Kenny arrived home twenty minutes after his mother.

After their brunch, they had gone back to the Halsteds where Mrs. Braken thanked them again for their hospitality and the Halsteds repeated their pleasure at having had Kenny as a guest. Kenny promised that he would leave as soon as he picked up his backpack from Artie’s room.

“Do you think my mom is OK with my diapers?” a concerned Kenny asked Artie.

“Are you kidding?” Artie responded. “Didn’t you see the way she looked at you when she first walked in? And how about the way she hugged you and patted your bottom through your plastic pants? She loved it.”

“Do you really think so? You don’t think she was just being polite in front of your parents?”

“Would you quit worrying? She’s not going to yell at you when you get home, believe me.”

Even though he wanted to believe Artie, he was nervous as he parked his bike in the garage and walked into the house. He hung up his jacket on his usual hook and paused. Should he or shouldn’t he? “What the heck?” he thought. “I may as well find out now.” He kicked off his shoes and hung his pants on the same hook as his jacket.

“Mom, I’m home.” he called, heading upstairs.

“Good,” she answered.

He walked into his room to find his mother unpacking his bag. She smiled at him.

“Come over here, sweetie, we can talk while we unpack.”

“Are you disappointed in me, mom?” he asked.

“Why, of course not.”

“You don’t think that I’m being selfish or bad in wanting to wear diapers again?”

“No, honey. I meant what I said in my letter. This is your decision and I will support whatever you want to do.”

She enveloped him in a long hug.

“Besides, I’m happy to have my outgoing boy back again. I think that you and Artie are going to be good friends for each other, even if you did meet because you disobeyed me and went to the river.”

“You know about the river?” Artie asked fearfully.

“Yes,” she exaggerated.

When Mrs. Braken first arrived at the Halsteds, Mrs. Halsted took her on a tour of the house. In a quiet moment when they were alone, Mrs. Halsted spoke to her.

“I know that I am probably speaking out of turn about something that is none of my business but there is one thing I would like to tell you about Kenny,

“Oh…” Mrs. Braken answered.

“Yes, when I first met Kenny on Monday, Artie said that Kenny had been afraid to go home after his wetting accident. Later on, after Kenny left, I asked Artie what he had meant. He said that when he first met Kenny down by the river he was shaking with fear, practically crying about how you would discipline him. I don’t say this to criticize you; I just think it’s important for you to know how Kenny sees you. I hope I haven’t upset you.”

“Thank you. I know that I am a strict disciplinarian. I feel that I have to be, especially since Kenny doesn’t have a father in the home. Maybe I have been too tough on him. I appreciate your telling me about this. I’ll think about it.”

“I’m sorry, mom.” Kenny burst out in tears. “I wasn’t even standing close to the water… and then, the ground crumbled and I was in the water and I was so scared… I couldn’t get back to the shore… and then I grabbed a tree branch and crawled back to solid ground. I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” he bawled.

His mom was shocked by his confession. She hadn’t imagined anything this dramatic. Kenny was hysterical as he relived the moment. She hugged him close and soothed him. A thousand horrible pictures passed before her eyes as she imagined the event. What if there had been no branch? What if he had been knocked unconscious by the fall into the water? What if…

After he had calmed down, Mrs. Braken knew that she had to deal with his disobedience right away.

“Kenny, now do you believe how dangerous the river can be?”

“Yes,” he answered in a choked voice.

“And you know that your disobedience deserves a punishment?”

“Yes,” he said nodding his head up and down.

“You’re grounded after school for the next two weeks and for the next two weekends.”

“Aw, mom. not two weekends!” he objected.

“Yes, two weekends,” she said sharply. “You could have been drowned. This is very serious and I think that grounding you for two weeks is hardly a harsh punishment.”

Kenny knew that he would only hurt his chances of getting his punishment reduced if he argued with her. He was mostly disappointed because he had planned on asking if Artie could come over next Saturday to spend the day.

“Now, let’s discuss some ideas I have for rearranging things around here,” his mom said in a lighter tone.

(Kenny and his mom had a very sound relationship. They didn’t hold grudges. Now that she had meted out his punishment, they would neither dwell on it nor argue about it.)

