Jarrod got out of the hospital as predicted. However, the doctors were very concerned about his left leg. They were pretty certain that he had done major damage and that he would eventually need surgery. His mom and dad decided to keep this news to themselves for the time being. He was brought home in an ambulance and wheeled on a gurney all the way to his bedroom. His bunk bed had been put into storage and a hospital bed sat in its place.

“Cool!” he said approvingly.

“Just remember that it’s not a toy,” his dad warned. “Besides, if you move your legs around too much, you’ll do more damage to them.”

The first few days he was home he mostly slept. Terry, Trevor, and Andy visited him each day but they couldn’t stay long since he got tired so easily. By the end of the first week, though, Jarrod was feeling much better. (He even stopped trying to hide his diapers under the bed sheet.) Terry and Trevor decided that it was time for them to let Andy know about their diapers. They consulted Jarrod who agreed that they should tell Andy about them at the same time that he, Jarrod, got permission to have a sleepover. That permission came at the end of the second week.

“I don’t know if you guys want to do this, but my mom and dad said that I can have a sleepover this weekend, Friday and Saturday nights.”

“Cool!” Trevor answered first. “Count me in”

“Me, too!” Terry seconded. Then he added, “Before you say yes or no, Andy, me and Trevor have something to say.”

They told Andy their stories. He was surprised but respectful. Terry, in particular, was relieved (although Trevor was nervous about it, too).

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” Andy solemnly swore.

This was good enough for them.

They carefully planned the sleepover. Jarrod’s parents agreed to move their television to his room and Terry brought over a portable DVD player to plug into it. They collected their favorite DVDs together so that they would have lots of choices. They also brought over handheld games and board games.

“This is great! Thanks for coming,” Jarrod said.

The guys set down their sleeping bags and other stuff all over the room. Mrs. Broadly came to check on them. Because of the cramped condition in the bedroom, she had made arrangements for Terry and Trevor to bring only enough diapers for one day. Saturday and Sunday morning one of their moms would bring another day’s supply and take away their wet diapers and plastic pants.

“I understand from your moms that you like to get ‘comfortable’ when you’re at home. Feel free to do the same here,” Mrs. broadly said leaving the room.

Terry and Trevor blushed. They had debated whether to wear their white ‘school’ diapers or their normal ‘home’ baby-print diapers. They chose to wear their baby-print diapers for two reasons: they were thicker and would require fewer changes and, besides, Jarrod had already seen them.

“What’s my mom talking about?” Jarrod asked.

“Um,” Trevor answered, “our diapers are kind of thick and bulky. We like to take our shoes and pants off at home so that everything isn’t so tight.”

“That’s cool,” Andy said smiling.

“Yeah,” Jarrod agreed, “do whatever you want.”

Terry, with a funny expression on his face, looked over to Trevor. Trevor shrugged and kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his pants. Terry followed suit and in a few seconds both boys stood nervously in front of their friends. If Andy and Jarrod were shocked to see that they wore baby-print diapers and that their diapers were already wet, they hid it very well.

“What will we do first?” Jarrod asked excitedly.

The weekend was a success on all fronts. Jarrod, who had been suffering from severe cabin fever, benefited greatly from having his friends with him. Terry and Trevor overcame their initial shyness and even became comfortable with Mr. & Mrs. Broadly seeing them in their diapers. They had to put up with a little bit of teasing over their huge nighttime diapers, Spiderman plastic pants, and sleepers, but it was all done in fun. For his part, Andy, felt honored that his friends trusted him enough to let him see them in diapers. At first, he had been nervous about what to do when they guys needed a change. By Sunday afternoon, he was helping to do them! Luckily, Mrs. Broadly took care of all of Jarrod’s poopy-diaper changes.

A week after the sleepover, Jarrod was ready for crutches. At the same time, his parents told him that his left knee would probably need arthroscopic surgery before summer’s end. In the meantime, he was outfitted with a leg brace. He quickly learned how to get around on his crutches although he complained of back pain. The doctors attributed this to his having been in bed for so long. He was prescribed a regimen of daily exercises aimed at strengthening his muscles. This did nothing to reduce the pain. Additionally, he was having trouble going without diapers. After a couple of embarrassing wetting accidents, he asked his parents if he could go back to wearing diapers, day and night, until he was sure that he could get to a bathroom in time. His parents acquiesced and communicated their concern to the doctors. They ordered tests to be performed.

Two days later he sat with his parents in Dr. Phalp’s office. She only had unsettling news for them.

“It appears that Jarrod’s fall also did extensive damage to his bladder and surrounding tissue. Unfortunately, this went undetected because of all his other injuries. The bruising and resulting infection have left extensive scar tissue. This means that his bladder capacity and control are severely limited for at least the time being. We’ll need to wait several months before we can evaluate if further treatments or surgery might provide a cure. In the short term, he’ll need to decide what kind of protection he wants to wear. This brochure describes various options from urine bags and clamps to shields and protective briefs like he’s wearing now.”

Jarrod was devastated but at least he had the good fortune of having friends he could talk to. They were taken aback at his announcement.

“Gee,” Terry said, “that really sucks, not knowing how long you’ll have this problem. What are you going to do?”

