I didn't write this story. A friend of mine sent it to me. She said it sounded like a show I would watch.

Melissa walks down the hall towards her dressing room. Once she gets there. She removes her pink upturned pigtail wig and puts it on the foam head. Melissa removes her painted on freckles and the rest of her character’s makeup. She flops down in her chair and sighs with relief. To most of the world. She is not known as Melissa Van Buren. She is Molly Hollingsworth, the precocious 2 year old from the children’s show Good Golly It’s Molly. Before she got her own show. She was a recurring character on Abby’s Farm. After a little bit. Melissa stood up and removed the red shortall she was wearing and laid it on the couch She removed her yellow sneakers and put them in the closet with her other shoes. Melissa removed her rainbow stripped long sleeve shirt. Leaving her in just her rainbow stripped tights. Melissa noticed a wet spot on them. She sighs and removes them. Revealing a pink disposable diaper. “Dang, I leaked again.” Melissa felt her diaper, but it didn’t seem to be sagging or really heavy. She picked up her tights and sniffed them. Melissa smiles. “It isn’t pee. It is sweat.” She tosses them into the clothes hamper. Melissa puts on a pair of shorts and a t shirt. The shooting was pretty much over for the day. The only thing left was the animated section of the show called The Land of Pretend. Melissa knew she didn’t need to be dressed as Molly for that part. Since she only recorded the voice of Molly. Melissa walks out of her dressing room and runs into her personal assistant. “Hello Amy.”

Amy looks up from her tablet. “G’Day Melissa. You have an interview with a Miss Winston from Children’s World Magazine at 3. The director and producer is reviewing the show to see if anything needs to be reshoot.”

Melissa sighs. “I hope not. That wig is hot and it makes my head itch when mats down my red hair. On top of that. I hate the pink wig. I wish the director would have went though with the writers’ plan to have the hairdresser to fix Molly’s hair back to red.”

Amy nods. “I know Melissa, but the children wrote in and said they love your hair as pink. So the director scrapped the story where your hair back to red. To keep the children happy.” She looks down at her tablet and presses some buttons. Amy looks up. “Where are you going to lunch as if I didn’t know. The execs at Kimberly Clark wants to meet with you at your earliest convenience to talk to you about endorsing their nappies and nappy pants.”

Melissa looks at Amy. “I am going to Happy Burger to have lunch. “What do they want to talk to me about?”

Amy shrugs. “My guess is they want to use your Molly character on their girl nappies.”

Melissa nods. “Most likely. I don’t think boys would want to wear diapers with my face on it or a smaller version of my whole body on their diapers.”

Amy smiles. “You are probably right about the boys. Anyway. You can cross that bridge when you meet with the execs and hear their pitch. You really should have a marketing team that does this for you. It would free up yourself from hearing these endless pitches from various companies who want to use Molly on their products.”

Melissa nods. “Maybe so, but I want to protect my brand and my character. A team might say yes to a product that would compromise my wholesome image. I made Molly and I will decide what is the best fit for Molly and her likeness.”

Amy smiles. “Well you didn’t make her per say. It was your mom who came up with Molly Hollingsworth for her other TV show Abby’s Farm.”

Melissa pouts. “Mom might have came up with the idea, but I am the one who breathed life into her when the test audience didn’t like the first actress who played Molly. Besides Molly was based off of me as a child. So it was only natural that I play a version of myself on the show

Amy laughs. “Yeah no one is as wide eyed and innocent acting as you. Heavy on the acting part. You are far from innocent in real life”

Melissa sticks out her tongue. “I am very innocent and it isn’t an act. It is the real me. Outside of a few tantrums when I don’t get my way, but that is just my red hair shining though. You know red heads have fiery tempers at times.” Amy chuckles and walks away towards her office down the hall. Melissa walks out of the backstage area and out the door to walk to Happy Burger down the street. When she walked in. Melissa didn’t even need to order. She had been there so much. The staff knew what she wanted without being told. Melissa sat down at one of the tables and read her book while she waited. She loved going out in public incognito. No one knew she was Molly when she wasn‘t in makeup and her costume and she wanted to keep it that way. Melissa was terrified that someone would find out her secret and plaster it all over supermarket tabloids and gossip shows. Her fans might turn on her and all the sponsors pull out. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down. Melissa ate her lunch when it came and then walked back to the studio. She showed her pass to the guard and walked though the gate.

