Broderick

Chapter 1
Broderick

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Chapter Description: Less than an hour after he'd walked in the door the situation had gone completely out of his control. One moment he was dutifully carrying out his responsibilities to look after the boys and the next he was nothing more than a child, a toddler at best, and it looked as though he would be spending the rest of the night completely under Broderick's control. His lower lip started to tremble as the magnitude of his situation started to dawn on him. "Wh- what.. what you gonna do wiss me?" he asked fearfully.

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Jason had another babysitting assignment. He didn’t particularly dislike babysitting and a few of the older children that he looked after were friends of his own younger brother so he knew the family, the Hiatts, pretty well. The younger kids could be pretty unruly. Jason himself was nearly 18, he’d just graduated from highschool and was preparing to go to a local community college in the next town. He was going to start looking for a job but doing some babysitting would help him in the meantime as far as spending money was concerned.

There were four children in the family, three boys and a girl: Broderick, the oldest boy, was 13; his eight year old brother Sam; followed by Russel, an unruly kindergartener who had a penchant for running around without any clothes when he was at home and was almost perpetually filthy; and Lyssa, a very sweet and well-behaved toddler of almost three. The baby girl would be even more pleasant to look after were Mr. and Mrs. Hiatt more diligent about having her toilet trained.

Fortunately for Jason, they’d decided to take their daughter with them. They were to be spending a large portion of the night at a company party and daycare would be provided for very small children. As he made his preparations to leave that afternoon, he was relieved to discover that he would not have to be dealing with diapers that evening. And it was fortunate that Broderick would also be home; he tended to be very independent and responsible, so the majority of Jason’s responsibilities would be looking after the two middle boys.

Jason gathered the necessary things he thought would be useful while watching the boys as well as keeping his own self occupied in his backpack; a collection of super nintendo games, some writing and reading materials and possibly schoolwork as it was very likely that the Hiatts would not be home until well past midnight. Jason was always a little bit apprehensive about babysitting, simply for the degree of work and concentration involved. He had a reserved and quiet disposition and while he was not undersocialized he did prefer to be alone than to be around other people. And so looking after kids took a lot of mental effort for him.

Unbeknownst to him, his apprehension was echoed in the Hiatt household. "Mom! I don’t wanna stay home this weekend, I wanna go hang out! And I’m too old for a babysitter anyway," Broderick said.

"I know, honey, but I need you to be here to help Jason look after your brothers. They listen to him better when you’re around to set an example," his mother responded calmly. "He’s going to be here any minute. I thought you and Jason got along?"

"Yeah," Broderick said, "But I mean he’s just too quiet. He doesn’t do anything. You pay him to watch us and he just watches us and that’s all he does."

At that moment there was a knock at the door, and Mrs Hiatt said, "That would be him. I want you to be good for him and do whatever he asks you to do for help," she said, gathering her baby daughter into her arms. Mr. Hiatt descended the stairs into the small foyer to open the door and welcome Jason in with a firm handshake and an impeccable corporate smile. Jason smiled shyly in return and shook the gentleman’s hand, his other on the shoulder strap of his tattered backpack. Mrs. Hiatt provided him with instructions as to when to put the kids to bed, the two little boys at nine and that Broderick was to be in bed no later than midnight. There was ice cream in the freezer and they rented some films to watch if they get bored, etcetera. Babysitting stuff.

Broderick took the time to slink quietly off to his room. The other two boys were in the back yard playing with Sam’s ninja turtles in the sandbox. Russel was in his skivvies as per usual. Broderick was not going to be babysat tonight.

He hadn’t much chance to try it out, but lying in the dirt in the park earlier in the week Broderick found a pocketwatch. At first examination, it looked like a cheap potmetal thriftshop affair, but it still worked. And, well, pocketwatches are sort of cool looking. To his astonishment, it was still in working condition. It had a single knob on top of it for winding the internal spring and setting the time as well as a single small button on the right side of it; and a series of circular chronographs on its face that displayed not only the standard hour, minute, and secondhands, but days and months of the year and a scrolling year display similar in appearance to a car’s odometer.

Broderick discovered the different functions of the watch through experimentation. But to his greater astonishment, he discovered that this pocketwatch had a peculiar effect on how time affected a person. By winding the knob in a certain direction with the button held down, and then clicking the knob down to its base position (the knob could be pulled out and pressed back down in addition to being wound, you see) the watch would quickly drain the years off of a person to the extent that it was wound. The process could then be reversed by holding the button down, and the years would be released back onto the person that was holding it. This much Broderick had learned, to this point he was his own test subject. Up until tonight.

He thought about his approach carefully. He still wouldn’t be able to go anywhere tonight but he could have some fun with his pocketwatch before his parents got home. The question was simply keeping Jason under control without his brothers becoming a problem for him also. If he made jason 13, they would still be on equal footing. Ten, or eight, or even five, and he could still make himself an unruly menace. And then, grinning to himself as he thought about it, reducing Jason to a toddler would be perfect. He could humiliate him just enough that even if Jason were somehow able to convince anybody else that he’d been transformed into a baby he would be way too embarassed to tell it to anybody. Because that’s what kind of person Jason was. Broderick carefully wound his watch for 16 years, and left his room to go talk to his babysitter.

Sam and Russel were still outside. Jason was sitting at the kitchen table watching them through the sliding glass door, and scrawling idly in a notebook. "Hey, Jason," Broderick said, "Checkout this watch I got." He handed it to Jason who examined it quietly. Jason tended to treat Broderick with the respect of an equal, but Broderick intimidated him sometimes. The oldest boy was very outgoing and popular at his school, and for a junior highschooler that was a feat. "Watch what it does when you press that thing on top down!" Jason good-naturedly complied.

Click. Suddenly the hands on the face of the watch were spinning very, very fast, and in the wrong direction. Jason blinked and watched, oblivious to what was happening to him as this was taking place. He squinted and his brow furrowed, and he looked up at the young adolescent standing over him with an expression of confusion on his face. Before he was able to get any words out, he shrank. Quickly.

In another moment Jason was in a tent of a t-shirt and sitting in bluejeans that enveloped his waist loosely, like a sleeping bag, that draped over the chair. Broderick casually retrieved his watch from the small child’s lap as Jason looked up in astonishment to ask, "What you do?" Jason could not believe the sound of his own voice, a piping little-boy mewl.

Broderick sat down, smiling affectionately at his baby babysitter. "That’s what this watch does, Jas’n. It can make somebody grow older or younger. And it just made you really little." He put the watch back into his pocket, and folded his arms on the table as he spoke.

