Tommy the Monster

“How about this?” Janet asked, pulling out a fuzzy white rabbit costume. “I know you like Bunnydale!”

“No way!” Tommy said. How had this happened? Eric and Jake had left him in Janet’s care and no matter how many costumes she held up, he knew he would never find a Halloween costume in the Three and Under aisle. Janet gave his hand a squeeze.

“I know you were a cutie pumpkin last year, but maybe you could do it again this year!”

“No way.” Tommy snarled.

“Oh, right. You're a big boy now. Your brother told me you're almost totally potty trained!” Janet beamed as if that was a great accomplishment for a boy in ninth grade. “Are you still dry?”

“Yes!” Tommy jumped away from her before she tried to check, trying to redirect both the conversation and the costume search. “I think there's more costumes over here.” He turned the corner, desperate to change the conversation. “Oh!” He nearly walked into a wall of pink frills and sparkles.

“Those are girl costumes, silly.” Janet said, taking his hand and leading him back to the toddler costumes. “Unless you want to be a princess?”

“No.”

“Alright, well, maybe we can try again another time. Someone seems fussy.” He groaned as she immediately picked him up. He was too big, physically, but it did not seem to bother her as she carried him away from the costumes. At least he had managed to avoid getting any of those, he thought. Would he end up being a tiger or a pumpkin again? “Maybe I'll make you a costume.” Janet said, giving his bottom a pat.

“Hmm?”

“Just thinking out loud. Do you need to go peepee?” She asked even though she was already carrying him toward the restrooms.

Tommy had been in bathrooms with Janet countless times before, so he knew enough to cross his arms and just let her pull down his pants and underwear. He really did have to pee, after all.

“Maybe we should go back and look at that Bunnydale costume one more time.” She said as she situated him on the toilet.

“I don't like Bunnydale.” Tommy said, hoping Janet had no clue that he had been wearing Bunnydale briefs for so long, pairs had worn out and he was on his second pack.

“We really gotta get you away from your brother. And mine. I bet you'd be so adorable if you weren't constantly being poisoned by those big boys and their teasing.” He thought about once again telling her they were both younger than him, but he could already hear her lecturing him in that silly voice about what numbers are bigger than others. “All done?” She asked. Tommy nodded. “Need me to wipe?”

“Can I please?”

“Sure.” Janet humored him and he dabbed at his privates, wincing as Janet watched the whole time. “Alrighty. Off the potty you come!”

“Hooray.” Tommy said sarcastically.

“Up come your undies, up come your pants. Time for Tommy to do his potty dance!” Tommy gyrated his hips just enough to satisfy her. “You're really getting the hang of the big boy potty, aren't you?”

“Uh, sure.” Tommy said, leading the way to the sink.

“Walk, don't run.” Janet said, standing behind him and washing his hands. Being so close to a girl should've been a dream, but instead, Tommy would have given anything to be free of her.

Once they left the bathroom, Janet texted Jake to meet her and Tommy. It was just Tommy's luck that they came sauntering over just as he was riding a coin-operated red plastic car. He glared at the snickering boys as the car rocked back and forth with Janet urging him to turn the wheel and honk the horn.

“What costume did you get?” Eric asked casually as Janet extracted Tommy from the ride.

“Oh, Tommy decided I should make him a costume.” Janet said,

“He did?”

“Well, more or less.” Janet said with a chuckle. “I'll see if I can find something good.” Tommy did not like the sound of that.

“Maybe we can go look again?” He suggested.

“Nope, we gotta get going.” Janet said. “You seem overtired.”

By the time they reached the car, Janet had decided Tommy needed a nap, so she buckled him into the car seat and then tucked a blanket around him.

“I don't need a nap.” He struggled to keep his voice level to avoid any accusations that he sounded like he needed one. It would only take fifteen minutes to go home anyway!

“Well, you can try.” Janet said sweetly. Tommy glared at Eric as Janet finally left him alone, but realized his brother was not even paying attention. Was this that common now that he hardly even cared?

“Finally.” Tommy exclaimed as they waved goodbye to Janet and Jake. “You gotta stop leaving me alone with her.” Eric scoffed.

“She gave you a kiss goodbye.” He said. Tommy glared at him.

“You know it's not a real kiss.”

“Come on, she's all over you.”

“If it's not that bad,” Tommy said acerbically. “How would you feel if Jake treated you like that?” Eric snorted.

“I'd beat him up.”

