My parents and the Hastons decided that they wanted to prepare a Labor Day weekend barbecue for the Zymmers to thank them for taking us on their trip to California. I thought my parents were going overboard trying to decorate the yard and fix things up nice for the party. Maybe they were embarrassed that the Zymmers’ house and yard were much nicer than ours. I spent most of the morning arranging and fetching for my mom and dad. In the end, I guess they were right, because the yard had never looked better.

The Zymmers arrived a little after 12:30 bringing flowers for my mom and some candies that I wasn’t allowed to open until after dinner. Naturally, Timmy, Freddie and I were in just our diapers and plastic pants. ( I think that Timmy was envious of our colored pants.) My dad got drinks for everybody and we were all gathered in the backyard when the Hastons showed up. They had walked down the street and came in carrying various food items for the barbecue. The last to come around the side of the house was Tony. He was carrying a grocery bag filled with soft drinks but what made me do a double take was that he was dressed just like the rest of us- in his diapers and plastic pants. I guess Billy was right; Tony did want to be seen in his diapers. I didn’t know what had made him decide to reveal himself like this, but he had definitely put himself in the spotlight. Everyone in the neighborhood would know by nightfall. Or maybe I was jumping to conclusions again- maybe it was his parents who were forcing him to do this. I looked at him closely. No, there was no embarrassment in him at all. This was the first time he was meeting the Zymmers and he was calmly introducing himself to them. They, on their part were also perfectly polite (of course, they had a twelve year old and fourteen year old in diapers all the time), totally ignoring his diapered state. I was very excited by this and I hoped that my excitement wasn’t showing through my diaper. The adults were sitting around the picnic table and Freddie, Timmy, Billy and the girls were on the side of the house setting up a lawn darts game. Tony and I were standing apart from the rest of the group. He noticed that I was staring at his plastic pants.

"You’re surprised, I guess," he commented.

"Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… It’s just that…" I stammered.

He nodded his head in the direction of the little gazebo that was set up in the opposite corner of the yard. We started heading that way.

"That’s OK. I’m surprised at myself, too," he admitted. "This was kind of a last second decision. If I had given it more thought I probably would have chickened out, especially walking through the neighborhood in my plastic pants and diaper."

"Really," I answered lamely.

"Yeah, when I walked out the door I suddenly realized that I didn’t care who saw me. Does that sound too weird?"

"No," I answered. "I was put in diapers as a punishment, but the more I wear them the more I like them, too. God," I blushed, "I’ve never admitted that to anyone, not even to Billy or to Freddie."

"That’s OK, I won’t tell," Tony promised.

I recognized at that moment that Tony had a lot of his father’s qualities in him. He was easy going, easy to talk to, and very open to people.

"One of the reasons I wanted to come over in just my diapers was because I knew that that’s how you four guys would be dressed," Tony continued. "This may sound stupid, but I didn’t want to be out of place. I’m glad I came over this way; I feel very comfortable."

I nodded and pondered the situation. Three families, five guys aged twelve to sixteen and all in diapers. What Tony said made sense. I, too, now had to admit to myself that diapers would be a way of life for me. No matter what, I wouldn’t give them up. I promised myself that from that day forward I would never feel bad or apologize for my love of diapers. (However, the transparent colored pants were certainly not included in this.) Tony asked me what I was thinking about and I told him. He said that he felt the same and that he had made the same promises to himself.

The others had finished setting up the lawn darts game and Tony and I were invited over to play. We broke up into two teams (with Maureen being the "extra" player on one side). We played for about an hour, but we didn’t really keep score except that Tinker took it upon herself to reward whichever boy had made the best shot with a pat on the backside of his diaper. Tony must have enjoyed this because he really tried to make good shots.

The rest of the day was just plain lazy. It got very hot and eventually the garden hose came out and we started spraying each other. The girls had bathing suits on under their clothes and we boys stripped down to just diapers and plastic pants. It didn’t take long for this to degenerate into sneak attacks and dumping ice cold water into someone’s plastic pants. Before long we all had bloated diapers and desperately needed changes. My mom wouldn’t let us into the house so she brought out our diaper bags and we were all changed right there on the patio. I noticed that Tinker was still doing the changes for Freddie and Timmy and that Mrs. Haston changed Billy and Tony, even though Billy had said that Tony usually changed himself. My dad changed me in such a gentle way that I wondered if he was beginning to suspect how important my diapers were becoming to me.

Our town was a big union town and they always sponsored a spectacular fireworks show the night before Labor Day (another reason why we were having the barbecue). The show couldn’t be seen very clearly from my house so we usually drove a few miles away to a better vantage point. Practically no one knew about this spot. As darkness was setting in we were changed into our thick nighttime diapers. It was still very hot and even though we brought shirts with us, we didn’t wear them. The thirteen of us squeezed into two cars; Billy Tony, Freddie, and I found ourselves into the back seat of my dad’s car. Every twist and turn caused us to slide into one other. After a while, it was obvious that Tony was doing it on purpose but nobody minded- it was kind of fun and naughty all at once.

When we got there, Henry (my baseball friend) and his mom and dad were already waiting for the display to begin. My dad must have know Henry’s mom and dad from his insurance business because he introduced Mr. & Mrs. Walker to the other adults. Even though it was dark I could see Henry’s excitement at our arrival- his pants were once again obviously tented by his erection. He kept moving around, mostly behind us, saying that he wanted to find the best view. I don’t think he meant the fireworks. I felt bad for him; he obviously liked the idea of diapers but he couldn’t live out his fantasy.