When Nature Calls - Commission

Today was a very big day for a very big boy.

"Now, now, settle down," Mommy admonished Gabe as he plopped into his seat and began impatiently shoveling down his oatmeal. "I know you're in a hurry to leave on your field trip, baby, but you've got to slow down!" She patted his back maternally and handed him his favorite sippy cup: the one with purple monkeys on it. "Auntie Megan isn't even here yet, you know—and you can't leave until she shows up, can you? Or are you planning to run to the nature center?"

Gabe giggled through a mouthful of oatmeal before shoving his sippy cup into his mouth. Mmm. Apple juice—his favorite! He felt himself settling even deeper into little space as he waved his spoon at his mommy. "'Course not, Mommy! That'd be silly!" "Silly ideas for a silly boy," she smiled, tousling his hair playfully. "Now why don't you just take a breath and relax, okay? Enjoy that breakfast nice and slow, and Auntie Megan will be here before you know it."

It was perhaps an odd sight for any unsuspecting passersby: the six-foot tall Gabe, his toned muscles and deep tan all but covered by his soft cotton shirt, playfully decorated with cartoon giraffes and lions. Even more incongruous would have been the plastic waistband peeking up over his booster seat—a waistband that signified that little Gabe had something very soft and thick and crinkly wrapped snugly around his waist and between his legs.

Yes. Despite his size, maybe Gabe wasn't such a big boy after all. 

Not that he seemed to agree on that count. "But Mommy," he protested when, after having gulped down his breakfast and gotten to his feet to finish dressing, his smiling Mommy-Wife had slipped two experimental fingers beneath the leg of his rustling diaper to check his status. "I'm a big boy, I promise! Why can't I wear my big boy pants today? Please?"

His Mommy smiled sweetly, mentally chuckling at how precious it was that a bulky, animal-festooned pair of cotton training pants was now actually Gabe's idea of "big boy pants." Clearly his Littlespace standards were slipping far, far below his adult preconceptions. They both knew it, of course; and at some level even Gabe was aware of the overtly juvenile role he was playing. But that was nothing that a little willing suspension of disbelief couldn't fix...

"Oh, honey," she smiled, shaking her head as she gently guided Gabe's legs into his overalls. "You know it's going to be a long day, honey. And it's super hard even for big boys to remember to go potty when they're all excited, you know. So don't worry, baby! This way you'll be all safe and dry no matter what, and you can just focus on playing and watching the animals, okay?"

Gabe shrugged, watching as she buckled the straps of his overalls shut. "Okay," he grudgingly assented. "But Mommy, I don't need my backy-packy, I promise! Can't I leave it here?" He eyed the childish, fire-engine-red backpack resting on the kitchen counter. "It's jus' that I don' wanna lose it..." he trailed off unconvincingly.

"Of course!" Mommy smiled, patting his denim-covered booty affectionately. "But honey, that's where we keep an extra diaper for you is, isn't it? Hmm..." She cocked her head in mock puzzlement. "Is it maybe that you just don't want Auntie Megan to see your diaper, honey? And you don't want her to change you?"

As Gabe's expression turned sheepish, she merely laughed and tousled his reddish hair. "Very well, sweetie! But you'd better not make trouble for Auntie Megan, okay?"

Of course he wouldn't, he promised. Of course he would be a good boy. But as he trotted off to fetch his Velcro shoes, his visibly padded booty wiggling adorably, he might have been disconcerted to see a knowing twinkle in his Mommy-Wife's eyes...

***

Auntie Megan was a blast! She was so funny, and knew all kinds of silly jokes and songs, and she even gave him his very own little plastic bag full of Lucky Charms to munch on in the car! Sure, the adult Gabe might have known her as the middle-aged ex-dominatrix they frequently met at the local munches; but in his simplistic, brilliantly-colored Littlespace world, she was the most fantastic auntie one could ever have.  

Down the trails they went hour after hour, pointing and laughing and having a wonderful time in the warm fall sunshine. They found a few weird-looking bugs, and a timid little toad, and even a few sedately strolling wild turkeys who eyed them with aloof suspicion. Auntie Megan told him a fantastic joke about seagulls who lived by a bay would be called bagels, which made him giggle with helpless laughter for a full two minutes. And at long last, tucked into a secluded corner of the woods they found a weathered little picnic table—perfect to rest and eat the lunch Auntie Megan had packed for them.

