Published: March 4th 2021, 3:01:01 pm
"Is everything all right, sweetie?" Miss Katie knelt down next to Danielle. "You've been awfully quiet today."
Dani glanced up from the blocks she'd been idly stacking. "Yes, Miss Katie," she told her.
The woman raised an eyebrow, tilting her head. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You look like you're thinking hard about something... I'd love to help you, if you need it."
She should have known she wouldn't be able to fool Katie... She was so big, and smart, and perceptive... She really did make Danielle feel like a toddler most of the time, even in those rare instances where her diaper was dry. "I dunno," she shrugged, uncertain of where to begin. Obviously, she couldn't come right out and tell her the truth, that she wanted to trick her old bully into joining her at the daycare; she had a feeling that was not something Katie would approve of.
She'd started things out well, she thought, insisting to Vivien that she be allowed to go into the daycare on her own, not wanting anyone in there to see Vivi before she was ready. Vivien had been skeptical, but was satisfied with sitting in the car, watching her until she made her way into the door. Dani suspected if she'd ducked out a few seconds later - not that the workers would have allowed it - she would have seen the car still there, ready to scoop her up.
While it wasn't as fun as it had been at first, especially now that Tessa was off at her own school, being a big girl, Danielle wouldn't have tried that anyway. She had no doubt that the daycare would have called her mother... And what would she have done? There was nowhere for her to go, really, not without her own car there, and definitely not while she was dressed this way, with her diaper more obvious than usual. She was absolutely not about to go toddling around this neighborhood like that...
If she did, she'd probably have been taken back to the daycare by some concerned neighbor before too long. Why would they think she was anything more than one of the students there, no matter how much she insisted she was an adult, that, if she hadn't decided to take a break, she would be in college? After having seen her reflection today, in the outfit Vivi had picked out for her, she could totally understand anyone assuming she was just a little kid with a big imagination.
Finally, she continued, glad that Katie had known enough to stay there with her while she racked her brain, instead of leaving her alone. "I just... There's this new girl I just met, a-and I want her to be my friend, and I don't know how."
"A new friend?" Miss Katie smiled. "That would be wonderful, wouldn't it? I'm sure if you just talk to her, she'd love to be your friend, too!"
Dani blushed, thinking about their interaction that morning. "I-I'm not so sure," she replied.
"Oh, you're such a sweet girl, I bet she would," Katie told her. "Did she move in near you? I know we don't have any new students here..."
Danielle nodded with a, "Sort of." It was too complicated to try to explain... She should have expected the question; of course Miss Katie would know it wasn't anyone here she could be talking about, and, as a supposed toddler, there weren't that many other avenues for her to meet people.
"Well, maybe you should share some things you like doing with her," Katie suggested. "Like coloring! You're so good at coloring... And wouldn't it be fun to do that with her? And the two of you could talk and get to know each other while you do it!"
Coloring... That's what she was talented at now. She'd never been a straight-A student, but she got good grades - and A's in a lot of things - but now, that was what she was being praised for. She looked down at her blocks bashfully, wondering if Vivi was right, if she was just a dumb, whiny, little baby now, if that's what she'd let herself be reduced to, her cheeks burning...
"Hey," Katie rubbed her back. "Are you scared to talk to her? You don't have to... I bet if you go over and play with her, she'll want to talk to you! And you can just listen for as long as you need, okay? There's no need to be afraid... I'm sure she'll see what a nice girl you are in no time! She might even ask you to be friends before you can do it!"
Dani chuckled at the thought. "I don't think that's gonna happen," she predicted, but, as usual, she did feel better, having Miss Katie talk her through this. She gave her a hug, hardly giving it a second thought when the woman took the opportunity to tug out the back of her diaper and peek inside, giving her a check at the same time.
Danielle was clean... Which was not as good as it might seem. She didn't want to be sitting there in a stinky diaper, but it was better than giving Vivi what she wanted. It was probably her nerves, imagining that, that had kept her from doing it, and the closer she got to when she would be going home, the more worried she got. "Umm... Can I have another snack?" she asked, hoping a bit more food would help get things moving.
"Wait, were you scamming me?" Katie teased. "Was all this to get an extra cookie?" Dani shook her head. "Hmm... I don't know..." But she did take Dani to the kitchen to get one anyway, out of the sight of the other students. Danielle chose an oatmeal raisin, thinking it would be the biggest help.
Unfortunately, even if that was the case, it wasn't enough. It was still hanging over her head at pick-up time, as she went back out to Vivi's car, and was driven home, listening to Tessa happily babble about her day at kindergarten while she sat there, a pacifier firmly pushed into her mouth as soon as her face had been within reach.
Vivien fixed them a snack - celery sticks with peanut butter for Tessa, and baby food in a particularly unappealing shade of green for Dani - and shepherded them into the living room. Danielle squirmed, looking at the disgusting mush in her bowl, positive Vivi had brought that for her, specifically... In all her time at the daycare, she'd always been allowed to eat solids, which she hadn't realized was something she should be so grateful for.
