Bobby opened his eyes blearily. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. Apparently, they were on a plane. He was currently sitting in Robert’s lap. A young woman who looked a lot like Robert sat in the seat next to them, holding a boy who looked to be about Bobby’s current age.
“You’re awake, huh?” Robert asked quietly. Bobby nodded. “Good.” Robert snapped his fingers. Bobby promptly let out a loud fart as his bowels emptied into his diaper. His jaw dropped in shock. “Helen?”
“I’ve got everything you need, don’t worry,” the young woman said. She handed Robert a diaper bag. “Now that he’s awake, you might be able to get away with pull-ups.”
“No, I won’t. I’m sure of it,” Robert said. He unbuckled and got up. Carrying Bobby, he walked into the bathroom, then closed the door behind him.
“Did you make me poop myself?” Bobby hissed angrily.
“I needed an excuse to bring you somewhere private. And now’s as good a time as any for you to start getting used to diaper changes.” Robert pulled down the baby changing station and set Bobby on it. “You’re going to need a lot until you get back to normal.”
“What do you mean? You said I was three before! I was out of diapers when I was three.”
“Well, you aren’t now,” Robert said firmly. “That’s part of your punishment, Bobby. You need to be reliant upon an adult for something as basic as using the bathroom.”
“But- but that’s humiliating!”
“That’s the point.” Robert pulled off Bobby’s shorts and set them to the side. “Now, be quiet while I explain the rules.”
“The rules?”
“The rules you need to follow if you want to be back to normal.”
“How do I get back to normal?”
“It’s simple.” Robert removed Bobby’s dirty diaper. “Every time you metaphorically grow, I will allow you to physically grow. We’ll start off by having you age a year each time you show you’ve become a better person. If you improve faster than expected, I’ll let you get older by multiple years. Basically, play your cards right, and you’ll be back to yourself by the end of the week. Which is coincidentally how long my vacation lasts.” Robert began to clean Bobby with baby wipes.
“What if it takes longer than a week?” Bobby asked nervously. His earlier anger had dissipated in the face of his current situation. He was truly humbled right now, laying on his back with privates on display to a stranger.
“You’ll have to come home with me. Which means when I’m at work, you’ll either get babysat or go to daycare. Which, in my opinion, is even worse than however many times you’ll be left in my siblings’ or parents’ care this week.” Robert lifted Bobby’s butt and put a diaper under it, then began to tape the diaper on. “So if I were you, I’d do my best to get all fixed up before then. Understand?”
“Yes,” Bobby squeaked.
“Good boy.” Robert put Bobby’s shorts back on. “Any more questions before we go back out there?”
“A few.”
“Shoot.”
“You got rid of my potty-training,” Bobby said. Robert nodded. “Did you get rid of anything else? I want to prepare.”
“I reduced just about everything else. All your skills have been brought back to what they were when you were three the first time. Walking, talking, reading. Everything. With the exception of your potty-training. Like you said, I just got rid of it.”
“How come I’m talking normally right now?”
“You’ll be able to talk normally if you’re only in the presence of me or one of my family members. We need to be able to keep track of your progress, after all. Oh, that’s another thing. My family will be helping me watch how you improve as a person. When you’re around anyone else, you’re back to talking like a toddler.”
“If this takes longer than a week, my job…”
“I’ll handle it, don’t worry. I’ve got connections. And…” Robert snapped his fingers. Bobby’s outfit changed from a T-shirt and shorts to a T-shirt and patterned overalls. “I’ve got magic, too.”
“It seems like you’ve done this before.”
“That’s because I have.”
“…Oh.” Bobby cleared his throat. “One last question. Where are we going?”
“California. There’s a great waterpark that has a hotel we’ll be staying at. When we’re not at the water park or the hotel, we’ll be exploring the city. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of fun. We made sure to go somewhere that had options for toddlers, since my nephew Jimmy is your age.” Robert threw away Bobby’s dirty diaper and washed his hands. “We’ve got a while before the plane lands. Do you want to stay awake or take another nap?”