helpless sweetheart, who had just had a very big accident.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” Anna sniffled, unsure of how to even respond.

A few people began to shuffle out of the hallway and back towards the dining room. As they did, Anna could see Carrie rushing over with Taylor. Carrie made her way into the small circle of women surrounding Anna and her face dropped in disappointment.

“Oh, Anna.” She said, sternly. “What happened? Why couldn’t you make it to the bathroom?” She gestured to the door of the women’s restroom, only a few feet away.

“There was… a long line… and I waited and waited…”

“Anna,” Carrie said. “Big girls give themselves time to go to the bathroom. No matter how long the line is. Or they find another bathroom. End of story.”

Anna didn’t like being scolded about being a “big girl” in public, but she knew that wasn’t important under the circumstances.

Before she could respond, Carrie grabbed Anna’s arm and started pulling her back down the hallway, away from the dining hall.

“Where are we going? Can I get cleaned up in the bathroom first?” Anna asked.

“You, young lady, need to be changed back into a diaper.” Carrie said.

Anna flinched in embarrassment, and instinctively looked back at the handful of women who were surrounding her. Their faces hadn’t changed from the disappointed frowns.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Carrie said, still holding Anna’s arm and nearly dragging her.

“Can we… walk slower?” Anna asked, waddling slowly. She could feel the warm mess squish back and forth under her skirt as she walked, and the flats on her feet felt cold and damp with every step she took.

“No,” Carrie said flatly. She continued to sternly march down the hallway, holding Anna’s arm, while Taylor skipped and hopped slowly alongside them.

PART 9

The clicking and clacking of Carrie’s heels could be heard throughout the country club parking lot. Carrie held Anna’s hand and led her down the row of cars with Taylor following shortly behind. Despite all the parking spaces being taken, there wasn’t another person as far as they could see.

“Anna made a stinky, Anna made a stinky,” Taylor teased.

“Taylor, this is not the time,” Carrie accosted her.

“She does it to me…” Taylor muttered under her breath.

Anna continued to sniffle and compose herself after her episode in the country club. Her soaking wet tights and the load in her underwear were growing cold and clammy. Carrie was walking so fast that by simply keeping up with her, Anna was spreading her mess all over.

The three eventually reached the parked SUV near the back of the lot. Carrie let go of Anna’s hand and reached in her purse for the keys. She clicked her keys to open the trunk of their blue SUV and reached for the diaper bag in the back. Silently, she pulled out a towel and laid it down in the rear of the truck. She starting pulling out wet wipes and a trash bag, and then paused for a moment and turned to Anna.

“Anna,” she began, “did you let it all out?”

Anna looked at her, confused. “You want me to go more in my dress? But, I—“

“Please, come on now,” Carrie said, exasperated. “That dress is ruined, it’s going right in the trash. What’s important now is that we minimize any chance of you having another accident again today.”

Anna looked down at her dress. The bottom portions of her frilly dress were tinged brown, and wet to the touch.

“Anna,” Carrie said authoritatively, “let’s go. We don’t have all day.”

“Ok, ok…” Anna replied. She looked around, nervous that someone might see her, but there was no one in the parking lot but her cousin, her sister, and herself. She closed her eyes.

“Pssss…” Taylor whispered, through a wide smirk.

“Taylor, stop!”

“Taylor, get in the back of the truck, you’re not helping,” Carrie said.

“Fine,” Taylor replied. She walked towards the back door of the SUV and hopped in.

Anna closed her eyes and squatted ever so slightly. She forced out a trickle of pee and filled the back of her dress with more muck. The contents in her underwear felt warm again, and she could feel her slimy mess start to slide down her tights.

A few pitter patters of liquid hitting the concrete let Carrie know that Anna had done what she was told.

“Alright, now let’s get you cleaned up,” Carrie said, patting the towel in the back of the truck.

Anna waddled over and hesitated before putting her hands on the bumper to prop herself up.

“C’mon,” Carrie said, reaching for Anna’s midsection. She lifted Anna and twisted her around, placing her on the truck bed.

