Mike doesn’t want to spend time with either the other toddler or the woman in charge of watching him. He toddles over to the pile of stuffed animals in the corner and does his best to distract himself. To his surprise, he gets caught up in playing, to the extent that he is only brought back to himself when he feels pressure in his bowels.
Mike quickly jumps to his feet and looks around. Both Penny and the other girl are gone. The urge to go gets stronger. Desperate to avoid being downgraded to diapers, Mike rushes around the room, looking for something he can use as a toilet. Just then, a door in the back of the room opens and the girl comes out, closely followed by Penny. Behind Penny, Mike can see a toilet as well as a toddler’s training potty. Hope rises at spotting a chance to use the bathroom, but is quashed quickly as his hold breaks.
“Hey, Mikey!” Penny says cheerfully. “I was just going to check if you needed-” Mike squats where he’s standing. Penny sighs. “Oh, no.” Mike empties his bowels into his pull-up, grunting with effort, trying to get it over with. Penny walks over to him. When he finishes, he looks up at her.
“I poopoo,” he says quietly. Penny nods.
“I saw that, Mikey. And I’m sorry, but if you poopoo, the rule here is that you go back in diapers.” Dread fills Mike’s stomach. Penny grabs a radio attached to her belt. “Carla, we’ve got a pooper here. Will you send someone over to pick him up?”
“You got it,” a voice crackles over the radio. Within a few moments, someone enters the room.
“Someone needs to go back to the diaper room?” asks the employee, a young man. Penny nods.
“This little boy, Mikey. The person that dropped him off said he’s still in the process of potty-training. I guess he wasn’t as trained as they thought.”
“That’s not a problem!” Will says cheerfully. He walks over to Mike and picks him up. The poop in Mike’s pull-up smears on his butt. “C’mon, bud, let’s get you changed and down for a nap!” Mike’s too exhausted by the humiliation to resist as he is carried out of the room and to a different one. This room reads “Three and Two – Diapers” on the door. When they step inside, Mike immediately notices that there are many more children in this room than in the other one.
Will carries Mike over to a changing table in the back. Mike’s cheeks burn red as Will removes his pull-up, wipes him down, and tapes a diaper on him. When he is placed on the ground, Mike is disgruntled to see that the bulge from the diaper is very evident. Just then, the lights turn out. Will leads Mike over to a line of cribs, then places him in one.
“Have a good nap, Mikey,” Will coos at him. He walks away. Worn out by what has happened, Mike curls up into a ball and falls asleep immediately.