Chapter Eight
After school on Friday Anna and Jeremy went straight home to pack. Their goal was to be ready when Ashley was done with work so they could immediately start their drive to Trina’s house. Anna had been offered to go hunting this year, but had reluctantly declined. Instead she looked forward to spending time with her cousins and aunt.
Anna was mostly excited but still felt some dread. She decided to hope for the best since she knew how grown-up and supportive Trina was. Even so, she was still nervous. I know its Trina but still, I wear pull-ups. Pull-ups! What if she sees them? I already feel like the biggest baby in the world without her seeing my diapers with childish designs all over them.
Julie had remained persistent. She was drained and didn’t know how to be an effective parent in this situation. What am I supposed to do, just give up? I can’t just give up on being a mother. Gotta go through it. Her task to normalize pull-ups went on even though to Anna and even to Julie it had just seemed repetitive at this point. Julie tried to tell herself that she was making progress but didn’t believe it. She was glad it was vacation time. She desperately needed it.
“Do you have your toothbrush?” Julie asked Anna.
“Yes,” Anna replied.
“Socks and underwear?”
“Yep.”
“I saw that you packed your pull-ups so I know that we are good there,” Julie said. It sounded robotic at this point.
“Mom, yeah, we all know I wear pull-ups to bed, you don’t have to keep bringing it up,” Anna said annoyed.
“Okay then,” Julie said not reacting to Anna’s tone. “Can you think of anything you might have missed?”
“No,” Anna said.
“I guess we are ready then. Hunting season, yay,” Julie forced a smile.
Anna sat in the back seat and listened to music on her headphones. She and Julie were both drained and a little tired of each other. Ashley and Jeremy’s energy was intense and focused. They were getting in the zone. They shifted into a more primal demeanor.
The drive took an hour. It was dark out when they pulled up to the large log house. Snow was shoveled neatly off of the driveway. The walkways were brightly lit. Everything outside the house looked neat and tidy. A moment after pulling into the driveway Trina walked out the front door. She didn’t contain her excitement while she greeted her guests. She hugged each one as they approached no matter how much luggage they carried.
“Hi, Trina, how’s everything?” Julie smiled brightly.
“Hi, Aunt Julie, we are all good here,” Trina smiled back. “Hi Uncle Ash, I think father has a beer for you,” Trina smiled at Ashley.
“Oh, excellent, that’ll hit the spot,” Ashley smiled.
“Hey, Jeremy!” Trina exclaimed.
“Hey, Trina, what’s up?” Jeremy replied.
“Hey, Anna,” Trina tried to match Anna’s energy but was so delighted that she smiled warmly at her.
“Hi, Trina, its so good to see you,” Anna said calmly.
“How was the drive?” Trina asked.
“Good, I just listened to music the whole way,” Anna responded.
“You’ll be staying with me in my room of course. Let me carry your bag.” She grabbed Anna’s bag and carried it for her.
“Do you have anything else?” Trina asked.
“No, that’s it,” Anna replied.
“Okay. I cleared out the bottom dresser drawer for you if you want to put your stuff in there later,” Trina said.
“Okay,” Anna said nervously. Suddenly all she thought about was hiding her pull-ups. She blushed. Somehow she worried that Trina would look in her bag which Anna knew was preposterous.
“I’ll go put this in my room and then we can see the men off. Gerry’s first year, I’m so excited!” Trina said excitedly.
“Yeah, me too. I really hope he shoots one,” Anna said.
“Me too,” Trina said.
In the living room Nathan, Ashley and Thomas were each drinking a beer.
“No fair, Thomas gets to drink beer now,” Trina said jokingly.
“Only one,” Nathan said in a relaxed tone. “Start coming out with us, Trina and maybe you can have your first beer. Just one though.”
“Next thing I know Gerry’s gonna be drinking whiskey,” Trina said and then tickled Gerald.
“Yuck,” Gerry laughed. He retreated from Trina’s tickle attack.
“Gerry is still too young for beer. Maybe next year he can have one,” Nathan said.
“I hope you get one this year, Gerry,” Lorna said, “you too, Jeremy.” She didn’t need to tell Thomas. She’d be surprised if Thomas didn’t get a buck.
“The counts are up this year. We can really make it count, guys,” Nathan said encouragingly.
They finished their beers and walked out to Nathan’s truck. Ashley and Jeremy loaded their bags in the back and then got in. Ashley in the front and Jeremy with Thomas and Gerald in the back.
