The car’s brakes let out a soft squeak as they brought the car to a gentle stop. White lines of the parking lot squared off the car on three sides, telling Mrs. Moon that she was comfortably inside the parking spot for the “Market Stop,” one of the smallest grocery markets of the town.
Alex’s mom quickly got out of the car and made her way around to the other side of the car where Alex was currently sitting. The tot was staring out of the window towards the market, wearing a nervous expression that showed clearly. Alex was so distracting by her own worries that by the time she snapped out of her daze, the girl’s mother had already lifted her out of the car and was carrying her towards the store.
“Mom, please don’t make me go in there with you! I want to just sit in the car and hide from anyone who might see me!” Her voice was high pitched as per it had been since the regression, though this time there was a ring of whining about it.
“I can’t do that Alex, what kind of a parent would I look like if I just left a baby in the car. All it would take is one phone call to the police and I would be hauled off for questioning, is that something you want?”
Alex gulped and looked up at her mother, clearly still worried. She slowly shook her head no in reply to what her mom had asked only seconds ago. She could feel her mother’s one hand under her cushioned rear while the other gently rubbed the girl’s back in an attempt to calm her down a bit. She then soon found herself being put down in the small seating area of a shopping cart, her legs being pushed through the holes and soon dangled down above the cart’s basket below.
A bell rang as the pair entered the market, signaling another customer. A nearby cashier looked over and gave them a smile which grew wider when the worker spotted the small baby sitting in the cart. Alex blushed lightly and looked away, not wanting to focus on someone staring at her. Her mother simply rolled her eyes, noticing the action Alex took as if she knew that her daughter hadn’t fully grasped that she had to deal with this whether she liked it or not.
The cart was pushed throughout the store, being directed by Mrs. Moon as headed for the baby care section. Each aisle that the two passed caused the knot inside Alex’s stomach to tighten and grow bigger. Each second that passed felt like half of what it really was, her mother was going too fast for her. All Alex needed at this current moment was for her mother to… “stop!”
The young girl’s voice resonated for a few quick seconds before fading, becoming drowned out by the other people in the store talking. Alex’s gaze was met with her mother’s, the look she was given was a mix between a glare and confusion.
“What do you think you’re doing Alex?!” Her mother demanded as she stared down at her daughter, annoyance showing on her face.
“W-well, I…uh…” Alex clearly wasn’t fully sure herself as to why she randomly just shouted stop out loud.
“I thought your whole thing today was that you didn’t want to attract any attention to yourself, yet here you are yelling in the grocery store.”
Alex brought her pudgy hands up to her face and covered her eyes, hoping it would help her expression to be hidden from sight. Her mom was right, and she knew it, it was just too embarrassing to admit to what she had just done.
“It would be appreciated if you could just sit still and remain quiet, okay?” Her mother sounded stern but not quite angry if anything she was slightly irritated.
The baby aisle appeared rather quickly after Alex’s little outburst. The cart was pushed into and then down the aisle, stopping midway in. Her mother tossed three packages into the cart which quickly caught Alex’s attention. She looked down to see that the packs were packages of diapers for babies. A cross of the girl’s arms told her mother that Alex was not happy about this sight. A few more items followed which varied as to what they were, a couple bottles, pacifiers, baby toys, baby food and formula, and some wipes.
“Mom, what is all this for? You know I don’t need this stuff considering I have an adult mind. I’ll be fine to eat whatever you give me, I don’t need baby food!”
Mrs. Moon shook her head with a sigh and proceeded towards the checkouts without speaking anything further to her daughter.
Checkout was quick, luckily for Alex as she sat in the cart the whole time hiding her face from those around her. Compliments constantly met her ears to which she ignored, not wanting to accept her body’s age.
Alex was put back into the car after the purchases were loaded into the trunk. Her mother, once again, tightened the small girl in the backseat before making her way to the driver’s side of the car. Alex being the grumpy girl she was acting like, sat with her arms crossed the whole way home. Luckily for her, her mother didn’t attempt to speak, she only turned on some light music and focused on the drive which was fairly short.
