Tony blushed and told her, “Thank you Mrs. Feldman, I’d like some bacon and eggs, but I think I can feed myself if you don’t mind.”

She turned to him with an expression of delighted surprise on her face and gushed, “Tony! You’re back to yourself again!” She hugged him enthusiastically, then took him by the hand to lead him down the stairs.

“Uhhh…Uhhh, Mrs. Feldman?”, Tony interrupted hesitantly.

“Yes, dear?”, she answered absently as they walked down the hall.

“I…I think I can walk down the stairs without any help. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the thought, but I think I can manage it myself,” Tony said diffidently.

“Ohh,” Ruth said dropping his hand as they approached the stairs.

“Uhhh, Mrs. Feldman?”, Tony began as he stepped off the stairs onto the first floor.

“Yes dear?”, answered Ruth. “Why did you diaper me again? I only wet the bed, you know. It’s not like I can’t control myself during the day,” he stated positively.

“You peed and pooped in them three times during the day yesterday. I think it might be a good idea if you wore them this morning just to be on the safe side,” she answered carefully.

“Yesterday!… I didn’t wear diapers yesterday!”, he exclaimed.

“You mean you don’t remember, Honey? You called me mama and spent the morning playing on the rug in from of the TV in diapers,” she said sweetly.

“Mama?”, he said distantly. “I called you mama?”

“Yes, dear, don’t you remember? Your psychiatrist was here and had a long talk with you on the couch, don’t you remember?”, she asked, looking him in the eye.

“No…..I don’t remember anything like that happening,” he said in

bewilderment. “…..I really called you mama?”

“Yes, Honey. You cried in my arms and called me mama. Then I took you downstairs and fed you breakfast and gave you a bottle of formula to drink afterwards. I called your psychiatrist and he told me you were suffering from a fugue. You acted like you were a little baby all day yesterday. He said you might be better by today, but I didn’t really believe him. You mean you really don’t remember anything from yesterday?”, she asked seriously.

“All I can remember from yesterday is that it was like any other day. I got up, ate breakfast and babysat Jay-Jay while you went to the store. I spent the day in the house, without going outside. We ate dinner and then you put Jay-Jay to bed and we watched TV until it was time to go to bed.” he said distractedly.

Ruth tilted her head and queried, “What do you remember us watching last night, Tony?”

“The same thing we watch every Wednesday night, we watched “Buddies” and then “Primetime,” he said with self-assurance.

“Today is Friday, Tony,” she said quietly. “If you don’t believe me, turn on the TV to CNN or the preview channel on cable. They have captions with the date and day of the week. Don’t you remember anything? Anything at all, it could be important.”

“Well…,” he began reluctantly,  “I do remember one thing I haven’t told you about. I g..guess it doesn’t matter now….”

“What is it, Honey?”, she said, trying to be encouraging.

He hung his head in shame and said, “I came down the stairs because I was thirsty and wanted to get something to drink from the refrigerator. When I saw the bottles of Jay-Jay’s formula, I couldn’t resist. I took one. I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be missed. I guess you must have found it.” Ruth nodded in agreement and said, “I found it lying in the bed beside you yesterday morning. A little formula had leaked on the bedpad, but it looked like you had drunk almost all of it. I found one of Jay-Jay’s pacifiers in your bed too. Did you take the pacifier earlier that day?”

“No…I took it weeks ago. You’re…You’re not mad at me are you?”, he said gazing up at her with a pleading look in his eyes.

She hugged him affectionately and said, “No, Honey I’m not mad at you. I told you yesterday you could have it. If you want a pacifier so badly you’d steal it from Jay-Jay, I guess you should have one of your own. You don’t have to hide your thumbsucking anymore either. I love you just the same, whether you suck your thumb or not.”

“Y..you love me?”, he asked in surprise.

“Yes, dear, I love you. You’re kind, gentle, considerate, helpful and very obedient. Any mother would be proud to have a son like you,” she said in a loving tone.

“But I stole from Jay-Jay! I wet the bed and have to wear diapers to sleep!  You can’t love me!”, he exclaimed incredulously.

“I love you diapers and all, Tony. Don’t you see that those things aren’t important if you love somebody? If you need to play at being a baby to convince yourself that someone loves you, it’s okay with me. I don’t mind. I’ll give you bottles of formula and change your diapers until you don’t need them anymore. You’re my son now and I’m your mother. All I want from you is one thing,” she said with a growing smile.

“What’s th…that?”, Tony asked.

“Call me mama,” she grinned.

Tony’s face broke out in the sunniest smile she had ever seen on a child as he said, “Yes, mama!” His smile turned into a small frown as the thought of what his psychiatrist would say. “But.. but what will my doctor say when he finds out you let me suck my thumb and wear diapers?”

Ruth patted him on the rump and said, “Silly baby! I just told you he was over here yesterday and saw you sitting on the floor in your diapers and sucking your thumb! Now go over to the breakfast table so I can fix your breakfast for you. You’d like eggs and bacon for breakfast, I suppose?”

Tony grinned again and said, “Yes, mama!”

Tony’s mother made him bacon and eggs for breakfast as promised, letting him feed himself. Although she did insist on pinning a kitchen towel around his neck to use as a bib. Tony was a little disappointed that she didn’t give him a bottle of formula to drink with his meal, but when he finished, she gave him a baby bottle filled with chocolate milk to drink while he was watching TV. She spread an old blanket on the floor for him and Jay-Jay to sit on and did her chores while the two of them sat in their diapers watching cartoons.