Published: December 20th 2022, 1:00:01 pm
A short story commission for an anonymous Patron.
It took Belle a moment to realize something was wrong. At first, it didn't seem like anything could be, as warm and cozy as she'd felt, slowly waking up, such a contrast from the night before when she'd trudged to bed. It wasn't until she let out a big yawn and stretched that her hand brushed against something that shouldn't be there... And that was only the beginning. She frowned, wiggling her bottom. Sure enough, whatever had been there, had been tugged snug against her crotch when she'd raised her arms, was real, and bulky, and... Did she hear a crinkling noise?
This was definitely not how she'd gone to sleep last night. There was nothing around the sides of her bed, and, even if there had been, she shouldn't be able to touch it so easily. Her bed was meant for two, and, since there was now just one of her to sleep on it, she'd taken to rolling to the middle, where the largeness of it nearly swallowed her whole every night.
And she could feel whatever it was she was wearing, too, and know that wasn't right. Beyond the thick object around her waist, there was a soft, fuzzy fabric surrounding her, certainly not the ratty t-shirt and shorts she normally slept in, nor the dress she'd come home from work in that she couldn't recall if she'd bothered to change out of or not.
She wasn't sure if this was a dream, or if she should be very worried about what she was going to see when she opened her eyes. After the way she'd been feeling last night, it might almost have been a relief to be kidnapped, taken somewhere else... Though, she knew that was a crazy thing to think.
Before she could convince herself to look, she heard a voice, and everything got even weirder. "Good morning, sleepyhead!" Charlotte cooed. "Time to get up!"
A few weeks ago, that wouldn't be particularly unusual. Charlotte was, after all, her best friend, and she would stay over semi-regularly, or let herself in if they had plans for the day, and she suspected Belle was still asleep when she arrived. That had, of course, all ended when Belle had discovered that her boyfriend, Luke, who had been the other occupant of the huge bed, was cheating on her with Charlotte.
She should be angry to hear her voice; she absolutely wasn't Belle's first choice of people she wanted to see first thing in the morning, or at all. She couldn't help the twinge of nostalgia, however, at the sound of it. It didn't help, probably, that she'd been feeling so lonely last night, so burned out after a long day at work, exhausted and sad, and having no one to turn to.
Her remaining family was small, and spread out, and she was shy enough that she'd always struggled to find friends. Once she'd met Charlotte, it had seemed like that problem had been solved, since Charlotte knew so many people, and would bring Belle along, but after they'd split up, she'd realized that, indeed, they were Charlotte's friends and not hers, that they'd obviously take Charlotte's side over hers. Not to mention all the bills she now had to pay on her own, with Luke having moved out, forcing her to work even more, to the point where she barely had time to notice it was the holidays, much less try to do anything to celebrate them.
So, despite everything, it was comforting, in a way, to have the familiarity of her friend's voice, although that didn't last long before it turned to anger. "Go away!" she fumed, folding her arms. She was here to apologize, most likely, and Belle wasn't ready to forgive her, didn't know if she'd ever be. In fact, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure how Charlotte had gotten in... She'd changed her locks, which meant the spare key Charlotte had shouldn't work...
"How can you be so grumpy so close to Christmas?" Charlotte chuckled, Belle only growing more upset at her at the lack of remorse in her tone, at how easily she was laughing at her.
"I think you...!" Belle started to hiss, opening her eyes and sitting up, a slight frown crossing her face as she felt a clammy squelch... And immediately falling silent.
"You must be soaked to be this worked up first thing in the morning!" Charlotte smiled.
It was only then, when she said it, that Belle noticed the warmness spreading through the poofy thing around her waist, making it even squishier. She wriggled her bottom, wishing she didn't know what it was, that she didn't recognize that she was in the midst of peeing her pants... And, try as she might, she couldn't stop the flow.
Somehow, that was the least of her worries. At least she had what was obviously a diaper to contain it, bulging slightly against the fabric of a cozy footed sleeper, decorated with a pattern of snowflakes and flying reindeer silhouettes. Looking beyond that, she saw that she had been lying - and was now sitting - in the middle of a crib, bars stretching up all around her. Outside those bars was a full nursery, complete with a changing table, a closet, half open and filled with pastel colored outfits, and tons of toys, everything sized to fit her, as if it had been made for her. A lot of money had been spent on this, more evident the further out she peered.
