The Fourth of July was fantastic. We spent the day with the Montegos. I also got to meet lots of the kids I would be going to school with next year. At the town barbecue, the kids played a baseball game against their parents. I was glad that I got two hits and batted in one run, even though none of us could be in the game more than three innings (to give everybody a chance to play).

Mark and Ryan were at the picnic, too, but they stayed clear of us. Mark had a sour expression on his face whenever I looked his way; Ryan seemed more scared than anything else. I actually felt sorry for him. I know how terrible it is to live in fear of someone humiliating you publicly. If I had been Ryan, I would have been more worried about Mark than Wayne and me. He probably knew all too well that his cousin (I found this out at the picnic—Mark’s dad and Ryan’s mom were brother and sister) was known for unpredictable behavior—and that he wasn’t very bright.

A couple of days later, I asked mom and dad for something totally unimaginable a few months earlier: permission for a sleepover with Wayne. Even before Ryan told Wayne about my diapers, he had wanted me to go over to spend a night at his house. I originally told him that my parents wouldn’t allow it. Now that he had proven his loyalty to me I couldn’t see any reason to refuse.

“Are you sure that you won’t get upset if Wayne makes a comment, even a joking one, about your diapers?”

“He won’t do that, I’m sure,” I answered confidently. “He already promised that he wouldn’t.”

So, the sleepover was arranged for the following night. I would arrive in time for dinner and then we would watch movies and play video games. The next day, Wayne and I were going to go on a special hike he had been saving for just such an occasion. We would leave in the morning and not come back until dinnertime. My mom was a little apprehensive about the hike but the Montegos assured her that it was safe and that everything would be OK.

I walked over to Wayne’s house with my overnight bag. Basically, it contained my toothbrush, a clean shirt, six daytime diapers and plastic pants, and two nighttime diapers and the larger plastic pants they required. I knew that I was way oversupplied on diapers but I was horrified at the thought of leaking while I was the Montegos.

Once again, Mrs. Montego proved what a great cook she was. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. I offered to help clean up after dinner (like my mom told me to do) but Mrs. Montego sent us off to do whatever we wanted. We went outdoors and threw a baseball around for about a half hour. We went back into the house.

“I want you guys to get ready for bed, now” Mrs. Montego ordered.

“Mom, it’s not even dark,” Wayne complained.

“I didn’t say ‘go to bed,’” Mrs. Montego explained. “I want you to ‘get ready’ for bed. You know that dad has to get up early and he doesn’t like a lot of noise after he’s gone to bed.”

This was the moment I was dreading, even though Wayne and I had already talked about it. In the summertime I slept in just my diapers and plastic pants. He had promised that he wouldn’t laugh but I was still nervous about how he would react when he saw me.

“Your mom says that she usually helps you get ready at night,” Mrs. Montego said to me. “Would you like me to help you tonight?”

Her question caught me by surprise. How much had my mother told her? The truth is that I like the attention that my nighttime diapers get me. I occasionally complain that my parents are treating me like a baby but I think they know how I really feel.

“Wayne, since dad is going to do your chores for you tomorrow morning, why don’t you check the yard and the barn to make sure everything is OK? It’s the least you could do.”

Wayne left and Mrs. Montego and I were alone.

“Let’s go up to Wayne’s room and get you ready.”

I followed behind, wondering how much help she was going to give me. We got into Wayne’s room and she asked me to get my things out. I laid them on the bed and turned around. She immediately undid the bib and side buttons of my overalls and I stepped out of them. I reached for my t-shirt but she gently pushed my hands away and lifted it over my head. I was acutely aware of my wet diapers pressing heavily against my plastic pants. She lowered my pants to just above my knees and undid the two lower pins on each side. The aroma of pee filled the room. She pulled my pants up most of the way up and undid the remaining pin on each side. She picked up the terrycloth I had laid on the bed.

“I’ll wet the towel while you put your diaper and plastic pants away,” she directed.

I stepped out of them and sealed them in my diaper carrier. I heard the water run in the bathroom and Mrs. Montego returned a few seconds later. My excitement was becoming hard to conceal. Mrs. Montego had a very gentle touch. My diaper area was cleaned in just a few seconds. She spread out my thick diaper on the bed.

“Ready?” she asked.

