Olly's Easter

"Alright, last potty break, boys." Mom said, looking over her shoulder at her two sons. At first glance, an onlooker might think the boy sitting on the right with his button-up shirt, khakis, and bow tie was older than the boy on the left in his red and gray booster seat still wearing his Ninjago pajamas. All she saw were her two handsome young men. "Who needs to pee?"

"I'm good." Austin said, barely even removing his earbud.

"Me too."

"Oh, Olly, you should still try." Mom said, getting out of the car and coming around to let him out of his booster seat. "We don't need another repeat of you needing to pee right away as soon as we get back on the freeway." Oliver groaned. Mom never listened!

She looked around on the floor for Olly's shoes, but shrugged and lifted him up to her chest, giving Austin, who was trying his hardest to hide his snickers, a good look at the brightly colored cotton of his underwear due to his sagging pajama pants. One of the definite benefits of him being so small was how easy it was to carry him if need be. There was no way she would let his bare feet touch the floor of the rest stop.

"Can't I walk?"

"No, Olly." She said. "Your shoes have gone missing."

"But Austin took them."

"Mm" was all mom said as she carried him inside and straight into the ladies' room.

"Why am I in here?"

"I can't carry you into the boy's bathroom." Mom said with a chuckle. She entered a stall and only then set Olly down. "I want you to try to go potty, okay?" Olly sighed, but mom was not done yet. "And since your feet touched the floor, I'm gonna need to wash them." Seeing that Olly was not taking the hint, she set to work. In no time flat, the teenager sat on the toilet wearing nothing but his pajama shirt as his mom set his pants and underwear aside so that they did not cover his feet. He squirmed as she used a wet wipe from her purse to clean his feet. "Focus on peeing."

"It tickles."

"I know. I'm trying to be gentle."

Once Olly had successfully peed, mom had to figure out how to get him dressed again. The nearby changing table provided just what she needed. Ignoring Olly's indignant protests, she had him lie down so she could slip first his briefs and then his pants up his legs. Then it was back to being carried out to the car. The worst part of all of this was, no part of it was that out of the ordinary. Almost all of his life, and especially since Austin had grown taller and bigger than him, Olly had been subjected to a seemingly perpetual toddlerhood. Sure, sometimes his parents told him to act his age, to clean his room or to set the table, but in the same moment, they might drag him over to the nearest sink to wash his face for him or something like that. The older he got, the more Olly tried to rebel, but how much could he really do when his parents were still able to lift him and put him where they wanted?

"We're still a ways away from Aunt Carol's, so you can get some sleep, buddy." Mom said as she set him back in his booster seat, moving his arms and legs around to buckle him in. He thought that would be it, but mom grabbed the nearby blanket, giving Olly flashbacks to being carried outside all but swaddled in it that morning, and tucked it all around him so that only his head was exposed. "Try to get some sleep, kay?"

"Ok."

"I don't want to hear a peep out of you. See, your brother won't even bother you."

"Isn't it PediaSure time?" Dad said, leaning over his wife to smile down at Olly. He wore the same outfit as Austin, bow tie and all, which only made Olly wonder why he had to wait until they got to Aunt Carol's to see what his Easter outfit would be.