CYOA - All I Want For Christmas - Chapter 1 (Story) (Patreon)

"No way," Joanna shook her head, staring at the window at the building looming closer and closer as Carol's car headed down the long driveway. "Carol, no! This isn't fair... How could you tell me not to get you anything this year?!"

When she'd heard that, she'd assumed something was wrong, that maybe her friend had lost her job, or things had turned bad with her boyfriend, and she was scrambling around, more worried about finding a new place to move into, rather than shopping for presents. Of course, Carol didn't help with that, staying intentionally vague, only telling Joanna to clear her schedule for this weekend, but not to worry about packing anything.

Joanna had tried to gauge how things were going on the drive, though Carol refused to let anything slip. "Let's not talk about Ted," she'd say when Joanna brought him up. If she'd had to guess, Joanna would have taken that as a bad sign, but with Carol, it was hard to tell sometimes. 

As soon as she saw the gate, she knew that something more was up. They'd been driving on empty road for a good, long while, Carol seeming to take a turn at random, on a route that took them from flat, empty farmland to a thick forest, in the middle of which was a large, imposing gate, surrounded by a tall, black fence.

"What is this?" Joanna had joked. "Jurassic Park?"

Carol had given her a faint smile. "Sure," she'd said. "Something like that." She was tapping through her phone, Joanna wondering if this was a mistake, if they'd taken a wrong turn, even though there had only been one in the past hour or so, when, suddenly, the gates sprang to life, slowly swinging open, revealing that, apparently, they were meant to be here.  

The other side didn't look any different at first, apart from the area in front of the gate having been cleared of trees, to allow it room to move. Being inside, however, felt different in a way, something making Joanna's heart beat a little faster as she glanced into the rear-view mirror, and saw the gates shutting behind them again.

The road continued straight, through the woods, slowly thinning out, Joanna more curious than ever to see what waited on the other side, straining and squirming in her seat to try to catch a glimpse, part of her almost convinced, at this point, that there were going to be dinosaurs there. Once the trees stopped completely, they were in the middle of sweeping plains, although the grass looked too perfectly manicured for it to be there to feed any giant, prehistoric beasts; this was more like a huge front yard, ready for a thousand picnic blankets.

That sight was what tipped Joanna off that this wasn't a road anymore after all, that it was a driveway. When she saw the building in the distance, it appeared to confirm those thoughts, and, the nearer they got, the more certain she was. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, what they were in for, but there was no doubt this place was huge, and fancy. It looked more like a sprawling manor than a business, and she saw no sign giving it a name, though it pretty much had to be a resort, or spa, or something along those lines.

"Because this is all I want," Carol reached over, giving her friend's hand a squeeze. "You being here with me, doing this..."

"Carol," Joanna looked over at her. "I don't even know what this is, but I already know it's too much... I could've at least gotten you a gift card or something!"

"Just wait," Carol cautioned. "You're right... You don't know what this is yet. You might not be so grateful once you do..."

That brought back the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach she'd had, watching the gates close, although she knew she was being silly. The isolation of this place was weird, yes, but Carol wouldn't take her anywhere dangerous... Would she? Unless something had changed, she adored Joanna, had always called her the little sister she never had, partially to annoy Joanna, who was a few months older than her, even if nobody would have ever guessed that, looking at them, thanks to the height - and bra sizes - Carol had on her.

"I'm sure I'll love it, whatever it is," Joanna told her. 

"I hope so," Carol nodded, turning to smile at her. "All I want for Christmas is you here with me."

Finally, they were at the entrance, Carol bringing the car to a stop. Joanna had been told not to bring anything, so there was nothing to get out of the trunk, no reason to do anything after she stepped out of the car, other than gawk up at the building, while Carol walked around the front of the car, handing the keys to a valet who was waiting at the foot of the stairs leading to the front door. The car drove away - Joanna couldn't tell where to, no parking lots of garages in sight - leaving them all alone.

"Are you ready?" Carol took her hand again.