“I guess I have to keep on wearing diapers. Only, they’re so noisy. What will I do when school starts again? Everybody will know!”

Terry and Trevor understood the problem exactly—and they were surprised that Jarrod hadn’t figured out the solution.

“You don’t hear our diapers very much, do you? That’s because our plastic pants and diapers are a lot quieter than your disposables,” Terry pointed out. “At school, we wear thinner diapers so you can hardly tell they’re there.”

“Yeah,” Trevor added, “and our ‘school’ diapers and plastic pants are white, just like normal underwear.”

“Aren’t they expensive?” Jarrod asked.

“Insurance helped to pay for mine,” Terry pointed out, “and you can use them over and over again instead of throwing them away all the time.”

Jarrod asked his parents for cloth diapers and plastic pants that same afternoon. After they agreed, Terry and Trevor loaned him some of theirs to use until his supply arrived. Jarrod’s only reservation came when his mom asked Terry and Trevor to teach her how to properly pin him into cloth diapers. He was as red as a tomato as his friends gave his mom a step-by-step demonstration on how to do it. They even made him stay on the changing pad until they had pulled up his silvery plastic pants and checked that no diaper material was sticking out. Mrs. Broadly was utterly enchanted with how Jarrod looked in his baby-print diaper.

Jarrod’s cast came off on the eleventh of July. X-rays showed that the bones had healed perfectly. His left leg was also x-rayed and he finally got some good news regarding his knee. It seemed to have healed on its own. The doctors decided that all he needed was to undergo therapy to get both legs back in action. A therapist would come to the family home three times a week for four weeks. Another evaluation would be made at that time to determine if more therapy would be needed.

His therapist turned out to be a twenty-something young lady by the name of Carmen Diar. She introduced herself and got down to business.

“Our workouts are going to last between thirty and forty-five minutes. Sometimes you’re going to hate me and think that I’m asking too much but, believe me, I’m good at what I do and your total recovery is my goal, too. So, let’s get to it. First, I need you to change out of those cargo shorts and into something less restrictive—a bathing suit would do,” she said.

“I don’t think that his bathing suit will fit over his diaper and plastic pants,” Mrs. Broadly replied.

“He wears diapers? No problem… Just take off your pants and we can get started,” she said to Jarrod.

His hands were shaking so much that his mom had to help him get his belt and pants undone. He felt totally embarrassed that he was wearing a pastel blue, green, and yellow baby-block diaper.

“Today, I’m going to show you some basic exercises that I want you to repeat at least three times a day on your own, but not more that six. We don’t want to overdo things in the beginning. They’re going to be different for each leg so pay close attention.”

Focusing his mind on what Carmen was teaching him helped him to forget about his diaper and plastic pants. It took about twenty minutes for him to learn the routines.

“You’ve done very well for the first day. Now, you get your reward. I have a portable massage table in the car that I’m going to bring in now. I’ll give you a ten minute massage that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.”

Later that day as he was describing his therapy to the other guys they were very envious of the massage he had received.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Trevor said. “What were you wearing during your massage?”

Jarrod covered his face with a pillow and giggled. He didn’t want to tell them that he did his whole therapy session in just his diaper, plastic pants, and t-shirt… and that Carmen asked him to remove the t-shirt for his massage.

“You only had on your diaper and plastic pants, didn’t you?” Terry asked accusingly.

Jarrod giggled into the pillow again. The other guys understood his answer and giggled too.

By the following week, Jarrod no longer needed to use crutches; he was able to make do with just a cane. The guys were still very curious about his therapy sessions.

“I asked my mom and she says that, if you’re at the house when she comes, you can stay and watch, unless Ms. Diar says you have to leave.”

Andy was going away with his family for a few day but Terry and Trevor said they wanted to see the next session. They even agreed to keep their pants off, too. (Unbeknownst to them, Mrs. Broadly talked to Ms. Diar about the boys witnessing a therapy session. Carmen’s only concern was that Jarrod might be reluctant to been seen in his diaper by the other boys. She was taken aback (and a little titillated) to be told that the other two boys would be wearing exactly the same kinds of diapers and plastic pants.)

Terry and Trevor arrived a half-hour before the session.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Trevor marveled.

“Me, neither,” Terry agreed.

Jarrod giggled and said that they were going to like Carmen, that she was nice… even though some of the therapy really hurt. Carmen arrived right on time and was immediately smitten with the two rather shy boys she met.

“OK, since you guys are here, you can help me.”

“Really?” the boys asked in amazement.

“Yes, you can. Now, let’s see… Jarrod and I are going to use this space right here after we do the warm-ups… so, if you guys lay down on your stomachs over there,” she said pointing to an area in front of the TV, “you’ll be able to do some spotting for me.”

Having said this, she winked at Mrs. Broadly. She didn’t really need help but she thought the boys would look especially cute in that position. The boys scurried to their places and she started Jarrod on the warm-ups.

“Sorry, Jarrod,” she said, “but today we’re going to have to go further than last time. This is going to hurt some.”

“I understand,” he said nervously.

The boys admired the way Jarrod went through the obviously painful process without complaint.

