Chapter XV

"You want to try on your pretty onesie, now? Maybe some of your new trainers?" Cora was taking this for all it was worth. "Maybe I should get you a pacifier while I'm here so next time you have a little help following my one rule, mm?" She smirked and nodded to the dressing room. "Go wait over there, I'll get the Matron."

I winced at the notion of a pacifier, but followed Cora's instructions all the same. How had I gotten into this mess? I was the office manager at the biggest business in the town, standing in some oversized-baby store with a stack of training pants in her hands. I set the pile down on a nearby table and pushed my hands between my thighs, bending over in discomfort.

It was a long time before the Matron arrived back with Cora. Actually, it was only a few minutes, but to the aching girl it probably felt like an eternity. "The Matron has two sizes she wants you to try on, as well as a style with a button crotch instead of a snap, and also," Cora sounded giddy, "A skirt that will go perfectly with it, see?" All these were facts that Natalie wouldn't care about. If Cora had her way, then eventually these would be the only things Natalie cared about.

I nodded my head in response. I didn't open my eyes to see the skirt, or to see which onesies were picked out for me. I didn't care. I couldn't think clearly anymore. All my attention went to my bladder. My thighs were pushed together as tightly as they could. I wasn't sure I could move...

"The Matron is going to help you, follow her into the changing room." Cora smiled and waved as the older woman took Cora by the hand and led her behind the door. And... changing room was right. There was a changing table and three of the walls were mirrors! And just like that, the Matron began to strip Natalie down from her very fancy dress. Her hands were firm, her actions direct, like she'd done this before.

The Matron and I were alone. The door was closed and Cora couldn't hear me. I leaned against the wall and stars filled my eyes. "Please," I said in a whisper, too quiet for anyone but the Matron to hear. "I really need to... to use the r-restroom..."

"Oh you do?" The Matron replied, quietly. "I'm almost certain your Mommy's rule is for you not to speak, isn't it?" The older woman smiled, smoothly reached into her apron, and plucked a pacifier out of a little plastic sampler case, delivering it to the pouting girls lips. "I won't tell, but if you make another peep or spit that out, I'll call her.”

Mommy? I blinked, confusion pouring over my face. Then the pacifier slid between my lips and it all fell into place. This place. It wasn't for adults who had accidents - then why would they have all those clothes? No, it was for adults that dressed up like babies! And that meant, this woman... she thought Cora was my... my fake... grown-up baby... Mom person?! I didn't even need those stupid trainers! I took the pacifier out of my mouth in anger and balled my hands at my sides. "She's my boss's wife! She's not--"

But as my anger boiled over, so did my bladder. One distraction was all it took. I stood in the center of the changing room, frozen in place, as I felt the heat fill my panties. I pushed my hands between my legs, closing my thighs as tight as I could, but it wouldn't stop. The warm wetness spread across my bottom and dripped down my tights, turning the pristine white a dark grey. Tears filled my eyes. "No, no, no, no..."

"Oh did we have an accident, princess? There there, baby, that's okay."

Cora entered the changing room as she heard Natalie scream and saw her charge shivering in the center of the room. She grinned bright and wide as the Matron pushed the pacifier back between Natalie's lips, which only caused her to cry more.

"Mommy dear, your little one has had an accident, I'm going to get her cleaned and properly attired, unless you'd prefer to?"

Cora, would-be-savior, always ally, loving Mommy, smiled with all the pride in the world and shook her head. "If my little Nattie is going to be having accidents, Matron, I should get a lesson in dressing her for precaution. You clean her up and change her, I'll watch and learn." For Cora, this was Christmas. For Natalie, this was anything but. Especially with how easily the Matron could lift her, coerce her, handle her. Training pants were the past, diapers were her future, and right now in the present she was soaking wet and bawling her eyes out.

"Please, please... I didn't mean it... I had to go... I tried to tell you..." Tears dripped down my cheeks as I begged in a whisper. Cora had come in - she would hear me talking. But I couldn't help myself. I had to explain what she saw. The Matron lifted me under my arms and plopped me down on a large padded table. I shook my head and tried to stand back up, but she was firm in pushing me down. I felt so humiliated. I couldn't believe this! I... I tried to tell her... she didn't listen... this wasn't my fault...

Cora was going to stand by the curtain, but she found a better place at the head of the changing table, playing with Natalie's hair. Making sure she didn't spit the pacifier out a second time. Cooing softly to this adult woman as a stranger cleaned away her pretense along with her pee; peeled her out of the skin of an adult like she peeled away the wet tights. Cora kept telling her it was alright, it was okay, even as Natalie's very world changed around her.

