Time Out

Chapter 1
Time Out

---

Chapter Description: You are never too old for a time out

---

You are never too old for a time out

The summer holidays were supposed to be a chance to relax, at least that’s what it was made out to be in movies and TV shows. Those weren’t exactly indicative of reality though.

“I DIDN’T TAKE IT!” All morning it had been like this with brother and sister at one another’s throats, so to speak. Now with them being twins you would think they would get along but that wasn’t the case at this time.

“YOU DID! NOW GIVE IT BACK!” More yelling, slamming doors, stomping feet and now the loud music. Really loud music.

This was going to be one of those long seasonal holidays for sure, the schools had only just closed for summer barely a few days ago and this also meant the college was closed for the duration. She had thought that having twins to care for when they were babies was hard enough but now that those babies are in their late teens at college age she found that they had been easier to cope with when they had been babies.

Their dad had already retreated to his work and with her being on holiday as well then she had hoped for some peace and quiet since work was stressful enough without having to put up with two hormonal time-bombs like her late teen children.

Anyone who said that the terrible twos were worse clearly never had to cope with teenagers.

She hoped that this would be the last of their arguing for the time being with any luck.

~

About two hours or so into her relaxing and they were at it again, yelling about something and she had just had enough of it.

She was going to have to take matters onto her own hands if she hoped to get some peace.

Something her grandmother had used before on her and her own siblings years ago might come in handy, if she could remember where she had last seen it. Her grandmother had given it to her before the twins were born, suggesting that if it needed to be used again then it was better at hand than not.

If she could just remember where she had last seen it.

“GET LOST!” This is followed by a door slamming, she couldn’t take any more of this arguing between the two of them. Where was it? Ah, yes, now she remembered.

Heading to the main bedroom, she checks in her side of the wardrobe and finds what she’s looking for safely tucked away underneath an old rain coat that she used to wear before the twins had been born.

It didn’t seem like it had been almost twenty one years since then, they were both nineteen and she had met their dad at least four years before they had been born, she had been wearing the coat when she had met him.

Taking it out from it’s box, she checks that it’s useable by testing it on herself briefly by taking off a few days, it still worked, good. She had to be careful with using it since she didn’t want to go back too far and have to rely on her kids to care for her.

Now to settle their arguing which meant a time out first.

“Karie, Kevin, here now!” They knew not to ignore their mum when she yelled for them, she was firm but fair and she did love her children but she was quite capable of making them listen whenever she raised her voice. Their dad tended to be a little to soft with them.

Running footsteps can be heard racing down the hall and the twins appear in the room seconds later.

“It’s her fault, mum, she took my-” A single glare silences her son before he can complete his sentence.

“I don’t want to hear it, you’ve been at one another’s throats all morning and I’m tired of it” They almost looked alike in many ways, they both had the same colour of hair, the same eye colour and almost the same facial structure despite the puberty induced differences – Karie looking more like her mum in the chin and nose while having her dad’s eyes and her grandmother’s brow and cheeks while Kevin looked more like his dad in the cheeks and chin and more like his mum around the eyes and brow with his nose looking a little like his grandfather’s.

They had looked so much alike when they had been younger that it was surprising to see how much changes puberty had brought to them in regards of their physical appearance. Personality wise they were like a mix of their parents and their grandparents, Karie was intelligent but stubborn with a tendency to take action before thinking things through which usually got her into trouble while Kevin was intelligent but less stubborn, he tended to be the first to argue and the last to compromise.

While they did both have brotherly and sisterly love for one another, they were complete opposites in several regards when usually resulted in arguments even when they were trying to get along.

“What’s that in your hand, mum?” Karie asks, she was trying to avoid touching her brother in case this resulted in another argument and their mum coming down hard on them. Danielle, unlike her husband Neil, took after her grandmother when it came to dealing with a problem. Neil wasn’t a firm hand with the twins and tended to let them off lightly with any annoyances, their mum on the other hand was not so forgiving.