I jumped up onto the diaper and laid back. She powdered my front and then my bottom. It was getting more and more difficult for me to hide how much I was enjoying my treatment. After a final adjustment, she began pinning me into the diaper. She was pulling my plastic pants up when Wayne came walking into the room.

“Mmmm,” he said, “that smells nice. I love the smell of powder.”

I got up and Mrs. Montego checked the fit of my plastic pants over the diaper. Wayne undressed down to his boxers. Like me, he hadn’t removed his shoes.

“It’s still hot in the house. Let’s go sit on the porch for a while before we turn the movie on,” he suggested.

The mere suggestion was almost enough to make me faint.

“Outside? Like this?” I squeaked.

“Wayne, don’t push it,” his mom said.

“OK. But it’s not like we’re going to walk down the road in our underwear. I only meant that we could sit on the back porch and watch the sunset.”

“Oh,” I said. “I guess that would be alright.”

“In that case,” Mrs. Montego added, “make sure you put on insect repellent. The mosquitoes will be biting soon.”

I couldn’t believe that I had agreed to go outside in my plastic pants and diaper. Did I really want to do this? I didn’t think so but I meekly followed Wayne down the stairs and out the back door. There was about an hour of daylight left. We sat down on the steps for a couple of minutes.

“This is boring,” Wayne said. “Let’s go to the pond and skip stones across it.”

“Now?” I exclaimed.

Wayne knew that I was talking about the way we were dressed and not the time of day.

“It’ll be alright. All the workers have gone home. Come on. It’ll be more fun than just sitting here.”

The pond was on the other side of the fields behind the house. There was a dirt service road that ran to it; in all, it was maybe six hundred yards away.

“Well, OK,” I said, “maybe for a little while.”

Every little crunch of gravel or animal noise made me jump. We were surrounded by pastureland. There wasn’t a bush or rock within one hundred yards to hide behind.

“You’ve never been outside in just your diaper and plastic pants before, have you?”

“No, of course not,” I said snappishly. Then, softening my voice, I added, “I mean, I’ve seen pictures of me as a baby playing in diapers in the back yard of our old house.”

“Don’t be so nervous. There’s nobody else around. And I swear I’ll never tell anyone about your diapers. And, besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong.”

I guess he just didn’t understand how I felt. After all the years of being taunted over my diapers I was terrified of starting that all over again. I was grateful to him for what he did about shutting up Mark and Ryan but that kind of thing could start over at any time.

Nonetheless, it actually was fun competing to see who could find the best rocks and make them skip the most. I was so caught up in it that I forgot what I was wearing. I was also surprised when we got back to his house to see how much I had wet the diaper. I would have to remember to change into a dry one before I went to bed. We watched our movie for a little while but we were too tired to finish it.

“Sorry,” Wayne apologized, “but I’m really tired. Can we finish this some other time?”

I agreed and we went up to his room. His parents were already asleep.

“I have to change my diaper,” I announced.

“OK,” he said, “what can I do to help?”

This answer completely threw me. I was expecting him to give me some privacy. However, he did seem sincere. I took my supplies out of my diaper bag and laid them on the bed.

“Could you wet this with warm water?” I asked as I handed him a small towel.

I began unpinning my diaper. He returned before I had finished. I took a deep breath and pushed the diaper and plastic pants down my legs. The aroma of pee filled the room. I felt myself blushing. As quickly as I could, I put the diaper and plastic pants into the bag with the other used set. I took the cloth and began cleaning my diaper area. I added the cloth to the other dirty items and zipped up the bag. It was funny, but I was more concerned about sealing up the pee smell than I was about Wayne seeing me naked. I laid the diaper out on the bed and positioned myself on it. I pulled the diaper up between my legs and realized that I hadn’t powdered myself. Wayne followed my gaze and handed me the baby powder. I sprinkled some on my front and hesitated. How would I do my back side?

“Can I help?” he asked.

I hesitated for a second.

“OK,” I answered, “I’ll roll over and you can sprinkle some on me.”

The powder felt cool and I jumped when he began spreading it around.

I rolled back over and pulled the material up between my legs. I pinned the top of the right side and then pulled the material snugly to pin the top left side. I lost my grip as I reached for the second pin. I tried it again, and failed.

“Need more help?” Wayne asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I answered. “I can’t hold the material together and put the pin in at the same time. I’ll hold and you stick the pin through.”