Mrs. Braken had big plans that amazed and thrilled Kenny. Their house had four bedrooms. Up until this point, Kenny had the smallest room.

“Even before this,” she explained, “I had been thinking that since you’re growing up you should move to one of the bigger rooms. Come on, let’s have a look.”

The largest of the guest rooms was almost as large as the master suite that Mrs. Braken occupied. She explained to Kenny that she thought that they could make the bathroom bigger by stealing some space from the unused walk-in closet in the adjoining guest room. Also, she thought that they should buy new furniture.

“I didn’t think of this until I saw Artie’s bathroom but you’ll need a changing table, too. I think that the space we get from going into the closet next door will be ample room. What do you think?”

Kenny was speechless. This was far more than he had expected. Not only was his mom supporting his decision she seemed to be encouraging it.

“Really?” was all he could say.

“Really!” she said laughing. “We don’t have to make any decisions now, anyhow. Tomorrow, I’ll call an architect to get the ball rolling. He or she may even have some fun ideas for us to consider.”

They went back to Kenny’s room to unpack his bag.

“OK, honey, we’ll have to make room for your plastic pants and diapers. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Well,” he asked sheepishly, “do I have to keep my old underpants?”

“No,” she answered, “we can box them up. Does this mean that you’re planning on wearing only diapers, even at school?”

Kenny knew that this was one of those ‘moments of no-return’ where he would be committing himself to a definite (and possibly unchangeable [no pun intended]) course of action. It was unbelievable to him how his attitudes had changed in just one week. His suddenly reawakened desire to wear diapers was irresistible. He intended to wear diapers no matter what anyone else said.

“Artie and I talked about that. I think that it would be better if I wear my diapers all the time.”

“And why is that?”

“Ummm,…” Kenny said gathering his thoughts, “The more I think about it the more I think that my friends are going to find out about my diapers anyway. They might accept it better if they knew that I wore them all the time.”

“What if your friends don’t accept your diapers?”

“Then, I guess they’re not my friends,” he said sadly.

Mrs. Braken’s heart ached for Kenny. “How likely was it that all of his friends would accept him this way? Not to mention those kids who aren’t his friends.” she thought.

They had finished unpacking Kenny’s bag. His few dirty clothes were piled on the bed. Only the plastic pants and a handful of diapers fit into the dresser.

“We’ll need to find some temporary solutions for where to put the rest of your diapers, especially after we order some more. The unused guest closet may be a good place for now. We’ll rotate them into your dresser as we need them.”

This cheered Kenny. He definitely approved of getting more diapers and plastic pants.

“How many diapers will I need?”

“I think that three dozen daytime diapers and one dozen nighttime diapers will be a good start,” his mom answered. “That’s what the site I ordered your diapers from recommended, anyway. Also, some of your daytime diapers will have to be kept at school.”

“Oh, yeah,” Kenny said somberly.

“I went online to read the school district’s policy book. You will have to report to the nurse’s office for your diaper changes. I’m not sure if you’ll do your own or if the nurse will do them for you. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow when we drop off your supplies.”

Kenny was enjoying all the attention that the diapers were getting him, that is, getting his diaper area cleaned, having someone powder him and then pin him into the diaper. He wasn’t sure, though, how it would feel when a ‘professional’ did it. Would he rather do it himself?

They finished putting the diapers away in the guest closet.

“Uhhh,… Mom,” Kenny said shyly. “Can you change my diaper now?”

Mrs. Braken was overjoyed; she had been waiting for this ever since she realized that Kenny wanted to be back in diapers. Kenny had wanted to ask for a change earlier but he had been afraid of what his mom would say when she saw that he had an erection.

“Let’s go back to your room,” she answered.

She pulled a plastic changing pad from under the bed and took out the supplies from Kenny’s dresser. He lied down on the pad and allowed his mother to remove his plastic pants, diaper, and diaper doubler. She went into his bathroom and he heard her put the diaper and plastic pants into (presumably) his diaper pail. She returned with a moistened cloth for cleaning his diaper area. She made no remark about his excited state. She began cleaning him. She surprised him when she reached under his knees and lifted him up in order to clean his bottom. He giggled and moaned in delight. Memories were being reawakened in him that he had never before imagined. Before lowering him back onto the mat she wiped it down with the washcloth.

