✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

43. My Triumph

This chapter's dedicated to Dewayne, with thanks for all of your support. Happy new year!

Tess clattered down the stairs, a little louder than usual.

"Think the hypnosis thing worked?" I whispered to Ffrances.

"Maybe. Doubt she'll tell us either way. But when she asks again, I think the tone–" Her response went quiet and she focused entirely on her breakfast as the noisy footsteps stopped and we knew Tess was right outside the door.

She was practically dancing when she came in, showing off what anybody in their right mind would call a childlike grin. I knew that she had to be in her little headspace now, so it had gone even better than I had hoped. I'd had a few thoughts about this; wondering how far she would go. Ffrances had told me the suggestions, that Tess would feel a little younger whenever she was triggered to wet the bed. And there was another suggestion from Saturday as well, that she would be bothered less by people treating her like a child, and would find it easier to accept what they said. That was supposed to happen whenever she did something childish; and I'd been pretty confident that a wet diaper would qualify.

"Morning sunshine!" I called out, and she did a little pirouette on the spot, turning to face me. I asked her about breakfast, and she answered quickly. She didn't say anything about me calling her a baby until after she had continued her rotation and was heading towards the back door again. And even then, she muttered a response with a little giggle in her voice. It was a perfunctory correction, with no trace of anger. My baby was starting to accept her littleness, and I knew that if that continued she would be firmly on the path to full regression before the end of the year.

She dashed straight out to the garden, while I was still putting her breakfast together. Ffrances glanced out in confusion, but it didn't take me long to realise where Tess was going.

"Looks like it worked well," I said. "She's taking a trash bag out. Doesn't want wet diapers staying in her bin too long. I bet she's imagining that if she hides the evidence, we wouldn't remember that she asked to be little this morning."

"She doesn't remember," Ffrances corrected me. "She feels like a child waking up wet, a little embarrassed but not upset. She won't realise that we were responsible, because that would diminish the fantasy she's trying to live out. She could choose to remember later if she wants to, but not while she's still little."

"Yeah," I nodded, and tried to fix that in my memory. I already knew that Tess wouldn't remember being triggered, but I was glad to see that it seemed to be working as intended. "Well, we should–"

"Somebody's cheerful today," Ffrances interrupted, just as Tess came back inside again. The baby quickly explained that she was happy because she'd slept well; and that gave me a perfect excuse to ask if that meant she'd wet the bed.

"No I didn't!" she snapped, showing just a tiny trace of her usual hostility. "I'm a big girl. How did you know?"

"That would explain taking the trash out first thing in the morning," I gave her the most obvious answer. And then, seeing that she was getting embarrassed again, I did my best to reassure her: "You don't need to lie to us. You'll be a big girl soon, I promise. But until then, you know we'll help you out any time you need it. A little baby needs to tell us the truth, and it'll be so much easier for everyone. Understand?"

"Yeah. But I'm not a baby."

I put her breakfast out in front of her, and as soon as she looked down there was no further complaint. Ffrances explained that I was only teasing, and asked if Tess was comfortable with that, but she didn't get an answer. The little one's attention was completely occupied by a couple of fried slices, and I assumed that was as good as approval.

I tried to offer Tess a ride to school when she came down again with her book bag, but she was already dashing off to the bus stop. I gave a shrug, and stopped to talk to Ffrances for a few minutes. I would be giving my girlfriend a lift to work today, so I would practically be driving to Raybridge anyhow. But I could respect that Tess was starting to realise how far into her headspace she had gone, and it was understandable for her to be a little embarrassed about it. She would come around in time, so I knew I could give her some time to herself.

"So, think she's enjoying herself?" I asked on the drive down. I gestured towards a school bus down a side street; all the stops meant that they would take a lot longer than us to cover the same distance, and it might even have been Tess's bus still wending its circuitous route to the school gates. Whether it was her or not, I was glad to know she was taking responsibility for getting herself where she needed to be. As much as I would have liked my cousin to be a full time toddler, I knew that the school would never allow her to just disappear on them. She would have to alternate between being mature enough for education, and little enough to enjoy her regression.

"I guess so. She had the courage to ask last night, and she was smiling. I won't say it again this week, I think. And if she asks you, I'd recommend a maximum of one more accident. Don't want to overdo it. And when she's had a week to process it, and to try to understand all her own feelings, I'll probably ask if she's satisfied with the suggestions. If she gets the things she expected out of it."

"I hope she's enjoying it. It seems a bit weird, I don't really understand why somebody would want that. But somehow, I'm glad she does. I'm so happy that she found something that works for her."

Ffrances was happy. She wouldn't talk about this again until the following weekend, so I knew what I would need to say to Tess before then. And Tess was content, finally starting to accept the changes that were starting in her mind, ready to go back to the sweet little girl I'd had so much fun with.

The only blot on the landscape was in my office, and I started to worry more as I got closer. Sooner or later, I would have to confront the fact that I'd printed a document without meaning to. I would have to work out how that could have happened, and learn how to avoid it in future. And I would have to find some way to determine if anybody else in the office had seen those pages. It was a terrifying task, but someone had to do it. And right now, the pool of someones I would have trusted was myself alone.

This would be the least fun part of my week.