“Well, I can't do that.”

“It'd be hilarious to see you try. Janet would probably put you in timeout for hitting.” He dashed inside as Tommy tried to punch him.

Over the next couple weeks, Eric claimed he had no idea what Janet was making for Tommy's costume.

“I don't think even Jake knows.”

“Well, tell him to find out.”

“Tell Janet” Eric mimed texting. “Widdle Tommy Tigercub's super excited for his baby costume.” Tommy felt a chill wash over him. What if it really was a baby costume?

* * *

“Where are you off to?” Tommy had not expected Mom to question him.

“Kurt's.”

“By yourself?”

“Yeah.” Why did it matter? “I don't think I need to spend every Halloween with Eric and his dorky little friend.”

“I don't like you going out on your own.” Tommy was about to argue, but she continued. “And I thought you were going with Eric to watch scary movies at Jake's.” Realization dawned. “Are you worried the movies will be too scary?”

“What? No!”

“Sweetie, it's ok. I remember having nightmares for weeks after I saw that Tim Curry clown movie when I was your age.”

“Mom! I'm not scared. I just… Eric and Jake are so immature! I don't want to spend the night with little kids.”

“They're not that much younger than you.” Dad said.

“But those few years do make a difference.” Mom said thoughtfully.

“So I can go over to Kurt's?”

“No, you just need to be a big boy and not let your brother get under your skin.” Tommy groaned and stomped away, fed up that at his age, he was still being told to be a big boy.

Tommy thought that was the end of it, but as they walked to Janet and Jake's, Eric kept mentioning that Mom had asked him to tone down the scary movies.

“Didn't have the heart to tell Mom about your other plans with Janet?”

“What is she even planning?”

“I honestly don't know. Me and Jake came up with the tiger and the pumpkin, so this'll be all Janet. Oh, and the reindeer.”

“Tommy!” Janet cooed, scooping Tommy up almost the second he had crossed the threshold. Remembering what Eric had said about the kisses, he tried to enjoy them, noticing Eric slipping away with a smirk to go see Jake. “Are you still dry?” Janet asked, sitting down on the couch and placing Tommy on her lap to remove his shoes and sweatshirt.

“Uh, yeah. It stopped raining hours ago.” Janet smiled and pulled out the back of his jeans. If she was surprised to find a smiling bunny face on cotton briefs, she did not show it.

“Did you walk all the way here?”

“Yeah.”

“Goodness! You must be a tired little Tommy, huh?”

“It's only a couple blocks.”

“Did you take your nap today?” Tommy could practically hear alarm bells going off. What was the right thing to say? Obviously, he was too old to nap, but Janet had seen and done too much to buy that he was older than Eric. When did little kids take naps?

“Uh, yeah. Just before we came.”

“So big brother woke you up to come?”

“No, I was up for a bit…” Janet smiled.

“Well, alright. We do have time before our Halloween party if you do doze off.” She planted a kiss on his cheek. “Let me text Jake to come downstairs and then we can get started on making a fun Halloween snack for the four of us.”

“No costume?”

“Not yet.” Janet smiled and kissed his cheek again. For how often he got kissed by a girl, Tommy wished he felt better about it.

By the time Jake and Eric finally emerged, Janet was hard at work making something she called graveyard dirt. It seemed to mostly be gummy worms, chocolate pudding, and crushed Oreos. Tommy sat in a highchair in the middle of the kitchen, a coloring page of a smiling bat carrying a Jack-o-lantern bucket of candy on the tray in front of him along with a red Elmo sippy cup of juice. Eric snapped a few photos of his brother in his toddler element.

“Tommy and I will have it done soon.” Janet said.

“What even is it?”

“It's good.” Jake said. “Mom or Janet makes it every year. You totally had it last year.”

“Did not.”

“The year before then.”

“Mm!” Janet said, licking a bit of pudding off of her thumb. “That reminds me, I got one of those memory things on my phone.” The three of them gathered around Tommy in his highchair so all four could see the video. Tommy groaned as he realized it was him in his jack-o-lantern costume singing that stupid I'm a Little Pumpkin song.

“Look how adorable you were, Tommy! Just the littlest pumpkin!”

“Yeah.” Tommy forced himself to say.

“Still so fussy and stern.” Janet teased. “Maybe you should take that nap.”

“I'm sure,” Eric said. “Tommy's just upset because he looks like a baby in that video and he's a big boy.”

