Published: May 28th 2022, 12:01:01 pm
Heather was pleased to see how adorable Lizzie looked, of course - who wouldn't be? - but she was also pleased to see the girl's reaction, to see that she wasn't whining or pouting and throwing a fit... Sure, she'd been a bit fussy earlier; now, with the whole ensemble assembled, she was quiet, taking it in... She was shocked, obviously, yet she didn't seem unhappy, exactly.
It helped, probably, that she'd wet her Pull-Up, reminding her that much more of how much of a baby she actually was. The thumbsucking just added an extra layer to it all... As much as she wanted to deny it, there was no question in Heather's mind that there was, in fact, a more infantile side to the girl's personality, and all this was bringing it bubbling to the surface.
Why hadn't she done this before? She hadn't realized it would be quite so effective, perhaps doing more than weeks worth of 'potty training' had... If she could find an excuse to keep Lizzie dressed like this all the time....
No. She shook her head, feeling a little ashamed, despite the buzzing of excitement in her chest. She had to be careful not to push this too far, as tempting as it was. Lizzie was in a very vulnerable spot right now, and it was up to Heather to protect her while she was in it. There was no question that Heather would like her to go further, to fully accept her role, but she wanted it to happen at Lizzie's own pace.
Even so, it was hard not to fantasize about filling her closet with all these outfits she'd tried on the girl, having them at the ready at a moment's notice. Lizzie had been so precious in all of them, and she hated to run the risk of missing out on the chance to see her in them again... But she couldn't buy a whole wardrobe on the off chance that this all worked out, that Lizzie was going to wind up in her nursery. She didn't even really know how much Lizzie actually liked any of it, beyond her current outfit, the effect of which was undeniable.
"Well," Heather spoke up, after a long few seconds of watching Lizzie's bashful squirming as the girl stared in the mirror, "as much as I'd love to have you stay in that while we finish shopping..."
"Wh-What?" Lizzie blinked, staring up at her with big eyes.
"Don't you think it's a good idea to get used to it a little, before the big day?" she asked, kneeling down gently beside Lizzie.
Lizzie fidgeted, blushing. "Y-Yeah, I guess so..." she admitted, tugging on the straps of the shortalls. "B-But... Everyone will see me..."
"No, they won't," Heather promised. "There aren't that many people here... Certainly not everyone..."
Lizzie pouted, sticking her tongue out. Heather wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or not, if she recognized how silly and childish it was, or if she'd done it without thinking. Either way, she couldn't help chuckling at how cute it was. "You know what I mean!"
"And even the people who are here," Heather continued, "aren't all going to pay attention... If they're here, they probably have little ones of their own that they're shopping for, so they're used to all this." She waved her hand at Lizzie's outfit. "They might even think their littles are the cutest, though, obviously, they're wrong."
She couldn't resist reaching out, giving Lizzie's tummy a tickle, the girl instantly dissolving into helpless giggles, having not expected that, proving Heather's point further. Heather noted that she didn't say stop, didn't protest or make any serious attempts to wriggle away... She probably could have kept going, seen how long it took before she had another accident, justifying the purchase of diapers, and putting her into them right there in the store...
"Besides," Heather pulled her fingers away before she got too tempted, crossing her arms behind her back, clasping onto each other to keep them out of trouble, "I said I'd love to do it... But I don't think we should."
Lizzie frowned, tilting her head, looking, perhaps, more upset about that than she'd intended, though it was hard not to read her reaction as disappointment, like she'd actually wanted to run around the store dressed this way, despite her half-hearted objections. "Why not?"
"There are just so many different pieces... I don't want to have to keep track of the tags for all of them when we get up to the register."
"Oh," Lizzie nodded. "Right. Makes sense."
She fumbled with the shortall's straps, but they were made to be difficult for the wearer to remove by themselves, so she didn't get far before Heather stepped in, easily undoing one in a single motion. She stood by after that, allowing Heather to undress her, not even attempting to do it herself, probably still in the mode of trying things on, as they had been doing for a while, at least after she'd so badly failed at getting started doing it on her own.
"There we go!" Heather declared, patting Lizzie's soggy bottom. "Back to normal!"
But that wasn't totally true... She could see the uncertainty in the girl's eyes, catching her more than once as her hand unconsciously drifted upwards, almost making it to her lips before she lowered it quickly, glancing around as if she was afraid someone had seen. After having just seen what a baby she could be, it was hardly a surprise that Lizzie was having a little trouble switching back into big girl mode. Maybe she should leave it at that, Heather thought. She wasn't trying to push her too far, after all...
"You know," she spoke up, "that outfit was too complicated... But this is just one piece." She picked up the footed sleeper, holding it up so Lizzie could see it. "It's supposed to be almost your bedtime, anyway..."
"B-But..." Lizzie squirmed.
"Don't you remember how cozy and comfy it was?" Heather asked, watching Lizzie's cheeks turn pink as she recalled how it had felt on her, how much she'd liked it. "And everyone would be able to see that there's no diaper bulge underneath, so they'd know you aren't that little..."
