In an instant that took the breath out of her chest and drove her heart to a startled pounding state, she felt the edging of her next diaper at her ankles. Zeke had positioned it between her feet and had begun drawing it up between her legs to her center at a purposefully slow rate. Her mind drifted back to a simpler time in life when she was a little girl. She felt so fragile and vulnerable that her legs began to quiver. As Zeke fastened her diaper into place, her lifted her into his arms again, and carried her out to the bed. He pulled a pink sleeping shirt out of the cabin dresser, and sat on the edge of the bed placing her on his lap. He dressed her in the shirt and placed her on her tummy. She drew her hands together under the pillows. There she found her dreaming bracelet which she quickly slid on her wrist. Zeke placed the teddy bear beside her which she drew near to her body.

He patted her diapered bottom once last time before kissing her on the cheek and whispering: “Bed time, BabyGirl. I love you. I will be here with you all night, and I’ll be here when you wake up in the morning. Sweet dreams, Little One.”

Zeke covered her with blankets. She fell asleep moments later, and drifted off into a dream…….

Hours later, Lily awoke quietly and sat up in the bed while rubbing her eyes. She looked around the room. The television was the only light in the room and it strobed over everything in the cabin. Softly in the background, she could hear snoring, but it wasn’t Zeke. She leaned over top of him, and bent her ear down to his mouth. All she heard was his breathing. She sat up and touched her finger to her chin, pondering where the snoring was coming from. She slipped out of bed, using the flickers of the TV to waddle her way to the bathroom. No one was there. N one was anywhere in the room, just she and Zeke. A frown formed on her face as she got frustrated.

Then she saw the faint moonlight behind the curtains drawn in front of the windows. So she waddled over to the windows and peered through the curtain. Asleep on the ledge on the other side of the window was Mr. Woody. She smiled and opened the window. The sound of his lumber-sawing snoring filled her ears. She giggled uncontrollably.

“Mr. Woody, Mr. Woody. Wake up,” she said while excitedly shaking him like a little girl.

“Huh? What? Who?” he said while awaking and looked around, a little confused before seeing Lily. “Oh. There you are, Lily Girl!”

“You were snoring, Mr. Woody,” she said as he climbed into the room and to the floor.

“Oh. Ha ha. Well, when you’ve got a big sniffer like me, you tend to do that,” he said stretching his arms out and hopping up on the second bed to get a better view of Zeke. “So, this is your Zeke fella.”

“He’s my Daddy,” she said proudly.

“He’s a good-looking fella,” Mr. Woody commented.

“He is, but I love his heart the best,” Lily replied.

Mr. Woody smiled and winked at Lily.

“That’s what I meant, Lily Girl. I’m not looking at his face. I’m looking at his insides, what he’s made of, who he is,” he said while walking to the edge of the bed to look at Lily. “Now, let Mr. Woody have a look at you. We’re headed to a very special place tonight. I think that night shirt will do you just fine. Let’s get going.”

He hopped off the bed and took her by the hand to the door.

“Will I need shoes or slippers?” Lily asked.

“Not in your dreams,” he said. “But you will have to open the doors. I can’t do that. It’s your dream.”

Lily opened the door and they walked out of the cabin and down the hallway.

“Are you sure no one can see us?” she asked a little concerned that the night shirt barely covered her diaper at all.

“No one can see us, not even if we wanted them to,” he said. “But what a pair we’d make, huh? A six-inch elf and a five foot girl!”

Mr. Woody laughed.

“So what if Zeke wakes up right now?” she asked.

“Then Zeke wakes up,” Mr. Woody replied. “You’ll be right next to him asleep. It’s only when he wakes you up that this dream would end, but we’ve been lucky so far. That hasn’t happened.”

They made their way through the main dining hall and passed the boardwalk shops.

“Oh, I have to show you this,” Lily said while grabbing Mr. Woody’s hand and running over to the jewelry window. “There, that one. Daddy bought me that glass elf. It reminded me of you.”

“It does look like me,” Mr. Woody said. “What a pleasant surprise and he bought that for you, you say?”

“Yup, and it’s setting on the nightstand next to where I sleep,” she said with a smile.

They made their way up to the observation deck. The ocean made little noise on this night. It was very calm.

“Have you ever seen any Disney movies?” he asked.

“All of them. Many, many times,” she said with a hint of anticipation.

“Good. Very good. Then you’ll know what this is,” he said while snapping his fingers and looking to the sky.

Lily looked to the sky as well and saw a carpet flying down to them. Her eyes grew big and she clapped her hands while jumping up and down. The carpet swooped down to them and flew right passed them. Mr. Woody rolled his eyes up in his head and placed two fingers in his mouth to whistle to the carpet. The carpet heard the whistle, looked back, and then turned around, flying back to them.

“He can get a little over-excited sometimes,” said Mr. Woody. “Hop on, Lily Girl!”

They got on the carpet and had a seat. The carpet took off and they went up into the sky, up above the clouds.

“Carpet, this is Lily Girl. Say hello,” Mr. Woody said to the carpet.

The carpet waved its front tassel at her.

“Hello, Mr. Carpet,” she said while giggling.

“I thought it was horrible that these clouds rolled in and it got chilly as you and your Zeke fella were stargazing,” Mr. Woody explained. “So I said to meself: ‘Self, you need to take Lily Girl to the stars.’ Would you like to see them up close?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

“Get ready!” said Mr. Woody as he whistled very, very loudly.

All the stars disappeared. The sky became pitch black except for the moonlight which dimmed considerably. Then a shooting star shot across the sky from the left. Another shot across the sky from the right. Soon shooting stars were flying across the sky from all over. All at once they shot towards the moon, and formed an enormous heart around the moon.

