Published: May 16th 2020, 2:00:03 pm
Lizzie gulped, tears springing to her eyes as she felt herself automatically trying to back away, only to bump into the crib behind her, looking frantically towards the worker standing in the doorway. How could the woman let this happen?!
"Where are you going?" Gwen asked, toddling closer, trapping the smaller girl between her own body and the bars her back was pressed against. "Don't you want to play, baby sis?"
"Lizzie," the worker said warningly, Lizzie's eyes widening as she realized she was the one about to get scolded here, "don't be rude. Do you want me to tell Ms. Hudson?"
"Yes!" Lizzie stomped her foot. "She'll tell you she," she jabbed her finger at the smug, former cheerleader, Amazon, "can't have me!"
"She's a rude little thing, isn't she?" Carlie shook her head with a sigh. "I don't know, Gwen, maybe this isn't the best idea... I'm sure we can find a much sweeter baby sibling for you somewhere else here."
Gwen smirked, jabbing a finger at Lizzie's newly wet diaper, making the girl squirm. "I knew you were just a baby," she whispered. "And now I'm gonna make sure the whole world does, too." She spun around, showing off the rows of lace on the back of her tights, stretched out over her own diaper, bouncing up and down as she stomped her Mary Janes. "No!" she whined. "I want her!"
"Well, you heard her," Carlie shrugged. "I want to give my little sweetie what she wants, so I guess I'll adopt this one, too."
The worker raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't want to get to know her a little better, or...?"
"No, no, she'll do," Carlie waved her off. "Be a dear and go fetch the paperwork for me."
Lizzie whimpered, waiting for the worker to fully comprehend how strange this was, to put a stop to it. "If your mind is made up," she said instead. "This will take a little time..."
"Yes, yes, I know," Carlie rolled her eyes. "I just went through it not that long ago with Gwennie." She stepped over, ruffling the girl's hair. "My information should be in the file from her adoption. The sooner you get started, though, the sooner it will be done."
"All right," the worker nodded. "You can come with me, or I can come back and you can sign here."
Carlie glared down at Lizzie with a sadistic grin. "Oh, we'll wait here. Like you said... We need to get to know the new member of the family some more before we take her home."
"No!" Lizzie shook her head, trying to slip out from around Gwen, just to be pinned in place, the worker turning around at the wrong moment and missing it, stepping away and shutting the door behind herself, trapping Lizzie in there, with Gwen holding her still, and an Amazon between her and the one exit.
"I told you she'd be wet by the time we arrived," Gwen bragged, yanking Lizzie away from the crib, towards Carlie. "I bet she just got changed, too, or else she'd be messy. They probably don't want their prospective adopters seeing how stinky their new babies are going to be."
There was a time when Lizzie would have protested that she wasn't a baby, but it was much harder to claim that now, after spending so long using nothing but her diapers. Not to mention the fact that there were far more pressing concerns at the moment.
"You don't need me," she sniffed, looking up at Carlie. "Y-You already have a baby girl."
"No, she does not," Gwen huffed. "I'm only wearing these stupid diapers to get in here without raising suspicion. I don't need them, unlike you. I told you from the start, I'm not a baby like you or Penny..."
"You do look cute in them, though," Carlie teased.
"Hush," Gwen snapped, "or you're not getting paid."
Carlie furrowed her brow, clearly not happy at being bossed around by a little. "You still don't have the money to pay me," she replied. "And, if I put you in daycare instead of helping you get your company back, you never will."
"Oh, please," Gwen rolled her eyes. "As if you want to take care of two littles at the same time... I've seen how you live; you can barely take care of yourself. I hope you like diaper rash, Lizzie," she mocked, "because I bet you'll be seeing plenty of it when she forgets to change you while she's watching her soaps, or..."
"She can take it," Carlie shrugged. "Just look at her... She was meant to be a baby."
Lizzie blushed, tugging at her skirt, worried that the Amazon hadn't even bothered to try to deny it. Was this seriously who she was going to be stuck living with from now on?! At least some of the people here at the orphanage cared about her... Carlie seemed to only want her because that was what Amazons did, as a fashion statement, almost, or a pet...
