Erin still found Hailey’s interest in diapers unusual, but who was she to judge? She was still very much in debt to Hailey, not only for taking her in, but also for how nice Hailey had been to her since she’d arrived. If she could make Hailey happier by providing to Aunt Sue and Uncle Martin a reason for Hailey to have access to diapers, then that was the least she could do. She still really wished that she didn’t have to use them at all, but since she did have to, she could certainly help Hailey out a bit.

The path from the trees dumped them into the library parking lot, which was, as Sue had predicted, empty. As they approached the book deposit box, Erin spoke up.

“Um… I still owe you from when you helped me clean up those first few nights, Hailey,” Erin stammered. “If you ever use your diaper and want help getting cleaned up…”

Hailey didn’t need her to finish. “I’ll be sure to let you know if I do.”

Hailey wasn’t sure if she’d take Erin up on the offer; she figured she’d put off that decision for a while.

The trip home was mostly silent. Despite the patriotic atmosphere most of the houses exuded, Erin gave very little thought to the upcoming Independence Day festivities. Hailey drew a brief parallel between the name of the holiday and her newfound freedom to indulge herself any morning she chose. She knew her situation was trite relative to the significance of the national holiday, but at least for that morning, the former was much more relevant to her.

Hailey didn’t worry about it too much, though. She was much too excited about the upcoming day. She would get to open her presents after she finished her breakfast, and after that, her father would be taking her and Erin to go ride some roller coasters at a nearby amusement park. Hailey had loved riding the big, supposedly scary rides ever since she was tall enough to do so. Talking with Erin the night before, though, she’d found out that Erin had never been on such rides. In fact, she’d never been to an amusement park. Erin had promised Hailey that she would try out the big rides, though.

As they finished their breakfast, Sue spoke up. “Erin… I don’t want you to be embarrassed, but I think I should at least bring this up. This is a Saturday, and on a holiday weekend at that; there will be some long lines, and… well, remember your accident at the theater a couple weeks ago?”

Erin nodded. She had some idea where this conversation was going.

“Now, I don’t want to force you to do this, but I’d like you to consider wearing a diaper. I’m sure we can find you some clothes that will hide it so nobody will know. Do you want to do this?”

Exactly what I expected she would ask, noted Erin. The truth was, it was probably a good idea. She remembered how she’d felt at the theater after her accident, and how she’d considered that wet pants were more embarrassing than a diaper would be, especially if Sue was able to make sure it was hidden well. She’d never worn a diaper out of the house before, but logically, it would make sense to do so.

An idea came to her, though. Hailey had recently confessed her desire to use diapers, and Erin now had an opportunity to give her another chance to do so. She owed Hailey after doubting her two days earlier. “If I wore them, would Hailey be able to wear them along with me?”

Hailey immediately recognized what Erin was doing for her. Just as quickly, she decided that she wanted to go along with it. Like Erin, Hailey had never worn a diaper outside of the house. However, she doubted anybody would be able to tell that she was doing so. She couldn’t even think of anybody she’d be particularly worried about knowing. There was a marginal chance that someone from her school might be there, but school didn’t start for almost two more months, so the chance that someone would see that she was wearing a diaper, remember it for that long, and then tell the school was virtually zero. The reward was worth the risk.

“I’ll wear them if you want me to, Erin.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” stated Sue. “You don’t need them, Hailey.”

Oh, boy, thought Hailey. This’ll take some quick thinking to pull off. She was ready for the challenge.

“So are you saying I’m better than Erin? That poor little Erin needs to wear diapers, but Hailey can’t help her out because she can control herself?” Hailey made eye contact to be sure Erin understood what she was doing; she didn’t want to insult Erin. Erin winked.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying…”