Dinos (Short Story - Complete)
Date Published: April 15, 2013, 8:41pm
Written By: dprtodd
Todd sat at the kitchen table with his math book open, a pencil in hand and a clean sheet of notebook paper on top of one half of the textbook. Todd frowned at the almost blank paper, his name and the date currently the only things occupying the page. Math came unusually easy to Todd, he was his middle school’s only sixth grade student in Algebra 2, which was normally an eighth grade class. Not able to motivate himself we wondered if maybe the work was simply too easy or if perhaps he wasn’t challenged enough? Was there even any meaningful distinction between the two?
Todd could just look at most of the problems and know the answer without even having to compute anything on paper, which made the effort of having to ‘show his work’ seem all the more tedious. He could remember the first day of class when Mr. Minneretti had written on the board for the whole class that they absolutely had to show their work for everything. “I don’t harbor laziness in my class!” he had declared proudly. Todd had never previously minded showing his work, but now that it was required he found himself wanting to push back. As long as he had the correct answer then why should he have to jump through hoops?
Todd reflected for a moment more on the nearly pristine piece of paper. Nope, he didn’t feel particularly lazy because he didn’t want to do a bunch of arbitrary extra crap work for no reason. Picking up his pencil he drew a robot right in the middle of the page, and while the robot wasn’t part of the assignment he did feel better for having drawn it. Todd smiled at his creation and wished he were a robot because they probably don’t feel any angst at following instructions, even stupid ones.
Getting a fresh, robot free, sheet of paper Todd started over and with an audible sigh as he forced himself to start on the first question. He had made it to question 22 of 25 when the dryer buzzed, startling Todd and breaking his concentration. He looked across to the clock on the microwave and felt disappointment toward his earlier lack of focus. The greenish lcd proclaimed it to already be 4:32! He had wanted to be done a half hour ago. That’s what sitting around daydreaming and drawing robots will do, he scolded himself. He had wanted to get to watch Naruto on the big TV in the living room, but now he would have to watch it in his room later as he and his brother couldn’t use the DVR in the den for kids shows since they had their own DVR in their bedroom.
The dryer buzzed a second time and Todd slid off the chair and walked across the kitchen to the laundry room. He opened the dryer’s door and pulled the warm bundle of bed sheets out. He spun the inside of the dryer to make sure there wasn’t a pillowcase hiding on top of one of the fins. Satisfied the dryer was indeed empty he adjusted the bundle so as to not drop anything before heading for his bedroom.
Studying the big wad of linen on the way to the room he and his brother shared, he could see his own striped sheets had tangled with Blake’s dino sheets.My dino sheetshe corrected himself, before feeling more than a little petty and immature at being jealous over his old sheets. When Blake had turned four, Todd’s parents removed Blake’s old toddler bed and with much fanfare had given Blake Todd’s old twin bed. This meant that Todd had also gotten a new bed, sans the fanfare, but a big full size bed all the same. Todd loved his big bed, and everything was great until bedtime that first night when Todd pulled back the comforter to see solid colored sheets instead of the smiling stegosaurus, triceratops, and cartoonish t-rexes he was accustomed to. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, Todd never said anything to his parents, it wasn’t even that he really wanted his old sheets that badly, it was just that it seemed like everything that was his was somehow also his little brothers. Todd told himself that it was stupid to feel jealous that his little brother got his old stuff, but he was still irritated by the fact that no one even asked if they could give Blake the sheets Todd had gotten for his seventh birthday.
Reaching his room Todd glanced to his bed thinking about how his parents couldn’t find dinosaur sheets for a full size bed but they could sure as hell manage to find a plastic bedwetters sheet easy enough. He frowned at the crinkly mattress protector on his bed, the sunlight coming through the window making the vinyl look extra shiny. With a sigh, Todd threw the linens on top of his bed before separating the two sheet sets, he wadded the dinos into a ball and threw them on his brother’s bed, but only after he had sniffed them to see if they smelled of pee. Todd was always worried that his room might smell like pee, his parents had used that excuse enough on why they should get their wet sheets in the wash as soon as possible. Thankfully both sets of sheets passed the sniff test, but there were clearly some slight discoloration on the dino sheets, whether it was from Todd’s own accidents or Blake’s he couldn’t say but it was probably from Blake considering the sheets given four years of service, three of which were all Blakes.
