Chapter XXIX

All afternoon, I was lost in thought. With Prin's help, I had finished all my work in record time. So I sat at my desk and replayed today's events again and again. So many bad things could have happened. I could have been fired. I could have been under this very desk, rubbing Mabel's feet. One stupid girl could have torn down everything I had worked so hard to build. And the only thing that prevented it was... my deal with Cora. She made my decisions. Stupid decisions, of course. Wearing diapers? Dressing like a toddler? But they saved me. It felt like... like divine intervention or something. Like all the mechanisms and variables that went into it was so far above my head, that I couldn't hope to understand it. But Cora did, in a weird way.

I looked down at my dress, with the ruffled hem and puffy sleeves. Not my style. Not anyone's style after five years old, honestly. I gave a quick look around my empty office and let out a sigh. With a nervous hand, I lifted my dress to see the diaper between my legs.

I had never really looked at it before. I'd worn one two days in a row, but I always tried to avoid it. Now... I pushed my fingers to the soft pink plastic, testing the waters. It was decorated with little stars and moons. Actually, it was kind of cute...

Six hours ago, I was on the verge of a breakdown. I was so scared. Maybe not scared for my life, but scared for my livelihood. In a way, that was almost worse. And now, because of a diaper, I was... free. Relaxed. Even happy? I lowered my dress and sunk into my chair.

This wasn't so bad, was it? Diapers... dresses... playing House with my boss and his wife. She was the caring mom. He was the protective dad. And I was... the happy little girl. I felt unshakable. I felt invincible. No, that wasn't bad at all.

After work, I knocked on Mr. Gladstone's door. He always stayed late, so I wasn't that surprised to find him working. But Prin and the rest of the office had left a few minutes ago.

"Sir?" I asked.

"Good evening, Natalie." The office was quiet without any of the usual daily chittering, and it felt as though even the humming of the water-cooler had decided to take the night off. Distantly behind the window that Mr. Gladstone sat before, there was the faint sounds of the sleepy city, cars droning in the distance.

"Hi, um..." I stepped into his office and closed the door behind me, though we were the only two left in the office. I pushed my fingers together nervously and looked down at my feet. We never really talked like this, Mr. Gladstone and I. "I, um. I wanted to thank you. For standing up for me earlier. I know you were really just defending Cora's choices, but... I dunno. You're very kind for giving me this job in the first place, and I've messed up a lot. But you still believe in me. And... um... I guess, thank you for that."

He smiled warmly, just that kind of grandfatherly tug at the edges of his lips, and closed his laptop gently. "You've given me plenty of reason to believe in you, Natalie. You accept your mistakes and account for your weaknesses, then you let Cora make the decisions that you can't make yourself. Thank you for being such a good girl. Come here."

Good girl. Those words were a little condescending, but at the same time, so incredibly validating. Like maybe I really didn't screw up as often as I thought I did. I followed his instruction carefully, walking across the plush carpet and beside him at his desk. I could see his computer monitor, littered with numbers and spreadsheets I barely understood.

"Up here." He said, patting his lap, and then holding out his arms. This wasn't a spanking, this wasn't a punishment - this was a gesture that went along with being praised, with being a good girl. And Natalie was a good girl, so she'd earned this.

I looked nervously at his lap and started to blush. Gosh, this was silly... but I approached and sat squarely on the top of his legs, lifting my shoes up off the carpet. This felt so weird. Maybe sexy, if I had any sexual attraction toward Mr. Gladstone. But I'd been spanked enough by the man to extinguish anything I may have once found attractive.

"You don't have anything to worry about, Natalie, you're in good hands." Literally, as the case were, because he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her deeper into his lap. And then, like it was routine, like she was too small to cause any problem at all, he returned to doing some work with her right on his lap.

I looked at him blankly, like I had missed something important. But he just kept me there, sitting on him, while he worked on some numbers. I bit my lip and shuffled on his lap, causing a slight crinkle to echo through the room. My cheeks turned crimson. "I... um. I should get going..."

"There's no rush, poppet." He said, reassuringly, and continued his work. Little girls should be seen and not heard, that was the truth of the matter, and Mr. Gladstone wanted his to be equal parts accessory as child.

"But... um... the car is probably waiting downstairs..." The driver and I had no relationship. There was a thin pane of tinted glass between the two of us, so I only vaguely knew what he looked like. We had never spoken, not once, but I would sometimes hear music coming from his cabin. He, or she, liked pop songs.

"Would you like me to let them know to come back later, and you can spend some more time with me?" This was a trick question, because there was really only one correct answer and it wasn't going to be immediately obvious.

