Alfred & Daniel: An Age-Regression Story

Chapter 18

"DANIEL! I SAID UP!" Alfred yelled from his bedroom. It was now 7:00 am and Alfred wasn't happy.

He'd woken up at 6:00 am, had quickly showered and dressed, and then began to pack up. All the food for the journey had been packed away into the cooler bag, along with an empty Lego sippy cup, 2 Lego plastic plates and 2 reusable ice packs.

The Thermos flask had been filled with 4 'Yorkshire Tea' teabags, accompanied with a reasonable splash of milk and a dollop of organic honey. And Danny's paw patrol sippy cup was filled with fresh, cool water.

Alfred had put the suitcase that carried both of their clothes, the pullups and the nappy-related cleaning supplies into the boot of the car already. He'd also gathered Danny's coat, Danny's Nike SBs that they had salvaged the day before, Alfred's walking boots and a pair of his battered trainers, and had placed them by the front door, neatly. In such a way that he wouldn't forget to grab them on the way out of his flat.

"DANIEL! DO NOT MAKE ME ASK YOU AGAIN YOUNG MAN!" Alfred yelled again, feeling slightly sorry for his neighbours. He quickly hurried back into the kitchen and poured porridge oats into a pan, warming on the stove. He added milk and then stirred thoroughly at speed.

Alfred jogged into Danny's room, he was too focused on ensuring they had everything to be angry at Danny's reluctance to get out of bed. Without hesitation, Alfred tore away Danny's duvet and threw it out into the hallway.

"I said up time 30 minutes ago," Alfred said roughly, he didn't wait for Danny's sleepy response, he simply clasped an arm around his boy's waist and dragged him onto the floor.

"Get off!!" Grumbled Danny, he wasn't in the mood and he desperately wanted to cuddle back under the covers.

"Daniel. We're going on a little holiday. We need to leave soon or else we'll get caught up in the rush hour traffic." Alfred explained in a slightly flustered tone. He ran a hand through Danny's messy hair.

"I need you to pack a few things, okay?" Alfred continued. He looked at Danny, hoping he would flicker into action, but the spark of energy never came. Instead, Danny grumbled something unintelligible and tried to curl up on the floor.

Alfred had had enough. He positioned himself over Danny, with his feet planted securely and widely, and attempted to hoist him up by yanking the scruff of his pyjama top and the seat of his pyjama pants.

Danny fought back, his bum looking a bit thicker than usual. Alfred stared, he'd completely forgotten about Danny's pullup. He put a gentle hand and squeezed, feeling the definite heft of liquid-saturated material.

"Had another wet one again, buddy?" Alfred asked innocently, raking a hand through Danny's curly hair. Danny nodded and mumbled.

"That's alright. I'll get you cleaned up after you've had breakfast, okay?" Alfred gently kissed Danny's forehead.

"Now get up....or else you'll lose the hot wheels tracks," Alfred said, slyly. He was bluffing, but he needed Danny to move or else they'd never leave.

It worked. Danny pushed himself up onto his feet and stumbled out of the room sleepily. He picked up his duvet from the hallway and wrapped himself inside it, wanting nothing more than to be a blanket burrito.

He sat down at the kitchen table heavily. Too heavily. He hadn't really noticed that he had wet the pull-up before, it just felt heavier and slightly damp. But the squelch of cold wee coating his buttocks gave him an instant reminder.

Within a few seconds, Alfred was pottering around him in the kitchen and suddenly a plastic bowl of porridge appeared in front of him. Danny was okay with porridge, it wasn't his favourite, but it was far better than granola.