The Elf (Patreon)

A Christmas story, commissioned by Mashugana in place of a new chapter of The Nanny's Challenge for this month. Don't worry, that will return next month!

Holly sighed and rolled her eyes, staring out at the long line of children still stretching down the mall's corridor. There was no way they were getting to all of them tonight... And, of course, it was going to be her job to tell them that.

She wouldn't say she was excited about it - the parents were going to be awful to deal with, especially the ones who had been waiting for hours - but there was a part of her that was going to enjoy seeing the kids' disappointed faces, sending them off for the adults to deal with their tantrums. Some might say that Christmas was not a time for schadenfreude... She was not one of them.

She had been a kid once, obviously, although she didn't think she'd ever been nearly as bad as the ones she dealt with now. It was Christmas now, which never helped, but even other times of the year, she was certain they were far worse nowadays. It was good for them to deal with a let-down here and there, so they knew that was what life was really about.

"Come on," she rolls her eyes, putting a hand between the shoulders of the dawdling little boy in front of her, hesitating at the very moment when he'd finally gotten what he'd been standing in line for all this time. "Let's go." 

She pushed him forward gently, ignoring the pointed throat-clearing from his mother, standing there watching, probably unhappy Holly had touched her kid at all. Holly wasn't exactly pleased about it, either, and was happy for the white gloves that were a part of her costume, to help protect her from the germs the boy was surely crawling with. They couldn't just stand around all day and wait for him to work up the courage, however...

"Ho ho ho," Santa smiled down at the boy, reaching over and picking him up, easily lifting him and setting him on his lap. "Merry Christmas! Have you been a good little boy this year?"

They all said yes, of course - who would tell Santa differently? - but Holly had her doubts. Santa always took his time, ensuring all the kids were given the time to be heard, and feel like their wait had been worth it. He took his job way too seriously... Holly didn't even know what his real name was. He only went by Santa.

Holly sighed, adjusting her dress while she waited. She felt so ridiculous in the thing... It was like a feminine version of Santa's outfit, with green instead of red, trimmed in fake, white fur. The Peter Pan collar was white, too, with a large patch of holly berries on one side, which, according to Santa when she'd introduced herself to him at the start of the season, made it 'perfect' for her.

Red and green striped stocking, green boots, and a green and white Santa hat finished off the awful ensemble, the oversized bell at the tip of the hat jingling merrily with every step she took. There were definitely times - like every day, when she got changed - that she wondered why she was doing this, whether it was worth her dignity to spend hours standing around the mall, dressed like an elf, surrounded by terrible, screaming children.

They were paying her, though, and pretty decently for the amount of actual work she was doing. The sooner she started getting some money saved up, the sooner she could move out of her older sister's house, which would be better for everyone. It was nice of her sister to let her stay there without paying rent, but there was only so long it was going to work before one of them killed the other.

Finally, Santa set the boy down, and Holly escorted him back to his mother, and over to the cash register to get their pictures and pay, before moving on to the next kid, an eager, chubby-cheeked little girl, who almost immediately turned bashful once Holly opened the gate with a half-hearted, "Come on in, it's time to meet Santa."

The girl blushed and stared down at her Mary-Jane-clad feet. "Oh, come on, kid," Holly huffed, taking her by the hand and dragging her over to Santa.

"Hey!" the girl's mother exclaimed.

"Look at all these people waiting," Holly snapped at her, stomping back over to the parents' waiting area. "We can't spend all day on one little brat!"

"My baby is not a brat," the woman insisted, with a tone that made Holly certain she must be, if she'd been raised by this person.

"Uh-oh!" Holly heard Santa chuckle, not annoyed - she'd never heard him sound frustrated, no matter how bad the kids were - but clearly trying to get her attention. She turned to see him lifting the girl down from his lap, wet spots rapidly spreading down her tights. "That's all right, dear, I know you've been trying hard."

"Seriously?" Holly shot the girl's mother a harsh look. "Isn't she too old to be doing that?"