Lily was clapping and squealing with glee at the light show. The stars began forming pictures of unicorns, dolphins, butterflies, fishes, teddy bears, even Mr. Woody, and the list went on.

“I love all those things!” she said with amazement.

“They are showing pictures of everything you love in your heart,” Mr. Woody said. “And here’s a special one.”

The stars then formed a picture of Zeke’s face. Lily held her hands together over your heart.

“Try wishing for something in your heart,” he said.

She touched her finger to her chin. Then she closed her eyes, squinting her face up, deep in a wish. She opened her eyes and looked up to the sky, hopeful she would see her wish.

A picture of her face was formed next to a picture of Zeke’s face; both faces were then surrounded by a heart. Her heart began pounding, and she closed her eyes, making another wish from her heart. She then looked to the sky again.

Two rings formed. On the one ring was the word “Lily”. On the other ring was “Zeke”.

“Marriage is your wish?” asked Mr. Woody. “Could you see yourself with him forever?”

“I not only see it, but I also dream it, too,” she said. “It’s in my heart. He is in my heart.”

“And the stars in the heavens have spelled out your names,” he said. “Wave goodbye to the stars, Lily Girl.”

“Goodbye stars!” Lily shouted out while waving. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

The stars flew back to their places in the sky and began pulsing.

“I like them,” she said.

“I think they like you, too, Lily Girl,” Mr. Woody said as they flew back down through the clouds to the observation deck.

They hopped off the carpet and waved goodbye to the carpet as it flew away.

“Mr. Woody, do you know of the girl that Daddy met in third grade?” she asked.

“Yes, I heard the story as he talked of her,” Mr. Woody.

“Will he always have her in his heart?” she asked.

“I think so,” Mr. Woody said. “I looked into his heart and I saw how that girl changed him. But I didn’t see a love for her. I saw a love for you.”

“You saw a love for me in his heart?” she asked.

“Yes, Lily Girl. A love like no other,” he said. “You needn’t worry anymore about that girl. He just wants to know that she is happy. He wants to spend his life with you. Don’t fret. You’ve found a good fella, and he’ll only get gooder.”

“Better,” she corrected him.

“Huh?” he asked.

“Never mind,” she said while laughing.

“Now, Lily Girl. You need to get back to bed. You’re going to have a wonderful day. I want you to close your eyes, and think of him. I’ll see you in your dreams again soon,” Mr. Woody said.

Lily closed her eyes and thought of Zeke. In that instant, she was back in bed. She felt a set of hands go behind her body and lift her up. Opening her eyes, she saw Zeke’s smiling face.

“Good morning, Princess,” Zeke said warmly through a morning voice. “Did you sleep well?”

She nodded her head, as he sat her on her baby blanket which he had spread out on the carpet between the beds.

“Arms up,” he said as she did so. “Good Girl!”

He removed her shirt, and slowly leaned back onto the carpet.

On the floor next to her was everything needed for a diaper change. It was then she realized that she had pooped herself in her sleep. A wet diaper change was a different experience with a different feel to it. She looked to the ceiling as he unfastened her diaper. She didn’t know how to feel, and Zeke recognized her uneasiness. He paused from the change for a moment and leaned into her face.

“BabyGirl, it’s okay,” he said while gazing into her eyes and brushing away her still-forming tears. “This is why Daddy keeps you in a diaper, and you are a very good girl. Daddy loves you, and Daddy was here when you woke up. You are in my heart.”

Zeke sat up and continued with the diaper change, and though the “baby feeling” was very overwhelming, she felt better. He raised her legs and bottom in the air and began to wipe her clean. Her mindset was so helpless and little that a “pampered” sensation controlled everything about her. His words continued to soothe her and intensify the feel of the moment.

“That’s a good girl,” he said in a tone that was very calming to hear. “I’m so proud of you. You’re being such a good girl for Daddy.”

Her tummy filled with butterflies as she now felt tinier than ever before. She closed her eyes to take in all five senses, feeling like a baby. He lowered her body back down onto a new diaper as the baby powder scent filled the air. This was an aroma that always shifted her mind to being little almost instantaneously.

He fastened her diaper into place, and she stood up on her knees to give him the first hug of the day. She was certain it would be the first hug of many.

He sat her back down onto the blanket, attached a bib around her neck, removed her pacifier, and kissed her on the forehead. He placed a food tray in front of her. He had ordered room service for breakfast. On the tray was orange juice, toast with “red jelly” as she called it, and a bowl of honeycombs. She got excited over this. Honeycombs were a lot fun to play with. She would watch the milk form in the holes and then she would push it down into the milk and watch it pop back up.

Zeke sat down next to her as he drank a cup of coffee.

“So did you have a dream?” he asked while pouring milk in her cereal and his coffee.

“Yeah. Mr. Woody and I flew up into the sky on a magic carpet and watched the stars dance!” she said with enthusiasm.

“On a magic carpet?” he asked while laughing. “When I woke up this morning Aladdin was on the TV.”

“Oh! And I can answer your question now,” she said. “The last thing I thought about last night before I went to sleep was what made me happiest yesterday.”

“And what made you happiest?” Zeke asked, intrigued.

“The things I liked,” she said honestly.

“Well, come on, now. What things did you like?” Zeke asked.

“It’s hard to describe,” she said truthfully. “But I like the way you made me feel yesterday, and that was the last thing I thought about before I went to sleep last night.”

Zeke smiled at her answer.

“Well, whatever it is that I did right yesterday, I hope to keep doing today,” he said with a grin.

Lily smiled back at him.

“You hardly have to try to make me happy. It comes to you naturally,” she said. “That’s the first thing I thought about when I woke up today.”

