Done Adulting Vol. 1 Ch. 15 (Patreon)

Jamie wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep, but he didn’t think long. He was the little spoon, although the size mismatch stretched the metaphor. It was his belly that woke him up. Whether because of the anesthesia, pain meds, or both, Jamie hadn’t passed anything since he woke up the day before. He wasn’t locked in his crib this time, but he was between Amanda and the wall, and he’d need to sneak down to the foot of the bed to try to get away.

And go where? The toilet was too big for him, and taking his diaper off and using it in that way seemed a much worse idea in the context than when he’d done that in the morning. He laid there hoping the discomfort would go away, but it only turned into pain.

Okay, Jamie, he thought, accepting the inevitable is sometimes the most mature thing to do. And at least it won’t hurt anymore.

Laying on his side, he bore down, and nothing happened except he was in much more urgent pain. He bore down again, and this time was relieved of a large and hard bowel movement, followed by more, and lastly by a flood of urine.

No longer in pain, Jamie lay there not wanting to move. His brain didn’t want to think about it. Nor did he want to announce what he’d done. So he just lay there.

After what seemed like an hour but was only fifteen minutes, he felt Amanda stir. And Amanda felt something pressed against her thigh that hadn’t been there before. When Jamie heard her sniff, he cringed in shame.

“You awake, buddy,” she whispered. As much as he wanted to delay the words that would pass between them, he much more did not want her to leave him like this.

“Yes.” Even his voice blushed.

“Then let’s go change your pants,” she said picking him up as she got off the bed.

Jamie’s relief at not having to admit what he’d done or ask to be changed was quickly interrupted when Amanda hefted him onto her hip, supporting him under his butt with her forearm.

“Uggghhh,” was Jamie’s retort at the change in position and sensation. He bounced with each step, and she felt the need to pat his bottom through his diaper. Why does every adult feel the need to pat every butt with a diaper on it, he wondered. He’d done it a time or two as well.

Each bounce and each pat reminded Jamie what he was sitting in. But Jamie wasn’t too disgusted to notice that while he had peed, he didn’t feel wet. And while he had soiled himself, it was less the sensation he hated than what was causing the sensation. Still, once on the changing table, he thought, my kingdom for a potty chair.

This time he enthusiastically participated in his diaper change, whatever he could do to get clean again as quickly as possible.

“You’re lucky,” Amanda said as she cleaned him, “Mom would have given you an enema if you hadn’t gone by lunchtime. And I bet you feel much better.”

I do now that I’m clean, he thought as she taped a new diaper on him. “Amanda, thanks … for everything.”

“Hey,” she said as she ruffled his hair, “that’s what big sisters are for.”

“I like you.” He didn’t know why he said it. Maybe it was because he didn’t have anything else to give her. She had picked him, comforted him, been kind to him, and listened to him when he spoke, at least more than her mother had.

“Aww! I like you too.” Snapping the legs of his jammies closed, she said, “I think it’s almost lunch time. Wanna go see what Mom’s cooking up in the kitchen?”

More of whatever that incredible drink is, he thought. “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

Helping him into a sitting position, Amanda asked, “Wanna walk, or do you want me to carry you?”

Jamie blushed. “Carry me.” She smiled, placed him on her hip, and walked toward the door.

“Hey, how about after lunch we make a list of things you want for your room?”

“Really?

“Uh-huh.”

After a bottle of that ambrosia, Jamie and Amanda lay on the double-thick rug in his room together making his list. For every necessity he added, she added something fun.

A curtain he could hang around the edge of his crib. He wanted it for privacy, but he told her it to build a fort, unsure if privacy was something they’d give him. And she threw in some pillows fortify to it.

A chair that was his size; an activity table he could play at.

A couple of books that would keep him entertained; a couple of coloring books that would keep him entertained.

When he ran out of ideas, Amanda lifted her eyes and looked under the crib. She hadn’t forgotten about it.

“How about some picture frames?”

Jamie followed her eyes. “Yes, please.”

So Amanda added picture frames to the list. She didn’t ask about the pictures, though. She knew he’d let her know when he was ready.

“What are you guys up to,” Rebecca asked as she came into the room. Watching the two of them lay next to each other made her very happy.

Jamie sighed. He wasn’t sure why, but it felt like an intrusion.

“We’re making a list of some things Jamie would like for his room.”

“Let me guess: toys?” Jamie rolled his eyes, though not so she could see.

“A chair, some curtains, a light for his crib.”

“Good ideas, sweetie, but let him add some fun things too. And don’t forget we’re gonna let him pick out some new diapers.”

“Adding it right now.” She quickly scribbled ‘action figures’ and showed it to Jamie, who giggled before catching himself. He smiled at her, then looked at Rebecca and stifled another giggle.

It warmed Rebecca to see them this way, especially Jamie, who had cried much more than laughed since he’d arrived in her home. She saw Jamie felt closer to Amanda, and though she wanted Jamie to feel that way about her too, she also knew siblings have a different kind of bond. It’s one kind of bond when they are close in age – playmates – and a different one when one was much older than the other – safe like a parent, but fun like a playmate too. And though they weren’t biological siblings, that’s how Rebecca wanted them to feel.

“Is Amanda your person,” she asked.

Jamie turned his neck around to look at Rebecca and then back to Amanda.

“Yes.”

Which made Becky happy, and Amanda elated.