"How dare..?!" the woman glared at her as Holly shooed the little girl away from Santa's chair, trying to get her out of there as fast as possible, without touching her, even with her gloves.

"Sorry, everyone," Holly announced to the line, "I'm afraid we're going to have to close down early to get cleaned up, and..."

"We don't have to close yet," Santa told her. "I can go change my pants, and we'll be back in time to get a few more in."

Was he serious?! They were so close to quitting time anyway... Why bother to come back? This was the perfect opportunity to stop, to get home at a decent hour for once. 

He was, of course. Frustrated, she put up the reindeer feeding sign, rushing after him to the little break room they'd been given for the few chances they had to relax. Santa dug through his costume pieces to find a dry pair of pants, while Holly flopped down on the sofa, sulking. "This is stupid," she said. "It's barely worth walking all the way here, then all the way back."

"You could have stayed there," he pointed out.

It had been an option... She knew it was better to leave the place empty, except for their cashier, rather than hanging around without the big man. Despite the sign at the entrance, she'd have to spend the whole time fielding questions of when Santa was going to return, and why it was taking so long. Here she could sit, anyway... Even if it hadn't just been peed on, she wasn't allowed to sit on Santa's chair.

"Can you believe that dumb little girl?" she rolled her eyes as Santa headed into the tiny bathroom to change. "She had to have been at least five or six, and she's still having accidents... She should still be in diapers if she can't hold it."

"She was in that line for a long time," Santa called through the closed door, sounding patient as ever. "I'm sure you still had the occasional accident at her age."

"N-No way," Holly blushed, glad he was in another room so he couldn't see her blush, thinking about the accident she'd had in PE class in third grade. "When I was her age, I wasn't a baby anymore."

"Just because somebody wets themselves doesn't mean they're a baby," he said, sounding a bit stern, at least for him.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "But she was."

"Holly..." he sighed, stepping back out of the bathroom, shaking his head. He stopped himself, reaching into the pocket on his coat. "Here," he told her. "I got you a little something for Christmas, but I'm afraid I'll forget to give it to you, with all the craziness as Christmas Eve approaches."

It was a tiny box, not even big enough for a gift card. "Oh, thanks," she said, surprised. "I-I didn't get you anything..."

"That's quite all right," he laughed. "I enjoy giving presents, even to those who might not have been as good as they could be in the past year."

Holly rolled her eyes; all that naughty and nice stuff was so pointless... Parents got their kids presents either way. It was probably a good thing the children were too stupid to figure that out, since it was only the threat of Santa being right there to see them acting naughty that kept the line as relatively civil as it was.

"This isn't, like, a ring, is it?" she asked, suddenly nervous. They'd spoken a few times, and he seemed nice enough - although, to be fair, he was nice to everyone - but guys were weird, and old ones especially so. She'd tried to be polite to him, seeing as they had to work together all month... Had he seen that as something else?

"You're a little young for me," he chuckled. "And I'm already married."

"That wouldn't stop some people," she shrugged, flipping the box over, starting to untape the first flap.

"No, no," he stopped her. "You're supposed to open it on Christmas... I just didn't want to forget to give it to you."

"Oh," she frowned. "Okay..." She shrugged, slipping it into her pocket. "Well, since we're here, I guess I'll go ahead and use the bathroom. I don't want to end up like that little girl." She smirked, slipping into the bathroom, sliding down her underwear and sitting on the toilet.

She pondered just staying in there, letting the clock run out on their shift, but, even if she did, she suspected Santa would want to go back out anyway. She sighed, leaning back against the toilet, one hand sliding into the pocket of her dress, feeling the tiny box.

It was so little... It wouldn't be hard at all to wrap it back up, make it look like nothing had happened, in case Santa saw her taking it out of her pocket to take home. And it clearly wasn't going to be anything that great... Probably not worth putting under the tree, or waiting until Christmas morning for...