"Aww, don't be scared," Gwen teased, reaching up and pinching Lizzie's cheeks. "You can always play pretend that you're a big girl, like you used to... You have a big imagination, don't you? You loved to act like you came from some other world, or that you were ever anything more than this, but we all know that, deep down, you always were, and always will be, a tiny, diaper wearing little brat."
"You're the brat," Lizzie pouted helplessly, her only real defense at the moment.
"No," Gwen countered, "I'm an adult, who is going to go re-claim my business now that my bargain with Carlie here is over."
"It's not over yet!" Carlie pointed out.
"I know," Gwen sighed. "You'll get your money, too, as soon as everything is squared away... But I've gotten you a real baby to replace me. And," she turned back to Lizzie, "she's going to be signing the papers to declare me a legal adult again... Maybe I'll let you take a look at them, since you'll never get to see any of your own. It's just too bad Penny's already gone; I would have loved to have both of you in the 'family', so you could come visit Auntie Gwen in her office once I'm back where I belong, so you could see what real grown-ups look like."
"She's already going to see that," Carlie protested. "She's going to be living with me."
"Right," Gwen smirked, giving Lizzie a conspiratorial wink. "I just meant a real, grown-up little, of course."
She wasn't fooling anyone, least of all Carlie. "I can still change my mind, you know," she huffed. "Those diapers fit you pretty well."
"Money," Gwen reminded her. "It's almost too bad you're already going to be adopted," she put a finger under Lizzie's chin, pushing it upwards, staring her in the eye, "It would be fun to do it myself, once I'm able.... Then you really wouldn't be able to deny that you're just a baby. Who knows, maybe Carlie will be tired of you by then, and I can buy you from her."
In her time here, Lizzie had never seen any littles looking for someone to adopt. Perhaps they were afraid they'd get added to the roster themselves, or, if they wanted to adopt, they looked for actual children... The very idea felt wrong, like it must be some kind of taboo, or should be, anyway. Other littles should know that the way they got treated wasn't fair, that they weren't automatically so much more immature than the rest of the world just because they were smaller.
"I'd get you a nice, strict Amazon nanny, of course," Gwen mused. "I'll be much too busy to look after you myself... But you'd always know who your Mommy was, who was keeping you in diapers, where you belong."
Lizzie flinched as the door swung open, seeing the worker step in, clipboard in hand. If she was being honest, she'd been hoping for Ms. Hudson, that somehow she was going to show up and save her from this... But it was her day off.
"Here you go," the woman handed the clipboard over to Carlie. "You just need to sign here and here, and..."
"No!" Lizzie gathered up her courage, knowing she had to take a stand for herself, stop this any way she could. "You haft..." To her shock, Gwen shoved a pacifier into her mouth, turning the dial to make the nipple swell up, silencing her.
"Such a noisy baby," the girl giggled innocently. "Is this what all baby sisters are like?"
"It is!" the worker knelt down, smiling at her. "Are you sure you're ready for that?"
"Oh, yes," Gwen grinned at the pacified Lizzie. "We're gonna have so much fun together..."
Lizzie watched helplessly as Carlie signed the papers, every scratch of the pen making her skin crawl, knowing what it meant for her. She couldn't imagine Carlie or Gwen caring about her condition, or looking after her properly... They only wanted her to make themselves look better, or more mature. It was hard to think of a worse outcome for her time here....
"Perfect," the worker stood up, looking at the clipboard. "Now, we just need you to sign the next page on the same spots."
Carlie frowned, pausing for a moment. "Are there two forms now? I could have sworn there was only one last time."
Lizzie saw Gwen's expression change, turn a little more worried. As a CEO, she was surely quite experienced with contracts; as a little, and one who had come here dressed how she was, there wasn't much she could do without drawing attention to herself. "C-Can I...?" she started to say.
