That lunchtime Lee saw Charlie sitting alone at one of the tables and, nodding to Carmen, made an effort to go out of his way to sit down with him. He learned Charlie's father was an aerospace executive; and that his mother worked part-time as a home tutor. He found out Charlie liked dinosaurs and video games, and that his favorite McDonald's meal was a Chicken Legend with fries, a large coke and apple pie.
"D'you want to come over my house?" Charlie asked suddenly. "I've got the new PlayStation." Lee was somewhat taken aback. The only times he'd visited the house of another child his age was when he'd been left with a neighbor when his mom had been working late on a brief and his father had been away meeting clients. Generally these were not fond memories. He still remembered being chased, terrified, through the hallways of the Patricks by their son John, snapping a pair of hedge clippers in front of him. He'd called it a prank. Even Carmen, who he would probably call his best friend, had never come to his house or vice versa - but then, she lived miles away.
Lee's father seemed delighted he had made a new friend, and dropped him off outside Charlie's estate the following Saturday. His family lived in an elegant Elizabethan three-by-five near the edge of the town, on a country road where leafy hedges obscured the houses from view. The white gravel drive was lined with a near lawn and rosebushes. Lee's father kissed him on the head and he got out, carrying a backpack with drawing pads and pens, a bottle of juice, and a spare from his precious stash of Huggies.
Charlie's mom opened the door - she was a plump ginger-haired woman with a round but attractive face, in Yoga pants and a jumper that was meant to be shapeless but failed to hide her solid bust and good-sized belly.
"Well look at you!" she cooed in a soothing alto, "Such a little trooper with your satchel!"
"Thank you Mrs. Singer."
"Please, call me Rachel!" She giggled in a light, breathy voice. "Come on in, Charlie's been counting the minutes since you got here all morning." Lee suddenly felt bad that his father had taken the scenic route. He looked back and gave his father the thumbs-up. His dad, who had been gawping a little at Rachel, shook himself out of it, returned the thumbs up and drove off, the gravel pinging against the bottom of the BMW.
Charlie had his earphones on in his bedroom, but when he saw Lee he ripped them off and all but bounded across the room to him, giving him an impromptu but tight hug. Charlie's chubby body was soft and yielding against Lee, like his own mother's bust, and it gave him the same uncomfortable-but-not-unpleasant sensation. Charlie's lashes were blond and very long, and his lips were pretty and full.
"What do you wanna do?" he asked shyly and a little huskily. Lee swallowed.
"Maybe we could, uh, play a couple of games?"
"Have fun dears," Charlie's mom said, waggling her fingers before leaving them be.
They played a couple of rounds of a co-op game, then Charlie let Lee take the reins in GTA and cheered him on as he blasted his way through part of a mission he'd been struggling with. As he repositioned himself to see the screen better, Charlie pushed his hip firmly into Lee's, then their thighs met. Charlie was very warm, and Lee found himself missing some easy shots.
"Uh," Lee said, "I was meaning to ask. Are your parents cool with you 'wearing'? My parents basically told me I've got until my pack of Huggies run out then I have to get onto pullups."
"My mom's a child development specialist. She's part of the OPND movement. Even had an article in one of the journals. Dad takes her word for everything."
"What's OPND?" Lee asked.
"Own Pace, No Direction. Kids should wear what feels comfortable for them at that time in their development, but there also shouldn't be an 'end goal' and parents shouldn't present full training as the thing to aim for. They should be allowed to go back to pull-ups - or diapers - at any time if it's more comforting."
"Wow," Lee said. "I wish my parents were on board with that. They're pretty cool overall, but..."
"It's getting more popular. Mom thinks OPND is going to be the majority opinion at the C-E-S this year." It turned out CES meant Childcare and Education Summit.
"D'you want a snack?" Charlie asked, and almost before Lee could reply he was bounding downstairs. Lee followed and watched as the chubby boy made himself a chocolate spread sandwich that was approximately two centimetres of bread and eight of chocolate, and grabbed packets of crisps and candy from the cupboard. Out of the window he caught a glimpse of Mrs Singer - sorry, Rachel - mowing the lawn. She waved, and Lee waved back.