“OK, now here’s where I need your help,” Carmen said to Terry and Trevor. “I’m going to ask Jarrod to walk in a straight line toward you. I want you guys to watch his feet and see if he’s laying them down straight and flat. This is what you’re looking for,” she said demonstrating with her hands. “I’ll be checking from over here, too.”

Jarrod walked the few steps towards Terry and Trevor and then turned around and walked back.

“Well, guys, what do you think?” Ms. Diar asked.

“His right foot was OK but his left one twisted a little bit as he put it down,” Trevor said.

“That’s what I was going to say, too,” Terry agreed.

“Well, you’re right,” she said. “This is because a damaged knee is a lot trickier to fix than a broken leg. But,” she said to Jarrod, “you’re doing great. Most patients I work with take six or seven weeks to get where you are in only three. I’m going out to get my table now. Today, I’m going to concentrate on massaging your leg muscles, especially your left leg.”

The boys watched with great interest as she massaged Jarrod’s legs. They were fascinated by her descriptions of what she was doing and why it was important. They blushed furiously when she thanked them effusively for their help.

*****

By the end of August, Jarrod was finished with therapy. He was back to normal, except for his bladder problems. It was still too early to tell how much healing his body would do on its own or how much medical intervention might be necessary. All Jarrod knew for sure was that, day or night, he wet frequently, and without warning.

“Next weekend is the last weekend before school starts,” Terry said one afternoon. “Do you guys want to come to my house for a sleepover? My parents have already said that I can have one.”

This was greeted with enthusiastic approval. The guys arrived at seven o’clock on Friday night. They watched a Terminator DVD and started (but never finished) a couple of computer games before being told it was bedtime. Mr. & Mrs. Aldersen helped Terry, Trevor, and Jarrod get into their diapers and sleepers while Andy looked on. Mr. & Mrs. Aldersen told them to brush their teeth and left with a forewarning that they had another half-hour to talk and then it would be lights out. The guys rolled out their sleeping bags and, each in turn, brushed their teeth in the bathroom. It was now time for Terry, Trevor, and Jarrod to put Andy to the test.

“Andy, do you think that we’re dorks because we wear diapers?” Terry asked.

The question surprised Andy but he replied truthfully.

“No. Why do you ask?”

“No special reason. I just wondered.”

There was a short pause in the conversation.

“You guys don’t think that I would rat on you, do you?” Andy wondered.

“No way,” they answered, “we trust you.”

“Yeah,” Jarrod added, “even though you don’t know how scary it is to wear them in public— especially to school.”

“Exactly,” Trevor chimed in, “I spent six years really afraid that someone might find out but I don’t mind that you know… even though you don’t have to wear diapers yourself.”

“Is it really that scary?” Andy asked innocently.

“Well, not here, right at this minute,” Terry explained. “When I first started wearing them to school, though, I was really terrified. Of course, I was wearing noisy disposables then.”

(The conversation now took a turn in the direction the boys hoped it would.)

“Did it take you a long time to get used to the feel of wearing diapers?” Andy wondered.

“Sort of,” Jarrod answered. “But once I started wearing cloth it didn’t take much time at all.”

“I agree,” Terry added. “I thought that cloth diapers were real easy to get used to.”

“What I like about them,” Trevor said, “is that they practically never leak. I only have problems if I wait too long to change… now, that’s scary— having wet pants in public, I mean.”

“So you guys are saying that you don’t mind wearing cloth diapers and plastic pants.”

“Of course we mind,” Trevor contradicted him, “we’d rather not have to, but it’s better to wear diapers and plastic pants than to be forced to stay home alone all the time.”

“Sorry,” Andy apologized, “I didn’t man it that way. I meant that you guys sound satisfied with the way your diapers and plastic pants work.”

“You’ve got that right,” Terry agreed. “It’s a great feeling to know that you’re protected from accidents.”

“So, what do diapers and plastic pants feel like?” Andy asked pointedly.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Terry answered. “Could you describe what wearing underpants feels like?”

“No, I guess not,” Andy admitted.

“Wait,” Trevor interrupted, “there’s an obvious answer to this.”

“There is?” the others responded with varying degrees of surprise.

“Yeah, the only way to know what underpants feel like is to wear underpants. Right? … So, the only way to know what diapers feel like is to wear diapers!”

“But I can’t do that!” Andy responded. “What if someone found out?”

“See,” Trevor answered without hesitation, “it’s working already! You’re already feeling afraid just like we do almost every day. Please say you’ll try it.”

“I don’t know,” Andy said hesitantly.

“Please, try,” Terry and Jarrod said in their most pleading and pitiful voices.

“OK, I guess I am curious to know what it’s like.”

“Great!” Terry said while collecting the supplies. “But, we’ll have to hurry and finish before my parents come to tell us that it’s time for lights out.”

The boys had a marvelous time diapering their friend. Andy started out being stiff and fearful but he relaxed after the diaper was completely pinned on. The other guys wouldn’t let him stand up to put on his plastic pants explaining that they needed to check his diaper carefully to make sure that no material was sticking out. He balked at wearing the sleeper until he had proven to himself that his own pajamas wouldn’t fit.

“Well,” Trevor asked, “what does it feel like?”

