Briana woke in her crib, from a troubling dream. She couldn’t remember what had been happening, but somebody had been chasing her and – Melody as well? The last tattered images of the dream fled before her waking thoughts. That was sucky, because the dream seemed important. Melody hadn’t wanted to talk to her about that bad day when Beatrix showed up, and nobody in the house wanted to talk about it either. Briana didn’t want to let it go and her dreams seemed to agree with her. Not that there was anything to do about it in her crib.
It’d be easy enough to slide the side of the crib down and get up, but Briana didn’t bother with that these days. Her diaper was soaked, as per usual, and Mom would be along soon anyway. All getting out of bed would accomplish is making her waddle or crawl in a wet diaper until she had to go back to her room for the changing table.
She squirmed into a more comfortable position, feeling the heavy diaper squish around her rear. Alanna, her favorite lioness stuffie, was at the ready to hold boredom at bay. It was still dark and honestly a little scary outside what with the wind making weird noises through the trees. Luckily Alanna was a VERY brave lion and wasn’t bothered at all. Briana didn’t want to disappoint her friend by being a crybaby so she put on a brave face while they played.
Disappoint her friend. Briana frowned and flopped over restlessly. That’s what she’d done to Melody. More than disappointed. Melody had a really sad day because of Briana. The worst part was that lots of Melody’s days seemed to be sad now.
“There has to be something I can do to fix it.” Briana said to Alanna.
Alanna didn’t reply (she never did), but she had a wise and comforting expression on her face. If Alanna believed in her, then Briana had to believe in herself. But how was she supposed to fix something when she didn’t know what was broken?
“Up already?” Veronica’s voice was like a warm, loving blanket to banish the cold, sad thoughts of the morning.
“Hi Mommy!” Briana sat up cross legged and never mind the clammy diaper.
“Hello BumbleBri!” Veronica said, in a way cuter tone than she would ever let most people hear. Only Dad and Briana were allowed to see Mom being so silly.
“BumbleBri?” Briana giggled.
“You like that one?” Veronica tucked her hair behind her ears in a way that Briana knew meant that she was nervous. She was wearing one of the jillion floor length black dresses she had. A lot of people found them intimidating (like Briana at first!), but all they really meant is that Mom wanted to be comfy.
“Yeah, it’s super cute.” Briana put her hands and chin on the crib’s rail. “Mommy, I need a change. Bad.”
“You always do in the mornings.” Veronica kissed Briana on the head and pulled open the back of her diaper. “You’re not messy back there, just wet. Good girl!”
Briana beamed at the praise, her face falling a little at Veronica’s next statement.
“Let’s get you your morning snack and then changed.”
“But it’s cold and gross.” Briana pouted.
“The last three mornings you’ve wet again during your snack, and then your nice clean diaper isn’t clean anymore.” Veronica said, putting Briana back on her butt so she could lower the crib side.
“I won’t this time!” Briana said, snatching up her lioness. “Alanna believes me.”
“Does she now?” Veronica helped Briana down out of the crib. “Isn’t Alanna a knight? She must be pretty sure if she’s putting her honor on the line.”
Briana briefly panicked, squeezing her legs together, though there was no warmth that would indicate she was wetting. “Well uh – she is. She knows I can do it.”
“Alright, we can try it.” Veronica said. “If you can manage it, then maybe it’ll be time to start potty training.”
Briana hesitated by the changing table, even though Veronica was motioning for her to climb up. Potty training was scary, she didn’t want to disappoint more people by not being able to do it.
“Of course, if you’re not ready, and you get your new diaper wet, you’ll have to take Alanna’s punishment.” Veronica declared. “I’m not her mom so I can’t discipline her.”
“What punishment?” Briana asked, scrambling up on the changing table.
“Knights who are caught breaking their word are usually jailed or whipped.” Veronica said. “You’re not a knight, so it’d be a spanking or a big time out for you.”
Briana bit her nip and nodded seriously at Veronica. “I won’t let Alanna down.”
Veronica smiled and stroked Briana’s cheek. “I’m proud of you, standing up for your friend.”
