The next two weeks were filled with preparations for our trip. My mom dragged me out to buy new clothes so that I would look my best. "Sheesh," I thought, "doesn’t she know what a vacation is for? Who wants to look their best? I want to have fun!" Anyway, I eventually got some pretty neat clothes that I knew I would like wearing at school next year, too. The only problem arose when my mom kept insisting on checking the fit of my pants. It was bad enough that she lifted my shirt exposing the tops of my diaper and plastic pants but she also asked out loud if my diapers felt OK underneath. Billy said that his mom treated him the same way so I didn’t feel so bad.

But, Freddie’s shopping trip was really a disaster. His mother took him and his little brother Timmy out together. At the store she insisted that the saleslady measure both of them for a proper fit. Timmy (who really was quite an exhibitionist) immediately lifted his shirt exposing his diaper and plastic pants. The saleslady looked over to their mother questioningly who casually remarked, "They’re both in diapers." Freddie said he wanted to crawl under the carpeting he was so embarrassed. Their sizes determined, Mrs. Zymmers instructed them to pick out two pairs of long pants and three shorts that they liked and to meet her at the mirror at the back of the boys’ department. Their mother spoke quietly for a few minutes with the saleslady while the boys were making their selections.

Freddie and Timmy met their mother to show her what they had chosen. She gave each item a cursory glance to satisfy herself that they hadn’t made any inappropriate selections, either in size or fashion.

"You know, honey," she said to Timmy, "these shorts are cut in a very short European style. Are you sure you want them? Your plastic pants are going to show, especially when you sit down or bend over."

"Yeah, I know," was his answer, "but can I try them on anyway?"

Rather than contradict him she decided to let him try them on.

"OK," she said, "let’s try them all on to check the fit and to see if you still like them. I asked the saleslady if we can do it right here by the mirrors. She said that it would be OK."

It took a few seconds for Freddie to understand what she meant.

"Mom!!" he lamented, "I can’t take my pants off here in the middle of the store."

"Don’t be silly, Freddie. This will be much quicker and no one will see us- there’s practically no one in the store. Just keep your voice down or people will begin to wonder what’s going on back here."

Timmy had already started trying on the first pair of shorts he had selected. Freddie glanced around to make sure that no one was looking, quickly took off his shorts, grabbed the first pair of pants, and began pulling them on. Unfortunately, he hadn’t taken his sneakers off and the pants were too narrow to fit over them.

"Freddie, stop tugging like that; you’ll ruin those pants. Take your sneakers off and then try them on," his mother advised.

Turning her attention back to Timmy, Mrs. Zymmers was trying so hard to convince him to choose a different style of shorts that she didn’t notice what was going on with Freddie.

Freddie pulled the pants down roughly (turning the leg inside out) and quickly pulled off his sneakers. Reaching for the pants again he could see there was something wrong but couldn’t figure it out right away. Just then the saleslady came back and asked if everything was alright. She noticed Freddie’s predicament, took the pants out of his hands, fixed the leg, and then gave them back to him to try on. (I chuckled at this part of the story when Freddie was telling it but a glare from him quieted me down. Well, I thought it was funny imagining him back there- the saleslady fiddling with his pants while he was in only his diapers and plastic pants.) He fumbled some more but eventually got the pants on. His mother declared them acceptable and told him to take them off and to try on the next pair. The saleslady stayed with them the remainder of the time taking each item to a holding table after Mrs. Zymmers had approved it. Timmy had finished (having gotten only part of what he wanted- Mrs. Zymmers had insisted that he get one pair of shorts of longer length and that he could keep the other two shorter ones) and Freddie was trying on the last of his shorts, relieved that the ordeal was almost over.

"Oh, dear," Mrs. Zymmers said, "Freddie come closer; look, this side seam is split. Take them off; this pair won’t do."

He took them off and the saleslady said she was sure they had more in Freddie’s size. She went off to look for them. In the meantime, Freddie was looking for the shorts he had worn into the store.

"Mom," he said in a panicky voice, "where are my shorts?"

"I don’t know, Freddie," she answered, "maybe the saleslady took them over to the cash register by mistake. Why don’t you go look now before she comes back?"

"But, mom," Freddie protested, "that’s way over there!"

"OK, OK," she conceded, "I’ll go look for you."

At about the same moment, Karl and Andy, two of Freddie’s classmates who earlier in the year had given him trouble over his diapers (and had been grounded for two months as a result) entered the store. Karl’s parents were hinting that he would get a transistor radio for his birthday and he wanted to check them out so that he could give his parents the right hints about the one he really wanted. Walking by the boys’ department it was Andy who first spotted Freddie.

"Hey, isn’t that Freddie Zymmers over there?" He suddenly stopped and exclaimed, "Look, he’s not wearing any pants! Let’s go say hello."

Karl was worried about doing that. "I don’t know, I don’t want to get into trouble again."

"We won’t get in trouble. Look, his mother is walking toward him. Just pretend like everything is normal," Andy said.

As Mrs. Zymmers was telling Freddie that his shorts weren’t by the cash register she saw his face tighten. Turning around she saw Andy and Karl approaching; Freddie was too shocked to move.

"Good morning, Mrs. Zymmers. Hi, Freddie," they said innocently.

"Doing some shopping?" Andy continued.

Mrs. Zymmers felt bad for Freddie who was nervously shuffling from foot to foot and trying to hide his plastic pants with his hands, but she knew that she couldn’t do anything about it.

"Yes," she responded, "the whole family is taking a trip to California at the end of the month and we’re getting ready for it."

The whole time Freddie stood there red-faced. "Where is that stupid saleslady with my shorts?" he thought.

"Well, have a good trip. Good to see you again, Mrs. Zymmers. We’ll see you again in school, Freddie," Andy concluded as they walked away.

The saleslady finally arrived with the new shorts. Freddie hastily tried them on and Mrs. Zymmers said that they would do. Just as she was about to ask the saleslady about Freddie’s shorts, Timmy got up from the customer convenience chair that he was sitting in. Draped over the back of the chair were Freddie’s shorts. Not wanting to start a fight between her two sons, she quietly picked them up and handed them to Freddie. He was too relieved to even question where she had found them. Timmy, on the other hand, had a smirk on his face indicating that he had just settled some old score or other with his brother. She didn’t know it, but he also had an erection.