A Tortured Soul

Chapter 5
Chapter 5

Bright sunshine woke Laura from a refreshing sleep. She rolled onto her back and began making a mental inventory of the things she wanted to get done today. It was a routine that served her well throughout her entire adult life.

When she’d finished her internal list, Her thoughts turned to Eddy. The talk with Gary had made her feel better. She agreed with his advice to encourage Eddy to act his age, but not to punish or berate him if he didn’t. “After all, the poor boy has spent a couple of very stressful days. It doesn’t seem abnormal that he wants to cuddle with you and call you Mommy,” Gary had told her. Laura just hoped things got better soon. She didn’t mind cuddling him, far from it, but hated to see Eddy upset.

She quietly opened his door and stepped into the room. “Oh Sweety,” she whispered when the scent of stale urine greeted her. Memories of Eddy’s bedwetting came back to her. He had been seven when he finally managed to stay dry. Many tearful mornings had made her heart ache for him.

Moving toward the bed, she stopped suddenly when she saw Eddy had his thumb in his mouth. That was unique. He had always taken a pacifier as a little boy, never his thumb. She remembered talking with Jim about this a long time ago, telling him that the pacifier was better because it wasn’t like Eddy’s thumb, they could put it away when he was ready. She decided she would have to try to discourage him right away, and hopefully, he would find another way to get comfort.

Placing her right hand on his back, she shook him gently, while pulling the covers back. “Wake up Honey, you’re...” and stared at the bed. He had saturated the bed from one side to the other, and over one third of the length. “soaked,” she finished. Her gaze moved to his clothes. His shorts were soaked, and his t-shirt was wet half way up the back.

She watched as he shivered, then opened his eyes. He immediately began nursing furiously on his thumb as tears streamed down his face. “I’m thowwy!” he cried before nursing again.

“Oh Baby, I’m not mad, I promise,” she reassured him, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “It’s okay, accidents happen.”

She noticed he hadn’t moved to get up, and took his free hand in hers, pulling him up into a sitting position. Thinking quickly, she reached for his soaked t-shirt, pulled it upward and was happy when he pulled his thumb out of his mouth so she could get the shirt over his head. When he started nursing again, she asked, “Are you sure you want to nurse your thumb, Honey? I thought you were a big boy.”

When he started crying harder and nodded his head, she relented. “It’s alright, we’ll worry about that later.”

Eddy shocked her when he looked at her with big, tear filled eyes and asked, “Pathi?” sounding like a distraught toddler. She didn’t know what to do, so told him, “We’ll talk about it later Honey, right now you need to get out of those wet clothes.”

She pulled him up to stand at the side of the bed, and was surprised again when he didn’t move toward the bathroom. Placing a gentle hand on his bare shoulder, she said, “Go on and take a shower Honey, I’ll take care of the bed. Make sure you get real clean Sweety, I don’t want you smelling like pee all day,” with a gentle push from the room. She had had to admonish him in the past about not taking his time and washing properly.

Katie came to his bedroom just after Eddy closed the bathroom door. “Awww...poor little guy.”

Laura was so glad Katie responded that way. She was almost certain that she wouldn’t tease him now, and was one less thing to worry about. “Yeah, he had quite an accident.”

“That’s gotta be hard.” With a sigh, Katie immediately walked to the bed and began stripping the wet sheets.

“You don’t have to do that Katie, but thank you,” Laura told her with a smile.

“It’s all right, I know things have been hard around here lately. If I can make it easier, then I’m glad.”

Laura moved close, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You’re such a great kid.”

“Thanks,” she responded with a blush.

Laura moved to the dresser, pulled a clean pair of underwear and some clean sweatpants out, and told Katie, “Well, if you don’t mind putting that in the wash, I’ll bring Eddy some clean clothes and then I need to run to the store.”

“I don’t mind, you go take care of whatever you need to, I’ll keep an eye on the little guy,” she replied with a smile.

“Thank you.”

“No Problem.”

With a knock on the door, Laura quickly stepped inside the bathroom. Eddy was in the shower, and jumped when she said, “I brought you clean clothes, Honey.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be back in a little bit, I need to go to the store.”

She heard the sadness in his voice as he asked, “Do you have to?”

“Yes, honey, I have to. I’ll be right back though, I promise.”

“Okay, I love you.”

Laura smiled. This was the first time in a long time that he had said that first. “I love you too Sweety, see you later.”

“Bye Mommy.”

“Bye Honey.”

When Laura got into her car, she immediately dialed Gary. “Is Gary in? It’s Laura Deitz,” she asked the receptionist.

A moment later, a baritone voice said, “Hi this is Gary.”

“Hi Gary, it’s Laura. Got a second?”

“Sure, what’s wrong?”

“Well, I just woke Eddy up a few minutes ago, and he’d soaked the bed. What worries me is he was nursing his thumb and asked for his paci,” she explained.

