Story #102: Baby Steps Backwards

Story #102: Baby Steps Backwards (Content Tags: Small protagonist, treated younger than he is, Goodnites, wetting accidents, humiliation, ongoing storyline.) His exceedingly juvenile appearance had never made things easy for him; at nearly thirteen years old, he still looked like he belonged in first or second grade. It wasn't a simple matter of height or weight, but was reflected in every aspect of his appearance. For all intents and purposes to a stranger, he must really appear to be so young. He'd suffered indignity because of it, but he'd learned to stand up for himself, and classmates of the past had typically gotten used to his condition. That'd taken time though, in order for him to convince his peers that he deserved the same respect that any of them would have. There had been bullying and teasing, but one-by-one he had put an end to it. So he'd been most displeased to hear that all his hard work would be uprooted; his mother was finally getting remarried, which was a problem itself, but worse it would mean that they would be moving out of their apartment and he'd be having to move to a different school that was across town. Losing easy access to his friend group was problematic, but the real thing he was afraid of was that he'd have to restart the miserable process of proving that he deserved the respect of his peers. It'd taken years to be fully accepted, and now that foundation would be completely gone; he'd have to start over from scratch. "Tucker, did you hear me? We'll be there soon." The little boy had been staring aimlessly out the car window at the passing scenery; he'd been lost in his own thoughts, while his mother had been trying to get his attention. His older sister, Rachel, was glued to her phone in the front seat, while Tucker had long put down his Gameboy while in a booster seat in the back. "H-huh? What?" He murmured in response, completely unaware that she'd been trying to talk to him. "I said that we'll be there soon, and then you can use the bathroom." That's right, he'd asked about stopping to use the toilet a little while ago, but his mother had insisted that they weren't far from there destination. That was easy enough for her to hand-wave, but it had presented a genuine problem for the preteen. His potty skills had never been as strong as other kids his age, which was likely linked to his physiological stunting, but lately there had been issues that hadn't emerged in years. When his mother had started dating again, earlier in the year, Tucker's bedwetting had once again reared its ugly head. He'd originally started having dry nights when he was eight or nine, and the soggy situation had been forgotten, but then it'd returned. First just intermittently, but as time went on, it began to happen every night again. That'd signalled a return to Goodnites, which itself had been an extremely touchy subject to broach. It felt like such a painful step back to take, to have to put on a Pull-Up before he could go to bed. It would have constituted a crisis if that was the end of it, but his problems had gotten worse than that. It wasn't with the same frequency, but daytime accidents had sprung up as well. Coinciding with the stress of things getting more serious with her suitor, his behavior was uncontrollably regressing. That'd meant more pairs of pee-stained undies than he could justify for someone as old as he was; he'd hidden most of those occurrences from his family knowing, but not all. His older sister had oscillated between annoyed and coddling to his plight; it seemed to aggravate her that her little brother was having such accidents again at his age, but it'd also provoked her to subtly treat him like he was younger than he was. That had always been the case to some degree, due to his size and their age difference, but it'd definitely gotten worse in recent months. His mother was similarly flustered. She worked long hours to provide for her two children, so she hadn't had much time to look at whatever was causing this string of problems. The only solution she had the energy or time to come up with was to put the boy back in protection overnight and to hope that this toileting regression was a temporary phase. She didn't exactly have the cash to get him checked out by a long list of urologists or child psychologists either, since they'd only just barely been able to afford what they already had. When she'd caught onto him having wet shorts in the daytime too, she'd been a little more concerned, and her reactions had fluctuated. She'd been worried, sympathetic, and patient. Inversely, she'd also gotten irate and accused him of doing this on purpose. The cyclical nature of her thoughts on the matter were linked to her own stress and to her own thoughts on why this was happening. At this current stage of the cycle, his mother seemed to be just accepting that these accidents were happening, and instead of being strict about it, she was instead using the same strategies that she employed when he was a toddler. That meant being a little more involved in asking about his potty needs and progress, just like when he was an accident-prone preschooler. Their current trip was the first time that they'd be meeting her boyfriend and his kids; Tucker had briefly seen the man, when he had come by the apartment before, but he'd hardly had two words with the man. His vibe was totally off to Tucker though, from just the little that he had seen; he seemed entirely too strict. That irksome vibe and the sight of his mother swooning without seeing what he saw, that had been a probable contributor to his accidents. It could be no coincidence that the first time he'd soaked his pants during the day had been the day after he'd first ever seen the guy. It was more than just 'William' or whatever his name was that was the problem. It was the stress of all the changes that would come with; moving houses, moving schools, gaining