She slid her nail beneath the little piece of tape holding the paper on, peeling it up, carefully lifting up the flap, the box inside sliding out into her waiting hand. For as small as it was, it was a nice box, seemingly hand-made out of wood, painted a glossy red, with a golden latch and hinges. There was no lock through the latch, although there was a place for one, allowing her to lift it up, open the lid, and see...

Nothing. She could have sworn she felt a small breeze, smelled a faint, sweet scent on it that was vaguely nostalgic, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but, otherwise, the box was empty.

Strange, she thought. It was a nice box, but a weird gift. She shrugged, closing it back up, taping the paper around it again and standing up, sliding her panties back up her legs.

As they snapped into place, something happened. For a moment, she felt the sleek fabric around her, as always, and then it was gone. Or, not gone, exactly... They hadn't vanished; in fact, there was more than ever, as they expanded outwards, growing at a rapid pace. They were changing, too, silk turning a bit harsher, rougher on the inside, and even slicker on the outside as it pushed out, pressing against her thighs, crinkling softly as she moved, shocked and trying to figure out what had happened, and adjust to whatever was going on beneath her skirt.

The origin of that smell hit her right as she tentatively reached down, trembling fingers closing around her skirt. She hoped she was wrong, and yet, as she raising the skirt and saw what was now waiting underneath, she knew she wasn't. The smell had been baby powder, which made perfect sense, since she was now wearing a diaper.

Well, 'sense' was a strong word... It all fit together, but why it was happening as a bit more obtuse. She obviously hadn't worn a diaper to work - she hadn't worn a diaper in decades - and certainly not this one. She recognized it right away, from commercials, and some of the youngest kids who came to visit, still young enough their parents didn't care enough about their dignity to keep their underthings hidden.

She was in Pampers. Full-blown, baby Pampers, sized to fit her perfectly, and far thicker than any she'd seen on a real baby, but, otherwise, clearly, unmistakably Pampers.

"No!" she squealed, without thinking.

"Is everything all right?" Santa asked helpfully.

No, it wasn't; Holly couldn't imagine it being any less 'all right', but she wasn't sure what he could do about it. She didn't want him to know, anyway, although it was hard to shake the feeling that, somehow, he already did. This whole thing was impossible, though it seemed to have something to do with that box...

"Yeah, I just... uh..." she mumbled, shaking her head. "F-Female problems," she told him finally, hoping that would do the trick. "I'll be out in a minute."

Would she, though? She frowned, staring at herself in the mirror, tugging at the short skirt of her elf dress. The length hadn't bothered her much before, but she hadn't been trying to hide a diaper under it until now, either. If she stood still, you couldn't tell what was happening, yet, as soon as she started to move, she was seeing flashes of plastic poking out from under the hem, and, if anyone was going to recognize that, it would be the people in the line.

"What is happening?!" she hissed to herself. This was, easily, the craziest thing that had ever happened to her, the most insane, impossible. Diapers didn't just appear out of nowhere... Or from out of a pair of panties she'd worn dozens of times with no issues. But... Here she was, and there was no denying what she was wearing, her legs constantly pushed apart by it, a definite crinkling coming from her every time she moved to make it all the more undeniable.

She wanted to confront Santa, to demand to know what he'd done to her, although she knew she couldn't. He had to be behind it, somehow - opening the box right beforehand was too big of a coincidence - but if she was wrong.... Well, she didn't want him to know. She didn't want anyone to know, if she could help it.

She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever, no matter how much, in the moment, she wanted to. If the skirt hadn't been so small, she might have taken the diaper off and gone without, but that felt like a sure way to get fired, if one of the irate parents noticed and reported her... At least with the diaper, if they saw, they'd feel sorry for her, probably.

She opened the bathroom door, hands immediately zooming to the hem of her skirt, holding it down as she shuffled out, hoping her new waddle didn't look as obvious as it felt. Her cheeks burned as she approached Santa, tugging a little harder on the dress, mentally willing him not to ask any questions.