"...um." I didn't really understand what was going on. He wanted me to stay? Why? We weren't even doing anything. And it's not like we were friends... "I just thought... uh..."

"I can take you home, we do live at the same place, you remember?" Gently, he began to bounce her on his lap. Up and down. Up and down. Slowly and rhythmically.

"...I guess so," I muttered, watching his computer with zero enthusiasm. What was I supposed to say? He was my boss. Then he started to bounce me, slowly and softly. At first, it was a little annoying. But then, it felt... kind of... relaxing... I rubbed my eyes and shuffled to a more comfortable position on his lap.

Mr. Gladstone had a pacifier in his top drawer, but with the recent scare in the progress and the way things had calmed down now, it was unlikely that he going to reveal it just yet. So, at the end of a long work day, he bounced his daughter-to-be on his lap, and knew with quite certain confidence that it wouldn't be long before she fell asleep.

After few clicks of Mr. Gladstone's mouse, a light music filled the air. I tried to pay attention to what he was doing, but it seemed like jumbled nonsense to me. I rubbed my eyes again and felt them grow heavy and tired. I hadn't had any coffee today... after all, it wasn't like I could run to the toilet. Yesterday, Cora mentioned using this diaper, and there was no way I would let that happen. Still, a day with no liquids was exhausting. A day with so much drama was exhausting. And the music was so...

Natalie was dry - Mr. Gladstone knew that as soon as she'd sat on his lap. She was still trying to keep her dignity, her pretense of adulthood, and for now that was okay. It wouldn't be forever, but for the moment he wouldn't push the issue. With the stimuli, the music, the reinforcement in her head, she'd dozed off sooner than later, and she drooled lightly into the crook of his arm.

"Mmm..." I felt something stir, jostling me. Despite the heavy exhaustion, I managed to pry my eyes open, just a little, to see the ground pulled away from me. A dream? No... I was being carried. My cheek rested softly on Mr. Gladstone's shoulder, as I saw the office disappear. A ding from an elevator. Then the streets. The sun was so low on the horizon. How long had I been out? I rubbed my eyes and tried to wake up.

"She's just so precious for this world, isn't she dear?" That was Cora's voice, cheerful and proud, although it faded shortly thereafter as Mr. Gladstone set the girl down in the back of their Bentley, then buckled her nice and snugly. She was, in essence, a child now.

The car ride did nothing for my attempt to wake up. As a matter of fact, I was out like a light. It wasn't the usual car. Not the black one. A silver one. Cora was there, maybe? Or was that part of the dream... oh, the dream. Sitting on the edge of a swimming pool, with my toes in the water. I looked out at the backyard. My backyard, from when I was younger. Younger? No, my age. I was seven or eight. I kicked my feet in the pool, splashing water. Warm water, on a sticky summer day...

"Will she sleep the whole way home?" That from Cora, to which her husband replied.

"I presume so, she's had a very long day and she was on my lap for an hour or two after work." Not that this conversation registered with the sleeping girl; she was tired beyond the natural, deeply asleep and processing stimuli.

"It seems you were right about the 'bug in our system'," Ando said quietly, careful not to rouse the girl. Though with the soft headphones over her ears, he doubted she could hear them if she were awake. "Mabel is taken care of, and it was thanks to you."

"She was a risk, we knew she was from the start. And we just underestimated the strength of her will and the effects that might have on our project." Project. Daughter. Babygirl. All these words meant the same thing.

"Either way," Ando said with a sigh. "I think it's important you have a talk with her. She isn't supposed to listen to anyone - just you and I. She can get herself hurt..." He actually sounded nervous about it.

"We'll have a Mommy/Daughter night, tonight. What's she listening to at the moment?" Cora nodded, and Ando looked back at her.

"Trying to reinforce release of bladder pressure; make it a positive, blissful experience.”

Cora looked at the girl in her rear view mirror, with her head nodded to the side and a quiet peace across her sleeping face. "Do you think she'll have an accident?" Cora said, a little too excited.

"She didn't have a single drink all day," Ando said with a sigh. "So I doubt it." If she had a coffee or two, this tape would have done a number on her.

"We could increase her fluid intake during the day, there's a program available for that - not one for coffee, but we could there's one for chocolate milk and we could put some in the office fridge." Cora suggested, thoughtfully.

Ando replied with, "She might get a bit of a tubby tummy with too much milk, though." To which Cora laughed a little.

"I think she'd be cute with a bit of baby fat, though!"