When Doug went back inside and slowly climbed the stairs that led up to his bedroom and bathroom, he was still more than a little uneasy about putting himself in the Mrs. Warren's hands so completely. On the other hand, he couldn't figure out how she could take advantage of him. I mean, I have the contract, he thought. And the test is so straightforward. A better test would be to sit in the tub for SIX hours, he thought. Three hours is almost too easy. I guess she could try to cheat by just leaving me there or something, but in that case I simply wouldn't agree to join the program. This sets me up for getting something if I win, with no chance to lose.

Three hours, he thought. I could do that with a QUART of Gatorade. And she admitted that anyone who was continent wouldn't have a problem. Well, he figured, I'm as close to being perfectly continent as anyone. I haven't had an accident since I was three or four. Never wet the bed. In fact, I've always wondered why I was turned on by diapers; I don't even recall ever having been in them...oh, well, whatever. After today, in any case, I don't know that I'll ever go out and buy or wear them any more. Too risky.

Doug hid the contract away under his mattress, for lack of a better place. Then he went into his bathroom and sat down on the edge of the tub. His bladder and bowels were feeling great and totally empty. His only worry was whether Mrs. Warren would keep her promise and leave him alone after he passed this "test." But so far she'd seemed rational; surely she'd admit she was wrong after he proved himself to her. Overall, he was starting to feel very confident: things had looked bleak several minutes before with all that spanking talk, but now it looked like this would just be a three-hour wrinkle in an apparently normal day.

After about two minutes, he heard some noise down in the kitchen, and another minute or two later Mrs. Warren joined him in the bathroom. She had her bag of restraints and a glass from his cupboard filled with what looked to him like Gatorade. She cheerfully instructed him to sit down in the tub, facing away from the drain. He found this slightly uncomfortable because he couldn't lean back without pressing the hard faucet into his back. She told him not to worry, that she'd take care of that. In the meantime, she put a leather cuff on each wrist and then one on the shower head above him. These were all locked with small padlocks. She then attached a small, long chain to one cuff, ran it up through the cuff on the shower head, and attached it to the cuff on the other hand. This brought his hands up to about a foot above his head. He found he couldn't bring his hands down even to rest on his head.

Mrs. Warren also took a short cord and ran it from a belt loop on the back of his jeans to the faucet behind him. He really couldn't move his body or his arms at all. The arrangement was simple and effective. She must have done this often, he realized. She disappeared for a second, returning with a small pillow to tuck behind his back so he wouldn't be so uncomfortable leaning back for three hours.

Finally she brought out a little clock, which she set on the toilet seat in plain view. "This is so you'll be able to see how you're doing. In a moment, I'll have you drink the glass over there, and then you'll have exactly three hours to sit here alone. At the end of three hours, I'll come back and see if you're wet or messy. If it's not obvious, we'll pull down your pants and check your underpants carefully. You are wearing white underpants, right? Good. ANY signs of wetness, or ANY brownish stains on your underpants, and you fail this test. Is that clear?"

He felt a little silly being told his underpants would be checked for brownish stains, but he had to admit it was a reasonable demand for a continence test. So far no surprises. It was beginning to seem like he could trust her.

"And if you fail, I don't want to hear any excuses or arguments about wearing diapers, okay? By taking this test, you implicitly agree to participate willingly in you ICP afterward if we prove your incontinence. Right?"

Again he nodded. Whatever. As if it mattered what happened if he lost.

"And I agree that if your underpants come out clean and dry, that I'll get back in my van, and I won't bother you ever again. Agreed?"

He nodded happily. Three hours until freedom. He didn't think he'd miss her. Spank him indeed! Diapers! Please.

She retrieved the full glass from the sink and asked if he was ready. When he nodded, she held the glass to his lips. He had to drink it down a little quicker than he would have liked, as she kept tipping it toward him a little too much for his comfort. But it wasn't bad tasting: not quite like Gatorade, maybe thicker and saltier, or something. But it was probably one of those new "sportsdrinks" he hadn't tried.

