The Nanny's Challenge - Chapter 11 (Patreon)

"No!" Lukas huffed, grabbing the block out of Lyra's hands. "It goes here!"

Lyra wasn't a toddler, not really, although, if she had been, she could see why something like that might have made them have a meltdown. Honestly, she felt herself getting closer to tears than she would have cared to admit, despite knowing this didn't matter, and it was just some stupid, mindless activity to keep them busy and out of trouble. 

Of course, Miss Maddie was nowhere around then to defend her, or tell the little boy he was being mean. "It was better over here," she grumbled, picking up another block, doing her best to shake it off and continue working 

"No, it goes here!" Lukas repeated insistently. 

When the Nanny had dropped her off here, Lyra hadn't expected to spend her day under the thumb of some tiny dictator, yet here she was... She was pretty sure it was because she was a girl, or he was mad about having to include her so that he didn't get in trouble with Miss Maddie, but nothing she did was right. She wasn't about to tell him the truth - not that she'd expect him to understand it - about how she knew far more about literally everything than him since she was an adult... She knew it herself, however, which made it quite the blow to her dignity to have to stoop to following his orders. 

Teddy was happy to do what his friend said, but he was just a dumb baby, too. Lyra was so much more... Even if her thick diaper, and pink onesie, ensured she could never fully feel like one as she fidgeted on the floor, every movement causing the onesie to tug at the bulk of her diaper, making it rustle, pulling it tight against her backside, reminding her it was there.

"But what about this?" she suggested, taking another block, setting it down. "If we start to make a support over here, then we can build it higher without worrying about it falling down, and..."

"I knew she was gonna be bossy," Lukas told Teddy.

Lyra bristled, wanting to do what she would have done upstairs, if anyone there would have had the guts to say that to her, which was to remind them that she was, in fact, the boss. Here, however, that was very much not true. She was so used to acting like it, it was hard to adjust herself to thinking she wasn't, but she wasn't the boss of anyone, clearly... The little boys were free to ignore her suggestions, and were doing so immediately as she said them.

Was that, she wondered, how some of her employees felt? She told herself she was fair to all of them, but there were some who had such a bad track record, when it came to the planning phase of any project, she barely bothered to skim over their e-mails before sending them to the trash. Or, at meetings, she'd hardly manage to wait for them to finish speaking before asking if anyone else had a suggestion, without asking any questions, even pretending they'd made any valid point.

She'd known it was a bit mean, and could see why some of her workers weren't the biggest fans of hers... She'd told herself it was worth it, since, in the end, she got results. But, being on the other side of it... Well, it was hard not to think about how it felt, how hard it was for her to not just shove this castle over and stomp away. A few silly drawings, or e-mails letting off steam, were nothing compared to that. She doubted her underlings' ideas were as good as hers here, yet she was sure they felt the same, that they'd come up with some huge breakthrough and nobody was willing to listen to them...

In this case, however, it turned out she was wrong. A part of her wanted to use that as proof she'd been right all along, that the boss was always right, while another was mortified, seeing that a toddler had out-thought her on anything, or just gotten lucky, although he probably spent a lot more time building things with blocks than her, to be fair. A third part still wished, despite seeing the end result, that Lukas had given her a chance anyway.

The castle stayed up far better than she'd envisioned it, though, without the supports she'd wanted to build. It was pretty impressive, honestly... As little as they'd let her help before, once they were nearly done, they forbid her from doing anything, afraid she couldn't reach the top, and would knock the whole thing over if she tried to place one of the last blocks. Honestly, as clumsy as she felt in this regressed body, and this huge diaper, they likely had a point.

"Wow," she said to herself, staring up at it. She'd only put a few blocks in it, but she still felt an odd sense of pride, different from what she would have experienced on the other side, as the person in charge. She might not have done all of it, or engineered it, yet she had helped... She was a part of it. She stepped a bit closer, reverently, reaching out, though she was too nervous to actually touch it.

"Yeah," Miss Maddie smiled, stepping up behind her, making the girl jump a little, having not noticed her arrival. Lyra blushed, feeling the woman's hand sliding into her onesie. "You guys did a great job! And wasn't Lyra a big help?"

"No," Lukas pouted.

