Kenny Part 2

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Author:DonnieCopyright © 2002 by DonnieChapter 3Kenny arrived home twenty minutes after his mother.After their brunch, they had gone back to the Halsteds where Mrs. Braken thanked them again for their hospitality and the Halsteds repeated their pleasure at having had Kenny as a guest. Kenny promised that he would leave as soon as he picked up his backpack from Artie’s room.“Do you think my mom is OK with my diapers?” a concerned Kenny asked Artie.“Are you kidding?” Artie responded. “Didn’t you see the way she looked at you when she first walked in? And how about the way she hugged you and patted your bottom through your plastic pants? She loved it.”“Do you really think so? You don’t think she was just being polite in front of your parents?”“Would you quit worrying? She’snotgoing to yell at you when you get home, believe me.”Even though he wanted to believe Artie, he was nervous as he parked his bike in the garage and walked into the house. He hung up his jacket on his usual hook and paused. Should he or shouldn’t he? “What the heck?” he thought. “I may as well find out now.” He kicked off his shoes and hung his pants on the same hook as his jacket.“Mom, I’m home.” he called, heading upstairs.“Good,” she answered.He walked into his room to find his mother unpacking his bag. She smiled at him.“Come over here, sweetie, we can talk while we unpack.”“Are you disappointed in me, mom?” he asked.“Why, of course not.”“You don’t think that I’m being selfish or bad in wanting to wear diapers again?”“No, honey. I meant what I said in my letter. This isyourdecision and I will support whatever you want to do.”She enveloped him in a long hug.“Besides, I’m happy to have my outgoing boy back again. I think that you and Artie are going to be good friends for each other, even if you did meet because you disobeyed me and went to the river.”“You know about the river?” Artie asked fearfully.“Yes,” she exaggerated.When Mrs. Braken first arrived at the Halsteds, Mrs. Halsted took her on a tour of the house. In a quiet moment when they were alone, Mrs. Halsted spoke to her.“I know that I am probably speaking out of turn about something that is none of my business but there is one thing I would like to tell you about Kenny,“Oh…” Mrs. Braken answered.“Yes, when I first met Kenny on Monday, Artie said that Kenny had been afraid to go home after his wetting accident. Later on, after Kenny left, I asked Artie what he had meant. He said that when he first met Kenny down by the river he was shaking with fear, practically crying about how you would discipline him. I don’t say this to criticize you; I just think it’s important for you to know how Kenny sees you. I hope I haven’t upset you.”“Thank you. I know that I am a strict disciplinarian. I feel that I have to be, especially since Kenny doesn’t have a father in the home. Maybe I have been too tough on him. I appreciate your telling me about this. I’ll think about it.”“I’m sorry, mom.” Kenny burst out in tears. “I wasn’t even standing close to the water… and then, the ground crumbled and I was in the water and I was so scared… I couldn’t get back to the shore… and then I grabbed a tree branch and crawled back to solid ground. I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” he bawled.His mom was shocked by his confession. She hadn’t imagined anything this dramatic. Kenny was hysterical as he relived the moment. She hugged him close and soothed him. A thousand horrible pictures passed before her eyes as she imagined the event. What if there had been no branch? What if he had been knocked unconscious by the fall into the water? What if…After he had calmed down, Mrs. Braken knew that she had to deal with his disobedience right away.“Kenny,nowdo you believe how dangerous the river can be?”“Yes,” he answered in a choked voice.“And you know that your disobedience deserves a punishment?”“Yes,” he said nodding his head up and down.“You’re grounded after school for the next two weeks and for the next two weekends.”“Aw, mom. not two weekends!” he objected.“Yes, two weekends,” she said sharply. “You could have been drowned. This is very serious and I think that grounding you for two weeks is hardly a harsh punishment.”Kenny knew that he would only hurt his chances of getting his punishment reduced if he argued with her. He was mostly disappointed because he had planned on asking if Artie could come over next Saturday to spend the day.“Now, let’s discuss some ideas I have for rearranging things around here,” his mom said in a lighter tone.(Kenny and his mom had a very sound relationship. They didn’t hold grudges. Now that she had meted out his punishment, they would neither dwell on it nor argue about it.)Mrs. Braken had big plans that amazed and thrilled Kenny. Their house had four bedrooms. Up until this point, Kenny had the smallest room.“Even before this,” she explained, “I had been thinking that since you’re growing up you should move to one of the bigger rooms. Come on, let’s have a look.”The largest of the guest rooms was almost as large as the master suite that Mrs. Braken occupied. She explained to Kenny that she thought that they could make the bathroom bigger by stealing some space from the unused walk-in closet in the adjoining guest room. Also, she thought that they should buy new furniture.“I didn’t think of this until I saw Artie’s bathroom but you’ll need a changing table, too. I think that the space we get from going into the closet next door will be ample room. What do you think?”Kenny was speechless. This was far more than he had expected. Not only was his mom supporting his decision she seemed to be encouraging it.“Really?” was all he could say.“Really!” she said laughing. “We don’t have to make any decisions now, anyhow. Tomorrow, I’ll call an architect to get the ball rolling. He or she may even have some fun ideas for us to consider.”They went back to Kenny’s room to unpack his bag.“OK, honey, we’ll have to make room for your plastic pants and diapers. Do you have any suggestions?”“Well,” he asked sheepishly, “do I have to keep my old underpants?”“No,” she answered, “we can box them up. Does this mean that you’re planning on wearing only diapers, even at school?”Kenny knew that this was one of those ‘moments of no-return’ where he would be committing himself to a definite (and possibly unchangeable [no pun intended]) course of action. It was unbelievable to him how his attitudes had changed in just one week. His suddenly reawakened desire to wear diapers was irresistible. He intended to wear diapers no matter what anyone else said.“Artie and I talked about that. I think that it would be better if I wear my diapers all the time.”“And why is that?”“Ummm,…” Kenny said gathering his thoughts, “The more I think about it the more I think that my friends are going to find out about my diapers anyway. They might accept it better if they knew that I wore them all the time.”“What if your friends don’t accept your diapers?”“Then, I guess they’re not my friends,” he said sadly.Mrs. Braken’s heart ached for Kenny. “How likely was it that allof his friends would accept him this way? Not to mention those kids who aren’t his friends.” she thought.They had finished unpacking Kenny’s bag. His few dirty clothes were piled on the bed. Only the plastic pants and a handful of diapers fit into the dresser.“We’ll need to find some temporary solutions for where to put the rest of your diapers, especially after we order some more. The unused guest closet may be a good place for now. We’ll rotate them into your dresser as we need them.”This cheered Kenny. He definitely approved of getting more diapers and plastic pants.“How many diapers will I need?”“I think that three dozen daytime diapers and one dozen nighttime diapers will be a good start,” his mom answered. “That’s what the site I ordered your diapers from recommended, anyway. Also, some of your daytime diapers will have to be kept at school.”“Oh, yeah,” Kenny said somberly.“I went online to read the school district’s policy book. You will have to report to the nurse’s office for your diaper changes. I’m not sure if you’ll do your own or if the nurse will do them for you. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow when we drop off your supplies.”Kenny was enjoying all the attention that the diapers were getting him, that is, getting his diaper area cleaned, having someone powder him and then pin him into the diaper. He wasn’t sure, though, how it would feel when a ‘professional’ did it. Would he rather do it himself?They finished putting the diapers away in the guest closet.“Uhhh,… Mom,” Kenny said shyly. “Can you change my diaper now?”Mrs. Braken was overjoyed; she had been waiting for this ever since she realized that Kenny wanted to be back in diapers. Kenny had wanted to ask for a change earlier but he had been afraid of what his mom would say when she saw that he had an erection.“Let’s go back to your room,” she answered.She pulled a plastic changing pad from under the bed and took out the supplies from Kenny’s dresser. He lied down on the pad and allowed his mother to remove his plastic pants, diaper, and diaper doubler. She went into his bathroom and he heard her put the diaper and plastic pants into (presumably) his diaper pail. She returned with a moistened cloth for cleaning his diaper area. She made no remark about his excited state. She began cleaning him. She surprised him when she reached under his knees and lifted him up in order to clean his bottom. He giggled and moaned in delight. Memories were being reawakened in him that he had never before imagined. Before lowering him back onto the mat she wiped it down with the washcloth.