We tried a couple of times without success.

“I can’t get the pin through the material. I’m afraid I’ll stick you,” Wayne said. “Maybe I should hold the diaper and you can pin it when it’s tight enough.”

I agreed. It’s a good thing that my night diapers are so thick. The rubbing of his fingers against my stomach and legs was getting me excited. By the time last of the pins was in place I was very hard. I noticed that his boxers were tented out, too.

*****

I woke up in the middle of the night. The temperature had dropped dramatically and the wind was snapping the curtains. A thunderstorm was on the way. Within ten minutes, Wayne was awake, too. The rain was coming down in heavy windblown sheets and thunder rumbled loudly with each lightning bolt. We shut the windows in his room and he suggested we check the rest of the house. Now that we were awake, we didn’t feel like going back to sleep. We sat on his bedroom floor.

“Are you sorry that you moved to the country?” Wayne asked.

The question kind of surprised me until it occurred to me that I had never told Wayne about all the hassles I had been subjected to because of my diapers, not even after Ryan revealed my diaper wearing status.

“No,” I answered, “I hated my life before I came here.

I started telling him about all the taunting and misery that I had suffered. It proved to be more difficult that I had expected. About halfway through, my voice choked and tears started escaping from my eyes. Wayne moved close to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

“Don’t worry. That’ll never happen again. Together, we’ll beat anybody who tries it. That’s what friends are for. Right?”

“Right,” I agreed, smiling through my tears.

It rained all the next day so we didn’t go on our hike. Instead, we finished the movie we had started and watched TV for the rest of the day. Mrs. Montego helped me with three diaper changes before I went home. I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed Mrs. Montego and Wayne’s help.

The weather cleared two days later and our hike was rescheduled. This time it would be preceded by a sleepover at my house. This was a first for me so I was nervous about doing it right. I thought about what movies we might watch, what video and computer games to play. I bugged my parents about having the right snacks and sodas on hand. Generally, I was making myself a pretty big nuisance.

“Danny,” my mom eventually said, “stop worrying. Wayne likes you as a friend. He won’t judge you over little things. Relax. You’ll enjoy your time together much better.”

Wayne showed up in time for dinner. I knew that he liked lasagna so I asked my dad to make some. (My mom hates to cook but, luckily, my dad loves it.) After dinner I suggested that we could watch one of the movies I had selected or we could play games on my computer. Wayne picked out one of the movies.

“Maybe we should get ready for bed now,” he suggested. “That way if we get tired like we did at my house, we can go straight to sleep.”

“But it’s only eight o’clock,” I protested.

“Whatever,” Wayne responded, shrugging his shoulders.

“I think that’s a very good idea,” my mom interjected. “Come on, Danny. I’ll help you.”

Except for that one time at Wayne’s house, I had ever been put into my nighttime diapers so early. I told him that I felt kind of weird going downstairs in just my diaper and plastic pants.

“Oh, sorry,” he apologized. “At home, I go around in my underwear all the time. I guess I thought everybody did.”

I suppose that was the difference between us. For him underwear was just underwear; for me, underwear meant diapers and plastic pants—and that was a curse no matter how I looked at it.

After the movie was over we went up to my room.

“Have you ever wished for something that you were sure you could never get?” Wayne suddenly asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I answered.

“I used to wish for a twin brother,” Wayne continued. “I imagined what it would be like to do things together, you know, like we do now.”

There was a pause. I didn’t exactly know how to respond. Did he just pay me a compliment?

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’s fun doing stuff together.”

“Do you really mean that?” he asked.

“Sure, I like doing stuff with you,” I answered with a smile.

“Me too. I’m glad we’re finally going to do our hike tomorrow.”

There was another pause.

“How about you?” Wayne pressed. “Did you ever wish for something that you knew you couldn’t have?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I answered vaguely.

“What was it?”

“It’s kind of stupid,” I said uncertainly.

Wayne just looked at me, patiently waiting.

“Well,” I admitted, “I always wanted to meet someone my age who had to wear diapers. You know, so we could compare notes and talk about what it felt like. Stupid stuff like that.”

“That doesn’t sound stupid to me. It’s important to feel like other people understand you.”

Another pause.

“Could I try to be that kind of a friend for you?”