“I don’t exactly know,” Andy answered. “The diaper is much softer than I thought it would be. It’s kid of like wearing a pillow, I guess.”

The other boys approved of his answers. Andy still seemed nervous and kept looking at the bedside clock.

“What’s the matter?” Terry asked him.

“Isn’t it time for your parents to come and tells us to turn out the lights?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Terry confirmed. “I guess we should turn them off and be quiet. I think you get the idea of how scary wearing diapers can be sometimes.”

In fact, Mrs. Aldersen didn’t come to check on the boys for another half-hour. She was pleasantly surprised to see that they were already asleep. Since the night was relatively warm, Terry’s guests were sleeping on top of their sleeping bags. There was just enough light for her to see that Andy was wearing a diaper, plastic pants, and a sleeper, too. She smiled to herself. Boys.

Andy woke up just after dawn. He really needed to pee. He thought about going to the bathroom but he was afraid that Mr. or Mrs. Aldersen might hear him and come and investigate. He decided to hold it until the others got up but he couldn’t. He thought about waking Terry up or simply taking the sleeper and diaper off and putting his own pajamas back on, but he didn’t want to do either of those things. If these guys can pee their diapers I guess I can, too, he thought. This proved to be more difficult than he had guessed. Eventually, his need was so urgent he was able to relieve himself. He was amazed at the volume of pee that the diaper could hold. He also was amazed that he enjoyed the way the diaper felt warm and snug. He fell back asleep, relaxed and content.

Andy woke up again around 7:45. The others were still sleeping but he could hear Mr. & Mrs. Aldersen stirring in their room. He started worrying about how he would explain the wet diaper to the others.

“Hey,” Andy said to Trevor when he saw him waking up.

“Hey,” Trevor responded. “Is everybody awake?

“Only Mr. & Mrs. Aldersen. I heard them go down to the kitchen.”

“I hope the others wake up soon, I’m hungry.”

“Me, too,” Andy agreed. “But first, will you help me to take off the diaper and everything?”

“OK,” Trevor agreed.

Before Trevor and Andy got a chance to do anything, Terry and Jarrod woke up.

“Mmm! I smell bacon,” Terry said.

“Yeah,” Trevor agreed. “Let’s hurry and get Andy out of his diaper so we can go downstairs!”

His words were barely out of his mouth when the door opened. It was Mrs. Aldersen.

“Good morning, boys. Did you sleep well?” she asked brightly.

Andy tried to hide behind Trevor.

“I’m making bacon and pancakes. Are you guys interested?”

“Yes,” they agreed enthusiastically. (All except Andy who was beginning to panic.)

“Let’s go to the kitchen and get it while everything’s hot.”

Andy pretended to have lost something and ducked down behind the bed.

“You, too, Andy,” she said. Then, in an attempt to make him feel less embarrassed, she added, “Did the other guys put you up to this?”

“Sort of,” he said, raising his head above the level of the bed.

“Well, never mind. You fit in nicely with the others, now. I think it was sweet of you to agree to it.”

She took him by the hand and walked him to the kitchen. No other comments were made about his attire.

“That was really good. Thank you Mrs. Aldersen.” Trevor and Jarrod said while patting their stomachs through their sleeper, plastic pants, and diaper.

“Thank you,” Andy and Trevor added in a less flamboyant manner.

“So, do you guys still want to go to the movies today?” Mr. Aldersen asked.

“Uh huh,” Terry answered for the group. “The show is at 12:00. We’ve got lots of time.”

“Be that as it may,” his mom said, “you still need to get out of your night diapers now. Come on, all of you—upstairs!”

She took them one at a time, starting with Trevor. Jarrod followed and then she asked Andy to lie down on the changing pad. He felt a flutter of excitement as Mrs. Aldersen unpinned his diaper and cleaned him up. The flutter became a wave of excitement when she put a daytime diaper under him and began sprinkling baby powder on his diaper area. His rational mind told him that this was wrong, but, for some unknown reason, he didn’t want to disappoint Mrs. Aldersen. She pinned him up and pulled a pair of silvery plastic pants up his legs. The other guys didn’t tease him at all. In fact, they acted as if the whole thing was completely normal.

“I can’t believe you let your mom diaper me,” Andy said to Terry.

“Me? Why is it my fault? You’re the one who should have asked her to stop.”

“I couldn’t,” Andy admitted. “But it wouldn’t have happened if you had put my underwear on the bed instead of a diaper.”

Terry didn’t want to argue that point because it really did have some merit. He had deliberately put the diaper there to see what his mom and Andy would do.

“What’s the difference now? We’ll be going to the movies in a little while and your pants will cover your diaper. Nobody will know.” Trevor pointed out.

The matter was dropped for the moment. Andy felt like complaining that he had been given the most babyish diaper to wear (which was true—green and blue toy trains and airplanes over a background of small blue and yellow dots) but he was afraid that that would sound really silly.

“All set to go?” Mr. Aldersen asked. “Just in case, have you got extra diapers and plastic pants?”

“Right here, dad,” Terry said holding up a gym bag.

He drove them to the Cineplex. As Terry was getting out of the car, Mr. Aldersen asked him if he knew what to do,

“Yes, dad,” he answered irritably.

