✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

95. Second Chance

Tess waited to see what Gabby was going to say. Her cousin could tell her not to have an accident, and then she would be able to hold it until she could use the potty like a big girl. She knew she'd said before that she couldn't hold it, only meaning to make Ffrances that little. But she knew how strong the magic words were. Whatever Gabby asked for as a trade, she knew it was going to be worth it.

"Hmm..." Gabby started, and Tess felt her chance slipping away. She wanted to be a big girl so badly. Just using the potty seemed like the most important thing in the world, something she would do anything foor.

"You're still quite little, you know. It might not be a good idea trying to use the potty if you're not ready for it. Like even if you learn to hold your pee, focusing so much on that one thing might make you even more babyish after."

"It's okay," Tess told her. "I just wanna go potty, I can be a bit littler after if you want." She was embarrassed to say that, but it was hard to worry about it too much. Her thoughts just slipped away as she remembered how much Gabby wanted to make today fun. And it was Christmas too, so if Gabby wanted to have a baby she should have one. Tess was sure there was normally some reason she wanted to be more careful, but she couldn't think about it right now. She was having too much fun today, and she was too excited to wait. She needed to be able to use her new potty.

"Even if you're so excited about being able to make tinkles in your new potty, you forget about other things for a bit? You're so little, you might be able to use the potty but then you'll still poop in your diaper afterwards. When you're that small it's easy to get distracted and make a mess. You're so small that once you peed in the potty once, if you have another accident you'll poop too."

"Ewwww," Tess said, making a face. She didn't want to do that ever. But she needed Gabby to help her go potty, and Gabby wanted her to be a baby. And if she could stop having accidents, it wouldn't make any difference. It was a really hard thing to choose, but she knew there was only one option really. "You want a little baby don't you? I can play being a baby then. I am that little. So will you help me?"

"Of course," Gabby said with a smile. Tess knew she probably shouldn't have agreed to that, but it was the only way she would get to use the potty today. She'd made herself little by accident, and Gabby was helping her get over that. It was only fair. "It's very simple. Just don't have an accident until you used the potty. You can do that, can't you?"

"Yes," Tess squeaked, and gave a little giggle. She could feel the power of the command already. Even if she was too little to think like she usually did, she was sure that she wasn't going to have an accident now she'd been told not to.

Then Ffrances was starting to get restless; maybe there was only so long she could keep on playing with the same toys while her big sis got all the attention. But Gabby was putting something fun on the TV, with reindeers in. And underwater reindeers, if the big picture for the trailer was accurate. That sounded like it would be interesting. Gabby said again about them being too little to guess what was going to happen next, and being totally surprised by how the story turned out, and Tess decided that sounded like fun. That wasn't something that she would do for Gabby, it was just a fun thing that Gabby was offering them. So Tess was happy to say that they were both that young. And then she got carried away with the adventures of the reindeer. They were buying a Christmas present for a horse, but it turned out that this horse was a seahorse. And they had to learn to swim first, and then a lot of their presents didn't work underwater.

Tess was transfixed. She'd never seen a story so original, it was like nothing she'd watched before. She felt so clever when she understood some of the jokes, even if she was sure they would normally have been easy. She did her best to make sure Ffrances was enjoying it too, pointing out things on the screen and seeing if her little sister knew the words for them. Both of the little girls were having so much fun now, trying to understand something that was not quite beyond them. And when they understood what was happening, and why the presents had been so important, they both felt so proud. Ffrances even cheered.

The moral of the story was that it's the thought that counts, and Tess felt like she was really smart now, like some kind of philosopher. She could understand that, and it was an amazing insight that she'd never considered before. So in all the presents she'd got so far, she should be extra happy that Gabby had wanted to make her smile, as well as just enjoying getting cool stuff. And she promised herself that she would try even harder ot make sure that Gabby was happy too. She deserved it, after everything she had done.

"That's so cool," she said with a grin as the credits rolled. It was so deep and philosophical, but it was a fun story too. Tess didn't think she'd ever seen a movie that had everything work out so neatly. She was going to ask if they could watch it again, so she could see what she had missed. But then she noticed that Ffrances had wet her diaper again. Poor little baby couldn't hold it at all, but she seemed so happy that Tess knew there was no reason to worry. Ffrances had wanted this to happen, and she was making the most out of it. Tess wasn't sure if her sister would want to be changed yet, but she thought probably not. If she wanted to be wet, that was her choice. It might be silly, and a little bit weird, but she was only a little baby. Babies didn't have to make sense. So Tess didn't say anything to Gabby this time, knowing she'd notice before too long.

But when she thought about wet diapers, it was easy to realise that she kind of needed to pee too. She thought about wetting her diaper just like Ffrances had, so they wouldn't have to miss any of the fun Christmas specials on TV. But as tempting as it was, she knew that there was something a lot more important today. Tess had a new potty, and she wanted to use it more than she'd ever wanted anything in the world. So she had to say something.

"Gabby!" she said, almost bubbling over with joy. "Gabby, can I go potty now?"

"I don't know. Can you?"

"Yeah!"

Tess was running to the bathroom right away, but she had to stop when she got there and wait for her cousin. She bobbed from one foot to the other, sure that she needed to pee now, and wondering how long she could hold it for. It was hard to know, and she didn't want to have an accident before she could even get somebody to take her diaper off. She was torn between embarrassment and nervousness by the time Gabby got there, and she hoped that she wouldn't have to wait much longer.

"Oh, did you have an accident?" Gabby asked. "Don't worry, you're only little. And you can't–"

"No!" Tess interrupted. "I'm a big girl. I'm gonna go potty. Can you help with my diaper? Please?"

"Still dry?" Gabby asked, and wasted more time checking Tess's diaper again. She was probably just teasing, as she'd already told her not to have an accident. But Tess didn't get upset, she just did her best to wait while Gabby checked her and untaped her diaper. But by the time it was off, she couldn't stop squirming. She'd waited so long, but now she was sure that she could use the potty like a big girl. She bounced over to it, still shifting her position awkwardly as she struggled to hold it, and then she sat down on the potty. Then she thought about trying to pee, and realised she still couldn't remember how. Even when she was so desperate, rocking from side to side on the weird plastic seat, she didn't know how to pee.

"You can do it, Princess!" an electronic voice came from the potty, and Tess looked to one side to see that Gabby was pressing one of the buttons. And it was right, she could do it. Before she even realised what was happening Tess could feel the pee pouring out, and she could hear it like a waterfall, echoing as it splashed against the green plastic. She was using the potty like a big girl, and she couldn't believe how exciting it was. It was so much fun being a big girl, and she hoped she would be big enough to do it again the next time.

"Such a good girl," Rolleye's voice came from the speaker next, along with a fanfare. Tess hadn't heard that one before, and she wondered if it was a special one that it would only say when she really was a big girl. It must be, but it made her feel all warm and tingly inside, knowing that she'd done something so hard all by herself.

"Oh wow," Tess giggled, and found herself blushing for a second. She didn't know why she was blushing. This wasn't something to be embarrassed about, it was a matter of pride now. She was a big girl now and nobody could argue with that, and she felt her confidence growing again.

"Thank you!" she cheered. "Thank you Gabby! You really thinked about these presents. This is the best thing ever!"