Finally, Tina finishes getting things for the daycare.
“All right, let’s get you back in your old clothes,” Tina says, pushing the stroller back to the bathroom. She unbuckles Leah and puts her on the floor. Leah waits impatiently as Tina rummages around for her clothing. “…Uh oh.”
“What?” Leah asks, nervous.
“Your clothes aren’t here. I don’t know what happened to them.”
“Wh- but- but what am I supposed to do, then?” Leah squeaks.
“You’ll just have to keep wearing what you’ve got on,” Tina says apologetically. Leah crosses her arms.
“I refuse to walk around in a diaper and T-shirt only.”
“There aren’t any other options, honey. This store only sells baby clothes.”
“Well…” Leah sighs. “Fine. But if I have to dress up like a baby, I’m doing it on my own terms.”
“What terms would those be?”
“I’ll die of embarrassment if someone sees me, so I need to disguise myself.” Leah begins to dig through the bags. She pulls out a pair of blue denim overalls patterned with dinosaurs and a matching T-shirt. “If I’m dressed like a girl, it’s more likely someone will recognize me. I’m going to dress like a boy until we get home.”
“If that’s what you want,” Tina says after a moment.
“It is.”
“I’ll go find some shoes in your size, then.”
When Tina returns, she gapes. Leah’s dressed herself in the T-shirt and overalls, and also found a pair of scissors, which she used to give herself a haircut.
“I’ve been wanting to try a pixie for a while anyways,” Leah says. “I’ll go to a salon later to get it touched up.”
“…All right.” Tina gives Leah the shoes, which she slips on. “Your disguise is really good, sweetie.”
“Any notes?” Leah asks. Tina looks her stepdaughter over. The outfit, haircut, and distinctive diaper bulge around Leah’s waist make her look like a very young boy. But Tina can think of one thing to improve the disguise even more.
“Here.” Tina grabs a pacifier on a string and clip, then clips it to the front of Leah’s overalls. “You don’t need to suck on it, just having it clipped on your clothes is enough to suggest that you use it regularly.” Leah nods. “Now, we can finish up our shopping.”
Leah walks alongside Tina through the store. Tina looks down at her stepdaughter every now and then, wondering how well she can keep up the disguise. It seems like the diaper is thick enough to impede Leah’s movement; she has a distinctive toddle. They’re in the canned food aisle when one of Leah’s classmates, a very cruel girl named Tammy, spots them.
Tammy heads in their direction. Leah is absolutely sure that Tammy has seen through her disguise. Panicking, she does the only thing she can think of to convince Tammy that she’s just a little boy.