Chapter XL

I found Sam in my room, waiting for me. All the stuff I had laid out on the bed was gone, so she must have put it away somewhere. I sat on the edge of the bed, forcing a smile through the soggy squish of the wet diaper on my backside. Ick...

"How'd it go?"

"Um... she said I can have a few days off work and we can spend some time together."

"...you're working less?" Wow. Sam hadn't expected that outcome. "So... wait, wait, she's giving you more days off and you get to spend them with me? That doesn't sound like the MO of any outcome that benefits her, why would she do that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "She said the purchase orders get slow this time of year, so I'd mostly be sitting around. And since you have to work weekends, it's pretty much the only option." Then I thought about it for another moment, and answered Sam's question a little more personally. "I think she knows how much this means to me."

"Yeah, she sounds like she might actually be putting you first for a change. Can you afford the pay cut? I don't wanna put you in a shitty position." Being broke was old hat for the both of them, so talking about money was never strange.

"She said she wouldn't cut my pay, but I'd be like... on call?" Which was sort of silly since "emergencies" didn't really happen in the office management business. "Either way, I don't pay rent. So all I have is my student loans. I can definitely afford that." Okay, this diaper was getting pretty uncomfortable now...

"Mm, sounds like being some rich woman’s baby girl has its perks, huh?"

It wasn't even a minute later when Cora came into the room. I stood up and flattened my dress, and Sam moved instinctively out of the way. Maids were never supposed to be in the way, and Sam's training had paid off. "Um, Sam, could you excuse us?" I said shyly, knowing what Cora was about to do.

"Actually, Samantha, I'd like you to stay for this. As a handmaiden, it's one of your duties to take care of things like this and my little darling here just hasn't mustered up the gumption to tell you that, just yet. You know how girls are at her age, don't you? So I'm going to take care of this, and talk you through it as I do."

"What? Wait!" My cheeks burned crimson and I took half a step away from Cora, bumping into my bed. "I don't want her in here! That's not fair!" But it was clear to both Cora and Sam alike, that I wasn't angry: I was embarrassed.

"It's like a bandage, darling, it's better to get it off quickly." She looked at Sam. "Now, Samantha, Natalie is in diapers full time now, and she's going to need regular changes. Morning and evening, of course, and then as needed throughout the day. I'm a very busy woman and as her handmaiden, this really is one of your duties. I’m a little disappointed that I'm having to tell you this, but I suppose I shouldn't expect anything more from someone as new to the position as you are. Please pay attention."

I couldn't even look at Sam. I was so humiliated. She just came right out and said it, huh?! Sure, Sam knew I wore diapers sometimes. To bed, maybe. Sometimes to work. But not all the time. Cora came over and lifted me up onto the bed like I weighed nothing at all, but I held my dress down tight. "Please," I muttered to her, tears of embarrassment filling my eyes.

"Natalie, darling, we agreed on something very important, three special words, do you remember what they are?" Her special mantra, her reminder to do as she was told to do and that everything would work out. Sam meanwhile, watched in.... part bewilderment, part bemusement.

"Mommy knows best," I muttered. And like that, Cora helped me onto my back and flipped up my dress. My pink diaper - the final pink diaper I'd be wearing for a while - was on full display. Though the heavy mass between my legs was tinted a deep yellow. I closed my eyes and pretended this wasn't happening. Maybe Sam wouldn't notice. Maybe Sam wouldn't say anything...

"Wow, she's really wet that thing, huh?" Sam noted, standing next to Cora, and the older woman nodded.

"She's a bit that way, she holds it until the last minute and then she floods it everywhere all at once; it's why she has to wear such thick padding. Once she learns to just let go and do it when she needs to, she'll be allowed thinner stock, but for now if it isn't making her waddle, it's not thick enough."

Listening to the two banter about my bathroom habits was soul crushing. I covered my face with my hands and closed my eyes tighter, trying to wish it all away. But they took their time. Untaping the diaper, pulling it away from my skin. A cold wipe running between my legs, as my most intimate parts were on full display for my best friend. Tears formed at the edges of my eyes.

"It's okay if she cries, too, she gets embarrassed sometimes, but if you tell her how good she is, and cuddle with her for a spell after, she's usually okay. It's a bit adjustment for her, you understand?"

Sam nodded, taking a deep inhale and taking fully in the situation with the air. "Yup. Totally. A big adjustment."

I felt the diaper slide out from under my bottom and my bare ass was set down on the nice sheets. Then, I heard Cora's voice.

"Which one do you think she should wear tonight? The rainbows or the unicorns?"

Was she... letting Sam pick out my diaper? I closed my legs instinctually and whimpered on the bed.

"I don't know..." Sam admitted, and Cora corrected her.

"This isn't a decision for her to make, so you need to start figuring these things out. Get to know her diapers, and her evening behaviors, and pick accordingly. Tonight, just pick whichever you like more." Which left Sam to actually consider this.

"The rainbow ones, I guess?"

