Melody’s moving day arrived with Briana in a tizzy. She stood nervously in her room in naught but a pair of pullups, contemplating the two outfits on her bed. One was a sensible pair of jeans and a boring, grown up t-shirt in solid forest green. The other was an excitingly little outfit, a white empire waisted dress decorated in cartoon dinosaurs with white tights and a sparkly hairband.
It wasn’t so much about the outfits, of course, but if she should be little or not when Melody arrived. The anxiety was enough to force her into the potty dance to keep her pullups dry. The door opened behind Briana, and she turned, flinging herself into Veronica’s arms.
“Ooof,” Veronica grunted, pulling Briana into a tight hug. “Are you okay sweetie?”
“Mom, I can’t decide if I should be little or not when Melody gets here,” Briana said, burying her face in Veronica’s chest.
“Well it might be an easier choice if you had a cuter big-girl outfit,” Veronica said. “It looks like you spent a lot of time on the little outfit but not the big one.”
“Can you help me please?” Briana asked, raising her head to give Veronica a plaintive look.
“I think there are a lot of signs pointing toward the decision already being made,” Veronica said. “Spending more time on the little outfit, needing help from me, the way you’re acting now. It’s okay if you want to be little.”
“But, I don’t want her to think I’m weird, and I want to help move stuff, and be a good roommate,” Briana said, unable to control the whine in her voice.
“One thing I’m not going to let you do is spin yourself up into a tantrum,” Veronica said, stroking Briana’s hair. “So the choice isn’t yours anymore, I’m putting you in the little outfit.”
“But mom!” Briana protested. “When I’m little I won’t be able to help with moving stuff.”
“Darling,” Veronica said with an amused smile. “You are a hundred pounds soaking wet. You are good at lots of things but you are nobody’s first choice to move furniture.”
“I guess so,” Briana said and squirmed her way out of Veronica’s grasp.
“You can help by making Melody welcome,” Veronica said, picking up the dress and holding it up.
“Yeah, I can do that!” Briana lifted her arms and wiggled into the dress, obediently stepping into the tights so Veronica could pull them up. With the sparkly purple headband on as a final touch, she beamed up at Veronica and did a little twirl. “How do I look?”
“Good enough to eat,” Veronica chuckled and grabbed Briana to tickle her.
Briana shrieked and climbed on the bed to escape the tickles, still giggling. A little bit of wet escaped into her pullup, but she managed to clamp down on it in time. Too excited about her outfit to request a change, Briana decided to ignore it until she could get to the bathroom.
A deep rumble and the squeak of breaks outside announced the arrival of Melody’s moving truck. In a flash Briana was out of her room and stampeding down the stairs. “She’s here! She’s here everybody!”
On the living room couch, Jane looked up at the commotion, only to be pounced and hugged around the neck by whirlwind Briana. “Daddy get up, she’s here! Melody’s here!”
“I heard,” Jane said dryly and planted a kiss on Briana’s cheek.
“Get uuuuup we have to say hi!” Briana grabbed Jane’s arm and pulled, managing to stir Jane out of the seat after the third or fourth tug.
“Casey, Erin, Suzie, she’s here, come on!” Briana called out, running to the door and throwing it open. Bemused roommates made their way to the living room, with Veronica watching from the upstairs balcony.
“You’re pretty worked up today kiddo.” Suzie said with a grin. She followed Briana out onto the front porch to watch Melody get out of the U-Haul and fiddle with the lock on the back door. “Give us some time to say hi and maybe make coffee.”
“Then come say hi!” Briana waved at her roommates, gathering them out the door by sheer energy and excitement.
“Melody!” Briana said, scampering down the porch and walkway. “Hi Melody, welcome to the house!”
“Hey Briana,” Melody said, still looking a little sleepy. She was scruffier than last time, probably from all the packing. Briana resolved to make sure that Melody knew there would be plenty of help.
“Did you meet everybody yet?” Briana asked. Without waiting for an answer she launched into introductions. “This is Jane, she’s strong and can help with a lot of stuff, and this is Casey, she has the really big muscles, and this is Erin, she’s super organized, and this is Suzie, she’s really nice and a good decorator. Veronica is inside, she’s probably getting stuff moved out of the way to your room.”
“Yeah, I did get a chance to meet everybody at least once on campus,” Melody said, chuckling at her new roommates over the head of a very bouncy Briana. “Hi everybody.”
