Compromise - Chapter 39 (Patreon)

"It's all right," Heather cooed at Lizzie, trying to ignore how quickly her heart was racing, or at least keep the other woman from noticing, not wanting her to panic. "It's all right..."

She almost forgot where the nearest bathroom was - she didn't spend a lot of time on this floor, to be fair - despite that being forefront on her mind, debating mentally whether it was worth it to get on the elevator, or back into the stairwell, to get Lizzie to somewhere she was more familiar with, where she knew, immediately, how to get to the restroom, desperate to get Lizzie cleaned up as soon as possible. An extra minute or two in a messy diaper probably wouldn't make much of a difference, though, after seeing Lizzie's reaction to it yesterday, she didn't want to put her through that any longer than she had to.

"Come on, Lizzie," she urged, rubbing her back, eyes darting around the hallway frantically. "You aren't Mia... You aren't even dressed the same!" Was that really any better? She might not look like the girl who had apparently haunted her thoughts when it came to acting babyish, but that just meant it was all Lizzie who had filled her diaper this time. "It isn't your fault," Heather told her quietly. "You were undercover... I'm sure you did what you had to."

Finally, she spotted the sign, rushing down the hall towards it, bursting in. She had been a little afraid that perhaps there wouldn't be a changing table here, that it would be assumed that anyone who needed to use it on this floor would be at the daycare anyway - either already enrolled, or on their way to be after they'd had an accident - but, thankfully, there was a stall that had one installed on the wall.

"Here we are!" she exclaimed, locking the bathroom door behind her so nobody could come in after, to give Lizzie more privacy, gingerly resting her on her hip, doing her best not to squish the mess in her diaper too much as she pulled the table out from the wall with one hand, setting the diaper bag down on one end. She didn't know how she would, or could, get Lizzie on the table without reminding her of what had happened, so, instead, she gave her a kiss, right on the lips, trying to distract her for a moment as she laid her down on her back, readying the supplies as she watched the girl squirm, hoping it was in reaction to the kiss rather than her dirty diaper.

She opened up the bag, the sight of all those diapers suddenly making her feel guilty. She didn't really want to make Lizzie wear another one now, not when she seemed so delicate, so fragile...

Of course... If she did, if she kept her thickly padded, perhaps made a pit stop to pick up a crib for her, let her come to in there, trapped and diapered... Well, maybe then she'd have what she'd always wanted. She could have done that at any time, obviously, as Lizzie was too tiny to stop her, but now that might be enough to sap away whatever resistance might remain in her, regardless of how much, or how little, hypnosis she'd had to sit through.

If she did that, however, there was no guarantee she'd ever get to see the grown-up Lizzie again, that she'd ever manage to resurface. She was cute like this, whimpering and wriggling on her back in a messy diaper, fully dependent on Heather to change her, dress her, feed her, do everything for her... But that wasn't the Lizzie that Heather had gotten to know.

"Oh!" Heather's eyes widened as she spotted it, snatching it out of the bag immediately. She'd almost forgotten the one pair of training panties she'd slipped in there, supposedly as an enticement for Lizzie to do better with her potty training. Anyone who had seen the state of Lizzie's diaper would know that she hadn't earned them at all, but Heather didn't care; they were the best she had. "Here we are! These are what my big girl needs, huh?"

She yanked open the snaps of the onesie, ripped off the diaper's tapes, wiping Lizzie off as quickly, yet thoroughly, as she could, getting rid of all the evidence of the girl's accident before sliding the Pull-Ups onto her. "There!" Heather smiled hopefully. "Is that better?"

Lizzie stared up at her, and Heather thought she saw a bit more recognition in her eyes, although that may have been wishful thinking. "This will help," Heather told her, tugging the onesie up and off of the girl's body, replacing it with a pastel purple t-shirt and a pair of pink shorts, the best of the spare outfits she'd managed to fit into the bag along with everything else they'd needed.

She still knew the trainers were underneath, of course, and most Mommies and Daddies would recognize the slight bulk... It wasn't nearly as obvious as with the onesie, however, and she could probably have passed for a kindergartner, anyway, a definite improvement... If not for the booties.

