RegressCo - Time to Play

Grace and Peter are on their way to lunch, with the cafeteria currently occupied by some curious patrons...

RegressCo - Time to Play

Peter was in a good mood.

After the fire drill his day had continued to get better. He’d got through all his emails, sent through some paperwork about getting himself off the regressee programs, and had made it to the potty once already!

The pride he felt was immediately shunted back by a blush rising to his cheeks. He wasn’t a child, he shouldn’t be so happy with himself. Still, after the last few months, getting to avoid soaking his underwear was a welcome change.

As he headed towards the cafeteria he could see Grace waiting for him, staring at her phone and texting away.

“Hey hon, ready for lunch?”

She looked up and smiled “Of course! I’ve got your bottle right here and…” she stopped for a brief second, letting her voice drift as she caught herself “That is… if you still want it?”

Peter shook his head “Thanks, but I’d rather have something a bit more grown up” he winked back, smiling. He’d give her some space to get used to him being an adult again, no need to be a brat when she meant well.

Grace’s face dropped a little as she moved her hand away from his diaper bag, the bottle still poking out the side “Ok… well let’s get a table then!”

The cafeteria wasn’t particularly busy. A few patrons were scattered about with coffees and finishing up brunch while the dinner staff were opening the lunch counter. The two of them vastly preferred getting lunch early, even if it meant being hungry on the monorail home. A group of mothers with kids were sitting down to one side watching the large television, a cartoon playing in the background.

A small table near a window was their eventual choice, Pete grabbing a booster seat from next to the counter and hoisting himself onto it.

“Feels good not to need the highchairs…”

Grace only smiled back, a wistful look in her eyes. Pete shuffled a little in his seat, trying to find a good topic of conversation. Eventually the noise from the mothers naturally drew their attention.

“What’s all that about? Some kind of bring your kid to workday thing?” Pete asked, finding cash in his wallet for the order.

“I dunno, I think it’s like a mommy’s support group or something. Saw something like it when you first regressed. They go pretty heavy on recruitment”

“For what?”

“Oh they like to reel people in with fancy brochures and a big spiel so they can sell stuff. They had a huge product feature at a fair last week. Nearly picked up some of their nightlights, they were really rather pretty”

Pete grimaced a little “Glad you didn’t, it all looks a bit… babyish”

Grace scoffed “And you don’t?”

“Hey! No fair!” Pete pouted, crossing his arms in a huff.

Grace giggled a little as they settled again. Eventually Peter decided to solve the growing hunger in his gut and hopped off the chair.

“I’ll go order some food. Usual for you?”

Grace nodded back “Sure, with an iced latte today”

Peter hopped off the seat and headed towards the counter, the waistband of his pull-ups just about visible over the top of his trousers. Grace couldn’t help but giggle a little at that, not quite out of earshot of the fox for him to avoid a strong blush coming to his cheeks.

He looked over to the mother and child gathering that was sat in a semi-circle around the flat-screen. He hadn’t seen the cartoon they were watching before, though his exploration of kids TV had generally stayed quite light. Other than a couple of overly motherly moments from Grace he’d tried to stick to the same stuff as when he was an adult.

“Come on! It’s time to play!”

Pete felt a giggle rise to his mouth. A small teddy bear on the screen was bouncing around with some bright primary colours in the background.

“Come on! It’s time to play!”

The cafeteria counter suddenly felt substantially less important to the fox. He felt drawn towards the group, the mothers and their charges all cooing and shuffling as giggles and clapping rang out around them.

“What time is it?”

“It’s time to play!” Pete felt himself say the words in unison with the other kids and immediately felt a blush rise to his cheeks. A couple of mothers looked at him and smiled, clearly endeared by the young man dressed so smartly and yet totally unable to join in with some simple cartoons.

Grace meanwhile had been watching the whole thing take place from afar. She didn’t really mind that Peter was distracted, it even made her smile when she saw him join in.

“They think they’re so grown up until you give them a distraction huh?”