“Oh! Well, of course you're a big boy now, Tommy.” Janet said, giving him a hug with one arm. “But it's fun to see how much you've grown, hmm?”

“Or not grown.” Eric mumbled under his breath. If Janet had heard, she didn't show any sign of it.

“Tommy's a big boy, yes he is.” Janet sang as she finished making their snack. Eric’s face turned red as he tried not to laugh. “Alright, last things last, let's get Tommykins’s bib on!”

“I don't need a bib.” Tommy seethed.

“We can just take his shirt off.” Eric suggested. “I did that at a cookout last summer.”

“No.” Tommy said.

Somehow, Tommy had ended up next to their four year old cousin Liam at the family barbeque. When Liam's mom had taken off his shirt before lunch, Eric had swooped in and done the same thing to Tommy. It was tough to say which seemed more babyish: the blue Pull-ups poking out of the top of Liam's shorts or the Bunnydale undies peeking over the top of Tommy's. Eric didn't dare to push Tommy too much, so he let him eat his hot dog in peace, smiling as Liam's mom gave a protesting Tommy's chest the same baby wipe bath Liam got afterwards.

“Alright,” Janet said. “We'll do a bib. Can you show me you're a big boy who can put on his bib all by himself?” Tommy almost expected a Halloween bib, but the one Janet watched him fasten around his neck was just light blue with a yellow duckling on one corner to match the yellow piping. He glared at the snickering middle schoolers behind her as she wet a paper towel and gave his hands and face a quick wipe.

“Don't take that one, Jake.” She called over her shoulder. “That one's Tommy's.”

“What's different about it?”

“Gummy worms seemed like a bad idea for Tommy, so his is just pudding and Oreos.” The boys exchanged a look, but all Tommy could see was Janet taking a seat right in front of him.

“Can't I do it myself?” Tommy asked, but Janet brought the spoon up to his lips. He rolled his eyes and dutifully let the spoon into his mouth.

“Good?”

“I guess.”

“You'll get lots more sweets tonight.” Janet said with a smile.

With Janet setting the pace, it seemed to take forever to finish even the small bowl of graveyard dirt. Finally, she wiped his face and hands.

“Ready for your costume?” She asked.

“I guess.”

“It'll be tough to beat Tommy the Tiger and Tommy the Pumpkin, but I think you'll like it. I went a little scary this year.” That intrigued Tommy, but he wondered if she meant scary for her or him. “But I bet a big boy like you wants to be scary, huh?”

“He had some pretty scary roars when he was a tiger.” Jake said.

“That's true!” Janet released Tommy from the highchair. He slid to the floor, but Janet was quicker.”What'll you two be doing?” She asked, situating Tommy in her arms. Jake shrugged.

“I dunno. Just dicking around.”

“Language!” Janet made a show of covering Tommy's ears.

“He's not really a baby.” Jake said defensively.

“Still. I don't like that either. And you know Mom and Dad don't.” Jake only shrugged and Eric looked uncomfortable. “Let's go, Tommy.”

“Can't I walk?” Tommy asked. She patted his bottom and even gave it a little squeeze. “Please?”

“Let's go potty” was all she said and Tommy soon found himself sitting on the toilet. Kurt never believed him when he told him that Janet – a bonafide girl! – saw him naked every now and again, but Tommy figured that was because he could never really tell Kurt the full truth about how Janet remained convinced he was a toddler.

“You focus on getting all your peepee and poopoo out, okay?”

“Seriously?” Tommy said. “This has been going on for years. You gotta know I'm Eric's older brother, right? You can't honestly think I'm a baby.”

“You're not a baby.” Janet said. “You're a big boy on the potty!” Tommy groaned and peed because he had to.

There was a flurry of motion as Janet managed to wipe him, get his underwear pulled up, and get him over to the sink to wash his hands before he even realized he was in nothing but his underwear.

“Before we show you your costume, I think you should sing a little song for me.”

“The pumpkin?” Tommy asked with a sigh.

“Nope.” Janet pulled out her phone.

“No video!” Tommy covered his crotch. His Bunnydale undies were nothing new to him, but video? Video was a hard no.

“Oh, but this is a fun one.”

“It's a sunny, bunny day in Bunnydale!” Tommy recognized his own voice even before Janet turned the phone toward him. Why did his voice sound so high on recordings? It almost sounded higher than the little pumpkin song from last year! Dr. Schneider told him his voice would deepen ‘soon', but surely it could get a little bit lower than that.”So join all your friends in Bunnydale!” He looked at his forced smile on the camera as he sang in the soft yellow pajamas with the wide white cuffs.

