Ms. Easterfield's Baby

This is a story I have been working on for awhile. I have been posting it on Sissykiss but their story forum is currently experiencing some troubles.  So I thought I would also post it here. I apologize in advance for the formatting issues in it, I just copied and pasted it from the other site.  I will be going through and correcting them as I have time.  Feel free to leave comments and if you like the story and are not familiar with Sissykiss you should check them out, there are a ton of great stories and captions on the site.  If you got here because of a link from Sissykiss, then I say welcome and feel free to leave any comments on the SK page as I will still be posting there as well.

Chapter 1

********Sam sat patiently in his car listing to a morning talk show, waiting for school to start. *This was it, his senior year of high school. *The first day leading to his last day of school and he couldn’t wait. *It’s not that he hated school or anything, he just wanted the freedom that college was sure to bring. *So here he sat absent mindedly waiting to hear the bell. *He knew this would be his best year yet, how couldn’t it? He had saved all his electives and passing periods in order to create the best senior year in the history of public school. *He looked down at his schedule and smiled to himself. *All TA (teacher’s assistant) classes and all with the same smokin hot teacher. *

*

BRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!

*

********The bell sounded, as Sam watched his class mates poor out of various buildings and cross the quad to their next class. *It would be their second period of the day and the first for him. *Man being a senior was good. *He had turned 18 the week before school started and while nothing had really changed he liked knowing he was now an adult. *

*

BRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGG!

*

********Sam listened as the shorter five minute bell sounded. *Thinking he didn’t want to upset his teacher day one, he got out and headed to class. *He quickly left the teacher’s parking lot, where he had managed to slip his car into since campus safety doesn’t check it once class has started, and joined the throngs of students, making their way to class.

“Good morning Sam, nice to have you back this year.” *Ms. Easterfield greeted him as he pushed open the door to the classroom. *Sam smiled and nodded in way of response, he was trying not to stare at the amazonian goddess before him. *He had the biggest crush on her ever since freshman year when he had taken intro psych with her. *Three years of schooling later and he was still just as enamored with her powerful 6’5” frame. *

She had been a new teacher his freshman year and had immediately became his favorite. *She was fresh out of college and eager to be the perfect teacher. *She often shared stories with her classes of her time in college and the many collegiate teams she had played on. *With her height and natural athleticism she had managed to letter in softball, basketball and volleyball, the latter two she was even team captain. *She had graduated with a degree in psychology, and teaching. *This fact alone would probably would have been enough to become Sam’s favorite teacher, but add on to it her great body and looks and it was all Sam could do not to stare.

“Why don’t you have a seat at my desk. *Today I’ll just be going over syllabi so I won’t have anything for you to do really. *I would let you just skip today but I may need you to run and make copies if I should run out, plus I want to show you how the grade book software works in between classes.” Ms. Easterfield got up from her desk in order that Sam could take her seat. *As she stood Sam was taken back my her outfit. She was wearing a low cut V shirt, showing off her great cleavage, and a tight black skirt with a high slit. *Sam was sure that if the principal had not been a male, Ms. Easterfield would get in trouble for her revealing outfits. *

Sam quickly took a seat behind the computer, hoping to hide his growing excitement. *“What’s the matter Sam, did you forget how to talk over the summer?” Ms. Easterfield smiled down at him from where she was standing.

“Oh, Um sorry... I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just not a morning person.” *Sam said blushing a deep crimson.

“Well wake up sleepy head it’s already the second period.” *She reached down and tousled his hair making him blush even harder. *

“Actually it’s my first.” He replied trying to will the blood out of his cheeks.

:”That’s right, I looked at your schedule, my it is an easy one isn’t it, and only having to have me all day.” *By this point other students were starting to fill in the desks. “Go ahead and feel free to use the computer to surf the web.” She said as she headed towards the front of the class. “Just stay off sites that will get me in trouble.” She added as she got to the front. Causing a fresh wave of blood to course through the skin on his cheeks.

Now Sam sat alone at the back of the class behind the teacher’s desk watching as she got things started. *He could tell a lot of the other guys in the class were just as taken with her as he had been, when he first had her. *Now with her attention elsewhere he felt safe to stare. *Her dark skin always looked a healthy tan, thanks to her mother’s Brazilian ancestry. Sam noticed for the first time she was wearing a jade necklace and earrings that stood out on her skin and highlighted her wonderfully dark eyes and hair. *She had on black heels that added another two inches to her all ready tall frame. *Sam’s gaze moved up her immaculately sculpted legs to her thin waist and on up to two of her most stunning assets. *Sam’s eyes lingered on her breasts. *On a smaller frame the double DD’s would have looked ridiculous, but on her tall frame they looked perfect. Finally his eyes moved on and continued their upwards climb. As Sam’s eyes moved up they caught Ms. Easterfield’s. *Sam blushed a deep crimson when he realized that he had been caught leering. *Best to entertain himself with other eye candy, he thought to himself.

He reached into his backpack to remove his iphone. *He switched on its bluetooth and tethering, before disconnecting the Ethernet cord from the back of the school’s desktop. Now time for a little big brother free net surfing. *Sam wasted no time in pulling up some of his favorite abdl sites. Unbeknown to Sam, Ms. Easterfield had a key logger program, so even though he was using his phone’s internet she was still tracking his activities online.

*

Chapter 2

*

********It didn’t take long for Sam to settle into a routine at school. *He would sneak his car into the teacher’s parking lot just before second hour, then head to Easterfield’s class. *He had two of her classes back to back before lunch. *Sam’s lunch was extra long because he had an open period immediately following the lunch hour. *Then he would report back to Easterfield’s class for another two periods before the day ended. *His TA schedule was sociology first thing, then abnormal psychology, followed by intro to psychology, and finally her advanced placement psych course. The fact that Easterfield taught only psych related courses gave him the perfect excuse for TA-ing only for her, as he was planning on majoring in psychology when he graduated. *In reality he wanted to spend as much time with his dream angel as he could. The first week had been super easy as it was laid back while everyone eased back into the school year. *He had ample time and privacy to play on the web as the back row was entirely empty, with the exception of abnormal psych, which had one student in the back row.

********Sam spent most of that first week surfing abdl sites. *He had never worked up the nerve to actually buy himself diapers, but he knew the second he escaped his crappy home life he wanted to be diapered 24/7. *The fact that he hadn’t yet experienced wearing diapers only made him more anxious to live vicariously through the characters he read about online. *The only class he wasn’t constantly surfing the net in was his abnormal psych class. This was do in large part to the girl sitting in the back row, and because he found this class the most interesting. *

********At first he had been annoyed that someone was in the back row. *Easterfield’s policy in general was the back row was to remain empty, but due to the popularity of abnormal psych there just wasn’t enough seats. *An exception had to be made, and this girl had been the last to arrive so she got the seat. *After Sam got over his initial annoyance he realized how strikingly beautiful she was. *He had never seen her before in his years at the school so he wasted no time in looking her up on Easterfield’s attendance program. Turns out she was a senior transfer student named Kayla. *She had moved to the area from mid west. *

********Sam hadn’t ever had a girlfriend, he told himself they just were not worth the hassle. In reality he never thought he could get one. *However this Kayla was exactly the kind of girl he would want. *She had a strong athletic body, short blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and an angelic face. *She looked like the kind of girl who wasn’t willing to take crap from anybody. *Sam was desperate to find some reason to talk to her. *However his lack of skills with the girls left him tongue tied. *He caught a break when Kayla leaned back to ask him a question.

********“It’s Sam right?” She asked in a low whisper.

********Even her voice sounds heavenly, Sam thought. *“Uh, yeah that’s right.”

********Kayla smiled at his shy awkwardness. *“Well, I’m Kayla. *I wasn’t here the first day, is there anyway that I could get a copy of the syllabus.”

********“Yeah sure, I’ll print one for you.” *Sam immediately turned to the computer to print one off for her. *“Here you go.” He said as he handed her the freshly printed copy.

********“Thank you.” *Kayla flashed her brilliant smile again, melting Sam’s heart instantly. *She began to turn back around in her seat and Sam realized that his window was quickly closing.

********“So, your a transfer right?” *Sam asked keeping his voice down, so that Ms. Easterfield wouldn’t hear them.

********“Yeah, we just moved here from Lincoln, Nebraska. *Which kind of sucks because I would have been captain of my softball team this year.”

********“Oh, why the move then?” *Sam was so thrilled to be having a conversation with an attractive girl that he stopped thinking about being quiet and the volume of his voice started creeping up. *Ms. Easterfield heard Sam and Kayla in the back of the class. *She smiled to herself. *She had always thought Sam to be painfully shy and was happy to see him talking to girl. *

********Kayla got kind of quiet before answering. “Well my folks actually just split and my mom wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.”

********“Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. I wish my parents would separate.” Sam realized the mistake of what he said the moment he said it. He started blushing as he tried to back track. “Umm, that’s not what I meant to say, I’m sure it sucks, its just all my parents do is fight, argue and scream.”

********Kayla reached out and placed a hand on top of Sam’s arm to stop his rambling which was mostly to himself at this point. “It’s okay Sam. I understand mine were the same way.” *Her hand felt warm on his skin. Sam wished the moment would never end. But as if on cue the bell sounded ruining it. *Kayla quickly scrambled to put her books away, as all her classmates had been packed up and waiting for the bell for the last several minutes. Kayla stood and lifted her backpack up. *At that moment Sam realized two things, she was much taller than he thought, she stood right around 6 feet. Second as she lifted the bag he could see the sinewy muscles move in her arm, she was much larger and stronger than him, that was for sure. Sam is what you would have called a late bloomer. *Even now in his senior year he stood at just 5’3” and was constantly being mistaken for a freshman.

********“Have a good rest of the day and if anyone gives you any problems just let me know and I’ll give them some.” Sam had a sheepish grin on his face. The thought of him giving anyone trouble was absurd. He was hoping that Kayla would find the humor in it as well. *

********The comment had the desired effect as Kayla immediately began to smile. Sam felt like he was basking in warm sun light every time he saw that smile. “Thanks Sam, but how about if anyone gives you trouble, I’ll have your back.”

********Sam shrugged, “Yea that’s probably more likely.”

********“Ah don’t worry little one, I’ll protect you.” *Kayla smiled again before heading out the door to her next class. *Sam wasn’t sure how to take the comment, but his mind was already thinking about various daydreams involving him and Kayla. Sam didn’t even notice Ms. Easterfield walking back towards the desk until she was just about next to him. Sam’s mind immediately shifted into panic mode as he realized what was up on the computer monitor. *He had pulled up his abdl sites at the beginning of class today but got distracted by Kayla. *Now sissykiss was still pulled up and Ms. Easterfield was almost within a view angle of the screen. Sam rushed to close the the tab, only to be greeted with a INTERNET EXPLORER NOT RESPONDING! Sam was out of time, all Ms. Easterfield would need to do is turn her head to see the bright pink background of sissykiss. Sam quickly slid his foot over the power bus-bar and stepped on the on off switch. *He let out a huge sigh as the screen went black.

********“Sam, you okay? You looked flush.”

********Sam nearly jumped out the chair when he heard Ms. Easterfield’s voice. *He spun on the axis of the swivel to look at her and assess whether or not she had seen anything. Ms. Easterfield was standing in the corner she had one hand in a storage cabinet grabbing paper but her body was turned facing Sam. *“Uh, no, actually I’m feeling a little feverish.”

********“Why don’t you go ahead and go home then.” *Ms. Easterfield’s voice took on a sympathetic motherly tone.

********“I think I’ll do that, I’m just going to restart your computer first, I think I accidentally shut it off with my foot.”

********“Don’t worry about it sweetey, I can handle that.”

********Sam started to get nervous again, he needed to plug back in the ethernet and clear the browsing history. “No, really its not a problem. *TAs are supposed to lessen the work, not create more, right. Besides I promise not to throw up on your desk.” *Sam smiled weakly, trying to play up the sick card.

********“Ok, then if you are sure. *I am going to go get my lunch out of the teacher’s lounge. Go ahead and take off for the day when you are done. Just be sure to check out with the office.”

********“Thanks I will.”

********With that Ms. Easterfield headed for the door. “Feel better Sam.” She said before disappearing into the hall. Sam wasted no time removing the evidence from the computer and checking out of school. *It was the first time that Sam wanted to get out of school with out seeing Ms. Easterfield.

********As Ms. Easterfield walked down the hall she couldn’t help but think that Sam had been acting weird. *It’s possible that he was feeling sick, but he seemed fine moments before when he was talking to Kayla. *Her woman’s intuition told her something else was at play here. *It was almost as if he was acting like a small child who just got busted eating cookies before dinner. *Then she remembered that she had a key logger on her computer. She had installed it her first year at the school, because she had suspected that her now ex-husband had been using her laptop to web-chat with other girls.

********Sam sat in his car and wondered what to do with the rest of his day. *He had been planing to finally make his first purchase of diapers this weekend as it was labor day weekend and he would have all day Monday to enjoy them. Today almost seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it. The fact that he was getting out early meant he could drive to a neighboring town to make his embarrassing purchase and then he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing anyone he knew.

********Ms. Easterfield got back to her classroom to find it empty. *She logged onto her computer and started with the web history. *It was empty, confirming her suspicion that Sam was hiding something. Next she checked her key logger, It was an advanced one that had code in it that sought out web addresses, user names and passwords. *It seems Sam has been busy on my computer this past week she thought to herself. She made note of the sites most frequented and the corresponding log in information. *She decided to look into it further when she got home and didn’t have to worry about the schools spy software. Then she would decide what to do about it.. She wasn’t planning on turning him into the school but her mind was already crafting more interesting ways of using this information. *It seems she too will have a busy shopping weekend with interesting purchases.

Chapter 3

********Sam started his car and headed towards the nearest neighboring city. The radio was on but he wasn’t hearing the music. His mind was solely focused on the what he was about to do. *He had thought about buying a package of diapers for himself for a long time, but never got the courage to. Now as he got closer to his objective he felt the butterflies increasing in his stomach with each passing mile. Before he knew it he was parked in front of Rite Aide. “All right Sam you can do this.” Wow giving yourself a pep talk out loud, that’s just sad, Sam thought to himself.

********He took a look around the parking lot trying to get a feel for how busy the store would be based on the number of cars. *Much to Sam’s chagrin the lot is about half full, he lets out a sigh as he heads into the store. Sam felt sick to his stomach as he stepped through the sliding glass doors. *He felt a little bit of relief when he looked around and saw that it wasn’t nearly as full as he had thought. He grabbed a basket and started making his way through the aisles, as non-chalantly as he could. He hoped that no one would pay him any attention. After pretending to look in other aisles, Sam worked up enough courage to finally step foot into the incontinence aisle. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for. In all the stories he had read the characters frequently used attends or cloth diapers. But here in the store all he saw was Depends and store brands. He had at least heard of Depends so he decided to go with that brand, but that hardly narrowed down the selection. He wasn’t sure if he wanted briefs which looked like a giant pull-up, adjustable briefs which he would have said was a standard diaper other than having four tabs instead of two, and then something called fitted brief which had six tabs and said offered the most protection. But they looked like they were made of plastic, not the softer cloth looking material of the adjustable briefs. *

********Sam must have lost track of time pondering over what kind to get, the selection was just so overwhelming. Before he knew it there was a store employee standing behind him. “Can I help you find something?” The sound of a question being asked so close behind him made him jump. “Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you. Is there something in particular you are looking for or any questions you have regarding our adult incontinence supplies?” Sam slowly turned around trying to think of what to say, when he saw who the voice was coming from he simply wanted to die.

********Standing before him was a beautiful woman with a smiling face. *Her dark mahogany hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had a light skin complexion with stunningly green eyes, and a very warm smile. *She was bent over with her hands on her knees as she spoke to him. This enabled Sam to see down her shirt into cleavage that was struggling to be contained by the tight white tee and dark blue Rite Aide vest she was wearing. *Her name tag read Jenny. Sam didn’t know what to say, he just didn’t want her to know he was shopping for himself and he didn’t want come away empty handed. He tried to compose himself but he could feel the heat in his face from blushing and his voice cracked when he went to answer. “I was uh wondering if you guys carried goodnites?” despite his voice cracking, Sam felt like he dodged a bullet, certainly she would think he was buying the goodnites for a sibling.

********“Why yes we do. You will find those over here in our baby aisle. If you follow me I can show you.” With that she stood up and took Sam by the hand to lead him to the correct aisle. Sam was taken back by having the gorgeous woman lead him around the store by the hand, how young did she think he was. Moments later they were standing in front of several shelves stacked with diapers. *There were several young mothers in the aisle who only paid Sam minimal attention. “Here these should fit you.” Jenny stated as she took a package of XL boys goodnites from the shelf.********

********Sam could feel himself blushing again, obviously his plan failed and Jenny thought it was he who needed the goodnites. “Actually, uh, they are for my kid sister.” Sam said, his voice cracking again as he spoke. He knew he was blushing harder than ever, but he was hoping Jenny would believe him in spite of it.

********Jenny gave him a quick glance and then smiled. “Okay, what size does your sister wear?” Sam thought she said sister with a slightly incredulous tone, but what out of there quickly so he didn’t push the issue.

********“Umm she is about my size.” He responded still blushing. He met her gaze for a second before looking away.

********“Right” said Jenny with a knowing smile. “Well is there anything else you need, baby bottles, pacifiers, lotion, wipes, perhaps?”

********“No, just the goodnites.”

********“Okay then lets grab them and ring them up.” Jenny grabbed a package of girls XL goodnites from the shelf and once again took Sam by the hand to lead him up to the checkout. Jenny opened up a cash register that wasn’t in use and rang Sam up. “So you out running errands for your mom?” Jenny asked as she was printing the receipt.

********“Uh, Yeah.” Sam replied emphatically, happy that she finally seemed to believe him.

********“Your mommy must be so proud of her big boy.” Jenny said in a baby talk tone as she bagged the goodnites, causing a fresh wave of blushing from Sam. “I double bagged them to help hide what they are for you. Come back if you have anymore diaper questions and have a nice day.” Jenny said with a smile while she handed the bag over.

********“Thanks.” Sam quickly took the bag, paused ever so briefly to look at the Jenny’s girl next door beauty one more time before bolting out the door. *Once he was in his car he breathed a sight of relief. The trip hadn’t gone anything like he planned but he came away with something close enough to diapers to be happy and the interaction with Jenny had left him very excited. It was two thirty when Sam got home. The trip had taken much longer than he expected but at least he didn’t have to explain being home half a day early. Sam was surprised to see his mom’s car missing from the drive as he pulled in. Must be out shopping he thought. This would mean he could a smuggle his purchase in safely and hide it in his room before she got back.

********Once in his room Sam immediately stripped and slid one of the goodnites up his legs. *They fit perfectly thanks to his small frame. He felt snug and secure in them. They were everything he hoped for and more. He was so contented with them that he didn’t even mind the pink flowers and butterflies on the front. He pulled his pants back on and stashed the package under his bed. Just in time too, he thought as he heard his mother’s car pulling in. *He quickly checked himself in the mirror for any tell tale bulge. Finding none he went to his bedroom window to look out and see if his mom needed any help with groceries. What he saw turned his stomach.

********Getting out of his mother’s car was the next door neighbor. Who quickly disappeared across the street into his own home. Sam felt like crying. He knew both his parents cheated on one another but he had never actually seen the evidence. He had heard them fight over it at night though. His mom accusing his dad of working long hours on purpose to be with his secretary and his dad accusing her of having numerous boy toys. Sam heard the front door open and walked into the living room just in time to see his mom step in.

********“Sam!” she said in a surprised tone “what are you doing home? I didn’t see your car in the drive”

********“It’s in the garage. I got let out early, but I am not feeling good so I think I am just going to go to bed.”

********“Ok sweetheart.” Sam’s mother kissed him on the head before disappearing into the kitchen, presumably for a drink. Sam walked back to his room feeling like crap. His phone was glowing from a text message. It read:

Sam can you come into class at eight on Tuesday. I have a project I want you to work on Ms. E.

Sam didn’t know what Ms. Easterfield needed help with and was too distracted to really care. He replied back with a simple “Sure” before crawling under his covers. He fell asleep clutching his knees to his chest, with his school clothes on. His face was red from crying.

*

Across town Ms. Easterfield was on her computer researching Sam’s online activities. She had a legal pad she was taking notes on. So far she found Sam spent the most time on a site called SissyKiss and one called Dailydiapers. His searches revealed that he liked to read stories about strong women taking care of helpless males in their lives. Not a true Oedipus complex, she thought as all the women served as surrogate mothers and not actual blood relations. *She also noticed that alot of the stories involved female dominance beyond just babying as they included a phallic symbol of some sort that was thrusted upon the male, whether it me a vibrator, enema, or even a abnormally large pacifier. Seems he has a deep need for complete trust and intimacy in addition to someone taking control . Ms. Easterfield took of her reading glasses and closed her computer. She was starring off into the distance contemplating her next actions. Her thoughts were interrupted by a female’s voice calling out to her from the front door. “Amy, honey, I’m home.”

“In the living room love.” Ms. Easterfield called back.

Chapter 4

********Ms. Easterfield woke up bright and early Tuesday morning. *She wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to get things set up at the school before Sam arrived. *She had spent the whole weekend shopping both in stores and online. *She was bummed that the online stuff would take awhile to arrive but she had more than enough supplies to last until they got delivered. She found herself distracted as she took her morning shower, as she thought about the coming day, which brought a ever present smile to her face. Amy stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body as she walked to the master vanity. She got ready for the day applying her usual makeup and doing her hair. An hour after Amy had woken up she was finally ready to go. Amy was just about out of the room when she heard a stirring coming from the bed.

********“Amy, honey why are you leaving so early? Its only 7:15 and you don’t have a class till nine.” asked a groggy voice that was still hoarse from just waking up.

********“Sorry babe, I didn’t mean to wake you, but remember I told you I have some special preparations to make today.” Ms. Easterfield replied as she walked over to the bed to give her partner a goodbye kiss. She bent over and kissed the soft lips. “Sorry again for waking you so early.” Amy whispered.

********A long slender arm reached up from under the covers and wrapped around Amy’s neck. When the kiss broke the arm pulled Amy’s head lower and the soft lips now free from the kiss whispered into Amy’s ear, “I know how you can make it up to me.”

********Ms. Easterfield smiled pulling away, “I wish I could but I don’t have the time right now.”

********A soft “bummer” escaped the lips before they and the arm disappeared back under the covers and rolled over escaping the light that was pouring in through the bedroom door. “I expect a detailed report of how this special project that is taking my lover away from me, goes.” The lump under the covers called after Amy as she left.

********Amy was glad she had loaded the car up last night because the unexpected exchange in the bedroom had taken up about five minutes she wasn’t planing on.

********

********Across town Sam tossed and turned in his sleep. He had had a miserable weekend and spent most of it in his room not wanting to face either his mother or father. The only good part about the weekend was he finally had his own diapers to wear even if they were just girl’s goodnites. He spent the entire weekend in them and especially enjoyed falling asleep in them. Drifting off, feeling the extra padding around his hips and crotch, it made Sam feel safe and secure. He had been getting wonderful sleep in them but for some reason Monday night/Tuesday morning was a different case. He kept dreaming that he was in school trying to complete something but he didn’t know what it was he was supposed to be doing in his dream. Finally at 7:45 he bolted awake, Oh No! he thought he was supposed to go in early today. Sam looked over to his clock great, ten minutes to get ready and five to get there.

********Sam threw back his covers and raced through his morning routine. *He didn’t even bother to change boxers as he threw on a pair of jeans and a tee. Not having time for a shower he just rinsed his long hair under the sink. He wore it in a style reminiscent of Jim Morrison. He combed it out and the shook it dry in order to achieve that purposely messy look. After brushing his teeth he grabbed his bag and went out the door. Sam didn’t even remember he was still wearing the goodnite till he was sitting at a red light, it was also at this time that he realized he didn’t take his morning pee. *Great this is just what I need after my bad weekend he thought. Even though he was enjoying wearing diapers, he hadn’t wanted to use one yet. Just a few more blocks, I can make it, Sam told himself.

********Sam breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled into the school’s parking lot. He was mentally running through his game plan as he climbed up the stairs to his classroom. I’ll drop off my bag in Easterfield’s room and then go to the restroom and because it is early enough I should have enough privacy to dispose of the goodnite there.

********Ms. Easterfield had just finished putting away the last of the supplies when she heard Sam’s footsteps outside the door. *The classroom had cabinets that ran the length of the room on the far exterior wall and the back wall. All the cabinets had locks on them so that teaching supplies could be locked up at the end of the day. The cabinets were high and came up to most students’ naval if not higher, a fact that Amy greatly appreciated because it meant they were at about her waist. *The top of the cabinets were a forest green formica counter top. *Amy had spent the morning clearing out the two cabinets directly behind her desk so that she could lock the new supplies in them.

********Amy opened up the key logger program on her computer just as Sam stepped through the door. *“Good morning Sam, are you feeling better after your long break?”

********“Uh, yeah, thanks.” Sam replied slightly sheepish over cutting class so early in the year.

********“Will you go ahead and shut the door, I don’t want any distractions because we need to get this done, before class.”

“Sure.” Sam closed the door behind him as he walked to the back of the classroom and set down his book bag. “So what’s this project you got for me?”
********Ms. Easterfield minimized her computer screen, she was planning only using it as evidence if Sam tried to deny it. “Well Sam pull up a chair I want to talk to you about something.”

********Sam started to get nervous as he pulled over the extra computer chair that was in the room. He wondered if he was in trouble for cutting out early on Friday, but that had been Ms. Easterfield’s idea, so it couldn’t have been that. Maybe some student was accusing him of unfair grading on a test. *Either way Sam was pretty sure he had not done anything major wrong.

********Ms. Easterfield leaned forward in her so that she was both closer to Sam’s face and so that she was closer to his height. “Sam I want to talk to you about your internet activity this past week.”

The moment she said internet Sam went rigid in his seat. *How much did she know? Did she just see the screen on Friday? Why hadn’t she said something then? No he must have forgotten to clear the browsing history earlier in the week. Sam forced himself to remain silent so he wouldn’t give her more information than she already had.

Amy would have had to been blind to not see, the immediate change in Sam. He looked like a deer in the headlights. She felt bad for him as he turned ghostly pale. “Sam, I’m not mad.” She said while placing a hand on his knee. She could feel how rigid he was under her touch. Her words did nothing to ease him. She pressed on in a motherly voice. “Sam, it’s okay, really I’m not judging you. From what I’ve seen of you around the school, honestly I’m not all that surprised. I’ve watched as you have hung out in all the different circles, from the in crowd to the stoners, the jocks to the nerds, but I’ve never seen you actually develop friendships. You have closed your self so far off and only subsisted on shallow acquaintances. They’re enough that you always have someone to talk to in class but I’ve also witnessed as you have eaten lunch alone every day while you listen to your ipod. You long for closeness but don’t trust anyone so you escape into this fantasy world.” Ms. Easterfiled gestured at the computer. “If I had to guess I would say you have a strained relationship with your mother and an even worse one with your father.” Amy stopped suddenly, as she saw Sam’s eyes starting to mist up.

At some point while she was talking Sam had switched from being a statue with a scared look to small hurt little boy. She opened up her arms to embrace him. “Its okay Sam, come here, it’s okay.” Sam slowly got up from where he was sitting and walked over to hug Ms. Easterfield. He was shocked when she didn’t just hug him, but picked him up and held him in her lap. Sam buried his face in her shoulder as the tears came faster. Amy had only been meaning to get him to open up, she hadn’t expected all this. She had apparently hit the nail on the head and in doing so driven it through the thin protective crust that Sam had been hiding behind. “Ssshhh, its okay, little one.” She whispered as she stroked the back of his head and hair with her right hand. “It’s okay.” She continued whispering. She was rubbing his back with her left hand, while Sam cried into her shoulder. Sam was aware at how infantile he was acting, crying into this beautiful woman’s shoulder whilst she held him and rubbed his back. He was sure the size difference would make him look like a small child, but he didn’t care. He was feeling like someone actually cared for him for the first time, in a long time. Ms. Easterfield’s hand felt good as it moved up and down his spine.

She held him like that for probably five minutes. Her constant rubbing had caused Sam’s shirt to ride up. Instead of pulling it back down she simply slipped her hand underneath it and continued soothing him. Sam didn’t mind the added warmth of her hand being directly on his skin. It only made him feel more secure. Amy noticed an odd fabric texture just above Sam’s waistband. She lifted her head from where it had been resting against Sam’s and looked down. She immediately recognized the waist band of the diaper Sam was wearing. “Sam honey, are you wearing a diaper?” Amy asked in a hushed voice.

She could feel Sam tense up in her arms, he held his breath for a moment before a fresh round of tears burst forth. Sam just wanted to disappear, he could not believe this was happening to him. He tried to bury his head deeper into Ms. Easterfield’s shoulder and block out reality. Ms. Easterfield continued stroking his hair. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. I already told you I’m not upset. Okay?” Sam just continued to cry. Amy gently pulled Sam off her shoulder so she could look him in the eyes. Sam kept his head down and stared at the floor. Amy ducked her own head to meet his gaze, but he shifted his eyes away. “Hey look at me, Sam.” Sam slowly raised his head and met her eyes. “I’m not upset, do you understand?” Sam nodded. “Now are you wearing diapers.” Sam dropped his head but nodded again. Ms. Easterfield lifted his chin with her hand. “Look at me sweetie and use your words.” Sam held her gaze. “Now are you wearing diapers?”

“Yes” came the barely audible answer.

“Yes, what?” Ms. Easterfield pressed.

“Yes, I am wearing diapers, Ms. Easterfield.” Sam burst into tears as he said the last word.

“Ssshhh, ssshhh” Ms. Easterfield cooed as she clutched him back to her shoulder. She brushed his hair back over his ear and began whispering to him. “Hey, it’s okay, Sammy. See you’ve now said your deepest darkest secret and I’m still here. It’ll be okay.” She continued to hold Sam for a few more minutes until he quieted it down. “There now aren’t you glad that you have said it out loud?” Amy could feel Sam shake his head yes into her shoulder. “Are you feeling a little better?” Again she felt her shoulder shake with Sam’s confirmation.

“Ms. Easterfield?” Sam pushed himself off her shoulder so he could look at her.

“Yes honey?” Ms. Easterfield looked at the small boy she had been holding in her arms. Sam’s eyes were bloodshot and his faced was stained with tears.

“I need to use the bathroom.” He said breaking his gaze.

“Okay honey. Its all right.” Amy lifted Sam up off her lap and stood him on the ground in front of the chair. She got up and kneeled down in front of Sam. Sam was confused when she started taking off his shoes.

“What are you doing?” He asked in a meek voice.

Amy stopped and looked up at him. “Do you trust me Sam?” She asked looking into his eyes. He nodded. “Good” She reached into her pocket and produced a pacifier. Which she placed in Sam’s mouth. He didn’t resist the pacifier but rather took it and began sucking on it. “Now its obvious that something vital is missing from your life right now, so I am going to give you that. Okay?” Sam nodded his again. “Okay” Amy resumed undressing Sam. She removed his shoes and socks, followed by his shirt. Next she began to take off his jeans. She was surprised when she undid his fly and found a girl’s goodnite around his waist. “Interesting” she muttered.

“I can explain” Sam said around the pacifier.

“Quiet honey, you don’t need to explain anything. Now come here sweetheart.” Ms. Easterfield picked Sam back up and sat him down in her lap. She was sitting in her computer chair with Sam in her lap, facing outwards. Sam could feel Ms. Easterfield body heat radiating off her. It felt nice on his bare skin. “Sam can you do me a favor?” Sam turned his head so he could see Ms. Easterfield’s face. “I want you to wet your diaper for me.” Sam’s face took on a worried look. “You, need to do this, honey it will help us build trust.” Sam nodded agreement.

Amy placed one hand on top of Sam’s diaper. “Go ahead honey.” Sam relaxed his bladder and almost immediately he started peeing. A quiet hissing sound could be heard as Sam filled his diaper. Amy could feel the warmth spreading under her hand has the diaper soaked up the pee. Her hand was cupping the front of the diaper, she noted the way it felt as the diaper expanded in her grasp. “Good baby, now as a reward, I’ll help you de-stress.” Ms. Easterfield began moving her hand over the front of his diaper. Sam immediately felt himself getting hard. He let out a small moan as he grew inside of his diaper. Ms. Easterfield continued to rub the front of the diaper up in down with her right hand as her left arm held Sam in her lap.

Sam felt himself slipping into ecstasy, his hands grasped onto the arm rests of the chair and he used them to hold himself tight against Ms. Easterfield. He rolled his head over his left shoulder till his cheek was resting on Ms. Easterfield’s breast. Sam began to lift his hips up increasing the pressure being put on the front of the diaper. He also began to suck furiously on the pacifier in his mouth. Amy slowly built up speed as she listened to Sam’s breathing increase. When she sensed him reaching climax she quit rubbing and squeezed his head through the diaper. Sam all of sudden went rigid in Easterfield’s lap, his arms locked at the elbows as his pelvis hoovered inches off her lap. He let out a prolonged moan before collapsing back down onto Ms. Easterfield.

Amy sat there with Sam on her lap, listening as his breathing returned back towards normal. Soon she felt him breathing slow deep breathes and heard a soft snoring sound coming from his throat. She kissed him on top of his head as she whispered, “you poor baby you must have been exhausted, it’s okay though you can sleep tight now.” She gently repositioned him so his head was resting on her shoulder and his stomach was against her. Deciding Sam was out cold and likely to remain that way most of the morning she gently stood up while holding him tightly to her so he didn’t slip. Amy walked over to the counter top and reached into one of the cabinets to get out and extra long changing pad. It was the kind with foam padding inside, it was meant to be on top of the main changing table. She laid it out on the counter with her left hand and then gently laid Sam down on top of it.

Amy tore the sides of the goodnite open and slipped it out from under him. She then cleaned him up with wipes and placed a new diaper from one of the packages she bought under him. Pulling it snug, she fastened it into place. Amy was grateful Sam wore his jeans loose as the diaper was quite a bit thicker than the goodnite he had been wearing. She proceeded to dress him. Not once did Sam stir from his heavy sleep, he just kept sucking on the pacifier in his mouth. He even slept through having his shirt put back on. Finally Ms. E had all of Sam’s clothes back on and she couldn’t help but think he looked so cute as he sucked on his pacifier. She glanced at her watch, 15 minutes till first hour would end. She decided she better hurry up and get him to the couch in the teacher’s lounge and get all the baby supplies put back away before the kids started to fill the halls.

********Picking Sam up proved to be the most difficult part of the whole process but thanks to her size on him, Amy was able to lift Sam back up off the counter and carry him across the hall. Once in the teacher lounge, she gently laid him down on the couch that was there and covered him with a blanket. She had decided that if anyone asked she would tell them Sam had went to lay down with a headache and must have fallen asleep. The last thing Amy did before heading back to her class was remove the pacifier. She was kneeling down beside Sam as she pulled it out. Then she brushed his hair back and kissed him on the head. “Sleep tight baby.” She whispered, “I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”

********Without opening his eyes Sam muttered back “Thank you mommy, I love you.” Amy smiled at his subconscious word choice.

********“Mommy loves you too baby.” With that Ms. Easterfield got up and headed back to her classroom.

Chapter 5

********Sam woke up to someone gently rubbing his shoulder. At first he was extremely groggy and disoriented, he had been having the most wonderful dream about his teacher. He dreamt she had found out his secrete and accepted, no embraced him rather for it. Now he struggled to keep his eyes closed not wanting to lose the dream and face reality. He wished his mom would just let him sleep so he could go back to dreaming Ms. Easterfield was his mommy. “Sammy honey, it’s time to wake up.” Came the hushed whisper of his angel. That voice, that glorious voice burst through into his mind like a sunshine after a long cold winter. Was it possible that it wasn’t a dream. “Come on Sammy.” The rubbing became a little harder. Sam slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by Ms. Easterfield’s face smiling down at him. She was sitting on the edge of the couch beside him, and rubbing his shoulder. Sam looked around and realized he had no clue where he was. He was about to speak when he realized there was something in his mouth. He felt it with his tongue, it was bulbous and had a rubber taste to it. He soon remembered it was the pacifier from earlier. *

********“Sorry to wake you, sweetheart, but there isn’t a lot of time between classes and I wanted to get you cleaned up and see how you are feeling.” Amy pulled the blanket off him and then reaching down, picked Sam up. It was much easier this time as he wasn’t just dead weight. Standing she held Sam to her chest with one arm under his butt. He wrapped his legs and arms around her like a small child, as she carried him into the faculty bathroom that was inside the lounge. She locked the door behind them as she sat Sam down on the toilet. Ms. Easterfield took a cloth handkerchief from her purse and wetted it in the sink. Then she set to work cleaning the tear stains from Sam’s face.

********Sam sat on the toilet in a daze as the woman he so often fantasized about lovingly cleaned his tears with gentle wipes. “Sammy honey, are you feeling better?”

********Sam nodded, not wanting to speak thinking his voice would sound hollow and tinny next to her angelic soprano. “You slept through first and second hour, do you want to continue sleeping or would you like to come and watch while mommy teaches?”

********Sam was briefly taken back by Ms. Easterfield referring to herself as mommy, but then he thought he could remember calling her that earlier when he was sleeping. Either way he liked thinking of her like that. “I want to watch mommy teach.” Sam said around his pacifier.

********“All right Sammy, but before we go back out do you need to be changed?”

********Sam shook his head no and with that they both left the restroom and headed across the hall towards class. Sam took his seat at Easterfield’s desk, while she stayed at the front of the room preparing and overhead with notes. Sam already missed the feeling of the pacifier in his mouth even though it had only been minutes since Amy had removed it in the restroom. Sam watched as all the students filed in and he couldn’t help but smile to himself at the fact none of them had a clue as to the new relationship between him and Ms. Easterfield.

********“You must have had one terrific weekend if you are still smiling on Tuesday morning.” The voice snapped Sam out of his thoughts. He turned to see Kayla in her seat looking at him.

********“Actually no, it was pretty crappy. In fact it was crappy enough that I now look forward to school. How about yours?” Sam asked hoping to keep *the spotlight off of himself.

********“Well originally I would have said crappy, but some how I don’t think it would even come close to being as bad as yours, so I’ll go with boring. I pretty much unpacked all weekend. Do you want to talk about why yours was so bad?” Kayla asked looking concerned.

********“Thanks, but no thanks, I kind of just got over it a little bit ago, let’s just say things have been better between my parents and leave it at that.”

********Kayla kept the conversation light out of respect for Sam’s wishes as they waited for class to start. *She found it was easy to talk to Sam and he wasn’t like most of the other guys she had known.

********“All right class let’s begin.” came Ms. Easterfield’s voice a few moments later from the front of the room.

********“In all seriousness though Sam I hope you have a better day today.” Kayla said before turning around and opening her binder.

********“Thanks” Sam whispered back trying to be considerate of Ms. Easterfield.

********Once class was under way Sam’s thoughts turned to what had transpired that morning between him and Ms. Easterfield. The last thing he remembered was collapsing on her chest in exhaustion after she had given him that wonderful reward. *He wondered when Ms. Easterfield had changed him and how on earth could he have slept through that wonderful experience. He wondered what she had changed him into. Had Ms. Easterfield found the extra goodnight he had been keeping in his backpack. He had stashed one there when he first bought them so he would have easy access to at least one if he couldn’t get to his main stash. *Now that he thought about it, whatever she had put on him was also thicker than the goodnites he had been wearing. Sam pondered these things and others as class continued on. It wasn’t until he heard Kayla’s voice again that his mind re-centered on the present.

********“Here you go Sam,” Kayla was holding a scrape of paper towards him with numbers scrawled on it. “If you ever want to talk about what’s going on with your folks give me a call and we can get coffee or go for a walk or something.”

********“Hey thanks, I might have to take you up on that.” Sam said not able to contain his excitement as he took the paper scrap from her. *It was the first time he had gotten a girl’s number and he was bursting with joy. Kayla couldn’t help but smile at the stupid grin on Sam’s face.

********“Have a good day Sam, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kayla said as she headed towards the door.

********“Bye.”

********Amy smiled at Sam from the front of the class, while she watched the exchange transpire between him and Kayla. Once all the students left she reverted back to her mommy role with Sam. “Care to stay here and have lunch with mommy, sweetheart?” She cooed at him. Sam eagerly shook his head. “Kay, then you wait right there while I go get it from the teacher’s lounge.” Sam wondered what he would be having for lunch as he watched Ms. Easterfield leave the room. He didn’t have to wait long as she returned shortly with a cooler.

********Amy shut and locked her classroom door, a practice not completely unheard of, when faculty didn’t want their lunches interrupted by students popping in. *Ms. Easterfield placed the cooler on top of the cabinets behind her desk and began unlocking one that contained Sam’s baby supplies. *“Mommy, where did the diaper I am wearing come from?” Sam asked while he watched Amy unlocking the cabinets.

********“See for yourself honey” she said as she opened up the one of the doors. *Sam’s eyes went wide as he looked in and saw several packages of diapers, along with baby wipes and other changing supplies.

********“Is all that for me?” He asked not willing to trust what he was seeing.

********“Yes, and we will discuss that while we eat.” Amy said hopping up so that she was sitting on one of the counter tops. The counter top immediately behind her desk had a cushion that was as wide as the counter top and and about eight feet long. Amy had purchased it so that the students could sit up there and read when they completed their work. Now it would serve an entirely new purpose. “Come here Sammy.” Sam got up and walked over to her. Amy leaned forward and lifted Sam up and sat him next to her. “Go ahead and lay down with your head in Mommy’s lap so I can feed you.”

