Lights, Camera, …What?!? Book 1 Chapters 48 and 49 by Sofia Hammerstein

Connor Slane has grown up to be one of the brightest kids in his dimension and one of the most ambitious computer science majors at his top university. Now, thanks to an exchange program between his university and his mother’s alma mater, Emerson University in another dimension. Connor has the chance to forge his own path in computers and his other love, filmmaking. Having seen still images of their amazing holographic films, he hopes go to Emerson, and then return to build his own empire - and maybe even find his true self, as his mother did.

Beth Sylvester is a Tweener herself and another child of influential parents in the other dimension. Her wealthy Big mom is the daughter of a disgraced former CEO, and her dad is the first and only Tweener to serve on the Supreme Court. Connor’s mom and Beth’s dad were good friends while she was in the dimension, and they’ll quickly discover that they enjoy hanging out with each other. They’ll also discover that if either is going to survive to the end of the semester academically or as mature adults, they’ll need to help each other out. If not, Connor could quickly find himself on the one-way road to being adopted by some Big, and Beth might not be far from that fate either…

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The Legal Stuff: Lights, Camera, …What?!? By Sofia Hammerstein
 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Copyright © 2023-2026 Sofia Hammerstein.
 

 
 

Chapter 48: Zapped!
 

GRANDMA WOKE ME up the following day, and I couldn’t stop smiling about having finally resolved to have a relationship with Beth!

I was excitedly walking into the bathroom to pull off my pajamas when I realized something was wrong.

My Pull-Up was soaked!

“What the hell?!?”

I grimaced. I knew it was probably a matter of time, but I expected it to happen at school when I was in the pod with that stupid device inside. I sighed, pulled the sides of the Pull-Up apart, and walked it back out to the diaper pail beside the changing table in the room. ‘No reason to smell up my bathroom,’ I thought.

I found some wipes I could reach on a shelf below the table and wiped myself before grabbing one of my regular swimsuits and pulling it on. Grandma must have knocked on Beth’s door because she was coming out in her bikini and cover-up again when I headed to the stairs.

“Joining me?” I asked her.

“Yep!” she said. “Have to practice to keep up with the amazing little dolphin!”

Without warning, she picked me up and placed me on her hip. I blushed but leaned into her side as she carried me down. “You two going for a swim?” Grandma asked as we passed.

“Yes, if that’s okay?”

“If you two are together, that’s fine. I’ll send Grandpa to come check on you in a bit.”

“Thanks!” I said, even as I felt even more embarrassed to be in the babyish position of being held by my… girlfriend?

I blushed more then as I thought about that.

Beth must have been thinking about that as we neared the water, and she sat me down, “I’m probably the only girl I know of other than my mom who can pick up and cuddle her boyfriend.”

I blushed at being called her boyfriend, “Probably aren’t many… You’re really okay with my size?” I asked her, self-conscious.

She knelt down to me, “I’m not going to lie and say it’s not a bit weird, but I’ve grown up with a mom who was almost exactly my size compared to a dad about yours?” She shrugged, “Once I thought of it like that, it became a little less weird?”

Then, without warning, she began tickling my sides, “Besides, it gives me all sorts of unfair advantages.”

“Stop, not fair, and we shouldn’t horse around the pool area,” I told her.

“Good point,” she said with a smile and a hug. Then she patted my butt, “Now I know all you really want to do now is swim, so go ahead and start my little dolphin, and I’ll try and do a few laps myself.”

I hugged her back and then dove into the water to start swimming. I felt some fatigue from yesterday in my muscles, having pushed it so hard. So, while I swam a fair distance, I didn’t try for the same speed. As a result, I think Beth could almost keep up with me. Almost!

When we finished swimming, the two of us went and showered, and I spent time washing my hair, hoping it would lose the curls from the day before. Looking in the mirror, my hair still looked wavier than usual. Of course, also looking in the mirror, I still looked like a dressed-up pre-teen girl with makeup as glittery and vibrant as it had been the day before!

‘This makeup has got to make going out as a girl way simpler than my sisters have it!’ I thought

I pulled on a new Pull-Up and grimaced at the thought of having wet the bed the night before. ‘If Grandma doesn’t ask, I won’t say anything. Maybe it can just stay off my chart that way…?’ I thought that, technically, that would be my second accident not being marked down. Eventually, I was going to be losing potty stars. Unfortunately, I knew that was bound to happen here as a Little!