“Okay, is he physically okay though?” Gary asked with concern.

“Yes, he’s in the shower right now. I’m calling you from the car out in the driveway.”

“Well, my advice is to give it to him. If you give him the pacifier, he won’t become accustomed to sucking his thumb. Not only that, it’s what he wants, and it may help him get through this.”

“You’re sure?” she asked, worried that it would make things worse.

“As sure as I can be, yes. Like I told you yesterday, it’s not unusual for a child his age to either close off completely, or to regress. When Amy passed, he shut down. He’s chosen to regress this time, and I think it’ll only make things worse if you try to fight it. Don’t encourage it, but don’t make him feel bad either. Just go with the flow.”

“All right, I’m headed to the store, and needed to know if I should pick up a pacifier while I’m there.”

“I’d pick up more than one if I were you,” he said with a chuckle.

“Good advice,” she laughed.

They talked for a couple more minutes, and then she was headed to the store.

************

“Hi Baby, all clean now?” Katie asked as she stepped into the bathroom and pulled the towel from Eddy’s hands.

When he looked at her, he blushed bright crimson.

“Awww...don’t worry Sweety, I’ve seen your naked butt before. I even changed your dipeys, remember?” When he looked at the floor without answering, she growled, “Remember?”

“Yes.”

“Good boy.”

She finished drying him off, bringing more blushing when she ran the towel over his privates, and then between the cheeks of his bottom. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

Katie picked up his underpants, knelt down, and held them out for him to step into.

With reluctance, Eddy let her dress him. When he was clothed again, he looked to the potty, and squirmed a bit. Swallowing hard, he said softly, “I gotta go pee pee.”

“What was that Baby? I didn’t hear you.”

Tears streaming now, he cried, “I gotta go pee pee,” much louder this time.

“No you don’t Sweety,” she said, and led him by the hand out of the bathroom.

“Awww...take your thumb Baby, I don’t like to see you so upset,” she instructed as they walked toward the livingroom. “I told you to find a way to get Mommy to give you your paci back, why don’t you have it yet?”

“I asked her!” he cried fearfully. “She said we would talk later about it.”

“Well, I hope she gives it to you Sweety, because if you go to sleep without it tonight, something VERY bad is going to happen,” she warned him.

Eddy cried harder then, as he placed his thumb in his mouth. He blushed again as he admitted to himself that it felt good to nurse on his thumb. Bigger tears fell when he remembered asking Mommy for his paci earlier. He cried hard now because he really did want it. He was tired from waking up cold and wet through the night, and Katie waking him to pee pee in his bed. Being scared of her was taking it’s toll too. Worrying about Mommy getting hurt and remembering his little sister all made Eddy want to just curl up and nurse his paci so bad.

They came to the couch, and Eddy saw that there was a black trash bag laying across one of the cushions. On top of it was two or three towels laid out to cover it. He was startled when Katie picked him up under the arms and laid him down with his bottom centered on the towels. She took a blanket from the back of the couch, spread it out and covered him with it. “I know you’re tired Baby, so you’re going to take a nap for me.”

Eddy didn’t have the will or the energy to object, so closed his eyes.

“I think you’re forgetting something Baby,” she said as she stood over him. When he looked at her with a curious expression as he nursed, she reached under the covers to place her hand on his pants and explained, “You don’t sleep dry anymore Baby, remember?”

With a whimper, he closed his eyes, nursed his thumb fiercely and went pee pee. As the warm wetness spread through his underpants, he understood what the towels were for.

When the pee pee stopped flowing, Katie removed her hand, wiped it on a towel and told him, “You’re such a good boy!” with a big smile. “In fact, since you’ve been so good, I have a surprise for you.”

Eddy didn’t know if he could take anything else she had to offer. When she pulled his old teddy bear from behind the couch and presented it to him, he started crying all over again.

“Who is this?” she asked sweetly. When he didn’t respond, she barked, “Answer me!”

Trembling now, Eddy replied, “M..Misthter Bear.”

“That’s right, and you missed him didn’t you Baby?” she asked with a glare.

“Yeth,” he whimpered.

“Well snuggle him then, Baby. Snuggle Mister Bear close and go night night.”

Eddy reached a trembling hand out and pulled the bear close, hugging it tight. He turned over on his side, away from her and closed his eyes. An involuntary flinch struck him when he felt her kiss his forehead, and she said, “Night night, Baby.”

Afraid to make her angry again, he replied, “Night night.”

“Good boy,” she cooed. “You’ll be sleeping with Mister Bear from now on Baby, understand?”

“Yeth,” he whimpered.

“And you better be hugging him tight, too.”

With a pat to his wet bottom, he heard her walk away. He could feel his underpants were soaked again, and cried softly as he nursed his thumb. A minute later, he nuzzled his bear, and fell sound asleep.