"Bu’ why me?" Jason asked, becoming more and more frantic. "Howcome you do this? I wan’ be big!"

Broderick clucked his tongue paternally. "Aw, don’t be mad, Jason. I didn’t do it to be mean, I just don’t wanna be babysat anymore. So I get to babysit you now. I hope you know what this means. You better be good." He raised one eyebrow as he said this, with a look that asked Jason if he was about to challenge this young man’s newfound authority.

Little Jason’s eyes widened. Less than an hour after he’d walked in the door the situation had gone completely out of his control. One moment he was dutifully carrying out his responsibilities to look after the boys and the next he was nothing more than a child, a toddler at best, and it looked as though he would be spending the rest of the night completely under Broderick’s control. His lower lip started to tremble as the magnitude of his situation started to dawn on him. "Wh- what.. what you gonna do wiss me?" he asked fearfully.

Broderick’s expression softened as he reached over to take Jason under the armpits and settle the child in his lap, swaddled in his t-shirt, and rocked him gently with the experience that came of having a baby sister. "Shhh, it’s okay. Shh. First we need to get you into some clothes, ’cause I don’t think those’ll fit you no more. Ok?" Jason nodded quietly, not sure what else to do and soothed by Broderick’s reassuring manner.

But at that moment the other two boys came storming in, no doubt after some other toys in Sam’s room. They halted quickly when they saw their older brother holding some unknown baby in his lap. "Whosat?" Sam asked, and Russel ran around the table to get a closer look. Sam soon followed. A very frightened Jason pressed himself closer to Broderick.

"Whoa, whoa, back up, guys. You’ll scare ’im. Look there on the chair," Broderick instructed.

The presence of a large pair of jeans with briefs inside and shoes and socks resting on the floor at the cuffs mystified the two boys. It looked very much as though somebody had been yanked right out of their seat like in a cartoon. Russel was the first to make the connection. "They’re are his!" he said with some excitement, pointing at Jason. "Who issat?"

Broderick smiled. "It’s Jason."

Both boys stared at their brother as though he’d said something profoundly stupid. "Nuh-unh," Sam insisted. "Is you really Jason?" he asked the tiny child. Jason nodded hesitantly, clutching Broderick’s shirt with one hand. In another moment both of the two younger brothers erupted into hysterical giggles. "How’d you do that?"

Broderick simply frowned and shrugged. "Unno. But it looks like we gotta take care of him tonight so I need you two guys to help me and not cause any trouble, ok? I’m gonna go change his clothes and then in a minute we can play nintendo. It looks like he brought some games."

"Okay!" Sam said, and Russell simply started jumping up and down and flapping his arms, hooting like a rooster. Broderick got up and carried Jason off to his little sister’s nursery, cradling him carefully. Jason, who was already reserved by nature, now had a shy and frightened toddler’s demeanor and was too overcome by the noise and excitement generated by Broderick’s brothers to say anything or try to negotiate himself back into his proper age. Not only had he been conquered by the oldest boy, now he had been made the group property, lower in status even than the kindergartener who refused to remain clothed. It was like a bad dream.

The two boys began to set up in the living room as Jason was carried into baby Lyssa’s nursery and the door was closed and locked behind them. The light through the window was starting to get dim as the sun was low in the late afternoon horizon.

Broderick lowered Jason to a changing table and held him so that Jason knew he was expected to stand on it, and when he did so Broderick lifted the shirt off of him. Broderick seemed so confident and self-assured, no nervousness or trepidation about what he was doing, as though the whole thing was a perfectly natural and normal sequence of events. And this manner was so disarming to Jason that he could only comply silently. When he felt the shirt pulled from over his head and the cool air on his smooth, sensitive baby skin he quickly moved his hands down to cover himself, blushing and modest. Broderick saw this and grinned crookedly. "Silly baby," he said. "Let me show you what you look like."

He took Jason again and set him down in front of a standing mirror and Jason could only stare at the little boy looking at him in the mirror. He was only barely taller than Broderick’s knee. His hair was mouse-brown and tousled, his nose small and slightly upturned, his cheeks rounded and his mouth small and pouty. And his eyes -- his eyes were big and brown and innocent and, well, childlike. Seeing himself this way made it very difficult for Jason to think of himself as a responsible teenager, almost an adult.

And Broderick, by contrast, was very grown up. He was already almost as tall as Jason had been before, enjoying the benefits of his adolescent growth spurt. Broderick’s hands and feet were somewhat disporportionately large, lending him a gangly appearance, and he wore a white wifebeater tank-top that outlined his smooth, toned abdominal muscles, and he wore loose cargo pants. His hair was brown like Jason’s, but much more neatly trimmed. His voice was surving the changing process and made him sound a little older than he really was. All of this, no doubt, helped him maintain is social position at school and also the respect of his younger brothers. And it certainly made him that much more imposing to baby Jason.

Broderick watched Jason’s face in the mirror as these conflicting emotions were playing through the little boy’s mind, and Jason still covered himself with his hands, self-consciously. Broderick thought that this would be an opportune moment to further emphasize Jason’s self-image as a helpless and dependent baby. He reached down and gently took Jason’s wrists in his hands and firmly lifted, and Jason looked up at Broderick with an expression of panic. "Take a look," Broderick said. "It looks like you still got some growing to do down there." Jason returned his gaze to the mirror. The cool air on his tiny genitalia had caused them to retract into his body, with what looked like an impossibly small nub and smooth hairless bumps visible. It was as though he’d been completely desexualized, as though he had no gender at all. And he knew that this was true; that Broderick, who was at the cusp of puberty, was more sexually developed and virile than he was.

Jason’s captor let him examine his body a moment more before lifting him again to the changing table and laying him on his back, and then turned away again to rustle through the closet of the nursery. "Some of Russell’s old clothes should still be in here, but if not that’s okay."

Jason’s mind raced. He had to figure out some way to stop this, but he couldn’t. What could he do? He couldn’t even try to climb off of the changing table without the possibility of hurting himself. But he was still in charge -- wasn’t he? Broderick had to do what Jason said. Maybe he could try to enforce this. He sat up. "Brodrick, you needta turn me back," he said, trying to sound as firm as he could.

Broderick didn’t even turn around. He was setting things in a pile next to his knee as he knelt by some boxes he’d pulled from the closet. "Maybe if you’re good."

"Broderick, turn me back," Jason demanded, a little louder.