********Sam immediately complied. Ms. Easterfield cradled his head in one arm and removed a baby bottle of milk from the cooler with her other hand. “For the baby we have to bottles of protein powder mixed with milk. You will find it quite filling I imagine. *Also the nipple has been modified so that it will actually flow at a descent rate, that way baby’s jaw doesn’t get tired. And for mommy a nice yogurt parfait.” Amy pulled out a parfait she had made earlier at home. “Now drink up baby, while mommy goes over some ground rules.” She said as she placed the nipple in Sam’s mouth.

********“First I am more than happy to be your surrogate mommy as long as you need me to be, but that means I expect you to start getting here at 7:45 each day so I can diaper you before my first class. *When you are diapered I expect you to wet them just like a baby. From now on you will eat lunch with me and take a nap during your free period, since that corresponds with my prep hour there will be no issues with you taking it in here. All this treatment must remain a secrete though for obvious reasons. Finally I don’t want you keeping any more secretes from me. So what do you say, do you want me to be your mommy?”

********Sam nodded yes as he continued to drink his bottle. *“Good I am so glad to hear that. Now why don’t you tell me why you were so sad this morning.” Sam then began to recount what had happened that weekend and how he didn’t sleep well that night and woke up late. He ended with how this morning was the first time he felt love in a long time. “Why were you wearing a girl’s goodnite and not a guys?” Amy asked as she took the now empty first bottle from Sam. Since she had finished her lunch she was going to feed Sammy the second bottle.

********Sam told her about his shopping trip. Amy would remove the bottle so he could talk and put it back when he was thinking or she was talking. “But that’s not all of it is it Sammy?”

********“What do you mean?” He asked slightly confused.

********“A lot of the stories you read online have males either being forced to dress in girls clothes or choosing to dress that way themselves.”

********“I guess part of it is because of this whole thing with my parents. Since I’m a guy I feel like I am not allowed to show any emotion over it.”

********“So you feel that role playing as a girl you would be able to break that taboo then?” Sam nodded. “Well then Sam, I think that it is important that you get to express that side of you, but we will figure that out latter. For now I want you to just finish your bottle and take a nap, you must still be tired from last night.”

********Sam couldn’t argue with her, even now as he finished the last quarter of the bottle he felt his eye lids getting heavy. *Amy began to humb a lullaby to Sam, and with in minutes he was asleep. He continued to suck on the bottle even after he closed his eyes, and when it was empty Amy replaced it with his pacifier. She sat there with Sam sleeping in her lap for a long time, as she thought about her new baby and what the school year would look like. Amy not having any kids of her own loved her new found role, but wanted to help Sam more than anything. When her next class was getting close to beginning she gently lifted Sam’s head off her lap and slid down. She told her class that Sam hadn’t been feeling well and that’s why he was laying down. Luckily her next two classes were both watching movies so the room stayed quiet and dark. It was the end of the school day before Sam woke up again. Amy reminded him to be back in time for first hour tomorrow as he grabbed his stuff to leave. Sam drove home thinking about how awsome this year really was turning out to be.

********When Amy got home she was greeted with a surprise of her own. Her partner was waiting in their bedroom in a black silk robe. “I thought you might have time to make it up to me now.” She said as she let the the robe drop, revealing a emerald green lace bra and pantie set. Upon seeing her Amy could only smile.

********“So this is what you do all day when I’m at school. Lay in wait to ambush me dressed like that.” Amy asked grinning.

********“Would you rather I do something else?” Her partner asked with an impish smile.

********“Not at all.”

********An hour latter, and the lace undergarments and Amy’s work clothes were long since forgotten and both girls were spent and laying in bed cuddling. Amy had opted for little spoon this time and was enjoying the feeling of her partner’s ample bosoms pressed against her back.Amy felt very loved in her partner’s expert hands, which were currently cupping Amy’s own ample breasts. “You promised to tell me how it went today.” She whispered in Amy’s ear. So Amy filled her in . “I think I would like having her as a little girl.”

********“Me too,” Amy agreed, “If only.”

Chapter 6

*

********Sam felt great as he drove home from school that day. *Never in his wildest fantasies would he have thought that he would be diapered by Ms. Easterfield, in class no less. *Now as he drove home he could feel the diaper pressing against his jeans. He couldn’t wait to get home and strip down to just his diaper in his room. The only thing more promising than the afternoon in diapers was the fact he knew tomorrow would bring with it another day with Ms. Easterfield. *Sam thought nothing could ruin the high he was feeling, that was until he pulled into his driveway. *He didn’t even need to leave his car to tell his parent were in the middle of a huge fight. *The front door was sitting ajar and the screams and shouts could be heard clearly at this distance.

********Sam sat in the car a moment trying to think what he should do. He really didn’t feel like going into the house. *He knew that if he went in, at best he could wait it out in his room and at worse he would be dragged into the middle of it to be used as ammunition. History told Sam that the latter was the far more likely possibility. Not liking the probable scenario of sticking around, Sam backed the car out of the driveway and headed to a nearby McDonalds. *His immediate objective had been to avoid the fight at home and having now met that goal Sam wasn’t really sure what he was going to do. He wasn’t hungry, and because of his ridiculously easy schedule he didn’t even have homework that he could do while passing time. Then he remembered that Kayla had only that morning given him her number.
* * * ********Sam anxiously dug the scrap paper from his pocket and began punching the numbers into his cell phone. He watched as one by one the numbers appeared on his phone screen, as the seventh number appeared before him, Sam took a deep breathe to steel his nerves before pressing the small green phone button. *Lifting the phone to his ear, same could hear as it rang on the other end. *He felt his pulse in his ear as he got more nervous with each passing ring. *Talking to Kayla in person was one thing, but on the phone was another. *Sam wasn’t sure he would be able to get his rapidly drying throat to make sound if she answered. It was easy in class with her flawless smile tricking him into believing she actually cared about what he had to say.

* * * ********By the time Kayla answered on the fourth ring Sam was so lost in thinking about how nervous he was that her voice had startled him.

* * * ********“Hello…. Hello?” *Even through the phone her voice had a lyrical quality to it.

* * * ********“Uh.. is this Kayla?” Sam asked in a faltering voice, for no other reason than it was something for him to say in the awkward silence. *Of course it was Kayla, he was certain that no other creature possessed a voice like hers, Sam would wager that even seraphim would be jealous.

* * * ********“Yes it is and who is this?” came Kayla’s polite reply.

* * * ********“Um.. It’s Sam from Ms. Easterfield’s class.” *Sam was slowly gaining his confidence and he was hoping that by the end of the conversation he will have started at least one sentence without saying Um.

* * * ********“Oh! Hi Sam!” if it was possible, Sam could have sworn that her voice took on a sweeter sound when she found out it was him. “My number was burning a hole in your pocket, huh?”

* * * ********Sam immediately began blushing and was suddenly grateful that he was on the phone and she wouldn’t be able to see his reaction to her teasing. Although with as loud as his pulse sounded to him, Sam wasn’t sure Kayla couldn’t hear it through the phone. “Uh, yeah something like that.” Uh this time, I’m making progress, Sam thought to himself.

* * * ********“What’s up? You sound like something is bothering you.”

Sam couldn’t be sure whether or not he was tricking himself, but he thought Kayla sounded legitimately concerned. *“It’s just, I came home to find my parents fighting again and I thought maybe I could take you up on your offer, I really don’t feel like going home just yet.”

“You poor thing, I am sorry to hear that. *Where are you now?” *Kayla listened as Sam told her the location of the McDonalds he was at. *“Okay I’ll see you in a bit.” The line went dead as Kayla hung up. Sam sat there blankly for a second as he realized what had taken place over the phone. *Kayla… a girl from school, was coming to meet him at a McDonalds for something completely unrelated to school. *Even as he thought about it he couldn’t believe it. *Sam didn’t have long to dwell on it before he felt someone spinning him around by his shoulder. He only caught the briefest of glimpses of his angel before he was pulled into a warm hug. “Oh Sam, how are you holding up?”

The voice sounded far off to him as he basked in Kayla’s embrace. The speed in which she had hugged him meant his arms were pinned to his side by hers. Just as well, it saved him from trying to figure out what he should be doing with his hands. Sam’s head was between the hollow of her neck and shoulder. *He could smell the vanilla scent of her shampoo. *After a few seconds he felt her pulling away and was both saddened by it and happy because he could now once again gaze upon the face of his angel. “I know what we need to do,” Kayla’s voice suddenly became up beat and bubbly. *“We need to distract you from your problems for awhile. *So you think about what you want to do, while I go get a snack.”

Kayla had been on one knee while hugging Sam, who was sitting in an uncomfortable plastic swivel chair. *The chair was now facing away from the table, as it had been what allowed Kayla to spin Sam around so quickly into the hug. Even kneeling down she towered over him. *As she stood and headed for the counter Sam took in the image of his goddess. *She was wearing nicer white sneakers and a dark wash jean. *Probably the greatest aspect of the outfit though was the Viking jersey she was wearing. *It was the new women’s line and the cut highlighted Kayla’s chest quite nicely. *Her short hair was once again pulled back into a pony tail. *Sam couldn’t help but thinking this was probably as girly looking as she ever dressed. *

Think of what you want to do, that’s what she had said to him; didn’t she realize that he could care less what they did so long as she was there. *As it was he couldn’t think of anything by the time she returned with a chocolate shake and french-fries. *“Feel free to help yourself Sam.” She said gesturing to the food on the tray as she took her seat opposite of Sam. *“So did you think of what you wanted to do?”

“No, I couldn’t really think my mind is a little distracted right now.” Actually Sam’s mind was heavily distracted between his home life, the beautiful girl across from him and his new relationship with his teacher.

“Maybe talking about it will get it out of your system, then once you have spoken your peace we will find something fun to cheer you up.”

“Sure I guess, that sounds like a good plan.” *Sam began stammering out what happened as he watched Kayla dip her fries in the shake before eating them. *“Well when I got home I saw the front door ajar and could hear shouting coming from inside. *From what I could make out, it would seem that my dad came home earlier than normal. *I think he was planning on surprising my mom and taking her out to eat. *Anyways it turns out she had been drinking and wasn’t in any condition to go out.” *Sam hadn’t realized he had been starring at the table as he recounted more of the story, and was surprised to see Kayla’s face studying him when he looked up. *Her brilliant green eyes were penetrating as they shifted back in forth between his. “What?”

“Nothing, just listening.” *Kayla didn’t want to tell Sam how much pain she could see in his eyes as he talked.

“Well so anyways, I knew if I had stuck around I would have just been dragged into the middle of it. *That’s when I decided to come here and then I remembered I had your number.”

“Oh Sam, I am so glad you called me, I wouldn’t have been able to survive my parents fights if it hadn’t been for my friends.” *She reached out and took one of Sam’s hands and held it hers. Kayla couldn’t believe how much pain she saw in his eyes. *Then as if on cue her demeanor changed back to a more casual tone as if they had been discussing sports. “So do you know what you want to do?”

“No, how about you pick something.” *Sam didn’t care and as long as she was touching him, he was unable to think.

“I know how about we go see that new blockbuster that just came out. Its supposed to be the last good action movie to come out this year before they start showing all the crappy family movies and the serious ones that win the awards.”

“That sounds wonderful. Nothing to take your mind off of matters like watching someone’s head explode right?” *Sam forced a smile as he made the remark.

“Exactly!” Kayla was glad to see Sam smile. She let go of his hand as she stood to clear her tray.

They drove to the movies in Sam’s car, since Kayla had walked to McDonalds from her house. *Kayla made sure she kept the conversation light as they drove to the theater. *It was a beautiful fall day as they drove down the street. The leaves had only just begun to turn and the sun was shinning down brightly from a brilliant blue sky. *Sam noted how empty the theater looked as he pulled into the parking lot behind it. *“I guess not too many people go to theater in the middle of a weekday afternoon huh.” *Sam asked as he easily located a prime parking space.

“Well they don’t know what they are missing out on.” Kayla replied as they got out of the car.

When they reached the front of the building Sam remembered his manners and got the door for Kayla, which allowed her to reach the ticket window first. “Two for Eternal Vengeance, please.” Kayla said to the man behind the glass.

“Kayla no, you don’t need to buy my ticket.” Sam protested as he got to the counter.

“Nonsense, it’s my treat. *You have had a long a day and I want to cheer you up.” *Kayla remarked as she turned around and handed Sam his ticket. *“Now, what do you want from the concessions?”

“I’m fine, thank you. You have already done too much by buying my ticket, I’m not going to let you by me snacks too.”

“Hush Sammy. Here’s the way it is. I am going to buy you something whether you like it or not so you might as well tell me what you want so I don’t waste money buying the wrong thing. Now what would you like?” *Kayla asked with a grin knowing she had won.

“I’ll take just a coke then. *You are used to getting your way aren’t you?”

“Always.” Came her reply along with an impish smile. *She walked off towards the concessions, leaving Sam temporarily by himself. He didn’t want to follow and look clingy, so he stayed put. *Kayla came back a second later with a large Coke and a bottled water. “Here.” She said handing over the coke.

“Did you get a big enough one?”

“For the initial investment price you might as well spend the 50 cents more and get the big one.”

“I suppose.”

Sam and Kayla headed into the theater and found great seats which wasn’t difficult since they were the only ones in the there. *They entertained themselves while they waited by seeing who could answer the onscreen movie trivia first. *Sam was having a great time being so close to Kayla that he was surprised when the previews started. It had felt like they had only just gotten there, but his watch confirmed 20 minutes had elapsed. *

Sam was enjoying the movie and was really into it, when he realized that he needed to pee quite badly. *He had been absent mindedly drinking his pop and now not in hour into the movie and it was all gone. *He wouldn’t even have noticed if it wasn’t for his bladder now demanding to be emptied. Sam really was into the movie and didn’t want to get up to leave, but he knew his bladder wouldn’t last. *As he shifted in his chair trying to get comfortable he felt the diaper on him. *How could he have forgotten that he was still wearing the diaper Ms. Easterfield changed him into. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to wet the diaper with Kayla sitting right there next to him, but he knew he wanted to try. *He was starting to get excited, which didn’t help matters, thinking about wetting while his angel sat next to him completely unaware.

He began squirming again in his chair, which attracted Kayla’s attention. *She leaned over towards him and whispered in his ear. “Are you okay Sam.”

“Ugh, yeah, my leg fell asleep is all.” *Sam surprised himself, he wasn’t normally able to think so well on the spot.

Kayla gave him a funny look but didn’t see any reason why that shouldn’t be the truth, it just felt like a lie in her stomach. *Maybe I am having troubles trusting guys because of my dad leaving, She thought to herself. *Wow, my psych class must really be having an impact on me. “Oh okay.” She whispered, suddenly distracted my her new way of thinking. Kayla continued to steal sideways glances at Sam, who had settled down but now there was a far off look on to his eyes and he had an odd smile.

Sam was in his own world as he finally relaxed enough to wet his diaper. *He felt wonderfully wicked to be sitting in a wet diaper in public and while next to a beautiful girl. Soon he was sucked back into the movie and he forgot all about his wet diaper till the end. *The rest of the movie passed without further incident, which Sam was grateful for because he wasn’t sure how much his diaper could hold and he really didn’t want to test it. *Kayla stood and stretched as the lights came on in the theater. *Sam remained seated as he realized his time with Kayla was drawing to an end. *When Kayla saw Sam hadn’t stood up yet she offered out her hand to help him up.

“What’s the matter your leg still asleep?”

Sam took her hand and was amazed when he didn’t stand up so much as was pulled up. “Ugh no, just was still thinking about the movie I guess.”

Kayla talked about what she liked and didn’t like about the movie, the former greatly out numbered the latter, as they walked out of the theater. By the time they reached the car Sam still hadn’t really spoken. “What’s really bothering you Sam?” Kayla asked studying his face as he drove down the road.

“What do you mean?”

* * * *********“Well it was an action movie, not a suspense thriller, and you are still very quiet. So I got to believe you aren’t really still thinking about the movie.”

“Oh. I suppose you’re right. Actually I am just a little worried about going home after I drop you off.”

“You think they will still be going at it?”

“Judging by their past fights… yeah, yeah I do.”

“Well if they are still fighting, you are more than welcome to come and have dinner with me and my mom; you could even crash our couch tonight if you wanted.”

“Thanks but I don’t want to put you guys out and I doubt your mom wants some random kid sleeping on her couch.”

“Nonsense Sammy, besides when I told her where I was going today, she was the one who suggested you stay here if things hadn’t cleared up at home.”

“Really? That would be great.” *Sam felt like a burden had been lifted off his chest, as he continued towards his house.

Kayla noticed the immediate change in Sam, causing her to laugh. “There now don’t you feel better Sammy.”

“A lot, thanks.”

Chapter 7

* * * *********Sam turned onto his street, and began to slow down as he approached his house, searching for clues as to what the current situation was. *It didn’t take much to realize things had gone from bad to worse. *As Sam pulled in along the curb he could see a discarded gym bag with overnight night clothes hanging out of it sitting next to his dad’s car. *The screen door was open and his parents were out on the front porch shouting at one another. Sam let out a sigh as he slipped the selector on the steering column into park.

* * * *********“My house it is then?” Kayla asked trying to make light of the situation.

* * * *********“I’m so sorry you had to see this.” Sam dropped his head to the steering wheel in shame.

* * * *********“Don’t worry about it. *I’ve seen it all already with my own folks. Do you need to grab anything before for we go?”

* * * *********“Um… Yeah let me grab some overnight things.” Sam slid out of the car and started heading towards his house. *Sam was quickly trying to think of how he was going to dispose of the wet diaper he was wearing. *With his parents on the front steps he could toss it in a grocery bag easy enough. *Then he could stash it in his room till tomorrow when he could properly dispose of it. *He was about half way up the front steps when he heard a car door close behind him. *Sam turned around to see Kayla running up the lawn behind him. “What are you doing?”

* * * *********Kayla stopped jogging as she reached Sam. *“Hmm. Think of me as moral backup.” *She flashed her all too familiar smile and Sam knew he wouldn’t win the argument before it even began.

* * * *********“Thanks.” *Sam turned around and continued with Kayla now at his sides. *Under normal circumstances this would have been his dream come true. As it was he now how to figure out how he was going to get rid of the diaper with her tagging along. *Sam’s folks quit shouting as he walked up the sidewalk.

* * * *********“Where the hell have you been?” *His dad barked at him as he climbed the steps towards the door.

* * * *********“I’ve been out.” Sam froze on the bottom step as he answered.

* * * *********“Yeah is that so? You don’t call?” His father took a step towards him.

* * * *********“I, uh… didn’t think about it.” Sam took a step back as his father moved in his direction.

* * * *********“You don’t think much do ya?” He took another half step forward in response to Sam’s backing up. *Sam began to back up again but ran into something solid.

* * * *********“Don’t answer him, just go in the house and get what you need.” *Sam heard Kayla speak softly into his ear, then he realized it was her he had backed into. *She hadn’t taken a single step back during the whole ordeal.

********Knowing that Kayla wasn’t afraid some how gave him confidence. *However before Sam could exercise his new found inner strength, his dad barked up again.

********“And who the hell do you think you are?”

********Kayla could hear the alcohol making his speech thicker than it should be. *He wasn’t smashed but he was definitely buzzed. *“Just keep walking Sam.”

********Sam moved forward as he felt Kayla’s body moving forward behind him. His dad turned his shoulder allowing him to pass but stepped in front of Kayla. “I asked you a question little girl.” He stood about about four inches taller than her, with the one step advantage. *Sam’s mother who had been quiet up to this point, spoke in a quiet voice. *The alcohol was much heavier on her tongue.

********“Aaron, stop it. What are you doing?”

“Shut your mouth woman.” He snapped sticking a finger in his wife’s face. *Then turning back to Kayla, “This girl won’t tell me her name and I am not about to have a stranger in my house.” ********

“I’m a friend of your son’s, that’s all you need to know for now. *Perhaps another day when you aren’t drunk we’ll exchange pleasantries.” Kayla replied meeting and holding his eye contact. *She refused to be intimated by this man.

“Listen to the mouth on you. *Some one ought to teach you some manners.” *Aaron took a step forward, before he found himself tumbling backwards over the railing and off the porch. *He found himself laying flat on his back with the cold earth beneath him. *Aaron was dazed and wasn’t really sure what had happened. Actually no one beside Kayla knew what had happened. *You had to be looking in the right place to have caught the brief instep Kayla made before landing an uppercut on Aarons lower jaw.

Sam and his mother stared blankly for a second at Aaron. *Sam started to ask what happened but was cut off by his mother’s sudden scream as she ran to tend to Aaron. Kayla calmly walked up the steps and resumed her spot by Sam. *“Lets get your things and split.”

“Agreed.” Sam replied. *He walked through his house to his room, where he quickly tossed some clothes into a knapsack with his toothbrush.

“Got everything?” Kayla asked.

“Uh yeah.” Came a hollow reply. *

Kayla followed him, as if she was his personal bodyguard, which was exactly how she felt right now. *“All right lets go then.” Kayla led the way out of the house this time. She wasn’t sure if Sam’s dad would have recovered from the blow by now or not. *It would depend heavily on how much he had had to drink.

As they reached the front door they could see Sam’s mom and dad standing on the front grass. *His dad was holding his jaw and his mom was frantically trying to look at it. *Neither one said anything to the kids as they passed. “How about I drive, you seem kind of shaken up?” Kayla asked as they reached the car. She opened the passenger door for Sam.

He handed her the keys as he got in. *“Yeah, probably a good idea.” *Kayla took them and went around to the driver side. *They drove away in silence. *Neither spoke for a bit. *Kayla wasn’t sure what kind of a state Sam was in and Sam was trying to process what had happened. *After awhile he gave up on trying to figure it out for himself. *“Kayla, um what happened back there?”

“Yeah, about that I’m sorry for clocking your dad.”

“You HIT my dad?!” Sam’s voice finally had energy back in it.

“Yeah, and I’m really sorry. *You can take off once we get to my house. I understand you not wanting to be around me anymore.”

“What? Why would I want to leave?”

“You aren’t upset with me?” Kayla shot him a sideways glance.

“No, not at all, my dad was way out of line. *I am sorry for what happened back there. *He isn’t normally like that. *I have no idea what came over him. So you really hit him then.” Sam asked with a slight grin. “How did you manage to do that? I mean he’s so big.”

“It really wasn’t that difficult if you know what you’re doing. *Besides the alcohol did most of the work.” Kayla pulled up in front of her house and put the car in park. “So you really aren’t mad at me?” She asked turning to look at Sam.

“Are you kidding me, I wish I could have done that. Didn’t it hurt your hand?”

“No, he isn’t the first guy I’ve hit. *Now come on and I’ll introduce you to my mom.” Kayla got out of the car and grabbed Sam’s backpack out of the back seat of the car. *He followed with his overnight bag as Kayla walked up the front path that divided a neatly manicured lawn. *The path led up to a large ****en porch that wrapped around a white two story house. Sam followed Kayla up the porch and through a large ****en door into the house.

The house was done in warm colors that complimented the hard**** floors that seemed to run through out. *Sam found himself currently standing in a large entry way. *Sam could see a family room off to his left. *Directly in front of him were stairs leading up to the second floor and a hall that led to what he assumed was the kitchen. *The house was filled with the smell of cooking and Sam suddenly felt very hungry. *“We’ll drop your stuff off in my room for now.” Kayla said, as she headed up the stairs. *Sam followed her up the stairs and down a hall to her room. *

The room was painted white with a large bed centered on the exterior wall. on either side of the bed were matching night tables. There was a large closet on one side of the room and a vanity on the other. *The wall opposite the bed had a dresser with a stereo and tv sitting on it. *The walls of the room were covered in medals, trophies and newspaper clipping as well as various team photos. Kayla tossed Sam’s pack at the foot of her bed and Sam followed suit. *“All right lets go see what my mom’s got cooking up.” *Kayla spoke as if nothing had happened that night and this was just another sleep over with a girlfriend.

Sam followed her down stairs and into a beautifully modern kitchen. He noticed that the hard**** floors had switched over to a hard cold gray slate. *The appliances were all stainless steel and matching make. *There was a brick hood over the stove that blended in seamlessly with the design of the kitchen. *The counter tops were complete with granite and tile back-splash ran the length of the kitchen tying it all together. *Sam felt like he was looking at a kitchen from the cover of Home and Garden. *Standing at an island in the middle of the kitchen was Kayla’s mom. *

She was chopping away at vegetables as Sam and Kayla entered into the kitchen. “Hi mom, I brought home a stray with me.” *Kayla said as she walked over to the island where her mom was working. Her mom laid down her knife and wiped her hands on her apron. “Mom, this is the boy I was telling you about, Sam. *Sam this is my mother Sheryl Hayes.” *

Sheryl reached out her hand to Sam, who quickly shook it. *“Good to meet you Sam, I hope you like lasagna and a fresh tossed salad.”

“That sounds wonderful Mrs. Hayes.”

“It’s no longer Mrs. but please call me Sheryl. *So tell me Sam will you just be dinning with us tonight or will you also be utilizing our world class sleeping accommodations.” *Sheryl said the last part with a high New Yorker accent as she held her noes in the air in jest.

“Your such a dork, mom.” Kayla said jokingly as she walked over to the fridge to get a drink. Sheryl stuck her tongue out in way of reply and Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the whole exchange.

“Um, no I’ll be crashing your couch if that’s okay with you.”

“Sam, would you like anything to drink?” Kayla asked poking her head out from behind the fridge door.

“No I’ll be fine with water with dinner, thank you, which smells excellent by the way Ms. Hayes... Um sorry, I mean Sheryl.”

“Why thank you Sam, you keep talking like that and you will have to be a regular guest, my daughter takes my cooking skills for granted.”
********“Hardly.” Kayla said as she walked over with a Naked Juice Smoothie. “Now go start your bread and I’ll salvage your salad.” Kayla took the knife from her mother and began chopping. Sam smiled as he watched their back and forth as they finished making dinner. *It wasn’t hard to see where Kayla got her striking looks from. *

At 6’ foot Sheryl was a knock out. She reminded Sam of Heather Locklear from Spin City. *She had long blond hair in a very contemporary style and stunningly vibrant blue eyes. *She was wearing a black leather skirt with a modest slit and a sleeveless black wool turtleneck. *Sheryl was also wearing a good amount of jewelry, she had on gold hoop earrings, a layering of necklaces, and several bracelets. She clearly enjoyed looking her best at all times, regardless of the situation. *It made Sam wonder where Kayla got her tomboy streak from. *

“All right that should just about do it.” Sheryl said as she carried *the fresh bread to the table. “Sam you can sit here.” Sheryl motioned at one of the chairs before she and Kayla took their places. Once they were all seated Sheryl began dishing out the food. *Sam thought it was the best food he had ever tasted and commented on this fact several times to Sheryl. *He especially enjoyed the salad as it was topped in a dressing he had never heard of. Sheryl said it was called Dorthy Lynch and was local to Nebraska.

Sam had no sooner started eating when he felt the pressure in his bladder to build once again. *In all the commotion at his house, Sam hadn’t gotten the opportunity to remove his diaper. *Now sitting at Kayla’s dinner table he wasn’t sure how much more the diaper could hold he just knew how little he could hold. *He thought about excusing himself to the bathroom but he had no way of disposing of the diaper. He thought about going and just taking it off long enough to pee in the toilet but what if there wasn’t enough adhesive left on the tapes to refasten it. Sam didn’t see anyway around wetting himself once again. *This time the stakes would be even higher as both Kayla and Sheryl would find out his secret should the diaper leak.
Sam slowly repositioned himself on his chair so that he was sitting with all his weight on his tailbone. He figured the diaper stood the best chance of not leaking if he could get the majority of his weight off till the urine had a chance to be absorbed. After that it was just a matter of relaxing enough to pee. *He found it even more difficult to pee at the dinner table. *The fact that he was trying to hold a conversation while doing it didn’t help matters. Slowly nature took its coarse and what began as a small trickle became a flash flood. *Sam was acutely aware of the feeling of warm pee puddling around his genitals. *He held his breath as he felt it trickle down between his cheeks. Then when he was sure it would never end, he finally felt the torrent cease. He was sure that he would leak. *His thighs on the outside of the elastic barrier felt dry which gave Sam some hope. He slowly let his weight back down as he felt the puddle in his diaper be absorbed. *Sam couldn’t believe that his diaper was holding, at least for now.

The conversation over supper flowed naturally and stayed relatively artificial. Sam complimented Sheryl on her cooking and her lovely home. He asked about her job, turns out she was a nurse, but did it primarily to stay busy. *The divorce settlement paid for most everything. *Sheryl and Kayla were very open and talked about the divorce as though it was ages ago. *Apparently it had been a long time in the making and everyone was pretty much numb to it by the time it actually occurred. Sam did become slightly uncomfortable when Sheryl asked Kayla if she had had a chance to meet his folks. Kayla told her about what happened as if it wasn’t anything major and to her credit Sheryl took it in stride. She offered her condolences to Sam and told Kayla to be sure and apologize when Aaron was in a better frame of mind. To which Kayla replied she was already planning on it. The amount of openness they shared intrigued Sam so he decided to ask about it.

“If you don’t mind me asking how did you and Kayla develop such a honest and good relationship?”
********“Well Sam,” Sheryl began after wiping her mouth with her napkin. “When problems first developed between my ex and myself I didn’t want Kayla to feel alone or like it was her fault so I made a point of keeping the lines of communication open. Now I didn’t talk about her father to her because it wouldn’t have been right to burden her, but I also didn’t lie or refuse to answer her questions. *Then as Brian began to isolate himself farther from the family Kayla and I just grew that much closer. *Brian always preferred status and achievement to personal life.”

“Wow, I wish I was growing closer to at least one of my parents through this.” Sam looked down at his empty plate. He had ate his fill, but he was now feeling a different emptiness inside.

“Oh Sammy, it’ll get better.” Kayla said reaching out and patting his back.

“Sam, I want you to know you are welcome over here any time you feel like.” Sheryl said as she saw the sadness creeping into his eyes.

“Thanks, I appreciate that; I really do.” Sam said as he forced a smile.

“Kayla, why don’t you and Sam go and work on homework in your room, while I clear the table. *Then after I’ve cleaned up we can watch a movie or something.”

“All right, come on Sam.” Kayla said as she stood up.

Sam wiped his mouth with his napkin before standing. *“Thanks for dinner Sheryl. It was delicious.”

“Well I am glad you enjoyed it.”

With that Sam followed Kayla up the stairs to her room. Kayla did homework at her desk while Sam laid on her bed and looked at her old yearbooks. *Sam realized just how much Kayla had given up when she moved with her mom. It seemed like her photo was on every other page in the yearbooks. Clearly she was high school elite, which made Sam wonder all the more about why she was willing to hang out with him. *Kayla had music playing from her laptop while she worked and Sam was pleased to hear artist like Boston and Foreigner. *Sam commented on the excellent music choice, which launched them into a conversation about music preference. They had pretty much the same taste. Although Sam did prefer more folk, like Simon and Garfunkle, while Kayla stuck to rock & roll. After awhile Sam decided to he better figure out what he was going to do about his predicament.

********“Kayla, where’s your restroom?”

********“Down the hall and on your left.” Kayla said pointing out the door from her desk.

********Sam left to go find it and was disappointed when he got in and shut the door. *There was a wastebasket in there but it was much to small to hide a diaper in. Crap! Now what he? Sam cursed his luck under his breath. Maybe I can tell how wet my diaper is. *Sam undid his pants and slid them down his legs. *He examined himself in the mirror. *The front of the diaper had shifted from a flat white to something more closely resembling the the color of a snow/rain slush. The front and crotch of the diaper were very much swollen, but Sam was surprised to see the back was still completely dry. *So long as I don’t completely flood it, I should be okay, he thought. *

********Sam ran his hand over the front of the diaper feeling how swollen and warm it was. *He could not believe how good it felt against his skin. Sam was starting to slip into his own little world when he heard a knock at the door.

********“Hey Sam, when you are done, come on downstairs. *We are going to watch a movie. *Oh and you can go ahead and change into pj’s in my room if you like.” Came the voice of his angel through the door.

********“All right, I’ll be down in a second.” Sam pulled up his pants and then flushed and washed his hands for effect. Once he was finished in the restroom Sam headed over to Kayla’s room to change into pajamas. As Sam put on his basketball shorts he realized they didn’t hide his diapered state as well as his jeans had. Looking around the room Sam tried to think what he could use to hide the distinctive bulge around his waste. *He found the answer lying on the end of Kayla’s bed. *A big throw blanket. Sam took the blanket and draped it around his shoulders, before preceding downstairs. Thanks to his small build the blanket easily reached the ground and even dragged a little.

********He found the girls sitting on the couch in the living room. *Sheryl was sitting at the end of the couch with a book on her lap. Kayla was sitting next to her. *Even in her pj’s she looked good Sam thought as he joined them on the couch. *Kayla was wearing a tank top and a pair of VS sweat pants with the words pink written down the side of the leg.

********“Are you cold Sam?” Sheryl asked looking up from her book.

********“No, I just like to bundle up in a blanket when I watch a movie.” Sam offered in way of reply, then to Kayla, “I hope you don’t mind.”

********“No problem, I want you to feel at home here. We decided to watch How to Train Your Dragon if that’s cool with you.”

********“Sounds great, I have been wanting to see that one.”

********“Us too.” Sheryl said as she stood up, “I’m going to make popcorn. Would you like anything to drink Sam, honey?”

********“No I’m fine.” Sam quickly answered not wanting anymore liquids till he figured out what he was going to do about his diaper.

********“All right, well you guys go ahead and start the previews, while I get the popcorn.”

********The previews were the type you would expect on a pg movie. There was a bunch for straight to dvd movies of series that should have died out long ago, including yet another Land Before Time movie. Then there were the previews for the movies Holly**** would be remaking this year, selling the same story in new packaging. Finally there were the few gems that looked promising, and had the pixar pedigree behind them. *By this time Sheryl had returned with a big bowl of popcorn. Sam found he really enjoyed the movie. He identified heavily with Hiccup, although he doubted he would ever become the cool kid.

********It was 11:30 when the movie ended. Kayla got up and stretched before announcing she was retiring for the night. Sam agreed that sleep sounded like a good idea. *Sheryl got up and took the now empty popcorn bowl to the kitchen. She was the only one not yet in pajamas. Kayla wished Sam a goodnight before heading up the stairs to her room.

********“Will you be all right on the couch honey?” Sheryl asked coming back in from the kitchen.

********“Yeah, the couch will work out perfectly.”

********“Are you sure because we have an air mattress up in the attic I can get down for you if you prefer.”

********“No, that’s quite all right, you have already been so wonderful opening up your home to me, the couch will be fine.”
********“All right, if you are sure. I’ll send Kayla down with an extra blanket and some pillows and if that couch becomes uncomfortable in the night don’t hesitate to knock on my door and we’ll get the air mattress for you.

********“That won’t be necessary.”
********“Okay, well goodnight then.” Sheryl said before climbing the stairs herself to go to her room.

********“Night.” Sam called as she disappeared up the stairs. Sam continued to sit on the couch till he heard Kayla coming down the stairs.

********“Here is two blanket and couple pillows.” She said as she placed a stack of items on the end of the couch. “Oh and here are your bags in case you need them.” Kayla slung the two packs off her shoulder and onto the couch as well. *“There is a washroom down the hall just off the kitchen that you can use to get ready for bed. Do you need anything else?”

********“No, thanks though.”

********“All right night Sammy.”

********Kayla went back up to her room and Sam went to brush his teeth. *Maybe I can ditch this thing in this restroom Sam thought. Dang it! Sam screamed in his mind, *another trash can that was way to small to properly conceal a diaper in. Sam brushed his teeth and tried to come up with a plan. He decided to wait until everyone had fallen asleep and then search the house for either a large trash can or a plastic bag. *If he couldn’t find a trash can he was going to stick it in a plastic bag and stash it in his backpack till he could throw it away at school.

********Sam returned to the couch he arranged the bedding he had been given before shutting off the living room light. He crawled onto the couch to begin the waiting game. *His phone said it was 11:45, he wanted to at least give them 20 minuets to fall asleep. As Sam waited he felt the urge to pee. Remembering that the back was still completely dry, Sam raised his hips off the couch and made sure he was tilted backwards before releasing the stream. *He once again felt the urine running down his crotch before being absorbed into the back panel of the diaper. He was amazed at how much easier the process was when no one else was around.

********Sam waited a few more minuets between checking his phone again 12:15, perfect. Sam hadn’t heard a sound since he first laid down. The coast was clear for him to start looking. *He decided to start in the kitchen as that was the most likely place to find both items. He opened the cupboard under the sink and he was greeted with the sight of a three foot high garbage can. Finally! Sam whispered. even better it was about three quarters full and with a lot of cereal boxes he could hide the diaper under. He let out a sigh of relief as his luck had finally changed. He slid his shorts down so that he could remove the diaper.

*

Click!

*

Suddenly the kitchen was flooded with light. “Are you looking for something Sammy?” came a quiet female voice, then it got slightly louder, “Sam!, what are you wearing?!”

Chapter 8

*

********Sam instantly froze. NO! NO! NO! This CAN”T be happening! His mind was screaming at him. WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAAAAKKKKEEEE UUUPPP! Sam desperately wanted this to be a dream, to wake up any second on Kayla’s couch. However this wasn’t a dream. Sam was truly standing in the middle of Sheryl’s kitchen bent over with his shorts around his ankles and his diapered butt on view for everyone in the kitchen. *

********“Sam stand up and turn around.” the voice was quiet again but there was a certain sternness to it that Sam didn’t dare defy. He was still holding on to the top of his shorts and he began pulling them back up. “No, leave your shorts just as they are. Now stand up and turn around.”

********Sam swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. He tried once more to wake up and when he realized he could no longer deny that this was really happening he slowly straightened and turned around even slower. *As he turned Sam saw Sheryl standing in the entrance to the kitchen.

Sam couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Sheryl was wearing a satin robe that hung open and a matching short satin slip that stopped well short of mid thigh. *The robe and slip were both silver with black lace work around the edges. Sam had seen similar items in the Victoria Secret catalogs his mom had laying around, but he was pretty sure no one actually wore them to bed. Apparently his earlier assessment of Sheryl being a woman who always liked to look her best didn’t even come close to covering it. Now as she stood in the doorway Sam couldn’t help but stare. *She looked like a model out of one of the magazines; he couldn’t believe that any man would do something that would jeopardize a marriage to a woman like this. Sheryl looked like she was air brushed from her perfect legs to her chest that looked as though it would spill out at any moment. *

Sheryl approached where Sam was standing. *Sam’s diaper was obviously at its saturation point as it sagged on his hips. As she got closer she could see the discoloration of the material as well. *Sam stood transfixed to the same spot as Sheryl walked over and stopped in front of him. *Sam got a great view of her cleavage as she bent over to examine the front of his diaper. *She had to place her hands on her knees to reach Sam’s eye level. *“Oh my Sammy, you are one very wet little boy, aren’t you?” She asked as she reached out and cupped the front of his diaper, feeling its weight in her hand. Sam stood in state of shocked humiliation as Sheryl gave the front of the diaper a gentle squeeze. “Come with me sweetheart and we will get you changed and cleaned up.”

********Sheryl stood back up and stuck out her hand for Sam to take. *He stared at her blankly for a second before taking the offered hand. *As Sheryl began walking out of the kitchen, she noticed Sam moving with an odd gate. She looked down to see him shuffling with his pants still around his ankles. Sheryl erupted into a giggle as she bent down. “Oh, Sammy your being silly, here let me help you out of those. *She reached down and slipped his feet out before giving him a light pat on his diapered butt, “Oh my, your soaked all the way through to your seat.” Sheryl carried the shorts in one hand as she led Sam back out to the living room, clad in just his diapers and a tee, with the other.

Sheryl sat Sam down on the couch before turning to leave. *“Now you wait there and I’ll be right back.” She said leaving the room. *Sam sat motionless in a continuous state of shock. *He had no idea what he could do or say to get out of the situation. Thus far Sheryl had responded in a surprisingly cavalier manner, but he wondered where was she going and would she tell Kayla? Sam felt sick to his stomach, as though the butterflies that everyone talks about all got food poisoning. *He could feel the saliva building in the back of his mouth as the sick feeling welled up inside of him.

Sheryl returned just as she promised, much to Sam’s chagrin. *Her arms were full of various objects that Sam couldn’t quite make out. *Sheryl kneeled down on the floor next to the couch, carefully tucking her legs beneath her like a proper lady. She began to set the items in her arm out on the floor beside. *Sam recalled what she had said in the kitchen, “get you cleaned up and changed”. Sam felt as though he could die of embarrassment as he realized Sheryl was planning on changing him. *Sam looked closer at the items Sheryl was setting out: baby wipes, baby oil, and a change mat that Sheryl was in the process of spreading out on the ground. Having his suspicions confirmed Sam wished he would die.

“Now did you bring along a change of diapers Sammy?” Sheryl asked.

Sam’s eyes darted to his backpack where the goodnight he stashed when he first purchased them remained hidden. He felt the slightest bit of relief as he realized she couldn’t change him if she didn’t have anything to change him into, although he was positive she would at least insist on cleaning him up before putting him back in just his boxers. “Uh, no I didn’t bring a change.” Sam’s voice squeaked as he answered.

“Are you sure you didn’t bring a spare diaper Sam? The diaper you are wearing is pretty wet for you to not have brought a change. You are sure you didn’t bring an extra, it’s a medical problem and nothing to be ashamed of.”