“I don’t want to put you back down on a soiled surface, now do I?” she said with a glint in her eye.

She laid the washcloth aside and slid the diaper and doubler under him. He shivered with excitement as she adjusted the bulky material between his legs and pinned the diaper in place. After she had pulled the plastic pants up his legs and was adjusting the fit, he spontaneously gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“So you remembered that part, did you?” she asked. “I always gave you a kiss after changing your diaper, even when you were fighting against your toilet training.”

He hadn’t consciously remembered, but this explained the uncontrollable urge he had felt. He stood up as she gave his plastic pants a final check.

“Now, do you remember this part?”

In that very instant, he did. He began giggling as he pretended to try to get away from her. She had him by the waist as she spun him around and landed three noisy, but playful, swats on the seat of his plastic pants. This sent him into even louder giggling as he ‘escaped’ running down the stairs.

It had been a long time since Kenny and his mother had felt so content.

****

That evening was quiet. They ate a light supper and Kenny and his mom spent most of the time watching television together. Mrs. Braken could tell that Kenny’s mind was elsewhere.

He was pondering how to deal with his friends. Should he tell his three closest friends all at once? Should he tell them separately? When should he tell them? Where? What if they no longer wanted to be his friends?

These questions were leading nowhere. It occurred to him that his two week grounding was actually a good thing. His friends knew that for the first few days his mother wouldn’t allow him visitors. It probably wouldn’t be until Thursday or Friday that he would be allowed to see them outside of school. Hopefully, he would figure out a plan of action by then.

At 9:00, Kenny’s mom asked if he wanted to be put into his nighttime diaper. The mere suggestion gave him an instant erection. They walked upstairs where she led him to his bathroom. She removed his shirt and socks, lowered his plastic pants, and then unpinned his diaper. (This was the first time since he had been toilet trained that he had allowed his mother to see him completely naked. It felt natural.)

“Take your shower and I’ll be waiting for you in your bedroom.”

When he got back to his room his mother had already laid out his nighttime diaper along with a diaper doubler. (“Kewl,” Kenny thought.) Much to his delight, she prepared him as she had done earlier except that she also carefully covered his diaper area with baby oil. The extreme bulk of the diaper and the sweet smell of the baby powder added levels of sensory pleasure that Kenny enjoyed immensely, but there was more to come.

“These baby… plastic pants,” Mrs. Braken corrected herself, “are different from the ones I sent with you to Artie’s. They are a little noisier. Tell me if you don’t like them,” she said as she pulled the stiff pants up his legs.

They crackled loudly as he stood up.

“Kewl,” he said, smiling.

He instantly fell in love with them. He had already discovered that he had a fondness for plastic pants; now he knew that noisy plastic pants were even more exciting to wear. He wondered if, after his friends knew about his diapers, he might be able to wear crackly plastic pants during the day under his regular clothes.

“Now, let’s get your pajamas on.”

“But, my pajamas won’t fit over my thick diapers…”

“I’ve got some new ones for you,” she interrupted.

Mrs. Braken opened the dresser and unfolded a yellow garment. It was a footed sleeper similar to what Kenny had worn the previous night. It was only when his mother helped him put it on that he noticed that it didn’t have a zipper up the front- instead, it buttoned in the back. Mrs. Braken anxiously awaited Kenny’s verdict. Would he object to being dependent on her to take off his own pajamas? He looked down at his juvenile garment and smiled. He hugged and kissed his mother and thanked her for ‘everything.’

“You’re very welcome, sweetie.”

He headed downstairs to watch TV. He was so enthralled with the rustling and loud crackling noises made by his plastic pants that he regretted having to sit still on the couch. Nonetheless, he was able to move around just enough for his plastic pants to make all kinds of delightful sounds.

At 10:30 he was sleepy enough to go to bed. His mother accompanied him to his room and tucked him in.

****

The next morning Kenny woke early and got up. He giggled when his noisy plastic pants reminded him of his diapered state.

“Good morning, you’re in a good mood,” his mother greeted him. “Do you want to get changed now or after breakfast?”