Broderick stopped. "Jas’n, are you telling me what to do? Because if you are then I think you’re in trouble."

Jason sat silently, shivering with the realization that he may have just made things worse. His captor stood up slowly and turned around, with a very solemn expression on his face and calmly lifted Jason, and then sat down in an armchair next to his sister’s crib. He laid Jason belly-down across his lap and with one firm swift motion brought his palm down with a sharp slap across the toddler’s naked backside. After the initial moment it took Jason to process what had just happened, he started crying, as much out of embarassment and shock as out of the stinging pain in his sensitive bottom. Broderick stood Jason up on his lap and looked him in the eye with a very businesslike stare. "What do you say?"

Jason had difficulty catching his breath and choking out the words as he sobbed, "I don’.. I don’ know.."

"Jason, you say you’re sorry for mouthing off to me."

"I’m sorry for mouthing off to you Brod’rick," Jason stuttered quickly.

Broderick continued sternly. "And I’m in charge. And you’re going to do what I say tonight. Unless you need another spank. Okay?"

Jason continued blubbering. "Okay.."

Broderick pulled the crying, frightened toddler close to him in a warm hug. "It’s okay," he said reassuringly, and giving Jason a gentle kiss on the forehead. "You just be a good little boy and you’ll be okay."

Broderick rocked his little babysitter quietly for a few more minutes, gently stroking his back and shushing him until he’d calmed down, and returned him to the changing table and gathered the supplies he’d retrieved from the closet. He produced a small bottle and squeezed out a measure of white substance onto his fingers and then started massaging it into Jason’s groin and between his legs, before turning him over and rubbing it over his smooth, still-red rear. When Jason felt it on his most senstive areas he sucked in a breath from the cold feeling of it. "..Is you gonna make me wear a diaper?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep," came the simple answer as the lotion was followed by a sprinkle of talcum powder. The warm smell of it tickled Jason’s nose. He was familiar with it after having changed Lyssa’s diapers on occasion and while it was a very pleasant smell, he found it very demeaning and humiliating to have it applied to him in this manner. But he didn’t dare complain for fear of being taken over Broderick’s knee again. The process continued as Broderick’s fingers expertly probed Jason’s most private areas for some several seconds more.

Finally, Broderick took a white rectangular package from his pile beside Jason and opened it, and the characteristic crinkle of plastic and the shape as it unfolded revealed it to be one of Lyssa’s diapers. Broderick expertly gathered Jason’s ankles together with one hand and lifted them high so that Jason’s bottom was raised from the padded surface of the changing table as the infant’s garment was slid underneath him. He felt himself settled onto it, and then Broderick forced his legs apart and lifted the front of it between them; holding it to his belly and opening a tape fastener on one side, bringing it up, and taping it down snugly, and then repeated with the other side. The tapes made such loud noises as they were opened and when the diaper was secured to his waist, Jason felt as though he had been completely trapped. Now there was no escape. He wore the mark of his new station and the symbol of his dependence and submission to Broderick.

Broderick sat him up and with the motion Jason could feel the way the diaper conformed to his body, the warm smooth padding between his thighs and the thickness underneath him. He couldn’t bring his legs completely together for the bulk of it covering his groin. "Lift up your arms," Broderick instructed, and Jason did so obediently. Broderick pulled a simple white t-shirt down over Jason’s head and deftly guided his tiny hands through the short sleeves. It came down to just barely meet with the elastic hem of his diaper. Broderick looked him over and smiled, pleased with his work. "You’re so cute," he said. "I think you’re set to go play now."

Broderick lifted the small boy up again and settled him on his hip, forcing the toddler’s legs to spread out as he straddled Broderick’s waist. He was acutely aware of the rustling sounds that his diaper was making as he moved and he could feel the cushioning of it as his groin was pressed to Broderick’s side, how soft and warm it felt. His thoughts were conflicted, how easy it would be to just give up completely and go with the flow, how it almost seemed natural and right for him to be this way, and every time these thoughts pressed their way into his mind he pushed back, protesting that he was grown up, he was going to go to college, he’s not a baby. Broderick unlocked the door and slid Jason to the floor, setting him on his feet and giving his bottom a little pat, as though to remind him again that he was in diapers and yes, this really was happening to him. "Go show everybody your new clothes!" he said cheerfully, encouraging Jason to go out there of his own volition and let everybody see him in this embarassing state.

As though hypnotized, Jason toddled out and down the hall toward the living room. His movements were awkward, from his unfamiliarity with his new body and from his toddler’s lack of coordination, and also from the thick garment between his legs that turned his gait into almost a waddle. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He knew that Broderick was standing behind him at the end of the hall, watching him go out to present himself to the two young boys who would no doubt find his predicament to be hysterical, who would tease him mercilessly and make him feel every inch like the baby he was in body. He felt like every step he took was announcing his presence to the house, the plastic of the disposable diaper between his legs was so loud to his ears.

He reached the end of the hall and found in the living room the two boys playing nintendo, sitting on the floor. He stood there nervously holding his hands together in front of his belly. Russell was the first to notice, and he immediately dropped his controller and ran over to pick Jason up, whooping. He grabbed Jason around the waist and held him with his arms under the toddler’s bottom so that Jason’s belly was to Russell’s chest and Russell danced around, giggling and spinning the poor child. Russell set him down and bounced up and down and Jason couldn’t believe how much bigger little Russell was than him. Jason was eye-level with Russell’s chest.

Sam also stood up when he saw his little brother snatch Jason up. He started to giggle. "Broderick made you wear a diaper?" Jason could only blush and nod. Sam continued the interrogation. "How did you turn into a baby? Are you gonna let Brod’rick be in charge tonight? Are you gonna stay like that?"

Jason didn’t know how to answer this barrage of questions. Broderick had followed him and was leaning against the wall of the hallway and he spoke up. "Jason’s got to stay in diapers because he’s too little to use the toilet now. And he said it’s okay for me to be in charge tonight. Jason promises to be good. Right, Jason?"

"Yeah.. Brod’rick is in charge t’night," Jason said quietly, standing between the two boys. "I don’ know how long I’m gonna be little like this.."

Broderick said, "I’m going to start making dinner. You guys can go ahead and play, and be nice to Jason," and then turned and walked off to the kitchen, leaving Jason with the two brothers. Russell wanted to continue his game and he promptly sat down and pulled Jason into his lap, holding the controller in front of him with Jason nestled between his arms.