As Veronica tore the tapes on her diaper, Briana felt pressure building up in her chest. She had to say something about Melody. It wouldn’t be right to stand up for Alanna and not Melody, especially since Melody’s problems were Briana’s fault.
“Mommy.” Briana said, lifting her legs and catching her toes so that Veronica could wipe her bum. “There’s something wrong with Melody. They’re sad almost all the time now.”
Veronica sighed, getting the wipes right up in Briana’s tender spots with a little more force than Briana thought necessary. “I know sweetie. I’m helping them the best I can, but until they decide to accept more help we can’t force anything on them.”
“But – what if that horrible Beatrix person is hurting them?” Briana wrinkled her nose Veronica switched out the wipes for cold lotion.
“I assume that’s the root of her current issues.” Veronica said. “I agree that what she did was wrong, but as far as I know Beatrix hasn’t done anything that would break the law or school policies. Until she does, I can’t help unless Melody lets me.”
“She probably is though! She’s a really bad person.” Even the soothing feeling of the baby powder on Briana’s skin couldn’t undo the butterflies in her tummy.
“I can’t just go around accusing her of things or spying on her.” Veronica said, pulling the fresh diaper snug on Briana and taping it up. “Darling, I know you feel guilty about what happened to Melody. The truth is that Beatrix is a very scary person who took advantage of you when you were too little to stop her. I entered a formal trespass order with the police and if she ever enters this house again I will happily have her arrested.”
Veronica helped Briana down from the changing table and over to the big fuzzy armchair she’d added to Briana’s room. Once Veronica was settled in, Briana obediently crawled into her mom’s lap.
“In the meantime, we need Melody’s cooperation to do anything more.” Veronica shrugged off one her dress sleeves and unsnapped the cup on her maternity bra.
“But I want to help!” Briana protested.
“Then be a good baby, work on your potty training, and help out around the house. Everyone will have more time to help each other if you help too.”
“That’s not what I – “ Briana found herself cut off as Veronica pressed Bri’s lips against her breast.
With one last grumpy look, Briana relented. She didn’t want to make a fuss while Mom was feeding her. There was something magical about it that made her feel so close to and loved by Veronica that she sometimes got a little teary-eyed.
Mom cried too sometimes, though the conversation this morning had put her in a less fun mood than usual. Briana closed her eyes and snuggled as close as she could, sucking gently and savoring the sweet milk filling her mouth.
Little by little she relaxed. When Veronica turned her around to nurse at the left breast she was nearly in a doze. What little attention she could spare she used to peek up at Mom. She was a lot happier too, which just soothed Briana even more.
The magic feeling, along with a soft song from Veronica, carried Briana off to the fantasy land where her stuffies could reply to her and move around without needing her help. The world was called Cloudland, because it was on the top, sunny side of the clouds. They had a castle there, and everybody was good friends together. Sure, there were some arguments about where to put the pond for the new mermaid stuffie, but everybody agreed that she needed one, they just disagreed on where it should go.
“Did you fall asleep sweetie?” Veronica asked, stroking Briana’s hair.
“Hmm? No Mommy, I was in Cloudland.”
“I see. Did they ever pick a spot for the pond?” Veronica had her bra and dress put back together and was maneuvering Briana up on her thigh for a horsey ride.
“Ugh, not yet!” Briana complained, taking Veronica’s hands. “Arnold the Pangolin is being stubborn.”
“Oh dear. That’s community politics for you.” Veronica said with a smile.
Veronica bounced her leg up and down, bouncing Briana along with. Bounce bounce bounce! Briana giggled and burped. Burps were the real reason for the horsey ride, but Briana liked to pretend that it was knight training so she could join Alanna on adventures in Cloudland.
Squish squish squish! Briana’s diaper mushed warm against her crotch. Apparently satisfied that Briana was out of burps, Veronica brought the horsey ride to an end and guided Briana off her lap.
“Briana.” Veronica said, her tone much less fun than before. Briana looked down to see that Veronica had her fingers in the crotch of Bri’s diaper. “You’re wet.”
“I’m sorry!” Briana said frantically. “I didn’t even notice, I swear!”
