Lily rolled down the window to take in some of the spring air as she drove into the city of Lancaster. It had been raining all day, and now at dusk, it had finally stopped. She was driving to the house of someone who held a very special place in her heart. He was a guy she met online who had proven to be an absolute gentleman. She had spent many nights at his place, but this night was very special. It held something that left her mind flooded with too many thoughts to keep straight. She had apprehensions and fears about it.

On this visit, she would bare her soul and share her most well-kept secret. She kept this secret close to her heart. She couldn’t wait to reveal it to him, but at the same time, she had never revealed it to anyone. So the idea was a new one. Kind of like take fantasy and turning it into reality. She was nervous but also excited. Her mind was busy with thought.

Girls are often said to overthink everything. Lily was making that belief a concrete truth with her thoughts and concerns and wishes and hopes. She couldn’t help it.

Deep within her heart, she had a dream. A dream so vivid and powerful and real that she never tired of thinking about it. But to live her dream, she would have to have courage. Courage so strong that she would be able to open her heart and reveal her most secret desire. Her dream was a fantasy to be little, to be a girl again, to be regarded and taken care of like a girl. It included every sweetest thought in her mind. To run around with a world full of butterflies to chase and flowers to pick. She would be taken care of and she would feel love so deep and so true that her heart would never be without that feeling. The more she thought about being a girl, the “littler” her feelings became. She dawned on dreaming of becoming a baby again. As a baby, she would be surrounded with love and the attention would never end.

But she was a full grown female. She led an adult life, and wasn’t looking to regress to an infant’s life…maybe she could just experience it a little.

This is what led her to many ABDL websites. She was in search of that guy, whoever he might be, who fit the role of “Daddy” that she had in her mind. Her search was long, and she would often race home from work, jump into a t-shirt and a diaper, and log on, each time hoping she would find him.

What she found was a lot of people who took ABDL and BDSM and combined them. She had no desire to be bound or beaten or controlled like that. She wanted the innocence and the love and nurturing that were in her dreams. She found a few guys that saw things the same way that she did and who weren’t into the dominance of power. Unfortunately, they lived really far away. She wasn’t made of money and couldn’t relocate to them. So her search continued.

Then one evening about three months ago his profile appeared on an AB site. Like a bright beacon of light there to grant her wishes. He was a local, well… local to her. They both lived in Lancaster, PA. He had no picture of himself on his profile. Neither did she. But she began to wonder if he was someone she knew. His name didn’t sound familiar. Curiosity got the best of her, and she sent him an email. They began emailing, and eventually moved on to phone calls. She didn’t want to rush anything. This was her greatest passion and secret, and how wonderful it felt to finally talk with someone who felt the same way.

In the past three months, they had made many trips to Park City (a local shopping mall), sports bar (where he learned that two light beers was her limit), Fiorentino’s (she just loved Italian food), Long’s Park, Central Market in the city, an Arts Festival, and the list went on.

He was a Daddy, in the ABDL sense, standing 6” tall. She was a diaper girl, submissive and shy in personality. She was 5’5”, and might have weighed 98 lbs. when soaking wet. It wasn’t for a lack of eating. She was petite, and wasn’t complaining about it at all. So they were a cute match for each other.

As she turned onto his street, she started thinking about how much she enjoyed the attention and constant care he gave her. It made her feel like a little girl. She craved that feeling when they were apart, and ached for it at this moment as she parked in the lot behind his apartment building.

The warm night breeze of early June blew gently as she crossed the parking lot to his front door. She rang the buzzer. His voice cut through the night air, and charged the “butterflies” in her stomach to begin to churn.

“It’s me!” she said in a cheery little girl’s voice.

“I’ll buzz you in,” he said as the door open and she stepped into the elevator.

He lived on the top floor of an old warehouse that was transformed into a studio apartment building (a part of the renovating of downtown Lancaster). From his window you could see the lights of Clipper stadium.

The elevator door closed as she leaned against the back wall, and took her long brown hair down out of a ponytail. He loved her long hair, and spent such time running his fingers through it. She glanced over at her reflection in the elevator wall. She turned to face her reflection and began a regiment of last minute adjustments from her red skirt to his white button-down shirt she “borrowed” to her hair. His shirt was so big on her she could have worn it as a dress. She leaned in close to her reflection to check her make-up, knowing full well that it would be messed up in two minutes anyway, but that didn’t matter. So long as it was perfect when he first saw her. She leaned back and looked up, impatiently, at the floors she was passing. Her heartbeat raced and her excitement built as the “butterflies” within her stomach.

She looked down at her toes sticking out from her sandals and the red nail polish on her toenails. It matched her red fingernails, her red skirt, her lipstick and the color of her skin as she began to clench her knees together. All of this anticipation made her have to pee. She wore a pull-up in public (for discretion), but she didn’t want to greet him with a wet diaper on.

The elevator slowed down and came to stop on his floor. She was fidgeting now with urge to pee and the delight of seeing him. The doors opened and he was standing there to greet her. She leaped up into his arms and her world became him.

It was at that moment that she realized she had soaked her pull-up. The look on her face went from elation to horror. Tears came into her eyes as she gazed up at him again like a lost soul. He smiled warmly at her, placed a pacifier in her lips, brushed away the tears from her eyes, and ran his fingers gently down her face.

She closed her eyes and smiled behind her pacifier. They embraced even tighter. She laid her head on his chest as he carried her back to get changed. Everything would be all right because on this night she would be his BabyGirl.

He carried her back the hallway to the bathroom. Setting her down on her feet, he slid her skirt down to the floor. She kicked it off her ankles along with her sandals. He unbuttoned his shirt off her and she lowered her arms to her sides, allowing it to fall off her to the floor.

He slid her pull-up down her legs and off her feet. Her face turned red and she buried it in her hands. He wraps his arms around body and held her close. Rocking her back and forth, he kissed the top of her head.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Daddy will take care of everything, from a hungry tummy to a sleepy girl to a wet tushy. Soon you’ll be dry and powdered and in a soft diaper,” he said while stroking her hair.

He put two fingers under her chin and raised her eyes up to look at him. She lowered her hands from her face. “Does that sound comforting?” he asked.

She nodded her head, and he ran his fingers gently down her face once more. Taking her by the hips, he gently lifted her up on the counter. Taking out a wipe, he began to gently clean her diaper area. As he did this, he began tickling her sides. She twitched and giggled as she kicked her legs up at him. She jumped from her seat on the counter back into his arms, still giggling and squirming. He wrapped his right arm around her waist and began wiping her bottom. She soon settled down and laid her head on his chest again, reveling in how sweet he was being. It was because of him that she could play the baby. He made her so comfortable she never doubted him to be anything other than wonderful. In her eyes and her heart, he definitely wasn’t a frog in a stolen crown.

He threw the wipe in the waste can, and then pulled out of his shirt pocket a pacifier clip with a string that he attached to her pacifier. The clip he attached to the shoulder of her white t-shirt.

“You might need this,” he said with a sneaky grin on his face that got her mind wondering what he was up to.

“Why”, she mumbled behind her pacifier.

“I’ll show you,” he said. “Cover your eyes.”

She did so, and he guided her down the hall to the guest room. As she was being led, her mind began racing again at what she was about to see. Zeke had this ability to absolutely astonish her with surprises. He would remember little things that she said from weeks ago and he would go out and find what she was talking about. Whether it was a book or a movie or a pair of earrings, he would find it.

He opened the guest room door, and walked her in. Standing behind her, he said: “Okay, Princess. Open your eyes.”

She took her hands away from her face. Her jaw dropped at what she saw as her pacifier fell from her mouth but stayed attached to her t-shirt. Lily was standing in the middle of a room that Zeke had transformed into a nursery. Not just any nursery, but he took every single thing, every single detail that she gave him about what her ‘dream’ nursery would look like, and he created it in this room.