Returning to his own bed he sniffed at his own sheets just to be certain and like the other set they smelt only of detergent and fabric softener. Todd frowned, It had been his leak this morning which had prompted the sheet washing and a frank and uncomfortable breakfast discussion between his parents about the effectiveness of the goodnights Todd had been wearing.
“Todd honey, I really don’t see any other choice, you simply wet too much for the pull-ups” His mom had explained from the kitchen.
Todd’s cereal had gone soggy already but he spooned at it anyway, wishing to not have this conversation.
“We’re having to wash sheets several times a week, and pull-ups are too expensive to buy and then not work. Besides, you’ll sleep so much better if you stay dry.”
Todd felt his face redden, he hated when his parents talked about his bedwetting. He looked over at his brother, whom he had hoped was paying attention to the morning tv or his tablet and not the conversation. No such luck Todd realized when he locked gazes with Blake, who was watching him rather than cartoons.
“Diapers! Todd has to wear diapers!” Blake said under his breath with what Todd felt was an unseemly amount of mirth.
“Blake, you don’t tease your brother, this isn’t his fault, and your bed isn’t dry every night either, is it? You wouldn’t like it if Todd made fun of you would you?” Todd’s father entered the conversation.
“No sir” Blake said after he realized his father’s pause was an expectation for him to answer.
Typical, Todd thought. Had he had gotten caught making fun of his brother for something like wetting the bed he would have been grounded on the spot, but Blake could say anything and get away with it and the only thing he ever got was talking too.
Turning back to Todd, his father continued “Now son, your mom and I know this is hard for you, but this is for the best. You know I wore diapers to bed until I was fifteen years old, but I did get over it, and you will too. But until that time we have to try something that works.”
Doing his best to put the conversation from this morning behind him, Todd made up his bed, and then his brother’s. It’s not like goodnites aren’t diapers, he tried to rationalize, a pull-up is a kind of diaper after all. Be that as it may he counter argued what was he going to do if one of his friends found out? Having someone find out about his goodnights would have been bad, but if someone found out about him wearing tape on diapers? He was certain that would be much, much, worse. Maybe his parents were bluffing? Maybe he would have another chance?
Todd suspected his hopes of another chance were misplaced when five o’clock passed with no hint of his mom, who was usually the first parent home. Her absence was not a good sign. Todd heard the door open and was prepared hoping for his mom, but was instead disappointed to see his father with Blake in tow. His dad must have picked him up from his after school tutoring program. Blake was having trouble with his reading and had to go to an after school program to get caught up. Which for anyone keeping score was yet another thing Todd couldn’t make fun of his brother for.
Blake threw his backpack down by the door and looked around “Where’s Mom?”
“I told you she had an errand to run after work, that’s why I picked you up from Advanced Learning” his father countered before turning to Todd “Hey there sport! How was your day, you finished your homework?”
“Yeah, a little bit ago and I remade the beds and took the trash out” Todd recited his list of chores.
“Fantastic, buddy, your mom and I both appreciate how mature and responsible you are, we probably don’t tell you that enough, but it’s true”
Shit, now Todd knew he was screwed, his dad who was usually nice, had fully crossed over into ‘obviously nice’ and ‘obviously nice’ could only mean that he must be trying to make up for something. It was strong enough evidence that Todd could already begin to imagine himself in the middle of the living room floor with his pants down getting diapered for bed like he was two. ‘Fuck my life’ he thought, giggling to himself, he had really just started swearing and even though he was careful to not do it outloud the novelty of it was still fun even given the horrible circumstances.
Within the hour, Todd’s mom returned home with a deli rotisserie chicken dinner and instructions for her husband to bring the box in from the car. Todd felt his stomach sink, just more confirmation. He could only guess what was in the box in the car.
“I’ll get it after dinner, there’s no need to rush anything, and besides, I’m starving!” Todd’s father offered, taking the take out chicken to the table. “Blake, it’s your night to set the table”
Blake set the table without protest and within a few short minutes Todd found himself picking idly at a piece of chicken, he wasn’t very hungry, his mind only able to focus on what was probably going to come later tonight. Still, the longer he picked at his food the longer until the inevitable bedtime was, so hungry or not he was going to push that chicken around his plate. He was so consumed in his own thoughts that he didn’t realize that no one else was talking until his father finally broke the silence.