“Come on. I know you want to sing along!” This wasn't the first time Tommy had been forced to sing that horrible song in nothing but his underwear, but having Janet there along with that video made tears well up in his eyes as he began to haf-heartedly sing.

“So put on a smile and shout hooray, it's another sunny bunny Bunnydale day!” He wondered if Janet had any idea that Eric had been dangling Tommy's only pair of underwear not festooned with bunnies over his head to get him to sing along.

“Very nice! Those jammies are adorable. Next time I babysit you,” She picked Tommy up. “You're wearing those. Pinky promise?” She hooked his pinkie with hers. “But for now, I think it's diaper time.”

“D-d-” it was then that he noticed the folded diaper on the bed. A Bunnydale diaper. How did the bunnies look even more babyish on a diaper than they did on his underwear? “I don't need diapers!”

“We're going to be having a lot of fun. I don't want you to have any oopsies.”

“Well, what about Pull-ups? I-” she scooped him up, tugged off his briefs, and placed the naked boy on the bed. Seeing his horrified glance at the diaper, Janet softened.

“I know, you want to potty train and be a big boy, but you're just not there yet. Santa didn't mind you wearing a diaper, did he? And you were such a cutie waggling your diapered tushie around last Halloween for your pumpkin song.”

“What? I didn't wear diapers for those!”

“You're a very smart baby boy, but even the smartest baby boys need diapers until they're potty trained.”

“No!” He sat up, kicking out at her. “I- you just watched me pee. You have my underwear right there. I am not a baby! You are not making me wear a freaking diaper!”

“Someone's got a bit of a sugar rush from snack, huh?” Janet said.

“You're not listening!”

“It's hard when you're yelling at the top of your lungs.” She said, rubbing his back. “Let's take a nice, deep breath.”

“But”

“I'm serious. Breathe in…. Breathe out. One more time. Breathe in… breathe out. Better?”

“A little.”

“Good. Now, lie back.”

“But”

“Tommy. Lie back. We don't want to miss our fun Halloween party because a certain little boy was fussing about something as simple as his diaper.”

“Janet.”

“Enough, Tommy. I don't want you making puddles on the bed.” She pushed him onto his back and, despite his best efforts, got the diaper taped snugly and securely around his slender waist.

Tommy had thought Pull-ups were bad. With underwear, you could forget you were wearing it. Pull-ups constantly reminded you of their presence, the not quite plastic, not quite paper tickling your thighs, the thickness pressing against you with every step. Just last summer, Eric had blackmailed him into wearing Pull-ups for a whole day, a day that had resulted in him being left with Janet as a potty training toddler. Pull-ups were bad. The diaper he now wore was worse. It ballooned out from his waist, the soft crinkly plastic almost blindingly white anywhere where there wasn't a merrily cavorting bunny.

“Ready for your costume surprise?”

“Yes.” Tommy said, genuinely eager. A costume would hide this diaper at least! The reindeer outfit from last December had made it next to impossible to tell he had Pull-ups on, so surely-

“Tada!” Janet held up something. What, Tommy couldn't be sure. It looked almost like the chestplate of a catcher. Was he going as a baseball player?

“What… what is it?”

“Oh, you'll see.” Confused, Tommy allowed Janet to dress him. The bottom of the chestplate covered his diaper, but nothing else. His chest and stomach were covered, but his back was bare except for criss-crossing straps. He almost felt more naked as Janet pulled a matching hat over his curly hair.

“Aren't you adorable?” Janet scooped him up and smothered him with kisses. Tommy felt numb. He… how could he look any more babyish than he did now? It was impossible.

Tommy's bottom lip trembled and he felt like he could not even speak as he was presented to Eric and Jake.

“Oh, wow.” Eric said in almost disbelief. Tommy couldn't blame him for being shocked, even if this was his fault.

“You like it? I made it myself.” Janet proudly showed him reference photos.

“Yeah, you did really good. Tommy's an adorable little monster.”

“And it's more practical for diaper changes than that pumpkin last year.”

“Aww, but Tommy was a cute pumpkin too.” Jake remarked.

“Tommy's a big boy monster this year, aren't you?” She kneeled down and kissed his cheek.

“I don't want to go.” Tommy said. This was too much! He was basically just wearing a hat and a glorified diaper cover! Over a diaper! “I'm not going.” Janet picked him up.