“What was that all about?” Andy asked as they approached the ticket booth.

“The theater inspects all bags that you bring in. My dad knows the manager and wants me to ask for her to inspect it.”

The manager was waiting for them as they approached the entrance.

“Are you Terry?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered.

“Good. Will you let me have the bag, please?”

She discretely unzipped it as if she knew what it contained (which she did) and gave it a cursory look through.

“This is fine… Do you see the red door that says “Employees Only’? My office is through there. If you boys need a change, just come on in and I’ll have it ready for you. OK?”

“Yes, ma’am. Thanks,” Terry said.

The boys found seats and waited for the movie to begin.

“Does that lady really know that we wear… you know?” Trevor asked.

“Well, yeah,” Terry answered. “My dad had to tell her the truth, you know,” he added in a defensive tone.

“I guess so,” Trevor agreed. “I just feel weird that someone else knows.”

“Me, too,” Andy said.

Ironically, Andy was the only one who needed a change before Terry’s dad came to pick them up. This led to some teasing from the others and the creation of a new rule. Andy would have to stay in diapers for the whole sleepover unless he managed to remain dry from one diaper change to the next. Unfortunately, he never succeeded at it and he had to stay in diapers the whole time.

*****

School started up and the boys fell into a typical, unexciting routine. October rolled around and, with it, Jarrod’s birthday.

“My parents are going to let me have a party and a sleepover for my birthday. Will you come?”

The party was held on Friday night and included the boys being invited to dinner. They arrived at 4:30; Jarrod had already made himself ‘comfortable.’

“Come on,” he said, “let’s put your stuff in my room and then come back and watch TV.”

Now that Jarrod’s regular bunk bed was back (instead of the hospital bed) there was more room to put their stuff.

“OK, Andy,” Jarrod said with mock-seriousness, “it’s time for you to get diapered.”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“Sleepover rules. You didn’t keep one single diaper dry at Terry’s sleepover so you have to try again during my sleepover,” he explained.

“But your parents…” Andy worried.

“They already know. I told them all about it.”

“You told them that I wore diapers at Terry’s sleepover!”

“It’s only a game… right?”

“Yeah, but…”

“No but’s… Well, actually, one butt… your butt in a diaper.” Jarrod laughed.

The other guys rolled their eyes at the awful pun while Andy took off his pants and underpants. Jarrod diapered Andy while Terry and Trevor got ‘comfortable.’ They went down stairs to watch TV until dinner was ready.

“Whatever we’re having for dinner sure smells good,” Trevor observed.

“My mom is making all my favorites: homemade spaghetti and meatballs and mile-high chocolate cake.”

“Awesome,” Terry said.

“Yeah, I love chocolate cake,” Andy added.

There was a knock at the side door. Whoever it was, walked right in afterwards.

“Hi, dad. Hi, mom,” Mrs. Broadly said.

“Who’s that?” Trevor asked.

“My mom’s parents. They’re having dinner with us and they’re going to stay for the party.”

Terry, Trevor, and Andy would have loved to run back to get their pants but there wasn’t time.

“Where’s the birthday boy?” his grandfather called out walking toward the den.

“Hi, grandpa,” Jarrod said giving his grandfather a hug.

His grandmother appeared next and gave Jarrod a hug and a kiss.

“Hello, Terry,” she said. (They lived two houses away from his house.) “Your mom told me that you’d be here this weekend… And who are these other boys?” she asked Jarrod.

He introduced Trevor and Andy as schoolmates. She wished them all a happy weekend and headed for the kitchen to help out. Jarrod’s grandfather went in search of the newspaper.

“You did that on purpose,” Andy accused Jarrod.

“Did what?” Jarrod asked with outrageously non-believable innocence.

“You know what! We’d have kept our pants on if we’d known that your grandparents were coming.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot.”

The other boys didn’t believe him for a second, especially since he couldn’t keep a superior smirk off his face.

“Besides,” Jarrod continued, “they don’t care if you’re wearing diapers. I’m sure that my other grandparents won’t mind either.”

This last announcement was too much. They dog piled onto Jarrod and only stopped when he told them that he was afraid to hurt his knee again.

“I still say that that was a really dirty trick,” Andy said.

“Yeah, and your grandparents live in my neighborhood,” Terry added. “Now they know that I wear diapers.”

“They’re not going to tell anyone,” Jarrod said reassuringly. “Anyway, how can you be sure that they didn’t already know?

This wasn’t something that Terry wanted to hear. This got him thinking about the number of people who knew that they wore diapers.

“You know,” he said, “there are probably about forty or fifty people who know that we wear diapers.”

“So many!” Trevor responded.

“Yeah, think about it. All of our parents know—except yours, Andy,” he teased. “Then, if I start counting, my grandparents know, and my aunt and uncle know, and my two little cousins might know—but I hope not. If you add up all the people in your families who know, it’ll come out to a lot.”

The boys did a little arithmetic and were surprised by the results—at least sixty-four people knew about one or all of them wearing diapers.

“That’s an awful lot of people who might blab,” Trevor said sadly.

“Yeah, let’s hope they don’t.”