She looked around, intently, and in an awestruck state of mind, she slowly walked over to a toy chest on the other side of the room. She kneeled in front of it, and opened the lid. Her eyes grew wide with excitement. She bounced up and down as she saw every toy from her childhood.

From My Little Pony to Rainbow Brite to Cabbage Patch Dolls to Care Bears to every girl’s favorite, Barbie. They were all there. He even found a She-ra, Princess of Power action figure (thanks to Ebay). She began to pull everything out in great haste until the chest was empty.

She stood up with the brightest of smiles and looked over at him with twinkling eyes. Then she noticed what was on the walls. Butterfly stickers in every color she could imagine. She spun around in circles with her arms stretched out wide. Then she noticed the crib! Loaded with teddy bears! Brown teddy bears! She ran over to the side of the crib and lowered it. The sheets, the pink sheets had Disney Princess prints on them!

Fearing that Lily would start peeing (which she often did when she got too excited), Zeke walked up behind her and lightly patted her bare bottom.

“Someone still needs to be diapered,” he said as he delicately tried to direct her over to the changing table (which she hadn’t seen yet.

She broke free of him and ran over to the closet, throwing the doors open and gazing at the clothing hanging up. It wasn’t AB clothing, but it all looked just cute enough that any outfit could give her that “baby” feeling when she wore it, without giving it away to anyone else. So this clothing she could wear anywhere she wanted.

This entire room was created specifically for her, with her specific joy in mind. She turned around to him and plow into his chest, squeezing him as hard as she could while trying to say the words ‘Thank You’ as many times as she could inside of ten seconds. Then she spotted the book shelf in the corner. She ran over to it and knelt down, looking at all the book titles. Zeke picked up the diaper that was spread out on the changing table, unfolded, powdered, and ready to go. At this rate, he would never get it on her.

Lily stood up and saw the biggest basket of crayons she had ever seen. Next to the basket were coloring books. Above the book shelf on the wall was a painting of a baby girl, lying on a Lily leaf, surrounded by a beautiful forest. She became spellbound by it, and stared at it, intently.

Zeke walked up behind her, positioned the diaper between her feet and slowly slid it up the length of her legs. She closed her eyes and gasped lightly. The feeling of the diaper on her skin made her shutter. She became very still and quiet as he brought the diaper up her body and into place. He fastened it carefully and sweetly. She turned to him and daintily raised her hands up to him.

He lifted her up into his arms and began to carry her out of the room. When they got to the door, he asked he to turn the lights out. When she did so, the ceiling lit up glow-in-the-dark stars, aligned as they appeared in the summer sky.

Astronomy was a hobby of hers. Tears streamed down her face as he carried back into the living room. She was so overcome with emotion she couldn’t even make a sound. He sat down in the couch and laid her across his lap. Wrapping her in a cotton blanket, he propped her head and shoulders up. Sitting on the table behind the couch was a bottle of milk that she never saw when she entered.

He placed the nipple of the bottle on her bottom lip, and softly said: “Open.”

She opened her lips and took in the nipple. Closing her eyes and beginning to drink from the bottle, she rested the side of her face on his chest while curling her body up tightly against him in the fetal position. What else could he possibly have planned? What other surprises could he have in store? And when was he going to ask her to marry him so she could live like this every day?

Zeke didn’t just have a head full of fantasy, but his thoughts were full of love. His caring heart was evident in his actions, his words, his intentions, his being.

She didn’t live every day like this, and she wouldn’t want to. She was still an adult, and led an adult life, but she sure wouldn’t mind living like this a little more often. Her mind, always busy with thought and analysis, started to slow down. Each thought that came to be was built off the previous thought. She didn’t want to move. She was so comfortable right now, and the milk was making her sleepy.

Zeke, who was rocking her gently while watching her nurse the bottle, brushed her bangs out of her eyes. He ran his fingers, ever-so-softly, over her eyebrows and down her cheeks.

Then her eyelids began to twitch. She had begun dreaming…

“Go on in. I’ll be right there after I put the high chair away,” he said.

Lily ran out of the kitchen, down the hallway and into the nursery, with her diapered bottom crinkling all the way. She dashed back out of the nursery to the living room where she had left her teddy bear. With bear in hand, she ran back into nursery.

She ran over to the toys that she had scattered on the floor earlier. Then she felt a breeze come from the window. She looked over at the window and saw it was cracked open about a foot. Sitting on the window ledge was the oyster!!!!

She ran over the window, and threw it up completely, looking out into the pitch black backyard.

Then she opened the oyster. In it were the two pearls and a little note, which read …

“Lily, thank you very much for visiting the countryside. Please come back and visit us again and often.”

Lily leaned out the window, and called into the backyard. “Hello?”

“Hello,” a very sheepish voice said from behind a tree.

Out walked an elf, six inches high. He stopped in the grass about three feet in front of the nursery window.

“Who are you?” Lily asked.

“I’m a woods elf. Who are you?” replied the elf.

“I’m Lily.”

“You can’t be Lily,” said the elf as he walked a little closer to the window.

“Why not?” she asked while resting her chin on the window sill.

“Because you are an adult. Adults can’t see me,” said the elf as he leapt up onto the window sill to get a closer look at her. “Unless you are a child at heart. Are you?”

“I think I am,” said Lily with a smile.

“That explains it,” said the elf. “Thank you for coming to the countryside earlier.”

“I thought that was just a dream,” she said with bewilderment.

“It was a dream. It was your dream. The countryside can only be seen in a dream,” explained the elf. “All the butterflies, fish, trees and flowers said you were the sweetest human who ever dreamed.”

“Please tell them I said thank you,” said Lily as she sat on the window sill. “I think that are all really sweet, too.”

“I will, and they said you are welcome back any time you dream,” said the elf as he sat on the other side of the window sill.

The moonlight shown through the window as the two silhouettes continued to talk.

“I’m a little confused by something. If I visited the countryside in my dreams, then why did I find this on the window ledge?” she asked holding up the oyster with two pearls inside.

The elf’s eyes lit up and he began dancing excitedly. “It means you are a true believer! Only the purest of hearts can bring something back from the countryside. That’s the pearl oyster from the lake! It’s the second greatest treasure of the countryside!” he exclaimed.

“I’ll guard it with my heart,” Lily promised.

“I know you will, Lily,” the elf said. “Take care of yourself.”

The elf hopped off of the window sill and back to the grass, beginning to leave, when Lily called to him again. “What is your name?” she asked.

“I don’t have a name,” he said. “I’m just a woods elf.”

“You don’t have a name? That’s horrible. Everybody should have a name,” she stated.

“Why? What’s so important about a name?” he asked.

“It makes you a very special person, different from everyone else,” she explained.

The elf paused for a moment, scratching his head to think. “Will you give me a name?” he asked.

“I would love to,” she said will crossing her legs Indian-style. “Let’s see. You are a boy elf and you a come from the woods. How about I call you Mr. Woody?”

“That sounds like a wonderful name. Thank you, Lily. I have to get back to the countryside now. See you in your dreams,” he said as he turned and started walking away.

“Mr. Woody?” she called to him, but he didn’t turn around. “Mr. Woody?”

Suddenly he stopped and laughed. Turning back to her he said, “That’s my name, isn’t it. No one has ever called to me with a name before.”

“You’ll get used to it, Mr. Woody. Will you come see me again soon?” she asked.

“You can count on it, he replied.

“And will you tell me what the greatest treasure of the countryside is some time?” she inquired.

“As you wish, Lily. Not only will I tell you, but in your next dream, I will show you,” he replied. “Good bye, Lily.”

He disappeared into the night. Zeke entered the nursery, and Lily spun around from the window to face him.

“What would you like to do?” Zeke asked.

Without hesitating, she ran over to the book shelf and picked up Dr. Seuss’s ‘The Lorax’, and then pointed to the rocking chair. She then ran out of the nursery quickly to the living room, where she grabbed her blanket off the floor. She ran back into the nursery just as quickly with her diaper crinkling all the way.

