Chapter Fourteen

Sunday June 8th: 6:34

When Theodore woke up, he knew he’d had a nightmare - though he couldn’t quite remember what it was about. Still, he felt afraid. He let out a tiny kitten-like moan of distress, keeping his eyelids firmly shut as if doing so might keep any imaginary monsters far at bay. He wriggled uncomfortably under his blankets, reaching for his stuffie and pulling it close under his chin. The feeling of the fox’s soft fur against his face gave him comfort at once, immediately calming his breathing and filling him up to the brim with a cozy peaceful warmth.

He recalled the events of the previous day in a muddled hodge podge of heightened emotions. He remembered his mother’s hug at the music store, and his fury at the fair; his amazement at Uncle Rob’s nanobot tech, and the humiliating prank Ewan had pulled on him. The feeling of his stuffie in his arms seemed to wash all of those feelings away like a sandcastle under the rising tide however. None of that mattered anymore. He’d changed the computer system. Everything was going to be okay.

Feeling brave enough, Theodore finally opened his eyes. He was cocooned in a nest of colorful blankets, curled up in a ball atop a soft springy mattress. The boy purred in satisfaction, delighting in the warm feeling rising from the tip of his toes, up between his thighs, around his tummy, and up to the hair on the top of his head. Twisting around with a lazy yawn, he stretched out to his full length. He heard a gentle rustle as he moved, his waking bliss disturbed by the feeling of a strange papery material tickling against his tummy and the underside of his toes curling around smooth polished wooden rails.

That’s when he saw it. Surrounding Theodore on every side, tall wooden bars loomed above him like the narrow trunks of pale oppressive trees. Worse, between his own pink plump legs, the disposable bulk of a sagging saturated diaper was nestled - the playful illustrations of Tigger and Pooh and the humiliating Huggies branding stained a tell-tale muted yellow.

Theo’s euphoria evaporated, replaced with panic, disgust, and fear. Throwing aside the crib blankets, he saw he was wearing nothing else but a blue and white striped button up pajama top, stained with spaghetti sauce and riding up over his itty-bitty toddler’s paunch. The little boy got clumsily to his feet, resting his arms on the top of the bars for support as he gazed out across towards the mirror - assessing the damage.

Any hint of preteen-hood having been completely erased, the boy’s adorable apple red cheeks, little pug nose, and cascading tufts of silky caramel hair had returned with a vengeance. Unlike at six however, he was now firmly in the realm of toddlerhood - no more than three years old. The only comfort Theo could take was that he hadn’t tumbled down to complete infancy. Despite the soiled diaper he sported sagging between his legs, he could still stand; and despite the comforting fox toy still cuddled snugly under his arm, his mind hadn’t yet descended completely into hopeless babbling baby nonsense. What on earth had happened? He had changed the figure on the computer to eighteen hadn’t he? So why wasn’t he big! Had he used the wrong program?

Seeing that Charlie was still sleeping peacefully on the ordinary bed on the other side of the room, Theodore turned on the digital alarm clock on the bedside table beside him. He tried to focus his eyes, but for some reason he couldn’t make heads or tails of the numbers displayed. Still, the dim morning light seeping through the windows assured him that it must still have been quite early. He needed to get back to the computer lap before anyone else woke up! Perhaps he still had time?

Steeling his little features into a harsh purposeful frown, Teddy lifted up his pudgy leg over the top of the crib bars and clumsily wriggled over the top like a tyke-sized commando. He landed with a bump on his padded bottom, both the pain and the cold saturated material squelching against his skin making him cringe. Still, he resisted the urge to burst into bawling age-appropriate tears, instead forcing himself to his feet and retrieving his fox from in between the bars. Clutching it against his chest, he darted out into the hall.