"As far as I know," Joanna shrugged. "Are you sure you don't want to give me a hint?"

"You'll figure it out," Carol winked, starting up the steps, pulling the other woman behind. "Let's go!" 

Joanna followed, waiting to see any other sign of life, apart from the valet, so she could search it for any indication of what was waiting for her inside. There was nothing, not until the door swung open on its own, not unlike the gate - though without Carol's phone this time - and she spotted a woman sitting behind a large, white, marble desk.

"Miss Van Sant and guest?" the woman smiled pleasantly. "Lovely to see you both!"

"Thanks," Carol answered. "Come on, JoJo, let's get checked in."

"JoJo," the woman at the desk chuckled. "What a charming name."

"No," Joanna glared at her friend. "It's Joanna."

"Of course," the woman nodded, sliding a pair of small screens across the desk. "If you could just place your hands on these, face down."

Carol gladly complied, but Joanna hesitated. "What is this for?"

"We pride ourselves on our privacy, and security," the woman told her. 

"But what is it..?" Joanna pushed.

"It's no big deal, Joanna," Carol assured her. "Look, I already got the green light! It only takes a second!"

Joanna saw a light built into the top of the screens, the one on hers glowing a soft red, while Carol's was, in fact, green. It wasn't an answer to her question, however. "But what do you need it for?"

"We're just getting your fingerprints," the woman finally admitted. "We can do it the old-fashioned way, but the screening will take significantly longer, and you won't be able to go to your room until it's finished."

"Why do you need my fingerprints?!" Joanna demanded.

"Joanna, calm down," Carol rubbed her shoulder. "It's fine!"

"Why?!" Joanna asked again anyway.

The woman smiled, the expression starting to feel slightly unsettling. "We pride ourselves on our privacy, and security," she repeated.

"It's worth it," Carol promised. "Remember, this is all I want from you this Christmas... We can't start having fun until you do it, and I've been looking forward to it for so long! Is it really that much to ask for you to put your little fingers on that screen?"

Joanna sighed, shook her head. "This is really weird, Carol," she informed her friend, but, not wanting to be a buzzkill, she set her fingers down on the screen, which flashed white, and, a second later, the light turned green.

"Other hands now, please," the woman behind the counter requested. Joanna bit her tongue, knowing it wasn't worth getting into the whole argument again, no matter how unnecessary it seemed, to her, to give this place all of her fingerprints.

"Perfect!" the woman declared, once two more green lights had flashed, sliding the screens back under the desk. "Do you want any valuables you'd like for us to look after?"

Carol happily set her purse on the counter, sliding the watch off her wrist and tucking it inside, glancing over at Joanna. "We'll take good care of them," the worker said. "We will, of course, provide anything you need inside, free of charge."

Joanna put her purse beside her friend's; like the pair themselves, Joanna's was a good bit smaller. She'd brought some credit cards, just in case, and her ID and phone. She opened up her purse to get out the latter, the woman shaking her head. "We don't allow those here. We're here to help you get away from the world."

"Should I at least...?" Joanna started to slide her driver's license out of its holder.

"That's tied into these," the woman whisked their purses away, putting, in their place, a pair of pink wristbands. "So be sure not to mix them up, dears. They are water resistant, but it isn't a bad idea to take them off if you're going for a swim, or taking a long shower. They should be fine... Better safe than sorry, though." She gave them a wink, Carol picking hers up, snapping it around her wrist. "Do you need some help?"  

"No," Joanna picked her up, turning it over. It looked like a simple, rubber bracelet; there was no reason putting it on should be a problem. "I got it." She wrapped it around her wrist, pushing the two ends together with a soft pop. 

"Now, then," the woman typed on her keyboard for a moment. "If you would go to that door, Carol," she gestured to one side of her desk, "and you to that one, Joanna."

Joanna's eyes darted over to her friend. "No need to worry," the woman smiled. "You'll be reunited soon enough... This is only to give you privacy while you get changed. Your clothes will be laundered, and be waiting for you in those rooms when you check out, along with your purses. Your wardrobe for the duration of the stay is already waiting in your rooms, but, of course, if you dislike any of it, we have a wide variety of designs to choose from, and they can be ready in your size in under an hour. Enjoy your stay!"