Despite herself, Lyra heard a tiny whimper escape from her mouth, tears springing to her eyes for real this time. She knew she hadn't done a lot, yet to hear him completely deny she'd made any real contribution at all... She really wanted to believe she'd never done the same to any of her workers, but she was sure she must have, at some point, at least once... Likely more, without thinking. After this, though, if the Nanny ever let her go back to her adult life, and job, she'd be much more careful about it.

"Lukas!" Miss Maddie scolded. "That's not very nice at all! I expect you to apologize to get, as soon as I get her out of this wet diaper... She's about to leak any second now."

"No, I'm not!" Lyra blushed at that final embarrassment, twisting out of the woman's grip in horror, even as she noticed what she'd been so preoccupied she hadn't felt before, the now cool and clammy squishiness in her pants. As she turned, however, she didn't pay attention to what she was doing, her elbow bumping against something hard. She whined, pulled it back with a pout, then yelped in shock as she was plucked up out of the way as the castle rained down around them.

Now it was Lukas's turn to cry. "She did it on purpose!" he wailed, looking around at his crumbled work of art.

"Lyra!" Miss Maddie looked down at the girl in her arms. "Why did you do that?"

"N-No," the girl shook her head. "I-I didn't mean..." 

Another worker hurried up to calm down Lukas, Miss Maddie sighing and carrying Lyra away. "I think the two of you had probably better spend a little time apart."

"I didn't mean to!" Lyra insisted. She didn't see why it was such a big deal anyway, since Lukas and Teddy were likely going to get bored and push the whole thing over themselves in a few more seconds, but she did feel bad, still hearing the little boy's sobs as she was carted off, reminding her so much of Hallie when she'd gotten upset when she was smaller. "I-I didn't..."

"I hope not," the woman said. "But it's almost lunch time anyway, and then naptime... It's probably for the best that you just away until that's all over, okay?"

"I guess," Lyra shrugged, squirming as she was laid down on the changing table, her onesie unsnapped, diaper opened up, replaced with a new one. This was going on her chart, too... The Nanny had brought her here so she wouldn't be distracted, could concentrate on not having accidents, and now there were already two on her record. She hadn't even thought she was that into the blocks, but then she'd gotten lost in her thoughts, thinking about work... This was definitely a lot harder than she'd anticipated.

She wasn't too surprised to be put into a high chair, strapped in, tray locked over her lap, since she'd been eating in one more often than she cared to think about lately, but she'd anticipated a less fancy version of the food the Nanny had been making her. Maybe some chicken nuggets, or a peanut butter sandwich, or macaroni and cheese, something along those lines... Instead, Maddie brought out a huge bowl, filled to the brim with...

Well, she didn't know. "What's that?" she wrinkled her nose, staring down at it, squirming in her seat, hoping the worker would tell her it wasn't for her, that she was just dropping off the sippy cup of juice before taking this to someone else.

"Oh, this is some yummy chicken and gravy!" Miss Maddie told her enthusiastically, picking up the spoon and giving the off-white slime a stir.

"No, it isn't!" Lyra squealed, shaking her head, nose crinkled. She'd gotten close with the nuggets, apparently... But not in the way she'd hoped, at all.

The worker chuckled. "Yes, it is, sweetie, I promise. It might not be the same brand you get at home, but I bet it tastes just as good!"

"No!" Lyra bounced in place, pouting, stomach churning at the thought of eating this disgusting looking mush. "I don't need baby food! I can eat.. Mmph!"

She should have known better, really - she'd fed Hallie plenty of times, after all. She tried to get the girl flavors she'd enjoy, but it didn't always work out, especially since her daughter's tastes tended to change depending on her mood, whether she liked the color of the stuff that day... And Lyra wasn't about to let it go to waste. Sometimes, it was best to take your opportunities when they presented themselves, and, while the child was complaining about how much they didn't want to eat it, making them do just that.

"Ew!" Lyra wrinkled her nose, feeling entirely justified in her protest as the goo was shoveled into her mouth. It did taste vaguely chicken-ish, yet the texture of it ruined it completely for her. She could barely gag down the first bite, and looking down at the bowl, seeing how much was left... "No," she sniffled. "I-I'm not hu..." 