I finished my morning routine and dressed in jeans and a light blue shirt with Emerson that Grandma must have bought sometime during the week before heading downstairs. Beth was nowhere in sight for once, so I tried the sit-and-hop method of going down the stairs. It was time-consuming but seemed less dangerous than the hopping down I’d tried. ‘Might make that my normal?’ I thought as I reached the bottom. ‘Reminds me of practicing evacuating from a school bus as a kid!’ Looking up at the stairs, I was sure I could do without seeing those daily!

Grandma was sitting at the table reading something on a tablet when I approached. “Done with your shower?”

I nodded, “Yes, is there a chance I could get something to eat?”

“What would you like?” She asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t see anyone else, so don’t go through any major trouble?”

“We have an AmeniTea over here, too, so we can do something quickly through it?”

“Is that how you normally cook?” I asked curiously.

She laughed as she came over and picked me up off the ground, “No, we still prefer to cook most of the time, but mornings and midnight snacks are the time I prefer to use it.”

“What can it make?” I asked.

“Just about anything, really. We have a full stock of ingredient pods inside of it.”

“Pancakes and eggs?”

“Sure!” She said.

“Can I watch you do it?”

She placed me on her hip and walked into the kitchen. There was a large island counter that she sat me on top of like one would do a baby. I watched as she spoke instructions to the boxy device, and a moment later, a plate filled with pancakes complete with a smiley face of chocolate chips and whipped cream appeared. Some scrambled eggs were on the side of the platter, and it looked good!

“That’s all you have to do?” I asked, surprised.

“That’s it! It’s pretty cool and simple enough. Even your auntie can manage it!”

I laughed at that and was soon strapped into the highchair, eating as Beth came in. She looked to have spent a lot of time on her hair and makeup, and I blushed as I realized maybe she was looking nicer for me? Beth wore a pretty purple sweater that hugged her curves. Many detractors would say she didn’t have much, but she looked perfect!

“Morning, Beth,” Grandma said to her.

“Good morning,” she replied to her.

“What would you like for breakfast?”

She looked down at my plate and said, “That looks good?”

“Just have a seat; I’ll have it in a minute or so,” Grandma told her.

Beth blushed when she reappeared with the smiley face on the pancakes, “Thanks!”

“You said what he had, so I figured you wanted the smiley face too!” She gave Beth a sideways hug.

Beth giggled, “Nothing wrong with a smiley face on a pancake!”

After we finished our breakfasts, the two of us found our way back to my room for more time studying. Beth was clearly much more apprehensive about particular classes, like her Systems class, so I gave her a hand with it. I managed to write the final page of the script just before lunch and copied it into the school’s computer, then the module system, before smiling since it was all turned in!

“Now I just have to hope mine is chosen!” I thought to myself as I moved on to the next class.
 

BETH WAS MAKING more progress studying with Connor than she ever would have on her own. It was becoming a bit of a game to her, though, to figure out if anything she was studying could stump him. So far, she was failing to catch him in anything she was working on that he didn’t know!

So, it was a bit of a relief after lunch when they were resuming studying, and he was actually struggling at something as he worked on his HoloFields class.

“I just don’t get how these particles relate to this…?” Connor threw up his hands. “This stasis field shouldn’t even work from the physics back home?”

She smiled, “Finally, something I know that you don’t!”

“Huh?”

“Remember, I grew up here. There’s basic Field Theory in our physics classes in high school.”

“Oh,” Connor said, “That’s why they didn’t feel like they needed to explain this stuff?”

“Probably!” she agreed. She walked Connor through the things he didn’t understand for the next two hours. Then she had to admit he probably would understand it better than her in another week, given how he absorbed everything else!

About four hours after lunch, she said, “Okay, you got enough studying in?”

He shrugged, “I think so?”

“Want to go see if Shelby is up for a visit? I can finally see this amazing ‘playhouse’ you told me about?” She smirked, “We should also get her to help you take that makeup off!”

He blushed bright red then, “Sure,” he said. “Let me text her first.”

Connor got a quick response, and he was soon walking beside her across the enormous yard to the smaller house. The temperatures had dropped more, and their breath was freezing as they reached the short door and knocked. It opened a second later, and Shelby waved at them, “Come in!”

Beth looked at the door and skeptically at the physical frame at the level of her nose. Connor looked at her, “You’ll have to duck, I guess?”

She laughed, “Looks that way!”

