Tanner considered.
He felt his eyes growing heavy. He yawned.
"I think someone's tuckered out," Derrick said playfully.
Tanner looked toward the play area, but his sudden tiredness felt stronger than his curious attraction to the crowded, colorful playground area.
"I wanna go home," he decided.
"Good idea," Derrick said, reaching down to pluck him from the bench.
As they left the restaurant, Tanner voiced the rest of his reasoning. "Besides, I need to look at the Cwonivac and find out why I'm so little!"
His brother pressed him against his muscular pecs. "Hold on, Tanner. The Chronivac's not a toy. It's for big guys."
Tanner reasoned out the words, but he knew the machine had belonged to him originally. "I don't wanna play with it," he said. "But I can't stay two years old!"
Derrick felt startled by Tanner's developing resistance to the new status quo. He was finding life as a strong, muscular young man more and more appealing. If Tanner put himself right, would he also try to insist that Derrick return to his eight-year-old form?
Fortunately, he didn't have to press the issue. By the time they arrived home, Tanner had fallen asleep, his head buried against Derrick's pecs. His brother carried him into the bedroom, but realized they had no crib. Derrick proved quite resourceful in arranging pillows and cushions, walling Tanner's toddler form into the lower bunk.
Tanner merely mumbled as Derrick transferred him to the makeshift bed. Derrick stretched and looked at the top bunk, which looked far too cramped for a comfortable bed. He found a blanket and figured he could crash on the living room sofa.
The next morning, Tanner woke early. He was confused as he stared up at the underside of the top bunk. He realized he must be in Derrick's room.
"Derwick?" He called out softly. "You up there?"
Tanner looked at the cushions that served as a rather effective barrier to prevent him from rolling out of the bunk. As he looked around the bunk, he felt a pressing need. He also realized Derrick hadn't bothered to slip him into a new pair of pulls-ups.
"Derwick! Hurry! Help!" Tanner cried out insistently.
He tried to shove against the big pillows. The more he moved and jiggled, the more pressing the sensation from his tiny bladder became. "Derwick!"
He heard the door open and saw Derrick step into the room, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. He looked so huge and strong that Tanner felt his tongue get tied up in his mouth.
"Morning, little guy," Derrick said. "You slept like a baby!"
Tanner ignored that. "Derwick, I need the bathwoom!"
Derrick put two and two together, realizing the mistake he had made in not putting Tanner into some pull-ups. He didn't want to have to change the sheets on the bunk, so he whisked the toddler over the cushion barrier and carried him toward the bathroom.
Tanner compressed his lips tightly, trying to force himself to hold it in.
In the bathroom, Derrick kept his arms beneath Tanner's armpits and balanced his little brother's feet on the toilet seat. "Go ahead," he said.
Tanner looked down into the blue-tinted water in the bowl, then looked up at Derrick. "I can't! Not with you here."
"You're too short to stand in front of it, and if I sit you on the seat, you're liable to fall in," Derrick reasoned.
The pressure was too much. Tanner felt a stream push out of his little nub. When he felt splashing at his feet he got the wherewithal to reach down with one tiny hand and direct the stream from his tiny nub over the bowl, but he felt his face burn with embarrassment.
"Is that all?" Derrick asked when he saw the stream dwindle.
"What do you mean?" Tanner asked.
"I mean, nothing else," he questioned.
Tanner groaned. "Oh god, no!"
Derrick laughed. "Well, you let me know way ahead of time," he said with a chuckle.
"Derwick, where's the Cwonivac?"
"I looked at it last night, but I still can't figure out why it made you keep growing younger."
"Maybe I can figure it out. Will you get it for me?"
"First things first," Derrick said. "We need to get your little butt into another pair of pull-ups." He walked to a shelf in the bathroom where he had placed the carton of Mickey Mouse pull-ups.
After he had the pull-ups snugly on his little brother, he reached to pick him up.
"I can walk!" Tanner objected.
"Okay," Derrick said. "So, do you want some breakfast?"
"No!" Tanner said impatiently. "Bring me the Cwonivac!"