"Wonderful choice."

I would die here, on this mattress, as my best friend learned to diaper me from my boss's wife. I was sure of it. Here Lies Natalie Anderson, Diapered to Death. Then I heard crinkling and felt my legs raise high in the air. Though I had my eyes closed, I knew everything that was happening through Cora's narration.

"You need to make sure you center it under her behind like this, and please don't expose the tapes before you powder her or you'll ruin them and that's wasteful. Powdering is important, or she's likely to get a diaper rash, and that's only going to make her cranky."

Sam took note. She felt like she should have taken notes, actually, this was very in-depth!

It felt like an hour had gone by. A fresh diaper was taped around my hips and my eyes were glossy with shame. As Cora helped me onto my feet, I felt wobbly and sick. I couldn't look at either of them. Wave after wave of embarrassment washed over me.

"There we go. All done!"

"All done," Sam repeated, with a laugh in her voice.

"See, it's really not that difficult. But you must remember to have the tapes symmetrical and pulled tight, so she doesn't leak. It hasn't happened yet, but I imagine she'll be crushed if she does." Cora leaned over and kissed Natalie on the forehead, wiping her tears with her thumb. "Was that so hard, little one?"

I wanted to say yes, it was absolutely hard! But I couldn't seem to form words. My bottom lip trembled and I looked away shyly.

"Sam, please get Nattie ready for bed and tuck her in. Then meet me downstairs and I'll show you how to prepare her lunches for work."

Cora patted me on the head and left me alone with my best friend. My cheeks looked like two red tomatoes.

"So. That happened." Sam remarked, exhaling deeply. "That really, actually, happened. And you know, that's not so bad I guess. It is what it is, right?" Although she could see how burning up her best friend was. "You're the princess, I'm the handmaiden, and you don't use the toilet anymore."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to say it. Had I forgotten how to speak? I tried to open my mouth, but sounds didn't come out. Maybe the heat on my face was boiling my brain.

"Arms up."

I put my arm up. Sam slid the dress off over my head, leaving me in nothing but my diaper.

"Huh, I wondered why you could never keep your legs closed - turns out it was the diaper, right?" The tease had double meaning, and ordinary would have had her best friend all puffed up and pouty, but right now it probably went over her head. "This nightie is a good one, with the unicorn."

I didn't fight Sam one bit as she dressed me, pulling the nightgown down over my head.

"You're cute like this," she smiled. "So quiet and demure."

But by the time she had tucked me into bed, the teasing had come to a halt. She looked down at me in her too-tight maid uniform with her hands on her hips.

"Nat. Seriously. It's not a big deal."

I still couldn't look her in the eye...

"Feels like a big deal…” I said, more to myself than her.

"It's not. Like, maybe a month ago it would be a big deal, but it's so far from a big deal now. I literally wear corsets now, okay? I work as a maid; who even does that? The rest of all this is just nothing at all." It kinda was. But hey.

"You're a good friend," I muttered under the covers.

"I know," she said, and ruffled my baby pink hair.

It was only eight in the evening, and I wasn't the least bit tired. But when Sam turned off my light and I could hear faint music - maybe coming from the other room - I started to lull off to sleep all the same. Maybe tomorrow would be less awkward. Or the day after. And in a week, maybe it wouldn't be weird at all.

* * * * *

"Do you think she's ready?" Ando asked his wife, pulling a pajama shirt over his arms and buttoning it up in the front. "This is the reason Sophia left us. If we push her too hard too soon--"

"No, she's ready."

Ando sighed and looked skeptically in the mirror. He couldn't handle another disappointment... he was truly beginning to love Natalie.

"I know it's a big step, husband, but she had quite literally laid there while her best friend was taught how to diaper her, while she had wet eyes of embarrassment. She's ready. She's perfect." Cora was, in every regard, smitten.

"I worry," Ando said, so quietly that he wondered if his wife heard him. But she did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

"She's perfect," Cora repeated. "Everything I've ever wanted. Everything you've ever wanted. Perfect."

"I'm afraid to fall as fast as you," he laughed, and kissed her back. "But I fear that maybe I have..."

"She's going to call you Daddy, you know? I told her so, and she agreed, she accepted. Mommy and Daddy. Oh can you imagine it, her sweet little voice, calling out from her office? 'Daddy Daddy, come quick, come quick, there's a spider on the roof!' and 'Daddyyyyyy I had an axxydents...'" Cora was real good at voices like that, it seemed, and she kissed her husband again.

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Ando laughed, but Cora could see the sparkle in his eyes. Ando wasn't in this relationship for the same reason as Cora. He didn't want someone to love him unconditionally - for that, he had his wife. Ando wanted his daughter to need him. Almost worship him. He had built up a level of fear inside her, but it was quickly turning to admiration. He would be a God to her, and she would do anything to make him happy.

"Alright," he resigned. "Let's do it." Ando would switch the music playing in Natalie's room to the final tape. By morning, all the pieces would be in place.