Chapter Twenty-Three:

Stop Number Two: Bed Bath & Beyond. It was only noon and the place was barren. I sat forward in the stroller and kicked my feet while Betsy pushed me around like my servant. Honestly, when people couldn't see me, strollers were pretty convenient.

"You still dry?" Jackie asked me, and I stuck out my tongue.

"Of course!" My good mood seemed to sour Betsy's. Today was not going the way she expected.

"Well you just let me know if that changes, okay? Smile!" I'd stepped out in front of the stroller, forcing the entourage to stop as I took a photo. First Leona looked shocked, then smiled, then grinning with her fingers up in peace signs with her binkie stuffed between her lips. Oh she was darling beyond words!

"Stop messing about you two. We have to go look for sheets, because this little one can't keep her bed dry."

Jackie rolled her eyes and I laughed a little, tucking the pacifier back into my dress pocket. The back of the store was somehow more dead than the front. There wasn't a single person in sight. Betsy pushed me down the aisle of bedsheets and toward the children's prints. Some cute sheets for my crib actually sounded like a good idea...

"Oh, excuse me, I was hoping I could get some help finding some sheets for my baby here."

Baby? Betsy was getting more bold. I cringed at the thought of what the poor clerk must have been going through, but the reply that came shocked me to my core.

"Absolutely! Is this her, here, in the stroller? Oh now let me get a look at you, sweetie, don't worry, I don't bite." His name badge said Simon, and he squared up in front of the stroller, clasping his hands together. "Oh she is just darling! What's her name? Or is it a him?" Ouch. What a fucking question! Betsy chuckled.

"No no, she's a darling little girl, her name is Luvs."

My good mood was siphoned out of me as the man leaned in and pinched my cheek.

"Luvs, what a cute name for such a little girl."

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was awestruck. He... he... and Betsy, she... I rubbed my cheek where he pinched and struggled to get out of the stroller.

"Lemme up," I muttered, fumbling with the buckle.

"Oh, don't squirm and fidget now little one, the nice man here is going to help Mommy to find you some sheets to help with your bedtime problems."

Betsy gloated and pushed the stroller after the man who led the entourage to a wall of sheets. He began to detail the features; prints, thread counts, waterproof, et al. I watched, gawking. Why was he acting this was? Was he fucking insane?

"Well, waterproof is very important," Betsy told Simon. "Some nights she leaks all over, no matter what diapers I put her in."

"I.. I do not!" I fumbled for words, trying to defend myself against Betsy's accusations. But my words came out in a babyish whine. "I dun leak!" Which only confirmed I wore diapers. The realization dawned on me and my cheeks caught fire.

"I see it all the time in little girls her age," Simon clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Well these ones here are waterproof and stain resistant. You don’t want to have to throw away the sheets if she makes twosies."

I felt exasperated. I felt helpless! I felt... small... I looked up at Jackie for help, but she was just as shocked as I was. I fumbled again with the buckle, but it wouldn't come undone.

"Why are you so fussy, Luvs?" Betsy asked with a sigh. "Are you wet?"

And right there, in front of the man, she lifted my dress and stuck a finger in my diaper. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"Oh is she in need of a change? We have a family restroom just down this way?" Simon offered, and Betsy shook her head.

"She's quite damp, but the thick diapers we have to keep her in nowadays are more than up to that job."

And then, things got worse. A girl, young, maybe Leona's age, approached the group of us.

"How are things here, Simon?"

"Oh, Becky, this is Little Luvs and her Mommy, they're looking for some sheets for her crib. You know, night time A C C I D E N T S?"

He spelled out the word. He actually spelled it out. And worse was, Becky actually nodded and smiled.

"Oh, I know how that is, girls her age and all."

Her age? Her age?! I was the same age as her! I was probably older! "I'm notta baby!" I shouted, kicking the stroller with my feet and pounding it with my fists. It wasn't until Nurse Betsy un-clicked the buckle and pulled me out of the stroller that I realized I was crying. I felt so pathetic...