“I don’t want to put you back down on a soiled surface, now do I?” she said with a glint in her eye.She laid the washcloth aside and slid the diaper and doubler under him. He shivered with excitement as she adjusted the bulky material between his legs and pinned the diaper in place. After she had pulled the plastic pants up his legs and was adjusting the fit, he spontaneously gave her a kiss on the cheek.“So you remembered that part, did you?” she asked. “I always gave you a kiss after changing your diaper, even when you were fighting against your toilet training.”He hadn’t consciously remembered, but this explained the uncontrollable urge he had felt. He stood up as she gave his plastic pants a final check.“Now, do you remember this part?”In that very instant, he did. He began giggling as he pretended to try to get away from her. She had him by the waist as she spun him around and landed three noisy, but playful, swats on the seat of his plastic pants. This sent him into even louder giggling as he ‘escaped’ running down the stairs.It had been a long time since Kenny and his mother had felt so content.****That evening was quiet. They ate a light supper and Kenny and his mom spent most of the time watching television together. Mrs. Braken could tell that Kenny’s mind was elsewhere.He was pondering how to deal with his friends. Should he tell his three closest friends all at once? Should he tell them separately? When should he tell them? Where? What if they no longer wanted to be his friends?These questions were leading nowhere. It occurred to him that his two week grounding was actually a good thing. His friends knew that for the first few days his mother wouldn’t allow him visitors. It probably wouldn’t be until Thursday or Friday that he would be allowed to see them outside of school. Hopefully, he would figure out a plan of action by then.At 9:00, Kenny’s mom asked if he wanted to be put into his nighttime diaper. The mere suggestion gave him an instant erection. They walked upstairs where she led him to his bathroom. She removed his shirt and socks, lowered his plastic pants, and then unpinned his diaper. (This was the first time since he had been toilet trained that he had allowed his mother to see him completely naked. It felt natural.)“Take your shower and I’ll be waiting for you in your bedroom.”When he got back to his room his mother had already laid out his nighttime diaper along with a diaper doubler. (“Kewl,” Kenny thought.) Much to his delight, she prepared him as she had done earlier except that she also carefully covered his diaper area with baby oil. The extreme bulk of the diaper and the sweet smell of the baby powder added levels of sensory pleasure that Kenny enjoyed immensely, but there was more to come.“These baby… plastic pants,” Mrs. Braken corrected herself, “are different from the ones I sent with you to Artie’s. They are a little noisier. Tell me if you don’t like them,” she said as she pulled the stiff pants up his legs.They crackled loudly as he stood up.“Kewl,” he said, smiling.He instantly fell in love with them. He had already discovered that he had a fondness for plastic pants; now he knew thatnoisyplastic pants were even more exciting to wear. He wondered if, after his friends knew about his diapers, he might be able to wear crackly plastic pants during the day under his regular clothes.“Now, let’s get your pajamas on.”“But, my pajamas won’t fit over my thick diapers…”“I’ve got some new ones for you,” she interrupted.Mrs. Braken opened the dresser and unfolded a yellow garment. It was a footed sleeper similar to what Kenny had worn the previous night. It was only when his mother helped him put it on that he noticed that it didn’t have a zipper up the front- instead, it buttoned in the back. Mrs. Braken anxiously awaited Kenny’s verdict. Would he object to being dependent on her to take off his own pajamas? He looked down at his juvenile garment and smiled. He hugged and kissed his mother and thanked her for ‘everything.’“You’re very welcome, sweetie.”He headed downstairs to watch TV. He was so enthralled with the rustling and loud crackling noises made by his plastic pants that he regretted having to sit still on the couch. Nonetheless, he was able to move around just enough for his plastic pants to make all kinds of delightful sounds.At 10:30 he was sleepy enough to go to bed. His mother accompanied him to his room and tucked him in.****The next morning Kenny woke early and got up. He giggled when his noisy plastic pants reminded him of his diapered state.“Good morning, you’re in a good mood,” his mother greeted him. “Do you want to get changed now or after breakfast?”Kenny liked his thick diaper, plastic pants, and sleeper so much that he said that he would prefer waiting. He had his usual cereal and orange juice.“You know, Kenny,” his mother said seriously, “your old underwear is still in the laundry room waiting to be disposed of. You don’t have to wear diapers to school if you don’t want to.”Kenny’s face fell. “Do you mean that you won’t let me wear diapers today?”“Oh, no, honey. I don’t mean that at all. I just want you to know that if you’re having second thoughts or if you aren’t sure that wearing diapers is the right thing, you can still change your mind.”Kenny breathed a sigh of relief. “No, thanks,” he said cheerily. “I haven’t changed my mind.”In fact, he was looking forward to it. His desire to wear diapers had been growing steadily over the last three days. There was no way he would give them up now.After breakfast, Kenny’s mom helped him get out of his sleeper and night diaper. He went into the bathroom to do number two and then she re-diapered him. He was slightly nervous about going to school in a diaper and plastic pants but not enough to make him change his mind. In fact, he was enjoying a certain sense of naughtiness at breaking a taboo- that is, a thirteen year old wearing and wetting diapers publicly.Kenny and his mom arrived early. Mrs. Braken didn’t want Kenny to miss class time while they made arrangements for his diaper changes with the school nurse, Mrs. Appleton. Kenny carried a nylon bag containing six diapers and doublers, plastic pants, a container of baby powder, extra diaper pins, and a tube of rash cream. The arrangements were made quickly. Kenny’s cheeks glowed bright red as his mother explained to Mrs. Appleton that Kenny had returned to fulltime diaper wearing. Mrs. Appleton asked some follow-up questions and seemed a little surprised that Kenny wasn’t on medications.“There is no need for medications at the present time,” Mrs. Braken said truthfully. “Naturally, if that changes we will alert you immediately. Oh… one last thing, Kenny and I have decided that he will wear cloth diapers and plastic pants. I hope this is not inconvenient for you.”“No,” the nurse answered sincerely. “Frankly, I don’t much approve of using disposable diapers on older children. I think they are a waste of money and an unnecessary burden on our dump sites, especially if the child is expected to wear them for a long time.”“I’m glad we agree,” Mrs. Braken continued. “And, yes, in this case, Kenny is expected to be in diapers for quite some time.”“I see. Has Kenny been doing his own diaper changes?”“No,” Mrs. Braken admitted, “I have been doing them up to this point.”“Very well. In that case,” she said to Kenny, “please take your pants off and stand over there by the bed. I have to check how your mother wants you diapered.”Kenny looked over to his mother who smiled slightly and said, “Go on, honey. Don’t keep Mrs. Appleton waiting.”Kenny shyly took off his pants and waited, nervously eyeing the door to the office. Mrs. Appleton and his mother joined him. Mrs. Appleton shut the modesty curtain, creating a private space.“Hold your shirt up, please. How long have you been wearing this particular diaper?” she asked Kenny.“About a half hour,” he replied.“May I check it?” she asked Mrs. Braken.“Certainly.”Mrs. Appleton lowered his plastic pants almost to his knees. The unmistakable odor of pee filled the confined space. Kenny blushed. He was also fighting a growing erection.“I see that you have already used it. Do you think you can last until nutrition break without a change?”“Yes, ma’am,” Kenny answered. “I’m wearing a diaper doubler, too.”“That’s good,” she commented. “I assume that you haven’t been wearing diapers for very long so I’ll caution you not to take any chances. If you feel that your diapers and plastic pants might leak, ask your teacher to dismiss you from class right away. In a few moments, I’ll give you a blue pass that will allow you unlimited permission to come to this office. All the teachers know that this is given out only in special cases. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting dismissed, but don’t abuse the privilege or you may lose it.”“Yes, ma’am, I understand,” Kenny agreed.“The best thing is to try to come to me during a break or at lunchtime. That way you won’t have to ask for permission in front of the whole class.”“Yes, ma’am,” Kenny agreed again.Kenny was getting nervous standing there with his shirt pulled up and his plastic pants pulled down fully exposing his wet diaper.