Ashley kissed Trina goodbye. “See you soon, sweetheart. Take care,” he spoke lovingly.
Nathan hugged Trina and Zoe simultaneously. “Hold down the fort, eh?” he said encouragingly.
“Of course,” Trina said confidently.
“Bye, daddy,” Zoe said.
Nathan kissed Lorna goodbye. “And so we commence another annual hunting trip,” he declared. “Farewell, ladies.”
The hunting group drove away. The five ladies waved goodbye until the truck was out of sight.
“How are you feeling, Zoe?” Lorna asked.
“Tired,” Zoe replied.
“Tired? Should we go get you tucked into bed?” Lorna asked.
Zoe nodded.
“Julie, I’m gonna get Zoe tucked in. Can I offer you a glass of wine after that?” Lorna asked.
“Yes, please,” Julie said delighted.
“Trina do you and Anna want some hot cocoa?” Lorna asked.
“Yes, mother,” Trina replied. “Anna, would you care for a hot cocoa?”
“Mm-hmm, yes please,” Anna nodded.
Lorna and Zoe went to Zoe’s room. Trina got some water boiling on the stove. She fetched two mugs from the cabinet. When Lorna got back she opened a bottle of wine.
The four ladies sat at the table and had girl talk for a while. The issue of Anna’s bedwetting was eventually brought up by Trina, “Anna, my mom found out from your mom that you started wetting the bed again.”
“Yeah,” Anna said discouraged. She looked down at her mug. Her fingers fidgeted with the handle.
Trina sensed the energy in the room shift to awkward. She said, “which is no big deal. Just one of those things, you know?”
“Yeah,” Anna said. She was clearly embarrassed to be talking about it.
“And I just want you to know that I won’t judge you one bit. Your mom said you were having a tough time with it is all. I wanted to mention it. Break the ice or something like that,” Trina said unassumingly.
“I hope you don’t think its weird that I wear pull-ups to bed,” Anna said too afraid to look up from her mug.
“Not at all,” Trina shook her head. “Actually, mom is putting me back in diapers at night during your stay, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to that,” Trina smiled slightly.
“What?” Anna said shocked.
“Lorna, you don’t need to do that,” Julie said confused.
“Actually it was Trina’s idea. I just decided to play along,” Lorna said. She felt relaxed from her glass of wine.
“Really?” Julie said. “Trina are you sure, I’m sure Anna will be fine…”
“Really, Aunt Julie,” Trina interrupted, “I don’t mind one bit. When I heard Anna was having a hard time I knew that I had to help,” she smiled humbly at Anna who just looked astounded.
“Wow,” was all Julie could think to say. Maybe solidarity is exactly what Anna needs in order to process.
“Speaking of which, mother,” Trina said, “I am going to retire to my chamber. Please wait a moment and then join me. Goodnight, Aunt Julie.”
“Sure,” Lorna said.
“Goodnight. Um, thanks,” Julie said sincerely.
“See you in a little bit, Anna,” Trina smiled warmly.
“Y-yeah,” Anna responded.
Chapter Nine
Trina entered her room. She was anxious. She took deep belly breaths to calm down. Finally, she would get to help her cousin and know how it felt to wear a diaper. Her anxiousness subsided and gave way to a calm presence.
Trina gingerly walked to her dresser. She opened the top drawer. “Mmm,” she said reflexively when she saw the pack. She felt her heart pound in her chest. She took the pack in her hands and opened it along the perforated line. Finally. She removed a diaper. She looked at it for the first time out of the pack.
She held the white rectangle in front of her and admired it for a moment. She walked to her bed and gently set it down. She removed her shirt, pants, underwear and socks. She now only wore a white training bra.
Trina lied down on her bed and bent her knees pointing them towards the ceiling. She had rehearsed this moment in her mind a dozen times and remembered just how she wanted it to go. She waited patiently.
Anna walked to Trina’s room and stepped inside. She was surprised to find Trina naked from the waist down. “Oh, um, sorry I’ll come back later,” she said startled.
“Non-sense,” Trina said calmly. “Please come in, love.”
“Oh, um, okay,” Anna said. She avoided looking directly at Trina out of respect for her privacy. “Hey, Trina?” she asked.
“Yes?” Trina responded.
“Thanks for doing this, but you know, you don’t have to. I’ll be fine just knowing how much you care for me,” Anna said.
“I know I don’t have to. I want to. After all, you are family. I love you,” Trina said tenderly. She turned her head and looked at Anna.
