Published: April 16th 2020, 2:01:01 pm
"Oh, sweetie," Hazel smiled, "of course you can! I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that!"
Janet watched as her step-daughter took the bowl of oatmeal, feeling a wave of relief that the girl was taking her request in stride, not getting mad at her for being unsatisfied with what she'd been given. Maybe Hazel wasn't so bad after all... If Janet behaved herself, then it seemed like her babysitter could be reasonable, too.
"Let's see... I think we have some nice apples!" Zella exclaimed. "Would that be good?"
Janet nodded, watched her go, glancing down at her seat while she was gone. She tugged at the strap on the booster seat, pretty sure, if she wanted, she could get it off while she was unsupervised, perhaps try another daring escape... Though, at this point, what would she do? She had no idea where her phone was, where Hazel had taken it, and her real bedroom was so far away... It was better to stay there, prove she could be good, so that, maybe she could prove she was mature enough to be given it back.
After a minute or two, Zella returned, setting the bowl back down. "Thank you!" Janet chirped automatically, picking up her spoon, glancing down... And wrinkling her nose. There was definitely something swirled into the gray mush, but it didn't look like any apple Janet had ever seen... She wrinkled her nose, staring at the brown-ish streaks now stirred around the bowl, where she'd been expecting little chunks of apple.
Hazel clearly saw her disappointment. "Sorry, Prissy," she shrugged. "I thought I saw some apples in the kitchen, but I couldn't find them. I did have an old jar of baby food from my babysitting days there, however, and it was still sealed, and it said it was still safe..."
Baby food?! Janet whined, kicking her feet despite herself. She couldn't escape the stuff, it seemed... She wasn't sure if it was better or worse, getting it out of a jar - something made specifically for babies - instead of Hazel mixing it up herself, displaying the 'real' version of the food as she ate it herself. In the moment, though, she had a more pressing question. "What kind of baby food?"
"It's apple!" Zella told her, as the smaller girl poked at the oatmeal with her spoon. "Just eat it, Prissy... It'll be harder if you let it get cold."
Janet had no doubt that was true; she also didn't buy that this was apple. Or, at least, only apple. That should just look like applesauce, whereas this looked like... Well, she didn't know, but nothing appetizing.
But a good little girl did as her babysitter told her, so, tentatively, she dipped her spoon in, getting a little of the babyfood, and not much more of the oatmeal, nibbling at it, then nearly spitting it up, grabbing for her milk to wash it down, even though it wasn't much better. There was a hint of apple, yes... The other flavor, however, was definitely something else. There was a sweetness to it, although, if anything, it was too sweet, sickly sweet, and not in a way she enjoyed. It was oddly familiar, yet she couldn't quite place it.
"What's that face?" Hazel teased. "Eat up, Prissy... It's good for you."
Janet really didn't want to, didn't feel like forcing down another bite, much less the whole bowl... But she'd gotten what she asked for. It was only fair she held up her end of the bargain. "O-Okay," she nodded reluctantly. "Th-Thank you..." She knew she couldn't possibly have sounded sincere, certainly not as much as the last time she'd said it; Zella smiled even more this time anyway.
"You are so welcome," she kissed Janet on the top of the head, finally sitting in her own seat. "I'm glad to see you're in a better mood today, Prissy."
"Uh-huh." It was still weird, answering to someone else's name... Janet was getting used to it, though, perhaps a little too much. It had been less than a day since anyone had called her by her real name, but she felt like she was already forgetting what that sounded like. She wasn't thinking of herself as Prissy, yet... By the end of the weekend, however...
"I hope it continues," Zella took a bite of her bacon. "Go on, eat! You're going to need energy for today!"
Janet obediently started to get another spoonful ready, forcing herself to make it a bit bigger, so she wouldn't be at this all day. She didn't want to get too crazy... If she could keep from spilling any, maybe she could at least prove she didn't need the bib, and perhaps could go without the booster seat as well. "Umm... Wh-What are we doing today?" She really hoped Hazel didn't plan on taking her anywhere... What if she ran into someone she knew?! On one hand, they might be able to succeed where she'd failed, convince Hazel she'd made a mistake... On the other, that would require her to be seen out, dressed like a little girl, being treated like a little girl, probably in diapers...
"Well, first you're going to be doing your homework," Hazel informed her. "I know you like to put it off, and that it's a holiday, but if you get it out of the way now, you can have fun the rest of the time!"
"H-Homework?" Janet blushed. She was an adult! She didn't have homework, hadn't for years!
Zella chuckled. "I'm sure you've heard of it."
Janet nodded, crinkling her nose in preparation as she made herself swallow the spoonful of oatmeal and baby food, gulping down some more milk immediately. This definitely wasn't going to make her suddenly love milk, although, in comparison to the food, it did taste better than she could ever recall it tasting before. It likely helped that it was cooling off a tad as it sat.
"So, tell me, Prissy," Hazel said, after letting the girl gag down a couple more bites and gulps, "where is your backpack?"
"Huh?" Janet looked up at a question she hadn't been asked in even longer than it had been since she'd had to worry about homework. The answer was obvious, that, of course, as an adult, she didn't have a backpack... She had plenty of purses, and other bags, but she didn't need an actual backpack.