Back upstairs Lee pulled out the drawing pads and they doodled superhero and monster designs. Lee had been sipping from his juice bottle and felt the need to pee. He asked Charlie where the bathroom was.
"Up the hall - but I don't mind if you..." he made a sort of gesture Lee couldn't interpret.
Lee laughed a little, then stopped as the movement made him trickle strongly into his Huggies. "What, in the diapers?"
"I do it all the time. It's what they're for."
Lee couldn't argue with that, but still found he had to ask Charlie to turn around before he felt fully happy letting the rivulets turn into a full-on river. As before, the Huggies adequately prevented leaking, but he'd already been trickling throughout the morning and he could feel the moisture.
"Do you mind if I change? I brought a spare-" Lee stopped as he realised he probably could have asked for a Superzorb.
"Go ahead," Charlie said, "I need to change my shirt." He gestured to several areas of inundation by choccy spread. "There's a pail in the corner." So there was - no need for Charlie to even visit the bathroom to change himself; there was a bright red plastic swing-top bin next to his wardrobe with packets of wipes and three clean white fluffy towels on hooks.
Lee slipped the Huggies off his slender hips and began dabbing at his private area.
He caught Charlie's blue eyes and the two froze for a moment, looking at each other. Charlie's body was very different from Lee's own - while Lee was almost scrawny, with narrow little arms and ribs to count, Charlie's was plush and tightly filled, a full-on belly pooching over his shorts with an outie belly button, and small pink nipples atop plump boy-moobs.
"D-don't look," Charlie said, suddenly. He brought his arms up in front of his torso.
"Charlie," Lee said, "you have a really beautiful body."
Charlie seemed to be on the verge of tears. "You're not teasing me?"
"No way," Lee said. "It-it looks really soft." And then, impulsively- "Can I touch it?"
Charlie's eyes went very wide, his feminine lashes adding to the look of a surprised 1930s starlet. He didn't say anything but nodded slowly.
Lee reached across and, trying to avoid tickling the other boy, rested his hand on the side of his belly, just below the navel, where the heaviest accumulation of fat sat. He pushed in, just a little, and felt the slight give of Charlie's tummy.
Charlie's skin was silky smooth, like a satin teddy bear filled to the limit, and Lee found himself moving in until their sides touched. He could feel his little penis becoming painfully hard.
Lee felt Charlie's hands on his own T-shirt, lifting it off his narrow chest.
"Yours is really pretty too, Lee," Charlie said softly.
Charlie's lips were bothering Lee and he leaned in to give them a kiss. Charlie leaned into it and the two began moving against each other, Lee's penis pushing into the softness of the Superzorb under Charlie's shorts.
"Erk." Charlie made a strangled-sounding noise and Lee turned to see his mom standing in the doorway. Face red, though from embarrassment or exertion he couldn't tell. He thought the angle might have hidden their erections, but again, couldn't tell for sure.
Time for your smoothest lines, Lee Cross, he thought. "Hi Rachel," he said, in what he thought was a polite, even tone, "we were giving each other a change. Do you think I could borrow some talc?"
"Sure," Rachel said breezily, "...I'll fetch some." She left - perhaps a little too quickly for the excuse to have been entirely believed.
"W-wow," Charlie said. He was bright red and his curly blond hair messy. He seemed reluctant to pull away but eventually managed to separate himself, tugging on a clean T-shirt. "I need a change now for real," he said quietly.
Charlie's mom might or might not have bought the mutual change line, but by this point lunch was ready to serve - she'd made toasted sandwiches with bacon and cheese - and afterwards she suggested the two watch cartoons in the living room. Lee kept looking at Charlie, concerned he'd spoiled the beginnings of a friendship, but the glances he got back seemed, if timid, eager for more. Part-way through the cartoon, Lee felt Charlie's hot little hand butt up against his own and the blond boy favored him with a bright smile.
Lee's dad turned up around two thirty to take him home, knocking on the door. It wasn't lost on Lee that his dad had changed his shirt and was wearing cologne he hadn't had on earlier. Rachel seemed friendly enough but didn't invite him in.
Lee stayed quiet on the ride back home. He had a lot to think about.