Right at 5:00 the doorbell rang and I went over to welcome our guests. As soon as the door opened up, a tiny blond haired blur flew in and hugged me around my knees. “Well, hello!” I said smiling as I leaned down and picked him up under his arms, “you must be Mark!”

He wrapped his little arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek. I shifted him a bit so that he was sitting on my hip and my arm was cradling his bottom. By the feel of things, I could tell that his underwear and Kevin’s were fairly similar.

Then I turned to Ashley and Heather. “Hi! and welcome.” I said as I pushed the door wide so that they could come inside. Ashley came through first. She was dressed in a pale blue sundress that brought out color in her eyes. Over one shoulder she was carrying what could only be a diaper bag.

“Hi, Carrie!” Ashley said, giving me a kiss on the cheek and taking Mark into her arms. “Do you remember Heather?”

“Of course I do. Hello Heather, I’m glad you could join us.”

Heather gave me a big smile and a kiss on the cheek too. Heather had on a pair of white capris and a pink tee-shirt. She held up a white bakery box and said, “We come bearing gifts, fresh from the gluten free bakery! Where’s Kevin?”

“Right this way!” I said as I ushered our guests into the living room.

Kevin was sitting up on the couch and started saying “Hi…” as Mark pulled out of Ashley’s grasp ran straight at Kevin. Kevin caught him with surprising gentleness and firmness and said, “Easy, buddy, I’m wounded!” The little boy looked like he might cry, but then Kevin grabbed him under the arms and swung him onto his lap. Mark hugged him around the neck. Kevin looked at me and winked. I started to laugh and so did Ashley and Heather. Yet another reminder that Kevin really is a young man and not a little boy.

“Kevin,” I said, “I bet Mark would like to see your Matchbox collection.”

“What do you think, Mark? Want to see my car collection?”

Mark beamed and nodded his head up and down. Kevin began to take the cars out of their box one at a time explaining every one to Mark. The girls and I walked into the kitchen.

“What can I get you girls to drink? We have some fresh brewed raspberry iced tea, sodas, orange juice and some flavored waters.”

“The iced tea sounds good to me,” Heather responded.

“Sounds good to me,” Ashley chimed in.

“We’ll make that three then.” I said as I got the pitcher from the fridge. “How about for Mark?”

Ashley reached into her bag and pulled out a sippy cup, “do you have milk?”

“Absolutely.” I responded and handed her the bottle.

Ashley filled up the sippy cup and screwed the top back on. Then she said, “Carrie, I’m really grateful for you for being understanding and changing the time for dinner on short notice. I told you Mark was having ‘issues’ so we had to get home a bit earlier. I didn’t want to talk about it over the phone because Mark is sensitive about it and he was in the room with me.

“Mark started wetting his pants again a couple of days ago so Mom put him back into Pullups. We have an appointment with Doc Tom tomorrow evening to see what’s going on. He wants us to monitor Mark’s sleep, fluid intake and output for twenty-four hours before the appointment. He said everything should be as routine as possible. Normally Mark gets his bath at seven, a story at 7:30 and is asleep at 8:00. We usually keep to this pretty strictly, but we would have made an exception for tonight, but because of the doctor…”

“I understand completely and it was no bother.” I responded. Then I grinned and said, “I thought I felt something under his clothes when I picked him up.”

Heather sighed, “Don’t let Mark hear you say that. He is so sensitive about needing the Pullups. It’s silly though, he has always worn diapers to bed and like a third of his classmates wear them to school. Ashley and I take care of him and we never make fun of him. You’d think he’d be okay with the whole thing. You’re lucky you don’t have do deal with diapers with Kevin.” Then she chuckled, “Anyway, he’s big enough to change himself if he needed them.”

I glanced over at Ashley who caught my eye and shook her head a little. I’m sure she kept her promise not to tell anyone about Kevin.

“It’s hard to figure little boys.” I said. “Speaking of which, let’s see how ours are doing.”

I got Kevin’s wheelchair and then we walked into the living room where Mark was sitting on Kevin’s lap totally enthralled with the cars that Kevin was describing for him. As soon as he caught sight of the wheelchair, Mark jumped up and ran to it. I started to say, “How about we move out to the patio…” when Heather let out a little gasp. Everybody looked where Heather was looking. A big wet patch covered Kevin’s lap. Kevin and I made eye contact. He shifted around a bit and then shook his head. Then I looked down at Mark who had tears running down his face as Ashley knelt down and hugged him. The whole rear of his pants was wet and he was dripping onto the hardwood floor.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Ashley soothed him.

“Kevin…thinks…I’m…a…bbbabbby…” Mark said between sobs.

“No, of course he doesn’t,” she said to him and she looked over Mark’s head to Kevin.

Kevin waved for her to bring Mark over to him. Kevin opened his arms for Mark to climb into his lap, but he stayed rooted in place.

“I don’t think you’re a baby.” Kevin said, “Accidents like this happen…even to big boys.”

Mark was still crying and seemed inconsolable. Then I could see Kevin make a mental decision. “I’ll tell you a secret if you absolutely promise not to tell anyone ever.”

This got Mark’s attention. “Do you promise?” Kevin pressed.

Mark nodded.

“Sometimes, I have the same problem you do, so I have to wear Pullups to bed and sometimes even during the day.” Mark didn’t seem convinced.

Then Kevin said, “I have one on right now. I’ll show you…” Then he added, “Carrie, could you help me out?”

I stepped over to Kevin who had lain back. I helped him undo his shorts and pulled them down to his thighs and then I rolled back to the top of his boxers so that the Goodnite was visible. Mark’s eyes widened and he stopped crying. Heather’s eyes widened, too and her jaw dropped open. I helped Kevin get dressed again and then helped him to sit up.

“Okay?” Kevin asked. “Now, you’ve got to remember your promise.”

Mark made the universal crossing his heart symbol and then climbed onto Kevin’s lap. Kevin said, “that’s my buddy!” and give him a kiss on the top of his head.

We were all quiet for a moment and then Heather said, “Carrie, could you help Mark into some dry clothes. Ashley and I need to talk to Kevin.”

I was a bit surprised by the request, but said, “Uh, sure.” Mark grabbed the diaper bag and I took his hand and led him to the guest bathroom for a change. He was very docile as I did this. It was like being changed by a stranger was the most normal thing in the world to him.

When I got back, Ashley said, “We’ll wait out on the patio while you help Kevin out.

Once they were outside, I pulled Kevin into my arms, supporting him in front of me rather than on my hip. I thought this would look more dignified if the girls saw us.

“That was very nice of you.” I said as I lowered Kevin onto the counter of the bathroom.

“He just seemed so miserable. I had to do something,” he responded.

“Still, very nice. What did the girls say?”

Now he smiled a little. “They said that it was brave of me to do what I did and that I was the nicest boy they had ever known and that they would die before they would ever tell anyone about me… Then they both kissed me.”

“Well, I agree. One hundred percent” and I gave him a kiss on the cheek.