Beth did duck as she entered the doorframe but was grateful that the ceilings at least were above her head by about half a foot! She noted a ceiling fan that she would need to walk or duck around in the living room. Still, otherwise, she was probably just about as tall of a person as you could be and walk upright through the ‘house.’

“Good thing you’re not any taller,” Shelby told her, apparently agreeing with her thoughts.

“Yeah, but this is really cool! You’re probably the only family of Littles who has their own ‘house’ that can be played off like it’s a play house.”

Shelby shook her head, “I know of a few other people… some friends at school are kind of like us with our parents adopted. This is a richer part of town, so once some other parents saw what Grandma and Grandpa built for us, they had to keep up with them.”

She smirked, “I’m pretty sure ours is the only one that is quite as elaborate, though! Let me give you the tour I gave Connor,” she said.

The three of them navigated through the house, with Beth having to duck under doorways but otherwise able to walk mostly unhindered as long as she watched out for light fixtures. After the tour, Beth suggested they hang out in the living room.

The afternoon by quickly, and just before they returned to the main house for dinner, Connor remembered something. “Can you deactivate this makeup?” He asked Shelby.

“Oh, right!” Shelby said with a giggle, “You probably don’t want to go to classes like that!”

They both watched her dig her tiny phone out of the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and showed Connor, “So all you need is this app on your phone.”

Connor pulled his own phone out, and she watched as he downloaded the app. ‘Hopefully, none of the guys see he has that app!’ she giggled.

Beth knew the app well. She loved the SkinSync product herself and used it daily. Her favorite thing was that it would stay on indefinitely, and you could easily change the looks when you wanted to. Celebrity-specific looks were sold on an in-app store, and tween and teen magazines regularly had scannable codes you could download free styles with. That morning, she’d spent the most time tweaking it she had in ages before heading downstairs.

“So now that you’re connected, just press deactivate,” she told him, “But stand over here so it’s easier to clean up,” she said first, hurriedly moving him to a hard floor.

Beth watched as he pressed the button and expected to see the annoying cloud of dust that formed when you took the powder off. Instead, she watched Connor spasm like he’d been hit with a taser and scream, “Ow!!!”

“Are you okay?” She found herself asking, concerned as she closed the distance to him.

“It felt like I just zapped every skin cell on my face with a static charge! Is that what happens every time you take it off?” Connor asked as he looked up at her.

Beth shook her head even as she looked down into his face.

The face that was, if anything, glitterier than it had been a moment ago.

“Umm…?” he said, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

She debated breaking it to her new short boyfriend when Shelby said, “I think we need to get Grandma to help.”

Connor pulled up the selfie camera app on his phone and stared at his face, “Crap!”
 

I SAT STILL while Grandma ran some unknown device over my face and looked at her tablet for results. “I don’t understand why this would happen?” she said.

“I felt a similar jolt when I activated them before?”

“I wonder…” She said and began another rapid session of typing and scanning me.

“Well, that shouldn’t happen…” she said while running her hand through her head.

“What shouldn’t happen?” I found myself asking as Beth joined me in stereo.

“For some reason, it’s like the nanites infused into your skin?”

“Isn’t that how they work?” Beth asked.

Grandma shook her head, “No, these are just meant as a true skin coating like traditional powder makeup. If you had the right equipment, you should be able to peel them and one layer of cells away together? In this case, it’s more like they’ve fused into the dermis as well… Let me get Fred; this may need medical expertise, too.”

I looked at Beth, “What am I going to do if I can’t get this off?”

“I don’t know; I guess we can find you some of the girl’s uniforms?”

While that thought sounded like what I wanted, right then, I was too terrified for that to seem like a good idea and felt my skin blanche. She wrapped me in a hug, “It’ll be okay. There is no one better in the world at programming and understanding nanites than your grandmother.”

“I hope you’re right,” I told her.

Grandpa came in and joined her, looking over the scans. He then came and physically touched my face for a moment and asked her for another tool.

“I don’t know how this could have happened,” he said. “Have you tried changing the look in the app? Maybe you can make it look less like you have makeup on?”

I looked up at him, over at Beth, and then at Grandma, “Are you saying I’m stuck with it on my face?”

“The problem is it isn’t on your face right now… It’s in the skin.”

“How?” Beth asked.

I looked at Grandma, who sighed, “Remember how I had to edit those nanites? Since Connor’s mom was here, we’ve seen many different generations of this technology. His are very much still an older design. Then you add that they’re the customized ones his mom tweaked?” She shook her head, “It would probably take Stacy helping me for a week to figure out exactly how this happened.”

