The Swimming School (Patreon)

A short story, commissioned by an anonymous Patron.

Wade pulled up to The Swimming School apprehensively, sliding his car into the closest spot, not quite sure what to expect. He sat in his car for a few moment, staring out at the building, at the group of happy fish painted on the front, beckoning him in.

He'd been there before, a few times, mostly to pick up his best friend Shelli when her car had broken down, or to eat with her when their lunch breaks aligned. It was a nice enough place, really, with several pools, both inside and out, changing rooms, and even a party room. The last was the one he hoped they were headed to, the reason she'd texted him and asked him to meet her there on his birthday for a surprise.

Finally, he worked up the courage to open his door and step out of the car, walk across the parking lot, then up the fish-shaped stepping stones to the front door. His first indication that this was not going to be what he wanted was when Shelli greeted him, still in the one-piece swimsuit she wore to work, with just a zip-up hoodie over it. That didn't necessarily mean anything - obviously, she was working today, but maybe she'd set up the party, and was going to pop in between classes - though the fact she hadn't changed into her normal clothes still worried him.

"Happy Birthday!" she grinned, giving him a big hug. "You're so old now!" 

It was a little joke between them; their birthdays were exactly two week apart, so, for those two weeks, he was the older of the two. Technically, he always was, but when the number was the same, it was hard to remember that, given how much taller she was than him, and had been once she'd surpassed him in sixth grade, the difference only growing ever since. For these two weeks, however, he was the old man of the pair.

"Oh, my bones are aching," he said, in his best quavering, frail voice. 

"Well, lucky for you, I have the perfect solution for that," she grinned. "Come on!" She grabbed his hand, guiding him down the halls, flip-flops slapping wetly against her feet. He followed gamely, although, when they passed the party room and he saw it was empty, his stomach began to twist. Sure enough, she led him to one of the smaller pools, letting go of his hand to present the sign posted there with a flourish.

'Private Class,' it read. 'Wade the Birthday Boy.'

He knew he should say 'thank you,' but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it... Or anything. He stared through the glass walls, into the room, and the pool inside, at the deep, clear water...

"Hey," she smiled gently at him. "It's time. I know you're scared, but you're a big boy now, right? You can handle it!"

"I-I guess so," he nodded, shaking himself out of it. He was an adult, had been for a few years now... She was probably right. It wouldn't be a bad idea to know how. "I don't have a swimsuit or anything, though..."

"That's part of your present!" she opened up the door, leading him inside, where there was a bag from the school's swim store, a store-bought bow stuck haphazardly to it. "I'm pretty sure it's your size. You can go change through there." She pointed at the little shower room, and, obediently, he took his bag and shuffled over there, his heart pounding as he got close to the pool. Was he really going to be able to do this?! Shelli was there... She'd make sure he didn't drown or anything... Hopefully.

The swim trunks she'd picked out for him were a bit childish, with cartoon sharks all over them, but they fit him perfectly. There was a sign, telling him to rinse himself off in the shower before entering the pool, so he did so, then, slipping on the flip-flops that were also in the bag, he gathered up his courage and went back out for his lesson.

Shelli was sitting on a bench beside the pool, staring at a piece of paper, looking somehow both embarrassed and amused at the same time as she flipped it over in her hands, checking the front again. "What's up?" he asked.

She blushed as she glanced up at him, taking a moment to compose herself. "Let me just..." she held up one finger, reaching into the pocket of her hoodie for her phone, unlocking it and tapping around, chuckling when she found what she was looking for. "Wow, I guess I did," she mused.

"What's wrong?" he sat down beside her.

"Umm..." she took a moment, clearly trying to figure out the right way to say whatever it was. "Well, this is an official lesson, of course, so I had to book it through the website, so I'd know we had this pool to use and all that." He nodded. "Turns out, when I did that, I wasn't paying attention... It asked what level class I was going to enroll you in, and I didn't pick anything, because it was going to be just us, and I already knew what needed to be done, and..." She looked at him, seeing he was confused. "You're a minnow," she told him, before breaking out into laughter.

"O... kay?" he frowned, watching her, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It's our lowest level," she explained, after calming herself down. "It's for... umm... babies."

He blushed, squirming in his seat beside her. "I-It doesn't matter, though, right? I mean, you're running the class, so you can just do whatever you want, and..."

"I'm still on the clock, Wade," she explained. "I have to follow all these rules." She showed him the piece of paper. "I have to go through and check all these things, and...." She pointed to the very top entry on the list, the one asking, 'Are the students all wearing swim diapers?' "Well?" she asked, giggling again. "Are you?"

"Just check it off!" he blushed. "Nobody's going to know!"

"I can't do that, Wade," she rolled her eyes. "You know what a stickler Brooke is." That was her boss, an older woman who, for whatever reason, wasn't particularly fond of Shelli. "If she checks on me, and sees I did that, and that you aren't, I'll be in big trouble. And if I don't check it off, I will be, too."

"Can't you reschedule?" he whined. 

"I could barely get you this spot!" she said. "And I can't go in and edit this lesson now, either, because it's past the starting time. I'm sorry, Wade, but..." She shrugged. "You have to wear a swim diaper."

"I don't have one of those!" he exclaimed. 

"We have them in the swim store, don't worry," she told him. "I'll buy those, too. It'll be part of your present."

"Yeah, some present," he grumbled, yelping as she grabbed his hand, yanking him up off the bench. "Can't we just hang out or something, Shelli? This was nice of you, but..." He fell silent as they stepped back out into the hall, feeling vulnerable and embarrassed, as if everyone they passed knew what they were doing, why they were on the way to the store.