“Welcome,” Jane said. “You have your own personal fan club for today it looks like.”
“Sounds good, I bet she’ll be a big help,” Melody said, handing Briana an envelope stuffed with papers. “This is the stuff for the truck, can you set it by the TV for me so it’s out of the way?”
“Okay Melody!” Briana said brightly, taking the envelope and sprinting up the porch and back into the house. She carefully set the papers in front of the TV, but before she could dash out again, she heard Veronica calling her from the kitchen.
In short order Briana had the job of making coffee for everyone, flitting around taking orders and then precisely preparing each cup. To Briana’s surprise Melody liked her coffee the same as she did, super sweet but not much milk. Melody was going to be the best big sister ever!
By the time all the coffees were done the furniture had been moved into Melody’s room. Briana peeked in to see a huge rug covered in cool looking video game characters. A twin size bed with a black metal frame was set up in one corner, and there was a small dresser next to it. An absolutely huge desk dominated the room, Melody and Jane were still putting the beast together. It looked like an executive desk with enough space for three monitors, built in shelving, and a surface that partially wrapped around the chair.
Room investigation was cut short by Suzie, who sent Briana out to the truck to help with boxes. Under Erin’s direction the rest of Briana’s morning consisted of carrying a series of small boxes from the truck to the room, one or two at a time. By the end of it, Briana was tired of boxes and her pullup was wet.
Trying to catch anyone’s attention for a change as a lost cause. Veronica and Jane were cooking lunch, Erin and Casey were moving big boxes, and Suzie was breaking down cardboard as fast as she could. Melody was up to her eyeballs in assembling a scary amount of computer hardware. Briana found herself setting the table, putting out the pasta salad, and filling glasses of water. Once she’d managed all that, the pullup had done its job and Briana had forgotten she’d even wet. A clamminess in her pants was not something she worried about too much, especially on the weekends.
After lunch there were dishes to wash, it was getting to be a lot of chores for a Saturday! Briana was feeling beat, but gamely made her way to Melody’s room to see if she could help. It was a good thing too, because with the moving done, everyone had abandoned Melody to deal with the pile of boxes on her own.
“Need help unpacking?” Briana asked eagerly, plopping down on the floor next to Melody.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Melody said, opening the box next to her to reveal dozens of wrapped figurines. “I’ve got a lot of these to put up on shelves.”
“She’s pretty!” Briana said, snatching a scantily clad girl with spikey hair out of the box. “What’s her name?”
“That’s Momo Yaoyorozu from My Hero,” Melody said.
“What’s this one’s name?” Briana said, grabbing an androgynous blue-clad figure.
“That’s Rimuru Tempest from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime,” Melody said.
“Oooh, who’s she?” Briana asked, grabbing yet another figure, this one blonde, buxom, and dressed in a yellow school uniform.
“How about you help me put them on the shelves first?” Melody asked. “We’ll be here for a week if I tell you about all of them.”
“Okay!” Briana hopped up and started moving figurines to shelves. A few of them she recognized but most she gave her own names to, or at least gave them an imaginary relationship with the figurines next to them. There were a whole group of figurines in witches hats that were in love with some boys in suits.
Box after box after box, Briana helped Melody fill up her shelves. The walls of the room had been devoured by shelving. From figurines to blue ray discs to video games to manga volumes, every shelf was crammed full.
“You have so much cool stuff!” Briana said as she shelved some brightly colored manga according to Melody’s strict insistence on keeping series together.
“Thanks,” Melody said. “It took a while to collect it all. You can come borrow the manga or blue rays whenever you want.”
“Can I play with the dolls?” Briana asked. “I’ll be super careful!”
“They uh, aren’t really toys,” Melody said with an awkward grimace. “They’re decorations.”
“Oh, okay,” Briana said, putting a little extra pout into her lip.
“Well I guess you can if I’m here, and they don’t leave the room,” Melody said, “but you have to be gentle with them.”
“Thank you Melody!” Briana grabbed the other girl in a big hug, getting a somewhat stiff hug in return.
“Yeah no problem,” Melody said, patting Briana’s head. “Thanks for helping with all this stuff. I wouldn’t be anywhere close to done without you.”
“You’re welcome!” Briana squatted down to pick up some more manga, and felt the need to go again. Saturday was always diaper time, so she let herself go right away. She giggled as the warmth flowed around her crotch, only realizing her mistake when she felt liquid soaking into her tights and down her thighs.
