The Curtain (Patreon)

A Valentine's themed short story commission from an anonymous Patron.

"Are you sure?" Colin asked. "I-I mean, it sounds fine to me, but I was going to plan something... You know, since it's Valentine's Day and all..."

"Oh, honey," Tabitha chuckled, giving him a kiss. "If you were going to, you already should have done it. Reservations for pretty much everything are already gone."

Colin nodded, sure she was right; she almost always was. She knew a lot more about this sort of thing, after all... That's why she almost always handled their plans together, and just about everything else. He had intended to surprise her, to come up with something special for them to do so she wouldn't have to, but he'd kept putting it off, and getting distracted by other things, and now, a few days out, he had no doubt she knew what she was talking about, and anywhere they'd want to go would have been booked up weeks ago, if not months.

He wasn't sure this was what he would have picked for Valentine's Day, though, that point was pretty well moot now. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but he wouldn't have expected a couple-only magic show to be something Tabitha would consider 'good enough' for the day. If she'd chosen it, however, then apparently he was wrong about that, too.

The day of, he had to admit he was surprised; it started off with a pretty nice meal, just as good as at any resaurant Colin would have thought to take his girlfriend to., Then, while they waited for dessert, the lights dimmed and she show began, a pretty stereotypical-looking magician strolling out in stage in his top hat and old fashioned suit with tails. 

"Hello, everyone!" he smiled, flashing his pearly whites charmingly. "Are you all having a great Valentine's Day?" There was a round of polite applause. "Wonderful! Now, before we start, I'm afraid I have to ask a favor for you right away... I normally have a lovely assistant to help me out with my show, but she had a date of her own today, so I'm going to need some help from one of you. Is anyone brave enough to volunteer?"

"Colin!" Tabitha grinned at him as the lights raised slightly in the audience. "You should go up there!"

"What?" he blushed slightly. "No, he's looking for a girl, I bet. Maybe you should..."

"He volunteers!" Tabitha interrupted him, waving her hand, pointing at Colin, who shot her a nervous look. "Oh, it'll be fun," she teased him. "I'll have more fun watching you run around up there than doing it myself. "Come on, Colin, please?"

"All right," he rolled his eyes. "I suppose I can... Whoa!" He turned away from her, back towards the stage, jumping to find the magician right behind him, a wave of laughter rippling through the audience at his reaction.

"Let's have a hand for Colin," the man announced, holding one out, waiting for Colin to take it to be led up the steps and onto the stage. "Putting on a show for his... Mommy?"

"Girlfriend!" Colin corrected with a blush.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me," the magician flashed his grin. "What was I thinking?" With that, he gave Colin a spin, as if they were dancing, sending him tumbling past a small curtain set up in the middle of the stage. It was on a frame, barely taller or wider than Colin himself, and yet, by the time Colin had tumbled past it, trying to regain his footing, something had changed.

Right away, Colin noticed his legs feeling cooler, a slight breeze hitting them, where, before, they'd been protected by the pants on the suit Tabitha had picked out for him, to match her dress. Glancing down in a panic, he saw just white and black, none of the pale blue of the suit. The jacket was gone altogether, replaced by a shirt with a wide collar, a ribbon looped beneath that, two rows of shiny, black buttons, and embroidery of tiny anchors in between those two rows. Beneath that was a pair of matching white shorts, and, under those, there was an unmistakable bulge, something that he should have felt right away. The fact he hadn't made him wonder if he was wrong, if he was imagining it, despite the plastic poking out from the waistband, the soft crinkle that emanated when he started to squirm, hearing laughter from the audience again.

"I don't know how I'd make that mistake," the magician winked at the seated couples.

"What the hell did...?!" Colin fumed, tugging at the seemingly just barely too short hem of his shirt, as if hiding the waistband would keep anyone from knowing what he was wearing.

"Ah-ah-ah," the other man tsked, snapping his fingers. "That's not very nice language for a little boy like you, is it?"

Colin was, obviously, not a little boy, despite his current outfit, but when he tried to point that out, the only thing that came from his mouth was a torrent of meaningless baby babble, and a line of drool.

"Or are you just fussy because you need a change already?" the magician asked, giving the seat of Colin's diaper a pat before tugging the waistband out, peeking into the back, making him blush even harder as he was given a public diaper check, while struggling to figure out why he couldn't speak. "He looks clean to me... Oh, I know!"

The magician stepped over to the curtain, reaching behind it and pulling out a large high chair, easily big enough for the fully-grown Colin. In fact, the base of it looked too wide to have been completely hidden by the curtain, even if Colin knew he hadn't seen it there a moment earlier. The magician pulled out the tray, patting the padded seat with his hand, creating a crinkle not unlike the one coming from Colin's waist. "Have a seat, Colin... A little boy like you isn't used to waiting for his dessert, is he? And your bedtime is coming up soon, too, isn't it?"

Colin shook his head defiantly, to both question, yet, with another snap of the magician's fingers, he found his feet moving, pulling him closer to the chair, instead of over to the curtain to try to find his clothes so he could get out of here. The magician took his hand, helping him up onto the seat once he was close, locking the tray back over his lap, trapping him there as a waitress handed him a plate with a large slice of chocolate cake, topped with a whole strawberry, a baby blue plastic fork sitting beside the treat.

"Here you go!" the magician set the plate down on the tray. "Eat up, Colin!" Colin shook his head, wiggling in the seat, staring out at Tabitha, silently begging her to help him as the magician picked up the fork and handed it to him. "Come on," he urged. "It's good, I promise!"

Colin glanced down at the fork, knowing what it was, and what it was used for, and yet, in the moment, completely forgetting how to use it. He poked at the cake experimentally, earning himself a few more chuckles from the people watching, then put the fork down, digging into the cake with his bare hands. 