“I see that you used six safety pins. Is this to keep the diaper securely in place or to prevent Kenny from removing it?” Mrs. Appleton asked.“To keep his diaper securely in place, of course,” Mrs. Braken said quickly. “Kenny would never remove it. As you can see, in less than a half-hour he’s already wet it pretty well.”Kenny blushed furiously. His mother’s comment seemed to imply that he wouldn’t dare take the diaper off because it was impossible for him to keep his pants dry for even a short period of time.“Yes, I understand,” Mrs. Appleton said, pulling up Kenny’s plastic pants.“You can put your pants back on and go out to the yard if you want. Your mother and I have a few more procedures to go over.”Kenny went off toward the yard, the blue nurse’s pass stuck in his pocket. He was aware of the gentle rustle caused by his plastic pants but he doubted than anyone else would notice. He played back in his head what had just happened in Mrs. Appleton’s office. Standing in front of her in his diaper and plastic pants hadn’t been too bad. In fact, the whole thing (including her pulling down his plastic pants to reveal his wet diaper) had been more exciting than embarrassing. He smiled to himself. “Just two weeks ago I would have died if she had asked me to pull my pants down in front of her. Now, I’m looking forward to her seeing me in diapers. Oh well, I guess I really am turning into a diaper boy.”Walking out into the yard a chill went up his spine as he realized the danger he was putting himself in. Not that it mattered- he was resolved to stay in diapers no matter what anybody said.“Hey, Matt. Hey, Larry. Hey, Brick,” he greeted his friends.In the few minutes before school started, they talked about their spring break. Only Kenny hadn’t gone anywhere interesting.“So what did you do?” Matt asked.“Nothing much. Just hung around.”Kenny decided on the spur of the moment to talk about his new friendship with Artie. He gave an abbreviated version of his falling into the river and how Artie saved his butt by inviting him to his house and washing his clothes.“Only,” Kenny finished the story, “my mom found out about it anyway and I’m grounded for two weeks.”“That really sucks,” Larry commiserated.By the end of the day it was obvious to Kenny that it would impossible to hide his visits to Mrs. Appleton’s office for very long. At the morning break he had been able to hang back in the classroom pretending to be finishing up a project. As soon as the others were gone, he raced to the office and got his diaper changed. (His impatience about getting back to his friends as quickly as possible took some of the enjoyment away, but not all of it. He was comforted by Mrs. Appleton’s light touch and her sincere desire to make him feel relaxed.)The change he needed at lunch had been even more tricky to hide. He was involved in an impromptu basketball game which he got out of by saying that he needed a drink of water. Mrs. Appleton was busy dispensing pills to students and, afterwards, he had to wait several minutes while she recorded their names and the dosages she had administered. By the time his diaper change was finished lunch had ended and he met up with his friends in the classroom.At the end of school, he again left his friends to get his diaper tended to. When he eventually caught up with them, they seemed cool toward him.“What’s up?” he asked nervously.“You don’t have to hang with us if you don’t want to,” Larry answered.“I haven’t been avoiding you, really. I just had to do something,” he explained lamely.“Whatever,” his friends answered.As he was walking home alone, Kenny wondered if his friends believed that he actually was grounded for two weeks. What if they thought he was doing something that he didn’t want them to know about? Was this what Artie had meant when he had said that it would be impossible for Kenny to hide his diapers from his friends? He got home and went up to his room.“Would you like a snack?” his mom asked.“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”Kenny’s low spirits were obvious to his mom.“Bad day at school?”“Not really.”“Are you mad at me because you’re grounded for two weeks.”“Not really,” he answered again.She took the direct approach. “Do you want to talk about it?”He explained what had happened.“You know, honey, youarehiding something from them. It’s only natural that they’re going to wonder what it could be. I think you need to tell them something, and soon.”“I know,” he admitted.“But tell them what?” he thought. He didn’t want to lie to them but he didn’t want to tell them the whole truth- not yet, anyway.****Kenny finished his homework around 8:00. He took his nightly shower and asked his mother to put him into his nighttime diapers. She sensed that Kenny had enjoyed the ‘crinkly’ pants the previous night so she got out another pair for him to wear (hoping that they would cheer him up a little). It worked. His mood was much better when he went to bed.The next morning he woke up with a clearly formulated plan in his head. He went off to school hopeful that his scheme would buy him enough time to figure out a permanent solution to his dilemma.Kenny was with his three friends waiting for school to start. He pulled the blue pass from his pocket.“Do you guys know what this is?”“A pass to the nurse’s office,” Larry said, reading the card. “How come you’ve got one?”“Well, that’s where I went yesterday at break, lunch, and after school.”“Are you OK?” Brick asked.“There’s nothingreallywrong,” Kenny answered. “I just might have to report to the nurse at certain times during the day, that’s all…, really.”After a few seconds’ pause Matt asked, “Does this have to do with you falling into the river and almost drowning?”“Yeah, in a way. But I don’t want to talk about it. OK?”Nobody said anything for a long time. Finally, Matt broke the silence.“OK... but I bet I know what it’s all about.”“You do?” Brick said in surprise.“Sure,” Matt continued, “I bet that when Kenny fell into the river a fish bit him on the butt and now he has to go to Mrs. Appleton and drop his pants so that she can check if he’s healing OK.”The others laughed hilariously. Kenny didn’t think it was that funny but he was happy that his friends seemed to have accepted his explanation.Matt continued his teasing for the next few days.“Well, what does Mrs. Appleton say? Who’s winning- you or the fish?”“Quit it,” Kenny complained.But he didn’t really mind. Having his friends tease him was a lot better than having them look at him with suspicion. If only he could figure out a plan for telling them about his diapers.Thursday night, Kenny mom gave him a pleasant surprise.“You’re still grounded for two weeks, but I’ve decided that you don’t have to come home right after school tomorrow. You can go to a friend’s house, if you want. The only conditions are that you call to tell me where you are and that you get home in time for dinner.”“Thanks, mom!” Kenny said excitedly.This change in her attitude was prompted by a sincere desire to reward Kenny for his cooperation during his grounding and also to allow her time to meet with the architect she had selected to do the house renovations. She thought that Kenny would approve of her selection but she wanted to talk over preliminary plans with him to see if she still felt comfortable with hiring him.****Kenny and his friends decided to go to Brick’s house after school and play basketball. This lasted for about forty-five minutes. They took a break and were variously sitting or lying stretched out on the lawn. A folded yellow paper fell out of Matt’s pocket.“What’s this?” Kenny asked.His question was greeted with teasing “ooohs” and “aaahs” from Brick and Larry. Matt appeared embarrassed.“That’s mine,” Matt said, reaching for it.“Yeah,” Larry added, “give him back his love letter from Emily.”Brick and Larry made kissing sounds to further tease Matt. Kenny didn’t know what they were talking about.“Love letter?” he said intrigued.Matt was getting more agitated demanding the piece of paper back.“Yeah,” Brick explained, “Emily gave it to him at the beginning of nutrition this morning.”Kenny decided to pay Matt back for all the teasing he had given him this week.“I think I should know what’s it says, too,” Kenny teased.“Give it back!” Matt demanded.Kenny was still lying on his back as he started unfolding the paper. Matt lunged at him but Kenny managed to keep the paper out of his reach. After a short struggle, Kenny remained lying on his back with Matt sitting heavily on him just below the waist. Kenny still wouldn’t give up the paper.“Get off me, you elephant,” Kenny said, laughing.“G-i-v-e m-e t-h-a-t p-a-p-e-r,” Matt demanded in a frustrated tone.“Make me,” Kenny said, clutching it tightly.Everybody knew that Kenny was pathologically ticklish. You could get him to do anything by simply threatening to tickle him. Matt started tickling him through his shirt. Kenny bucked and writhed but he couldn’t shake Matt. Then, two things happened simultaneously. Kenny’s shirt rose up exposing his plastic pants, and he let loose a solid stream of pee into his diaper. Matt sensed these two events simultaneously, too. His eyes focused on the plastic pants at the same time that he became aware of the warmth emanating from Kenny’s crotch.“You’re wearing diapers… and you’re wetting them, right now!” he said jumping off of him.Larry and Brick froze. They saw the top of the diaper and plastic pants, too. Kenny didn’t move, not even to cover up his exposed plastic pants and diaper.