Leah stretched out as Tina approached. She could hardly even look at her step mother knowing how infantile she had behaved this morning.
“Welcome back to the land of the living. Ready to eat?” Tina asked.
Without saying a word, Leah got up and just walked up to her bedroom.
In the distance, you could hear the bedroom slam.
Leah couldn’t believe what she did. How was she going to deal with this? Her step mother was never going to forget this. It is bad enough when she was treating her like a child, now she asked to be treated like a fucking baby.
Tina knew better than to approach a teen when she stomped around. Figuring Leah would come down to eat eventually and then they could talk.
Leah had nowhere to turn, her friends were all occupied, so picking up a book, she lost herself for the rest of the afternoon.
A knock came to the bed room door “Leah,…… Leah,….. dinner.” Tina announced.
Tina heard a chair slide and figured Leah would come down so she headed back to the dinner table.
Tina grabbed the water pitcher and when she returned to the table she was greeted by Leah in her booster seat along with the rather pungent and unmistakable odor of the girl with poop in her pants.
Leah was in a somber state of mind, clearly she was still under a lot of stress. However, she gave no indication that she was even aware that she had soiled herself.
It was an unpleasant way to eat, but Tina was not unused to doing eating with toddlers who had done so.
Once again, Leah made a different kind of mess of herself at the table.
“If you keep eating like that, I think we might need to get you into a bib” Tina joked.
“not funny”
Tina smiled.
After the meal, mostly in silence, Leah just sat there deep in thought as Tina cleared the table.
Leah, couldn’t fully process all that was happening these past couple of days. It was so embarrassing to have those accidents, but it felt so good to just be taken care of. What kind of a freak am I? She thought. Her mind wondered, realizing that of course it felt good to be take care of, everyone loves that. She shouldn’t beat herself up for that. She should be thankful to her step for helping her, even if it was embarrassing, it did save her from something worse.
“Ahhhh” Leah was surprised as she was assaulted by a wash cloth
Tina cleaned off Leah’s face and hands with a damp cloth. Then disappeared into the kitchen, soon to return.
“Now, let’s deal with the rest of you.” Tina said as she lifted Leah out of her seat.
“What, no!” Leah complained.
“You can’t stay like this all night.”
“Like what?”
Well, that answers that question Tina thought. “Well, maybe it has something to do with you size or your lack of physical development. Maybe it’s just the stress, but something is going on.”
“What are you going on about?”
“Let’s just say you are not the right size. So we should start over.”
“Start what over”
“Just for a few days till whatever it is, is out of your system.”
“You aren’t making any sense.”
“Oh I’m sorry baby, let’s be more clear.” Tina said in a condescending tone just as they arrived at the nursery’s changing table where Leah was deposited and strapped in.
“Hey!”
“Lay still. I would think a 15 year old would know if she shit herself, toddlers that potty train know when they have accidents, babies generally know when their diapers need changing. Well, maybe not infant and newborns.”
“So?”
“I can understand not smelling yourself, but darling, you are sporting quite the load in your pants.”
A look of surprise and then horror crossed Leah’s face.
Tina continued sounding more like a mommy talking a toddler “Yes dear and mommy’s going the change you into a nice clean diaper.”
“Noooo!” Leah whined. “No diaper. Not diaper. I no need diaper”
“I no need diaper? That’s adorable. Your training pants are disgusting and you don’t think you need diapers?”
“Please. Please don’t diaper me.”
“You have crapped yourself 3 times in 2 days. I lost track of how many time you wet yourself.”
Tina looked into the pleading eyes of her step daughter.
“Fine, but I’m keeping an eye on you. I want no grief. Early to bed. Lots of rest and we’ll see if we can get this thing whipped. But from now on we have a potty chart. 3 strikes and your back to diapers. For now we can stick with training pants.”
Cleaning the mess from Leah’s bottom was involved and about as challenging as it gets. Training pants were not nearly as convenient as diapers or any other form of disposables that can be ripped open and peeled away.
The rest to the night was uneventful, but bedtime at least had a moment.
“I feel so stupid sleeping in this old thing.” Leah complained as she was installed in her old toddler princess bed.
“I’ll remind you, you wet your other bed and it is still drying.”
Leah turned bright red with embarrassment.
“Come mommy will tuck you in.”
“Not funny.”
“Would you like mommy to read you a bedtime story.”
Leah just grimaced.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Your tooth, don’t you want to put it under your pillow and make a wish?”
“That so lame.”
Tina became more serious and genuine Tina asked “Look, I know you’re a bit old, but it is your first tooth, shouldn’t you at least get that?”
“I guess you’re right.” With that Leah took the tooth and slid it under her pillow.
Leah head was spinning as she drifted off to sleep how stupid it all was. If she really did have a wish, she would just wish she could be the right size. As she slipped into her nightly slumber her mind kept processing life’s recent events. She was to start 10th grade. Finally high school her fear of being so short especially in a school that was suppose to be so rigorous. But then again, Tina got that letter damn, why did they think she was just a kindergartener. Tina then had to make it worse. Here she was having potty problems. That wouldn’t even make her ready for Kindergarten, maybe not even preschool. It was all a mess that Tina would help fix. Leah’s mind drifted to thoughts of being infantilized by Tina.