The Error, by LittleMatt

Chapter 9
Chapter 9

Chapter Description: By LittleMatt

Chapter 9

Tom climbed into the passenger seat and started to toss his things in the back while his mother greeted him enthusiastically. “Hi honey! Where did you get the teddy bear ?”

Tom sighed “Mrs. Taylor gave it to me” he said flatly “It’s supposed to help with learning or something.”

His mom retrieved it from the back seat and admired it for a moment “Well that was very nice of her. You’ll have to think of a name for him.” She handed the bear back to her son. “One of our new neighbors invited us over for dinner so we’ll just go home real quick before we head over there.”

“Do I really have to go too? Couldn’t you just order a pizza for me or something?”

She began to pull out of the parking lot “There’s no way I could find a babysitter in time. You’ll be fine.”

“But I don’t need a babysitter.” He said as defiantly as he could.

The car came to a stop at a red light and she looked him right in his eyes “Honey, even if I thought you were big enough you’d still need somebody to help you if you have an accident.”

Tom tried to stammer a response.

“If you’re a good boy tonight we’ll go see a movie. You can even pick”

“Alright” He acquiesced.

Karen smiled and mussed his hair. “I knew you’d come around. They have a teenage daughter, maybe you two could play video games or something.”

Tom arrived at the Lyndens’ front door with his face freshly scrubbed and hair neatly combed courtesy of his mother’s tending. She rang the doorbell and reached down to adjust his bangs once more. “You look very nice.”

Mrs. Lynden greeted them both at the door and ushered them inside. As they entered the dining room room Tom wondered why his mother had mentioned the daughter but not the younger child for whom a a bright red plastic booster seat had been set up at the far end of the table. 

“I’ve set up two places for you and Tommy over there” Mrs. Lyndon said pointing towards the childish thing.

Knowing he was expected to be on his best behavior Tom stifled his complaint and tried to settle himself into his designated seat. Without a word he felt his mother’s hands at his sides lift him up without the last little bit of effort and place him in the booster before sliding the chair back into place.

The floor was now well out of reach of his dangling feet and he realized he’d need help again to get down. As this helpless situation dawned on him he looked at the place setting in front of him. Among the neat white plates and shiny silverware sat his plastic plate decorated with some now familiar cartoon characters.

Mrs. Lynden saw his surprise and smiled. “Nurse Carlson at your school is a very good friend of mine. We just happened to be talking today and she said how much you like the Cartonimals.”

He wanted to protest that he hadn’t even known what they were until she pointed them out on his pull-ups. But that wasn’t a topic he wanted to bring up. “Thank you.” he managed.

“That was very thoughtful of you Susan.” His mother said as she sat down.

The doorbell rang again and Mrs. Lynden excused herself to answer the door.

“You’re being very good, just keep it up and we’ll go see that movie tomorrow.” Karen said.

Mrs. Lynden brought two more guests into the living room.

“Karen, Tommy this is Bill and Theresa Burnette from down the street.” She turned to the new arrivals “And this is Karen Welton and her little boy Tommy.”

The adults exchanged hellos and Bill, a heavy-set broad-shouldered man with thin graying hair gave Tom a soft playful punch on the shoulder “How you doing there slugger? Enjoying your new school?”

“It’s fine I guess” Tom replied trying to avoid the subject.

“Haley” Mrs. Lynden called up the stairs. “Everybody’s here. Would you mind helping me set the table ?”

A poised confident looking  girl came in and graciously introduced herself. She was probably only a few years older than Tom but, in contrast to his early grade-school uniform, had dressed herself for the get together in appropriately formal but still fashionable for a teenager clothes. After another round of introductions she went into the kitchen to help her mother bring out the food.

With everybody settled in dinner was served. Almost everything was well out of Tom’s reach so his mother prepared his plate for him and sat it down. Conversation around the table mostly drifted around adult topics that he had little understanding of or interest in though Haley kept up with them quite nicely.

Once dessert was out of the way Mrs. Lynden announced that coffee was avealable. “Tommy, we have some video games you might like. Do you want to go with Haley while you chat some more?” Eager to escape the boring adult chit-chat and hangout with somebody around his age he nodded enthusiastically. As his mother pulled his chair away from the table he avoided anymore assistance by jumping down out of his chair. “Looks like somebody’s excited to get some playtime” Mrs Burnette observed “Sorry about boring you with our grown-up stuff honey.”

Tom followed Haley down the hallway and into a spacious room with a couch and some beanbag chairs arranged around a TV. A small chest brightly labeled “toys” sat in one corner.

“I thought you guys didn’t have any other kids here.” Tom said looking puzzled.

“We don’t. This is just where my mom and I watch the kids we babysit.” Haley replied as she sat down on the couch and picked up a magazine. “All the video games are in the basket next the TV, you can play whatever you want.”

“But I thought...” Tom looked back at her engrossed in her fashion magazine. He realized she wasn’t here to hang out with him, he knew his place in this arrangement. With a sigh he sat on the brightly colored carpet and turned on the video game system. 

He didn’t really care what was in it. Just that it would distract him from his predicament. As it turned out he’d started something called Floppy Bunny’s Big Adventure. He’d never heard of it before and the cutesy graphics didn’t seem appealing. This was obviously just a game for little kids but he tried it anyway and became engrossed. He struggled at first but slowly adapted to the challenge. The urgent prodding of his bladder went almost unnoticed.

Tom suddenly become aware of the direness of his situation and shot to his feet. “Where’s your restroom?” He asked, straining to keep himself dry.

“Oh just down the hall” Haley answered “You don’t need any help, do you?”

Tom barely gave it a thought, he couldn’t bear asking for help from somebody who should have been his peer. He took off quickly down the hall and thus began the familiar struggle with his buttons. It was to no avail though, and his training pants were once again the only thing keeping his pants dry.

He sulked out to the dining room and whispered in his mother’s ear. She stood up and retrieved her purse from beneath the table. “Excuse us for a second, we just have a little something to attend to” she said as she began leading Tom back to the bathroom.

Once again he was stripped down to his pull-up. She kept a calm demeanor but Tom could tell that constantly getting him undressed was beginning to be a chore. He wondered if a new solution might be in store. She pulled a baby wipe from her purse. “The school nurse said you might need some help with this sweety, so stand still.”

Tom hung his head slightly while he was cleaned up. Next she retrieved a fresh pull-up. “Now I only brought one spare. So we should probably go home soon.”

The lingered at their neighbor’s house only a little while longer. Karen thanked her hosts for their hospitality and thanked Haley for her help as well. She and Tom headed back home.

When bedtime came around Tom was helped out of his clothes. His mother started to get a night time pull-up ready for him but he couldn’t help but protest. “Mom, I was dry all last night. Please. Just let me try one night without a pull-up.”

She paused an looked at him. “Well you did wake up dry. And you were a very good boy tonight at the Lynden’s.” She thought for a moment “OK, we’ll try going without a pull-up tonight.”

Tom breathed a sigh of relief “Thank you, thank you.” He gave his mother a big hug.

She smiled and patted him on the back “But you have to sleep with your bear tonight, that’s going to help you at school. And if you’re wet in the morning I don’t want any more complaining about wearing a pull-up at night. Understand?”

Tom nodded “I promise” and pulled his PJs up. He was finally feeling like a big kid again. He took his bear and placed it next to his pillow before climbing into bed.

“Good night honey, sweet dreams.” She said as she turned out the light.

“Good night mom.”

As he lay in the darkness he could hear a strange soft humming coming his teddy bear. It was like nothing he’d heard before but soft and soothing. Before long he had drifted into a very, very deep sleep.