“I believe you,” Veronica said, pulling Briana facedown across her lap. “But now Alanna is forsworn.”
“I didn’t mean it.” Briana sniffled, wincing as her diaper was pulled down off her rear.
“I’m not spanking you because you couldn’t tell if you needed to pee.” Veronica said. “I’m spanking you because you made a promise involving someone else, and you knew you probably wouldn’t be able to keep it.”
Briana whimpered and hung her head. First Melody, now Alanna. She was making trouble for everybody.
Veronica’s hand came down in a half-dozen quick swats. They left Briana’s rear stinging, but even Briana had to admit the punishment was light. Not that she wanted more!
“I’m putting you back in your crib for a while.” Veronica said, pulling Briana’s diaper back up. “If you really need something, the baby monitor will be on, but no climbing out, not even to get a book or a toy.”
“I get a spanking AND a time out?” Briana wailed, though she didn’t resist as Veronica herded her back into the crib.
“Yes, and the only stuffie you get is Alanna.” Veronica said, removing Arnold the Pangolin (who always had to be referred to by his full name), two kittens, and a rhinoceros named Daisy. “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.”
“But what about breakfast?” Briana whined as Veronica lifted the crib side and locked it into place.
“You just had your snack, you’ll be fine until Gary gets here.”
“Gary is coming over?!”
“Yes, he’s babysitting you today. Jane and I are doing Thanksgiving shopping for the house today. We’re way behind, it can’t wait any more.”
“Okay I guess.” Briana grumped and fell back on her padded butt.
“I’m so glad you agree with your punishment.” Veronica said wryly. “Remember, no leaving your crib, or the next spanking will be with my hairbrush.”
Briana winced and ducked her head. “Yes mommy.”
Time out was boring. It was supposed to be boring, sure, but that was no reason for it to be so super awful stupid gross boring! Alanna wasn’t really speaking to her right now, so they couldn’t play much. Briana lay in her crib, occasionally drumming her heels against the mattress. She felt herself wet again, and resolved to try to pay more attention to when she had to go. Maybe that would help fix Alanna’s honor.
After an impossible-seeming amount of time, her door opened. Briana hopped up instantly, throwing herself against the side of the crib. Her face lit up when she saw who it was.
“Gary!”
“Hey there Briana.” Gary grinned back. He looked so good! All muscly and a little bit stubbly and that shirt was nice and tight across his chest.
“Ohmygod I’m so happy to see you.” Briana bounced on her knees.
“I can see that.” Gary laughed and freed Briana by lowering her crib’s wall. “Does that have anything to do with you having been in time-out?”
As soon as the crib was open Briana rushed Gary, squealing in delight when he lifted her into his arms.
“Maybe a little!” Briana hugged Gary close. “But I missed you too, it’s been like – super long.”
“I missed you too, sweetie.” Gary lowered his head and kissed her. Another magic feeling, different than the one with Mom, swept over Briana. Gary was so big and strong, so sturdy and he smelled so good. The kiss made Briana’s heart race and diaper a little wetter than it already was.
“I hear you need breakfast, but first do you need a change?” Gary asked.
“Yes please.” Briana wiggled cutely against Gary. “But Gary, can you help me with something please?”
“Anything hon.” He set Briana down on the changing table.
“I wanna try to use the potty. Can you help me?”
“Sure, we can work on that.” Gary’s hands were nice and warm as he expertly changed Briana. “I’ll start by taking you to the potty regularly, and we’ll see if you can go. Also, tell me right away if you feel wet, okay?”
Briana nodded. “I will, promise!”
Gary and Casey were the only ones big enough to carry her around, so whenever they were sitting her Briana tried to walk as little as possible. Luckily Gary seemed to be in a mood to carry her, she didn’t even have to ask to be picked up and carried downstairs.
The house was a whirlwind of activity. Veronica and Jane were nowhere to be seen, but Suzie and Erin were scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom respectively. Casey was singing to herself outside. From the glimpse Briana caught through a window, it looked like she was doing some gardening.
“We’re not going to be in the way, are we?” Gary asked, setting Briana down in her high-chair.