"Wow, you must be thirsty!" Auntie Megan smiled, watching Gabe guzzling down the lemonade from the thermos she'd handed him. "You're gonna pop if you drink too much of that, don't you think?" "Nuh-uh," he shook his head, gulping even more of the tangy liquid. It tasted fantastic, after all, and there was nothing he loved more in Littlespace than sugar. Besides, even his adult mind rationalized, he was padded up. He could dribble and flood the rest of the afternoon, and nobody would even know...

Unfortunately for him, as the afternoon wore on there were signs that that might not stay the case for much longer.

You see, Gabe's tummy was beginning to feel decidedly gurgly and unhappy. He tried not to pay it much attention at first; the big adult part of his brain reasoned that they'd be home by supper, and he'd be more than capable of holding things together until then. Because after all, pottying in his pants was all well and good when it was just nice and wet... But messy? No way. There was no way he'd ever want to do that in front of Auntie Megan, let alone in public!

If only Gabe had put two and two together. If only he'd been able to fathom the connection between the twinkle in Mommy's eye and the cramps that were now rumbling through his belly...

They were back in the nature center itself, admiring the dioramas and the videos of mountain lion management, when Gabe, squirming uncomfortably, finally got up the nerve to whisper timidly into Auntie Megan's ear. "I really gotta go potty, Auntie Megan..." To which she, with an amused glance and a pat to the seat of his increasingly bulky pants, smiled and shook her head. "Honey, your Mommy told me to keep you in my sight all day! That means I can't take you potty, baby, 'cause they don't have a family bathroom here. Unless you'd rather come with me into the ladies' bathroom..."

Oh, no. No. Gabe couldn't do that. And so, even as he shook his head, Auntie Megan shrugged and whispered quietly in his ear. "Besides, a great big boy like you can hold it until we get home, don't you think?"

If only he could.

It was scarcely ten minutes later when the mounting pressure in poor Gabe's bowels finally got the best of him. Aware of the impending storm, he'd slipped into a quiet corner of the display, near the bat exhibit; and there, with eyes wide and stiffened legs, he felt his tired muscles finally give up the fight. As the hot rush of poo accelerated and began to rush easily out, he gulped in sudden panic. Here he was, a great big boy, filling his already soggy diaper like a baby. He could even feel it expanding backward and forward between his legs, mushing easily around his little penis and balls, and flowing easily up his back and into the capacious seat of his pants...

So much for being a big boy.

Auntie Megan found him there even before the accompanying rush of warm urine into his poo-packed diaper had subsided. Maybe she had a sixth sense. Maybe she just sniffed something in the air. Whatever the case, within minutes she'd herded the defeated Gabe outside and down the first nature path to the quiet seclusion of a path-side bench.

"Over my knee, baby. Now."

Of course Gabe had to comply. And as he bent helplessly forward, eyes fixed on the ground, and felt Auntie Mabel's strong fingers deftly unbuttoning the snaps between his legs, he blinked back the sudden tears that stung his eyes. "Oh, honey," she murmured consolingly. "Oh, sweetie, it looks like you really had to go, doesn't it?"

And then her hands were on the seat and crotch of his diaper, patting gently but firmly. "Such a messy, soggy boy," she murmured, her tone sweet and perfectly humiliating in its gentle condescension. "Such a dirty, stinky mess. I guess you might not be as big a boy as I thought, hmm?" She chuckled knowingly and gave another motherly pat to his messy diaper. "At least I see your Mommy made sure you wouldn't leak too easily. Hmm... It's almost as if she knew her big boy would be making a big mess, isn't it?"

And so it was that a shamefaced, messy Gabe trot-waddled his way back to Auntie Mabel's car.

The windows were down on the way back. And Gabe didn't object to the dummy Auntie Mabel tucked between his lips, nor to the stuffed giraffe she slipped in beside him. "Gabe has had a big day, hasn't he?" she smiled, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. "Now let's get you back to your Mommy, shall we? I think she's going to want to give her great big boy a great big diaper change, don't you? I bet that's gonna feel good, huh?"

To which Gabe, cheeks aflame behind the blue shield of his over-sized dummy, could only blink and nod in shamefaced silence.

Maybe he wasn't such a big boy after all.