“How did it go yesterday?” Sue asked Ally the following morning.

“Great” Ally replied honestly.

The previous night had been enormous fun once Ally had found out the truth about the babysitting situation.

To make things even better, it had been the first night she had been able to spend in regular pajamas since she got back from Europe.

“Oh, I’m really glad to hear it. Nathan’s keen to see me again tonight, so I thought we could do the same thing if you didn’t mind”.

Three times in as many days, mum and Nathan must be getting pretty serious, Ally thought to herself.

“No, I don’t mind” she replied. Why would she mind a night without adults around?

“Great, it’s settled then. I’ll call Nathan and tell him.” Sue was pleased.

As arranged, Laura stopped in that night just as Sue had planned to leave.

“Ally, I’ve got some great news!” Laura exclaimed, unable to help herself.

“What is it?” Ally asked, excited for her friend.

“Well, I had an interview today with a Mrs. Spooner, a couple of blocks away. 

Looks like I’ve got a job babysitting her boys! I start tomorrow!” Excitement oozed off Laura.

“That’s great!” Ally replied, genuinely happy for Laura. “You’ve got to tell me everything. Tell me how it went!”

“Well, I met the boys, they seemed nice enough. Dean’s eight and Tommy’s two.” Laura started.

“Then Mrs Spooner asked me a bunch of questions.

What would I do if such and such happened, that sort of thing.

She seemed pretty pleased with the answers.

But – and you’ll love this, Ally – guess what really sold her on me?

She told me that she was having all sorts of trouble with Tommy keeping his diapers on at night, apparently, he keeps pulling them off.

I told her that a girl I’d sat for had the same problem, that her parents bought her some back zip pajamas, and that they’d stopped her from doing it.

They loved the idea!

They didn’t know they existed, said they’d buy them straight away!”

Ally didn’t respond.

She didn’t at all like the idea of being talked about like a naughty child who couldn’t keep her diapers on, even anonymously.

“What’s the matter Ally? I thought you’d get a kick out of it” Laura asked.

“Nothing” Ally replied, not wanting to upset her friend. “I’m really happy for you.”

The two girls played on Ally’s PS4 for most of the night, pausing only to shower and eat.

“Hello Ally,” Laura asked, unsure of herself. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but there was one problem with the interview.

After I’d told them all that about the diapers and the pajamas.

Well, naturally they assumed I knew how to change diapers.”

“And don’t you?” Ally asked, unable to comprehend this.

“Nope” Laura shook her head. “Never had to. Can you help me out? Please?”

“How?” Ally asked.

“Well, do you have a doll or something I can practice on?

Can you show me how to get them on and off?” Laura queried.

“Nope, no dolls. I wouldn’t have any doll-sized diapers though even if I did.” Ally told her.

“Shit, how am I going to learn by tomorrow?” Laura asked. 

“It’ll be a disaster if I can’t even get Tommy’s diaper on”. Ally thought about it.

She wanted to help her friend if at all possible but wasn’t entirely sure how.

“I might have an idea. One sec” Ally answered, running to her room.

Despite the cold weather, she changed into a pair of the lightest shorts she could find.

“I’ll show you how they go on me.” Ally offered.

“You sure?” Laura asked.

“It won’t be so weird over the shorts.” Ally agreed.

“OK, thanks heaps” Laura replied, relieved. Ally grabbed a diaper out of the closet.

“Now, it goes under the bottom like this” Ally instructed, sitting on the diaper.

“Then pulls up like this.

Then you pull the tapes over nice and tight.

That’s the hardest part.

Too loose and it’ll leak and you’ll have a huge mess to clean up”

“Looks easy enough” Laura admitted.

“Maybe not with a fidgety one” Ally warned her.

“Hmm, you’re right. Can I try?” Laura asked.

“Sure” Ally replied. She had gone this far, after all.

She untaped the diaper from over her shorts, careful to put the tapes back safely.

Laura pulled the diaper up gently and secured the tapes as she had seen Ally do.

“There, how’s that?” Laura asked.

“Not bad for a beginner” Ally encouraged her.

“It’s a bit too loose, though, but that’s probably because of the shorts underneath more than anything else”

“Is it really that different without them?” Laura asked again.

“It is a bit. How about if I put one on without them and you can do up the tapes?” Ally offered.

“You really don’t mind?” Laura sounded grateful.

“It’s for a good cause. Grab a fresh one, though, if you want it to go on right.”

Laura had seen where Ally grabbed the diaper and pulled one from the closet herself, handing it to Ally.

Ally placed it underneath her bottom and pulled it up to its full height, leaving the tapes for Laura.

“There, give it a go” Ally prompted. Laura did as she was told, pulling the wings of the diaper forward and securing the tapes.

