All My Mother's Rules

Chapter 68: Chance Encounter

I exited the car cautiously after Mom finally found a parking spot in the two-story garage, giving my jack a slight tug down to make sure it was covering as much of my leggings as possible.

The crinkling sound I made while walking was noticeable while in the parking lot, but once we entered the mall, it was drowned out by all the surrounding noise of shoppers rushing to get their last-minute gifts.

It was less busy than it had been a month ago on Black Friday, but only barely so. I remembered what had happened to Samantha when she had drunk so much and held in her bladder for so long that her diaper wasn't able to contain everything when she finally wet it.

I wasn't likely to have that problem. The bottle of formula I had for breakfast was nowhere the size of a large coffee, and either way, I couldn't hold my bladder long enough to the point where a single accident would cause a diaper to overflow. I suppose that would be a sign of potty training progress if I were to ever manage that.

Today wasn't the day to try to find that out. Emilia and I stood next to Mom as she scanned the mall directory. I wasn't sure what it was exactly that we were shopping for. There had been a ton of Amazon packages arriving over the past week, many of which I had been instructed not to touch. With how Mom wasn't leaving me on my own, I assumed that the majority of the shopping for this Christmas was being done online.

I felt my diaper warm up as I waited impatiently for Mom to find the location on the map for the store she found in the directory. Not now. At least it felt like it had only been a small accident. I hoped that was the case, given how there were now people waiting behind us to look at the directory.

With each day of being in a diaper, my determination to work on holding in my bladder waned. It all felt rather pointless. Besides, I'd have Mom providing me with a ready supply of pull-ups once school started again, so it wasn't even as if there was some rush to have all my problems solved when school started again in less than two weeks.

Mom's shopping list took us through several children's stores. First, we had to spend nearly an hour in a shoe store getting new sneakers for Emilia. She complained that every pair of shoes Mom put on her made her feet her, at least until she tried on a pair of shoes with her favorite Disney princess on them.

My diaper continued to get wetter as the shopping trip progressed. I made use of every possible opportunity to keep my bottom out of view, whether that was leaning up against a wall or sitting down at a bench while Mom had Emilia try on some new winter jackets.

After several more tiny accidents, I was able to discreetly check my bottom in the mirror at a store. It wasn't as bad as I feared, but if I went longer without a diaper change, I couldn't help but imagine how my leggings would begin to sag.

I finally couldn't hold in my question for Mom any longer.

"How much longer are we going to be shopping?"

"We still have some more things to get," Mom said. "Your sister has had quite the growth spurt lately." The question did cause Mom to look at her phone. "We have one more store to go to, then we can get lunch before finishing the shopping."

The next store was at least the quickest one. The first few pairs of leggings that Mom picked out for Emilia fit her without any issues.

We stopped at a family restroom before heading to the food court. The three of us entered the family restroom together. That wasn't as embarrassing as I had feared a diaper change at the mall would be. Anyone watching would be assuming that we were going in to assist Emilia rather than me.

Mom did have Emilia sit on the toilet as she pulled down my jeans to change my diaper. I turned around to give her some privacy. I was glad Mom was having me change in a standing position. Aside from not wanting to have to lie down to be changed on such a hard surface, the floor wasn't exactly looking immaculately clean.