Sam shook his yes, in way of answer, not trusting his voice not to crack again.

“Okay, but you won’t mind me checking your bag just to be sure; we wouldn’t want you to have an accident and wet your boxers.” *Sheryl had seen his eyes dart to the bag when she first asked and she was confident she would find a diaper in it. *She unzipped the first pocket… nothing, the second… again nothing. Then she unzipped the last and main pocket, more of the same.

Sam let out a small exhale, but it was premature as Sheryl noticed a zipper at the back of the pocket leading to another inside pocket. *The inside pouch was designed to store laptop power cords neatly. Sam thought it would make a nice hiding place as it wasn’t noticeable to a quick glance. As Sheryl unzipped it, the familiar top of a diaper poked out. *“Sammy you lied to me. *That isn’t acceptable Sam. Toddlers try to hide accidents, not adults who have medical problems. *Clearly I was wrong as to which one you were. Now, I need to go get more supplies and I expect you to stay put.”

Sam did as he was told not moving from his spot on his couch since he had been first set on it after leaving the kitchen. He wondered what other supplies were needed. *Sheryl had found his diaper so that couldn’t be it. *Sheryl came back down the stairs a moment latter carrying something in her hand, Sam was also disappointed to see she had drawn and tied her silk robe, though due to its length and cut it stilled showed a lot of skin. Sam had no trouble recognizing the item she was holding as a pacifier. Sheryl took a seat next to Sam on the couch and pulled him across her lap. *Sam didn’t resist, figuring he had already gotten himself in enough trouble. *He even opened his mouth and began sucking on the pacifier without being told, when Sheryl brought it near his lips. “That’s a good baby although; you still need to be punished.”

Sheryl placed one hand on Sam’s back holding him firmly in place. *She placed her other on his well padded rump. She felt the soft fabric beneath her fingers swollen to capacity as she slowly began to rub her hand across Sam’s butt. *“Sam do you know why you are about to be spanked?” she continued rubbing her hand across the diaper as she waited for him to nod his head yes. “Good, I want you to know that I am not upset with you for the wet diaper, I am upset with you for lying and that is why you are going to be spanked. Now afterwards things will be all right again, okay?” Sam nodded his head.

The whole time this was happening Sam was having problems focusing to what was being said, as Sheryl’s hand rubbing his diapered butt, and the feel of her satin robe on his bare legs was all most to much for him to handle. He could feel mass of the saturated absorbent gel in his diaper being press against his cheeks as Sheryl continued rubbing it while talking. He was also very aware of his tumescent member being pressed up against the very swollen crotch of his diaper by Sheryl’s legs. He found the whole thing extremely erotic. He didn’t even mind when she concluded her speech and the spanking began.

* * * *********Whop! The resulting sound of the first swat was low and hollow. Sam might as well have been wearing a pillow on his butt, for what little impact he felt. *He was finding that even though Sheryl was putting a tremendous deal of force into the swing, as made evident by the forward movement of Sam on her lap the swat yielded, he felt hardly anything thanks to his diapers.

* * * *********The spanking started off slow with a slight pause between each one during which Sheryl would resume her lecture and her massaging of the rear of the diaper. After the pause another Whop! Then it would repeat and each smack caused Sam to momentarily move forward. *Sam felt like he would explode after each hit as it ground his penis into his diapers. But they were spaced out so far that it merely served to tease him.

* * * *********Then the frequency and intensity picked up, till there was no more pauses just hit after hit in quick succession. *They still didn’t hurt but they kept a steady rhythm going and Sam could feel himself on the verge of climaxing. Sam’s sucking of the pacifier had synchronized itself with the spanking. *Sam wasn’t sure how Sheryl would react when he lost it in his diapers or if she even knew what her spanking was doing to him, but he was positive a few more hits and he was going to lose it. Whop! Whop! Whop! Whop! Whop! *Sam sucked in hard on the pacifier as he felt himself explode into his diapers. Whop! Whop! The spanking continued but Sam just lay limp on Sheryl’s lap as he felt the blows continue to land and his body surge forward in response.

* * * *********The whole spanking from start to finish only lasted a few minuets but it had proven to be more than Sam could out last, as the diapers and his proximity and contact to a woman in lingerie combined to send him over the top. When Sheryl finished she pulled Sam up so he was sitting on her lap with his head on her shoulder. *She was consoling him just as she had Kayla after a spanking her when she was a little girl. Her left arm was resting on his back as her hand stroked his longish hair. Her other hand was alternating between patting and rubbing the back of his diapers.

* * * *********“Now I know that didn’t hurt Sam, but think of it as a warning of what will happen if you lie again to me and next time I won’t leave the diapers up. Now let’s get you changed out of that wet diaper, okay?” *Sheryl carried Sam from the couch to the floor where she laid him down on the changing pad. She got back into Sam’s backpack to retrieve the diaper from it. “Oh my! Well isn’t this just the cutest little pull-up.” Sheryl exclaimed as she pulled the goodnite from Sam’s bag. She hadn’t noticed the pattern when she first had seen it. “Look at the little flowers and butterflies, isn’t that just precious?” Sheryl was turning it over in her hand examining it closely. “Oh dear, it’s awfully thin though for such a heavy little wetter and it would be virtually useless if you had a messy accident.”

* * * *********Sam would have spoken up at this point but his humiliation and the pacifier prevented him.

“Hmm, I think I know something that will help.”

* * * *********What more could she be getting Sam thought as she walked out of the room again. *As he lay on the floor, he prayed that Kayla wouldn’t walk down the stairs to see him lying in just a diaper on a changing pad. He also debated whether or not to tell Sheryl the truth about the diapers and how she doesn’t need to worry about him having an accident as the thought of a messy diaper disgusted him.

* * * *********“All right baby, Aunt Sheryl is back.”

* * * *********Sam lifted his head to see Sheryl walking back into the room. He was glad to see her robe was once more open and exposing her bountiful and perfectly shaped breasts. *He wondered if she had undone it or if it had come undone during the spanking. *He also noticed something in her hand, but he wasn’t sure what it was. *Whatever it was, it was hot pink and glossy, as it looked to be made out of a hard plastic. It was shaped like either a small popsicle or a mushroom extending from a rounded base. *It was about three inches long from tip to base. It went from the rounded base to a skinny shaft to the part that reminded Sam of the popsicle. *He had no idea what it was or how it was going to help.

* * * *********Sam laid his head back as Sheryl knelt down at the mat. *“All right let’s get you cleaned up little girl.” *Sam didn’t know how to take that remark so he let it go, not wanting a spanking. Sheryl began to undo the tapes of his diaper one by one till all four had been torn off. *She then pulled the front of his diaper down. Sam hadn’t realized how much weight there was to the soaked diaper till Sheryl pulled it off his crotch. *He also noticed slight air currents blowing across his wet skin. It felt pleasantly cool and had he not just came, Sam was sure it would have caused him to stir. Sheryl took a baby wipe and gently began cleaning him with it. Sam closed his eyes and sucked on his pacifier as she worked. The spanking had been a carnal pleasure but this, this went beyond that like it was another type of pleasure entirely, something more elemental and pure. Sam was in bliss as he felt the cool wipe work itself around his whole crotch. Next he felt a new wipe on his butt as Sheryl lifted him off the mat by his ankles which she held in her left hand. *Once again Sam was made aware of air currents as his butt broke contact with the wet diaper and his freshly exposed cheeks were wiped down.

* * * *********Sheryl placed the dirty wipes in the center of the diaper and pulled it out from underneath before lowering Sam back down. Sam watched as she rolled the wipes up in the diaper so that only a small portion of the outside cover was left exposed. *She then fastened the tapes back onto the diaper so that it held its ball shape. *Sheryl grabbed the bottle of baby lotion and poured some in her palm before working it in between her hands. She then began to rub Sam’s diapered area down with the baby oil. *Sam was lost in pure ecstasy as his senses were heightened feeling every movement Sheryl’s hands made. *They started just above his groin at his waist then she moved them down on either side of his crotch before retracing her movements back up to his waist and this time down over his shaft. “All right baby I need you to roll over so Aunt Sheryl can get your back side.” *Sam complied eager for the sensual rub down to continue. *Sheryl poured more oil into her hand before working it into Sam’s butt cheeks. *While Sam lay prone on his stomach he couldn’t see Sheryl coating the item she brought out with her in a generous amount of baby oil. *Sheryl began rubbing Sam’s butt again. *She briefly parted his cheeks with her left hand before quickly slipping the point of the object into Sam’s butt hole and shoving the whole thing in till its base was flush against his sphincter.

* * * *********“EEEP!” Sam let out a girly high pitch squeal as he felt something being shoved into his rectum.

* * * *********“There, that butt plug should keep baby from having a messy diaper.” Sheryl said examining her work, before rolling Sam over onto his back again. *He had a shocked look on his face as he felt the invader inside him. *“Now time for your training panties.” Sheryl exclaimed as she began sliding the goodnite up Sam’s legs. *“Lift up your hips baby.” Sheryl instructed as she got the diaper up to his thighs. *As Sam lifted his hips he felt his rectal muscles contracting trying to pull the plug in deeper but the base held it securely in place. Sheryl pulled the goodnites the rest of the way up. *She then slipped her hand down the front of the goodnite and positioned Sam’s penis so that it was facing down at the crotch of the diaper. *“They don’t do any good if you pee out the top.” Sheryl explained. “Now, doesn’t it feel nice to be dry and clean again?” *Sheryl pulled Sam up into a sitting position and then had him stand all the way up so she could inspect the goodnite’s fit. *“Well a real diaper would be better but this will hold till morning.” She said as she ran her finger around the inside of the openings insuring a secure fit. “And it’s snug enough to hold the plug in should your body need to make a stinky in your sleep. Now come along and let’s get you a bottle.” *Sheryl stood and placed Sam on her hip, which wasn’t difficult considering the relative size differences between the two.

* * * *********Sam felt the plug being pressed in deeper as Sheryl rested his weight on her arm. While she carried him into the kitchen he could feel it moving inside him with each rise and fall of her step. *He got a momentary relief from it as Sheryl lifted him off her hip to set him down on the island in the kitchen, where upon sitting he was quickly reminded of the plug’s presence. *“It’s a lucky thing that Kayla baby sits or I wouldn’t have a bottle or any other supplies on hand to take care of you.” Sheryl spoke as she walked over to a far cupboard and proceeded to remove supplies off a high shelf. *Sam couldn’t see what she was doing but it didn’t take a genius to figure out she was getting a bottle for him. Sheryl did in fact get a bottle down but she was searching for something else as well. *“There it is.” She mumbled under her breath, as she snatched a small vial of ipecac from the shelf.

She was probably the last person to still keep some on hand. Most mothers had switched to one form of activated charcoal or another, but Sheryl had always preferred to have something more immediate on hand, plus activated charcoal didn’t work on all poisons. *She carefully poured a small amount into the bottle before adding milk. She stashed the ipecac before turning around to face Sam. *“All right baby lets get you fed and then it’s off to bed.” Sheryl carried Sam back out to the living room on her hip again and sat him down on the couch cradling him in her lap. *She removed his pacifier and replaced it with the nipple of the bottle. *“Be a good baby and drink the whole bottle.”

Sam suckled on the bottle as he lay in Sheryl’s lap. *His head was nestled up against her breast and the satin of her slip felt good on his skin. He felt himself beginning to stir again in his diaper. He considered pretending to be cold and asking for a blanket to cover himself with should Kayla, come down the stairs. He decided against it figuring she would be bound to have questions if she saw him drinking from a baby’s bottle and gauging by what he had witnessed of her and her mom’s interactions thus far he had no doubt Sheryl would tell her everything.

Sam was suddenly feeling sleepy as he neared the half way point on his bottle. *He noticed that Sheryl was softly humming a lullaby to him and he couldn’t remember when she had started. Sam had to fight to keep his eyelids open, the milk, humming and now Sheryl combing her fingers through his hair was all working against him. *Sam decided to shut his eyes as he finished the bottle off, and just focus on the feelings around him, like the warm softness of Sheryl’s breast on his cheek, the snug goodnite around his waist, or the cool milk flowing down his throat. Sam drifted off before the bottle was completely drained and he was only vaguely aware of when he started to suck air through the bottle. Sheryl placed the binki back into Sam’s mouth and laid him down on the couch. *She covered him in a blanket and then set about cleaning up the living room. *Once the changing supplies were cleaned up and she had washed out the bottle. *Sheryl picked up Sam’s clothes and placed them folded on the floor at the head of the couch. She glanced at the clock on the DVD player, it had been ten minutes since she had given Sam the bottle, it would only be another ten minuets top before the ipecac would take effect. She decided it would be best to go into her office and wait till she heard Sam stir.

Sam suddenly woke with a start in a cold sweat and extremely disoriented. *The room was dark as Sam looked around trying to get his bearing when he suddenly doubled over clenching his stomach. “Oh, gawd! Please no!” Sam inhaled deeply as he grit his teeth and threw off the blanket. *He was starting to roll off the couch when he was hit with a wave of dry heaves, only they didn’t stay dry very long. Sam grabbed the arm of the couch with one hand as he braced himself. *He held onto his stomach with the other as he began to wrench violently. *Sheryl came running down the hall when she heard Sam crying out in the living room. *

“Oh Sam! Are you okay?” *Sheryl asked. *Sam looked up at Sheryl as she entered the living room, tears were running down his cheeks and he had salvia hanging from his quivering chin. He was still holding his stomach, as he surveyed the damage from his wrenching. *There was a little bit of vomit on his shirt, and chin, but the majority ended up on the couch and his clothing which Sheryl had just picked up.

“Sheryl I am so so…” He suddenly slammed his mouth shut and tensed as he fought off another spasm. *For the moment he had held it off. “I am really sorry about your couch and floor, it just hit me out of no where and I had no time to react.”

Sheryl could see he was on the verge of bawling. *“Sam it’s all right, I’ll clean it up but let’s take care of you first. *Here wrap up in this.” Sheryl placed the blanket over his shoulders and he immediately clutched it around him. “Come on lets get you to the restroom.” *Sheryl gently guided him up by his shoulders.

“Is everything okay down here?” Kayla asked coming down the stairs.

Sam wrapped the blanket around him tighter making sure there was no way his diaper could be exposed. *“Sam seems to have caught a stomach bug. *Will you show him where the master bath is, while I clean this up?” Sheryl said looking up at where Kayla had paused half way down the steps.

“Yeah, come on Sammy.” *Kayla walked over and placed here hands on Sam’s shoulders before guiding him up the stairs as she walked safely behind him, while Sheryl began to clean up the living room. “Are you feeling okay?” *Kayla asked as they climbed the stairs.

“Uh not particularly, I woke up feeling really nauseous and I am feeling a little weak.”

“Yeah stupid question I guess.”

Sam tripped on one of the steps and began to fall, only to feel Kayla’s hands tighten around his shoulders as she kept him from falling. “Little weak huh?” *she joked as she helped Sam back to his feet. “Come on its not much farther.” She led Sam down the hall to the master suite and bath. *Kayla opened the door to the large master bathroom. *It was tiled with a large garden tub and separate glass shower. *A double sink vanity stood against the wall opposite the tub and tucked away behind a half wall was the toilet. *Sam summoned what little strength he had left to run over to the toilet, where he dropped to his knees and began to heave into the bowl. Kayla walked over and leaned up against the wall, she allowed herself to slide down it till she was sitting on the floor.

Sam felt Kayla being rubbing his back through the blanket as he rested gripping the sides of the toilet. *Kayla spoke soft comforting words as she rubbed Sam’s back. *Sam’s insides were empty after about ten minuets and after that he was just suffering through dry heaves, which he actually turned out to be more painful.

Sheryl headed upstairs after she had finished cleaning up the mess in the living room. She entered the master bath to find Sam hunched over the toilet with his head resting on the seat and Kayla sitting next to him dutifully rubbing his back and offering condolences. *“Why don’t you get to bed sweetheart? I’ll take it from here.” Sheryl said to Kayla as she walked over and patted her shoulder.

“All right, mom.” *Kayla stood and walked over to the doorway where she paused and looked at her mom. *“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah, will you tell the school office that Sam won’t be coming into school tomorrow?”

*********“Sure not a problem, but do you really think that he will still be sick tomorrow, maybe, maybe not, either way I would like to keep an eye on him.”

“Yeah, I’ll let Ms. Easterfield know.”

“Thank you honey, now try and get some sleep.” *Sheryl kneeled down next to Sam and picked up the back rubbing where Kayla had left off.

“Night Kayla and thank you.” Sam moaned not lifting his head from the seat.

“Hey everyone needs someone to hold back their hair for them right?” Kayla tried to make Sam smile before leaving the room.

“How are you feeling Sammy?”

“Better. I think the worst of it is over, at least for now, but I am feeling really tired and achy.” Sam managed to lift his head to respond this time.

“I think you are probably right about the worst of it being over. I’ll draw you a bath which should help ease some of the soreness.” Sheryl stood and walked over to the large garden tub. *It was three feet deep and sat inside a nook in the exterior wall surrounded by a bay window. *The area around the tub was built up and tiled so that tub height was level with its surroundings. She turned the water on which spilled over a wide flat brim into the tub making for a very quiet peaceful sound. *She let it run for a bit to warm up before plugging the drain and adding some scented bath salts. *Once the tub was full of warm water she shut off the faucet and walked over to Sam. “You ready for a nice bath?”

“Very much so.” Sam struggled to stand up, so Sheryl gave him a hand and walked him over to the tub.

“We can probably lose the blanket at this point Sammy; you don’t need to worry about Kayla. She didn’t see your training panties.” Sheryl said as she pulled the blanket off Sam. *“Speaking of lets get you out of those.” Sheryl slid the goodnite down Sam’s legs and lifted his feet out of them. *Sam had to hold onto her shoulders to steady himself. “Now, into the tub with you.” Sheryl picked Sam up and gently lowered him into the tub. *Then she gathered the blanket and the goodnite up before turning to leave. “Sam holler if you need anything. I’ll be just outside the door in my room, Okay?”

“Okay and thank you.” Sam responded as he leaned his head back against the side of the tub feeling the warm water all around him.

“All right I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.” Sheryl said as she pulled the door shut so it was barely cracked. Sam had his eyes shut as he felt the rise and fall of the warm water correspond to his breathing. *He was acutely aware of where the water line was on him as he felt the cool air move over his skin water wasn’t covering it, which wasn’t much given his small size and the style of the tub. Sam focused on every minute sensation as he tried to distract himself from the discomfort in his stomach. *It wasn’t long before he had succumbed to the warm water and fallen asleep in the tub. Sheryl came in to check on him after not hearing him make so much as a peep after 30 minutes.

* * * *********As she opened the door she could hear the faint sound of Sam snoring. *Sure enough as she walked in she saw Sam completely zonked out with just his head and one arm sticking out of the water. *She checked the water temperature with her hand. *“Hmm starting to cool down, that’s alright he’s been in plenty long.” Sheryl said to herself. She pressed a lever, by the faucet, which allowed the tub to drain. *Sheryl grabbed a large white fluffy towel off a shelf before waking Sam. *She gently shook Sam’s arm till he opened his eyes. “Sam honey, can you stand up for me.”

* * * *********Sam tried to push himself up but severely lacked the energy. *Sheryl had to help him out of the tub and stand him on a fluffy white mat that matched the towel. She began to dry him off as he fought his drooping eyelids to stay awake and maintain his balance. *Sam fell asleep a few times during the process and Sheryl had to catch him as his body went slack. Once he was sufficiently dry, she wrapped the towel around him and guided him over to the sink. “Here I brought up your toothbrush. Do you think you can stay awake long enough to brush your teeth? We don’t want you going to bed with all that acid on your teeth.”

* * * *********“Yeah I think I can.” Sam mumbled as he took the toothbrush Sheryl was holding and slowly began moving it across his teeth. *He braced himself with his free hand against the sink. *While Sam struggled to stay awake long enough to brush his teeth, Sheryl walked over to Kayla’s room to get some old pajamas for him. *Kayla was dead to the world as Sheryl walked over to her closet. *At the very back of it she found what she was looking for, a pastel blue night gown Kayla hadn’t worn since she was ten. *It had been about the last girly thing Kayla had worn too. *Sheryl wasn’t sure why she still had it but was glad she did as it looked liked it would fit Sam.

* * * *********Sheryl laid the gown on her bed as she went back into the bathroom to fetch Sam. *Who was all but asleep as one hand moved the toothbrush slowly over the same spot. *“Wake up sweetie and spit, and then I promise you can go to bed.”

* * * *********Sam’s eyes fluttered at his name and he spit the toothpaste out and rinsed his toothbrush. “Good job. Here let me help you.” Sheryl took the toothbrush from him and sat it on the sink counter. Then bent down and scooped up Sam in her arms. *She carried Sam, who was wrapped up in the towel, into the bedroom where she laid him on the bed. *Sam lay on his back with his eyes closed as she applied baby powder to him before putting him back into his goodnites, next she pulled the night gown on over his head. The whole time she was talking to him even though she knew that he was barely staying awake. “Sorry about the pink nightie but your clothes are in the wash. *They kind of took a direct hit. *Also I want you to try and drink a bottle of water before you fall asleep. It’s important that you stay hydrated.” *Sheryl walked around to her side of the bed where she already had a bottle of water ready on the night stand. *Sheryl sat on the bed with her back against several pillows and the headboard. *Crossing her legs at the ankles out in front of her she pulled Sam over so that his head was resting in her lap. *She brushed the nipple of the bottle back and forth over Sam’s lips, till the rooting reflex kicked in and Sam began to suck on the bottle.

* * * *********Sheryl brushed the hair out of the sleeping boy’s face as she looked down at the angel in her lap. *Sam made it about half way through the bottle before he fell into deeper sleep and quit drinking. Sheryl pulled back the covers and tucked Sam in to bed. She placed her hand against his forehead, it was warm as he was running a slight fever. *Sheryl knew this was a normal side effect of the ipecac syrup. *She climbed into bed beside Sam and felt him shiver as the low grade fever made him cold. *Sheryl lay on her side and pulled Sam in against her body. She felt him grow still as he came into contact with her body heat. *Sheryl was propped up on her elbow, with her other arm wrapped around him holding him close. She looked down at Sam as she spooned his small frame. It was hard to believe he was eighteen.

* * * *********Sheryl thought about the events of the evening. *She knew she shouldn’t have done what she had, but she couldn’t help herself. *The temptation of having a little girl to care for again was just too great even if it was just for the night. Kayla had always been a tomboy and fought tooth and nail with Sheryl over doing or wearing anything girlie. Sheryl eventually drifted off to sleep next to Sam thinking about plans for tomorrow. *

Chapter 9

Sam woke up to the feeling of sunlight streaming down on his face. Not wanting to fully awaken just yet he continue to lay still with his eyes closed and hope sleep would once again over take him. He had no such luck. With each passing moment his brain became more and more awake no matter how much he tried to will against it. The first thing his mind registered was he no longer felt like throwing up, definitely a good start he thought. Sam lay in bed as his mind wandered over the events of yesterday. There was the bath which I fell asleep in. Then Sheryl woke me up and had me brush my teeth. Then I think she gave me another bottle and I don’t remember if she carried me back down stairs or not. At that thought Sam opened his eyes; he didn’t like not knowing where he was.

The first thing Sam saw was a small radio alarm clock saying it was 8:10 in the morning. The clock was sitting on a dark grained night stand. “That’s hardly helpful” Sam mumbled to himself as he rolled over from his stomach to his back. He opened his eyes only to realize that staring at a white ceiling wasn’t really going to help solve the mystery either. “Grrr” Sam wasn’t much of a morning person and certainly not without coffee in his hand. Finally resigning himself to waking up Sam propped himself up onto his elbows to get a look around.

He was in a large queen bed, with a black and white comforter on it. The bed had what would seem to any male an inordinate amount of pillows on it. On the other side of the bed was a night stand that matched the one on his side only instead of a clock it held various photos of Kayla and Sheryl. On the opposite wall there was a large dresser which matched the bed and night stand set. Sam vaguely recognized the room from passing through it on his way to the master bath. As Sam looked around the room he caught his reflection in a mirror hanging on the closet door. He was shocked when he saw what he was wearing. As he looked down at himself he began to recall a vague memory of Sheryl saying something about his clothes as he was falling asleep, she had given him an explanation he just couldn’t remember what it was. Sam thought it best to find Sheryl and find out what happened.

As he stood getting out of bed he realized two things. First he had wet himself in his sleep without meaning too, and second he could still feel the intruder inside his sphincter. Sam moved to the door with an odd gait caused by the wet diaper and plug inside him. He noticed the silky feminine feel of the night gown as it brushed against his thighs with each step. What really surprised him though was the arousal it was causing him. He had read numerous stories about sissies but never thought of himself as one, always just preferring the diapering aspect of them. Now as he walked out of the bedroom he was pondering what the ramifications of this new development would be. Sam paused before entering the hall to check and see if the coast was clear. Kayla’s door was wide open but appeared to be deserted. He listened and heard nothing, relatively certain that Kayla had already left for school, Sam proceeded to make his way downstairs.

He found Sheryl in the kitchen leaning up against the island with a cup of coffee in her hands. She had on skinny jeans this morning which disappeared into a pair of calve high brown suede boots, which boasted an impressive heel adding to her already stunning height. A form fitting cardigan completed the ensemble. She looked like she was shooting a Folgers’ commercial, the way she was smiling at Sam from behind a large coffee cup held in both hands mere inches away from her perfect face. There was even visible steam rising from the mug. “Well good morning kiddo, how are we feeling today?” Sheryl beamed at Sam as he shuffled his way into the kitchen.

“A lot better than last night, that’s for sure.” Sam replied

“Want to see if you can hold down some toast?”

“That’s all right, I don’t normally eat breakfast, and I really don’t feel like pushing my luck.”

“Fair enough. I informed the school that you were out sick today, so don’t worry about that. I thought we could go shopping this morning and pick up some supplies. So if you aren’t wanting to eat lets get you ready.” Sheryl pushed off from the counter and walked out of the kitchen, Sam followed Sheryl up to her room with out being told.

Sheryl held the door open for Sam as he waddled in after her. He was taken back when he felt the hem of his nightie being lifted and the seat of his pull up being pulled back. “Hmmm, a little wet but I think you will be fine until we get back from shopping.”

“Umm, Sheryl will I be able to wear my own clothes when we go out?”

Sheryl sat down on the edge of the bed facing Sam, and took Sam’s hands in hers. “No I’m sorry sweetie your clothes are still in the wash. I did a pre-wash soak on them last night and only put them in the wash this morning. You will have to borrow some of Kayla’s clothes, but I promise you, no one will recognize you so don’t worry. Now lets get you changed.”

Sheryl pulled the nightie off Sam and replaced it with a shirt dress, she had dug out of the back of Kayla’s closet. It was just short enough to fit Sam. “Did it have to be a dress?”

Sheryl chuckled at Sam’s question. “Yeah, I’m sorry, but you would be swimming in her jeans. Now lift your leg so I can get these leggings on you.”

“Tights too?”

“Well they aren’t really tights. They are leggings, it’s a thicker material. And yes they are necessary, for starters, your legs aren’t shaved and it’s not all that warm outside. Now come on.” Sheryl held the waist off the leggings open as Sam stepped into them one at a time, steadying himself on Sheryl’s shoulders. Sheryl pulled the leggings up and slipped a pair of black flats on his feet. She then fastened the wide black belt around Sam’s waist.

“Now as soon as I do your hair we can go.”

“My hair?” Sam’s voice raised an octave in fright.

“Sssh, calm down I won’t do anything permanent, we just have to get you looking more girly. You don’t want to be recognized right?”

“Alright.”

“That’s better, now come over he to the vanity.”

Sam was lead over to a chair in front of a large mirrored vanity. Sheryl plugged in a straightener, she grabbed some hair supplies as the straightener heated up. Once it was hot she wasted no time in getting to work on Sam’s hair. She talked to herself as she worked on getting all Sam’s hair to lay flat. Once it was straightened she began to style it. There wasn’t much she could do without cutting so decided to go simple. She pulled the longer hair from the top sides of his head back into a short ponytail in back, and framed his face with two long wispy bangs. “It’s lucky you wear your hair long, Sam or I don’t know how I would have pulled this off.”

She applied some very light make-up to help complete the look, a bright glossy shade of pink lip gloss that only a teen would wear, some color around the eyes to make them pop and give him better lashes, and some light foundation on the cheek bones to lighten and soften them.

Sheryl stood Sam in front of a full length mirror on her closet door. Sam couldn’t believe his reflection. It looked like a small tween girl was staring back at him. The belt gave him a waist line and his small body looked very feminine without male clothing to suggest otherwise. He noticed that his hair was similar in length and style to what Kayla wore.

“So do you think anyone will recognize you?” Sheryl asked. She was standing behind him trying very hard not to look pleased with herself.

“I don’t know how they could. I don’t recognize myself.” Sam replied slowly moving his head from side to side, trying to catch a reflection that would hint that there was a male underneath it all.

“All right shall we be off then?” Sheryl said picking Sam up and setting him on her hip. Sam caught his reflection one last time in the mirror as they left the room. He was horrified to find that his dress had ridden up in back and his pull-ups were quite visible, which dropped his appeared age from tween to little girl. Sheryl walked back down to the kitchen to get her purse and keys; she also grabbed the pacifier off the counter and stuck it into Sam’s mouth.

Sam breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw that Sheryl’s car was in the attached two car garage and he wouldn’t be carried outside on her hip for all the world to see. Sam was impressed to see that Sheryl was driving a black BMW 5. She opened up the rear passenger door and strapped Sam into a booster seat. “It’s lucky that Kayla baby-sits or I wouldn’t have been prepared.” Sheryl said as she fastened the straps on the seat.

Sam couldn’t believe how well he fit in the seat as Sheryl climbed into the driver’s seat. Sam squirmed a bit in the booster seat testing the restraints. With his small frame he was barely over the minimum weight requirement for a booster seat in a car as it was. Sam felt every bump in the road being transmitted up through the wheels of the car and inside him through the butt plug. Sam was confused as he felt him self becoming aroused at the vibrations inside him. His unsettled confusion gave way as the vibrations built upon themselves. Sam sucked in hard on the pacifier as he felt himself giving way to the feelings that were washing over him. Soon he found himself grinding against the booster seat as he was becoming more and more excited. Sam was lost in his own world of ecstasy as he sat in the booster seat and was oblivious to how heavy he was breathing.

Sheryl was able to hear Sam from the front seat and adjusted the rearview mirror in order to see what was going on. A smile came over her face as she witnessed Sam clutching the padded bar over his lap as he grinded the plug deeper inside him. She flashed a knowing smile as his eyes suddenly went wide and he collapsed panting into his seat. She wasn’t surprised to see Sam fall asleep shortly after he got done grinding. Sheryl pulled into the parking lot of local grocery store. Sam didn’t wake as Sheryl undid the buckles of the car seat. Rather than waking him, she decided just to carry him into the store. She left the pacifier in as she thought it helped lower Sam’s appeared age.

As she walked up and down the aisles she got complements from the other mothers about how cute Sam was. Which made her grateful that he was asleep, as she wasn’t sure how we would take all the attention. Sheryl carried Sam through the store till she came to the baby isle. There was a cute 20 something year old girl with flaxen hair stocking the shelves. Who turned to look up from where she was kneeling as Sheryl entered the aisle. “Hi, how are we doing today, finding everything all right?” She said smiling as she stood up.

“Just fine thank you, Janet.” Sheryl read the name off her employee badge. “I’m just picking up some supplies for my niece.”

“Are you looking to pick up more goodnites or something else?” Janet smoothed down the back of Sam’s dress where it had ridden up again, exposing his diaper.

“Oh why thank you. Good thing she is asleep, she would have been upset if she knew her diaper was showing.”

“Not a problem she is very pretty little girl and apparently a very hard sleeper.” Janet said brushing a stray hand of hair out of Sam’s face as he slept sucking on the pacifier, head resting on Sheryl’s shoulder.

“I was hoping to pick up something a little more substantial than goodnites, something more like Pampers size 6.”

“Well that would be one way to go, but if you don’t mind me saying she is a little big for pampers.”

“Yeah, her folks recently passed and she seems to be going through a bit of a regression phase.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, poor little thing. I would recommend Tena youth in a extra small. I’ll grab you a package if you would like.”

The two stood in the aisle awhile longer talking about various diaper options. Sheryl felt the front of Sam’s goodnite getting warm, she smiled as Sam wet in self in his sleep. Then she felt a trickle of urine on her arm and looked down just in time to see the first drops running of her arm and falling to the ground. “Oh dear looks like we’ve sprung a leak.” Sheryl exclaimed looking down at the small puddle that had formed under her arm.
“Oh my, I’ll get someone to clean this up. There is a family changing room at the back of the store, you can clean her up in. Do you need any supplies?”
“Yes, will you grab me a pack of those Tena youth diapers you mentioned?”
Sam started to stir in Sheryl’s arms at all the commotion. “Shhh, it’s okay” Sheryl cooed.

“Hi, little one.” Janet gushed rubbing a finger against Sam’s cheek. “I’ll go get those for you and meet you back at the change room.” Janet turned and disappeared down the aisle. Sheryl headed towards the family change room. She pulled out a paper change sheet from the dispenser and spread it out on the change table before laying Sam down on the surface. She pulled up Sam’s dress exposing his goodnite. The crotch of the diaper showed wear from Sam’s earlier grinding in the car seat. This combined with the fact Sam had already wet the diaper last night, it was easy to see why it leaked.
Sheryl tore the sides of the diaper, and slid it out from under Sam and tossed it in the trash. She then began cleaning him up with babywipes. “I don’t think we will be needing this in anymore.” She said as slid the buttplug out and wiped it down before placing it in her purse. Sam felt somehow empty without the intruder inside him. She continued to clean him up, until she heard a knock at the door. She went and opened it leaving Sam on the table. “Here you go.” Janet was on the other side of the doorway and handed Sheryl a package of Tena diapers.
“Thank you so much.”

Janet waved at Sam before turning and leaving, “Bye bye cutie.”
Sheryl opened up the package of diapers and took one out and slid it under Sam and pulled up the front. It was much thicker than the goodnites Sam had been wearing. Sheryl fastened the tapes and pulled up Sam’s leggings, before washing her hands in the sink. Sam wiggled and squirmed on the table getting used to the new thickness incasing him. “All right shall we finished our shopping?” Sheryl asked as she picked Sam back up and rested him on her hip. She grabbed the opened package of diapers and headed to the front to pay for them.

A few minutes later Sam found himself being strapped back into the car seat as they headed for Sheryl’s house. Sheryl let Sam out of the car seat and told him he could watch tv while she prepared lunch. She made chicken noodle soup and toast which Sam was hesitant about eating at first, for fear of a repeat of last nights digestive pyrotechnics. Sam’s fear was quickly abated after a few tentative bites when he realized how hungry he was and how good the soup was. After lunch Sheryl joined Sam on the couch as they watched movies. Sam was laying with his head on Sheryl’s lap, He felt pressure in his bladder and rather than get up he decided just to wet his diaper. Sam fell asleep on Sheryl’s lap. Sheryl stroked his hair as he slept. She woke him up at 2:30 to change him out of the wet diaper. She suggested he shower to wash off the make up and undo his straightened hair.
Sam stepped out of the shower to find his clothes form yesterday folded neatly in a pile and waiting for him on the bathroom counter. He changed and collected his stuff before thanking Sheryl for taking care of him. She hugged him goodbye and assured him not to worry about it. Sam went out the front door and headed towards his car. He was half way to his car when he heard Sheryl’s voice call after him. He turned to see her standing on the front step.

“Hey Sam, we need to talk next time you come over.” With that Sheryl turned and went back inside the house closing the door behind her. Sam drove home feeling slightly nauseous contemplating what that talk would consist of.

Chapter 10





Sam pulled along side the curb in front of his house. He killed the ignition and sat for a moment trying to calm the queasy feeling in his stomach. What would his parents say about the incident last night? How much trouble would he be in for not coming home? Did they know he skipped today? Sam took a deep breath and told the voice in his to shut up. One step at a time he told himself. Let’s get into the house and take the problems as they come. Sam hesitantly got his backpack and walked into his house.



“Hi honey. How was school?” His mom called at him from the kitchen.



“Uh, fine.” Sam called in way of reply as he tried to figure out if there was subtext to the question. He decided to go into the kitchen and for a snack so he could ascertain his mother’s mood from her body language. He was shocked to find her in the kitchen pulling a tray of fresh cookies from the oven. She was even wearing a apron to complete the image of suburban housewife.



“What gives with the cookies?” Sam asked as he snagged a cookie from the tray.



“Nothing I just wanted to do something nice for you.”



“Uh-huh?” Sam wasn’t sure what to make of his mom’s behavior.



“Here have some milk with those.” Sam’s mom poured him a glass of cold milk.



“Uh thanks.” Sam took the glass and grabbed another cookie before disappearing to his room. His mom’s overly cheery demeanor was starting to weird him out. Sam fired up his laptop and finished his cookies while he waited for the log in screen. He couldn’t figure out if his mom pretending like yesterday didn’t happen or if she was just waiting for his dad to get home.



He had two messages waiting for him in his inbox, one from Ms. Easterfield and one from Kayla. He opened Easterfield’s first. The message was brief and straight forward, she was writing to see if he was feeling better and to tell him he was missed in class. At the very end of the message there was a line by itself that caused Sam to start to get excited as he read it. “Remember to be early tomorrow and dress appropriately.” Sam wrote a quick reply and assuring he was feeling better and that he would be there tomorrow.



Next he opened Kayla’s email. Which consisted of much the same stuff, feel better and so forth. Kayla apologized for her mother in the letter stating that she could get a tad overbearing when someone was sick. Kayla chalked it up to her being a nurse and hoped she didn’t smother him too much. Sam smiled as he finished reading the email as it concluded with the automatic tag line, sent from blackberry, that and given the time it was sent, Sam knew Kayla had wrote it in class. He also sent her a quick response saying he felt much better and that her mom had been wonderful, how wonderful he didn’t add. Sam concluded by suggesting she had better things to do in class than worry and send him emails, such as pay attention.



Sam logged off his computer and decided to slip on one of his goodnites. He first verified his mother was in the kitchen cooking dinner before returning to his room to fetch the goodnites from their hiding spot. He removed his jeans and boxers and slid the wonderful garment up his legs. Sam quickly put his jeans and back on and headed out to the living room to watch tv.



Sam who had gotten lost in a program and lost track of time was surprised when he heard his dad coming in through the garage door. “Hey Sam how was your day?” His father called out to him.



“Fine.” Sam watched as his dad disappeared into the kitchen to greet his mom and compliment her on how wonderful the food smelled. Apparently everyone had reached an unspoken truce to not bring up the night before and pretend it never happened, which suited Sam just fine. Shortly after his dad had gotten home Sam heard his mom call them both for supper. Sam was happy to see that his mom had prepared homemade chili for dinner and he ate in relative silence, only speaking when spoken to. Sam didn’t want to do anything that would shine a spotlight on the elephant in the room. After dinner Sam was even more shocked to see his dad clear the table and do the dishes for his mother, an act Sam had rarely witnessed.



Sam excused himself from the table as heard the soft chime of his phone going off in his room. He felt his hear skipped a beat when he saw he had a text from Kayla. “Hey I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk?”



Sam’s fingers couldn’t move quick enough as he typed a reply message. “Sure when?”



“How about now? I am in front of your house ;)” Sam did everything in his power to run out the front when he read Kayla’s text. He took deliberate normal steps as he grabbed his coat and headed to the door, not wanting to seem overly anxious.



“I’m heading out for a walk he called towards the kitchen.”



“Okay have fun.” He heard his parents reply.



Sam opened the door to see Kayla in a white tank and jeans leaning against his car smiling at him. Her short hair moving slightly in the warm autumn currents of the night. Sam pulled the door shut behind him as he stared ahead at Kayla not wanting to blink for fear she would disappear. Sam stepped off his front porch and immediately preceded to fall forward having been so focused on Kayla he stepped straight instead of stepping down. The sensation of falling snapped him out of his puppy love daze as he reacted just quick enough to get his palms under him but not stop the fall. “Oh! Sam are you okay?” Kayla shouted as she began to hurry over to him.



Sam popped back up almost as quickly as he fell, trying to salvage what little remained of his dignity. “Yeah, no I’m fine.” He assured her as he brushed himself self off, wincing slightly as his hands slid across the denim of his jeans. He looked down relieved to see they were only slightly scraped and not bleeding.



“You sure you are okay?” Kayla who was now directly in front of him asked. She brushed the hair out of his eyes as he looked up at her.



“Uh, yeah definitely. I guess I kind of forgot about the steps.” Sam felt the blood coursing to his face as he wished more than anything he could redo the last 15 seconds.



“Well be careful you goof. So are you feeling better?” Kayla asked as they began walking down the block.



“Yeah I am, thanks for asking. Was class really so boring that you had nothing better to do than email me?”



“It’s not that class was boring, I was just concerned about you is all. Speaking of which Ms. Easterfield seemed really concerned about you to.”



“Yeah I know I got an email from her asking how I was doing. Why were you so concerned? It was just a little stomach virus.”



“Little stomach virus? I take it you didn’t look in a mirror last night huh? You looked like crap.”



“That bad huh? Great.”



“Oh I didn’t mean it to be mean, besides it made you look kind of cute in a sort of vulnerable way.” As she said this Kayla reached down and took Sam’s hand in hers. “You know after your got the vomit wiped off your chin.” She jabbed.