Amy was pacing back and forth frantically. “Where have you been? Miss Winston will be here in a little bit.”

Melissa smiles. “Well you relax. There is plenty of time. It is only a little after 2. She will not be here until 3.”

Amy looks at her watch. “No it isn’t. It is 2:30. Your watch must have stopped again.”

Melissa shrugs. “So I’ll do the interview as Melissa instead. I can give her an unsigned picture of Molly to use in the story.”

Amy sighs. “I wish you would take this job as seriously as I do. Do you know how hard it is to play zookeeper for a toddler who doesn’t listen?”

Melissa laughs. “That is why you get paid the big bucks. To put up with Molly and her shenanigans. I don’t mean the 8 point bucks either. I mean the 12 to 16 point bucks.” She giggles as Amy walks off and grumbles under her breath. “I love to do that to her. It is so much fun. Because she makes it so easy.” Melissa walked to her dressing room and sat down in her overstuffed chair. “Move over Cuckoo. If I didn’t know you was a chicken. I would swear you was a hog.” She picks up Molly’s best friend, Cuckoo Chicken and puts her on the chicken nest bed next to the chair. At a few minutes to 3. There was a knock on the door. Melissa gets up and walks to the door. There was a lady who looked to be in her late 20’s standing there. “Can I help you?”

The lady smiles. “Yes I am looking for Molly Hollingsworth. I’m Miss Winston. I am here to do an interview with her for my magazine.”

Melissa smiles. “Well you found her. I’m Molly Hollingsworth.”

Miss Winston smiles. “Well you wasn’t who I was expecting. I thought you would be younger.”

Melissa smiles. “You aren’t the first person who has said that to me. Everyone says I look younger than I really are. Have a seat anywhere you like, but not in Cuckoo Chicken’s nest. She gets upset of people sets in her nest.”

Miss Winston laughs. “Ok no nest setting.” She sat down on the couch and takes out her tablet. Melissa sets down in her overstuffed chair and pulls her feet up into the chair. “I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. “Tell me about yourself and how you became Molly Hollingsworth.”

Melissa smiles. “Well I am 24 years old ,but everyone says I look like a 14 year old. I guess that is good when you are playing an energetic toddler on TV. No one would buy an adult playing a child, but someone who looks like a teenager can get away with it. How I got the job as Molly is simple. My mom produces Abby’s Farm and my show. The actress they got to play Molly for Abby’s Farm didn’t do well with the test audience. So they had to recast the part. My mom didn’t think about me playing the part and I never really thought about it either. Mom and the director went though many casting calls to find a new Molly, but none of them fit the bill. One day I was setting on the set watching them making Abby’s farm and I was reading the script that was to introduce Molly. I was messing around with voices when everyone stopped what they was doing and looked at me. Mom said to do that voice again. I did it and everyone’s eyes lit up. It was a little girl’s voice with a lisp in it. Mom asked me to play the part of Molly. Since it was only suppose to be a two part episode. So I agreed. The children loved the character of Molly. So I had a recurring part of the show. Sometimes I was in the show and other times I was in the show at the last when Abby would check her mail and got a postcard from Molly. Those was voice overs.”

Miss Winston nods as she types. “I see. So you got the job because of your mom. That doesn’t seem to be right. A bit of nepotism. Your mom got you to play the part when someone with more experience was probably overlooked. Anyway onto my next question. I notice your hair is red, but on the show it is pink. Why is that?”

Melissa shakes her head. “No I don’t think so. Mom and the casting director interviewed a lot of females for the part, but none had the quality they was looking for. Anyway. I didn’t want the job. I had never wanted to be an actress. I had loftier dreams. I wanted to be a doctor, but I passed out when the instructor at my high school was showing us a DVD of accident scenes. It was then and there. I realized that medicine might not be the field for me. I had already played Molly a few times on the show and I realized I liked it. I got to play dress up and pretend to be someone else. Something I loved to do as a child. As for my hair. Molly’s hair is pink because of an accident at the county fair. She was carrying a container of water to the barn to help with the horses. Molly bumped into the giant container of pink lemonade. The container spilled on her and the lemonade stained her hair. The writer had wrote a story to take place in a couple of weeks. Molly was suppose to go to the hairdresser and get her red hair back, but after the outpouring from children who said they loved Molly’s hair pink. The story was scrapped and Molly’s hair stayed pink.”

