Chapter XLII

"How is your work coming today, my sweet?" Mr. Gladstone had clearly been very quiet on his way into Natalie’s office, closing the door behind him, and she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice.

"Oh! Oh. Uh." I looked at my computer and then back up at Mr. Gladstone. He was smiling so kindly. Daddy... nope, still weird. "Um, I'm almost done. I think? And then I'll field emails until five. Um... did Cora talk to you about me having days off?" It sure would be awkward if she hadn't...

"Did whom?" He was going to have her say it. Mommy. Daddy. It wouldn't be enough that she knew to say it; he was going to hear her say it. Now, and again, and over and over.

I looked at him blankly. "...Cora?" But the way he looked at me. Like he had heard me the first time. And then it clicked. I blushed and shook my head, dropping my voice to a whisper. "We are at work!"

"And we're alone. When we're alone, it's the same as not being at work at all. Do you need a change?" There was a lot of new stimuli she was facing, a lot of new connections in her brain, and he was... mm... mostly probing responses.

I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. "The walls are thin! Prin heard Mabel shouting, and I don't wanna talk about this at work!" My cheeks were pink and I struggled to make eye contact with my boss. How had I gotten myself in this mess...?

"Prin is not at her desk right now, sweetheart, and even if she were there's quite nothing to be ashamed of, is there?" He was so... firm. Authoritative, but not overbearing. Like he could protect her from the world, like his words meant something.

"Still," I muttered, shuffling in my chair. I tried to return to my work, but I could feel his presence as he walked around the room. Quiet. Confident. I looked up through my eyelashes and bit my lip. This was weird...

"Would it help if I had your Mommy tell you to use appropriate terms? She does make your decisions, doesn't she? I'm sure you would have felt me an extension of such, but I do understand." There was... not disappointment. No, it was different. Like a slight missing of expectation, but perhaps not aimed at Natalie.

If Cora told me to... I'd do it. I'd call her Mommy, even at the office. I'd answer anything Mr. Gladstone asked. So I put down my pen and took a deep breath. "Sorry, sir... I didn't mean to be rude..." My tone seemed to slip. A little less certain. More childish... I hadn't even meant to do that.

"Sweet girl, you don't need to call me Sir. I'm sure you can think of a better term, can't you?" An easy claim to make when he knew the truth of the matter. "I should leave you to your work."

I felt a knot in my stomach. Something thick and heavy. The opposite of butterflies. Mr. Gladstone walked to my office door, but I was quick enough to stop him. "Daddy," I said firmly. Certainly. I knew it was the right thing to say, because Cora said it was. "S-sorry I was rude, Daddy..." If anyone else had heard me say that, they would have gotten the wrong idea...

Another day, another milestone. He allowed himself a smile for a moment, not turning around, and praised her openly all the same. "You're such a good girl, Natalie, you always have been. Daddy will be perfect, from now on." Cora was, certifiably, brilliant.

Mr. Gladstone shut the door behind him and I smiled to myself. A good girl. I kicked my feet a little and hummed a light song to myself while I finished the rest of my paperwork.

* * * * *

The afternoon was slow. No calls. No reports. I replied to any emails I got and did a few more web searches on Adult Babies. Since I'd agreed to Cora's weird new lifestyle, I was curious what else she might have in store for me. A nursery? A crib? No, that was going too far. Right? Then I found another website with a page about Little TV Shows and Activities. Sure enough, Strawberry Shortcake was on there. Coloring books... maybe Cora could get me some coloring books! That would be fun.

By five o'clock, I wasn't feeling so well. I had a stomach ache and my head was full of ideas. Coloring. Building blocks. Toys. Dolls. But the biggest one was simple: a stuffed animal. All the people online had them. But I didn't...

"Hey girl hey!” Prin had poked her head into the office a 5:02pm, a big smile on her face. "We're going out to the pub on Sixth for Nola's birthday drinks, do you wanna come?" Do you want to come. A question. A decision. A choice. And where was Cora to make it?

"Oh, um..." I looked at Prin nervously and fumbled for my phone. "Let me check really quick..." I opened up my conversation with Cora - we talked all the time on work days - and sent a new text. Drinking sounded fun! But at the same time, I wasn't feeling very well either. I shifted awkwardly in my chair, waiting for the reply.

"You can go out, but I won't be able to come get you to change your diaper until later this evening if you do. And no drinking, baby girl!"

Cora's texts were always so predictably sweet and happy in tone.

Mm... I had been sitting here all day and I really had to pee. And if I couldn't drink, what was the point of a party anyway? So I sent another text back, wondering:

"Can I come home instead? I miss you..."

Another text shot back a few minutes later with a happy heart and a hugging emoji, and then another with

“Of course, darling, I'll see you there in an hour or so, your car's going to be waiting for you xoxoxo".

"You look happy when you talk to her," Prin said with a smile, and I remembered that she was waiting for an answer. I blushed a little and played with one of my pigtails.

"I can't go today," I told her.

"I figured. See you Monday, Natalie."

"Oh, actually..."

Prin turned around and gave me a quizzical look.

"Could you call me Nattie from now on?"

Prin smiled brightly and nodded her head. "Absolutely!"

* * * * *

I crawled into the back seat of the sedan and closed the door behind me. The drive back to the house took about half an hour and it was always a pretty slow part of my day. But today I was focused on other things. I opened my phone to Amazon.com and checked some plushie reviews. Should I get a bear? Or a bunny? Or a Pokemon? Ugh, I had to pee so badly...

The back seat of a car was hardly different than a bathroom, right? Quiet, isolated space. A seat to sit on. So I set my phone aside and closed my eyes. Imagine a toilet. One of the ones at home, like the one in my bedroom. And just...

It felt different. Warm and relieving. But wetter. The diaper didn't sag into the toilet bowl - it squished up against my bottom. The warmth pooled around my crotch and I felt the diaper swell between my thighs. And when I was done, my cheeks were red and my breathing was uneven. That... was kinda nice...

A secluded space, yes. Alone, private, yes. But it wasn’t a bathroom. I had crossed a threshold and I had a long drive to think about it. To feel it. To know what I’d just done, and what doors it opened for me.