TV Spot Commercial:











Fade in on a scene with a tired mother with two children. One is a toddler, running all over the place, and one is a baby crying in the stroller. There are stores all around her, and everyone else seems to be carrying shopping bags, but she doesn't seem to have gotten any shopping done.











Announcers Voice-over: "Tired of bringing your children shopping with you, only to find you can't get anything done? Bring them to "Little Mall Tykes Daycare"! Let us watch the kids for you, while you get your errands done!"











Mother is shown again, this time looking energetic and fresh, with two shopping bags and no children. She enters a door above which the "Little Mall Tykes Daycare" logo is prominently displayed, and her children come toddling over with big smiles to hug her.











Voice-over: "Little Mall Tykes Daycare is a fully licensed daycare facility, providing short term care for your little ones. No more not being able to find a babysitter on short notice, or for daytime hours. No more worries about who you are hiring to watch your children. No more worries about age limits - we accept all ages! We will be opening new franchises in many malls during the next few months. Our unique training program guarantees that your children will be looked after by an employee who is well tuned to your baby's needs. Little Mall Tykes Daycare - coming soon to a mall near you!"











The screen went blank as the commercial ended. Carrie Tomes sat staring at the screen in shock.











"I can't believe you are actually going to go through with this business, Sue," she said to her friend. "Do you really think a lot of potential employees are going to stick around when they find out just what they have to do for your training program?"











"Only the best," Sue said easily. "That's all I want working there anyway. If they can't be totally in tune with a baby's needs, they can't be one of our specially trained associates."











Carrie was a bit stunned. Sue had talked about starting up such a business before - they had even joked about it when they were teenagers, and once Carrie had even allowed Sue to "train" her for babysitting, but she never thought Sue would really take it public. It seemed to be a big risk - not a risk Carrie would be willing to take herself, but she would support Sue regardless.











"Well, maybe, but - jeez. Don't you think it is a little over the top?" Carrie asked.











"I think it is a lot over the top," Sue answered. "That's why it will work. There are plenty of mothers who will appreciate it - both mothers of real babies, and mothers of children who act like babies. I'll just let word of that part spread by itself. They'll want to take advantage of the service. The training part - well that serves its purpose to train the employees on how to care for babies of all sizes, puts them in tune to what a baby feels, creates a bond of trust between the employees, and besides - it's just fun." They both laughed at that.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------











Tricia was sitting in the Living Room, her feet on the coffee table (something she'd been told a hundred times NOT to do), watching television when her mother came home from work. In other words, the same place she was sitting every day ever since she graduated. Watching daytime soaps or talk shows, or talking on the phone. Her mother was not pleased.











"I found a place you can get a job," she offered.











"I don't want a job, Mom," Tricia complained.











"Well, that's fine. I guess you don't want to go anywhere either, since you can't afford to put gas in your car." Her mother had already decided to put her foot down.











"Huh?" Tricia looked up, surprised.











"I'm not going to keep supporting you when you aren't even trying!" Tricia's mother told her. "Now, there's a new place opening at the mall - you'd be taking care of kids. Debbie's daughter, Cathy, already got a job there, and she was nice enough to get an interview for you and even give you a recommendation. You shouldn't have any trouble getting this job."











"But…" Tricia started, but then she saw her mother was serious, and no amount of arguing was going to change her mind.











"I think it is just the sort of place that will do you some good," her mother said with a small smile. Tricia wondered what that meant, but let it pass.











Oh well. It would be nice to have some money of her own, and besides, she thought to herself, how bad could it be?











Chapter 1











"Interesting looking place," thought Tricia as she walked into the brightly lit and decorated room. The walls were painted with bright colors and it was very large and open - it was kind of a shock entering this from the smallish reception area in front. There were cribs and changing tables along the wall - different sizes of those even. She could see doors and she knew from what she had been told that these led to areas for different ages, like toddler or preschool.











"Where is Cathy anyway?" she asked the woman who had led her into the room. "I thought she'd be here."











"All in good time," the woman told her. "She's training right now. Next week, she'll be helping to train you."











"I can't believe there aren't a bunch of girls lined up to take this job," Tricia said, perhaps a bit hopefully.











"We've had other interviews," the woman said. "They weren't quite the right kind of person to work here."











"…The right kind?" Tricia thought to herself? Just what kind of standards did they have anyway? Her concentration quickly went back to the woman who was now asking her interview type questions, as she motioned for Tricia to have a seat in a chair nearby.











"This is an odd chair," Tricia thought to herself as she struggled to remain focused on the woman while she tried to figure out the chair. She finally noticed with embarrassment that she had sat down in a large high chair with the tray removed.











"Anything wrong?" the woman, who Tricia now recalled had introduced herself as Susan, asked.











"Umm…" Tricia considered her options, and decided it was best to fake her way through this and hope that Susan hadn't noticed what kind of chair this was. "No, nothing," she said, with a nervous smile. "I'm just - uh - nervous," she explained, having to try desperately not to add a "Yeah, that's it," on the end!











"It takes a special kind of person to work here," Susan emphasized again. "But from what I have heard from your mother and your friend Cathy, you are just right for it." She produced several official papers and lay them on the table in front of Tricia. "If you'll just sign here, and here, we can get started training right away."











"Oh!" Tricia was startled. She hadn't even thought she would know yet if she got the job, let alone start this quickly. "What are these?" She tried hopelessly to read the legal papers.











"Just your agreement to work here and finish out three weeks of training before working with our actual clients by yourself," Susan told her. "And the other is a non-disclosure agreement - you agree not to tell people outside of this company about our practices here."











"Oh - well, okay," Tricia said with a shrug. She quickly signed without trying to read anymore. She never liked reading much anyway.











"Good!" Susan took the papers and placed them in a file folder. "Now then, let's get you dressed. She took Tricia's hand and helped her out of the chair, beginning to guide her toward the wall.











Tricia thought this quite strange. What did this woman mean by "get you dressed"? Was there some kind of uniform she had to wear for this job? They stopped in front of a large changing table.











"You look to be a medium," Susan said, looking Tricia up and down. She then reached for a shelf and grabbed a big disposable diaper from a stack. "Up you go on the table now," she urged Tricia.











"Wh…WHAT?!" Tricia practically yelled. "You mean for me to wear a… to wear a di… to wear THAT?" She couldn't even bring herself to verbalize it. It was just too much to believe.











"Of course. It's all part of the training," Susan said, as though this were perfectly logical and something Tricia should have expected all along.











"But - but that's crazy!" Tricia responded. "I'm getting out of here!" She turned to leave, only to feel Susan grab her arm.











"Can’t let you do that, Tricia," she said.











"What? Let me go - you can’t keep me here! I'll call the police!" Tricia said.











"Ah, but I CAN keep you here. You just signed over your life for the next three weeks," Susan said, holding up the contracts Tricia hadn't bothered reading. "Just like as if you were joining the military - your butt is mine for at least three weeks. You can leave after that if you like - but I don't think you will."











Tricia was fuming. "I'll - I'll tell the newspapers what you're doing here," she spouted. "You'll be shut down. You'll…"











"I don't think so," Susan said smugly, holding up the non-disclosure agreement.











"I, but, I didn't know that I had to do this…" Tricia said, finally running out of steam. She knew she should have read the contracts first. "I… aww, shit!"











"That will be one warning and one only," Susan told her. "We will be working around babies and children here, and that kind of language won't be tolerated. If I have to tell you again, you will be disciplined."











"Disciplined?" Tricia thought. They really were nuts here.











She thought about fighting it, until Susan casually said, "Gee, I wonder what all your friends would think if they knew you SIGNED UP to wear diapers and be treated like a baby for a week, and then a toddler for another week?" At that point, she decided maybe it would be best to try and get this over with. Maybe her mother would help her get out of it when she found out. Trying to do it with some amount of dignity, she climbed up onto the changing table.











Chapter 2











Tricia couldn't believe she was doing this, as she lay flat and Susan undid her jeans and slid them down her legs. Her shoes were removed, then the jeans pulled off all the way. She felt so vulnerable, and while she felt a little cold on her legs, her face was blushing hotter than she could ever remember feeling before. She had a brief moment of panic as Susan reached for her panties, and suddenly she reached down and grabbed them, holding on to her last shred of dignity.











"Tricia!" Susan smacked at her hands, trying to get her to remove them, but Tricia couldn't bring herself to move her hands. Suddenly, she became aware of another presence in the room - someone coming into it from one of the side rooms.











As she struggled to see who she was being exposed in this way to now, she had a shock. "Cathy??" Her mouth dropped open. Here was her friend - who was a year older than she - with her hair in braided pigtails, no makeup (her freckles were SO evident when she didn't wear makeup), and - her CLOTHES! Cathy was always so fashion-conscious, but now she was dressed in a short and simple pink skirt, knee-socks, black mary-jane patent leather shoes, and a pink t-shirt.