Zeke had all ready taken a seat on the rocking chair. She wrapped the blanket around her like a cape and crawled up on his lap. Zeke continued wrapping her in the blanket until she was completely swaddled in it; even the tips of her toes were covered. In one hand, she clung to her teddy bear. She took a few seconds to situate herself on his lap until she was contented.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked, jokingly.

She giggled and nodded her head enthusiastically. He handed her a bottle of apple juice. In one motion, the pacifier fell from her lips and she took the bottle tip in her mouth. She curled up in his lap in the fetal position as Zeke opened the book and began reading:

“At the far end of town where the grackle-grass grows,

And the wind smells slow and sour when it blows,

And no birds ever sing excepting old crows…

Is the street of the Lifted Lorax.”

Listening to the sound of his voice, she stared up at him. It felt so good to be in his arms. She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes for a moment. She could feel his warmth and she listened to sound of his voice vibrating inside him. The story he was telling didn’t matter. The fact that he was telling that story is what she loved. Turning her attention to the pictures on the pages, she traced the drawings of trees and people with her fingers as he read, making certain to point at the picture of the Lorax every time Zeke mentioned him.

Zeke got to the last page and finished the book:

“So plant a new Trufulla tree. Treat it with care.

Give it clean water and feed it fresh air.

Grow a forest, and protect it from the axe’s hack

Then the Lorax and all his friends may come back.”

Closing the book, he gazed down at Lily who was looking up at him with eyes that spoke a deep-rooted love.

“Now, I’d like to ask you something,” he said as he stood up, still holding her in her arms.

When he stood up, he discovered she had wet her diaper so much that it had leaked into the blanket around her.

“And I’ll ask you that question in just one minute,” he said as he unwrapped the blanket from around her and placed it in the hamper.

She shivered for a moment without the blanket around her. Zeke sat her on the changing table. Her arms went up, her t-shirt came off and as he gently laid her across the top of the table, he guided her head and back down onto the changing mat.

Lily stared at the ceiling above her. This was a position she was getting used to being in, and it was a moment she was getting comfortable with. Zeke handed her the teddy bear which he clung to dearly. That sense of complete vulnerability came over her as he unfastened her wet diaper, lifted her legs in the air, and threw it away. There she lay, naked from head to toe, but she had grown to overcome that vulnerable feeling. She knew she was in the hands of a very loving and caring guy who understood the meaning of the words - gentle and tender. Most guys didn’t know what those words meant, and you could tell in the way they handled you.

With her legs in the air, Zeke took the time to caressingly clean her bottom and front side. It was a pleasant feeling, not rushed, and not prolonged. She closed her eyes and felt the coolness of powdered on her bottom as he lowered her down onto a diaper she didn’t even know he had placed on the table beneath her. He fastened the diaper tapes, and gave her the traditional post-changing Eskimo nose kisses.

“Shall we go on a trip?” he asked as her eye lit up with excitement. “To Wal-Mart?”

She sat up on the changing table, with wide-eyed anticipation.

“To buy a crib toy,” he said.

She leaped off the table into his arms and wrapped herself around him.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said as he patted her diapered bottom while carrying her over to the bookshelf. “Can I leave you here while I go pack a ‘bag’ for our little trip?”

She shook her head yes. He gave her a wink.

“Why don’t you color me a picture?” he asked.

“Okay. What should I draw?” she asked.

“The first thing that comes to your mind,” he said while kissing her on the forehead, placing her pacifier in her mouth and exiting the nursery.

She sat there on the nursery rug for a moment and looked around. Then she looked at the window, and remembered Mr. Woody. Quickly, she crawled over to the crayon basket, grabbed a handful of crayons and a piece of paper. She laid the paper on the floor and organized the crayons by size and color. She made a rainbow shape with them next to the paper. She began drawing the picture of Mr. Woody while squinting her left eye. This helped her to concentrate.

Meanwhile, Zeke had been packing a discreet diaper bag. It was one of Lily’s purses designated for this use. He re-entered the nursery with her purse and a blue button-down shirt from his closet. He paused at the doorway to adore the sight of her lying on her tummy on the rug, coloring. Her head was bobbing back and forth, and she had drawn her legs up at the knees.

He slowly walked up behind her, and looked over your shoulder at what she was drawing.

“Hello, Daddy,” she said without stopping what she was doing.

“Who is that?” he asked.

“It’s Mr. Woody,” she replied while sitting up and turning around.

“And who is he?” Zeke asked while setting her purse down. “Arms up.”

She raised her arms in the air and he put the shirt on her.

“He’s my friend, but only I can see him,” Lily said with liveliness as she lay on her back and stuck her feet up in the air.

He put her sandals on, and helped her to her feet. Attaching her pacifier to the shirt with a clip and string, he then handed her the purse.

“You ready?” he asked.

She put the pacifier in her mouth and nodded her head. Off they went, out to the car, and she skipped the whole way.

They got in his car and it started raining, almost right on cue. Lily looked out the window, disappointed. She looked over at Zeke, and took the pacifier out of her mouth.

“I guess we’re not going, huh?” she said, saddened.

Zeke looked over at her, cocked his head slightly to the side, and started the car. He smiled at her and winked. She smiled back, put the pacifier back in her mouth, clicked her seat belt into place, and folded her legs up on the seat, Indian-style. Away they went.

Taking trips was always a thrill. They had gone shopping and out to late night diners in the wee hours of the morning before, and every time they made these trips, they got a little more “daring”. Lily didn’t take her love for being a baby out into public. She didn’t want to do that. Neither did Zeke, but they would sometimes test the limits, and each time they would add a little more.

On this trip, Lily wasn’t wearing anything over her diaper, just a button-down shirt. It was long enough to go mid way down her legs, but the danger of discovery was still there. It was a thrill to do it, yet still subtle enough to not give it away. During the ride to Wal-Mart, she sat there deciding what she wanted Zeke to buy her. She could see the baby section clearly in her mind and she was going through the contents of each shelf.

Almost as if it were on cue again, the rain stopped just as they arrived. So he parked at the far end of the parking lot, and they walked the length to the entrance. He held onto her hand and she was almost pulling him as she skipped her way along, taking in the fresh air brought about by the rain. Her disposable diaper was crinkling with every stride she took. She had begun the thrill.

They got to the entrance, and she settled down as they walked in. At the last second, she remembered to take the pacifier out of her mouth and drop it into the shirt pocket.

“Welcome to Wal-Mart,” said the greeter.

“Thank you,” said Zeke as Lily gave the greeter a playful finger-wiggling wave.

They made their way to the baby section, and then everything became serious business to her. She walked each aisle with a deliberately slow stride, inspecting each shelf, searching for that perfect crib toy. It was out there, and she was determined to find it.

Zeke stood back and watched with an almost tell-tale grin on his face. With every “little” shopping spree she went on, she always bought another pacifier. In her mind, she could never have enough of those. And she always bought another stuffed animal. After all, what good is a crib if it isn’t packed full of stuffed animals. So she picked a green pacifier with a smiling fish on it, and an earthworm striped with every color of the rainbow.

Now, that she had those selections out of the way, she could finally focus on the new crib toy. She all ready had the sheets she liked, an activity toy when she couldn’t sleep, a baby alarm clock that played nursery rhymes when it went off, a little book made of cloth that she could read, and so many other things that made her crib time restful and fun.

Then the answer dawned on her. She didn’t want another toy for the inside of her crib. She wanted a toy for the outside of her crib, or better yet…a toy to go above her crib! A mobile! That was what she wanted. She turned around to Zeke with a look of exhilaration.

“It looks like you made up your mind. You’re very excited, Princess,” he said as she grabbed his hand and took him over to the crib section.