“I… I…, shit!” he whimpered.“Maybe before you start invading other people’s privacy you should be up front about yourself first,” Matt said hotly.Kenny sat up, shame faced.“I’m sorry for not telling you,” he said in a choked voice.“Yeah, whatever,” Matt said coolly, “give me back my paper.”Kenny handed him the note and Matt left. Nobody knew what to say. Brick broke the silence.“Matt’s sure being a jerk but I wouldn’t worry about it. You know how he is. He gets mad all the time and then he completely forgets about it the next day.”“Maybe,” Kenny said dejectedly. “But what if he goes around and tells everybody about my… mythingswhile he’s still mad at me?”Would Matt do that? It was a question they all pondered for a few seconds.“Kenny,” Larry asked, “whatisgoing on?”He decided to try giving the shortest answers possible.“I’ll be wearing diapers all the time now.”“All the time? For how long?” Brick asked.“I don’t know. Maybe forever.”Larry and Brick were shocked and speechless for several seconds.“How come?” Larry pursued.“I just have to. It’s real complicated- but I did tell you the truth the other day. I don’t have any bad disease or anything. It’s just something I have to do.”There was another prolonged silence.“Will you guys want to be my friends anymore?” Kenny asked.“Of course we’ll still be your friends,” Brick answered.“Yeah, of course,” Larry seconded.“Thanks.” Kenny said gratefully. “When word of this gets out, a lot of people are going to make fun of me. Are you sure you’ll still want to be my friends?”“Stop worrying about it,” Larry insisted.“Yeah, Larry’s right,” Brick added. “we won’t walk out on you. Promise.”There was another long pause.“Why do you think that word is going to get out about your…things?” Brick asked, using Kenny’s word for his diapers.“For one thing, Matt sure was pissed at me. What if he tells his blabbermouth sister about this? She’ll have the story spread all over the neighborhood by tomorrow morning. And besides, I’ve always tried out for sports and track season is coming up.”“You think that can run and jump in those?” Larry asked in amazement.“Did you notice anything different during the last week when we played around together?” Kenny responded.“No, I guess not,” Larry admitted.“What do they feel like?” Brick asked.“Brick!” Larry admonished.“No, that’s OK,” Kenny answered. “I wondered the same thing before I started wearing them… It’s hard to describe. They’re kind of thick and when they get wet they feel sort of heavy.”“How come your diaper looks different? I mean, not that I saw a lot of it, but it looks different from what I thought diapers looked like.” Brick said blushing.“Well,” Kenny answered, “I’m wearing old-fashioned diapers- you know, cloth ones with plastic pants.”“Really?!” Brick said in amazement. “What do they loo…” Brick didn’t finish, but blushed again.“You’re curious to see what they look like, aren’t you?” Kenny asked.“Yeah, sorry. None of my business.”“That’s OK. I don’t mind showing you, but not here. Can we go to your room?”Larry must have been just as curious as Brick since he followed them into the house.“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Kenny joked before he undid his belt and took off his pants.“Wow,” Larry exclaimed, “They have pins in them.”“Of course, how do you think they stay up?”“And they’re so thick!” Brick marveled.“Yeah,” Kenny said. “And if you think these are thick, my nighttime diapers are about four times thicker.”“No way,” Brick said.“Really!” Kenny answered ingenuously.“Wouldn’t disposables be easier to wear? And you wouldn’t need to wear plastic pants with them, would you?”“Maybe,” Kenny answered, “but my mom says that these are better for the environment. And I wear a doubler inside so that I don’t need to be changed as often.”“What’s a doubler?” Larry wanted to know.“It’s like a diaper, only long and narrow. It goes down the middle of the diaper and makes the center part twice as thick.”Kenny’s diaper was sagging due to the wetting that he had given it when Matt tickled him. He thought it was time to get his pants back on even though he was enjoying showing off his diapers to his friends. (Artie was right, again. Itwasbetter when your friends knew about your diapers.)“There’s one more thing I want to tell you guys. I don’t wear my pants inside the house anymore. You can see how thick my diapers are and wearing pants on top of them is kind of hot and uncomfortable.”Riding home on his bike, Kenny thought about Brick and Larry. They seemed prepared to accept his diaper wearing. He was also pleased that his diaper had excited them. He hadn’t missed noticing the erections tenting their pants. Luckily, his diaper was too thick for them to have noticed his.Just before turning into his own driveway, Kenny spotted Matt stopped fifty feet up the street looking at him. Kenny waved and said hi, but Matt just kept staring. After a few seconds, he got back on his bike and turned for home.“Now what was that all about?” Kenny thought. “Why did Matt wait for me to get home only to turn around and ignore me?”****Kenny shared the afternoon’s events with his mom (minus the scene in Brick’s bedroom).“Sweetie, you can’t expect everyone to accept your diaper wearing right away. Some people, like Matt, will need time. “And they may never accept it,” she added to herself.“I know. But, still…” Kenny pouted.“Be patient. Everything will work out in the end,” she said, even though she had her doubts.The next morning, Saturday, Kenny did his household chores first thing after breakfast. Since he was still wearing his nighttime diapers, he got a big kick out of hearing his plastic pants crinkle loudly every time he bent over or moved around. He thought how much fun it would be if Artie were there wearing crinkly pants, too.Mrs. Braken was still trying to find the correct routine for caring for Kenny’s diapers. The first part of the problem was getting Kenny’s diapers to and from school. It appeared, based on the first week’s experience, that he would need three or four changes each day. That many wet diapers and doublers were too heavy and bulky for Kenny to bring home himself. She had already decided that she couldn’t keep on picking them up and dropping off fresh ones daily, either.The other part of the problem had to do with the number of diapers Kenny used at home. He seemed to need one or two more changes in the afternoon and evening of school days and, of course, one overnight diaper. This amounted to a daily average of six or seven diapers and diaper doublers each day, not counting the plastic pants that needed hand washing.After completing Saturday morning chores, Kenny showered and asked his mother to diaper him. She used the opportunity to speak to him.“You know, Kenny, you go through a lot of diapers each day.”A flicker of concern crossed his face.“Now, don’t worry. I’m not going to take them away from you or even ask you to use fewer. I have a different idea. How would you feel if I hired a diaper service to pick them up here and at school each day?”“I don’t know. I guess that would be OK.”“I’ve investigated one company and they say it will be no problem to add us to their daily pickups and drop off.”“Would people know that someone was picking up my diapers here and at school? I mean, what’s the name of the company?” Kenny asked in a concerned voice.“That shouldn’t be a problem,” his mother answered. “The company is calledUniform Service and Hotel Suppliers. Their trucks don’t say anything about diapers.”“OK, I guess we could try it. But won’t that be expensive?”It wasn’t the expense that most concerned Kenny. He was concerned that he would no longer get to wash his own plastic pants and hang them up to dry (a job he had willingly volunteered to do all this week.)“Itisa little expensive,” she agreed “but it’s the plastic pants that drive the cost up because they have to be hand washed.”“Would it help if I brought home my plastic pants every day and hand washed them here, you know, like I’m already doing?”Kenny hoped that he wasn’t showing too much eagerness but he really didn’t want to turn the job over to anyone else. Helovedwashing plastic pants.“Well, as a matter of fact, that would save over half the cost. Are you sure you want to?“It would be OK,” he said trying to suppress any hint about how excited he was. “I know that my diapers are already costing a lot of money. I want to do it, you know, to say money and everything…”Mrs. Braken wasn’t fooled in the least. All week, she had seen how mesmerized Kenny was over his plastic pants. She noticed how he lingered while washing them and how he carefully hung them up to dry. She had even observed him staring at them for long periods of time while they hung in his bathroom. She suspected from the start that Kenny would not want to give up washing them and she couldn’t see any harm in allowing him to continue doing the job. Besides, she was happy to save over $2,000 a year in laundry costs.“OK, it’s a deal. Today, after our meeting with the architect, we’ll go shopping for reusable bags to transport your plastic pants.”“Meeting with the architect? What architect?”“You’ll see. Now, let me check your plastic pants.”Chapter 4The doorbell rang. Kenny was in his room pondering what to do. His mother had assured him several times that the architect knew all about his diapers and that he shouldn’t feel shy about them. Still, he hesitated. Looking at himself in the mirror he saw how big and thick they were, especially with the doubler puffing out the middle. He stared at his pants laying on the bed. He sure hated the idea of covering up his diapers.