“You’ve done a good job” Ally encouraged, a little embarrassed to be sitting in front of her friend with nothing but her diaper below her waist.

“Thanks, Ally, you’re a lifesaver,” Laura told her.

“One more thing, though. You know how I said they’re getting Tommy some back zip pajamas.

I don’t know if they’ll have them by tomorrow, but I’ve got no idea how to get them on.

I only saw yours once or twice, and that was just getting the zip up and down”.

“Go on then” Ally agreed. She wasn’t thrilled about the idea of wearing them again, but willing to do her part for her friend.

Laura picked out the pajamas from the closet, having seen them when she grabbed Ally’s diaper.

“OK, how do these go on?” She asked.

Ally thought about it.

Well, with a toddler it’ll probably be easier lying down.

Start by getting his feet through the leg holes, then pull it up and get his arms through the sleeves, then turn him over and zip it up.

“Mind if I try?” Laura asked.

Ally nodded her permission and lay down on the bed. Laura bunched up the pajama legs and slid them over Ally’s feet, pulling it up to her waist.

Ally was actually a little relieved to have her diaper covered, and not on show for Laura to see.

“Umm, Ally, you’ll need to take off your top” Laura said apologetically.

Somehow, Ally had managed to completely forget about this. She hurriedly pulled off her jumper and T-Shirt.

Feeling the cold almost immediately, she quickly offered forth her arms for Laura to pull the pajamas over.

“OK, roll over” Laura instructed. Ally did as she was told, allowing her friend to zip her pajamas up the back and secure the tab. 

The one-piece pajamas really were warm, she realized, more so than her regular ones or the clothes she’d been wearing.

She stood up, examining Laura’s efforts.

“Looks good” Ally encouraged. “Again, a squirming toddler might not be so easy, but you’ve done a good job with these”

“Thanks, Ally. You sure they’ll hold him?” Laura asked.

“If they can hold me, they’ll hold him” Ally laughed.

“Great, and the diaper feels OK standing up? You don’t think it’ll leak?”

Laura was starting to sound paranoid.

“I don’t think so” Ally answered honestly.

“I guess with your recent hit rate we’ll certainly know by morning” Laura teased.

“Maybe I’ll change into a fresh one after you’ve gone.” Ally laughed back.

“Then you’ll never know”

“Not with those pajamas on you won’t” Laura pointed out.

“Maybe we should keep you in them, just to be sure?”

Laura kept it up, expecting Ally to respond with mock indignation.

“Laura!” Ally didn’t disappoint.

“Come on now, you’ve had your fun”

“What fun? I’m going to watch some TV” Laura responded, intentionally oblivious.

She left the room, obviously expecting Ally to follow.

“Oh, is that how you want to play it” Ally thought to herself.

Two could play at that game.

She remembered the diaper that Laura had used for practice and picked it up off the floor where Laura had discarded it.

The tapes had lost their stickiness, but aside from that, it was brand new.

An idea formed in her head.

She walked quietly to the bathroom and filled it almost to bursting point with water from the faucet, then returned to the living room.

“No need to worry, I got it all sorted out,” Ally said, dropping the wet diaper in Laura’s lap.

Laura recoiled, arms flailing as she tried to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

The look of disgust on her face turned to confusion as she noticed Ally was still wearing her pajamas, and could not have removed her diaper even if she had wet it.

“Relax, Laura, it’s only water” Ally chortled, tears of laughter streaming down her face.

“You should have seen the look on your face!”

Laura wasn’t impressed.

“Look at what you made me do!” she screamed back, pointing to a broken glass on the floor.

Ally hadn’t noticed but reasoned that she must have knocked it over while flailing about.

Liquid pooled around the shards of glass.

“Oh, shit, Laura. I’m sorry.

Do you think it’ll stain?” Ally apologized.

“Not if I get it out quickly enough.

Where do you keep your paper towels?” Laura asked.

Ally pointed, and Laura quickly grabbed a roll and began blotting.

“Can I help?” Ally asked, leaning over her.

“There’s no space” Laura responded, bumping into Ally’s arm as she reached back to grab another length of the towel.

“You sure?” Ally asked, feeling guilty at having caused the accident.

“I’m sure. Just give me some space here, Ally” Laura pleaded. 

Ally obeyed and returned to her room so as not to interfere with Laura further.

She lay on her bed, hoping the stain would come out.

She definitely didn’t want to explain to her mother how this had happened.

Ally fidgeted with the tab on her pajamas.

She was keen to get out of them but knew she couldn’t interrupt Laura until she’d finished.

Her efforts were once again unsuccessful, however, and she was soon forced to give up, throwing her head into her pillow with a sigh.