He felt so tiny, sitting in Russell’s lap. His head was tucked under Russell’s chin and the five-year-old was ignoring him for the most part, satisfied to just have jason sit there while he played his game. Sam was less interested in the game and still somewhat distracted by the novelty of having his 17-year-old babysitter sitting in his little brother’s lap instead of the other way around. Jason sat there wide eyed, holding very still. When he’d watched the boys before he didn’t like to touch Russell unless he absolutely had to, and to Russell there was no such thing as personal space. Russell had relegated Jason to the status of playmate, and kindergartener mentality dictated that bigger kids where in charge, so this role reversal delighted him, and it was enough to claim Jason for his lap.

Broderick could watch through the open passage to the kitchen as he prepared some macaroni for his brothers and filled one of his sister’s old bottles with milk from the refridgerator, setting it in a pan of warm water. He knew that his brothers were rowdy, but they wouldn’t deliberately hurt Jason or make him feel miserable. They would tease him a little, sure, but they weren’t mean-spirited. While he was cooking he thought about how he would play it off when his parents got home. He could restore Jason to his real age but then his brothers would excitedly tell the story to everyone they knew. He could leave Jason little but that would be impossible to explain and Jason might actually tell on him. Not to mention the panic that would no doubt happen if it became known that a teenager had suddenly and mysteriously regressed to near-infancy. He’d have to find some way to make sure his brothers could keep a secret. Or, maybe there was more to his watch than he knew about previously.

He fished it out of his pocket and looked at it. The year reading indicated that it contained a ’charge’ of sixteen years, drained off of Jason. Hmm. Broderick played with the dials on it and set it to release a year, and pressed down on the knob. He felt the familiar sensation of age entering into him as his chest stretched his tank-top somewhat and his pants became a little bit tighter. Broderick was no longer thirteen, but fourteen. He thought about this a minute and then it dawned on him. His brothers would love to be older, even if it was just for a night.

When the macaroni was cooked and drained and the cheese sauce added and ready he spooned some of it into two bowls and dried off the now-warm bottle of milk and carried them out into the living room. "Dinner’s ready," he said. Russell slid Jason off of his lap and claimed his mac n’ cheese and Sam also took his bowl.

When Sam saw the bottle he asked, "Hey, can I give the baby his bottle?"

Broderick smiled and handed it to him. "Go for it," he said.

Sam had bottlefed his little sister before. He gathered Jason up and sat on the couch and held Jason back so that his head was nestled in the crook of his elbow and brought the rubber nipple up to the toddler’s mouth. Jason looked up at Broderick questioningly, and Broderick only smiled reassuringly. The small boy timidly opened his mouth and suckled at the bottle, hesitantly at first, and awkwardly, unused to drinking in such a manner. He found, though, that as he relaxed he settled into a steady rhythm of drawing milk into his mouth and swallowing it, his infant nursing mechanism asserting itself as his mind surrendered to his body. Jason wondered inwardly as he filled his belly with warm milk what other misfortunes could he possibly be made to suffer through tonight.

He found as he drank that the sensation of the rubber in his mouth soothed him, and this combined with the warmth of the milk and a full belly made him a little bit sleepy. The frustrations and excitement of the last hour had already worn him out and his mental fortitude had been so effectively eroded that drifting into a peaceful nap was almost inevitable. By the time the bottle had drained he was fast asleep.

"Should I go put him in the crib?" Sam asked quietly.

Broderick nodded. "Yeah, the poor guy. It looks like he’s already worn out."

Sam carefully stood up and cradled Jason in both arms, and returned him to the nursery. He leaned into his sister’s crib and laid the baby down in it, pulling a soft pink blanket over his babysitter. Sam pulled the side up and it clicked into place, ensuring that Jason would not be able to get out of the crib when he awoke without somebody to help him. Sam stood there for a moment, smiling at how cute Jason looked. As an afterthought, Sam took one of his sister’s pacifiers and gently slid it into Jason’s mouth, and the toddler’s suckling reflex pulled it into his mouth and it moved rhythmically for a few moments before it went still again and Jason simply held it in his mouth as he slept. Sam giggled a little at this and then left the room, closing the door and making sure to turn the doorknob so that it wouldn’t click.

In the living room Broderick was waiting. "Okay, guys, I’ve got something to show you," he said. He held the pocketwatch out to Russell. "Push down on that thing on top," he said. Russell did so, looking at the watch curiously. After the telltale click the hands on the watch began to spin very fast, and Russel grew perceptibly for a few moments, until instead of a five year old clad in underroos, he was now the age of his brother Samuel. In the shift in size, his briefs had completely disintegrated, now only shreds of cloth rested on the floor where he was sitting. Before anybody else had a chance to think twice about it, Broderick quickly took his watch from Russel’s hands.

Russell sat there, blinking. "Whoa! Make me as big as you!" he demanded, reaching for the watch again. Years of living with younger brothers had taught Broderick the fine art of keeping things he was holding out of reach of grabbing hands.

"Okay, but hold on, I have to set it first," Broderick said. "I’m the only person that knows how to work it." He fiddled with the dials for a few minutes and handed it back to his youngest brother. "Go ahead and push down on the dial again," he said.

Russell eagerly depressed the knob. Click, whirr, and he -- shrank! In another moment Rusell was a three year old, and Broderick had no trouble prying the watch from his hands. Broderick asked, "Do you know what I did that for?" Russell only shook his head wordlessly. "I did that because you tried to grab it out of my hands. Are you going to do that again?" Russell shook his head in the negative again. "Okay. I’m going to let you guys be older, but just for tonight, and only if you promise that this is our secret so none of us get in trouble, okay?" Russell and Sam both nodded eagerly. "I’m gonna let Sam go first this time."

Broderick set the watch again and handed it to Sam. He didn’t bother explaining how to activate the transformation as Sam had seen it take place twice already. Sam pressed the knob down and in another moment he was ten, and his clothes were very tight. And in a few more minutes Broderick had restored Russell to his eight-year-old age. "Sam, you know where mom keeps all my old clothes for you. And Russell can go ahead and just wear yours. And if you guys are good I’ll make you bigger!"

Some time later Jason stirred in his sleep, yawned, and awoke. It took him a good little while before he was completely alert, as he was very warm and comfortable and the blankets felt very soft to his sensitive skin. But when he opened his eyes he thought he was dreaming, as in those moments between sleep and wakefulness you can never really be too sure of what is real and what isn’t, and it looked to him that he was in some kind of cage, and the gentle smell of talcum powder was in his nose. And a moment later he was wide awake as he remembered everything; and realized that he must have fallen asleep and the boys had relegated him to sleep in their sister’s crib.