Reflexively, she looked up at Melody to admit her accident. But Melody wasn’t one of the people that she could ask for a change. It was little time, but she was in a pullup instead of a diaper. She was at home, but with a sort of stranger. Tears sprang into Briana’s eyes as she floundered between her needy little-state and embarrassed big state.
“What’s wrong?” Melody asked, reaching into the same box that Briana had.
“I… I… I…” Briana’s lip quivered. She thought about excusing herself but her little instincts were too strong. She’d never been big around Melody. “I had an accident.”
“Oh,” Melody said, recoiling a little. Briana sank to the floor with a crushing weight in her chest.
“I’m not upset or anything,” Melody said. Briana looked up at the other girl fearfully. “I didn’t expect it, I’m not used to this stuff yet.”
“I’m sorry,” Briana said, “I’ll go.”
“Hold up, I’m really not upset or whatever,” Melody said, reaching out for a hug. Briana gingerly leaned into it, resting her teary face on Melody’s shoulder.
“There there,” Melody said, patting Briana’s head. “um, do you need me to uh, change you?”
“You don’t hafta,” Briana said. “I can go get Mom.”
“I’ll do it,” Melody said, with sudden firmness. “I told Veronica I would, I didn’t know it’d be the first day but it’s no big deal.”
“Are you sure?” Briana asked, curling up to hide her face even more.
“Heh, yes.” Melody managed to struggle to her feet while pulling Briana up as well. “Come on, there’s a changing table in the back room right?”
Briana nodded, and followed Melody silently, holding her hand. She hoped to run into someone she’d be more comfortable with, but the house was cleared out. It made sense, she guessed. They had been helping Melody all morning, and they had their own Saturday stuff to do. Nervously, Briana climbed up onto the changing table and pulled the skirt of her dress up over her face.
She felt fumbling fingers at the waistband of her tights and huffed in annoyance when Melody pulled down the tights only instead of getting the pullup along with. At least the pullup came off next, followed by the now familiar cold feeling of the wipes. Usually it was a soothing feeling, but Melody was missing big sections of Briana’s butt and especially crotch, leaving her feeling half sticky and not at all comfortable.
“You’re not doing it right,” Briana complained from under her skirt.
“Well this is my first time doing it,” Melody said, sounding a little irritated.
Briana sighed again and bunched her skirt around her waist. She craned her head to look at Melody. “I’m sorry, wasn’t trying to be mean. It’s that there’s a bunch of spots that didn’t get clean and I’ll feel icky.”
“Oh, yeah,” Melody said nervously. “I was um, trying to not get all up in your business.”
“But you’re changing my diaper,” Briana said.
Melody laughed. Briana wasn’t sure if it was okay at first, but it went quickly from an awkward laugh to the good funnies kind of laugh. She grinned, and wiggled her butt at Melody.
“Fair enough kiddo,” Melody said. “I wasn’t expecting to see this much of you today, but I guess we’re good friends now, huh?”
“We’re good friends?” Briana asked hopefully.
“Well I’m about to wipe your crotch so we better be,” Melody said.
Briana held her arms out. For a long scary moment it looked like Melody might not hug her. After a brief hesitation Melody found a place to put down her wipe and leaned in, crushing Briana in a surprisingly satisfying tight hug. With a happy murmur, Briana relaxed into the hug so much that she felt a trickle down her crotch and butt.
When Melody returned to cleanup, she was quick and efficient at cleaning up Briana’s butt and the puddle she’d made, despite all her fumbling before. “I think you need a diaper, Bri,” Melody said. “A pullup is not going to cut it if you keep wetting like this.”
“I usually get a diaper on Saturday,” Briana said, happily holding her feet while Melody finished cleaning her crotch.
“So why not today?” Melody asked.
“I was going to be a big girl for you,” Briana said. She squeaked in surprise when Melody added powder without putting a diaper under her first. Since they were friends now, she decided not to mention that it was another wrong step.
“You don’t have to be a big girl around me,” Melody said.
“Really?” Briana asked. “You won’t mind even if I’m always little?”
Melody shrugged and said, “I don’t know why I would. I like you like this.”
“Okay!” Briana said with a grin. She lifted her hips and settled into a diaper. Melody’s tape job was pretty clumsy but Briana barely noticed, the prospect of having a permanent little-friend was too exciting.