That was the kind of answer Hazel didn't like, however. That made it sound like Janet was resisting, was being a brat, no matter how true it was. "I-It, uh..." she squirmed in her booster, desperate to think of a good excuse, wishing she'd been smart enough, a few minutes earlier, to say she didn't have any homework, or that she'd done it all already... Though, to be fair, if she had, Zella probably would have wanted to see proof, and she'd be right back here.
"Prissy!" Hazel scolded. "You didn't leave it at school again, did you?"
"I-I dunno," she shrugged, happy to hide behind the oatmeal as she was getting chastised for something she definitely hadn't done, but couldn't defend herself against without coming up with a better lie.
"You keep trying to act like you've gotten so grown-up," Zella sighed, "but the longer I'm around you, the better I can see it's just more of the same... Is the reason you try so hard to seem like a big girl because you haven't really grown up at all?"
"I have!" Janet pouted. Not only had she grown up, she literally was a grown-up... And now Hazel was telling her she was as immature as an actual child she'd babysat, one who needed diapers, and help remembering to bring home her backpack?
"Well, lucky for you, I was expecting this," Hazel smirked. "After seeing how bad you still were at keeping your pants dry, and not being able to find your backpack myself, I had a feeling I'd need to. I knew the neighbor was in the same grade as you, so I called last night to get the assignments... It's a good thing they haven't updated the books since I was there. We still had them up in the attic, too."
The neighbor?! Janet shuddered, wondering what long-term effects that was going to have... She hadn't gotten to know any of the neighbors yet. Now they thought a little girl lived here... She hoped, once this was over, she couldn't be easily mistaken for one, but if that's what they were looking for... And, especially, if Zella decided to take her out anywhere, and she was seen dressed up that way first, before they met her as her adult self...
Janet was so preoccupied, she didn't notice the grin forming on Hazel's face, watching her discomfort. "It's funny," she mused, "they said they hadn't met you yet... Are you still shy, sweetie? I suggested you have a little play-date, or maybe even a sleep-over, so you could make a new friend."
"What?!" Janet squealed, spitting oatmeal onto herself, and her bib, ruining her hopes of staying clean through the meal. It was almost like Zella had waited, had said that when she'd seen Janet was in the middle of a bite...
"I know it would be a little embarrassing, sweetie, because obviously you'd have to wear your diapers, but I'm sure she's a very nice girl... Now. She was kind of a brat when I babysat her, and a bit of a tattletale... She's probably outgrown that. I can't imagine she'd be mean enough to tell the whole class if she found out."
Even knowing it wasn't real, it couldn't ever happen because she wasn't in school, and definitely not in the same grade as the little girl the next house over, but the idea still made her squirm in humiliation, imagining that happening to her when she truly had been a kid... Then blushing, shaking her head, reminding her it couldn't have, since she hadn't had these issues. She'd never wet the bed, much less had daytime accidents, not until now...
"She had a baby brother, too," Zella twisted the knife a little further. "So I'm sure she know how to change diapers... She could take care of it for you while you're there... I mean, it's not like you'd be able to stay dry the whole time anyway..."
"Yes, I could!" Janet whined, face bright red.
"No," Hazel countered, in a tone that made Janet doubt herself, "you can't. But that's okay... I have no doubt your friend would be happy to take care of it for you..."
Janet wriggled in place, unable to fully process how mortifying that would be; Hazel was already younger than her, but this neighbor was apparently an actual child... To have her be put in charge of her, to have her changing her diapers... She wasn't sure her dignity could handle that.
Zella scooted forward slightly in her hair, soaking up the girl's humiliation for another long few moments before letting her off the hook. "It won't be this weekend, though," she said. "They were leaving this morning for a little trip. Good thing I talked to them when I did, huh?"
Janet slumped forward a bit, relieved she'd dodged that bullet. The oatmeal didn't taste quite as bad now, knowing what had almost happened - at least, according to Hazel. It still took far too long for her to finish it, the sitter's warning coming true as the mush cooled, becoming even more disgusting as it started to congeal, but Hazel didn't tell her she could stop, or offer to warm it up, so Janet toughed her way through it.
"Good job!" Zella praised her, standing up to undo the straps on the booster, grabbing her own plate. "Bring your things... I don't trust you to go into the kitchen on your own, but that doesn't mean you can't help out a little."
Obediently, Janet picked up the bowl and bottle, toddling along after Hazel, putting them into the sink. There, waiting for her, empty, was the jar of baby food, placed there almost as if Hazel wanted her to see it. She hadn't been lying; it did have apple in it. The other ingredient, however, was prune.
She wrinkled her nose again, reliving the taste, finally recognizing it. Had she really eaten that whole thing?! She groaned, already imagining what that was going to do to her, along with the oatmeal itself... Surely, Hazel hadn't done that on purpose... Had she?!
"Okay," Zella declared, "I'm going to get working on these dishes, and you," she booped Janet's nose, "are going to do your homework. I have it all set up in the living room for you!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Janet nodded, trudging to the living room, where there was a stack of books and paper, laid out on the floor. It wasn't even on the coffee table, where she could sit... It was splayed out, like she was expected to lie down with it on her tummy, too small to really need a table. One book in particular was already open and waiting, clearly what she was meant to start with. Curiously, she sat down on her diapered bottom, leaning over to see what it was.
Was it...
Math, which had always been her least favorite subject?
English, which had always been her favorite?
Or Spanish, which she'd never taken at all?