He nodded, heading for the door. "Let's go!" he announced, Holly trailing behind, cursing all the last-minute shoppers as they made their way back to Santa's throne. Thankfully, they were mostly concerned with getting to all the stores on their list before the mall closed, so they weren't paying much attention to her, though that meant a few did bump into her, and she suspected at least one saw her diaper as she tried to keep from falling over.

"All right," Santa told her, once he was back on his chair. "Bring them up!"

Holly swallowed, staring at him, wanting to tell him she'd learned her lesson, and she wanted her real underwear back. Instead, she toddled over to the line, letting go of her skirt briefly to open the gate, letting the next girl in, hand quickly going back to her skirt... But not fast enough.

"Look, Mommy!" the girl exclaimed, pointing. "She's...!"

"A-A Christmas elf!" Holly cut her off. "Straight from the North Pole! Go on, go see Santa!"

Luckily, the girl turned and saw the jolly man sitting there, arms out, waiting for her, and got distracted. Holly blushed, feeling the mother's gaze on her as she stood there awkwardly, scared to move, and also scared to stay still, to subject herself to more scrutiny.

Just like she'd known, there was only time for a couple more kids before the mall started to close around them. It didn't feel quite so triumphant that night, hobbling down the line, explaining that they'd have to come back the next day if they wanted to see Santa, terrified someone would ask why, when she clearly didn't need a break in that get-up.

Maybe that was the point, she pondered, trudging back to the break room again. Maybe this was supposed to teach her a lesson in humility, and, if that was the case... Well, it had done its job well. She was glad to be able to change out of the dress and into her jeans, although the diaper was so huge, she could barely pull the pants up over it, and when she did, there was a definite bulge. 

"No way," she told herself, shaking her head as she stared at her reflection. She'd had to play it safe here, at work... Now, it really didn't matter that much. She wrestled her jeans back down from her crotch, untaped the diaper, tossed it at the garbage can, resolving to stick it further down in there later. Santa had to know about this, though that didn't mean she wanted him to see it... Whatever janitor cleaned up after them didn't need to see, either.

As she pulled the pants back up, however, buttoning them closed, she could feel it happening again. The whiff of baby powder filled her nose, and, to her horror, she looked down, watched red and green sparkles start to appear from the fabric of her jeans, swirling around the legs, working their way from the bottom to the top, denim vanishing beneath them as they moved upwards.

"No!" she tried to wave them away, like a pair of multi-colored gnats. "Stop it!"

She stomped her feet, shook her legs, but nothing worked, and, in a matter of moments, her jeans had been reduced down to the tiniest pair of hot pants she'd ever worn, which then, as she gawked, began to shimmer, fabric turning into plastic and fluff as they puffed out into an oversized, extra-thick pair of Huggies.

"No," she repeated, in more of a whimper, poking at the giant baby diaper in disbelief.

She had no choice, really, other than to put her elf dress back on. She wasn't going to waltz out of there in only her shirt and diaper, obviously, and that was all she had left. Unfortunately, Santa was already gone by the time she worked up the courage to step out of the bathroom, leaving only her manager, waiting impatiently.

"Took you long en..." the woman started to say, before seeing what she had on. "You didn't even change?!"

"It's... complicated," Holly sighed. "I swear, I'll bring it back tomorrow..."

"This is not a costume rental service," her boss rolled her eyes. "You can't just..."

"I don't have anything else to wear!" Holly stomped her foot. "You think I want to wear this stupid thing home?!"

"Seems that way," the woman shrugged. "You were dressed when you came in today."

"Well, my real clothes are gone," Holly said. "I don't know where they are!" She did, really - they were still on her, just in a different form - but she wasn't going to explain that now. "I-I guess someone came in and stole them or something."

Thankfully, her boss took pity on her, although she did make her go to the mall security and fill out a report, standing by her the whole time so she couldn't change her mind. It was very late by the time Holly got home, which meant, thankfully, her sister was already in bed, making it easy for her to sneak to her room, tear off the diaper, and grab a pair of real underwear.

She hesitated for a moment. As much as it felt like something from a dream, the transformations were real - she'd seen one, and felt the other. Those had both happened at the mall, though... It wouldn't follow her home, somehow, would it?