"I-I guess it wouldn't be too bad," Lizzie admitted quietly. Heather gladly helped her into it, zipping it up, putting the girl's old clothes into her purse, smiling down at the sight of Lizzie looking at herself, poking at her slightly padded crotch, confirming that it definitely didn't look puffy enough through the sleeper to be mistaken as a full-blown diaper.
"We'd better go put the rest of this back now," Heather told her, putting the wristband back onto the girl and leading her out of the fitting room, wheeling the cart right past the rack set up for exactly that purpose.
"Umm..." Lizzie nibbled her bottom lip. "Mommy, you missed..."
"We're going to put it back, Lizzie," Heather repeated. "There's no need to make extra work for the people here when we can do it ourselves, now, is there?"
"B-But that's what it's there for!" she pointed at the rack.
"Besides," Heather said, "I'm not sure what I'm keeping yet."
She led Lizzie back around the clothing department, stopping everywhere that they'd already been to debate whether to keep what she'd gotten there or hang it back up. There were more than a few that were almost painful to give up, that she made a mental note of, just in case, though, when she was finished, there was still a decent amount left.
"Mommy, we don't need all of that, do we?" Lizzie peered nervously into the cart.
Heather smiled. "Sure we do, sweetie. You're wearing all this to the office," she held up the shortalls, onesie, shoes, and frilly socks. "And then you need this," she picked up a pink play dress, "as a backup outfit, just in case."
"Mommy!" Lizzie squealed, staring at the dress.
"You're not going to have to wear it, unless something goes very wrong," Heather soothed her.
"B-But..." Lizzie pouted. Heather knew what was upsetting her... Every one of the play dresses had a very high hem, made for easy diaper checks while the little was playing.
"This was the longest one," Heather shrugged. Even it had left a sliver of padding poking out from underneath; if Lizzie had been in a diaper, rather than trainers, it would have shown more. "You're probably not going to put it on."
"B-But..." Lizzie repeated, tugging automatically at her sleeper, as if it were the dress.
"But," Heather parroted, setting the dress down, "if you do, I also have these to go under it." She produced a pair of yellow shorts.
Lizzie glared at her, unamused. "Then why didn't you say so?" she demanded, stomping her foot, an almost impressively unimpressive gesture with her feet cradled in the soft fabric of the sleeper.
"I was only teasing," Heather chuckled. "I'm not going to make you run around with your Pull-Ups showing, sweetie... Not there, anyway. When we're at home, though..." Lizzie huffed. "I won't make you do it there, either," Heather promised. "Not unless you want to... I won't complain, but I won't make you do it, either, okay?"
Lizzie nodded. "Okay... Now, what about that?" She didn't really have to ask; it was obvious what the other thing Heather had kept in her cart was from the sheer size of it, the poofy skirts billowing out, taking up plenty of space. "You're not really going to try to stuff that into a bag with the other clothes, too, are you? You'd have to bring a whole suitcase to fit that thing!"
"I know," Heather admitted. "But what if we need to go to a party sometime? Isn't it perfect for that? It is a party dress..."
"No," Lizzie shook her head. "I'm not wearing that!"
Heather sighed. There wasn't anything Lizzie could actually do to stop her - if nothing else, she could come back and pick the dress up another day, when Lizzie wasn't around, now that she knew what size would fit her - but if she didn't want it this badly, Heather knew she should let it be. "Fine," she pulled it out of the cart. "It is on sale right now, though..."
"Heather!" Lizzie whined. It was clear she wasn't playing around, calling Heather by her name, rather than 'Mommy', while they were in the middle of their mission.
Heather hung the dress back up on its rack. "Okay, see? It's out of the cart."
"Good," Lizzie nodded. Heather wasn't sure why she was so opposed to it, if it brought back some kind of memory for her, or if she was just trying to assert some kind of authority, after spending so long getting dressed up like a doll. Either way, if it meant that much to her, Heather could give it up... Even if the little had been absolutely adorable in it. "So, are we done now?"
"Oh, not by a long shot," Heather smiled, giving the girl's leash a tug. "Come on!"
Lizzie padded along beside her, slowing down a bit any time they passed anybody else, hugging closer to Heather's legs, her thumb bashfully creeping back into her mouth and staying there after a few times. Heather didn't say anything about it, didn't point it out, though it did leave her beaming happily as she led them to their next destination.
"What do we need here?" Lizzie mumbled around her thumb when they finally stopped.
"You said it yourself," Heather pointed it out. "We do need a bag to carry all this in, don't we?"
And they were in just the right place for that. Heather had, of course, seen plenty of diaper bags in her day, staring enviously at them whenever she saw some new design slung over the shoulder of another Mommy... Somehow, she'd never quite realized how many different kinds there were, however, until seeing them all in the store, here, waiting for her to choose between them.
"Y-You have some big purses," Lizzie reminded her. "Y-You could just use one of those, or..."
"But my purses don't have bottle holders," Heather told her, reaching out to touch one of those, looping her finger into it and tugging it outwards. "And look! This pocket is lined with plastic, for easy clean-up..."