“Kenny, would you come down here, please? I want you to meet the architect.”“OK.”He thought of Artie. “He wouldn’t cover them up, that’s for sure.”He started down the stairs, enjoying the newly discovered thrill that wearing diapers in front of a stranger caused in him. There was a certain sense of naughtiness that delighted him immensely.He was almost at the bottom of the stairs. His mother said something and a young woman answered. Had the architect brought his wife with him? Or (worse), his daughter? Kenny’s distraction caused him to trip over his own feet. He landed flat on his face in front of the living room entrance.“What on earth??” Kenny’s mother said. “How many times do I have to tell you not to run down the stairs?”“I slipped,” he said lamely.Kenny felt doubly stupid. He now realized that his mother was alone with the woman.Shewas the architect. Why had he assumed it was a man? He was painfully aware that the woman was trying to suppress a smile as she stared at his diapered bottom. He got up and walked into the room with as much grace as he could muster. His crimson face didn’t help matters.“I’m pleased to meet you, Kenny. My name is Emily Griffens.”“Hi,” he answered.He stared at the woman. She seemed familiar but he couldn’t figure out why. He was sure that they had never met.“Your mom has told me a lot about you and what you would like me to do in your new room. Also, my mom, dad, sister, and brother have filled me in about you, too. I hope you like what I’ve prepared.”“Huh?” Kenny asked perplexed.“Surprise!” a boy’s voice exclaimed.His heart began pounding furiously at the thought of someone catching him in his diaper and plastic pants. He turned around.“Artie! What are you…?”“Emily is my older sister,” he answered laughing. “Isn’t it great? You’re going to get a bathroom and bedroom like mine.”“Hold on there a minute,” Emily said laughing, too, “I didn’t just make a carbon copy of your room for Kenny. I’m a professional. I planned it out carefully.”“Sorry. I didn’t mean that. I just meant…”“I know what you meant. It’s OK. I just don’t want Mrs. Braken and Kenny to think that I didn’t carefully think out this project. And, before we go any further,” she said to Artie, “where are your pants? You know better than to take them off before asking if our hosts are comfortable with you wearing just your diapers.”“But Kenny only wore his diapers while he was at our house…” Artie began to explain.“That’s OK, Artie,” Mrs. Braken cut in. “Feel free to make yourself comfortable whenever you come over here.” Turning to Emily she added, “At least we’ll never have to wonder what the dress code for these guys is going to be!”“You’ve got that right!” Emily answered in the same playful tone.They went into the dining room where Emily set up her portable and began her demonstration.“Based on the measurements of the rooms and what we discussed, here’s what I’ve come up with for Kenny’s suite.”Kenny liked the sound of that- his ‘suite’.She explained in detail the various elements of the bedroom and bathroom as they flashed up on the screen. Kenny loved it, especially when she came to the part about his changing table.“Since there is already a lot of leaded glass in the bathroom, I thought we could incorporate some into the changing table, too. Instead of four drawers at each end like Artie has, I thought that we could have just one drawer for supplies and things and then have movable shelves behind leaded glass doors the rest of the way down.”“I like it,” Kenny said emphatically. (He instantly saw an appealing advantage- his plastic pants would always be visible through the doors.)Emily went on to explain other things such as electrical outlets and architectural details that neither Kenny nor Artie were interested in.“Can we go to my room?” Kenny asked.“Yes, I think so,” his mom answered. “Emily and I can finish without you.”****“So what happened this week?” Artie asked excitedly. “I’ve been dying to find out.”“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t call you because my mom found out about the river and she grounded me for two weeks.”“She did? How did she find out?”“Well,” he answered vaguely (so that it wouldn’t sound like he was blaming Artie for telling his mother that they had met at the river), “she just figured it out I guess. I mean, she knows that I wouldn’t have wet my pants. And, besides, you live so close to the river…”“Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess it was stupid of us to think that you could get away with it.”“Well, I’m glad it happened. I mean, the diapers and everything.”This reminded Kenny of something else. He got up and ran into his bathroom.“Wait ‘til you see these,” he said coming back into the room.He handed Artie a pair of his crinkly nighttime pants.“What’s so special about these?”“Scrunch them,” Kenny said.They made a loud crinkling noise.“Cool,” Artie exclaimed. “Where did you get these?”“I don’t know. My mom got them for my nighttime diapers. I want more, like for wearing during the day, but I haven’t asked yet.”Artie laughed.“Just two weeks ago you were nervous about walking out of my bedroom and going downstairs to pick up the mail. Are you sure you’re ready to wear these crinkly pants outside?Everybodywould hear them, you know. But,” he giggled, “I guess itwouldbe fun to watch people’s reactions as they figured it out.”Kenny was happy that Artie approved. Maybe some day they would actually do it together.“Do you notice anything about me?” Artie asked.Kenny looked at his friend and smiled.“Your mom got you diaper doublers!”“Yeah, they just came on Thursday. They are so cool. My mom likes the idea that I don’t have to be changed so often and I like how the extra material feels between my legs.”“My best friends know about my diapers,” Kenny announced without preamble.He described how Brick, Larry, and Matt discovered that he was wearing diapers and plastic pants.“I don’t know if Matt was mad because I took his note or because of my diapers. He left right away, still mad. Larry and Brick were OK with it, I think. They even asked if they could see my diaper and plastic pants.”(Kenny didn’t mentionhowexcited they had become as he displayed his diaper and plastic pants to them.)“Then, when I got home, Matt was sitting on his bike in front of my house. When I stopped and waved at him, he just took off without saying a word. It was really weird.”“Yeah, it sure sounds it,” Artie agreed.Before they could speculate further, Mrs. Braken came up to Kenny’s room to tell the boys to get their pants on- they were going out for lunch. She smiled to herself as she walked out. She had recognized Kenny’s crinkly plastic pants that Artie was still holding.****At about the same time as Artie and his sister arrived at the Brakens, Larry and Brick were riding their bikes past the neighborhood park.“Brick, hold up. Let’s stop here.”Brick breathed a sigh of annoyance but stopped. He got off his bike and joined Larry. They laid their bikes down on the grass and sat next to them. Brick waited for Larry to say something.“What if we get caught?” Larry asked nervously.“We’ve gone over all of this. We’re not committing a crime. We’ll check the store out carefully to make sure that no one there knows us. We’ll be in and out in no time.”“I don’t know…” Larry sighed.The previous day, when they found out about Kenny’s diaper wearing, they had been stunned beyond words. They themselves had shared a diaper secret of their own since they were eight years old.At that time, Brick’s younger brother had just been toilet trained. His mother had put a half-used package of his disposables into storage in the garage (in case he regressed). A few months later, Brick and Larry were playing when they found them.One of them (they couldn’t remember who) dared the other to try one on. After a series of back-and-forth taunts, they each put one on. They were a little snug but the tapes help up well anyway. They put their pants back on and continued playing in the yard. A little while later, Larry asked to use the bathroom.“What for?” Brick answered. “Use your diaper. I’ve already used mine.”Larry wouldn’t believe it but after they had retreated to the garage where they couldn’t be seen, Brick lowered his pants and showed Larry his wet diaper. After a few minutes of trying, Larry wet his, too. They kept them on a little while longer but eventually took them off for fear of being caught.Neither boy would admit it to the other, but they had enjoyed their little diaper game. A couple of days later Brick asked Larry if he wanted to do it again. Larry agreed but they were disappointed to find that Brick’s mom had cleaned the garage and thrown them out. They never spoke about it again.These memories came rushing back when they saw Kenny in his diaper. After he left, Brick asked Larry if he remembered the time that they had worn his brother’s diapers. Larry said he did.“I bet you wouldn’t dare do that again, would you?” Brick asked.“I don’t know,” Larry admitted. “I might.”Without admitting their true feelings to each other (at least not in words), they explored the topic some more. They eventually decided to pool their money and buy a package of youth diapers (not pull-ups). They even went on line to check out the size that they would need to buy.This is what led to their current conversation.