She began looking through the crib accessories until she found the mobile. She examined every single one until she found the perfect mobile. She pointed to the box on the top shelf, and started jumping up and down.

“That one right there?” said Zeke as he pointed to a mobile that had butterflies, fish, trees and flowers on it.

He took it down off the shelf, and handed it to her. She held the box up and studied the picture of the mobile on the front. Her eyes were big and wide. Zeke stood behind her and read the name on the box.

“Countryside Mobile,” he said as he noticed she was pinching her knees together. Discreetly, he lifted up the back of her shirt and felt the seat of her diaper. It was soaked. She was so excited by this mobile that she wet her diaper.

“Are you ready to go?” asked Zeke.

She nodded enthusiastically, but never took her eyes off the box. They walked up to the checkout, and Zeke sighed. As usual, there was only one checkout lane open in the entire Wal-Mart, thought there were 51 other registers available. They stood behind three other customers, which on the Wal-Mart checkout time conversion chart meant they would be waiting approximately 12-15 minutes.

So they began waiting to purchase three items: a pacifier, a stuffed animal, and a mobile. Lily was perfectly content with looking at the mobile box. She was entertained. Zeke had learned patience. So this wait wouldn’t be excruciating. Not until Lily’s tummy made a noise for a second, and her eyes of wonderment slowly faded. She lowered her head, and got very shy, standing as close to Zeke’s side as possible.

The reason for her change of mind became clear. The oatmeal had caught up to her, and there she stood in a slow moving checkout line, pooping in her diaper.

“Would you like to come back later?” said Zeke. “We can leave for now.”

She shook her head no as she buried her body into his side, but there was still one person in front of them and she had a full cart of groceries. Slowly, this lady started putting her groceries on the conveyor belt. Lily buried her face in his chest. He glanced down at her and saw a tear streaming down her cheek. The scent of her diaper was beginning to permeate the air around them. He looked behind them and there were three other customers waiting. It wouldn’t be long before people would begin to detect something was going on. He was about to put the items back and take her home, which would have been to her disappointment, but just then, the solution presented itself.

A woman walked up to the back of the line. She was carrying a bag of diapers and a package of wipes in her one arm. In the other arm, she held a baby. The baby was crying, really loudly. The sound was almost piercing. As the lady at the register, finally put the last grocery items from her cart onto the conveyor belt, Zeke called back to the lady with the crying baby in the back of the line.

“Ma’am, why don’t you get in line in front of me?” he offered, as everyone else behind him flashed him a look of disgust.

“No, that’s all right,” she said. “I’ll wait my turn.”

At this point, the scent of Lily’s dirty diaper had grown strong in the air. The others in line were noticing it. The baby stopped crying and started wailing. Zeke turned back to the lady again.

“Ma’am, I insist. It seems your little one might need some attention,” he said to the lady I the back of the line as he turned to the rest of the line behind him. “Guys, would it be okay if she cuts in front of us.”

Everyone in the line, now delirious from the scent of a dirty diaper, agreed to let her in front, believing the dirty diaper to be attached to the baby in the lady’s arm.

“I thank you gentlemen very kindly,” the lady said as she stepped forward and placed her items on the conveyor belt.

Zeke looked down at Lily who was smiling brightly from ear to ear. He wiped away her tear, and winked at her. And after what seemed like another ten minutes, Zeke and Lily got to the conveyor belt, placed their items down, paid for them and began walking out.

On the way out, Lily began to walk a little more slowly, paying careful attention to every step. She was trying to mask the fact that she was beginning to waddle instead of walk, in an effort to avoid making a bigger mess to clean up in her diaper.

They began exiting the Wal-Mart, but not before the alarm went off for absolutely no reason as usual. They had to walk over to the greeter, show him the receipt, and the items in the bag. This time, Lily wasn’t so friendly with the greeter, but he let them go, since nothing was wrong anyway.

They exited the store, and Lily immediately spoke up, half-panicked and half-relieved:

“Zeke, I love you so much. I didn’t want to leave because this was the last countryside mobile they had. I thought if we left and came back, it would be gone. And I thought for sure, somebody would figure out that scent was coming from…”

“I know. I know. It’s okay,” he said giving her a hug. “And I love you, too. Nobody would’ve figured it out, but you were really scared they would. I’m glad that lady showed with her baby.”

“Me, too,” said Lily with a giggle.

They made their way to the end of the parking lot, and to his car. He opened the back door and placed the bag on the floor. He picked her up and laid her down, ever-so-gently, on the back seat. Gathering up the two tails of the button-down shirt in his hands, he tied them in a knot just above her belly button. This would keep the shirt out of the way.

He handed her the earthworm they had just bought, and he put the pacifier (that was tucked away in her shirt pocket) between her lips. Instantly, she relaxed her body as he unfastened her diaper tapes. Digging into her purse-turned-diaper bag, he pulled out the pack if wipes.

He folded down the front of her diaper while lifting her legs and bottom in the air. Using the front of her diaper, he wiped off the excess from her bottom, and slid that diaper to the floor for the time being. He then took a wipe and began to soothingly clean her bottom.

She looked up at the dome light in the middle of the roof. Zeke had turned it off, but she still had the nervousness of the public “thrill” inside her, and as he continued to wipe her clean, she began to get that “baby feeling”. It made her feel little and though her heart was pounding, it was a feeling that she craved like no other. Soon the sweet scent of baby powder filled the air, a much nicer aroma. Then she heard the rustling of her new diaper. Lowering her down onto the new diaper, Zeke gave her another wink. He fastened the tapes in place, and then wrapped up the dirty diaper into a ball.

He lifted her up into his arms. She knew where they were going. There was one last “thrill” to be had. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as he shut the door, and carried her over to the trash can to dispose of the dirty diaper. Whereas before, the button-down shirt covered her diaper, now it didn’t because he tied the ends of it into a knot. So there was, wrapped around his body, with a completely exposed diaper. They made their way to the trash can, and he threw the diaper into it. Walking back, she had a grin on her face once again. The “thrill” was now complete.

They got into the car, and drove off. She turned on the radio, and the song “If I had a million dollars…” was playing.

“What would you buy if you had a million dollars?” Zeke asked.

“I would buy every kitty and puppy in the world,” she answered.

“And a whole lot of dog and cat food too, I bet,” he said.

“Nope. I would cook their food myself,” she stated.

“Really?” he asked.

“Uh-huh, and then I would feed them all and teach them to be nice to each other,” she said as she put her legs up Indian-style.

Then Bruce Springsteen’s “Working on a Dream” came on.

“And what dream would you work on?” Zeke asked.

“I’m living that dream with you,” she replied. “But when I sleep, I go to a place in a countryside where I dance with the butterflies, and swim with the fishies and Mr. Woody said he was going to show me the greatest treasure of the countryside.”

And with that, she yawned.

“Mm-hmm. And when we get home, I think it’s bed time for you,” he said “Would you like that?”

“Yes, Daddy. I would like that very much,” she responded.

For the rest of the drive home, she fought off sleep, nodding in and out.

They pulled into his driveway, and got out. He grabbed the bag with the pacifier and the mobile in it with one hand, and carried her in his other. They entered the house, stopping by the kitchen long enough for Zeke to put a bottle of milk together, and then headed straight to the nursery.

Undoing the knot in her shirt, he took it off of her, and reached in the top drawer of the dresser. He slipped a nightie on over her shoulders and arms. He laid her down in the crib, and placed the nipple of the bottle to her lips. She took it in her mouth and grabbed the bottle with both hands. She curled her body up in a ball and she nursed on it.

In a matter a minute or two, Zeke had put the mobile together and attached it to the headboard of the crib. He wound it up, walked over to the doorway, dimmed the lights of the room, and returned to her crib side. She handed him the empty baby bottle, and he leaned in. He tucked her under a blanket, put the new green pacifier in her mouth, kissed her on the forehead, and said:

“Sweet dreams, BabyGirl. I love you.”