Kenny liked his thick diaper, plastic pants, and sleeper so much that he said that he would prefer waiting. He had his usual cereal and orange juice.

“You know, Kenny,” his mother said seriously, “your old underwear is still in the laundry room waiting to be disposed of. You don’t have to wear diapers to school if you don’t want to.”

Kenny’s face fell. “Do you mean that you won’t let me wear diapers today?”

“Oh, no, honey. I don’t mean that at all. I just want you to know that if you’re having second thoughts or if you aren’t sure that wearing diapers is the right thing, you can still change your mind.”

Kenny breathed a sigh of relief. “No, thanks,” he said cheerily. “I haven’t changed my mind.”

In fact, he was looking forward to it. His desire to wear diapers had been growing steadily over the last three days. There was no way he would give them up now.

After breakfast, Kenny’s mom helped him get out of his sleeper and night diaper. He went into the bathroom to do number two and then she re-diapered him. He was slightly nervous about going to school in a diaper and plastic pants but not enough to make him change his mind. In fact, he was enjoying a certain sense of naughtiness at breaking a taboo- that is, a thirteen year old wearing and wetting diapers publicly.

Kenny and his mom arrived early. Mrs. Braken didn’t want Kenny to miss class time while they made arrangements for his diaper changes with the school nurse, Mrs. Appleton. Kenny carried a nylon bag containing six diapers and doublers, plastic pants, a container of baby powder, extra diaper pins, and a tube of rash cream. The arrangements were made quickly. Kenny’s cheeks glowed bright red as his mother explained to Mrs. Appleton that Kenny had returned to fulltime diaper wearing. Mrs. Appleton asked some follow-up questions and seemed a little surprised that Kenny wasn’t on medications.

“There is no need for medications at the present time,” Mrs. Braken said truthfully. “Naturally, if that changes we will alert you immediately. Oh… one last thing, Kenny and I have decided that he will wear cloth diapers and plastic pants. I hope this is not inconvenient for you.”

“No,” the nurse answered sincerely. “Frankly, I don’t much approve of using disposable diapers on older children. I think they are a waste of money and an unnecessary burden on our dump sites, especially if the child is expected to wear them for a long time.”

“I’m glad we agree,” Mrs. Braken continued. “And, yes, in this case, Kenny is expected to be in diapers for quite some time.”

“I see. Has Kenny been doing his own diaper changes?”

“No,” Mrs. Braken admitted, “I have been doing them up to this point.”

“Very well. In that case,” she said to Kenny, “please take your pants off and stand over there by the bed. I have to check how your mother wants you diapered.”

Kenny looked over to his mother who smiled slightly and said, “Go on, honey. Don’t keep Mrs. Appleton waiting.”

Kenny shyly took off his pants and waited, nervously eyeing the door to the office. Mrs. Appleton and his mother joined him. Mrs. Appleton shut the modesty curtain, creating a private space.

“Hold your shirt up, please. How long have you been wearing this particular diaper?” she asked Kenny.

“About a half hour,” he replied.

“May I check it?” she asked Mrs. Braken.

“Certainly.”

Mrs. Appleton lowered his plastic pants almost to his knees. The unmistakable odor of pee filled the confined space. Kenny blushed. He was also fighting a growing erection.

“I see that you have already used it. Do you think you can last until nutrition break without a change?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kenny answered. “I’m wearing a diaper doubler, too.”

“That’s good,” she commented. “I assume that you haven’t been wearing diapers for very long so I’ll caution you not to take any chances. If you feel that your diapers and plastic pants might leak, ask your teacher to dismiss you from class right away. In a few moments, I’ll give you a blue pass that will allow you unlimited permission to come to this office. All the teachers know that this is given out only in special cases. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting dismissed, but don’t abuse the privilege or you may lose it.”

“Yes, ma’am, I understand,” Kenny agreed.

“The best thing is to try to come to me during a break or at lunchtime. That way you won’t have to ask for permission in front of the whole class.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kenny agreed again.

Kenny was getting nervous standing there with his shirt pulled up and his plastic pants pulled down fully exposing his wet diaper.

“I see that you used six safety pins. Is this to keep the diaper securely in place or to prevent Kenny from removing it?” Mrs. Appleton asked.

