Part 3

The strangely-dressed woman jumped up and down and grabbed the confused Kara by the hands, seemingly overwhelmed with excitement. Kara stared at her, goggle-eyed.

“This is sooo awesome! I can't believe I finally get to meet you! Eeeeeee! I can't wait to get started!”

Kara sputtered. “What...can't wait to get what started? Who are you?”

The strange woman took a step back. She looked shocked, as though Kara had said something horribly offensive. Then, just as quickly, she rolled her eyes and she shifted into a lecturing tone.

“What? I can't wait to get started on potty-training, stupid! I'm Polly Potty-Trainer! Didn't you even look at my instruction booklet?”

Kara felt a headache coming on. The confusion was getting to her. “I...no, I didn't! What is this? What's going on! Where are we?”

“Polly” cocked an eyebrow at Kara. “Do you really not recognize me? You're the one who wanted me for Christmas!”

Kara looked at the woman skeptically. “I wanted...you...for Christmas?”

Polly bent forward and mockingly imitated Kara's halting voice. “And now...you get....me...for Christmas!”

“Whooo exactly do you think I am?” asked Kara, still extremely confused.

Polly blew out a breath of exasperation before answering. “You're Kara? My new owner? Ring any bells?”

Kara sat back on her heels and tried to steady herself. “Look, there's obviously been some mistake. I'm not your owner! You can't own people.”

Polly scoffed. “'course not! Who said anything about people? Look at me! I'm a dolly!”

Kara did look, and her conclusions did not change. “You're...alive.” she said slowly, feeling odd for having to state something so obvious. “You're a woman...not a doll.”

Polly crossed her arms and looked away dramatically. “Whatever. I shouldn't have expected you to understand complicated stuff like this, anyway.”

Kara was getting annoyed. “What exactly does that mean?”

“You're a baby. Of course you're not gonna understand what's going on.”

“I'm n...”

The words “I'm not a baby” crowded into Kara's mouth, but she managed to catch herself in time. Sitting on the floor in a comically massive diaper would really undermine such an assertion. She sucked in a long, exasperated sigh.

“Okaaaay. So, since I'm just a baby, how about you explain exactly what you think is going on here? And use small little words that my little brain can handle.”

Polly rolled her eyes. “Jeez. What am I, a Polly-Explains-It-All? Look, it's really very simple. I am your dolly. Nanny put me in that box for you. Now that you've opened the box, you get to play with me as much as you want! Why do you have to make this hard? ”

Kara crossed her arms. “And who is this Nanny? It's the first I've heard of her. Does she own this house? What is she, exactly?”

Polly sat on the floor and crossed her own arms in a sulk. “Come on, quit asking silly questions! I wanna play! I've been waiting forever for you to play with me!”

“And...what would that consist of, exactly?”

Polly's lips curled downward. “You're supposed to potty train me, stupid! Y'know, sit me on my training potty and pull my pull-ups down so I can go, and mark my progress on my little chart and...dammit, where's all my stuff?”

Kara's face flushed at the strange woman's words. If she had met this person on the street or at a party, she probably would have just assumed that she was on drugs. What kind of demented place was this that put a big diaper on her and then wanted her to toilet-train some bizarre doll-woman? She sighed. “What are you talking about? What stuff?”

Polly jumped up from the floor with surprising agility. “My playset! It has my training potty, an my extra pull-ups, my instruction booklet, my paddle, and my training chart with all the stickers! It must be in one of these other boxes.”

Polly began picking up gift-boxes from the massive heap, holding them to her ear, and shaking them roughly.

“Stupid 'sold-separately' bullshit!”

“H-hey! Those are mine!” said Kara, crawling over to stop Polly as fast as she could. She was getting annoyed that this alleged “dolly” could walk around just fine while she couldn't.

Polly cupped a hand to her ear. “What's that? Yours? Cuz it doesn't seem like you like them so much once they're out of the box!” spat Polly bitterly, sticking out her tongue at her floor-bound alleged owner. She tossed the box she was holding carelessly over her shoulder. Kara reached up to grab it, fumbled with it a few times, then caught it by a corner. A long rip, a loud pop, and a burst of white smoke followed.

