Leah can’t think of anything more babyish to do than to use her diaper. But this time, instead of making it seem like an accident, she’ll make it obvious that it’s on purpose. She continues to watch TV. Eventually, Tina comes back to fetch her for dinner.
“Oh, you didn’t change into your other clothes,” Tina comments when she sees Leah sitting on the floor. “Why not?”
“These fit over a diaper better,” Leah says after a moment.
“Fair enough.” Tina comes over and turns off the TV. “Why were you watching that channel?”
“It was playing when I turned the TV on. I was going to change it, but it’s better than I thought it would be.”
“Hmm. Well, dinner’s ready, so go wash up.”
Leah washes her hands and goes to the kitchen, where Tina is waiting for her. She makes sure to exaggerate the waddle from her diaper, toddling like the toddler she’s trying to be. Tina gets an odd look on her face, but stays quiet. Once dinner is over, Tina begins to clear the table.
“Want to watch a movie together?” Tina asks.
“Sure!” Leah stands on the seat of her chair and squats slightly. Tina, right next to her, can hear the soft hiss as Leah wets her diaper. “Let’s go.”
“Uh, Leah, did you just pee?” Tina asks.
“Yeah.”
“On purpose?”
“I had to go.”
“Potties exist, you know.”
“I had to go,” Leah repeats vaguely. Tina purses her lips, but merely checks Leah’s diaper silently.
“You didn’t completely flood your diaper, so you don’t need a change yet.”
“Great!” Leah hops off her chair and heads for the living room. She immediately picks out the most juvenile movie she can locate. Tina comes into the room after her. “Let’s watch this one!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
“All right. Seems a bit babyish, but if it’s what you want…”
Leah and Tina sit down on the couch to watch the movie together. Halfway through the movie, Leah senses that she can poop again. Without a pause, she begins to push, trying to mess herself discretely. It works. Tina doesn’t realize that her stepdaughter is pooping right next to her.
Five minutes after Leah has messed herself, Tina finally smells it.
“Leah! You pooped, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t want to miss the movie.”
“We could have paused it.”
“I didn’t want to,” Leah repeats. “I even kept quiet so that it wouldn’t distract either of us.”
“And then you were fine with just sitting in your own mess?” Tina demands. Leah nods.
“I didn’t want to miss the movie,” she says yet again. Tina sighs. “Can you change me in here so I don’t miss anything?”
“Fine.” Tina leaves, then comes back with changing supplies. She changes Leah on the floor right there in the living room while Leah continues to watch the movie. “This is even worse than having accidents, Leah.”
“What do you mean?”
“You seem to be fine with using a diaper when it makes things more convenient for you. You even seem perfectly content to just sit in your own pee and poop!” Tina says. “You can’t go to high school like this, sweetie. Until we get this figured out, you’re going to come to work with me, where I can check whether you need a change. I don’t want you to get a diaper rash just because you wanted to keep watching TV or playing.”
“I understand,” Leah says, pretending to be disappointed. The two finish watching the movie. Leah might have succeeded her initial task, but she wants to keep hammering home the point. She turns to her stepmother. “I’m thirsty.”
“You want something to drink?” Tina asks. Leah nods. “Okay, I’ll get you something. What do you want?”