A woman’s voice came from behind Grace, her head turning to look at the source. A lioness was smiling down at her, dressed in a suit and heels, her head dotted with little jewelled piercings.

“He’s a regressee” Grace responded “He’s already a grown-up”

The lioness chuckled “Really?” she moved round to the side of the table “Still looks like a toddler to me”

Grace felt herself tighten up “He’s progressing. He’ll be back to his old self in no time.”

The lioness simply smiled back, fiddling with an expensive necklace she was wearing “You think so huh? How long has he been regressed? Three months maybe?”

Grace’s eyes widened “Ye… yeah about that. How did you…”

“You start to be able to tell, see the signs.” The lioness grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down “Helena, pleased to meet you…”

“Grace” she responded “I’m not sure…”

“Oh don’t worry, if the little one doesn’t want me here I’ll head off” she waved away the protest, crossing her legs and leaning back in the chair “He’s gonna be a handful you know”

“What do you mean?”

“You think regression doesn’t have any side-effects? That he’s just gonna wake up and be your man again?”

Grace thought for a second “I mean… he’d have to adjust…”

Helena chuckled again “Oh of course. He’ll ask for help for… probably a few more months right?”

Grace nodded “I guess…”

“You’ll be cleaning his pants after his “accidents”, cleaning tables after he’s spilled his cups of coffee…”

“I’m sure it won’t…”

“And then he’ll regress again” her face twisted a little, a small measure of underlying disapproval visible behind her eyes “Back to diapers, back to bottles, back to being waited on hand and foot”

Grace went to respond but felt something hold her back. Pete wouldn’t regress again that soon after this one… would he? She thought about Sams partner, seemingly enjoying the whole affair as she lived the life of a baby. Or Patty’s husband, throwing a tantrum and needing a plush even after just a week of regression.

Would Pete just… get back to normal that easily?

“Honestly it’s easier to just keep them as babies” Helena drew herself back up, straightening in the seat “Especially the boys, I don’t think they ever grow out of needing a mommy…”

Grace sighed “Well there’s no way to do that, regression just seems to end whenever it chooses. Pete only started growing up today…”

Helena’s eyes widened “Oh really? Have you ever regressed?”

Grace shook her head

“Well then let me tell you what he’s thinking. He’s going to have all these thoughts in his head about being a big boy, being so proud of things like going to the potty and drinking coffee. He’ll probably do ok, maybe even get back up to adulthood”

Grace could see Pete in her peripheral vision. He was clapping along now with some of the other kids, still stood up but definitely completely distracted by the show.

“Then he’ll start to miss things. He’ll miss the attention, the easy praise… maybe even the diapers…” she leaned forward “Trust me, in six months’ time, that bottle will be getting a muzzle around it in no time at all”

Grace could only blink in response. She instinctively looked at the bottle in the bag at her feet, its contents sloshing around, ready for Pete and waiting for him to drink it.

“But… that’s…”

“Ridiculous? Dear, I’ve seen it a hundred times” she looked at her nails, deep red and perfectly manicured.

Grace looked down at her hands. She felt like this woman was pulling at all the worst thoughts of her mind, all the doubts she had and bringing them to the fore. She’d seen others regress multiple times but had just thought of it as part of random chance.

“Are… are you saying he’ll regress himself?”

Helena’s smile curled into a smirk “In a sense. Have you ever noticed that the regressees that like being kids again don’t grow back up? Or if they do they rather quickly head back down again?”

Grace nodded, it certainly wasn’t unusual.

“That’s because they want to be babies, Grace.” She looked at the counter, where Pete was putting the various parts of the order on a colourful tray “And your hubby? He’s definitely loving this”

Grace wanted to defend him. He’d been so desperate to grow up… but the bottle feedings and the diaper changes… the way he was just playing along with the cartoons… he’d never complained that much…

“My advice? Don’t let him control how he’s treated” she put her hand on Grace’s, looking her in the eye “I know that look you have. The maternal drive and fire that you feel when he’s putty in your hands… he’s yours in that moment. Your little boy… right?”