“Hey!” Anna whined, grimacing as she felt her mess squish up the back of her panties onto her skirt, and up the middle towards her front.

“Lean back,” Carrie demanded. Anna groaned as she laid onto her back and spread her legs. Carrie lifted up her skirt to assess the damage.

Carrie’s face scrunched up as she saw exactly what see expected, a total blowout. The white tights left an almost perfect map of how the mess spread and soaked Anna’s outfit. The fabric between Anna’s legs was totally brown and spread out towards her thighs. Smaller damp streaks circled her calves and led down into her shoes.

Carrie began to slowly peel off Anna’s soiled dress and tights, careful to not get anything on her own green dress.

“Anna, I really trusted you this morning,” Carrie said, rolling the dress and tights into a ball and placing them in a trash bag. “I thought you were going to be a big girl for me.”

Anna stared up at the overhead light of the SUV. “I know, I’m sorry… It was just the bathroom line…”

“What did you eat today? This is unusual for you, even if you were wearing a diaper.”

“I had some soda, some water, six prune brownies…” Anna replied.

“You had six brownies?” Carrie said, surprised. She grabbed some wet wipes. “With prunes in them? Prunes are a natural laxative, Anna. They make you go number two.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that…”

“Well now you do.”

Carrie started the long process of wiping Anna down, and stored all the dirty wipes in the trash bag. After a few minutes, she lifted Anna’s legs left, right and center, and found her to be clean.

“Alright, time to get you back into a diaper.”

Anna wanted to protest, but she knew her cousin was right.

Carrie poked through the diaper bag, and quietly said to herself, “Now where did I put the…” She stopped abruptly and put her hand on her forehead.

“Oh my god. I forgot the spare diaper.”

Anna looked up from her position on the truck bed. “You did?” she said, hopefully.

“I was changing Taylor, then we were talking about that toaster, and I got distracted finding the card…Ugh!” Carrie put her hands on her hips, frustrated. She thought silently for a moment.

“Hey Taylor,” She called out to her cousin, a few feet ahead of Anna. “Could you come here for a moment?”

“Sure.”

Taylor exited the SUV and walked over to Carrie by the foot of the truck.

Carrie grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes. “How are you feeling today, honey? Do you have an upset stomach? Feeling like a big girl today?”

Taylor looked at Carrie, and then away in the distance, lost in thought for a moment.

“Yeah, I feel good today. I feel like a big girl.”

“That’s great, because I’m going to need you to go without a diaper for the rest of the day.”

“Really?” Taylor said with a smile. “Ok!”

“So we’re both going to be diaperless for the rest of the day?” Anna asked from the truck bed.

“No, Anna,” Carrie said, “You’re going to be wearing Taylor’s diaper for the rest of the day, Taylor is going to be diaperless.”

Anna’s jaw dropped in shock. Taylor looked at Carrie in surprise too.

“WHAT?” Anna yelled. “That’s crazy! I don’t want to wear her diaper, who knows what she did in it—“

“Anna!” Carrie shouted back. “This is not up for discussion, young lady!”

Anna slunk back and lowered her head.

“I have two little potty pants here, and I have only one diaper. And Anna, I love you, but today is not your day, ok sweetheart?”

Anna nodded slowly.

“There are good days in potty training and bad days in potty training. You are having a bad day. It happens. But you are not going back into that establishment without a diaper. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Anna said meekly.

“Ok.” Carrie said, turning to Taylor.

“Now Taylor, I need you to let it all out too.”

“Oh c’mon! She should just go and use the bathroom!” Anna complained.

“We’re not taking any chances with any more accidents between you two. We’ll never get welcomed back to a family wedding again. Besides, these diapers can hold a few uses.”

Taylor looked at her sister, whose pained expression revealed her anxiety and apprehension.

“Ok, Carrie.”

Taylor closed her eyes and squatted ever so slightly. Though her white dress hid her diaper exceptionally well, a soft hiss could be heard as Taylor grunted.

