Kevin = Christopher

Kathy = Catherine

Karen = Connie

Kyle-Lee = Vincent

Kane = Benjamin
Sometime in the middle of the night I woke myself and everyone else in the house with my screams. In my sleep I had attempted to roll over onto my back to get away from the cold wet spot on my sheets, however I’d rolled over onto, as my doctor put it, my wounded pride. My back arched like a bridge with my shoulders, back, bottom, and legs suspended above the bed with only my head and the bottoms of my feet in contact with my bed sheet. My blanket, which had become heavy with pee, was hangin’ over my elevated body formin’ a sort of tent beneath me.

In their startled condition Vincent and Kane had sprung from their beds and collided with each other with a skull-rattlin’ crack that sounded a lot like a firecracker goin’ off inside an old metal coffee can. They both collapsed to the floor moanin’ and cryin’ in a tangled mess of sheets, pajamas and bleedin’ body parts.

Our bedroom light came on and Ma came runnin’ into our room closely followed by Pa and Connie. They found me still archin’ my back and screamin’ while Vincent and Kane were rollin’ on the floor clutchin’ at their heads and whalin’ like a couple of infants with poopy diapers.

Connie rushed to my aid while Pa and Ma dashed over to help my brothers who as it worked out had both broken something. Kane had a broken nose but he weren’t bleedin’ none hardly but Vincent had literally cracked his forehead open and was bleedin’ all over the place.

By the time Connie got me calmed down enough to stop cryin’ Pa had got both of my brothers into the truck and was takin’ them to see Doc Wilson. I recon that Doc Wilson is goin’ to be able to retire soon with all the business we keep givin’ him.

I had thought at first that Ma had gone with Pa when we heard the back tired of the truck kickin’ up gravel as it flew down the drive but she soon reappeared in my room with a big bag of ice and laid it right on my bottom.

Catherine came in lookin’ worried and still partially asleep. You’d of thought that when she saw the blood all over the floor that she would have freaked out but instead she yawned, “Should I go get a bunch of rags and a bucket?” she asked while rubbin’ her eyes with the backs of her wrists.

Connie was wipin’ my eyes with a cool cloth and shushin’ me because I was makin’ huffin’ sounds from havin’ been cryin’ so hard.

Mom answered, “Why don’t you go check on Kristen and if she’s alright then you can go back to bed.”

She yawned again, “Ok but can you keep him from screamin’ anymore I need my beauty sleep.” I weren’t lookin’ at her when she said that so I don’t know if she was serious or jokin’ but it was funny either way and made me to laugh, as did Connie and mom.

“Ok we’ll try sweetheart. Goodnight, I love you!” ma said with a giggle.

The task of cleanin’ up the bloody mess fell to Connie while ma took me into the bathroom and proceeded to give me a bath to wash all the urine off me. When we returned to my room with me wrapped in a towel I found that my bed had been stripped and remade by Connie. I removed my towel, laid myself face down on my bed and ma pulled warm dry blanket up over me. She folded the end neatly around the back of my neck, tucked it tightly around me so that I was less apt to try rollin’ over in my sleep again. With a kiss to the side of my head she softly cooed, “Now try to get some sleep.”

It was nearly sunrise when Whiskey could be heard outside barkin’ at Pa’s truck as he pulled up in front of the house with Kane and Benjamin I didn’t see Pa right away but Vincent and Kane both looked bad when they walked into our room heavily bandaged and glarin’ at me like I was the antichrist. They both seemed to sway slightly as they walked like they were a little tipsy.

When they both put their pillows in the middle of their beds before lyin’ down I knew that Doc Wilson had give them both shots in their rumps.

There were some muffled angry sounds comin’ from downstairs followed by the door slammin’ and shortly after we could hear the tractor start. I figured pa was getting’ a jump on the day seein’ how he already up.

Ma appeared in our room lookin’ tired, irritated and in no mood to be messed with. Her normally tidy appearance had been replaced with dark circles under her eyes, droopin’ eyelids, and hair disheveled and hangin’ wildly about her shoulders.

Without sayin’ a word she went about gatherin’ up the items she would need to change my diaper but I wasn’t wearin’ a diaper so I guessed that she was fixin’ to put me into one; I couldn’t have been more wrong.

She stood next to Vincent and Kane’s beds holdin’ two diapers, two pair of plastic pants, the bottle of baby-powder and diaper pins and cream. My brothers both looked horror struck, like two young bucks caught in the headlights of a Mac truck.