“Naw, we’re obviously going to use the kitchen between now and Thursday.” Suzie said.
“Anything I can do to help?” Gary asked, as he checked the fridge.
“Babysitting her is a big help.” Suzie said. “Just clean up your dishes and we’re golden.”
“Roger that.” Gary produced eggs and milk from the fridge, as well as butter and bread from the counter. “You ready for French toast, Bri?”
“Really?!” Briana bounced in her chair.
“You better clean up the mess she’s about to make.” Suzie chuckled.
“I got it, no worries.” Gary said. “Since I’m going to have to do that anyway, why don’t you leave the floor for me? I’ll mop it when we’re done.”
“Works for me, thanks man.” Suzie left the mop in the corner and walked over to Briana. “Hey Bribri, how’s our favorite baby this morning?”
“Pretty good.” Briana said. She considered explaining the things that hadn’t been good about the morning, but realized Suzie might be able to help her with her main problem. “Uh Suzie, do you know Beatrix? The scary lady that was here and yelled at me and Melody?”
“I didn’t until that day.” Suzie said. “I asked around a little after. She’s doing an Econ masters, and I guess she thinks that being good looking makes her hot shit on toast.”
Briana giggled at Suzie’s use of the naughty word. Gary didn’t seem to have noticed, but then again he wasn’t babysitting Suzie, and was pretty busy cooking breakfast. “Does she live on campus?”
“No, she’s off-campus, I don’t know where.” Suzie shrugged. “Why, you worried you’re going to run into her?”
“I just want to help Melody.” Briana said. “They’re so sad all the time, and I think Beatrix is hurting them.”
“I’m sure she’s horrible to be around.” Suzie said. “Not a lot you can do about people like that. Melody should just stay away from her, and report her for harassment if Beatrix won’t leave her alone.”
“But what if Melody won’t do that?” Briana furrowed her brow. “We hafta help her.”
“She’s got to make decisions for herself.” Suzie said. “Don’t worry about it so much. We’ll help her if she asks for it.”
“Sometimes people can’t ask for help though and that’s the whole thing they need help with.” Briana sighed. “Like me, before Mom helped me.”
“You’re a good kid.” Suzie said, ruffling Briana’s hair. “You let us help you though. Melody has to do the same.”
“There has to be something we can do.”
“Not everything works out like a cartoon episode hon. Sometimes all you can do is be there for your friend.”
She’s not just my friend, Briana wanted to say. Melody had always been super nice to her, and joined in on her games. They were getting help from Veronica, same as Briana, and wearing diapers too. It didn’t seem right for Melody to just be a friend. They were family for sure.
Probably she should tell Suzie all that, Briana thought. But those words were full of scary emotions that made them hard to say. She ended up just giving Suzie a pleading look, hoping for a miracle where Suzie figured it all out somehow.
Unfortunately Briana was fresh out of miracles. What she got from Suzie was a pat on the cheek and a poke on the tummy, before her roommate headed out to run some errands. Hot on the heels of Suzie’s exit was the arrival of the French toast, which left little time for more planning.
With a full tummy, freshly scrubbed face, and her clothes exchanged for ones that weren’t saturated in syrup, Briana lounged in Gary’s lap. He was encouraging her to nap, but full tummy or not, she needed to figure out how to help Melody.
“Gary, do you think we could go to campus sometime?”
“Like this?” Gary asked curiously. “You wouldn’t be embarrassed?”
Briana considered. “I have clothes where my diaper doesn’t show. If I was with you it would be okay.”
“I’ll see what your mom says.” Gary said. “What do you want to see there?”
“I wanted to talk to Tamira.” Briana said. “See my other friends too maybe.”
“Is Tamira the one that babysat you once?”
“Yeah! She was super nice and good at it. Almost as good as you!” Briana grinned and sat up fully, wrapping her arms around Gary’s neck.
“Well she might be a good one, but your other friends might not understand how little you are. It could be confusing for everybody.”
“Can we just see her then?” Briana asked. “Ooh, or she could come babysit me.”
Gary chuckled. “I’m not sure if she’s up for doing that regularly. Veronica thinks it’s a special thing for her and her boyfriend.”
