He’d learn the frustration of having strangers be in full control of him. He’d be fed, played with and put down for his naps without the slightest concern for his wishes. He’d simply be another baby to be cared for in a room full of babies to be cared for. If he interrupted them with his babbling, they’d put a pacifier in his mouth. If he tried to take off his diaper or touched anything but his toys, they’d slap his hands, scold him and tell him he was naughty. If he became really troublesome, they might pull down his diaper and spank his bare bottom!
The thought made her shiver in anticipation. She wanted him to suffer, to see him humiliated the way he’d humiliated her by not trusting her. She wanted to savor the sight of him crawling half-naked and helpless on the floor in front of everyone, whimpering and crying incoherently for her to pick him up and take him home from the daycare center! If this was his punishment for stealing from his best friend and betraying her, she wanted to enjoy it!
Mary sighed and took the bottle from his hands. She’d never do any of those things. “Well,…” she thought reconsidering, “….I might take him to a daycare if I was busy and couldn’t find a babysitter.”
She was a Mommy now and he was her baby. She’d take good care of him. Mary smiled down at her infant husband maternally.
“Poor baby, you’ve lost your life. You made a desperate gamble to regain your health and squandered your maturity and your wife in a single weekend. You thought you were only risking a life you thought was already lost. You didn’t realize how much everyone valued you for what you had made of life. All that will be remembered of you now is what an adorable baby you became. The healthy body you’ve regained was bartered at a terrible price. You’v e traded the treasures and privileges of adulthood for the body and mind of an infant. Everything that you’ve accomplished and worked for is gone. Your knowledge and profession are only memories.
At least you seem to be happy as a baby. You’ll spend the rest of your life babbling and cooing in delight at the world around you. You’ve escaped the death that haunted you. Your only concerns now are whether you’re hungry and need to be fed, or whether you’re thirsty and want your bottle, or that your diaper needs changing. Your world has become too small to compass evil thoughts. Your magnificent sex drive has been reduced to innocent acts of infantile masturbation. The adult pleasures have been replaced by simple urges; your pacifier, your thumb, peeing your diaper, are all it takes to please you.
You’re content to feel protected and secure, surrounded by the trappings of infancy. You’ll have the same schedule as all my friends’ babies. I’ll wake you in the morning, change your diaper and give you your bottle. Then I’ll feed you and put you in your playpen with your toys while I clean house. I’ll put you down for your nap a few hours later. After your nap, I’ll change your diaper again and feed you your lunch. Then you’ll spend the afternoon crawling around the living room floor and playing under my watchful eye. You’ll take another nap in the afternoon and have your diaper changed before I feed you your supper. After I’ve given you your bath, I’ll put you in your crib for the night.