“I bet you'll have fun once you see the other boys and girls in their costumes.” She said decisively, “Remember what I told you about scary movies, Jake.”

“We remember.” Eric said. “We're actually gonna go back to my place. Promised Mom I'd hand out candy to trick or treaters.”

“What? When?” Eric snorted. It was almost too funny to hear Tommy's indignation coming from a boy in the most babyish monster costume imaginable.

“We'll see you late tonight then?”

“We'll text you our plans.” Jake replied. “We're not gonna do anything bad!” He added quickly as he saw Janet's expression. Realizing everyone had more or less forgotten about him, Tommy began to squirm. With Janet's guard down, surely he had a chance to get free and make a run for it!

“Tommy's getting restless.” Janet adjusted her hold on him. He felt her finger on his thigh and realized she was checking his diaper!

“I'm not wet!” He exclaimed, wincing as he heard Jake and Eric snort.

“Where are you taking him anyway?” Eric asked.

“Oh, Sunny Days has Trunk or Treat in the parking lot.” She gave Tommy's kiss a cheek. “But that's more for the older kids. They have some preschooler activities inside.” With that, she carried Tommy toward the door.

“Eric, please. You gotta help me.” He protested. Surely even his brother had to see that this was too far. Eric looked conflicted, but the door closed before he could make a move.

“I am not going anywhere like this!” Tommy protested earnestly as Janet buckled him into the car seat in the back of her car. “Let me out!”

“We don't kick.” She said, watching with satisfaction as he tried and failed to undo the buckle. “Now, you're obviously fussy so do you want to go back inside and take a nap or do you want to go to Halloween?”

“Nap.” He said at once. Janet just shook her head.

“You're gonna have a lot more fun at Halloween. I promise.”

Tommy screamed, thrashed, and kicked, but Janet seemed completely unperturbed as she drove them to Sunny Days daycare. Tommy saw little kids and their families everywhere.

“Please? Can we go?”

“We only just got here.” Janet said. “But I'm glad you've calmed down.” She parked and walked past Tommy's door. He tried to look over his shoulder, but the car seat got in the way. He heard the trunk creak and then close a moment later. Janet reappeared at his window. “Are you absolutely sure you don't want to be a monster?” He nodded. “Ok, well, let’s get you unbuckled so I can at least get a few photos.”

A few photos turned out to mean standing by Janet's car for ten minutes, posing. If she had ever shown a sign of realizing his actual age, Tommy would have been worried about blackmail potential of the photos. He would have to make extra sure Eric never got ahold of them. Finally, Janet put her phone away.

“Alright, I found another costume in the trunk, but I want you to promise me you're going to be good.”

“I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” He curled his pinky around hers. “Pinky promise to be a good litlte boy?”

“I pinky promise to be a good little boy.” He said. Janet nodded approvingly and Tommy soon found himself in nothing but the diaper, shivering in the late October breeze.

His new costume was a firefighter: red boots, a red hat, and a big yellow coat. Janet looked him over appraisingly.

“I guess it's not super obvious you're not wearing pants.” She said, making sure the elastic band from the hat was tucked under his chin. “Maybe we can tell the parents you're a stripper.” She laughed.

“A stripper?” He said in disbelief.

“That's just a grown-up joke.” She smiled and took his hand. “Let's go inside and partay!”

This was Tommy's first real opportunity to walk in a diaper. Between the heavy boots and the diaper forcing him to walk with his legs further apart than normal, he felt as though he looked like he hadn't completely mastered walking yet.

“Aww, look at the cute little baby firefighter.” A girl who could not have been older than eight said. She was dressed like a princess and held a bulging bag of candy. She looked up at Janet. “What's his name?”

“Tommy.”

“Do you want a piece of candy, Tommy?” She looked back up at Janet. “Does he know what to say?”

“Go on, Tommy.” Janet said, squeezing his hand.

“Trick or treat.” Since he did not have a bag, he extended his hand out. She smiled and handed him a Tootsie Roll. “Thank you.” He intoned, feeling his face growing red. She giggled and ran off.

“Wasn't that nice?” Janet said, taking the Tootsie Roll and slipping it into the pocket of Tommy's coat. “Up you come.” She carried him into the building, which was apparently the epicenter for toddlers. “Oh, this'll be fun.” Janet said, setting him down on the floor again. “We'll have to do everything!”