“No way, she totally liked babysitting me.” Briana declared. Gary didn’t look convinced, but at least he was open to taking her to see Tamira.
“Well, if you’re not going to nap, let’s do a check on the potty.” Gary said.
He got up and got Briana into his arms in one smooth motion. Briana felt her cheeks go pink, that was hot! His legs looked bigger than before, almost too big for his pants.
“You’ve been working out, huh?” Briana asked, running her hands over Gary’s bicep.
“Thanks for noticing.” Gary beamed. “Yeah, I’ve really gotten into it lately.”
“I like it, you can carry me super easy now.”
Gary laughed. “That’s not exactly the reason I’m doing it, but it’s a good benefit.”
With her diaper pulled down and her butt on the potty, Briana tried to make something happen. Gary waited, a lot more patiently than Briana was able to. After a good five minutes, which was a long dang time to be on the potty, Gary stood Briana up.
“No luck right now. That’s okay.” He deposited her on the changing table and discarded the unused diaper. “You want to try something special?”
“Hmm? Like what?” Briana asked, her eyes going wide when Gary held up a pullup.
“Those are big girl panties.” Briana said cautiously. “If I have a big accident…”
“You’re going to tell me as soon as you feel wet, remember?” Gary said. “But just in case…”
Briana felt a lotion-covered finger press against her anus, coating it and even pushing in a little. She took a deep breath, relaxing for the plug she knew was coming. Gary was taking his time, working the smooth metal in slow circles more than pressing it in.
Heat prickled across Briana’s skin and raised all the little hairs up. Her hands wandered down to her breasts, kneading them gently.
“Gaaary.” Briana whimpered.
“Did you think I wasn’t going to give you at least one fun change?” Gary winked. “I take better care of my girl than that.”
“Ah!” Briana gasped as the plug finally popped in. She had no respite, Gary’s fingers were already sliding across her sex and sending tingles across her whole body.
“My sexy baby.” Gary said lovingly, leaning down to kiss Briana.
She surrendered to the kiss the way she wanted to surrender every part of herself to him. It HAD been a long time since she’d seen him and she’d been feeling too little to take care of herself in that way. In no time at all she was gasping and clawing at the changing table while fireworks went off in her head.
Panting, Briana lay back to enjoy the feel of Gary gently stroking her belly as well as the occasional quick kiss. To her surprise, she didn’t get a pullup or a diaper while she was cooling off. Instead Gary put her back on the potty and instructed her to push.
To Briana’s delight, there was a little tinkling sound! She looked up at Gary with a glowing smile.
“I did it! I did it!”
“You sure did, good girl!” Gary gave her another big kiss, unbothered that she was sitting on the potty.
Once he had her cleaned up, Gary pulled a pullup up Briana’s legs, even doing it when she was standing. She felt like a super big girl. As much as she could, she tried to clamp down on her crotch. Gary and Mom and Dad would be so super proud if she could get to the potty before she wet.
“Casey just sent me Tamira’s number, I can ask her if we can come over if you want.” Gary said.
“Yes please, you should meet her, she’s super nice.” Briana bounced on the balls of her feet, heedless of the fact that a pullup was all she was wearing.
“In the meantime, you should get dressed. Do you need help with that?”
Getting dressed on her own? Briana knew she’d done it plenty of times. Right now though she was concentrating so hard on not wetting her pants. Dressing sounded like way too much.
“Uh, maybe a little help?” She said.
“No worries hon. Come on.”
In-between texts, Gary helped Briana pick out a long skirt, some warm tights, and a pretty blouse and sweater combination. He got her into them too, teasing her whenever she got too squirmy. Even though it wasn’t super cold, Gary insisted on putting her in a warm woolen hat and mittens.
At this point Briana was over the moon to be seeing Tamira and going out with Gary, so she would have agreed to anything. Carefully keeping everything clenched, at least when she could remember, Briana let Gary bundle her into the back seat of his car.
As they drove, Briana kicked the empty passenger seat in front of her. “Gary, do you know Beatrix?”