“I got your tights in a laundry basket,” Melody said. “Anything else you need?”
“Ice cream!” Briana declared, hopping down from the changing table.
“Ice cream?” Melody asked.
“I’ve been a good helper!” Briana insisted. “I should get a treat.”
“Uh huh,” Melody smirked. “Okay, but only because you’ve been such a good helper.”
Briana followed Melody to the kitchen, overjoyed that Melody held her hand the whole way. She could feel herself sinking more and more deeply into her little thoughts, and after all the work during the day it felt great. She tucked into the rocky road ice-cream that Melody served her, mixing it into a soup that she managed to smear across her face and drip onto her dress.
“You’re going to stain your dress,” Melody said, a lot later than Mom or Dad would have. “Need to get it in the laundry.”
“Don’t wanna!” said Briana with a naughty giggle.
“Briana, don’t make me put you in time out on my first day in the house,” Melody said, starting to sound grumpy. Briana winced, she didn’t want her new friend to be upset.
“Okay, sorry Melody!” Briana hopped out of her chair, and shucked her dress. She grinned at Melody was staring wide eyed at Briana in just a diaper. Briana bet that Melody hadn’t expected her to switch to being a good girl so quickly!
“Laundry room is downstairs right?” Melody said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Kay!” Briana left the ice cream mess on the table and wandered back into Melody’s room. The figurines were tempting, but she resisted the desire to touch and looked at them, making up more names for the dozens and dozens of cool characters.
Melody came back into the room after more than a sec, and Briana spun around on her smooth diaper to beam at her new friend, asking, “Can I play with the dolls?”
“You need clothes first,” Melody said with a sudden grin. “I have an idea actually, stay there.”
Briana flopped on her belly and watched Melody dig through the boxes until she found one full of weird bits of foam and cool toys like a sword and some future guns. A clothing box contained a pretty sailor top and super short skirt. Briana hardly ever got to play dress up, so she was the best girl she could be to help Melody get her into it.
The sailor top was cut for girls, and it fit perfectly over Briana’s small chest with a pretty soft-pink bow in the front. The skirt was too short to cover her diaper, but luckily the diaper was a pink that matched. She sat on the floor and happily bounced at how pleased Melody looked.
“Do I look good?” Briana asked.
“You look… wow.” Melody said.
“Is this a Halloween costume?” Briana asked, hoping she might get to wear it then as well.
“No, it’s for a cosplay I wanted to do,” Melody said, “but when it came it was too small for me. Fits you really well though, you can have it.”
“Oh my gosh, really?” Briana crawled excitedly into Melody’s lap. Melody seemed to really like it, getting a little grin like last time.
“Yeah, I can’t wear it, but I didn’t throw it away because it was so expensive,” Melody said, resting her hands on Briana’s hips. This time the contact was skin to skin. Melody staring like she was mesmerized; Briana felt lovely sexy warmth spread over her skin.
“Briana!” Veronica’s voice echoed through the house. Feeling a touch of guilt but not sure why, Briana slid off Melody’s lap.
“I’m in Melody’s room Mom!” Briana called back.
“Do you need to go?” Melody asked, seeming disappointed. Briana rushed to reassure her, and said, “No, it’s fine.”
“Hi Melody, how’s the unpacking going?” Veronica asked from the doorway.
“Pretty good,” Melody said, gesturing at the shelves. “Making good progress so far.”
“Briana isn’t distracting you, is she?” Veronica asked.
“No way, I’m helping!” Briana burst out before Melody could answer.
“Briana, I don’t see you helping. I see you playing dress up and – are you in a diaper? Melody, I’m sorry if you had to change her when you’re trying to move in,” Veronica said, shaking her head.
“Ah, it was a little awkward but it was going to happen eventually so it was fine,” Melody said with a sheepish grin. “Her dress got a little messy from some ice cream, so I put her in one of my cosplay outfits, hope that’s okay.”
“Thank you so much for doing all that, but you really didn’t need to,” Veronica said. “Please, if you’re ever busy, especially with work or school, you can always ask me to take care of her.”
“MooOOOoom,” Briana whined. “She said I was a help, and she was really nice, we’re having fun playing.”
“Well play time is over for now,” Veronica said firmly. “Melody wants to get her room put together so she can relax, I’m sure.”
“Nuh uh!” Briana exclaimed, turning to Melody and putting on her best puppy eyes, “Can I stay please Melody? I’ll be a big help and super good!”