Lizzie sucked her thumb silently, obviously recognizing, despite her knee-jerk reaction initially, that it really did make sense for Heather to be carrying a diaper bag, as a Mommy. Heather would have done it anyway, but it was nice not to have to argue about it... There was something special about this, about picking out her first diaper bag... That was one of those things that she could have bought for her nursery long ago, that could have been more about her than about whatever baby she wound up with...
She was glad she'd waited, however. Even if this was just for a case, if Lizzie didn't want to do this again after they were done - which seemed unlikely, given how this shopping trip was going, but Heather didn't want to assume - Heather liked taking her into consideration, picking out a bag that worked for her and Lizzie both. A diaper bag didn't have to be anything special at all, just whatever would fit the supplies needed to look after a little one; it could, on the other hand be about both the Mommy who carried it, and the baby whose things were inside.
And that was why, when she saw it, she knew it was the one. It was mostly white - which normally would not have been her first choice for anything baby-related, as it was an accident waiting to happen - with black polka dots and pink handles and trim. The important part, however, was what was on the fabric, made to look as if it was peeking out from one of the side pockets mischievously.
"Look, sweetie!" Heather pointed to the bag. "What's that?"
Lizzie glanced up, thumb still firmly in her mouth, cheeks darkening when she saw what Heather was talking about. "A-A kitten," she answered.
"That's right!" Heather praised her, as if it was a difficult question. "And what are you?" She pointed at Lizzie, unable to resist giving her tummy another tickle.
"M-Mommy's little kitten," Lizzie blushed harder, squirming in place.
Heather smiled proudly, unzipping the bag. "This should fit everything just fine," she declared, folding up the clothes to test it out. "Look at that! Perfect! And your sleeper probably won't take up quite as much room as the shortalls and onesie, so there'll be even more room for other stuff!"
"Wh-What other stuff, Mommy?" Lizzie asked.
"Oh, all sorts of things," Heather told her, starting to push the cart again. "We have to make this look good, right? So, if anyone looks in the bag, they need to see that I'm ready for anything..."
She grabbed a changing pad, bottles, baby powder, lotion, anything she could think of. Of course, she also grabbed a package of pacifiers, tearing it open right away to slide one out, holding it in front of Lizzie's mouth.
Lizzie blushed bright red, staring up at her. "I-I don't need that," she claimed.
"I know you don't need it," Heather said. "But don't you think it will be better than your thumb?" Lizzie, somehow, found an even brighter shade of red to turn. "Come on... It's for the disguise."
"R-Right," Lizzie nodded, looking a little dazed... And more than a little excited, despite herself. "Y-You aren't going to lock it, or expand it, or...?"
"I'm not going to do anything," Heather promised. "I just want you to get used to using it, because I think it would make sense for you to have one at the office... Don't you?"
Lizzie giggled. "Y-Yeah," she agreed. "I-I probably ought to, right?"
"It's the smart thing to do," Heather prompted. "You don't want to be taken by surprise on the day, do you?" Lizzie shook her head. "Well, then open up, kitten."
Obediently, Lizzie opened her mouth wide, and Heather slid the pacifier inside, practically able to see the anxiety drain out of the girl's body as she started to suck, the pacifier's ring bobbing slightly, letting anyone watching know that she was, indeed, using her paci, not just holding it in her mouth. Heather didn't even think Lizzie was aware of that, but, seeing that, there was no doubt that, whether she might try to deny it or not, Lizzie was happy about this latest purchase.
That was good, too, because Heather was certain she would be less pleased with the next one. "All right, then," she straightened back up. "Now that we're done with that, I think there's only one more thing any well-stocked diaper bag needs."
"What, Mommy?" Lizzie asked from behind the paci, her words far more muffled than they ever were when she was sucking her thumb, though Heather was able to decipher them after a moment.
"What do you think, sweetie?" Heather asked. "You're a clever girl, I bet you can figure it out."
Lizzie frowned, getting up on her tip-toes to peer into the cart once more, glancing over what was already there before turning back towards Heather, brow furrowed. "I dunno," she confessed.
"Well, let me give you a hint," Heather said gently. "It's right in the name..."
Lizzie's eyes widened as it hit her, and she began sucking on her paci even harder. "Mommy!" she whined. "I-I don't need those!"
"But any good Mommy would have one or two ready, just in case," Heather told her. "And there have been a few days when you've gotten very close to your third strike with your Pull-Ups, haven't there?" Lizzie squirmed, blushing. "Don't you want to be prepared for that, too?"
"I-I guess so," Lizzie admitted quietly.
"Then we need to go get some diapers, don't we?" Heather asked, Lizzie flinching slightly, hearing it said out loud. "Don't we, kitten?" Heather brushed a strand of hair out of the girl's face. "It's up to you... I want your honest answer, even if it's no." She had to admit it would have disappointed her at least a little if that was what Lizzie said, but it was a genuine question, and one she wanted a genuine response to.
Lizzie, face still red, mouth still nursing her paci frantically for comfort, gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Y-Yeah," she mumbled after a moment, seeing that Heather needed more than that from her to accept that she was actually on board with this. "Y-Yeah, we should get some, Mommy."