"Don't look so scared," Carol told Joanna. "It's going to be fine." 

They separated at the desk, Joanna less certain about that than her friend seemed to be. There was a plain, white door to either side, with no handle, or knob, or even hinges, nothing to open it with, or indicate how they would open. Instead, they had a small square of glass set into the wall beside them, diagrams hanging over them showing to press the wristbands against them.

Carol did hers first, the door sliding open with a whoosh, looking like something from a science fiction movie. "See you on the other side, JoJo!" she waved, stepping into the room.

What was this place?! Joanna felt like she knew less than ever... But, as Carol's door slid closed again, she also knew she had no choice. Carol had driven, and her car was already... Somewhere else, she didn't even know where. She'd turned over her purse, her phone, her driver's license.... She wasn't going anywhere without Carol, and, to get to her, she'd have to go through this room, apparently. 

She turned her wrist, pushing the bracelet against the glass. Instantly, the door slid open, revealing a small, white room that she reluctantly stepped into. A fluffy, white robe was hanging up, perfectly sized for her, a pair of matching slippers on the floor beneath it. There was a shelf on the wall, too small and high to be a seat, clearly meant for her to put her clothes on.

The idea of stripping down in a strange place made her uneasy, although knowing that Carol was in the other room, doing the same, helped a bit. She was definitely glad they were together, as the thought of doing this next to her larger friend was much more embarrassing. She slowly unbuttoned her shirt, eyes scanning the walls, not seeing anything that jumped out immediately as a camera. That didn't mean there wasn't one there, obviously, but it helped a little as she tugged down her jeans.

She folded everything up, placing it on the shelf, beside her shoes, and pulled on the robe, stepping into the slippers, looking around for the exit. From the inside, it was hard to even spot the door she'd entered from, much less wherever she was supposed to leave, however, when she took a step away from the entrance, the wall in front of her changed.

Were these screens? They'd looked like normal walls to her, but, suddenly, text had appeared. "Please remove all clothing," it told her. 

"Is that really necessary?" she sighed. She hoped this was an automatic thing, that it was a machine watching her, and not a person, though, either way, she was now positive there was a camera in there somewhere. She crossed her arms stubbornly, waiting. "This is plenty," she informed whoever, or whatever, was watching.

Finally, she gave in, taking off the robe and slippers, and then everything underneath. She moved quickly, not wanting to put on too much of a show for whatever her audience was, removing her underwear, her bra, her socks, tossing them onto the shelf. For a moment, after it was done, she could have sworn the room got ever so slightly brighter, but by then, she was too busy rapidly getting the robe and slippers on to investigate.

Once the robe was tied, the wall in front of her slid open. Defiantly, she turned, wanting to grab her underthings, anyway, only to see the wall lowering down in front of the hole the shelf had vanished into. "This had better be worth it," she grumbled, pulling the robe tighter around herself.

"It will be," Carol promised. "What took you so long?" She grabbed Joanna's hand, tugging her out of the room. "That's the hard part over," she said. "Now we can just relax! I have some things planned for us, but we can go at your pace... I don't want to overwhelm you..."

"Overwhelm me with what?" Joanna asked, as she was led down a stark, white hallway, to the elevator at the end, which seemed to be the only way out.

"Well," Carol said, leading her friend into the elevator, scanning her wristband on the pad there, the doors shutting automatically as it started to rise. "I've been keeping a little secret from you, Joanna... I know we promised we'd tell each other everything, but this one is pretty embarrassing... After I found out about this place, though, I knew that the only person I'd want to share it with was you."

"That's sweet," Joanna smiled. "And you know I wouldn't tell anyone else, no matter how..."