“No, did you really…?” Anna whined.

“Did I what?” Taylor replied nonchalantly.

Anna didn’t want to verbalize the possibility.

“Let’s get you up next to Anna,” Carrie said. She helped get Taylor up on the truck bed and laid her down next to her sister. Taylor’s face winced slightly as she sat down, but she quickly returned to a blank expression. She leaned back and Carrie began to take off her tights and her dress.

“We’ll just give you a quick wipe down and then we can give you some big girl panties from the diaper bag,” Carrie said, undoing the tapes on the jungle animal diaper. As Carrie peeled back the front of the diaper, all three girls were hit with a wave of smells.

“Yeugh,” Carrie said. Anna began to sniffle again.

Taylor had soiled herself, and the few moments of sitting and leaning back on the truck bed had managed to spread her mess throughout the length of the diaper.

“Up,” Carrie said, pulling the messy diaper out front under Taylor. She took it and placed it behind the girls’ heads near the seat of the rows. Anna looked up at the diaper and smelled a horrid stench, and began to cry as her situation became more real.

“I don’t want to wear her messy diaper!” Anna cried. Taylor remained expressionless as Carrie continued on with the diaper change, grabbing some wipes.

“Anna, stop it, please,” Carrie said. “This isn’t the first time you’ve spent a few hours running around in a dirty diaper. Do you remember how I had to chase you down in Disney world a few months ago?”

Anna stopped crying abruptly. “That was… That was different…”

“Was it? You’ll be ok.” Carrie said, wiping Taylor down.

Once Carrie inspected Taylor, she reached into the diaper bag and pulled out a pair of white panties.

“And this is big girl underwear, for you Taylor,” Carrie held them up for her.

“Yes!” Taylor exclaimed with a smile.

Carrie put the panties on Taylor and began to dress her again back in her white outfit. Once her shoes were back on, Carrie grabbed her arm and helped her off the truck onto the pavement of the parking lot.

Taylor stood up and inspected herself, and did a twirl. “I have so much more room to move now!” She laughed.

“Yes you do! And you look totally the same!” Carrie replied with a smile. Her face quickly turned more dour as she quietly turned to Anna, who laid bottomless with her legs spread out, awaiting her change. Carrie reached over her and grabbed the dirty diaper.

Anna’s eyes watered again. “Do I have to? I mean, I promise I won’t have another accident.”

Carrie’s eye softened slightly, sympathetic to Anna’s difficult position.

“No can do sweetie, now come on. Sooner we do this, sooner it’s done.”

Anna lifted her butt in the air and Carrie slid the diaper underneath here. Anna hesitated as she gingerly lowered herself onto the diaper, but Carrie grabbed her hips and pushed, saying “Down.”

Anna yelped in disgust as she felt her butt make contact with her sister’s poopy diaper. She whined as she felt it coat her backside, knowing that she had only been allowed to feel clean for a precious few moments. Carrie made sure to spread some diaper rash cream on Anna and sprinkle extra baby powder on her, but was careful not to touch the mess herself. Carrie sighed and pulled the soiled diaper up tautly between Anna’s legs, and taped each of the four tapes on the front.

“Well,” Carrie said, “It’s done.”

From Carrie’s point of view the jungle animal diaper looked clean, and showed no signs of being used. Anna squirmed uncomfortably on the truck bed, letting the world know she indeed was quite dirty. A few tears quietly fell down her cheek. Carrie reached back into the diaper bag and pulled out a large gray t-shirt, with a labeled image of the Great Lakes, and a black pair of loose running shorts.

“We don’t have any more dresses on hand so we’ll have to make do with these,” Carrie said, holding them up.

“But… But those aren’t appropriate for a wedding, are they?” Anna asked.

“Well, normally no,” Carrie said, “but under the circumstances, I think everyone will understand. Sometimes accidents happen.”

She handed them to Anna who began to clothe herself in the back of the truck. She put her shirt on easily, but shimmying into her shorts required her to rock back and forth in her diaper, causing her to whimper.