"Oh shh, shh," Becky - yes, Becky, not Betsy - reached into the pocket of the dress and pushed the pacifier between the girl’s lips, and then ruffled her hair with a smile. "I have a niece your age, baby girl, don't worry, accidents happen."

I was aghast. At this. At all of this. The audacity of it all, and the way Betsy was smiling; gloating silently, like she planned this whole thing, like this was her revenge, like this was comeuppance for daring to undermine her at the last store. But how? Why? Who were these people? Actors? Simon was showing off sheet prints while Betsy followed, soothing Leona, the cameraman in tow and me left by the stroller.

With a pacifier between my lips and Betsy rocking me on her hip, I started to calm down. My cheek rested on her shoulder. My tears dried up. I started to relax. Betsy picked out some sheets. I had no input. I wasn't even paying attention. Then, when Betsy put me down on my feet, I stumbled and almost fell over. I sucked quietly on the pacifier and looked up at her with glossy eyes. But Simon and Becky were still there, watching me. They felt taller...

"They're so cute at this age, aren't they?" Simon smiled, and Becky nodded.

"Makes me want to have one or two of my own, little tiny troublemakers."

"Oh there is no way this little fuss-muffin is any trouble at all, is she?" Simon concluded and gestured his head to the counter. "Let's get you all rung up, did you need any help getting her back into her stroller, Ma'am?"

It was like watching hypnosis, or what I imagined hypnosis to be; Leona had transformed into Baby Luvs, with only the power of suggestion and circumstance. And I was simply baffled.

Becky - a girl my age - strapped me into my stroller and booped me on the nose. "You be good for your mommy, little girl," she said brightly, and I couldn't do anything but nod. Simon led us to a check out counter in the back and I sucked on my pacifier, sinking into the stroller. I was so exhausted...

I couldn't believe what had happened. Not as we checked out, not as Betsy led us out of the store, not as she talked about how good Leona had been and how we were going to go to the food court next and get some lunch and then hit the toy store. And none of this made her mad. None of this got Leona riled up. She was just calm and quiet, sucking on her pacifier, as she was pushed through the mall in public in a diaper and a stroller. I struggled to keep up, struggled to make sense of this. Was this was being Little really meant?

I struggled to fight all the feelings, but they washed over me like waves. Helpless. Safe. Warm. I knew I wasn't safe. I knew I wasn't helpless! But the way Betsy held me... I fumbled for the pacifier and took it out of my mouth. We were at the food court, setting up at one of the tables. Real food, I thought, but Betsy set down another three jars of baby food. I whimpered.

"Please don't make me eat that stuff."

"Excuse me? Is that how a girl your age should be talking?" Betsy took a firm grasp of her chin and spoke sternly. "You're not a big girl, Baby Luvs. You're a baby. You're a little girl. And you're going to eat your baby food and you're going to thank me for being so thoughtful as to bring your special baby food today." Her tone was so... firm. Like all that anger from earlier was channeled into this moment of parental sternness.

My blush must have burned her hand, because she let go of my cheeks. I nodded softly and looked down at the table.

"T-tank you, Mommy... f-fo' bringing my 'pecial food..."

She opened up one of the jars of baby food and tied the bib around my neck. Just like in the car, I ate every last bite. Then, unexpectedly, she placed a bottle in my hands.

"Drink."

"But..." She gave me a serious glare and I looked around the food court with crimson cheeks. So many people... some were already looking at me.

"I'm going to get something to eat I guess..." Not so much that I was hungry, but I couldn't watch this. Though even from the line at Taco Bell, that's exactly what I did. I watched as my crush drank from a baby bottle in the middle of a food court. I watched as Betsy talked down to her, as the cameramen filmed her, and I knew that something was going to follow by the time we got to the toy store after lunch. This day had ‘bad omen’ written all over it.