✅ My Sister's Problem

121. Punishment

This bonus chapter is dedicated to Dewayne, with many thanks for all the support you have given me on Patreon. Thank you!

I stumbled down to the lounge ten minutes later. I didn't know if the suppository would have any more effects on me, so I'd chosen to put the diaper back on. And I was still in baby clothes; I didn't see any reason to change. It was no more embarrassing than it had been for most of the week.

Lindy was standing in the middle of the room, looking down at her feet as she slowly recited all the things that she had made me do this week. From being diapered in public, with everybody looking at me, to being unable to finish an important conversation with the boy I liked. I might have tried to deny that; but at this point there didn't seem to be any reason hiding it. I really did have feelings for Hugo, and it must have been clear both to Mum and Lindy that his opinion mattered more than anyone else's.

I had my phone in my hand now. It had been in my room when I came out of the bathroom, and I didn't think I was still forbidden from using it. I seemed to have a signal now; I could only assume that Lindy had switched off all the technological wizardry from yesterday. I'd tried to phone Hugo as soon as I got it; but just got an electronic voice telling me that his phone was switched off. That just made me more anxious; not knowing if he would even want to talk to me.

"So..." Mum said. "I think we need to think about the consequences for your actions. I allowed you to decide on a substantial part of Sally's punishment. So I think I might ask what you would have demanded in response if you'd experienced all the things that you've put your sister through? It seems that in each case, the punishment you said that she deserved was a significant multiple of the things she was accused of. Can you think how to scale that up now?"

"I don't know," she whispered, and I could hear the terror there.

"Well then. I think I can follow the pattern you've laid out. Or... When your father was ill, I did have a call from your Uncle Roy. He said that you two could go and live with him. So his kid doesn't feel like an only child, and you would have the stability of having two parent figures. Of course, Roy never quite approved of me. He said that I wasn't a good parent, I'm not strict enough. Perhaps he's right, if I couldn't stop you being so cruel to Sally. Would you like to spend a couple of months with Uncle Roy, see if he can teach you some manners?"

This time Lindy was shaking her head vigorously, and I didn't blame her. We didn't see Uncle Roy much; even less than most of the family. But we could both remember that he equated good parenting with harsh discipline for the slightest infraction; he expected his son Brandon to obey any order immediately; no questions, no excuses.

"Okay. So, you don't think Roy's style of punishments would be fair, and you don't know what would be fitting according to your own thoughts. So why don't we ask Sally?"

I could see that Lindy was scared. And I thought I could see why: after all the things she'd done, pushing Mum to be harsher with me for things I hadn't even done, she knew that I could have made whatever rules I wanted. But she wasn't begging for leniency, or trying to make excuses now. She knew how bad her actions had been, and she was imagining that she might get what she really deserved.

"What do you think, Sally?" Mum asked. "What should your sister's punishment be?"

I was probably as clueless as she was when it came to that question. I thought that by her rules, the punishment should always be worse than the crime; but I couldn't see any way of escalating the baby thing beyond what she'd already done to me. On the other hand, Mum had some very clear views on punishment, which she had explained to me a few times now. Being punished wasn't supposed to be about winning, or even about revenge. The purpose of punishment was to make sure she didn't try to treat me like that again. And if she was feeling so much guilt about what she had done, I thought that was understood without the need for punishment. Knowing how it made her feel should have been all the deterrent she needed.

I could ask for her to go to school in diapers, or have her grounded for all of her first year; and that would still be light compared to what she had tried to put me through. Or I could say that I thought she'd learned her lesson. Or anything in between. It just wasn't something I could think about right now. Not when my head was still full of turmoil, trying to work out what Hugo would be thinking, or what I could say to him.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug, trying to hide all of those feelings. "I don't want to see her suffer. That would just be cruel, and I'd feel bad about that. Lindy's still my little sister, and we have to stick together. I just want us to be friends again."

"Equals?" Mum asked.

"Yeah. I want us to be able to do fun stuff together. And you said already, the only punishment that will actually change her behaviour is guilt. I don't think you need anything more than that."

"Okay," she nodded. "And I'm glad that you're being so responsible. But I don't think that Lindy should be entirely free from consequences. So I will say that Lindy is going to be the little baby until the end of summer. Until you're getting dressed for school on Monday morning. Does that seem reasonable, Linda?"

She nodded, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"And," Mum growled, "I think we have proved beyond any doubt that I cannot trust Linda's word. So for the rest of this year, I am not going to give you the benefit of the doubt. If you come to me complaining that your big sister is picking on you, or that she's done something to humiliate me, then I'll think about it in terms of what she could reasonably have asked for as your punishment today. I think that it would have been entirely reasonable of Sally to have demanded that you remain in diapers until Christmas, and let all of your friends see what a baby you are. So don't come crying to me about whatever practical jokes she might find during the year. And Sally? I do respect you for choosing not to punish Lindy. But if there is any sign that she hasn't learned her lesson, you can change your mind at any time this year. If you want to see Lindy treated as a baby, you only have to ask. Because she needs to know that her actions has consequences."

"I think she's learned," I said with a nod. "I just... I want to make everything better again. Equals."

"Well, she's the baby now. So if you'd like to be equals, maybe you should join her. To play together, and take the edge off that punishment."

"I can do that," I said with a smile. "But I think two babies might be a bit of a handful."

"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "We'll get a babysitter to help me keep an eye on you this afternoon. It's up to you if you want to be the big sister, or two babies together. And I think that, given your eagerness to keep things fair, I have all the proof I need that I should trust you."

"Do I have to... act like a baby?" Lindy mumbled. "I don't think I can do that. I mean, you can dress me in those clothes. But I'm not a baby. You're not going to make me watch–" And then she stopped, clearly wishing she hadn't put the idea in our heads.

"The hypnosis videos?" Mum said with a laugh. "Lindy, I've come into the room near the end of those videos, and neither of you noticed I was there until the countdown ended. I'm sure that you've taken in some parts of those suggestions even without the headphones."

"I didn't!" Lindy protested. "I was just watching the baby. She's the one that does this stuff, she's like a real baby sometimes. There's no way this stuff would work on me, I've got like willpower and stuff. I bet she'd–"

"Lindy," Mum interrupted. "You could try being a little more polite. And I think before you start boasting about your self control, you should put it to the test. Pee for Mommy."

"I'm not–" Lindy started, and then I saw her eyes widen in surprise. I could see the damp patch spreading on her jeans, and seconds later I could both see and hear the puddle spreading on the hardwood floor around her. She was as helpless as I was. And I hadn't felt the slightest urge to obey; so that was one more detail to file away in my mind. It wasn't just a magic word that I had to obey; somewhere in my subconscious mind, it seemed that I understood only to obey when Mommy was talking to me. I started to watch Lindy's shock as she lost control. But I averted my eyes a second later; I didn't want to embarrass her any more than I had to. Still, I couldn't help giggling with the joy of schadenfreude when Lindy spoke again to protest her embarrassing treatment:

"Mommy, I did a weewee!"