"I didn't mean to... I didn't.. I told you! I told you at... at the coffee place and... and I told you in the... in the... the... store... and..." I was dissolving into tears. Cora played with my hair and made soothing sounds. She encouraged me. It'll be okay. Everything's okay. I'm okay. She doesn't think less of me. Somewhere along the way, I started to suck the strangely large pacifier. Some primal, deep part of my DNA knew that sucking would calm me down. It would make me feel better. And it did.

There was something special about training pants - a midway step. They were panties, but they were also padded, they were one foot each in both worlds. Cute in a childish way. Practical.

The diaper that the Matron laid Natalie's butt down into had no illusion, made no apologies. It was foreign, infantile, baby-like as much as could be... but the padding was familiar, wasn't it? Was this just one step beyond training pants? The fit was snug and reassuring, the Matron made sure of it. Then she told Natalie how she'd never leak all over her tights again. The music in the changing room was gentle, the lighting soft, Cora's hands in her hair and her tender loving words were safe... this was the very essence of being born, wasn't it? Natalie was being reborn in this moment.

I couldn't stop crying. The Matron helped me sit upright, pulling the wet dress off over my head. I'd pushed it so tightly against my crotch that it had a big wet spot on the front. That was when I got my first look at the diaper between my legs. Pink, with flowers. Thick. Crinkly. Infantile. And I started to sob around the pacifier. "Please don't, please... please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"You're not in any trouble, Nattie, so there's nothing to be sorry for. You're not in any trouble, not one bit. This is just a precaution, a way to keep you safe. Not a punishment, a reward for being responsible. Thank you for being so understanding.” While Cora talked, the Matron began to dress Natalie in the pretty asymmetrical onesie. It was cute and babyish on its own, but as she pulled closed the snaps between her thighs and the thickness of the padding was pulled tight... there was nothing ambiguous about this. She was diapered. But the padding would keep her safe.

I tried to get up from the changing table multiple times, but the Matron was quick to push me back down. Once the onesie was snapped shut, the Matron helped me into a skirt - maybe the one Cora had been trying to show me. I didn't know. Then I was pulled to my feet and I felt for the first time how thick the diaper really was. Fresh tears dripped down my cheeks in embarrassment. "Cora.. I'm.. s-sorry... please... I dun wanna wear this..."

Once Natalie was dressed, Cora nodded to the Matron who left the two alone in the changing room. The mirrors were universal, any which angle revealed something about Natalie; the bow on the back of her onesie, the snap crotch, the frills of the leg gathers of the diaper peering through, the stitching on her skirt that said 'Mommy's Girl' down one side and 'Daddy's Girl' down the other. Natalie’s teary red eyes. It would have been easy to humiliate her for this, simple to break her down, but Cora didn't do that. She'd gotten what she wanted, and it was time to reward her little princess for it. Her arms, ever-maternal, wrapped around Natalie's form and she cuddled her tight against her bosom. "It's alright, darling, you're not in any trouble. And look how cute you are, my gosh."

I shook my head, trying to push her away. But Cora had always been firm with her hugs, pulling me tight against her body. I pushed my face into her shoulder and cried. "Shh," she whispered in my ear, playing with my hair. "It was just an accident... it's over now." "I tried to tell you," I babbled between sobs, dropping the pacifier from my lips. "I know, I know. I didn't know how serious you were." I wrapped my arms around Cora and hugged her back.

"Let's get you home, okay?" Natalie really did look gorgeous. Even if she didn't know it yet, this was going to become her new work uniform - or at least enter the rotation on a regular basis. With the skirt, it almost looked like a romper dress. But the snap crotch pulled tight over her diaper was a feeling she'd never be able to ignore.

I shook my head in a panic and finally broke free of Cora's hug. My eyes were red and my face was wet with tears. "I can't go out like this, I can't... I can't..." I was one bad thought away from another anxiety attack. I could hardly breathe...

"Your dress is soaked through, I'm afraid, but..." Now was the time to be her hero, and not her enemy. "You can wear my coat over your outfit? Nobody will see." But of course, Natalie would still know what she was wearing, and knowing is - as they say - half the battle.

"...but..." I looked up at her with wet eyes, trying to come up with another solution. I couldn't go outside like this, but what other choice did I have? My dress was wet, and nothing else in the store would be any better. But Cora offered to let me wear her coat - a long sleeved, hip-length cardigan. It wouldn't cover everything, but... "...okay..." I rubbed the tears from my eyes and looked down at my feet in shame.

"Up you get." Cora took off her coat, her pretty and very expensive cardigan, and wrapped it around her little princess. "There we go, look how cute you are." She still had to check out, but with Natalie quietened down and demure, shy and sniffly, that was all going to be a formality. Today would just be the outfit and her trainers… and maybe a few spare diapers, just in case.