Elevator doors opened, on the opposite side as the ones they'd come through, onto what looked like a hotel hallway. There were rooms along only the outer wall, however, while the inner wall was made of glass, looking out onto the interior of the manor. Joanna's eyes widened, unable to stop herself from rushing forward, staring down at a candy-colored wonderland beneath her. The centerpiece was a huge playground, and, around the edge, she saw multiple swimming pools, food counters, what appeared to be clothing stores, with rows of mannequins set up to walk through and pick outfits from...

But that wasn't nearly the strangest thing about it... It was odd, seeing it all there like that, in one big mix, but the people she saw enjoying it were far more startling. Some of them were dressed 'normally', if perhaps a bit old-fashioned, many of the women in long dresses, many polka-dotted, the skirts full with petticoats, the men mostly in suits. The majority of them, however, were wearing something much different.

There was more variety there, some in tiny, frilly dresses, some in what could almost have been mistaken for a bodysuit, some just shirts above their waist, most of those cropped high, above the belly button. Sprinkled here and there, she saw several in what looked like a nightie, sheer fabric, with fur around the extremely high hem, and the low-cut tops. All of them had just one thing in common.

"A-Are they wearing...?!" Joanna gasped, eyes widening, leaning out further, unable to believe it.

"Joanna!" Carol blushed, pulling her away. "Don't stare! I thought if anyone would understand, it would be you..."

"Wait," Joanna's mind whirled as Carol pulled her down the hall, her gaze still on the glass wall. "I-Is this... Are you...?"

Carol used her wristband to open one of the doors, and, inside, Joanna saw a pair of beds, large, plush, and comfy looking. There were two closets, one on each side of the room, both overflowing with outfits like the ones she'd seen out the window. There was another piece of furniture in the room, too, one she'd never seen in that sized, stacked high with exactly the thing she hadn't been able to bring herself to finish asking about.

"You hate it," Carol looked crestfallen. "I knew I should have found some way to bring this up before! I was just so excited, and I wanted someone to be here to share it with me, and I knew Ted would never get it, but I thought..."

"Carol," Joanna said calmly, or as calmly as she could in the moment. "You're telling me that you like...?"

"I'm an Adult Baby, okay?!" Carol exclaimed. "Yes, I like diapers, and dressing up like a little girl! If you wanna tell all our friends about it, then fine! Whatever!"

Even if she would have been the kind of person to do that, Joanna realized, there was no way they'd believe it. No wonder they didn't allow phones in here... They didn't want to risk any pictures getting out. "No," she shook her head. "No, it's okay... I-I just... I'm surprised. I-I do wish I'd had some warning, I just... I never would have..." She looked around the room, cheeks burning as she saw the changing table again, the diapers. "I-I have to wear them, too?"

"You don't have to," Carol shrugged. "I registered you as a baby because I thought you'd want to be my playmate, but I can call and switch you to a Mommy... O-Or I can take you home..."

Part of Joanna did want that. She'd heard of ABs before, faintly, but it wasn't something she'd ever been interested in looking into further... It was obvious Carol wanted this, however... And it was all she wanted for Christmas...

"No, we should stay," she said. Her friend had clearly also spent a lot of money on this, and who knew what kind of refund policy this place had. "I just... I-I don't know about the..." She wrinkled her nose. "Can I... think about it?"

"Of course," Carol smiled softly. "I booked some classes for us... I couldn't get us both in the same one, but I got one one that's kind of an intro to this kind of thing, to ease you into it... If you want to wear there, that's great... If not, maybe by the end of it, you'll be interested... Or not! That's okay, too!"

Joanna perked up. "So there are some regular panties here I can wear?"

Carol's cheeks darkened. "Well... Not right now... B-But I could have some sent, if you want... Or maybe some training panties?"

Obviously, that wasn't what she wanted... And Joanna did want to give her what she wanted, but... "I-I need to think about it," she repeated. "I think I'll go for a walk for a minute."

"Yeah, totally," Carol nodded. "I'm gonna take a shower, then."

Joanna stepped outside the room, back into the hall, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. What was this?! She stared down at the chaos below her again, still finding it hard to believe. Were there really that many people into this?! And to sustain a place this size?!

