Published: February 20th 2025, 8:24:45 pm
I wasn’t that much of an outdoorsy girl to begin with. Maybe the hike would have been more tolerable if I had been dressed in more sporty outfits like the others, and that was before adding on the discomfort of continuing on with full diapers.
Kate eventually let go of my hand, as it wasn’t particularly convenient to walk like that when the trail was narrow more often than not and had several stretches of difficult terrain. Unlike my post-accident time at the mall, there was nothing consistent about the trail we were on, meaning I had to deal with all kinds of uncomfortable shifts of the sagging padding along the way.
It would have been nice to know how much longer the hike was. Luna had said it wasn’t too far, but that could mean anything. And, with every passing minute, I knew that I’d have to spend that same minute on the way down.
“Keep up, Annie!” Kate called back to me, after glancing over her shoulder and seeing me straggling behind.
I was trying! Even if I was dressed appropriately, I was shorter than the three of them and way less athletic comparatively. As usual, Kate and our cousins had been caught up in some conversation while I was the odd girl out. Not that I could blame them; Luna and Lilah thought that I was some middle school girl who still had daytime accidents, while Kate was their actual age and maturity.
At this point, I didn’t flinch or think twice about the nickname. The constant repetition had completely normalized the childish version of my name, plus I had much bigger concerns at the moment; I could hardly complain about anything when my accidents kept proving Kate right about the padded underwear she had decided I’d be wearing for the foreseeable future.
After what felt like thirty minutes, though it could have easily just been ten or fifteen with an incline and a state of dress that made every minute feel twice as long, we reached the scenic view the twins had hyped up.
It was . . . fine. Perhaps I would have appreciated the half nature/half city skyline more under different circumstances. By the time I reached the lookout point, the others had already been there for a minute or so; Kate was taking pictures on her phone, and our cousins were pointing out other trails and favorite areas they’d have to take us to next time.
Meanwhile, I was just cringing at how high up we were, and how getting changed would require hiking all the way back down and driving back to the house.
“Hey! Do you and Annie want a picture?” Luna asked.
“Of course!” Kate smiled, “Come on, little sis. Let’s make a memory.”
Before I knew it, Kate was placing her hand on my back and walking me towards the railing. Had we been photographed together since our arrival? Well, kind of. Though I had much clearer memories of all the shots Kate had made of me in full diapers, there was also the family picture from the country club. Still, this was embarrassing in its own way. Between the size difference and the embarrassing contrast of our outfits, this would be yet another instance of Kate blatantly looking like the older sister.
While I really didn’t want Kate to have an image of us like this in yet another setting, it wasn’t a hill worth dying on in the slightest. Not when every minute spent enjoying the view was another minute I’d be in the sagging diapers.
So I let her lead me to what would admittedly be a nice backdrop for a photo under normal circumstances, where she draped an arm over my shoulders. It was more or less the same as any time we took a picture together–forced smiles and fake closeness, since we really didn’t have that much in common as sisters. Although this time, I was assuming Kate’s smile would be a bit more genuine from how her little dare/prank had snowballed so much.
At this point, however, I had completely lost track of what was my sister’s doing and what was my own fault.
“Smile, Annie!” Luna said, giving me an encouraging smile as she trained her phone’s camera on us.
I did as I was told, mostly since pouting would just lead to more pictures being taken until Kate and I had a good one together.
“Aww, cute!” Luna said, checking out the photo afterwards, “That’s a good one. Here, let’s take a selfie with all of us.” She and Lilah came over to join us, where Luna held the phone up and took a few pictures of all of us with the scenic background. “Okay, that should do it. Anyone want a snack?”
Apparently we weren’t just going to turn around right away and head back down the trail. As usual, I was the odd girl out as Kate and our cousins started talking about doing something over Christmas, and how they really needed to see each other more often than the years it had been since our last visit. I just stood around, awkwardly fidgeting in the diapers that were impossible to ignore, waiting for them to be done with the break. Aside from a handful of crackers and a few sips of water, I didn’t have much of what the twins brought along; the last thing I needed was to wet myself in the car on the way back to the house.
Eventually, the girls decided it was time to head back. It felt like a much longer hike the second time around, as I had to walk the whole thing in the sagging padding, rather than just the post-accident portion. I belatedly thought about how the two week clock had once again reset in terms of how long I was going to have to keep wearing diapers. Not that I could blame Kate at this point. I couldn’t deny that there was some logic to her insistence that I wear protective padding until I was completely accident free, even if I knew that getting back to my normal routine would probably be enough to keep me from using my diapers so frequently.
When we finally made it back to the car, I didn’t hesitate in the slightest when Kate helped me into the booster seat and fussed over my dress and my hair. Even with pigtails, the heat and humidity had done a number to my red locks. Naturally, my sister was glistening in a more attractive way, while I felt like a total mess after hiking in diapers and a girly dress.
I thought about asking if we could stop somewhere for me to change on the way, but it had been awkward enough the first time Kate did all that with me on a changing table. Plus we’d have to buy more diapers, when there were plenty of both cloth and disposable ones back at the house.
Our cousins’ neighborhood was getting more familiar now that we had gone out several times for various activities. As we turned onto their street, I was briefly relieved at how the end was in sight in terms of my current underwear situation.
That is, until the house came into view and I saw our parents’ minivan parked in the driveway.