Miss Winston writes as Melissa talks. “How do you like having your hair dyed pink before each show.”

Melissa gets up out of the chair. “My hair isn’t dyed pink for the show.” She walks over to her dressing table and picks up the foam head with the pink wig on it. “I wear a pink wig for the show. It isn’t very comfortable. Because it mats me hair down and makes my head sweat a lot. I keep hoping they will find a way to lighten the wig. So my head can breath and not be so sweaty at the end of taping.”

Miss Winston nods. “You say you are 24. What is your plans for the future? I mean you can’t play Molly forever. Are you going to go to college?”

Melissa shakes her head. “I’ve already went to college. Two infact. I applied to 5 colleges and was accepted to all of them. I went to South Western University and I graduated with my degree in Early Child Development. I also have gone to Clown College during the time the show is in hiatus to help me be more childlike.” The interview lasted another 30 minutes they covered many subjects related to the show and her personal life. Melissa made sure to steer away from anything to do with her secret about wearing diapers or being a little girl at home since being Molly on TV. There was a knock on the door and Melissa went to answer it. It was Amy telling her that they was ready to do the voice over for the animated part of the show if she was ready.” Melissa turns and looks at Miss Winston. “I’ve got to go back to work, but you are welcome to set in and watch while I do the animated part of the show.” Miss Winston follows Melissa down the hall. She could hear the crinkling of plastic, but she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Miss Winston shrugs it off and figured it was someone nearby with a plastic bag from a store or restaurant. She watched the voice over work and Melissa took her on a tour of the sets. Miss Winston was taken aback by Molly’s room on the set. It looked like a nursery minus the crib. Melissa noticed the look on Miss Winston’s face. “Molly is having a hard time on the show wanting to give up her furniture. She finally gave up her crib, but in her imagination aka the animated part of the show. Molly still has her crib. It is whatever she wants it to be. A rocket ship to visit other planets, a sub for seeing ocean life or a pirate ship” Miss Winston nods and thanks Melissa to the interview. She left to write the story up and Melissa went back to her dressing room to get her diaper changed. She left the studio and went home. Melissa’s first stop was the kitchen to get a glass of milk before she went into the living room to watch children shows on TV. Her mom came home at around 6 and came into the living room. They ate supper and Melissa went off to her room to rehearse her lines for tomorrow’s show while her mom worked on the shooting schedule for the two shows. Melissa fell asleep in her beanbag chair. Mom came by to check on her while she saw Melissa’s bedroom light was still on. She covered Melissa up and kissed her on the forehead. Mom turned on the nightlight and turned off the light. She went to her room and got ready for bed. Mom turned off the light and went to sleep. In the morning Mom got up and got dressed. She read the morning paper while she made pancakes for Melissa to eat when she got up later. A headline on the entertainment section caught her attention. It said what actress who plays a popular character on TV is more like her character than anyone realizes. Mom reads on. It said there was an unnamed source who reveals that one of the performers on Good Golly It’s Molly is more like their character anyone realizes. That not all the bulk over the costume is from the costume. It is from a diaper.” Mom gasp when she reads it. Melissa’s secret is out, but so far no names had been mention, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before the gossip shows and the tabloids would figure it out. Mom decided to stay home until Melissa got up. She knew Melissa was going to need her for support.

Melissa got up a hour later and staggers down the stairs. She was shocked to see Mom was still home. “What are you doing here mom? You are never here when I get up in the morning.”

Mom looks up. “We have to talk and I thought it was better coming from me.”

Melissa sat down at the table. “This sounds serious. Has my show been cancelled?”

Mom shakes her head. “Not yet, but it could be if this goes any farther.” She hands Melissa the paper.

Melissa reads it. It didn’t sink in at first. Because her brain was still mostly asleep. She read it a second time and she gasps in shock. “This can’t be true. This has to be a really bad dream. Everyone knows my secret.”

Mom nods. “Not yet, but you know how those gossip writers are. They will keep digging until they find out the truth or their version of the truth and then plaster it all over the front page of their tabloids and on those gossip shows.”