Of course, the next spoonful came mid-word again, while she had her mouth open and practically asking for it. It wasn't any better than the first, leaving behind a pouty, squirmy little girl who was quickly realizing there was almost nothing she could do to stop this. She was stuck in this chair, at Miss Maddie's mercy... If she wanted Lyra to eat this gunk, she was going to do it, sooner or later, whether she liked it or not. Lyra, in this tiny, helpless form, anyway, was no match for her.

"You're doing so well!" Miss Maddie gushed, setting down the bowl. "How about a drink?"

Lyra was happy to grab up the sippy cup and take a swig, to try to wash away the taste. It didn't help much, but it was better than nothing... And, as soon as she set it down, the next spoon was ready. "I don't want it!" she tried to whine, only to, of course, be interrupted halfway through as the spoon delivered its yucky load.

In the end, Lyra had to admit she was impressed. She hadn't tried to be fussy, or to make a mess, but she had spent probably half the bowl trying in vain to convince the woman to stop, before giving up and letting it happen. Despite that, it took only a small wipe with her bib to clean her face up before Miss Maddie plucked her out of the high chair and carried her out of the room.

"Would you like to try the potty before your nap, Lyra?" she asked, giving the girl a little bounce.

"I don't need a nap," Lyra insisted, a moment before a yawn snuck up on her, making her look like a liar. She blamed it on her tiny body, and the stress of this new place... She didn't usually take naps, obviously, but if she was going to get one anyway... Well, it might not be so bad.

Miss Maddie smiled knowingly. "Uh-huh. Whatever you say, cutie. But do you want to sit on the potty for a minute?"

Lyra would have loved to do that, to be able to use the potty at least once... It would be embarrassing, definitely, though much better than going in her diaper again... But she really didn't have to go. She wriggled in the bigger woman's arms, trying to see if she could convince herself she had anything left to get rid of, to no avail. Would it be better for her chart to sit anyway, to show she was trying? Or would the fact that she didn't use it only go to prove she had no idea when she needed to use the bathroom?

She settled on a quiet, "No, thank you," not wanting to have to sit around on a potty chair for no reason. 

"All right," Miss Maddie shrugged, taking her into another room, tucking the girl into a crib. "Have a good rest, Lyra." It didn't take long at all for the tiny woman to drift off, thumb firmly planted in her mouth, listening to the soft, tinkling music being played in the room to soothe its occupants.

Lyra really hated how used to the sensation of waking up wet she was getting, as if she truly was a bedwetter, and one who had decided their issue was bad enough to require diapers... It was getting hard to remember what it was like not to open her eyes, and feel the dampness of a wet diaper under her bottom. At least the Nanny couldn't hold this one against her, she thought, staring out through the bars of her cribs at the other little babies, slowly waking up from their own naps. She couldn't help what happened in her sleep!

That didn't stop Miss Maddie from putting it on her chart, however. "That's not fair!" Lyra pouted. "It's not my fault!"

"I know, sweetie," the woman assured her. "Your Nanny needs to know anyway, though. As hard as it might be to imagine, one day you'll be able to sleep without it happening!" Lyra's cheeks became tiny furnaces, thinking about how she'd taken that very thing for granted, up until a few days ago. "I did ask if you needed the potty before you went down, too..."

"I didn't then!" Lyra complained.

"Of course," Miss Maddie smiled. "One day, sweetie." She snapped the girl's onesie back up, giving her fresh diaper a pat through it. "Now, are you ready to apologize? Lukas has calmed down, and it seems like you have, too, mostly, even if you are a bit of a grumpy pants."

"Nuh-uh!" Lyra shook her head. "I'm not grumpy! I'm just saying..."

"Well, maybe later, then," the woman cut her off. "You are going to say you're sorry before you leave, though. You made him very sad by doing that, and that isn't nice, is it?"

"No," Lyra admitted. "I-I can say it now..."

"Are you sure?" Miss Maddie raised an eyebrow. "If you need more time, that's all right, Lyra."

"I can do it!" Lyra insisted.

The worker shrugged. "Okay, we can try." But when she carried Lyra over to the boys, she stayed there, watching.

"Umm... I-I'm sorry I knocked over the blocks," Lyra mumbled.

"Are you, Lyra?" Miss Maddie asked. "It doesn't sound like it."

"I am!" Lyra stomped her foot, turning to glare at her, annoyed that she was butting in. 

"I don't know... I think someone just wants to play with the blocks again," the woman shrugged.