Her grandmother had taught her that a woman had to stand firm when it came to bad behaviour, one of the many things her grandmother had taught her.

“This, Karie, is what my grandmother called the Time Out. Her great, great, great grandmother had made it and it was used to make sure that any misbehaving children in the family would learn their lesson” The Time Out felt warm in her hand even though it had been decades since it had last needed to be used, the last time had been on her big brother after he had committed a grave crime and her grandmother had delivered her own punishment on him by removing his eldest in the family status.

The Time Out is a small tube like looking device with engravings and small notches on it that can be moved easily, how it worked exactly she didn’t know, her grandmother had only said that it was tied in with the women of the family and could only be used by them.

She had experienced it’s effects herself when she had angered her mum back in her own teen years, her punishment had taught her to avoid being an annoyance again.

And now it needed to be used again.

“Karie, Kevin, time out for the next few days until you’ve learned your lesson and learn how to get along with one another” Moving the notches to where she needed them to be, her grandmother had taught her how to use it, she points the Time Out at her children.

“Time out” As she says those words the Time Out starts to glow a soft purple for a second before the glow appears around her children.

The glow only lasts around three seconds and once it fades the changes begin, first their clothing changes as it takes on an almost infantile appearance with their lower clothing fading away and being replaced with thick nappies, their upper clothing changing to t-shirts with babyish designs on them, almost like something a toddler would wear.

Then the next set of changes kick in as they both shrink, their features becoming younger at a fast pace as they go through puberty in reverse, baby-fat returning quickly. The process takes less than a minute and where there were two teenagers in their late teens are now two toddlers around two or three years old.

Neither of them say anything at first due to being surprised at the sudden reduction in height, the shock at their new ages kicks in shortly after.

“MUMMY!” Both of them cry at the same time as the realisation kicks in at what’s just happened to them.

“You’ll both still retain your more developed mindsets in part but you’ll feel the effects of mindsets more fitting to your age very soon as well, if you don’t learn from your behaviour then I’ll make you both even younger and you’ll both have to grow up again instead of in a few days. Is that understood?” Both toddlers nod their heads and she has to stop herself from remarking on how adorable they both were, first they had to understand before she could let herself baby them.

She did have to admit that they were extremely cute at this age though.

“It better be, now let’s get you both to your time out chairs which should have appeared with all the other changes”

~

Her grandmother had explained to her that when the Time Out is used it can cause changes as long as the changes were asked for, the changes she had asked for was to make sure she had everything required for caring for two toddlers and that had been done.

Where there had been two bedrooms that indicated two teenagers were now a playroom in one room and a twin nursery in another with all the supplies she needed as well as two toddler beds, in the kitchen were booster seats for two small children to sit on when sitting at the table. She had considered high chairs but decided on booster seats instead.

Maybe she’ll add high chairs later though. There was also baby bottles and sippy cups, the twins had liked to drink from both when they had been toddlers, as well as additional food for toddlers to eat.

In the living room was now a toy box with toys for them to play with and the requested time out chairs. Letting go of her children’s hands for a moment, it had felt nice to be holding their hands again after so long since she had almost forgotten how tiny they had used to be, Danielle moves the two chairs to two opposite corners before calling the twins over to her.

“Kevin, you sit over there. Karie, you sit over there. You are both in time out and you will stay there until I feel you’ve learned our lesson or you both have, by then you’ll both likely need your nappies changed. Any arguing and I’ll make you both into infants in full, is that understood?” It had been a while since had needed to use a time out as a punishment with her kids, the last time being when they had both been about six years old. It had always been effective with them and she hoped that it would be effective again.

The twins look at one another, Karie with her longer hair and Kevin with his shorter hair, both of them looking adorable as they thought about what had happened.