“The lady you and Melody had a run-in with?” Gary asked. “Can’t say I do. That’s probably for the best. I don’t think I’d be able to be polite to her.”
“You don’t hafta be polite to her.” Briana said emphatically. “She’s super mean.”
“Yeah, but I might cross a line and get in trouble myself.” Gary said with a bit of a growl in his voice.
“Mom said that she can’t do anything about Beatrix unless she’s breaking the law or school rules.” Briana sighed. “But I bet she is! I mean, she was a super big liar when she was talking to me.”
“Here we are.” Gary said, pulling the car up into the dorm parking lot.
Briana noticed Gary’s evasion, but he was being so nice to her that she didn’t want to push it. Instead she dutifully followed him with her hand in his big strong one, even though it’d be way more fun if he carried her.
“Briana!” Tamira was as awesome as always, giving Briana a super big hug as soon as she came in the door. “You must be Gary.”
“That’s me.” Gary said, shaking Tamira’s hand. “Weird ask, but can I take Briana to the bathroom right away?”
“No problem, I get it.” Tamira said, leading the way. She didn’t leave the bathroom either, even when Gary pulled down Briana’s tights and pullup and set her on the potty.
It could have been embarrassing, but it was a happy thing, Briana decided. It meant she could count on Tamira to take care of her. Plus, it meant she had been right and mom had been wrong. Tamira could totally be a babysitter!
“So how’s she doing?” Tamira asked.
“She’s working on potty-training right now.” Gary said, petting Briana’s head.
Which of course is what she was working on. Briana hastily tried to relax, now that Gary had reminded her why she was on the potty.
“That’s wild. Cute, but wild.” Tamira grinned. “So you two are uh…”
“Dating.” Gary said firmly.
“Right on. I don’t know if my boyfriend will ever get quiet the way Briana is, but so far we’ve had a lot of fun with this stuff.”
“She’s a bit of a special case, but you never know.” Gary said. “Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like we’ve had a class together at some point.”
“Yeah, you look familiar too.” Tamira said. “Selective Microbe Breeding series?”
“Hmm, that could be…”
“I pottied!” Briana interrupted proudly.
“Good girl!” Gary chuckled.
He made sure she was done, then pulled Briana onto her feet and wiped her crotch gently. Tamira watched the whole process in fascination, raising her brows when she caught sight of the plug in Briana’s rear.
“Can you watch her for two seconds?” Gary asked Tamira while he pulled her pullup and tights up. “I’ve been so focused on her that I didn’t use the bathroom myself.”
Tamira chuckled. “My pleasure.”
Briana found herself tugged along by the hand to Tamira’s living room. It didn’t look like there were any toys or anything out, which was a little sad.
“Tamira, I need your help.” Briana said.
“Oh? What’s going on?”
“Do you know Beatrix?” When Tamira shook her head, Briana continued quickly. “She’s this super mean person in the Econ department. She tricked me to get into my house, and she was super awful to Melody. I think she’s doing bad stuff to Melody all the time, but nobody knows what.”
“Melody is your roommate?” Tamira asked, rubbing her head when Briana nodded. “I mean, it sounds like it’s Melody’s thing to deal with.”
“But she’s like me!” Briana said desperately. “They wears diapers, and Mom, uh, Veronica is helping them out, just not as much as me. Everyone is waiting for them to tell them what they need, but I don’t think they can.”
Tamira sighed. “Don’t you think Veronica probably knows best about this?”
“Usually, but sometimes she’s wrong.” Briana said. “Like she was wrong about you.”
“Huh?”
“She said that you wouldn’t want to babysit me, because it’s just a thing for you and your boyfriend. But she doesn’t know how nice you were to me that day, and today too. You’d totally be a good babysitter.”
“I uh…” Tamira stared at Briana for a moment, a weird expression on her face paired with a flush in her cheeks. “Well, I guess you are right about that. I’d babysit you any time, cutie.”
As Gary rejoined them, Briana found herself wrapped in a super fierce hug with Tamira. She grabbed her friend back, feeling the world become a little safer around her.
“I can’t believe you two are so close, and I never met you before.” Gary said, grabbing a seat on the couch.