As he moved to rise he heard what was becoming the increasingly familiar sound of his diaper rustling against his skin and the dull plastic crackle of the protective sheet beneath the blankets upon which he lay. He sat up and as he did so he thought to call out for help but instead decided to take advantage of this moment of privacy to think about what had happened to him. Surely they couldn’t leave him like this, as his parents and their would be mortified! How do you explain the transformation of a highschool graduate into a helpless, dependent infant? Barring the scrutiny of news media and scientific inquiry, he did not anticipate with joy the thought of being returned to his family in this state. Would he have to live his life completely over? Would it be better if he pretended to be a baby in mind as well, rather than have them know that their grown-up son was forced to live as a toddler?

Jason remembered being bottlefed shortly before he fell asleep. It was the last he remembered, actually. He felt the pressure on his kidneys and the urge to relieve himself, and was inwardly grateful that he was not so far regressed that he lost control of his bodily functions to the extent of actually needing to wear a diaper. He was sure that Broderick would not actually want to have to change him and instead kept him in it simply as a status symbol, a reminder that he was the one being controlled rather than in control. Jason pulled the blankets from his waist and legs and examined the garment, running his fingers across the elastic of the waistband and the smooth plastic of the fastening strip just under his belly. The swell of the padding between his legs was almost comical in his eyes, so smooth and white, almost like he was wearing a pillow.

What time must it be by now? It was about five o’clock when he was being fed, but he had no way of knowing how long he’d been asleep. It occured to him that Broderick had made a small babysitting error in allowing him to fall asleep; because if you let a child have a nap too late in the day then they won’t get to sleep until later than they should that evening. But Jason chided himself for thinking this, he was, after all, not a baby. At least, not in his mind.

His thoughts were interrupted by the more insistent pressure on his kidneys, and he stood up in the crib, steadying himself with the bars, and decided to try to call out for assistance from one of the older boys. When he tried to make words, though, he found that all he could manage was a muffled "Mmmmmm!" And with the door closed, he knew that it was hardly loud enough to get the attention of the boys who would be playing down the hallway. How did this happen? He hadn’t lost the ability to speak or articulate words when he was reduced to this state, though his softened palate and youthened brain’s chemistry had given him a lisp and a somewhat poorer ability to construct spoken sentences.

At that moment, though, the door opened and Broderick entered, much to Jason’s relief. And what was more, Broderick had Jason’s clothes, his real clothes, folded and tucked neatly under his arm. Finally! Jason would be restored to his proper age and he could go home later this evening and never think about this embarassing episode again. Broderick closed the door, turned on the lights, set the clothes on the changing table, and sat down in the armchair facing the crib. "Didja have a nice nap?" he asked pleasantly.

Jason tried to answer, but again, the "mmmm," was all that come out.

Broderick looked very amused. "Silly baby," he said. "It would help if you took this out first," and leaning over moved his hand toward Jason’s and pulled something from his mouth -- a pacifier. Jason had been nursing a pacifier completely unaware of his doing so.

It took him a moment to process this and blush from the realization that he’d been doing it in front of Broderick, and how silly he must have looked trying to speak with it in his mouth. How much he must have looked like a baby, standing in a crib with a pacifier, making unintelligible baby sounds, wearing only a diaper and a t-shirt. He blushed and stuttered out his request. "Brod’rick, I has to pee.."

Broderick tousled his hair. "It’s okay, Jason. I’ll change you if you wet. That’s what babies do."

Jason blinked. "But.. you got my clothes," he said, looking up at Broderick helplessly. "I thought you was gonna make me big?"

Broderick grinned. "I brought in your clothes because I wanna show you something. When the watch takes years off of somebody it keeps them inside it and then if you want you can let them back out." He turned his back to Jason and undressed himself, and then took from his clothes the pocketwatch. Jason could only watch with a mixture of fear and fascination as Broderick wound and clicked the watch and then a moment later grew -- to the age of eighteen years old. And Broderick had grown into a very impressive young man, tall and wide-shouldered, tan, toned, and athletic. He turned to face his tiny babysitter and rested his wrists on the railing of the crib. Jason wanted to look up into his face but his eyes were staring at something much lower, now eye-level with him in his place in the crib. A much lower, much more masculine voice came from Broderick. "Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, man, it must be as big around as your arm! I don’t think I wanna let you have this back, now."

Jason stood there, mouth agape. He had never felt so small in his life. Broderick had, quite literally, stolen his manhood.

Broderick dressed himself in Jason’s clothes, and they were a somewhat tighter fit as not only was Broderick about a year older than Jason had been, but Broderick was also in much better shape. Broderick made them look good. After he had finished getting dressed he reached into the crib to lift Jason out, and held him close with one hand steadying his side, the other supporting his bottom. When he did so, he felt the telltale warmth of a wet diaper through the plastic. "Uh-oh," Brodrick said. "Looks like it’s your turn to get changed, little Jason."

Little Jason noticed it too as soon as Broderick had held him like that, but did not know that he’d done it. He must have unwittingly wet himself when he was watching Broderick’s transformation, or saw the result of it. Broderick was now a fully grown adult, and Jason the helpless baby who had a wet diaper that needed to be changed. Jason was laid upon the changing table as he’d had the first time a few hours ago, and the tapes fastening his diaper closed were undone. It seemed that this time was somehow more embarassing, if it were possible, after having watched Broderick and seen him nude.

Broderick pulled the diaper open and slid it out from under Jason, then tossed it into a nearby wastebin. He clucked his tongue softly and chidingly as he gently wiped Jason’s sensitive skin and went about cleaning him up. Jason felt completely exposed, and though he wanted to protest he knew that there was nothing he could do.

He needed to be treated this way. If the children that he was expected to look after could reduce him so effectively to a dependent toddler, then he knew that that was all he really deserved to be. Broderick was now wearing Jason’s pants while he dressed Jason in his sister’s diapers, and Jason knew that this was right.

Broderick effortlessly lifted Jason’s lower half with one hand and laid him onto a fresh diaper, then sprinkled dry talcum powder into it and onto Jason’s lower belly, groin, and inner thighs. He pulled the diaper up between the toddler’s legs and fastened it securely, and then lifted the tiny boy up, cradling him gently in his arms. "Time for you to go play for a bit," Broderick said simply.