new siblings... He'd been utterly distraught when his sister had pointed out that it was extremely likely that the two would get married, and it'd been worse when that'd been confirmed. The plan would first be marriage, and then both families would live together in this guy's house. That was where they were heading right now, for a more proper meet-and-greet that would last the weekend. It'd usually only be a twenty minute drive from their apartment, but they had been downtown beforehand, so that they could run some errands. That'd turned the car trip into a full hour, which is why the state of his bladder had been something so questioned. As the car came to a stop in front of a house in the middle of suburbia, Tucker already knew that he'd been too caught up in his own thoughts to stop what had happened... He'd whizzed himself. It must have happened pretty recently too, because it still felt warm on his crotch; instead of a large wet stain showing on his shorts, he had a swollen Goodnite on. The garment had been insisted upon by his mother, who had mentioned that Tucker was often liable for falling asleep on long car rides, but Tucker had been wide awake the whole time. Once parked, he unstrapped himself from the booster seat and got out of the car. He could feel the Goodnite sagging against the briefs that he'd put over them, and he felt concern that it might prove obvious once he started walking. He didn't want to admit what he'd done, but he also wasn't sure how he could get away with it either. He couldn't exactly toss the thing in a trashcan and call it a day, since it'd be plainly obvious that it didn't belong to the people already living here. His mother likely expected that he'd just take the dry one off and put it back in his bag for use overnight. It also wouldn't be too long before a faint pee smell emanated from him, which would be a dead giveaway for what had happened. The small boy sighed quietly and grabbed his bag, deciding to just follow for now. William would greet them at the door, and even with that smile, Tucker could detect the inner drill sergeant underneath the surface. The man would lead them in and mentioned that his own kids were excited to meet them. He had three kids: His oldest was a boy named Austin, who was around the same age as Tucker. The middle child was a seven year old girl named Amanda. Then the youngest was a toddler named Jimmy. At the present, all three of them had their own rooms, but that wouldn't last. Once Rachel and Tucker moved in, there would have to be some compromise on who got which room. There was still an unused guest room, which would alleviate things, but that was still only four rooms to five kids. "Rachel, you'll be staying in our guest room this weekend. And Tucker..." The man took another look at the boy, seeming perplexed at first. William turned his attention to the boy's mother, "...Didn't you say your son was twelve?" Tucker felt his cheeks grow warm, and another trickle went into his Goodnite. He appeared half the age he was supposed to be, and apparently his mother hadn't ever felt the need to mention that. "Oh, he is. Tucker's just a bit of a late bloomer." She informed the skeptical man. "Oh, okay. Then he'll be staying with Austin over the weekend. Why don't you kids go upstairs and get unpacked?" Neither Tucker nor Rachel had to be told twice. Tucker wanted a chance to go check out the damage on this Goodnite, and Rachel needed desperately to charge her phone. The upstairs hall had two directions to go: two doors on the right and three doors on the left. Luckily for Rachel, the guest room had been left open, and it was clearly unoccupied by any current tenant. For Tucker, it looked like he'd have to play the guessing game. A quick peek through the door closest to the guest room and he saw it was dimly lit with a toddler bed; he could deduce this must be Jimmy's room, and that the tot must be taking a midday nap. A quick glance would also betray that it was significantly smaller than the guest room, which was befitting a nursery. He went down the other side of the hall and looked at the three remaining doors. One of them was probably a bathroom, which he desperately needed for some privacy. Instead of picking the middle door, which felt like the most obvious choice, he started in sequential order. Opening the first door, he was greeted by a sea of pink; walls, bedsheets, furniture. There were dolls and stuffed animals all over the place too. This was *definitely* not the right room, but before he could close the door and try the next one, the occupant of the pink lodgings made herself known. "Hi!" Came the chirping voice of the little girl that lived here, and up from the floor she sprung, leaving a bounty of barbies beneath her. She looked just as confused as her father did when she saw who was at the door. "Are you Tucker? My daddy said you were gonna be Austin's age!" As the girl got closer, it was apparent that she had already hit a growth spurt, or she just took after her father in being naturally tall. She was supposed to have only just turned seven recently, but she could easily pass for a year older than that. Face to face, she stood at least four or five inches taller than Tucker. "..You look closer to Jimmy's age!" She giggled, looking happy about it. Another boy like her older brother would have meant another boy that refused to play with her! "Umm, I'm twelve..." Tucker meekly mumbled, keeping his hands on the straps of his backpack. The girl stared, as if calculating how that could be possible, when Tucker appeared so little. She shook her head and playfully clicked her tongue, "Daddy says we don't fib in this house! Or maybe you just need help with your counting?" Tucker frowned and his face got pink. "I'm not lying, I'm just short. I'm in sixth grade." Amanda continued to look skeptical at that. "...Really? Cuz' if you're lyin', then daddy is gonna give you a whoopin!" The