“We’ve been friends for a while, but things kind of accelerated lately.” Tamira said, disengaging from Briana to sit on the opposite side of the couch.
“She has a way of doing that to you.”
Briana looked at the two of them hesitantly. It would have been so much easier if they had just sat next to each other, she could have been in both laps. Luckily Gary saved the day by motioning toward Tamira.
“Go ahead and sit with her hon, you and I are going to be hanging out all day.”
Briana rushed over to Tamira and straddled her friend’s lap, wrapping her arms around Tamira’s neck.
“Well hi there!” Tamira chuckled and pulled Briana close. “I wish I’d known you were this snuggly a while ago. It would have been nice on those marathon study sessions.”
“The temptation to take a picture is huge right now.” Gary said.
“Ooh, totally do.” Tamira said. “Just send it to me. I won’t share it around and I’m sure that you won’t either.”
“Alright.” Gary snapped a couple of shots, choosing the best and texting it to Tamira. He was about to put his phone away when something caught his eye and made him frown.
“Oh hell. Dr. Zafra is locked out of his office again. He wants me to come down there and unlock it for him.” Gary shook his head. “I told him I had the whole day off today.”
“Is he your advisor?” Tamira asked, wincing when Gary nodded. “You better go, you know how he gets. I’ll watch Briana for you.”
“I don’t know.” Gary said. “I don’t think Veronica would like that, and she’s not super happy with me as it is.”
Briana frowned. Why would Mom be mad at Gary? One more thing she was going to have to fix. She had to do everything it seemed!
“I will text her myself. I’m not intimidated by her like the rest of ya’ll. Any fire comes down, it’ll come my way.”
“So you say,” Gary said, but he was already getting up and grabbing his coat. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
“Take your time, calm the old man down. Your baby girl will be just fine when you get back.”
“Thanks Tamira!” Gary said, rushing out the door while texting his advisor.
“I’ve got you all to myself now!” Tamira said, rubbing noses with Briana. “What do you want to do?”
“We hafta save Melody.” Resistance to intimidation or not, Tamira was obviously taken aback by the intensity of Briana’s gaze.
“I’m not so sure about that. I was thinking more about playing with blocks, or working on your potty training.”
“Tamira, this is important.” Briana set her hands firmly on her friend’s shoulders. “I know I’m really little, in the head. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know when something is wrong, or when it’s important. Melody is like my friend. They’re… they’re like my sibiling.”
“Please?” Briana begged. “Please help them? I can’t do it alone. It’s my fault that they’re hurting, but I can’t fix it.”
Tamira sighed. “Okay, IF, and only if there’s something I can do that doesn’t also cause a problem.”
“Thank you!” Tears in her eyes, Briana squeezed Tamira with all her might.
“Oof! You’re welcome, you’re welcome.” Tamira pried Briana off of her and set her on the couch. “Let’s figure out where we can start. Tell me what you know.”
“Okay, well I was helping with some stuff and I heard a thing going off on Melody’s computer, so I checked because it sounded like a bad thing.” Tamira was giving her some side eye so Briana rushed forward. “She had like, a ton of messages from someone that sounded like they were in trouble. I replied but I totally told them I wasn’t Melody. The person on the messages was Beatrix, and she lied to me a ton. She made me think that she was worried about Melody, and asked how to get to my house.”
“Hold up.” Tamira facepalmed. “Briana, you know that all of that was a bad idea, right?”
“Yeah, I know now!” Briana sighed in distress. “That’s the whole point, this is my fault!”
“Okay, wow, you really are having some impairment issues. Go ahead, then what happened.”
“So then Beatrix came over, and she pretended to be really nice but when I looked back on it, it was actually creepy. And then Melody got home and Beatrix turned into this horrible rage monster and started yelling. She showed Melody’s girlfriend their diapers, and Melody had to tell her girlfriend to go away. Then there was more yelling, and finally Melody threw Beatrix out of the house.”
Briana came to a stop, panting. Tamira was staring at her with wide eyes.
“Girl – this is some extremely hot tea.” Tamira rubbed her eyes. “One thing first, Melody doesn’t tell people that they wear diapers? They aren’t ‘out’ as much as you are? Heck, you aren’t really out either.”