He leaned in and kissed her forehead right before she picked up her cereal bowl and lifted it to her mouth drinking all the milk out of it.

“And what are you thinking about right now, Princess?” he said.

“Nickelodeon!” she said while clapping her hands.

“Absolutely,” he said turning the TV to the Nickelodeon channel.

SpongeBob Squarepants came on. Lily busted out with laughter as Zeke groaned. Zeke couldn’t stand that cartoon.

“How about I get ready as you watch Mr. Squarepants and finish your breakfast?” he said while getting up and going into the bathroom.

Lily picked up her red-jelly covered toast and munched away while bouncing up and down with enjoyment over the cartoon. From the bathroom, Zeke could hear, “Who wivs in a pineappuh unduh duh sea? SpongeBob Sqwearpants!” He laughed to himself as he got ready for the day.

He finished and returned to her with her clothing and stopped when he saw what was on the TV.

“What happened to SpongeBob, and who are The Penguins of Madagascar?” he asked.

“They’re a fun show, too,” she said.

He looked over at her, and smiled again at the sight of her sticky hands and face. Kneeling beside her, he cleaned her up, and put a cute summer dress on her. With sandals on her feet, and fifteen minutes for her in the bathroom, they surely would be ready to go.

Soon they were out the door, and onto activities around the boat. The sun shone down on them brightly and everything looked different from last night. Lily kept looking to the clouds in the sky.

“What do you see up there?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked back.

“In the shapes of the clouds?” he answered. “For instance, that cloud looks like the letter Z…”

“And that makes you think of Zorro, right?” she said grinning.

“You betcha,” he said smiling back.

“Why do you like Zorro so much?” she asked.

“He’s a good guy, and a true King of Chivalry,” Zeke said with conviction.

“Sometimes I think you’re obsessed with him,” she said, ribbing him.

“No more than your obsessions with Disney Princesses,” he said, ribbing her back.

“Well, the Disney Princesses are sweet and fun and the stuff that fantasies are made of,” she said laughing. “Which definitely makes them better than Zorro.”

“I can’t argue that with you,” Zeke confessed. “But did you know that the year that Pocahontas was released by Disney, they had another cartoon movie idea in the works?”

“No. What was the other cartoon idea?” she inquired.

“Zorro,” Zeke replied.

“Nuh-uh!”

“I swear it. The year was 1995 and they decided to go with Pocahontas because they felt she was a stronger female character than Esperanza. Plus Esperanza wasn’t a princess so she didn’t fit the criteria to be a Disney Princess.”

“Not all the Disney Princesses are princesses. Some of them never were princesses and never became princesses.”

“Huh? How? They’re all called princesses.”

“Ariel, Pocahontas, Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, and Mulan are the Disney princesses, but they weren’t all princesses,” she said. “You see, only Ariel, Pocahontas, Snow White, and Jasmine were princesses to start with. Now, you see Belle, Aurora, and Cinderella became princesses because they married a prince. And Mulan was never a princess.”

Zeke stared at her blankly.

“I didn’t know that,” he said, still trying to process everything she just said. “I didn’t know any of that. You think about this a lot, don’t you?”

“Not really,” she said. “But every girl knows about the Disney princesses.”

Ahead of them was a crowd of people surrounding two rock climbing towers. Zeke and Lily stopped to watch. Written on a sign were the words: “Rock Climbing Contest Today.”

“And the prize is two front row tickets to tonight’s production of Cinderella the Musical,” Zeke said. “Refresh my memory. Was she one of the princesses already, princesses-to-be, or never a princess?”

“She became a princess,” Lily said laughing.

“Well then, I’ve gotta try for these tickets,” he said while reading the contest rules.

“What do you have to do?” she asked, a little concerned.

“I have to climb up the side of that 20-foot tower, grab the flag at the top and climb down the other side,” Zeke said as he finished reading. “That seems do-able enough.”

“Be careful, Zeke,” Lily said as he walked up to the towers.

Lily watched from the crowd as Zeke was equipped with the safety restraints around his body. He looked back at her and winked. She smiled, and then looked at Zeke’s competitor, a six-foot-tall guy with quite a build to him. Lily looked to the crowd across from her, and there standing in the front was a blonde-haired girl with a deep tan. She had a smirk on her face, as if she was going to enjoy this contest. Lily figured her to be with the body builder about to race Zeke.

Zeke and his muscle-bound opponent got set on the starting line. They would have to run up to the tower, scale the side of it to the top, grab the flag at the top, crawl over the top and down the other side. The first to do this won the tickets.

They both stood still, awaiting the starting gun shot. The shot rang out with a deafening tone. Both sprinted from the starting line to the wall. They began scaling it at a fast pace. Ten feet up, Zeke began to pull ahead, using his legs more than his arms.

Out of nowhere, the guy on the other tower reached over, grabbed Zeke’s ankle and yanked him down. Zeke fell a few feet, and re-established his grip. He looked over at the guy who had an evil grin on his face. Lily looked over at the blonde-haired lady who had a smile on her face. Lily looked back at her with horror.

Not giving up, Zeke began climbing again and caught up to his opponent who was beginning to tire. They both made it to the top at the same time and grabbed their flags. At that moment, the guy kicked Zeke in the face, causing him to flip back over the side he had just climbed. A gasp came from the crowd below as the tower operator warned the guy to stop what he was doing.

Zeke, now with one eye swelling shut, hoisted himself back up to the top and over to the other side of the tower. His opponent began to climb down the other side, but got his shoelace caught on something on the top of the tower. Zeke began to take a big lead down the other side. The guy pulled his shoe off, and as he scaled down the other side, he threw the shoe at Zeke, hitting him in the head.