She took the pacifier out of her mouth, reached her hand up behind his head, leaned up to his face, and kissed him very sweetly on the lips.

“I love you, too,” she said as a tear formed in her eye.

They embraced, and he tucked her back in again before exiting the room and leaving the door slightly cracked. She looked up at the mobile that was quietly playing a silly little tune. With her earthworm stuffed animal in one arm. She curled up, ready to return to a place she could only visit in her dreams….The Countryside.

She closed her eyes and drifted off the sleep…..

Lily awoke in her crib. She sat up and looked around. “Mr. Woody?” she quietly called out.

Mr. Woody appeared at the window.

“At your service, Lily Girl,” he said as he hopped down onto the floor and let down the side of her crib for her to climb out. “We have a journey to make, and as I promised, I will show you the greatest treasure in all the countryside. Are you ready to go?”

“Can Daddy come with us?” she asked.

“Who? Do you mean that giant guy?” Mr. Woody asked.

“He’s not a giant. He’s only six feet tall,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m only six inches tall. He’s a giant to me,” Mr. Woody replied. “But he’s not a child at heart. So he can’t come with us.”

She grabbed her teddy bear and her blanket, and out the nursery window they went. She was wearing a nightie (with a pacifier attached to it) and her diaper. They leapt onto the grass, ran across field, and stopped at the edge of the moonlit lake.

“Now, stare at the surface of the water,” Mr. Woody instructed.

“Why?” Lily asked.

“You will see the reflection of the greatest treasure of the countryside,” he replied.

“Can’t you just show me the treasure?” she inquired.

“I wish I could, Sweetheart, but humans can’t see the treasure, only it’s reflection in the lake,” he explained.

She looks in water, sees the nighttime sky, and the moon cascading its light down onto the hill behind her. And there running up that side of the hill to its summit were two pure white unicorns with long white manes. They danced and played with each other.

She clapped her hands, and bounced up and down as she watched them.

“These two unicorns were here before any of us. One is a male and one is a female. They never get older,” Mr. Woody said.

“What are their names?” Lily asked.

“They don’t have names,” he answered, and after a pause continued. “Would you like to name them, Lily Girl?”

“Can I?” she asked with surprise.

“Yes,” he replied. “What would you like their names to be?”

Lily sat there and watched their reflections in the water. For a time, she sat there and didn’t make a sound or a movement. The noises of a light breeze and crickets are all that could be heard. Finally, she broke the silence.

“I think I’ll name the male one ‘Magic’, and the female one ‘Moonbeam’. How about those names?” she asked as she looked over at Mr. Woody, who had fallen asleep by the edge of the lake.

She laid her teddy bear by his side and covered them both with her blanket. She looked at the unicorn’s reflection in the water one more time before leaving.

Thank you, Mr. Woody,” she said. “They’re beautiful. They really are the greatest treasure.”

She kissed him on the forehead, and dashed back to the house as best as she could while wearing a diaper. Crawling through the window, she tip-toed back to her crib, and crawled back in on the open side. She raised the side of the crib, and lay back down amongst the sea of stuffed animals and blankets. Putting the pacifier back in her mouth, she covered herself with a blanket and lay down on her tummy. The moment her face touched the pillow she fell asleep.

A while later she awoke with a knot of pain in her stomach. Opening her eyes, she saw a light in the room that she hadn’t before. It was a night light across the room plugged into the outlet by the bookshelf. She got up onto her knees and peered through the crib bars. Now she could clearly make out what the design was in front of it. It was a plastic covering with a picture of two white unicorns on it.

The knot in her stomach gave way and she wet her diaper. It was such a relief that she lay back down to return to sleep, but first she looked over at the night light again. Smiling, she realized that the light behind those unicorns made them look exactly like the ones she saw in the lake’s surface.

She closed her eyes to sleep, but still had pain in her stomach. Getting frustrated, she squinted her eyes harder to fall asleep, but it didn’t happen. She refused to cry, but had no choice. Tears began to form in her eyes, and all she wanted was to go to sleep, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t.

Just then, appearing in the nursery doorway like a saving grace was Zeke. He walked in, and seeing she was awake and upset, lowered the side of the crib. He knelt down next to her and stroked her cheeks while wiping the tears away from her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Lily?” he asked. “Bad dream?”

She shook her head no while reaching out and touching his face lightly. She drew her fingertips along his jaw line and traced the outline of his eyes and nose. He reached down between her legs, feeling her wet diaper.

“That’s what it is,” he said while standing up.

She raised her arms up and he lifted her out of the crib, carrying her over to the changing table. He eased her down onto the mat, and she relaxed her body as he unfastened her diaper tapes. She gently sucked on her pacifier while gazing up at him. His hair was mess. He had no shirt on, and obviously had just woken up seconds before he entered the nursery.

She smiled behind her pacifier at him. He gave her a wink and raised her bottom and legs into the air while sliding her wet diaper to the side and wiping her clean. She closed her eyes and giggle. Sometimes the feeling of the wipe on her bottom tickled her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the night light again. She looked over at it. She could hear the rustling of her new diaper being placed beneath her on the changing mat, but kept looking at the glow of the night light. The scent of powder filled the air and he eased her bottom down onto the diaper. She felt him putting the diaper into place around her waist, and she heard the tapes being fastened.

She kept her eyes and attention on the night light as he lifted her into his arms.

“Do you like that light?” he asked. “I forgot I had bought it. So when I found it, I snuck in here a few hours ago and put it in that outlet.”

He carried her out into the kitchen, and poured warm water into a baby bottle of formula. He began shaking it up. Then Lily took it out of his hands and began to shake it up herself.

He guided the nipple to her lips, and she took it in. She leaned her head on his chest as she began to drink the formula.

“When I was a baby, I had colic stomach pain,” he said. “Basically, my stomach hurt.”

He began walking around the living room, and very lightly bouncing her as he continued talking.

“A cramping formed in my stomach,” he said as he stroked her hair. “It woke me up at night, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. All it took was a little formula to make that stomach pain go away. At least, that’s what my mother told me.”

He kept walking around and bouncing her up and down until she was down with the bottle. He placed the bottle on the table behind the couch, and gave her a hug while patting her back. She let out a few tiny burps and then sighed. The pain was gone.

He put her pacifier back into her mouth, and carried her back into the nursery. Her eyes caught the night light again.

“You are mesmerized by this night light,” he said while kneeling down.

She climbed down from his arms to the floor and crawled over to it. She traced the horns on the unicorns’ heads. Then she noticed the words beneath each horse. “Magic and Moonbeam” were written there. She leaned back and yawned.

“Do you want to sleep in my bed?” he asked.

She nodded yes as he lifted her up into his arms. He carried her out of the room, and then carried her back into the room to pull the night light out of the wall so they could take it with them. He carried her into his bedroom, and placed her on the bed.

Walking over to the outlet and putting the night light in it, he said: “It’ll be dawn in a few hours. You’re gonna love what the sunrise looks like.”

He stood up and turned back to her on the bed. She was already on her back and asleep. Zeke smiled, and crawled into bed next to her. He covered them both, and closed his eyes. She rolled over on top of half of his body, curled up and went to sleep.

Dawn would soon be upon them.

A short while passed, and the nighttime sky became a mixture of the first traces of dawn and fleeting moonlight. Lily awoke. She always liked to fall asleep on her tummy, but always woke up on her back. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling which was also showing the first morning light.

She felt a diaper tape being fastened into place. She sat up slowly to see Zeke sitting on the side of the bed. He placed her pacifier back between her lips, and stood up, crossing to the bathroom.

She looked down at her waist and then over to Zeke. She smiled as she drew her knees up to her chest and sat on the bed in a ball. She began rocking herself back and forth, and marveling over how gentle Zeke was.