"Wait, where are your sneakers?" Heather asked, shocked that it had taken her this long to notice. In her panic, she supposed that had been the last thing on her mind. "Never mind, it's okay..." She pulled off the booties, replacing them with a pair of Mary Janes, the only spare shoes she had on hand. They didn't quite go with the casualness of the rest of the outfit, but they were designed to be walked, rather than crawled, in, anyway, so they were a little more mature.

Heather sat Lizzie up on the edge of the changing table, looking into her eyes. "Come on, Lizzie," she pleaded. "See? You're a big girl... No matter what happened in that daycare, you're a big girl..."

Lizzie remained quiet just long enough to make a pit begin to form in Heather's stomach, to make her start to believe that she'd been too late after all... And then she rolled her eyes, pointing up at the pacifier.

"I'm so dumb," Heather chuckled anxiously. Since she didn't do that to Lizzie, she hadn't considered that, hadn't thought about the paci being expanded. Hands shaking, she reached up, gave it a turn, heard the small hiss, and pulled it free. "Lizzie?"

"Thank you so much!" Lizzie threw her arms around Heather's waist, the Amazon having to struggle to keep it together, to not burst out into tears of relief, hearing her voice, hearing her speaking so normally. "That was a close one!"

"I'm so sorry," Heather said, drawing in a shaky breath, stroking Lizzie's hair as she pulled her in tighter to her chest. "I should have been there sooner... I-I shouldn't have let them take you at all..."

"Hey," Lizzie scooted in closer, rubbing Heather's back with her tiny hands. "It isn't your fault... I told you to do it."

"B-But..." Heather's lip quivered, feeling bad for being more upset than Lizzie, for making her comfort her when Lizzie was the one who had been through so much. Try as she might to stay strong, though, she couldn't. "Wh-When I saw you there, in front of that TV, staring..."

"Heather," Lizzie smiled, giving her as much of a squeeze as she could manage with her smaller arms, "it's okay... I'm okay. You got there just in time. It had barely even started."

"I-It had?" Heather blinked. "Th-Then it didn't make you...?"

Lizzie blushed, squirming. "N-No, my accident was... a whole other thing... I'd already done that before Wendi made me watch the show."

Heather sniffled, pulling away, looking Lizzie over, as if she'd just fallen down on the playground, as if she might have a skinned knee, rather than whatever psychological damage all this could have done to her. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"I'm okay, Mommy," Lizzie assured her. "If your meeting is over, though, I wouldn't mind going home."

"Of course," Heather nodded, wiping her eyes. "Let's get you out of here."

The meeting wasn't over, or anywhere close, she suspected, but, as much as she wanted to be honest with Lizzie about everything, that was one thing she didn't need to worry about right now. She'd probably need as much time as it would take to drive Lizzie back and then return to calm herself enough to face the boardroom - and especially Luther - again anyway. It had already been long enough that they were going to know something was up anyway... She could tell them that there had been some issue at daycare when the babysitter had shown up to take Lizzie home that she'd had to clear up, though it was hard to say how much they'd really buy that.

"You know," Lizzie shifted in her seat, "you could put me in a diaper instead."

"No," Heather shook her head quickly. "I don't want to do that to you, not after..."

"It's okay," Lizzie told her again. "I'm not gonna..." Her cheeks turned pink, glancing over at the trash can her dirty diaper had been disposed of in, still apparently not okay enough to be able to name that shameful deed out loud, "...do that... again before we get out of here."

"We don't have to," Heather said. "If anyone asks, I-I can tell them..."

"Heather," Lizzie stopped her. "I don't mind... If you take me out of here in a diaper, then you won't have to worry about them asking anything. It'll look perfectly normal..."

"Do you really want this?" Heather demanded. "We really don't have to, Lizzie, if..."

"I mean," Lizzie shrugged, fidgeting on the changing table, "I wouldn't say I want it, but... I don't mind it, Heather. Not as long as it's you doing it."

