Her mother knocked on her door and came in. “I made supper. It’s just the two of us since your father is practicing with his band.”
“Sounds good. I’m starved.” She followed her mother down stairs. The table was set already and a cooked frozen pizza was divided in between too plates. She sat down across from her mother.
“Have you been staying dry today?” her mother asked.
She blushed and nodded.
“Good,” her mother said. “I went shopping for groceries today. I also got you some more supplies.”
“Shouldn’t we wait to see what the doctor says?” she asked and took a bite of her pizza. Did her mother plan on her being in diapers forever?
“I would have, but the top of you Depends sticks out the back of your shorts. I got you some pull-up style protection. It should be easier to manage during the day.”
She quickly slapped her hand above the top back of her shorts and felt plastic. She could feel her skin heat up with embarrassment. If she had gone to schooled dressed as she was, then she might have been really humiliated. She imagined the cries of “Diaper baby, diaper baby,” of the other students and almost shivered at the thought. “I’ll change into one and test it out,” she said.
“Finish your dinner first,” her mother said.
Deborah sat down and fidgeted until she had eaten. As soon as the meal was over, she grabbed what was obviously incontinence products from one of the grocery bags her mother had brought home and took it upstairs. She peeled the bag open and pulled out one of the pull-ups. It looked like a thick pair of granny panties. She sighed and pulled off her diaper and pulled on her new disposable underpants. They were thick and itchy, but at least they didn’t peek out of the top or legs of her shorts. She checked it sitting and standing. She even bent over at the waist in front of her mirror. That showed the diaper from the leg holes in her shorts, so she decided not to do that.
Satisfied, she decided to go to the mall. The little diary said it was Lia’s birthday on Monday. Deborah knew she had to get her something. Lia was excited about going to University of Idaho next fall, so she thought she would get her something with the Vandals mascot on it. She would like that.
She walked down stairs. “Mother, I finished my homework. Will you please take me to the mall?”
Her mother sat on the couch with a laptop on her lap and a pen in her mouth. She typed away for a minute and before she answered her. She fished car keys out of her pocket and handed them to Deborah. “You can drive. Just do it safely and make sure you have your license with you. I only want you to drive to the mall and back. Understand?”
“Yes ma’am.” She was surprised. She hadn’t realized that Alison even had a license. She checked her purse and found it. She also packed a spare pull-up and headed to out to the car.
“Hurry back,” her mother called to her, “you got to reply to one of your acceptance letters. You are running out of time.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Deborah. “I’ll do it when I get back.” She was surprised Alison hadn’t done that yet.
Deborah hadn’t driven since that fateful day twelve years ago when she was hijacked in her tank truck. She sat in the driver’s seat, started the car, and backed out of the driveway. She breathed out with relief; she still remembered how to drive: one of those things she could never forget.
The trip to the mall was short. She got out of the car and walked in to the usual pre-summer Saturday crowd. If she remembered, there was a sporting goods store nearby. She walked through the mall until she got to where it was. Instead of a sporting goods store, she found Pottery Barn. She walked right by. There had to be a place to buy Lia a Vandals t-shirt in the mall. Half the people in the mall either wore Bengals or Vandals shirts. This was Idaho after all. She continued walking until she found a store called SporTees.