Mommy Melissa collected all the hair she had removed from Douglas in the towel.

She popped the giant pacifier back into Douglas’s mouth and went and got the fresh diaper and wipes.

This one had a blue t-rex on it.

Great.

Different decorations for different diapers.

It was probably about as “manly” a diaper as he could expect.

“You were such a good boy,”

Mommy Melissa praised him.

Doug’s blush was full-body,

The blush was infinitely easier to see now that all the hair was out of and off of his face.

“Time to change your diaper.”

The tapes came off of the plastic with an audible rip!

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Each one a little rip to Dougie’s pride, modesty, and psyche.

“Whew!”

Mommy waved her hand in front of her nose.

“You really did a number in this one, baby!” She sighed.

“But I should be used to it, I guess.”

He’d never admit it, as awful as this was, but the cold wipes felt nice on his skin.

It even made it a little easier to suck on the pacifier.

He did his best to follow instructions and raise his legs as instructed.

He didn’t whine or fuss.

He just let her do the work on him.

After the muck and residue were wiped off of him, Mommy Melissa balled up the diaper.

She threw it away in a garbage can by the dresser.

Except it wasn’t a garbage can that Dougie could ever remember seeing.

That was new.

And the lids on those flip-top wastebaskets weren’t normally nearly as heavy.

Still, on the bed, Dougie used his freed feet to shuffle up to a sitting position and get a better view of the thing.

The thing had letter stickers decorating it.

If he hadn’t figured out what it was before, he had it literally spelled out for him a second later.

“Dougie’s Diaper Pail.”

How far was this going?

Wordlessly, Mommy Melissa turned around and saw that he’d moved.

Smack!

The barehanded slap on his naked thigh hurt even more after a little bit of time had been given to it.

Dougie couldn’t get flat on his back fast enough.

“Almost done.”

She threw a glance at the shaving equipment, “but not quite…somebody needs another lesson.”

Dougie dared not do anything other than lie still. Lie.

Very Still.

“Careful baby,” Mommy said, adding words to his dread.

“I don’t wanna knick anything”

Then she said something worse.

“This will make you so much easier to keep you clean.”

Uh oh…how long was Mommy planning on staying Mommy?

How long was she planning on keeping him like this?

Mommy sprinkled on the baby powder and rubbed it in.

That’s about the time when Dougie realized the nice smell in the tiny apartment’s living room.

He slammed his eyes shut, refusing to look as Mommy drew up the fresh diaper between his legs and taped it on.

He couldn’t see it.

But he could hear, feel, and smell, everything.

The crinkle, the tightening, and the press with each tape, the smell of the powder.

All he could do was suck on the pacifier, praying for it to be over.

“Okay,” Mommy said.

She reached over and uncuffed him.

“Stand up.”

He did, easily. The hard part was not making a break for it.

He wouldn’t get far though, not in a big baby diaper and sucking on a soother.

Yikes!

Why was he envisioning himself keeping the paci?

He shivered at the thought.

Mommy clicked her tongue.

“Poor baby feels cold,” she said.

“Good thing Mommy’s prepared.

” The top drawer was also stocked with a t-shirt.

A pastel blue t-shirt with pictures of safety pins and rattles on it.

Nothing a self-respecting adult would ever wear.

“Arms up.” Apparently, Dougie wasn’t a self-respecting adult anymore.

The shirt came over his head and his arms went through the sleep.

Mommy kept tugging down thought, down past his waist and between his legs.

The sound of snaps being fastened right by his crotch made him look down.

The good news was, his diaper was no longer completely on display; the leg gathers just barely poked out of the onesie.

The bad news was that Dougie was now wearing a onesie.

“Better?” she asked.

Obediently, Dougie nodded.

Mommy took him by the hand, and let him out of their bedroom.

For the second time that day, the pacifier dropped out of Dougie’s mouth, this time clattering to the floor.

Dougie didn’t recognize the place.

All of the garbage had been completely cleared out, and the floors swept and mopped.

Completely spotless! But the furniture was gone too.

No more T.V. or video game system.

Gone was the couch.

His favorite recliner had been pilfered.

In their place was a blackboard, an adult-sized crib, and a stool placed in the corner.