“Briana,” Veronica said, her tone growing more sharp by the second, “that is not fair to do to Melody on her first day. You come out of her room right now.”
Melody looked confused or sad, Briana didn’t know which, but she was sure that Melody still wanted to play. She glared at Veronica and exclaimed, “No!”
“One,” Veronica said, her brows knitting into a frown.
“Mom, it’s not fair!” Briana said, though her stomach dropped.
“Two,” Veronica said, really angry now.
“I don’t wanna!” Briana said, fear of being in trouble and her anger at having to stop playing whirling around together until she could feel herself on the edge of a tantrum.
“Young lady if you make me say three you are going to be glad you have so much padding on your butt,” Veronica said, then took a deep breath…
With a nervous waddle around the bulk between her legs, Briana scurried over to the door. Veronica’s hand closed around her wrist with an iron grip. She gave Briana The Look, sending a shiver down the girl’s spine and turned to Melody, “I’m sorry Melody, I think Briana got a little spun up. We’ll give you some space and if you want to join us for dinner we’d love to see you then.”
“Sounds good,” Melody said, watching them curiously? Sadly? Briana was too little to be anything but frustrated at Mom.
“Upstairs,” Veronica said to Briana, pulling behind a fast walk. The padding made it hard to keep up, but when she tried to pull away, Veronica squeezed her wrist even more tightly. Frustration was giving way to guilt fast. It had been a while since she’d been in trouble and nervous butterflies made her stomach feel icky.
Brought to her room and dumped in her crib, Briana looked up at Veronica apologetically and said, “I didn’t mean to–“
“Briana, I am genuinely upset with you,” Veronica cut her off. “This is a hard move and an exhausting day for Melody. Helping her was fine but asking her to play was not okay. She’s not used to it yet, and she might have had trouble saying no on her first day.”
“But she was having fun!” Briana protested.
“That doesn’t mean that’s the way she wanted to spend her time,” Veronica said. “I’m not very impressed with your tantrum either. You haven’t had an episode like that since the end of spring quarter.”
“I’m sorry Mom,” Briana said, looking down in genuine guilt.
“I think you need a reset. You are grounded to your room for the rest of the night,” Veronica said.
“Mom, no!” Briana looked up in shock. “What about dinner?”
“I’ll bring a bottle up, since you’re being such a baby today,” Veronica said.
“No please!” Briana pleaded with tears in her eyes. “I want to be there for Melody’s first dinner! She’s my friend!”
“Briana, you are moving way too fast with all of this. If you can’t snap out of this behavior then you’re going to get appropriate discipline for it,” Veronica said.
“Please Mom, please!” Briana begged, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Please just dinner, please Mommy!”
“No, and that’s final,” Veronica said, softening a bit with a sigh. She sat down next to Briana and put her arm around her. “I don’t know what’s going on but you are way too spun up over this. You need to cool down and that’s what you’re going to do.”
“But – I want – to be with – everybody,” Briana said through hiccupping sobs.
“What you really need is a nap. Come on, let’s get out of these clothes,” Veronica gently peeled the costume off a limp and crying Briana. “Goodness sweetie, what’s going on? You never get this worked up.”
“We were having fun – and she’s a new friend – and – and…” Briana, stripped down to her diaper, hugged Veronica tightly and wailed.
“Oh honey, my little Briana,” Veronica said softly, gently rocking the sobbing girl back and forth.
By the time her crying jag was over, Briana was exhausted, laying on the crib with her head in Veronica’s lap and having her hair stroked. She sighed and rubbed her eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize that today would be too much for you,” Veronica said. “I should have noticed when you were so super excited this morning. You really want this to go well, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Briana said plaintively.
“It’s nap time my darling,” Veronica said, slipping Briana off her lap and helping her under the covers. “If you wake up you can play on your phone or with your toys, but you have to stay in your room. I’ll come up and feed you a bottle for dinner, and then we can spend the rest of the evening together. Just me and you and maybe Dad, okay?”
“Really?” Briana asked fretfully, pulling Alanna into an overtight hug.
“Really,” Veronica smiled and kissed Briana on the cheek, pulling the covers up to her chin. “I love you Briana.”
“I love you Mommy,” Briana said with a yawn.
Veronica smiled fondly and stroked Briana’s hair a few more times before raising the rails on the crib and slipping out of the room.