"No, I don't!" Lyra crossed her arms. "I don't care about the stupid blocks!"

Miss Maddie sighed, shaking her head. "Lyra..."

"I'm just trying to be nice!" Lyra stomped again. "Like you said I had to be! If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been distracted, and I wouldn't have wet myself!"

Miss Maddie scooped her back up, carrying her away, off to the corner of the room, where a lone, pink, wooden chair sat. "No!" Lyra whimpered, knowing immediately what it was. "I didn't do anything!"

"I thought naptime would be enough, but I was clearly wrong. You're the one who knocked those blocks over, Lyra, and you need to take responsibility for that, okay? You need to tell your little friends that you're sorry about it, and mean it... And you need to take responsibility for your own accidents, too. I know you're just learning, but you're not going to get anywhere if you keep making excuses."

"B-But..." Lyra whined as she was set down in the chair, turning around to try to explain things to Miss Maddie, to make her understand.

"No, Lyra," the woman told her sternly. "No talking, no looking away from the corner. I'll tell you when you can get up."

Lyra groaned, leaning her head against the wall. It should have been hard to believe she'd been sentenced to corner time yet again, but, honestly, with everything else happening, that was hardly a shock anymore. Time-out was boring, and childish, and embarrassing... It was nothing compared to the number of times she'd wound up using her diaper, however, or gotten fed in a high chair, or put to bed in a crib, or...

She wasn't sure she'd say her time in the corner worked exactly as Miss Maddie wanted, but she did make herself calm down, and say what she could tell the woman wanted to hear. "I'm really sorry," she told Lukas. "I didn't mean to knock over the blocks... I did, though, and I'm sorry."

"Lukas?" Miss Maddie said, Lyra feeling a bit of satisfaction hearing that tone with him, instead. "What do you say?"

Lukas pouted, but mumbled, "I forgive you." 

"Good job, you two," Miss Maddie told them. "Now, let's see a nice, big hug." They both knew better than to disobey, so they gave each other a hug. "Very good," she said. "but I think it's probably better if Lyra plays with someone else anyway. I'm glad you all made up, though." Miss Maddie carried Lyra away, setting her down in another part of the play room, right in front of the little girl from the bookshelf. "Amy, this is Lyra... I want you to show her how to play nicely. Do you think you can handle that?"

The little girl's eyes lit up, as Lyra tried to grasp at Miss Maddie's shirt, to hide from her. "Amy's very nice, Lyra... Don't worry, you're going to be great friends."

Unsurprisingly, Amy grabbed Lyra's hand, dragging her over to the dress-up chest, just like she'd wanted earlier. "Look!" she exclaimed to the other little girls gathered around. "I found a baby!"

"I'm not a baby!" Lyra glared at them, but she was the smallest, and the weakest, out of all of them... She couldn't hope to overpower even one of them, let alone all, and there was no chance she was going to be able to run away, either, with her short, chubby legs, encumbered by her thick diaper... She had little choice except to endure as they pulled out all the clothing from the box, pulling princess dress after princess dress over her onesie, combining them with various crowns, and tiaras, and sometimes an oversized sombrero, happy to make whatever combination their little minds could come up with.

With Teddy and Lukas, Lyra could have left at any point, and she doubted they would have cared, or maybe even noticed... Now, she was the center of attention, and there was no getting away. She could feel her tummy getting more and more full, the oatmeal from that morning, and the baby food from lunch, starting to catch up with her, but whenever she tried to toddle off to get a worker to help her use the potty, one of the girls grabbed her, pulling her back in, changing her hat, or her dress, ignoring her when she asked them to let her go... Why should they listen to her, after all? She was just there to be their doll, to give them something to dress up, to coo over until they found another combination of pieces to pile her into and see how it looked.

"Ready to go, Amy?"

Lyra froze, hearing the sound of a familiar voice above her. Immediately, she ducked her head, heart pounding, praying the person it belonged to didn't look too closely at her.

"Aww," Amy pouted. "Do I hafta?"

"Yes, Amy," Lyra's worker chuckled, kneeling down, getting closer to her. "You'll be back tomorrow, sweetie! And who is this? I don't recognize her. Is she a new friend?"

"Uh-huh!" Amy nodded.

"Well, what's her name?" her father asked with a smile.