Jarrod’s other grandparents arrived and they sat down to dinner. Afterwards, they left the table so that Jarrod could open his presents. He was very satisfied with the assortment of games and clothes that he received. The cake was cut and Jarrod’s grandparents left right after the clean up was finished.

“Let’s load these pinball games onto my computer,” Jarrod suggested.

“Diaper changes first,” his mom said.

Since it was past nine o’clock the boys were changed into their nighttime diapers, plastic pants, and sleepers. So far, the fall had been colder than normal so the boys had switched to wearing their heavier, footed sleepers, which took Andy by surprise. These weren’t solid colors like the summertime sleepers; they were patterned. Terry’s was royal blue with old-fashioned railroad engines; Trevor’s was aqua with smiling green frogs; Jarrod’s was gray with monster trucks; and, Andy was given a dark blue one covered with soccer balls.

“These have ‘feet’ on them,” Andy observed in surprise.

“Yeah, isn’t it cool,” Trevor answered enthusiastically. “You don’t have to wear slippers!”

The boys played Jarrod’s new pinball games for the rest of the evening. The Broadlys had trouble getting them down but by twelve-thirty the room was finally quiet.

“We are so lucky that Jarrod has support from these other boys,” Mrs. Broadly whispered to her husband.

“Yes, and these guys are really funny, too.”

“What do you mean funny?”

“I mean funny, humorous, good senses of humor. They’ll keep each other’s spirits up.”

“Yes, I see. And,” she said with a motherly thrill in her voice, “they’re so cute in their diapers and sleepers!”

“Just don’t let them hear you say that,” her husband cautioned. “The last thing that boys their age want to be called is cute, especially if you add diapers and sleepers to the equation.”

Trevor wasn’t asleep yet and he listened to the whole conversation. He curled up in his sleeping bag. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was that he didn’t mind being called cute even if it involved diapers and sleepers.

*****

The next birthday to come up was Andy’s, in late November. (He was the one who had held the first birthday sleepover, three years previously.)

“So what are you doing for your birthday?” Terry asked by way of a broad hint.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Haven’t decided yet.”

“Are you expecting any cool stuff from your parents?” Trevor asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“If you get any cool stuff, will you invite us over?” Jarrod wondered.

“OK. OK. I get it,” Andy said in exasperation. “I’ll ask my parents if I can have a sleepover.”

Actually, Andy wasn’t opposed to a sleepover; he just wondered what his parents would feel about the other guys wearing diapers. His parents, however, didn’t have any problems with it and consented without a second thought. The sleepover would start with Andy’s actual birthday, the day after Thanksgiving, and continue through to Sunday morning.

“Because it’s a holiday my parents say that you can come anytime you want,” Andy announced. “But, remember, you can’t get ‘comfortable’ in front of my parents.”

The consensus opinion was that they would arrive around 11:00. It turned out to be a rainy day, which cut out all outdoor activities. Nonetheless, there were lots of activities to keep them busy all afternoon. The unwrapping of his gifts followed dinner. Andy was very thrilled at the PlayStation 2 accessories he received. His grandparents (who lived out of state) sent him clothes and a couple of handheld games.

“Here, open this next,” his mom said.

Feels like a coat or something, he thought while opening the box. No, it’s a weird sweater.

“Go ahead, take it out and look at it,” his mom coaxed.

His mouth dropped open when he realized that it was a footed sleeper just like Terry, Trevor, and Jarrod wore. It was purple with airplanes, helicopters, fanciful space ships, and white clouds all over it.

“Do you like it?” his mom asked.

He buried his glowing face in the sleeper. The other boys looked at each other and giggled.

“I think we’ve embarrassed him,” his dad said. “We thought that it would be better if you had your own so that you wouldn’t have to borrow them anymore.”

“You know about the sleepovers?” Andy said in a very little voice.

“Yes,” his dad said, “it’s OK.”

“Well, go ahead,” his mom coaxed again, “what do you think of the other one?”

The other sleeper, which he hadn’t even noticed in the box, featured blue- and red-shirted teddy bears over a red plaid background. This time, Andy giggled, too.

“Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad.”

His dad placed a very large box in front of him. Andy was almost afraid to open it. Could it possibly be something associated with the sleepers he just received? His heart started beating fast. He would be terribly disappointed if it wasn’t and terribly embarrassed if it was! He tore through the paper and his heart beat faster. The box was the box his mom’s new microwave had come in— whatever was inside had been specially packed by his parents. He tore the tape off and opened the flaps. He was too excited to attempt to hide his happiness. He face was radiant as he took out the eight semi-transparent baby-print plastic pants. The remainder of the box was filled with eight glistening, soft nighttime diapers.

“Well, do you approve?” his father teased.

“Yes!” Andy said as a new wave of blushing overtook him.

Andy almost objected as the box was taken away; however, a bigger one replaced it. This time there was no hesitation. He ripped through the paper and again noticed that it was a box he had seen in the garage. (Don’t my parents ever throw anything away?) Inside, he found eighteen ‘home’ baby-print diapers and their companion silvery plastic pants.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, realizing that he had just received enough diapers and plastic pants to wear every day.

“Check if there’s anything else,” him mom said.