Jason was carried into the bedroom that Russell and Sam shared, where the two younger boys were playing with action figures. Broderick carefully closed a thigh-high toddler gate behind him as they entered, which clicked shut. The room was the same that Jason remembered but it seemed that the two boys were older. He recognized Russell and Sam both, though Russell was now apparently Sam’s previous age of about eight or nine and Sam was a few years older as well, though not as old as Broderick used to be. Wonderful. The years Broderick had stolen from him he was passing out to his brothers. Even if Broderick was planning on restoring them all back to the way they were before the night was through the boys would never respect him as an adult, not after he spent a night in their care as a baby.

"I’m going to go wash the dishes and clean up in the kitchen," Broderick said. "You guys take care of Jason and be nice to him. I don’t want to hear him crying."

The two younger boys nodded as little Jason was set down with them. Jason looked up at the now enormous Broderick and watched him easily step over the gate as he left the room. Jason was stuck in this room, there was no way his feeble hands would be able to manage the latch even though he did know how to operate it. Again he was at the mercy of the two older "younger" boys. He looked up at them and they were both grinning.

Russell said, "Brod’rick let us be older because he said that watch took alla the how old you are out of you an’ kept it inside an’ it can be let back out again and that’s how we got bigger." Russell’s sketchy ability to construct sentences hadn’t improved any despite his larger size. He was sitting on the floor with his gi-joes and his power rangers and dressed in bluejeans. No shirt. Old habits die hard, apparently.

Sam was still fascinated by Jason’s transformation. "Jason, do you still remember everything? I mean about being big and all?"

The inquisitive stare he was recieving made Jason squirm. "Yeah.. I remember bein’ bigger an’ goin’ to school an’ everything. An’ I know how old I really am." He swallowed and looked down. Hearing his own piping, girlish little-boy voice say all these things was so alien to him.

"Did you say it was okay for Broderick to do that?"

Jason bit his lip. "Naw."

Sam started to giggle. "So he turned you into a baby and you can’t do nothin’ about it? What if he doesn’t change you back?"

Jason blushed and continued to stare at the toys in front of him, and held his toes in his hands as he sat on the floor. Until Sam snatched him up and scooted him into his lap, and started to tickle him. Then Jason could not help but start to giggle as well, very much against his will, as he squirmed about it the larger boy’s lap and was held by him.

Sam continued to tickle as he teased the helpless child. "Broderick and us are gonna stay big and you’re gonna have to go home like that and then you won’t get to babysit us anymore and then we’ll be babysitting you from now on! And you’ll have to take naps in the crib and I’ll feed you bottles and my sister will be potty trained before you!"

Throughout this whole litany of terrors Jason continued to giggle and squeal, and maybe because of the tickling and because of Sam’s lighthearted tone what he was saying didn’t seem so bad. He could go home to his family and just be their little baby boy and not have to worry about anything like school or jobs or girlfriends, and have everything taken care of for him. And certainly Broderick was turning out to be a skilled babysitter, much more capable than Jason was if Jason couldn’t look after three boys without being taken under their control.

A few more minutes of frantic tickling and squirming and giggling and then both boys relaxed, Jason lying on his back across Sam’s crossed legs, his bottom settled in the nook of the older boy’s lap. Sam smiled down at how sweet and innocent his little babysitter looked and Jason’s eyes glittered with laughter, and he couldn’t help but to smile back. Sam gently took one of Jason’s hands and curled it in his own, and led Jason’s thumb to his mouth. After a moment’s hesitation, Jason began to suck on it. When Sam saw this his smile broadened and he lifted the little boy up to noisily blow raspberries into his exposed belly, and the room filled with the peals of Jason’s laughter.

The three boys played together while Broderick carried out Jason’s expected duties of cleaning up after dinner, and Broderick could hear the sounds of merriment coming from their room. He was inwardly pleased with this; he was worried that his brothers would be completely terrible to to Jason and it was nice to see how well they all got along. Jason was very mild and placid when he was grown and perhaps not surprisingly, he made a very tame and well-behaved baby boy. It would be nice, Broderick thought, if it was somehow possible to keep him that way, and not just because Broderick liked being in charge. It was because while Jason was a rather tepid babysitter, he was a very cute baby.

Broderick figured that there was no point in disturbing them if they were all getting along just fine and he kept himself entertained with videogames for a while and contemplated the lingering problem of how to make sure there were no complications after his parents got home. He was certain by now that neither his brothers nor Jason would rat him out, but that still seemed to him to be an imperfect solution. In all of his fooling around with the watch before, when he had exhausted the years kept in it after restoring himself to his normal age there was a sensation that had accompanied it that was not like the rest of the transformations -- sort of like being immersed in cool water and momentarily permeated by it as the watch emptied itself out.

And as it stood there were still a few more of Jason’s years left inside the watch that Broderick had not used on himself or his brothers. Broderick was eighteen, Russell was eight, and Sam was ten. There were five of sixteen unused years. Broderick turned the watch over thoughtfully in his palm with his thumb and forefinger. Well, he thought to himself, his brothers were being very helpful and were not mistreating baby Jason, he could reward them by distributing the remaining time to them and see what happened when the watch emptied itself.

A while after it had gotten dark Broderick leaned against the doorway of his younger brothers’ room, watching the three boys play together with visible approval. "Hey, you guys wanna watch a movie?"

Russell jumped right up and Sam looked up at the same time. Russell said, with his rushed enthusiasm, "Yeah," while jumping over the gate in the doorway and dashing past his older brother.

Sam gathered Jason into his arms as he stood up to follow his brother out into the living room. He said in the baby-talk voice he used for his little sister, "Le’ss go watch a movie, Jason!"

When they were gathered in the living room Broderick announced to them, "Since you guys were so good I’m going to let you get bigger," and all three boys brightened. "Russell first this time," he said, "But I think you should go into your room and do it so that you can get undressed and grow without ripping anymore clothes."

Russell bolted excitedly to his room, followed by Broderick. A few moments later a ten-year-old Russell came back out, looking nearly identical to his brother Sam.

"Sam’s turn," Broderick said.

Sam deposited Jason into a mesh-walled playpen that sat beside the couch, and Jason watched them go. Jason sat there, surrounded by toys of brightly colored plush and plastic. After a moment it occurred to him that Broderick most likely meant his brothers and that Jason was expected to play out the role of Baby Jason for the rest of the night; if not longer. His musing was interrupted by a very strange sensation. It felt as though somebody had slowly poured a basin of water on him and his skin tingled. He looked over at Russell through the semitransparent fabric of the playpen, and it was obvious that Russell was feeling it too.