"I dunno," Amy shrugged. Lyra swallowed, feeling the man's eyes on her, glad now for her tiny form, for an excuse to not speak... She could be shy, or maybe not even big enough to know how to, as far as he knew... If he asked her directly, however... The girls knew she could speak, had heard her telling them to stop, even if they'd ignored it. Would they make her say something? Or had he already recognized her?

There was a long pause, where she was terrified one of those things was going to happen, and then, finally, he spoke again. "Well, it was nice to meet you," he told her, bemused. "I'm sure we'll see you around, but we have to get going." He picked up his daughter, heading out, Lyra letting out a sigh of relief.

Looking around, she saw more and more parents starting to show up, some of which she recognized, others that she didn't. She'd gotten lucky with that one, but the longer she stayed out here, in the open, the more chance there was that one of them was going to see her... There was no reason they'd think it was her, and not her daughter, obviously, except that they'd know she hadn't shown up to work that day, so there was no reason Hallie would be in daycare here... And, if they asked her about it the next day - or the next day the Nanny let her actually work, anyway - maybe they'd notice her diaper, start to piece things together...

It would still take a huge leap for them to figure out the toddler they'd seen at daycare was her, but she didn't want to give them the chance. So, as the other girls lost interest in her, luckily, with their leader gone, and their own Mommies and Daddies on their way, she made her escape. 

She had a choice... Her tummy really was feeling very full, and rumbly, and she could see the potties there, waiting... But they were right where the grown-ups were picking up the bags they'd left with the workers that morning. 

She could hold it. She'd only had one dirty diaper so far through this all, and that had been helped along by an enema... Sure, her bladder control wasn't nearly as good as she was used to, but there was no way she was going to have a genuine messy accident. She could wait until the Nanny showed up, make her turn her big again so she could use a real toilet... She'd just find a quiet corner and hide until then, and...

She made it a few steps, enough that, if she'd chosen differently, she could have gotten to the potties, could have found a worker, and, if she had explained her situation quickly enough, could have gotten her diaper down in time. Instead, she waddled in the other direction, until, to her horror, she couldn't anymore. Her legs refused to respond, her torso bending over slightly involuntarily, her tummy giving a tiny push.

"N-No!" she gasped, shaking her head, feeling the warm mass begin slowly escaping, oozing out into her waiting diaper. "St-stop it!" But it refused to listen, either to her words, or her desperate attempts to force her muscles to obey. In a way, this was even worse than the enema. That had been over quickly, at least... This time, she felt the mush gradually invading her pants, making them expand, crinkling softly as they ballooned outwards to accommodate it, only to be held firmly against her bottom by her onesie, feeling every helpless grunt and strain as her body utterly betrayed her.

As soon as it was over, her thumb immediately made its way into her mouth, trying to calm her shattered nerves. Her other hand tentatively reached behind her, and she winced as it touched the lump there, positive everyone was going to be able to see that, to know exactly what she'd done. It was so big, and soft, and squishy... And she'd had as little control over it as she'd had over the rest of her day. It was the cherry on top of her time here, the final piece in the puzzle to prove to her what a true baby she'd been turned into.

She really couldn't let any of her workers see her now! If, somehow, they did see her, did figure out the truth, perhaps overheard a worker calling her Lyra... She'd never be able to face them again! She forced her legs to move, toddling off, wrinkling her nose as the mushy mass in her pants shifted and squelched, just wanting to get away...

"There she is!"

She groaned, hearing the Nanny's voice, looking ahead and seeing her feet, along with some that looked an awful lot like Hallie's. She panicked, not wanting them, especially her daughter, to see her this way, knowing she couldn't turn around without them noticing, couldn't waddle past them fast enough... Instinct took over, and, without thinking, she plopped down.

It would flatten the lump, she told herself, buy her a little time, make it a bit less obvious... It also meant her backside had to sink right into it, driving home how incredibly babyish what she'd done was. She sat there, gasping, sucking frantically on her thumb, as the Nanny and Hallie approached, feeling tinier and more childish than ever, knowing that Miss Maddie was definitely going to be showing them her chart, letting them see how badly she'd done... And that, as she heard the woman sniff, her ploy hadn't been worth it at all. It was still incredibly obvious that she was nothing more than a silly, stinky little baby.