My heart started thumping against my chest. Did Wayne just say what I thought he said?

“How? You don’t wear diapers,” I pointed out.

“That’s true… but I could. Like maybe I could sometimes wear them at night to find out what that felt like, or under my clothes in public.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying. What if someone caught you? It would be terribly embarrassing. Take it from me. I know.”

“So, you’re saying that you don’t want us to become even better friends?”

“No, of course not,” I insisted.

“Then what’s stopping you from saying ‘yes’?”

“Nothing, I guess. But don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”

I laid out a nighttime diaper and plastic pants on the bed. Wayne took off his boxers and waited. He seemed totally unconcerned that I could see that he was terribly excited. I was thankful that my thick diaper hid my excitement.

“Lay down on your stomach so I can powder your bottom first,” I said pointing to the diaper.

“It feels kind of cold,” he observed.

“OK, now turn over so I can do your front.”

“I really love the smell of baby powder,” he observed. (I remembered that he said the same thing at his house right after his mom had diapered me for the night.)

I continued working silently, pulling the diaper up between his legs and pinning it on. I discovered that it was easier to pin a diaper on someone else than it is to pin it on yourself.

“Hold your stomach in so I can make sure that the diaper is on tight,” I directed.

In answer to his question I explained that a loose fitting diaper could slide off when it got wet. He and I both giggled as we imagined what that would look like.

“OK. Stand up and put your plastic pants on. I’ll check them to make sure that your diaper is completely covered.”

“Gee,” he observed, “this feels way different from what I thought it would be like.”

“You hate it. You want to take it off. Right?” I asked sadly.

“No,” he responded, “I don’t mean that. It’s just different. It just feels funny to have my underwear ride up so high over my stomach. But, that’s OK,” he added hurriedly. “I actually kind of like it—it feels so soft and snuggly-like. Sort of like…”

Wayne and I froze. There was a knock at the door. We both stared at it, hoping that it didn’t open.

“OK, boys. Lights out. Time to go to bed,” my dad said.

“OK,” I answered.

Wayne and I held our breath until we heard my dad walk away.

“That was close,” I said.

“Yeah,” Wayne agreed. “I’ll tell you one thing. I think I just learned how scared you feel when you think someone might discover that you wear diapers.”

“Are you sure you want to go on with this?” I asked seriously.

“Absolutely,” he said with a smile.

Wayne and I lay down on my queen-sized bed. (My bedroom furniture is actually my parents’ furniture from when they got married.) I turned out the light. I giggled.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“”I never thought that I hear somebody else’s plastic pants crinkling as they got into bed,” I whispered.

“Yeah, it is kind of cool, huh?”

We didn’t say anything after that. I was surprised that Wayne fell asleep so fast. My mind was racing a million miles an hour. For instance, why did Wayne say that the crinkling of his plastic pants was ‘cool’?

****

The next morning Wayne was awake before me.

“Hi,” I said as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

“Hi,” he answered giggling.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

I tried to discreetly feel the bottom sheet near me. My plastic pants didn’t usually leak and I sure hoped that he wasn’t laughing at a wet spot under me. I was relieved when I didn’t find any wetness.

“Remember last night when I said I wished I had a twin brother?”

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Well, we’re sort of twin brothers now, aren’t we? I mean, we’re both wearing wet diapers, for example.

“Yeah, I guess, so.”

I was feeling embarrassed about him seeing the evidence that I couldn’t stay dry at night. Then, the full implication of what he said struck me.

“Did you say that we’re both in wet diapers? I don’t believe it,” I said in amazement.

“Well, I am. See?”

He got into a kneeling position on the bed and proudly showed off his sagging diaper and plastic pants. His diaper was soaked. I began laughing, too. It was unbelievable to me that someone could actually be proud of having wet a diaper.

“Can we keep on being twins today? Can I wear diapers on the hike?” he practically begged.

I was speechless. It took me a few seconds to answer.

“Uh, …OK. If that’s what you want.”

“Cool,” he exclaimed. “Let’s get ready.”

As I was diapering him, I noticed that Wayne was just as excited as last night. Frankly, so was I.

By mid-morning, we headed off to our hike. In our backpacks, each of us had our supplies: lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, a large bottle of water, and two changes of diapers and plastic pants. We walked north along the road for about a mile. When we came to a creek we veered off and followed the path that rang along it.