“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Sam felt as though there was electricity running through every inch of his being and it was all coming from Kayla’s hand.



“Did your parents flip out on you when you came home today?”



“Surprisingly no they didn’t. I don’t what transpired when we left last night but I got home today and it was like it never happened. In fact they were getting along better than I have seen them in long time.”



Kayla listened intently while Sam described the events at the dinner table and after dinner. She recognized the signs of the calm before the storm. She kept the uneasiness to herself though hopping she would be wrong. Although the whole bottling up thing, and pretending like there wasn’t a problem was one of the final stages in her own parent’s marriage. She prayed with all her being that same wouldn’t be true for Sam’s sake.



Eventually the conversation turned lighter again as Kayla and Sam continued to walk and talk while holding hands. Sam struggled to stay focused on what she was saying but his mind kept wandering back to the fact that he was holding Kayla’s hand in public and what this might mean. Kayla was currently talking about her old school and her softball team as they rounded a street corner. The area in front of them opened up as they came to the edge of a park. Sam had no idea they had been walking so long till he recognized the park and he realized they had gone about a mile and a half from his house. This wouldn’t normally have been a problem for Sam except he noticed some kids were playing ball on a court in the park and among them was one of Sam’s few real enemies, Derek Edwards. Derek was a top athlete and a grade a dick.



Sam hoped that Derek would be too involved in the game to notice him. Sam felt his stomach turn as they drew even with the basketball court and every muscle in his body stiffened, a fact that Kayla didn’t fail to miss. “Are you okay Sam?” She asked, abruptly changing from the story of how her team had won state last year.



“Yea, I’m fine, why?”



“Because you all of a sudden tensed up.”



“Oh did I, sorry about that. Its just that I suddenly felt a chill is all.”



Kayla gave him a sideways look, but decided not to push the issue, rather she would let him talk about it when he was ready. For his part Sam tried to will his muscles to relax and nearly succeeded when he heard his name being called from the basketball court. Kayla watched as Sam froze in his tracks and clenched his eyes shut. Something was up but she didn’t know what.



“HEY SAM, I’M TALKING TO YOU!”



Kayla turned to see a large upper classman male walking towards them with a basketball under his arm. She knew whatever was causing Sam to tense this large ape was at the center of it and that was enough to earn him her immediate disdain.



Sam turned towards the court and let out a heavy sigh before acknowledging Derek. “Hey Derek, what’s up?”



“How come you didn’t tell me you got a girlfriend or is she your babysitter?” Derek reached out and gave Sam a shove who was caught off guard as he was looking down trying to hide his blushing. Sam back peddled a few steps absorbing the blow and nearly tripping over a sycamore branch in doing so.



“No she isn’t my babysitter or my uh…” Sam began stumbling over his words in addition to his feet at this point.



Kayla’s protective instincts had kicked in at this point and she wasted no time stepping between Sam and Derek. Unlike Sam Kayla stood eye level with Derek and wasn’t in the least bit intimidated by him. “So what if I am his girlfriend? You got a problem with it or you just jealous you haven’t found the opposite sex in your own species yet?”



Not to be out done Derek took a step forward and attempted to make him self look bigger. “You got quite the mouth on you. I bet you can do more with it then just talk.” Derek was talking loud enough that his posse could here and the last remark drew shouts and jeers from them.



“Take another step forward or make another remark like that and I’ll kick your nuts so far up inside you, they take another 18 years to drop.”



Derek recognized that he was in a zero win situation, if he took Kayla up on her challenge and won he would just look like a punk picking on a chic, if he lost he… well he didn’t want to consider that option, and something about the way Kayla held her self told him it was a real possibility. So Derek decided to save face and start heading back towards the basketball court, but not with out a leaving remark. “Someday someone is going to teach you to watch your mouth, and as for you Sam, I wouldn’t leave your body guard’s side if I were you.” With that he returned to the court and resumed playing ball.



Kayla turned to Sam who was standing motionless. “You okay?”



“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” Sam started walking again



“So who was the charmer back there?”



“Just a jerk who has had it out for me since day one of high school. Umm did you mean what you said back there?”



“Yea, I actually would have really enjoyed kicking his butt in front of all his friends, I am actually a little bit bummed that he didn’t try and do something.” Kayla had a grin on her face as she envision cleaning Derek’s clock in a fight.



“No, I ugh mean the other part.”



Kayla stopped walking and looked at Sam with her smile that made him feel like he was basking in the warmth of the sun with a hint of mischief to it in the corners. “If you want me to be?”



Sam opened his mouth to reply but only a high squeak came out as his vocal cords tightened.



“I thought you would be okay with it.” Kayla said laughing as she took his hand and resumed walking. For his part Sam swallowed a few times trying to regain control of his larynx. At the next corner Kayla stopped again and looked at Sam, “You know what this means right?”



Sam had know idea what this meant or much to time to think about it as he suddenly felt Kayla’s lip press against his. He had been to shock to think about what was happening to react, which played to his advantage although he didn’t know it. Kayla had caught him with his lips apart allowing to sandwich his upper lip between hers. Kayla had guessed it was probably Sam’s first kiss and took lead as she manipulated his mouth with hers. After a few second she broke off the kiss, although to Sam it felt like centuries and a mere instant all at once, as though some how time lost its power in that moment. Their foreheads rested up against one another and Sam could smell her breath, which to him was the sweetest perfume on earth. “I thought you would be okay with that too.” Kayla said grinning, keeping her head against his. Sam very much was.



Chapter 11





Sam was on cloud nine for the rest of their walk together and really the rest of the night. Kayla had kissed him again when they got back to his house before leaving him to go home. It had only been on the cheek this time but for Sam it was still more than enough to send him to the moon. Kayla laughed as she turned back before entering her car. Sam was standing right where she left him with a stupid grin on his face as he stared off at nothing. “See you tomorrow in class Sam.” Kayla called out the window as she drove away.



Sam didn’t acknowledge her; he was still transfixed to the spot where she kissed again for the second time. Reality eventually caught back up to Sam after a few moments. He pressed his hand to his cheek where Kayla’s sacred lips had touched him. He slowly turned back and walked into his house, still holding his hand to his cheek. Sam heard his mom call out to him as he opened the door and stepped back into the house. “Did you have fun, Sam?”



Rather than just shout back Sam walked to the sunken living room. The room was dark except for a blue light being cast off from the tv. His parents were on the couch watching some crime drama. “Yea, I did.” Sam said standing on the outer edge of the room. “But I’m tired so I think I’m going to call it a night.”



“All right, sleep well.” His mom called after him. Sam wasn’t really tired and he doubted if he could sleep, but he wanted tomorrow to come and he didn’t know of any other way to make it come quicker. Sam actually fell asleep pretty quickly. The excitement of the day must have taken more out of him than he realized.



“Sammy, baby time to get up.” Sam felt the warmth of sun on his face. Was it morning already? It felt like he just went to bed, not that he cared, it just meant he got to see Kayla again. Kayla?! Wait it had been his angel’s voice calling to him, telling him to get up. “Sammy” Yes that was definitely the voice of his angel, but why was she in his room? Sam’s eyes shot open to see her perfect face beaming down at him. “Well good morning sleepy head.”



Sam furrowed his brow in confusion. “Why are you here?”



“Don’t look so happy to see me. Now let’s get you changed and ready.” Kayla said pulling the blankets back.



Sam began to panic and clutched the blankets to his chest. “You know?”



“Of course I know sweetie, I’m your girlfriend, now.”



“And you’re okay with it?”



“Why wouldn’t I be? Now quit being silly and lets get you ready.” Kayla resumed pulling back the covers as Sam hesitantly let go. “I see we’re wet this morning.” She said reaching down and patting the front of the goodnite. “Come on we can take care of it after breakfast.” Kayla lifted Sam out of bed and placed him on her hip. Sam could hear someone singing in the kitchen but couldn’t place the voice. He was surprised to see Sheryl in this kitchen cooking as he and Kayla rounded the corner.



“Why looks who’s finally up. And how did we sleep?” Sheryl asked beaming, her make up flawlessly done. Her clothes looked like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Kayla sat Sam down on the counter as she went to inspect the pancake batter her mom was whisking.



“Uh, fine I guess… confused as to what exactly is going on?”



“Oh, your parents had to go shopping; they asked Kayla if she would watch you while they were out, and I offered to come along and help.” Sheryl responded matter-of-factly, then to Kayla, “Will you finish up with the pancakes so I can feed Sammy.”



“Yea not a problem.” Kayla took the bowl from Sheryl, who picked Sam up under his arms and carried him out to the living room. She sat down on the couch and laid Sam down across her lap.



“I hope you’re hungry.” Sheryl said, as she oriented Sam’s head toward her.



“Actually, if it’s all the same to you, those pancakes sound a lot better than a bottle.”



“Who said anything about a bottle? You aren’t quite ready for that yet.” Sam’s eyes grew wide as Sheryl began unbuttoning her blouse, to reveal a lacy dark blue bra beneath. Sam couldn’t believe what was happening, could his luck get any better. Then as if he jinxed himself he heard his cell phone go off. Sam wanted nothing more than to ignore but it only grew louder. He closed his eyes in hopes of blocking it out. When he opened them again, he found he was in his own bed and sure enough the alarm on his phone was going off next him. He cursed the timing of it under his breath as he silenced the obnoxious intruder of his dreams. Sam’s frustration at being awoken from what had to be the greatest dream of his life was soothed by the realization he was about to go school where he could live out at least some of his fantasies.



Sam threw the covers off and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was surprised when he felt a damp feeling around his crotch. He looked down and was surprised to see his suspicions confirmed as the white goodnite he had gone to bed in was now a faint yellow. He headed to the shower to get ready for the day. After the shower Sam opted to put the goodnite back on after his shower, figuring it would be easier to dispose of it at school, and it would be more enjoyable to have Ms. Easterfield change him.



Twenty minutes later Sam was at school parked and on his way to Ms. Easterfield’s room. Sam found the door unlocked, but the room was empty. She must have stepped out for a moment, Sam thought as he walked back to Amy’s desk. Sam set his stuff down before flopping down in the computer chair.



“Getting comfortable in my chair I see. How are we feeling” Ms. Easterfield asked as she entered the classroom, being sure to shut the door behind her.



“Much better, thanks.” Sam stood up out of Amy’s chair as she walked back to the desk.



“Oh you are fine sweetheart, I was only kidding about the chair.” Amy set her stuff down. “Are we needing a change this morning?”



“Yes please mommy.” Amy smiled at the title Sam had chosen to use.



“Alright honey, give mommy one moment to set up and then she will take care of you.” Ms. Easterfield unlocked the cabinets and began removing supplies. She spread the changing mat out over one of the long cushions on the counter and got everything ready. “All right Sammy, mommy is ready for you.” With that she picked up Sam and laid him down on the mat. “How was my baby’s day off?” Amy asked as she began untying Sam’s shoes and removing them.



“You mean aside from the whole throwing up part?”



“Yeah Kayla mentioned your digestive pyrotechnics. She also said you stayed the night at her house. Up.” Sam obediently lifted his hips so Ms. Easterfield could remove his pants.



“I did. We actually got together shortly after school let out. I had gone home and….” Sam told Ms. Easterfield what happened as she removed the wet goodnite and got him cleaned up. He let out a small “eeepp!” as the cold baby wipe touched his skin. Sam decided to not mention Sheryl finding out about his diaper and her bizarre treatment of him after that. Ms. Easterfield listened attentively as she slipped a new diaper under him. “and the best part is she said she was my girlfriend.” Sam finished the story with a big smile on his face as he told Amy the most recent events of yesterday.



“That’s great Sammy.” Ms. Easterfield exclaimed as she pulled Sam up and into a hug. Now would you like some breakfast?” Sam shook his head yes excitedly as images from last nights dream ran through his mind. “All right little one let me prepare it for you.” Ms. Easterfield took a bottle out from under the counter and filled it with a pediasure, before screwing the nipple back on. “All right let’s see if there isn’t some way we can do this where I can also get some grading done?” Amy said lifting Sam off the counter and sitting down in the computer chair with him in her lap. Sam may have been small but he was big enough that he fit awkwardly with his legs over hanging the armrest a bit.



Amy placed the bottle’s nipple in Sam’s mouth as she cradled him. “Comfortable?” She asked looking down at Sam, who nodded back. “Good, now for work.” Amy picked up a typed report and began reading it while Sam worked on his bottle. Every so often she would set down his bottle so she could make a mark on the current paper she was on. “Too bad I don’t have a TA to do this for me.” She teased as she set the last paper down. Sam blushed in her arms. “Ten minutes to class, we should probably get some pants on you huh, unless you want to sit back here with your diapers on display?”



“No thwank you.” Sam said around the now empty bottle that was in his mouth.



“Didn’t think so.” Amy stood up and sat Sam down on the counter as she threaded his legs through the jeans. “All right hop down.” Sam did so causing the jeans to go the rest of the way up. Amy fastened the buttons and did the belt before heading towards the front of the classroom. “Sam will you put the supplies away while I get ready for class. The keys are on my desk so you can lock the cabinets when you are done.”



“Sure thing.” Sam set about cleaning up while Ms. Easterfield began writing out the day’s assignment on the board for the first hour, at ten till she opened the classroom door and students began filing in. Sam busied himself with entering the grades of the papers Ms. Easterfield had just finished. After that he would play solitaire as he waited for the Kayla’s class period to come.

CHAPTER 12



Time slowed as Sam waited impatiently for the moment when he would see Kayla again. It felt like it took forever for the second hand on the clock to move, as Ms. Easterfield went on lecturing. Sam started perking up as the sound of bags zipping began to fill the classroom one or two at first and then more and more. Sam smiled to himself as the students began closing their notebooks and putting them away; their oh so subtle hint to the teacher that there was less than five minutes remaining in the period. Finally Sam heard the welcomed sound of the bell ringing announcing the end of class, it would only be moments now before he saw Kayla.



Ms. Easterfield worked her way past the throngs of students trying to leave her classroom all in the same moment, to her desk where the material for her next hour waited. Sam fidgeted anxiously willing the students to leave faster as if their leaving would speed up Kayla’s arrival. “My aren’t we antsy today.” Ms. Easterfield remarked as she swapped out her teaching books. “It’s almost like you are waiting for someone.” she said with a smile.



“Am I that obvious?” Sam asked swiveling the chair towards her, blushing while he did so.



“Yes… but it’s cute.” Ms. Easterfield added as Sam sighed in response to her answer. “Don’t worry you don’t have to wait much longer.” She said pointing to the door, where Kayla was breezing into the classroom. “Try not to stare too much, Sammy.” Amy said as she grabbed her materials and headed back up to the front.



Sam made a growling noise at her to show his displeasure for her teasing at his expense, but immediately began grinning like fool as Kayla walked over to him.



“Morning Sam, how are you?” She asked taking her seat.



“Much better now, thanks.” Sam said blushing and as the words escaped his mouth, wishing he would have come up with something smoother. Kayla smiled at his embarrassment.



“You are too cute Sammy.” The remark only made Sam blush harder. “Say what lunch period do you have?”



“Second.”



“Drat! I have first, I was hoping we could have lunch together.” One of the biggest inconveniences of their school was that it had two lunch periods. The cafeteria just wasn’t big enough to house all the students at once, so administration solved the problem by making two lunch times, effectively halving the amount of students they had to serve at one time. However it came at a high cost to the couples on campus as many of them were torn into separate lunch periods, such was the case for Sam and Kayla.



“I suppose we will just have to make it up by hanging out after school?” Sam tossed the idea out as nonchalantly as he could and hoped he wouldn’t get shot down.



“Yea sure, find me in the parking lot after school. I’m parked in front of the statue.” Kayla had to whisper the last part as class got under way. She spun around not waiting for Sam’s response.



Sam leaned back in the desk chair as, Ms. Easterfield got underway with the lecture. Sam allowed his mind to wander with thoughts of what the end of school today would bring. He wished that Ms. Easterfield had given them an assignment to work on, so he and Kayla could talk during class, but he knew it would be all lecture today.



Class ended and Kayla said goodbye to Sam, promising to wait for him after school by her car. Sam could hardly wait. He was beaming from ear to ear as Ms. Easterfield walked back. “Happy about something Sam?” she asked laying the sarcasm on thick.



“Yea, I’m hanging out with Kayla after school.” Sam replied almost boasting and oblivious to the fact the question was meant to be sarcastic.



Ms. Easterfield’s voice took on a more sincere tone. “I’m glad things are going so well. Are you two going to have lunch together?”



“No, we have different lunch periods.” Sam deflated just a little bit.



“You know you can skip my work hour so you can go eat with Kayla.”



“No! I uh mean no. I like having lunch with you, beside I have all day after class with Kayla.” Sam said, starting to blush.



“Oh how sweet of you. Let me go get our food.” Ms. Easterfield left for the teachers’ lounge and returned a little bit later with two lunch pails. As always she locked the door when she came back. For Sam she had packed a PbJ, but she used different cookie cutters to make fun shapes. Sam smiled as he ate a bite sized piece shaped like a rocket ship, followed by another shaped like a half moon. Amy let Sam feed himself figuring the size and shapes of the sandwiches made them about right for two year old finger food; this also allowed her to eat her parfait. After his sandwich was gone she fed him a jar of mashed bananas. Sam smiled happily as she placed him in her lap for this part of the meal. Finally she gave him a bottle of chocolate protein shake to wash it all down with and ensure he would be quite full. Sam’s eyes became heavy as he nursed on the bottle. The fullness of his stomach combined, with the safety and warmth he felt being held so close to Ms. Easterfield was almost enough to put him out cold.



“What a good baby, drinking it all.” Amy announced waking Sam up from the sleep he was almost in. “I think someone needs to get changed and put down for a nap.” She replaced the bottle with a pacifier before carrying Sam over to the counter. Having spread out his changing mat already she laid him down and began stripping him. Sam had wet his diaper during Kayla’s class and again while drinking the bottle, making for a very full diaper. He laid on his back in ecstasy as Ms. Easterfield cleaned him up. He felt like he was in heaven as she maneuvered the baby wipe around his genitals. She wasn’t trying to arouse him but rather just clean him up as any mother would her child, but Sam still stirred with excitement all the same. Amy didn’t mention this as a fresh diaper under him and pulled it snugly between his legs. Taping up the sides Sam was expecting his clothes back as the diaper change was complete. He looked up in surprise to see Ms. Easterfield producing what looked like a long tee shirt. It was a light blue and had a picture of en alphabet blocks where the left breast pocket should be. Amy slipped it over his head and then pulled the bottom of it down around his waist. Sam thought it to be a long sleeping shirt until he saw that the bottom was tapered and had snaps, only then did he realize what it truly was.



“Is thwis a onsie?” Sam asked, the pacifier causing a noticeable lisp.



“Why yes it is precious, I thought you might be more comfortable in it for your nap. Do you like it?” Ms. Easterfield asked with slight concern in her voice, wondering if she had pushed too far. Relief washed over her and she let out a small giggle as Sam shook his head eagerly in affirmation. “Good I’m glad. Now let’s get you down for your nap so mommy can do some school work.” She snapped the buttons on the bottom and carried Sam over to one of the adjacent counter tops that had long cushions for lying down on while reading. Sam looked up at Ms. Easterfield from his back as she covered him with a soft light blanket. She was an angel. “Sleep tight baby.” She kissed him on the forehead as she pulled the blanket up under his chin. Amy then cleaned up the changing supplies before sitting down at her desk to work.



Sam woke up to the sound of the bell announcing the end of the first lunch period and the start of the second. He couldn’t remember what his dream had been but just that it followed the same lines as his one from that morning. He lay on his back for a bit hoping to slip back into the dream world. Sam found he had no such luck; it didn’t take long for him to get restless and start fidgeting, which drew Amy’s attention. “Is someone awake?” Ms. Easterfield asked, walking over to Sam. “Did we wet ourselves during our nap?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she stuck a hand under the blanket and then slipped a finger in the leg opening of Sam’s diaper. “Nope still dry.” She announced as she picked Sam up and placed him on her hip, allowing the blanket to fall to the floor. She walked up to the front of the class room with Sam balancing on her hip. He was surprised to find the desk in the front corner had been moved and blanket had been spread on the ground in there place. The blanket was littered with various baby toys, including: blocks, cars, crayons and a coloring book. Ms. Easterfield sat Sam down on the blanket and turned on the Tv that hung in this corner of the classroom as well. Sam grinned as spongebob came on the monitor, one of the few cartoons he still watched.



“Where did all this come from?” Sam removed the pacifier from his mouth so he could speak easier.



“You know how new mothers are we love to spoil our babies.” Ms. Easterfield replied smiling down at Sam. “Here you can have some juice while you watch cartoons.” Ms. Easterfield handed him a bottle full of apple juice that had been sitting on one of the near by desks. “Now if you need anything just let me know.” She said, heading back to her desk. Sam played absently with the toys briefly before settling on the coloring book while he watched Spongebob.



After the second episode Amy looked up from her work. There was fifteen minuets before her next class. “Sammy baby are you wet?”



“No, mommy.” Sam turned from the Tv to look back at Ms. Easterfield.



“Will you do mommy a favor, will you clean up your stuff and take the DVD out and bring everything back here so I can put it away?”



“Sure thing.” Sam set about cleaning up. starting with washing out his bottle in the classroom sink. Then he folded up the blanket he had been lying on and put it in the bottom of a milk cartoon crate, that was sitting in the corner. The front of it was labeled “Sam’s toys”. Next he stacked all the toys in it on top of the blanket and finally he kicked out the Spongebob DVD. Sam laid it and the bottle on top of everything in the crate, before carrying it to the back of room and storing it in the cabinet.



“Thank you so much Sammy. You are mommy’s big helper.” She said swiveling towards him in her chair. “Now lets get your clothes, back on.” She held open Sam’s jeans for him to step into.



“You aren’t going to remove the onesie first?” Sam asked slightly confused.



“I will when I change you at the end of the day. Now come on into your britches you go.” Amy said jiggling the pants slightly as she said so. Sam held onto Ms. Easterfield’s shoulders as he stepped into his jeans. She pulled them up and fastened then for him before pulling his shirt on over his head. “Peek-a-boo!” She blurted as Sam’s head popped through the opening, causing him to laugh. “We can just leave your shoes off for now.” Amy said standing up. “I won’t be needing you do anything in the next two classes.”



“So good to me.” Sam said flopping down in the recently vacated chair, as Ms. Easterfield opened up the classroom door and straightened out the desks she had moved. The rest of the day passed with out much more excitement. Sam busied himself with online games, while Amy taught. Sam wet himself twice during the next two classes and enjoyed the feeling of the wet diaper between his legs. After her last class had filed out, she shut the door and laid Sam down for his last diaper change of the day. “Do you want to wear a diaper or pullup home?” Ms. Easterfield asked as she wiped Sam clean with a baby wipe.



“Umm no thank you.” Sam said remembering he was meeting Kayla after school and he figured he already pushed his luck enough with diapers around her.



“All right then boring old boxers it is.” Amy said jokingly as she put him back into the boxers he had worn over his goodnight to school. She removed the onesie before finishing redressing him in his clothes. “See you tomorrow Sam.” She said lifting him down from the counter and onto the floor. “And have fun with Kayla.” She said as she watched Sam all but run to the door, desperate to see his new girl friend again.



“Thanks I will.” Sam said pausing at the door just long enough to wave goodbye. Sam made a bee line out of the school, heading straight for his car. He would drive over to the statue to pick up Kayla. He was oblivious to his fellow class mates and only would briefly acknowledge a few of them as they said hi to him in the halls. The grin disappeared from Sam’s face as he rounded the corner to the parking lot and saw Derek and his gang all gathered around Sam’s car. Sam did not know how they knew which car he drove but he was sure they were waiting for him.



Chapter 13





“What’s up fellas?” Sam asked as nonchalantly as he could muster. Derek who had been standing with his back facing Sam, turned to face him.



“So how much are you paying her?”



“Paying who?” Sam asked not seeing the setup.



“That girl, to pretend to be your girl friend and to be your body guard. Now I’m curious are those two separate fees or does she roll them into one and give you a discount?” Jeers and laughter rose up from Derek’s friends behind him. Sam stood there with his tongue pressed firmly against the inside of his cheek waiting for the noise to quiet down, before responding.



Sam normally would have let Derek’s taunts go unanswered out of self preservation, but his blood started to boil as Derek put down Kayla and the words were out of his mouth before he could think. “Derek, you know if I had wanted a paid escort I would have called your mom first. I here she throws in head at the end of the night for free.” Every fiber of his being shouted MISTAKE! at him as the words left his mouth, but it was too late. Sam could Derek’s face turning red, as his friends fell quiet behind him. Derek took a deep breath and turned towards his friends.



“Look who found a pair and he is a comedian too.”



Just for moment Sam allowed himself to believe that maybe just maybe who could survive this encounter if he didn’t back down. That thought vanished as Derek turned back to him and landed a haymaker on Sam’s right cheek. Sam hadn’t seen the punch coming and was only aware he had been hit as he felt his body collapse to the ground. Sam struggled to his knees as he fought to maintain consciousness. His head was ringing and his vision blurry, but after a moment he was able to connect what happened and he realized with terror that Derek was walking over to him.



“You aren’t so tough without your girl to hide behind are you? You little bitch.”



Sam gasped as he felt Derek’s toe connect with his gut. The force flipped him onto his back and Sam found himself starring up at the sky. His only thought was to cover himself up to protect against anymore blows, but he felt his arms were so and sluggish to respond as he tried to lift them to his head. Sam tensed as he braced for the next strike, but instead heard shouting. He didn’t recognize the voice but was glad to see it sent Derek and his gang scrambling in all directions. Sam groaned against the pain as a pair of strong hands pulled him into a sitting position and leaned him back against his car.



“Son are you all right?” The voice was gruff and Sam didn’t think he knew it as he hung his head between his knees and waited for the cobwebs to clear. The voice continued asking him questions and after a moment Sam looked up and saw it was a campus security officer that was talking to him. Once Sam realized who was talking to him, he tried harder to concentrate on the words, instead of the throbbing pain.



“Huh, yea I’m okay. What? No I don’t think any thing is broken. No, no I don’t need an ambulance or need to go to the hos….” Sam stopped as talking as his attention was drawn to a commotion that was taking place in the small crowd that had gathered. Someone was trying to push there way through. Sam squinted and then smiled weakly as he saw Kayla pushing people aside and then sprinting over once she was clear.



She immediately dropped to one knee next to Sam and frantically looked him over. “Sam are you okay, what happened?”



Sam didn’t get a chance to answer. As the security officer cut of Kayla’s panicked questioning. “Miss, please calm down and back up.”



Kayla turned and glared at the man. How dare he ask her to back up, but she took a deep breath and forced a change in her demeanor. “Sorry, I’m calm now, but I am not leaving, he’s my boyfriend.”



The officer rolled his eyes as Kayla said boyfriend. These high school sweethearts all thought they were family or something, he thought. He decided to let it go, instead returning his attention to Sam. “Now son do you know who did this to you?”



Sam hesitated before answering. “No, I didn’t see who it was. I got sucker punched.” Kayla noticed it as a lie right away but figured Sam had his reasons and she would find out why later.



“Now are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”



“Yes.”



“All right do you want me to call someone to pick you up?”



“I’ll drive him home.” Kayla answered before Sam could answer.



“All right, but keep and eye on him for awhile.” Then to Sam. “If you think of anyone who might have done this just call the school and leave a message for Todd.”



“Thanks, I will.” Sam said holding the side of his face where the punch hand caught him and looking up at the now standing man. Kayla remained kneeling next to Sam as they watched the officer leave and the small crowd dissolve.



“Honestly, how are you feeling?” She asked, pulling Sam’s hand away from his face to look at the skin that was already changing colors and swelling.



“Honestly? Honestly I feel like right now, my stomach killing me and I have a massive headache forming.” Sam answered with a little winded as he was still trying to catch all his air back and his breathing was ragged.



“All right lets get you to my house, so my mom can take a look at you. Luckily she was off today.”



“No, not your house.” Sam quickly said, remembering what Sheryl said as he left last time.



“And why not my house?” Kayla asked giving Sam a puzzled look.



“Your mom has already taken care of me once, I don’t want to inconvenience her.” Sam knew it was a lame answer even as he said but it was the first thing he came up with.



“Don’t be ridiculous, besides you need to get looked over.”



Kayla pulled one of Sam’s arms over her shoulder and stood up supporting most of his weight. She gingerly walked to the passenger side of the car, taking small steps, as each movement caused Sam noticeable pain. Kayla opened the door and eased Sam in, before going over to the driver side, where Sam had already slipped the keys into the ignition.



Sam watched the school disappear in review mirror as once again Kayla rescued him from another situation. “You must think I am a total wimp, huh?” Sam asked looking out the window, afraid that if he looked at Kayla he would see confirmation on her face.



“What? No, from what you told the rent a cop it doesn’t sound like too many people would have stood a chance.”



“You would’ve.” Sam mumbled under his breath.



“So do you want to tell me what really happened?”



“What do you mean?



“You lied to the officer. I can see it on your face when you are lying. You saw whoever attacked you.” Kayla listened while Sam told her what had happened after he left class.



“So why not tell him that?”



“Who, the cop? Because I am hoping that by not ratting him out, Derek will let things return to our mutual hatred from afar status quo. I bet now you think I am a wimp though.” Sam said dropping his head. “Now that you know what really happened.”



“Sam no, don’t say that. Derek is a monster who only picks fights he knows he can win and he caught you with a cheap shot. Besides you took his punch like a champ. A solid haymaker will knock most guys out. A first round K.O. is almost always a haymaker in boxing. It even has a reputation for killing, so the fact you kept enough wits about you to cover up, is really no small feat.” Sam smiled slightly at the thought of knowing if he couldn’t throw a punch at least he could take one.



“Here we are.” Kayla announced parking Sam’s car in her drive. “Let me help you out.” She said as she came around to Sam’s side. Sam and Kayla made there way inside one painful step at a time. “Mom can you come here?” Kayla called out as she helped Sam down onto the couch.



Sam could hear the distinct sound of heels on hard flooring coming out of, what he guessed must be the kitchen towards them in the living room. The crisp click of high heels on tile always reminded Sam of Sunday mornings and going to church with his mom in their Sunday best which included heels for her. Sheryl he saw certainly could have gone to church in what she was wearing, an elegant black dress with a modest neckline, but Sam doubted if it even came close to her best.



“Hi Kayla, hi Sam” she greeted as she walked in the room and then she got a better view of Sam’s face. “Oh Sam, what happened?” She asked.



“He essentially got jumped, I thought he mind need to get checked out.” Kayla answered for Sam. Seeing how much pain even breathing caused him.



“I’m going to need you to sit up for me honey.” Sheryl said moving Sam into a seated position with Kayla’s help. “What exactly happened Kayla?” She asked as she looked over Sam’s injuries. She took a pen light from an end table drawer and shined it in Sam’s eyes. “Pupils are responsive that’s a good sign. Telling me when the pain increases.” She instructed as she moved her fingers lightly over Sam’s face.



He flinched as she touched his cheek. “Ouch!”



“Sorry, Are you feeling nauseous at all”



“A little from the kick I took.” Sam answered as Sheryl began running her fingers down over his ribs. Again Sam flinched as she got to the lower ones. “All right Sam lift your arms for me.” As he complied he felt his shirt being lifted off. He was grateful he opted not to where a diaper as he sat before his girlfriend and her mom, half naked.



“Oooo, that looks painful.” Kayla observed, commenting on a large bruise forming on Sam’s side.



Sheryl gently touched around the bruise and the bottom of Sam’s rib cage, apologizing as her touch brought flinches from Sam. “Good news, bad news.” She said standing up from where she had been kneeling in front of Sam. “Nothing is seriously broken, and initial signs are you don’t have a concussion. You probably have a hairline fracture in the Zygomatic Process of your Temporal bone. Your cheekbone.” Sheryl clarified as she got blank stares from both high schoolers. “The bruising looks normal around where you got kicked so internal injuries to major organs is unlikely. However you probably did bruise your floating ribs on one side, which is why it is hurting to breathe. Medically there is nothing that can be done for either one, except give you some aspirin and a cold compress for the shiner that’s forming on your eye. Sam how about you stay here tonight so I can keep an eye on you in case you do have a concussion or your pain gets worse; I can take you into the ER.” Then she turned to Kayla who had joined Sam on the couch. “Will you get Sam some aspirin and the cold compress, while I call his folks and let them no what’s going on.”

“Sure thing” Kayla responded popping up from her place next to Sam on the couch. Sam watched as the two women left to complete there tasks, leaving him alone in the living room. He wondered how tonight would compare to the last time he crashed here.



Chapter 14





“Sam, no one answered your home phone when I called so I just left a message.” Sheryl said as she walked back into the living room. “Is there a cell number I should try?”



“No I wouldn’t worry about it. They are both pretty good about checking messages, besides they’ll call my cell if they are really worried.”



“Who’s worried?” Sam turned to see Kayla coming down the stairs holding a bottle of ibuprofen.



“No one honey.” Sheryl took the offered pill bottle and measured four out and handed them to Sam, who wasted to time swallowing them not even waiting for a glass of water. “That was a prescription dosage so hopefully it’ll take the edge off. If it’s not enough let me know and we’ll take you in to the hospital.”



“Here Sam” Kayla said returning from the kitchen with a bag of frozen peas and glass of water. “Oh I guess you don’t need the water.”



“Thanks, I’ll still drink it though to wash the taste out of my mouth.”



“Why don’t you guys watch a tv or a movie while I get dinner going and Sam let me know if you need anything else.” Sheryl said as she headed back towards the kitchen, Sam felt a little guilty as he stared at Kayla’s mom as she left the room, the curves of her hips swaying elegantly back and forth as she walked.



Kayla popped in a zombie movie stating that some good old fashioned blood and guts always made her feel better. She also suggested that Sam lay down on his good side with his head resting in her lap, that way he didn’t have to hold the peas up the whole time. Kayla used a dish towel to insulate against the cold of the frozen peas and protect her lap from condensation.



Sam found the cool of the peas helped with his head ache and the movie helped to distract him from the general soreness he was experiencing. Before he knew it Sheryl was back in the living room announcing that dinner was almost ready. Sam and Kayla joined her in the kitchen and helped carry out the different dishes. Tonight she made a broiled boneless chicken breasts covered in a rich garlic butter sauce and served on a bed of fettuccini, along with a freshly tossed salad of various garden herbs and endive leaves topped with a lime dressing.



“Sam let me look at your eye in the light of the kitchen.” Sam stood still under the bright fluorescents over head as Sheryl slowly tilted his head in various directions examining the swelling. “Good the ibuprofen is keeping the swelling down, it doesn’t look like its going to swell shut on you, but it is certainly going to be one heck of a black eye all the same.” She said as escorted Sam to the table where Kayla had begun putting servings on everyone’s plate.



Sam felt like he was at a five star restaurant as the flavors danced on his tongue. “I never knew you could do so much with a salad and this dressing is out of this world.” He said gesturing to his plate.



“Why thank you Sam, you are too kind.”



“Where did you learn to cook like this, anyways?” Sam asked as he cut into his chicken.



“Well there was a time when I wanted to be a chef. I actually completed two years of culinary school before realizing I really wanted to be a nurse. I’m glad you like it so much.”



“Don’t let her fool you Sam, she doesn’t cook like this everyday. On days she works more often than not she lets the Captain do the cooking.”



“The Captain?” Sam asked turning to Kayla.



“Yeah Captain Crunch.” Kayla said smiling at her mother before taking another bite of her salad.



“Oh please, you just rather eat cereal than cook for yourself, even if that only means heating up something I’ve already prepared. You little brat.” Sheryl said jokingly to her daughter.



“So you don’t cook then?” Sam asked Kayla who shook her head, as her mouth was full of pasta.



“Don’t let her deceive you Sam. She cooks just fine, she only does it rarely though and when I’m not around. She is afraid I’ll ask her to make dinner, so she pretends like she can’t but I’ve tried her leftovers and she has real talent.” This drew another smile from Kayla. “What’s more is she can bake better than me. Her apple pie is incredible.”



“Now that I’ll admit too but only because I’ve never managed to eat the whole thing at once to keep you from finding out.” Kayla said grinning.



“And believe me Sam she has tried.” Sam laughed at Sheryl’s remark which had caused Kayla to blush, Sam’s laugh was cut short by a shooting pain from his rib, reminding him of his injuries. Sam cleaned his plate and had seconds. He listened attentively as Kayla and her mom shared stories of various memories. Sam felt contented having eaten a wonderful meal and was now just sitting around a dinner table talking, he wished his family was like this. As the conversation winded down, Kayla offered to clear the table and clean up the dishes.



“Why thank you Kayla that would be wonderful. Sam I don’t know if you remember this but I have a great big spa tube upstairs. I’m sure a long hot soak would do wonders for your body.”



“Actually that sounds wonderful.”



“All right then I’ll get you some towels and show you how the jets on it work. Then Kayla once I get him squared away. I will come down and help you with the pots and pans.” Sheryl stood up from the table and carried her plate into the kitchen, Sam did the same and then followed her upstairs.



Sheryl showed Sam how to control the jets, and the massage settings on the tub as well as brought him a fresh set of towels closing the bathroom door behind her. She set them down on the ledge next to the tub and then began running water getting it to a nice warm temp before stopping the drain. She added some bath salts and oils and the smell of lavender quickly filled the room. Sam stood awkwardly by the vanity not sure what to do as Sheryl sat on the edge of the tub watching the water slowly fill the enormous basin.



“Sam do you remember I said we would need to have a little talk the next time you came?” She asked turning from the water to face him. Sam could feel the blood flushing through his cheeks as face grew warm. He slowly nodded his head. “Good, now I you will not get in trouble so long as you are completely honest with me. Understand?” Again Sam nodded his head as he now stood more rigid, wishing that the ground would open up and swallow him. “Do you wear diapers for a medical reason?”



Sam slowly shook his head no.



“Do you wear them because you like the way they make you feel?”



A nod.



“Did you like it the last time you were here and I dressed you up like a girl?”



Another nod.



“Does my daughter know of these interest?”



“Oh gawd no!” Sam blurted out.



“Sssh calm down. Don’t worry its going to stay that way.” Sheryl looked at the tub that was nearing being full. “Now come here your bath is almost ready and you are still dressed.” Sam stepped forward and allowed himself to be undressed by Sheryl, who neatly folded his clothes and placed them on the counter. He was surprised when she lifted him up and placed him into the tub. “I’ll be back to check on you later.” With that she left leaving Sam alone in his bath.



Sheryl entered the kitchen just as Kayla was finishing up loading the dishwasher. Sheryl grabbed the stack of pots and pans from the counter and carried them over to the sink where Kayla was filling up one side of the double basin with hot water and dish soap. “Want me to scour and let you do the final wash?” Sheryl asked her daughter as she grabbed a sponge.

“That’s fine. What took you so long upstairs?”

“I was checking over his bruises again. I can’t believe more damage wasn’t done. He is really lucky. Did he report the kid who did it?”

“No, he is hoping that not telling will be taken as a sign of goodwill and faith by the other party, so that a repeat event doesn’t occur.”

“Do you think it will work?”

Kayla stopped washing as she pondered that question. “No” she said finally. “The other kid seems like a bit of a sadist to me, he also is the kind who hurts others to look good in front of his friends. However I am not sure reporting him would be helpful either. It would probably just result in a light suspension and antagonize him further.”

“So what are you planning on doing?” Sheryl asked looking over at her daughter, already having a pretty good thought of how she would answer.

“I’m not sure; one’s thing is for sure though I am going to be sticking a lot closer to Sam for awhile.” Sheryl and Kayla continued to talk through the situation as they finished up dishes.

“I think I will go check on Sam. Do you mind if I give him a pair of your pajama bottoms and an old tee to wear tonight, since he doesn’t have an overnight bag this time?” Sheryl asked as she handed Kayla the last pot and dried her hands on the dish towel.

“No, go for it. There should be some long flannel pjs in my top drawer and I have some old band tees in the bottom one.”

“Ok thanks.” Sheryl left Kayla to finish up and went up stairs to reach the clothing items for Sam. Just as Kayla had said she found a pair on pj bottoms in her top drawer and an old Van Halen tour shirt. Besides for the size being way too big, Sheryl thought both of the items could have belonged to Sam. How had Kayla turned out to be such a tom boy? She shook her head at the thought as she went to her room to retrieve one more item. Then she headed to the master bath to drop off the supplies. She knocked on the door and waited half a second before entering.

“How are we doing in here?” She asked upon entering.

“Fine, the jets feet really good on my side that wasn’t kicked, but the other side is still way to soar for the jets.” Sam had leaned farther back so only his head wasn’t submerged, when he heard the knock.

“They’ll probably soar for quite awhile. Anyways I brought you some pajamas to change into when you get done in here.” She sat the pile of clothes down next to the towels. “We’ll watch a movie or something when you get out of the tub, but please take your time.” Sheryl pulled the door closed behind her as she left heading down stairs to join Kayla, who had busied herself watching a show she had recorded earlier. Sheryl picked up the novel she was reading from the end table and turned to her bookmark.

Sam sat in the tub for awhile longer feeling the pulsing water against his tender flesh. Finally he decided the wrinkly prune look didn’t suit him. He pull the drain and took the towel from the counter. Once he was satisfied he was sufficiently dry he picked up the clothes Sheryl had left him. He was relieved when he saw the VH of the Van Halen logo, remembering the nighty he had waken up in the last time. He pulled the shirt on over his head to find that he was swimming in it. The amount of extra matieral reminded him of when he used to wear his parent’s old tees as night shirts when he was a little kid. He was about to put on the pair of boxers he had been wearing when he noticed something peeking out from under the flannel bottoms. He lifted them off the counter and found a purple goodnite with a green butterfly on the front under them.