Melissa sighs. “We need to get ahead of this and put the right spin on this before I am the Batboy’s love interest or Elvis’ lovechild with an alien.”

Mom shakes her head. “No we don’t do anything. We let it blow over. If we come forward with the truth. The real media would have a field day with this. We could lose viewers to your show and Abby’s Farm. We could lose sponsors and their money. Which will kill both shows. We let them do their worse. We ride it out and come out the other side stronger and more resilient.”

Melissa shakes her head. “I don’t think that is the right move. If we do nothing. They will just make up more and more outlandish stories about me. We could lose a lot more viewers than we would if we came out with the truth.”

Mom puts her arm around Melissa’s shoulder. “Trust me Melissa. I know what I am doing.”

Melissa sighs and nods. “Ok mom I will trust you. I hope you do know what you are doing and this doesn’t blow up in our faces.” Melissa ate her pancakes, but she couldn’t get her mind off the story in the paper. Somehow or another. Someone found out her secret. This was her nightmare come to life. She didn’t think Amy was the unnamed source in the paper. Melissa trusted her with her secret about wearing diapers all the time. She took a bath after she changed out of her nighttime diapers. Melissa dropped her cloth diapers and plastic pants in the pail in the bathroom. She dried herself off and went to get dressed. Melissa picks out a diaper with teddy bears on the front and put it on. She put on a pair of pants and a sweatshirt. Melissa puts on her sandals and left the house. She drove to the studio and parked her car. Melissa walked into the studio. By the looks on everyone’s face. They all knew about the story and they was trying to figure out who the person was. Whether they was or not. Melissa felt like everyone was staring at her. She went to her dressing room and found Amy setting there with the paper in her hands.

Amy looks up. “Have you seen the paper today? Pork Bellies are up.”

Melissa laughs. “Yes I saw the paper and if this keeps going. Pork bellies aren’t going to be the only thing that is going to be belly up.”

Amy nods. “What do you want to do about it? Do you want to put out a press release dismissing the rumor?

Melissa shakes her head. “No mom said to just ignore it. The story will go away and they will pick on someone else. I don’t think it is the right course of action, but mom said that is how it should be handled.”

Amy nods. “Well you are the center of the media storm. It is up to you. I don’t know if now is a good time to bring this up, but Molly have a lunch date with the Daisy and Brownie troops at 12. It is too late to cancel the lunch date.”

Melissa shakes her head. “No I wouldn’t want to cancel it even if I had time to do it. Molly has commitments she has to fulfill. If we are going out. It mind as well go out with a bang. Instead of with a whimper. Are you going to stick around while I become Molly or do you have somewhere to be.”

Amy shakes her head. “No I don’t, but if you want me to go. I will leave so you have time to yourself to get in your Molly’s mindset.”

Melissa smiles. “No you can stay. I don’t really feel like being alone right now. If I am alone. Then I will start to think about my secret coming out and people staring at me. Whether they really are or not.”

Amy gets up and hugs Melissa. “Of course I’ll stay with you. I wouldn’t be much of an assistant if I left you when you need me.”

Melissa goes to her closet and gets out her blue shortalls and rainbow stripped shirt. She put them on her dressing chair and gets her rainbow stripped tights. “I’m going to talk to mom about getting short sleeve shirts and knee length socks. The tights and long sleeve shirts are hot during the summer and when they have the heat turned up in here during the winter.”

Amy nods. “I’ll put that on the schedule for the next production meeting.”

Melanie nods and undresses down to her diaper. She puts the tights on over her diaper. Next came the shirt. Melanie tucks the shirt into her tights. She steps into the shortalls and pulls them up. Melanie adjust the straps to make them tight enough. She put on her red sneakers and ties them. Melanie sets down in her makeup chair and put her red hair up. She pins it in place and then puts makeup on to lighten her skin up. Melanie puts her freckles on her cheeks. She picks up the pink wig and puts it on. Melanie took up and faced Amy. “Molly is ready to go play.”

Amy watched the transformation. “If I hadn’t seen it. I would not have believed you and Molly was the same person. You two look totally different.”

Melissa giggles and in her Molly’s voice she says. “That is because we are totally different. Melissa is a big girl. I am a little girl who loves to play and have fun.”