“What if the cashier recognizes us? Or somebody we know sees us?” Larry worried.“I’ll do the talking, OK? I’ll say that I’m doing a favor for a neighbor. Just act cool. No one will know what we’re really doing,” Brick said in a conciliatory tone.Larry was tormented by indecision. All night long he had imagined the joy of wearing diapers again, but the fear of being caught was overwhelming, too. The indecision was written all over his face.“OK. Be that way,” Brick said impatiently. “I’ll do it myself. Just wait here if you’re too chicken to come with me.”Larry bristled at his friend’s criticism.“I amnotchicken,” he insisted.They jumped back on their bikes and headed for the store. Larry suspected that Brick had tricked him but he was trapped and hereallywould feel chicken if he backed out now.They locked their bikes in front of the store and went in. If was fairly busy with Saturday shoppers (which they thought would give them ‘cover’ for their purchase). Larry was barely conscious of where he was as he blindly followed Brick through the aisles. Once they got into the diaper aisle, though, he suddenly became very alert, reacting to the slightest sound.“Would you quit that?” Brick said under his breath. “If people start noticing us it will be because you’re acting so weird.”Larry tried to concentrate on what Brick was doing. He saw him select a large package of thirty-six ‘super absorbent’ diapers.“OK, now let’s get two small containers of powder so that we each can have one,” Brick announced.There had to wait in line at the checkout. They placed the package on the floor between them as they inched their way toward the cashier. By the time they were waited on, Larry was a nervous wreck again. Luckily, Brick had the money and did all the talking. Larry couldn’t believe how calm Brick managed to be. The clerk put their purchases into a plastic bag and they left the store.“Yes!” Brick exulted, “we did it.”“Let’s get out of here,” Larry pleaded, nervously looking around.The closer they got to his house (where they had agreed to go) the more excited Larry became. Now that the pressure of buying the diapers was off (for a little while anyway) Larry began anticipating the fun they would have. He giggled.“What so funny?” Brick asked.“Nothing. I was just thinking.”“Yeah, me too.” Brick answered knowingly.As anticipated, Larry’s parents were still out shopping. The boys went to Larry’s bedroom. Brick dumped the diapers and baby powder onto the bed. He ripped the bag open and removed the first diaper. It felt just like his little brother’s diapers from five years before, only bigger and thicker. It crinkled appealingly as he unfolded it. His excitement increased again and his inhibitions relating to his growing erection vanished.“I’ll go first,” he announced, kicking off his shoes and pulling his pants and underwear off at the same time.The diaper was laid on the floor and Brick positioned himself on it.“What about the powder?” Larry wondered.“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot,” Brick agreed.He rolled over onto his side as Larry sprinkled some onto the back of the diaper. Brick rolled back into position and Larry sprinkled a generous amount onto his front diaper area. A cloud of sweet smelling powder filled the air.“Careful,” Brick admonished lightly, “ not so much.”The diaper was pulled up and, after a few tests, correctly taped into place. Brick got up to look at himself in the dresser mirror. He felt that his long t-shirt was in the way so he took it off. He was in ecstasy over what he saw, turning this way and that to get a full view of his diaper.“My turn, my turn,” Larry practically begged as he, too, lost the last of his inhibitions. Except for his socks, he stripped naked.Another diaper was laid onto the floor. A generous amount of powder was sprinkled on it before Larry lay down. His front was powdered and Brick securely taped the diaper onto his friend.They ran back to the mirror and playfully pushed each other out of the way so that they could get a better look at their own diaper.“I know,” Larry said. “Follow me.”He ran down the hall with Brick right behind him. They went into the master bedroom where the closet doors were mirrored floor to ceiling.“Cool,” Brick commented.After a few moments of admiring themselves they sat on the floor in front of the mirrors. They talked about their diaper experience five years before.“Did you ever think about it again?” Brick wondered.“Yeah,” Larry admitted. “Sometimes… actually, a lot.”“Me, too,” Brick acknowledged.“What does it mean?” Larry pursued.“I don’t know. That we like diapers, I guess.”“But why?” Larry sighed.“Who knows?” Brick answered.“I’ve got a confession to make,” Larry said.“What?”“I already knew what size diapers we would need when we looked it up on the web. I visit diaper sites all the time.”Brick laughed and then said, “We’re both pretty good fakers. I visit them all the time, too. Do you want to turn your computer on and I’ll show you the sites I like?”They spend the better part of two hours visiting favorite sites that they each had found. There was a lot of overlap but they each felt that they had discovered some good sites to enjoy later on.“Hey, anybody home?”Larry and Brick froze. It was Matt. They dove for their clothes, hastily putting them on.“Quick, hide the diapers and baby powder,” Larry said. “I’ll let him in.”It was only as he started to leave the room that Larry realized how noisy their diapers were.“Turn on some music, too. You know, to cover up the crinkling noise.”Larry went to let Matt in. Brick threw the baby powder into the top drawer of the dresser. He couldn’t think where to hide the diapers. Larry kept a lot of games and stuff in his closet so he didn’t want to put them there. Even though he was an only child, he had a bunk bed with drawers that went to the floor so he couldn’t put them under there… Time was running out. The bed was unmade so he shoved the open package under the covers, near the foot. Their underwear was still lying on the floor so he shoved those there, too.Matt and Larry entered the room. Brick innocently sat playing at the computer.“Watcha doing?” Matt asked.“Nothing. Just hanging out.”Matt plopped down on the bed. Brick’s heart missed a beat. “It’s a good thing Larry doesn’t know where the diapers are. He’d be shitting a brick by now.”“You wanna do something?” Matt continued.“I don’t know? What?” Brick and Larry asked.“I don’t know,” Matt answered unhelpfully.“My parents are going to be home soon,” Larry said. “They were talking about visiting my grandparents later this afternoon...”As Matt was listening, he extended his arm behind him and felt the package under the covers.“What’s this?” he asked pushing the covers aside.Brick didn’t have time to react. Matt uncovered the diapers and their underwear.“Diapers! You guys, too?” he yelped (referring to Kenny). “What’s going on?”Brick and Larry were tongue-tied, unable to speak. Larry turned ghost white and Brick was afraid that his friend would faint.Matt’s face, on the other hand, had turned crimson with rage. The significance of the two boxer shorts next to the diaper package suddenly became clear.“I know you’re wearing diapers. Those are Brick’s lucky basketball boxers that he wore all season,” he said pointing to the distinctive underwear. “How come you guys are keeping secrets, too?”With that he stormed out of the room throwing the diapers in Brick and Larry’s direction.“Do you think he’ll tell?” Larry asked through tear-filled eyes.“I don’t know,” Brick answered as he picked up the diapers that had fallen out of the package. “If your parents are really coming home soon, we’d better get this stuff organized and put away.”“Yeah, I guess so,” Larry answered halfheartedly. “Why does everything have to get so complicated?”Since there wasn’t any answer to that, Brick continued working silently. They divided the diapers into two piles. Larry decided to hide his share of the diapers and the container of baby powder in the empty drawer under his bed.“That drawer is empty!” Brick exclaimed. “Shit! If I had known that…”Larry and Brick laughed at the irony of the situation. This helped break the tension that had existed since Matt uncovered their diaper secret.“I guess I’d better get out of my diaper now.”Brick decided that he had better do the same. They laughed again when they saw that each of them had given his diaper a generous wetting.“You know,” Brick said seriously, “I don’t think that Matt will tell anyone. Sure, he got mad at us, butwhydid get mad? I think it’s because we hurt his feelings by keeping a secret from him. I think thatthat’swhat made him mad,notour diapers.”“I sure hope you’re right.”****“That was a great lunch. Thanks for suggesting it,” Mrs. Braken said.“My pleasure,” Emily Griffens answered. “Now, I think we’d better be running along.”“Does Artie have to leave right away, too?” Kenny whined.Even though they had been back less than a minute the boys were already stripped down to their diapers and plastic pants. Kenny’s grounding still had more than a week to run and he was hoping that Artie could stay longer.“I’m sorry, but I have to leave now,” Emily explained.Mrs. Braken read the loneliness in Kenny’s voice and decided to relent.“I can take Artie back; that is, if he wants to stay.”