Anna looked up and met Trina’s eyes. When they made eye contact Anna suddenly realized that Trina was doing this for her. Until now she hadn’t accepted that someone would do something so nice for her. Her heart welled up with love when she realized how much Trina cared for her. How much another human being cared for her. “I-I love you too, Trina,” she said meekly.
Lorna entered the room and found Trina and Anna chatting. “Alright, Trina, just let mom take care of everything,” Lorna said as she felt long-forgotten motherly instincts kick in.
“Of course,” Trina responded.
Lorna picked up the diaper off the bed. She unfolded it and quickly determined the front and back.
“Please lift up,” Lorna said. Trina reflexively obeyed her mother’s command by lifting her hips off the bed.
Lorna slid the open diaper under Trina’s bottom. Trina lowered her hips back down. She straightened her legs out. My work is done. Now I just get to enjoy the ride.
“There are four tapes on these, mother, you might be used to two,” Trina mentioned. She made sure that she wore the diaper according to it’s design.
“Ah, so there are,” Lorna said after closer inspection.
Lorna lifted the front of the diaper up and taped it into place.
Trina just lied there for a moment and savored. She reveled in the feelings that she experienced. A diaper. I’m wearing a diaper. Each time she said it in her mind an emotional wave washed over her. She enjoyed the raw power of her emotions. She knew that the feelings that led her to this moment were correct. She knew that it wasn’t just some random curiosity that would fade as quickly as it appeared. Her complete lack of disappointment in this moment let her know that this was a part of her. Forever.
Trina finally sat up and noticed how her mother looked at her lovingly. And that Anna was still too shy to look.
“Alright then, goodnight girls,” Lorna hugged Trina and then hugged Anna.
“Goodnight, mommy,” Trina said sweetly.
“Goodnight, Aunt Lorna,” Anna said.
Since Anna was shy, Trina decided to break the ice. She stood up. “So, what do you think?” she asked Anna.
Anna finally looked. Her older cousin now wore a much more remarkable garment than she had worn the last few nights. Anna just stared and was speechless. She didn’t know what to make of it.
“Hello, earth to Anna,” Trina said jokingly.
Anna snapped out if it. “Oh, um, yeah, you kinda look like an over-sized baby.”
“Haha,” Trina laughed loudly. She sucked on her thumb jokingly.
“Hehehe,” Anna laughed reflexively. The two girls joked around about it for a while.
When the energy in the room settled down Trina asked curiously, “hey, what kind of pull-ups do you wear? May I see one?”
Anna realized that her desire to hide her pull-ups from Trina had diminished. “Yeah, sure. They just look like big baby diapers with designs all over them,” Anna said rolling her eyes.
“Let’s face it, I’m the biggest baby in the house tonight,” Trina laughed.
Anna retrieved a pull-up from her luggage. Trina watched intently, genuinely interested to see how it looked. Anna handed it to her.
“Oh, cute,” Trina said. She admired the different shades of pink and the all-over print of hearts and stars.
“Yeah, right,” Anna responded sarcastically.
“Can I see you put it on, or do you want me to close my eyes? I promise I won’t look,” Trina assured.
“Would you close your eyes, please?” Anna asked embarrassed.
Trina closed her eyes and hid her face in her pillow. “I promise I won’t look but when you are done can I please, please, please see how it looks on you, pleeeease?” she pleaded.
“Alright, fine, since I got to see you in your giant diaper, I guess you can see me in my dainty, little pull-ups,” Anna agreed.
“Yay! Alright cool tell me when I can look, okay?” Trina excitedly kicked her legs on her bed.
A moment passed.
“Alright, you can look now,” Anna said.
Trina looked at Anna who now wore a pull-up and a pajama shirt. “You’re absolutely the cutest thing in the world, love!” she exclaimed.
“Hehehe,” Anna laughed reflexively. She felt genuinely good for the first time in days. “Um, thank you so much, Trina,” Anna said sincerely. “I really was having a tough time and, well, just thanks.” Anna’s eyes welled up.
“You’re welcome,” Trina said sincerely. She was filled with joy because her plan had worked. She smiled warmly at her cousin. She was so thankful to witness this miraculous shift that Anna was able to accomplish. She hugged Anna. They spent a long moment in each other’s embrace.
“Well, I’m gonna hit the hay, how about you?” Trina asked.
“Mm-hmm, I’m tired,” Anna said.
“Goodnight, Anna,” Trina said.
“Goodnight, Trina,” Anna said.