Diapers and plastic pants flew in every direction as he dug into the box.

“’School’ diapers!” he said in amazement.

He had it all! Diapers for home, school, and nighttime! He hugged his parents who were genuinely relieved that they had guessed correctly about his desires.

“Let’s clean up some of this mess so that I can serve the cake and ice cream,” his mom said.

The boys jumped to quickly clean up the living room.

“After you’ve finished eating, I think it’ll be time to change into your night clothes,” Andy’s mom announced.

“OK,” Andy agreed quickly, expectation and excitement written all over his face.

“Let us pick which sleeper and plastic pants you’ll wear,” Trevor suggested.

“OK,” Andy agreed again.

The boys selected the red plaid sleeper with the teddy bears and a pair of yellow plastic pants that had light and dark brown teddy bears on it.

“Teddy bears, huh?” Andy noted.

“Yup,” the others said snickering.

The source of their amusement was soon revealed. Each of them had brought teddy-bear-themed sleepers and plastic pants.

“You knew!” Andy exclaimed. “You planned this!”

The others laughed and Andy joined in.

“When did you find out?” he demanded.

“Oh, about a month ago,” Trevor said smugly.

“And you didn’t tell me!” Andy complained.

“Of course not. We wanted you to be really surprised,” Terry said.

“It wasn’t easy keeping our mouths shut, either,” Jarrod added. “Once, I was sure you had heard us talking but I guess you didn’t.”

Andy, as the guest of honor, was diapered first. Unlike the other parents, Andy’s mom didn’t need any help; he had worn pin-on cloth diapers as a baby.

“It’s like what they say about riding a bicycle—you never forget,” she explained.

After they were ready, the boys went to watch TV. Andy’s mom stood for a long moment gazing at them. She then joined her husband who was cleaning up the kitchen.

“The guys are watching TV?” Andy’s dad asked.

“Yes,” she answered dreamily.

Her husband stopped and turned toward her.

“Having regrets?”

“Oh, no! Just the opposite! They look so darling in their teddy bear sleepers I can hardly tear myself away from them.”

Her husband smiled.

“Don’t give me that look!” she said. “You’ll say the same thing once you’ve seen them.”

*****

Andy was too wound up to concentrate on the TV and the others weren’t that interested either.

“Do you guys know how my parents found out?”

“Yeah,” Terry answered, “I do. My parents told them after my sleepover in August.”

“All the way back then!”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Terry confirmed. “But I didn’t know that until your mom and dad asked us to help pick out stuff for you.”

“Did your parents tell my parents that I wore diapers again at your sleepover?” Andy asked Jarrod.

“Not exactly. Your parents called up and asked if you had worn them. A couple of days later, they asked me, Terry, and Trevor to suggest stuff for them to order for your birthday.”

“You sure gave them a lot of suggestions,” Andy commented.

“Maybe, But they’re the one who actually bought the stuff,” Terry pointed out.

“So,” Trevor said, coming to the point, “are you going to wear it all? You know, the ‘school’ diapers, and everything else.”

That was a good question. Andy had thought a lot about his friends wearing their diapers 24/7 and it had excited him. Up until today, he imagined that he would only get the occasional chance to wear diapers at three or four sleepovers a year.

“Would you mind if I did?”

“Why would we mind?” Trevor asked.

“I don’t know… because you have to and I don’t? ”

“What difference does that make?” Jarrod asked.

“I don’t know,” Andy repeated. “Don’t you think that I’m weird for wanting to wear diapers?”

“I don’t,” Trevor answered. “There are a lot of advantages to wearing diapers, you know. You don’t have to run to the bathroom all the time and… you’re going to think that I’m weird… but I think it’s kind of cool to feel your pee soak into your diaper.”

“Don’t you mean warm?” Terry teased him.

Trevor punched him in the arm. Jarrod and Andy laughed.

“And you remember what happened to Kenny Basslee last year when he peed his pants in the middle of the play. No one would have know if he had been wearing diapers and plastic pants,” Jarrod said.

“Yeah, and, last year, when I went skiing with my mom and dad, I saw this kid walking back to the lodge. He was older than us and his mom was yelling at him because he had wet his pants,” Terry said, getting into the spirit of things.

“OK, OK, I get it,” Andy said. “I never said that I wouldn’t wear them, you know.”

He was understating things when he said that. In fact, he was overjoyed to wear them and it showed in his demeanor for the rest of the sleepover. Before going to bed that night, he cleaned out all the underwear and pajamas from his dresser and replaced them with as many of his diapers, plastic pants and sleepers that would fit. No one doubted that he would be wearing ‘school’ diapers on Monday and for many days and months thereafter.

*****

Jarrod’s next appointment with Dr. Phalps fell two weeks before Christmas. At her request, he had been taken to his regular pediatrician for a routine physical exam the week before. He found this extremely embarrassing even after he found out that the pediatrician already knew about his diapers. He also wondered what good any of this would do. It was obvious to him that there had been no improvement in his ability to control his bladder.

“Do I have to go?” Jarrod complained the morning of the appointment.

“Of course you do. Dr. Phalps is only trying to help,” his mom answered. “Don’t be so negative.”

“But nothing’s going to change!”

