(Content warning: mental regression, nudity, diaper swap (clean)).

The floor of the living room was covered with a soft colorful blanket. In its center, Eddie laid on his back. Six feet tall, 190 pounds, wearing nothing but a white diaper and a baby blue t-shirt. He was currently busy hitting the various toys dangling from a mobile over his head, a drooly smile of glee adorning his face. Mom had changed him into a fresh diaper after lunch, and it was still snug, warm and dry around his waist. For now, at least.

Fed, happy, playing with wonderful jiggly toys until it was time for a nap. Life was good. It didn’t get any better than this, really.

A noise distracted him from the jiggling items in front of his face, a voice and commotion that was getting closer and closer. He turned his head towards the door, noticing someone entering the room. It’s Mom! Eddie gurgled a happy cry as she barged in the room.

Mom didn’t pay attention to him, however. She had a stack of papers in one hand and held a phone to her ear with the other. The expression on her face was just north of “annoyed”, veering dangerously close to “angry” territory. She was usually so nice and smiling, but something must have gotten on her nerves. Ignoring the overgrown infant laying on her floor, she kept talking to the phone, visibly busy with a serious conversation.

“... But that’s not what it says right here,” she practically barked at the receiver. “What is said is that this invoice ‘will serve as final settlement for all remaining balance’. But now you’re telling me there’s an extra fee on top of this?”

A moment of annoyed silence as she listened to the answer. “No, sir, no, I’m sorry, that is simply not what I was told when I called customer services last time. No- don’t try this with me. The person I talked to two months ago said she would solve- no, listen to me!” Her tone was getting more and more frantic. “I understand company policies, trust me, I do. But you’re making me pay for closing the previous account as well as fees for the new one and refuse to offer credit instead of-”

Another moment of silence. Incapable of understanding a word of what Mom was talking about, Eddie lost interest in the loud babble and proceeded to grab on his foot and try to put it in his mouth.

The infuriating conversation continued on the phone. “No, do not transfer me to accounting or whatever! You’re the fourth guy I've been in contact with since this morning and you guys keep passing me around like a hot potato! I’m just asking you to answer this: why is there a new invoice that asks us to pay again for something that we already- No! NO! You stop this right there! Do not transfer me-”

One second later, she threw the phone on the pillow resting on her couch, letting out a yell of impotent rage. “AAAAUUUUUGH STUPID THING !”

At the exact same moment, Eddie blinked. While a second ago, his eyes were clouded and lost in a sea of bliss, a sparkle of adult intelligence had just returned to them. For the first time since the scene began, he seemed to understand where he was and what he was doing. He stopped suckling on his big toe, surprised to see it in his mouth in the first place

‘Mom’, or rather Nicole, was quickly devolving into a loud tantrum. She threw away the bundle of invoices in her hand, a cloud made of white paper tumbling in the room as she kept raging.

“I’m so sick and tired of these effing bureaucrats! Not a single one who’s even good enough for his job! I effing hate this, I hate this, I hate this!”

Memories were flooding back to Eddie. What he did today. What he had done the day before. All the way back to a couple of weeks ago, when he had let his adulthood slip away for the last time. And then, the rest of his life to this point back. With every second, his mind got clearer, and soon, he understood the situation he was in. He stood up to a sitting position, appreciating the subtle crinkle under his bottom.

His wife, however, was getting less and less coherent by the second. Her curses against poor customer service had turned into incoherent enraged screams, as she swatted at the air like she was fighting an invisible enemy. Her legs caved underneath her, and she fell on her knees like a plastic bag full of pillows. “Meanies…” she squealed. “Dey wall meanies… Ah jsuss rrrgnaarrr wuuuiiiin…” She sniffled, tears now flowing to her eyes.

That was Eddie’s cue. He stood up from his blanketed playmat, and with the assurance of an adult in full possession of his capacities, he walked up to Nicole, who threw his arms at him in the universal sign for “I need a hug”.

