“…proof that you really are Laura!” Kaitlin says in shock. Laura crosses her arms.
“That what me saying,” she mutters. Kaitlin crouches down to get a better look at her.
“When you got turned into a kid, your speaking skills went down the toilet, huh?” she asks. Laura nods reluctantly. “And speaking of toilets, it looks like you might’ve forgotten how to use one,” she teases. She squeezes Laura’s full diaper, grinning at her. Laura bursts into tears at the reminder of what she’s been reduced to. Kaitlin’s expression is replaced with one of alarm. “Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you so much!”
“I dirty diapy,” Laura whines loudly. “No like!”
“Yeah, I figure. So, uh, how did you end up a kid?” Kaitlin asks. Laura looks at her.
“No want dirty diapy,” she insists.
“Oh. Yeah, we should probably change you out of that ASAP. It’s not good for someone to be in a diaper as dirty as that for very long. You could get a diaper rash.” Laura shivers at the thought. “Well, uh, come on.” Kaitlin picks Laura up and brings her to her car. She opens the door and then buckles Laura into a car seat. “You’re lucky. My youngest, Ryan, he’s your current age. Actually, do you know how old you are right now?”
“Two,” Laura mumbles.
“Oh. Ryan’s a year older than you, actually.” Kaitlin closes the door and gets into the driver’s seat. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean you up at my house, and we’ll figure out where to go from there.” The drive doesn’t take too long, but to Laura, stuck in a filthy diaper, it feels much longer than it is.
They arrive at Kaitlin’s house. Kaitlin removes Laura from the car seat and brings her inside.
“Mommy’s home!” shouts a child’s voice. Laura and Kaitlin are immediately swarmed by Kaitlin’s twins: daughter Maddie and son Matt.
“Kids, kids, back off,” calls Kaitlin’s husband, Scott. Scott enters the room. He raises an eyebrow at Laura in Kaitlin’s arms. “So, what exactly is going on here? I thought you said you were going to pick up your coworker Laura.”
“Um, I misunderstood her texts,” Kaitlin says, shifting Laura from one arm to the other. “Turns out, an emergency came up, and Laura needs someone to watch her niece for a while.”
“And this is her niece?”
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
“…Lauren,” Kaitlin says after a moment. Maddie stands on her tiptoes to peer closely at Laura, but moves away.
“Ew, she’s smelly!”
“Lauren had a bit of an accident on the way here,” Kaitlin fibs. “I’m going to take her in the nursery to change her real quick.”
“You sure you don’t want me to do it?” Scott asks. “I mean, you’ve got some work to catch up on, since Laura bailed on you earlier.”
“No, I’ll do it,” Kaitlin says firmly. She carries Laura further into the house, past a toddler playing in a playpen, and then into a nursery. She closes the door to keep the twins from following her into the room. “Sorry about that. It can be a bit chaotic.”
“It okay,” Laura mumbles. Kaitlin places her on a changing table and removes her clothes.
“Now, don’t squirm,” Kaitlin instructs. “Otherwise it’ll take much longer than it needs to.” Despite every instinct telling her to escape from the situation, Laura holds herself still. “Thank you.” Laura closes her eyes so that she doesn’t have to watch her friend and coworker changing her diaper. She shivers at the feel of the diaper wipes.
“So, yeah, we’ll just say that you’re your own niece for now,” Kaitlin says. “No one will question it as long as you try to act like a toddler. Judging from your lack of potty training and decreased speaking, though, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to do that. So there’s a silver lining.”
“Kait, me have to ‘splain-” Laura starts.
“I know, I know, we both want you to explain how this happened,” Kaitlin says. “But it’ll have to wait a bit. Like Scott said, I have to catch up on some work since you bailed earlier.”
“Me no mean to.”
“Obviously, you were busy being turned into a toddler. But I still have to do the work meant for two people tonight.” Laura feels a fresh diaper being taped on. “Okay, all done!” Laura opens her eyes and sits up on the changing table. “So, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to spend some quality time in the playpen with Ryan until I’m done.” Laura wants to protest, but Kaitlin seems genuinely apologetic, so she doesn’t.
“Cold,” she says finally. She’s shivering in just her diaper.
“How about you pick what you wear?” Kaitlin holds up a few different articles of clothing. Eventually, Laura decides upon the footed onesie that is patterned with lighthouses. Kaitlin quickly dresses her. “Okay, time to go in the playpen for a bit.” Kaitlin carries Laura out to the living room, where her youngest son, Ryan, is sitting in a playpen.
“Ryan, play nice with Lauren, okay?” Kaitlin instructs as she sets Laura in the playpen. Ryan nods eagerly. “Good.” Kaitlin pats Laura’s head. “I’ll be back to get you when I’m done with work.”
Laura watches Kaitlin walk away. She doesn’t have any choice but to wait for Kaitlin to come back.