When Zeke was hit with the shoe, he was only two steps away from the bottom. He stopped climbing down, and turned to face his opponent. The guy scaled down the wall, and made it to the ground first where he received a rousing barrage of boos and hisses from the crowd.

Zeke stepped down the rest of the way and walked away from the tower. Lily ran up to him, and hugged him. She was shaking like a leaf.

“Are you alright?” she said, taking a moment to inspect the swollen eye.

“Why did you let him win?” shouted a voice from the crowd.

Zeke looked back at his opponent who was being read the riot act by the ship’s personnel.

“I don’t think he won much,” Zeke stated, realizing the moral victory that had been won.

“Oh, I’m so sorry that had to happen to you,” said Lily, hugging him again and still shaken by it all.

“Hey, I’m okay, Princess,” he said, hugging her back.

After being apologized to by every single person on the boat crew, Zeke and Lily spent the rest of the morning taking in the ocean air and strolling the length of the boat by the pool, up to the observation deck again, through the casino, and back to the boardwalk shops.

Lunch had a particularly stunning view overlooking the sea. Lily was growing fond of the ocean view, and she would stare at the horizons in between bites of her salad. Zeke, on the other hand, was busy devouring a massive platter of crab legs.

“That eye looks bad,” she said. “Maybe you should get it looked at again.”

“They already looked at it,” Zeke said. “I need to ice it every 20 minutes.”

Lily looked at his eye with concern.

“Do I look like Sebastian the lobster?” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Lily laughed.

“Stop it. I feel really bad that happened to you,” she said, fighting back a chuckle. “You did that contest to win those tickets for me. I feel responsible.”

“Princess, I have some good news and some bad news for you,” Zeke said. “The good news is the guy in charge of the rock tower gave us the tickets anyway. We’re going to see that show tonight in front row seats.”

“What’s the bad news?” she asked.

“I may still look like a one-eyed monster when we go. So you’re going to have to tell me what happens on the left side of the stage,” he said, trying to hold back a smile.

Zeke picked up two of the crab legs and held them on his head like antennas.

“Things will be bettuh, where life is wettuh, Unduh duh sea!” he sang as she smiled and then teared up. “Hey, Princess. To get you those tickets, I would have gone through a lot worse than what I had to.”

They got up and made their way back to the cabin.

“Oh my, I ate a lot,” he said as he opened the cabin door.

“You certainly did,” she responded while making up an ice bag for his eye. “Lay down….please, Daddy?”

He stretched out on the bed, and she curled up next to him, lightly placing the ice pack on his eye.

“Shh, Shh, Shh,” she said to him in a soft yet serious tone. “Be a good little Daddy for me, and rest….Close your eyes.”

“But don’t you need…” he started.

“Shhhhh,” she said, placing her finger to his lips. “I don’t need my diaper changed. I’ll be fine without a bottle and I’ll be right here when you wake up. Now it’s time to rest.”

“But what about…”

“Shh.”

“I just thought that…”

“Shh.”

“I’m simply saying…”

“Shh.”

“How about…”

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!” she shushed as they laughed.

They looked at each other for a moment in silence.

“Okay,” he said as he closed his eyes.

She curled up in a ball alongside him, and placed her pacifier in her mouth.

“Ah nuv ooo, Duh-dee,” she mumbled behind her pacifier.

“I love you, too, BabyGirl,” Zeke said as they both drifted off to sleep.

Two hours went by, and Zeke stirred awake with the sensation of cold water on his back. He gently rolled Lily off him and over to the half of the bed. The top half of her dress was soaked as well. He felt her diaper. She was dry. So where did this water come from?

It took him a few seconds to wake up enough to figure out what had happened. The ice bag was now a water bag and it had broken open. He picked up the bag and walked into the bathroom. Taking his shirt off, he splashed some water on his face. Looking in the mirror, he could see his eye was still swollen and he had scratch marks on his forehead as well.

He threw another button-down shirt on and walked out of the bathroom. Lily had already awakened and was standing over at the window, looking through the blinds at the main deck.

“Well, you woke up quickly,” he said, walking up behind her and lifting the soaked dress off her shoulders. “Do you want to go down there?”

She nodded sheepishly, turned and embraced him. She could feel the heat coming off his chest. It felt so good.

“I think these afternoon naps do us some good,” he said kissing the top of her head. “It gives us a second wind. So, where would you like the second wind to take us now?”

“The pool,” she said.

“You wanna go swimming. Great!” he said. “It’s a beautiful day, and where we’re headed the weather only gets better. You did remember to pack a bathing suit, right?”

“Uh-huh!” she said as she ran over to the dresser, fishing through her clothing and pulling out a white bikini set.

She showed it to him. He looked at the bikini bottoms with bewilderment.

“Those don’t look like bikini bottoms,” he said.

“They’re boy short bottoms,” she explained.

Zeke stood there, oblivious to what she just said.

“I’m learning new things every day,” he said.

“I like the way they look and feel,” she said, pretending to model them.

“Sure but do you like the way this feels?” he said as he hoisted her up and buried his face in her belly as he gave her raspberries.

She laughed and squirmed to get away from his grip, but couldn’t. He lowered her onto the bed, still giving her raspberries and now tickling her sides.

“Stop. Stop. Please!” she laughed out.

“No,” he said, stopping for a moment and then continuing.

Lily kept squealing and fighting him off. Eventually she wrapped her legs around his neck and squeezed while tugging on his hair. He gave in and stopped. She relaxed for a moment, recovering from the tickling and laughter. Zeke began to unfasten her diaper, but she stopped him.

“No,” she complained in a pouty voice.