It was funny, Heather thought, how things had changed, how it was Lizzie asking Heather to diaper her, and her resisting... "You could have really impressed me with your potty training progress," she pointed out. "Nobody in the lobby will know about what happened in the daycare..."

"In a few hours?" Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "Enough to let me back out of diapers already? Everybody's going to think you're a huge pushover when it comes to being a Mommy."

Heather shrugged, giving Lizzie another kiss. "Well, considering who my little girl is, who could blame me? Come on."

She lifted Lizzie down, taking her by the hand, leading her out of the bathroom, back out of the office building and home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lizzie knocked again on the door of Heather's apartment, louder this time, glancing nervously up and down the hall. It did feel a bit odd, being there now, dressed normally, after giving the people there a couple chances to see her all babied up, but she'd known that was a risk she'd have to take, and, thankfully, she didn't see anybody around. If Heather didn't answer soon, however, that might change.

Finally, the door opened, Heather peering down at her, her face lighting up at the sight of her. "Oh, hello! Sorry, I was..." Her cheeks turned pink. "S-Sorry... I've been busy..."

"It's all right," Lizzie told her. "I have, too, really. I have a feeling Luther isn't going to be working with you for much longer now." The last batch of files she'd sent to her client had been particularly juicy, almost worth all the trouble she'd had to go to in order to plant the bug so she could get them.

"Good," Heather replied bluntly. "So, uh... Not that I mind, because I'm always happy to see you, but... What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

"It's great," Lizzie said. "I wanted to check in on you, though."

"I-I'm fine," Heather replied. "L-Like I said, I've been busy, and..."

"Come on, Heather," Lizzie sighed. "Don't start lying to me now. You haven't checked on my potty training progress in days, and..."

"Because there isn't any progress!" Heather snapped. "This was all so stupid... I should never have made you do that! I don't know what I was thinking..."

"Hey!" Lizzie exclaimed, making Heather flinch slightly. "You didn't make me do anything! I chose to go along with it! It wasn't just for you, either... I liked it. I thought it was fun, even when I'd lose my panties for one of the days... Especially then!"

"No, you don't," Heather moped. "You're only doing this for me, and it's wrong of me to make you do that, when..."

"No, I'm not!" Lizzie stomped her foot. "If you'd check your texts, you'd see I've been keeping it up, even though you haven't checked me in days! I have a whole drawer full of actual big girl panties that I haven't touched in months! Do you think I'd do that if I didn't enjoy this? I mean, it would be that hard for me to wear those, then keep my day of the week ones nearby to change into when you want a picture, but I don't! I've never cheated even once!"

She had been tempted a time or two, she had to admit... At this point, though, it would have felt so wrong to break from her routine. There really was a strange comfort to it... At least, as long as she knew that Heather was on the other side of it, her maternal hand guiding her, making her do all this. She wouldn't have actually chosen such childish, day of the week, panties otherwise, much less Pull-Ups... Right? With her there, however, she really did enjoy it...

"And that's why I needed to come see you," Lizzie continued. "I wanted you to know what I did." She lifted up her skirt, revealing her white panties, the kitten on the front, along with the word 'Friday' and, most importantly, the yellow stain on them. 

"You did that on purpose," Heather shook her head. "That doesn't count."

"Yes," Lizzie admitted, "I did. I have had a couple accidents, but most of them are on purpose... That's doesn't change what I did, though. I wet my panties, and I don't deserve to stay in them, and I want my Mommy to take them away!" She stomped her foot, blushing slightly at how into it she'd gotten, how plainly she'd lain it all out. Monday was now the only day she still had her panties for, the only day when she was allowed to wear them... And that was enough.

"I don't know if I can anymore, Lizzie," Heather told her. "After I saw you in that daycare... I could have done that to you. I could have decided to take you on that first date, and put you in there without thinking about it, and never wonder why you were suddenly so much more compliant afterwards. I'd have assumed it meant I was doing the right thing, and that you had been a baby all along, and just needed some time with other babies to help you see that."