“We don’t know that… give things a chance. It’s almost time to leave. Do you need to be changed?”

Jarrod wondered how come his mom didn’t see that her question only proved his point. He had been put into this diaper at 9:00 and, already, at 10:45 it was soaked.

They arrived promptly at 11:30. Dr. Phalps spent about forty-minutes examining Jarrod and asking him questions about his daily routines, including whether or not he usually felt the urge to wet, how many times he was surprised to find that he was wetting or had wet his diaper, and how many days on the average he woke up dry in the morning. Jarrod answered that he rarely knew when he was about to wet and that he never woke up dry in the morning. She asked him to get dressed and they moved into her private office.

“I see from your pediatrician’s report that Jarrod is in excellent general health. He could stand to put on a little weight but, with some many overweight children today, I guess we shouldn’t complain,” she quipped. Turning more serious, she said, “I told you several months ago that I’d need time to come a conclusion regarding a diagnosis and long term prognosis for Jarrod’s control problems. Frankly, I was hoping that by now you would have regained a higher degree of control than you describe. This points to a severe problem that has both neurological and muscular causes. As I see it, you have two choices. First, do nothing. Your condition has stabilized and I doubt that it will get worse over the years; however, it won’t improve either. You’d have to use some sort of protective garment or urinary collection device for the rest of your life.”

“And the other choice?” Mrs. Broadly asked.

“We could use aggressive methods to try to eliminate or, at least, mitigate the problem. The most common treatment would involve a combination of surgery and long-term medication.”

“What does that mean?” Jarrod asked.

“We would run an MRI to get as good a picture of the problem as possible and then decide if surgery would help you regain muscle control. Then, if that surgery is successful, you would be prescribed certain medications to get at the neurological side of your condition,” she explained.

“What are the chances that this treatment will work?” Jarrod’s mom asked.

Dr. Phalps thought for a few moments and then answered, “Optimistically, seventy-five/twenty-five— against. And, there is about a five percent chance that things could get worse.”

“I see,” Mrs. Broadly answered. “Thank you for your honesty. I think that we’ll need to talk about this as a family. May my husband call you if he has questions?’

“Certainly. And either of you should feel free to call, too. Take your time discussing it. There’s no urgency one way or the other.”

“See, I told you,” Jarrod said as they were driving home.

His mom opened her mouth to say something but she stopped. She realized that it was unfair to Jarrod to make the situation seem rosier than it was. On the other hand, she felt that she needed to say something so that Jarrod wouldn’t go into a depression over it.

“In one way, honey, you’re right—twenty-five percent doesn’t seem like such good odds. On the other hand, that’s still a fairly big number. We need to think about that, too.”

“But she said optimistically. Doesn’t that mean that she was exaggerating a little bit? And, what if something goes wrong and things get worse?” he asked.

“I don’t know. That’s why we need to think about it.”

As soon as he got home, Jarrod asked to go to Andy’s house where he knew Terry and Trevor also were. He told them what the doctor had said. The guys were divided about what to do.

“I agree with Jarrod,” Terry said. “The odds are too stacked against him. Why go to all that trouble if you’re practically sure that it won’t help?

“But that’s not what the doctor said. She said that there was still a twenty-five percent chance of success. Twenty-five percent is big,” Trevor pointed out.

“Not on a math test,” Terry answered.

“This isn’t the time for jokes,” Trevor chastised him.

“Sorry, but you know what I mean. Twenty-five percent isn’t a lot.”

“What do you think, Andy?” Jarrod wondered.

“I don’t know. I kind of understand how you feel. The odds are against you, On the other hand, there’s only a five percent chance that you could wind up worse but a twenty-five percent chance that you’ll get better. I think I would want to take the chance and hope for the best.”

Jarrod went home more unsure about what to do than before. That night, he and his parents also discussed the issue extensively. He felt that his mom wanted him to do it and that his dad didn’t. He thought about it for a long time before he fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning he thought of something that no one else had thought of and he made his decision.

“Mom, dad,” he said during breakfast, “I’ve made up my mind. I don’t want to do it right now.”

“Oh, honey, are you sure that you don’t need more time to think?” his mom said in a worried voice.

“No, I don’t. The doctor said that things wouldn’t get worse if I did nothing, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” his mom admitted.

“And, medicine gets better all the time, right?”

“Yes, honey, that’s mostly true, too,” his mom answered.

“The way I figure it, if I wait until I’m older, the odds won’t get any worse and maybe they’ll get a lot better. Doesn’t that make sense?” he asked.

“Yes, Jarrod, it does,” his dad answered. “You just let us know when you’re ready and we’ll be there to help you.”

Jarrod felt good about his decision. He was doubly please that his friends approved.

“I really didn’t want to go back into the hospital again,” he confessed, “especially if there was such a small chance of getting cured.”

“So you’re saying that you’d rather keep on wearing diapers,” Andy teased.

“Not exactly,” he answered. “But I did think about what I would do if I got cured.”

“And…” Trevor prompted anxiously.

Jarrod let the suspense build before he finally answered, “I thought that I would want to be like Andy and keep on wearing them forever.”

Andy smiled at him before they all dog piled onto Jarrod.

The End