“You can’t swim in a diaper, Lily,” Zeke said.

“I’m a girl. I don’t go to a pool to swim,” she explained. “I go there to tan.”

“But won’t the diaper under your ….. boy shorts be a little obvious?” he teased.

“Not really,” she said confidently. “Watch this?”

Lily stood up, put on the bikini top, slid the bikini bottom over her diaper, took the button down shirt off his back and wrapped it around her waist. She grabbed the ice bucket, and went to the ice machine, just two doors down the hallway. Zeke stood at the doorway and watched. She confidently stood in line at the machine, occasionally looking back at Zeke with a grin and a wink.

She got the ice and returned to the room.

“I’m convinced,” he said as he changed into his bathing suit while Lily prepared a bag of items to take along.

They left the room, getting greeted and consoled by everyone they passed for the earlier events in the day. The pool side was packed. The sunlight was so bright that an epidemic of sunglasses had taken hold of everyone, including the two of them. Lily selected two lounging chairs in the corner and set up there. In moments, they were both baking away.

Occasionally, Lily would open her eyes and glance around the pool from behind her sunglasses. Her certainty of not being discovered had lessened a little, but she was still confident that no one would find out. She shifted a little in her chair at how warm it was. A disposable diaper can get warm inside, even when not in direct sunlight.

“I’m going to go get us some drinks. Will you be okay here alone?” Zeke asked a few minutes later.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, lightly. “Hurry back.”

The moment he left, Lily began her sunglass surveillance technique again, and wouldn’t you know it. She made eye contact with the lady from the hotel. She was across the pool, and got up, walking over to Lily. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except Lily had to pee.

Quickly, she repositioned herself as the lady walked over to her. She hadn’t forgotten that this lady and her husband saw her in her diaper that night at the hotel. This lady also saw Lily run off during the tour.

“Hello,” said the lady, now standing before Lily. “I keep meaning to introduce myself, but we rarely cross paths.”

“Well, it is a large ship,” said Lily.

“I know. Isn’t it wonderful?” said the lady. “My name is Milly. May I have a seat?”

“Yes, please do,” said Lily, gearing up for where the conversation might lead. “My name is Lily.”

“Is your husband okay? I thought that was a horrible thing that happened to him this morning,” Milly said.

Lily sat up in her chair, and as she did so, her diaper crinkled. Milly looked at her waist. They both remained silent for a moment.

“Yes, he’s fine. He’s got a swollen eye from it, though,” Lily said, breaking the silence.

“That’s good to hear,” Milly said. “Were you okay during the tour?”

“Oh, yeah. I was just feeling a little sick from the brunch. I think I ate too much,” said Lily with a slight laugh.

“I know the feeling. All the food looks so good, and I sometimes overdo it a bit,” she responded.

Lily’s bladder had reached desperation. She knew she couldn’t get up and excuse herself without being discovered, and holding it was an option that would soon be impossible. She discreetly parted her legs slightly and submitted to wetting herself. The usual feeling of relief wasn’t as relaxing since Milly was sitting there. She tried to be cordial in the conversation, but being a little pre-occupied, it was hard.

At her most distressing moment, Zeke returned with the drinks. Lily quickly introduced him to Milly. She turned to talk with Zeke and Lily leaned back on the chair and finished wetting herself. She sunk into her chair in complete relief.

“Lily, I’m going to jump in the pool for a while,” Zeke said as he handed her a tropical drink.

He offered the other drink to Milly, who graciously said thank you. Zeke took off his shirt, and headed for the pool, completely unaware of the situation. Milly sat down and continued her conversation with Lily.

“He seems like a really nice guy. I see what you mean about his eye,” she said, only to stop abruptly as Lily sat up.

Lily, herself, was unaware of a bit of information just revealed to Milly.

“You have no idea how lucky I am to have found him,” she said. “He can comfort me at moments when I’m feeling very uneasy. When I’m stressed, he’s just what the doctor order.”

“His mother must have trained him well. It sounds like he knows a lot about women,” Milly said, trying not to draw attention to something that would embarrass Lily.

“Well, he’s learning. Just a bit ago, I explained to him what boy shorts were,” she said as she looked down at her waist.

Lily’s face went white as she stared at the groin area of her bikini. Her diaper had leaked, and she was soaked. Her shoulders drooped as she closed her eyes and squeezed her legs together. Her world was collapsing around her.

Humiliated and embarrassed were two words that didn’t even come close to adequately describing her emotion. She looked over at the pool, frantically hunting for Zeke with her eyes.

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” Milly said, lightly touching her on the arm with compassion.

Those words cut right through Lily’s soul as her eyes welled up with tears that began streaming down her cheeks. She was crying so hard that she couldn’t make a sound.

“Sweetheart, it’s alright,” Milly said as she sat next to her and continued trying to console her.

Lily covered her mouth and rested her head on Milly’s shoulder. Milly put her arms around the crying girl.

“My husband and I were wondering if that was a diaper we saw on you at the hotel,” she said as Lily closed her eyes again. “Now we know why. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Regaining her composure a little, Lily sat back up and wiped away her tears.

“Would you like me to get you a new pair of shorts? I can run over to one of the boardwalk shops. It would be no trouble,” Milly offered.

Lily nodded her head.

“I’ll be okay. I’ll wrap Zeke’s shirt around my waist,” Lily said, taking in full breaths to calm herself down. “Thank you for comforting me.”

They hugged each other again.

“I remember one time I walked through a flower show in need of so terribly in need of a bathroom. I made it to the bathroom door, but not into the stall before…well you can just imagine,” Milly said. “I soaked my pants clear through.”

“Oh my. What did you do?” Lily asked.