It was satisfying, Lizzie had to admit, seeing the same move Gwen had done to her, so quickly turned around on the other girl, as the worker stuffed a paci into her mouth. "Hush now," the Amazon chided her. "The adults are talking. And yes, dear, there are two this time... This is the second time you're adopting from us, after all."
"Oh," Carlie mused momentarily, before shrugging. "That makes sense, I guess."
Lizzie could hear Gwen's muffled protests, but even she couldn't make out what they were. The worker watched closely, waiting for Carlie to finish signing before snatching the clipboard away. "Perfect," she nodded, halfway stepping back outside the door. "You can come in now!"
"That's sweet, but I don't need any help," Carlie told her. "I can handle these two on my own."
"No, it's not for them," the worker's smile shifted. "It's for you."
"Huh?" Carlie looked confused, which only amplified as three more people stepped into the room, more workers, although one of them should have been at home that day.
The two others stepped forward, grabbing Carlie by the arms, pulling her to the floor, while Ms. Hudson approached, diaper in hand. "Hello, Carlie," she said. "It's funny, you never did show up to those parenting classes I assigned to you, did you?"
"Get away from me!" Carlie kicked her legs frantically, whimpering. "You can't do this to me!"
"I can't?" Ms. Hudson smirked. "That's funny, considering you just signed away all your adult rights. I would have thought Gwen here would have taught you to always carefully read over anything before you sign."
Lizzie heard Gwen grumbling behind her pacifier, probably saying she'd tried.
"I admit, it was my mistake," Ms. Hudson said. "I should have just had you banned from here altogether, instead of only putting a note on Lizzie's file about you. I assumed you'd go after her... I hope little Gwen here didn't have too hard a time because of my oversight. But don't worry, Gwen, dear, your Mommy also signed to annul the adoption, so you'll be living here again, too... And I'll make sure, this time, you get adopted by someone who can give you the care and attention you need."
Gwen stomped her foot, face turning red, tears springing to her eyes as all of her plans crumbled down around her, leaving her trapped in this place again. She turned towards Lizzie, fuming, the smaller girl cowering before her obvious anger, but, thankfully, Ms. Hudson saw, plucking her off the floor, handing her to the original worker. "Thank you for calling me, and for all your assistance. Could you take her down to daycare for me?"
"Of course," the woman smiled, giving the wriggling girl's ruffly, padded backside a whack that stopped her squirming for a moment as she yelped in pain. "Happy to help."
"Stop it!" Carlie raged as Ms. Hudson knelt down next to her, starting to unbutton her pants. "Let me go!"
"I'm sorry, Carlie," Ms. Hudson said calmly, gently, "but you know I can't do that... Not until we get you all diapered up."
"I'm not wearing a diaper!" Carlie stomped her feet, shaking her head, trying to overpower the pair of workers pinning her to the floor, and failing. "I won't do it!"
But her pants were already down, quickly followed by her panties. She had plenty of experience with this, after all, even if it was mostly with people much smaller than her. Carlie groaned as her ankles her lifted, her bottom lowered back onto the waiting diaper.
Lizzie felt a sudden wave of nostalgia as she watched, thinking back to her arrival at the orphanage, to her first meeting with Carlie, when the Amazon had been made to change her diaper to prove she knew what she was doing, and was ready to adopt. Ms. Hudson turned back to her, smiling softly, reaching over and removing the pacifier. "Do you want to be my little helper?" she asked.
Lizzie eagerly nodded, toddling over to the changing table, returning with an armload of supplies, and, remembering that day - and her many changes since then - was careful to hand over the baby oil first. "Very good," Ms. Hudson complimented her. "We don't want her skin to dry out, do we?"
"Get that little brat away from me!" Carlie struggled uselessly while Ms. Hudson proceeded to rub the oil into her skin, following it up with a liberal amount of baby powder before tugging the diaper up between her legs, taping one side shut, then turning back to Lizzie. "Would you like to do the other side?"