“Ooooh, there there sweetie!” he cooed in a surprisingly deep voice. “It’s alright, Daddy is here now. Did you have a bad time with the meanies on the phone?”

Nicole nodded as she sniffed rather grossly, burying her head in her husband’s shoulder. She babbled a few more nonsensical words before devolving into anguished cries. Eddie stroked her hair gently, waiting for her to expel all those uncontrollable emotions that she simply couldn’t deal with anymore.

The scene would look absurd from the outside. A maturely dressed woman was bawling in the embrace of a man wearing nothing but a babyish t-shirt and a bright white diaper.

After a couple minutes of quiet hugs and reassuring whispers, Nicole seemed to have calmed down. Her husband told her: “There, all good now. Daddy will take it from here, alright?” She nodded sheepishly.

“Let us make you more comfortable, alright?” he added, gently laying her down on the floor, Eddie unbuttoned her shirt and quickly removed her trousers and panties. Then, with extreme precautions, he began to untape his own diaper until it detached itself from his waist. Expertly, he slipped the garment under her now naked butt and began to fold it over her waist. She squirmed in protest.

“Shh shh, baby, it’s fine” he reassured her. “Daddy didn’t use it at all. There’s no reason for us to throw a perfectly good diaper away, don’t you agree?”

Nicole didn’t answer. She was bored of this conversation already, and her attention was now focused on a nice patch of light she had noticed on the wall. She was as absent-minded and immature as Eddie had been a couple of minutes prior.

Smiling, Eddie finished taping the diaper on her - thank God for repositionable tapes! - and gave her a loving kiss on the belly button, electing a giggle from her. The change was now complete, in more ways than one.

It’s how it had been in their relationship ever since they had confessed their secret little world to each other. In a twist of fate, both of them had a very similar wish to let go of their responsibilities and roll back to being carefree, blissful, drooling little babies. Nicole had a collection of plush toys she had never dared to show him before. Eddie had the cutest pajamas and a bin full of old toys he could never let go of.

Both had ample supplies of diapers fit for their sizes, hidden from the other in different corners of the house.

Rather than keep this part of their life hidden, they had decided on an arrangement to enjoy their little world while still maintaining their relationship intact. Once the plan had been devised, they sent a few messages to an internet friend of theirs, who pulled a few strings and helped them make this dream a reality. And their new life began.

At any time, there was one responsible adult in the house. Just one. The other was free to be as much of a babbling baby as they wanted. The more responsible of the two would take care of them along with all the dreadfully boring chores that came with adult life.

However, if at any moment, the current “adult” was feeling overwhelmed and incapable to deal with the day’s tasks, then the balance would swing the other way. The baby would become grown-up, the adult would be belittled, and the roles swapped around until the next crisis.

Nicole couldn’t deal with the stress of solving their overcomplicated phone bill, therefore, Eddie got off his vacations in babyhood in order to set it right. It was his turn to be responsible, now.

It’s a system that worked surprisingly well.

With a huff of effort, Eddie lifted his newfound baby girl and sat on the couch, resting her on his lap. The fabric of the furniture was a bit rough on his skin - he was still buck naked after giving her his padding after all. But pants could wait. Right now, he enjoyed beaming her a reassuring smile and tousling her hair.

That’s when he heard something coming from the phone, who was still resting face down on a nearby pillow.

“..’am? Ma’am, are you still there? We’re sorry we took so long… Is there anybody on the line?”

Quickly, Eddie grabbed the phone with his free hand and put it to his ear.

“Hello?” he answered. “Hello! Sorry, I wasn’t near the phone when you picked up. … It’s her husband. Yes, I’m afraid my wife had to take care of something while she was on hold.”

Nicole let out a gurgle, something half between a laugh and burp, like only small children knew how to do. Eddie felt his heart melt from such cuteness.

“No no, don’t worry, I understand perfectly,” he said to the operator. “I’ll be taking it from here then. Could we please start all over from the beginning?”