“Well, I call my husband on my cell phone,” Milly said as they both started laughing. “I was sitting on the toilet when I was talking to him.”

“How did he help?” Lily asked as they laughed harder.

“He drove home and got me a new pair of pants, and I sat on the toilet, waiting for him,” Milly said.

They paused for a moment and then broke out into hysterical laughter.

“I must have sat there for an hour,” Milly said as they laughed so hard they couldn’t breathe.

They laughed for a few moments more.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Lily asked, having made a connection she didn’t think possible.

“I love secrets,” Milly said, leaning in for the whisper.

Lily reached into her bag and pulled out her pacifier, showing it quickly to Milly before putting it back in the bag. Milly’s eyes lit up as if she had just been told the truth about the JFK assassination, Area 51, the location of the Holy Grail, and every other secret of the world all at once.

“We need to go shopping right now,” Milly said. “We have a lot to talk about!”

They sat there and whispered to one another like two schoolgirls. Zeke walked up and began drying himself with a towel. He put the towel to his face.

“Well, Zeke, it was nice meeting you. I think Lily needs a diaper change,” Milly said to him as he lowered the towel from his face with eyes great big and wide. “…Daddy.”

Milly walked away with a smirk on her face. Zeke looked at Lily who stood up and wrapped a towel around her waist as they left the pool side. On the way back to the arm, she told Zeke what had happened. They got to the room and entered quickly.

“And now she wants to go shopping with you?” Zeke asked.

“It’s a girl thing,” Lily said. “Have I told you how much I love being your BabyGirl lately?”

“No, but I hope you felt that way,” said Zeke with a wink as he slid her bikini bottoms off and delicately lowered her body to the bed.

She feathered her hair out and relaxed as he unfastened her diaper. She closed her eyes, feeling the coolness of the wipes on her skin.

“So what are you going to tell her?” Zeke chuckled as he raised her legs and bottom in the air.

“I’m not sure,” she replied, pausing to smell the scent of powder in the air. “Whatever she’d like to know, but I think it will just be a talk of feelings.”

“Well, I hope you have a most interesting time,” he said laughing, still amazed she was going to go shopping with this woman.

He lowered her body back down onto a new diaper and fastened her into. Then he picked her up and sat on the bed, cradling her on his lap. She curled in a ball and rested her head on his chest, smelling him.

“So what do women wear on a shopping trip where they discuss the … feelings … of their secret lives?” he said with a big grin, delighting in what her answer might be. “How about your nightie?”

“No,” she said, smiling at his playful teasing. “I want the shirt you’re wearing. It smells like you. That way I can keep the thought of you right next to me.”

He sat her up, took his shirt off, and put it around her shoulders. She slipped into it and tied the two ends of it into a knot and her midriff. She got up and fished out a skirt from the drawer, wrapping it around her waist. She went into the bathroom, and fixed her hair and make-up and did that black wand eye lash thingy for a minute. She walked back out and into Zeke’s waiting arms. She hugged him.

“You’re beautiful,” he said as he led her over to the couch.

“But you can’t go anywhere on an empty tummy,” he said as he sat her on his lap, leaned her back in his arms, and shook up a bottle he just prepared.

“You’re too good to me,” she said smiling, touched by his foresight.

“That’s not possible,” he said as he inserted the nipple in her mouth. “I can never be too good to you, but with God as my witness, I will certainly try.”

She closed her eyes, and began drinking. He placed a bib on her chest to make certain she didn’t dribble on herself. The room got quiet. His right arm was cradling her neck, and from the side of her neck he could feel the pulse of her heart beat. She took the bottle in her own hands and curled into his chest. With his left hand now free, he traced his thumb along her eyebrows. She would occasionally open her eyes and look up at him. He always had a wink waiting for here, and every time she smile and giggle.

Minutes later, she finished her bottle, and drifted off to sleep. Zeke didn’t move her, but instead just sat there, watching her sleep. He had totally fallen in love, but he didn’t want that to change anything (no pun intended) about what they already had with each other.

A knock at the door, startled her awake and snapped Zeke out of his daydream. She stood up, and crossed to the door only to be stopped by Zeke, who took a moment to wipe her chin with the bib. He kissed her on the head.

“Go. Have fun,” he said as she opened the door.

“Hi!” she said to Milly in an excited, cheery tone.

“Hello again,” Milly said with the same giddy grin. “Hi Zeke!”

“Hello,” he replied, seeing they were both eager to run off and gab. “Oh, would you two get going already.”

“Okay. Bye. I love you!” Lily said as they took off down the hall.

Once she heard Zeke close the door, Milly spoke up.

“Okay, tell me all about it,” she said finally able to burst out the energy she had been harboring.

“Well, what do you want to know?” said Lily, playing coy.

“Oh, no. Don’t get modest with me, Missy. I want every detail,” Milly responded with no hesitance.

“Where should I start?”

“At the beginning. Where did you meet him?”

“Online. It was an AB site.”

“Which stands for adult baby, right?”

“Right. He was a Daddy type and I was a BabyGirl type, and he had a profile that made me want to chat with him. So we did, and then we talked on the phone. We both were from Lancaster and met at a mall in town, then went on a few dates, and before I knew it, I was falling asleep in his arms at his apartment.”

Milly touched her hand to her heart, not sure what to ask next.

“How does he make you feel?” Milly asked as they crossed through the main dining hall.

“Pampered,” Lily said with a giggle. “Um…..wanted, needed,……loved. Like he’s paying attention to my thoughts. He often guesses what I’m thinking, and that makes me feel good….happy…comfortable, calm….and there’s a safety I feel in his arms I can’t put to words.”

“That’s when you know you’ve found someone special,” Milly said. “When he takes your breath away and with it your words.”

