Part 4

Kara returned Polly's look of annoyance. “Screw you. I'm not doing that.”

“Oh come on! You're not playing right!” complained Polly.

“Excuse me. Who's the toy here? You or me?” asked Kara.

Polly fumed. “Grrrrrr. I'm the...toy.”

Kara nodded. “Exactly. So you don't decide what the game is, do you?

Polly was clearly unhappy with this pronouncement. “Couldn't you at least make fun of me for wetting myself? Pleaaase?”

Kara rolled her eyes, then pointed at Polly and stated matter-of-factly: “Ha ha ha, look at the little puddlepants. Happy? I'll play with you later, Polly. I want to see what else I have here.”

Polly sat and sulked while Kara returned to the heap of gifts.

The joyful ritual of unwrapping continued. Kara's thoughts of dragging her loot with her through the tiny door began to evaporate as the astonishing presents continued to pop into being one after another. A magic wand that could produce rainbows, lightning bolts, fireworks, or streams of glitter depending on how it was waved. A living baby elephant, complete with diaper and bonnet. A full length mirror that made Kara's face look like a glamour photo from a beauty magazine. A set of edible lipsticks and nail polishes in all different flavors. A machine that could churn out any candy that Kara specified on the intricate control panel. A set of angel's wings that could actually lift her a few feet off the ground. An entire wardrobe of fleece pajamas in all different colors. A partridge roosting comfortably in a tiny pear tree, the roots wrapped in red cloth and tied with a ribbon. A large barrel rolled out of a box that couldn't possibly have held it, and after pressing her ear to the lid and hearing the simian chattering and shrieking, she thought it better to leave the lid where it was.

Kara was having so much fun opening gifts, she very nearly missed the sound of a doorknob turning in the hallway behind her.

Kara froze like a rabbit as she heard the door slide open. The footsteps were loud, but not nearly as loud as she had been expecting. These were not the crushing stomps of some ogre. They were the dainty clicks of high heels, stepping with measured elegance and effortless grace, magnified to double the volume by their size and the acoustics of the hallway. The footsteps advanced up the hall, pausing for a brief moment about a third of the way down. Kara realized that the massive stranger was examining the shards that had once been a no-doubt priceless vase. She had no thoughts in her mind but to conceal herself as quickly as humanly possible. Ignoring the collection of magical toys, she scrambled across the carpet, crawling faster than she would have thought possible. She barely had time to think about how ridiculously babyish she must look, scrambling on hands and knees with her white beach-ball of an ass waving behind her. The gap under the couch could easily fit her. If anything, it was too roomy to make a decent hiding spot. She crawled to the very back where the couch pressed against the wall, and tried desperately to get her breathing under control. Her heart pounded, and her legs ached from the exertion. Crawling might be easy, but it's far from efficient.

The smooth clicks of the heels approached, growing louder and louder. Kara watched as the giant stepped out onto the carpet. Her shoes were white and open-toed. Her feet were slender and dainty, despite their size. The hem of her dress was swishing about just above the ankles, tangerine in color with creamy, frilly white at the front. An apron. It was her. The Nanny. Kara knew it immediately. Beyond the two feet, Kara saw that Polly, Huggy, the baby elephant, and the unicorn were all lying lifeless on the ground. Of course they were. A grown-up had just walked in. Make-believe time was over. They almost really looked like toys now, relative to the gigantic stranger.

Slowly, the enormous figure dropped to one knee. Her dress had puffed sleeves. A rope of pearls was around her neck, and she had shimmering earrings. The face was younger than Kara had expected. Huggy could have been her older sister. Her breasts were large and firm, making the otherwise modestly-cut dress seem faintly suggestive. Her lips were bright red, her cheeks touched with rouge. She was wearing just enough makeup to show that she was wearing some. Her eyes were an impossibly bright green. They almost seemed to glow, they were so vibrant and full of life. She smiled when she spotted Kara. She drew in a breathe of exhilaration and pressed a white-gloved hand to her breast. It was a good smile, full of sincere joy and compassion.

“Whatever's the matter, sweet thing?” asked the giantess. Her voice had a touch of the upper-class Brit in it, warm, good-natured and only a touch prim. “Don't you like your toys? I chose each of them special, just for you!”

Kara stared at the giantess from the back of the couch, too terrified to move an inch. The face was so beautiful and kindly, it was very nearly possible to forget that the woman behind it was at least seven solid feet in height.

“Oooh, I see. You're worried that Nanny will be angry with you because you broke a vase. No honey, no! Nanny could never be angry with you! Everything you do is just precious in my eyes! Look, I'll make it all better.”

The huge woman drew a circle in the air with one fingertip, tracing golden sparks as she did. From the hallway, the pieces of the broken urn drifted into the room like snowflakes caught in a breeze. Before Kara's eyes, the pieces reassembled themselves until the vase was standing among the piles of other loot, completely restored and without a crack showing.

“There. No one is angry with you dear. Won't you come out and talk to Nanny? Please?”

Kara drew in a long, slow breath. Whatever this woman's intentions were, she couldn't stay down here forever, and she knew that the couch couldn't really protect her from anyone who was capable of something like that. This was obviously the supernatural being who was in control of this place. There was nothing to be done but to crawl out and find out what she intended.