“Yes, please!” Artie said enthusiastically.Artie phoned his house and it was arranged that he could stay a couple more hours. Mrs. Braken would bring him home in time for dinner. The guys went up to Kenny’s room. He turned on his computer and they halfheartedly played around for a little while.“Have you ever visited diaper sites?” Artie asked sheepishly.“Diaper sites?” Kenny asked. “You mean, like to buy diapers?”“No. Sites that are put up by people who like to wear diapers,” Artie explained.For a couple of hours they visited Artie favorite pages, with Kenny bookmarking them along the way. He had no idea that such sites existed but he was certainly going to get to know them better, and soon!When it was time to bring Artie home, Mrs. Braken checked the guys’ diapers and decided that they could use a change. Artie particularly enjoyed watching his new friend get diapered.Artie was feeling particularly daring so he challenged Kenny to leave the house in just his diapers when he and his mom brought him home. Kenny was intrigued. He agreed, once he made sure that Artie wouldn’t wear his pants either. Mrs. Braken raised her eyebrows but she didn’t stop them. (She actually thought it was kind of cute.)****Kenny was nervous about going to school on Monday morning. He was worried about what Matt might do now that he had found out about his diapers. Most of all, he dreaded being made fun of in front of his friends.Larry and Brick were also nervous as they approached school on Monday morning. Larry had concerns similar to Kenny’s. Would Matt publicly humiliate him? Would Matt tell everyone about the diapers that he and Brick had been caught wearing?Brick was concerned about these things, too, and more.Larry and Kenny arrived first. It was an awkward moment. Larry was so nervous about what Matt might do that he could barely say good morning to Kenny. Kenny interpreted Larry’s odd behavior as meaning that Larry was rejecting his friendship because of his diapers.Brick arrived about a minute later. He, too, seemed agitated. Without saying hello, he pulled Larry aside and whispered something to him. Larry agreed reluctantly to whatever Brick had said and they walked away together. Kenny became even more depressed, thinking that he had now lost all his closest friends.At least a major confrontation with Matt was averted. As was frequently the case, he arrived right at the last minute. His friends no longer bothered asking him why he arrived so late. He always answered the same way, “Too many things to do.” They figured that this was just his way of saying that he had overslept.Kenny felt like a condemned prisoner waiting for the executioner to pull the switch. He couldn’t concentrate on anything that was happening in class so he started paying close attention to Larry, Brick, and Matt. Oddly, none of them seemed very happy either. Larry seemed to be on the verge of tears; Brick was sullen and withdrawn; and, Matt did a lot of staring off into space. In fact, at one point or another each of them was scolded for not paying attention.Morning break finally arrived. Kenny headed off to Mrs. Appleton’s office to get his diaper changed. She must have sensed that something was bothering him because her touch was even more gentle than usual while changing him.He went out into the schoolyard not exactly sure what to expect. He wasn’t very surprised to see that his friends were not in the usual spot waiting for him. In fact, he didn’t see them anywhere. This uncertainty was really beginning to get to him. He wished that they would just do whatever it was that they were planning. Even humiliation would be better than this painful waiting. He went back to class wondering if his mom could get him enrolled at Artie’s school since it seemed that he was the only friend he had left.When the lunch bell rang Kenny wasn’t hungry so he got his diaper changed early. Larry and Brick were waiting for him as he left Mrs. Appleton’s office. His stomach did a flip-flop.“Hi,” he said in a barely audible whisper.“How come you didn’t come to the lunch room?” Brick asked.Kenny thought that this was a funny question but he answered truthfully.“I wasn’t hungry.”“Yeah, we weren’t, either,” Larry volunteered.There was an awkward silence that seemed to stretch out forever. Brick finally broke the silence.“Can we go somewhere and talk?”Kenny was surprised by the question. Was this some kind of trick? Was Matt hiding somewhere and as soon as they had him isolated from the other kids would they attack him? Maybe ‘pants’ him and leave him in just his diaper and plastic pants. Whatever they were going to do, he wanted to get it over with so he agreed. They went off together to the far end of the schoolyard. Nothing happened. Larry and Brick sat down. Kenny did, too.“Larry and I have something to tell you,” Brick began.Kenny was struggling to stay calm but tears were building up in his eyes anyway.“Matt caught Larry and me wearing diapers on Saturday.”Kenny was dumbfounded. Did Brick just say that he and Larry had been wearing diapers?“Huh?” Kenny said.“It’s true. Really,” Larry confirmed.They told him how they bought diapers on Saturday morning, tried them on at Larry’s, and then got caught by Matt.“And that’s not all,” Brick added. “I wore a diaper to bed on Saturday night and when my dad came to wake me up yesterday he discovered what I was wearing.”“Oh, no,” Kenny sympathized. “What happened?”“He got really mad, calling me a baby and other stuff. He asked if I had any others and he made me show him where I had hidden them. When he saw that I had baby powder, too, he went ballistic. I got so scared that I peed the diaper right in front of him. This really pushed him over the edge. He pulled the diaper off me and spanked me. By then, my mother and little brother had heard him yelling and they came and saw what was happening. I was so embarrassed- I mean, getting spanked in front of my little bother and crying over it. My mother got my dad calmed down but she got mad, too, when she found out what I had done.”Brick paused for a few moments as he wiped the tears that had streamed down his cheeks.“What did they do next?” Kenny asked, sensing that Brick’s story wasn’t finished yet.“I have to wear the diapers all the time until they’re gone.”“You mean, you’re wearing one now?” Kenny said in surprise.Brick shook his head up and down, too embarrassed to speak.“But there’s more,” Brick continued. “They kept asking me for details about what I had done. When did I buy them? Where? How many? I eventually let it slip that Larry was with me. They started asking me how he was involved. Last night, they called Larry’s parents and told them everything.”“And they never said anything to me,” Larry added in a worried voice.“That’s not good,” was all that Kenny could think to say.Clearly, Larry and Brick were in an even bigger mess than Kenny. At least his mother had been cool when she found out about his desire to wear diapers. Obviously, Brick’s parents weren’t and Larry still had to wait to see what would happen to him, if anything. No wonder he seemed to be on the verge of tears all morning.And there was Matt. What did his reactions to discovering that they were wearing diapers mean? Brick was still hopeful that he wouldn’t tell on them. Kenny thought that his standoffishness this morning wasn’t a good sign.The end-of-lunch bell rang and they headed back to class. Kenny clearly heard the crinkling of Brick’s disposable diaper but he didn’t want to upset his friend by saying anything about it. He also wondered how wet Brick’s diaper was.****At afternoon break Brick seemed very uncomfortable. Kenny thought he knew the reason.“Have you wet your diaper?” he asked quietly so that no one would overhear.Brick blushed but admitted that he felt extremely wet and that he needed to pee some more. He said that he was afraid that it would cause his diaper to overflow.“Do you have extra diapers with you?”“No,” Brick said in a panicked voice, “my parents said I had to wear this one all day, no matter what.”“Can’t you go to the bathroom and then retape the diaper shut?”“I’m afraid of the noise it could make. What is somebody heard it?”“Do you really have much choice? What if you leak all over your pants?”In the end, Brick decided to hold it as long as he could. By the end of the school day he was obviously in agony. Brick. Larry, and Kenny began their walk home.“Can I go over to your house for a while?” Larry asked Kenny. (He knew he couldn’t ask to go to Brick’s house.)“Sorry, my mom is still grounding me. I can’t have visitors.”“Yeah, I figured,” Larry sighed.“You’re going to have to face your mom and dad sometime to find out what they’re going to do about your diapers,” Kenny pointed out.“I know. It’s just…. well, you know….”They knew. Who wanted to get yelled at or punished?Brick suddenly stopped walking. His face expressed a mixture of relief and horror. Very quickly a wet streak ran down his right pant leg and a pool of pee began dripping at his feet.“I gotta go,” he croaked as he ran towards his house three blocks away.Despite their sympathy for him, Larry couldn’t resist a joke.“Brick shouldn’t have said ‘I gotta go’ he should have said ‘I just went’.”“That’s not funny,” Kenny admonished him, although he did giggle a little bit.****On Tuesday morning Kenny was bristling with curiosity. Once again, he and Larry arrived first at school. He listened very carefully but he didn’t hear any sound of a crinkling disposable diaper coming from Larry’s pants. He felt a stab of disappointment.