As a thank you, Briana made dinner for the house. At least she hoped it was a thank you, since she was making it with food she hadn’t bought. Everyone seemed appreciative, especially Veronica.
“Movie night!” Casey declared.
“I’ll do the dishes too.” Briana said. “You all get set up.”
With a chorus of “Thanks Bri!” her roommates piled into the living room.
The dishes went fast, Briana smiled happily at the clean kitchen and dining room. “At least I can contribute this way!”
The living room had been re-arranged to face the TV. Everyone had converted to pajamas. Veronica had one armchair, Suzie the other. The rest of the girls were gathered in a pile of blankets on the two couches.
“Hey Bri, we need a fashion show!” Suzie said.
“You’ve seen my pajamas like a million times.” She said, confused.
“We want to see you in the pullups!” Erin grinned.
“What?” Briana blushed.
“We don’t want you to be embarrassed around us.” Veronica said. “We didn’t get them for you to shame you. We’ve all seen each other in underwear or swimsuits. We want you to know that this isn’t anything different.”
“I don’t know…” Briana dug at the old wood floor with one toe.
“You’ll feel way better about it if you don’t feel like you have to hide it.” Erin said.
“Show off a little and let us support you!” Suzie nodded.
“Uh, this is weird.” Briana chuckled nervously. “But okay, just for tonight.”
“Of course, you don’t have to walk around in them every night.” Veronica smiled. “We really do want to normalize it for you.”
“Okay okay.” Brianna nodded and hurried upstairs.
She pulled both packages and opened them, placing the garments side by side. There was no getting around how ugly the incontinence panties were. No getting around how childish the adult pullups were either. It was going to be embarrassing to show them off either way.
“At least the pullups are pretty. The ones with flowers on them aren’t as bad as the ones with little bears and stuff I guess.” Briana looked at them ruefully. She’d have to wear one or the other eventually. With a sigh, she dropped her panties and slipped on a pair of the adult pullups. They felt odd, soft and bulky. She squirmed in them, trying to get used to the feel.
“They’re pretty quiet, that’s nice.” Briana thought. She selected a long nightshirt and pulled it over her head. It fell to her mid thigh. She twirled a little, and was glad to see that the pullups didn’t show. “Quick fashion show, and then I don’t have to show them any more.”
Briana was greeted by cheers as she came down the stairs. She blushed, “You guys are making too big a deal of this.”
“We’re making a big deal of you, we support you!” Said Erin. “Now flash us!”
Briana laughed and flipped her nightshirt briefly up. Her roommates cheered and catcalled her. She giggled and lifted her shirt again, did a quick turn before dropping it.
“They look good!” Suzie said.
“Are they comfortable?” Casey asked.
“Yeah actually.” Briana smiled shyly. It actually was helping to talk about it in a normal way.
“Walk through!” Erin grinned. “Everyone gets to pat the butt!”
Feeling giddy and silly, Briana lifted her shirt and walked through the half circle of girls. The pat she got varied from a simple touch, to a squeeze, to a surprisingly firm spank from Veronica. Everyone giggled when Briana jumped at the swat.
Hunkering down for the movie with some popcorn, Briana felt herself finally relax. An action comedy and a hard lemonade pushed all the stress away. By the time she went to bed, she’d almost forgotten the pullups. She found they didn’t really bother her either. She pulled them down and up like panties as she went about her nightly routine.
“That was smart of Veronica.” Briana thought. “It was embarrassing, but the ‘fashion show’ did help.”
In the morning, Briana stretched out in bed. She was delighted to not wake up in a soggy puddle. A little less delighted when she felt the increased bulk between her legs. With a sigh she prodded at the pullup. It was soaked, but her sheets weren’t. Briana decided to take that for a minor victory.
Without the stress of having to sneak laundry downstairs, the rest of the week seemed to go by in a flash. She was even completely dry the second morning of wearing the pullups. Happiness at a normal wakeup carried her through the day. Biochemistry labs were a breeze when she could concentrate on them!
Every other day of the week she woke to wet padding between her legs. By Friday it was getting hard to keep the enthusiasm. Her problem was accelerating.
When she arrived home on Friday, the house was quiet. Briana poked her nose into the kitchen and library, but no one was there. There wasn’t any noise upstairs among the bedrooms either. Briana was surprised to see Veronica’s door open, she was usually really private about her space.
“Veronica?” Briana called at the door.
“Briana? Come in please.”
Veronica had more than a room, she was the only one with a suite. Even before she’d covered Briana’s rent, she was paying twice as much as anyone else in the house. Briana found Veronica past the suite’s living room in the office. It was nicely set up with a vintage desk and two chairs. It boasted a bookshelf full of psychology texts and a file drawer. A woven rug from a trip to Asia was the only decoration.
“Hi Briana.” Veronica smiled slightly. She was seated at her desk in her usual black dress. Neat notes on the desk were being transcribed to digital.
“Hi Veronica.” Briana smiled shyly. “I saw your door was open, I think we’re the only two home.”
“Great, that will give us a chance to talk, can you sit for a second?” Veronica motioned to the chair next to her.
“Sure!”
“How are things going with your medical issue?” Veronica asked.
“Oh uh…” Briana blushed, “I don’t want to bore you.”
“You don’t bore me.” Veronica said gently. “I know you’re worried about it, and I know you’re not able to see a doctor right now. If your problem is psychological instead of physical, I could try to help.”
“Do you think it is?” Briana bit her lip.
“It could be.” Veronica shrugged. “We could at least try. Erin’s in med school but she can’t prescribe anything yet. She can’t really diagnose, and I can’t either. But she and I were talking about it, and we’d like to help if we can. We can’t offer anything official, but we can help with advice.”
Briana swallowed around a lump in her throat. “It’d be nice if you don’t mind. I actually… Well, the truth is, I had my issue every morning for the past four days.”
“It’s getting more serious, isn’t it?” Veronica asked, gently putting her hand on Briana’s leg.
“Yeah.” Briana rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you want me to try to help?”
“Yes please.” Briana nodded vehemently.
“Okay, let’s touch base daily.” Veronica said. “Right after you wake up. Don’t change your garments, come to my room however you are when you wake up, and we’ll talk about how you’re feeling.”
“Uh, are you sure you don’t want me to clean up?” Briana wrinkled her nose.
“I think it’s best to try to get as close to the state where it happened.” Veronica said. “If you’re willing to try.”
“Can’t hurt I guess.” Briana sighed. “Okay, I’ll try it. Can I stop if it’s too embarrassing?”
“Of course!” Veronica patted Briana’s leg. “This is all unofficial, all up to you how you want to engage with it. I want to offer help if I can.”
“What about Erin?” Briana asked.
“She can’t order labs or prescribe medicine yet, so she didn’t see a lot that she could do to help as it stands.” Veronica said. “She’s on the lookout for any programs that could get you in for a free appointment though.”
“Thanks Veronica.” Briana wiped away grateful tears.
“Of course!”