“Did somebody say 'Huggy-Time'!” cheered an unfamiliar woman's voice. She sounded vaguely Mid-Western, but Kara couldn't place it. Kara had no time to respond before she was yanked off the floor and surrounded by a warm, fluffy cushion. She attempted to inform whoever this latest demented apparition was that, in fact, no one had said anything remotely of the kind. Unfortunately, she was having some difficulty getting a decent lungful of air.

“Ooooh, I just love you! Could we be bestest best besties?” said her assailant. As the smoke cleared, Kara found that she was being enthusiastically squeezed by another oddly-dressed woman. This one was fuller-figured, seemed to be in her early forties, and was a bit shorter than Kara herself, at least if she were standing. As it was, Kara's bare feet trailed on the ground as the hug stretched on. Initially, Kara tried to push her off, but when this turned out to futile, she found that the hug was almost astonishingly pleasant, so much so that she soon felt compelled to return it. The woman's large breasts pressed pleasingly against Kara's own. Kara squeezed, and the woman's body compacted, as though she had no bones at all. It was like hugging a giant pillow that had been in the dryer. By the time she finally let go and allowed Kara to flop back onto her diapered rear, Kara was surprised at her own disappointment. As long as the hug had been, it seemed to end too soon.

Once back on the ground, Kara surveyed her “present”. She was wearing a very thick set of footie pajamas of white, fuzzy material. The outfit's hood framed the woman's beaming face, the only part of her that suggested that she was anything except a giant teddy-bear. Tiny tufts of blond hair escaped the hood at the corners. The outfit had little round ears sticking up from the hood, and a red satin heart sewn into the center of her round belly proudly announced “Free Hugs!”. A white cloth diaper that easily dwarfed Kara's own was tied around the outfit's rear with a pair of over-sized plastic safety pins. Since it was outside the costume, Kara had to assume that it was decorative rather than functional.

“Th...thanks.” said Kara guardedly.

“No problem! My pleasure! Anytime!” the strange woman giggled happily. “Seriously, though. I mean it! Want another one? Or two? All you want, all day every day! I never get tired of hugs! Come on! Bring it in!”

Kara drew in a breath through her nose. The woman smelled strongly of baby powder. “Well...alright, one more won't hurt.” she conceded finally.

“Yayyyy! You're the best!” she said, and proceeded to scoop Kara up and press her against her pillowy bulk once again. Now that she had had the chance to prepare herself properly, Kara found that this hug was even more pleasant than the first.

“Sooo not fair! You get to hug her, and I don't even get scolded for wetting my panties? Where's the justice?” whined Polly.

When she was finally released, Kara settled back down in a cross-legged position and patted the carpet across from her. The woman in the bear outfit immediately seated herself where she had indicated.

“Okay...we've been introduced your way, now we do it my way, okay?”

“Yooou're the boss!” said the woman, shaking her arm to emphasize the point.

Kara extended a hand and spoke very slowly, as though addressing someone with limited English skills. “Hi. My name is Kara. What is your name?”

The woman extended a hand, or rather an arm. The costume she wore ended in shapeless, stumpy paws at the hands and feet. Kara wondered how it could grab or hold anything as she squeezed and shook it gently. “I'm Huggy! Huggy by name, Huggy by nature! At your service!”

Kara chuckled inwardly. This was all really too absurd. “Okay...now, that might sound like a weird question, but just hear me out here, cuz I'm having a really weird night...do I, like, own you now?”

“You betcha! I'm all yours, Kara. Every inch of me!” she replied, clearly pleased by the question.

“And...you're okay with that?”

“Well of course! Why wouldn't I want to belong to someone as awesome as you?” said Huggy, patting Kara's knee reassuringly.

“But like...where did you come from?” asked Kara.

Huggy looked confused for a moment, then pointed over at the empty box where it lay discarded on the floor. “Right there. I came from in there! Didn't you see?”

“There was a lot of smoke.” commented Polly distantly. She was tugging at the wrapping of one of the boxes, but didn't seem to be having any luck.

“I mean, before that.” said Kara.

“I was...in the box?” said Huggy uncertainly.

“Uh-huh...so, you don't remember anything that happened before that?”

Huggy looked like she had just been asked what the number fourteen smelled like. “Before...the box?”