“So how was Evelyn?” He asked between mouthfuls of mashed potato and lemon pepper chicken.
“It was lovely! Oh and the new kitchen looks beautiful. I still think they spent more than they should have, but it looks fantastic.” Todd’s mom answered with a wave of her fork. Todd’s mom always gestured while she talked, usually it cheered Todd up to see her waving a utensil around without a care in the world, but not tonight.
Well that explains it Todd thought, Mom’s been to see Aunt Evelyn, which means he was probably getting some of his cousins diapers. Hooray retard diapers he thought, before feeling guilty at using the pejorative, he knew better. His cousin Toby was a few years older and was ‘developmentally delayed’, or that was how his aunt and uncle put it, Todd’s own father would say that Toby was ‘just a little behind is all’, usually before adding that he was not “what you would call capital S ‘Special’, just a little special”. Still Toby was almost old enough to learn to drive, but Todd doubted he would ever be competent enough cognitively to get a license, so older or not he had always seemed to Todd like a younger cousin.
Ice cream followed chicken and Todd found a bit more appetite for that. After the ice cream, the table was cleared and the two boys went to their room to watch TV. Todd could feel the minutes slipping past, he felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, knowing what was probably coming later that night. Todd hoped that some mindless TV would help to ease his mind, and thankfully for once Blake didn’t even protest when Todd wanted to watch Naruto. Once again he wished he could have just had a Crunchy Roll subscription, where he could watch whenever he wanted and not have to wait for the DVR to pick up an episode it hadn’t got before.
Blake didn’t protest when Todd selected the episode and hit play. It always confounded Todd that even though Blake liked Naruto too, he would normally want to watch his show first, just to get his own way. Even Blake was being nice to him, either as a result of being scolded this morning or maybe just feeling sorry for Todd, it didn’t really matter, as either reason was not a good sign was it?
After the show he and Blake played a little Xbox, Todd finally managing to stop worrying about bedtime while he and his brother become engrossed in playing Cuphead. It seemed like they had only been playing a minute when his father popped his head in the Room, bringing reality crashing back down on Todd.
“Blake, Mom wants you to help her unload the dishwasher.”
“Can we finish this ?” Blake asked, but he was already pausing the game and getting up.
“It’s already after nine, so go help her and then brush your teeth okay?” his father told Blake, before setting a closed cardboard box on Todd’s bed.
Closing the door behind Blake, Todd’s father sat down on the bed.
“Your mom and I know this isn’t easy, but please work with us on this okay? It won’t be that bad I promise. I’ve told you before how I wore diapers until I was fifteen, but what I’ve never told anyone, not even your mom, was that as much as I hated wearing them as I got older, that I really missed them when they were gone. Now, I’m not saying you’ll like them too, it’s just that sometimes the things that we view as obstacles really make our lives better, but it’s taken me all my life to realize that.”
His Dad was smoking crack Todd thought, what did he mean he missed them. That was absolutely insane.
“I know that probably doesn’t mean much to you sitting there right now, so I tell you what, if you work with your mom and I on this we can see about getting you your own gaming laptop for christmas. Deal?”
Todd had been wanting his own computer, and since his parents were going to get their own way he might as well go along with it, diapers and a laptop were better than just diapers after all.
“Deal” Todd said, feeling as if he had just compromised his sixth grade dignity for a new toy.
His father’s expression brightened slightly, “Good deal sport. I’m going to show you how to do this yourself okay, that way it’s not that much different than a goodnight okay?”
Todd didn’t really agree but he nodded anyway, as that was obviously the expected response.
Todd’s father opened the flap on the box and took the contents out on the bed. “Your aunt sent these things for you to try.”
His father frowned a little at the assortment of diapers, and then Todd understood why. They all seemed to be printed in some fashion, the only one Todd could make out though was the one on top which had little cartoon animals on them, a fox or cat or something appeared to be playing soccer, while another animal was chasing after wearing a diaper. Todd could only imagine what one of his friends would think if they saw this. As if reading his mind Todd’s father forced a smile at Todd that looked about as genuine as a politician’s.
“There are obviously diapers here, they didn’t make them with the neat pictures on them when I was a kid, just boring white. These are stuffers to make them more absorbent if you need that, and these look like some waterproof pants your cousin outgrew before he ever wore them. Now your mom and I will be counting on you to keep up with what works best for you and helping us to know what to order and when. Looks like we have a couple of each brand, but I’m sure there are others we can try if these don’t work well for you, but your aunt said these are what Toby likes best, so that is where we are starting.”