The car came to a halt in their driveway, Alex looking up towards where her room was with dread. Just the previous night she had gone to bed as a 19, almost 20, year old with hopes to go to college after the summer. Now she was back to being a baby and was forced to go along with it. The thought of this only displeased the young girl further, causing her foul mood to get worse. While Alex sat in thought, her mother had started walking around the car to where Alex was seated, this drew the attention of the girl once the door was opened.
“Okay mom, let’s get something straight here. I may be the size of a baby, but I am still the same teenage girl you saw before I went to bed last night. There is no need to treat me like such a child and with that,” she paused, taking in a breath. “I DO NOT need to wear diapers, especially not those patterned ones you bought at the store.”
Her mother glared down at the girl as she placed a finger on her own chin.
“Okay Alex, if you think you’re still such a ‘big’ girl who doesn’t need these diapers I bought, which weren’t cheap mind you, then let’s make a deal, okay?”
Alex pondered the thought, looking down at the ground where her mother stood before moving her gaze back upwards.
“Well I guess that’s fair, what do you have in mind mom?”
A grin came across her mother’s face as a thought came to mind.
“I have a perfect idea, if you were able to remain dry in the makeshift cloth diaper that I put on you while we were at the store, then I won’t make you wear the diapers I bought. BUT, if you did, in fact, use it while we were out, I will immediately put you into one of the new diapers, deal?”
“Pff, that’s easy mom, I know I didn’t go, I think I would realize it. I’ve only been using the bathroom for plenty of years now. I think you’re making this too easy for me.” She closed her eyes, placing her hands on her hips with a proud smile.
“If you think so, let’s find out then, shall we?”
Her mother brought her hands to the front of Alex’s green, striped dress and lifted it up. Underneath was the makeshift cloth diaper which before they left was completely white. Now, upon looking at it, her mother saw that the front of the cloth was tinted yellow.
“Looks like you lose sweetie, you wet yourself.”
“Impossible,” Alex shouted as she looked directly down at herself, her mother still holding the dress up. The girl gulped when she saw that her mother was right, embarrassment building up inside her.
“A deal is a deal sweetie, time to get you changed.” She reached her hands towards Alex and placed them on her sides, lifting her up to which the girl began to protest.
“No mom, I really don’t need diapers! I swear I didn’t go, I didn’t even feel it, so I must have spilled something or accidentally let some out! Please don’t make me wear diapers!” Alex flailed her arms and legs around in an attempt to get out of her mother’s grasp.
Mrs. Moon glared at her daughter, setting her back down in the back seat of the car.
“I was going to be nice and change you in the privacy of your room but since you’re going to act like a brat, I’ll just change you right here where the neighbors can see.”
The dress Alex wore was lifted up and off, being tossed behind her. She could see her mother go around to the open trunk, shuffling through some items before the sound of plastic being ripped was heard. Her mother then came back holding one of the disposable diapers in her hand, this one patterned with thick green lines near the leg holes and stars in between. She also had a few wipes with her to which were set aside while the woman began to take the cloth diaper off.
“Let’s assess the damage, shall we? You certainly ruined this sheet that I used as the diaper, I guess I should have expected that. Nothing a good washing can’t fix!”
Her mom was quick, working while she spoke and before Alex knew it, the disposable diaper was secured around her small waist. Alex blushed at hearing the crinkling sounds it make and how it looked on her from what she could see when looking down. She expected her mom to put the dress back on her but that didn’t happen. Instead, she was lifted up and carried towards the house in just her diaper.
“Your father will bring home the rest of the needed supplies later tonight, hopefully, we still have some of your baby clothes or else I will be giving him another call…”
The door was unlocked with a click, the interior of the Moon’s home revealed to the pair as her mom began to walk inside, holding Alex with one hand under the girl’s diapered rear, using the other to shut the door behind them.
Then....