Once Anna was fully clothed, she hopped off the truck and stood next to her sister.

Carrie looked at them both, and the contrast was stark. Anna stood with her head held low, dressed in frumpy workout clothes, with the trim of her colorful thick diaper poking out of the leg holes. Taylor stood tall, smiling and beaming, the sun shimmering off of her white dress, and gave off the aura of a perfect princess.

“Ok you two, let’s head back in there,” Carrie said. She grabbed the garbage bag of used wet wipes and Anna’s soiled dress, and handed them to Anna.

“Anna, there’s a dumpster over there, could you please go throw this out?” Carrie beckoned to a dumpster near one of the back entrances of the country club. Anna grabbed the bag without a word.

Carrie and Taylor started making their way to the entrance, while Anna started walking at a slight angle towards the dumpster. The garbage bag smelled awful, and Anna held it at an arm’s length away from her. Walking back towards the club in her new outfit was no easier or more comfortable than walking out of it in her old one, the load in her diaper brushed up against her with every step. As she got closer to the dumpster, she looked over at her cousin and her sister standing near the entrance. They looked gorgeous, joyful, and mature. Anna looked at her own dismal outfit and sighed.

“It’s not fair…” Anna grumbled. “I’m a big girl too…”

[Hanayuu]

Great story, I’ve enjoyed it a lot so far! The ending of last chapter I was not too fond of, if the diaper was only wet, sure, I can appeal to my suspension of disbelief, but can’t imagine anyone accepting someone else’s soiled diaper.
Still, your writing style is good and I really like the interactions between the characters and can’t wait to read more of it!

[Joebarnes (Joe)]

I also enjoyed this story, looking forward to the next chapter!

[steadyNoon]

PART 10

The halls of the Meadow Creek Country Club were eerily quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the low, faint rumbling of the wedding reception in the dining area, and the footsteps of Carrie and her little cousins. Carrie and Taylor led the way through the empty cocktail room and down the hall to the reception. Anna sulked behind them with shifting eyes, keeping a lookout for the first few people to glimpse her demeaned position. As the girls approached the bathroom where Anna had her accident, they could see a custodian mopping up the floor.

“We’re sorry about that,” Carrie said in passing to the custodian. Picking his head up from mopping, the custodian vaguely nodded to Carrie and continued his work. Anna buried her head in her hands, in shame and to compose herself as she prepared to enter the dining hall.

Carrie pushed one of the large doors open just slightly enough for her and the girls to file in one by one. As Anna filed in last, she braced for a hundred pairs of eyes to be staring directly at her— but to her surprise, no one had noticed the group coming in. Hundreds of guests, in groups of around a dozen, were all seated at their respective tables throughout the hall. The tables were centered around an empty, hardwood dance floor with various pieces of DJ equipment. Most of the guests were chatting and drinking amongst themselves, and were not concerned with Carrie, Taylor and Anna as they walked around the perimeter of the hall towards their seats.

The three eventually found their way towards a table in the back right of the large room, and saw their open seats. Their respective seats were spread out from each other at the table, and allowed each of them to converse with other members of their family. Anna could see her aunt Maggie and uncle Ed at the table, as well as a few of her older cousins.

Carrie and Taylor found the seats they were sitting in before they left, and Anna gravitated towards the last remaining empty seat next to Maggie. As the girls approached the table, the family’s eyes focused on Anna. She grabbed her chair to sit down, but froze in apprehension. The attention was making her nervous, and she didn’t want to sit down in her used diaper while they all watched.

“Anna, sweetheart,” Maggie began in a soft voice. “We heard what happened. We were all worried about you. Are you feeling alright, honey?”

Anna looked around the table at the group of concerned faces, broadcasting pity and sympathy. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t have much of an excuse at all, and her aunt Maggie’s question didn’t seem very serious, either.

“Y-yeah, Maggie, I’m feeling ok now,” Anna said. She averted her eyes as she sat down in her chair. The squish of her messy diaper made her face scrunch up, but she tried to hide it as she kept her head low.