"Wh-What did you...?!" she squeaked. More importantly, whatever, she decided before she'd finished that question, was, "Wh-Why did...?! Hey!"
Charlotte ignored her, reaching between her legs, giving the diaper a squeeze. "Yep!" she chirped. "Someone had a very soggy night!"
Charlotte lowered the side of the crib, taking Belle by the hand and giving it a tug, pulling her over the edge of the mattress, forcing her to hop down to the floor, following, stunned, across the nursery to the changing table. "Hop up!" Charlotte gave it a pat, Belle blushing as she heard another rustling from it, not too dissimilar to the one coming from between her legs.
"No!" Belle shook her head.
"Belle," Charlotte sighed, "be good for Mommy, okay? We need to get you into a dry diaper!"
"No!" Belle gasped. "I-I don't need another diaper! I don't need diapers at all!"
"You don't, huh?" Charlotte unzipped the sleeper, letting it tumble down around Belle's feet, leaving her, blushing, in just her diaper, very obviously wet. "Up you go!" she gave the soggy seat a pat, pushing her onto the stepstool, and then the changing table.
"N-No!" Belle squirmed, seeing Charlotte pick up a new diaper. "I'm not a baby!"
"Don't be silly," Charlotte gently pushed her onto her back, expertly ignoring her wiggling and untaping her diaper, wiping her clean and then taping her into the fresh one. "Of course you are!"
"No, I'm not!" Belle insisted, toddling after Charlotte, still adjusting to the way the diaper forced her legs apart with its bulk. Her stomach churned as they reached the closet, and she saw how infantile the clothes in there were, onesies and shortalls and rompers. "Where are my adult clothes?!" she demanded. "I want my adult clothes!"
"We had to get rid of those, remember?" Charlotte explained patiently, as if she'd done it a hundred times before. "They won't fit over your diapers anyway."
"I don't need these dumb diapers!" Belle reminded her.
"Perfect!" Charlotte beamed proudly, lifting up one hanger. Belle's cheeks darkened as she saw it. It was a dress, designed to make its wearer look like an elf... And short enough that her diaper was going to be visible underneath, peeking out from beneath the skirt.
"Charlotte, no!" Belle stomped her foot. "I am an adult! I'm not wearing that!"
But that didn't stop Charlotte from putting it on her, stepping back to examine her handiwork. "Your Daddy is going to love his little elf!" she declared, taking Belle by the hand again, leading her, protesting, out of the nursery, through a cozy house, filled with Christmas decorations, past a fireplace where Belle saw three stockings hanging, names on each of them letting her know, ahead of time, precisely who Charlotte meant by 'Daddy.'
"No!" she whined, attempting to pull away, not wanting him to see her this way.
"There she is!" Luke boomed as soon as they walked in, swooping in to give her a big hug, and a pat on her diapered bottom. "Ready for breakfast, sweetie?"
"No!" Belle glowered.
"That's her favorite word this morning," Charlotte told Luke, the two exchanging a knowing look that only made Belle madder, more humiliated, more infantilized, as if they thought she was so dumb she couldn't tell what they were saying, or understand it.
"Of course it is!" she hissed. "I am not a baby! You can't treat me like this! First, you steal my boyfriend, and now...!"
"Whoa, whoa," Luke said, taking Belle by surprise by leaning down, picking her up. She gasped, feet kicking as she was carried into the dining room, plopped down into a high chair. "We've talked about this, Belle... Charlotte didn't steal me. You became an adult baby, and I needed help taking care of you, since you weren't capable of being a grown-up anymore, and then we fell in love."
"I am not a baby!" Belle thumped her fists against the high chair's tray, while Charlotte tied a pink, plastic bib around her neck, and Luke expertly began to spoon-feed her a bowl of oatmeal, like he'd done it a million times, having no problem avoiding her squirms and her protests, and getting most of the mush into her mouth, though a bit did dribble onto the bib as she did her best to prevent that, and failed miserably.
Charlotte took the bowl after Luke was done, vanishing into the kitchen to clean up, while Luke lifted Belle out of the high chair and carried her into the living room. Belle stood in front of him bashfully, tugging at the hem of her too-short dress, still baffled by this whole thing.