And then a moment later Jason was blinking his eyes as strange memories entered into his mind. He remembered still very clearly riding his bike over to the Hiatt home earlier in the afternoon, and remembered without difficulty his school graduation and the details of his home life, but other memories had appeared concurrent with those he already had. Memories of sitting in the shopping cart at the grocery store with his mother earlier this week, memories of being driven here strapped into a child’s safety seat to be watched by his older brothers’ friends at Lyssa’s house. Memories of being taken to the pediatrician for his checkup a few weeks ago, and more distant memories of his mommy and daddy being excited about his first step, his first word. He remembered going to Lyssa’s third birthday party and thinking she must be a big kid because he wasn’t even two yet. These things were suddenly very familiar to him despite his absolute knowledge that he was not a baby when he arrived today.

Broderick and Sam came back, and they both looked at Russell and little Jason in the playpen with the same peculiar fascination that Russell and little Jason looked up at them. Jason knew that he was the babysitter but he remembered being excited and a little bit scared that tonight he’d be over at their house and that Broderick was gonna babysit him for the first time. And clearly the same duality of timelines was present in the minds of the other three boys, because it was plainly visible on their faces.

Broderick smiled knowingly down at little Jason. It was starting to look like things would sort themselves out very neatly after all. He leaned over the edge of the playpen and lifted the toddler out with his broad hands under the little boy’s arms, and sat down with his brothers on the couch. After draping a blankie around Jason and snuggling him close to keep him warm, the lights went out and they all settled in to enjoy a Disney movie and each other’s company.

The process of concurrent memories had taken place with the other three boys as well. Broderick remembered now graduating from highschool with honors and winning a full-ride athletics scholarship to the state university. He remembered being a track star and going to parties with his friends and being the sought-after prize of every attractive young girl at the highschool. Babysitting Jason’s older brothers, because they were friends of his own brothers and Broderick had demonstrated himself to be dependable and responsible before. He remembered. While Jason was enrapt in the cartoons on the television Broderick looked down at his tousled head with a new fascination. Broderick could remember when Jason had been born, almost two years ago. And tonight would be his first time with a babysitter.

About halfway into the movie Brodrick slid Jason off of his lap and let him sit on the couch while Broderick got up to go into the kitchen. Jason remained swaddled in the warm blankets, nestled against a corner of the couch. He was mostly absorbed in the movie but the motion brought him back to reality for a few minutes while Brodrick was away. He was so tiny! His little legs didn’t reach to the edge of the cushion, it seemed like a queen-size bed to him. There was no thought of trying to scurry away while Broderick had left him there; he still remembered the spanking earlier and didn’t want another one. And the little-boy mentality that was starting to manifest itself wanted to be good for Broderick.

Broderick came back with a bottle in hand and carefully stepped around his younger brothers to get back to his spot on the couch. He lifted the little bundled-up toddler easily and settled him back into his lap, unwrapping him a little bit so that Jason was lying in the nook of Broderick’s bare arm, with the blanket on top of them both. Then he brought the rubber nipple to Jason’s mouth, and Jason began to suckle at the bottle without complaint.

It wasn’t formula, it was simply warmed milk, and though Jason by this point was resigned enough to his status as helpless baby rather than responsible babysitter, he still felt demeaned and powerless by being made to nurse at a bottle held to his mouth rather than being allowed to feed himself and decide what and how to eat. He was governed, though, more by his awe of Broderick, the mental identity of a 20-odd month-old toddler that had begun to assert itself when the watch had emptied, and his nursing reflex than he was by his fading self-image as a teenaged highschool graduate. The taste and texture of the smooth rubber nipple in his mouth and the steady rhythim of drawing milk into his mouth and swallowing it was soothing, and after a moment his anxieties were forgotten and he was lost in the movie and the synaesthetic pleasure of his bottle.

While Jason was engaged with the bottle the phone rang. It was right next to where Broderick and Jason were sitting and Broderick reached over to answer it with his free hand. It was his mother.

When he heard her voice, Broderick’s heard leapt into his throat. This was it, the moment of truth. The voice on the phone said, "Hey, sweetie, how are things going so far?"

Broderick, who was ordinarily very self-assured and confident, stuttered a little bit. "Um, things’re goin’ good. How late are you guys gonna be out?"

"We won’t be home until really late. How is Jason doing, has he been acting up?"

There it was, the confirmation that the watch worked the way he thought it did. It felt as though the weight of the lingering furtive worry of the evening had been liften in whole from Broderick’s shoulders. "Well, he was a little fussy when he first got here but other than that he’s been a very good little boy," Broderick said with a grin, looking down at the child in his lap.

Jason had only registered that the phone had rang and that Broderick was talking to somebody, he was more interested in his bottle and the movie by this point to have any interest in what the conversation might be about.

Mrs. Hiatt continued. "You should go ahead and put him to bed pretty soon here, his parents will be by to pick him up in the morning. Have you fed him? Are your brothers being nice to him?"

Broderick settled back into the couch. "Yeah, Mom, he’s having his bottle right now. We’re watching a movie and then after that I’ll put him down for the night." He gave Jason’s soft thigh an affectionate squeeze, fingers brushing the hem of his diaper along his bottom. "Everything is under control," he said, pleased with himself.

The conversation ended and some minutes later Jason had finished his bottle, and had drifted off to a peaceful sleep in Broderick’s arms before the movie was over. Broderick cradled him gently in his arms as he stood, and carried the sleeping baby back to the nursery. He laid Jason in the crib and carefully tugged the small boy’s shirt up over his head, taking great care to ensure he would not be woken up. Broderick then tucked him in, kissed him on the forehead, and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.

It was light again when Jason woke up, but this time his first thoughts upon waking were of wondering whether he had dreamed the previous night’s episode of being reduced to a baby, or if he had dreamed being grown up. As he gathered his thoughts and moved more fully to wakefulness he became aware of a slight irritation between his thighs, and around his groin. He had wet his diaper again, while he was asleep, and had remained wet long enough to develop a mild case of diaper rash. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, making a face at the sensation of his thick soggy diaper underneath him and the itchy feeling between his legs.

He was sure now that he had been regressed, because his memories were so clear of being a teenager. He could articulate sentences and thoughts in his head and he was confident no normal toddler would have that ability. But it was light, and that meant it was morning, and that meant that he must have stayed the whole night at the Hiatt home. But what about the boys’ parents? Wouldn’t they have come home by now and discovered the strange child sleeping in their daughter’s bed?

