Chapter XLV

I woke up early, but didn’t open my eyes. Memories of the night before swirled around in my head, but happy dreams clouded them. Dreams of Mommy and I, taking a vacation to the countryside. Alone, just us and Mr. Gladstone. No one to judge me. But around six in the morning, I couldn't sleep anymore. I sat up and the familiar feeling of a wet diaper squished between my thighs. Another wet night... strange how common those were becoming.

"You're up early," Sam noted with a little bit of surprise - she'd been outside in the hallway, doing dusting, when Natalie had peered her head out of her bedroom clad only in her nightgown, and obviously - even if unseen - a diaper.

"Um... went to bed early last night." And I hadn't had dinner. My stomach was growling for food, but I knew where that food would end up. Right back in my diaper. I shuddered at the thought. "Um... maybe I can watch some TV or something? Can you get me some juice?"

"Sure can.” Sam was surprised that her best friend wasn't begging to have her diaper changed, but maybe she'd just managed to not wet it. Or like, had used the toilet like a normal adult person. "I'll hit the kitchen and meet you down in the living room - the Gladstone's are both asleep right now so keep the volume low, alright?"

"Oh..." They were both asleep? I pouted a bit and looked down at my nightgown. I wanted to change... "Well, could--"

"I'll see you downstairs."

Sam went on ahead of me and I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance. Maybe I could wait a half hour or something until Mommy got up...

Cranberry Apple Prune Juice. Nothing else. Miss Appley, the purchaser for the kitchen staff, had made it pretty clear that there was no other juice. And although the description sounded awful, Sam tasted the strange burgundy drink before filling her best friends sippy cup - wow, what a sentence - and it was actually pretty good! Sweet, a little tart, but kind of crisp and refreshing. Huh. It would wreck havoc with a digestive system in large amounts, but that wasn't a consideration Sam had. She screwed the top of the sippy cup and went to find her friend.

Sam handed me the sippy cup and I pulled it between my lips without thinking. The TV was on some new kids’ show and I was lying down on my side with my nightgown pulled low to cover my diaper. I wondered idly if I could live off juice. Maybe I didn't have to eat food ever again. Then I wouldn't have to make a mess of my diapers...

"Whatcha watching?" This could be normal, right? Familiar? I mean, minus the nightgown, and the diaper, and the kids show, and the sippy cup... watching TV with her best friend on a Saturday morning, that was familiar, right? "I could watch with you for a few minutes, but not for long."

"Okay." She sat down next to me on the sofa, where my feet were, and I started to explain the show to her. Basically, these kids were super heroes at night. And they all had different powers. By the end of the first episode, I felt like Sam fully understood the admittedly simple premise of the show. Only a few short weeks ago, the Netflix Kids app had frustrated me. Nowadays, I was okay with it. Anyway, it was part of the aesthetic, right? This is what Mommy wanted, and it wasn't worth fighting over.

Admittedly Natalie actually seemed at peace here - not stressing about pointless things, not up to her knees in her own trivial shit, but actually laying out on the sofa and just... relaxing. Existing. It was nice to see. Sam, meanwhile, had a whole bunch of work to do today, ugh.

"Nat, are you happy?" Loaded question, maybe.

"...oh." I looked away from my show for the first time in fifteen minutes and up at my best friend. Sam's expression was serious. Not a joke. She really wanted to know? "Well... I don't know. I think so? Happier than I used to be..." I thought about last night. The whole experience. How awful it was. But how wonderful it was to have Mommy there for me. Taking care of me. I had never felt so awful, and someone was there... I smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm happy."

"And you're sure this isn't just some like stockholm syndrome brainwashing thing, right? This is actually what you want, Miss Fuck-the-Infantilization-of-Women-in-Western-Culture?" Maybe literal infantilization didn't count, huh? It was so weird to be living in what was effectively a period piece of a house.

"I'm not brainwashed. I'm... just seeing a possibility that wasn't there before." How could I have seen it? It was crazy! But sure enough, the option had presented itself. "I think this is what I need. I think this is what a lot of people need! And I got lucky." I sure sounded happy, despite last night.

"What a lot of people need, huh?" Sam didn't know about that. "Anyway, I should get back to work, I'll check on you in a bit." It was Saturday, so she'd probably want a bath soon anyway. Or, rather, Mrs. Gladstone would require it of her 'daughter'.

* * * * *

It was another hour or two before I remembered the diaper between my legs. I had grown so used to the padding and crinkling that it wasn't that odd anymore. But this one in particular had been wet since I got up. I should have realized sooner... I got up off the sofa and went looking for Sam or Mommy to get me changed. What I found instead was Mr. Gladstone.

"Hello pumpkin.” Mr. Gladstone was in the conservatory today, wiring in speakers for a project of his, and his daughter had found him on the way back into that wing of the house with a bundle of speaker cable over his arm. He continued to walk, and she followed after him. "How're you today? I like your nightgown."

"Oh, uh... thank you. Is Mommy still sleeping?" Calling her Mommy was becoming very easy. If not for Cora's sake, then for my own. It was easier to think of her as a Mom figure than my boss's wife. Strangely enough, I was growing more comfortable with Mr. Gladstone as well.

"Your Mother had quite a late one last night," he recounted, not doing all that well to hide the sly smile on his lips. "It was a lot of hard work she had to take care of before bed, so she's resting until some afternoon engagements." He opened the door to the conservatory and ushered Natalie inside.