Sam paused as he looked at the goodnite and wondered what he should do. Finally he decided to wear the goodnite and he knew he made the right choice as he pulled it up his legs. The goodnite made what little hair he had on his legs stand up on end as he pulled it over them, giving him a sort of electric feeling. Next he pulled on the pajama bottoms. They were bigger on him than the shirt and would have fallen down had they not had draw strings. He tied them tight around his waist not wanting them to fall and reveal his diapered state to Kayla. Sam stepped out of the bathroom and headed down to join everyone in the living room. He was extra careful on the stairs, not wanting to trip on the extra four inches of material that extended past his feet.


Kayla looked up from the show she was watching and began to laugh as Sam slowly made his way down the stairs. “Those are HUGE on you. It looks like you got hit by a shrink ray or something.”


Sheryl also looked up from her reading, “Oh dear, those are quite large on you aren’t they. Sorry but Kayla doesn’t have anything smaller.”


“No its fine.” Sam assured as he successfully navigated the stairs and joined them in the living room. “I’m just happy to have something to wear.”


“Here come take a seat on the couch and we will start the movie.” Sheryl said gesturing to the cushion between her and Kayla.


“Hold on I want to make popcorn first.” Kayla said popping up and running to the kitchen.


Sam took a seat next to Sheryl. “I just left my clothes folded in your bathroom, cause I didn’t know where else to put them. I hope that’s okay.”


“That’s fine sweetheart. You can borrow another one of Kayla’s band tee shirts in the morning so you don’t have to go o school in the same clothes, if you want.” Sheryl checked over her shoulder before leaning closer to Sam. “Are you wearing everything I laid out for you?” she whispered.


Sam just nodded.


“Good I’ll change you after Kayla goes to bed into a thicker night time diaper and don’t worry I’ll change you again in the morning with plenty of time before Kayla gets up.” Sheryl leaned back into the corner of the couch and resumed talking at a normal level. “Did the bath help?”


“Very much so, that may have been the greatest bath tub I’ve ever used.” Sam said. They continued on in small talk, until Kayla returned with a large bowl of popcorn and three bottle waters.


She flopped down on the couch on the other side of Sam. “Here you guys go.” She said handing over two waters to Sam and her mom. “Here you can hold the popcorn Sam”


“That’s all right honey, I don’t want any.” Sheryl said passing on the offered snack. Kayla just shrugged and happily shared the bowl with Sam. The movie helped to distract Sam from his aches for awhile. The popcorn had caused him to be quite thirsty and he quickly downed the water bottle Kayla had brought him, a move he would have regretted if he wasn’t wearing a diaper. He felt the water’s inevitable effects on him about half way through the movie. He concentrated and willed his bladder to release. It didn’t take the mental effort it once did to wet his diaper. As much as Sam enjoyed wearing and wetting his diaper, he was happy when the movie ended as the thin material of the goodnight didn’t do much to keep the moisture off his skin.


Kayla shut the movie off as the credits began to roll. She stretched on the couch before standing up. “Well I think I am going to go get ready for bed.”


Sheryl grabbed the empty water bottles and the popcorn bowel clearing them to the kitchen so that she could give Sam and Kayla some privacy to say goodnight.


Sam stood up stretching as he did so and immediately regretted it as he grabbed his side in pain. “Still sore baby?” Kayla asked pulling him into a hug.


“Yeah a little bit.” Sam lied deciding to down play the pain.


Kayla broke the hug and gave Sam a quick peck on the cheek. “Well hopefully you will feel better in the morning sweetie.” She pulled Sam into another hug before turning to go upstairs to her room. “Night Sammy.”


“Goodnight.” Sam said as he watched Kayla climb the stairs. He imagined he was watching an angel ascend a stairway into heaven. Even after she disappeared from view Sam stood transfixed on the last spot he had seen his heavenly being.


“Sam, you wanna come here for a moment?” Sam’s attention was broken as he heard Sheryl calling for him from the kitchen. Sam joined Sheryl in the kitchen. “Did Kayla go to bed?”


“Yeah she headed up to get ready for bed.”


“She won’t be back down then tonight. What about you? Are you wet? Do you a change?”


“Yes please I wet myself about halfway through the movie.”


“All right, lets go to my office. I brought down some supplies earlier.” Sam followed her out of the kitchen and down the hall to her office. Sheryl closed and locked the door behind them. Sam thought the door, like everything else in the house was exceedingly beautiful. It was a dark cherry **** with a frosted glass center. The glass held a design of a rose blossom done in slightly varying shades of opaque. Sam watched as Sheryl produced a folded up changing mat along with other changing supplies from a bottom desk drawer. She spread the mat out on the ground and patted the center of it expectantly. Sam took his queue and crawled down onto the mat.


“So that’s how you are keeping these on.” Sheryl said, as she untied the drawstrings in the waistband Sam’s pajamas. Sam shut his eyes enjoying the sensations of the diaper change: the soft touch of Sheryl’s hands, the pulling of clothing as its being striped, the cool air on newly exposed skin, the sound of the sides being torn open on the goodnite, the absence of weight as the front is pulled down, she soft cool caress of the baby wipe. Then Sam felt something that caused his eyes to shoot open as he looked down and saw his now stiff member sticking up. Sam dropped his head back down on the mat and began blushing.


“I am so sorry, Sheryl. I…”


“Ssshhh it’s okay. It is a completely normal reaction. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Sheryl finished cleaning Sam up and sprinkled a dusting of baby powder over him. Sam focused on the sent of baby powder as he tried to distract himself from his embarrassment. Sheryl took one of the tena diapers they had purchased last time Sam visited and unfolded it underneath him. Sam’s blushed harder as he felt Sheryl push his erection down and pull the front of the diaper up over it and tape the diaper securely in place. She finished the change by pulling the pajamas back up and retying the strings.


“There all nice and dry again.” She said patting the crotch of the diaper. Sam rolled over to get off the mat, exposing his well padded butt to Sheryl who couldn’t resist giving it a pat also. “I think it’s a good think theses clothes are so big otherwise I am not sure it would have hid the extra bulk of these diapers.”


Sam stood up and walked around a bit as he got use to the thickness. “They are quite a bit thicker aren’t they? You can’t tell I’m wearing a diaper though can you?”


“No sweetie you can’t besides you are going to be sleeping the whole time, Kayla won’t even see you in them. Now let’s get your bedding ready.” Sam followed Sheryl out of the room.


“Aren’t you going to put away the supplies first?” Sam asked looking nervously at the incriminating evidence lying out on the floor.


“No it’ll be fine till I get back to put it away. You worry to much Sammie.” Sheryl gave him a reassuring smile that did little to quell his anxieties.


Sam reluctantly followed Sheryl back out into the living room. He watched as she got some blankets and a pillow from the linen closet. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get the air mattress down?”


“No the please don’t, the couch is fine.”


“All right, if you need anything I’ll be in my office for awhile. Have a good night Sam.”


“Night.” Sam laid down on the couch and pulled the blanket over him. The pain in his side seemed to magnify as he had nothing else to think about it. Sam rolled to his other side to try and get comfortable but with no luck. Finally he resigned himself to sleeping in pain. Sam found this to be more difficult than he would have thought, only managing to fall asleep in short fitful bursts. After waking up for what felt like the tenth time Sam checked his phone. It had been two hours since he had gone to sleep. He sat up and looked around. There was a faint light coming from the hallway. Sam was curious to see if Sheryl was still awake or if she had just left her office light on. The frosted door was slightly ajar and Sam could see Sheryl sitting at her desk through the crack. Sam knocked lightly on the door and entered as Sheryl looked up from her papers. “You still awake?” She asked looking concerned. “Is it the pain?”


“Yeah, I keep moving around in my sleep causing my ribs to hurt and wake me.”


“Let’s see if we can’t get you something to help with that.” Sheryl walked out from around the desk. Sam was a little taken back when Sheryl picked him up and placed him on her hip. Sam felt very small in the oversized clothes of his girlfriend and now being carried on her mother’s hip as if he was a toddler. Sheryl carried him into the kitchen and set him down on the island, before retrieving a bottle of Tylenol PM from the cabinet. She handed Sam two capsules and a glass of water. “Would you like some tea?”


“That sounds wonderful, thank you.” Sheryl smiled and placed a kettle on the oven to heat up. “What has you up so late?” Sam asked noting the late hour being shown on the microwave clock.


Sheryl sighed and rubbed her head for a moment before turning back to Sam. “I’m reviewing the new nursing contracts. I’m the local union rep, which means I get to deal with some extra headaches, but overall I enjoy it. So how bad is the pain?”


“For the most part it’s just a dull ache but as I move about I get some stabbing pains.”


“Well those pills should help knock you out and let you sleep through it.”


“Sheryl can I ask you a question?” Sam looked down as he spoke and his voice was quiet.


“You just did sweetheart but feel free to ask another.”


“Do you think I’m a freak?”


Sheryl walked over to Sam and placed an arm around his shoulder pulling him into her body. “No sweetie I don’t. I think its more difficult growing up these days than it used to be and I think you are having a particularly difficult go of it and you found something that helps relieve some of that pressure. Some kids find their release in a lot of sexual relationships, some find it in alcohol and drugs, others find it by dressing way different and saying screw everyone else. I think you found a much healthier way so long as you can maintain a balance between this” Sheryl reached down and patted Sam’s diaper. “and the responsibilities and freedoms of being a teenager. Which so far I think you are doing just fine. Think about it, infants don’t have girlfriends or drive cars.”


Sam looked up at Sheryl and smiled. Sheryl gave Sam a hug and then took the water off the burner and poured it into two mugs before adding a Tazo tea bag to each. Sam took the offered mug and sipped at it. “How do you think Kayla would react if she found out?”


Sheryl moved the tea bag up and down as she let it steep in her cup. “Honestly I think she would handle it just fine. She likes you a lot Sam and I don’t think she would be freaked out by it if you told her. She is a very open and understanding person.”


Sam sipped and stared into his tea as he listened. “I don’t know that I’m ready to tell her yet.”


“That’s all right. Although I do think you owe it to yourself and to her, to let her into your inner world. It will let you to trust and bond at such a deeper level.” Sam listened and began to ask another question when he was interrupted by a long yawn. “I think the pills are starting to kick in, lets get you back to bed.” Sheryl sat down her mug and picked Sam up off the counter. She carried him back out to the living room. “Sam honey do you need a change before you go back to sleep?” Sheryl waited for a response but got none. “Sam are you awake?” Again no response, Sheryl smiled to herself as she gently laid Sam down on the couch. She slipped a finger inside the leg of his diaper. Sam was definitely wet but she figured the diaper would be able to hold until morning. Sheryl tucked Sam in and gave him a kiss on the forehead before returning to the kitchen for her tea and then back to her office.

Chapter 15


Sam stirred in his sleep as he became aware of someone lifting the blanket off him and pulling down his pajama bottoms. He chose to stay on the verge of consciousness and savor the feeling of having his diaper changed, rather than open his eyes. He could feel Sheryl wiping him down with a wet wipe before replacing his diaper with his boxers and putting the pajamas back on.
“There we go nice, clean, dry and back in his big boy undies.” Sheryl said with a smile as she gave Sam a kiss on the head before leaving to dispose of the diaper. Sam felt like he wasn’t wearing anything now that the security of the diaper was gone. He didn’t know what time it was, but he was sure that waking would only bring back the pain of yesterday’s conflict so he rolled to his good side and let a deeper sleep once again take him captive.


“Sam sweetie it’s time to get up.” Sam groaned, and tried to turn away from the hand on his shoulder but the back of the couch blocked his escape. “Sam come on, you have school.” After as poor of a night sleep as he had, even the voice of his angel’s mother who he regarded as heavenly in her own right as well, was unwelcome. Sam couldn’t see any point in fighting the inevitable though, so he begrudgingly opened his eyes and allowed himself to awake. “That wasn’t so hard was it?”
“As a matter of fact it was.” Sam answered Sheryl’s overly bright disposition with his best shot at humor, which at the present hour consisted of unoriginal sarcasm. He winced as he dropped his feet over the side of the couch and went to stand up.
“Still sore, huh?” Sheryl had a sympathetic look as she watched Sam slowly straighten himself up.
“Yeah it feels like I was just in a car crash.”
“Well a good hot shower should loosen some of that stiffness up. You can use mine. I have already laid out your clothes on the counter up there next to a towel and wash cloth you can use.
“Thanks.” Sam slowly shuffled his feet over to the stairs and then began to mount them one by one as he made his way to the top and from there more shuffling to Sheryl’s room. He entered the familiar bathroom and looked longingly at the garden tub. A hot soak sounded better to him but he knew he didn’t have time. So he walked over to the frosted glass sliding door that he assumed would open to the shower. Sam’s eyes about popped out of his head as he rolled the door back on its tracks and revealed the massive shower room. It featured not one but five different shower heads and had a bench in the middle to sit on. Everything was done in a beautiful dark tan tile with stunning veins of quartz running through them. Sam walked over to what he guessed had to be the controls. The traditional hot/cold knobs had been replaced with a stainless steel control panel that looked more like a car stereo face plate. Sam pushed the power button and the led display lit up showing the five heads and their respective spray settings as well as the pre-selected temperature. Sam pushed the up arrow twice and was happy to see the temperature climb by two degrees. He then pushed the run button and was rewarded with five different streams of water, all at the perfect temperature. Sam looked up at the overhead faucet, it was a stainless steel square piece and the water that came through it was like being caught in a heavy rain.
Sam forced himself to get off the bench and shut off the shower after he what guessed was ten minuets. He emerged from the shower feeling a lot better than when he went in. This time as his gaze passed over the tub he wasn’t sure that it could have felt better than the shower. Sam brushed his teeth with the towel wrapped about his waist, absorbing the small streams of water that rolled down his torso. With the hint of minty tingling that remained after he rinsed his mouth out, Sam was once again feeling human. He quickly dried himself off, wincing as the towel went over his sore ribs. Sam lifted the shirt off the top of the pile and saw that it was a Doors tee. Under the shirt was another Goodnite, just like last time. This one had a note left on top of it.


Sam,


I’m not sure if you normally wear to school or not but I did not want to assume no and leave you feeling unprotected so I laid this out for you should you want to wear it. If not just place it in the cupboard under the sink and I will take care of it. Have a good day and be safe.


-Sheryl


Sam smiled as he read through the message. It made him feel good to know that Sheryl thought so much of his comfort. He picked up the Goodnite without hesitating and pulled it up his legs, being rewarded with that now familiar electric feeling. He finished dressing before heading back downstairs where he found Kayla sitting at the table eating scrambled eggs and toast.
“You look like the shower did you good.” Sheryl commented as she turned around from the stove holding a hot pan with more eggs in it. “Would you like some eggs this morning?” She asked with bright smile.
“Yes please” Sam said taking a seat at the table. “That’s an incredible shower you have.”
“I know, right?” Kayla said after taking a swallow of orange juice to wash out her mouth. “So what did you listen to?”
“Listen to? What are you talking about?” Sam asked with a puzzled expression.
“There is an audio jack next to the sink outlet. You can plug your mp3 player in and it will play through water proof speakers in the shower wall. I like to play stadium rock when I use her shower because the water will pulse to the beat.”
Sam sat starring at her in disbelief and kind of wishing he could take another shower. “Holy cow, your dad must be loaded.”
“He was loaded, until my lawyers got through with him.” Sheryl said setting a plate full of scrambled eggs in front of Sam. He turned from the incredible plate of food to look at Sheryl in shock at the frigidness of her remark. “Relax Sam, I am only kidding. He still has more than enough money. I just hope it was worth everything it cost him.”
Sam noted that the iciness returned to her voice in the last statement. He supposed she had the right to be bitter. Then he shrugged it from his thoughts as he dug into his food. The eggs were as good as they looked. Sheryl had mixed green and red peppers in them as well as onion and fresh pepper jack cheese. “These are incredible!” Sam announced as he took another bite. “This is how you start your morning? It’s no wonder you are in such a good mood when you get to school.”
“No, I usually start my day with oatmeal. She is playing June Cleaver because we have company. MMMM! Hurry up and scarf that down we need to get going. Your twenty five minuet shower has us pressed for time.”
“Twenty-five?! Sam’s eyes went wide, “I thought it was only ten. I guess I was stiffer and slower this morning than I thought.”
“Don’t worry about, when you have a shiner like yours; you are entitled to take your time.” Kayla stood and cleared her dishes.
Sam focused on eating wishing he had more time to savor the meal. He had his plate cleared inside of five minuets and he took to hard pulls on his class of orange juice, effectively draining it. He then cleared his plate to the sink. “Thank you, it was wonderful.” He said to Sheryl who was leaning against the island holding her morning cup of coffee and looking like a model.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it Sam.” She smiled from behind the coffee. As Sam turned to leave the kitchen, Sheryl reached out and gave him a soft swat on the rear. Sam turned to face her. “Just wanted to check something.” She said with a knowing smile, which caused Sam to blush. He hurried to living room where Kayla was waiting by the front door with their bags.
“Ready?”
Sam nodded and took his bag from her.
“Bye mom” Kayla called as she stepped through the door and onto the front porch. Sam walked over to the driver side of his car and stuck his hand into jean pocket to retrieve the keys before remembering that Kayla had driven last. “You might need these.” She said tossing his keys over the roof of the car. Sam snatched them and opened the door. He and Kayla drove to school with the radio on quietly to a morning show.
They parted ways at the parking lot to head to their respective rooms, but not before Kayla gave Sam a peck on the cheek and told him to have a good day. After the wonderful shower and breakfast the peck from Kayla was enough to put him on could nine as he walked down the hall. His euphoria had allowed him to forget about his bruises until he walked into Easterfield’s class. Her warm greeting turned to concern as she saw the black eye.
“Oh my gosh Sam what happened?” She left her seat behind the computer and hurried over to Sam to look at him.
“I got into a bit of a scuffle yesterday after school.” Sam tried to act like it was no big deal as Amy turned his head this way and that by the jaw.
“You don’t get into scuffles Sam. Now what really happened?”
Sam sighed as he told her of yesterday, purposely leaving out names. “But really it’s nothing to get worked up about.” He pulled away lightly and was glad to see Ms. Easterfield let go of him and let the subject drop.
She shut the door as Sam carried his bag back to her desk. “If you say so; now does my baby need a diaper?” Her voice changed to higher sing song pitch.
“No” Sam’s voice held slight disappointment as he realized that by putting on the Goodnite this morning he had delayed a diaper change from Amy. “but I would love to take a nap before class.”
“All right well let’s get you changed into some more comfortable close to sleep in then.” Sheryl scooped Sam up from behind and deposited him on the mat that she had already laid out on the back counter. She hummed softly as she untied and removed his shoes and socks. Sam smiled as he felt Amy walk her fingers up his leg and undo his belt buckle before sliding his pants down his legs. Next went his shirt causing Sam to shiver slightly in his undressed state.
“Oh My! Sam your ribs!” She gently traced her fingers over the deep blues and purples on Sam's side, bringing a slight wince from him. “Oh sorry baby.” She lightened her touch farther. “Sam, this is not okay. You really should report whoever did this.”
“No that will only escalate things. I brought this on myself and I'll handle it myself.” Sam's tone was defensive. Amy saw that he was getting upset so she decided to take his mind off it.
Sam began to kick and shriek as he felt Ms. Easterfield blowing a raspberry on his exposed stomach. “Looks like you have some energy.” Amy said smiling down at Sam as he recomposed himself. She took a onsie big enough to fit Sam off the counter next to and pulled it down over his head and then fastened the crotch snaps.
“There now my baby is nice and comfortable.” Amy leaned down and gave same an Eskimo kiss. He began to giggle again as her hair swished back and forth across his face. “Now to get you fed and then it is down for a nap, you stinker.” She took a bottle of milk from the mini fridge and joined Sam on the counter.
Sam crawled over to where she was sitting up against a cushion and rested his head in her lap. Ms. Easterfield cradled him as she slipped the nipple of the bottle into his mouth. Not really all that hungry from eating a large breakfast Sam just sucked on the rubber teat slowly enjoying the feeling of the smooth cool milk running down his throat. Amy was humming again as she rubbed Sam's stomach, careful to avoid the bruised ribs. Sam let out a soft moan in way of a thank you. Sam continued to suckle methodically. He paused for a brief moment when he felt the urge to pee, focusing he let the stream go. Sam smiled as thought about his current situation, dressed in baby's clothes being fed from a bottle while at the same time wetting his diaper. Amy noticed the pause and guessed at the reason as she slid her hand down to crotch of the onesie.
“Did someone just make a pee pee?” She gave the diaper a light squeeze and was rewarded with a soft crinkle sound and the feeling of swelling gel. The action elicited a small moan from Sam as he instinctively lifted his hips towards the pressure. Amy continued to hum as she began to massage the the crotch of the onsie. Sam closed his eyes as he relished the waves of pleasure washing through him. Amy noted that Sam's sucking on the bottle sped up and slowed down depending on her rhythm. Within in a short while of alternating between rubbing and squeezing, she had brought Sam to climax, who went rigid and then limp in her lap as the pleasure crashed down upon him. His nursing returned to slow methodic pace as Amy returned to just lightly massaging him again. She watched with a smile as Sam fell asleep nursing the bottle.

CHAPTER 16




“Sammy sweetheart, It's time to wake up.” Sam stirred as he felt Ms. Easterfield's hand gently rubbing his stomach. “We need to get you changed before class begins, sweetie.” The mention of class brought Sam into a more alert mindset as he thought about the implications of his classmates seeing him like this. “I think we better take you out of the onesie since the shirt you wore today is so big on you. We wouldn't want anyone seeing it under your collar.” She smiled down at Sam, who was still lying on the cushioned counter top. He blushed as he remembered that he was borrowing Kayla's clothing. Amy went about undressing Sam and changing him out of his wet Goodnite.
Sam couldn't get over how it felt to have someone changing him. He was glad that Ms. Easterfield had woken him up prior to changing him. Sam kicked himself mentally for all the changes he had been half asleep for. The cool baby wipe against his skin refocused his thoughts on the present. “I think we can get away with putting you in some thicker diapers. Your tee shirt should hide any bulkiness they might cause.” She reached down into the cupboard and produced a package of diapers. Sam stared at the package they looked like actual baby diapers but they clearly could fit him. “They are called Cushies.” Amy said answering the obvious question on Sam's face. “I ordered them from a specialty site.
Sam watched intently while she took a diaper from the pack and spread it out beneath him. Sam couldn't believe how thick it felt just laying on top of it. As she pulled it up between his legs Sam could hardly believe the bulk of it. As she put his pants back on he began to doubt that his jeans would fit or do anything to hide his diapered state. As it turns out Sam was wrong about the former but correct about the latter. After Amy got his jeans pulled back up around him, they could both see the definite bulge of the diapers. Luckily just as Amy had predicted once Sam's shirt was back on it easily hid any signs of what lay beneath.
Amy helped Sam down from the counter and asked him to go unlock the classroom door, while she cleaned up. As if on cue the bell sounding the end of the period went off over the PA system. Sam wondered why they even bothered using the bell sound instead of just a tone, probably fear of change from inside the institution. Sam smiled at this thought as he walked back to Amy's desk. She had everything put away and locked up safely. “Sam will you grade and enter these into the computer for me?” She handed him a large stack of homework assignments.
“Sure, not a problem.” Sam was awed at how seamlessly she could switch from her matronly side back to the teacher. Of course she wasn't wearing a thick reminder around her waist either, Sam thought to himself.
The first period passed quickly enough. He had plenty of paperwork to occupy him and aside from the beginning class there was only a few comments from his classmates regarding his black eye. As the end of class drew near Sam found it increasingly difficult to focus on the papers. Knowing that with each movement of the second hand he was closer to seeing Kayla. He wondered if she felt the same way. He let his mind mull the thought over in hopes of forgetting about the clock so it would not seem to be moving so slowly. He concluded that there was no possible way she could feel the same way, because she was only dating him and not some runway model that could compete with her beauty. Nothing shy of Adonis himself would be good enough for her, Sam thought. These thoughts would have depressed him but he was too content to have her as long as she was willing for them to get him down.
When the bell finally did sound, it made Sam jump. He blushed at himself for being so on edge. Then the students filing out of class seemed to take longer than necessary. Why couldn't she just get here already, Sam screamed in mind. Mercifully Sam's other angel walked back to the desk.
“I assume you and Kayla will be going to lunch?” Ms. Easterfield asked with an approving smile.
“Uh yeah.” Sam voice was filled with embarrassment and guilt. Sam looked at his feet as he answered. He felt like he was cheating on her with Kayla.
“Oh Sam you are too cute sometimes.” She said as she tousled his hair laughing to herself. Sam blushed thinking she was just reacting to his embarrassment over his new girl friend. He probably would have died of humiliation if he realized she was actually laughing at how obvious what he had been think was written across his face and communicated in his tone.
“Hi Sam.” Sam looked up from his feet, as fascinating as they were, to see his own personal angel walking through the door. It was hard to feel guilty when she was so near.
“Hi Kayla!” Sam cringed at the eagerness in his voice and hoped neither her nor Ms. Easterfield picked up on it. To his chagrin both girls started laughing.
“Like I said too cute.” Amy said walking to the front of the classroom, still laughing quietly to herself.
“How are you feeling?” Kayla asked the laughter in her voice replaced with concern.
“Fine” Sam tried to downplay it, wanting her to think him tough and not know that it felt like he was being stabbed every time he inhaled. “just a little tired is all.” Kayla gave him an unbelieving look. Sam quickly looked away worried that his eyes would give him away, but Kayla let the subject drop, mostly because class was starting.
Sam spent most of the class just staring at her profile. He was sure he had committed to memory every detail of the left side of her face when she turned towards him. He immediately straightened up and tried to pretend like was doing anything other than staring. “Where shall we go for lunch?”
“Huh?” came Sam's intelligent response.
“Lunch silly, class is over.” Sam looked around to see students standing up. He hadn't even heard the bell ring. It surprised him how time seemed to speed up whenever he was with Kayla. He smirked as he remembered hearing that Einstein had used this situation to explain his theory of relativity. “And what's so amusing?”
“Just thinking about physics.” Sam's grin blossomed into a full smile at his cryptic response.
“Physics, right?” Kayla remarked drawing the last word out into several syllables. “So anyways, lunch?”
“Oh I don't care.” Sam said, he didn't add that she could pick the north pole so long as they were together.
“You are beyond helpful Sam.” She said rolling her gorgeous eyes as they walked out of class together. “I want to drop by bag off at my locker before we go.” She nodded with her head down the hall towards the lockers.
Sam wanted to avoid looking like a hopeless puppy following her everywhere and since the lockers were the opposite direction of the entrance he decided not to follow. “Okay I'll wait here for you.”
Kayla smiled over her shoulder at him, apparently happy with his choice. Sam was congratulating himself for playing it cool when he heard his name being called behind him.
“Sam, I'm so glad you showed up. I was worried you would pussy out after yesterday and change schools or something.”
Sam's stomach dropped like a rock and he instantly became nauseous as he turned around to find Derek standing way to close to comfort. Sam took a tentative step back only to feel the cold hard metal of a locker behind, ensuring that fleeing wasn't an option. “Now we will be able to finish what we started yesterday.” Derek took a step forward closing what little space there was. “So Mr. funny guy you got anymore jokes you want to make.”
“No.” Sam's voice was barely a whisper and it cracked as it came out.
“No? Why not? Maybe you need some motivation.” Derek grabbed his collar and slammed him back into the locker. Pain shot out from Sam's ribs and radiated through his body. “Aren't you going to cry out for your bitch to come save you?” Sam swallowed and turned his head away from Derek's face just inches from his. He slowly shook his head no. “But I want you to. I want you to cry out and beg that BITCH to come rescue you.”
“He doesn't have to beg.”
“What the...” Derek turned to face the voice. In doing so he exposed just enough of his stomach. Kayla saw her opening and stepped forward planting and pivoting on her right foot as she brought her left around in a fluid motion. The top of her foot connected with Derek at the end of its extension. She knew she had hit her target, the soft flesh just below his last floating rib gave way and Derek hit the ground grasping his left side, struggling to get his breath back.
“What's going on here?” Kayla turned from where she stood over Derek, to see a teacher who she only knew by face. “I said what's going on here?” He stomped down the hall towards them. The students who had gathered to watch the fight quickly dispersed with this new arrival. “All right you three principal’s office, NOW!”
Kayla was the only one in any position to follow the command. Sam was still frozen against the locker that he had been forced up against. Derek was struggling to get his feet under him on the ground. After three failed attempts the teacher finally helped him get his legs under him. “All right now let's move it.” He pointed down the hall. Derek staggered a little as he walked. Kayla had to practically carry Sam down the hall as she took his arm and dragged him along after the other two.
Forty seconds later found the trio sitting in the principal’s office as they listened to the teacher explain what he saw to the Mrs. Carver, the principal. Mrs. Carver was a black middle age woman who was over weight but wore it well thanks in large part to the nice clothes she was always wearing. Her hair was cut very short. “Thank you very much Mr. Cooper I'll take it from here.” She said dismissing the teacher. She got up from behind her desk and walked him to the door. When she returned she opted to lean against the front of her desk so she could look down on the students.
“Well let's hear your side of it.” She said expectantly scowling down at the students. Sam was the only one who was intimidated by her, but he was still too stunned to speak. Kayla and Derek just glared at each other, neither one speaking or even acknowledging that they heard the principal. The color was returning to Derek's face. “No one has anything to say?” She continued speaking not waiting for a response this time. “School policy is to expel the instigator and suspend all other party involved. However since no one is talking and this would appear to be carry over from yesterday’s incident, I have no choice but to discipline you all the same. Now it is apparent that Sam, unless you have a death wish you did not start any of this. Kayla I am not sure how much of this was escalated by you because I haven't really had any dealings with you other than when we met the first day you transferred. You seem like a nice enough girl though. Which leaves us with you Derek. We've gotten to know each other quite well over your school career and rarely because of anything good. Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you probably have the lion's share of the blame. Although it looks like today you miss judged your mark.” Derek's face flushed with rage at the remark. “But since neither one of the other parties is talking, I can not fairly jump to conclusions. So you will all be suspended for the remainder of this week and next week. Your teachers will be notified and your parents can come by latter today to pick up your missing assignments and any personal items in your lockers. Officer Todd will escort you three off campus.” With that she stood and walked back around behind her desk signaling an end to their meeting.
The three of them had just sat still not moving or speaking at all during their sentencing. They all got up when they heard the gruff voice of Todd behind them asking them to follow him. “This is bullshit.” Derek muttered under his breath as he stood.
“Careful Derek you are already trying my good graces.” Mrs. Carver didn't look up from her paperwork as she chided him. The three were escorted out to the campus parking lot with Todd following two steps behind them. For the most part the halls were deserted as students were either in class or at lunch. The few that were roaming the halls starred as the trio was escorted past, quickly drawing conclusions of what happened after the fight to add to already many variations of speculative gossip.
Once they reached the exterior doors, Derek picked up his pace. Officer Todd stopped just outside the doors and watched as the group split into two separate directions. When he was far enough away that he was sure he wouldn't be over heard Derek called out to Sam just loud enough to be heard. “Sam you better keep your body guard real close because next time I catch you with out her, your dead. DEAD you hear me.”
The threat caused Sam to gulp as he was still being pulled along by Kayla. “Ignore him, he is full of hot air.” Kayla tried to reassure Sam as they walked to the car.
“Easy for you to say, you can win in a fight. I can't” Sam said dejectedly. Kayla was quiet because she knew Sam was right. They drove back to her house in almost complete silence. Sam was mulling over the mess he was in and trying to find away out. Kayla was actually pretty indifferent to the events of the day. Her real only trouble would be explaining to her coach why she was suspended. She remained silent not sure how to lift Sam's mood and afraid to make it worse. He pulled up in front of her house and put the selector in park. They both sat in the quiet for what felt like a two very long minuets before Sam spoke barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”
Kayla turned to him and read the gloom on his face. “For what?”
“For taking care of Derek back there. For fighting my battles yet again.” Sam could do little to keep the pain and humiliation from his voice.
“Sam don't do that to yourself. Come on in and we can talk about it... or not. We can just blow the whole thing off if you rather and plan out how we are going to spend our week and a half vacation.” She added lightly.
“Thanks but no thanks. I should probably be home when the school calls so my parents do not totally flip. Besides I didn't come home last night either.” Sam stared straight ahead as he spoke. When he was done the car was again filled with heavy silence. After awhile Kayla opened her door and stepped out, not saying a word as she closed it behind her. Sam immediately pulled away and headed for home. He felt like crap as he tried to envision a future that didn't involve getting beaten at the hands of Derek, but even more than that he was crushed over leaving his angel the way he did.


Back in her classroom Amy enjoyed a quiet lunch of a parfait and fresh fruit as she listened to classical music from computer speakers. She groaned as she heard her desk phone ring. Checking the light indicator she saw it was the front office and groaned harder. What piece of insignificant paperwork did I forget to file know. She thought with frustration how the administrative side of the institution seemed to be hell bent on bogging teachers down with so much pointless bureaucracy that they could no longer truly teach. She lifted the receiver to her ear and did her best to keep the frustration from edging her voice. “Hello” Ms. Easterfield's expression changed to worry and then disappointment as she listened to Mrs. Carver on the other end explain what had happened over lunch. “All right thank you for letting me know. I will start getting Kayla's homework ready now.” She hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh. “Oh Sam what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?” She asked the empty room.
The rest of the day passed slowly for everyone. Each with their own worries, although Kayla's and Amy's were both primarily regarding Sam's safety. Amy's mood hadn't improved much as she drove home and entered her home. “You are in a pleasant mood. Something go wrong with your special project?” The female's voice was light as it spoke, and the sarcasm was good natured. Amy turned to the living room, amazed at how quickly her partner always seemed to be able to read her. Amy's gaze was met and held by a pair of emerald eyes, searching and analyzing her, from over a copy of East of Eden.
“Don't you ever work?” Amy asked playfully trying to stay lighthearted and to forget about the troubles of the day.
“Hey don't be upset with me if my schedule isn't as set in stone as yours, besides we don't all get the entire summer off.” That drew a genuine smile from Amy as she hung up her light jacket and set her teaching bag down on the oak credenza in the living room.
“Steinbeck, huh” Amy said commenting on the reading choice. “you trying to impress your girlfriend teacher?” Amy walked over and took the book before sitting down in her girlfriend's lap. The overstuffed recliner accommodated them both with out an issue and supported the majority of Amy's weight. Amy made a show of crossing her legs at the knee causing her skirt to ride up and show the tops of her black stockings.
“You know me, always got to be the teacher's pet. Now I don't suppose there is anything I can do for extra credit, is there teacher?” The corners of her mouth turned up in suggestive grin. Amy set the book down and leaned in for the kiss.
That night as Amy laid in bed next to the familiar warm body there was nothing to keep her mind from drifting back to Sam. Shortly after midnight she slipped in to an uneasy sleep. Even in her dreams though her mind was focused on Sam. Amy woke with a start at 3:39. She bolted upright in bed. “Amy, girl what's wrong?” came a concerned voice next to her.
“I had a nightmare is all.” Amy said feeling rather foolish. She laid down again her mind replaying the images again in front of her. She was standing in the school watching Derek beat the crap out of Sam outside on the sidewalk. She wanted to run to his aid but she couldn't move from the window. All she could do is scream helplessly.
She was rigid in bed, her body tight with stress. The warmth of her partner seemed disconnected and distant. “Sshhh, it was a dream. Sam is safe at home I'm sure. I know you feel powerless but you have to trust him to take care of himself sometimes too.” Amy felt an arm tighten around her waist pulling her closer. “It'll work itself out.” Amy laid motionless listening to the comforting words, but never shaking the feeling of being powerless to help. It wasn't a feeling she was used to and she didn't much care for it. Eventually the consoling and warmth of the other body held tight to hers was enough for her to fall back into a sleep, a heavy dreamless one this time.


Chapter 17


Sam left Kayla's feeling like crap inside. He had no energy left to swim against the current of the day's events. He barely had the energy to continue treading water. He pulled up in front of his house and got out dejectedly. Sam walked slowly up the drive. He was in no hurry to get inside. Sam walked in to the living room to find his mother sitting on the couch with a class of wine, looking pissed off. “Well I had an interesting phone call from your school today.” Sam couldn't tell if she was actually upset at his behavior or the fact that he was inconveniencing her for the next week. “Well what do you have to say for yourself?” She snapped icily when Sam didn't respond to her initial statement.
Sam opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he got a word out. “You know what, just save it till your father gets home. Now go to your room and I don't want to hear a sound from you!” Sam watched as his mom got up and turned her back on him heading for the kitchen. No doubt topping off her wine glass, Sam thought. He headed to his room as he was told. Sam had never really gotten in trouble growing up, so his mother never had really punished him. As was now evident by the fact that she sent him to his room full of his electronics, and where he would have no doubt gone on his own. Sam's mood darkened still farther as realized his mother was merely parroting television rather than actually being a parent. She didn't even ask if I was all right Sam muttered as he flopped down on his bed. He had never felt more isolated and alone than he did right then. Having come home from school, kicked out for fighting, with obvious bruises, not being home the night before and his mother's only response sounded like it came straight from a tv drama script.
Sam stared at his tv and then his computer, neither one seemed to hold enough potential to distract him from his awful day. He sat for awhile on his bed not knowing what else to do. Eventually he gave up trying to think of a suitable distraction. Sam placed a Fray CD into the proper tray and collapsed back onto his bed. He lay still feeling the melody intertwine itself his emotions. Then Sam closed his eyes and felt the tears begin to stream down his face. Time ceased to exist as the stress of the day overflowed the brim of Sam's eyelids. Sam drifted off at some point and didn't wake up till he heard the garage door opening and the soft purr of his dad's car pulling in.
Sam sat up in bed feeling a warm wetness around him. He completely forgot about his dad for a second as he had a minor anxiety attack. How could I wet the bed Sam screamed in his mind. He reached a hand down the front of his pants, to confirm this nightmare was a reality. Sam was taken back when instead of wet fabric he felt some sort of plastic. He breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered that Ms. Easterfield had put him into thick diapers. Sam checked to make sure his diaper was concealed knowing that he would be facing his parents again any minute. Sam turned down his music so that he could hear his parents talking. The sound was muffled but he got the gist of it. Then more clearly he heard his name being called. “Sam get out here.”
Sam stood, checked himself in the mirror to see if it was obvious he had been crying, it wasn't. He then made his way out to the living room. His mom sat on the couch while his dad stood glaring. “Care to inform us why you have been kicked out of school?” His father barked.
“I wasn't kicked out.”
“Really, you weren't?” Sam didn't care too much for the sarcasm in his dad's voice. “Can you go back next week?”
“Well no, but I wasn't kicked out. I was suspended.”
“Fine call it what you will, but it still is unacceptable.”
“It wasn't even my fault. The other kid started it, Kayla just happened to be the one who ended it.”
“This is all because of that girl you are running around with. You never got in fights or kicked out of school before her. Now look at you, your getting into fights that you can't even win.” Sam had heard enough. The blow up with his dad only fed the pain inside. He blinked hard trying to hold back the tears, he felt threatening to start at any minute. But it was already too late his dad noticed the moisture in his eyes. “What now your going to cry about it?”
Sam turned his back on his parents and stormed off to his room, not wanting them to see how much it really hurt. As Sam slammed his door behind him, he let the tears flow freely. Sam slouched to the ground, his back to the door. Sam cried until his eyes ran dry, but even then he continued to sob until exhaustion overtook him and he fell asleep. Sam awoke to a loud buzzing. The room was dark and Sam found himself groggy and disoriented as he looked around the room. Sam shook his head clear and got up to get his phone off his desk, where it was vibrating.
He perked up a bit when he saw Kayla's name lighting up on his phone screen. Sam rubbed his eyes as he struggled to read the text.