“Will it wear off?” I asked.

He shrugged, “You do replace your skin about every twenty-seven days, so it might come off with that? It depends on how integrated the nanites are. The fact you had your mom’s in you seems to be the problem here. Like your grandmother said, they’re an antiquated version of them now, and I think with your entering the password to allow access, it also decided the ones from the makeup should be integrated?”

Grandma shook her head, “Your mom must have done something else with these. The problem is we can’t ask her over the HoloLink system without others listening in. We know the communications across the dimensional system are heavily monitored. Still, with you being her son, we know they’re even more likely to listen.”

I sighed, “Beth, you know how to work this system?” Shelby had gone home an hour ago to get some sleep since she had school the next day.

She nodded, “Let me see your phone since you synced up to it. Let’s add a password, too, so someone can’t randomly change your look.” Connor saw a look on her face like she’d eaten something disgusting, “I saw that happen to some friends in middle school!”

I shuddered at that, knowing that someone could randomly change my face to look like whatever they wanted it to be...? That would be treacherous at best!

“There!” she said a moment later.

“I didn’t feel anything that time?” I said.

Grandma shrugged, “It worked… at least as well as possible. I’m guessing the jolt you felt before was the integration.”

I used my phone then to look at my face and was relieved that my lips were their typical color and my eyes looked normal, too. I did grimace, though, in that my skin had a certain ‘brushed’ quality that looked like my sisters had put their foundation on. “I still look like I have makeup on?” I said.

“Only if you look really closely,” Beth tried to reassure me. “This is probably the best we’ll get for tomorrow?” She looked at Grandma, who nodded.

“I’ll try and see if I can come up with something else this week,” she told me. “For now, though, you both should probably get some sleep so I can drop you off at school tomorrow before classes.”

I sighed, “Yeah, thanks for trying.”

As I went to bed that night, I made sure I went potty again and then set my alarm early enough that I could swim before we left. I also hoped the earlier wakeup time would lead to a dry Pull-Up. ‘I don’t understand why I was wet this morning!’
 
 

Chapter 49: Lone Potty
 

THE NEXT MORNING, I was beyond relieved that I went to bed and woke up with a dry Pull-Up. I had no idea what happened the previous day, and I hoped it was a fluke and wouldn’t happen again!

Grandma dropped Beth off by her dorm while parking in the faculty lot and walking me over to my nest to check back in just as Mackenzie was about to send everyone off to breakfast.

“Oh, hi, Professor! Connor, it’s good to have you back! We miss you on the weekends!”

“Hi, Miss Mackenzie,” I said to her.

“How did he do this weekend?” She asked.

“Just fine. Please go ahead and put those stars on his chart? I emailed you?”

“Very good! I just changed the last boy here; we’re just heading off to breakfast. Sorry, I can’t stay to chat?” she told her.

“No worries, we’re just going to put his stuff away here, and then we’ll see you Friday again?”

“Every week?” She asked.

“I’m making up for nineteen years of missing Grandma time,” she told her.

“I guess I can understand that; this little guy is definitely a cutie!” she said and looked at me. The way she scrunched up her eyes made me wonder if she recognized the slightly odd look my face now had.

Truthfully, I had stared at myself in the mirror for a while that morning, really liking the effect my loose, long hair and the smooth skin had together. The problem was that I worried someone would assume I was intentionally wearing makeup! I watched, a bit shocked, as my nest mates grabbed the ring rope and followed her out like a bunch of preschoolers in line.

‘What’s that about?’ I wondered. With a sigh, I helped Grandma unload bags and things. She’d bought another large box of my brand of Pull-Ups for me and some bottles of water that she had now marked in a way that, if they were tampered with, would turn green to warn me.

All-in-all, I headed off to class that morning feeling pretty confident that I was in as safe of a position as possible!

Leaving Holo-Field Theory, I was startled when one of the girls in my class said, “Let’s check that diapee and see if you need a change!”

“Huh?” I said.

“Your diapee! I heard all of the Littles in your nests are in them now?”

“I’m in a Pull-Up and planning to hit the bathroom right now?” I added, “And it’s dry!”

She had already pulled down the front of my pants and exposed the Pull-Up to the world then, “So you are! What a cute Pull-Up you’re wearing too! I’ve babysat a lot of baby boys who wear these!”