She didn't know where she was going, though it certainly wasn't going to be far, when she had on only a robe. She did just need to walk, to try to clear her head. It meant a lot to her that Carol would confide this in her, would want her to be here for what seemed like a pretty major event... But how much of this did she really want to participate in herself?

She was so lost in thought that, despite the glass walls, she still managed to be surprised as she turned a corner, and nearly ran into another woman. "Oh! Sorry!" she gasped, barely stopping in time.

"It's all right," the woman told her. She was a little taller than Joanna, but not by much, and her outfit made her look decades younger. She was in a pair of shortalls, snaps across the crotch, which was bulging at the waist, a pink shirt underneath with puffed sleeves. "You must be new here, huh?"

"Huh?" Joanna frowned, looking up at her.

"The robe," the woman pointed out. "You haven't gotten changed yet."

"Oh!" Joanna blushed. "I-I don't know if I'm gonna get changed... I-I don't wear diapers! N-Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just..."

"Did your boyfriend drag you here, too?" the woman rolled her eyes. "I mean, there are definitely worse things they could be into, right? But it is a little weird..." She tugged at the strap of her shortalls. "My name is Bobbie, by the way."

"Joanna," she introduced herself. "So, you aren't...?"

"An AB/DL? Nah, I don't think so... But there are definitely worse places to find that out for sure than here." She gave Joanna a wink. "It's way nicer than any other hotel I've gotten him to spring for."

"But..." Joanne's eyes were drawn back to the diaper bulge. "I-I don't know if I can..."

"They aren't that bad," Bobbie said. "I just don't know if I'd want to wear them all the time or anything. You do get used to them." She gave her bottom a wiggle, producing a crinkling sound that made Joanne's cheeks warm more than hers. "And they make him happy."

"I-I'm here with a friend," Joanna clarified, answering Bobbie's question a few moments late. "She kinda took me by surprise..."

"Just a friend, huh?" Bobbie smirked. "Diapers or not, this is still a pretty nice place for her to bring you."

Joanna nodded. "Yeah, I guess.." she looked through the glass wall again uncertainly.

"Bobbie!" a male voice called. "Where'd you go?"

"Sorry," the girl giggled. "Gotta run. I'd say we should hook back up, but we're leaving later today, so I hope you have fun!" She turned, yelling down the hall, "Coming, Daddy!", and trotting away, turning to wave at Joanna, who returned the gesture shyly.

She seemed nice enough... And it gave Joanna hope that this place wouldn't be all bad, even if she wasn't into it. She still didn't have an answer, however, as she walked the rest of the way around the floor, ending up back at her room. She scanned her wristband, part of her relieved to see Carol was still in the shower. 

Carol's bed was further away, near the window, so Joanna got close enough to it to see her friend's wristband on the bedside table when she went to open the curtains, only to discover that it wasn't a real window, but a screen, projecting a pleasant looking landscape, covered in snow, huge pine trees decked out in lights here and there. It was festive, and, she supposed, secure, ensuring nobody could get photos of the people inside, and yet something about not being able to see what was really happening outside was unsettling.

She heard the water shut off, knew that Carol would be coming out in a few moment, that she'd need to come up with her choice before then. This place did look nice, and part of her felt like she owed it to Carol to give it a real shot... And meeting Bobbie had helped her put things in perspective a little. Was she really going to spend the weekend wearing diapers, though?!

Her eyes turned back to the wristband, too, just sitting there. It looked the same as hers, and she had no idea if there was any difference whatsoever... She almost wanted to switch them to try to find out. She had no idea how she'd know, if she'd know... She didn't want to mess this up for her friend, however, when she'd obviously been looking forward to it... But they could always switch back... Was it really worth it? 

She looked over at the fake window, at the bedside table, then the changing table, in turn. What was she going to do?

Should Joanna...

Switch wristbands?

Or leave them alone?

And will she choose...

Diapers?

Training panties?

Or regular underwear?