"Colin!" the magician scolded. "Stop!" Colin's body froze, hand covered in cake still in his mouth. "You're going to make a mess of your nice outfit," the other man informed him, taking a bib out of his pocket, tying it around his neck. "I think he might need a little help... Any volunteers?"

Hands shot up all over, and, before Colin could see if Tabitha's was one of them, the magician called up another couple. The guy stood by, smirking as he stared at Colin, seemingly finding it hard to believe he was actually allowing this to happen, while his girlfriend, or wife, cheerfully walked over to the high chair, picking up the fork and getting some of the cake on it. Finally, Colin was able to move again, pulling back his hand right in time for the fork to move in to replace it.

"Is that yummy?" the girl cooed at him, as if she were talking to a real baby. "I bet it is! Yummies in your tummy!" She reached down, giving his stomach a tickle, and Colin couldn't help giggling, before falling silent as her boyfriend aproached, seemingly less amused at seeing her actually touch him.

"Here," he said, reaching over, grabbing the strawberry. "I think this is too big for him... We wouldn't want the baby to choke, would we?" He dipped it into the cake's frosting, holding it up for his girlfriend, who sensually wrapped her mouth around it right in front of Colin, sucking off some of the frostine, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head.

"Oh, that is good," she moaned. "That's almost too good for a little boy like you," she teased. "Such a spoiled baby..."

"You know what?" the magician cut in. "You may be right. "Why don't you two lovebirds finish that up back at your table? I have something better for Colin here." They took the plate and headed off, the magician setting down, in its place, a bowl filled with gray, disgusting-looking mush. "Doesn't that look better, Colin?" he asked, ignoring him as he shook his head, nose wrinkled. "It's going to make you grow up big and strong! Who wants to help feed him this?"

Colin could see even more hands shoot up this time, but it was Tabitha who was chosen to come up on stage next to him. He looked up at her, cheeks red, kicking his feet, hoping she was going to tell the magician no, that she'd help him out of this...

"Make sure he eats every last spoonful," the magician told her. "He needs all of it. It has all kinds of good stuff for him... Lots of fruits, and veggies, and fiber... Lots and lots of fiber... I bet you can feel it already, can't you, Colin? Settling down in your tummy, expanding... It's going to help you make a nice, big Valentine's Day present for your Mommy, isn't it?"

Colin groaned, wrinkling his nose as he swallowed down the stuff, which tasted as bad as it looked, groaning as he felt it affecting his body exactly as the magician said, his stomach already feeling bloated, bulging out against the tight waistband of his diaper. He whimpered, looking at Tabitha, trying to wordlessly beg her to stop, but she was happily doing exactly as the magician told her, feeding him more and more until he felt like he was about to explode.

"Good boy," the magician patted him on the head when the bowl was empty, unlatching the tray and removing it. "Why don't you go take a nice, big bow for being such a good assistant... And, if you can prove you're a big boy by not filling your diaper while you do it, then you can go back to sitting with your girlfriend, instead of your Mommy."

Colin gulped, not liking his odds. He was a grown-up, hadn't had an accident in years... And yet, he could tell he was moments away from changing that, that, if he didn't have the chair to press his bottom against, to help him out, he might already have. Unfortunately, the longer he waited, the harder it was going to be...

His eyes shot over to the curtain frantically. That was what was behind all this... It was what had started it. If he could walk past it again, maybe it would change everything back, give him his old clothes... Maybe... As insane as it sounded, it might be his only shot.

"Go on, Colin," Tabitha urged. "You've earned it! You've done such a good job, sweetie!"

"You certainly have," the magician grinned. 

Colin gritted his teeth, fists clenching around the arms of the high chair, his swollen tummy begging for relief... And, he realized in horror and disgust as he felt a messy squelch beneath him as he squirmed, already starting to get it. He had to stop it, and this might be the only way.

Quickly, he hopped down, gasping as his feet hit the floor, and, at the jolt, the flow of mush into his puffy pants started to accelerate greatly. He froze for a moment, face red as he pushed, almost completely caught up in the moment, but, thankfully, he managed to force himself into movement, trying to ignore the rippling sound of people gasping and whispering, trying to figure out if he really was doing what it seemed like he was doing.

The curtain was only a few steps away... In the moment, trying to control himself as much as he could, to keep from completely filling his pants, it felt like miles, each step a journey, and a struggle, his diaper slowly expanding, swelling up behind him, starting to cause his shorts to droop...

And then he was there. He breathed a sigh of relief, basking in, at the very least, a momentary reprieve from the eyes of all those couples, and the magician, and Tabitha. Nothing had changed there, but, of course, he hadn't actually passed through yet... That would take another step...

He took it, and, again, he could tell that everything had changed... And, at the same time, nothing had. He was still in shorts, still in a diaper, which he was still in the midst of pooping. But everything looked different, bigger, more intimidating... He frowned, glancing down at himself, squealing in horror to see every trace of his adulthood gone, his muscles replaced with baby fat, his tummy, formerly bloated just from the food, now permanently pudgy, like any toddler.

He gasped as the strength vanished from his legs, making him tumble down onto his messy bottom, tears springing to his eyes as he sank down into the mucky mass. He leaned forward, trying to get onto his hands and knees, to crawl past the curtain one more time, to undo what he'd done, only to be picked up, plucked from the ground as easily as any other infant. "Looks like he didn't make it," the magician winked, handing him over to Tabitha. "I'm sure you know what to do, though, don't you, Mommy?"

"Of course," she smiled, taking her former boyfriend with a smile. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'll get you all cleaned up and into bed when we get home. I'll take care of everything... Just like I always do."