Tina disappeared upstairs and when she reemerged lifted the small teen off her booster seat at the table and brought her over to the couch where she sat the small teen on her lap.
“What now Tina?”
“Leah, I had to prop up your mattress, it is much too damp to sleep on and I am not sure how we will deal with it. For now, you will need another spot to sleep tonight. So, let’ get you ready for bed.”
As if by magic, the maturity seemed to drain away from Leah. It was a subtle change, but that edgy independent teen that had resurfaced, faded and all that was left was an adorable child, if the math was right a child of about 6.
“Sweet heart, I thought you might like to sleep in your princess bed, just one more time while your other bed dries.” Tina offered making sure to reference both beds as hers.
“That’s just for little kids.” Leah’s reaction suggested she wasn’t keen on the idea.
“Well, how about we just pretend, just for tonight, just till we can figure out what to do with your other bed.”
“I don’t know.”
Tina tried a bribe. “I know, if you can do that maybe I can take us out for ice cream as a special treat. What do you say to that?”
“Ice cream! yes let’s do ice cream.” The enthusiasm was extreme in Leah’s voice.
“But first we have to get you all ready for bed. You need to be in your pjs and all set. You can wear your robe and we will head out and get ice cream then right home and straight to bed.”
Leah thought for a minute. She knew there was something about this that she didn’t want to do. But going out in her pjs sounded fun, so “YES YES YES.”
Leah held both her hands and swayed back and forth happily with a big toothy smile on her face at the thought of going out for ice cream in her pjs.
Tina carried Leah up to the nursery and sat her on the changing table as she reached under the table for a set of old pj she kept under there and something else to change little Leah into.
Tina removed Leah’s robe and lifted her and lay her down on the changing table. “Such a good girl. I think you are going to get the biggest ice cream. What is your favorite flavor?”
“Chocolate.”
“Chocolate. Yum. That should be delicious.” Tina said as she carefully lifted Leah legs and bottom off the table and slip a cloth diaper under her.
Leah was happily imagining her ice cream as Tina quickly pulled up and started pinning her step daughter into the diaper.
“Hey!” Leah cried out. “What! Why! I don’t have to wear that yet.”
“Yes you do, it time you get ready for bed.”
“But I don’t want to go out like this. Only a baby goes outside in diapers.”
“Oh don’t be silly. You’re not a baby and you are going out like this.”
“Well. I don’t want to.”
“Then no ice cream.”
“But you promised.”
“But only if you were ready for bed when we went.”
“But,….but…. but.” The teen trapped in her 6 year old mentality was trying to figure out how to deal with this. Could she go out wearing a diaper?
“Look Leah, it’s not like you won’t be wearing something over the diaper. No one will pay you any mind.”
“Let’s get you ready then you can start to worry if you think you shouldn’t go then we won’t go.”
Tina finish pinning the diaper in place, it amazed her how the large baby diaper fit her like it was made for a person Leah’s size. A clear set a plastic pants finished her diapering followed by a 2 piece frozen set of pjs.
Tina sat Leah up on the changing table and brushed her hair, putting to it into two pig tails on either side of her head.
“Now you look nice and neat and ready to go for ….”
“ICE CREAM!” Leah shouted with joy, thowing her hands up in the air. Totally forgetting her how she was dressed.
Tina took Leah’s hand and they walked down the stairs, but before leaving the house, Tina marched back upstairs to get Leah’s robe for the trip. While doing so she marveled at how Leah waddled just like a toddler as she walked. The diaper obviously having an impact on her cadence, and clearly visible on her bottom. Leah looked exactly like an overgrown toddler.
Packed into the car seat, Leah became a little chatterbox, for some reason she wanted to talk about all the Disney princesses and couldn’t herself from stop doing so.
Tina listened all the way to the ice cream parlor. The place they had gone was a soft serve right across from a play ground. The wait for ice cream was long. And seating inside was going to take a while. Tina gave her mobile number and Leah dragged her over to the playground. It seemed that Leah totally forgot how she was dressed. Tina refused to let her play on anything that would get too dirty, but let her on the swings and after a short time they were called over for their table for ice cream. Leah didn’t get too dirty, she seemed to just get a bit of dust on her bath robe.
They were led over to a table that had a chair and high chair. Leah stopped short, clearly not happy, but it was also clear that a normal chair would not let her sit high enough to comfortably reach the table. The place was packed and they didn’t seem to have much choice. Leah though she could just stand, but with the tight space and all the people moving about, there wasn’t much room for that either.
Tina just lifted her into the chair. “If it is a problem we can just go.” Tina had an edge, using a bit of emotional blackmail on the emotionally regressed little teen.
A moment later a nice young woman, who looked to be about Leah’s age, approached the table “what would you two like.”
“I’ll have a small vanilla with hot fudge and my daughter would like a small chocolate.”
“With sprinkles!” Leah interrupted.
The young server turned to Tina who gave a nod of approval.
“Sprinkles are my favorite too” the server then touched Leah on the nose with her index finger.
Leah smiled at the attention.
Leah felt a little silly dressed as she was, but she was having fun. She couldn’t recall the last time she played with such reckless abandon on the swings. Now she was in kind of an afterglow enjoying waiting for an ice cream. She felt just like a kid again. A growing need to use the bathroom, created a sudden sense of embarrassment in her and she felt herself blush. It made her realize she had earlier been diapered to cover such an eventuality. She felt so infantile, as she squirmed a bit and after let out a little bit of gas realize she could hold it at least till she was home.
Just then their server returned with a plastic bib and placed it around Leah’s neck. Then brought her the ice cream.
It was a warm evening and Tina made quick work of her serving. Looking over at Leah, it was like looking at a child that had forgotten how to eat. Her melting ice cream kept dripping down her tilted spoon and then all over her hands and lower arms. The bib was already smeared with chocolate and some sprinkles. Leah looked like a messy toddler.
“Oh baby, you’re a mess.” Tina said as she looked at Leah.
Leah had started to lick the wet globs of chocolate off her hands as Tina reached into her purse and pulled out a packed of baby wipes.
Reaching over, Tina tended to Leah. Leah was not happy to no longer be eating her ice cream.
“Hey!”
But the tiny teen was no match for her large step mother, who easily handled her and cleaned her up. To those who observed from any distance, the extra large Tina cleaning the rather small teen looked just as one might expect a mother cleaning her messy toddler.
The clincher, was when Tina lifted Leah from her high chair and at first took a whiff of her behind to see if she had an accident, followed by her lifting the back of her robe exposing and pulling back the plastic pants and diaper to glance into the back.