"Oh..." He opened the door for me and I walked in without thinking. "What about Sam? Do you know where Sam is?"

"Mm, about this time she should be in her morning meeting."

I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance and crossed my arms. I should have asked for a change earlier in the day...

"Is there something you need, pumpkin?" He had a box of speakers on the side table by an armchair in the windowed room, and the sky was a lovely beautiful blue outside. Obviously he was doing something, but he spoke with patience and grace.

"Oh, um... no, I'm alright." I let out a sigh and resigned to the inevitable. I'd just have to wait until one of them was free. I knew I wasn't capable of putting a diaper on myself - that much had been proven.

"Are you certain? You seem restless." He leaned down and picked her up under the arms, around the waist, and sat down on his armchair so he could pull her into his lap. "Tell Daddy, is something the matter?"

My diaper squished down on his lap, though sitting like this with Mr. Gladstone had also become somewhat normal. I kicked my feet and looked shyly at the floor. "I just need... uh... their help with..." I took a deep breath and tried to control my blush. "I need to be changed..."

"Oh, is that so? Well, Daddy is very proud of you for knowing that you need that, and I'd be more than happy to take care of it." He leaned in, kissed her on the forehead, and stood back up so he could position her against his hip. While adult sized, the fluidity in which he maneuvered her made her seem tiny and insignificant.

"What? Oh! You don't need--" But then he picked me up. Actually picked me up. Not like Cora, who could carry me from one room to another. He cradled me against his hip like I was nothing more than an actual toddler. Butterflies filled my stomach and I blushed in response. He walked me out of the conservatory like it was no effort at all. "I....... um. I... can wait for..."

"The sooner I get you changed, my little one, the sooner you can go back to playing. Truly, it's my error for not checking on you - a girl your age shouldn't need to ever think about such trivialities, should she now?" How could anybody feel like an adult in this man’s arms?

I wanted to argue. I didn't need to have my diaper checked! And I didn't want my boss changing my underwear! But I couldn't. Not like this. Two stories up, when he set me down, my feet felt wobbly and I was all aflutter. I blushed and tried to steel myself for conversation. "I... um... sh-shouldn't a lady help me...?"

"I'm your Daddy, darling - my job is to keep you safe and to make you feel precious - like the treasure you are. I'm also the protector who keeps those other eyes and thoughts from hurting you, but in my gaze you're as safe as can be." It was always going to be a contentious point, after all - heteronormativity declared that it would be - but this wasn't a new topic for him. "You're Daddy's Little Princess, and that's the bottom line."

I didn't like this. The last time my boss saw between my legs, I was fired and ousted from every company in the city. But this time was different. It wasn't sexual. It was just... a diaper change. Yeah, like that's any better. I bit my lip and looked at my feet.

"But..."

"Trust is something we have for each other, pumpkin - I won't betray yours, and I will destroy anybody who does." And honestly, he probably had the means for that not to be an idle threat. "Do you trust your Daddy?" He did still have some underlying anxiety over this, it seemed.

I took a deep breath and nodded my head. Sam - my best friend - already changed my wet diapers. Why would it be any stranger for my boss to do it? But I was anxious all the same. Like... like my past was coming back to haunt me. But Mr. Gladstone wasn't anything like Adam...

For a man so strong, a man who had administered her spankings, who had seen her ass bare before, his touch was surprisingly gentle. He laid her on the bed, and he lifted her nightgown up over her belly button, positioning her with grace and finesse.

"Daddy certainly should have checked on you earlier, pumpkin, you're quite soaked here, aren't you?"

My cheeks burned like the sun and I covered my face with my arms in shame. I couldn't argue with him; I hadn't even been aware of it when I had an accident! But hearing it in his gruff voice was a whole different situation. Cora and Sam had a sweet, airy kindness. But Mr. Gladstone had a man's voice. The kind of man I'd usually be romantically interested in...

He untaped her diaper, and he moved her body like she was an actual child. Up with the legs by the ankles in one hand, while the other tenderly cleaned her skin, made sure she wouldn't wind up with a rash. He was firm but loving, completely in control of the situation, of her.

I pushed my legs together in annoyance as he started to wipe me, but a sharp slap on my thigh settled me nervously into the bed. Mommy never slapped me. Sam never slapped me. But Mr. Gladstone was different. He worked with such precision and focus at everything he did. Even this, the experience was so... wild. Like I was a toy he was playing with. A heat washed over my cheeks as he finished cleaning me up. What a rush...

This wasn't supposed to be sexual, obviously, and the Gladstone's hadn't really had the presence of mind to consider that it might be, but the color in her cheeks was something that Mr. Gladstone couldn't help but notice. He would have to make a note of it.

When he was done, Mr. Gladstone lowered my nightgown and stood me up. I felt small next to him, and a little embarrassed, but ultimately... well, that wasn't so bad. Not romantic. Not sexual. Just... normal. Well, as normal as diaper changes go on your twenty-three year old employee.

"Um... thank you, s--" I hesitated and corrected myself. "Daddy..."

"You're welcome, peach." Fruit names, it seemed, were going to be his forte. "Now off you go, go play and be good, Sammie will bring you some food for lunch in just a spell, I'm sure." Notes had to be made, anyway.