“Yes mummy” Both of them say at the same time before they toddle over to their respective chairs and sit down, a time out in a toddler’s eyes was a horrible punishment but they did as they were told.

Satisfied that they were going to stay there they were for the time being, Danielle takes the time to return to her book and to enjoy the peace and quiet that two sulking toddlers would allow.

~~

After an hour of peace, the two toddlers toddle over to their mum and clamber up on the sofa to cuddle with her, this meant they were sorry. Giving them both a hug and checking their nappies, Danielle gives them a kiss on their foreheads once done.

“Let’s get you both changed and you can play afterwards, okay?” Two nods in reply meant that was fine, it had been a while since she had last changed nappies. So setting her book down and picking her children up, she takes them up to the nursery to be changed while delighting in the strong maternal feelings she was experiencing again after so long.

It was hard to feel these kind of feelings when your children were becoming adults even when you still saw them as babies in your mind, her mum had told her after the twins had been born that she would always see her children as the little babies who had been suckling on her breasts at that time.

Her mum had been right, she couldn’t stop seeing them as her babies even as they were entering adulthood. Using the Time Out on them had been the best thing to do for herself and them.

Once they are both cleaned up and changed, Danielle takes them through to the playroom and sets them down, this may be punishment but she didn’t want them to be miserable through the whole thing and they had clearly both accepted what had happened which was good to see.

“Go ahead and play then, nappy bums” Watching them toddle over, their thickly padded backsides wiggling away, to their toys made her maternal feelings even stronger, she had to fight the desire to keep them like this even though it was tempting.

She had placed their lives on hold with this and she didn’t want to take them away completely no matter how much she loved having her children at this age again.

Her grandmother would say that there was a point to when you had to learn to let go, keep the memories in your heart but let go so that your babies can experience life. Easier said than done.

She missed her grandmother a lot.

~

Since the twins had clearly learned their lesson then the next few days were pretty much peaceful for the most part, they had accepted their return to toddler-hood well which was good to see. Neil had to admit, when he gotten home from work, that this was better than having the usual teen problems driving them both mad.

Being able to carry them both on his shoulders again had been one of the first things he had done after Danielle had explained to him why they were toddlers again, the laughter and joy from the twins as their parents played with them had been so wonderful to hear. She really didn’t want it to end.

The nappy changes weren’t a general problem, both her and Neil took responsibility in caring for the twins and other things like feeding, bath times, bedtimes and such were welcome compared to the arguments and noise of before.

The days passed though and soon the last few minutes approached.

~

It didn’t seem like a few days to her, it felt like it had only been a handful of hours. As she watched them play she wondered about how things might be once they aged back to their previous ages, would the arguments start again or did they really learn their lesson? Was she and Neil going to be able to adapt to not having two young children to care for again?

Neither of them were able to have kids again since they had both made a choice to prevent that due to their careers, they did both regret it though and Danielle had to admit that she really liked being a parent despite it’s hardships.

Maybe they would have kids of their own someday and then she could be a grandparent, but would it feel the same? Would she find the same delight and joy in being a grandparent as she did being a parent? Rediscovering that joy over the past few days had been unexpected, she had only intended on punishing them for their behaviour, not wishing to have the years of them being so young back again.

It was hard to let go of that joy.

All good things though.

Looking over to the twins she can see a soft purple glow appear around them, goodbye nappy bums.

As before the glow lasts a few seconds and she watches as the toddlers start to age, their clothes changing to match as they return to their late teens.

Less than a minute and her two teenage children are back in full.

“Hopefully you’ve both learned from your prior behaviour then” Danielle remarks, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

Hopefully they had.

~~

Tiptoeing into her brother’s room later that night, Karie bends over her brother and whispers to him.

“Kevin, let’s find that thing that mum used on us and get some payback, Kevin!” It had been kind of fun to be toddler again but she wanted some revenge, she was glad that none of her friends had seen her like that.

All she had to do was find it.

Never too old for a time out

 

---