When he had finished the last drops, he looked up to see Mrs. Warren smiling an odd little smile, as if there was a joke he wasn't getting. The joke's on you, he thought. I'm not really incontinent. She wiped his lips in a maternal way, and said, "Okay, now, three hours exactly. I've got some deliveries to make in the meantime, but I'll be here promptly to check on you."

She turned to go, then turned back suddenly. "I almost forgot," she said, fishing out a small black object that looked like a little radio. "I don't think it's safe to have you here tied up alone, so this is a little microphone transmitter that I receive in my van. I'll just set it here, on the toilet seat, and if there's an emergency, just a yell will bring me back here in a hurry. Okay?"

He nodded, impressed. She was prepared. Good thing he wouldn't need to fight her in the future, for she'd be a difficult adversary. Luckily, all he had to do was play along briefly here, and he'd get this woman out of his life. She said goodbye, smiled that odd smile again, and left the bathroom. He heard her slam the door downstairs, start the van, and then heard it's engine fade away.

As Mrs. Warren drove away, she thought about the boy she'd just left in his bathtub, and almost felt a little sorry for him. He looked so earnest about the whole situation, so confident about staying dry, so hopeful about not wearing diapers. If only he knew the reality.

She'd seen it before, of course, dozens of times by now, with dozens of boys. Most were, like this guy, essentially continent, she knew. Or at least they were when she first met them. And most had accidently stumbled into her little web, from which they could not extract themselves. All had similar stories, interestingly, of liking to PRETEND to need diapers, or having sick relatives, or some similar garbage. Mrs. Sheffield, the dear lady, caught one every few weeks. And though the woman might be nice, with the best of intentions, she was too dense to realize that these boys were not ACTUALLY incontinent and did not really need her help. But she thought they did, so she referred them to her, Linda Warren, former nurse and current queen of the diaper boys.

The ironic thing was that as kind and dense as Mrs. Sheffield was, Mrs. Warren was just the opposite: insightful but self-serving. She knew damn well these boys didn't "need" her, but she needed them, so they were in her program. She needed them mostly for financial reasons, as this partnership with Mrs. Sheffield was her only income. The more boys she had, the more she was paid. And the longer they stayed in her program, the less work they demanded, so the more boys she could keep, so the more money she made...

And she was good, both at enlisting her boys and at keeping them. Now, after about three years, she had all the bugs worked out, so that once a boy was referred to her, he was pretty much hers for as long as she wanted. She could handle almost every curve thrown to her, and by now, had seen almost every variation. Her income was good, and since the boys never left the program, her job security was excellent as well. She now concentrated on the art of her craft, and now enjoyed simply seeing how the game would be played. This boy, for example, was being resistant, and understandably so, she thought. He was probably no more incontinent than she was. But she had all the cards (or would have them soon) and his decision to try to prove his continence doomed him to what she knew would be a miserable day.

For no one, she knew, had ever had a full glass of her "diaper juice" and had lasted more than two hours. Most lasted less than one. Even when she tested it on herself, she had been on a toilet within ninety minutes, and had stayed there for nearly three hours. It had taken her several weeks to find the appropriate doses of diuretic and laxative that would work quickly yet be able to be passed off as a normal drink. Using and mixing a therapeutic dose of furosemide wasn't a problem, but it had taken some experimentation before she found a suitable solvent for the double-strength mag citrate she used. It made her shudder to think about that: it was the fastest and most powerful laxative known, and even a quarter of what she used would probably be enough. But she didn't take chances. She wanted each and every boy that came her way; so far, she had a perfect record.

And this boy had no idea what he was in for. He believed it was Gatorade, and was soon going to get an unpleasant surprise. Then the rest of the game would fall into place.

Sometime later she heard the first curses come in over the receiver, and since she didn't really have any errands to run, she pulled the van over to do some paperwork and to listen, for this first "accident" for her little boys was always sort of poignant for her. She leaned back and enjoyed the growing sounds of Doug's distress.