They slowly strolled through every shop and circled the deck of the ship three times as Lily detailed her experiences with Zeke.

“So when you’re in baby mode, what do you think about?” Milly asked.

“Not much,” Lily replied.

“What?” Milly asked.

“That’s the most wonderful thing about it,” said Lily. “Everything becomes simple.”

“I’m not following you,” admitted Milly.

“Okay,” Lily started as they sat on a bench outside the Oasis of the Sea Restaurant. “Have you ever been so stressed out from something that you feel emotionally drained? Imagine being with someone whose words are so kind and whose actions are so affectionate and whose touch is so unbelievably gentle that the rest of the world seems to disappear. All you can think about is him, and the only worry you have is how long it will be until you will see him again.”

Milly was silent.

“He melts away everything that weighs my soul down and he fills me with a happiness that…..” Lily said.

“…That you can’t put to words,” said Milly, completing the thought. “He’s like the human equivalent to a long, hot, bubble bath.”

“Right!” Lily agreed, before she got excited about a great thought. “Let’s have dinner together. We’ll have the boys meet us here; we’ll eat here and go right to the show.”

“Cell phones!” Milly said in a song-like manner.

(A few minutes later…)

“I’ll be right there,” Zeke said as he hung up his phone and headed out the door.

This dinner was an exciting event. Lily was able to be open about a secret she had been keeping hidden for a while, and with Zeke by her side, she poured out her soul on the subject of being a baby. Though Zeke and Milly’s husband were there, it was the two girls who kept talking the most. Occasionally the guys were asking a question, but the rest of the time they sat there, watching their significant others fast-becoming “best friends forever”.

The conversation grew so long that after dinner, Lily and Milly got a bottle of wine. By the time that Zeke had to break up the party to get to the musical on time, the bottle of wine was empty. They cordially said good bye and made their way to the theater.

“Mr. Williams, Miss Paddington, we were beginning to worry you wouldn’t be attending the show,” said an usher as Zeke and Lily walked into the back of the auditorium. “The show is about to begin. Please follow me.”

The usher led them down to the front row table. No sooner did they get seated and situated than the lights dimmed and the show began. It was quite an endearing performance, given the small scale production that it was. Zeke glanced over at Lily a few minutes into the first act. In the flickering of stage lights Zeke could faintly see her jaw, hanging wide open with wonderment. Her eyes were as big as could be, and the expression on her face told him she was completely immersed in the world of the play. In other words, she really liked it a lot.

With just a few minutes left until intermission, Lily felt a chill come over her. She shivered, and just that quickly her vision started getting cloudy. Then the room began to feel swelteringly hot to her. She touched her forehead and it was burning up. Then her stomach began cramping up. She shifted in her seat as a knot formed in her tummy that forced her to lean over a little for relief.

From out of nowhere came the urgency to relieve her bowels. She resisted, not wanting to miss any of the show or smell up the room. Little time passed before she gave up that fight and relieved herself. The knot in her tummy released and she was able to sit up, only to realize she had diarrhea. She was sick and getting worse.

The lights came up for intermission and Zeke looked over at her. Her face was as white as a ghost.

“Are you okay, Lily?” he asked as she shook her head no. “Do you want to get some air outside?”

She nodded her head faintly. They got up and followed the audience out. Zeke was beginning to detect she needed more than air. She wasn’t just walking arm-in-arm with him. She was clinging to him for dear life. He could feel the heat rising off her as they exited the theater and began walking on the deck. He asked her what was wrong. She shrugged her shoulders. As they walked away from the crowd, Lily began concentrating on taking deep breaths. Zeke held her closely and felt her forehead. Her body began to sweat, trying to break what appeared to be a fever. Then a strong scent rose up from her diaper. Zeke lifted the back of her skirt and stretched out the elastic waist band of her diaper to reveal the mess she had made. She whimpered lightly as she clung to him, as if to beg him to make her feel better. He looked at her, very concerned.

As the usher announced the second act would begin in two minutes, Zeke made a decision that he knew she wouldn’t like.

“You’re not feeling well at all. We’ll have to see the rest of the play some other time,” he said as he began walking her back to their room.

She softly complained, but he wouldn’t change his mind telling her that some things were more important than a show. Everyone returned to the theater and he slowly guided her down the ship. Her left hand was clinging to the railing as Zeke held the right side of her body up. She took very small, shaky steps.

Then her knees began to buckle and as her legs gave way, he scooped her up into arms. She whimpered a little more loudly now.

“Shh Shh Shh,” he whispered in her ear as she rested her head on his shoulder. “Daddy will make everything better. Be a good girl.”

Being held up by his left arm, her bottom was now pressed against the inside of her diaper. Her skin began to burn with irritation from the mess. She sobbed into his shoulder.

“I know,” he said. “We’re almost there.”

He made it to their room door, opened it and carried her over to the bed, removing the button-down shirt and bra from her body along the way. He placed her body on the bed with the most delicate of care, guiding her head onto the pillow. He removed the skirt and her sandals. Her eyes were closed and she was burning up. He unfastened her diaper, and began wiping her clean, starting at the groin. This was a much more involved cleaning and he slowly curled her body up as he made his way to her bottom.

He lowered her body back down to the bed. She was so weak and limp. Quickly, he went into the bathroom and returned with a thermometer. He rolled her onto her side, feeling the heat on her skin, and slid the thermometer into her bottom. He sat there for a moment, listening to her breathing heavy. He removed the thermometer. It read “103 degrees”!

He hoisted her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom, placing her on the counter by the sink. He poured her a glass of water, and placed two ibuprofen pills in her mouth. Leaning her head up, he had her drink the pills down with water.