"Luke, you don't hafta do this to me," she told him. "I-I know this wasn't your idea... Y-You don't want me in these big, stupid diapers, right? You must still have my old clothes somewhere... I'll put on that little, skimpy lingerie you like, and we can do... Whatever you want!" As mad as she was at him for cheating on her, if that was what it took to get out of this baby stuff, she'd do it.
"No, sweetie," he shook his head sagely. "You know we got rid of all that."
"No, I don't!" Belle grumbled. "Just let me have some panties, then!"
"Belle, you aren't ready for potty training," he stated, as if he'd done it a million times, his patient, condescending tone only making her more embarrassed, like he was tolerating the emotions and tantrums of a toddler, rather than dealing with the justified anger of his ex-girlfriend.
"Yes, I am!" she stomped. "I'm ready, and I have been for decades! I'm not a dumb baby!"
That was, of course, when she felt the sudden pressure in her stomach, and when, to her shock, before she'd even processed what that meant, her body bent forward, started to push, the seat of her diaper quickly expanding as it filled with a soft, mushy mass. She was messing her diaper! And, just like with the wetting that had happened earlier, there wasn't anything she could do about it, not even when Charlotte walked in and saw her there red-facedly finishing up.
"I bet she'll be less grumpy after that," she observed. "Go on, Belle, push it all out! Your tummy will feel so much better!"
If anything, Belle's mood worsened after that, as they changed her, tried to get her to play with the baby toys, continued to treat her like an overgrown toddler, until, finally, she melted down into a full-blown tantrum, kicking and screaming on the floor. "You can't keep me here!" she wailed. "I'm not a baby! I'm not! I hate you both! Leave me alone!"
They did... Only after tucking her back into her crib, pacifier in her mouth, and leaving her there for a nap. She was determined not to fall asleep, that she wasn't tired, yet, after a few minutes, she drifted off, and woke feeling much calmer.
Luke and Charlotte might have fooled her into thinking they weren't having an affair for God only knew how long... But they weren't good enough liars to pull this off, to maintain, for the entire morning, that this was normal, that Belle was, and had been for a long time, their baby, that her becoming that was what had caused them to get together. She'd been angry at them for making up such an absurd story, however, she was starting to wonder if that was what had really happened or if, somehow, they were telling the truth.
Luke peeked into the nursery a few minutes later, smiling as he saw her peering back at him. "Hi," he waved, walking over, getting her out of the crib. She snuggled against him, sucking her paci, as he carried her to the living room, slipping the pacifier out of her mouth, and a bottle of warm milk in.
"Baby Belle," he told her, stroking her back, "I know you want to be a big girl, like Mommy, but you aren't. And that's okay You're Daddy's special little princess." She blinked up at him, a part of her knowing that wasn't what she wanted, but another part feeling so warm, so cozy inside. "Your Mommy and I love you so much, even when you're naughty... We'll always take care of you."
Only then did Belle remember the wish she'd made the night before, as she curled up in her bed, so alone, into the cold, dark December air. "I wish there was someone here... Somebody to love me, and take care of me, and help me with all these awful grown-up responsibilities, who won't abandon me like everyone else."
Had it worked, somehow? It certainly seemed like it, as Charlotte appeared, kissing her on the top of the head. "There's my sweet girl," she cooed. "Are you better now?"
Belle blushed, and nodded, watching as Charlotte left, returning with a plate of Christmas cookies. "Why don't we all watch a Christmas movie?"
Belle curled up between them, nibbling on a cookie, the feeling of warmth spreading through her insides, and her diaper as she began to dribble into it again unconsciously. She didn't have any grown-up responsibilities at all now, and Charlotte and Luke - Mommy and Daddy - did love her, and want to take care of her, despite how much she'd tried to stop them this morning... And they were doing a good job of exactly that. All she had to think about was being a good little baby for them.
She didn't know who had answered it, or how, and, in the moment, she found that she didn't care, that it didn't matter. Her Christmas wish had been granted, had given her what she'd wanted, and changed the world, or taken her to another one, where she had her best friend and her boyfriend back, if in wildly different, and, perhaps, better roles in her life.