The words – compassionate, loving, caring and attentive – could be used to describe him. The one thing about him that she loved the most was how gentle he was with her. After all, he was a guy. The idea of being gentle wasn’t something on the forefront of his thoughts. So the fact that he was so gentle meant he cared enough to be so.

“…gentle enough to change my diaper without waking me up,” she thought to herself.

Lily glanced over at the bay window and at the rocking chair he had set in front of it. She rocked herself a little more quickly at the thought of soon being on his lap in that rocking chair. Taking another look at the chair, she saw something on the seat. In the faint light she squinted her eyes and strained to make out what it was. Staring at it intently, she suddenly realized it was the teddy bear and blanket she left with Mr. Woody in the countryside.

Lily quickly got off the bed and did her best diapered, waddling sprint over to the rocking chair. There was also a note on the chair. She picked it up and read it:

Lily,

Thank you for the blanket and teddy bear. I slept soundly with them.

Around the teddy bear’s neck you will find a bracelet. Put this bracelet on your wrist when you go to bed and I will see you in your dreams whenever you want.

Take Care, Lily Girl.

-Mr. Woody

She picked up the teddy bear and looked at the bracelet around its neck. It was made of grapevines that were braided together. She picked up the blanket, and diaper-waddled back to the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed, Indian-leg style. Zeke walked back out of the bathroom, and over to her. She threw her hands out to him, and he picked her up into his arms.

He walked over to rocking chair and sat down in it, putting her on his lap and facing her towards the window. Zeke stretched his legs out and propped his feet up on the window ledge. Lily did the same, stretching her legs out on top of his and leaning back on his chest. He covered her with her blanket and picked up a baby bottle of apple juice. Lily smiled behind her pacifier. Once again, she overlooked a bottle, put in plain sight, he had prepared for her. She let the pacifier fall from lips. (It was still attached to her nightie with a string.) She took the bottle nipple in her mouth, leaned her head back on his chest and began drinking from it. She looked up at him and he winked back at her. She smiled and snuggled in closely to him.

Zeke held her tightly and pointed out the window.

“In just a few minutes, you’re going to be able to see the very second the sun peeks out above the horizon,” he said.

While drinking, Lily looked up at him in a manner as if to say, “I know how a sunrise comes up.”

She crossed her eyes at him. He smiled and traced her eyebrows with his fingers. They turned their attention back to the window, and at that moment, dawn broke.

“Here comes the sun,” he said as the first beams of light broke free from the horizon, cascading a warm orange glow on everything they touched.

Every dew drop on every blade of grass soaked in the rays of the new sunlight, from the edge of the house clear down to the forest. Lily stopped drinking from her bottle and stared in amazement. Her eyes welled up with tears as she took in the sight of dawn. She looked up at him, and he playfully crossed his eyes at her. She smiled a little and returned to her bottle, but kept her eyes looking out that window.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Zeke was slowly rocking the chair. She finished her bottle at the same time that the sun was beginning to brighten the sky. He stood up with her in his arms to carry her into the living room. As he readjusted her on his hip, she let out a tiny little burp, followed by a giggle. Realizing there was more to come, she rested her head and body against his neck and chest.

He lightly patted her back and a barrage of tiny burps came out, followed by a sigh of relief when she had finished. He carried her into the living room and sat on the sofa. She remained on his chest for a moment, continuing to listen to his heartbeat. She reached up and touched his nose with her pointer finger, then stroked her fingers done over his face while taking time to trace his jaw line with her finger tips.

Suddenly a random thought came to her mind and she sat up while looking over at the nursery room door. She got off his lap and did another diapered, waddle-sprint into the nursery. A few moments later, she came sprinting back into the living room with a piece of yellow construction paper and a handful of crayons. She sat on the floor in front of him and began to draw a picture of him.

Zeke sat on the couch and struck several poses – flexing his arms like Hulk Hogan, the deep thinker’s pose, Nixon’s “not a crook” fingers, jazz hands. She laughed at every pose and kept drawing him. When she finished, she handed him the drawing and crawled up on the couch beside him. Zeke looked at the drawing. She had drawn a stick figure.

“You have to put this on the fridge, Lily,” he said.

She took the drawing, sprinted out to the kitchen, and hung it on the fridge. From the living room, she heard music coming from the television. She paused for a moment, and then recognized it to be the theme song from the Gummie Bears cartoon. She sprinted back in and sat down on the floor next to the couch, Indian leg style.

Zeke got up and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. She could hear the coffeemaker and shortly after she smelled fresh coffee in the air. Zeke returned to the living room and set on the coffee table a bowl of cereal, a glass of milk and a plate of scrambled eggs. Oh my, she loved scrambled eggs! She crawled over to the table and began eating the eggs with a spoon as Zeke put a bib around her neck.

She heard him go into the kitchen for coffee. As if eggs were going out of style, she ate them quickly, licked the spoon, poured them milk into the cereal and continued breakfast. The cereal was Fruity Pebbles. She liked them because they each had different colors of the rainbow, and they also changed the color of the milk. She liked the Gummie Bears because they bounced a lot each episode. When they bounced, she bounced.

There she sat, in her own world, filled with simple joy, the kind of childhood fun that most adults have forgotten. She occasionally looked back at Zeke who was sitting on the couch enjoying the morning caffeine of his coffee. All she could do was smile. It wasn’t a perfect situation, and it never would be. A perfect situation wasn’t something she could believe in. Perfect situations only existed in her dreams. In reality, there were only perfect intentions, but she loved everything that her reality with him was and everything it was becoming.

Zeke left the room for a moment and now was her chance. She finished her cereal and lifted the bowl to her lips so she could slurp down the milk. She waited for him to return, and when he did, she faced him with milk all over her nose, cheeks, and chin. A big grin accompanied a most adorable look on her face. He took the bib off her neck and wiped her face with it.

Once again, he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the nursery, setting her on the changing table. Her arms went up in the air and he lifted the nightie off her. He rested her on the changing table, and began to change her. How he knew she had wet her diaper was still a mystery to Lily, but it was no matter. Her thoughts went back to him. In reality, there were only perfect intentions, but she loved everything that her reality with him was and everything it was becoming.

He lifted her legs in the air to wipe her clean, and eased her down onto a new diaper, fastening it into place. She sat up and lifted her arms in the air as he brought a light summer dress down over her head and shoulders. She hopped off the table to the floor and put her sandals on. Then he slipped her into another button down shirt from his wardrobe.

“I guess this is it,” she said sadly.

“Not exactly,” he replied with a smile and a wink. They walked into the kitchen and she got a bottle of Turkey Hill Iced Tea from the fridge. Zeke was almost addicted to Turkey Hill Iced Tea and always had a stock of it on hand. Then they got in the elevator, and took it down and out of the building.

Wearing a diaper out and about was a new feeling for her. She usually wore a pull-up for discretion, but with him by her side, she was glad to be in a diaper. It felt right. He handed an envelope.

“When you get to work, I want you to open this letter, and read what it says,” he said.

“Can I open it now?” she asked eagerly.

“No, it would ruin the surprise,” he answered. “It’s worth the wait. You’ll see. Don’t open it until you are sitting at your cubicle at work.”

They got to her car and she unlocked the door, starting the engine to let it warm up. She stood back up and they embraced.

“Thank you so much, Zeke,” she said clinging tightly to him. “For all the trouble that the internet can bring you, it also gives you the ability to meet people you otherwise would never have met. We both live in Lancaster, but if I had seen you at the mall or at central market or over at the Amish tours, I might have passed right by you. I never would have known that you were looking for me.”

“It’s a funny thing how fate happens,” he said. “I wonder how many times we’ve actually been in the same place at the same time, just by chance. It will never be by chance again. Thank you, Lily. Thank you, for being the same person now that you were the first time we instant messaged on Yahoo. Thank you for being sweet and loving and for allowing me to see who you are and who you want to be.”

