College or Cribs

Chapter 5
Lunch with Dad

Chapter Description: Uh oh. Chris never quite imagined putting his Dad into this dream. It's still a dream, right? Right?!

Chapter 5: Lunch with Dad

It was eerily quiet on the car ride home. The girls were both burrowing into their respective books, Roxanne was focused on driving, and only a Raphey CD played for Chris’s benefit broke the silence. Christopher Cole IV wasn’t listening though.

Instead, Chris sat silently in his giant car seat, contemplating the upcoming lunch with his father. When he had woken up this morning (to his delight no less) as a giant baby, Chris hadn’t figured the fantasy would last this long. Everything from after he was carried out of a macro-sized nursery had been a surprise at this point.

Most of the stories he read online were either intensely intimate and private, or intensely public and humiliating. This had been both and neither at the same time. It had been intimate at the beginning, and became increasingly public. Then again, his sisters (who had not been part of the original fantasy script) had cared for him out of a sense of responsibility and knowing they’d be rewarded for it by their mother. There was nothing wrong with that, and Chris remembered sitting for the girls when he was in middle and high school due to similar obligations and selfish motivations-it didn’t mean he hadn’t loved his little sisters.

But in the stories, the baby was always the center of everyone’s world, either to the delight or the chagrin of the main character being regressed or babied. This morning, he had definitely been babied, but was otherwise being ignored provided he stayed quiet, much like the real deal.

Furthermore, while the public change in the parkingllot had been humiliating; it had been a private and rather low key humiliation, as had the rest of the public outing. It wasn’t like he was being carted around and people were gawking or laughing. It’s not like his babyishness was being pointed out constantly and mocked. Instead, his humiliation was his own and was neither purposefully provoked or prolonged and went unnoticed. So perhaps the word "humiliated" was a bit hyperbolic. "Embarrassed" was a more apt description.

That brought Chris to his current predicament: His father. Chris had a slightly complicated relationship with his dad- him having the hots for his step-mother not withstanding. Their relationship wasn’t cold and distant or hot and tempered. It had been lukewarm for as long as the young man could remember.

As a pre-med student, Chris was becoming the next chain in a long line of "Dr. Cole"s. He had that much in common with his father; and that’s where many of the similarities ended. For some reason, the Cole men had a well deserved reputation for making stoic and tight-lipped look gregarious. The opening scene from almost every episode of "King of the Hill" with the four men drinking beer and saying "yup" was more talkative than Dr. Cole.

Relatives on Roxanne’s side of the family would always joke that Dad’s tombstone would read: DR CHRISTOPHER COLE III M.D. DIDN’T COMPLAIN, DIDN’T EXPLAIN.

One of the few things that Chris’s father actually got talkative about was his job. Chris supposed that was one of the many reasons why he had been studying to become a doctor. Yeah, it was kind of expected of him like a family business, but more importantly it would give him and his dad something to talk about beyond the initial handshake, "Hello", and "How’s School?".

In this current situation, Chris wouldn’t even get that much. Chris thought back to when the girls were little and seemed to remember Dad doing his fair share of cooing and playing with them; but did he really want that? Being infantilized by his step-mom was both erotic and oddly comforting. The same treatment by his little sisters was at least kind of fun in that he now had the opportunity to pay them back for some of the heck they put him through. Granted that didnt work out so well with Bri- but he still got to experience being the sibling without responsibilities or expectations. Did he really want that same experience with his father? To be gushed over and treated like...well a baby?

More than anyone else, Chris had intended to hide his fetish from his father; his role-model of manliness. How humiliating and emasculating would it be to be found out like that? No, he didn’t consider himself a "sissy" in the ab/dl sense of the word....though he doubted few people outside the ab/dl community would make that distinction. He imagined that his father would have preferred to hear "Dad, I’m gay." over "Dad, I want to be treated like a baby." There were plenty of gay people out in the world who for all intents and purposes were still as conservative, white-collar, and WASPy outside of the bedroom.

Chris considered himself very open minded, liberal, and accepting of others. You kind of had to be if you had a fetish- in his mind anyway. It would have been hypocritical of him to take a stance like "I may like wearing diapers and sleeping in cribs, but at least I don’t have sex in a bear costume." or even "I might pretend to be a baby, but at least I pretend to be a baby boy" Instead Chris had inwardly and outwardly resolved to take the stance of "I don’t get the appeal myself, it’s not my thing, but more power to you if it makes sense and appeals to you as long as you’re not hurting anybody." Isn’t that how life in general should be? But at the same time, Chris couldn’t bring himself to out himself or become anything more than a passive head nodder activist. He had had nightmares about being outed in front of his father and just silently stared down as something less than a man in his father’s eyes- something less than human even.

As the car pulled into the garage, Chris had the distinct feeling that this was going to be one of those nightmares. Logically, whatever mechanism was making the whole world see him as a baby should also affect his father, but logic dictated that none of this should be happening in the first place.