Todd felt kind of foggy, like he was an outsider observer where he was unable to do anything but watch events unfold before him. Looking at the pile of diapers sitting next to his dad on his bed, Todd could make out the ‘crinklez’ written across the top one as if somehow the ‘z’ made them cool. He watched as his dad picked up the diaper and unfolded it.
“Okay buddy why don’t you go ahead and get undressed okay?” His dad asked
Todd pulled his shirt over his head and then dropped his jeans before stepping out of them. He stood there in only his boxers and socks as his dad fanned out the diaper.
“Now when you unfold it, you’ve got to make sure these leg cuffs stand up, you just run your finger under them like this to make sure they are not stuck to the inside of the diaper.” His father showed him as he pulled a finger under each leak guard before handing him the diaper.
Todd just stood there holding the diaper in one hand, he stared at it for what seemed an eternity. This diaper wasn’t at all what he expected, in addition to the juvenile print (at least goodnights tried to look like they were for big kids), this thing was plasticy, thick and like its namesake it crinckled when he moved it. This was nothing like his goodnights or even what he remembered his little brother wearing when he was a baby.
“The tapes go in the back” His father prompted, Todd wondered if his dad had mistaken his staring for confusion. But prompted, he set the diaper down for a second and removed his undershorts.
The heat in his cheeks as he pushed his boxers down made Todd feel less numb and more present in the here and now. Doing his best to steady his hands he pulled the diaper between his legs and with a small amount of fumbling he managed to get the tapes done.
His dad had him sprinkle some powder down the front of the diaper before having Todd check the seal made at his legs by the lower tapes. “If it is not tight at the legs they can leak, so getting the fit right is important”
Todd nodded, he didn’t trust himself to say anything, this was perhaps the most embarrassed he had ever been in all his life.
“That’s it buddy you’re all set. Now just put these on and then your PJ’s and you’ll be good to go” his father explained, handing Todd a brown envelope with ‘waterproof pants size youth’ printed on the outside. “I love you bear” he finished before closing the bedroom door behind him.
Unexpectedly Todd found himself smiling despite his current situation, his dad seldom used his nickname from when he was little, before Blake was sharing his room and being a pain. Still Todd wondered if he shouldn’t be at least a little bit insulted that his dad dusted off his toddler nickname while Todd was being relegated back to diapers. His grin made him feel even more self conscious, which brought back in some small part his righteous anger and how bad life was screwing him over right now. 12 and in diapers.
Well there’s just these, Todd thought as he opened the flap of the envelope, and pulled out the plastic pants. At first glance he felt his anger elevate even higher. These were snap on baby pants, like from the forever ago like the 1970s or something. Like his diapers, these pants had some kind of print on them. Well that might work for ‘special Toby’, but no way in hell am I wearing snap on baby pants too he told himself firmly. It’s not like a tape on baby diaper wasn’t bad enough, but these too? That is a bridge too far. Screw that.
Todd crumpled the pants and was ready to shove them back into the envelope when he got a real good look at the print. The pants were covered in dinosaurs, and while not quite the same as the dinosaurs on his old sheets, these were still rather cool. Todd’s emotional roller coaster hit another hill as he almost laughed at himself for calling a pair of baby pants cool, but he couldn’t help but smile all the same. Be careful what you wish for he told himself as the irony of his situation sat in.
Maybe these won’t be so bad? He rationalized as he snapped them on. Besides, who will see them under my PJs?
Another part of his mind screamed “what are you doing, you idiot, don’t put those on. What if someone DOES see them? There is no coming back from that, your life would be over.” A different part of his psyche, a louder and more assertive part asked “So what if someone did? Who cares? I meaneveryoneknows dinosaurs are cool, right?”
Re: Dinos (Short Story - Complete)
Thanks Background. I’ve had this sitting on my google drive account forever unfinished so I just took a stab at fleshing it out a bit more. Not really sure where I would go with it, were it expanded, but I’m not ruling out that I won’t get inspired sometime and write some more.