Susan took advantage of Tricia's shock and pulled the waistband of the panties quickly from her hands, then pulled them down and off. "Nooooooo!" Tricia now used her hands to try and cover herself.











"Oh, come ON Tricia! Don't be such a BABY about it!" Cathy giggled at her own joke, and the look Tricia gave her. "You only have to be a baby for a week, and then you get out of diapers. See?" Cathy lifted her skirt, and showed off her Disney Princess Pull-ups. She lowered her voice, "But don't have an accident in them! You'll hafta practice sitting on the potty in the corner!" She lost her little girl voice for a moment and said, "Besides - it's fun."











Tricia didn't believe it. The whole scene was just to surreal - perhaps she was dreaming. She knew she'd never last a week like this - she'd go crazy and end up in an institution the rest of her life - probably diapered.











She opened her mouth to say something, though she wasn't even sure what she intended to say, and suddenly tasted rubber. "There we go - you must be learning to accept this like a good girl. You opened right up for your paci!" Susan praised her. Tricia pouted - but kept the pacifier in her mouth - even sucking on it a bit. Actually it wasn't that bad of a feeling.











Then Susan's hands were touching her most private places, rubbing in a bit of baby lotion here and there. She felt vulnerable, helpless, and humiliated - and, she noticed with even more embarrassment - she also felt some arousal. Cathy seemed to realize this and smirked a bit at Tricia.











More sensations came then as baby powder was softly dusted across her bottom, and she was lifted up by her legs and the soft, crinkling diaper was suddenly under her bottom. She noted how thick and padded it was as it was pulled up between her legs. It was puffy and forced her legs apart. Susan taped it tightly, and Tricia knew she was going to be constantly aware of its presence as long as she wore it.











Susan took the strap and buckled Tricia to the table then, telling her she would find some "suitable clothes" for her to wear. As soon as she was out of earshot, Tricia spoke pleadingly to Cathy. "Quick, unbuckle me before she gets back!"











"Where are you planning to go, just dressed in your shirt and diaper?" Cathy asked. "Besides, what's so bad about this? And if you run, they'll just bring you back… you signed the contract."











"What's so bad??" Tricia was shocked. "I'm wearing a damn DIAPER! And you - look what they've done to you!"











Cathy looked herself over in the mirror. "I thought it was kinda cute," she pouted.











"For a three year old, maybe!"











"Well, that's what I am this week," Cathy replied. "And you are a baby. And that's how it is going to stay until next week."











"No way. As soon as I can find a phone, I'll call my Mom, and she'll get us out of here," Tricia said confidently.











Cathy stared at her with a surprised look for a moment, then burst out in giggles. "You didn’t know?" she finally got out. "Your Mom knows exactly what the training entails! She was here last week - she even changed my diaper! She said this job would be just perfect because of the way you were acting… I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but… it sort of sounds like you ticked her off. I don't think she'll be rescuing you!"











Tricia looked crestfallen. "She knew all along? And didn’t tell me?" she repeated. Suddenly, another thought crept into her mind. "Hey, I'll get out of diapers after we close for the night though, huh? We don’t stay here all night!"











Cathy smiled sympathetically. "We don't stay all night, no. But I would not count on getting out of the diapers if I were you. The only way you get out of them is either when they are wet or messy (this caused Tricia to cringe) and you get changed, or when you get a bath. OR … well, you'll see," she said with a cryptic giggle.











Just then Susan returned. "I have JUST the outfit for you, my new little angel," she said cheerily.











Chapter 3











Tricia stared open-mouthed at the pink and white romper. She never wore pink as it was, but this confection was overboard on it - and even lace at the leg openings, sleeves, and across the bottom. "You've GOT to be kidding," she finally said.











"Nope, this is all yours now," Susan said brightly, completely missing (or maybe just ignoring) the sarcasm. Tricia had stopped fighting long ago, and now just opted for sulking as her shirt and bra were removed and the romper pulled on. She noted with more embarrassment that it had snaps in the crotch, and she didn't even have to think twice about why.











"One more thing," Susan said, heading out of the room again.











Cathy looked to make sure she was out of earshot, then quickly whispered, "The first thing she'll prolly do is leave you alone in the playpen for an hour or so, so you can be taught how boring it is for a baby if you don't play with them or give them something to do."











Tricia wasn't listening. She was noticing something else that suddenly began to bother her. "Oh noo..." she whimpered quietly, wiggling her legs a bit.











"What's wrong?" Cathy asked, then recognized the pained look and the squirming Tricia was doing. She giggled, "Might as well just let it out. You'll be more comfortable, and you're going to end up using your diapers - both ways - sooner or later anyway!"











Tricia was becoming annoyed with Cathy's cheery attitude. Bad enough she had to be in diapers - why did she have to share to moment with Pollyanna? The least her friend could do would be to be supportive, seeing as she had just been through the same thing herself! Her need to pee was getting much worse now, as she hadn't really gone since she left the house that morning. She didn't want to give anyone the satisfaction, but she knew there really wasn't much else she could do, and gave in to wetting the diaper just as Susan returned.











"Just the thing," Susan said, holding up hair ribbons and strange looking canvas shoes. Cathy didn't even look up, as she was focusing on Tricia's diaper. It was the first time she was getting to see someone her own age - other than herself - use the diapers. Susan realized quickly what Tricia was doing, but decided to ignore it as if Tricia was a real baby.











Instead, while Tricia was still getting used to the warm sensation that suddenly tingled through her diaper, she brushed Tricia's hair into childish bunches and tied them up with ribbon, then put the shoes on Tricia's feet. Tricia, recovering somewhat from the wet diaper experience, asked why they felt so strange. "They are soft shoes, like baby shoes," Susan told her. "You won't be walking for the next couple days anyway."











As Tricia stared at the shoes, Susan started to speak again. "Now is as good a time as any to go over the rules. Generally, for one week you will be a baby. The first couple days you will be a very young baby who is only able to crawl. On the third day you can walk with help. The last few days you will be able to be a toddler. You will use diapers the whole time, be fed by someone else, and use everything a baby does. Sometimes you will feel frustrated, but that is part of your training, so you will know how a baby feels."











"The second week you will be like Cathy is now - in toddler style and preschool style. You will be relearning things - how to potty, how to eat by yourself, how to dress yourself, and so on. Of course, you will be in Pull-ups..." She lifted Cathy's skirt to emphasize her point. "Of course, since we only have a week to train you, accidents will earn you a spanking - we'll never do that with the real children." She said this last part looking at Cathy as well.











"The third and final week of your training we will hope to have hired someone else by then, since it includes taking care of 'big babies'. Though for the most part you will be caring for real babies here, there are times when you might be asked to care for an older child who is to be treated like a baby - we are being recommended by places that cater to this type of thing," she explained.











"Sounds kind of fun," Cathy giggled.











"Undoubtedly you will encounter some who find it fun," Susan said, "But more often than not, they will probably not see any benefit to this - sorta like our little Tricia here." She paused. "One last thing - in the times when someone is training, and there are no other 'big babies", the current employees will take turns being a baby again so the new employee can train." Tricia felt a bit uneasy to hear that - do this more than one week?











She thought of another thing, "Oh - and the contract you signed that says you are locked into training here only lasts for the three weeks. You are free to go after that if you want - but you MUST stay for your full three weeks' training. Since our training is so... unconventional... for now you are under a non-disclosure agreement, and any minors that want to work here will need to have permission from a parent or guardian, who will be fully informed and sign their own agreement first."











Suddenly she lifted Tricia from the table, shocking both Tricia and Cathy. "Nap time for baby girls," she said, depositing Tricia into the nearest crib.











Chapter 4











Tricia noticed the plastic mattresses crinkle under her as her weight settled in the crib. It felt strange to have bars all around, even though this was a large crib - about the size of a twin bed. It must have been built special, she thought.











"Nap? But - I'm not sleepy," Tricia stated.











"Doesn't matter," Susan told her. "It is nap time. Lay down and try to rest."











"But, I..." Tricia squirmed in her wet diaper. She just couldn't bring herself to admit that she was wet. Susan put her hands on Tricia's shoulders and gently but firmly helped Tricia to lay down, covering her with the light blanket. She pushed Tricia's pacifier back into her mouth then, and led Cathy by the hand from the room, leaving it darkened (but not completely dark) and quiet.











