*A few hours earlier*
On the drive over, Tina thought about the bizarre predicament that is her contradictory step-daughter. Since she first joined the family, Leah has presented herself as the stereotypical angsty teen who loathes whenever someone thinks she's even a day younger than she really is. Sure, a teenage girl is insecure about her body, what else is new? But the last two days have given her an entirely new perspective.
She KNEW Leah had an accident at the store, then tried to hide it by "accidentally" changing her clothes to full-on toddler wear. She even put on training pants! And what was her excuse? She wanted to act like a kid for a day to see if she could. A truly, unbelievably weird lie. And sure, she didn't want anyone to know she had peed herself, that made sense. But to then go into full on acting like a baby to cover it up? Tina had even leaned into it, scaring herself a little on how readily she treated her teen step-daughter like an infant, but instead of embarrassing the girl enough to eventually come out with the truth, SHE DOUBLED DOWN! Even had "on purpose" accidents just to avoid getting caught! That's not the actions of girl who hates being treated as a kid, that's the actions of a girl that doesn't want others to know it's a TEEN doing those things. If she can pass as a baby, she'd fill the roll readily.
Tina looked over at a CD sitting innocently in its case on the dashboard: supposedly a powerful hypnosis track that "forces babies pretending to be big kids to become their true self." When she first came across it, her fascination came mostly from being a childcare worker; a baby pretending to be a big kid? Is it some new-fangled form of kid therapy? She was curious enough to buy it, and only found out that it was not about actual babies afterward. It's been collecting dust ever since. Now, however?
She looked at her step-daughter through the rear-view mirror---a teenage girl dressed as a toddler and in diapers. Sure, Leah resisted like she always does, but Tina knows you can never make a child (especially a teen) do something they truly do not want to do. It almost felt like she was empowered dressed like that, safe from everyone else's judgements. Her eyes swing back to the CD. If the instructions were anything to go by, the hypnosis is invasive but voluntary, only affecting people who are "truly babies on the inside." As such, Tina could listen to it and it be harmless, only sounding like a bunch of bizarre noises. If it does affect someone, it's only on a spectrum of how willing willing they are---at least internally. Leah was such a stubborn girl, that if she really did want to..."be a baby", she would never willingly admit to it. Would it really be so bad if...?
Tina bit her lip as she internally debated herself; hypnotizing her step-daughter without her knowledge at all is INCREDIBLY horrid on a number of levels. On the other hand, Tina has already kind of crossed them. She forced Leah into acting like a child and wearing diapers. Yet she only went so far to see if Leah would call quits, which she very much has not. Even her telling Leah she had to dress like a baby for a week felt less like her shooting down Leah's protests and more like swatting away her worries: for Leah, she was "forced" to dress and act like this, so no one (not even herself) can judge her for her actions. As such, if Leah needed to be "forced", then how is this any worse? Besides, it's a hypnosis tape, what are the chances of it actually working? And on the off chance that it does, it only affects you if you're lying to yourself, a baby pretending to be a grown up you were never meant to be. If Leah's not affected, then no loss. If she is affected, then she was destined to be a baby. Somewhere deep inside, she would WANT it.
With a sigh, Tina removed the CD and placed it within the player, turning the volume all the way up. For a split second, Leah scrunched her brow in reaction to the sudden noise, but to Tina's amazement began to settle back as if nothing changed. Nothing except the yellow on her diaper growing. And it was on for less than a minute. Tina realized then that Leah wasn't just susceptible, she was completely helpless to it. The hypnosis would be fully effective, and Leah would suffer all its devastating effects permanently. This wouldn't just change Leah, but their relationship forever. Tina's hand went to shut off the CD but stopped. If it was that effective, then Leah wanted it and badly. Her hand returned to the wheel as she tried to weigh the reality of the situation. She only hoped that the week that follows would be enough for Leah's big girl persona to make peace with the baby she'll become and always truly was.
*current time*
Leah stared down at her wet diaper in concern. It wasn't too big of a problem right now, so she probably shouldn't bring it up. She only hopes whatever this is, it'll wear off by the end of the week and doesn't get worse. She grabs her drink and returns to the couch. Little did she know, the hypnosis...