Chris felt his diaper squish as Roxanne picked him up and it crinkled a little less loudly than before. Sometime during the car ride home Chris had wet his pants and hadn’t taken the time to realize it or enjoy it. He hoped that meant that Roxanne would change him again, if only to buy more time before the inevitable occurred. Maybe he’d wake up sticky and in his own bed right as the new diaper was being taped into place. At this point though, Chris would have settled for waking up in his own bed having accidentally wet and pooped in his sleep.

No such luck though. As they entered the house through the garage, Roxanne took a left towards the kitchen instead of the right that would have lead to the nursery. Chris took a deep breath, whether to brace himself or to start wailing as a distraction, he wasn’t sure, but by the time he had inhaled it was too late. Standing in the kitchen, dressed in his typical "casual wear" which meant slacks, belt, loafers, button up shirt and NO tie, was Chris’s father- Dr. Christopher Cole III, M.D.

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in regards to looks. Father and son looked very much alike. Similar facial structure, nose, even eye color. But while Chris wore his chestnut brown hair in almost a mop-top, Dr. Cole kept his hair this side of buzz cut. Either Dad had aged well, or he had found a hair dye that matched Chris’s particular hair perfectly. But who the heck dyed a buzz cut?

Also like father like son, neither of the Cole men had a beard. Facial hair was not a strong suit in the Cole family. Cole had tried growing out a full beard his freshman year of college and after weeks was rewarded with only a patchy and discolored goatee that combined with his mop top to make Chris more than resemble a certain cartoon character that was constantly being chased by ghosts along with his talking Great Dane. Dr. Cole wisely kept his professional look clean shaven.

"Hi Daddy", Samantha said looking up from her book.

"Hi Dad," Brianna echoed.

"Girls," their father said in acknowledgement, "went to the library I see. Get any good books?"

"Yeah." they both said before trotting off to the dining room table. Maybe Chris was the oddball in the family and it just wasn’t normal to talk more than a few words a a time.

Dad laid eyes on Chris and walked up to him. Chris braced himself and bit his lip in nervous apprehension. "There’s my big boy!" Dad said with a big smile on his face. He tousled Chris’s hair and looked to Roxanne. "What’s for lunch?"

Wait. That was it? All that for nothing? Sheesh, that was about as terrifying as it was rewarding and reaffirming....it wasn’t.

"Well we have plenty of fried chicken left over from a couple of nights ago," Roxanne said. I figured we could reheat it and have the rest for lunch."

Chris’s dad nodded briefly, then said "Don’t worry about it. Tastes better cold than reheated." He gave Roxanne a peck on the cheek and went over to the fridge.

Chris found himself being carried over to the dining room, as Sammy drug the oversized high chair to the table with one hand. Roxanne patted his crotch and squeezed the front of his diaper. "You’ll be okay till after lunch." she told him as she buckled him into the high chair.

Chris’s mouth began to water as Dad returned to the table with a tray of refrigerated fried chicken. He licked his lips absentmindedly. Surely they’d give some to him, even if it was cut up into little pieces. Samantha giggled a little bit, she seemed to pick up.

"Mom, I think Chris wants some fried chicken too," she informed as Roxanne returned with a plastic bowl and spoon in hand.

"Well, I think he might still be a little too young for fried chicken, honey," Roxanne told her eldest daughter, "but it’s nice of that you’re thinking of your brother." A bowl of discolored mush was put in front of Chris instead. Chris couldn’t help but frown and was rewarded with Bri giggling as she took a bite into a left over drumstick.

"So," Dad began once everyone- except Chris- had a piece of chicken on their plate, "what did you get at the library?"

"Drawing book." said Brianna curtly between mouthfuls. Dad nodded in a feigning interest sort of way.

"I got the next Warriors book," Sammy cut in.

"Oh?" said Dad.

"Yeah, it’s about-" Sammy then went into a detailed chapter by chapter recap of not only the entire book thus far but also important plot points that were tie ins from previous books in the series." Clearly Sammy had yet to fully grasp the art of summarizing, especially to a room full of people that did not especially care about the damn book.

Chris, for his part, allowed Roxanne to spoon feed him the mush in between bites of her own leftover chicken. He had already learned the hard way that he didn’t have much of a choice. Besides, it wasn’t that bad. It was some kind of pureed and starchy vegetable based on the taste, but it still had more flavor than the pablum he’d been given this morning.

Roxanne was continually whispering things like "There’s a good boy," and "good baby", and "just a couple more big boy bites." and other such nonsensical praises with each spoonful. Chris had never felt so accomplished with the simple act of eating a meal.

"Your chicken’s gonna be warm again by the time you’re finished, Sammy" Chris interjected between spoonfuls of baby food. Unsurprisingly, Sammy ignored his comment as gibberish as did the rest of the table.