I sighed, “Can I go now, please?”

“Let’s just make sure you make it okay!” She told me, “I’m Izzy, by the way,” as she gathered me in her arms and carried me not to the men’s restroom but to the women’s!

I was mortified as she sat me down on my feet in a stall and said, “Can you be a big boy and show me how you pull your pants and your big boy undies down?”

“I don’t need your help,” I tried to complain.

“It’s okay if you’re too little for that; I can help?”

I sighed, pulled them down, and then squeaked a yell as she picked me up and sat me on the gigantic potty like a real toddler. “Go potty,” she told me.

I sighed and did my best to go, but I couldn’t with her watching me. “I can’t go while you’re watching!” I complained.

“Keep trying just a little longer for me, baby?” She said.

The bladder did not want to let go, so she said, “Well, that’s okay. I’m sure you can try again later!”

She pulled my Pull-Up and pants back up for me and said, “Let’s still wash our hands for practice!”

Thankfully, she opened the bathroom door for me, and I could peel away from her in the dining hall. I desperately needed to pee by then and was relieved I somehow held it long enough to get into the dining hall bathroom. ‘Maybe a diaper would have been easier…?’ I couldn’t help but think.

I sat down and ate with Amy and Ava a short while later and noted that they looked to have a fair amount of puff out from their bottoms as they sat down. Looking around at the other Littles, I could see it seemed like they did too. “Did something happen over the weekend?” I asked.

“Huh?” Amy asked.

“Am I the only one still in Pull-Ups?” I asked.

Ava looked around and said, “Probably… Almost everyone has gotten caught with the three-per-day or per-week rule at this point. I know several of the last stragglers in the girl’s nest got caught pooping their pants twice Saturday?”

“Oh,” I said.

“The diapers aren’t so bad,” Ava said, blushing deeply. “Honestly, it beats trying to use those gigantic potties they have, and the changing stations have really nice holo-attendants.”

“Mine made me giggle earlier; she was actually treating me like I do when I’m changing my baby sister. It was kind of cute?”

I wanted to throw up then but kept my voice even. “Oh,” I shrugged, “I guess I can see that point of view.”

As I left for my next class, I couldn’t help worrying about what was happening to everyone. I guessed I would inevitably be next and was probably drawing attention because I wasn’t already in diapers like them! In my math class, we discussed some new concepts, and I was glad to have some time to study with Molly afterward in the hopes that two heads are better than one.

Molly was already sitting down in the classroom when I arrived. I pulled my portable booster from my bag, and she said, “Here, I’ll get it for you?”

I looked at her a little skeptically, but she had no problems deciphering the folds required to assemble it and placed it on the chair beside her. I moved towards the chair and was about to climb up when she lifted me up and put me in it instead. “Sorry, I can’t help myself sometimes,” she apologized, realizing what she’d done.

“It’s okay, thanks for understanding. I’m nervous about things like that?”

She nodded, “I guess I can understand that. You’re an exchange student, so you probably weren’t child-sized back home?”

I laughed, “No, I was way above average! I was six-foot-six, back home, and shrank when I came.”

“That’s tall for your dimension?”

“Average male height is under six feet,” I nodded.

“So, most of the people there are Littles?” she asked.

I remembered her major in Portal Physics and felt a little guilty in saying, “Yes, but we don’t think of ourselves like that.”

“No, I guess you wouldn’t. I sometimes wonder if there isn’t a dimension out there where I would be considered a Little.”

I felt my stomach twist at that, “That would be terrifying… I’d be like a child’s doll at best!”

She laughed, “Probably!”

We talked for a while longer before class started, and I was grateful that I seemed to be staying up with an understanding of the material the professor covered. “We still good for a study session?” Molly asked me as she helped me down.

I nodded, “I think so?” I looked at the clock, “I’ve got about an hour till I plan to get dinner?”

“Should be plenty!” She said. “Where do you want to study?”

I thought about public places and said, “See if the library has a study room available?”

“Sure!” she said.

I made an excuse and used the bathroom quickly before we walked out of the building and were blasted with a burst of cold air. “Brrr!!!” I complained as I pulled my coat tighter around my body and zipped it up.

She agreed, “I heard it’s supposed to get colder this week, too, and maybe snow later this week!”

“Ugh!” was all I said to that.