She leaned up and kissed him. She got in her car and closed the door. It should have been a sad moment for her, but it wasn’t. Even though she was leaving, she knew she’d see him again. As she pulled away, she glanced up into the rearview mirror, and saw him standing there watching her drive away.

All the way to work, set kept looking down at that envelope. It was driving her crazy thinking of what was inside it. Curiosity got the best of her, and as she pulled up to a red light on Duke Street, she grabbed the envelope and started opening it. At that very moment, her cell phone chimed that she had a new text message.

She slipped her phone open and read the one word text message from Zeke. It said: “Wait.” She smiled and closed the phone as the light turned green.

At long last, she pulled into work, and she was in a very happy mood. This was an unusual mood for her when she got to work, but she had plenty of memories of the night prior to make her smile. And for the first time ever, she raced to get up to her cubicle with great intent on getting there as quickly as possible.

She entered the building and went to the elevator. Pushing the up button, she tried to wait patiently for it to come down, but gave in to the fact that the letter in her hand wouldn’t allow her to wait. She bolted to the stairs and began running up them. Her movements were waddled because of the diaper she was wearing, and she could hear the crinkle of her diaper with every step, but she didn’t care.

She got to her floor, and paused for a second to catch her breath and regain her composure before going in. She opened the door and walked in casually, going through her usual morning greetings to everyone.

“Heya Lily,” said Greg, the office flirt. “Have fun.”

His words were confusing. What did “Have fun” mean?

She got to her cubicle and sat down. Immediately she opened the letter and read it...

-------------------------------------------

Lily,

With any luck, you received my text in time and didn’t open that letter until you got to your cubicle.

I had a wonderful evening, and I will never forget it. You sleep like an angel, even though you steal the covers sometimes. I really can’t wait to see you again. So I decided I’m not going to wait very long…

How would you like to go on an adventure with me…an AB adventure? This adventure would begin with a plane ride from the Harrisburg Airport to Miami International Airport (with a stop off in Philly). From Miami we will take a four-night cruise to the Caribbean and to an island in the Bahamas. There we will spend four days at a resort. Then we will take a 4 day cruise back to Miami.

You will be back here in Lancaster 14 days after you left. You may be thinking that it sounds wonderful, but you’d never be able to get two weeks off at work. Well … what if I told you that I already set this up and that I called your boss and got you the two weeks off? Because that is what I did.

You will work until noon today, and then you’ll leave from work and head straight home where you’ll need to pack for 14 days of warm weather. Our plane leaves from Harrisburg at 4pm. So I’ll be swinging by your place to pick you up at 2pm.

If you’d like to take this trip with me, please send me an email.

Love, Zeke

Quickly she logged on and emailed her response to Zeke, which read:

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

The End

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Lily sat on the swing on her front porch. She lived in the upstairs floor of a building on Lime Street right next to Lancaster General Hospital. She looked down at her feet, taking them out of the sandals. She stuck her legs straight out and flexed her toes, admiring the red nail polish she had just put on them. She envisioned digging her toes into white sand. Trying to be patient, she checked the time on her cell phone. It was only 1:45 p.m. Zeke wasn’t due to pick her up for another fifteen minutes.

It had been a day where having patience led to good things. She left Zeke’s apartment this morning, heading to work. He gave her an envelope that she wasn’t allowed to open until she was sitting in her cubicle at work. When she read the letter inside, she learned that he had set up a two week vacation for the two of them to the Caribbean. He had even cleared it with her boss. She was to leave work at noon, and be packed and ready to go by 2 p.m.

Now she sat on her porch, awaiting Zeke’s arrival, and it was driving her crazy. Even though she had a million thoughts racing through her mind, the seconds still ticked very slowly and 2 p.m. seemed like it would never arrive.

“What will this trip include? Will I be big or little? How did he get my boss to agree to this? I work at Lancaster Newspapers. There are no such things as days off. Is he going to show up? Maybe he changed his mind. Maybe I was supposed to call him to confirm. Maybe he didn’t receive my email from work. Maybe I should stop worrying so much, but if I stop worrying, what happens if I was right to worry, and could’ve done something to prevent whatever problem is keeping him from being here with me now!” she thought all at once.

She curled up into a ball on the swing, putting her knees to her chest. At the very moment when she couldn’t stand it anymore, her cell phone rang.

“Hello? Zeke?” she said as she opened her phone and walked back in off the porch.

“You ready?” he answered through the phone.

“Yes, where are you?” she asked while travelling down the hallway stairs to the first floor.

“I’m at the front door. Can I come in for a moment?” he asked.

She arrived at the front door a split second later, unlocking it and letting him in. She leapt up into his arms and gave him the biggest hug she could.

He returned the sentiment as he carried her up the hallway stairs.

“Is this outfit okay,” she asked while hopping down out of his arms and showing off his button down shirt and the summer skirt she was wearing.

“It looks beautiful on you,” he responded with a warm smile. “Where are your bags?”

“You‘ll be so happy with me. I got everything I needed into one suitcase,” she explained while grabbing his hand and leading him into the bedroom. “It’s kind of heavy, though. Here it is on the bed.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” he replied. “Let me use the bathroom and then we can go.”

“Okay!” she said as she sat on the bed and waited.

Zeke used the bathroom and while washing his hands noticed the rolled up diaper he put on her earlier that morning. He exited the bathroom.

“Can we go now?” she asked while standing up, running over to him and embracing him again.

He lifted her skirt and patted her bottom, which was covered with a pair of panties.

“Almost ready,” he said with a grin as he lifted her up and eased her down onto her back on the bed.

She smiled up at him.

“I don’t have any diapers here,” she said.

Zeke stretched his arms straight out to his side in a magician’s fashion. He reached his left hand underneath the back of his shirt at the waist. Quickly, he stretched his left arm back out, producing a diaper in a very Ta-Da! manner.

He lifted her legs and bottom into the air, removing her panties and easing her back down onto the diaper he had positioned underneath her. She instantly began to feel little. Zeke could read it in her eyes. He drew the diaper up at the front and fastened the tapes into place. Leaning in towards her, he put a pacifier between her lips. She smiled behind it.

“Sweetheart, your memories of this trip will make you smile just as brightly,” he said. “Those memories are waiting to be made. Shall we?”

She nodded. He helped her to her feet. He took her in one hand and the suitcase in the other, and they left. When they got outside, she lowered her chin a little and clung to his side. It was moment of insecurity for her and having the pacifier in her mouth soothed her shy nature.

They got into the car and left, headed north to the Harrisburg Airport. She took the pacifier out of her mouth almost immediately to speak.

“How did you get my boss to agree to this trip?” she asked.

“It wasn’t hard. I thought it might be, but I explained all the planning I had put into it and how I wanted it to be a surprise for you. He said it would be fine if you went along,” Zeke explained. “Your boss seems like a great guy.”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that,” Lily said honestly. “What if I had said I didn’t want to go?”

“Well…I would have been sad. I guess it would’ve been just me……and that little guy,” he said while pointing to the back seat.

Lily looked in the back seat, and there in the center, buckled in, was her teddy bear. He eyes grew big with excitement and she lost her breath for a moment. She was so excited that she reached back to pick him up before she unbuckled her seatbelt. Realizing this, she unfastened her seatbelt, and then reached back and picked him up.

She sat in her seat, crossed her legs Indian-style, and bounced up and down while hugging the bear. She was having a “Yay!” moment. He had surprised her for a second time today. She placed the teddy bear on her lap. Zeke having remembered the teddy bear wasn’t the only thing about it that made her happy. Around the bear’s neck was the grapevine bracelet that Mr. Woody had made for her. She remembered Mr. Woody’s instructions to wear that bracelet when she went to sleep and he would see her in her dreams.

They zipped down route 283 to the airport. In short order, they arrived. Zeke parked in the long term lot, and they took the shuttle to the terminals. On the way there, Lily looked out the window and saw an airplane taking off. Her eyes grew big again, and she pondered if she should tell Zeke that she had never flown in an airplane before.