It gave Tricia time to think through the reality of what was going on here. Here she was, a high school graduate, suddenly sucking a pacifier, wearing diapers, and taking a nap - in a crib! Her mother had insisted on her taking the job HERE, but apparently already knew what it would mean. She thought about her last few months at home. Not working, and not doing housework either. She didn't even help with dinner or do her own laundry, or clean her own room. Her mother waited on her hand and foot, just like she was... she suddenly realized... just like when she was a baby. No wonder her mother thought this was a perfect place for her to work.











Tricia felt bad now, and even shed a few tears. She deserved this, and she knew it. Well - if she was going to act like a baby at home, she decided that she could stand to be treated like one for a week here, and resolve to do better from now on. And somewhere in this thought process, Tricia began to suck on the pacifier, finding it strangely comforting - and sometime later, she fell asleep.











"No fair!" said Cathy indignantly, watching the monitor. "I never got to sleep during my first nap..."











"You didn't cry either," Susan said. "You were too interested in feeling your diaper and trying to see yourself in the mirror. I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd think you like this." Cathy blushed - how was she supposed to know Susan had set up a camera and could see everything she did? She thought for a minute about wetting her pull-up to get back at Susan, but her bottom still stung a little from the spanking she got for that this morning and she wasn't really up for an encore performance.











Almost as if reading her mind, Susan took her by the hand and led her to the pink potty chair. She reached under the short skirt and put her thumbs in the waistband of Cathy's Pull-up, then slid it down her legs, and raised Cathy's skirt til she settled herself on the potty.











Cathy had to sit on the potty several times a day until she went. The potty was a bit hard and uncomfortable - especially since it really was child size and Cathy had to squat uncomfortably to sit on it. She was also constantly checking to make sure she wasn't "off-center", as had happened once and was much worse to clean up than just a diaper. In all honesty, she would have just as soon gone back to the diapers and thought Tricia was quite fortunate right now.











She knew Tricia felt differently about this than did she. She had been intrigued by the process when Susan had explained it. It just appealed to her to be taken care of like a baby for a little while; she wasn't sure why. Now that it was over, she found herself wishing it had been longer. She was sure that if Tricia just gave it a try, she'd find the enjoyment of it too, and she didn't want Tricia to waste any time that could be enjoyed feeling sorry for herself.











While doing this, she would seem hypocritical to complain about her own current situation. Besides, she wanted Tricia to have something to look forward to, not something to dread. So, she tried to make the best of it, telling herself that a toddler really would be happy to be graduating to pull-ups from diapers, learning how to use a cup, and feeding herself, even if she as an adult was not. Well, the food was better anyway. And the clothes WERE cuter, regardless of what Tricia had said about them.











Cathy was letting her mind wander and she blushed a little when she realized that she had started using the potty without even realizing what she was doing. Well, it would make Miss Susan happy at least. Miss Susan could hear her going, and waited til she was done, then wiped her and let her stand and pull up her own pull-ups. She did have to help a little to make sure they were straight. Then she cleaned out the potty, and washed her and Cathy's hands.











Looking at the nursery monitor she said, "Let's go wake up your friend."











Chapter 5











Tricia was sleeping on her tummy, and suddenly came awake as she felt something cold invade the elastic band on the leg of her diaper. "Meep!" She jumped.











"Sorry," Susan apologized with a small smile. "I was just checking your diaper, but my hands are a little cold since I just finished washing them after helping Cathy potty. Guess I'll be washing them again in a few minutes after changing someone's diaper."











Tricia blushed at this public announcement about her diaper's condition, and Cathy laughed although she had already known anyway. "Cathy, would you mind being my little helper, and getting a new diaper for your little friend here, and some baby powder and wipes from the changing table please?" Susan asked. "I'll just change her right here."











Susan popped open the snaps on Tricia's romper and Cathy skipped away out of view. Susan blushed as the tapes on her diaper were undone - yes, she had already been seen naked once today, but now she was in a wet diaper and it was a brand new humiliation. Susan had the front of the diaper peeled down as Cathy returned with the supplies.











"Goodness!" Susan said, as she laid the supplies out next to Tricia's prone body. "You must have got one of the night-time diapers out." Tricia could see the new diaper was ultra-thick and padded heavily throughout. "I'd be careful if I were you," Susan told Cathy. "One day, she may be taking care of you as the baby, and payback sucks!"











Tricia hoped that Susan was going to tell Cathy to go get a thinner diaper, but this was not to be, as she was cleaned and powdered and finally wrapped up and snuggly secured in this thick new diaper. Tricia flexed her legs a bit (causing a great deal of loud crinkling) and realized she couldn't even bring them together. It was also a little struggle for Susan to get the snaps in the crotch done up over it, but she managed, although a bit of the diaper stuck out.











Susan then set Tricia down on a play mat on the floor. Tricia tried to stand, receiving a light swat on the diapered bottom. "You aren’t able to stand up yet," she was told. She sat back down with a loud plop as her bottom hit the play mat. She hardly felt that, and hadn’t felt the spank at all, and for some reason this amused her a bit and she giggled in spite of herself.











So now she sat there, her legs splayed out in front of her in a fashion she had not sat in for a good number of years, looking for something to do. Susan set a few baby toys on the mat, and Tricia tried to look annoyed, but didn’t get anything out of that. Finally she heaved an annoyed sigh and started to play with a top.











Susan went off to the corner of the room to do something or other, which by now Tricia was ignoring. She had gone through all the toys within a few minutes, finding nothing to alleviate her boredom. Across the room, Cathy had dragged out a dollhouse, and that, while very childish, suddenly seemed very appealing to Tricia. She hadn’t played with one for years, and Cathy seemed to be having tons of fun.











Tricia decided that she wanted to try that too, so she started to crawl toward Cathy. Before getting even halfway there, she felt herself being lifted and carried back, this time being put in a playpen so she would "stay out of trouble".











"You're too little to play with the dollhouse. You can play with it when you are older," Susan told her. Tricia decided enough was enough. She had tried to deal with this, but this stupid game had gone on long enough. She couldn’t possibly last a whole week playing with these stupid toys and wearing diapers and baby clothes - she'd go out of her mind!











Her mind made up, Tricia stood up and climbed out of the playpen. "What did I just tell you? You are too little to stand up, and you can’t get out of the playpen. You're still a baby!" Susan said to her. "Now you get back in there - this is your last warning."











"No!" Tricia said, stomping her foot childishly for emphasis in spite of herself. "This is too much. I…" She was cut short as Susan picked her up. "NOOOOO…" she started to kick her feet. "No! I'm NOT a baby! I'm 18!" Cathy watched from across the room with wide eyes as Susan sat down in a chair. "What are you doing?" Tricia felt the snaps of her romper being undone. "No! What are you doing?" Her diaper was now pulled away from her bottom and she felt a chill on her bare bottom - but the chill didn’t last for long.











WHAP! WHAP! The sounds of a spanking filled the room. WHAP! "Naughty baby!" Susan lectured, punctuating this with another spank. "You signed the contract and as such, you agreed to be a baby for all this week!" WHAP WHAP WHAP!











"No! Stop!" Tricia kicked her feet to no avail.











"Are you going to be good?" Susan asked, adding two more spanks for emphasis.











"Ow-OUCH! Yes! I'll be good," Tricia promised.











"What are you?" Susan asked, not ready to trust Tricia yet, and adding another swat.











Tricia sniffled. "A baby," she answered, the words tasting bitter to her.











Susan added one more smack to Tricia's bottom. "From now on, hopefully a GOOD baby," Susan admonished. Tricia felt her diaper being pulled back in place, and the romper being snapped back up. She also saw Cathy, and it looked as though she was trying very hard not to giggle.











A few minutes later, Tricia having been deposited in the playpen, Cathy sneaked up when Susan wasn't watching and whispered, "Told ya!"











Chapter 6











When the end of the day had finally come, Tricia was anxious, wondering what was going to happen. She knew by now that her mother knew all about what she was going to be doing for the next three weeks, and that it was to be enforced at home as well. What she wasn't sure about was whether things would be better at home than they were here.











At dinner time, she had been forced to sit in a high chair - the same one she had accidentally sat down in when she had started her interview. The tray was attached now, and her hands were trapped under it. She had to endure the frustration of being spoon fed some horrible mush - she couldn’t even tell what it was supposed to be. At one point, Cathy was allowed to help feed her, but she had to hold the spoon wrong (like a real preschooler would). As a result, it was a good thing Tricia was wearing a bib.











She also learned how to use a bottle. It seemed funny to think about it - ironic really - that she had to learn how to do something a baby already knew how to do. When Susan first put the nipple of the bottle in her mouth, Tricia had just sat there, expecting the drink to pour out into her mouth. She got a little impatient when it didn't, then felt silly when Cathy told her she had to suck on the nipple to get anything from it. Especially since after that Cathy spent the next five minutes giggling at her.











