Blossoming into Babyhood – Chapter 10 (Commission) (Patreon)

And here's another installment in an ongoing series – courtesy of a lovely Gold-tier patron!

***

"Oh, hey, Zane! What's up? You have a good weekend?"

Zane leaned comfortably back in his home office, enjoying the familiar voice of his ex echoing through the phone receiver. "Oh, yes, it was great," he offered mildly, eyes drifting from the soothing landscape on the wall down to a little portrait on his desk. Yes. There they were: him and Adam, beaming into the camera. From years ago. From a time when they were together and life had been good and everything had seemed so perfect…

But enough about that. He had something more important than his past relationship to think about.

"Actually, I was just calling to check on on Lily. You said something in a text last week – something about trouble at her work?"

He leaned closer into the receiver, his dark brown eyes growing thoughtful and ever more attentive as Adam's voice narrated what had happened. How she'd had a super important day at work. She'd unfortunately had a major accident… something even her pull-ups hadn't been able to handle. She had of course been so upset, and he'd had to work something out with her supervisor. Fortunately they'd been super understanding. She was home for the next two weeks on sick leave – and after that, he'd persuaded her to agree to working from home four days out of five…

"Oh my. That all sounds like a sensible solution. Though it also sounds as though she's regressing more quickly than ever now." Zane's tone was calm, as was the expression beneath his beard. "We'd talked about giving her those strikes, right? I suppose that's no longer a possibility…?"

"Oh, that was the third strike for sure," Adam assured him. "Yeah, no. Pull-ups are, well…" He chuckled softly and lowered his voice a touch, as if not wanting a certain someone on the other end to hear him. "Let's just say I don't think we'll be using them anytime soon."

"A good move," Zane commended, and now he was smiling gently at the mental image. Poor Lily must have been upset for sure: having even that tiny bit of adulthood stripped away and replaced with nothing but babyish diapers. "I don't suppose she's super happy about it?" His mind was flitting back now to their visit to the zoo: how adorable she'd looked, waddling about with that visible bulge in the seat of her pants, her arm clutching tightly at the stuffed koala he'd found for her…

"Not really," Adam commented wryly. "But I've had to be firm, of course. For the furniture's sake, if nothing else. And after all – it was the third strike." His laugh had the rueful tone of a slightly exasperated father. "You know, she did try taking it off a few times this past weekend – to use the potty, you know. But I'm telling you, it's like a curse or something: literally every time after, she ends up leaking everywhere. So… well. Let's just say from now on she has to ask me to help her."

Zane's suppressed smile rippled in his voice despite his attempt at a professional tone. "Oh, really? That sounds like a lot of involvement on your part. But I guess if you don't mind…" "Of course not," Adam returned, and now his own voice was growing slyly confidential. "You know as well as I do, Zane – I don't exactly mind being in control…"

At that, Zane chuckled. "Ahem, well… yes!" But before either of them could slip further into the rose-tinted memories of their past, he steered the conversation back to the present. "Well, it all makes sense to me, given what's happened. And please don't worry too much. From a psychological point of view, it's only to be expected for someone like her who's undergoing mental regression. And sure, the wetting often gets better on its own. But sometimes…" He paused for a moment, then went on in his best clinical tone. "For whatever reason, it gets worse instead. Not to alarm you, of course. But I've even heard of cases in which it progresses directly into uncontrolled, erm, messing as well…"

Amid Adam's murmurs of surprised understanding, Zane cut in with a gentle, positive reassurance. "Anyway, we'll just see what happens. But what is clear is that the next two weeks will be great for her!" He absently twirled a pen in his fingers. "I don't know what you have planned, but recreation of some sort is one of the best things you can do to help deal with one's inner child. There's a lot of literature that supports that kind of therapy and how it helps us process emotions and so forth. And really, it's just play of any kind: coloring, stuffed animals, Lego, puzzles, blocks, dolls…"

"Oh, hey! That reminds me." He smiled once more, and in his voice vibrated the enthusiasm of an uncle who's just hit upon the perfect way to make his favorite niece's day. "I'm pretty sure I've still got that giant dollhouse from my mom's side of the family. Yeah, pretty sure it's still in storage. How about if I break it out and bring it on over? I mean, it's not exactly doing anyone else any good right now!"

And so, when he hung up the phone some five minutes later, it was to rise from his chair and head for the door with a smile on his face. He had a dollhouse to dust off, after all. And maybe… well, he just might have to bake up some of those special treats. Special treats for a very special young lady.

***

The thing was massive: barely able to fit through the door, in fact. But as Zane eased the massive wooden dollhouse down to the carpeted floor of Adam and Lily's living room, he couldn't help but notice the shy, yet undeniably sincere gleam of longing interest in Lily's eyes.

"But that's not all!" He laughed, gesturing into the miniature living room. "Hey, Lily! Why don't you take a peek in through the front windows, hmm? Can you spot something yummy in there?"

She drew close, a telltale crinkle clearly audible underneath her soft, visibly bulgy knit leggings. Her face was shyly quizzical at first, but as soon as she bent down – padded rump prominently on display – and peered in, her face broke into a beaming smile of excitement. "Ooh, Zane – are those more… more brownies?!"