We signed into a study room and began going through notes and problems in the materials we’d been given by the professor. There were a few things she didn’t understand that I helped her with, and then she helped me with a few things, too. “You’re a great study partner!” she told me as we parted ways at the dining hall.

“So are you,” I told her. “See you Wednesday!”

“See you, cutie,” she said.

I blushed but tuned it out as I entered the dining hall. I saw Mackenzie standing near the entrance, “Well, hi you!” she said to me. “I was beginning to think you were avoiding us?”

I shook my head, “Just been busy. Was studying with a classmate in the library for a bit? I messaged you?”

“Oh?”

I nodded, “Her name is Molly; she’s in my Math class.”

“Hmm…” she said. “Just studying?”

I laughed, “Just studying! She’s the only one besides me in the class that seems to be getting things. We’re helping each other stay on top of that, though.”

“Well, let me know if she gets pushy or something?”

“Umm… sure?”

“Now, I do need to check you?”

“Does it have to be here?” I asked in front of everyone.

“Do you have something to hide?”

I sighed, “Nope.”
 

BETH SAT ON a booth seat on the other side of the room but could clearly see Connor’s pants being pulled down. She could see the blue of the Pull-Up from where she sat and shook her head. “What’s wrong?” Livy asked her.

“Oh, just watching the diaper check that Mackenzie is forcing Connor to endure in front of everyone.”

“Oh, is he wearing diapers now too?” Reila asked nervously.

“No, I can see the Pull-Up from here though.”

“Nothing he can do about it,” Reila said. “He’s probably the only one wearing Pull-Ups at this point. I think everyone else got put in diapers this weekend.”

“What happened?” Beth asked.

“No clue? We watched about a quarter roll into lunch on Saturday, only wearing a onesie top and a diaper. By yesterday, all of them seemed to be wearing thicker padding?” Reila said.

“I think I heard something about a Little movie night on Friday?” Livy said quietly.

“Oh…” Beth said. “Good thing Connor wasn’t here?”

“Maybe...? He’s going to seem like more of a challenge now, that might be worse,” Reila said.

“True…” she said worriedly.

Right as she said that Connor was coming towards them with food, Beth couldn’t help herself with the enormous smile she gave him. “Hi,” she said.

His smile was just as wide as he said, “Hey, can I join you?”

His face still had that smoothed-over look, and she noted it made him more attractive to her as she said, “Of course!” Beth scooted over to make room for him to sit his booster on the seat next to her and climbed up.

Beth couldn’t help herself as she gave him a sideways squeeze, “You have a good day?” She asked him.

“Mostly?” He said. “You?”

“Yeah, someone helped me enough this weekend that I didn’t feel completely lost in classes today.” She smiled down at him, and he smiled just as brightly back.

Livy made a face, and Beth hoped she could avoid answering questions until later. Seeing she was about to ask, she mouthed, ‘Later’ to her.

Livy raised an eyebrow but nodded.

The four talked about things that stayed entirely from conversations about disposable underpants for the rest of the meal. Beth thought awkward discussions were at a close, but Reila asked, “So what did you two do all weekend?”

Beth looked to see what Connor would say and noticed that the blush showed through, even with the makeup effect on his face. “Went to a birthday party?” He offered.

“Birthday party?” Livy asked curiously.

“My… cousin had her fifty-fourth birthday party?”

“A party for being fifty-four?” Reila asked.

“More like her thirty-third, ‘first’ birthday party?” Beth suggested?

“Oh, she’s a Little?” Livy asked nervously.

“Yeah,” Connor said.

“So, what did you two do while the babies played?” Reila asked nervously.

“Sort of babysat? Met my relatives… swam?” Connor said.

“What is it with you and swimming?” Livy asked.

“He’s a dolphin,” Beth smirked, squeezing his hand underneath the table.

“What?” Reila snorted.

“Long story, going back to my mom’s time here,” Connor said.

Fortunately for them, Mackenzie interrupted, “Hi girls, I hope you don’t mind, but I need to take Connor back to the Nest?”

“It’s only five-thirty?” Connor asked.

“Unfortunately, while you were out, some things happened, and the Nest has an earlier bedtime the rest of this week, sweetie.”

“Oh,” Connor said. “So, I can’t study when I get back?”

“You’ll have a few minutes, but not much time tonight, sorry.”

Connor looked stricken by that, but at least Beth knew he should be okay for his Tuesday classes from the weekend. He looked up at her, “Guess I’ll see you all later,” he sighed.