Cathy also wore a bib while they ate, and had to use her fingers for much of the meal. When she did use flatware, she had to hold it in her fist rather than her fingers. She also had her food cut up into small bites by Susan. Tricia watched this as she ate her own food; it looked like it was annoying Cathy somewhat (which Tricia found relieving - at least Cathy didn’t think this was ALL the most fun thing in the world), but at least she got to eat real food. Tricia wondered how she would survive eating this gunk a whole week.











Tricia was surprised when Susan began cleaning things up at 6:30. She was even more surprised when she was told her "Mommy" would be there soon to pick her up. "But, the mall doesn't close for a few more hours yet?" she pointed out.











"Yes, but we close at 7:00 PM," Susan told her. "Most parents would be taking their very young children home by then anyway. We might stay open later during the Holidays. Remember that this will not be a traditional daycare type facility - it is more a babysitting service for parents who are shopping and don't want to drag the kids all around with them."











"By that time little kids should be taken home for bed," Cathy said.











"Yes - what time is YOUR bed time?" Susan prompted her.











Cathy blushed. "8:30," she said. Tricia would have laughed at her once night-owl friend, if she hadn't been worried about what time she would now be going to bed. "At least it's better than last week," she said, as though she had read Tricia's mind.











Tricia began to settle into a mantra of telling herself "It's only for a week," whenever she picked up on this disturbing type of news. "Less than a week, really," she realized, feeling proud of herself for already making it through almost an entire day (regardless of the spanking she received earlier).











And so it was that soon Cathy was seated at a small table coloring and Tricia was still feeling bored out of her mind in the playpen when she heard voices in the outer room and realized her Mommy, er - mother, had arrived to pick her up. Feeling some nervous anticipation, she suddenly realized she was taking to diapers more easily than she should, as they suddenly became warm with her pee. She was soaked by the time Miss Susan and her mother came into the main room.











"There's my baby girl!" Tricia's mother said, as though this were a perfectly normal every day occurrence, to see her daughter dressed like this and standing up in a slightly oversized playpen. In truth, she had already observed Tricia for a few minutes on the monitor in the outside office, otherwise she would have been caught completely off guard for what she saw. True, she knew Tricia was to be reduced to a baby girl, but knowing what was going to be done and actually seeing it were two different things entirely.











Susan had made sure she would prepare all parents of prospective employees in this same manner. She knew she had to take things carefully and choose her employees very carefully as well; one wrong step could land her with some bad publicity - but if she did everything just right, this movement could become very big. She imagined a time when she would have two sides to her business - one that dealt with real very young children (still training her employees in the same manner of course), and one dealing with older children whose parents realized the benefit of keeping their children as babies for a bit longer - as her own mother had done with her.











It was an awkward moment. While Tricia had come to accept her three week sentence here at the Daycare, she hadn’t quite yet come to terms with the fact that her mother knew all about the baby treatment she would get here, and that she had been set up. Her mother ignored all this entirely, as she helped Tricia out of the playpen.











Tricia's mother took notice of Cathy, who was now watching the scene quietly from her place at the table. "Why, hello Cathy," she said. "My, how you've grown since I last saw you! Seems like just last week you were still in diapers!" Cathy smiled obligingly, then looked at Tricia and rolled her eyes as soon as she wasn't being watched anymore.











Tricia was not used to wet diapers yet, and really wanted to be changed, but at the same time she also did not want to stay here any longer than necessary, so for now she kept her mouth shut. With that thick diaper that Cathy had brought for her change earlier, she had a while before she would leak anyway. She was thankful to see that they were leaving out the back door -she wouldn't have to walk through the mall attired like this. She knew she'd just die if that happened!











Chapter 7











Once in the car (Tricia finding herself seat belted in by her mother and praying that no one she knew was in the parking lot watching), Tricia wondered what to do or say next. She supposed she should be mad at her mother for tricking her into this, but it was partially her own fault too, and in the back of her mind she knew this.











There was an air of tension in the car, as Tricia's mother was also unsure of what to say. In all likelihood, Susan would say she ought to be treating Tricia just like a baby, but she was not able to take to this quite as easily as Susan. Besides, this was her own daughter, whom she had helped "grow up" for the last 18 years. Now she had taken away those 18 years in a matter of a couple hours.











Tricia spoke first. "So - is this what you wanted?" she finally asked. "You said I wasn't doing enough to help out around the house - how much more work do you think it is going to be with me having to be treated like a baby 24/7? I already need to be changed…" She wiggled a bit causing her diaper to crinkle for emphasis. Normally she would have had a lot more trouble telling her mother that her diaper needed to be changed, but she allowed her anger to carry her into it.











Her mother remained calm. "Your diaper will be changed as soon as we get home, dear," she said. "As for the amount of work, I am not too worried. I already took care of you once as a baby, and have no intention of going through all of that again."











Tricia began to feel a bit excited, thinking that her mother might be about to let her out of her obligation to be treated like a baby at home as well, when her mother continued. "Which is why I asked Frieda to come and help out this week."











Tricia felt like her heart dropped into her stomach! Normally she would be pleased to hear that her cousin was visiting - she was only a year younger than Tricia and they had great fun when they got together - which only seemed to happen about once or twice a year since Frieda lived so far away. But now her cousin - her younger cousin at that - was going to be babysitting her. How would she ever live this down?











"Mom, how could you do this to me?" she cried.











Her mother raised an eyebrow a bit. "I did you a favor," she said, a bit coldly. "It was either bring your cousin in, or ask Lisa to help." Tricia's eyes grew wide at that. Lisa was a next door neighbor who had been Tricia's rival all through school. She'd never hear the end of it if Lisa babysat her. "I figured you'd be more comfortable with Frieda," her mother went on, "but if you really want Lisa, I'm sure I can give her a call…"











"No! No - Frieda is fine. Good, I mean…" Tricia blushed a little, knowing she was babbling. She wasn't sure that her mother wouldn't make good on such a threat; after all, she had landed her in this predicament to begin with. Sort of.











"Your employer supplied us with all we need," her mother continued. "Since we only need these things a short time, we'd never go out and buy them. Though she also promised a good price in case I decided that you should experience the 'training' a bit longer at home." She tried not to smile as she glanced out the corner of her eye to see how Tricia took that bit of information. "We have a crib and high chair and play pen, some baby clothes, and a crate of diapers. She prefers you sleep in the crib for your two weeks of training when you are treated like a baby and toddler, but you can stop using the high chair and play pen after your first week. We also have a stroller which is to be used both weeks, and a potty chair and two packages of Pull-up diapers for your second week. We keep all the diapers you don't use, plus some various things like bottles and pacifiers, and everything else goes back - unless I decide to buy it for you!"











Tricia was quiet as she tried to digest all this. A stroller meant going out - and she was NOT about to do that dressed like this. A whole crate of diapers was 96, if they were the same kind the daycare was using (Tricia had seen some of the crates and was so bored she read the information on them), and for the amount of time she was going to be home during the week, Tricia couldn't imagine needing more than maybe 35. The Pull Ups they probably had 40 of, and she wasn't planning on actually having to change them more than wearing one or two per day, so that left a lot of those as well. Tricia couldn't help but wonder what her mother had in mind for all those extra diapers! She didn't really believe her mother would keep her as a baby, since that was so much extra work, and Frieda wouldn't always be around to help.











And that was another matter entirely. How was Frieda going to treat her - now and after she was done with this stupid training program? Should she tell Frieda the truth about how she had been tricked and signed without reading everything in the contract, or should she play along and act like she did it on purpose to get the job? Either way she could end up making herself look bad - either Frieda would know how she had been acting irresponsibly, or she would wonder why on earth Tricia would agree to such strange terms just to get a job.











She cringed at the thought of Frieda changing her diaper. Being naked in front of each other was no big deal - they had been bathed together as children, and neither was ashamed to change clothes in front of the other now when they were visiting. It was more the fact that before they were equals - and even on some points Tricia had been dominant because she was older - and now Frieda was going to have a great deal of power over Tricia.











She was still wrestling with her thoughts when they pulled into the driveway. Tricia had hoped her mother would pull all the way into the garage, but no such luck. She saw Frieda already coming out of the house and watching the car with somewhat of a friendly but definitely curious look on her face. She also noted with some disgust the stroller - HER stroller for the next two weeks - sitting by the door.











Her mother was already out of the car, and Tricia realized as she fumbled with her seatbelt that her mother had turned on all the child safety features. There was a clip she couldn't quite reach that locked her seatbelt on, and the door had a child-proof latch on it that required it to be opened from the outside. She had to wait for her mother to come around to her side and open the door and undo her seatbelt for her; then she took a deep breath and stepped out of the car to be greeted by Frieda.