It did. These panties turned into a pair of Luvs. She groaned, ripping them off, tossing them onto the other diaper. Fine, she thought. She'd sleep without them tonight, and figure this out the next day. She pulled on a nightshirt, and nothing else, and, as soon as it fell over her bare backside, the red and green sparkles returned.

"Stop it!" she growled at them, cheeks flushing as she saw, in her mirror, her chest being bared, her shirt transforming into Pampers before her very eyes.

There was no getting around it... Her underwear were turning into diapers, and, if she tried to wear anything without them, then that changed instead. As long as she was wearing any clothes at all, a big, bulky baby diaper was going to be a part of the outfit, if not the whole thing.

She spent the next morning composing her apology to Santa. She'd always felt ridiculous, calling him that, but she'd had no other name for him... Now, it didn't feel quite so weird. To her surprise, she lost track of time and... something else... as she worked, looking up to see she was late to work, then standing, blushing as she felt her diaper sagging between her legs slightly, damp.

She had a couple spares from the night before, she was able to change herself, then put on a dress of her own to wear into work that day, one with a longer skirt than the elf one, knowing it would hide the diaper better than any pants she owned. She raced to the mall and to the break room to change, worried to see Santa wasn't there.

It was hard to run in the elf dress without flashing her diaper, so she had a feeling plenty of shoppers caught a glimpse as she hurried to work, going for her boss first, at the cash register, to apologize before jumping in.

"I couldn't wait for you," the woman shrugged, gesturing over to the teenager standing there at the gate. "I promised to pay her for the day, so...."

"I'm here now!" Holly pointed out. "I can do it!"

"No, you can't," her manager countered. "Because you're fired. And I want that dress back."

"C-Can I at least talk to..?" Holly asked, gesturing towards Santa.

"You can get in line with everyone else," her boss shrugged.

Holly groaned, staring at the huge line that had already formed. She'd worked there long enough to know it would take most of the day to get through what was already there, and there were still people showing up. As much as she wanted to go change into her own dress, if she did that, she might be stuck in the line when they closed for the day, and then tomorrow would be Christmas Eve... And Santa had told her someone else was going to be filling in for him then, because he was 'very busy' with 'other things' that day...

"Just two minutes?" Holly asked, holding up a pair of fingers. "Please, it's really..."

"Get in line, or get out of my face," the woman snapped. "Some of us have work to do."

Feeling incredibly silly, Holly headed for the other end of the line and stepped in, fists clenched in the fabric of her skirt. She wasn't the tallest person, so, at a glance, she wouldn't be surprised if someone saw her and assumed she was a girl, just slightly too old for this, who had gotten all dressed up to see Santa.

She had to stand perfectly still, or as close as she could. The moment she started to slouch, she spotted the little boy behind her tugging on his mother's sleeve, pointing, and she had to quickly readjust herself. 

That became a much bigger problem not long after, when she felt her bladder starting to fill. The thick diaper kept her from pressing her legs together too much, and she didn't dare squirm too much... She'd seen parents passing the kids off to their partner outside the line, to take them to the bathroom, but she didn't have that option... If she left, she'd have to start at the back of the line again.

"This can't be happening," she whispered to herself, thinking, involuntarily, of the little girl who had wet herself on Santa's lap the day before as her body gave in, and she felt the padding start to fill, growing softer as the warm liquid poured inside. It was much bigger than the accident she'd had at home, and much harder to ignore as she slowly inched forward in the line, feeling it squish between her legs.

It took her a while to look down, to notice how much her diaper had sagged after that. She didn't even think about it until she heard the boy behind her giggling, his mother trying to quiet him down. She glanced at herself, then, frantically, tried to pull the dress down, but it just wasn't long enough... She'd been showing off her disposable underwear ever since she'd wet herself, and not known it! 

She really looked like she belonged here now, among these little kids... All dressed up like an elf, in a soggy diaper... She was mortified, yet trapped, unable to leave without destroying her chance of putting a stop to all this.

