Tony lay in the dark for an hour sucking on the pacifier before he went to sleep again. What had just happened? Somehow during the night their relationship had changed. It was obvious she didn’t feel like he was her adopted teenaged son anymore. Suddenly he was her baby boy. He had messed in his diaper and she hadn’t even been surprised. She just changed him like she expected it to be dirty. And the way she had talked to him, she was acting like she didn’t think he could talk like an adult! She was treating him the same way she treated Jay-Jay! What was going on here? The formula sat pleasantly in his stomach and made him sleepy. The covers made him feel warm and snuggily while the diaper made him feel secure and comfortable. Secure, that was the word for it. She made him feel secure and loved. She didn’t care if he sucked his thumb, she wasn’t even upset if he messed in his diaper. She had actually put a baby bottle in his mouth for him to drink while she changed him! She hadn’t even yelled when she found Jay-Jay’s pacifier in his bed. She had just gotten a cord to pin it to his pillowcase so he wouldn’t lose it and to top it off, she put the nipple in his mouth before she left! He couldn’t remember feeling this way ever in his life. For the first time, he felt truly happy. Whatever was going on, he didn’t want to change it. He was sure he’d find out tomorrow. Tony smiled serenely around the pacifier as he slipped off into sleep.

The next morning Ruth awakened Tony as usual, but instead of rediapering him she led him by the hand into the bathroom to take a bath. She helped him sit in the tub and proceeded to rub his back with a soapy washcloth. Tony luxuriated in her attentions; all embarrassment he might have felt two days before had evaporated. He felt completely at ease in her presence and said nothing as she went over his body from head-to-toe with the washcloth. He thought it strange that she had decided to bathe him, but was not going to argue with his good fortune. He was slightly embarrassed by her use off baby talk to him; she cooed and prattled over him like he was a one-year-old. He didn’t know how to respond to this kind of treatment, moreover, her speech didn’t seem to require an answer. It was just motherly chatter meant to put him at ease. When she was finished, she helped him out of the tub and dried him with a towel.

Ruth led him back to the bedroom and rubbed him down with baby lotion before rediapering him. The rediapering surprised Tony. He understood why she had changed him last night when he was wet; he knew he’d be wet again by morning. But he was only a bedwetter, not incontinent, he didn’t need to be diapered during the day! Did she know something he didn’t? She helped him up from the bed and she said as she took him by the hand, “Come on baby, mama will help you down the stairs where she’ll feed you eggs and bacon for breakfast. Won’t that be nummy?”