Around midmorning Jay-Jay pooped in his diaper and Tony changed him for his mother. A few minutes later, Tony was surprised to discover that he was a little wet too and went to his mother to report for his own diaper change after putting Jay-Jay in his playpen. Ruth was busy in the kitchen and told him to wait a few minutes, she’d change him as soon as she was finished with the pots and pans. He was walking back to the family room to watch TV until she was ready to change him when something strange happened to him. Suddenly his bowels cut loose and he pooped in his diaper with no warning! His bladder followed suit and seconds later he was wearing a diaper that was both dirty and dripping. He sank to his knees and crawled the last few feet to the blanket and began to cry. He had only wanted to play at being a baby, now he realized that mama was right! He’d HAVE to wear diapers now! Ruth rushed in the room to see why he was crying. She found him on his hands and knees on the blanket with tears running down his cheeks. Ruth knelt beside him and said, “What’s wrong, baby? Can mama help?”

“I…I pooped in my diaper!”, he said in humiliation.

“I see you did,” she said, smelling a dirty diaper and looking at the way his sodden diaper was drooping between his legs.

“Now I’ll have to wear them all the time!”, he said anguished at the thought of being treated like a baby all the time.  He wanted to play at being a baby, not be cared for like one because his behavior required it.

“Well,” his mother said sympathetically, “you’ll have to wear them until you’re potty trained again. That’s for sure. Come on, Honey. Roll over on your back and mama will change your diaper.”

He sniveled as she cleaned him up and put him in a fresh diaper. She reached in her pocket and took out his pacifier and said, “Cheer up, Honey! Here! Suck on this, it’s not so bad! You’ll feel better in a little while, I promise.”

“You’re….You’re not mad at me for pooping in my diaper?”, he blubbered.

“Of course not, Honey. Mama told you she loves you, dirty dydees and all,” she said with a smile. She tickled playfully him on his tummy and before long he was giggling and squealing happily. She helped him to a sitting position and said, “It’s time for your nap, Tony. We’re going to go clothes shopping for you this afternoon and I don’t want you to get overly tired.”

“But it’s too early to sleep mama! I can’t go to sleep this early!”, he whined.

“Come on, Tony. You don’t want to get paddled, do you?”, she asked jokingly.

A hurt look came over his face and he said seriously, “You aren’t going to spank me with a hairbrush, are you mama?”

“I was thinking more of a swat across your diaper-padded fanny with my hand if you don’t get moving,” she told him with a grin.

“Ohhh….,” he said with a brightening look. “I guess naughty babies do get swatted on their behinds, don’t they mama?”

“That’s right, Tony. Now come on and mama will get you tucked in bed.”

She led him by the hand docilely up the staircase and tucked him in his bed. She sat on the side of the bed and said, “I called your psychiatrist this morning to tell him the good news. He told me to tell you not to worry about the diapers for now, he’s sure you won’t need to wear them during the day in a couple of months. He told me he was pleased to hear you had recovered so quickly and would like to see you tomorrow. We’ve got to get you some clothes to go over your diapers, Tony. I saw some sweats in your closet you can wear shopping this afternoon, but you’ll have to have more than one change of clothes to wear. I was thinking of buying you a couple of pairs of overalls and some more sweats. I can put some snaps in the seams of the crotch and legs to make it easier to change you. I think I saw some footed sleepers at Wal-Mart that you could wear around the house. Some new curtains for this room and some decorations for the walls would be nice too. Maybe I can find a nice nursery motif like teddy bears,” she mused aloud.

“I can’t sleep, it’s too early,” Tony said crankily. “Please let me come down and watch TV,” he begged.

Ruth smiled and cooed down at him, “Mama will take care of that, baby. Just lay right there and mama will be back in a minute.”

She returned with a brown furry object under her arm and said, “Here baby, take this and put your arm around it.”

Tony took the object from her a discovered that it was a fluffy brown teddy bear with sad eyes. He noticed she had pinned one of Jay-Jay’s cloth diapers around its waist and covered it with plastic pants. He tucked it in the hollow of one shoulder and curled his arm around it as she explained, “Teddy didn’t used to have to wear dydees until recently. Now he’s sad because he doesn’t think anybody will love him because he wears diapers. Will you be his friend, Tony? I think you understand how he feels.”

Tony nodded at this with wide eyes and giggled as he felt the plastic crinkle against the bare skin of his side. Ruth handed him a baby bottle full of formula and said, “Mama brought you a bottle of warm formula to drink, Honey. She wants you to take your medicine and drink your formula until it’s all gone. Will you make a happy bottle for mama?”

Tony nodded gravely as she handed him his antidepressant capsule. He swallowed the capsule and began to suck on the nipple as she continued,

“Mama will read a story to you, Honey. It’s all about a little bear named Pooh who was exceedingly fond of honey. I think you and your new friend will like it.”

Tony closed his eyes and cuddled his bear feeling sooooo comfortable. The soft flannel blanket snuggled against his skin luxuriously, while the diapers gave him the feeling his bottom was being gently caressed. He suckled the warm formula from the bottle avidly. His rapidly filling stomach made him sleepy and his eyelids began to droop. Ruth stroked his hair as she read the story, lulling him into a peaceful sleep. His breathing slowed and became deeper as he drifted off into a dreamland filled with soft, furry creatures who were never cross or even said an unkind word. He knew they were his friends when he saw that they all sucked their thumbs and wore diapers just like him. They laughed and tumbled together on the soft, moss-covered earth of his dreamland, happy to be alive and play in the warm sunshine. One of the bears wet his diapers and began to giggle uproariously. All the others joined in and laughed as they good-naturedly changed his soggy diaper. They were such jolly playmates! Then they went to look for a baby bottle tree so they could all sit down and have some formula for lunch. When they finished their bottles, they all lay down for a nap together in a heap. Tony snuggled against his new friends and dozed with a smile of contentment on his face as he lay amid his furry companions. When they awoke, they changed each other’s diapers with howls of delight as they saw the messes each of them had made. Then it was off to an afternoon of play as the comrades crawled and somersaulted together on the soft green grass. Tony’s face shone with happiness as the dark cloud that been hiding his smiles evaporated under the loving sun.

Ruth put a bookmark where she had stopped the story and kissed Tony lightly on the forehead. She wasn’t in any hurry to finish the story, she knew that she’d be reading Tony and Teddy stories for a long time before he was ready for her to stop.