“At first I didn’t recognize her,” Maggie called out to Carrie at the other end of the table. Her voice quickly shifted from a sympathetic maternal tone to one of much more levity and derision. “She looks like you just picked her up at the bus stop,” she laughed.

“Yes, well, it’s all we had in the back of the truck,” Carrie replied, grabbing her napkin and placing it on her lap.

Maggie looked at Anna up and down. “It’s as if she had an accident and her mother had to drop off a new pair of clothes at the principal’s office,” Maggie continued, acting as if her niece wasn’t even in the room. The rapid dissipation of her aunt’s respect felt like a gut punch to Anna.

“Well, you’re not too far off,” Carrie said, reaching for her glass of white wine.

Maggie turned back to Anna. “Sweetie, I grabbed you a kids menu, here, look.” She pointed to a thin piece of paper in front of Anna, which displayed a black and white cartoon whale on an iceberg, meant to be colored in by the small three-pack of crayons that laid beside the paper.

“Look at the back,” Maggie said, flipping the paper. A small menu with colorful illustrations displayed three options.

“We have chicken fingers, hot dogs, and spaghetti to choose from.” Maggie dragged her finger under each line item as she said them aloud, as if Anna wasn’t able to follow along.

“Oh, uh, well I like hot dogs,” Anna said meekly.

Maggie looked at Anna with small frown. “Let’s not get that, honey. We’re having a nice dinner. Let’s get you spaghetti, ok? You like spaghetti, right?”

Anna looked at Maggie in disappointment. She could feel her autonomy and agency being chipped away by the second.

“Yeah, I guess,” She muttered.

“Great, we’ll do that.” Maggie turned to look at her own menu.

Anna raised her head and could see Taylor looking over an adult menu and talking to their uncle Ed.

“Hey Ed, what is chicken francaise?” Taylor asked.

“It’s chicken but in a lemony sauce, I think you’ll like it.” Ed replied.

“Oh! And what is penne alla vodka? Does that have alcohol in it? Can I have it?”

Ed chuckled, “Well, sort of, honey. The alcohol gets cooked out, and it leaves a creamy sauce.”

Taylor, still engrossed in the menu, barely responded, “Ohh, ok.”

A waiter popped his head in between Ed and Taylor.

“More wine for you, sir?” He asked, holding a bottle of white wine.

“Yes, please,” he said, handing him his glass. He began pouring the wine and turned to Taylor.

“And for you, miss? Would you like some?”

Taylor’s eyes grew wide and she tried to stifle the smile that was spreading across her face. She looked at Ed ever so slightly, and confidently replied to the waiter “Yes please!”

“Of course.” He said and he poured her a glass.

As the waiter continued down the line, Ed rolled his eyes and laughed.

“I suppose just one drink for you is ok. You are going to college soon after all.”

He raised his glass to her and Taylor clinked it with her own glass.

The waiter came up to Maggie. “More wine, ma’am?”

“Yes, darling,” Maggie replied, “And can we get an apple juice for this sweetheart over here?” She gestured to Anna.

“Of course, I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, and do you have any sippy cups for her? I don’t want her to spill it all over her clothes.”

“I’ll check, we should have them.”

Anna’s face grew red as she watched the conversation unfold in front on her.

Nonchalantly, Maggie reached over and stroked the back of Anna’s head softly.

“Apple juice is your favorite, right sweetie?”

Anna could barely make eye contact with her aunt. She wished she could attribute this humiliating treatment to a punishment, or an attempt to teach her a lesson, but Maggie’s babying routine was all too sincere.

“Yes, it is my favorite,” Anna admitted.

Anna looked up at all the tuxedos and beautiful dresses her family was wearing at the table. She felt hopelessly out of place in her grey t-shirt and shorts, a contrast that solidified her as the “other” at the table, lacking some quality everyone else held effortlessly.

She reached for the pack of crayons next to her menu and flipped the paper over. She brought her seat closer to the table and readjusted herself to try and become marginally more comfortable in her dirty diaper. She pulled a blue crayon out of the small box and began to color the water around the cartoon whale.