“To keep his diaper securely in place, of course,” Mrs. Braken said quickly. “Kenny would never remove it. As you can see, in less than a half-hour he’s already wet it pretty well.”

Kenny blushed furiously. His mother’s comment seemed to imply that he wouldn’t dare take the diaper off because it was impossible for him to keep his pants dry for even a short period of time.

“Yes, I understand,” Mrs. Appleton said, pulling up Kenny’s plastic pants.

“You can put your pants back on and go out to the yard if you want. Your mother and I have a few more procedures to go over.”

Kenny went off toward the yard, the blue nurse’s pass stuck in his pocket. He was aware of the gentle rustle caused by his plastic pants but he doubted than anyone else would notice. He played back in his head what had just happened in Mrs. Appleton’s office. Standing in front of her in his diaper and plastic pants hadn’t been too bad. In fact, the whole thing (including her pulling down his plastic pants to reveal his wet diaper) had been more exciting than embarrassing. He smiled to himself. “Just two weeks ago I would have died if she had asked me to pull my pants down in front of her. Now, I’m looking forward to her seeing me in diapers. Oh well, I guess I really am turning into a diaper boy.”

Walking out into the yard a chill went up his spine as he realized the danger he was putting himself in. Not that it mattered- he was resolved to stay in diapers no matter what anybody said.

“Hey, Matt. Hey, Larry. Hey, Brick,” he greeted his friends.

In the few minutes before school started, they talked about their spring break. Only Kenny hadn’t gone anywhere interesting.

“So what did you do?” Matt asked.

“Nothing much. Just hung around.”

Kenny decided on the spur of the moment to talk about his new friendship with Artie. He gave an abbreviated version of his falling into the river and how Artie saved his butt by inviting him to his house and washing his clothes.

“Only,” Kenny finished the story, “my mom found out about it anyway and I’m grounded for two weeks.”

“That really sucks,” Larry commiserated.

By the end of the day it was obvious to Kenny that it would impossible to hide his visits to Mrs. Appleton’s office for very long. At the morning break he had been able to hang back in the classroom pretending to be finishing up a project. As soon as the others were gone, he raced to the office and got his diaper changed. (His impatience about getting back to his friends as quickly as possible took some of the enjoyment away, but not all of it. He was comforted by Mrs. Appleton’s light touch and her sincere desire to make him feel relaxed.)

The change he needed at lunch had been even more tricky to hide. He was involved in an impromptu basketball game which he got out of by saying that he needed a drink of water. Mrs. Appleton was busy dispensing pills to students and, afterwards, he had to wait several minutes while she recorded their names and the dosages she had administered. By the time his diaper change was finished lunch had ended and he met up with his friends in the classroom.

At the end of school, he again left his friends to get his diaper tended to. When he eventually caught up with them, they seemed cool toward him.

“What’s up?” he asked nervously.

“You don’t have to hang with us if you don’t want to,” Larry answered.

“I haven’t been avoiding you, really. I just had to do something,” he explained lamely.

“Whatever,” his friends answered.

As he was walking home alone, Kenny wondered if his friends believed that he actually was grounded for two weeks. What if they thought he was doing something that he didn’t want them to know about? Was this what Artie had meant when he had said that it would be impossible for Kenny to hide his diapers from his friends? He got home and went up to his room.

“Would you like a snack?” his mom asked.

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”

Kenny’s low spirits were obvious to his mom.

“Bad day at school?”

“Not really.”

“Are you mad at me because you’re grounded for two weeks.”

“Not really,” he answered again.

She took the direct approach. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He explained what had happened.

“You know, honey, you are hiding something from them. It’s only natural that they’re going to wonder what it could be. I think you need to tell them something, and soon.”

“I know,” he admitted.

“But tell them what?” he thought. He didn’t want to lie to them but he didn’t want to tell them the whole truth- not yet, anyway.

****

Kenny finished his homework around 8:00. He took his nightly shower and asked his mother to put him into his nighttime diapers. She sensed that Kenny had enjoyed the ‘crinkly’ pants the previous night so she got out another pair for him to wear (hoping that they would cheer him up a little). It worked. His mood was much better when he went to bed.