This was hard to write if only for the fact that Todd was not too enthusiastic about his situation and I normally write characters who embrace or enjoy diapers. Plus the fact that I tend to write my own desires into my stories makes Todd’s reluctance a pain to write so this was an exercise in dragging the payout out.
Lol… Necro. Saw this old short story on here, reread it, and thought it was kinda fun. I went back and edited the first part a bit, brought it into 2021 as it were… and present this new and very tropey set up for a second part. Sue me, some times tropes can be fun, and I personally have never done this particular trope in one of my stories. I don’t generally do punishment setups / if you are going to act like a baby then get treated like a baby type stuff. But there is a first time for everything, even schlocky guilty pleasures.)
Happy summer.
Part II: Spring Broken
“I’m afraid you lost your laptop for all of spring break and no phone, we’re turning your internet off too.” Todd’s mom told him, not sounding nearly as angry as when she had first broken up the fight between Todd and Blake, which was to say she only sounded super furious.
“but Mom, he” Todd countered
”No ‘but Mom’s!’” She fumed starting to sound madder all over again “You are four years older than your brother and much stronger, you can’t just punch him like that”
Blake sat near his mom holding a cold pack to his face making what sounded to Todd like fake sobs. Little fink.
“He put pictures of my diapers on the internet! Do you know what will happen when everyone at school finds out?” Todd practically shouted back, wishing instantly he had moderated his tone.
“It was an accident, I swear” Blake protested between his fake-sounding sobs.
“It was not, he’s lying. He put them on instagram” Todd protested “Check his phone. He was recording a video to”
“Todd enough!” His mom cut him off “I’m sure it was an accident. He’ll take them down and delete them. Probably no one has even seen them yet.” Todd’s mom said, pushing her hands down like she was trying to close the lid on an overstuffed trunk.
“Mom, just check his phone.” Todd said, still not managing to keep the anger from his voice before finally moderating his tone “please….?”
“Watch your tone mister, you’re already in enough trouble for hitting your Brother, no matter what he did, you don’t solve problems with violence”
“I didn’t make a video” Blake cried through the cold pack “I don’t even know how to make a video”
His Mom stopped spun on the spot, her hand shooting out like a vipers, her palm up in the air. “Well now I know you’re lying, so give me your phone, did you make a video?” Todd’s mom sounded more displeased again.
“Noooooo. My face hurts. Todd hurt my face really bad.” Blake sounded to Todd like he was trying to lay it on thicker.
“Now Blake!” She demanded, moving her hand further out for emphasis.
With a defeated look and a shaky grasp, Blake put the phone in her hand, which she unlocked with a couple of swipes. Todd couldn’t see the screen, but a second or two later Blake’s voice started coming from the speaker of the phone.
“For anyone who thinks my big brother, Todd Xevix is cool, you need to see this!. What’s this? It’s a wet diaper in the trash, his diaper! That’s from last night, cause he’s a big baby. Let’s look in his dresser. You can see all his diapers and baby pants, he really likes this pair here with the fire trucks on them, he wears them twice a week! So not only is he a buttface jerk, he is also not cool, and he is a baby”
Despite the fact that his social life was ruined, Todd was somewhat consoled by the fact that Blake had finally been caught. If Todd was going to drown, he wasn’t going down with the ship alone. Blake was finally going to get in trouble for something and for once the scales might be balanced.
Todd’s mom sat silent for a few minutes. When she finally spoke she sounded as if she herself had been hurt, like it was her life that Blake had ruined “Blake, why’d you make this terrible video and lie about it? Why would you do something so mean to your brother?”
Todd felt his moment of triumph approach, losing his laptop for the week would be worth it if Blake got his comeuppance just once.
“I wasn’t going to show it to anyone, I just wanted to use it to keep him from being mean to me. Like levelage” Blake told her.
“Leverage, the word is leverage. And that’s wrong to do to someone. People go to jail for doing that.”
Todd wasn’t fully aware he was grinning until his Mom had turned back to him
“And just what is so funny about all of this?”
Todd forced his expression back to neutral, but in doing so his resentment and temper flared up hot “Because he’s finally getting in trouble for something for a change. He’s not some perfect angel after all. I’m sick of this shit, everything is always my fault no matter what he does I am always the one in trouble!”
Todd didn’t need the drop in temperature or the sudden all consuming silence to know he had way overstepped with his outburst. He also knew he couldn’t unsay it.