Theo’s stuffie kept him calm as he tottered speedily along the hallway. He ignored the disgusting feeling between his legs, running at full pelt towards the staircase. When he reached the top of the landing however, his fear spiked to a new paralyzing height. Looking down the steep tall stairs, Theo’s comparatively miniscule stature made him feel as if he were teetering at the top of a mountain side. Gurning in determination however, he spurred himself to press on. He plopped down on his diapered bottom again, taking each step by humiliating step as he propelled himself bump by bump to the ground floor.

Finally having reached safety, Theo jumped to his feet again. He could see the door to the basement just a few short steps away! As he reached for the latch however, getting up on his tippy toes and straining his arm with all his might, it soon became apparent that he was simply too short. He let out a loud moan of disrepair, trying to jump for it, but only succeeding in losing his balance and falling down on his bottom again.

“There’s my little teddy bear.” Mom’s voice cooed. Suddenly, Teddy found himself propelled up into the air, suddenly sitting on her hip as if he weighed no more than a ragdoll. “What are you doing running around the house?” she asked playfully, tickling a single finger against his sensitive belly button.

“I need t-to…” Theodore tried to explain, before instantly breaking into an uncontrollable hysterical fit of high-pitched toddler giggles. Strangely enough, all of his panic and embarrassment seemed to fade into the background for a moment, replaced with simple ecstatic joy and affection for his Mommy. Eventually, he just about managed to pull himself together, pointing needily at the latch on the door. “I need to go to the ‘puter lab Mommy!” he heard his sickly sweet little boy’s voice ask. He cringed. Why had he said ‘Mommy’?

“Oh, well that’s not for little boys.” Mom dismissed, summarily carrying him away from the door and into the living room.

His last hope seeming to diminish, Theodore felt another wave of uncontrollable emotions. “Noooo….” he whined, squirming and fidgeting and wriggling - doing all he could to escape his Mom’s grip and get back to the basement door.

She was having none of it, however. “Someone’s fussy, huh?” she dismissed, laying him down on the couch and pushing his chest down flat. Mom wasn’t particularly strong, but the maneuver seemed to dispel any and all wiggly resistance Theodore could muster - instead leaving him breathless and immobile like a kitten held by the nape. “Let’s get that yucky-yucky diaper off, huh?” Mom continued to commentate, going right ahead and ripping off the tapes holding it in place.

Theo felt like he was frozen immobile by a spell as Mom continued on efficiently in her well-practiced diaper change procedure. He could do nothing but mumble and whine as the sodden material was pulled away, his legs were cantilevered into the air, and the most private parts of him from his crotch to his bare bottom were wiped squeaky clean with wads of freezing cold wet wipes.

It was only when she reached for another diaper, taking a break from wiping him down to struggle with the plasticky package of a fresh pack of Huggies, that he managed to find his voice.

“No, Mommy!” he asserted definitely, shaking his head.

“Hmm?” Mom asked, looking a little surprised. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“No diapers.” Theo insisted, pointing hatefully at the babyish package. “I don’t need ‘em.” he grumbled, poutily crossing his arms across his chest.

Mom looked a little skeptical. “Are you sure, Teddy sweetie?” she asked. “It’s going to be a long day today, and we’re going to the park. There might not be a potty nearby all the time…” she reasoned.

“No!” Theodore insisted, digging in his heels like a typical stubborn toddler.

“Come on, sweetie.” Mom tried to coax. She finally got the package open, picking out one of the diapers and making sure to show him the Winnie the Pooh characters printed on the front. “Look, they’ve got Tigger and Pooh. Just like the outfit Mommy picked out for you.”

Mom put down the diaper, reaching for a nearby basket of fresh laundry she had been folding that morning to produce the exact same outfit Theodore had been in the night before - except in miniature. Every humiliating detail was present, from the ridiculous hat, to the cutesy t-shirt, to the all to revealing shortalls.

Theo’s eyes bulged in horror. “I don’t wanna…” he mumbled. He was utterly mortified.

“Come on, Teddy bear.” Mom coaxed gently. “You’d look so cute. It would make Mommy very happy.”

Do as Mom says
Refuse to wear the outfit.