To Tonya's relief, when Leah woke up in the morning, none of the triggers were in effect. Leah even had a completely clean diaper, so she didn't need a change. But she did a fresh T-shirt. Nothing over her diaper, in case she dirtied it later. Hopefully, that wouldn't be a problem, though, because Tonya had devised a plan.
As they headed for the kitchen for breakfast, Tonya told Leah her plan.
"I want to experiment a bit today," she said. "Try to completely avoid triggers to see if you can spend the entire day as a big girl." Tonya turned away to grab some things from the cupboard.
"I'm down, but it'll be difficult," Leah said. There was a strange strain to her voice. Then she grunted. Tonya's eyes widened. She spun around. Leah was squatting in the middle of the kitchen, her face bright red. "Because I'm pooping right now," she said between grunts. "And that's not very big girl of me."
"Be a big girl!" Tonya said frantically. Though the command had worked to stop previous accidents before they could finish, it didn't do anything this time. No matter how many times Tonya said it, Leah continued to slowly fill her diaper. Finally, Leah finished and straightened with a sigh. "What was that about?" Tonya asked. Leah shrugged.
"I guess I needed to make my morning poop."
"And you didn't have any warning?"
"I didn't realize what was going on until I felt it entering my diaper," Leah said bluntly.
"Well...maybe it was just a fluke?" Tonya suggested.
"Maybe." Leah climbed onto a chair. "So, what are we having for breakfast?"
"We'll decide that after I get you changed," Tonya said firmly, picking her friend up and carrying her away.
Despite their hopes that it was a one-off, Leah consistently had accidents throughout the day. Tonya studiously avoided any diaper-related triggers (though accidentally let slip a couple others), so they knew it couldn't be from that.
"I just can't figure out why this keeps happening," Tonya stressed that afternoon as she waited for Leah to finish pooping. Leah grunted loudly.
"I think know, but can't say," she whined in toddler speak, thanks to the most recent accidental trigger.
"Be a big girl."
"Okay. Maybe it's because of how many times it got triggered yesterday?" Leah asked. "Like, I did it so much that my body got used to doing it?"
"That's possible. Or maybe falling asleep with it active did it?"
"I wonder..." Leah grunted loudly. There was a final fart from her. She straightened, her diaper sagging under her. "I wonder if we should test it with another trigger."
"Like what?"
"A harmless one, obviously. Maybe thumb sucking?" Leah suggested. She and Tonya began to walk towards the nursery for her diaper change.
"Look, I won't make the decision for you," Tonya said. She laid Leah on the changing table. "You have to make the call of whether you want to test it or not."
Leah thought about it as her friend changed her diaper. By the time Tonya finished, she had made her decision.