RegressCo - Always the Baby to Someone

Edward has been doing overtime to cover for a regressed colleague but there’s finally temporary cover coming in…

Always the Baby to Someone

Monday mornings sucked.

Edward yawned as he made his way over to the staff fridge, his eyelids drooping and his hair sticking up on ends in strange places. He’d been awoken by his wife for the journey into work and hadn’t had the best night of sleep. She hadn’t either as a result, but at least his night-diaper hadn’t leaked.

He’d been overworked last week. Peter, a colleague of his, had been given regression leave by the company after his wife had called in for him. Apparently he’d been struggling for a while and she’d decided he needed the time off.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he was getting to that point. Though the way his wife treated this whole thing he couldn’t imagine her calling in for him. She’d probably just make him work her on lap first.

Thankfully, a transfer was coming in to help out with the workload. Right now a small cacophony of voices were coming from the desk next to his, one that was now being occupied by a new member of the team.

As he walked back he finally got a good look at them, and his eyes bolted open wide almost instantly.

“What are you doing here?!”

Edwards’s shrill voice broke through a small cluster of others that had congregated around one of the desks in his office. His colleagues had already started chatting to the new owner of the space while he’d been grabbing a sippy cup of chocolate milk.

He’d only now spotted the tell-tale fur markings on his father’s face.

“Eddy! I didn’t know you worked in marketing! I thought you were still downstairs with…”

“Dad, I’ve been here for three years!”

The badger, grey hairs mixing in with the whites and blacks of his muzzle, chuckled in response as he looked around at his new colleagues, who were trying to determine how best to manage the situation.

“You don’t look a day over three! Gosh you were cute at that age…”

Edward pushed his way in front of his colleagues until he was staring up at his Dad, seated on his office chair.

“Three and a half” he blushed as he heard a female colleague “aww” behind him “And I was not!”

His Dad chuckled “Bet you five bucks the back of your shirt is untucked”

Everyone around him looked at his rear, Edwards blushing intensifying as his brain went through the motions of indulging his father or refusing to play.

“That doesn’t mat…”

“You’re right Simon” he heard behind him “He’s potty training right now, must have forgotten on the way out!”

The entire group chuckled as Eddy tried to grab the back of his shirt and tuck it in. Just as he thought he’d got it he felt two large paws grab him and hoist him up.

“I swear, just when you think you’ve done this for the last time…”

Edward felt his dad's fingers carefully pull back his pants and neatly tuck his shirt in between his training pants and their waistband. He was now stuck facing his colleagues on his father’s lap, their expressions all ones of either motherly adoration or amused grins.

“Look, just because I’m regressed doesn’t mean you can just… do all this again!” he pouted and crossed his arms “This is definitely not acceptable workplace behaviour”

“Oh come on kiddo, lighten up!” his Dad let him down onto the floor “I’m just teasing. Can’t help it seeing you back this way”

Edward looked back up, a pout still firmly on his muzzle “What are you even doing here?”

Simon leant back in his chair “Emergency placement, covering for Peter until he’s back to his best. Grace said he’s being quite the stinker back home.”

The smaller of the two badgers shuffled in place, adjusting his clothes to try and make them a little more comfortable “What about the board? You used to say you were busy all the time”

His father frowned “I cut back on hours a year back. I’m a bit player now champ, not got the energy of youth in me anymore… not a problem you have right now, hah!”

As another small round of giggles took place Edward hopped onto his chair at the neighbouring desk “I should start working…”

“Let me know if you need a hand with anything,” his father replied, nodding to his new colleagues and smiling at them as they dispersed. “I still know my way around these systems… I think”

Edward sighed as he opened up his emails and began to track through the various tasks he’d flagged for himself on Friday. Occasionally he’d hear the voice of his father next to him chatting to another colleague who’d just entered the building, shaking their paws and wishing them a good morning. Had it been anyone else he’d have been glad for a confident co-worker. Instead he felt like he was being judged at every second like a child.

“Wait, this is your Daddy, Eddy?”

He looked to his side to see a fellow regressee, a kitten even younger than himself and dressed accordingly, excitedly clapping as if he’d made some great discovery.

“Yes Harry, that’s my Dad” the emphasis was more for him than for the toddler that was clearly enjoying this way too much “He’s here to cover for Peter”

“Harry huh?! That’s a great name!” Simon hoisted the kid onto his lap and stroked his head “Eddy was going to be Harold before the other half intervened. That’s pretty close huh?!”

“Yeah!” the kitten looked at Eddy “I’m glad you like it!”

“Don’t encourage him Dad, he should be trying to grow back up”

Simon sighed “Sorry Harry, my kiddo’s always been a bit of a party pooper”

Eddy swivelled fully on his chair “I am not Dad!”

Harry giggled “He is! He got a thundercloud on his potty chart because…”

“Harry! Don’t you…”

“What? Why did my little boy get a thundercloud?” Simon looked at Eddy with a genuine look of concern “Did he not get there in time?”

