✅1️⃣ Trusting the Babysitter

Chapter 22 - Taking Your Punishment

"Lori, please," Claudia couldn't keep quiet now. She needed to say her piece, but she didn't get the chance.

"Sush. You're a baby. Not allowed to talk."

Adam kept his mouth shut and didn't argue. He didn't want to make the situation any worse. But he put his hand on Claudia's back where Lorelei might not be able to see, in what was clearly supposed to be a reassuring gesture. He knew that he could countermand that order as soon as the child wasn't listening, and promised himself that he would remember. He hoped that Claudia could understand, and that being unable to speak wouldn't make her too uncomfortable for however long it took her little sister to lose interest.

She led them down to the lounge. The television was still on, but the show she had been watching seemed to have ended. The two adults could hope that she found something else she wanted to watch later, but they were probably stuck with her attention for now.

"You have to play now," Lorelei said firmly, turning to Claudia. "Play like a baby. Get my toybox and bring it down. No, you stay."

Adam turned around again. He had thought he should help Claudia, not sure if the order was directed at both of them or not, but it looked like Lorelei had other plans. She waited until her sister was out of the room, possibly thinking about what she could do, but she seemed fairly sure when she spoke again.

"You're a bad sitter. Didn't do it right. So I'll do it. You're the baby now. Go put a diaper on. Just a diaper. Like a baby. Then come and play with Caddy. You gotta be mean. Like a bad boy. Just play like a bad baby. Now get changed! Go!"

Adam headed back up the stairs, and to his surprise Lorelei followed. He went straight to the bathroom, while she headed to one of the doors he hadn't seen through. She struggled a little with the handle, not being quite tall enough to turn it easily, but she managed to get it open. Through the door Adam saw a couple of shelves stacked with towels in different colours, and what might have been folded sheets. But from the bottom shelf, Lorelei was picking up a pack of diapers. He recognised the same design as the one that Claudia was wearing; simple white with a couple of thin blue stripes down the middle and across the edges. From the pictures on the package, they were clearly designed for the elderly, though it wasn't obvious why they would be in this house. The pack was about half full now, after Lorelei took one out and handed it to Adam.

"Big babies wear baby diapers!" she said. "Put this on. And crawl back to the front room. Like a baby!"

Adam took the diaper and walked into the bathroom. It didn't seem like he had a choice. He hoped that she wasn't going to stick around to make sure he complied, but he didn't think that was likely. She knew that he had to do as he was told, and would probably go to check on the thumping sounds coming from the nursery; it sounded like Claudia was having more than a little trouble moving a big toybox.

But he was surprised again, and a little worried. Before he closed the bathroom door he could see Lorelei stepping around the clutter at one end of the landing, and starting up the stairs to Claudia's room. He couldn't imagine what she had in mind up there, but it couldn't be a good sign.

He sighed, and looked at the diaper again. She'd told him to put it on, but she'd also told him to be dressed like a baby. Did that mean just a diaper? He really didn't want to do that. He tried to think about it, tried to remember the exact words that the little demon had used, but he wasn't sure. He carried on thinking about it for the whole time he stripped and tried to get the diaper on properly. He hated the idea that anyone would see him wearing one, especially Claudia, but that wasn't as bad as it could have been now that he'd seen her similarly dressed. Any humiliation would be mutual, no matter how bad it sounded. But being mostly naked? That was a whole different thing.

Adam had never been a big fan of showing off his body. He'd gone shirtless on a beach before, wearing only a pair of shorts that barely covered more than the diaper. And even if he couldn't remember any specific occasion, he'd probably used some hotel pool with just his trunks on, which showed off even more once they were wet. But those had been holidays, a whole different situation. Overseas there was no chance of anyone he knew seeing him, and if anyone laughed at him he would probably never see him again. But in front of someone he'd been to school with, and who he really hoped he could spend some less-humiliating time with in the future? It was unthinkable, but there was no other option.

Until he looked in the corner of the room. Claudia had left her sweater there when she had to get changed before. He assumed she had ratty old clothes to put on when she didn't expect to see anyone, so she didn't care at all. Stuff that wasn't worth throwing out yet even if it wasn't the best. With her pretense at being out of the house, she had probably just grabbed her gardening sweater or whatever to fight off the unseasonal chill. And the text on the front was almost perfect.

"My baby," he read the puffy pink letters. A little faded, with gray fabric showing through; maybe it was an old gift from her parents, or from a boyfriend. The letters were surrounded by unicorns and brightly coloured spiders, which would certainly be cute enough for a child if it were being worn unironically. Not something a normal girl would have any problem with wearing, and he thought the text probably made it suitable for a baby too. It might be a little embarrassing for a guy his age, and he wouldn't want any of his peers to see him in something like that. But on balance, it was better than going downstairs shirtless. He slipped it on before opening the door, then dropped to his knees and made his way over to the front stairs on all fours. He was surprised by how much slower that made him move, but it was something he could put up with if it satisfied Lorelei's desire to humiliate him.