With a sorrowful sigh mom announced, “Doc Wilson wants you both to stay in bed for the next two days. He doesn’t want either of you runnin’ about, especially you.” She pointed to Benjamin’s bandaged head.

Vincent opened his mouth to speak but was cut short by a commandin’ boom from pa, “If I hear so much as a whimper from either of you more then your heads will be hurting.”

I was lyin’ on my stomach with my head at the foot of my bed and intently watchin’ ma, as had Kane and Benjamin, so none of us had heard or seen Pa step into our room. Even ma jumped at the sound of pa speaking.

“Honey you gave me such a fright!” ma gasped while caressin’ the baby still in her tummy.

A faint sniffle drew my attention back to Vincent who was bitin’ on his bottom lip as a tear flowed from the corner of his eye and into his ear. I wasn’t sure if the tear was from the fear of bein’ diapered, from pa scarin’ the life out of us all, his cracked head or from bitin’ his lip so hard but I guess it don’t much matter, any or all probably would do the trick so I didn’t blame him for it none.

Pa had gone up to ma, hugged her from behind, kissed the nape of her neck and whispered, “I’m sorry, I’ll try but I cannot promise anything, not just yet.”

Ma was tearin’ up now and patted his hand, which was restin’ on her pregnant belly. “That’s all I ask.”

Pa raised a hand, pointed his pinky at Vincent and his index finer from the same hand at Kane and announced, “I will see to your chores today and tomorrow but I best not hear that you’ve been up muckin’ about. Come the day after tomorrow, and only if Doc Wilson says it’s ok, I’ll expect both you back at it?”

I couldn’t see Kane past Vincent just then but I image that he was noddin’ his head same as Benjamin.

“Right then!” pa said and kissed ma on the lips before startin’ for the door. He hadn’t made it three steps before Vincent could be heard, “Ma please don’t make…”

Pa stopped but neither turned nor spoke however his lack of words and actions shouted volumes and not another peep escaped either of my brother’s mouths for several hours.

With amazement I laid on my bed and watched Benjamin, who was starin’ hypnotically at the ceilin’ while ma pulled Kane’s pants off and proceeded to pin him into one of my diapers followed by a pair of clear plastic pants.

As ma moved over to Benjamins bed she said, “Raise up for me please,” so that she could pull his pillow out from under him. She handed it to him and he tried to put it over his face but ma stopped him, “Don’t do that, you’re libel to hurt yourself again.” Instead ma lifted and tucked the pillow under his head. She also kissed his bandage ever so soft.

I suppose it would have been better had Connie not barged into our room.
The look on his face said what his lips didn’t. His head turned the color of a radish and his eyes were slammed tightly shut. It was as though he was thinkin’ that as long as his eyes were closed then none of this could be happening.

“Connie sweaty, could you give us a minute alone, oh and could you close the door too?” ma asked politely.

When I looked back to Connie, her mouth was hangin’ open and she had the biggest anime eyes. Ma had to repeat herself before Connie snapped out of her daze and closed the door.

Vincent wasn’t makin’ a sound but he was cryin’ now, not little tears but big heart wrenchin’ tears of humiliation. Despite ma’s best attempts she couldn’t calm him down at all. She had some difficulty gettin’ the plastic pants on him due to the fact that they had been bought for me and barely stretched enough to fit him but somehow she managed to get them on him. When she finished diaperin’ my two brothers she left the room and I looked back to Benjamin; he had his blanket pulled up tightly to his chin and was still weepin’ quietly.

True to pa’s word, none of us had to get up to do chores or go to school and it wasn’t until lunchtime that Kane finally started talkin’ to me.

He got up slowly, came over to my bed and laid down next to me with his head restin’ on my shoulder blade and his hand restin’ on the small of my back. The front of his diaper was pressed against my thigh and a confusin’ chill raced up my spine.

“Hey, did you notice that Christopher weren’t in his bed last night or this morning?” Kane asked softly.

I elevated my head slightly so that I could nod.

“Hey Benjamin, did you notice?” Kane asked loud enough that Vincent could hear him on the other side of the room.

When Vincent didn’t answer he repeated his question but instead of answerin’ Vincent got up from his bed, pulled on his bathrobe and waddled across the room to the door. He only paused long enough to heatedly snarl, “I’m never talkin’ to either of you again!” and slammed the door closed behind him.

Kane shouted after him, “Pa said we got to stay in bed!” which was kind of a dumb thin’ to say since he was out of his own bed and in mine.