The next morning he woke up with a clearly formulated plan in his head. He went off to school hopeful that his scheme would buy him enough time to figure out a permanent solution to his dilemma.

Kenny was with his three friends waiting for school to start. He pulled the blue pass from his pocket.

“Do you guys know what this is?”

“A pass to the nurse’s office,” Larry said, reading the card. “How come you’ve got one?”

“Well, that’s where I went yesterday at break, lunch, and after school.”

“Are you OK?” Brick asked.

“There’s nothing really wrong,” Kenny answered. “I just might have to report to the nurse at certain times during the day, that’s all…, really.”

After a few seconds’ pause Matt asked, “Does this have to do with you falling into the river and almost drowning?”

“Yeah, in a way. But I don’t want to talk about it. OK?”

Nobody said anything for a long time. Finally, Matt broke the silence.

“OK... but I bet I know what it’s all about.”

“You do?” Brick said in surprise.

“Sure,” Matt continued, “I bet that when Kenny fell into the river a fish bit him on the butt and now he has to go to Mrs. Appleton and drop his pants so that she can check if he’s healing OK.”

The others laughed hilariously. Kenny didn’t think it was that funny but he was happy that his friends seemed to have accepted his explanation.

Matt continued his teasing for the next few days.

“Well, what does Mrs. Appleton say? Who’s winning- you or the fish?”

“Quit it,” Kenny complained.

But he didn’t really mind. Having his friends tease him was a lot better than having them look at him with suspicion. If only he could figure out a plan for telling them about his diapers.

Thursday night, Kenny mom gave him a pleasant surprise.

“You’re still grounded for two weeks, but I’ve decided that you don’t have to come home right after school tomorrow. You can go to a friend’s house, if you want. The only conditions are that you call to tell me where you are and that you get home in time for dinner.”

“Thanks, mom!” Kenny said excitedly.

This change in her attitude was prompted by a sincere desire to reward Kenny for his cooperation during his grounding and also to allow her time to meet with the architect she had selected to do the house renovations. She thought that Kenny would approve of her selection but she wanted to talk over preliminary plans with him to see if she still felt comfortable with hiring him.

****

Kenny and his friends decided to go to Brick’s house after school and play basketball. This lasted for about forty-five minutes. They took a break and were variously sitting or lying stretched out on the lawn. A folded yellow paper fell out of Matt’s pocket.

“What’s this?” Kenny asked.

His question was greeted with teasing “ooohs” and “aaahs” from Brick and Larry. Matt appeared embarrassed.

“That’s mine,” Matt said, reaching for it.

“Yeah,” Larry added, “give him back his love letter from Emily.”

Brick and Larry made kissing sounds to further tease Matt. Kenny didn’t know what they were talking about.

“Love letter?” he said intrigued.

Matt was getting more agitated demanding the piece of paper back.

“Yeah,” Brick explained, “Emily gave it to him at the beginning of nutrition this morning.”

Kenny decided to pay Matt back for all the teasing he had given him this week.

“I think I should know what’s it says, too,” Kenny teased.

“Give it back!” Matt demanded.

Kenny was still lying on his back as he started unfolding the paper. Matt lunged at him but Kenny managed to keep the paper out of his reach. After a short struggle, Kenny remained lying on his back with Matt sitting heavily on him just below the waist. Kenny still wouldn’t give up the paper.

“Get off me, you elephant,” Kenny said, laughing.

“G-i-v-e m-e t-h-a-t p-a-p-e-r,” Matt demanded in a frustrated tone.

“Make me,” Kenny said, clutching it tightly.

Everybody knew that Kenny was pathologically ticklish. You could get him to do anything by simply threatening to tickle him. Matt started tickling him through his shirt. Kenny bucked and writhed but he couldn’t shake Matt. Then, two things happened simultaneously. Kenny’s shirt rose up exposing his plastic pants, and he let loose a solid stream of pee into his diaper. Matt sensed these two events simultaneously, too. His eyes focused on the plastic pants at the same time that he became aware of the warmth emanating from Kenny’s crotch.

“You’re wearing diapers… and you’re wetting them, right now!” he said jumping off of him.