To add insult to injury, once she finally reached the front of the line, the teenager that had been hired to replace her was taller than her, allowing her to bend down to look her in the eyes. "Hi, there, cutie!" she beamed. "What a cute dress! We're twins!"

"No, we aren't," Holly told her grumpily.

"Oh," the girl seemed surprised at first, then barely hid her giggle when she spotted Holly's drooping diaper. "Oh, sweetie, that's okay. Everyone has accidents!"

Holly glared at her, stomping past her towards Santa. "I know where I'm going!" she exclaimed when the teen tried to lead her over.

"Ho ho ho," Santa boomed, smiling down at her. "Merry Christmas, Holly!"

"Look, Santa, I'm really... Hey!" She blushed as he reached down to pick her up. "W-We don't have to do that, do we?"

"Of course we do!" he replied, plopping her down on his lap, her skirt riding up, showing off even more of her diaper to anyone walking by, seeing her there, as if the situation wasn't humiliating enough on its own. "Now, have you been a good girl this year?"

"Santa," she whispered, squirming a little closer to him, still tugging at her skirt. "I-I'm really sorry, okay? Please, just... Just stop this, all right?"

"You didn't answer my question, Holly," he said. "Have you been a good girl?"

"I-I guess?" she shrugged. "This isn't about..."

"Oh, Holly," he shook his head. "You know better than that. You've been very cross with all the children, and made their Christmases worse. This is a magical time of year for them, and you showed them no patience, or understanding... That doesn't sound like something a good girl would do, does it?"

"Fine, no," Holly rolled her eyes. "Then take my present back! I don't want it anyway!"

"I asked you not to open it until Christmas," he reminded her. "This," he gave her diaper a pat, making her blush, "is not your present... It's your punishment for not following directions. I'm afraid you won't be getting a present from me this year. You will be getting another punishment, however, for being a naughty girl, and trying to pretend otherwise."

"Wh-What?" Holly gulped, squirming on his lap. She blushed, realizing, all of the sudden, she had to pee again. Her hands shot to her padded crotch, but it was already too late, and, to her horror, she felt her bladder letting go... And then her diaper doing the same. "Oh, no!" she squealed, feeling herself starting to leak on Santa's lap, just like the little girl from the day before.

"Uh-oh," Santa chuckled heartily, picking her up and setting her down, her dress feeling suddenly even smaller, as if it had shrunk to make what was happening all the more obvious to any outside observers. "That's all right, dear, I know you've been trying hard."

That was exactly what he'd told that girl, Holly remembered... But she wasn't a little girl! She was an adult, and she shouldn't be in diapers at all, much less using them! "Aww, it's all right, sweetie," the elf promised, walking over to her, gently leading her to the gate. "It happens to everybody. I'm sure your Mommy will clean you right up... And I doubt you'll be able to tell in the picture."

"My Mommy isn't..." Holly glared at the girl, shooting Santa a dirty look, wondering if this was what he wanted, how she should have handled things yesterday. When she turned back around, her big sister was standing there, waiting for her... And, to her surprise, towering over her. Just like, Holly realized, the elf was.

She looked down, stomach twisting as she saw herself, head spinning when she saw not her adult body, but a toddler's. "No!" she squeaked, her voice high and childish. "Santa, no!" she pouted, stomping her tiny, elf-booted foot.

"I'm sorry," Holly's sister apologized. "She's a little cranky... The line was awfully long."

"I get it," the elf winked at her. "Goodbye, cutie... I hope to see you again next year! Maybe you'll be in a better mood then, and we can get an elfie together! Your little outfit is so adorable!"

Next year... Holly stared at Santa as she was pulled away from him, over to the cash register. Was she going to have to wait until next year to talk to him again, to get him to reverse this? She wasn't sure when else she'd have the chance to see Santa Claus, so she had a bad feeling that was going to be the case... And that, if she was going to have any shot of convincing him to make her a big girl again, she'd have to be a very, very good girl next year.