Crying and screaming, Alex barely noticed her father entering the room. He bent down over her crib to pick her up, but then hesitated when he saw the half-open diaper and the turd on the mattress.
Overwhelmed by fear and humiliation, Alex wondered how he'd react. "Oh." he said and put the diaper tape back in place. Then he picked Alex up and held her close, supporting her butt with his arm.
She instinctively put her thumb in her mouth, muffling her sobs, and buried her face on his shoulder, her tears wetting his shirt. "Aww, I know, all this is hard for you." he said softly and stroked her head.
Slowly, Alex calmed down and stopped crying. "You were trying to change your diaper yourself, huh?" he asked. Too afraid to speak, Alex just nodded. "So should we get it off you now?" she nodded again and her dad put her on the changing table. "Ok, let's see if I can still do this, it's been a while." he said and effortlessly undid the tapes on the diaper. Despite having her privates wiped by her own father, Alex noticed she wasn't embarassed any more. Instead of a woman's vulva and butt, it was now a little kid's diaper area that needed cleaning - and it felt good to get rid of the poop sticking to her skin.
Alex had calmed down enough she was able to stop sucking her thumb. "You're not mad at me?" she asked. "No. I understand you wanted to take this diaper off, you're not used to having to ask Mom and me for a change, and you probably thought you could do it yourself. Also, you're way too cute to be mad at." Her dad smiled as he wiped down the inside of Alex' right leg to remove any traces the falling turd may have left. "Now could you raise your bum up a bit, please?" Alex did as he asked, and her dad removed the dirty diaper and replaced it with a new one. "Thank you. Almost done, I guess I haven't lost all my parenting skills."
"Thanks a lot, sad. I really appreciate what you and Mom do for me..." she noticed herself tearing up again. "Aw, it's ok. It's a big change suddenly having to care for a toddler again, just like it's a big change to suddenly be one, I guess, but if we all try our best we can deal with it." He picked his freshly diapered daughter up. "Now will you help me clean up your bed?" Alex nodded, her thumb in her mouth preventing her from talking.
Mr. Moon picked the poop up with a wet wipe and threw it in the diaper pail while Alex threw her stuffies over the sides of the crib, followed by the pillow and finally, with some help from her dad, the blanket.
Throwing stuff around was surprisingly fun and Alex got quite enthusiastic, laughing hysterically at the end. Her dad lifted her from the crib and kissed her on the forehead. "I see you're having fun. See, things aren't all that bad. Now let's..."