Nanny clasped her hands together and beamed a gleaming smile as Kara emerged. “Good girl! Oh, Nanny is so glad you're here, sweetness! Come here, honeybunch! I won't ever harm one hair on your sweet head, I promise. Here, why don't you knock over the vase again? I know it was only an accident the first time, but go on, anyway. Give it a good shove!”

Kara's heart was still jackhammering away. She struggled to get her tongue under control enough to address the kneeling giantess. “Th-th-that's...okay! I..I...”

“No, no. It's really perfectly alright Kara. Nanny wants you to. Go right ahead. Show that bit of crockery who's boss!”

Kara slowly crawled up to the massive urn and gave it a little shove. It bobbed backward, then righted itself. She looked at Nanny, who as still watching her expectantly. She tried again, pushing with more force this time. The urn toppled over and struck the carpeted ground. It broke, although only into a few pieces this time.

“Good Girl!” Nanny said, again pointing at the abused ceramic and magically restoring it with a gesture. The completed urn lifted into the air and floated back toward its original place in the hallway like a balloon. Kara looked back at Nanny, her face clouded with utter bafflement.

“Oh, you look so confused! Here, come sit with your Nanny and let me explain, Kara.” The towering woman seated herself demurely on the couch and patted a spot beside her. Kara felt too lost and confused to disobey. There was a brief struggle to get up on the couch without the full use of her legs, so Nanny simply gripped her under the arms and effortlessly lifted her up into place. Kara felt her diapered rear sink into the equally soft cushions. “I just wanted to make a point. You aren't in trouble, Kara. More than that, you'll never be in trouble, ever! Nothing in this house is off limits to you, baby. There aren't going to be any rules, or punishments or consequences any more. You're well and truly home free. “

She reached over and gave Kara's thickly-padded rear an affectionate pat. Kara's face flushed bright red. “You're in diapers now, Kara! Don't you see? There's no need for rules when you're in diapers. All your little accidents are taken care of. This whole house is just like your diapers. It's a special, magical place where you can make a big mess and break all the rules, and Nanny will always be happy to clean you all up and make it all better! I see you already opened all your presents. Were you worried that I would be upset with you for that? Not even a little bit! Say, I suppose I shall just have to get you some brand new presents! We can't have you waking up on Christmas morning with nothing to unwrap! I'm not here to discipline you, Kara. I'm not here to teach you lessons, or help you to grow up. I'm your Nanny, and all I want is to make you a happy girl! No matter what you do, I'll always be overjoyed to sort it all out for you. Oh dear, you aren't wearing your crown! No wonder you're so frightened! Here, let Nanny get that for you.”

She pointed at Kara's arm, and a stream of sparks poured from her fingertip. Kara instinctively rolled away to avoid it, but the stream turned in midair to follow her. When she sat buck up, she found that the crown was now perched neatly on her head. She immediately tried to take it off, but it had acquired the same unaccountable permanence as her diaper. Slowly, Kara began to understand how right she had been to suspect the tiara when she had first seen it. She already felt the room growing less clear around her. The lines in her vision were losing their sharpness. The muscles in her back relaxed against her will. Her belly loosened. Whatever the crown was doing to her, it felt like the kind of thing that shouldn't be taken with alcohol. Kara leaned back into the silky blue cushions. Her arms and legs felt heavy. She suddenly felt like it took all her effort just to hold her eyes open. Nanny's smiling face looked like it was coming through a soft-focus lens. As she struggled to concentrate, Nanny's soothing voice trickled gently into her mind.

“There she is! There's Nanny's little princess! Oh, we are going to have so many good times, you and I. I've been watching you a long time, Kara. I've seen how stressed you are out there, how overwhelmed the world out there makes you. You've spent so much time and effort trying to learn how to be a grown-up, but all that does is tire you out and make you miserable. But I've finally figured how I can help you. I'm ready to give you the perfect Christmas present! A way out of all your stressful big-girl responsibilities! You can just relax and play from now on. Nanny is here to look after you now. You won't have to worry about a thing ever again!”

Kara shook her head in a vain effort to clear it. “There's...there's a catch to this. There has to be. There's always a catch. There's no such thing as a free ride.”

The gigantic woman chuckled. “Oh my, how absurd! Where did you learn such nonsense? Did you have to buy your arms and your legs at some high street shop? Does the ground under your feet charge you an annual subscription fee? Does the wind wait for you to drop a quarter down a slot before it blows the gentle snow drifts across your path? Most things in life cost nothing at all, sweetie. There are things you have to work and struggle for, there are things you pine after but can never have, and then there are things you are permitted to simply take for granted. I give you permission to take me for granted, sweetheart. Consider me your birthright. You don't need to earn me, or deserve me. You can just enjoy me! I'm your Christmas present, sweetheart. I exist to make your life wonderful. I'll gladly clean up all your messes. I'll never make you pick up your toys, or do any chores, or go to school. I'll never ever punish you for misbehaving, or make you obey any silly rules. I'm here to take care of your every need and make you the happiest little princess you can possibly be! I'm so glad you're finally here with me sweetie! You're going to have so much fun being my little Diaper Princess!”

Kara felt very confused. The gigantic woman's eyes were so bright, so full of love and enthusiasm, that she felt unable to look away from them. Her thoughts felt thick and hazy as she struggled to get a grip on them.