Derrick's Awakening - Chapter 23 (Patreon)

Derrick wiggled in his booster seat, happily awaiting the screen turning on, almost looking forward to that more than anything else. The drive wasn't even going to be that long, but getting to see Naomi and Oliver for any amount of time would be worth it, after his fruitless search to find any videos of them on his own.

So it was very disappointing when some other dumb cartoon came up instead. He knew it was silly, that he was overreacting, that he shouldn't make a scene and risk distracting Nanny as she drove, but he couldn't quite help himself. "No!" he whimpered, kicking his feet. "No, no, no!"

Nanny was a professional, of course, used to dealing with fussy toddlers. She gave him a quick glance to ensure he was okay, then turned back towards the road. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked. "Do you not want to go out after all?"

"No, I do!" he insisted, shaking his head, not wanting her to head back home already. "B-But... I-I want..." He pouted, pointing at the screen, blushing as he struggled to come up with the right words, or, rather, to make them come out, his emotions getting the better of him, jumbling them.

Nanny looked over at him again when she got to the next stop sign, and, thankfully, recognized his complaint right away. "Oh, I see," she chuckled. "That wasn't what you were watching last time, was it?"

"N-No," he sniffled.

She peered into the rear-view mirror, checking that nobody was waiting behind her. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "All the kids love that show... I should have known better."

Derrick let out a giggle as his old friends appeared back on screen. That really was how it felt, despite him having only watched the show twice before, both in the same day. "That better?" Nanny smiled, getting another giggle from him as he slid his pacifier into his mouth and began to suck on it. "Good," she nodded, going back to driving. "I don't know what you all see in that show, but I'm glad you like it."

He was so absorbed in the show, he almost didn't notice when they came to a stop, whining as the screen blinked off with the rest of the car. "Derrick," Nanny told him patiently, "we're not here to sit in the car and watch TV. We could have done that back at the daycare. Don't you want to go shopping?"

Derrick blushed, squirmed in his booster. He definitely did, even if it meant taking a break from his show. Nanny got out of the car, walking around to open up his door for him, pausing before she unbuckled him. "Now, are you sure you're ready?" she asked. "You're comfortable with this? They usually aren't too busy this time of day, but this isn't going to be like the park, Derrick. There will be people here."

Derrick gulped; in the back of his mind, he had known that, of course. If nothing else, there had to be workers around, and hoping to make it all the way through the store and out without encountering a single one was unlikely. He honestly didn't even know if they had a self checkout here, so it was very possible that he was guaranteed to see at least one person, probably relatively close up. And that was assuming there were no greeters at the door, nobody stocking shelves in the sections they visited, no other customers...

Tilting his head down, he took in the outfit Nanny had put him in. He'd been a bit disappointed at how simple it was, compared to his shortalls, just another pair of shorts and a t-shirt, not inherently babyish at all, other than the diaper under the shorts and the teddy bear on the shirt, though matched with his Velcro sneakers, he had no doubt he looked, at a minimum, quite childish. At a glance, however, people might mistake him for a little kid rather than a toddler.

Once their cart began to fill up with diapers, and baby toys, and whatever else they were here for, obviously that perception could change. Maybe people would give him the benefit of the doubt, assume they were for a younger sibling... Or they might examine him a tad more closely, might see the bulge beneath his shorts, or a plastic waistband peeking out between his shorts and his shirt...

"We don't have to, Derrick," Nanny patted his knee. "I won't be mad. We could go to the park again if you want, or back home."

"No," he mumbled. "I'm ready."

Nanny beamed. "Good boy," she praised him. "Do you want to keep your paci? I could put it into your diaper bag if you want."

He blushed bright red, having completely forgotten it was even in his mouth it felt so natural, so soothing, so right. That did change things, he supposed, made him look more like a baby even before they put anything into their cart. He could take it out, go without it for however long they were in there... He wasn't sure he'd have been so confident about going inside at all if he hadn't been in the middle of nursing it, though, and it was only going to get scarier as he actually followed through with it.

"No," he shook his head. "I-I'll keep it."

"All right," Nanny smiled. "Whatever you like, sweetie. I guess that means there's no point in me not bringing the diaper bag, too, then."

"Well, yeah," he rolled his eyes. "What if I needed a change?"

She chuckled, reaching over to tickle his tummy. "Are you making fun of Nanny?"

"No, never!" he managed to get out through his giggles, and his paci, having to wait until she stopped to clarify, "You don't want me to get a rash, do you?"

"We aren't going to be here all day," Nanny said. "You aren't that wet already, are you?" She gave his diaper a squeeze through his shorts. "See, you're fine."

"But... What if I make a messy?" He wasn't sure why he was suddenly so opposed to the idea of her not bringing along the diaper bag, especially when she'd mentioned it only to say that she was doing the opposite. He hadn't considered that, either, how it would be a giveaway that he might be 'younger' than people otherwise assumed, how it would make it more obvious that the things in the cart were not for a smaller sibling after all.

Nanny looked surprised at that suggestion, or, probably more likely, that Derrick had brought it up after how much he'd resisted it at the park. "Are you going to?" she asked.

"I dunno!" he shrugged. "I can't help when it happens!"

She smiled, nodding. "That's true, huh? Silly Nanny... Little boys like you can't be expected to know when they're going to do that! That's why you're in diapers, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh!" he agreed. He didn't think he would have the guts for it, honestly, but he couldn't deny how appealingly embarrassing, how infantile, the thought of doing that while he was sitting in the front of the shopping cart, being pushed around by Nanny, would be. He squirmed in his booster, picturing it, imagining Nanny taking him into the bathroom to change him...

It wouldn't be the same as at the park, he knew. Like with the rest of this trip, his chances of there being someone else in the women's room when Nanny took him in there were far higher, and he'd really have to play his part of being a toddler... Or, of course, there might be a family restroom here that could solve that problem, but, going in, he had no idea, and, depending on where the entrances to the bathrooms were, he might not even know until he was being taken there, if he did wind up needing a change...

"All right, then," Nanny said. "Sounds like Nanny was worried for no reason. You really are ready for this, huh?"

He nodded eagerly, barely able to sit still as she unbuckled him, lifting him out of the booster seat. She didn't even set him down, carrying him right over to the cart corral she'd parked next to, plopping him straight into the front basket. Derrick felt himself melt a little, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he discovered that he did, indeed, fit into the seat there. He grinned behind his paci as Nanny began to push the cart, staring up at her gratefully as his feet began to kick in excitement, as it dawned on him that he really was going to get to live out this fantasy after all, that, yet again, Nanny had come through for him.