Instead of starting a bath for her, he filled a basin with warm water to bathe her by hand. First, he gently slid her body towards the sink so he could run water on her head first. The cool water provided temporary relief and she relaxed as the water rushed over her forehead. He continued on to shampoo and rinse out her hair. The conditioner would have to wait until her next bath.

He took the wet wash cloth from the basin of water and began to bathe her, starting at the neck. He leaned her up into a sitting position as he lightly drew the cloth up and down her back. Lowering her down to the counter he works his way down her body, from the neck to the chest to the stomach and all the way to her toes, making certain to not miss those areas between her toes (the truly important parts. - wink - ).

The water on her skin, although warm to start, began to dry, and with it, her body began to cool. Soon thereafter, the pills began to work. He lifted her off the sink and took her out the bed, sitting on the edge of it and cradling her body in his lap. Once more, he placed the thermometer into her bottom. He leaned her head back and stroked her wet locks out of her eyes. She opened her eyes, slightly, and looked up at him. This was a good first sign that Zeke was very happy to see. As he waited on her temperature, he rubbed powder on her chest and her back, hoping to reduce any irritation from future sweating.

The thermometer beeped and gave Zeke good news. It read “100 degrees”. A fever was still present, but it was heading in the right direction. He placed her body on the bed and positioned a diaper under her bottom. He applied powder to her diaper area and placed it around her waist, just a tad more loosely than normal, hoping to allow air to enter in as she wore it.

He fastened the diaper into place and lifted her to a sitting position, slipping her babydoll nightie over her head and shoulders. It was very loose-fitting and only covered down to the middle of her diaper, making it possible for air to get to her body while still being able to retain the right amount of body heat.

Finding bravery that a guy doesn’t have, he reached into her purse, pulling out a hair brush. He ran it through her still-drying hair, forming it into two pigtails, and holding them in place with the scrunchies he also found in her purse.

He quickly made up a bottle, hoping to replenish the fluids her body had just lost in the past hour. He scooped her up in his arms, grabbed her baby blanket and teddy bear, and sat on the couch. Repositioning her in the fetal position in his lap, he covered her legs with the baby blanket, placed the teddy bear I her right arm, and placed the nipple of the bottle between her lips.

“Open,” he softly instructed.

She sheepishly took the nipple into her mouth and began drinking from it.

“That’s a good girl,” he said while lightly stroking her back.

She remained in that position, very weak, and slowly took in small mouthfuls of the apple juice. It was Gerber Apple Juice, which was very gentle on her stomach. They had packed quite a bit of baby food, snacks, and drinks for the trip. They were very fortunate to have done so.

As she drank, her mind wandered in and out of being little. She was almost regressing to infancy at times and then her weak condition would return her to the present moment. Her thoughts replayed the events of the near past: being bathed by hand, having her temperature taken from her bottom, being dressed with such a tender, nurturing touch. The babyish feeling was so strong so wonderful. It made her senses come alive, and was the only good physical feeling she had. It was all she could handle, and all she could have possibly hoped for.

The bottle dropped feebly from her lips. She had finished it, and she looked up at Zeke trying to say, “Thank you” and “I love you”, but she couldn’t muster up the strength to make a sound. Instead, she said it with her eyes and the tears that formed in them.

He gently placed her pacifier into her waiting lips, leaned back on the couch and placed her on his chest on her tummy. She closed her eyes as her head nestled his chest and the rhythm of his breathing began to make her even drowsier. He patted her on her back for several minutes. Finally she let out a few feminine burps and fell asleep almost instantly.

He held her there for the next few hours and she slipped in and out of sleep. She was tired, but just couldn’t stay asleep for too long. Eventually, she sat herself up, now a little less dizzy.

“How yuh feeling, Love?” he asked as he felt her forehead, noticing how much cooler it felt.

“Bedduh,” she mumbled from behind her pacifier.

“You need to keep sleeping,” he stated. “But I’m betting you’ve got some energy back, and it won’t let you sleep.”

She nodded and smiled for the first time in hours.

“Maybe we ought to get you some fresh air,” he said. “Do you want Daddy to take you out on the deck for a bit?”

She nodded, putting her arms around his neck. He lifted her up and carried her over to the door, opening it and walking out into the hallway. Seeing their cabin door shut, she realized she was out in the open, wearing a babydoll nightie and a visible diaper, with her hair in pigtails and a pacifier in her mouth.

Sensing her fear, he patted her diapered bottom.

“I don’t think anybody is awake right now,” he said, still patting her. “You’ll be fine out here. Just be a good girl for Daddy, okay?”

She nodded her head and raised her head up, taking in a full chest of the cool ocean air. The ocean was calm and the nighttime sky was beautiful.

“You had me scared a little while ago,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what to do.”

She took her pacifier out of her mouth.

“You did everything right,” she said, gently running her fingertips down his face as he often did to her. “You were an angel, sent to protect and save me.”

“To prevent that from ever happening to you again, I would gladly trade in my wings,” he said.

“Don’t you dare,” she said while smiling and touching the end of his nose, then letting out a big yawn.

“That’s what I wanna see,” he said. “Shall I carry you back to bed?”

“No,” she said while attempting to stand and walk. “But don’t get too far away.”

With his assistance, she stood on wobbly legs. She took her first step very carefully.

“You can do it. Just one little step,” he said with a smile.

A smile grew over her face, realizing she felt like a baby learning to walk. It made for a few much needed moments of laughter as she walked down the deck and cabin hallway. He opened the door and as they entered she said: “Next time you might want to warm the thermometer just a little bit.”

They paused for a moment to laugh again.

“I will definitely remember that,” he said smiling, as he shut the door.