CYOA: A Thief's Holidays - Chapter 7 (Story) (Patreon)

"I'm fine, Auntie Monica," Sydney said after a moment, unsure if she was doing the right thing or not. Something definitely felt off... But maybe that was thanks to the day she'd had so far, and the night that had preceded it. If she was wrong, and she betrayed Hannah for no reason... Well, things could get very awkward back at college, assuming they were both able to return. "I'm all done...."

She just had to hope for the best, hope that things weren't quite so final and apocalyptic as her choice of words accidentally  made them seem. And, as much as she hated to admit it, that wasn't too hard to do, as Monica gave her tummy a tickle, and she felt herself let out an involuntary giggle. It was an embarrassing way to spend her Christmas break, but it wasn't all that bad...

Some part of her wanted to say something to Hannah, to hint to her that she knew what was going on, as the girl continued to pawn her off on her aunt, letting the woman take care of her more and more. She would have liked to give her a wink and come up with a sly, coded way to convey that she understood, that she knew she was being the distraction... It was difficult to find a way to do that, however, when every time she attempted to think too deeply about that, or anything, her mind, instead, began to play the song from her walker.

There was no escaping from her crib during the night, not with the triple-diapers Monica insisted she wear after the incident the first night, nor with the baby monitor always there, ready to tattle on her if she made too much noise. There was no escaping right under the nose of her Auntie, either, not when she was constantly watching, cooing over every tiny thing she did that she found so adorable, noticing when she used her diapers sometimes before Syd fully did, pulling her over to give her padding a pat to decide if she needed a change yet, or could wait...

And she was definitely using her diapers. She didn't have a choice in the matter, not with Monica on the case. It was rare for her to be around only Hannah, or for her to be close enough to Hannah to try to whisper to her, to ask her to sneak her to the bathroom, without running the risk of Monica overhearing.

Her diet didn't help matters, either: oatmeal, breast milk, juice, and baby food just guaranteed that she had plenty to fill her diapers with at any moment, and that, when her body decided it was time to do so, there wasn't a lot she could do about it. She couldn't pretend that didn't worry her at least a little, how easily and often she seemed to be losing control, but so long as she could blame it on what she ate, for the most part, and knew that she didn't really have any other options other than using her diapers, it didn't bother her as much as perhaps it should have. She was selling the cover story to Monica, that was all!

It was fun, too, to have Monica help her with some basic crafts, putting together little gifts for the whole family. If Hannah wasn't letting her help with their real objective, at least these kept her busy while she waited for Christmas. She got to help wrap presents as well, even if her job was mostly picking out which paper to use on which box, and holding the tape dispenser for Monica.

Christmas Eve was fairly quiet, compared to Thanksgiving, though the cousins did come over for supper. Somehow, Syd felt more nervous this time around, seeing them for a second time, maybe because of how few people there were, how much she appeared to be the center of attention.

"You've made so much progress with her already," Candice told Hannah, bouncing Sydney on her lap. "Just in the few weeks since last time!"

Syd wanted to be insulted, but she reminded herself it was a good thing if she was convincing everyone of that. It was her job, after all... And just because the oldest cousin believed it didn't mean it was true, necessarily.

"I didn't think you had it in you," Aida teased Hannah.

"Well, I've been doing a lot of it," Monica pointed out. "Not that I mind, of course... It's been nice having a baby around."

"You mean other than Hannah?" Cameron stuck his tongue out at her from across the living room.

Hannah glowered at him, crossed her arms. "I'm not taking your bait," she replied haughtily, before doing exactly that. "I've been taking care of Syd, who really is a baby, so how can I be one?"

"Except, you haven't been, according to Aunt Monica," Candice said.

"Maybe here!" Hannah defended herself. "It's all me when we're at school, so excuse me if I want some time off when I have someone to help me out!"

"Now, now," Monica raised her hands. "You know I love looking after the little angel. No need to get snippy. You're going to get her all agitated, and she needs to get to bed soon, or she'll still be awake when Santa comes, and you don't want that, do you?"

It took Syd a second to recognize she was the one being spoken to by the end of the speech, and to shake her head. "Nuh-uh!" She didn't really believe in Santa, obviously, but... Well, she'd heard stories about what happened to naughty littles who Santa caught still awake, and trying to catch him in the act, and she wasn't willing to risk that just to prove herself right. 