PART 11

“How are you doing, my love?” Maggie said, gently placing a hand on Anna’s back.

“Fine,” Anna mumbled, as she finished up her coloring her menu. This was the third time her aunt had checked up on her in the last twenty minutes.

“What’s this? Looks like you’ve made some progress on your drawing!”

Maggie pulled the paper closer to her slightly, even as Anna was still coloring.

“A red whale? Whales aren’t red, silly.” Maggie laughed.

“I know, but there’s only three crayons to—“

Before Anna could explain herself, Maggie gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned back to continue her conversation on the other side of the table.

Anna sighed and reached for the small, green plastic sippy cup in front of her. She had almost finished all her apple juice and had to tilt her head back to get the last few drops. As she drank her juice, Anna could see a group of waiters bringing their food to their table.

“Here we are, for you… and you… and you, sir…”

The waiters started on the side of table furthest away from Anna. Her uncle Ed received the chicken francaise, and Taylor received the penne alla vodka. While Carrie and various other cousins were being served, Anna saw one of the waiters approach her and Maggie with their food.

“Ma’am, the salmon for you…” A young man said.

“Thank you, dear,” Maggie said.

“And a kid’s size spaghetti for you,” the waiter said, placing a small bowl spaghetti and meatballs for Anna. As he placed it down, he reached into his apron and pull out a large white plastic bib, which had a teddy bear character holding a knife and fork embedded on the front.

“Oh and ma’am, we also provided a bib for the spaghetti, if you’d like.”

Anna was taken aback.

“No! I’m ok! I don’t need a bib,” Anna said.

The waiter didn’t listen to Anna but was focused on Maggie.

“Oh splendid! Thank you, this will be perfect. Here, let me put it on her.”

Maggie grabbed the bib and immediately began to wrap it around Anna’s neck.

“Maggie! Please, I’m ok, I don’t need—“ Anna protested. She wanted to swat her aunt’s hands away but knew better than to make a scene at the table.

“Don’t worry, honey, we don’t want it to get everywhere, do we?”

Maggie finished fastening the bib and Anna sat back and sulked. She looked around the table to see if anyone was watching her futile attempts to bargain with her aunt, but the entire table had begun to dig into their meals. Anna grabbed her fork and started twirling her pasta just the same.

After ten minutes, Anna was nearly done with her tiny pasta dish. She would’ve been hungrier, but she hadn’t followed Carrie’s advice earlier at the cocktail hour to leave some room for dinner, and was still fairly full after engorging herself with brownies.

As Anna slurped up her some of her last bites spaghetti, Maggie turned to check on her.

“Anna, ugh,” She scolded. “Look at you, you have sauce all over your face and your bib. You shouldn’t slurp like that!”

Anna looked down at her bib for the first time since it was placed on her. To her surprise, it was peppered with marinara sauce all over. She grabbed a clean napkin and began to wipe her face, and saw the napkin became covered in sauce as well.

“Look at your sister, she’s not getting her dinner all over her.”

Anna looked across the table at Taylor, who was gingerly and carefully picking up her penne alla vodka noodles with a fork. He white dress was completely spotless, and her face clean without a drop of sauce on it.

“Well, that’s not fair!” Anna argued, with a mouth full of spaghetti, “She has different noodles than me, so it’s easier—“

“Close your mouth when you’re chewing, honey,” Maggie said. “It’s not ladylike.”

Anna’s face grew hot and she felt a knot in her stomach. She looked over at her sister, and down at the bib. The contrast was stark. Taylor beamed, looking clean and mature, a young lady who fit in with the formal event around her. Anna, however, sat covered in marinara sauce and ratty lounging-around clothes, and looked like she belonged in a high-chair, not at a wedding. The only thing they had in common was their hair, both braided in pigtails with white bows tied near the base. On Taylor, the braids and bows looked like adorable accents to her well put together outfit. On Anna, they looked remarkably out of place, almost as if she was trying to poorly imitate her sister. The realization embarrassed Anna, and she huffed and tried to sit upright in her seat. In doing so, she was immediately reminded of how she was also forced to sit and squirm in her sister’s soiled diaper throughout the dinner, which was all the more intolerable during her aunt’s embarrassing comparison to Taylor. The discomfort and frustration was almost too much to bear.