Chapter 8











"I just can't believe it - it's so CUTE!" Frieda gushed again, causing Tricia to roll her eyes. This was the third time Frieda had felt the need to inform everyone of how she felt about Tricia's new temporary wardrobe. "And you'll have to do this constantly?" she asked Tricia, who only responded with a head nod.











"She said in the car she already needs her diaper changed," Tricia's mother said. Tricia sighed - there would be no short respite during which she might get used to this idea before Frieda would be taking care of the task.











"Uhoh - just wet, or dirty too?" Frieda asked Tricia, giggling. Tricia just stared, not believing the question enough to answer it, so Frieda just said, "Well, I guess I'll just have to check for myself!" and in a matter of seconds, Tricia's romper was unsnapped in the crotch and pulled up so that Frieda could easily pull out the back of her diaper.











"Hey!" Tricia tried to squirm away, not liking this method of "checking" her diaper status at all.











"Just wet…this time," Frieda said, patting Tricia's wet diaper on the back a couple times with a smug smile. She observed Tricia's pout and said, "Well, sweetheart, if you had told me to begin with, I wouldn't have had to do that, now would I?" Tricia continued her pout, only stopping a second to resort to poking her tongue out at Frieda, before realizing how much that just reinforced her childish look.











Frieda took it all in stride and asked Tricia if she would rather be changed in her nursery, or would she rather Frieda spread a changing pad on the floor and change her right there in the Living Room? Tricia didn't relish the idea of being changed on the Living Room floor - what if someone came to the door? - and she was a bit anxious to see what had been done to her bedroom to turn it into a "nursery", so she chose that.











Tricia stared around her as they went into what used to be her bedroom. "We have to be careful," said Frieda, maneuvering around the electric fan that was in the doorway, "We finished painting a few hours ago, but I don't think it is all the way dry yet." Gone were all of Tricia's posters - though she knew she would get them back eventually. She could live with the pink walls, she supposed, she didn't dislike pink and the walls had needed to be painted, if it wasn't for the fact that it made the room look so darn little-girlish! All the furniture was currently pulled a bit away from the walls, and the window was wide open to allow the fumes to ventilate out. There was a white crib and a changing table - both looking ridiculous to Tricia because they were so long. Her own dresser was still in the room but it had also been painted an antique white - which honestly looked nice, Tricia had to admit. There were some new posters in frames leaning against the dresser to be hung when the walls dried, and Tricia couldn't believe it as she recognized her old Muppet Babies poster - her mother had actually saved that all these years?











"Yeah - it is really big," Frieda said as she noticed Tricia looking at the crib and almost read her mind. "Your twin mattresses from your bed actually fit in it, but your Mom put plastic covers on them first, in case…. you know… in case your diaper leaks at night… wouldn't want to ruin your mattress just for a two week training program. Unless your Mom keeps it," she finished with a giggle.











Tricia sighed and walked over to "her" changing table and clamored up onto it. Frieda stared after her and sighed, slightly annoyed, before coming over and pushing Tricia's still unsnapped romper up out of the way and beginning to undo the tabs on the diaper. "You know," she said, "You've hardly said two words to me since you got home. I thought we were friends. I'm just trying the make the best of this for you, and you should too, or this visit isn't going to be any fun for either of us!"











Tricia felt bad. She hadn't meant to hurt Frieda's feelings (even if she was annoyed by the way Frieda was going to treat her, but it wasn't like she had much choice). Here she was, already acting again like a spoiled baby, which was why her mother decided she deserved something like this in the first place. All she seemed to be able to do with all her determination not to let it get to her was prove that she really did deserve to be treated in this way.











"Then today, your Mom and I spent all day after I got here painting this room to surprise you, and getting all this stuff you have to have set up, and…" Tricia sat up and hugged Frieda. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just not exactly something I want to do for the next two weeks!"











She lay back down and Frieda popped her diaper open. "Then why take the job?" she asked. Tricia blushed, and while Frieda continued with her diaper change (at least talking seemed to slightly keep her mind off what Frieda's hands were doing), she relayed the information of how she had not been very pleased with taking a job in the first place, and had signed the contract without reading it first. She even went so far as to confess to Frieda that she ultimately understood her Mom's frustration and why she made her do this.











Frieda finished up taping up the diaper and then set about removing Tricia's romper altogether. "Wow," she said. "That kinda sucks - sorta a cautionary tale, you know? I graduate next year - I think I better not piss my Mom off or I might end up being a training baby next summer!"











"Then I'd be taking care of you," Tricia giggled, thinking that might not be so bad from her standpoint, anyway.











"You mean you are going to stay working there after your obligatory three weeks are up?" Frieda asked her, surprised. "I thought you hated it."











"I hate it now, but after I'm done with this part, maybe it won't really be so bad," Tricia said. "Umm, Fre? Why are you undressing me?"











"Gotta get you in your PJs," Frieda told her, finally getting the romper off over Tricia's head and arms. "Your new bed time is 8:00 PM. I don't think we are possibly going to make it, though, so it will basically be once you finish your supper. Come on, let's go to the kitchen."











"I don't have any clothes on!" Tricia tried to point out.











"You have your diaper. I don't want to get food all over your PJs, so I'll feed you supper and then put you in them. It's summer, so you won't get cold."











Tricia grumbled something about not really being a baby that couldn't eat without getting it all over herself, but submissively climbed off the changing table and followed Frieda to the kitchen.











Chapter 9

















Tricia was not surprised when she saw the high chair she had to use for her meals, nor did the bib or baby bottle surprise her. What did pleasantly surprise her was that she did not have to eat baby food. Instead, Frieda fed her macaroni and cheese.











"Susan suggested we feed you baby food, but we decided that was getting ridiculous," Tricia's mother told her. "The bottle's not a bad idea though - you still seem to tip over your glass a lot." Tricia resorted to sticking her tongue out again when her mother wasn't watching. "I saw that," her mother said.











The bib turned out to be a good idea as well. Despite Tricia's assertion that she could eat without getting it all over herself, eating when Frieda was feeding her proved to be a bit more difficult. She also wasn't at all sure that Frieda hadn't dripped some of that food on purpose. If the tables were turned, she reasoned, she would have.











It turned out there were quite a few things Susan suggested that Tricia's mother decided against. For instance, while she had to crawl at the daycare center, neither her mother nor Frieda said anything to her about walking at home. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be allowed to talk at the daycare center - nobody said one way of the other - but once they got over the awkwardness of the situation, she and Frieda talked just like they always did.











The awkwardness returned quite often though. From being fed by her, to being cleaned up by her, to finally being dressed in a rather short and babyish looking nightie by her, Tricia kept having to submit to her cousin's ministrations. And the most ironic part was - this wasn't the first time, and both girls remembered though neither dared to be the first to say it.











When they were both under 10, the girls liked a game they called "babysitter". One girl would play the baby, and the other the babysitter, and then they would switch. While they never REALLY wore diapers, they imagined diaper changes as part of the game. They also had used a real baby bottle when they played. It was one of their favorite games, keeping them out of trouble for hours sometimes.











But they hadn't played that for years, and it had faded into memory for both of them. Only now, it was forced back out into the open in a much more realistic fashion than they chose to play in their games. The diaper changes were real, and so was Tricia's embarrassment over her predicament.











By 8:30, Tricia was in her crib, lights out but for a nightlight - which was hardly needed since the sun had not even set yet. There was still a slight lingering smell of paint in the room, a constant reminder to her of the new juvenile look of her bedroom. The crinkling of the plastic sheet on the mattress bothered her every time she moved, as did the sight of the crib bars every time she opened her eyes. The bulk of the diaper between her legs, while she was getting used to it, was still keeping her aware of her condition as well, and she was used to going to bed much later than this. She didn't know how she was ever going to get to sleep, suffering as she was.











Nevertheless, the day had taken its toll, and Tricia fell to sleep after about an hour of tossing and turning.











***





Cathy, on the other hand, was quite enjoying herself. She always liked kids and did a lot of babysitting in her High School days, but she needed more money now that she had graduated. She heard about the Daycare opening right around the time she was considering her job or college options. She wanted to take a year off before going to college, mostly because she couldn't decide what she wanted to do, so this seemed a perfect chance, plus it would also give her some money before she went to college.











She had interviewed, and finally she signed a non-disclosure agreement before she was told of the unconventional training program. Unlike Tricia, she had not been tricked into it by anyone. She had been very intrigued by the idea; it sounded fun to her to go back to being treated like a baby for a week, and a kid for a week longer. A little embarrassing perhaps, but at least she had a good excuse for it. And she'd be getting paid for it besides - imagine being paid just to wear diapers and act like a baby … how hard could that be?