“Room, now. Both of you. Not a word, not a peep. I don’t think either of you are going to enjoy your spring break very much at all” She pointed at the hallway toward their bedroom. “Your father and I will talk about this when he gets home, so help me if you two fight, make a noise above a whisper, turn on any electronics, or do anything I don’t like it will be so much worse for you both”
“I’m sorry” Blake turned on the water works, maybe it was genuine this time, Todd wasn’t sure himself.
“Room! NOW! Go be sorry in there, I don’t even want to see you right now.”
Probably just another short vignette or two - nothing too indepth, just kinda reread the first post and felt compelled to write a bit more.
Todd sat on his bed, reading an issue of Shonen Jump, or at least trying to, he didn’t trust himself to not try and beat the shit out of Blake some more if he just sat there and did nothing. The way Todd saw it was he was already in trouble, so what if he got grounded for longer? The little turd was on his bed, sniffling and sobbing, not because he was sorry for what he had done, Todd figured Blake was only sorry he was caught. Figures the one time Blake actually gets in trouble that Todd is right there too, because even if Todd was one thousand times in the right, it was impossible for his folks to give him a break. “You shouldn’t have hit him even if he deserved it” he mocked his mom’s voice in his head.
Even with their door closed, Todd could tell his mom was on the phone. Probably filling his dad in on the situation, although that was just a guess because Todd couldn’t effectively eavesdrop with Blake running the waterworks.
“Shut up,” He whispered to Blake.
Blake did not shut up, in fact he leaned into the crying “I’m… I’m… I’m… Sorry” he stammered
“No, you’re not. Now shut up. I want to hear who mom’s talking to”
“I am too”
“Shut it you dumb fuck, I want to know how much trouble we are in. And it should be just your sorry ass that’s in trouble, so pipe down so I can hear mom”
Blake gave up his fight, probably because he also wanted to know what kind of trouble they were facing. Once he was satisfied that Blake was being quiet, Todd opened the bedroom door just a crack, enough to let a little more sound in.
“You don’t think that’s too much?”
Well that wasn’t good.
“No go ahead and stop, I’ll call Evie and let her know you are coming”
The last time one of his parents stopped by aunt Evelynn’s house Todd ended up with diapers, so this too did not bode well.
“What is she saying” Blake half whispered to Todd
“I don’t know, be quiet with the door open” he hissed back
“They’re in their room. No…. Yes… As long as we both agree. Oh. Evelynn punished Tommy the same way when he was around Todd’s age - that’s where this idea”
Todd slipped his door closed and shooed Blake away from the door. He had heard his Mom’s footsteps on the hardwood floor which means she had left the living room and was potentially headed their way. He had just got back on his bed and was acting like he was reading his manga when the door opened, his Mom stuck her head in the room, phone still in her hand.
“Your father is going to be late tonight, so I want you both to take this time and think long and hard about what you did” Her voice dripped with disappointment.
Even the click of the door closing behind her seemed to convey a sense of being letdown.
“What’s going to happen?” Blake asked a moment later.
Todd briefly debated whether to be truthful or not, before deciding to let the punishment be a complete and shocking surprise for Blake, after all there was no sense in letting him prepare mentally for what was coming.
“I’m not sure. Maybe a spanking or something” He lied, his parents had never raised a hand to either of them. What was coming was worse though, as soon as he heard his mom say Tommy, he remembered exactly how his Aunt Evelynn had punished him. He shuddered a bit, the only consolation for Todd was that Blake was going to be just as bad off as he was.
Todd stood next to his little brother, they were facing their parents who, although sitting on the couch, looked neither comfortable nor relaxed.
“Todd, explain what you did to your father and me please” His mom demanded, still sounding hot herself.
“Blake made a video”
His dad cut him off “Your mother didn’t ask what Blake did, she asked what you did. We’ll get to Blake, but as the oldest we have higher expectations for how you will behave. So let’s hear all about the good example you are setting for your little brother.”
“Yeah but he was going”
“Todd. Enough. Answer the question as it was asked. What did YOU do”
“I slugged him”
“You ‘slugged’ him? You just up and popped him once?”
Todd opened his mouth, unable to think of a response that didn’t incriminate him further.
Blake leaped in “No he hit me a lot, it really hurt”
“Blake, son, I’m not so sure you should be talking right now, at all. So Todd, you just hit him? Socked him one? It was just the once, that’s what you’re implying right?”