-Hey Sam, srry I got u in 2 this mess :( how R
ur parents taking it?
-Kayla

 

Don't worry about it. I got myself into
the mess. My parents flipped out. How
did ur mom react?
-Sam

 

She wasn't happy but understood. What r u
doing, right now?
-Kayla

 

Umm not much. Y?
-Sam

 

Want to hang out?
-Kayla

 

Now?
-Sam

 

Yea, come to your window ;)
-Kayla

 

Sam got up and went to his window. He smiled for the first time since getting home when saw Kayla standing in his back yard grinning up at him. “Hi Sam.” Kayla said as loud as she could while still whispering.
“What are you doing?” Sam whispered back.
“I wanted to see how you were doing. Come on out here.”
“I really don't think I should.” Sam said hesitantly, looking back at his bedroom door. “What if my parents come to check on me and I am not here.”
“Did they actually tell you to stay in your room?”
“Well no, but....”
“But nothing they didn't tell you to stay so you aren't doing anything wrong. Besides I am going out on a limb here but I am guessing you have never done this before so they have no reason to check up on you.” Sam thought about it and couldn't find any real holes in her logic. Of course he thought he would probably only put up a minor resistance if she told him to rob a bank. There was something about the way she looked at him that he just couldn't argue with for any length of time.
“Oh all right.” Sam opened his window up a bit farther and stepped out onto the roof. He looked around and decided the best course of action would be to drop down on the garage first and then get to the ground. The only problem was that meant crossing in front of his parent's window. He edged along till he reached their window. He cursed his luck when he saw that their light was on in addition to their window being open. He carefully peeked in and was delighted when he didn't see either one. Although he could hear them. He held still and heard the voices coming from the master bath. Both his parents were talking loudly and he caught enough of it to know they were fighting about everything and nothing.
Sam quickly darted across their window and made his way down to the garage roof. The easy part was now behind him as he looked down into his backyard ten feet below him. He heard Kayla quietly cheering him on. He wasn't sure he could do it, as he squatted down trying to get every inch closer to earth he could before allowing gravity take over. After what felt like an eternity Sam finally closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath and pushed off. The sensation of falling was very odd with out visual cues for references and probably wasn't the best idea. Sam's eyes flew open as he felt his feet connect with Terra firma, but it was softer than it should have been. Sam had landed on the edge of a hole left by a tree his folks had taken out. They had only just filled in the whole last weekend and the soft soil gave way beneath him now. Sam's momentum carried his upper body over his feet and he instinctively tucked in his head and put up his hands to soften the blow. Instead of the inevitable face plant he was prepared for Sam felt his center of gravity abruptly shift as he somersaulted onto his butt.
“Nice tuck-and-roll Sammy. Are you sure you haven't done this before?” Sam looked up at Kayla who was standing above him grinning. “Come on lets go.” She offered Sam a hand. Sam sat starring blankly at her from his spot on the ground. His hands behind him propping him up, his legs out straight in front of him. His acrobatics had left his head spinning and his ribs throbbing.
“Give me a sec.” Sam held up one finger and then grabbed his injured side. He inhaled deeply, winced at the pain it caused, blew out clearing his head and suppressing the ache in his side.
“Oh my gosh, your ribs I totally forgot, how are they?” Kayla said suddenly kneeling beside him concerned.
“They'll be fine if we just ignore them, so I can forget about the ache.” Sam said barring his teeth as tried to put up a mental wall to block it out. It worked more or less and he struggled to his feet. Kayla offered assistance and then proceeded to brush off his back side.
“Your filthy Sam.”
Sam mentally kicked himself for getting Kayla's shirt dirty. “Sorry about your tee.” He said sheepishly.
“Nonsense, most of this is brushing off.” She continued to sweep the dirt off his back with her hand.
Sam froze in his spot as he felt her hand brush the dirt off his butt. In the stillness of the night he heard the crinkle of his diaper crystal clear. He started blushing knowing that any second Kayla was going to comment on the sound and the bulk she must have felt under his jeans. Time seemed to stretch out before Sam, reaching endlessly to the horizon as he waited for her to say something. The only sound he heard was soft patting as she continued working her way down his legs. He let out his breath unaware that he had been holding it. She hadn't noticed. How many close calls had he had now? Sam didn't want to think about it, afraid he might jinx his luck.
“All right you ready? Lets go.” Kayla said excitedly leading the way to his back fence. Sam had no idea what she had in mind, after all what is there to do in the dark, but he was happy to follow.

 

The rest of 17

Kayla reached the fence and turned to face Sam. She bent her knees and made a step with her hands by interlocking her fingers. “All right Sam up and over.” She clearly had more faith in Sam's athletic capabilities than he did. Sam inhaled once and forced the voice of reason from his mind as he took a small running start and planted a foot in Kayla's waiting hands. Sam was unprepared for the sudden surge upwards he felt as Kayla boosted him over the top rail of the fence. Sam managed to land on his feet, relieved to see his luck was still holding.
He turned to the six foot high privacy fence he had just gone over, unsure how Kayla was intending on summiting the ****en fence. He started towards it to try and offer assistance when he saw Kayla's hands come down on the top rail followed moments later by her body clearing the fence easily as if gravity had made an exception for the earth bound angel.
Sam stared for a moment in disbelief. “Seriously?” was all he managed to ask.
“It wasn't so hard, mostly it is trusting your arms to be able to give you the necessary lift. You would be amazed at how much negative self thought limits us.” She added smiling. “Besides I have a few inches on you.” They both knew given her natural 6”1' frame plus sneakers she was close to having a whole foot on him than a few inches. “Now come on we are wasting the night.”
'Wasting the night' who was this girl anyways? Sam shook his head before running after her. She was only a few yards ahead strolling casually through his neighbor's back yard as if it was her own. A light came on above the neighbor's back porch sending both of them into an all out sprint. Sam was grateful Kayla had longer legs allowing her to easily take lead since he had no real idea where it was they were headed. A dozen yards later found them in the middle of the street. Kayla stopped just a few feet ahead of Sam. He suspected her of dogging it so that he could keep up. They both turned and towards the yard they just left. The night quiet except their breathing, and most of that was Sam. Kayla looked as fresh as if she had just stepped out of the morning shower. Sam jumped a little as Kayla's soft laugh broke the quiet.
“It's only a security light, motion activated. I must have stayed farther away from it when I went through the first time.” Sam joined her in laughter flush was the excitement and thrill of nearly getting caught. After a moment Kayla turned and continued on her course.
They were cutting across a park. It was the kind that's really just a big grassy field, and little league soccer teams used in the spring with cones for goals. The night was nearly completely dark with heavy overcast. The clouds holding in the warmth that now escaped from the asphalt after warming in all day in the early fall sun. The only light came from artificial sources, streetlights, an occasional passing car, the still scarcer light escaping a kitchen window. None of it reached Sam and Kayla in the empty field.
“What time is it anyways?” Sam asked hating to break the intimate stillness. He hadn't paid attention to the clock on his phone while texting Kayla.
“Half past midnight.” Kayla said matter of factly as if it was half past noon instead.
“And what exactly are we doing?”
“First food, then... who knows. Now come on. Are food window is quickly closing.” Kayla started in an easy jog across the rest of the field. Sam easily matched her pace although his short legs weren't taking the long eloquent strides hers were. As they neared the edge of the field Sam could see Kayla's white Camry. It was nearly luminescent in the dark night, sitting under a streetlight. It reminded Sam of a way point in a video game. He let out what he thought was a silent laugh.
“What?” Kayla asked turning towards him. Her voice was soft and easy as if she were merely walking.
“Oh I uh.. though your car looked like it was in a video game. You know with it being lit up by the light and all.” Sam blushed realizing how dorky he sounded. He was relieved and surprised when he heard Kayla laugh too. They reached the car and climbed in. Sam felt like it was their get away vehicle as it came to life and sped away under the Kayla's bidding. The car was clean inside, without all the garbage and clutter of most high school vehicles. Kayla looked pale in the soft blue light that was coming off the instrument panel. The car seemed to be running extra quiet as if it were aware of the stillness of its surroundings. The radio was on but turned way down as Sam could only faintly hear the mellow melody coming from the speakers. The atmosphere was close and known both parties comfortable in its quietness. Neither feeling the need to speak unnecessarily.
Sam only became aware of his hunger when Kayla pulled into the drive through of Taco Bell. We made it with ten minuets to spare Kayla announced pointing at the dash clock that read 12:50. She ordered Sam and her two chicken grilled stuffed burritos and two medium Baja Blasts. She sat the food on the seat behind them and pulled back out onto the main road.
“Isn't it supposed to be the guy who orders and pays for the girl?” Sam asked between pulls of his drink.
“Well the way I figure it is, this is your first time sneaking out so you don't know what a propper sneaking out meal is. I didn't want you to ruin your first experience at this by making a rookie mistake and ordering the wrong thing.” She teased. “In honor of your first break out I thought I should treat. Besides I have never been much for tradition anyways.”
“Just the tradition of proper late night meals?”
“Well some traditions are more sacred than others.” Kayla said laughing. Her voice and laugh had a certain crystalline quality too them that Sam was sure could never be captured electronically.
“Is this the only acceptable break out meal?”
“No, Deny's also works, but you can't walk around and eat their food and were also not stoned.”
Sam thought about that as Kayla pulled into parking lot of another park. This one had toys. She got out grabbing her drink and the bag of food. Sam followed. They made their way over to a swing set. They disposed of the wrappers in a nearby garbage can before sitting down on the soft plastic of the swings to eat. Sam rocked himself a little with his toes. Leaning his body forward against the chains. They talked while they ate. Kayla was describing her coaches reaction to the news. Apparently she had texted him when she got home. The texted was followed by a phone call from him so he could properly chew her out. Although at the end of the lecture he did mention that if she was going to get suspended he was glad for the reason it was.
Sam stayed mostly quiet not wanting to think about his implications of the suspension, not even grasping how far reaching they would be. He was awed at how positive Kayla was able to stay about the whole thing. She didn't fault him for suspension, she didn't even complain that the school was being unfair, she just acted as if it was a minor inconvenience to be dealt with, like a flat tire.
“Lets walk around.” Kayla said shifting gears and jumping off the swing abruptly. I always feel better about myself if I am active right after eating T-Bell.”
Sam was confused how a girl in her shape could feel any guilt what-so-ever after eating something. Her muscle would probably burn through all the calories of the McDonald's value menu in less than a day. Of course he couldn't seem to put on any weight either, whether it be muscle or fat. He shrugged and got off the swing, joining Kayla under a paved path that meandered through the park. The whole thing felt very much like something a couple should do.
The path lead them away from the toys and past some flower beds. In the darkness of light they did little to bring beauty to things. Being in such close proximity Sam found it difficult to concentrate to what Kayla was saying. The issue was amplified when Kayla reached down and took his hand in hers. Sam focused all his energy on remembering to breathe as the path lead them in front of a large fountain that would soon be shut off for winter. It was made up of large single stone pillars. The tallest at around twelve feet, the rest working their way down to the shortest at four feet. They stopped and watched the water bubble up out of the center of the rocks and cascade down their sides. Four small spot lights camouflaged with bushes shone brightly on the water feature. The noise of the splashing water combined with the medium soda made Sam well aware of his bladder being quite full. He stared at the fountain as he focused on releasing his bladder. Within moments he felt a fresh flood urine escaping into his diaper.
After awhile and without any communication, they both moved off along the path. Neither led, they both just seemed to sense it. As they walked away Sam noticed that the diaper still felt very wet against his skin. That wouldn't have been so bad except it seemed to irritate his skin. He focused on other sensations to block it out. The smell of the night, the smell of Kayla for that matter. He found the latter to be much more pleasing.
The path way eventually brought them to the sidewalk on the other end of the park, opposite where they left the car. They took this as they circumvented the park. The night was quiet and undisturbed here. The only sound was faint traffic noise coming from a major road a long way off. On the opposite side of the street were big old houses, almost all were restored to their original luster, as urban renewal had touched this area of town. The houses were all quiet. Their occupants having long ago went to bed. As they crossed under a streetlight they heard a voice call out softly as if the night itself were speaking. “Kayla... Sam... is that you?” They both turned to the sound, seeing nothing but deep dark porches. The light shown down on their faces now giving whoever said their names a clear image. “Oh my it is you.” The voice was louder now and clearly female, although it was still hardly more than a whisper. They saw a dark shadow move across one of the dark porches and walk down the steps into the streetlight.
They both smiled as the light revealed Ms. Easterfield's face from the shadows of the porch. She was holding a cup of coffee between her hands and dressed in a fashionable pink flannel robe. “Ms. E, I didn't know you lived around here.” Kayla exclaimed crossing the street, Sam securely at her side. “What on earth are you doing up at this hour?”
“I could ask you the same question.” Amy replied with a warm grin. “Sam how are you? I heard about what happened.” Her expression shifted to concern and worry crept into her voice. Sam blushed as once again someone was fussing over the trouble he couldn't seem to avoid.
“I'm fine.” Sam said looking at his shoes. Then perking up his head and attitude. “Kayla came to my rescue and really creamed the guy.”
“So I heard.” Her tone carried a slight hint of disapproval. “You know Kayla there are better courses of action you could have taken.”
“It seemed like the right one in the moment.” Kayla said neutrally, not bothered by having to defend herself.
“Well I certainly would have liked to seen it.” The grin reappeared on her face and she turned towards her house. “Care to join me for awhile on the porch?”
“Certainly.” said Kayla.
“Sure.” Sam said.
Amy lead the way up the walking path and then onto the porch. She had a patio collection that would have made Martha Stewart envious. Sam and Kayla sat on a large wrought iron patio swing. It had over stuffed cushions and massive chains that went along with the grandeur. Sam followed the chains up to the ceiling where they disappeared into the blackness. He couldn't see it but he was sure that it must be bolted into a massive beam to support all the weight.
Amy selected a more delicate and eloquent matching wrought iron chair. It could only be considered delicate next to the swinging bench. Ms. Easterfield took a sip from her coffee cup. “Now back to my original question, why are you guys out so late?”
Kayla answered. “Unlike you, WE don't have school tomorrow.” Kayla wore a big smile as she spoke. “But why are you up, Ms. E?”
“I couldn't sleep. I was too worried about something.” She confessed.
Sam spoke answering her question. “I am sort of grounded and Kayla came along to bust me out.” He said smiling.
“There are somethings in life I think every teenager should experience. What kind of a girlfriend would I be if I let Sam lapse into adulthood without sneaking out at least once.” Kayla squeezed Sam tight as she said it.
The three sat on the porch talking for awhile. Amy offered them refreshments which they declined respectfully, citing the T-Bell they had earlier. They chatted about what they had done that night. Sam blushed as Kayla recounted him jumping off the roof. Amy assured them not to worry about missing class. She said Kayla was smart enough to figure it out with the text book and if she got stuck Sam had already had the class. Amy inquired about their plans for the rest of the night, which Kayla evaded. After awhile Sam and Kayla thanked her for her hospitality and apologized for keeping her awake. They said goodnight and headed down the steps. When Sam paused and turned back around.
“Um Ms. E. do you think I could use your restroom?” Sam asked.
“Sure, I'll show you where its at.”
“I'll just wait out here and enjoy the night.” Kayla said sitting down on the steps.
Amy held the door open for Sam and then led him into the house. When they were safely out of ear shot she spoke. “Do you need to use the restroom or need a change?”
“A change” Sam whispered.
“Okay then.” She led Sam into a room resembling a home office. She then proceeded to attain the necessary supplies from a closet. “Just lie down on the floor.” Sam complied with the request. Amy moved efficiently. As she undressed Sam and removed his diaper. “Oh Sammy honey, you have a bit of a diaper rash. You need to make sure you change more often. I am not going to put you into another diaper because I think it would be best if we let it air out.”
“That's okay. I already had a close call tonight with Kayla finding out and I don't know what else she is planning.” Sam said.
“Probably a good idea.” She wiped Sam thoroughly and then dried him with a soft towel. “Now I really should put some cream on this put is has a distinct smell and Kayla might notice, so I am holding off on that. But you should put something like Goldbond on when you get home, if you have it.” Sam nodded, as she pulled his pants back up. She left the supplies out to clean up latter.
Her and Sam reappeared at the front door. Kayla was still on the step where they left her. “All right you two have a good night and be safe.” Amy said from the front door.
“Night Ms. E. and thanks again.” Kayla said as she stood.
“Night.” Sam said joining Kayla. The two departed and Amy went back inside to clean up the changing supplies and then rejoin her partner in bed. Seeing Sam had helped settled her fears but she still felt uneasy and worse yet helpless.

Chapter 18

 

“Now where to?” Sam asked as they resumed their course along the sidewalk.
“There is still things on the list I think you should experience.” Kayla said grinning down at Sam. He wasn't sure whether or not to trust that smile. They reached the car. Kayla still wasn't saying where they were going as she drove away leaving the park behind them.
“So just how many of these items on your list are you planning to do tonight?” Sam asked looking at the dash clock. It was now just after two.
“Oh I don't know at least one more.” Kayla said still grinning. She seemed undeterred by the late hour. Sam noted the neighborhood was changing and they were heading back closer to his house. He became confused as she made a left instead of the right that would bring them still closer to his home. They turned onto a small road that had a dead end sign. Kayla parked the car in front of a chain link fence that had a sign proclaiming 'authorized personnel only”. Sam felt sick as he looked past the fence and at the water tower behind it.
“You can't be serious.” He said hopping she wasn't.
“Yeah I am. It'll be worth it trust me.” With that Kayla got out of the car. As if her sentence ended any argument. Sam followed her.
“Kayla, no.” He said weakly. “Come on we can't be here.”
“Sam, you know I am going to win so why fight.” Then she grinned somewhat evilly at him. “Besides you'll only get dizzier if I have to carry you up it over my shoulder.”
Sam froze and looked at her, not sure if she could actually carry him all the way up, but he wasn't willing to find out. “This thing about you getting your way is starting to get old.” He muttered as he walked to her.
“Oh just trust me. Look there is even a cage around the ladder so you can't fall off.” She said trying to put him at ease.
“Off no, down yes.”
“You are going up first silly.” She laughed as Sam's eyes got huge at the prospect of being first up. “Relax I'll be right behind you. This way if you slip you just land on my head.” The thought of landing on Kayla didn't do much to soothe his stomach.
Kayla began walking around the fence till she came to a break in the metal. She pulled back on it widening the hole til it was big enough for them to slip through. Sam went first and then Kayla went through backwards pushing against the chain link so it wouldn't snap back on her. Sam let her lead the way to the ladder still hopping it was a bad joke. The ground was soft sand and they moved over it with out making a sound. Some tire tracks in the loose earth and construction type debris was the only evidence that anyone had been there recently. There was a ladder built into the side of the water tower and as promise it was encased in a metal safety cage. The ladder stopped about eight feet from the ground. Kayla bent down beneath it and made a step with her hands again for Sam. Who let out a soft whimper.
“You really are serious aren't?”
“Of course I am Sammy. Now come on up you go.” She had a big grin on her face like they were exploring Aladdin's cave.
“I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part.” Sam sighed once more before placing his hands on Kayla's shoulder's and stepping into her hands. Kayla slowly pressed him up. Sam steadied himself against the smooth round surface of the tower. “Okay I have the bar.” he said quietly.
Kayla began pushing up quicker until her arms were fully extended. Sam stepped onto the lowest rung and proceeded up another four before turning to look down at Kayla. He wondered how she was going to get up. He didn't doubt she would, he just didn't know how.
Kayla did a star jump and grabbed the lowest rung. Sam watched in amazement as she pulled herself up with only her arms, grabbing one rung after another. Sam began climbing again, trying to stay ahead of Kayla who was quickly closing the narrow gap. He had to focus on each movement to keep the terror from seizing his muscles. The cage helped him from feeling so exposed on the side of tower and he was happy to find the metal felt freshly painted rather than weathered.
It took them about two minuets to climb the 180 feet to the top of the tower. Sam wished it would have taken longer. The cage disappeared for the last couple of rungs, as they were higher than the platform. Sam stepped off the rung and stood as close as he could to the tank of the water tower. Kayla appeared from the ladder only moments later. She walked over in front of Sam where he stood frozen, his back to the tank. “Sam look at me, you are okay.”
“Like hell, I am over a hundred feet in the air on the side of water tower.”
“Give me your hands Sam.” Sam immediately reached out with his left, but his right clutched stubbornly to a rung.
“Both hands Sammy.” Kayla's voice was cool and calm, as she soothed him like a frightened animal. He looked around and shook his head.
“I can't” He said.
“Yes you can.” Kayla stepped closer and placed her hand on his right, applying a little pressure. He let go and quickly latched onto her other hand. “All right now to the rail.” She said smiling at him. Sam shook his head adamantly, his eyes darting around the open space that stretched beyond them. Kayla nodded, still smiling. “Don't look around Sam, just look at me.”
Sam's gaze met hers and held it. He felt his head slowly nod yes. Even in the darkness of night Sam could clearly see the brilliant deep blue of Kayla's eyes. It was as though they were their own light source. Kayla took a step backwards pulling Sam along with her. Sam's hands shifted grips so that he was holding her onto her forearms just below the elbow. Sam held on tight to her as he shuffled his feet forward. Kayla took another step back, she was now just inches from the rail and the edge of the platform. Sam shuffled forward again. Kayla turned breaking the gaze. Sam shuffled quickly after her, clinging to her side when it came in reach. Kayla held the rail leaning her weight onto it as she looked out at the city stretched out below them. Sam mostly concentrated on holding onto Kayla.
His arms were wrapped about her waist and he nestled himself in against her warm body, his head resting against her shoulder. They stood like that for awhile, Kayla enjoying the view, Sam working up the courage to open his eyes again. Sam eventually did open his eyes and he had to admit the view was spectacular. The lights from houses, businesses, and streetlights sparkled all around them like a multitude of stars in various colors. Car break lights glowing like back-lit rubies.
“Wow!” Sam spoke softly.
“Yeah, its really incredible.” Kayla agreed.
She informed him that the platform wrapped completely around the tower and they could walk around it. Sam declined rather forcefully. As amazing as the view was it didn't really lessen the nausea and lightheadedness he felt from being up so high. So they stood there in the same spot taking in the panorama. It was windy at the top and Kayla could feel Sam shiver next to her. She let go of the rail and put an arm around him. Sam nestled still closer his head now resting against the side of Kayla's chest. They stood for a bit longer. Kayla pointed out to Sam where his house was. While doing so something seemed to catch her attention and Sam thought he could feel the excitement spread through her body. He tried to figure out what she was seeing but before he could he was distracted by five words he had been waiting to hear.
“Are you ready to go?” Kayla asked looking down at him under her arm. He nodded yes, releasing Kayla's side and walking to the ladder as fast as he felt safe. Kayla laughed at his enthusiasm to get off the tower. She followed him down the ladder. Sam realized that by going down the ladder first he had no one on the ground to help him down. Of course this only occurred to him when his foot went to reach down to the next rung and only found air. Sam attemped to lower himself the rest of the way with his arms, like Kayla had. He found they tired quickly and dropped down the final rungs quicker than he had intended. Sam ended up just dropping from the second to last rung landing first on his feet and then his butt.
Kayla dropped down behind him, laughing as she turned to see him sprawled on the ground. “Graceful Sam.” She said reaching out to help him up. They walked back to the car. Kayla again held the fence open for him and then followed him through. She brushed of the sand from his back before they got back in the car.
Once they were back on the road Sam looked over at Kayla. She clearly had a destination in her mind. “What did you see up there?” Sam asked studying her face.
“Oh just something that made me think of something else we can cross off the list.” Kayla seemed too content to keep Sam in the dark. A fact that made Sam uneasy.
“Care to share?” He pressed, unwilling to let it go.
“You'll see.” Kayla turned grinning at Sam. You'll like it a whole lot more than the water tower I promise. Sam looked out the window in frustration, his mind running rampant with possibilities. Most of them resided somewhere between absurd and ludicrous. B&E, arson, grand theft auto all took turns occupying his mind while they drove on in the darkness. Sam was presently trying to figure out why all his thoughts were illicit activities when he felt the car pull along a curb and park. Sam looked around and realized they were at the park they started from.
“Did you change your mind?” Sam asked looking confused.
“Nope.” Was Kayla's only response as she reached over his lap to the glove box. She opened it and pressed a small concealed button labeled 'trunk'. Sam felt the trunk pop open and continued to stare at Kayla looking confused. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as though it fed some unseen fire behind them. “Come on.” She said before stepping out of the car.
Sam got out and walked around back to where she stood next to the open trunk. She was unzipping a sports duffel bag with Adidas written on the side in white script. “Here” she said handing him a pair of basketball shorts from the bag. “Put those on.”
“Umm why?”
“Please Sam trust me.” Kayla looked as though his words had stung a little and the intensity in her eyes seemed fade. Sam felt like he had accidentally hurt some rare magical creature.
He was quick to rectify the situation. “Okay okay” He said as he undid his belt. The light returned to Kayla's eyes.
“That was TOO easy” she said grinning. Sam looked up from messing with his belt to say something about unfair play when he saw Kayla removing her belt as well. The belt was white with a double set of metal rivets running it length. It was largely ornamental as opposed to the belt that Sam wore to keep his jeans up on his wiry frame.
“Oh I am so sorry... I uh didn't realize you were changing also.” Sam felt the ambient temperature raise several degrees as his blood rushed to his cheeks, as he began to turn around.
“Relax Sammy, I have shorts on underneath.” Kayla said pulling her jeans off, revealing a pair of black shorts identical to the ones she handed Sam, except where hers had the Nike swoosh his said Jefferson High Basketball in purple lettering. Sam was familiar with guys wearing basketball shorts on jeans but he had never seen a girl do it. “What? I wanted to be prepared.” Kayla said at his puzzled look.
“You can't read my mind, can you?” Sam asked jokingly.
“No just your face. Now quit stalling and get changed.
Sam resumed removing his jeans. Although he ran into a snag as tried to free his feet from them. Having not bothered with taking his shoes off first. Kayla stifled a giggle as she watched Sam hop from one foot and then the other, in a vain attempt to extricate himself from the denim prison. It reminded her of watching some try to escape Chinese finger-cuffs for the first time. She lost the battle with controlling her laugh the same time Sam lost the battle with pants and fell backwards into Kayla's trunk. Kayla covered her mouth as she laughed at the sight of Sam looking up at her like a trapped puppy from her trunk. She took a deep breath to recover. “Here let me help.” She said, not entirely able to keep the giggle from her voice. She threaded the pants over his sneakers and off his body.
She bent down and picked up the pair of shorts from where they had landed on the ground. Sam had dropped him during his battle with his jeans. She bunched the material to around the leg holes and slid them over Sam's feet. Sam took the waist band from her when she reached his knees. Sam tried to get out of the trunk and pull the shorts over his boxers in one motion by kicking his feet forward. What Sam had meant to look graceful and like something from a Levi jeans commercial ended up looking more like a bass trying to escape an aluminum boat. Kayla had to suppress a fresh round of giggles as Sam took several flopping motions to get out of the trunk.
“Eloquent.” Kayla remarked, smirking at Sam's antics. She took the his jeans and neatly folded them before placing them in the trunk with hers. Sam was fumbling with the drawstring on the shorts trying to tie them tight enough so they would stay up. Kayla removed a pair of flip-flops from the trunk and slipped them on before shutting the lid. She watched Sam fumble with the drawstring a moment. “You're helpless.” She said giggling again. She took the string loop and tied it in a fluid motion. The short's were the kind with the string on the inside of the waistband, as such Kayla pulled the band forward and let the now knotted string drop down the inside of Sam's leg. Like all her clothes the shorts were very long on him.
“Jefferson High huh? Now what? We run killer's in the park?” Sam felt slightly flippant.
“Yea it was my old school.” Kayla ignored the second half of his statement as she walked into the dark park. Sam followed her, still confused, but why should that change now. She walked with purpose to line of houses that butted up against the back of the park. Sam watched as she surveyed the fence line, smiling when her eyes stopped on a yard with a tall Conifer rising above the ****en fence. Kayla counted four roofs over from the tree and then walked up the fence of what would have been the fourth house to the left of the evergreen. Sam watched the whole process in silence, staying close to Kayla the entire time. She knelt down next to fence of the fourth house and scratch lightly on the fence, then waited. When nothing happened she scratched again a little louder, still nothing.
“Okay” She said pleased at the result. She grabbed the top of two the ****en planks and pulled herself up slowly till her head was peeking over, the toes of her flip-flops dragging silently against the side of the fence. She dropped down and turned towards Sam. “Up and over.” She said. For the third time that night Sam stepped into her hands and was boosted up. He managed to get over the fence relatively silent. He tried to make himself as small as he could in the dark shadows of the fence. Kayla dropped down next to him. She was quieter getting over the fence. Sam glanced around the large strange yard he found himself in. It must have been a half acre lot he thought. Kayla tapped him on the shoulder and indicated for him to follow.
She made her way over to the farthest corner of the yard, walking crouched over to stay in the fences shadow. They crossed the yard silently. Kayla didn't stand erect till she reached a large cement in the corner. On the cement sat a six person hot tub. It was on and the jets pulsed quietly sending a steady stream of bubbles to the surface. The water glowed a blue-green from the lights beneath the water. “Success.” Kayla breathed out quietly.
Sam appeared at her side. “Please tell me you know these people.” He asked.
“Nope.” Kayla said. She had the same mischievous grin that she had had most of the night. She stepped out of her flip-flops and placed them on the cement next to the hot tub. Then she slipped her shirt off over head. Sam couldn't help but stare. Her torso was long and Sam could see the muscle coiling and uncoiling just beneath her tan skin as she pulled the shirt off. Her stomach was not only taut but had definition from a six pack. Kayla placed a shirt on top of the flip-flops and her phone on top of that, careful to make sure they were behind the hot tub. Then she climbed up and into the waiting water.
Sam stood watching from his spot on the cement. He wasn't sure what to do. A large part of him wanted to be in the hot tub next to Kayla. But there was still a part of him that was frozen by fear for breaking so many societal codes and another part of him was embarrassed to take his shirt off. He wasn't overweight and normally he considered himself a lean and scrappy but next to Kayla he felt far from adequate. All this amounted to Sam being paralyzed with indecision.
“Come join me Sam.” Kayla had submerged herself to her neck. The end of her arm stuck out of the water, coated in foam, as she beckoned him with her finger. Sam began taking off his shirt and shoes and was in the hot tub moments later. He was beginning to see how Adam ended up eating the apple. “See it's not so bad.” Kayla said shielding her face from the foam splash up he created with his less coordinated entrance.
“I'm pretty sure those were Eve's words.” Sam said continuing on his train of dialogue. Both of them spoke in whispers barely audible above the soft hum of the jacuzzi motor.
“What was that?” Kayla asked cocking her head to the side as she looked at Sam.
“Sorry, I didn't actually mean to say that out loud.” Sam said feeling like an idiot. He backed himself into a corner against one of the jets. Only his head showed above the water as well but that was all he could get above the water when he sat flat in the molded seats.
Kayla moved slowly closer to Sam through the water, rising as she did so til the water stopped just below her ample cup line. Where the lights in the water highlighted Sam's lack of a tan it seemed to have the opposite effect on Kayla's darker skin, bringing out the warm glow of it. Kayla had on a full coverage bra that proclaimed a love of PINK. The foam ran off her chest and down between her cleavage as she rose out of the water. The whole thing seemed like teenager's fantasy as portrayed by TV or perhaps a over the top Carl's Jr. commercial. Kayla straddled Sam's legs and leaned in close. Sam could feel her lips grazing ever so lightly against his ear.
“I think Adam probably took more convincing.” She whispered, her breathe sending chills down Sam's body. Then he felt her lips lightly on his neck moving in a line as she kissed him softly and gently.
Sam felt his body responding, even if his brain didn't know what to do. “So uh.. how did you know about this hot tub?” His voice cracked several times causing him to have to restart the question.
“I spotted it from the water tower.” She said in between kisses. She had kissed down one side of his neck and was working up the other side. She had lifted him into a sort of embrace to expose the top of his chest and had kissed her way across that too.
“Is this something you do often? The breaking into hot tubs I mean.” Sam's head was back at this point as Kayla continued kissing on him. At the question Kayla stopped kissing and looked at him. Her face hovered maybe an inch above his. Her arms wrapped around his neck, while his hands rested on her hips. Her hair hung forward and brushed against his cheeks.
“Once or twice. Is this really what you want to talk about right now? It's like you are trying to focus on anything but the moment.” Her eyes searched his for understanding. Sam felt the full weight of their intensity, it was as though it were a tangible force.
“Distracting myself was kind of the point.” Sam said blushing, but unable to break eye contact.
Confusion crossed Kayla's face. It was soon replaced with realization and a look of amusement.
“What's the matter Sammy? You don't want me to find out how much you like me?” Kayla gave Sam fake hurt look and pouted her lips as she spoke. She reached a hand under water and brushed it lightly against a very hard Sam and they both knew it. Sam only blushed harder, causing Kayla to giggle. She leaned in slowly to kiss him. Sam was motionless as a rabbit in the gaze of snake.
Kayla also froze as a light clicked on in the house, casting long shadows on the yard below. She heard the sound of metal sliding against metal as the window opened. She rolled off Sam and got as low to the water as she could, pulling him down by the shoulder as well till just their eyes and noses showed above the foam. Sam felt like he was sitting in a giant can of warm sprite as the water effervesced around him tickling his noise. They listened motionless, as they heard a male voice come from the window. It chided someone named Margret for leaving the hot tub on. They couldn't hear Margret's reply but when the male voice spoke again it didn't give them much comfort. He said it was all right he would go down and shut it off.
Kayla pushed Sam towards the edge of the tub. “Time to run!” She said in a loud whisper jumping out of the hot tub herself as Sam clamored over the side. Kayla grabbed Sam's shoes and shirt and pushed it to his chest “Don't try to put it on just carry it!”. She grabbed her stuff as well before they took off in a full sprint. Again Sam was grateful that she naturally held the lead as she ran towards the house. Sam's first thought was to go over the fence but Kayla clearly had other plans. Light poured out onto the back patio through a screen door as they reached the side of the house. Kayla spotted the latch at the top of the fence gate and flipped it up as her body connected with the main gate.
The ****en gate swung open out of her way as her and Sam went running through it. They could feel the soft earth and grass of the front yard as they ran. The grass was replaced with hard pavement as they reached the road. They heard the voice shout out what the hell behind them. Sam had no feel for their location or heading as they ran down the street periodically making a turn. Kayla however seemed confident in her choices and that was enough for Sam.
Three minuets later found the pair breathing heavily in between laughing fits as they drove away down the street. Another two minuets after that Sam and Kayla were parked one house up and across the street from his. Sam was thanking her for all the fun. He was about to say goodbye when Kayla got out the car. “Now what?” he asked.
“You didn't sneak out successfully unless you sneak back in successfully, duh.” Kayla called quietly over her shoulder as she walked towards his house. Sam would have argued but he was too relieved to see her willing to use the gate.
Kayla helped Sam back onto his roof. It was high enough up that she couldn't just boost him. Instead Sam climbed up on her shoulder's. From there Sam was able to pull himself up on the roof. It looked rather similar to a walrus trying to get on a rock. Forcing Kayla to try and have to stifle another giggle. She failed. They waved goodbye and said goodnight as loud as they dared.
Sam fell asleep reflecting on his night with Kayla. He spent more time reflecting on the hot tub than other parts.

Chapter 19


There was sunlight streaming into his bedroom through the open window when Sam awoke. His head felt heavy as he lifted it from the pillow and after one failed attempt he gave up and let it fall back down on the pillow. Sam spent the next few hours going in and out of sleep never quite fully crossing over to one or the other. He was aware of a cool breeze blowing across him, the sound of the clock ticking on his wall, the sound of neighborhood sprinklers cycling on, all of it blurred together with the unmarked passage of time. Sam didn't fully wake up until he heard the sound of his phone buzzing on the bed next to him.
He got it to his ear and managed a gruff, “Hello?”
“You going to lie in bed all day?”
Sam bolted up right in his bed as he heard the voice on the other end. Even At&t with their crappy reception quality couldn't mask the glorious sound of Kayla's voice. Sam would swear that even Gabriel must be jealous of her voice. “Um no, I was just about to get up.”
“Well I should hope, it's only quarter till noon.” Kayla said. “Oh and you shouldn't sleep in your clothes.” Sam was sure he could hear her smiling.
Sam looked down at what he was wearing, puzzled and then spun towards the window. Kayla was sitting in the middle of his back yard. She had moved a deck chair from the patio to where she now sat in the yard with a clear view into Sam's window. “Morning sunshine.” Kayla laughed into the phone at Sam's reaction.
“Umm give me a minute to get ready and then I'll come down.” Sam said.
“Sure.” Kayla hung up and continued to smile at Sam as she watched him dash around his room.
Sam grabbed a towel and some clothes and headed for the shower. He washed and got dressed and shook his hair out over the tub. He tried to get the few strands plastered to his forehead to let loose as best he could using the fogged up mirror before heading back to his room.
“Good CD.” Kayla said from his bed. She held up the case to his Death Cab for Cutie Plans cd.
“WHAT THE?!” Sam jumped as she spoke, clutching his chest in the process.
“Sorry I didn't mean to startle you.” Kayla said with a smile that hinted to the contrary.
“What are you doing in here?” Sam asked getting his voice back under control.
“Well I was bored out there so I came up. Then I found the portable cd player and I figured you would want me to make myself at home.” She said, flashing a smile that surely would get her out of the most ridiculous speeding tickets. Honest officer I thought the sign saying 101 was the speed limit, how was I to know it meant highway 101.
“What if I came back in only a towel and hadn't noticed you?” Sam asked doing his best to keep from being distracted by her smile and her coy eyes.
“Then I guess I would've got a show to go with the music.” She said her smile changing to a grin as she stood and walked over to him. Sam stood motionless as she lightly kissed him on the mouth. The kiss was over before Sam's mind could register it and tell him to kiss back. He hoped she would mistake dumb struck with playing it cool. “Now come on the day is wasting away.” She said walking out his bedroom door.
Sam dropped the socks he was still holding, opting for the quicker route of flip-flops. “Wait Kayla.” Sam hissed quietly. “We can't go out through the front. My mom might see you.”
“Relax Sam, she left an hour ago.” Kayla said, pausing on the stairs long enough to look over her shoulder.
“What?” Sam asked, confused. He walked as fast as his flip-flops and lack of coordination would allow, which given the added obstacle of stairs wasn't much faster than normal. Still he had caught up with Kayla by the time they reached the front door. Sam locked it behind them. “Wait where's your car?”
“Back around by the park.” Kayla said.
“What, why?” Sam asked following Kayla down the street.
“Because if I parked in front of your house it would defeat the purpose of avoiding your parents by waiting for you to wake up in your back yard.” Kayla said matter-of-factly. “Which had I known you were going to sleep so late I probably would have called you a lot earlier. Seriously why would you waste our exclusive vacation during this beautiful Indian Summer” Kayla gestured at the world with her hands. “all day in bed sleeping?”
Sam ignored her light chastisement. “How long have you been stalking me?”
Kayla turned around and walked backwards, to look at Sam, a feat that Sam wouldn't dare attempt. “Stalking is such an ugly word. I prefer to think of it as a real life equivalent to following your blog or tweet.”
“Right.” Sam elongated the word into two syllables. “So what is on today's agenda?”
“Don't know, whatever we feel like. Thanks to Derek we have nothing to do today while everyone else slaves away in school. Kayla said.
The day consisted of them stopping for food. Kayla was hungry having already been up for several hours. Sam just got a coffee. Then they collected her car from the park and drove to river. There they watched it flow by from a park bench as they talked about nothing in particular. From the river they went into the different shops that lined it selling various knickknacks to tourist. They laughed at the different articles of clothing that people bought to remind themselves they escaped the office once. The shops were mostly deserted being mid day in the week at the end of the travel season. At 4:30 they caught the last matinee showing at the theater.
As they were walking out the halls were crowded as several movies had ended at the same time. Kayla and Sam were walking hand in hand. Kayla spotted Sam's mother a little ways off in front of them she was standing in a little alcove in the hall with her arms around a guy. Kayla changed course and pulled against Sam's hand. But it was too late Sam had already seen it. Now he stood rooted to the carpet, unaware of Kayla tugging at his arm. He watched seemingly detached at first, as his mother wrapped her arms around the neck of some guy Sam didn't know. She stood on tip toes as he bent down and they embraced in a long hard kiss.
Kayla tugged harder on his arm and whispered his name quietly. “Come on Sam you don't want to see this.” He turned at his name and allowed himself to be pulled along by Kayla to a side exit. They didn't have to quint as they got out side, as dusk was already falling. The weather may refuse to acknowledge the end of summer but the celestial bodies aren't afforded such liberties and 6:30 now brought with it the first hints of night.
Sam pulled his hand free from Kayla as they got outside and braced himself against the building course stucco exterior. Kayla watched as Sam doubled over and threw up. He stayed bent over for minute and then slowly stood up and walked to the car. Kayla trailed behind him. They got in neither speaking. Kayla drove away without a destination in mind just wanting to get Sam away from the theater. Kayla occasionally glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He had retreated inside himself and gave no indication that he was aware of her presence. As they drove on, Sam spoke quietly “Pull over there will ya.” He pointed to a row of stores. Among them was shoe store, coffee shop, liquor and cigar store, and a restaurant advertizing authentic all you can eat Chinese. Kayla pulled into a stall about half way down the row of stores.
Sam got out and Kayla followed him without commenting. Sam walked down past several store fronts till he got to the door of the liquor shop. He walked in and grabbed the first thing he recognized, in this case a 750 ml bottle of tarantula, and proceeded to check out which was manned by a kid who looked about 23. His face showed pockmarks from the acne of teen years. His clothes had a sweet smokey scent to them. Which Kayla recognized immediately as weed, Sam was oblivious to it . “You got some ID kid?” The cashier asked looking down at him from the stool he was on.
Sam reached into his wallet and produced a fifty dollar bill. “No I forgot it at home, but Grant here is willing to vouch for me and I don't think the 18^th president would lie, do you?” Sam's voice was hollow. Kayla wouldn't have known it was Sam speaking had she not been looking at him.
The cashier craned his neck and scanned the store. There was no other patrons. “Have a nice day sir.” He said taking the bill off the counter and sliding it into his pocket. Sam and Kayla left.
“Let's go to the park.” Sam said in the same unrecognizable voice. They did, neither one speaking. Kayla was glad to see Sam waited to open the tequila till they had reached the park. Sam walked over to the swings, taking long pulls from the bottle as he went. Kayla followed him, never speaking just watching. She sat on the swing next to Sam, who continued to take drink and mumble under under his breath. After awhile the swallows became less frequent and the mumbling mixed with tears.
Sam staggered off the swing and into the grass. He was trying to reach a tree about five yards away yet, when fell to the ground and vomited between his hands. Kayla bent down and rubbed his back as she watched the blue liquor pour out of his mouth like a spigot. The alcohol was tinged brown as it came out mixed with bile.
Cars drove by unaware of the personal hell Sam was experiencing. Kayla watched them roll past. She cursed under her breathe when she saw a dark gray sedan with a spotlight on the driver side slow to a stop. The spot light came on an threw a blinding beam across her and Sam. Kayla raised a hand and squinted against the light. Sam continued to throw up unaware of the light. Red and blue lights flashed from a light bar concealed by the dark tint of the window shield and Kayla heard doors open and shut. She watched as two back lit shadows approached them.
“Shit.” She breathed, turning to glance at the bottle of tarantula that laid a few feet from them.

chapter 19 continued...