“Come here, sweetie,” Maggie beckoned. She grabbed Anna’s fork and began twirled some of the remaining spaghetti. “Open up wide for your auntie.” She took the pasta and began to spoon-feed Anna.

Anna rolled her eyes and pouted, but by force of habit she opened her mouth. As she did, she saw the photographer from earlier in the cocktail hour hovering by their table. She looked over at him as Maggie spooned the pasta in her open mouth and saw a bright white flash.

“Aw, that’s adorable guys!” The photographer said.

“Umph!” Anna exclaimed in frustration, now trying to chew and finish her pasta.

“Oh, how cute,” Maggie said, realizing a picture was taken. “That’ll be a sweet picture to send out to the family.”

Anna swallowed the spaghetti and began to rip off her bib.

“NO!” She yelled, standing up.

Maggie and the rest of the table stopped what they were doing and looked up at Anna, now standing in front of her chair.

“Enough of this!” She continued. She was about to voice her concern, and feelings of disrespect, but the dozen shocked faces staring at her caused her to falter.

“I’m—I’m going for a walk!” She stammered. Anna placed the bib down on the table and abruptly started walking away, and down the perimeter of the dining hall in the same way she entered.

Maggie looked over to Carrie in shock.

“What was that about?” She asked.

“She’s having a rough day,” Carrie said, shaking her head. “Just let her get some fresh air.”

Maggie sighed and went back to eating her plate of salmon.

[steadyNoon]

PART 12

Anna marched angrily through the empty halls of the country club, farther and farther away from the low rumblings of the dining area. Her fists were clenched in frustration, and she was on the verge of tears. It was growing dark outside, the lack of natural light left the country club less illuminated than earlier in the day. Anna wasn’t quite sure where she was.

She passed some administrative offices, some locker rooms, and a closed golf pro shop. She saw an exit sign at the end of one hall, and began to walk towards it. She didn’t know where she was going, or why, but she felt like exploring might make her feel better.

As she came up to the door underneath the exit sign, she saw a well-lit room to her left. A wide glass window let her look inside, and to her surprise, it was a small empty playroom. Anna could see boxes of plastic toys, blocks, dolls and action figures. They were two multi-colored bean bag seats, and a few shelves of books. They even had the same table top structure made of interweaving metal wires and beads that she recognized from the waiting room at her doctor’s office.

Anna was fascinated. She walked over to the room and twisted the handle on the closed door next to the window. It was unlocked. Anna pushed the door open and entered the playroom. Feeling at home, she dove into the box of dolls and action figures, and pulled out a blonde tennis player doll. She took the doll with her over to the disorganized pile of blocks in the corner. Immersed in her own little world, Anna sat down and began examining the blocks. They were small wooden cubes, with various letters on each face of the block. She grabbed a handful and started flipping them over intently, searching for the right letters she needed. Once she found them, she laid them out in front of her. In blue and yellow letters, she laid out four blocks that read:
“A – N – N – A”

Anna giggled at her handiwork. She felt like she was back on the floor in her living room, and not the stressful wedding where everyone expected so much of her. Slightly embarrassed, Anna peaked over her shoulder quickly. She looked out the window into the hall of the country club but saw no one. She turned back to the blocks.

“See that?” Anna said to the doll she was holding. “That’s my name!”

Anna got up and started walking to the small bookshelf. She plucked off four or five small picture books, grabbing them with one hand, and took the doll with the other. She walked over to one of the bean bag chairs and sat down. She didn’t even notice her diaper as she made herself comfortable in the seat. She started to feel a slight pressure on her bladder, but she didn’t care. With the book on her lap, Anna tucked the tennis player doll underneath her arm and opened up the first of her picture books to page one.