His fathers stare bored into Todd
“No sir. I hit him a few times.”
“I see. So Blake was about to hurt someone or himself, and you had to stop him any way you could?”
“No”
“No? No? Then why? Certainly you must have had a good reason to assault him. Your mother says she walked in to find you standing over Blake punching him in the head and kicking him while he was on the ground. Seems like you would have to have had a really good reason to act that way”
“He made a video and put pictures on his instagram”
“So when do you get to the part where it is okay for you to hit and kick your brother who is four years younger than you? That’s the part I want to hear. Jesus, Todd, you weren’t ‘just’ hitting him, you were kicking him in the ribs, you could have punctured a lung, that wasn’t just a tussle. Do you think that if someone at the office does or says something I don’t like that I can hit or kick them, almost send them to the hospital? Do you think that is the way people get to act?”
Todd knew better than to say anything other than “No sir”
“And you Mr. Speilberg, just what were you taking videos of?”
Blake started to cry
“Don’t cry yet, you haven’t even told me about this video of yours. Believe me, you are going to have all of spring break to cry as much as you like, so how about at least owning up to what you did?”
Blake startled like he had been struck.
Todd was just as stunned as Blake appeared to be, did his dad actually call Blake out on his manipulative bullshit?
“I’m sorry” Blake sniffed
“Sorry is good, but that’s not what I wanted to know. You apparently aren’t any smarter than your big brother, you just watched me go through the same thing with him. I didn’t ask if you felt bad, I didn’t ask if you were sorry. I. Asked. What. You. Made. A. Video. Of”
“I didn’t mean”
“Blake…” This time it was from both Mom and Dad at once.
“I recorded the trash can, and Todds diaper was in it, but I was recording the trash,”
“Recording the trash. So when I pick up your phone and watch the video AGAIN I will see you recording the trash? Because it looked to me like you were deliberately trying to make your brother look bad and spread it around on the internet. And let me tell you, if there was ever a reason to beat the snot out of your little brother that comes pretty damn close.”
“We’ll he’s always mean to me”
“We’re done. Neither of you have even shown the least little bit of interest in owning up to your mistakes. This one hit his brother, once, and this one recorded trash, otherwise they are both innocent as babes. You know, I was rooting for both of you, I was hoping your mom and I were wrong. If you would have taken even a little responsibility for your actions, just a little, we might be having a different conversation. But now I get it, you guys are simply not ready for responsibility, apparently of any kind.”
His dad faced Todd directly “I suppose, instead, you need to learn that we don’t hit people and have tantrums when we don’t get our way or when we don’t like what another person does, something most people learn by the time they’re three.”
Todd lowered his head, knowing exactly where this was going. His anger was slowly giving way to shame, he really had messed up and these consequences might be appropriate for the way he acted.
Blake still had a deer in the headlights look plastered across his face, he didn’t seem to register that his dad had turned to him and continued “And you. You apparently need to constantly be watched every minute, just like a two year old, you can’t be trusted to not grab the hot burner on the stove or not to record things that should be private.”
“Well the punishment should fit the crime” Todd’s mom suggested “Apparently acting like a middle schooler and fifth grader are expecting WAY too much of them, maybe we need to go back and reinforce some of those early life lessons that should have been learned when they were smaller”
“Well then, I guess it’s settled.” his father picked back up “Since the two of you are both acting like toddlers, then that’s what we are going to have to deal with, two toddlers. Until school starts back Monday after next, you guys are both now two and three years old respectively. Big kid privileges? Gone. Autonomy? Gone too. Sadly, that means your mom can’t even leave you guys alone next week when she goes to show properties. Thankfully your Aunt Evellyn said she is not completely full next week because so many families are gone for the holiday, and it’s not your Mom or I who are going to pay for your care. So yeah, birthday money you’ve both been saving? Gone.”
Todd could see the moment Blake put it together, his weasley face falling. Daycare, his aunt runs a daycare. Todd was in all honesty feeling pretty low about his actions, even worse is that he hated disappointing his parents like this, but Blake finally getting his was really helping Todd cope - a week of daycare at his aunts seemed almost worth it.
“This is the last thing I wanted to deal with after the week I’ve had.” Todd’s dad stood and walked across the room “Doesn’t matter anyways. Dinner’s probably getting cold, so I’ll set the table tonight. You want to see to the little ones?”
