Laura watches Kaitlin from over Linda’s shoulder as she is carried into a room with a sign on the door reading “not potty trained”. In the room, she is brought over to a changing table, where her dirty diaper is removed, she is wiped down, and a fresh diaper is taped on. Both exhausted by her earlier outburst and already used to diaper changes, Laura pays no mind to it. To her surprise, Linda doesn’t replace her dress, instead leaving her in only the diaper.
“Mason, we have a friend for you,” sings Linda, bringing Laura over to the only other person in the room. The boy looks at least a couple years older than her, but is wearing only a diaper and T-shirt. Linda sets Laura next to Mason. “This is Lauren. Play nice with each other, okay?” Mason merely nods silently. Linda walks away.
“How old are you?” Mason asks Laura after a moment. Laura holds up two fingers. “Hmph. I’m four.” Laura frowns. Why would a four-year-old be in a diaper? She removes her pacifier to talk.
“Why diapy?” she asks.
“‘Cause potty training is hard, okay?” Mason snaps. “I didn’t get fully potty trained until I was six.” His eyes widen, as do Laura’s. Laura leans in to whisper.
“You s’posed be grownup?” she asks quietly. Mason nods. “Me too. But wolled dice.”
“Wait, really?” Mason asks. Laura nods. “Huh. What are the odds? My buddy Jacob works here. He’s the one taking care of me and Chad right now, since we got turned into kids by the dice. Once he’s done with work, he’s going to take us to the magic store.” Mason looks hopefully at Laura. “Maybe you can come too.”
“I wike,” Laura chirps. Mason nods. “I have ques- ques-”
“You can ask your question,” Mason says, allowing Laura to avoid stumbling over the big word. Laura nods gratefully.
“Why no cwoves?” she asks. “I no dwess now, you onwy shirt.”
“Yeah, apparently their rule here is that anyone who still needs a diaper can only wear a shirt. It’s supposed to make it easier to tell when someone needs a change.” Mason shrugs. “If you’re cold, I can ask Linda to give you a shirt.” Laura thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. She’s fine. “All right.”
A few hours pass by of Laura and Mason quietly playing together. While playing, Laura feels an urge to push, so she does, without really knowing why. Mason glances at her as she grunts with effort, but doesn’t say anything. When Laura finishes pushing, she realizes that she’s messed herself again. Linda comes over.
“Did someone make poopy?” she coos. Laura nods. “No problem, sweetie! Mason, do you need to go poopoo?” she asks. Mason shakes his head. “Okay. But if you do need to, just let me know.” Mason nods. Linda whisks Laura away to be changed. When they return, Mason is squatting, his face red with effort as he grunts. Linda sighs. She sets Laura down. Mason finishes messing himself and stands straight.
“I pooped,” he says bluntly. Linda nods.
“Yes. You did.” She takes him away to be changed. Once she and Mason return, the toddlers are given a snack, then put in separate cribs for a nap. After the nap, their diapers are checked. They’re both wet and need to be changed. Laura and Mason are set down to play once they have been changed again, and the two toddlers play until the end of the day.
A daycare worker comes into the room and informs Linda that both Mason and Laura’s guardians have come to pick them up. Linda lets out a sigh of relief. Throughout the day, she got progressively more frustrated with Mason’s refusal to even attempt to use the toddler training potty.
Laura and Mason are brought out front. Mason is handed over to a man, and Laura is given to Anna. Kaitlin and a young boy about Kaitlin’s age are standing with the adults already. All six leave the daycare and go to the parking lot.
“Should we make the swap now?” Anna asks the man holding Mason, presumably Jacob. The man nods.
“Might as well.”
“What swap?” Mason asks.
“Well, Anna and I discovered that we both have been tasked with taking care of some adults magically turned into kids. And since it’s easier to take care of one age group at a time, we decided that one of us would take care of the toddlers and the other one would take care of the preschoolers.”
“What about taking us to the magic shop?” Mason demands.
“Unfortunately, we both called ahead. It’s closed until next month,” Anna says. Both Laura and Mason’s mouths drop open. “Don’t worry, the person we spoke to arranged for your disappearances from your lives to not be concerning.”
“But the person couldn’t cure us,” the boy Kaitlin’s age says.
“Not over the phone, no.” Anna smiles at Laura. “And another reason you kids don’t need to worry is that Jacob and I are already setting things up for you kids to do while you’re this young. We’ve got some great ideas, like preschool, a better daycare than the work one, Mommy and Me classes, the whole nine yards.”
“Great,” Kaitlin mutters. Laura lets out a loud fart. Her bowels empty into her diaper. “Anna, Laura needth a change.”
“I can tell.” Anna brings Laura over to her car, where she proceeds to change Laura on the back seat, in front of everyone. Mason lets out a fart as well.
“Anna, mind changing this stinker, too?” Jacob asks.
“No problem!” Anna exchanged Laura for Mason. She changes Mason on the back seat just like Laura. Mason turns red at being exposed in front of so many people, unlike Laura, who was taking the diaper changes in stride by now. Once changed, Anna pops a pacifier into Mason’s mouth, to his surprise. He sucks on it instinctively, much like Laura.
“Tho, who do we go with?” Kaitlin asks.