Eddy blushed “I… didn’t… But it was one time!”

Harry looked up at Simon “He went stinky at the company lunch with finance last week”. The matter of fact way he stated it made both badgers blush, though Eddy already had a head-start.

Simon shook his head “It’s alright kiddo. You were having accidents until you were in middle school I don’t…”

“He pooped his pants in middle school?”

Edwards' muzzle dropped open as Harry’s question punched through Simon’s reassurances.

“N.. no” Simon responded, a little embarrassed for both of them “He just needed pull-ups sometimes, you know.”

The kitten nodded “Yeah, like now!”

Simon smiled back “Exactly, like right now. Soon he’ll be out of them again, and I’m sure he’ll let me know if he needs to go potty won’t you champ?”

Edward gave Simon a glare that would’ve been scary if it wasn’t coming from a badger cub half his size.

“I’ll take that as a yes” he let Harry down onto the ground and watched as the kitten sped off without saying another word “Quite the character that one…”

“He wasn’t like that until last week.” Edward responded, his face returning to his computer screen “I swear there’s all these toys going round these days that make it hard to think like an adult…”

“Because there are, kiddo '' Simon responded .`You know as well as I do that some of RegressCo’s competitors want to keep regreesee’s hooked on whatever they can. It’s your job to make it more appealing not to”

“Am I getting another lecture from you?”

“Only if I have to change those pull-ups of yours” Simon winked at his son “How is your potty chart looking by the way?”

“That’s none of your business” Edward tried as hard as he could not to turn to face his father, knowing there was another distinct pout on his face.

“Tell you what.” A sly smile emerged on the badgers face “I’ll make you a little father-son bet”

Edward sighed. He felt another part of him give up, decide it was fine to indulge him until he gets tired of it

“What?”

“I bet I can tell you what your potty chart from last week looks like without needing to see it.”

Edward turned to face his father with his eyebrows raised “That’s… wait, you would’ve had access to all of that, this is a trap”

Simon shook his head “You think I was just randomly checking potty charts up in my executive office on the top floor? Indulge me, I bet I know you well enough.”

Edward laughed “Really? You know whether I’m making it to the potty or not? That’s a gift Dad, but not one that…”

“You were like clockwork” Simon interrupted “Monday mornings you always used to have an accident at day-care, but in the afternoons you stayed dry”

Edward felt his mouth start to respond before he could think to check “That’s not…”

“Tuesdays you stay dry all day, Wednesdays your favourite cartoon was on at about two in the afternoon… I’m gonna go with another raincloud there”

Edward felt himself start to deflate. He knew that the last one was correct, even if the logic was off. Weekly catch-up meetings weren’t nearly as fun as cartoons.

“Thursdays you’re dry and Friday’s? You were always so tuckered out after a week of day-care you’d sleep and poop on the way back home. Even used to change you into a diaper afterwards, remember?”

“I don’t…” Edward felt blush rising to his cheeks again “I didn’t…”

“The lunch with finance overran, I know that because I didn’t see the head come back until four last week. So that’s where your thundercloud is, slap bang in the mid-afternoon of a Friday.”

Edward didn’t even go to open his tracker. He didn’t need to, his father had managed to perfectly match the entire thing.

“Well… it doesn’t matter. I didn’t take the bet.”

His father just smiled and looked back at his computer “Need to go now? It’s Monday morning and that sippy cup is running a little dry already…”

“NO! I can go potty by myself!”

The entire room burst into a fit of giggles as Edward realised he’d forgotten to monitor the volume of his response. Instinctually he squeezed the front of his pull-ups to make absolutely sure.

“As I said, just let me know if you need to go potty. You’ve not got anything I haven’t seen before”

“No one is doing that except Susan” Edward huffed “I still have some sense of privacy Dad”

“Oh! How is Susan? Didn’t she get a job writing parenting psychology articles or something?”

Edward sighed again, his patience with his fathers ability to make conversation starting to wane “About a month before I regressed, yeah. Got a promotion last week too, she’s moving up the ladder fast”

His father chuckled “Well now she’s got the perfect test subject right? At least she’s using her degree Mr. “I want to go to art school””

Edward felt his fists clench “I’m not having this conversation again”

“Oh come on Edward, show him all the pictures you put up on the staff fridge in break time last week!”

“NATASHA!”

The entire room seemed to be dedicated to making his life hell today. He could feel steam trying to burst from his ears from a combination of frustration and embarrassment.

Perhaps it was the emotional turmoil or the constant feelings of his muscles clenching in rage but it was at that point that Edward noticed the faintest hint of a bladder twinge. Subtle, enough for him to know that he needed the potty, but probably something he’d have dismissed on any other Monday morning.

Hopping off the seat and heading towards the bathroom he adjusted his belt to loosen it up before he started to gingerly make his way over.