The Matron put my wet tights, underwear, and dress in a plastic bag for Cora and the two of us walked out into the busy parking lot of the strip mall. I pulled the cardigan tightly around me and leaned against the wall, careful to keep every part of my outfit covered from passersby. But nothing could hide the blush on my cheeks. A minute or two later, the car pulled up and Cora climbed in the back seat. I slid in behind her, quiet as a mouse.

Cora did everything she could not to smile, not to stare, but Natalie couldn't even close her legs! And she'd try, she'd squeeze and whine and sigh, and she was so damn cute! "Oh you should try out your headphones on your new outfit, Natalie!" A way to invest her into it.

"No thank you," I muttered quietly. Shyly. I still couldn't believe it... I was wearing a diaper. And the worst part: Cora knew. I rubbed my eyes again and tried to find my voice. "I..." Deep breath. "I'm... sorry. I... I didn't mean to... I just... I tried to tell you, I really needed to use the bathroom, and... and..."

"You're not out of the woods for breaking my one rule, missy." Cora reminded her, a little bit sternly, but then smiled nonetheless. "I'm sorry that your accident happened, though. You're not in any trouble for that part."

"I didn't mean to break it," I muttered, fresh tears filling my eyes. "I... I was scared and... and I needed to go, and... and I'm sorry, and... and... please... don't fire me... don't kick me out..." Tears dripped down my cheeks.

"Oh, darling, is that what you're afraid of?" Of course it was, Cora made sure of that. “As long as you follow the rules and do as you're told, you never ever need to worry about that. You can do that, can't you? Yes?"

I nodded my head, quiet and meek. My chest ached with fear and anxiety. What else could I do but listen to Cora? What other options did I have? I rubbed the tears from my eyes again. "I feel so stupid..." Wetting myself. Wearing this awful outfit. Breaking Cora's rule. She spent three hundred and eighty five dollars on me in that store - I saw the register as they rung her up. I was so selfish...

"You're not stupid, darling - your whole life you've been told all these things; think for yourself, never let others tell you what to do, and all of that. But sometimes the messages society sends us aren't all that useful. You're flourishing under our rules, aren't you? So if you can thrive under different conditions, maybe that suits you better? Maybe this,” she gestured to the outfit, "suits you better?"

"This doesn't suit me at all," I snapped. Then, instantly, I regretted it. I looked away from Cora, out the window of the car, and closed my eyes. "Sorry," I muttered, more to myself than to her. "Maybe I'm always gonna screw up... I sure am good at it..."

"You're also really very good at behaving. You were quiet almost the whole day. You didn't embarrass me at lunch. You were quiet even when Fliss was around. You made me very proud. You only messed up one time, at the end, because you didn’t listen.”

"Adam... my old boss..." I looked down at my hands while I spoke. "He always told me that we couldn't be together. But I loved him. He used to buy subs from this pizza place next door, and he'd always give me half. And he had this smile, like he knew something you didn't. And he was so sure, so confident. He never raised his voice or got upset. And I really, really loved him." I wasn't sure I'd ever stop crying at this rate. "When we got together, I knew he was married. He said no. He said he didn't want this. But when I was so close to him, he seemed like he wanted it. How he kissed me, how he touched me..." I shook my head with a little laugh. "I was so stupid... I should have listened to him..."

The message was so clear, a point driven so firmly home by Natalie herself - all Cora had to do was hold her in her arms and wait for the right words at the right moment. Tick. Tick. Tick. “Nattie, darling… everyone makes mistakes. That doesn’t mean you can’t be happy."

"Happy," I repeated... I wasn't even sure what happiness was anymore. "I dunno if I can be happy without Adam. But... when everyone found out about us, he didn't want anything to do with me." I pushed my face into Cora's shoulder and let the tears soak into her skin. "I thought... I thought if I lied, if I said it was just a one-time thing, then everything would be okay. But I got fired. And nobody wants to hire a whore..." A pause. A quiet, thoughtful pause. "I dunno why I'm telling you all this. I just... maybe I should have told everyone the truth. Ruined his marriage. Stolen him away, lived happily ever after. But I'd probably screw that up too. I screw everything up..."

This moment was tender and soft. This was expressive. This was loving, even. The way that Natalie embraced Cora, confessed her feelings to her, left herself vulnerable by presenting her heart… Cora, of course, embraced the opportunity to comfort her and certainly did not pass up the chance to sink her venom deep into the exposed girls emotional core. "You're never going to screw up like that again, Natalie. I won’t let you. I’ll make all the right decisions for you.”