Back in his room Ben decided it would be a good time to start packing, he always left everything to the last minute, and so despite his Mum’s persistent nagging to get his bag ready he still hadn’t done so. He pulled a large rucksack out from his wardrobe, and set it down in the centre of his bedroom floor.

As he started his packing, first putting in the essentials – boxers, socks, his toothbrush and other things he knew he was prone to forgetting if he didn’t get them out of the way first Ben felt the nerves build up inside him. He still hadn’t packed the most important items, the ones he really couldn’t afford to spend this week without. He went back over to wardrobe, and took out a dark green package.

ABRI-FORM big white letters set against a purple stripe announced, Medium X-Plus. The package was unopened, and as Ben’s shaking fingers tore it open he had to try hard not to let the tears fall. Eighteen-year-old boys did not cry. Then again, eighteen-year-olds did not wet the bed either. And here he was, taking nappies to London with him because if he didn’t his friends would know, every morning, what a little kid he was. At least if he wore these the bed at the youth hostel would be kept dry.

Ben took out one of the nappies. It was thick, very thick, but his Mum had insisted on these ones. Ben’s Dad had left when he was just two-years-old, and it had just been Ben and his Mum since. He was lucky that she’d always been supportive of his bedwetting, and the frequent daytime accidents he’d had up until the age of eight, and the occasional ones he’d had since. Ben had always been able to talk openly with his Mum about the bedwetting, and when he’d told her about the trip to London it had been her who suggested he wore these adult nappies, or ‘briefs’ as she called them. She worked as a care nurse for the elderly and knew about adult nappies, she knew that if a night-time nappy wasn’t absorbent enough it would leak. And she knew that Abri-Form X-Plus were the most absorbent disposable nappy they could get. She had assured Ben that they would keep his bed dry, and that if he wore a baggy T-shirt and loose boxers over them then as long as he didn’t put the nappy on until just before he crawled into bed no-one would notice. Ben had been reluctant at first, he didn’t want to wear nappies like a baby, but he knew the alternative was to stay at home, and lose his chance with Laura, and so he’d agreed, and his Mum had ordered the nappies over the internet.

Ben was worried as he examined the nappy, it was thick, very thick. Would he really be able to hide it under boxers? The plastic crinkled as he fingered it, and Ben was worried everyone would hear it’s rustling. He was beginning to have second thoughts, but it was too late to pull out now. His Mum had already paid for him, and the deposit was non-refundable. On top of that it had been he who had persuaded his friends to go, he knew they wouldn’t be happy if he suddenly turned around and said he wasn’t going.

Ben took eight nappies out, one for each night, and then on second thoughts pulled out another four spares, leaving just two in the package. Sometimes, particularly if he’d been drinking alcohol, he would wake up in the middle of the night wet, change the bed, and then go back to sleep. When this happened he was almost always wet again the next morning. He thought it would be a good idea to have a couple of spare nappies, just in case. He stuffed all twelve at the bottom of his rucksack, they filled half of it, and he was glad his rucksack was so large, having been designed for campers. Then, with the nappies safely packed, Ben tried to shake them out of his mind so that he could get on with the rest of his packing.