Lizzie smiled, walking a bit closer. She jumped as Carlie nearly broke free, retreated closer to Ms. Hudson, but a squeeze to her hand reminded her that she was safe, and she reached over, grabbing the side of the diaper. "Pull it nice and snug," Ms. Hudson reminded her, holding the middle down to help. Lizzie beamed proudly as she opened up the tape, pushing it down onto the landing strip, sealing the bratty former cheerleader into her diaper. Carlie stomped her feet, screaming in impotent rage, until one of the other workers quieted her down with a paci.
"She's going to be quite the handful," Ms. Hudson shook her head, wiping her hands off, "but this is clearly what she needs."
"Definitely," one of the other workers agreed. "What are we going to do with her, though? She isn't going to fit in our other rooms."
"That's true," Ms. Hudson agreed. "We'll have to get her a custom crib, and changing table, and everything, and it'll take up a lot more room than our normal ones. I guess we'll just have to give her a private room."
"The only one of those is here," her co-worker pointed out.
"But..." Lizzie fidgeted, "this is my room..." Was she about to gain a roommate? As clear as it was that the woman deserved what was coming to her, Lizzie didn't think she'd be getting a lot of the rest she needed with her here... Of course, if there were two of them here, it wouldn't exactly be a private room for either. Would Lizzie be moved to somewhere else, then, made to room with some random person?
"Yes, it is," Ms. Hudson said. "For now..." She walked over to the dresser, where the other worker had set down the clipboard as she left with Gwen. "But... I've been thinking about this for a while, and, when I got the call telling me what was going on, I realized it was time. I was so worried about what could have happened to you... If somehow this had slipped through the cracks, and you got taken away by someone who wasn't going to look after you the way you need, the way you deserve..." She shook her head. "I couldn't forgive myself. That's why I had one more contract drawn up... There's somebody else who wants to adopt you, Lizzie."
She flipped the pages, past the one where Carlie had agreed to commit herself to the orphanage, past the one where she'd agreed to un-do her previous adoption. For a moment, Lizzie thought back to the other people who had visited her, who she'd chased away. Had one of them seen through her act after all? She kind of hoped it was Ms. Heath... That was the one that she was sure would be nice.
"It's up to you, though, Lizzie. If you don't want to do this, if you want to wait and see if we can find you somebody better, I'll understand..."
Of course. Lizzie felt bad, or at least silly, having not realized it before. It wasn't Ms. Heath... It was somebody bettter. "No!" Lizzie wiped her eyes, tears having started to fill them again, but this time, from happiness, not fear.. "There isn't anybody better.... Mommy."
Epilogue
"Are you ready, Lizzie?"
Lizzie looked up from her toys, nervously nibbling on her bottom lip. There weren't nearly as many toys here as at the orphanage, but Mommy was working on it... She hadn't expected this to happen so soon, after all; they'd had to go buy furniture for Lizzie's new room as soon as Ms. Hudson had signed the papers.
"I-I think so," Lizzie nodded, blushing slightly as Mommy slipped a finger into her onesie, discovering her soggy diaper.
"Will you be after we get you nice and dry?" Mommy chuckled, picking her up, carrying her over to her new changing table and laying her down, unsnapping the onesie. "You don't have to be, you know... If you need more time to rest, we can do it another time."
Lizzie wiggled happily, smiling up at her, knowing it was true. Mommy understood what she needed, and she was more than happy to give it to her. "I can do it, Mommy," she promised. "We don't hafta stay too long if I get tired, do we?"
"Of course not," Mommy beamed. "I just think it'll be a good idea for you to meet one of your preschool classmates, so you'll know somebody when you start next week."
It was a little scary, the idea of going to school somewhere else. At least at the orphanage, Ms. Hudson had always been nearby, ready to swoop in if anything went wrong... But the preschool was close to the orphanage, and Mommy had assured Lizzie that she was only a phone call away.