Amy smiles. “That you are. Oh I forgot to tell you Melissa. They are doing the voice over part first. They will tape the live action part when the Girl Scouts get here.”

Melissa pouts. “Darn, I like doing the voice over after taping the live action part of the show. So I can get out of this horrible wig.”

Amy shakes her head. “We can’t always have it our way.”

Melissa shrugs and goes off to do the voice over work. At 11 the Girl Scout troops showed up for their lunch date with Molly. She saw one of the stagehands talking to the girls with her back to Molly. Melissa snuck up behind the stagehands and started to make funny faces. The girls start to giggle and laugh. The stagehand couldn’t figure out why they was laughing. When the stagehand would turn around. Molly would go the same way as the stagehand. So she didn’t see Molly standing behind her. Which made the girls laugh harder. She made rabbit ears behind the stagehand’s head. The stagehand finally caught on. “I have a feeling there is someone behind me who is being a bratty little girl.”

Molly looks angelic when the stagehand turned around. “It wasn’t me. I was just standing here being a good girl.”

The stagehand laughs. “I don’t buy that for one minute. You are a bratty little girl and always have been.”

Amy walks up. “Oh there you are Molly. I turn my back for one minute and you start to annoy the staff.”

Molly pouted. “She started it. She was not paying attention to what was going on around her.”

Amy smiles. “Alright ladies and Molly. Lunch is this way.” She walks back the way she came and lead them to a conference room. There was a buffet set up along one wall.

Molly lined up with the girls. She felt someone tapping her on her sleeve. There was a girl who was signing to her. The lady with her said that the girl said that she was her favorite character. Molly knelt down and smiled at the girl. She signed back to the girl and the girl’s eyes lit up. The girl was shocked that Molly was signing to her. Molly looked at the lady. “I learned sign language when I was a child. I thought it was a cool second language. That is something no one knows about Molly. She can speak in two languages.” The girl and the lady went on though the line to get something to eat.”

Melissa felt a had on her shoulder. She turned and looked it was Amy. “Looks like you made a friend. I didn’t know you could sign like that.”

Melissa smiles. “No one does. It is my secret talent.” The rest of the day was uneventful. After lunch. They continued the tour. The girls watched the live action part of the show. Melissa thought the cameras had stopped rolling. When she signed I love you and friend to the girl.

Amy walked into the set. “I don’t know if you meant to do that on camera or not, but they was still rolling when you was signing to the girl.”

Melissa shakes her head. “No I didn’t mean to do it on camera. I thought the cameras was off.” Each of the girls got their picture taken with Molly and then she signed them before the girls left the studio. Melissa sighs. “If you need me. I’ll be in my dressing room taking a nap on my couch. I am tired.” She goes to her dressing room and removes her wig. Melissa lets her hair down and lays down on the couch still dressed as Molly. She dreams about being found out as being a diaper wearer. Melissa sees all her fan turning on her and the sponsors backing out of the show. Next she sees the last episode of her show and her teary goodbye the show ends. Melissa felt someone shaking her. She opens her eyes and saw her mom standing there. Her mom told her it was time to wake up and change her clothes. Melissa looks down and saw she was still in her Molly outfit. Melissa changed her clothes and left the studio As the weeks and months go by. The tabloids and gossip shows got more and more outrageous in their stories about the show. It was started to effect the cast and crew. Melissa sat down with her mom in her dressing room. “Mom, I know you said to let this blowing over, but it isn’t blowing over. It is getting worse. The crew is thinking of walking away from the show. If we don’t do something soon. We are not going to have a show. I am going to hold a press conference to set the story straight. If we don’t. There will not have a show.”

Mom set there quietly looking at Melissa. “Go ahead and do it, but be forewarn. There could be a massive backlash that could kill this show and open yourself up to ridicule. You have worked hard to keep this part of you a secret. If you hold this press conference and tell them the truth. Things will never be the same again. You will be forever changed in the eyes of the public. No more going to Happy Burger and no one knowing you are Molly Hollingsworth.”

Melissa nods. “I know mom. I have gave this a lot of thought and this seems to be the only solution to keep things from getting worse and more outlandish. If I could see any other solution to this problem. I would do it. If coming clean about my secret gives the show even a glimmer of hope of staying on the air. I have to do it. The only other option I see is to cancel the show and recast Molly.”