Grace couldn’t help but nod. With a final light chuckle, Helena pulled a little bright tablet from her bag. It was a kids toy, couldn’t have been any more complex than something you’d pick up at a supermarket, but it clearly had the ability to play videos. Grace saw Pete get to the counter, finally, a huge smile on his face as he started to order food.

“When he comes back, give him this. See how he reacts, watch him closely. I guarantee he’ll barely be able to keep himself from watching along.” she stood up, seeing Pete walking back towards them

“Just press the little button at the bottom there and it’ll start the cartoon. He’ll be a cute little giggler in no time” with a final flourish she brought out a little card, a teddy bear design slightly raised on the front alongside her name and contact number “And here’s my info. I run the little group over there, we’d love to have you along”

The lioness dragged the chair back to its original place as Pete arrived back at the table, the bright red tray holding two drinks cups and two plates of food, freshly prepared.

“They gave me some extra nuggies!” he smiled “Said they were really happy to hear I was potty training!”

Grace could see Helena winking at her out of the corner of her eye as she moved to another table. She felt so silly, looking at Pete digging into the chicken pieces and fries he’d ordered. It seemed so obvious, so clear now that it was pointed out to her. She pulled her Caesar salad and latte from the tray, noticing Pete’s order looked very similar.

“You ordered coffee?”

He nodded “Uh-huh, another iced latte.” He said round a mouthful of fries “It’s gonna be so good to…”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to just have the milk? You’re not a grown up yet….”

Pete stopped eating for a second, his eyes narrowing “I am a grown up, Grace. I’m just… smaller right now.”

“You know what happens when you have coffee, you get all bouncy and…”

Pete picked up the drink and, in a moment of clear defiance, pulled the latte to his mouth and started to drink. Grace looked on with a look of shock on her face.

“Really? Come on Pete…”

“I’m not a baby Mo…” he shuddered a little as the bitter taste kicked in “Ooofff… that’s the stuff”

“Huh, could’ve fooled me. Looks like you just hit the terrible twos with that attitude.”

The fox grimaced, putting his latte down and staring at his wife “We talked about this this morning.”

She leant forward in her chair, ignoring her food “We did, but you’re not really helping your case Mr “I got extra nuggies””

The fox blushed, shuffling again in his booster seat “That…”

“I’m half-tempted to just get you the highchair, look at the state of the table! And your shirt!”

Pete looked down, sure enough there were scattered fries already around the little plate he’d been given, and breadcrumbs from the nuggies littered the area around his mouth and shirt collar.

“You didn’t even notice did you?”

Pete wanted to respond but found himself completely taken aback. Where on earth had this come from?

“Grace please, I’m not trying to be…”

“Of course you’re not trying to be a toddler” she interrupted “You still are a toddler. And I’m still, basically, your Mommy”

Pete’s jaw dropped. Grace had always avoided calling herself that.

“What’s got into you? You’re not my Mommy, Grace you’re my wife”

Grace rolled her eyes “No? So what does dressing you, changing your diapers day after day, bottle feeding you every time you get cranky and watching you cuddle up with a plush next to me in a crib sound like?”

“That’s not fair, I didn’t choose to be regressed Mo… Grace!” he could feel the frustration coming to the fore. It evidently wasn’t helping his case.

“No, you didn’t. But I’m starting to think you rather enjoyed the whole thing.” She sighed and leant back her chair again “Guess I’m not allowed to express my enjoyment though. Your Mommy is too embarrassing…”

Pete looked down at his plate. Had she really felt this way? A pang of guilt wormed its way into his stomach, tightening it as he felt himself sink in his booster seat. The crinkle of his pull-up now felt shameful rather than a point of pride.

Out of his peripheral vision he noticed the bright colourful tablet, the same teddy bear from before printed on the corner of the device. Where had that come from?

“Did… did you get this for me?” he took the device and pulled it towards him. It was a simple thing, a plastic border surrounding a small screen that was clearly designed for a child to watch.

Grace nodded “Yeah, sort of. Little gift from a new friend who thought you’d like it. Why don’t you press the button and start it up?”