“Well?… What happened?”“Plenty,” Larry answered.Before he could go into his explanation, Brick arrived… with his father leading him by the hand. They stopped in front of Larry and Kenny.“Thank you very much for dropping off those diapers for Brick to use,” Brick’s father said loudly enough for anyone in the area to hear. “That was very generous of you. God knows, he’ll need all the diapers he can get.”Brick never looked up at his friends. He stared intently at the ground the whole time. The only reaction they saw was a single tear run down his cheek as his dad loudly proclaimed his diaper wearing status to the whole schoolyard. Everybody would know before the first bell rang. (It didn’t escape Kenny that this would probably mean that his diaper wearing status would also be revealed very soon.) Brick and his dad went into the school building.“So your parents made you give your diapers to Brick. That’s not so bad, I guess. Did they do anything else?”Larry didn’t answer right away.“Let’s go someplace more private… I’ll try to keep the story short. When I got home my mom was already there. She said she left work early because she had errands to run… for me. She told me to go to my room and get undressedall the way, even shoes and socks. I figured that I knew what was coming. I had to wait a long time before she showed up. I was really embarrassed. She made me lay down on a towel and she spread baby powder all over my front and back diaper area. She opened my dresser and told me to lift up. She slipped a diaper under me but it felt different from the ones Brick and I had bought. It was cloth! She told me to lift up again and she slid a diaper doubler into place. She pinned me up and pulled some plastic pants into place.”Kenny had listened to Larry with growing amazement. Where had his mom found cloth diapers so fast? For that matter, how come she put him into cloth diapers at all when Larry had already bought disposables? As if sensing Kenny’s questions, Larry continued.“From my baby pictures I knew that I had always worn cloth diapers. I didn’t know that my mom was practically a fanatic about it, though. She was madder at me for buying disposable than for anything else. After she and my dad talked about the phone call from Brick’s parents they decided that I would wear diapers as a punishment, too. Only my mom wouldn’t hear of me wearing the disposables. So, yesterday morning she called Willowhaven School to find out if they knew where she could get cloth diapers and plastic pants in sizes for bigger kids. They said that they had a parent who could probably help. They gave her a phone number that my mom called. She and this lady talked for a while and discovered that they had similar beliefs about cloth versus disposable diapers. My mom asked where she could get some quickly. The lady said that it would take at least two to three days to get some delivered but that her son had plenty that they could share, that is, if we were the same size.”By now Kenny was almost positive Larry’s mom had been talking to Artie’s mom. If that were true then Artie’s diapers would definitely fit Larry. While Kenny was becoming increasingly excited by this revelation, he didn’t want to admit to Larry that he knew the Halsteds. (Once he did that it wouldn’t take his friends long to figure out that he was wearing diapers because hewantedto, not because heneededto.)“So, now what? Are you grounded? Do you have to wear diapers all the time at home?” Kenny prompted.“No, I’m not grounded. And, no, I don’t have to wear diapers all the time at home. I have to wear diapers all the time-period.”It was almost time for school to start.“I have to drop my extra diapers and plastic off at Mrs. Appleton’s office before the bell rings,” Larry announced.The rest of the day was anything but typical. Word had spread about Brick being in diapers. He was teased and taunted mercilessly. Now that everybody knew, the sound of his crinkling disposable was obvious to everyone’s ears. The teachers tried to mitigate the teasing as much as possible but there was no way they could stop it completely.Brick’s unfortunate predicament did have a fortunate side effect for Larry. At morning break no one noticed when he and Kenny went to Mrs. Appleton to get their diapers changed. (If Mrs. Appleton had any opinion concerning this sudden rash of boys in diapers she didn’t share it with Kenny or Larry.)By lunchtime things had quieted down. The guys were pretty much left to themselves.“Can I ask what happened when you went home yesterday?” Kenny asked Brick who blushed at the mention of his public pants wetting.“Yeah, I guess so,” he said pausing to gather his thoughts. “When I got home my mom wouldn’t let me into the house. She made take all my clothes off on the porch. She came outside with a washcloth and cleaned me up before she let me in. Then, she even let my brother watch as I got a new diaper put on. He laughed at me all night and my parents didn’t do anything to stop him. Today, he says that he’s invited a bunch of his friends over so they can see me in my diaper. I wish I could stay in my room but my mom says that she needs to ‘keep an eye on me’ all the time.”Kenny and Larry sympathized with him for a few moments.“I’m going to let other people know that I’m wearing diapers full time, too,” Kenny announced. “I was already going to tell people next week when track practice begins, anyway. One week won’t matter.”“Do you really think you should. I mean,today?” Brick asked.“Sure, why not? Everybody’s already buzzing about this. May as well get it over with all at once.”Larry had remained conspicuously silent.“I don’t want people to find out about my diapers right away,” he thought,“but if Kenny and I do it together maybe it will make it easier.”“I think Kenny’s right,” Larry said out loud. “I don’t mind doing it today. People are going to find out sooner or later.”“So, how do you plan on doing that?” Brick wondered aloud.“I’m not sure. But we’ll think of something. Won’t we?” Kenny asked Larry.“Yeah, we’ll think of something,” Larry agreed uncertainly.As it happened, an opportunity arose just a few minutes later when a group of guys approached Brick to taunt him some more.“Is baby comfortable?” one boy asked.“Yeah, we wouldn’t want baby crying during class because his didee was wet,” the second boy jeered.“Cut the crap,” Kenny said curtly.“Oooh, is Kenny babysitting today? You’d better make sure that baby is dry, don’t you think?” the first boy taunted.“You guys are so stupid. You know, there are lots of guys who wear diapers, for all kinds of reasons. Like me, for instance,” he said lifting his shirt.The group was surprised into silence. Larry took the opportunity to press the point home.“Kenny’s right. Things happen all the time. Who knows who’s going to be next to be wearing diapers? Maybe it will be you.”Larry punctuated this statement by lifting his shirt so that everyone got a good look at his plastic pants and diaper. That did it. The group practically ran over each other to get away from them, almost as if they were carrying the plague.News of this spread through the school faster than a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, people started ‘remembering’ all sorts of things. Wasn’t it true that Kenny had been seen around Mrs. Appleton’s office a lot since spring break? And weren’t Larry and Brick seen there, too? And what about the story of Kenny falling into the river? What if he caught some kind of virus? Did Larry and Brick ‘catch’ something from him? Gossip was no longer being passed in an atmosphere of taunting; now there was genuine worry that something might really be wrong.Kenny sensed the danger in letting this go too far. If adults heard about it, there might be some serious investigation and he didn’t want his dirty laundry (or in this case, his dirty diapers) laundered publicly.When Kenny was asked by one of the girls if there was anything seriously wrong he assured her there wasn’t.“Besides,” he emphasized, “Mrs. Appleton sees me at least three times a day. If she isn’t worried, why should anybody else be?”This seemed to do the trick. The rumors about viruses and ‘catchy’ diseases died almost immediately.Nonetheless, lots of opinions abounded. Some people (especially guys) didn’t have any sympathy for Kenny, Brick, or Larry. They wanted to continue teasing them and making them feel uncomfortable. Others (mostly people who already liked the three boys) wanted to give them a break, to more or less ignore the whole thing and hope that the diapers went away soon. The last group (the largest) agreed with whoever had expressed the last opinion. All in all, the boys thought that they had escaped fairly well, so far anyway.The boys knew that the situation could change very rapidly, though. There was still the matter of what Matt would say. Which ‘camp’ would he be in? He was an influential person in their class; his opinion would carry a lot of weight.Unfortunately (or, fortunately, depending on how you looked at it) Matt was absent from school again. Besides his frequent tardiness, this was another mystery about Matt. Even though he seemed to be in good health he missed at least two or three school days every month. While it didn’t seem to hurt his schoolwork at all, he would never discuss the reasons why he was absent.They guys would just have to wait one more day to find out where Matt stood.