They were indeed, he laughed. And amid Adam's reminders that she'd just had her supper and shouldn't have room, Zane chuckled and suggested to Lily that maybe they'd better focus on unpacking the dolls that he'd also found to go with it. They were still in pretty good condition, after all. Here, could Adam help him bring them in? The bin they'd been in had dumped over during the trip, and they'd tumbled everywhere-

So when the two finally reappeared, Adam beaming with intentional excitement and coaxing Lily to help move the dolls into their house, it was only Zane who noticed that one of the brownies he'd brought over was missing… and that there were a few telltale crumbs around the corners of Lily's mouth.

But of course he said nothing. He just focused on bending down to the floor again and enthusiastically urging her to help decide where everyone should go. Should the dude with the funny green hair go on the balcony? Or no, maybe he should be down in the den area by the TV. Yeah, maybe he was playing Animal Crossing-! And the dad and the little girl should be, hmm…

It worked – beautifully. For when he and Adam finally straightened up some fifteen minutes and shot each other knowing glances, Lily was far too absorbed in her incredible new toy to even notice. Away they stepped to the dining room, there to lean back and watch the spectacle in silence: the young woman, on hands and knees, wriggling her bulgy bum in subconscious delight as she murmured out what one doll must be saying to the other…

After a spell, Zane let out a soft chuckle and nodded in sage approval. "You know, Adam? I won't say I told you so. But a bit of play therapy clearly was a good idea."

"Oh, of course! You're right. And it really is pretty freaking cute. I'm just…" Adam laughed, then gave a little sigh. "I just hope it will be good for her. To tell you the truth, she's been… difficult today. Like, interrupting my work over and over. Complaining about her diaper, of course." He shook his head and shrugged apologetically. "And yeah, I don't want to be mean about it, obviously. But when she bugs you once every hour to use the bathroom,, and she hardly goes at all, it's tough not to, you know… I mean, honey, you're wearing your potty, right? Why not, you know, just…"

It must have been pure coincidence. But even as he spoke, Zane's eyes fixed on the oddly motionless figure of Lily: squatting on her knees, a doll still in each hand, her eyes fixed and staring directly ahead of her into the dollhouse. As he watched, her lips parted – a little meep of pent-up distress escaped – and then, the unmistakable sound of a long-drawn, bubbling fart.

Was she…?

"Lily, what's going on? Are you… is it… do you need to go…?" At Adam's flurry of questions, half-concerned and half exasperated, Lily let out a whimper. "No, I- I'm…! I can't-" Her face twisted, and a fresh, wet-sounding emanation confirmed that something was decidedly going on down below. Adam stepped forward and reached to pull her upright – probably with the intention of hauling her hurriedly off to the bathroom – but Zane laid a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"No, just let her be," he whispered softly. And aloud to Lily: "It's okay. Just relax and let it all out. It's all okay…"

She turned her wide-eyed, fearful gaze up into his sympathetic smile. She whimpered softly. Then, she was squeezing her eyes shut as a fresh, squelching burst of sound rippled out from her obviously and rapidly filling diaper.

So it was that five minutes later, the now-pungent, teary young lady was lying across the bathroom floor, her cheeks almost as deep pink as the shower curtain above her. Her leggings were a tangled heap on the floor, her legs bare and covered with goosebumps as the cool air struck her most sensitive parts. And while Zane remained discreetly away from the open doorway, his calm gaze was fixed on Adam's kneeling form.

"Sure you don't need a hand there? We could always run her a bath if you like. Get her ready for bed…"

No, no, it was fine, Adam assured him, industriously wiping away at the smelly mess before him. They'd both already showered that morning. Though maybe… Could Zane maybe fetch a fresh diaper, and some leggings? They were in their bedroom: big dresser, top two drawers on the left…

Naturally, Zane was only too happy to do so, smiling gently as he slid the lower drawer open and chose a pastel pink pair of leggings that he already knew would look adorable on her. Then, his smile deepened as he opened the top drawer to find multiple stacks of disposable diapers within. He reached in and selected one. But then, as if on impulse, his hand reached in and took a second.

"It's up to you, of course," he offered nonchalantly, to Adam's expression of mild surprise at receiving double what he'd requested. "But better to have her extra well protected at night, right?" At the suggestion, Adam tilted his head and shrugged in assent. "Well, you do have a point…"

Not that Lily necessarily agreed. For as he began unfurling first one and then the other, her strained voice could be heard over the crinkling: "No… please, not two! That- that's too much…" To which Adam merely replied with a kind chuckle and a shake of his head. "Aww, don't worry, babe! It'll be fine, I promise. It's just like Zane said. There's no harm in giving you a bit of extra protection tonight – just in case."

No harm indeed – despite Lily's still unconvinced protests to the contrary. In fact, it could only help, Zane mused, flashing his nicest and most polite smile when the double-diapered Lily finally rose from the floor to stand, hands clutching Adam's shoulders, gazing out in mortified resignation while her fresh, baby-pink leggings were tugged up her legs. After all… well, the way that knit fabric was straining to fit around her comically bulgy butt, and the way she was taking steps forward that could only be described as a waddle…

The second layer might not help with absorbing her accidents, true. But it would most certainly remind everyone present of the indisputable truth:

That Lily was rapidly becoming not just a young lady with potty problems, but an out-and-out adult baby.

(To be continued!)