“How are we doing tonight?” One of the silhouettes called out. Kayla rolled her eyes at the question. It was a standard cop question, Kayla was sure they would still ask it if she were actively stabbing Sam. Probably included in the first page of the manual right next to telling a perp to 'watch their head' after smacking it into the door jamb getting into the squad car.
“Been better.” She called back. She put a mixture of worry and relief into her inflection, cops generally took it as sincere rather than sarcasm it was. The two were next to them now, being careful to keep their backs to spotlight. One had his flashlight out and seemed insistent on shining that in Kayla's face as well. Kayla had to squint against the luminous onslaught to see their faces. Both cops were young around mid twenties. The one holding the flashlight had a thick dark mustache and was wearing aviators with a mirror finish. The fact that it was dark out didn't seem to dissuade him. He held himself with an arrogance that came with the badge. The other one was clean shaven and had light blue eyes almost gray. He seemed less into his cop persona and more interested in helping.
Mustache spoke. “So you guys out partying tonight?” It was more of an accusation than question.
Kayla directed her answer to the second cop. “My friend here is having a bit of a rough nite.”
“Yeah, is that why you two are slamming back the alcohol, Missy?” Mustache asked. He had spied the bottle of tarantula and walked over to it. He used a pen to pick up the bottle by its open mouth.
“I wasn't drinking.” Frustration had replaced her carefully constructed inflection. “You planning on dusting that for prints or something Kojak?”
“I suggest you watch your tone or you'll be spending the night in Juvie.” Mustache had stood back up began walking towards the group again.
“Alright cool it.” The partner spoke. His voice was quiet and level and carried with it authority and experience beyond his years or rank. “No one is going to Juvie, at least not till we know some things. Now why don't you tell me what happened.”
Kayla took a deep breathe to calm herself. “I got a call from my friend here.” She gestured towards where Sam was on the ground on all fours, face inches from the earth. He seemed completely unaware to what was going on, neither looking towards them or making a sound beside for continuing to vomit every few moments. “He was drunk when he called and rambling on about how he saw her kissing another guy.”
“Issues with his girlfriend, okay.” The officer spoke in the same level tone. “Then what?”
Kayla decided not to correct his assumption. “I managed to get him tto tell me where he was and told him to stay put. Then I drove over and I was going to take him back to his house when you guys showed up.”
“And what's your friend's name and address?”
“It's Ben Easterfield. He lives just over there at 2560 Parkview road.”
“All right let's get him to his feet.” Kayla and the cop walked over to Ben, while his partner stood watching with his hands on his hips like a scolded child. “Ben how you doing buddy?” The cop was bent over with one hand on Ben's back. The duration between Ben's heaves had lengthened. He moaned in way of response. “All right let's get him up.” They both took and arm and a shoulder and lifted him off the ground. “To the squad car.” He said jerking his head backwards.
“I don't want him puking in the back of the car and I sure as hell am not going to be the one to clean it up.” It was the first words the partner had spoken since being told to cool it.
“What's the matter worried it will delay you from getting home to stare at your Tom Selleck posters?” Kayla barbed him. She could see his neck turning red above the caller.
“Enough. We'll walk him to his house. Frank you follow in the car. Once there you are free to go miss.”
“Free to go?” His partner turned redder still. “Jesus, Mike how do we know she wasn't drinking too.”
“For starters I believe her story, secondly do you smell any alcohol on her, because I don't. Now go follow in the car.” Mike's voice was slightly louder now but still just as calm. He and Kayla watched as his partner left in a huff. Then they began the slow process of walking Sam across the park. The patrol car rolled along slowly behind them.
“So what's your partner's deal? His fan letters to Eric Estrada never get responses when he was a kid?”
Mike let out a short bark of a laugh. “No, I don't think he ever got a lot of respect growing up. Now he is looking for it as a cop, but just putting on a badge isn't going to get him real respect unless he changes his attitude. You need to watch yourself though, because he has every right to bust you for underage possession.”
“Yeah thanks for keeping him off my case back there.” Kayla said sheepishly, somewhat embarrassed about losing control of herself.
“No problem, your friend is going to have one of the worse nights of his life, given the amount he consumed and you shouldn't be punished for being a good friend.” The two walked along in silence stopping every so many yards as Sam doubled over and threw up. They finally reached the edge of the park and crossed the street to the other side.
Mike and Kayla climbed the steps dragging Sam along with them while Frank sat in the car sulking. Mike knocked crisply on the door three times. They waited. The door opened and Amy looked at them with first confusion and then fear as she realizes it was Sam who hung limp between the officer and Kayla.
“Ms. Easterfield?” Mike asked.
“Yes.” Amy's reply was hesitant with fear. “My partner and I found your son drunk across the street in the park.”
Amy looked at Kayla with confusion. Kayla smiled briefly and Amy caught on. “Oh my gosh Officer I am so sorry, he is normally such a good child.” Kayla mouthed 'thank you' to Amy. “I don't know what would possess him to” Amy continued
Mike held up a hand cutting her off. “It's okay Ma'm, from what we were able to gather he had caught his girl with another guy.” Confusion returned to Amy's face as Mike spoke. “We won't be charging him tonight but you may want to talk with about healthier methods of dealing with these sort of things.”
“Thank you so much officer. For bring him home” Amy said sincerely. “We'll get him inside and cleaned up.” Mike transferred Sam's shoulder onto Amy's.
“All right you all have a good night and tell him to stay off the boozes.” Mike said backing down the steps.
Kayla and Amy carried Sam into the house. Once they were through the door Amy scooped Sam up in both arms. “I got him Kayla if you want to get the door.”
“Sure, thing and sorry about this.”
“Don't worry about it honey, let me get Sam taken care of then you can explain to me what happened.” Amy walked into the house with Kayla following. They walked into a larger living room done in warm colors. “Kayla this is my partner, Jenny.” Amy nodded at an attractive woman sitting on a tan suede couch with her legs pulled up under her. “Jenny, this is Kayla, one of my students. And this is Sam” she nodded at the bundle in her arms. “I'm going to take him to the restroom and get him cleaned up.”
Kayla walked over to where Jenny was seated on the couch and reached out her hand. “It's nice to meet you Jenny. Sorry about crashing your evening.”
Jenny shook her hand and smiled warmly. She gestured to a chair “Please have a seat. You don't seem shocked by mine and Amy's lifestyle.”
“Should I be?” Kayla asked with a smile.
“No, it's just most are.”
“While I admit I never figured Ms. E for a lesbian, it certainly doesn't bug me. I have even had a girlfriend at one point. Although now I am with Sam.” Kayla eyes seemed to sparkle as she said his name.
“So you are bi or were you just experimenting, and please forgive me if I am being to forward. You don't have to answer, it's just you seem very open.”
“I don't mind. It's not that I consider myself bi or gay or straight. I just believe in love in whatever form that may be.” Kayla said.
“That's a good way to look at it.” Jenny said.
Amy returned carrying Sam's shirt. It was wet from where Sam had thrown up on himself. “Let me just toss this in the laundry real fast and then I'll come join you ladies.” Amy said as she strolled by. A moment later she returned and sat down next to Jenny on the couch. “Sam is in the bathroom curled up next to the toilet. He is really sick and will feel awful in the morning but otherwise fine. Now would you care to fill me in on what happened tonight?”
Kayla told them about their day. The river, the tourist shops, the movie and how they had seen Sam's mom, his reaction and then the part with the cops. When she got done Amy breathed a heavy sigh. Kayla stayed at Amy's for awhile discussing Sam's situation and what could be done about it. No one had any real thoughts. All the they all agreed live could be tough and that only Sam could figure this out for himself, although they were all willing to help him along the way. Amy got up periodically during the conversation to check on Sam.
The night eventually got late and Kayla said her goodbyes. She apologized again for dragging Amy into this and told her not to worry about Sam's folks, she would call and tell them he was with her.
After thanking Amy and Jenny one last time, she left saying she would come by tomorrow to check on him. Amy said that would be fine and that she was planning to call into the school and take a personal day so she could stay with Sam.

CHAPTER 20


“Sam honey how are we doing in here?” Amy opened the door to the bathroom and was checking in on Sam, who was unconscious on the floor. Sam's bare chest rose and fell against the cool tile. There was a puddle of drool beneath his open mouth and small stream of it dripping from the corner of his mouth. The room smelled of vomit, and a few small brown and red speckles were visible in the toilet bowl and seat, as well as some Sam had managed to get on his chest. It looked as though it had begun to dry to his skin. The crook of Sam's arm rested over his eyes shielding them from light.
“You told me he looked like an angel when he slept.” Jenny observed looking in over Amy's shoulder. Amy turned and gave her a light slap on the shoulder.
“Be considerate. Our baby has had a rough night.” Amy chided.
“I'll say, looks like he was hitting the wrong type of bottle pretty hard.” Jenny said.
Amy ignored her and stepped into the bathroom. She gently shook Sam. His arm rolled off his face.
“I don't believe it.” Jenny said. Amy turned from Sam to look at her. “I know this kid. He came into the store about a month ago to buy Goodnites. I wonder if he will recognize me.”
“I doubt he could recognize St. Nick in his current condition, otherwise he would definitely recognize you. I mean how could he not recognize that body.” Amy smiled up at Jenny who was bent over studying Sam's face still.
“Nice of you to notice babe.” Jenny said.
Amy resumed rousing Sam. She shook harder this time and after a bit he eventually stirred. Amy kept her voice down as she spoke “How are you feeling?”
“Like crap.” Sam said trying to turn away from the light in the room.
“Are you still throwing up?” Amy asked.
“Can't. There's nothing left.” Sam replied weakly shutting his eyes tight.
“Okay then let's get you cleaned up and into bed.” Amy said and then turned to Jenny. “I'm going to bathe him. I'll come to bed in a bit.”
“No rush, hun.” Jenny said. She left the bathroom.
“All right Sam honey lets get you cleaned up sweetie.” Amy cooed as she undid his pants and pulled them down his legs. She folded them neatly and placed them on the sink counter before removing Sam's boxers and socks. These she places neatly on top of the pants. A slight shiver runs through Sam as he lays naked on the bathroom floor.
Amy turns on the faucet and checks the temperature with her hand as the large claw and ball-foot tub fills. She removes a large white fluffy terry towel from a shelf built into the wall. Bending down she picks Sam up and wraps him completely in the towel. She looks down at the precious bundle in her arms and it's not hard for her to imagine Sam as an infant in swaddling cloth. She rocked Sam gently as she walked in small circles waiting for the tub to fill.
“Ms. E, I am really sorry about this. My behavior was” Sam started to speak only to have Amy cut him off.
“Sssshhh, don't worry about it right now baby. We'll discuss it tomorrow when you feel better.” Amy carried Sam down the hall to her office where she took a pacifier out of the top drawer and placed it in Sam's mouth. She carried Sam back to the restroom where the tub was nearly full. She shut off the water and gently unwrapped the towel from around Sam and placed him in the warm water. Sam immediately succumbed to the warmth and slipped into a half conscious state, where the alcohol in him made everything seem distant and detached.
Amy lathered up a washcloth and set about washing Sam. She hummed quietly as she worked the warm lather over his skin. Sam laid still complacently as he felt the soft gentle touch of Amy and the washcloth on his skin. Even in his diminished capacity he knew that this is what it felt like to be loved and cared for. He let his muscles go slack as she lifted an arm out of the tub to wash it, before moving on to the next arm. The smell of lavender filled the air as Amy worked the suds over Sam's smooth skin. Sam especially enjoyed it when she started washing his chest. The feeling of the warm washcloth running in small gentle circles across his skin. The way he could feel water forming little rivulets and dancing across his chest in their effort to rejoin the basin below. By the time Amy got to his legs, Sam was more asleep than awake. He was only barely conscious of a twinge of regret as he felt the water begin to recede around him. The feeling dissolved like the bubbles in the water when he felt the warm embrace of the terry towel around him again. Amy picked him up into a cradled position and turned around to head of the bathroom. She was surprised to see Jenny leaning against the door jamb with a cup of tea in her hand smiling at her.
“How long have you been there?” Amy asked just above a whisper.
“The whole time, and I've never seen you look happier babe.” Jenny said smiling at her.
“I've always been happy with you.” Amy replied.
“Yes you have, but caring for him” Jenny gestured at Sam in Amy's arms, “fulfills you in a way I never could. I've never seen you happier.” Jenny smiled and walked over to Amy and kissed her lightly on the lips. “And you know what? It makes me happy too.” She said. Her forehead pressed to Amy's, their lips so close that they brush as she talked. “I'll see you when you finish getting him squared away and come to bed.” With that she turned to leave pausing briefly in the doorway. “Oh and you may want to get some water in him. The more water he drinks now the less of a hangover he'll have tomorrow.” Jenny turned and left.
Amy carried Sam over to the sink. She took an unopened toothbrush from the cabinet and began brushing Sam's teeth. When she was done Sam's breath had a minty scent to it with an undertone of stomach bile, an improvement but not by much. “All right sweetie lets get you into some jammies.” Amy carried Sam out the living, making pit stops along the way to gather supplies. She laid Sam down on the couch and unwrapped the towel from his body. Amy sprinkled some baby powder into her hand and then rubbed it into Sam's skin. Next she unfolded a thick Cushies diaper and slipped it beneath Sam, taping it securely in place. Once the diaper was on Amy patted the crotch lightly, glad to see the thickness of the diapers gave a truly infantile look and feel. Amy threaded Sam's legs into a pair of pink footed pj's one at a time. Then she guided his arms into the correct sleeves and zipped it up. The zipper ran from the collar to the crotch of the pajamas. The pajamas were pink with different colored cats on them.
Amy was pleased to see that the Cushies created a definite diaper bulge beneath the footed sleepers. “All right little fella lets get some liquids in to you.” Amy cooed rubbing the diaper bulge. She lifted Sam off the couch back into a cradled position and carried him into the kitchen. She filled a baby bottle with water from a Brita pitcher. Sam woke up a bit when Amy went to replace the pink pacifier with the nipple of the bottle.
“MMMM! Un-uh, I don't want to drink anything else tonight.” Sam said turning his head into Amy's chest, away from the bottle.
“Ssshh baby, you need to drink water. It'll help you feel better.” Amy said sticking the bottle back into Sam's mouth. He reluctantly began to suck on the plastic nipple. Amy carried Sam out on to the patio and sat down on the patio swing. Sam nursed on the bottle as Amy rocked them softly. She hummed softly. When Sam finished the bottle Amy praised him for being such a good baby. She informed him one down and one more to go. Sam moaned at the prospect of drinking another bottle. With the second bottle of water gone Amy carried Sam back into the house. She carried him around the house till he fell asleep.
Amy laid Sam down on a window bed in the master suite, careful not to wake him. She covered him up with a light blanket before joining Jenny in bed. “The baby all squared away?” Jenny asked rolling over to face Amy.
“Yea, I got him to drink two bottles of water before he fell asleep.” Amy said.
“I must say watching you take care of him was quite sexy. Even now you have this glow about you.” Jenny leaned forward and gave Amy a light kiss on the nose. “Since we are both still awake...”
“You can't be serious. You want to fool around with baby in the same room, just mere feet away?” Amy had a slightly disapproving tone, but it was tinged with playfulness.
“I think by now neither one of us is fooling around. We have both become quite skilled in the bedroom, but if you were asking if I was proposing we have sex. Then that is exactly what I am proposing. Besides baby is out cold, and I promise not to make you scream too loud, plus there is always the fall back of a pillow to muffle any noise you may make in the throws of passion.”
Through the small black distance between them, Amy could see Jenny smiling wickedly. “Oh, what the hell, I suppose your right.” Amy said giggling.
Amy's and Jenny's bodies intertwined on the bed. The room was quiet except for the rustling of the sheets and Amy and Jenny giggling. There was something about the necessity of silence that made the two sound like a couple of middle school girls at the back of the classroom rather than the skilled lovers in bed enjoying one another's company that they were. The next forty minutes the silence in the room was punctuated by brief giggling outbursts. Mercifully they had a select comfort bed so there was no cliché sounds of springs. Soon enough the room became completely quiet as the two rested in bed. Their breathing returning to normal. Jenny lie partially on top of Amy. Their bodies trading heat.
“Would it be too cheesy to enjoy a post coital smoke?” Amy asked quietly in the now still room.
Jenny raised her head to look at her as she answered. “Since neither of us smoke, yes.” Jenny said. As the two made eye contact they began giggling again. They both suddenly froze as they heard Sam begin to shift on the window bed. When he rolled over to his other side and emitting loud snoring sounds they both started laughing out right. Sam didn't stir.
They were still lying in the same position twenty minutes later enjoying each other's warmth when Sam half bolted half staggered from the window bed. He was muttering “no, no, no, no, no...” to himself as he went. Amy got up and put on a white silk robe that was hanging from a chair next to the bed and followed after him. “Sam honey what's the matter.” She asked. Sam continued muttering “no” as he staggered towards the door, hunched over. Amy guided him by the shoulder's away from the bedroom door and through an opening in a side wall. The opening led to the his-and-hers walk-in closet and to the master bath. When Sam saw the toilet he dove to it and immediately projected a large volume of water in bile into the awaiting bowl.
Jenny was propped up on one elbow, in bed watching the procession as they disappeared through the opening. Moments after they were out of sight Jenny heard a large splash and the subsequent sounds of Amy comforting Sam. After awhile Amy emerged carrying a whimpering Sam clutched to her chest. She was still whispering comforts and rubbing his back as she walked by. “I know it doesn't feel good, but you need to stay hydrated. We'll try something besides water this time.” Jenny could hear her saying as she carried Sam out of the room.
Jenny was still sitting propped on her elbow when they emerged later. Sam and Amy looked much as they had when they left, except Sam was in a cradled position now. “What did you give him this time?” Jenny asked.
“I put some berry Gatorade in a bottle for him. I was worried about him losing electrolytes. In the morning I'll go to the store and pick up some Pedialyte for him.” Amy said. She was walking in small circles rocking Sam gently.
“Berry Gatorade huh. That's sure to look pretty when it comes back up.” Jenny observed.
“Let us hope he keeps it down then.”
“I feel feverish.” Sam bemoaned around the pacifier that was in his mouth.
“That's because you are hungover and dehydrated causing the lining around your brain to swell up.” Amy said.
“Don't you think saying, 'cause your hungover' would've sufficed?” Jenny asked from the bed.
Amy turned to her as she continued walking little circles. “That answer is hardly sufficient for someone with multiple degrees in psychology and brain physiology.” Amy said.
“Of course, my mistake.” Jenny said.
“I'm cold.” Sam said unaffected by the discourse.
Amy looked down at him. “I know honey, it'll be okay. You can sleep in our bed and we'll keep you warm.” Amy carried Sam over to the bed and laid him down next to Jenny. She then removed her robe and climbed in next to him. Sam laid in the middle facing Amy. Amy and Jenny were both facing in.
“You know the Parenting magazines all say baby shouldn't share a bed with the parents. That it is imperative to baby's self actualization that it sleeps in its crib.” Jenny said, playfulness in her voice.
“While I say they don't know Jack.” Amy said.
“You intellectuals have such well thought out retorts. I just thought I should pay it lip service.” Jenny was quiet for a moment. Before speaking again. “How do you think those magazine people would feel about laying in bed with the parents, if both said parents were naked?”
“Probably the same way they feel about the parents having sex with the baby in the same room.”
They both giggled.
“There seems to be a large pink fuzzy thing preventing me from getting close to you.” Jenny said.
“Guess you'll have to make do.” Amy said.
Amy smiled when she felt Jenny reach an arm over Sam and softly run it over the tip of her nipple. “Feel better now?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Goodnight Jenny.” Amy said.
“Just one more thought.” Jenny said. “It's been a long time since there has been three bodies in this bed.”
“And never before was the third a male.” Amy added.

Chapter 21


Sam was sitting at Amy's and Jenny's breakfast bar looking like crap and trying to figure out if the sun had always been as bright as it seemed this morning. He was relatively positive that God must have conspired against him to move sun x number of miles closer to the earth as punishment. No wonder ZZ Top recommended cheap sunglasses, Sam mumbled to himself over a glass of water. He rubbed his head at the temples in tiny circles trying to soothe the throb between his ears.
“Want to see if you can hold down some saltines?” Amy asked as she breezed into the kitchen.
As always her voice held a certain angelic quality that always lifted Sam's spirits when he heard it. Although today he was still feeling considerably low even after hearing her voice. Sam shook his head no. He wasn't even willing to drink the glass of water in front of him.
“Can't I have a cup of coffee?” Sam asked, “I thought that's what you were supposed to use to sober up. Plus it sounds a whole lot better than water.”
“No sweetheart, coffee will only make it worse. It will dehydrate you further and the acid will only upset your stomach more.” She had crossed the kitchen to him and was rubbing his back softly as she talked. Sam was still wearing the pink footed sleeper. “Don't worry though, Jenny will be home in a bit with some pedilyte for you.”
Sam's mind focused sharply for the first time since he had woken up. 'Who was Jenny?' he wondered. He tried to concentrate and remember last night. After purchasing the alcohol his memories were more like dreams and very fuzzy ones at that. He knew the cops were involved in some manner and he recalled that Kayla had lied for him although he couldn't remember the specifics. After that things got even fuzzier with a few sharp moments of clarity which mostly consisted of memories about throwing up. As he searched his mind he found no clues to who Jenny was.
Sam heard the front door open, time was up, memory or not he was about to meet Jenny. Sam's initial thought upon seeing Jenny was that she looked stunning. Even in the same room as his crush and one of his dream angels, Jenny managed to hold her own in the looks department. Once he got past her stunning smile, amazingly deep green eyes, killer curves and voluptuous chest he thought she looked familiar although he didn't think it was from last night that he remembered her.
She was wearing tight designer jeans and bohemian style linen blouse with an oversized black belt fastened around it. She seemed to tower over Sam, he figured she was every bit as tall as Amy barefoot, added to that were the three inch wedges she was wearing. Her choice in foot wear cave her discernible calf definition through her jeans. “Are we feeling better this morning?” She asked strolling over to the island and setting a grocery bag down on it.
Sam was still struggling to place her in his memory and was only half listening to the question. He answered with an automatic “not really.”
“Well that's to be expected when you drink yourself sick on cheap tequila.” She walked over and put a sympathetic hand on his back next to Amy's. “It's okay kid, we've all been there.” She smiled down at him. Sam thought her smile looked like it was right out of a magazine. “From the looks of that diaper bulge, I would guess Amy has you in something thicker than Goodnites this morning.”
The statement flipped a switch in Sam's brain and suddenly he was able to remember why she looked familiar. She was the sales clerk from Rite Aid. That day replayed in his mind, his embarrassment, her kindness and seemingly knowing smile. Now here he was sitting in her kitchen dressed in a footed sleeper and clearly wearing diapers beneath it. Too make things worse it was obvious she remembered him to. It all became too much from Sam. It started out as tears slowly rolling down his cheeks, then whimpering and before for long he was at an all out cry, as the emotion of yesterday, and remembered humiliation of the past combined with how sick he was feeling. He knew how ridiculous he must look, a high school senior sitting in a diaper and baby pajamas crying in front of two beautiful women for no apparent reason, but he cried all the same. Powerless to stop.
Sam buried his head into his folded arms as he cried at the counter, expecting any moment to hear Amy or Jenny mock him for his outburst. Neither one did.
Instead Sam felt himself being scooped up by Amy. “Ssssh baby, calm down and tell mommy what's wrong.” Amy rocked Sam back and forth trying to calm him down. But no matter how much Sam tried he could neither stop crying or express what was wrong. Amy grabbed a pacifier off the counter and teased Sam's lip with the the plastic nipple. The pacifier helped to quiet Sam's sobs, though he continued to cry in her arms.
Twenty minuets of walking, rocking and soothing and Sam was calmed down sufficiently to say he didn't know why he was so upset. Another ten minuets of Amy practicing her former trade had established that Sam was upset mostly because he was caught in a lie and was ashamed to have another person know his secret. Amy and Jenny both assured Sam that there was nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. Jenny apologized that her comment had upset him, and told Sam she had only been kidding. Sam had managed to get his crying to the point where it was only soft persistent little sobs.
“I think baby is probably still feeling tired and sick from his activities last night.” Amy cooed to Sam as she carried him around the house. She had put back on her black and white silk robe from the night before. Normally she dressed for the day first thing in the morning but since she was playing hooky anyways she figured why rush. The slick surface of the silk felt pleasing against Sam's cheek as she carried him. It was also thin enough that Sam could feel the warmth of her skin as though there were nothing between them. “Would baby like a bottle and then a nice bath to calm down in?”
Sam nodded yes his face still pressed to her chest.
“Okay baby, then we'll put you down for a nap and hopefully you'll feel better when you wake up.” Amy carried Sam into the kitchen. Jenny was already waiting with a bottle she had filled with the pedialyte.
“I overheard.” She said smiling, handing the bottle to Amy.
“Thanks, babe.” Amy took the bottle and replaced Sam's pacifier with it. Sam began to suckle on the bottle. He thought the contents tasted like the love child of a Capri Sun and a Gatorade. It wasn't bad per se but it definitely wasn't good. Sam finished the bottle and was carried back into the master bedroom.
Amy laid him on the bed and stripped him of the footed pajamas and the saturated diaper. Strong diuretics such as alcohol combined with the re-hydrating process makes for heavy night time wetting. She discarded the diaper in small garbage can that seemed to be placed there for that specific purpose. Amy didn't bother with a new diaper as she carried Sam naked into the master bath. Although it wasn't nearly as nice as Sheryl's, few are, it still boasted a large garden tub. Amy placed the stopper and filled the tub, adding some fragranced bath milk. When she was satisfied with the water level and temperature she lowered in Sam.
Sam felt his breath catch in his throat as Amy stepped out of her robe, allowing the fabric to slide down her body. She had an even tan and a tight body that hinted at a lot of time exercising. If it was possible her legs seemed even longer with out clothes. After Sam had gotten over the initial shock of seeing Amy completely naked, he realized she was hairless, God bless who ever invented electrolysis.
Although he should have been able to surmise what would happen next, seeing a beautiful girl naked has a way of fogging one's mind. He watched in wide eyed astonishment as Amy climbed into the bathtub behind him. “A nice soothing bath should help calm you down” she whispered.
Amy crossed her legs and pulled Sam up into her lap and then pulled him backwards so that he was reclining against her chest. Sam could feel the weight of her breasts resting on him. He felt as though he would melt into her warmth and her body would simply absorb him. The cloudy water did little to hide Sam's tumescent member. Amy paid it no attention, as she slowly scooped up water with her hand and poured it over Sam. She hummed the same soft lullaby as the night before. Sam watched as her hand made small eddies in the bath water.
Steam rose from the surface and seemed to fill the room with soft smell of vanilla. Sam let his head fall back and rest against Amy as she continued to pour water over him. The humming gave way to quiet singing. Her voice was too soft for Sam to make out the words but the harmonic tones were enough for him. Sam had no idea how long the bath lasted just that it wasn't long enough, when he felt Amy stand up, carrying him with her.
She grabbed a towel off a rack on the way out of the bathroom but didn't bother wrapping either her or Sam in it. If she was aware of the wet foot prints and water drops she left on the carpet she was unconcerned by it. She spread the towel out on the bed and laid Sam down on it. Sam was still at full attention and she worked baby oil into his skin and tapped him securely into another thick cushies' diaper. Sam felt a pang of frustration as she pushed his penis down so she could tape the diaper up over it. Amy fetched another bottle and instructed Sam in a sweet voice to be a good baby and drink his bottle and take a nap. Amy opened a music box and drew the curtains before returning to the bathroom, presumably to get ready for the day, leaving Sam in the darkened room with music playing quietly. The music box played the same tune Amy had been humming. Sam rolled over onto his stomach feeling frustrated with his excited member being trapped in a layer of fluffy encasement. Sleep won out over frustration as his snores soon entwined themselves with the soft lullaby.


Sam immediately realized that he was in a dream as he found himself sitting in the back of Amy's classroom. He wasn't behind her desk like normal though, instead he was sitting in the seat that would have been Kayla's. He looked around the room. It was definitely the right classroom but the decorations were wrong. It looked like it was decorated for pre-school. As Sam looked closer he saw that it was actually decorated like the backgrounds he had seen so many times in the Nappy-School pictures. He turned in his desk taking it all in. As he turned around he saw Kayal sitting behind Ms. E's desk. She was wearing a school girls outfit that looked like it came from the naughty section of a costume store. She wore a white shirt with a gray jacket. Both were too small. The shirt only had the middle three buttons fastened. Flaring out at the bottom to show off her tight stomach and naval piercing. At the top it was open showing a chest that would make a Holly**** plastic surgeon blush. There was a hint of a plaid bra peeking out from beneath her blouse. She was sitting with the chair turned so that her feet rested on the desk. She had on black heels with long spikes for heels. The heels gave way to black knee high socks and short plaid skirt that matched the bra. Plenty of thigh showed between the skirt and the top of the stockings.
“I like the new uniform.” Sam said. He had to swallow in the middle of the sentence to keep his voice from catching.
“Why thank you sweetie, but it looks even better on you.” She nodded her head in a take a look gesture.
Sam looked down at his attire. His mouth hung open in disbelief. Not only was he wearing an outfit identical to Kayla's but he also had a set of cans too match. He slowly lifted his hands to his new developments, suddenly aware of the weight hanging from his chest. Sam couldn't believe how sensitive his chest was as he ran his hands over the tight fabric of his blouse.
“Enjoying yourself Sammy?”
Sam turned towards the voice in time to see Ms. Easterfield walking into the classroom. She was dressed up like a MTV video producer's idea of what a hot teacher should be. From the sling back heels she was wearing to the clasps of the garter poking out from beneath her skirt fastened to the top of her stockings. She was even wearing a pair of very stylish black 'Teacher' glasses. Sam stared at her blushing with embarrassment at being caught touching himself.
Amy walked over to the board and began writing with a piece of chalk. When she stepped back Sam could see written on the board in a neat script
Today's Lesson: How To Care For A Sissy!
“Sam will you please stand up and Kayla will you demonstrate how to check to see if your sissy is wet.” Ms. Easterfield said.
“Certainly.” Kayla said popping up out of the desk chair and coming around to where Sam was still seated in shock. “You need to stand up sissy.” Kayla said pulling Sam up by his wrist. She then lifted the front of his skirt. Sam looked down and saw his uniform wasn't exactly like Kayla's, as he was wearing a large diaper beneath his skirt. Kayla stuck a finger in the leg band of Sam's diaper and proudly announced that the baby was still dry. “But it would seem the sissy is excited.” She added.
“Is that true Sissy?” Ms. E asked from the front of the class raising an eyebrow as she said. “Why don't you come up to the front of the class Sammy.”
Sam slowly walked to the front where Amy stood, relieved that it was only the three of them in the classroom. “Sissy probably got excited from checking out her new body. So let's help her get a better view of it.” Amy said. She undid the few fasten buttons on Sam's blouse and slid it and the jacket off his shoulder's. She then reached around and unsnapped the bra and slipped that off of Sam's arms. “Kayla will you bring the large mirror up here so Sammy can see himself better?”
“Of course.” Kayla moved with the same spring in her step she had earlier as if all this was too much fun for her to contain. She carried a 2x2 foot mirror to the front and held it out in front of Sam so he could see himself. He saw that in addition to the plaid skirt his hair pulled into a pig tails on either side of his head with a matching plaid scrunchy. He had boasted a good size rack that seemed even larger on his small frame. His breasts were still perky and tight with youth. His nipples were erect and tingled with excitement. On his left breast he saw Sissy Slut was tattooed in pink bubble letters.
Amy placed an arm around Sam's shoulder's and stared at his reflection with him. “Do you like them sissy?” She ran a hand lightly over his chest. Sam made no movement or sound, not even having heard the question. Amy slid her hand down to Sam's waist and pulled open the front of his diaper. “It seems you do.” She said peering down into it. Sam snapped out of his trance and looked down too. He saw that he was erect, although he was still impossibly small, no bigger than a toddler down there. There was a pink ribbon tied around it in a bow.
“Would you like us to take care of that sissy for you sissy?” Kayla asked whispering into his ear.
Sam slowly nodded. He watched as Kayla unzipped his skirt and slid it down his legs and had him step out of it. Sam was standing there naked except for the diaper, knee high socks and heels.
“Why don't you climb up onto this desk Sam and get on your hands and knees.” Ms. E instructed. Sam silently obeyed, he seemed to be watching his dream in third person. “Are you sure you want this sissy?”
Sam watched himself/herself nod yes.
“And why is that?” Amy asked leading him to the desired answer.
“Because I am a sissy baby slut that needs her mommy's help to achieve release.” Sam said his voice suddenly high like a little girl's.
“Kayla will you bring me the sissy's toy from the cabinet?” Amy asked.
From his third person vantage point Sam could see Kayla was already coming back from Amy's desk with something in her hand. Sam could also see his sissy self on the desk at the front of the room, his butt high in the air and his breasts hanging below his frame like two giant water droplets ready to fall. Kayla handed over the device to Ms. Easterfield and then slowly helped her out of her skirt. With her skirt off, Sam could see the black garter set Amy was wearing along with the matching satin panties she had on, which seemed no bigger than a postage stamp. Kayla helped Amy into the device, which Sam now recognized as a strap-on, with the same slow and sensual movements she had used to take off the skirt.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Sam watched. Kayla got the strap-on secured and then climbed up on the desk. She knelt, her legs straddling Sam on either side. Though her legs were long enough that she hovered just above Sam's back; her presence over him caused Sam to drop to his elbows. He could feel the hem of her skirt brushing against his spine. “This is going to be fun.” She said, something sinister lurked just beneath the surface of her angelic voice.
“Put your thumb in your mouth.” Ms. Easterfield instructed.
Sam watched his sissy self comply, looking rather juvenile with his hair in pigtails and his thumb in his mouth. Kayla spread open his cheeks and Sam heard himself let out a high pitched squeal as the hard plastic slowly penetrated him. Amy left it all the way in. Sam watched as her and Kayla kissed hard over him. His sissy self continued to suck her thumb, looking some what more satisfied now that her back end was filled. Amy slowly pulled out and pushed back in. All the while Kayla continued to kiss her. Kayla's hands no longer occupied spreading Sam's butt, began to explore Amy's torso. The action slowly built till it was a frenzied pace. Amy's blouse had been torn off in the excitement as Kayla's hands and lips became more desperate for her skin. Sam was sucking hard on his thumb while his back side was reamed. His young breasts swung beneath him like speed bags as his body was rocked back and forth. His infantile member was still wrapped in a pink bow and was too small to be affected by the movement. It had lost its stiffness and now merely hung limp leaking out its contents in a small little puddle on the desk.


Sam awoke sweaty and short of breath, his face red and he could feel his long hair sticking to him with perspiration. The dream already beginning to fade into fuzziness. He lifted his head as he heard the door knob turn. Amy stepped in, no longer naked, but fully dressed for the day. She looked no less stunning with her clothes on. “Did baby sleep well?” She asked walking over to the bed. “Your sweating.” She placed a cool hand against his forehead. “I wonder if you are still running a fever. Are you feeling okay?”
“Just a little flushed but otherwise better.” Sam said. He was propped up on his elbows.
“Well I want to check your temp just in case. Also Kayla called, she said she wanted to come over this afternoon if you were feeling up to it.”

 

Chapter 21 cont.


“Kayla still wants to see me? Even after I made an ass of myself yesterday?” Sam asked, looking up at Amy.
“Of course she still wants to see you, sweetie,” Amy tousled his hair, as she got up off the bed and headed towards the master bath. “She wouldn't be a girl worth falling for if she didn't still want to see you. Besides she is used to men making asses of themselves,” Amy returned with a thermometer and a small container of Vaseline. She smiled at Sam.
He smiled back at her, unable to resist her beautiful countenance. “You really think so?”
“I know so. Now Sam, honey, how would you like your temperature taken? Like an adult or baby?”
Sam blushed as he mumbled his answer. “A baby.”
“Okay, then roll over onto your tummy for mommy,” Amy said. Her voice was a soft dove's coo. She twirled the the end of the thermometer in Vaseline until a small ball had accumulated . Amy watched Sam's reaction as she slowly slipped the greasy tip between his cheeks.
Sam felt Amy tug the back of his diaper down, leaving his backside exposed. He feeling constrained he laid on his stomach, as he grew hard in the anticipation of the thermometer. The thermometer may have been physically small, but psychologically it was huge. As Sam continued to grow in the front of his diaper, his level of discomfort also grew. He began to fidget on the bed.
“Sammy, is it hurting you? I can take it out. We don't have to do it this way.” Amy said.
“No! No, it's not that. It's just...” Sam's throat swelled with embarrassment and he was grateful he couldn't see Amy, as his face grew warmer.
Amy placed a hand to her mouth as she stifled a giggle. “Oh Sammy, I'm sorry. We'll take your diaper all the way off next time. I would've this time, but you weren't wet and I didn't anticipate it to have this sort of effect on you. I'm really sorry. I need to leave it in for another 90 seconds yet, are you sure you don't want me to take it out?”
“No, it's okay really,” Sam said. A multitude of feelings were competing for his attention. He felt both ashamed and wonderfully naughty for wanting his temperature taken anally, and relieved that Amy seemed okay with his choice. Though it was his excitement over the situation that kept thrusting itself back to the forefront of his thoughts, as he struggled to grow within the confined space of the diaper.
It wasn't long before Amy was pulling the thermometer back out. She studied it briefly before wiping it down with a disinfecting wipe and announcing Sam was fever free. "Now, why don't you get dressed and then you can call Kayla if you are feeling up to it." Amy left the room, leaving Sam to dress himself. His clothes were folded and waiting for him atop one of the bureaus. He quickly dressed and headed down stairs.
Upon hitting the landing, the smell of something wonderful baking over took him. He proceeded to the kitchen suddenly aware of how famished he was. "Mmm, what smells so good?" Sam asked.
"It's coffee cake, and it will have cooled enough to eat in about five minutes." Jenny said. She was leaning against the counter, her back to the open oven.
"I don't think anything could sound better for breakfast." Sam said, sliding up on to a stool.
"Breakfast was about six hours ago kiddo." Jenny said. She didn't look up at Sam. Her attention seemed to be solely on small metal chain she was dipping and raising into a mug. It took Sam a second to realize she steeping tea.
"Six hours?" He asked.
"Yep. You slept away your day," she said, finally lifting the chain all the way out. A small mesh ball hung from the end. She let it drip a moment over the mug, before depositing it into the sink.
"Don't feel too bad Sammy sweetie. Dressed and out of bed by two o'clock is pretty good for your first hangover." Amy said as she entered the kitchen and the conversation. She walked over to join Sam at the breakfast bar, tousling his hair in the process.
Sam saw she was also caring a mug, but he knew by the aroma that she was drinking coffee, he would guess hazelnut flavored if he felt like showing off. "That smells really good, can I get a cup of it?" Sam said, nodding at Amy's mug.
"I thought we already went over this. You can't have coffee because it'll dehydrate you, and I seriously doubt you want your hangover back."
"Sorry, I guess I don't remember much from this morning," Sam said feeling a little defeated and then added, "Or from last night."
"I'll make you some caffeine free black tea, if you want," Jenny offered.
"There is something very wrong about drinking tea with coffee cake," Amy said.
"People were having tea with cakes long before coffee and cake, honey." Jenny took a defiant sip of her tea, trying not smirk as she did so, lest her faux self righteousness be undone.
"Tea is fine, thank you," Sam said.
Jenny smiled triumphantly. "Ah, another convert."
Amy set her coffee down and began dishing up the coffee cake. "Don't get too smug. Sam is clearly settling."
"Sorry Jenny, but she's right."
"It's all right, you'll convert yet. You'll see." She pulled a tea ball from a fresh mug of hot water, apparently happy with the color it had reached, and handed it over to Sam.
"Sam did you ever call Kayla?" Amy asked setting a piece of cake before him.
"Yeah, I texted her after I got dressed. She said she would be over in a bit."
"Oh that's right, your generation doesn't call each other. You just text everything," Amy said.
"What's the matter, hun? Are you suddenly feeling old?" Jennifer teased as she took an offered plate.
"As a matter of fact-" She started to reply before a knock at the door cut her off. "Speak of the devil."
"I'll get it," Sam said hopping down from his stool and heading for the door.
"Ah, to be young and in love," Amy watched Sam anxiously get the door.
Jenny reached out and squeezed her hand, "I'll settle for just being in love with you."
"Love you too babe," Amy said, giving her hand a kiss.
"Ms. E., Jenny. How are you today?" Kayla asked, stepping into the kitchen with Sam closely at her side.
"Just fine. Would you care for some coffee cake and something to drink?" Jenny offered.
"That would be lovely, thank you. I'll have a cup of coffee as well," Kayla said.
"We're going to take it out on the front porch, if that's okay." Sam said.