“Oh I know that walk” Edward cringed as he heard his fathers voice, forcing himself not to turn around and give him the satisfaction of being distracted.

“I’m going to the bathroom, if anyone asks where I am”

“Sure you don’t want a hand? I can…”

“NO DAD I’M FINE!”

Heads turned all around the office, almost all with a distinct look of disapproval. Some would’ve put his reaction down to a regressee being emotionally unstable, others as talking back to an elder, and a former superior in the organisation at that. Neither painted him in a particularly good light.

His father just gave him a wry smile.

“Well if you think you can be a big boy all by yourself, don’t let me stop you”

If the idea of holding himself back occurred to Edward it didn’t do so quickly enough

“I AM A BIG BOY!” his hands shot to his muzzle immediately, his brain realising immediately that  such an assertion was not doing him any favours. Before he could make any more mistakes he turned and more hastily started making his way towards the bathroom.

Opening the lower handle of the door he made his way inside and looked over at the mirrors over the sinks. The counters were stepped, two levels at three and six feet respectively for all comers of all shapes and sizes to admire themselves in the hope they could look somewhat presentable when they came back out. Not that he could see the back of his shirt escaping his trousers apparently.

Edward checked the cabinets under the lowered sink and found one of the many potties that were stacked underneath it. The office ones were much plainer than the one his wife had bought, nothing but a front guard and a slightly worn frontispiece with a reminder written on the front in bold, nursery typeface.

“Record your progress on the RegressCo Potty Time App! Download Today!”

He grimaced as he realised he’d left his phone on the desk. The app was a useful tool for regressee privacy all things considered. He’d far rather be scanning in the little barcode on the front to confirm the potty he was using and have a staff member clean it up in five minutes to confirm he’d made it than having his Dad standing over him and offering to help with wiping.

A second twinge hit and his brain immediately realised it wasn’t a warning. He was about to pee, not in a few minutes, but in a few seconds. Panic set into his mind and as he put the potty on the floor, not even bothering to put it in one of the private cubicles, and started to unpop the front of his trousers.

“You alright there champ?”

Turning round as his trousers fell to the floor, Edward saw the figure of his father standing in the doorway. He’d totally forgotten about using the privacy of one of the cubicles in his haste, the potty behind him awaiting his butt even as the humiliation of the situation made him freeze on the spot.

“Dad! Get out!”

He sighed “You’re not the only “big boy” who can use the potty in the office kiddo” he made his way over to one of the cubicles Edward hadn’t had time to use, opening the door and turning back to face his son “Though I thought most big boys kept the stars on their pull-ups?”

The shock of the situation had left Edward with no focus on his bladder, nor on the steadily spreading warmth around his groin. The pull-ups around his waist started to swell, taking in the accident he was having and making it plainly obvious he was having it.

Emotions welled up inside of him that he found difficult to fully manage. Rather than stay standing, Edward sat down on the potty, his pull-up still around his waist, and put his head in his hands.

“Stupid Dad” he muttered to himself, kicking out with his feet and sending his trousers to the floor. He crossed his arms as he started to slowly breathe and regain some semblance of control over himself, staring down at his now sodden underwear and trying to think about what to do next.

A flushing noise from the cubicle interrupted the start of this process as his father left and gazed back down at him. Refusing to look him in the eye, Edward continued to sit there staring down at his feet and waiting for him to leave.

What he didn’t expect was to then feel a hand on his shoulder, his father’s feet coming into view as he crouched down in front of him and tried to twist his head to see Edwards’s eyes.

“It's alright, sport. Regression ain’t easy.”

Edward just huffed “You’re not helping…”

Simon could only sigh in response “I’m your Daddy kiddo. It’s my job to do this. Whether you like it or not”

Edward turned to face him, looking him in the eyes and feeling his eyes well up.

“But… but…”

“But you’re a big boy. I know” his father responded “And having one or two accidents in your pull-ups doesn’t change that. But you know something?”

“What?”

“You’ll always be my little boy too. Even when you grow back up again, I’ll still have your baby photos, still have some diapers to hand at home and all your old toys.” He picked Edward up, the badger cub leaning into his father’s shoulder without thinking about it “You can’t stop me being your Daddy.” A chuckle followed “But I think we both know one thing that does need to change!”

All Edward could do was groan as he felt himself being laid down on the changing table at the back of the bathroom. His father changed him with practiced hands, taking a diaper from the automatic dispenser and taping it onto his son as though he’d never stopped doing it.

“Now, I don’t think you need those pants for the rest of the day. I’ll keep them with me until it’s time for you to head home.”

Edward could only nod as his thumb headed into his maw. His resistance to his father’s teasing wasn’t worth the effort. The two of them left the bathroom as though Edward had always been expected to come out in thicker underwear.

“Nap on my lap for a bit, I’ll hug ya close”

If there was one thing Edward wasn’t going to complain about, all things considered, it wasn’t going to be that.