Larry and Brick froze. They saw the top of the diaper and plastic pants, too. Kenny didn’t move, not even to cover up his exposed plastic pants and diaper.

“I… I…, shit!” he whimpered.

“Maybe before you start invading other people’s privacy you should be up front about yourself first,” Matt said hotly.

Kenny sat up, shame faced.

“I’m sorry for not telling you,” he said in a choked voice.

“Yeah, whatever,” Matt said coolly, “give me back my paper.”

Kenny handed him the note and Matt left. Nobody knew what to say. Brick broke the silence.

“Matt’s sure being a jerk but I wouldn’t worry about it. You know how he is. He gets mad all the time and then he completely forgets about it the next day.”

“Maybe,” Kenny said dejectedly. “But what if he goes around and tells everybody about my… my things while he’s still mad at me?”

Would Matt do that? It was a question they all pondered for a few seconds.

“Kenny,” Larry asked, “what is going on?”

He decided to try giving the shortest answers possible.

“I’ll be wearing diapers all the time now.”

“All the time? For how long?” Brick asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe forever.”

Larry and Brick were shocked and speechless for several seconds.

“How come?” Larry pursued.

“I just have to. It’s real complicated- but I did tell you the truth the other day. I don’t have any bad disease or anything. It’s just something I have to do.”

There was another prolonged silence.

“Will you guys want to be my friends anymore?” Kenny asked.

“Of course we’ll still be your friends,” Brick answered.

“Yeah, of course,” Larry seconded.

“Thanks.” Kenny said gratefully. “When word of this gets out, a lot of people are going to make fun of me. Are you sure you’ll still want to be my friends?”

“Stop worrying about it,” Larry insisted.

“Yeah, Larry’s right,” Brick added. “we won’t walk out on you. Promise.”

There was another long pause.

“Why do you think that word is going to get out about your… things?” Brick asked, using Kenny’s word for his diapers.

“For one thing, Matt sure was pissed at me. What if he tells his blabbermouth sister about this? She’ll have the story spread all over the neighborhood by tomorrow morning. And besides, I’ve always tried out for sports and track season is coming up.”

“You think that can run and jump in those?” Larry asked in amazement.

“Did you notice anything different during the last week when we played around together?” Kenny responded.

“No, I guess not,” Larry admitted.

“What do they feel like?” Brick asked.

“Brick!” Larry admonished.

“No, that’s OK,” Kenny answered. “I wondered the same thing before I started wearing them… It’s hard to describe. They’re kind of thick and when they get wet they feel sort of heavy.”

“How come your diaper looks different? I mean, not that I saw a lot of it, but it looks different from what I thought diapers looked like.” Brick said blushing.

“Well,” Kenny answered, “I’m wearing old-fashioned diapers- you know, cloth ones with plastic pants.”

“Really?!” Brick said in amazement. “What do they loo…” Brick didn’t finish, but blushed again.

“You’re curious to see what they look like, aren’t you?” Kenny asked.

“Yeah, sorry. None of my business.”

“That’s OK. I don’t mind showing you, but not here. Can we go to your room?”

Larry must have been just as curious as Brick since he followed them into the house.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Kenny joked before he undid his belt and took off his pants.

“Wow,” Larry exclaimed, “They have pins in them.”

“Of course, how do you think they stay up?”

“And they’re so thick!” Brick marveled.

“Yeah,” Kenny said. “And if you think these are thick, my nighttime diapers are about four times thicker.”

“No way,” Brick said.

“Really!” Kenny answered ingenuously.

“Wouldn’t disposables be easier to wear? And you wouldn’t need to wear plastic pants with them, would you?”

“Maybe,” Kenny answered, “but my mom says that these are better for the environment. And I wear a doubler inside so that I don’t need to be changed as often.”

“What’s a doubler?” Larry wanted to know.

“It’s like a diaper, only long and narrow. It goes down the middle of the diaper and makes the center part twice as thick.”

Kenny’s diaper was sagging due to the wetting that he had given it when Matt tickled him. He thought it was time to get his pants back on even though he was enjoying showing off his diapers to his friends. (Artie was right, again. It was better when your friends knew about your diapers.)

