Marcia waited for a long time, but eventually, couldn’t stand any longer. Her little legs couldn’t support her. Reluctantly, she sat down, smearing the mess in her diaper. Then, she waited even longer. But Christine was still gone. Marcia’s eyelids began to droop. Weary from what had happened that day, she laid down, curling up into a ball. She brought her thumb to her mouth to suckle on it and fell asleep.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” a voice said, waking Marcia up. She looked up. Christine was back. “I didn’t mean to be gone for so long, and now you’re sleeping in a dirty diaper.” Marcia’s mind raced. She had the perfect opportunity to avoid some of the blame for her situation. Using her diaper while awake was for more embarrassing than using it while she was asleep. After all, night accidents still happened past diaper age.
“My diapy ith diwty?” she asked, doing her best to sound surprised.
“Yes, it very much is.” Christine picked Marcia up. “Phew. I’m surprised the smell didn’t wake you up.”
“I wath tiwed.”
“I can tell.” Christine brought Marcia over to the changing table. “Maybe diapers aren’t necessary while you’re awake, but they’re clearly necessary for sleep.” Marcia merely nodded silently. “Well, let me change you, and then you can get back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Marcia yawned. She was still very sleepy, so continuing her nap sounded good to her. She zoned out as Christine removed her diaper, wiped her down, and put a new diaper on.
“Since you’re going to sleep now, I’ll put you in something more comfortable,” Christine said. Marcia watched tiredly as Christine pulled a soft, pink onesie out of a drawer, then dressed Marcia in it. “There!” Christine brought Marcia back to the crib and carefully set her down. “Get back to sleep, sweetie. I’ll come get you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay,” Marcia mumbled. She curled up into a ball and fell asleep immediately.