“Harrisburg International Airport, also known as mdt on Travelocity,” he said as they exited the shuttle and walked into the check-in area. “This airport is too small to be called international.”

“But it’s close to Lancaster,” Lily said as they walked up to the counter and checked in their luggage.

Zeke held onto the “travel bag”, not wanting the contents of it to be too far away, and of course, Lily held on to the teddy bear. Now they approached the x-ray machines. Lily became a little panicked and her mind started racing uncontrollably with worry once more.

“What if they ask what all the baby stuff was for in that bag? What if they hand-search it? Were they going to dump it out on a table for the entire airport to see?” she worried all at once as she watched Zeke take off his shoes and empty his pockets, putting everything in a plastic tub and placing it on the x-ray belt.

Her eyes followed the bag as it rolled into the machine. The security guard stopped the belt as the bag went through. Lily’s face went white.

“Keep moving!” said a voice, sharply from behind her.

She shuffled over into line behind Zeke, awaiting her turn to walk through the metal detector. With every movement she made, her diaper seemed to crinkle more loudly than ever. Zeke stepped through the detector and the alarm went off. She watched as they pulled him aside, and had him hold his arms out. They patted him down, finding a set of keys in his pocket, and then allowing him to pass.

She bit her lip and closed her eyes as she walked through it. If they were going to pat her down, there would be no playful secret left. Stepping to the other side, she breathed a sigh of relief that no alarm went off. She opened her eyes and looked at Zeke who winked at her, twirled the keys in his fingers and put them in his pocket.

“Did you take those keys through with you deliberately,” she asked him quietly.

“Yep,” he replied as he gathered his things from the tub and grabbed the bag.

“Why?” she asked.

“So they would pat me down, instead of you,” he said as they made their way to gate B4.

She hugged him closely as they walked down the ramp to the plane.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Excuse me,” interrupted the flight attendant at the plane entrance. “You’re going to have to leave that bag at plane-side. We don’t have enough room for carry-ons.”

Zeke looked at Lily and then set the bag down.

“You’ll be able to pick it up when you get off the plane,” said the attendant.

They entered the plane and walked the aisle to their seats. Lily sat there, somewhat anxious. She looked out the window, wondering what the view would look like. Shortly after the pilot’s voice told them to get ready, the plane started moving. The motion startled her and her stomach tightened.

“I’ve never been on a plane before,” she finally admitted. “What does it feel like?”

“It’s hard to describe. It’s a weird sensation when you first take off,” he answered. “But the moment the plane leaves the ground, your body sinks into the seat briefly.”

As the plane lined up on the runway, she was in deep thought trying to imagine what this experience would be like. Suddenly the plane started rolling very quickly. She could feel the speed in her chest, just like on a roller coaster. Her heart began beating faster, and she smiled. Then the plane lifted off the ground. She tensed her body.

They climbed for a few minutes. Looking out the window, she saw everything on the ground quickly get small. They leveled off and she finally relaxed, settling into her seat. Traces of clouds flew by the window, each glazed with sunlight. She peered down over the wing and saw the tops of clouds. Her mind, ever-creative, made out different shapes.

“Would you like a drink, Miss,” said a voice from inside the plane. She looked back from the window. A stewardess was standing in the aisle with a cart. Zeke’s eyes were closed.

“Yes. Water, please,” she said quietly as the stewardess handed her a bottle of water. Thankfully, they were serving drinks on such a short flight. The only air conditioning in the plane was coming from a tiny fan on the controls above her. A drink of water was exactly what she needed.

She looked over at Zeke who had shifted in his sleep, and his head was now leaning towards her. He had a strong jaw line, a feature which made him handsome. Delicately, she traced his eyebrows with her finger tips. She repositioned herself to face him. She looked at his eyes, closed and peaceful, and she smiled. She touched his cheeks with her fingertips and leaned in, kissing him very softly. She leaned back and traced his lips with her thumbs. She leaned in again, giving him a longer kiss before sitting back in her seat and wiping away a tear. He had found a way into her heart by being very loving and gentle with her.

Zeke was very much the father she wished she could’ve had. Her childhood would have been a lot happier if her father was interested at all in having a daughter. She never felt the bond with her father that she now had with Zeke. She felt neglected as a child, but had never told anyone; not even Zeke. This made his TLC manner much more appealing to her. It was genuine, not based on something she told him about her past.

Her sweet thoughts were interrupted by the plane’s descent. Philadelphia was beneath them already. As they descended, her ears popped and her stomach clenched involuntarily. The landing wasn’t turning out to be as pleasant as the take off. It was at that moment the bottle of water caught up with her. She clenched her bladder muscles, determined to make it into the terminal. The plane hit a little turbulence, startling her, and that was all it took.

She shifted in her seat as she flooded her diaper, incapable of stopping it. The relief was a welcomed feeling as they touched down and slowed to a roll. She reached over and shook Zeke who had managed to sleep through the landing. He woke up and rubbed his eyes as people began standing up to leave.

Lily unfastened her seatbelt and stood up, not knowing that her diaper had leaked and the back of her dress was soaked. Zeke stood up and stepped into the aisle, waiting for her to get in front of him. She stepped out and began walking up the aisle. Almost instantly, Zeke stopped her and threw the button-down shirt he was wearing around her waist, tying the arms in the front. It was then she realized what had happened.

They moved quickly off the plane, but were held up by the traffic jam of passengers awaiting the arrival of their plane-side baggage. She turned around and buried her face in his chest, wanting nothing more than to get to a bathroom right away. The waiting seemed like an eternity. She tried to not fidget in a diaper which was now swollen and starting to sag.

Finally, after the ground crew had updated each other on the latest news of the Phillies, Sixers, Eagles and Flyers, they got around to unloading the baggage. The moment their bag appeared, Zeke grabbed it and they shot up the ramp. Lily waddled, bow-legged, with great difficulty, but kept moving.

“We have ten minutes to catch our connecting flight,” Zeke said while fishing through the bag for what she would need.

He stuffed what he grabbed into the baseball hat he had been wearing and handed it to her. She grabbed the hat and shuffled to the ladies’ room. She found the first stall, and occupied it. She took off both button-down shirts, and the wet diaper practically fell to the floor as she lifted the soaked summer dress over her head. She sat on the toilet while examining the back of her dress. It was drenched, and she couldn’t put it back on.

Reaching into the hat, she pulled out a travel pack of wipes and cleaned herself. She looked at the soaked dress on the floor and suddenly realized that she had no dress to cover her diaper. Her mind began racing again.

“What am I going to do? Should I put the wet dress back on? Should I call for Zeke? Even if he heard me, he couldn’t walk into the ladies’ room and I can’t leave this stall! Maybe no one will notice if I just put the diaper on and we go straight to the next plane. I can’t even use the other shirt. The front of the diaper will still be exposed, and everybody between here and that plane will see!” she thought as tears streamed down her face.

She cleaned her hands with another wipe and reached into the hat, pulling out the new diaper and unfolding it. There, inside the diaper, like a saving grace, was a pair of jean shorts that Zeke had quickly dug out. Her tears continued streaming, but now for a different reason.

Thirty seconds later, she walked out of the stall wearing the baseball hat, the shirt, the diaper and the jean shorts. She had the dress and the other shirt balled up in one hand, and in the other hand was the wet diaper which she threw away. She exited the ladies’ room and walked up to Zeke with great intent. She handed him the balled up clothing which he put in the bag and zipped up. She reached up, grabbed the back of his hair, thrusted his head down, and planted an enormous ‘thank you-I love you’ kiss. It was anything, but subtle.

The kiss ended and they paused for a moment to look at each other. Her eyes were beaming with passion, and he felt the same way.

“We gotta move,” he said, breaking the moment.

They ran to their gate, down the ramp, and onto the plane.