PART 13

“One seltzer please!” Carrie shouted to the bartender. The dance music of the wedding blared throughout the dining hall.

“Nothing else to drink?” Ed laughed, standing next to Carrie.

“I’m driving the girls back home tonight, so unfortunately not,” Carrie replied. She grabbed a glass of seltzer from the bartender and began to sip it through a black straw.

“Hey, speaking of, have you heard what Anna’s up to recently?” She asked him.

“I just checked up on her about fifteen minutes ago, she’s still asleep in the daycare playroom.” Ed replied.

“Thank you,” Carrie said. “I’m sorry she’s been making such a fuss today. Good days and bad days, you know?”

“Oh, it’s not a problem at all. We were just happy to see her, and you and Taylor too.” Ed said with a smile.

Carrie looked over at the dance floor. She saw only a handful of stragglers on the hardwood, mostly a few of her drunk aunts and uncles, but also a few members of the groom’s family around her own age whom she had met earlier that night.

“I wish I could stay, but I better go grab Anna. We have an hour drive ahead of us.” She turned to Ed.

“If I don’t see you later…”

She hugged him, and they gave each other a kiss on the cheek.

Carrie turned and started making her way out of the dining area and through the halls, drink in hand. The clicking heels echoed throughout the hall as she followed the path she and her family had walked a handful of times already this evening to check up on Anna.

Carrie reached the end of the hall with the playroom. She peeked through the window and saw her cousin curled up on the bean bag chair, fast asleep, snuggling the tennis player doll. She opened the door and walked past the wooden blocks that spelled “A—N—N—A”, as well as a handful of picture books strewn across the floor.

Carrie squatted down in front of Anna and gently started to rub her back.

“Anna, sweetheart, it’s time to wake up. We’re going to leave soon.”

Anna rustled ever so slightly, and started to stretch. Out of habit, Carrie lowered her hand and performed a quick diaper check, lightly pulling up the leg holes of Anna’s shorts to assess the padding between her legs. The leg bands of the jungle diaper were barely holding back a brown mess.

“Oh, oh my.” Carrie said. She lightly patted Anna’s butt and was met with a full, mushy resistance.

Anna’s eyes started to flutter open and focus on her cousin. “Carrie?” She murmured. “How did you find me…? I was gonna come back…” She yawned, “I was just tired.”

Anna rolled over on the bean bag from her side to sitting upright, and her face contorted in disgust.

“You still had to go a lot more, didn’t you honey? Those prune brownies weren’t out of your system.” Carrie said with a maternal authority.

Anna could only wince in embarrassment, and discomfort.

“Is the wedding over? Are we leaving soon?” She asked.

“Yes, it’s just about over. We’re going to find Taylor and head home.” Carrie stood up and started walking to the door, expecting Anna to follow.

“Wait,” Anna said, still sitting on the bean bag chair.

Carrie turned around, “What is it?”

“Can you…” Anna struggled to get the words out, “Can you change me before we go?”

Carrie sighed. “Anna, it’s just a little bit longer. We don’t have any more diapers and I’d rather just—“

“Please?” Anna pleaded. “I promise I won’t have another accident, I’m fine now. This diaper is just so…” She took a few staggered breaths, as if she was going to cry.

Carrie walked back over to Anna and squatted down to her level again.

“Hey, listen, I’m sorry honey. I know. It’s been a long day, and you really, really need a change. I’m sorry.”

She gave her a small hug, as Anna tried to fight back tears.

“Any other time, I’d change you and you can go back home diaperless, but today is a tough day for you. I think you need the extra protection just a little bit longer. One hour ride home, then right in the shower. Ok?”

Anna took a deep breath to compose herself. “Ok,” she said.

Carrie stood up and held her hand out. Anna reached out to her and got up from the bean bag. Carrie held Anna’s hand and led her across the playroom and out the door. Looking over her shoulder, Anna took one last look at the playroom as she left. She saw the blocks that spelled out her name. Absentmindedly, she brought her free hand to her mouth and began to suck her thumb.