“...right...look, it's alright. Don't strain yourself. I'm just trying to get a grip on things here.”

Polly let out a sigh of exasperation. “Why? What's the big deal? Look at all this stuff! All for you! Everything your heart could want, and you'd rather ask a bunch of silly philosophical questions?”

Kara looked sidelong at Polly, “Look, you can't expect me to just accept the idea of owning another person. It's weird.”

“You own a person?” asked Huggy, looking around as though she expected to see someone else in the room.

“I told you already!” whined Polly. “You're a baby, and we're your toys. That's just how it is. Being all analytical about it isn't any fun!” she stamped her foot in frustration. “Come one! Just find my play-set so I can go potty!”

Kara gritted her teeth. “Huggy, one more question: Do you think I'm a baby?”

Huggy pursed her lips and pressed her paws together uncomfortably. “Pr-romise you won't get mad?”

Kara sighed. “You're wearing a diaper too, you know!”

“Yeah.” said Polly mockingly. “Cuz she's a baaby toy, for a little baaaaby.”

Huggy blushed, but nodded her reluctant agreement with this assessment.

Kara groaned and crawled back over to the pile of waiting presents. “I'm starting to think you two aren't the best information sources in the world. Don't worry, not your fault. Maybe things will be clearer once I've seen what all is in here.”

Polly scoffed. “Sure. Maybe there's an Existential Crisis Barbie in here somewhere. Why not?”

Polly sat on the floor and shifted her position uncomfortably as Kara went to work. Huggy merely watched with cheerful interest as her owner ripped open one package after another. Most were accompanied by small explosions and bursts of white smoke.

A rip, a pop, and an entire swingset stood nearby. It was gigantic relative to Kara, but the bright primary colors and smiling cartoon frogs and bunnies that decorated the supports suggested that it was a mere toy, like something Fisher-Price might turn out from its innumerable injection molds.

Next came a living, breathing unicorn. It had soft aquamarine fur, large expressive eyes with violet irises, and a polished blue horn. She tried speaking to it, but it's only response was to whinny happily at her. Kara spent a few moments stroking its silky white mane and breathing deep its light scent before continuing to open her presents. The unicorn became distracted by the shreds of wrapping paper that were beginning to accumulate on the ground.

The next package revealed thick fleece blanket that was constantly warm like an electric blanket, but had no plug or net of wires inside. When Kara unfurled it, she found that the material seemed to grow and shrink to suit her body, so that it did not drag loosely or leave he feet uncovered. Kara wrapped herself in it and inhaled deeply, noting it was also perfumed with a light floral scent. She added this to her mental “take home pile”. She could think of more than one cold winter night when she would have loved to have it.

The next box dropped a bright pink training potty, a paddle with a heart-shaped hole cut through it, two packages labeled “Big Girl Pants” and “Big Baby Diapers”, a calendar with a set of stickers attached, and a thin magazine entitled “Potty-Training Monthly” with Polly standing proudly on the cover. Polly squealed with delight when she saw her long-awaited playset emerge and ran over, shaking her hands in the air with excitement.

“Yessssss! Now I can go potty! Now I can go pooootty!” she chanted happily.

Kara winced and averted her eyes. The idea of a grown woman pissing in a little tub in the middle of the living room did not interest her at all. After a moment of total silence, however, she risked a look, and saw that Polly was still standing next to the over-sized toy, bottom lip quivering.

“I...I didn't make it in time!” whined Polly, starting to bawl. Kara saw that the crotch of her overalls were indeed slightly damp, although it looked like her training panties has managed the worst of it. As much as Kara felt like smirking at the ridiculous sight, the look of utter mortification on Polly's face tugged at her heartstrings. She crawled over and patted the alleged dolly on the knee to comfort her.

“Hey! Hey, it's okay. I just didn't find the stupid thing in time. Don't cry.”

“Waaaaahhhaa! Mommy's gonna spank me an make me wear baby diaperrrrs!” bawled Polly.

Kara couldn't help but chuckle at this, but she kept patting Polly's knee to calm her. “Shhhh. No...no one is gonna do that.”

Polly instantly dropped her “inconsolable” act and looked down at Kara in annoyance. “Ahem! I said: Mommy is going to spank me and make me wear baby diapers!”