Her mother wanted no part of it. She told Cathy she was an adult, and it was silly to take a job that required this sort of training. Cathy had countered that if she was an adult she should be able to make her own choices, so her mother permitted it, but, like Tricia's mother, said she was not going to change diapers again. Unlike Tricia, Cathy did not have a close cousin to call upon for help, so all of her home babying she enforced upon herself. All her mother was asked to do was sign a paper that assured that Cathy was living by the rules of staying in her required clothing, sleeping in a crib, and the other things that went along with it.











Perhaps her week wasn't quite as embarrassing as Tricia's could be, since she had to force herself to be a baby rather than having it forced upon her. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she liked all this - like a vacation from responsibility. She even got her mother to feed her in the high chair during her day off last Sunday. Her mother also had started to be more authoritative, telling Cathy when it was time to go to bed and such, like she had when Cathy was a little girl.











Now as a toddler, she had a bit later bedtime, and cuter clothes. She had been making herself eat baby food her first week and now was able to eat real food again. She was also wearing pull-ups during the day rather than diapers. She hadn't told Miss Susan that she was actually still using diapers at night, but reasoned to herself that it shouldn't matter - some toddlers still need diapers at night, right?











Chapter 10







Sometime in the very early morning, before it was even light out, Tricia awoke with a severe need to pee. She had started to swing her legs to get out of bed, forgetting her present surroundings until her feet smacked the side of the crib. "Ouch!" She sat up and rubbed her ankle, feeling the bulk of the diaper again as she did so.











She was already resigned by now to not using the toilet, so she relaxed and let it flow into her diaper. If it wasn't so gross she might find this mildly erotic, she thought to herself, allowing herself a bit of enjoyment from the tingling sensation of wetting, and the accompanying warmth as it spread through her diaper.











She lay back down, and fell back asleep rather quickly. She did not awaken again until Frieda came in to wake her up for "work".











Tricia was already not a morning person, and waking with a wet diaper that had now begun to turn cold did not help her mood any. To make matters worse, she was now feeling another need - one that usually made itself known every morning, and she had been trying to avoid up til now.











"Oh no…" Tricia sighed.











"What's wrong?" Frieda asked, as she pulled the nightie up and over Tricia's head.











"I don't suppose I could bribe you or beg you into allowing me to use the potty, could I?" she asked.











"The 'potty'?" Frieda asked with a giggle. "Gee, Tricia, really getting into your role, aren't you? No - I'm not supposed to let you use the potty, you know that already. Besides, what for? Your diaper is already wet." She patted Tricia's diaper for emphasis.











"Yeah - wetting is not what I need it for," she admitted, blushing profusely.











Frieda's eyes got big. "Ohh…" She looked ready to giggle, until a thought crossed her mind. "Oh, yuck … I'll have to clean you up!" She wrinkled her nose.











Tricia had known Frieda since birth, and was able better than anyone to know when she was wavering, and now was one of those times. She just needed one little push. "No one would know…" she tempted.











"True - your Mom is at work. You don't want dirty diapers and I certainly don't want to change them, so…" Frieda pulled Tricia's current diaper off, and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom. "Just be fast about it," she ordered.











Sitting on the toilet actually felt odd to Tricia after not doing so for the last 24 hours, and having prepared herself for not being able to for the next week. "Is the seat usually this hard and cold?" Tricia asked herself. Why hadn't she ever noticed that before? After Tricia did her business, Frieda came in to wash her up and apply the necessary hygienic products, like underarm deodorant, toothpaste … and diaper rash cream.











"You're getting a little raw here," Frieda said as she applied the cold cream, making Tricia jump. "Could just be from the plastic of the diaper rubbing your leg." Tricia hoped that was all it was from - if one day in diapers gave her a diaper rash, what would an entire week be like?











For breakfast, she ate (or rather, was fed) a bowl of oatmeal and a bottle of orange juice. Again she wore the bib, again she sat in the high chair. She was beginning to learn that caring for a baby is like a routine. Afterwards, Frieda took her back to the nursery again to dress her. Tricia was not pleased with the short dress Frieda put on her - it was a baby dress, made short so that a baby can crawl without getting tangled up in or ruining it, and it practically showed off her diapers when she was standing, let alone when she got down to crawl like she would have to at the center.











"Just be happy you don't have to take the bus!" Frieda admonished her when she complained about it one too many times. She grabbed the keys to the Escort - Tricia's (very old) car - and the diaper bag, and they headed out the door.











"How in the world did my car get back here?" Tricia asked. She hadn't even thought about it last night, but she had left it at the mall.











"When the guys came with the baby stuff for your room, they also brought your clothes," Frieda told her. "Your keys were in the pocket, and when your Mom came to pick you up she brought me along and I drove your car home."











"This car doesn't have all the safety features that your Mom's does, so don't play with the latches and buttons, okay?" Frieda teased, as she buckled Tricia into her seat. Tricia again felt a surreal feeling, this time at being a passenger in her own car, and Frieda driving. Frieda didn't have her license yet last time she visited.











"You have your drivers license now?" Tricia asked her.











"Umm - not exactly," Frieda confessed.











Chapter 11

















"What?? What do you mean, 'Not exactly'?" Tricia asked, slightly panicked.











"You have to have a Permit for a year first," Frieda said. "I haven't had mine that long."











"Frieda! And you've been driving MY car? Are you crazy? What if they impound it?" Tricia cried.











"Relax - I'd have to get pulled over for something first," Frieda said. "I'm being careful." As if on cue, a siren went off behind them. Frieda's eyes went wide and she almost needed a diaper herself. "What did I do??" She pulled over and the police car went by them. Both girls sighed with relief.











"Frieda, you can't keep doing it - what if we HAD been caught right there? Can you imagine? Even when I am with you, it's still illegal, because I'm not 21. And I am NOT going to jail dressed like this."











Frieda sighed. "Your Mom is gonna be mad. I only said I could drive legally because I was pretty sure she'd have to get someone else to do this if I couldn't. I figured you'd rather have me do it."











"I would, but not at that cost," Tricia assured her.











"Okay - I'll just drive it back home this afternoon, and then I'll tell your Mom," Frieda said.











That afternoon, wedged in with all the baby games, baby food, and diaper changes, Tricia was able to get Susan to let her have a short "adult talk" with her, and told her about the transportation problem. "Babies can't drive," Tricia said after explaining the situation, "but if I can't drive, I can't get here. Can't I just wear the diapers under some normal clothes and get changed when I get here or something?"











Susan thought about it, "Cathy lives in the wrong direction, and won't always be here at the same time you are - I suppose for these two weeks when you aren't supposed to drive I can pick you up." And so that problem was settled. Tricia wondered what would happen to Frieda when she told her Mom, however.











* * * * * * *











At that moment, they were coming out of the police station. "Of all the dumb, irresponsible things I have ever heard of!" Tricia's mother was raving.











"Well, how was I supposed to know there was a stop light AND a stop sign?" Frieda defended herself. Actually, she had known they were both there, she just thought it was stupid to stop at a green light, and hadn't seen the cop in the parking lot on the other side of the intersection. With no license, and no parent at home, he had taken her to the police station where she had to call her aunt. At least the officer had been nice enough not to impound the car, and allowed her to pull it into the parking lot. She also got a summons to appear in court.











Her aunt glared at her. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. Although that was stupid too. How could you possibly think it was a good idea to go driving around without a license?"











"I don't suppose telling you that was going to be the last time I was going to do it would help…" Frieda said. Her aunt just stared at her. "It was! Just ask Tricia!" she cried.











Maybe she shouldn't have brought up Tricia. "You act more like a toddler than she does," her aunt said, after a moment's silence. Frieda felt a shiver run though her at the inferred meaning behind the statement, and decided to follow in silence as her aunt continued lecturing her.











* * * * * * *











Tricia knew Frieda must have told her mother when they came and picked her up that evening. Her mother came in looking angry, and Frieda followed along behind, looking morose. It didn't take long her for her to find out what happened, since as soon as they were in the car her mother said, "You're going to have to drive your car home. I brought your license along."











"I… thought it was at home," Tricia asked, confused.











"Did you know your cousin has been driving around without a license?" her mother asked her?











Tricia decided to be honest. "I found out this morning. She said she would tell you this afternoon that she wasn't supposed to be driving alone yet."











"So you still allowed her to drive your car home from the mall," her mother said. It was a statement more than a question, and Tricia remained quiet and uneasy. She hadn't seen that determined look in her mother's eye for quite awhile - not since she was 13 or so. As her mother filled her in on what had happened that day, she got more nervous about what she thought could be coming. This wasn't good - on top of what could have happened, Frieda now had to go to court, a large fine had to be paid, her parents had already been told (and, Frieda told her quietly, her mother had spoken to Tricia's mother for quite awhile privately after chewing her out over the phone), and Tricia's mother missed more than half a day of work.