Pete turned the device over in his hand before seeing the small red button in the centre that was raised above the rest of the plastic. Curiosity taking over, his little stubby finger pushed it firmly down.

“Come on, it’s time to play!”

Almost immediately Grace noticed Pete’s expression change from mild interest to complete enrapture. He grinned, seeing the cartoon start up and bouncing up and down in his seat.

“What time is it?”

“It’s time to pway!” Pete’s voice lisped as his focus became entirely consumed by the tablet. Little lights around the edge were playing along to the music in the background, his head bobbing along in time with it.

Grace couldn’t believe it. All it had taken was a simple cartoon and he was just acting like a baby again. No wonder that lioness had come over to her. She looked at the card again.

Mommy and Me Services

Subsidiary of Simpli-Fi Inc.

Helena Cosgrove – Regional Regressee Activity Specialist

Definitely a specialist, Grace thought to herself. She’d spotted Pete a mile away, all those little signs she’d tried to avoid picking up on… he must have felt like he had to grow up.

Well, there’d be no more of that.

“Pete, honey” she reached over for the tablet, taking it from her husband as he finished up an episode of clapping “It’s time for your baba!”

Pete, meanwhile, suddenly felt like the world was reforming around him. What had happened? One minute he’d been chatting to Grace and the next he’d…

“Up you come!” his wife lifted him onto her arms “Open up for num nums!”

Going into autopilot Pete felt his lips wrap around the nipple of the baby bottle. This felt… wrong. He shouldn’t be drinking from a baba should he? Wasn’t he just eating nuggies and fries like a big boy? Wasn’t he in… what were they called… big boy diapers?

No, that wasn’t it…

“Ssshhh…. Nearly done baby” Grace cooed. She could feel her husband shrinking again in her arms, his body getting lighter as his previous progress suddenly shifted backwards. He’d wanted this, he was giving in to it so easily.

Pete felt all his clothes getting heavier, the pull-up round his waist just about clinging to him as his shoes and pants were removed by his wife. The designs on the front were gone, replaced by a discoloured patch of swollen padding.

“There we go, I think someone needs a change of pants!”

As the nipple was removed, Pete felt himself starting to piece more things together. He was in pull-ups! He’d… he’d had an accident! You weren’t supposed to do that in those!

“It’s ok sweetie, Mommy is gonna get you a nice thick diaper. No more silly potty for you!”

“But… But I’m…”

“Shhh… once I’m done putting you in your diaper, it’ll be time to play!”

It was like a light switch was flipped inside Pete's head. He giggled and clapped, smiling as he was pulled into the changing room of the cafeteria….

*************************************************************************************************************

“Hey Grace! Heading home early?”

“Hi Claire, yeah, got a bit of an emergency, my kiddo went right down to toddler-town earlier. Isn’t that right sweetie?!”

Pete didn’t answer as they went past the reception desk. He was too busy watching the tablet, strapped into a stroller Grace had borrowed from RegressCo’s support supply.

“Gosh, just a diaper today? I don’t think I’ve seen that brand before...”

Grace just smiled back “Oh I was given it by one of those lovely mommy’s in the Simpli-Fi group! They’re called “Little Bouncers.”, specially made for active little ones!” she ruffles Pete's hair in the stroller “I’m thinking of bringing Pete to their regular meet-ups...”

Claire raised an eyebrow “I mean… they’re certainly an interesting group...”

Grace just laughed “Oh I think they’re lovely! And I think Pete is gonna be a baby for a long time… He really doesn’t seem to mind… speaking of which…”

Both women looked down at the stroller as the fox's muzzle clenched and his thumb slipped into his mouth. Drool started to dribble down the side of his face as he grunted around it, pushing himself up in the seat a little so that the back of his Teddies was visible to the two of them. A clear bulge appeared, settling slightly as Pete finished grunting and opened his eyes again, plopping down into the seat with a satisfied expression.

A second later he pressed the button on the tablet.

“Come on, it’s time to play!”