"Then let's go!" Monica scooped Syd out of Candice's lap, carrying her around to all of the cousins for a goodnight hug and kiss on the forehead before carting her off for a diaper change, and to be tucked into her crib. "Goodnight, Sydney," she whispered to her, stroking her hair. "Dream a lovely dream of a merry Christmas."

She did hold out a shred of hope that she'd get something grown-up for Christmas, though, of course, that would only have happened if Santa was real, and knew to drop off her presents here. Hannah wasn't stupid enough to give her any of those in front of her aunt, and Monica definitely wouldn't get her any. Indeed, the huge pile of presents that awaited her under the tree were baby toys and cutesy outfits, an almost overwhelming amount of either.

A pang of guilt hit her in the middle of unwrapping them, as it occurred to her how much Monica must have spent on this. Hannah had bought her some, too, to keep up their cover, but most of them came straight from Monica, or, according to the tag, from 'Santa', whose handwriting looked suspiciously similar. Whether she found the opportunity to snatch anything else herself, it felt like she'd already robbed Aunt Monica, seeing all these gifts.

When they were all finished, there was barely time to play with any of her new toys before Monica took her into the nursery, with the promise of, "One more surprise." How she'd found time to put it there without Syd noticing, Sydney didn't know, but there was another wrapped box sitting on the changing table, and when she tore off the paper, she found a dress inside.

"This one is special, Monica told her. "It's what I measured you for, at Thanksgiving. I thought you could be our little elf, once the rest of the family gets here."

It was impressive, knowing Monica had made the dress herself, as well as the discovery that it wasn't a dress at all, but a romper, the attached shorts, with snaps handily running along the crotch, hidden beneath the poofy tutu skirt. The whole thing was made to look like an elf's outfit, a red and white striped shirt beneath a green jumper with a black belt around the waist, all one piece, with a headband adorned with a giant red and white bow to finish it off.

"Can you do that for me?" Monica asked after a few moments, giving her time to take it all in. "I know it's a big job..."

"I-I can do it," Syd nodded. "Th-Thank you..."

Monica beamed proudly, dressing Syd up, then taking her back out to the living room to greet the rest of the family as they filed in and filled the space. It was a lot of names to remember, but Sydney did her best to keep them all straight so that, when it was time to pass out the presents, she could get them all to the right people.

Her reward for all that - besides the diaper pats she got from nearly everyone when she waddled back to the tree after hanging them their gift, with extras after they opened the ones from her and saw her finger-paintings, or macaroni art, made just for them - was, she'd assumed, Christmas dinner. Monica had been busy finishing that up while everyone else unwrapped their presents. With so much chaos, and so many people, it would have been the perfect opportunity to do some sneaking around, if she hadn't had another job to do.

By the time she was done, Monica was back to take her to her high chair, where her mouth watered, staring at the table full of food spread out in front of her. Her tummy rumbled, feet kicking in excitement, all those meals of baby food and breast milk about to be worth it, if this was anywhere as yummy as Thanksgiving...

And then, Monica set down a bowl of mush and a bottle of milk in front of her. Syd blinked up at her in confusion, betrayal. "B-But..." she whimpered, hands stretching grabbing for the food well beyond her reach.

"No, sweetie," Monica chided. "Don't you remember what a big mess you made after Thanksgiving? Your tummy isn't ready for grown-up food! This is way better for a growing girl like you!"

"No!" Sydney squealed, hitting her hands on the high chair's tray. "I want real food!"

"Sydney," Monica narrowed her eyes slightly. "I know today has been a lot, but I don't want any tantrums..."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum!" Syd fumed. "I just want real food! It's not fair! Mommy!" She pouted up at Hannah, seeing her make her way into the dining room. "Tell her!"

For a moment, she thought it would work, that Hannah was going to take her side, until the girl sighed and shrugged. "Syd, honey, she doesn't want to feed you right now, in front of everyone... It's just as good from the bottle."

"N-No!" Sydney's face turned bright red, hating that everybody thought she was getting so fussy because she wasn't being breastfed. "I-I want..!"

"There it is, right on schedule," Candice observed. "It wouldn't be Christmas without a meltdown, would it, Hannah?" She smirked pointedly at her younger cousin.

"All I want..!" Syd tried again.

"We all love you," Monica told her, "but that doesn't mean we want to hear this all meal. Come on, let's get you down for a nap."