“There’s one more thing I want to tell you guys. I don’t wear my pants inside the house anymore. You can see how thick my diapers are and wearing pants on top of them is kind of hot and uncomfortable.”

Riding home on his bike, Kenny thought about Brick and Larry. They seemed prepared to accept his diaper wearing. He was also pleased that his diaper had excited them. He hadn’t missed noticing the erections tenting their pants. Luckily, his diaper was too thick for them to have noticed his.

Just before turning into his own driveway, Kenny spotted Matt stopped fifty feet up the street looking at him. Kenny waved and said hi, but Matt just kept staring. After a few seconds, he got back on his bike and turned for home.

“Now what was that all about?” Kenny thought. “Why did Matt wait for me to get home only to turn around and ignore me?”

****

Kenny shared the afternoon’s events with his mom (minus the scene in Brick’s bedroom).

“Sweetie, you can’t expect everyone to accept your diaper wearing right away. Some people, like Matt, will need time. “And they may never accept it,” she added to herself.

“I know. But, still…” Kenny pouted.

“Be patient. Everything will work out in the end,” she said, even though she had her doubts.

The next morning, Saturday, Kenny did his household chores first thing after breakfast. Since he was still wearing his nighttime diapers, he got a big kick out of hearing his plastic pants crinkle loudly every time he bent over or moved around. He thought how much fun it would be if Artie were there wearing crinkly pants, too.

Mrs. Braken was still trying to find the correct routine for caring for Kenny’s diapers. The first part of the problem was getting Kenny’s diapers to and from school. It appeared, based on the first week’s experience, that he would need three or four changes each day. That many wet diapers and doublers were too heavy and bulky for Kenny to bring home himself. She had already decided that she couldn’t keep on picking them up and dropping off fresh ones daily, either.

The other part of the problem had to do with the number of diapers Kenny used at home. He seemed to need one or two more changes in the afternoon and evening of school days and, of course, one overnight diaper. This amounted to a daily average of six or seven diapers and diaper doublers each day, not counting the plastic pants that needed hand washing.

After completing Saturday morning chores, Kenny showered and asked his mother to diaper him. She used the opportunity to speak to him.

“You know, Kenny, you go through a lot of diapers each day.”

A flicker of concern crossed his face.

“Now, don’t worry. I’m not going to take them away from you or even ask you to use fewer. I have a different idea. How would you feel if I hired a diaper service to pick them up here and at school each day?”

“I don’t know. I guess that would be OK.”

“I’ve investigated one company and they say it will be no problem to add us to their daily pickups and drop off.”

“Would people know that someone was picking up my diapers here and at school? I mean, what’s the name of the company?” Kenny asked in a concerned voice.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” his mother answered. “The company is called Uniform Service and Hotel Suppliers. Their trucks don’t say anything about diapers.”

“OK, I guess we could try it. But won’t that be expensive?”

It wasn’t the expense that most concerned Kenny. He was concerned that he would no longer get to wash his own plastic pants and hang them up to dry (a job he had willingly volunteered to do all this week.)

“It is a little expensive,” she agreed “but it’s the plastic pants that drive the cost up because they have to be hand washed.”

“Would it help if I brought home my plastic pants every day and hand washed them here, you know, like I’m already doing?”

Kenny hoped that he wasn’t showing too much eagerness but he really didn’t want to turn the job over to anyone else. He loved washing plastic pants.

“Well, as a matter of fact, that would save over half the cost. Are you sure you want to?

“It would be OK,” he said trying to suppress any hint about how excited he was. “I know that my diapers are already costing a lot of money. I want to do it, you know, to say money and everything…”

Mrs. Braken wasn’t fooled in the least. All week, she had seen how mesmerized Kenny was over his plastic pants. She noticed how he lingered while washing them and how he carefully hung them up to dry. She had even observed him staring at them for long periods of time while they hung in his bathroom. She suspected from the start that Kenny would not want to give up washing them and she couldn’t see any harm in allowing him to continue doing the job. Besides, she was happy to save over $2,000 a year in laundry costs.

“OK, it’s a deal. Today, after our meeting with the architect, we’ll go shopping for reusable bags to transport your plastic pants.”

“Meeting with the architect? What architect?”

“You’ll see. Now, let me check your plastic pants.”