Tricia did what she could to lighten her mother's mood by telling her that Susan had offered to pick her up for work for the next two weeks - until she was supposed to be allowed to drive again. It didn't appear to help very much.











Chapter 12











When they got to the parking lot where Frieda left the car, Tricia's mother gave Tricia the keys and her license. Tricia was extremely embarrassed to get out of the car, even for just how long it took to get into her own car, dressed in the short dress and diaper. She would have complained about it if it hadn't been for the gravity of trouble Frieda had already gotten them both in.











She unlocked her door with the remote entry before even getting out of her mother's car, then scooted as quickly as she could out from one car and into the other. She didn't dare look around as she was doing so to see if anyone was looking at her, but with the evening traffic on the streets and the parking lot still pretty full, she was sure some people had to have seen her.











It felt strange to sit in the driver's seat attired this way, and she found herself nervous that everyone in the passing cars could see how she was dressed. At least when they got home, she would pull into the garage, and minimize the chance of any neighbors seeing her. As she drove, she thought again of that look in her mother's eye - when she was little, her mother always looked like that when she had to punish her - especially if she was going to spank her. Tricia's mother didn't like to spank and had used it sparingly, stopping when Tricia had turned 14 and was deemed to be too old to spank. Truth be told, Tricia would much rather have been spanked a few of the times she had been grounded instead; a spanking was over much faster. But when she was little, and her mother didn't want to spank her but felt she really had to, she always got that same look, and Tricia learned to be able to tell by that look when she was really going to get spanked.











"Surely she wouldn't spank us NOW, would she?" thought Tricia, as she pulled into the garage and waited for the door to close behind her. If fourteen had been too old to spank … then she looked down at her diaper, which was ironically wet.











As they entered the house, Tricia wondered if Frieda had figured out yet what they were in for. Tricia's mother had only spanked Frieda once, as far as she could remember. It was when she and Tricia had gone swimming in the old quarry by themselves, without even telling anyone where they were going. They had been spanked together for that one. Tricia had never been spanked by Frieda's mother, but she was pretty sure the discipline was pretty much the same as she got - spanked until she was a teenager. It wasn't really something the two girls ever decided to discuss.











Once they were in the Living Room, Tricia's mother turned to her and said, "Get the wooden spoon."











* * * * * * *











Tricia squirmed gingerly on the hard seat of her high chair as Frieda, still looking teary-eyed, fed her. Her mother hadn't used the wooden spoon to spank since she was very little, and then it had not been hard or many swats. She was sure that today she got more swats with it than she had all the times put together when she was little - not that that had been all that often. She also couldn't remember it ever stinging like that before, and was sure her mother spanked her harder with it than when she was little.











But for all the spanking Tricia got, Frieda's was much harder and longer. After all, it was she who had done the deed. Tricia was spanked as well because she had allowed her to drive again even after knowing she wasn't supposed to. Frieda had at first protested that she was too old to be spanked. Her aunt pointed out that what she had done showed she was no more responsible than a toddler, so that's how she would be treated. Obviously, Tricia's training was causing a few more changes than just her diapers.











Tricia was actually grateful for the small amount of padding her diapers gave her after her bare bottom had been spanked. Frieda had diapered her in a dry diaper after they had done their corner time, and she had asked her to double diaper her. Frieda had apologized for getting her in trouble, too, and had been quick to do her the favor she asked. Tricia's mind was already working overtime on thinking of things she might be able to get away with, if Frieda felt bad enough.











Frieda also admitted to Tricia that she had already decided she was going to keep driving - before she got pulled over. "I KNEW you gave up way too easily," Tricia accused. Frieda had intended on making a deal - as long as Tricia stayed quiet about the car, Frieda would stay quiet about Tricia's potty use in the mornings. Even with the sting still in her bottom, she giggled at Tricia's look of disbelief.











Tricia knew that the punishment was over now and her mother wasn't the type that would hold this over them any longer, but Frieda was still worried. "She said I acted like a toddler so she would treat me like one!" she reminded Tricia. "Do you think that means she gonna make me wear diapers and stuff, like you?"











Tricia was a little annoyed by how Frieda made it sound like this would surely be the end of the world if she was treated that way. She considered teasing Frieda with it to get her back, but decided against it. "I'm sure she won't Fre. She had you come down because she didn't want to take care of one 'big baby', so it's not like she's going to be ready to take care of two. She just wanted to give us the simplest and quickest punishment and be done with it. Besides, if she was going to, you'd already be diapered." She didn't tell Frieda she sort of wished Frieda had been put in diapers.











The two girls finally got to bed - Tricia a little later than she was supposed to - and before Tricia fell asleep, her mother came in to give her a goodnight kiss. This was something she hadn't done for quite a long time. She also brought a baby bottle of juice with her and put it on a stand where Tricia could easily reach it between the bars of her crib. "Her crib" - she cringed at how easily she thought of this as being hers. Her Mom also told her she was sorry she had to spank her so hard, but she really wanted Tricia to understand how dangerous it was to allow Frieda to get away with that, and she wasn't sure how much one had to spank an 18 year old to get the point across. Tricia assured her the point had been heard loud and clear and rubbed her bottom through her diaper, which caused her mother to smile.











"That was a little weird," thought Tricia, after her mother left. She had a bit of a scary thought just before drifting to sleep: what if her mother was actually beginning to LIKE having her "little girl" back?











Chapter 13











And so the week continued, with Tricia slowly getting more used to her diapers and he baby treatment with each passing day, and Cathy "relearning" everything she couldn't do her first week. Cathy took to teasing Tricia about being "older", and Tricia wished she had known about Cathy's training earlier so she could have seen Cathy in diapers. She wasn't aware that Cathy was still wearing the diapers nightly.











When Susan picked Tricia up each morning, Tricia found that she had installed a very large baby seat in the car. She thought about asking where it had come from, but then thought that there was quite an assortment of large baby furniture (like the changing table and crib in her nursery, or the stroller on her porch), and thought better of it. If she asked, Susan might get the idea that she was actually interested in using this stuff.











By the end of the week, there was some concern that there weren't any more employees yet, and thus there were no new "babies" for Cathy to train. Susan assured her that the very next employee would be her baby to train, and the next after that would be Tricia's, after she completed her toddler week, of course. Susan mentioned a prospective employee named Brittany, whom she thought was just perfect for the job. Tricia was also relieved to find out that their opening - when parents would start bring real children to this daycare - would not be until the week following her toddler week. She would be spared the humiliation … unless of course she ended up being the baby for the purpose of training a new employee, but she decided to put that out of her mind.











With Tricia's week of babyhood coming to a close, the only one sorry to see it end was Frieda. She had enjoyed her week of lording over her cousin, who had always been the bossy one before. She had cheated a little by letting Tricia use the potty in the mornings, since she really did not want to have to change messy diapers. The most awkward moment came Saturday night when Frieda gave Tricia a bath, and found herself having to wash every part of her cousin. In the middle of it, she got a mean idea and just couldn't help herself.











"You know," she told Tricia, "Babies don't have all that hair down there!"











Tricia's eyes grew large. "You wouldn't…" she said. Which of course was all the encouragement Frieda needed.











"It's very unhygienic as well," she said. "Could cause a diaper rash!" She picked up the shaving cream and razor. Tricia tried to make the case that she only had to wear diapers for one more day anyway, but Frieda was not going to be swayed. "Toddlers don't have hair there either," she reasoned. And so, when Frieda diapered Tricia for the night, Tricia would have looked just like a large toddler from the waist down, were it not for the shape of her hips. Frieda knew she would have done something about that, too, if she were able to.











Sunday the center was closed, so both Cathy and Tricia had the day off. Susan made it clear to them that even on days off, they were to continue in their roles at home. Tricia's mother decided to have Cathy come over and play with Tricia for the day, since it was Tricia's last day as a baby and Cathy's last day as a toddler. Monday, Cathy would be allowed to go back to adulthood - actually, Sunday night she would be back to it, with the removal of the nursery items from her bedroom. Frieda practically reveled in her opportunity to babysit not just one, but two girls who were older than she.











So Cathy spent the day playing with Tricia - they got out Tricia's old dolls, and played Candyland, and even went outside for a bit to play on the swing set in Tricia's back yard (neither girl would have enjoyed this half as much as they did, had it not been for the fact that there was a nice privacy fence all around the back yard). She had a lot of fun, even if she did have to let a 17 year old check her Pull-up and remind her to go potty every couple of hours, and have to let her help her with the potty, and take a nap with Tricia in her crib in the afternoon.











