A Jon and Jamie Christmas

"Wake up." Jamie heard Jon's voice and stirred, pushing away his brother's hand. "Now, now, I've let you sleep long enough. This is a nap, not a full night's sleep!" Jamie groaned and opened his eyes to see Jon leaning over the side of the crib. In Jamie's mind, it was still Aiden's crib, even if he had been sleeping in it for however many months now. And, he added, even if Aiden was now Jon's friend more than his. "And up you come!" Jamie felt the mattress fall away as Jon lifted him up, hand naturally landing under the soft white of Jamie's diapered bottom. "How was your nap?"

"Fine." Jamie mumbled around the pacifier. Jon chuckled.

"Well, I got you up just in time for Christmas photos."

"Okay."

"But we need to get that naptime diaper off first, don't we?" Jon smiled and carried his brother over to the nearby changing table. It also served as a makeshift dresser for Jamie. Right underneath the surface Jon placed him on were two totes. The one on the left had a drawing of a pair of white briefs, indicating that Jamie's underwear was inside. The right tote had a photo of Jamie playing in nothing but a diaper, leaving no doubts as to its contents. It was a perfectly natural set-up for a toddler, but not for the teenager Jamie really was.

Jamie fidgeted as Jon removed his diaper. He hoped Jon noticed it was still bone dry, even if a whole month of dry diapers would do nothing to break Jon of the belief that Jamie was a baby through and through. As Jamie was thinking about that, Jon was examining his brother, smiling as he ran a finger along the smooth skin below Jamie's belly button.

"No big boy hair yet." Jon smiled. Jamie realized only then that his brother was shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of red and black plaid pajama pants. Jamie did not know it, but mixed into some of his bubble baths had been things designed to ensure Jamie did not grow any for a bit yet. Keeping his brother baby smooth helped keep Jamie in that certain mindframe to feel more like the baby he was. "Who's the best little baby? You are! You are!" Jon blew raspberries into Jamie's tummy, grinning as his brother squealing and squirming, still managing to keep the pacifier in his mouth somehow.

"Now! We know you're wearing jammies like me for the photo, but underneath. Do you want to wear a diaper?" The tote came open and out came a white diaper. "Or undies?" Jamie stared as Jon held up a pair of navy blue boxer briefs. Could it be? He did not even know what to say. He tried to speak, making a muffled sound into the pacifier. He had to say something now, before Jon returned to his old self. "You seem confused. Oh, right. These aren't Jamie's undies, are they?" Jon chuckled and tossed them onto his bed. "My baby brother still wears tighty whities, doesn't he?" Jamie nodded, not even blushing at the childish term anymore. It had been so long that they were just the norm for him and a welcome respite from the diapers Jon made him wear whenever they left the house. "Alright, we'll do undies for Jamie." Jon put the diaper away and grabbed the baby powder.

Deodorants all smelled too mature for Jamie, but the one way his body insisted on adolescence was his smell, so baby powder was Jon's chosen alternative. It covered up Jamie's body odor and made him smell baby fresh. Plus Jon found it funny to pull out the back of Jamie's briefs and pour powder down without warning. He could get away with a little bit of fun under the guise of caring for his baby brother.

With Jamie thoroughly powdered, Jon slipped his briefs up his legs, grinning at how babyish even putting on underwear was for his brother. James the grouchy, short-haired teenager seemed like a completely different person from Jamie, the soft, docile little boy with a carefully maintained mop atop his head.

"Now for your jammies." Jon announced, leaving Jamie on the changing table for a moment. "See? They have bears on them!" He held up his shirt, a white long sleeved shirt with red and black plaid sleeves and a matching plaid bear on the chest. Across the bear was the word 'brother' in white. "Dad's got dad, mom's got mom, and I've got brother, see?"

"I can read." Jamie mumbled, the slightest hint of the teenager deep within. Jon laughed and pulled on his shirt, grinning at how calm Jamie was about lying on a changing table in nothing but his briefs. No, not like James, who had been bashful about even taking his shirt off in front of Jon, at all. "And mine are the same?"

"Yep. Pants and a shirt. We're a family, so we all match." Jon said, grabbing Jamie's pants and sliding them up his legs. "Though I did consider keeping you in just your undies or even a diaper." Jamie chewed on the bulb of the pacifier, all too aware how serious Jon was. Even with the illusion of choice, he never wore anything that Jon did not approve. Sometimes, Jon seemed more like his dad than his brother. "Sit up and put your arms in the air like you just don't care!" Jon instructed, pulling the shirt down over Jamie's body. "There we go! All set!" He gave Jamie's feet a little tickle to try and get him to smile before setting him against his chest and carrying him out to the living room.

"Do we want him with his pacifier?" Dad asked, nodding to Jamie. Being talked about instead of talked to was nothing new for the little boy, but he still did not like it.

"Can I please not have it?" He asked, knowing manners would go a long way. The last thing he needed was for him to be sucking on a pacifier on the Christmas card. His hair was already babyish enough! At least Jon had not put him in a diaper!

“Alright, but if you get fussy, you'll be sucking on it." Jon said.

Jamie's concern about the pacifier making him look babyish seemed ridiculous after the first couple photos. He was never not in someone's lap and Jon kept tickling him to make him laugh. And then there was his shirt.

Jamie had glanced down at it in the bedroom, but he had seen the B and figured that his shirt said brother just like Jon's. It was during a lull that he looked at it again and realized that there were now at least a dozen photos of him sitting on laps, grinning and laughing in a shirt that labelled him baby. Mom, dad, brother, and baby.

"Are we done?" Jamie asked.

"No, we're gonna do some photos of just you and me." Jon said gently. "Are you hungry? Do you want a baba?" Jon felt a spark of fire deep within. There was no way he was letting Jon have another babyish accessory! He fought back the urge to snap at him.

"No, I'm not hungry. No, thank you." Jon nodded.

"Well, you seem a bit fussy, so here." Jamie was never fast enough to close his mouth before the pacifier could get in. He pouted around it as Jon got him settled on his lap for another round of photos. He had a sneaking suspicion it would be one of these photos that would be the Christmas card.