Snow Days and More

Chapter 3
Part Three

"Nick, come downstairs please," Mom called to me at 8:30. I got off my bed and turned off the TV, heading down the stairs. Mom was in the den, sitting on the couch. She had a plastic shopping bag on the floor in front of her, and I could see the blue packaging of GoodNites sticking out.

"What Mom, I have to go to bed," I said.

"Well, actually, if you want, you have until 10:00. I just got one of those automated phone calls from the school. Your school is closed for at least a week. I guess the roof over one of the classrooms caved in from the snow, and they need to repair it, and inspect the rest of the roof. Only, they can’t do that until all the snow is cleared off."

"Wow. No one was hurt, right?"

"No, thank God. I called Beth Louis (my friend Jay’s Mom, and one of the kindergarten teachers at my school) to get more info. I guess Mr. Jasper (the maintenance man) was there, plowing the driveways and whatnot, when he heard what he thought was a bomb go off. He called the police, but it was just the roof."

"So what if they can’t fix the roof in a week? What then?"

"Well, I guess they’ll have to do like what they did when that fire broke out. Do you remember that?"

"Yea, I was in pre-K, right?"

"Yep. You got out of school altogether. But the older kids were put in the high school. They made these makeshift classrooms in the gym, in the cafeteria, in the auditorium, all over the place. They may have to do that again."

"That’d be cool, I guess," I said, then pointed. "Mom, what are those?" meaning the bag. I mean, I knew what they were, but if I had until 10:00, and it was only 8:30, then why’d she have them out already?

"These? Remember I told you I bought diapers and Pull-Ups and GoodNites? Well, these are the GoodNites. Dr. Wubble said to try them, Nick, remember? Now, I’m sorry about the diapers and training pants. I am. I lost my cool. You’re not a baby. You’re my young man. Anyway, these are for you. I want you to put them away. If you want to hide them, for when Jay or Frank come over, fine. But I want you in one at 9:45 tonight. And trust me, Nick, if you wet tonight, it’ll be better than waking up soaked from head to toe, and have to spend an hour cleaning up. Just get up, take the wet GoodNites off, clean up your body a little, and start your day off a lot better than you have been."

"I guess. How long do I have to wear them, Mom? A few days?"

"Maybe...I’m going to call some places tomorrow, Nick, some therapists, to see if they can meet with you. Maybe Dr. Wubble is right. You just need someone to vent to, about Dad leaving, about me being a jerk sometimes, about Mona, all of it. For now, why don’t you go grab some food? I saved some lasagna for you in thr fridge. I don’t want my doober going without dinner."

I was hungry, having only had a small bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a sandwich at lunch, plus with sledding all morning, then the hard afternoon, my energy reserves were low. I heated up the lasagna, then went to head to my room again. Mom handed me the bag, though, of GoodNites before I could ’forget’ about them.

In my room, I found a nice hidey-hole for the shameful package in my closet, behind a box of clothes I refused to wear, but Mom wouldn’t let me get rid of. My Nana, Mom’s Mom, thought that since I wore a size 6, I must like the characters that are on a lot of clothes that size. Like, the Power Rangers and Go, Diego, Go. Stuff like that. All the clothes (and toys) Nana sent were for a six-year-old or younger. Mom wouldn’t let me get rid of them, because I had to wear them whenever Nana visited. Thankfully, she lived far enough away that we only say Nana about once a month.

At 9:30, Mom called up to me to remind me to get ready for bed, but really, I was almost there. I had my pajamas on already, and was laying in bed watching a movie on my DVD player. I had forgotten (actually forgotten, not sarcastically forgotten) one thing.

"I’m already ready, Mom," I called back down. "I’m really tired."

She showed up a moment later, and asked if I had my special pants on. I paused the movie, and looked at her with the face that told her at once I had honestly forgotten. She asked me where they were.

"In my closet, behind the clothes Nana gets me," I said in reply. Mom went over and took out the package, opening it up. She took one out, and handed it to me.

"Off you get, Nick, to the bathroom. Change into that, and then get to bed."

"Aw, Mom, do I have to?" I whined. I knew that whining made me sound younger than eleven, but I was tired enough I didn’t care.

"Yes, you have to. Now scoot. Or I won’t let you stay up to weekend hours tomorrow night."

I took the GoodNites from Mom, and to my amazement, they felt like briefs. Okay, they were a little thicker, like two pair of briefs stuck together, but I had feared they’d feel like a diaper. I wasn’t totally digging the racecar design on them. At least it’s not like Elmo or something babyish, I told myself.

In the bathroom, I slid my pajama pants down, then my boxers. I took a moment to play with my tool, wondering when it would grow. After a second, I sighed, and pulled on the GoodNites.

And all in all, it wasn’t bad. They weren’t at all like a diaper. They didn’t crinkle at all, and when I pulled my pajama pants back on, I couldn’t tell at all in the full length mirror I had one on. My cousin Rachel wore diapers, and you knew it. She’s two, and there’s always a big bump in her pants from the diaper. Not the GoodNites, though.

Mom tucked me in, and told me to turn the TV off when my movie was over, and she’d see me in the morning. She left, turning my overhead light off and shutting my door. I rolled over and pressed play on the remote, to finish watching Spiderman 2, one hand holding my head up, the other under the blankets patting the GoodNites. They did feel so soft and I felt a strange sense of nostalgia wash over me. Back to when I was four or so, and had still worn diapers to bed. The feeling of love and comfort I had when Mom or Dad would put my night diaper on. The feeling of security, that Mom and Dad were the best Mom and Dad in the world to love me the way they did.

I fell asleep after the movie was over, at about 10:30, after shooting a quick prayer off to God, asking him to help me sleep dry.

To be continued...