Megan was aware that Carrie was telling her, in her own roundabout way, that she had to pee and was hesitant about using her diaper. A more zealous moment would have found her telling Carrie that yes, she did in fact have to use the diaper, as that what it was there for. Instead, she answered with a disinterested, “do what you like.”
They returned home before either of their parents.
“That wasn’t bad,” Carrie remarked of her first day at Bledsoe’s.
“You did great,” Megan assured her. “Vern doesn’t usually like kids.”
“Do you think he’ll, you know, make it like a permanent thing?”
Megan shrugged. “Maybe when you’re a little older. For now, you’re just helping out.”
“I hate wearing these clothes though.”
“So then change,” Megan suggested.”
“OK…”
“Actually…wait.”
She lifted up Carrie’s skirt and checked her diaper, causing her to blush.
“You can go a little longer, but it might get uncomfortable after awhile.”
“You know, you could have just asked me if I needed changing.”
Megan shook her head. “It’s hard to tell at first. Let me guess: you remember wetting but you don’t really feel wet?”
Carrie nodded.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re dry. One, it’s a good way to get a rash…or worse, if you leave it on too long. And two, if you pee again, you could end up leaking all over the place.”
“Eep…. don’t want that. I think you’d better change me then.”
Megan changed Carrie’s diaper and dressed her in a t-shirt and gym shorts that could be removed quickly in a hurry. Her own diaper was damp, but she knew she could go a little longer.
“I’m going to take a nap now,” she said to Carrie. “I don’t care if you do or not, but can you keep yourself occupied while I do?”
“Sure,” Carrie answered. “I might be wearing a diaper, but I’m not really two.”
“Yes you are!” Stephen shouted from the hallway. Carrie rolled her eyes and Megan concealed a chuckle as she retired to her room for her nap.
Try as she may, sleep did not come. Megan was kept awake by what Deanna said to her in the parking lot: she was a horrible person. And while Megan, once recovered from the initial shock of the showdown, was quick to dismiss it, it lingered like a gangrenous wound that threatened to spread. Shelving all notions of sleep, she reached for her journal and began to explore the topic in writing.