"I-I can eat celery, too," she insisted.
"I'm sure you can," Vivi smirked. "But have your peas instead. What do you think you're doing?" Dani looked at her, confused, as she started to climb onto the couch next to the other two girls. "This is for big girls who are potty trained... You can sit on the floor, diaper-butt."
And so, Danielle was stuck on the floor in front of the coffee table, pouting as she stared at the bowl of baby food in front of her. One spoonful had been enough to tell her the taste - or, to be fair, the texture - was as bad as it looked. "Dani," Vivien chanted after a minute or two. "Do I need to feed you? I want you to eat it all, so one day you can grow up to be a big girl like your sister!"
Danielle didn't want to eat another bite... But she wasn't going to risk letting Vivi spoon-feed her. Nose wrinkled, she dipped her spoon into the mush again, choking it down. Tessa was done well before her, and had run off to sit in front of the TV to watch cartoons, while Vivi started on her homework, looking up now and then to confirm Dani was still slowly finishing up her snack.
As she was sitting there, even faced away from the television, she was getting a good show, watching Vivi reluctantly sort through all her textbooks, trying to decide what to work on first, each of the prospects worse than the last, judging by the look on her face. As she gagged down her baby food, Dani thought of Katie's words, a plan coming together...
The coffee table was high enough to let her eat from it while sitting down, but coloring was a different story. She had to rest on her knees to be able to reach far enough across the table to get to the top of her page. And Vivien had taken up enough of the table that she had to keep her crayons above that, forcing her to reach up, her padded bottom sticking out, to get to them. She could, and normally would, have laid on the floor instead... That would defeat the purpose, however.
"Hey, Vivi," she said after a few minutes, "what do you think?"
Vivien rolled her eyes, glancing up from her textbooks, over at the picture. "Yeah, that's great," she shrugged. "Here." She shoved the paci back into Dani's mouth, but that didn't stop her.
"Vivi!" she exclaimed, a few minutes later, seeing a scowl growing on the babysitter's face as she was seemingly stuck on a particularly hard question.
"Why is your pacifier out?" Vivien asked.
"This is an important question!" Danielle insisted. "What color do you think I should use for this?"
Vivi sighed, making Dani start to question her plot, wonder if this had been a bad idea. "I'm right in the middle of something," she said.
"Well, you're my babysitter, so you're s'posed to help me!" Dani huffed.
"Fine!" Vivien dug through the crayon box, grabbing one out and tossing it onto the table. "Use that one."
"Okay!" Danielle popped her paci back into her mouth, picked up the crayon, burbled out a muffled, "Thank you."
"Sure," Vivi turned back to her homework. Dani watched her some more, waiting to see her start to struggle again before repeating the process, this time getting a, "Dani! Seriously!" in response.
"It's hard!" Danielle sniffed, stretching out to pick up the crayon box and show it to her. "There's so many to choose from!"
"Oh, you think that's hard?" Vivien turned her book around, showing it to Dani. "This is what I have to deal with!"
"Wow." A part of Dani was almost jealous, looking at it, though the rest of her was confused, trying to figure out what it all meant. To be fair, it was probably an upper level class, not what she would have started with if she'd gone to college instead of daycare, but she had no idea what it meant. "Well, it's the hardest thing I have to think about," she commented, hoping to spark some jealousy.
"Really?" Vivi looked at her. "That's the hardest thing? Picking out colors for your picture?" Danielle nodded, positive she could see the gears turning in the other girl's mind. "Not keeping your diapers clean?"
She didn't feel what was happening until she heard that, making it clear that, mortifyingly, Vivien had known about it before her. She blushed, wiggling her bottom, feeling the lump forming there, realizing she was giving the babysitter exactly what she wanted, pooping in pants in front of her... And she hadn't even realized it.
"But I guess you're not really worried about that, are you?" Dani squeaked as Vivien gave her stuck-out bottom a swat, squelching the contents of her diaper. She sat down quickly, trying to protect herself, only to feel it squish even more, as her tummy continued to push, filling her diaper further and further. "What a baby," Vivi mocked. "Your Mommy wasn't lying..."
She pushed the paci back into Danielle's mouth, which the girl thought was the most babyish she could feel... But her babysitter wasn't finished. "Here." She tore out a few pages from her notebook, setting them down on the floor, with the box of crayons beside them. "Lie here, out of my way, and write some lines for being such an annoying little brat while I'm trying to work... Let's see... 'Messy little girls should be smelled and not heard.' Fill up all those pages, front and back, with that, and then I'll see about changing you."
Feeling powerless, Dani did as she was told, squirming and blushing as she heard Vivi giggle, getting a show herself as Danielle continued to helplessly mess her diaper, the hard floor beneath her tummy only making it easier for her body. She'd really hoped that was going to work... But Vivien had outsmarted her easily, with some help from Dani's wrecked potty training. Was this how it was going to go? After all her time as a toddler, was she any match for a college student? Judging by what had happened today, she had a bad feeling the answer was a resounding no...