"But you didn't," Lizzie reminded her. "You wouldn't."

"I would have," Heather said. "If things had been different..."

"They aren't."

Heather blinked, staring down at her for a long moment. "You're really okay with this? You really still want me to do this?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mommy, I do! I wouldn't have come here if I didn't! And Mommy?" she tugged at the hem of Heather's dress, pulling her down closer to her, like she was telling her a secret, Heather gamely bending over closer. "I don't think you should put me in Pull-Ups, either."

"Huh?" Heather asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Lizzie squirmed. "These panties were special, because they have a kitten on them, and I'm your kitten, and I always felt special when I put these ones on... And I think I'd miss them if I didn't have them..."

"You can have three strikes in these, too," Heather smiled gently. 

Lizzie sighed impatiently, hardly able to believe Heather wasn't picking up on the hint. "No, Mommy, I don't want that... I think I should go right back to my kitten diapers on Fridays instead of Pull-Ups."

"R-Really?" Heather looked shocked. "You want to wear diapers for a whole day?"

"It's only one day a week," Lizzie shrugged. "And I might still try to make it to the potty, especially if I have to... You know..." She blushed at the thought of messing herself again, at the way it had made her feel. Luckily, she had chosen the kitten diapers initially because they didn't have little-proof tapes, which meant she could get out of them on her own.

"That's all right, sweetie," Heather told her. "You don't have to use them."

Lizzie smiled, reaching up to take Heather's hand. "Can you put me in one now?" she batted her eyes. "I can go home after, if you want to be alone, but I thought my Mommy should..."

"No, you're right," Heather kissed her on the top of her head. "Mommy should handle this. Let me go get the changing mat..."

"Why can't we use the changing table?" Lizzie frowned, not getting an answer. She let go of Heather's hand, breaking free, rushing through her apartment, to the nursery door, pushing it open, finding it completely empty. "Heather!" she gasped. "What did you do?!"

"I took it apart," Heather shrugged meekly. "It just... It didn't feel right. I didn't think you'd want to see it, after..."

"You didn't throw it away, did you?" Lizzie demanded, hurrying over to the closet, pulling it open, feeling an odd sense of relief to see all the clothes, the car seat, everything they'd bought together stuffed in there, along with the disassembled pieces of the changing table, and the stacks of diapers. "This doesn't look so bad... I bet we could put it back together."

"We really don't have to," Heather spoke up anxiously from behind her. "I thought maybe we could make this a spare bedroom, or..."

"I thought this was supposed to be my room," Lizzie pouted.

"It is," Heather agreed quickly. "If you want it... But you don't need a nursery. After everything, just the thought of having a crib in here felt wrong... It seems too much like a cage, and..."

"I don't have to have a crib," Lizzie said. "As long as you're okay with not having one. I bet we could find a cute bed, though, one that I could get out of on my own, if I needed to use the potty in the middle of the night... Or if I needed to get to Mommy's bed..."

"Yeah," Heather nodded. "Yeah, I think that would be nicer."

"And if we got a desk instead of a playpen," Lizzie mused, "I could work here sometimes..."

"Of course," Heather smiled. "Whatever you want. If you're not busy tomorrow, we could go shopping..."

Lizzie grinned, butterflies fluttering in her tummy. "Okay," she agreed. "But I am still gonna need a changing table..."

"Well," Heather said, "I bet if Mommy had her big girl's help, she could get it back up in no time."

Lizzie knew she probably didn't need her help, could have done it all on her own... But it was nice to feel like she could help out, like she was big enough to do that... And the thought of giving her a hand, of being a part of re-assembling her changing table, made it feel more special, more like it was hers.

"We'd better get to work then," she teased, wiggling her bottom. "We need to get it ready so you can get me in a diaper before I have another accident!"

"Well, this is your room," Heather smiled back at her. "If you make a mess, you're going to have to clean it up! But I bet we'll be done in time anyway." She gave Lizzie a wink, both of them giggling as they began to pull the pieces of the changing table back out of the closet together.