As if to answer his own question he heard a familiar voice very close to him. It was Lyssa! She was asleep with him at the other end of the crib and was beginning to wake up. But this must mean that the Hiatts had returned last night after he had fallen asleep? But this line of thought was deferred to deal with the more immediate concern of the waking toddler in front of him. Jason was again reminded of his reduced state when she sat up, yawning and blinking in the light, she was larger than he was because she was a year older. A year older than the baby he now was, not yet even two, Jason reminded himself. And it was more than likely, as Sam said the night before, that she would be out of diapers before Jason would. He used to wonder why her parents hadn’t toilet trained her yet and was now in the embarassing state of being not in any position to talk.

Lyssa looked at him and smiled with surprise. Her friend little Jason had stayed the night with her! "Dayson!" she said excitedly.

Jason didn’t know how to react, but thought it odd that she was able to recognize him. "Hi, Lyssa," he said, lisping a little bit. She was dressed in pink footed sleeper pyjamas; he had simply his wet diaper to cover his modesty. And what portion of him was still covered by the blankets. The door opened with a click and both children looked up.

It was Mrs. Hiatt. Lyssa lit up and stood immediately, saying with a delighted squeal, "Mommy!" Jason could only sit there with a trapped expression on his face. She knew, he thought. Broderick must have told her and now Jason was going to get it for letting the situation spin out of his control.

But Mrs. Hiatt was wearing only a very pleasant expression when she saw the two toddlers sitting in the crib. "Well good morning, you two," she said cheerfully, lifting her daughter out of the crib first. "Lyssa, did you wet?" she asked.

Lyssa shook her head happily. "Nuh!" she said.

Mrs. Hiatt seemed very impressed. "Good girl! Big girls don’t wet the bed. You’re a big girl, aren’t you, Lyssa?"

Lyssa beamed with this praise. And then she pointed to Jason to alert her mother to his presence. "Dayson!" she said simply.

Jason’s mouth was slightly open and he was afraid. Mrs. Hiatt said, "That’s right sweetie, Jason stayed the night, didn’t he? It’s his first time being babysat. Isn’t that right, Jason?"

First time being babysat? Did that mean that she didn’t know he used to be a teenager? He couldn’t manage to answer, he was too afraid and confused. The childrens’ mother only clucked her tongue affectionately. "Tch. Aw, you’re so shy, aren’t you?" She set her daughter onto the floor and then reached into the crib to lift Jason out. The experienced mother slid two fingers under the hem of his diaper as she held him. "It looks like Jason’s wet, though, aren’t you? Let’s get you changed before your mommy comes to pick you up."

Jason’s mind was spinning. Did she really think he was a baby or was she teasing him? And if she thought he was a baby, would everybody else? He remembered that this was going to be his first time with a babysitter, so of course that must explain it. To Mrs. Hiatt and to Lyssa, all they knew now was little baby Jason. No doubt the boys remembered, because they had been changed to different ages, but he knew now that he would be going home to a life of bottles and preschools and diapers and playpens, not to colleges and part-time jobs.

Lyssa giggled and pointed at Jason’s drooping diaper. "Dayson wet!"

"Yes, Jason’s wet his diaper, sweetie. But that’s okay because he’s just a baby, he’s not big like you, and babies wet their diapers when they sleep." Mrs. Hiatt laid him on the changing table and regarded him with affection. "Lyssa’s diapers are a bit big on you, aren’t they, hon? I guess that’s a good thing, since you wet at night. She’ll be potty trained in just a little bit and then we can give her leftovers to you." She undid the plastic tapes fastening his diaper together and it flopped open, heavy and sodden. She quickly removed it and disposed of it, leaving the transformed toddler naked on the changing table. Jason blushed involuntarily, still not fully accustomed to the ritual of being stripped down and swabbed by strangers.

He thought to himself of the irony that Lyssa’s diapers would be ’too big’ for him. He was so little that his diaper size was less than hers. Lyssa’s mother wiped him down with a scented wipe, cooing to him and pursing her lips when she saw his rash. She produced from the dresser a tube of cream and worked it between her fingers for a moment before applying it to his sore areas. He started a little bit with the sensation of the cold but it felt very good on his reddened sensitive skin.

She continued, sprinkling him with the sweet-smelling talcum powder, and producing a fresh clean disposeable diaper. She opened it and deftly lifted his bottom into the air, holding him by his ankles, and slid the thick garment underneath him. Up it came, between his legs, and taped over his belly. No longer would he wear tattered bluejeans; puffy, crinkly disposeable diapers would be his new uniform, reminding him constantly of his dependence on others and his diminished state.

"There we go, sweetie, all set! You two can play out in the living room until your mommy gets here." She set Jason onto the ground and took his hand, and her daughter’s hand, and led them out to the front room where Russel was watching Saturday morning cartoons. Russell had his priorities straight. You didn’t harass transformed babysitters when the Ninja Turtles needed your attention. There was not the slightest indication on his part that he even knew the two smallest children were in the room, ushered to a corner where Lyssa’s toys were.

But visible from the kitchen was Broderick, already up and pouring for himself a bowl of cereal, smiling at Jason knowingly. He winked, and then departed out of sight to have his breakfast.

Jason didn’t have much interest in toys, but saw no course of action he could pursue other than play the part. Lyssa seemed to take an active role in his play, showing him how the toys worked, how to stack blocks, and so forth. Jason couldn’t help but smile at this; if she only knew, she wouldn’t be treating like this. But then again, maybe she would.

Before too long there was a knock at the door, while the babies were playing with their toys and the house was still waking up and going about the business of preparing for an early summer saturday, and it was Jason’s mother. And sure enough, she paid Broderick for his excellent babysitting and gathered up little Jason and took him home.

And Jason went to a home where his familiar room was familiar now as a nursery, and he went home to afternoon naps in his crib and playing in toddler enclosures, riding on car trips in the car in a child safety seat and being taken for walks in his stroller. And lots of diaper changes. Though he would have liked to tell his mother what really happened he found that he could only articulate as well as any toddler, and could only be understood as one. He knew that this was his life now, and that the only hope he would have of being restored to his proper age was in Broderick, if perhaps the next time he was being babysat Broderick would let him have his old life back. But everybody loved little baby Jason, and little baby Jason knew that this was a very slim hope indeed.

 

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