And everything they did. Janet took Tommy over to a game of Simon Says where Tommy had to cluck like a chicken, jump up and down, turn in a circle, and boo like a ghost while Janet filmed the whole thing. When Tommy had to wave his hands up high above his head, his coat came unbuttoned, exposing his tummy and diaper, but the game continued. With my luck, he thought, someone I know'll be here with their little brother or sister and they'll see me like this.

“Let's get you set back to rights.” Janet said, fixing his costume once the game had ended. “Don't look at me like that. It's a daycare. Lots of little boys in diapers here.” She pointed to a boy in a teddy bear onesie who couldn't have even been one year old. Tommy grimaced. “Let's go paint a pumpkin!”

Tommy sat at the little table, fingers covered in paint as he tried his best to paint a pumpkin that would prove he was in ninth grade and did not deserve the injustice of being diapered and attending a daycare Halloween party.

“Very scary!” Janet remarked. “Let's get a photo of the artist and his masterpiece!” Tommy forced a smile.

The next activity was a singalong dance party. Janet recorded it again, smiling as Tommy held hands with other toddlers, waddle-clunking his way around in a circle. The way he always looked so serious only made it a cuter scene, especially once they broke from the circle dance and got to freestyle on the rug. It was adorable how he kept trying to get out of the group, only to get pushed back into it.

“Alright, I think this is the last activity.” Janet said, eyeing a series of tunnels curiously.

“Who's this little guy?” The woman by the tunnel asked. She wore a black and orange Halloween vest with a knit witch on it.

“His name's Tommy. He's my brother's friend's baby brother.” Janet explained.

“Ok, Tommy. What you're gonna do is crawl through this tunnel and keep going until you reach that tunnel over there, kay?” Tommy nodded, though the prospect of crawling did not excite him one bit. “We'll just take your boots off.” Try as Tommy might to remove his boots in a dignified manner, he knew the woman got an eyeful of his diaper under his coat.

“Good luck, Tommy!” Janet said.

“We've lost a few shoes in there.” The woman told her as Tommy began to crawl. “No one over five can fit inside without us taking it apart, so…” Tommy disappeared from sight, crawling and crinkling as fast as he could.

“Shit.” He muttered as his coat came open again. He tried to sit up enough to fix it, but the low ceiling pushed his hat back so that it dangled around his neck. All he could do was try to get through this as quickly as possible and hope that there was a point with a higher ceiling so he could fix his outfit. “Stupid Halloween!”

Tommy the firefighter had crawled into the tunnel. The Tommy that emerged looked every bit like a baby who had tried – and failed – to dress himself. His coat was down off one shoulder, his hat dangled around his neck, and his diaper was out in the open for all to see. Janet, naturally, had had her phone up at the exit to capture Tommy emerging.

“My goodness!” The woman exclaimed. “Someone had an adventure.” Janet swooped in and once again, set him to rights.

“Your monster costume would've survived all of this.” She mused, half to herself and half to him.

“You said I was a stripper.” He remarked, but she did not seem to notice.

The sun was setting as they stepped outside. Tommy waddle-clunked to the car and Janet got him buckled in, wrapping a blanket around him.

“In case you doze off.” It's a short drive back, Tommy thought, but his eyelids grew heavy. He knew he could make it back to Janet's. They had driven to this thing in like five minutes, how could he fall asleep before they made it back?

The next thing Tommy knew, the sunlight of morning was on his face. He kicked off the blanket and realized he was still in a diaper! Just a diaper. He searched his memories for any explanation, but all he could come up with was some fuzzy memories of being carried inside and put to bed. He must've slept for forever!

“Good morning! Oh, you're up.” Tommy stared at Janet, suddenly struck by an even more fuzzy memory. Had… had she changed his diaper in the middle of the night? He tried to focus on it to make it clearer, but that only bewildered him more. Had Jake and Eric been there? Even if Janet had changed his diaper, she would have never let them watch.

“Can I get dressed?” He asked as Janet used his confused state as an excuse to pick him up.

“Let's do breakfast first.”

“No! Not in just a diaper!”

Jake and Eric must have come back last night because they came downstairs to see Tommy sitting in the highchair in nothing but a diaper and bib as Janet fed him oatmeal. He wanted to ask them about last night, but with his mouth full of oatmeal, it only sounded like babbles as oatmeal fell onto his bib. Janet cooed and returned the oatmeal to his mouth. Tommy groaned inwardly. Answers would have to wait until he was a big boy again.