Mom shakes her head. “I would pull the plug on the show before I would ever think of recasting Molly. You are Molly and there is no debate in that.”

Melissa hugs Mom. “Thank you for saying that. After the past few days. I was starting to doubt my place as Molly.” Mom left the dressing room and called the news stations to set up the press conference. She still felt it was a bad decision, but it was out of her hands. This was going to have to be a learning experience for Melissa. Right or wrong. Melissa had to stand on her own two feet. Melissa paced back and forth in her dressing room.

Amy came by to check on her. She had never seen Melissa like this before. “Are you ok Melissa?”

Melissa shakes her head as she held back the tears. “No I am not ok. In a little bit. My life as I know it will be over. There will be no living in Molly’s shadow. I have to do this to save the show from being drug down any farther.”

Amy nods. “I know this can’t be easy for you to do. You worked hard to keep this side of you secret and out of the public eye. Now you are going to expose your secret to the world to save the show. I am not going to tell you what to do, but think about this. You might save the show, but what good will it do if you aren’t a part of it. The press is not going to let up on you. They will make it so hard for you to be Molly and sooner or later you would quit just to get out of the public eye”

Melissa nods. “I have thought about all of that. I don’t see any other option. The stories each day are going more outlandish. The stories are starting to effect the cast and crew. They are starting to look side eyed at each other and snap at one another. We would to be one big, loving family.”

Amy nods. “Well as long as you know the risk of coming out to the public.” She walks down the hall towards where the reporters was at.

Melissa walks to the podium. “Thank you for coming today. As you are well aware of is the stories that has been going around about the show. Well I am here to set the record straight. First off. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Melissa Van Buren, but everyone knows me as Molly Hollingsworth. I am not dating Batboy as one of the stories stated. I am not some long lost princess who is next in line for the throne. As much fun as that would be.” There was a chuckle from the reporters. One of the stories is true. There is someone on the show who is more like the character they play than anyone realizes. That person is me. Not all the padding under my costume is fake. I wear diapers under my costume. It makes it easier on me. It takes a while to get the costume on and off and we can’t always stop taping so I can use the bathroom. So I started wearing diapers under my costume to help with it.”

The reporters ask questions and Melissa answered them. One of them asked a very direct question which she didn’t want to answer, but if she didn’t. The tabloids would make up their own answer to the question. “You say you wear diapers under your costume. Is that the only time you wear diapers?”

Melissa thinks about the question. “I would rather not answer that one, but if I don’t. You will all make up an answer to the question. So to keep you from making up an answer. I’ll answer it myself. “No when I am Molly is not the only time I wear diapers. I wear them all the time. Not because I need them, but because I love the way they feel next to my skin. The way they crinkle when I walk and the smooth plastic outer covering.” She answers a few more questions. “Thank you for all coming.” Melissa walks back to her dressing room and flops down on her couch.

Mom came into the dressing room after the reporters left. “Well how do you feel now that your secret is out?”

Melissa looks at her mom. “How do you think I feel? I am terrified about my future as Molly Hollingsworth and the show.”

Mom nods. “Well for what it is worth. I am proud of you. It took a lot of courage to come out like you did. I guess we just have to wait and see how things are going to work out.” Things didn’t turn out as bad as Melissa thought it would. The gossip shows and the tabloids tried to use the information from the press conference to farther disgrace the show. No one paid it any attention. After a while. They moved on to other celebrities since anything about Good Golly It’s Molly was not saleing any papers. Molly became even more popular than she did before all of this came out. Girls wanted to follow Molly’s example and to capitalize the demand. Kimberly Clark signed a contract with Melissa to be the official nappy company for the TV Show. In exchange Melissa agreed to let them use her likeness for all of their nappies for their girl’s line. When the show got to the US. The response was the same. Kimberly Clark started to sell their Molly diapers in the US and around the world. Melissa retired from the show four years later and another actress now plays Molly on TV. In an unexpected move. Kimberly Clark asked Melissa to set on their board when she retired. Amy oversees the production of Good Golly It’s Molly when Melissa’s mom decided to leave the show. Abby’s Farm closed up production, but the cast comes back two to three times a year for the specials they shoot with the cast of Good Golly It’s Molly. All in all. Things are great with Melissa after her secret came out.