boy winced at the thought. He'd never been spanked before, and being on the cusp of being a teen, it sounded unfathomable by this point. Then again, William did seem like the traditional type, and with Tucker being so small... "Can you show me where the restroom is?" He suddenly pivoted in an attempt to break away from the girl. Amanda perked up and nodded, "Okie dokie!" She walked past him and gestured toward the middle door in the hall. "It's over here! I'll show you!" He didn't really think he needed a tour, but he also wasn't about to get in an argument over it, so he shrugged and trailed behind her. Opening the bathroom door, it was shown to be fairly large; two sinks, a tub, a hamper, a toilet, and what looked to be a small training potty that had some infantile books stacked next to it. "This is the one that me and Austin share, and Jimmy too, but he's been kinda slow on the whole potty thing. That's his baby potty right there, I bet you could fit on it, since you got such a tiny butt!" The girl giggled, clearly still amused by Tucker's diminutive size. Tucker decided to ignore the quip, "Uh-huh...So, is this the only bathroom upstairs?" "There's a small one in the guest room." Tucker knew Rachel would be happy about that; the teen had *hated* sharing a bathroom with him at their apartment. He turned back to Amanda and gave her a bashful smile, "So, uh, thanks for showing me...But..." It took her a moment, but the younger girl quickly realized what Tucker was trying to imply with the awkward way he'd trailed off. "Oh! You gotta potty? I'll leave then, but we should play when you're done!" "Uhh, yeah, when I get done putting my bag away and stuff." Was his noncommittal response, right before he closed the door and locked it. Finally with some privacy, he was able to take down his shorts and the briefs, and he was able to take a look at his soggy Goodnite. It was a little worse than he'd thought, and while it could take some more dribbling, there's no way it'd be able to take another soaking without there being repercussions. The tiny trash can in the bathroom was basically empty, so he couldn't dispose of it in here, or else the next person to walk in would see it. The best option for disposal sounded like it'd be the diaper pail in the nursery. It wouldn't cause any undue smell in there, and he doubted that anyone would be digging through it enough to see his own deposit in there. The only problem was getting it in there in secret. It was on the other side of the hall, and the toddler was currently napping in there! If he took off his Goodnite in here, then he'd have to smuggle it all the way down. If he took it off in the nursery, then he ran the risk of being in there long enough to be spotted by Jimmy. There was technically a completely different choice, but it would mean the sacrifice of some of his pride. He could go into Rachel's room to change, and then it'd be a straight shot into the nursery! If he did that, or if he went to his mom for that matter, then he'd have to admit to another daytime accident. It didn't feel like he had any pleasant options to choose from. No matter what he did, he would be taking some manner of risk, and embarrassment was almost assured. Alternatively, he could just keep it on for now, and then when a better moment came, he could reevaluate the situation. The briefs came back up over the soggy Goodnite and then came the shorts. He tugged down on his shirt for good measure and then made his way back out of the bathroom. With two of the three doors explored down this hall, that meant that the final one was the correct one. Opening the room where he'd be staying, it felt a bit more like home. Austin was eleven, which meant that there was a decent amount of overlap in the way that their rooms looked. The brown-haired boy was laying on the bottom bunk of a bunk-bed, reading a comic book. As Tucker could have already assumed, Austin was much bigger than him. "Uh, hey...I guess we're sharing a room this weekend.." Tucker meekly greeted, closing the door behind him. Austin looked up from his comic and gave Tucker a cursory look. "Nursery is down the hall. I'm supposed to be sharing a room with a *big kid*, not his baby brother. There's no diaper pail in here." It would seem that Austin was even less informed than Amanda had been; he didn't even know how many kids his dad's new girlfriend had! Tucker bit his lip, wondering how exactly he should approach this. "Uhh...I don't have a baby brother. I'm Tucker, and uh, I'm *twelve*." Austin dropped the comic book and furrowed his brow, "No flippin' way you're older than *me*. You look like you're still learning the alphabet in Kindergarten!" It wasn't a new feeling to be embarrassed like this, but it never stopped stinging and it never got any easier. Tucker huffed and folded his arms, "I'm just short, not young. Now where can I put my stuff?" "You can put it next to the changing table in Jimmy's room, because I don't believe you. I've had short kids in my class, but nobody small enough that they look like they should still be in Pull-Ups!" The color in Tucker's cheeks got brighter, and he could feel another little trickle in his own 'Pull-Up'. "Why don't you go ask your dad if you don't believe me, huh?" Austin got off his bed and towered over Tucker. He looked conflicted about how he should handle this; if he was right, then it'd be no harm to remove this pipsqueak from him room and put him in the 'baby room'. If he was *wrong*, and he was being rude to their guest, then his dad would be royally ticked off. "Hmph, I'll just ask later and see if you're a liar or not. I guess for now, you can put your stuff by the dresser. Just don't go touching any of my stuff." Tucker put down his bags, and there was suddenly a knock at the door; before Austin could open it or even ask who it was, Amanda was opening it to peek inside. "You done yet? You promised you would play with me! So, come on!"