Cathy was a little sorry to see her week of toddlerhood end. It had been sort of like a vacation for her, and she found herself really liking the clothing. Even returning her room to its original state and removing the baby furniture from her home didn't cheer her up much. The crib had been somewhat more comfortable than her real bed, in her opinion. She had a very embarrassing moment when one of the movers who came to pick up the equipment asked about the leftover diapers, and she said without thinking, "But Susan said we keep any diapers that are left!" She turned red immediately, and the mover just gave her a weird look and then left after shrugging his shoulders. She hadn't wanted them to know just how many of the diapers she had used - and she intended on using the rest of them as well. Actually, she wasn't sure she could do without them at night any more.











Cathy found she was able to recapture at least some of the feelings of the last two weeks when she went to bed that night. First, she still had her diapers, and second, she still had her baby bottles. She filled one of the bottles with apple juice, and cuddled with her favorite teddy bear in her own "big girl" bed, imagining the crib bars were still surrounding her. In the morning, she found that indeed, her diaper was wet.











Chapter 14













Tricia stared at the new addition to her "nursery" with a mixture of relief and distaste. The little pink potty chair meant she would no longer have to wear diapers, but it also meant another week of humiliating regressive behavior for her. It also meant Frieda would be still checking to see if she was wet, and now, annoyingly reminding her to "go potty".











Her own reaction to her new clothes bothered her as well. Just last week she had made fun of Cathy for clothing like this, and now as she looked at the outfit Frieda was getting out for her, she found herself smiling and thinking it was cute. At least it was an improvement over last week's clothes.











"Okay - time for little Tricia to learn about using the potty!" Frieda teased her, pushing her into a laying position on the bed so she could remove her diaper and clean her with baby wipes - even though Tricia was dry. "What a big girl, staying dry all night already!" Frieda went on. Tricia thought Frieda was enjoying this a little too much.











"Okay - now go sit on your potty," Frieda directed her.











Tricia looked at her disbelievingly. "Frieda, I've been using the adult toilet every morning all last week," she told her.











"Yes - and we wouldn’t want anyone finding out about it either, so let's not bring it up anymore," Frieda answered. "I let you do that because I didn't want to change messy diapers. Rinsing out a potty isn’t half as bad."











Trisha gave her a dirty look, and held her glare on Frieda's back the whole time she sat on the potty, but she did as Frieda told her. After she was done, Frieda took her to wash her hands (and to empty the potty out), then brought her back to the bedroom and dressed her for her day. First were her new Pull-ups, which were decorated with Disney Princesses. Next, she pulled a pair of pink pants with an elastic waist up her legs. "We want you to have an easy time pulling them down so you don’t have any accidents," she explained. Finally, a pink t-shirt with Disney Princesses, "To match your new big girl panties." She topped it all off by putting Tricia's hair in pigtails, making her resemble - in Tricia's opinion - an overgrown three-year-old.











Then again - at least it isn’t diapers, Tricia thought, walking out to Susan's car for the first time in a week not feeling that extra thick padding of a diaper rubbing between her legs. Pull-ups were still thicker than panties, but at least she wasn't waddling - much. Susan had replaced the harness car seat with a booster seat now.











Every couple of hours, she had to endure being asked by Cathy if she had to "go potty". She found herself idly wondering if diapers hadn’t been a bit better than being asked that all the time. "I'm not really just learning, you know," she retorted once. "I can tell you if I have to go!" Cathy just shrugged and asked again a half hour later.











About midmorning, Tricia saw a new girl come into the center. At first she was very embarrassed to be seen dressed as she was, until she realized the girl, though she was staring at her, was being led to one of the changing tables. She smirked a little, knowing what was about to happen. The new girl seemed to accept it pretty well though, as though she expected it (although she wasn't happy about it).











Later she found out the new girl's name was Tammy. Tammy was aware of the training program before she came, and while not a great fan of the idea, she decided she needed the job anyway. With her around being the "new baby", some of the heat was off Tricia as far as Cathy's attention.











During some of their playtime, Tricia filled Tammy in on most of what she could expect, and found out from Tammy what was going on outside the center, as far as the ads on TV (which Tricia had not had time to watch in the last week) and the newspaper help wanted ads (of course, Tricia hadn’t picked up a newspaper in the last week either). "They haven't really explained what the training program is - just that it is new and innovative," Tammy said. "I didn’t find out what it was until after my interview when Susan decided I was a right personality match to work here."











"Cathy's been driving me nuts," Tricia told her. "Last week it was all about how it wasn't so bad to be a baby, and now this week she is completely intent on making me feel like I really am about three years old. I think she's flipped her lid!"











"Or maybe she's just a lot like Susan," Tammy added.











"What do you mean?" Tricia asked.











"Well - like you said - Cathy's really enthusiastic about this place and it's training - and that it is also going to be daycare for older children … even teens…" Tammy answered. "But Cathy didn’t come up with the idea, did she? Susan did. So, what do you think must be in her mind to think up something like this?"











She grinned as the light came on in Tricia's eyes.











"Besides, the desire to be a baby again is not as limited as you might think," she went on. "I had a boyfriend last year who always got turned on when I would baby-talk to him, and when I mentioned to him in a teasing way that maybe I should put him in diapers and make him call me Mommy, he got all embarrassed and denied it, but there was visual confirmation that it excited him." Both girls giggled. "I looked it up n the internet after that, and apparently wearing diapers is a big lifestyle thing for some people!"











Tricia was amazed. Tammy went on, "Some like just wearing diapers, some like to be more like babies - like we do in our training here - and a lot use all kinds of excuses for their lifestyle choices, like saying they are bedwetters even though they aren't. Still others like to be in charge of those who act like babies. Jeez - I think my Mom could have been one; she's really into this treating me like a baby at home. She even looked at the price of the crib when they said we could buy them and keep them. I told her no way - it wasn't happening!"











"What did she say?" asked Tricia.











Tammy turned red. "She smacked me on the bottom and told me not to interrupt while adults were talking," she admitted. Tricia couldn’t help laughing. She then told Tammy how much her cousin Frieda seemed to enjoy babysitting her.











"But she doesn't get under my skin as much as Cathy is," she said, finishing.











"Well - you know what they say about revenge, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much," Tammy said. Tricia was again confused, so she explained, "Who do you think is going to have to be the training baby next week? AND, she'll have to be that in front of others - we open to the public next week!"











Cathy could see the two girls glancing at her and giggling while they talked in hushed tones, and it did concern her a bit. She knew she shouldn’t be so hard on Tricia, but she couldn't seem to help herself. She found that she resented Tricia's feelings about the training, when it was something she wanted so much. She wanted everyone to feel the same way about it - or at least to understand. As long as people didn’t understand, she couldn’t be open about her desires. She did realize that she would probably be the training baby for next week though, and knew that even if she couldn't be a baby all the time, at least she could be at work. She knew she would volunteer to be the baby quite often when one was needed.











As for now, it looked like it was possible the new class baby was experiencing her first wet diaper - and as Tricia STILL hadn’t admitted to needing the potty yet, if she didn't convince her to go soon she would also have to deal with a wet Pull-up. Cathy smiled as she headed for the pair and dreamed of what adventures may lay ahead.











**********





"Well Sue, I have to admit - it looks like your idea really was successful." Carrie set down her coffee cup on the table and looked through the mirrored glass window into the daycare center again. There was a good number of charges there, and three employees. "How did you find your employees?"











"Well, that was a harder part," Susan told her friend. I knew once they signed the contract, they were pretty much locked in - but it could have been disastrous if anybody had broken the non-disclosure agreement. The first girl - Cathy - she was real eager about it. I think she enjoys it - like you always did." Carrie blushed her agreement.











"Then there was the second; Tricia. Her mother pretty much tricked her into it, thinking it might work as a kind of punishment or wake-up call. Treating her like she was acting, in other words. It seemed to work pretty well, too."











"The third - Tammy. She just needed work, and couldn’t really find her fit anywhere else. All other daycare centers are fully staffed. With the rumors going around by then I could tell she was very curious about the training program, but I felt it would work out fine with her, and it did."











"This afternoon, I've got a fourth coming in. Her name is Brittany, and she flat out told me she is an adult baby and is looking forward to this. She's the first who has actually seen into our little secret here and called us on it, but I think she'll work out just fine."











"So, you've got your curious newcomer to the scene, your brat being punished, your basic person off the street who just got sucked into things, and your hard-core adult baby?" Carrie laughed. "Sounds like one of those stupid stories we used to read, doesn’t it? If we wrote it down, no one would ever believe us!"











The End