“Someone has to, I suppose, we can’t leave them dressed like this at their age. Ok boys, let’s get you changed before dinner. Come on Blake, let’s get your pants changed.” His Mom said as she got off the couch and walked across the living room to the door that led to the laundry room and then the garage. She returned with a new bag of crinklez which she opened pulling two diapers out.
Blake had started to cry again seeing the diapers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. I’m not a baby.”
Todd’s mom knelt down to her son’s level, holding him out at arms length, looking him over from head to toe, before unceremoniously yanking his pants down to his ankles. “Oh sweetie, you saying that just shows me how wrong you are. Now let’s get those big boy underwear off you before you have an accident okay?”
A few minutes later both Todd and Blake were being escorted to the kitchen table, Mommy taking Blake by the hand as he continued to wail. “You don’t need pants, mommy wants to be able to see when your diaper needs changed”
Todd’s dad was still setting food on the table, taking it from the large plastic bags it had been packed in “There’s my big boys, you boys ready for your din din?”
Aunt Evelynn had apparently been able to make a complete ‘care package’ in the short notice Todd’s Mom had provided her, there were two plastic toddler plates, sippy cups and worst of all two vinyl bibs with crumb catchers. The service was no doubt from her kitchen used in her daycare, but the bibs large enough for them had to be two of Toby’s. Not that Todd could ever remember Toby wearing a bib.
Todd sat in his chair, with no complaining, he was a bit mortified at the prospect of wearing a bib and drinking from a sippy cup, but at least he had been allowed to keep his pants. Blake on the other hand was almost to the point of hyperventilating while crying.
“Someone’s just a bit fussy aren’t they, it is past their bedtime isn’t it? Well we can have a little snack and then it’s off to bed, we’ve got a big day tomorrow” It was clear Mommy was speaking as much to herself as to actually addressing Blake as she snapped the green vinyl bib around his neck.
“Don’t worry buddy, Momma will get you some chicken nuggets in just a minute, I just need to get your brother fixed up too”
Todd felt his cheeks burn as the blue bib was pulled up his chest. It had to be one of Toby’s, this was much bigger than an actual toddlers bib, it just had to be, it fit Todd like it was made for a boy his age. At that thought he also felt a little rush of something else, something he couldn’t quite place his finger on. He didn’t know what the feeling was, but he knew he should keep it to himself, a feeling which only intensified when he heard the soft click of the snap behind his ear just before the bib was released and fell back into place. He wondered if his face had continued to darken as he felt wave after wave radiate off his face.
Mommy took both the plates and set them near her own, where she cut up several nuggets for each boy, cutting them into bite size pieces. She put a few potato wedges on each plate along with a few green beans which went into the little walled section on the plate. Satisfied she placed the plates down in front of the boys before returning to her own seat.
Todd’s parents were both watching him and Blake, neither speaking, instead just watching the two of them. Blake had almost cried himself out, Todd wasn’t sure if he was refusing to eat, or if he hadn’t noticed the plate in front of him.
“You boy’s need to eat, it’s already past Blake’s bedtime and you both have had a long day.”
Todd knew the lack of a fork was deliberate, and feeling especially awkward he picked up a nugget. He would normally eat the nugget with his fingers, so why did this seem so different? He popped it in his mouth and chewed.
“Blake, I’m not going to tell you again. Eat your dinner son. It’s way past your bedtime.” His Father said, breaking his silence.
That was when the plan came to him, plan being somewhat generous, but Todd thought it through all the same. If Blake was being so obstinate, maybe this was Todd’s chance to show the little fink up? Maybe if he leaned into their punishment, just a bit, he could make Blake look less cooperative? Would his parents finally stop putting up with the little twerps bullshit and treat him like they would Todd? When Todd didn’t comply with a punishment his parents always extended it. Grounded for a week? Suddenly it was two. No internet for the night, now it was tomorrow night too. Would they extend this for Blake? It would serve the little dick head right if they did.
Reaching out Todd grabbed a few of the wet green beans and picked them up. He might have actually giggled a bit at the image of Blake getting the punishment extended beyond the end of spring break, a very diapered Blake having to go to school. He covered the laugh up by pushing the green beans into his mouth. He decided right then and there, Todd was going to be the best damn toddler his parents ever saw.