Chris "harumphed" to himself as his witty remark went unnoticed and unheeded. Honestly, this day so far had been a real mixed bag. It felt very much like the kind of day he had expected to wake up to when he when he went to sleep: Breakfast, a little quality time with the siblings, and a pretty typical lunch, silent father included. Only now, he couldn’t really participate in any of the conversations and goings on as much as observe them. It honestly kind of sucked.

A sudden and growing need to urinate reminded Chris that not everything was the same at the moment. With guilty anticipation he looked around the table before his aching bladder had let loose. It had been a mere few seconds but it felt as if he had been holding it forever. A quiet hiss filled Chris’s ears as he released his stream into the already damp diaper. His nerve centers danced with pleasure as he felt the front of his crotch grow noticeably warmer and the sensation continued down into his backside.

He sighed and grinned to himself, noticing that no one had heard it, or at least cared. Then again, there were some fringe benefits to this scenario. His thumb slid up to his mouth and he began to suck on his thumb, loving just how little it made him feel. Roxanne noticed and put down the spoon for a moment so that she could eat her own lunch.

On one hand, he was in a high chair, wearing a wet diaper, eating spoon fed mush and sucking on his thumb. That was kind of weird. On the other hand, he was in a high chair, wearing a wet diaper, eating spoon fed mush and sucking on his thumb! That was all kinds of awesome! Funny how the same phrase could be viewed differently by two different parts of his psyche. It’s almost as if he was both an adult AND a baby...oh wait. Yeah.

"Speaking of the library," Roxanne cut in when Sammy was finally done ranting about a book that only she read, "little Chris here seems to have learned a very bad thing from one of his sisters."

"Oh?" Dad said looking up from his plate.

The girls immediately started pointing fingers at each other, grimacing in fear and not saying anything.

"Girls," Roxanne cocked an eyebrow, "which one of you taught Chris that?"

"Taught Chris what?" Dad asked, since no one had come out and said anything yet. Chris took that as his cue.

PFHHHH!

Chris blew into his thumb like it was a balloon and popped his middle finger up into the air. He popped his thumb out of his mouth and pretended to tie it off before folding it back over his pointer finger. There was exactly three seconds of stunned silence before the girls and Roxanne all erupted into surprised, shocked, and hilarious laughter. The table shook as Sammy and Bri both beat it with their fists for emphasis. Only Dad didn’t laugh. Soon no one was. Chris gulped a little, and he wasn’t sure, but he think he might hae wet a little more.

"Well," he spoke as the laughter died down into dreadful silence. "So long as he doesn’t make it a habit by pre-school, I think we can let it slide." Everyone let a sigh when Dad half-smiled and stood up from the table. Apparently lunch was over.

Dad walked out of the dining area toward the living room and sat in his favorite chair before turning on the TV. Roxanne cleared away dishes and took them over to the sink. Brianna walked up to the highchair and plopped a torn off piece of white meat with a little skin on Chris’s tray. Roxanne was still busy rinsing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher. Sammy was sitting at the table still, but once again engrossed in her book.

"Funny baby get chicken." she growl-whispered in one of her chipmunk voices, before walking away.

Chris unhesitatingly popped the meat in his mouth and began chewing. After nothing but mush all day, this was a gourmet treat. His taste buds cheered as the flavor of fourteen original herbs and spices coated his tongue. Big sister or little sister, whichever, he loved Bri at that moment.

Roxanne returned with a larger than normal baby bottle, filled with apple juice. She wiped Chris’s mouth with a bib and then handed him the bottle while she slid the tray away and unbuckled him from his high chair. Chris greedily gulped down the apple juice while she did so.

He continued downing the stuff while Roxanne picked him up, and he could really feel the wet diaper sagging between his thighs. Chris was not surprised when Roxanne walked him back into the nursery and laid him down on the changing table. He wasn’t surprised when the strap came across his belly and his shorts came down.

He kept drinking from the bottle while his step-mother removed the sodden undergarment and started wiping him down. He was drinking from a bottle while getting his diaper changed. A new high or low, depending on how you thought of it.

Chris was mildly surprised and disappointed that he didn’t wake up from this dream world as another new Pampers was brought up between his legs and taped in place. It would’ve been nice to end the dream on a high note, as it were. Chris was even more surprised when Roxanne didn’t put his shorts back on.

Instead she picked him up and brought him over to the crib he had woken up this morning. "Nap time," she whispered as she laid him down. She reached over and handed him his old teddy bear, Wubby. She yawned, and said "Mommy needs a nap too." Chris yawned back, yawns being contagious and all. Chris felt very tired suddenly. Maybe it was all the stress of this dream, or whatever it was. Maybe he had a baby’s sleeping habits to go with the lack of bladder control, muscle strength, and inability to read. Maybe he was just tired.

Regardless the reason, Chris felt a great sense of peace enter him as he closed his eyes and cuddled his teddy close and fell asleep.