Wayne was unusually chatty. I thought it was because he was happy to be going on the hike that had been postponed because of the rain. The further we went, though, the more I saw evidence that something else was causing his good mood. He frequently rubbed his hands against his overalls. Originally, I thought that he must have gotten something sticky on his hands that he was trying to wipe off. The real reason eventually dawned on me—he was rubbing his pants so that he could feel the diaper and plastic pants underneath. Every time he did it, he smiled to himself or giggled a little bit. I didn’t know what to make of it. I had spent a lifetime hating my diapers and he was apparently enjoying them. I had to ask him what was going on.

“Wayne, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure. What?”

“Do you like wearing my diapers and plastic pants?”

“What makes you say that?” he asked sheepishly.

“Well, you keep rubbing your pants and smiling,” I answered honestly.

He blushed but still continued to smile.

“Is it that obvious?” he asked.

“You mean, you really do?” I asked in surprise. “Why?”

“I don’t know. …It was fun lying in bed last night and wetting the diaper without having to get up.”

“Oh… Well, yeah, I guess I can understand that,” I said.

Actually, he had hit upon the only thing I ever thought was good about wearing diapers. Being able to wet your diaper in the middle of the night was a lot better than having to get up and go to the bathroom, especially on a cold winter night. Something in my face must have told him what I was thinking.

“So you like it, too, huh?”

It was my turn to blush. “Well, on cold nights it’s kind of nice not to have to get up,” I admitted.

As we continued to follow the creek, the climb became more and more steep. Wayne had kept the exact route of the hike secret from me saying that he wanted it to be a surprise. The creek was running faster up here and it was getting difficult to carry on a conversation. We walked in silence for maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. We leveled off and I had a chance to catch my breath.

“How much more do we have to climb?” I asked.

“We’re almost there,” he answered, “maybe another five minutes.”

I was getting tired… and I had wet my diaper rather heavily a couple of times. I needed a change pretty soon. I began hearing the sound of rushing water again. I dreaded having to go up another hill. The trail took a sharp turn.

“Look,” Wayne said triumphantly.

I was stunned to see a stupendous fifty-foot waterfall cascading down a cliff into a large pond.

“Wow! This is really neat,” I exclaimed.

We continued walking to a point where a clearing allowed us to approach the edge of the pond.

“Do you want to eat lunch soon?” he asked.

“Yes,” I wholeheartedly agreed.

“How’s your diaper?” he continued.

I shyly admitted that I could use a change. He, on the other hand, expressed no similar shyness and almost seemed proud to announce that his diaper was soaked.

“The ground is kind of squishy here. This isn’t a good place to lie down,” I observed.

“We only stopped here so you could get a good look at the waterfall and the pond. There’s a much better place where we can change our diapers and eat lunch.”

We got back on the trail and in about a hundred yards left it again. We climbed up onto some flat rocks.

“See,” Wayne said, “it’s nice and sunny and dry up here. There’s plenty of room for us to eat and to change our diapers. Which should we do first?”

We agreed to eat lunch first. This is why I was surprised when Wayne began taking off his overalls and shirt.

“I thought we were going to eat first,” I said.

“We are,” he answered. “I just want to take advantage of the sun. You should, too. It feels really neat to lie against the warm rock.”

“But what if somebody sees us?” I objected. “Besides, I burn easily.”

I hoped that this last excuse would end the discussion.

“There’s nobody here but us. We didn’t see anybody else all the way up, did we?

I had to admit that he was right.

“And, I’ve got some sun screen. Come on, just do it. You’ll be glad you did.”

I could feel my resistance breaking down. I didn’t want him to think that I was chicken. I nervously took off my overalls and shirt while he was rubbing sunscreen over his face and body.

“Here,” he said throwing the bottle toward me.

After we had finished putting sunscreen on each other’s backs I wondered how we would clean our hands off. I didn’t want to eat my sandwich with greasy hands.

“We can rinse them off in the pond,” Wayne suggested.

This meant walking back the hundred yards to where he had first shown me the waterfall. I was more than a little nervous about leaving my clothes behind. But, once again, I felt myself letting go of my inhibitions. As I followed behind him on our way back, I wondered if my bottom was as rounded as his.