Once they were there, he had an actual reason to worry, as Shelli made him stand in front of their little swim diaper section as she looked them over. "Which do you like?" she asked. 

"They aren't gonna fit!" he hissed. "I'm not a baby!"

"I hate to break it to you," she smirked, "but you aren't that big, either. Now, do you want the disposables, with these cute little fishies, or the reusable ones with the turtles?"

"Neither!" he pouted, cheeks flaring up at the idea of wearing either of them, looking at the toddler smiling out at him from the packaging of the former.

"Wade," she said in a warning tone that sounded more like she was talking to that kid on the package than her slightly older best friend. "You know the rules... If you hadn't waited this long to learn to swim, you wouldn't be in this mess, would you?" He blushed, shaking his head. "Now, let's see... If I get you the reusable, I could keep it here for you for when you come back... But I'd have to wash it out... I can just keep the extra disposables in my locker for you, and they'd be ready to go."

That seemed to make up her mind, and she grabbed the pack, heading up to the register. "Come on!" he whined quietly at her.

"I know, those turtles were adorable," she smiled. "But look at this octopus, and the seahorse? They're cute, too." She set the bag on the counter. "Hey, Maya, can you just put these on my account for me?"

"Sure thing!" the worker smiled, picking them up and scanning them. "Hey, there, little guy," she smiled down at Wade, who was feeling smaller than ever. "Are you being a big helper, coming to get these for your little brother?"

"Not quite," Shelli giggled, grabbing the package. "Thanks!"

"N-No, I-I'm..." Wade tried to explain, but he wasn't able to come up with anything good before Shelli had pulled him away. Why hadn't Maya assumed he could be the father?! He was old enough to have a toddler! And definitely too old to be wearing these things himself...

"Wade, take it," Shelli insisted when they were back in the pool room, having ripped open the package, shoving one at him. "You have to put this on so we can start the lesson."

"No!" he stomped his foot, something that, in his flip-flops, wasn't particularly impressive. "I'm not wearing it!"

"Wade," she glared at him, "I've helped plenty of little boys into these... I can do the same for you if I have to, 'little guy'." He blushed, not liking that she'd clearly seen how embarrassed having her co-worker call him that had made him. Unhappily, he grabbed the childish garment out of her hands, storming back into the shower room.

"They aren't going to fit anyway!" he called back before closing the door.

He was wrong. He slid them up his legs like any pair of underwear - even if this one was much thicker than usual, far more infantile - and they settled into place perfectly, as if they'd been made for him. For a few moments, he considered tearing them off, lying, but he didn't want to risk Shelli 'helping' him. Face red, he pulled the swim trunks up, slowly trudging back out.

Without a word, when she got to him, she pulled his trunks down. "Hey!" he protested, grabbing for them.

"I have to confirm they're there," she reminded him, showing him her sheet again. "There, we can finally check that off and get to work." He started to pull his trunks back up, but she pinned them to the floor with her foot. "I don't think so," she teased. "You've been acting like such a little brat... I don't think you deserve these today."

"Shelli!" he blushed as the larger girl pulled the shorts off his feet, along with his flip-flops, leaving him in only the swim diaper, his eyes nervously shooting towards the glass walls of the room. "Wh-What if someone sees me?!"

"All the more reason to get in the water," she shrugged. "Come on, Wade... You're a big boy now, right? You aren't really afraid of a little water, are you?" He squirmed as she took his hand, leading him to the steps that went down into the pool. He was... No matter how silly it was, how shallow he knew it was, he was still scared of water, always had been. He hadn't even liked taking baths when he was younger, and this was so much bigger than a bathtub...

"Wade!" Shelli gasped, her hand shooting to her mouth. He wasn't sure what she was talking about at first, too busy freaking out inwardly as he finally stepped down into the water. He followed her eyes down to his swim diaper, seeing it sagging a bit, feeling a small patch of warmth... Had he seriously peed himself?! "You only have one foot in the pool and you're already wet!" she shook her head. "Aww, don't be sad, buddy... That's what these lessons are for. I'm gonna help you get over that."

"Wait..." he gulped. "Lessons?" It was just this one time... Right?!

"Well, yeah," she smiled. "You aren't going to learn to swim in just one day, especially if we have to spend the whole time getting you diapered - which was clearly a good idea - and ready to go. You have two lessons a week for the next month."

"Y-You can change the other ones, right?" he blushed. "I-I mean, I'm not gonna have to...?"

He stopped himself, her amused expression making it clear what the answer is. "That's why it's a good thing we got the whole package!" she told him. "Although, if you keep going at this rate, we might need more before all your lessons are over. Come on, we'd better get you changed, and then we'll see if we can at least get you in the water before our time is up today. Honestly, this is pretty impressive, Wade... I don't think I've ever seen anyone use their diaper before they even got all the way into the pool. And I teach a lot of little babies."

Wade blushed, feeling a lot like one of those himself as she led him back to the shower room once more, not even thinking to protest about her 'help' this time. "Come on, little minnow," she smiled, giving his padded bottom a pat once she was done. "By the time I'm done with you this month, you're going to be on at least the guppy level!"

"Th-They don't have to wear swim diapers, do they?" he asked nervously.

"Well," she chuckled, looking down at him, "that's more of a case-by-case decision... So I guess I'll decide when we get you to that point." It wasn't lost on Wade that it was her who was making the choice, not him... By then, she'd have had her birthday, and they'd be the same age again, although, after today, it definitely felt like Wade had slipped back a few years, or decades, already. Honestly, after what had happened, he couldn't imagine her teasing him about being the old man ever again... He was forever going to be her little, diaper-wetting, minnow buddy from now on.