There was some small part of Lizzie that thought she should have protested at the very idea of being put in preschool again, that she should have fought her her right to grow back up, to be a responsible adult again... But she knew she was never going to be seen like one in this world. And, honestly, after spending so long in diapers, to the point where she wouldn't have trusted herself out of them even if she had the option, she wasn't sure she'd see herself like one again, either. Back when she'd first arrived, that thought would have terrified her; now, it was oddly comforting, if only because she knew she didn't have to be an adult. That's what Mommy was for.
"That's better," Mommy snapped the onesie back up, tickling her little girl's tummy before picking her up, resting her on her hip. "Let's go, then."
They weren't going far, but it was still weird, going out the front door, dressed this way, her diaper bulging around her waist, plastic peeking out of the legbands of her onesie, leaving no question what she was wearing. There was a playground at the orphanage, however, it was surrounded on all sides by the orphanage itself, with no way to run away from it, and no way for the outside world to see her when she was playing while she was in it.
Here, anyone could see her. She blushed as the mailman waved to them cheerfully, slipping a few envelopes into their mailbox and moving on, not giving the sight of her a second thought. There were neighbors, too, watching their kids playing on the front lawn, or pushing strollers, all of them able to just look over, spot her there, wearing the diapers she'd grown to truly need... And none of them caring.
"Is she one of them?" Lizzie asked nervously, pointing at the littles out playing across the street.
"No," Mommy shook her head. "They may go there, too, I'm not sure... But they're not who you're going to meet. She's someone very special." It was a short walk, right next door. "Do you want to ring the bell?"
Mommy held her up, let her reach over and push the button. She could faintly hear it ring inside, heard a voice that was oddly familiar, although she couldn't quite place it, yell, "Yes, you can answer it, dear!"
There was some fumbling on the other side of the door, and, after a moment, it fell open, revealing a little girl in a pink onesie and diapers every bit as thick as Lizzie's. Lizzie gasped, squealing in shock and delight, glad that Mommy was perceptive enough to know what to do, already letting her down so she could toddle over and give her a big hug. "Penny!"
"Lizzie!" the girl answered, every bit as happy. "I missed you so much!"
They stayed that way for a long time, both of their eyes pretty wet by the time they let go. Lizzie reached up to wipe hers, jumping slightly as she realized, as that had been happening, Penny's Mommy had appeared behind the girl.
"Hello again," she said with a smile. "It's wonderful to see you, Lizzie."
"Ms. Heath!" Lizzie gasped again. "Y-You're... Mommy's neighbor?"
"I am," the woman told her. "She was the one who recommended you to me when I told her I was ready to adopt a little... But we know how that worked out, don't we?" she winked.
Lizzie blushed. "Sorry about that... I-I..."
"No, no," Ms. Heath chuckled. "It's for the best... When that didn't work out, your Mommy introduced me to Penny. And, since I didn't adopt you, that means your Mommy was able to, the way she should have a long time ago."
"And now we're neighbors!" Penny clapped her hands. "And we're gonna go to school together!"
"Yeah!" Lizzie giggled, getting caught up in the excitement for a moment, before remembering, "But... You weren't in preschool back at the orphanage..."
Penny looked down at her feet bashfully. "She'd been having some trouble with her schoolwork already," Ms. Heath explained. "So, when she heard you were going to be moving in, she volunteered to be moved back."
"Penny!" Lizzie shook her head. "You didn't have to do that!"
"I'm glad I did," Penny told her. "It's so much more fun there, and I don't have to worry about homework, or math, or..."
"Or potty training," Ms. Heath teased.
"Mommy!" Penny blushed, stomping her foot, though her 'anger' was quickly ended with a kiss on the top of the head.
"Now, then, are you going to come inside, or just stand in the door all afternoon?" Ms. Heath gestured for them to come inside, Penny and Ms. Hudson complying. Lizzie stayed behind for a moment, staring up at Ms. Heath. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Umm..." Lizzie's cheeks turned a little pink. "Can I... have that hug now?" She turned it down when Ms. Heath had visited her, thinking about adopting her, and had regretted it ever since.
"Of course you can," the woman knelt down, folding Lizzie into her arms. It was a good hug, one of the best the girl had ever had... Except, of course, for her Mommy's.