The New Normal

Chapter 5
It got worse

Chapter Description: John gets ready for his new status in life.

Mid suck a thought occurred to the youth. “Mom hates it when Dad drinks coffee because of the caffeine so why...”  His mind drifted off before he could speculate further, the milk’s taste distracting him from thinking about anything else. It was so sweet and creamy he was almost compelled to keep suckling from the bottle’s teat. John’s eyelids grew heavier with each gulp, as his belly filled with milk.  “Why am I so sleepy all of a sudden?” Queried the diaper-clad young man to no one in particular. Frightened at the possibility of passing out, he sat on the sofa behind him. The couch’s soft exterior combined with his own struggle to stay awake was too much for him. Eventually John drifted to sleep, the baby bottle still clasped betwixt his lips. Strange images of cribs and nurseries invaded his dreams as he slept.

“John, you’re wet.”  Yelled his mother, her voice rousing him from slumber. Groans were his initial response as he struggled to wake up. “What the fuck!” He screamed at the sight of the soggy diaper that enveloped his genitals.  The stench of urine wafting from his pelvis told the story. John had thoroughly wet himself while he was asleep. He leapt off the couch planting himself firmly before the pile of toys, the empty baby bottle at his feet. “John, don’t use that language in my house.” His mother while shocked by her adult son wetting himself was still intolerant towards the use of foul language. But John was far too deep in his shock to even register her displeasure. “It’s fine John I will just cha..”

“Are you serious?” John’s voice raised in reaction to his mother’s words. The youth had no interest in having his diaper changed by her or anyone. The fact alone that he was wearing a diaper, much less a wet one was too much for him. “Johnny boy, what’s wrong?” Asked his father, concern in his voice. Even in his irate state the man noticed his father looked smaller, almost as if he’d lost some wight. In fact, the sight was so surprising that it’d been enough to tame his anger. “Oh..sorry mom…I am just.” John tried to apologize, but his mother was in a merciful mood and told him it was fine.  “We will all have to adjust to the new law.”  It was unavoidable and John knew it so all he could do is glumly accept his fate.

“Now, I know this is a lot for you to deal with, so I am going to need you to work with me. For now, I will let you change yourself, but eventually that responsibility will fall to me. “Didn’t she mean Dad and her?” John thought, it seemed odd how his mother was acting as if she were the only adult. “Johnny boy, go change your nappy, then come help your Pop get all these toys upstairs, huh?” With a simple plea his father snatched John from the clutches of his own mind. Not that he needed rescuing anyway, or so the youth thought. They were just a scant few bizarre observations without any connecting tissue.

 “Oh yeah, sorry let me….do that.” The idea that he had to “change” much less be changed left him incredulous. Reality as it was still didn’t fully register that his life had changed in such a fundamental way. It was just yesterday that he was just a typical eighteen-year-old man on his way to college. Bureaucrats had stolen that from him and reduced his status to that of an infant. Only the knowledge that he’d be free of this nightmare when he turned twenty-five comforted him. “God. I gotta get out of this diaper it stinks.” Urine stench and the clammy feeling of the diaper distracted him from further contemplation. What laid ahead of him could wait until the youth ridded himself of the dreadful garment.  

After making the shameful walk to his room, John immediately peeled off the cushiony anchor hugging his thin form. “I guess this is my life now.” Exasperated from a trying day he haphazardly threw on pants and a shirt. Disgusted by the idea of wetting himself he refused to wear another diaper until he had to. For the time being John would settle for an immature looking shirt with a dinosaur patterned and matching pants.  His liberation from the confining garments was short-lived, however. Thinking ahead of her son she walked in home just as he was moving to leave his bedroom. With a disapproving wag of her finger, she ordered her shrimpy son to put his diapers on. Knowing he had no choice John begrudgingly slide the woolen garment up his legs.

“Now go help your father.” She barked. It was funny how compliant he was being when normally the boy would never meekly submit. He was a rail-thin rebel with an ego and the man never liked taking orders.   

The rest of the night was an odd experience for young John. He was allowed to eat at the table like an average adult, but his mother didn’t hesitate to remind him that this was the last time. His highchair would be arriving tomorrow alongside some other childish contraptions. She told him he’d better get used to it, or else she’d discipline him. Defeated from that day’s antics John once again meekly acknowledged her orders.

After dinner he was ordered to lie down so he could be changed. John hated the idea of having his diaper changed like an infanmt, but betwrrn strange new feelings and exhaustion he again obeyed. Hand over his face he just lifted his legs in anticipation. The ordeal left him feeling disgusted, but John knew all he could do was wait to see what tomorrow would bring. But he couldn’t escape the realization that he would no longer be treated as an 18-year-old man, but a two-year-old little boy. Another thought also occurred to him in his misery, and that was of how his father seemed to be losing a lot of weight.