We had been in the car for several hours. I hadn’t kept track of exactly how long, but it was now dark outside. But now I needed to go. Really badly. Had I just needed to pee, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. I’d switched to a diaper for the road trip for a reason, and it was already wet. But I need to poop, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to hold it in. After waiting for about ten minutes, I finally told my aunt and uncle about my need to go to the bathroom.
“I’m sorry, but there isn’t anywhere to stop before we get home,” my uncle said. “We’ll be there in five minutes.”
I should have said something sooner. We’d passed a gas station five minutes ago, but I had been too embarrassed – and not desperate enough – to say something at that point. I fought to resist the urge to squirm. With Aunt Lydia seated next to me, it was embarrassing to reveal just how badly I needed to go. But that didn’t do me any good. My bowels gave in, and I felt the back of my diaper fill up.
Putting on a diaper instead of a pull-up had been a wise decision. Pull-us aren’t really meant for doing number two, and the diaper would do a better job of holding in the smell. I took a cautious sniff. I couldn’t smell anything, which was a good sign, but as we drove down the bumpy road, I could feel it smearing all over my bottom.
“We’ll be at the house in a few seconds,” my aunt said. “The bathroom is the first door on the hallway to the left.”
I appreciated how she was trying to help me, but the embarrassment from the messy diaper grew as we pulled into the driveway. I didn’t step out of the car when my uncle opened the door for me.
“Don’t you need to go to the bathroom?” my aunt asked.
I buried my head in my hands.
“Oh,” my aunt said softly, in a tone that suggested that she now realized what had just taken place.
“Let’s get you inside so you can get cleaned up.”