"Nooo!" Syd groaned, getting lifted up out of the high chair, carried to her nursery, sulking all the way, knowing there was no chance of getting to taste Monica's food now.

"All right," Monica smiled, seeing her pouting face after putting her into a fuzzy, footed sleeper. "You can have a little before I go eat with everyone else..."

"I-I didn't..." Syd sniffed, watching the larger woman unbutton her sweater. "I-I don't..." But as soon as Monica lifted her up to her chest, her instincts took over, and she was reminded of how much, embarrassing as it was to admit, she really did like her milk. It wasn't quite as good as an actual Christmas dinner; it wasn't as bad as substitute as she would have expected, however.

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That should have been the worst of it, the beginning of the end of this scheme. A little over a week from now, they'd get to go back to college, and Syd would finally see if all this had been worth it, what Hannah had managed to steal while Syd had been distracting her aunt.

Her first indication that maybe that wouldn't be the case came that very evening, after everyone had gone home, and the three of them were cuddled up, watching their final Christmas movie in the soft glow of the fireplace.

"I'm not sure how I'm going to have space for all of her presents in our room on campus," Hannah observed, stroking Syd's hair, while, simultaneously, talking about her as if she wasn't in the room.

"That's part of looking after a little one," Monica shrugged. "They have a lot of stuff."

"Yeah, I know," Hannah sighed. "I guess I didn't realize it was this much..."

"So, you didn't think it through all the way before you acted?" Monica raised an eyebrow.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Can we not do this right now? I'm just saying, I might need to leave some of it here..."

"And how do you think she's going to feel about that?" Monica asked, nodding at Syd. "You know how they get... She just got all of those things, and she won't be happy about leaving any behind..."

"Well..." Syd could tell right away from the shift in Hannah's tone that something was going on. "I guess the only other choice would be to leave her here... You have more than enough space..."

"Wh-What?" Syd blinked, turning back to look at Hannah, just to have a pacifier pushed into her mouth. 

"Don't joke about that," Monica admonished. "She doesn't understand that you don't mean it."

As much as she knew that was an insult to her maturity, Syd had to admit it was correct... She couldn't tell for certain if Hannah was being serious or not. As much as she'd been leaving Syd's care to Monica, it did seem like she could be planning on pawning her off on her aunt full-time, at least until college was over... Or, perhaps, even beyond... Syd gulped, wiggling her bottom, feeling the dampness of her diaper, thinking of how much she'd regressed already, in the short amount of time she'd been here. After a few more months, by the end of the next semester... How much of her adult self would be left?

But Hannah didn't really mean it anyway, right? They were partners... She wouldn't abandon her here... Unless this had been her actual plan all along, a way to get rid of the thief who had been plaguing her hall... 

And, as the days went on, as New Year's approached, Hannah kept dropping hints, kept bringing up the idea of Syd staying behind when she returned to college, Monica's replies growing less and less dismissive of it each time. If this kept up, if this wasn't a joke, then by the end of Christmas break, Syd wasn't sure Monica wouldn't take her up on it, wouldn't be happy to continue to look after her, the way she had been since she'd arrived.

Or... Was this still the original plan? Was Hannah just reminding Monica of how much Syd 'needed' her to look after her, to keep her distracted? All this time in the nursery might be making her paranoid, and they were so close now, Syd didn't want to ruin things if she wasn't certain... 

Monica did hand her what might be the perfect opportunity, however, one evening. "This will be so fun," she told Syd. "We haven't had a new New Year's Baby in a long time! Do you think you can stay up until midnight? That's awfully late..."

Of course she could; she stayed up late all the time at school! Not for a while now, no, definitely not while she was here, but it wasn't like she'd lost the ability, if she wanted to try!

Did she, though? "Was Mommy the New Year's Baby before?" she asked innocently.

"She was," Monica smiled. "I'll kind of miss that, honestly..."

This was it... If she truly believed Hannah was up to no good, this might be her last chance to do something about it, to turn the tables... Or to try to help Monica, who, really, had been very nice to her, considering what she'd been told about her. If she was wrong, she might be making things worse, for both of them... She squirmed, thinking as hard as she could before the walker's song came in to wash away those big girl thoughts. What should she do?

Should Sydney...

Suggest that Hannah be the New Year's Baby one more time, for old times' sake?

Try to warn Monica about Hannah's plan?

Or agree to be the best New Year's Baby she can?