Mackenzie didn’t really wait for him to be ready; she picked him up and sat him on the ground, handed him his booster to fold away, grabbed the tray of food he’d finished, and prodded him to the entry area where Beth could see a whole bunch of nests all holding onto the babyish ring line leashes.

“What the hell happened over the weekend?” Beth asked them.
 

I CLUNG TO the pink ring of the rope and followed as we all took turns going up the elevator to the nests. I could smell more than a few filled diapers around me, and the stench going up the elevator was pretty intense!

From how they fidgeted, I thought I could tell five of the other members of my nest were in a messy diaper.

There was a big sigh from everyone as we reached the room and were told, “You can let go now, boys.”

I let go and moved towards the bathroom to go pee. “Where are you going, Connor?” Grayson asked.

“Bathroom?” I said.

“What? Aren’t you wearing yours like the rest of us?” Jack asked.

“Huh?” I asked.

“Wait, Miss Mackenzie, how come Connor isn’t in a diaper?!?” Grayson asked, clearly pissed off about something.

“Huh?” she asked, looking up from the changing table where she was changing Liam.

“Connor isn’t wearing diapers?!?” he pushed.

“No? He hasn’t lost his potty privileges yet?”

“But…?”

“Grayson, I’m sorry that Connor is a big boy and you’re not? But you don’t need to pick on him?”

“I’m not…?” Grayson protested.

“Do you need to go to a time-out?”

I looked over at him. I could see he was so angry, but I watched him shake his head, “No, Miss Mackenzie.”

“Connor, go ahead and use the potty. Come see me when you’re done so I can ensure you’re still clean and dry!”

“Yes, Miss Mackenzie,” I told her and walked into the bathroom. When I used the toilet, I couldn’t help but think I was now the only one using them from what they had said. It kind of scared me the way they had reacted. I felt my blood grow cold as I feared the jealousy from them could cause me more problems!

I flushed, washed my hands, and found Mackenzie waiting by the door. “Let’s just pull those pants off since you just need to put on your jammies anyway.”

I blushed as the Pull-Up was displayed to everyone. The sides were fraying a little bit from having been worn all day, but the indicators were still showing as unused. “What a good boy!” she told me. “Since you used the potty, let’s go ahead and get your night diapee on, though, and those jammies.” She called out louder, “Fifteen minutes till lights out, my little kits!”

I sat at my desk a few minutes later while she changed everyone else and tried to review my notes for Screenwriting for the morning. I was done with the assignment due on Thursday, so I was sketching out some notes for the next project.

Logan approached me, “Sorry about Grayson, we had a rough weekend…”

“What happened?” I asked, noting that Mackenzie had Grayson’s feet over his head and was wiping his bottom.

“We had a movie night Friday, and everyone was kind of woozy afterward. Some of us were afraid there was some hidden hypnosis in it…?” I felt my blood chill then.

“I’m guessing there was?”

He nodded, “Must have been; by the end of Sunday, all of us had at least two messy accidents in a day or hit the wet accident count to land ourselves into diapers.”

“Ouch, I’m sorry?”

He shrugged, “Personally, I always figured it was a matter of time? Anyway, about ten people from other nests staged a walkout protest yesterday. Let’s just say they’re gone, and now we’re all stuck with additional evening restrictions.”

“That…” I was about to say when Mackenzie walked over.

“Time for beddy-bye boys; hop into your pods!”

I looked at the clock and realized it was ninety minutes earlier than usual. Climbing into the pod, I grimaced that with everything going on this weekend, I’d never had a chance to do anything about the SleepTight device inside. ‘Hopefully, my nanites keep it at bay a little longer?’ I thought to myself.

Even as I thought that, though, I was out like a light!
 
 

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you like this and press the Kudos button! I should be posting a couple times a week until this is fully posted here on BC. This time of year is a bit insane for me in the real world, so this may be more of a once-per-week posting for another week or so here! This first full novel is complete (73 chapters plus Epilogue) and published on Amazon if you wish to be impatient though! I hope to have Book 2 published there in the next few months as well.

All of my published works have AI read audiobooks available for them. I’ve spent some time tweaking pronunciations, and they’re pretty good when you can’t afford thousands to pay for audiobook creation! They’re a $1.99 addon to the $6.95 price on Kindle. If you’ve already purchase the book it should come up as only $1.99. They’re also available on Audible directly, but that’s $10.95 versus the cheaper price! https://www.amazon.com/author/babysofia