“No, it’s a super big secret! They don’t want anyone to know, it’s super embarrassing.”
Tamira gave Briana a stern look. “But you told me anyway?”
Briana whimpered and gulped. “Uh, I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry! But it’s super important to the story.”
“Oh kiddo.” Tamira pulled Briana’s head into her lap. “So maybe Melody is worried that Beatrix will tell other people about their diapers, like they did with Melody’s girlfriend?”
“Yeah, and I bet she’s just being mean and nasty all the time to them.” Briana said, curling up on the couch. “You weren’t there, she was super scary and mean. She was so angry she didn’t even look like a person anymore.”
“I’m so sorry you had to see that Bri.” Tamira stroked Briana’s head gently. “I’m sorry Melody has to deal with it too. I don’t care about any loud-mouthed bitches, but I know that’s not everybody.”
“So you’ll help?” Briana asked quietly.
“Yeah, I’ll help. Don’t get too excited, I don’t know what I can do. But I’ll look into it, and if I see anything abusive, I will report it.”
“She’s blonde, and like, really pretty if you don’t know how mean she is.” Briana said. “She’s in the Econ department and she does esports stuff with Melody.”
“That might be enough to find her.” Tamira said. “Beatrix is an unusual name.”
“Will you tell me if you find anything out?” Briana asked.
“Of course hon. But you have to not go off half-cocked on this okay? You really shouldn’t have told me about Melody’s diapers.”
“Okay, I’m sorry.” Briana looked up at Tamira. “Do you hafta punish me?”
Tamira chuckled. “Well, I’m not your official babysitter, so we’ll let it go this time. What kind of punishments do you get anyway?”
“Spankings.” Briana said. “Or time out. Sometimes I get grounded from my phone.”
“Veronica lets your babysitters spank you?”
“Yeah.” Briana reflexively put a hand over her rear.
“Heh, maybe it helps. You do get pretty spun up.”
“Do you spank your boyfriend?” Briana asked.
“Hmmm, not yet.” Tamira was blushing again, no, it was the fun kind of hot cheeks, she was flushed.
“You should if he’s naughty!” Briana said with a giggle.
“Oooh, and what if I tell him you said that?”
Briana hid her face in response.
“Haha, maybe he’ll tell me to spank you.”
Briana stuck her tongue out at Tamira. “Do you think I could play with him again?”
“I think we could do that. I’ll ask him, okay?”
“Yay! Maybe we could do it at Thanksgiving!”
“Are we invited to your Thanksgiving?”
“You are now!” Briana doubled down in the face of Tamira’s skeptical look. “You are so! I live in the house too and I can totally invite someone. Plus Mom said there was room for more.”
“Okay, well, I’d like to come but I have to ask him about that too. And I don’t know if he’d be okay being little around so many people.”
“It could be a secret thing!” Briana said eagerly.
“We’ll see. Just don’t pout and whine if it doesn’t happen, okay?”
“But it would be so cool!”
“Girl, let it go or I’ll give you that spanking.”
“I thought you said you weren’t my official babysitter.”
“Looks like I promoted myself.” Tamira said firmly. “Now, let’s put you back on the potty.”
“But I don’t hafta go.” Briana said, snuggling into Tamira’s lap as cutely as she could.
“Do not test me Bri.” Tamira punctuated her words with a quick swat on Briana’s rear.
“Ack, okay, I’m going!” Briana got up and scurried to the bathroom.
“Now I see why your mom uses spankings.” Tamira said, following her in and pulling Briana’s pullups down. “It works pretty good on you.”
“No fair.” Briana said, sitting down on the potty.
“Uh huh. It’s almost lunch time. You want some chicken nuggets?”
“Oooh, yes please!”
Tamira laughed heartily. “That’s what I thought. You stay there while I get them in the oven. If you manage to go potty you can have a cookie for dessert.”
As Tamira left the bathroom Briana tried her hardest to go pee. While she waited, she imagined herself up to Cloudland. She had an apology to make to Alanna and wanted to show the lioness that she was finally starting to fix things.