Chapter 22

"Can I ask you something?" Sam spoke, breaking the stillness of the late autumn afternoon. He and Kayla were sitting on the large hanging bench watching an old man play fetch with a golden retriever across the street in the park. The dog's long coat flashed in the sun, reminding Sam of pennies in a shallow fountain. They had blanket thrown over them to ward off the chill that hung in the air. Amy had brought it out earlier along with fresh mugs of coffee and tea. Sam clutched his mug close to his face. he was leaning against Kayla with both his legs drawn up on the bench. Kayla had her arms wrapped around Sam and rested her cup on Sam's knee.
"Sure, anything." She said, watching the golden run down the tennis ball for the thousandth time, but with as much excitement as the first.
"Why did you lie to the cops last night. I mean, I'm glad you lied about my address but why the other stuff." Sam tried to look at Kayla over his shoulder, but they were positioned in way, that it was of little use. Quickly giving up on the trying to see her, instead he focused on other cues to try and read her, like the feeling of her arms tightening for a brief moment and the sound of her sucking in a deep breath.
"Sam, I haven't been completely honest with you," Kayla began. "What I already told you is true, its just not the whole truth. My dad really did put his work before us, and the divorce was a long time in the making, its just the straw that broke the camel's back was more like a tree.
Once a month my dad would play poker with some of the guys from work, including the owner slash boss. On this particular occasion they were having the game at our house. My mom had gone to her sister's for the weekend and I was supposed to be staying with a friend. My friend got sick though so I ended up staying home. The guys were playing in the den, so I had resigned myself to staying in my room for the night. At about 8 o'clock I decided to go down to the kitchen and make a frozen pizza. In doing so I had to pass by the den.
My dad saw me heading into the kitchen and asked if I would bring him and the guys another round of beers. I brought in the beers and said hi to the guys briefly. My dad's boss playfully grabbed at my hand and commented what a beautiful young woman I was becoming. I thanked him and tried to pull away, but he tugged harder on me and I found myself sitting in his lap. He still held on to my wrist with one hand and he was sliding his other hand up under my shirt. I slapped him and was able to pull free. My dad yelled at me, and his boss was on his feet a second later and had me by my shoulder's. I kneed him in the groin and ran out of the house. I ran to my friend's house and called my mom. She drove back that night and I told her everything.
The next day she drove me down the police station to file a report. The detective I spoke to told me that I was over reacting to something I built up and misconstrued in my head. It turns out my dad and his boss had already gotten to the police, so we got a lawyer. The lawyer told us that even without having to deal with police too afraid of having their careers ruined, the odds of us getting anything that resembled justice were slim. Given the standing of my dad's boss in both the business world and the social one, the obstacle of police who are either too afraid or too ambitious to be of real help and his vast personal empire, the lawyer felt we could hope for little more than a few months house arrest. She felt it would be better to seek a settlement outside of court, so that we could at least get at him in a way that he would care about. His check book.
He had to sign over a small fortune, and my father had to sign over all parental rights and agree to a restraining order.
That's why I lied to the cops. They are slime ball cretins who see the badge as something they can hide behind while they seek to advance their own agendas... well at least until they are proven innocent." Kayla let out a long exhale, feeling relieved to have finally shared her story with Sam. She had told it with a steady voice, keeping her emotions out of it. The casual listener may have thought she had been reading a report off a sheet, for the amount of emotion that came through. It wasn't till she got back to insulting the cops that she sounded like herself again. Sam for his part remained quiet throughout the story. “What are you thinking, Sammie?”
“I'm just trying to take it all in and process it all.” He said starring at the middle distance, no longer watching the old man and dog.
“Is there anything you want to ask me?” Kayla said, prompting him to give voice to his thoughts.
“Yes but...”
“But, nothing. I would rather you ask me and know what you are thinking, than have you keep it to yourself, leaving me to worry what thoughts you might be thinking.”
“Well I guess the biggest thing I am feeling right now is that justice wasn't really served. I mean even if you couldn't necessarily win in court, merely taking it that far would damage his name.”
“That's true,” Kayla said, “But I couldn't do that and keep my name out of it. And the last thing I want is a newspaper article about me coming up when my future kids google my name someday. Justice would come at the price of anonymity and I am not willing to pay it. Besides this way I know my mom will always be taken care of financially. Between her divorce settlement, my settlement with my father and my settlement with his boss, I will always have more money than I know what to do with it, or at least that's what my financial adviser tells me, so long as I make smart investments and don't try to live like a social-elitist. In addition to what he paid me, my father's boss also has to make sizable, anonymous, donation each year to a charity that focuses on helping abused girls get justice and adjust back into a normal life. Trust me he will think twice before he ever touches another girl like that again, and that's all I care about.”
“So how did you adjust back to 'normal' as you put it?” Sam turned to face her.
“Well for starters I took a year off of school to work through what happened. My mom got me a really good counselor to see, and she helped me through the really rough stuff. The biggest thing was how helpless I felt in all of it. The person I was supposed to be able to count on, did nothing to protect me and I only got away because my body went into survival mode. Once it was all over I was a frightened miserable mess. And I was scared for a long time afterwards too. That's when my therapist suggested I take up martial arts. She said it would help me not to feel so vulnerable as well as it would allow me to work through some of my anger and pain. That's why I react so strongly when I see people picking on those who are smaller than them, because I know what it feels like to not have a champion at my side.
The other main thing that helped me to readjust was the realization that no one is normal. We all have our baggage that we-,” Kayla paused as Sam quickly looked away. She gently pulled him around to face her. “Sam's what's wrong?”
“Nothing,” Sam said, his nose red and his eyes wet with tears.
“Sam?” Kayla pressed gently.
“It's just I think about all you went through by yourself and then all you have done for me, and even now as you talk about this horrible event in your life, I can't put on a brave face and be a strong shoulder for you to cry on,” Sam said. He spoke in a rush, the words piling out over one another as they fought to get through his narrowing throat. By the end of it, what little energy he had was gone and the tears spilled freely down his face.
“Oh Sam,” Kayla said, pulling him into her for a tight hug. “The last thing I want or need in my life right now, is a guy who feels the need to be brave and macho. If you haven't noticed, I don't have the time of day for guys who walk around full of themselves convinced of their own bravado. I love you because you are sweet, caring and sensitive.”
“But I want to be brave.”
“You are brave in your own way Sam. Do you know how many guys spend all their waking energy hiding who they are because they are terrified of being rejected. And yet here you sit being open and vulnerable with me. I wish you could see how much courage that takes.”
Kayla's words hit Sam harder than any punch from Derek ever had or could. In that instant he felt like a total cad, but he still couldn't bring himself to reveal everything to Kayla. Sam buried his head into Kayla, in an effort to hide his shame and the new intense waves of anguish that were washing over him. He wrapped his arms around Kayla's waist and hugged back. Holding her tightly as though she might vanish into thin air at any moment. After awhile he spoke, his words were muffled by her shirt. “Thank you for being my champion. I don't deserve you.”
They sat as two unmoving statues, each embracing the other and both would have been quiet content to stay that way, but the sound of the door opening out onto the porch was impossible to ignore. Reluctantly Kayla turned her head to smile at Amy, as she stepped out into the brisk evening.
“I just thought I would come out and check up on you two. Also I was curious what you guys were thinking for dinner. You are both welcome to stay.”
I smile crept to the corners of Kayla's mouth as a thought occurred to her and a plan started to take shape in her mind. “Thank you for the offer Ms. E. but I just realized that Sam and I haven't gone out on an official date yet.”
“Well Sam it sounds like you have big plans for the evening and you didn't even clue me in.” Amy teased.
“Don't feel too bad Ms. E., I apparently kept myself out of the loop as well.” His eyes apprehensively scanned Kayla's face searching for clues to what she was plotting now.
“OH! Speaking of plans Sam, that reminds me. What are your plans for where you're sleeping tonight? You are more than welcome to stay here again. Although I would ask that you don't bring over any more of your friends from the force this time.”
“That would be great.” Sam said, smiling. “ and I promise no bacon will escort me home,” he added.
“Well if you will both excuse me, I am going to run home and change.” Kayla lifted Sam off her as she stood up from the swing.
“Huh?” came the response from both Sam and Amy, neither one quite able to picture Kayla primping herself for a date.
Kayla let out a laconic laugh. “What, can't a girl want to make herself pretty?” Kayla mimed a slow motion hair flip as she turned and walked off the porch to her car.
“I suppose we should get you ready as well.” Amy offered a hand to Sam, who took it as she lead him inside. “It's been awhile since you've had a change. How's the diaper holding up?”
“Fine. It's wet, but its not leaking or anything. I was purposefully taking it easy on the tea for that reason. Well that and the fact that its not coffee.” Sam shot a conspiratorial smile to Amy as they passed Jenny in the living room.
“You two think you're so funny, don't ya?” Jenny called after them as they walked by. She smiled as she heard them both begin to giggle in the hall.
“All right up on the bed mister.” Amy said, as she gathered the necessary supplies to change Sam. “What do you want to wear for underwear, sweetie?”
“I better just go with boxers. I can never tell what Kayla is thinking and I wouldn't put it past her to suggest that we jump off the Cable bridge for a late night swim.” Sam shuddered as he realized that his sarcastic remark had more than just a kernel of truth to it.
“Don't tell me I need to have the 'if your friends jumped off a bridge talk with you.'” Amy slid the saturated diaper out from Sam and began cleaning him up with a baby wipe.
“Trust me when I say that I couldn't jump off a bridge even if I wanted to. I think I would pass out with fright. Fall maybe, jump no.”
“That really puts my mind at ease.”
“Kayla's not that crazy... I think,” Sam said.
Amy was just finishing sliding his jeans in place and fastening his belt. “All right sweetie, you are all set.”


Chapter 23


Sam was restless as he sat on the couch in Amy's den waiting for Kayla's return, shifting his position every few moments or so. Jenny and Amy sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, watching him with amusement, speaking in hushed voices.
“Isn't puppy love adorable?” Jenny watched as Sam crossed and uncrossed his legs for the umpteenth time.
“Don't let them catch you using that term. Besides I think this has the potential to go beyond just a high school infatuation.” Amy smiled at Jen, “And yes, it is adorable to watch.”
Given the situation at hand, the soft voices from the kitchen registered as little more than a blip on the periphery of Sam's consciousness. He attempted to process his feelings in order to relieve his anxiety. But knowing that he had no reason to be anxious did little to palliate his situation. You know she already likes you, and despite not having had a quote date end quote yet, we have hung out together a ton, she revealed her deepest darkest secret to you for CRIPES SAKE! Despite his best efforts to rationalize, his stomach still insisted on doing flip-flops in side him. Relief finally came when the doorbell announced Kayla's return, and the pleasure centers in Sam's brain overrode his worry ones (this would be the Ventral Tegmental Area and Anterior Cingulate Cortex, on the off chance you were wondering what their technical terms were). Sam shot up from the couch at the sound of the doorbell.
“Hey Sam, you wanna get that?” Jenny said, drawing a laugh Amy.
“Sam? I thought it was Michael Phelps, the way he came off the blocks.” Amy added, unable to resist some good natured ribbing.
“I think they're teasing you, Sammy.” Kayla stepped through the open door into Amy's home.
Sam heard none of the comments, as he stared openly at Kayla. She was wearing jeans that couldn't have been tighter if they were painted on, revealing every incredible contour of her legs. The jeans disappeared into a pair of calf high black suede boots. Her top was a material Sam couldn't guess the name of, all he knew was that it looked great on her. It was silver and seemed to change to a darker shade as it moved. Its swooping neckline, showed off a generous portion of skin without looking trashy. The top was sleeveless and tied together with string at the shoulders. She held a sliver clutch in her right hand that completed the outfit.
“Sam close your mouth and tell your date how pretty she looks,” Amy said. She and Jenny had snuck up behind Sam.
Her whispering in Sam's ear shocked him backed to reality. “Um... you look really great Kayla,” Sam said. This drew a round of laughter from the girls.
Kayla promised to take good care of Sam and to keep him out of trouble, as well as to have him home before too late. Amy and Jenny told them to have a fun night and not to worry about getting back by a certain hour, assuring Kayla and Sam they trusted their better judgment. Kayla led Sam away from the house by the hand. Once they drove away Amy closed the front door, and turned around to find a grinning Jenny.
“What do you say to a date night of our own?”
“How about we skip the date and go straight to the bed?” Amy countered.
“That's actually what I was thinking, but I didn't want to risk your reputation as a lady of high standing, by not offering to regale you with a night of fine food and wine.”
“Since when have I been one for reputation?” Amy pulled Jenny into her for a deep kiss.


“You know you haven't stopped staring at me since we got in the car, right?” Kayla, momentarily took her eyes from the road to look at Sam.
“Oh... um... sorry. I just have never seen you dressed like this, and I can't really get over how amazing you look.”
“It was my mom's idea. She said you might like seeing me dressed a bit more feminine. You should have seen her face light up when I gave her the green light. I didn't think she could smile any bigger and then I asked for help with my hair, and it was like someone turned up her smile factor by ten.”
“Well she did a great job,” Sam traced his finger along a braid that ran from her bangs back over her ear. “I'll try to stop staring now, but I can't make any promises.” Sam grinned. For the most part he did stop openly staring but he continued stealing sideways glances at her every so often.
“So are you going to tell me where we are going?”
“Sure, I don't have any real mischief planned for tonight. I thought we could go to that new Italian place over on Lee Blvd, and then take it from there.”
Sam breathed a sigh of relief when he heard there was no B&E or other nefarious activities on the night's agenda. “And there's no chance that you are going to let me pay for any of this, is there?”
“You catch on quick Sammy.” Kayla pulled the car into an open space near the restaurant's door.
The atmosphere inside was what one would expect of an upscale Italian establishment. The beige stucco exterior of the building was carried over into the interior of entrance of the restaurant were it blended with venetian plaster walls. The walls adorned themselves with photo's of pasta and other Italian staples, taken at odd angles so that there was no mistaking their artistic-ness. The back wall boasted a large fresco of a vineyard, flanking the photo on either side were vaulting, cypress wine racks. The lights were dimmed throughout, while lit candles on the tables added to the ambiance. A hostess stood at attention in front of a podium.
“Good evening, do you have a reservation with us tonight?” She punctuated the question with a smile made brilliant by its achromatic color. Her button down blouse matched the smile.
“Yes, for two under the name Hayes.”
The hostess scanned her book, sliding her finger down the page as she did so. When it came to a stop she cocked her head to the side quizzically. “Huh?”
“Is there a problem?” Kayla said.
“No it's just that I show your reservation for being on our patio. I thought we had closed that down already for the year. Hopefully one of the bussers or servers took noticed and got it set up. If not it will be just a few minutes. Let me go check real quick.” The hostess excused herself to check the table.
“What was that all about?” Sam turned to Kayla, who seemed unfazed.
“I'll tell you once we're seated.” Kayla turned towards the hostess who was returning with two menus in her arm. Kayla returned her smile.
“We do have your table ready. If you would like to go ahead and follow me.” She led them through the restaurant towards a set of french doors, that opened up onto a small patio section.
Sam indicated to the doors as he stepped through them, “kind a theme clash, isn't it.”
“Huh?” The hosted gave him a confused look.
“Never mind,” Sam took his seat, and avoided eye contact with the girl. Kayla smiled at his awkwardness as he busied himself placing his napkin just so on his lap.
“Your server tonight will be Angela and she will be out in a moment to take your drink orders.”
Kayla waited till the hostess had closed the doors behind her, before speaking. “Architecture jokes, really Sam?”
Sam blushed, “It amused me is all.” He quickly changed topics. “So what was the whole deal with our table?”
“Our server, Angela, is a friend of mine. I called her to check on getting a table for tonight. She said they were full, but she could open up the deck for us if we were willing to sit outside.”
“So it really is supposed to be closed for the season then?”
“Yes, but it's still early fall,” Kayla took a sip of her water. “Plus there is a overhead heater. So I wasn't too worried about us being cold.” She pointed to an area behind and above Sam, her water glass still in hand.
Sam turned to see where she was pointing. Sure enough mounted above the doors they came out was a long metal box, containing three rows of glowing red rods. Sam could feel the warmth coming from them on his face. He looked over the rest of the patio area as he talked. “So how do you know this Angela?” There were three other tables out side lined up to the right of theirs, all in the protective glow of the space-heater. They sat beneath a pergola, made from a dark wood which Sam didn't know. A vine grew over the structure, now dormant it clung to the wood, obstinate to death's power. Lights were stringed throughout the wood beams, intertwining themselves with the vine and mimicking starlight.
“She is in a kickboxing class with me,” Kayla said. “She is super friendly and we hit it off pretty quick. As we got to know each other, I found out we only live about a block apart, so we started car pooling.”
“Are you spreading rumors about me again?” Their waitress stepped through the French doors. “Whatever she says about me, is a filthy lie.” She said placing furtive hand on Sam's shoulder.
“I was doing no such thing Angie. Only telling the God's honest truth, which in your case is so much more damning.”
Angie let out a laugh, “Touche. How have you been Kayla?”
“Fine. I'm enjoying an extended vacation from school, thanks to my boyfriend here.” Kayla said, indicating at Sam.
Angie turned to face Sam. She gave his shoulder a squeeze where her hand was still resting. “Oh! You must be Sam!” She was beaming with excitement. “Kayla's mentioned you, and I'll have you know she is smiling every time she does so.”
“Is that so?” He smiled at Kayla, who was trying to hide her face with her water glass, in a rare moment of embarrassment. “It's nice to meet you Angie.”
“I haven't known Kayla very long, but I've known her long enough to guess it was she who got you in trouble.”
“Well actually, she was coming to my rescue.” Sam continued to give a brief recap of the events that had unfolded in the hall.
“Way to go Kayla!” Angie said at the end of Sam's recap.
Her reaction caught Sam off guard, instead of the shock or worry he was expecting, she reacted as though Kayla was telling her about a home run she hit. Sam guessed this shouldn't really have surprised him since Kayla said they did meet at a kickboxing class, although he always figured those were more for getting in shape. He looked at her more closely now as she chatted with Kayla about the finer points of the fight. She was about 5'6 with olive skin, dark hair, and fine features. Probably Mediterranean descent Sam thought. Her dark almond eyes were definitely her best feature Sam concluded. They lit up as she spoke, as though they were controlled by the inflection of her voice. She had long slender arms, and while they didn't look as strong as Kayla's, they were definitely toned. Sam decided to quit looking at Angie, lest Kayla should think he was checking her out, and return his attention the conversation.
“I only wish I could have finished the job,” Kayla was saying. “The way it is, I doubt he is going to leave Sam alone.”
“That will just give you another chance to clean his clock.” Angie said with a smile. “So how long have you two been dating?”
“Actually this is our first date.” Kayla said.
“Oh well congratulations!” Another beaming smile. Sam watched as her eyes lit up with her smile again. He was starting to think that she must have been head of the cheer squad in high school. “I tell you what,” she continued. “I'm going to give you guys a free desert tonight, just promise me you'll come back here for your anniversary date.”
“It's a deal,” Kayla said.
Angie returned to server mode. “Look at me. I've been chatting for the last five minuets and I don't even have your drink orders.”
Kayla selected a tiramisu coffee, from a list of different specialty flavors. Sam just requested a lime wedge for his water. Thinking back to the strong warning Amy had given him about becoming dehydrated. For dinner Kayla ordered a cheese stuffed tortellini, while Sam couldn't resist ordering deep fried grilled cheese sandwich. As promised Angela brought out a generous portion of carrot cake after they finished the main course. By the time check came both Sam and Kayla were feeling quite full. Kayla slipped a fifty into the check holder without checking the bill. They chatted with Angie a few more minuets by the hostess stand before saying goodbye.
Kayla backed the car out of the parking stall. “Now what shall we do?”
“Whatever it is, it should involve sitting. I'm supper stuffed.” Sam said.
“Aw, was the grilled cheese too much for Sammie?” Kayla smiled at Sam and reached over to tousle his hair.
“Hey it had bacon, and tomato on it as well. Plus it had like three kinds of cheese.” Sam tried to make the case for his meal choice. “Besides how often do you see deep fried grilled cheese on a menu. I couldn't pass that up.” He gave his belly a content pat.

Amy and Jenny laid naked, save a sheet, their bodies pressed together beneath it. “What shall we do now?” Jenny asked, brushing a stray strand of hair from Amy's face.
“I think I recall you promising me a fancy dinner earlier.” Amy said.
Jenny reluctantly slipped out from under the sheet. “Oh, didn't you get enough to eat a few minuets ago? If not we can always do it again.” She asked, drawing a robe up around her.
“How dare you speak in such a crass manner before a lady.” Amy said with a pseudo-Shakespearean accent, delicately indicating herself with a sleight movement of her hand. “I shall request that you refrain from such vulgarities, or else I will be forced to-”
“To what? Spank me again?”Jenny smiled and raised an eyebrow at Amy, who was still in bed with the sheet over her. Amy's reply came in the way of a pillow being thrown at Jenny's head. Jenny ducked it with ease. “Wow, I would have expected more from a former collegiate softball pitcher.” As though to punctuate her statement, a second pillow hit Jenny broadside in the face, with a soft Woomp!
Amy smiled victoriously, “I was center field, not pitcher.”
“Whatever you say babe. I'm going to go get that fancy dinner I promised you.”


Kayla pulled into the parking lot for the movie theatre. Causing Sam to let out a sigh. “Really Kayla, this is too much. You just paid for dinner. I can't let you pay for yet another movie.”
“Sammie,” Kayla moved her hand from the shifter to Sam's knee and gave it a soft squeeze. “I like doing nice things for you. I'm not worried about the money, so you shouldn't be either. But if it makes you feel any better, I have been waiting to see this movie long before I met you.”
“Actually... It does,” Sam paused as he replayed the last sentence in his head, “I think.”
“Good.” Kayla opened her door. “Now come on, I want to make sure we get good seats.”
Sam got out after her and walked quickly around the car so that he was right at her side. “Just promise me that you will slow down with the spending on me after this.”
“I promise.” She flashed her mischievous grin. It had the odd effect of simultaneously making Sam's blood both boil in pining and run cold in fear. “Besides I can think of plenty exciting things we can do for free.”
“Wait Kayla, perhaps I was being too hasty earlier. I mean who am I to tell you how to spend your money.”
“No no your right Sam. And you thought you would never win an argument with me.”
“I don't think I won.” Sam mumbled under his breath.
Kayla stepped up to ticket counter, as a teller became available. “Two for Underworld Awakenings.” Sam was slightly taken aback at her movie choice. “Here you go.” She said handing him his ticket and 3D glasses. They proceeded to the doors that the usher pointed out to them. Kayla insisted on at least getting drinks for the movie, even if they forwent the popcorn. Sam decided to take the opportunity to use the restroom; since he wasn't wearing any protection beneath his clothes.
Once they were seated Sam questioned Kayla about the movie choice. “So have you really been waiting for this to come out or did you just pick it because you want to make me happy?”
“No I really wanted to see it. Why?”
“It's just that it's kind of geared towards guys. What with the over the top action, and Kate Beckinsale running around in a skin tight leather-slash-latex suit.”
“So you like Kate's outfit in the movie, do ya?” Kayla teased.
“Wait... What?” Sam was caught off guard by the quick turn in events. He felt the air around him grow warm as he flushed. “I never said that.”
“You also didn't deny it.” Kayla pressed with a laugh.
“I... Uh...”
“Relax Sam, I'm only messing with ya. And while it may not be your normal girlie movie, I'm not your normal girlie either.”
Sam took a sip of the water Kayla had gotten for him, trying to cool back off from his recent impersonation of a tomato. The theatre quieted down as the lights were dimmed and the previews came on, the audience better trained than Pavlov's dogs. Kayla leaned over and whispered into Sam's ear,“By the way, your not the only one who thinks Kate looks hot in a leather corset.” Kayla had to stifle a giggle as Sam turned to look at her. Even in the darkness of the theatre she could see the wide-eyed confusion written all over his face. She wondered if Sam would be able to follow any of the movie or if he would be preoccupied analyzing her last statement for the entirety of it.
Sam was indeed distracted as he thought about what Kayla had said. Every time he tried to ask her something about it, he was immediately shushed by her. Kayla was enjoying screwing with Sam and couldn't help but smile as his face grew redder and redder with each “shush”. Sam resolved not to let Kayla win the game. He quit asking and allowed himself to get caught up in the coming attractions. By the time the movie actually started, the arm rest between them had been put up and Sam was snuggled into Kayla's side. Sam soon found out that despite everything he ever saw on TV, movie theatre seating is actually rather poorly designed for getting cozy with your date. He shifted constantly throughout the movie. At first it was in his vain quest to stay in a comfortable position but by the end of it, it was to keep from wetting himself. Sam was one of the first people up, as the lights came on, his bladder threatening to make him pay for not choosing to wear protection.
“Wow, did you really think the movie was that bad?” Kayla asked following him out the narrow corridor to the main hall. It was one of the few times Sam was in the lead.
“No it's not that. I just really have to pee.” Sam said. The urgency in his voice was unmistakeable, which elicited a laugh from Kayla. She doubled her pace, taking him by the hand and leading him through the crowd. Her height advantage allowed her to navigate the undulating throng of people easier. Their destination reached, she let go and waited as Sam proceeded to head into the restrooms.
“Better?”
“Much,” Sam wore a smile of relief as he rejoined Kayla in the theatre lobby.
They began walking out to the parking lot, when Kayla stopped and pulled a piece of paper off of Sam's shoulder. “What's this?” It was a movie stub for the Awakenings showing they just left. It had been stuck to him with a piece of gum. Across the front was some scrawling in black ink.
I can't wait to catch you without your bodyguard whore
The blood drained from Sam's face as he read the barely legible chicken scratch. “Why can't he just leave me alone?”
“Don't worry about it Sam. He is clearly afraid of me. We just have to show him we can't be intimidated.” Kayla smiled and wrapped an arm around Sam. Despite her smile she knew, she couldn't realistically always protect Sam, and unless they figured something out sooner or later Derek would catch Sam defenseless.


“Wow, when you said fancy dinner, I wouldn't have even dared to believe you meant cold cereal. How did I get so lucky?” Amy rinsed out her bowl and placed it in the dishwasher next to Jenny's.
“Hey, I offered to cook for you, but you insisted that it was late and you didn't want to wait.”
Amy walked over to where Jen leaned against the counter. Tugging on the slippery silk of the robe's belt, she pulled her into a soft kiss. “I was just teasing you babe.” Amy rested her forehead against Jenny's as she talked. “I would eat cold cereal every meal so long as those meals were with you. Now,” Amy began accenting each of her words with more kisses. “what” *kiss* “do” *kiss* “you” *kiss* “say”*kiss* “to” *kiss* “dessert?” *kiss* On the last kiss Amy bit lightly on Jen's bottom lip and pulled at it as she drew away.
“Yes please,” came the reply.
Amy turned around and led Jenny from the kitchen by her robe belt, pausing long enough at the fridge to retrieve some whipped cream.



Sam and Kayla walked hand and in hand along a trail that paralleled the river. The river was a silent a black snake that slithered by in the night. It would have been indistinguishable from a black void had it not been for the random item of discarded refuse, or floating flora that slipped by in silence.
There was a light breeze coming off the water but otherwise it was not an unpleasant evening.
Kayla had slipped on a light jacket. Sam, who was relegated to the clothes he had worn the night before, did not have a jacket. He had insisted that he was fine and didn't need one. Kayla let it slide while they were at the movies, but after observing how bad he shivered on the way to the car from the theatre there was no way she was going to allow his stubborn male pride win out over common sense.
“Here Sam wear this.” She held out a hooded sweatshirt to him.
“It's all right, I'll be fine.” Sam said. The fact that he was standing as rigid as a two by four gave little credence to his statement. He hoped Kayla wouldn't notice.
“Right,” Kayla turned the monosyllabic word into two as she said it. It went along better with her eye roll this way. “and you are sucking in your gut and chattering your teeth because you want to maximize your caloric expenditure.” She tossed the sweatshirt at Sam. “I will never understand why males need to pretend like they are unfazed by the elements.”
Sam, seeing that he was beat pulled on the sweatshirt. The inside was soft, and better still smelled like Kayla. He did feel more comfortable once he had the sweatshirt on, but he wasn't about to verbalize it and give Kayla that satisfaction. And so they walked hand in hand along the river, Kayla in a navy jacket and Sam in black sweatshirt with their school's logo across the front and Kayla's last name on the back.
“Kayla, can I ask you something?”
“You mean aside from that?”
“Smart Alec,” Sam bumped his body into Kayla's, who allowed herself to be pushed. “I was curious what you meant by your comment in the the

“Smart Alec,” Sam bumped his body into Kayla's, who allowed herself to be pushed. “I was curious what you meant by your comment in the theatre.”
“I was wondering when you would bring that back up.” Kayla's voice was amused, like she was she was explaining something to a small inquisitive child. “Well you know Sam, most girls check one another out quite regularly. We are always sizing up the competition and just generally observing how others look.”
“Yes, but your comment in the theatre seemed to go beyond that. It was like you were hinting at something.”
“Not even out of high school and already you are trying to play shrink.”
“You're evading the question.”
“My apologies Dr. Freud. It's not really a big secret that my preference isn't just relegated to guys. In fact you would already know that if you hadn't been black out drunk last night. Jenny and I were discussing it while Ms. E got you cleaned up.”
Sam chose not speak and just waited for her to continue.
“I told you I took a year off from school to get therapy. Well during that year part of my therapy was in a group with other girls my own age who had been through similar situations. One of the girls I met there was named Heather and she and I really hit it off. I was in really scary place and thought men were about the lowest thing on earth and Heather was a smart attractive older girl, who had been through a similar, actually a worse situation and came through the other side. Heather had always been a lesbian and as we became closer and closer friends our relationship began to change and she opened my eyes to new experiences.”
“So what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Would you say you were... uh... lesbian from birth?”
Kayla stopped walking and stared into Sam's eyes. “Does this make you uncomfortable Sam?”
“No its not that. I'm just trying to figure out how I fit into all this.”
“You fit in as my boyfriend and a very crucial piece to my heart.” Kayla kissed Sam. As always it was way too short in Sam's opinion as he struggled to take in everything about the moment. The way her lips tasted of mint chapstick. The way her perfume smelled. The way stray strands of her hair tickled his nose. “No, I'm not a lesbian, and certainly not one since birth. I suppose if I had to choose a label, I would say I'm bi, but I'm really not big on labeling.”
“But I thought the party line was, 'biology all the way and choice has nothing to do with it'” Sam was beginning to get confused.
“Well I certainly can't speak for anyone else, but as for me, I had no feelings like that towards women until I met Heather. It's sort of like taste in food. Prior to trying sushi, I would never think of it as appetizing. But if you try it with an open mind you may discover you like it, or you mat not. Once you discover you like sushi though, you can't help but not think of it as yummy. But that doesn't mean I have forsaken all other foods. I guess in that sense choice wasn't part of the equation, other than to allow my self to be open to it. Does that make sense?”
“I guess - although I wish you would have said something other than sushi. The thought of eating raw fish is just disgusting.” Sam said.
“Not all sushi is raw Sammie, but I do actually agree with you. Sushi is disgusting. I only chose it because its a food that people don't tend to think they'll like until someone finally talks them into trying it.”
Kayla and Sam continued their walk along the river. Sam inquired about various aspects of her relationship with Heather. Although he made sure to steer well clear of any question that might seem like he was fishing for intimate details. Mainly he was interested in how dating a girl differed from a guy. Kayla didn't mind the twenty questions, she was just happy to see that Sam wasn't bothered by the idea. Eventually they decided it was time to be heading back, since Sam needed to swing by his house to get an overnight bag.
The retrieval of the overnight bag went about as smooth as a power change in Nigeria. Sam's father was mercifully out of town on business, but his mom was home. Sam could smell the wine on her the moment he walked through the front door. Her tongue had been made thick by the wine, but she wasn't yet past the point of reason. Sam coolly asked her how the movie was the other day. The effect was instantaneous, her tirade about him coming and going as he pleased ended as his poignant question let the wind out of her sails. She watched him finish packing his bag in silence, but not before calling him an ungrateful *******.


Jenny was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a book by the light from a floor lamp. Her hair clung to her face and neck in strands, still wet from her recent shower. Amy had suggested they get cleaned up from 'dessert'. Whipped cream has a tendency to make things sticky, as one might imagine. Jenny thought it was a sound idea, but had suggested it be a joint adventure. It didn't take much for a helpful backwash to turn into more amorous pursuits. Forty-five minuets later they had run out of hot water. Amy collapsed into their bed and was soon asleep. Jenny opted to wait up for Sam's return. Thus she found herself reading in the living room, drinking chamomile tea, dressed in a terry towel robe. She looked up from her book, when she heard Sam coming in.

Chapter 24




“Howwas your evening, Sam?” Jenny marked her place in her book with afinger.

“Umm,” Sam paused searchingfor the right word, “insightful. We had dinner and took in amovie. Then we went down to the river and walked the trail a wayswhile talking. I learned a bit more about her life prior to movingout here.” Sam was reluctant to go on, not sure how much Kaylawould want him sharing.

“You mean like her tastes inthe dating realm?” Jenny said with a smile.

“Uh yeah. You already know?”

“Yes, she and I chattedbriefly about it while Amy cleaned you up from the after effects ofthe tequila.”

“Oh yeah, uh... sorry aboutthat.” Sam rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as took a seaton the couch across from Jenny.

“Hey no worries kiddo. Wewere all young and impulsive once.” Jenny smiled across the roomat Sam. “So shall we get you ready for bed?”

Sam felt his heart quicken atthe suggestion. “No... not just yet.”

“You know Sam if you continueto hang out over here, which I am assuming you will, sooner or laterI am going to end up changing your diapers.” Jenny deftlydog-eared the page she had been holding as she set the book aside.

“I know,” Sam looked down athis shoes, angry and embarrassed at himself. “Its just I've beenin the closet about this for so long and never in a million years didI think that I would find someone as understanding about it as Amy.”

“Well contrary to popularbelief lightening can strike in the same place twice. And I amguessing that if you told Kayla you would find it can even strike inthe same place a third time.”

Sam looked up from his feet andreturned Jenny's smile. “My being here really doesn't bother youthen?”

“Of course not. You havegiven Amy something I never could have, a chance to mother someone.” Grief touched the edges of Jenny's voice as she spoke.

“That doesn't make any sense,there are adoptions agencies and fertility clinics that you guyscould have gone to.”

“Yes that is true now,but remember when Amy and I were growing up there was a lot of opendiscrimination against gays and lesbians. It was nearly impossiblefor gays to adopt back then and even today an agency would have noproblem finding legitimate reasons why Amy and I aren't goodcandidates, for starters we both are career women. Even if one of usquit work though, Amy would never go along with the thought ofadoption.”

“But why not?” Sam hadnever considered the obstacles that his teacher faced.

“Because it didn't seem like apossibility when we were little. So the childhood dream of being amother was painfully locked away and relegated to the list of thingsthat is never going to happen. And once you allow a dream to dieaway the process of resurrecting it is often just as painful, if notmore so. Instead we poured ourselves into one another and into ourcareers. So you see Sam, not only have you given her the gift ofmotherhood; you have done it without forcing her to make herselfvulnerable to possible rejection. Instead you chose her because ofwho she is.”

Sam was quiet a moment afterJenny quit speaking as he thought about all she had said. Finally hespoke what he knew to be a simple truth. “But I didn't tell Amyabout me because she was gay. I didn't even know that at the time. I told because she is a good person and I feel safe with her.”

Jenny smiled at Sam's statementand his apparent lack of realization of what he said. “That's thepoint, Sam. Her sexual attraction should never be a factor inpeople's evaluations of her. They should look at the same things youdid.”

“Oh,” Sam felt as small asthe word he had just spoken. At some point the conversation hadmoved from the shallow everyday and delved into an adult andvulnerable realm and Sam didn't confident to swim in those watersmuch longer.

“But you don't need to worryyourself about such things, kiddo. Besides even if everything I justsaid wasn't true, I would still be cool with you hanging out herebecause you are a pretty awesome kid. Now what do you say to thatdiaper change.” Jenny stood and extended a hand to Sam.

After spending the evening inboxers, the soft thickness of a cushies' diaper felt incredible. Samwas relishing the sensations of the diaper change, as Jenny workedbaby oil into his skin. “Amy has to work tomorrow,” Jenny spokeas she drew the front of the diaper up between Sam's legs, “but Ihave it off, and you are more than welcomed to stay here and hang outwith me.”

“Okay.” Sam said asnoncommittally as he could. The prospect of hanging out with Jennyall day was an interesting one if not a tad bit unnerving.

“I'm going to go grab you somepajamas.” Jenny returned looking slightly embarrassed carrying apiece of yellow fabric in her hands. Her voice was apologetic as shespoke, “So the pj's Amy got for you are mostly footed sleepers andI thought you might like to sleep in the bed with us, which wouldmean the sleeper would be to warm, which....” Jenny let the fabricdrop from her hands, unfurling as it did so. Sam saw that the fabricwas a a woman's top as hanging from Jenny's fingers by two spaghettistraps. “Leaves us with this cami, but at least you won't beburning up in it. I hope that's okay?”

Sam thought about the basketballshorts and tank top he had packed in his overnight bag, “That'sfine,” he said. Sam sat up as Jenny slipped the top over him. Thematerial was almost sheer and it felt slick as its edges slipped andslithered down his sides. The hem stopped just shy of his waistleaving no question that the top was bought with him in mind, as itwould be much to small on either Amy or Jenny. Sam rubbed thematerial between his thumb and forefinger. “Is it satin?”

“No, its silk honey. Herestand up.” Jenny pulled him up to his feet. “Step into these.”

Sam saw that she was holding amatching pair of bottoms to the top. They were designed to look likeboxers, but the legs were much shorter and and all the openings weretrimmed in white lace, on the front a small bow was tied out of apiece of ribbon. Sam realized there was a matching bow on the topwhere the seams of the cups met. Jenny knelt in front of Sam as sheadjusted the garment on him. “All right why don't you brush yourteeth in the bathroom down the hall, while I get changed.”

Sam was putting his toothbrushback in his bag when Jenny stepped into the bathroom behind him. “You all ready for bed, kiddo?” She tousled his mop of hair. Sam saw in the mirror that Jenny had put on her her black robe.

“All set.”

“Do you want a bottle oranything first?”

“No that's okay.”

“That's probably for the best. Milk before bed is liable to give you sour breath in the morning. In that case its off to bed, with ya.” Sam let out a small squeakas he suddenly found himself being picked up from under the arms. Ina lithe motion, Jenny had Sam turned around and resting on her hip. It seemed everyone was picking up Sam these days, a fact thatstill seemed as novel as the first time. “Don't look so surprised,you weigh practically nothing.” Jenny said, tapping the end of hisnose.

The bedroom was dark, save asliver a light that crept in from the master bath. Jenny navigatedthe room in the dark with the sureness of foot that comes from athousand such crossings in the ink of night. Sam couldn't see in athing in the blackness of the room. He clutched onto Jenny tighter. The fear eased as she pressed him closer to her body.

“Coming to bed finally, areyou? A lump rolled over somewhere in the darkness. Amy spoke in thehushed tone that comes naturally when the moon is high in the sky.

“I am, and I brought a gift.”

Sam felt the warmth of an arm being pressed to his back and hand cradled his head as gravity suddenly shifted beneath him. He could no longer feel the warmth of Jenny's body. An instant latter a mattress rose out of darkness toreceive him. “Well hello there Sam. I couldn't have asked for abetter a gift.” The lump moved again and Sam was being drawn upagainst a warm body by an arm. The lump and the voice were closerthan the dark would have led him to believe. Sam watched from thebed as Jenny crossed over to the bathroom. She slipped out of herrobe and draped it over a dressing chair. For an instant she wasback lit by the light escaping from the bathroom and Sam could seethe dark baby-doll nightie she had been wearing under the robe. Thelight clicked off and Jenny disappeared, a moment later Sam wassandwiched between to warm bodies. All around him he felt either the slick caress of silk or the warm touch of skin. Sam was grateful for the thickness of his diapers and hoped that they would be thick enough to hide his growing excitement.


Sam slept deeply and without dreams,nestled between Jenny and Amy. He had fallen asleep almostimmediately. It wasn't until he heard Amy's alarm going off that heeven realized he had been sleeping. As he began to stir he felt awarm hand on his back. A voice told him not to worry and to go backto sleep. Sam kept his eyes shut as he allowed himself to dwell inthe land between waking and sleep. He listened to the sounds of theshower and then hair dryer as Amy went about getting ready, every sooften a whisper would be exchanged. For a moment Sam was transportedback to his early childhood when his dad didn't work all the time andthere was still love between his parents. They were on vacationsomewhere, his dad was up early with an atlas open on the small tablein the hotel room, planning the days stops and adventures. His momwas still beside him in bed, telling him to go back to sleep and thathe didn't need to get up for another hour yet.

When sleep finally did retake him, Samdreamed of one such vacation, only it was with Jenny and Amy. Samwas very small in his dream and the hotel bed he laid in seemed tostretch out before him endlessly. Jenny laid next to him in the bed,she was also huge compared to Sam. They both watched as Amy pacedabout getting ready. Jenny and Amy were carrying on a conversationand Sam could only understand bits and pieces of it. Every so oftenhe would try to speak but all that came out was garbled nonsense, andeach time Amy and Jenny would praise him and agree with him as thougheach garble was some profound revelation. This only served tofrustrate Sam, who was well aware he was being humored. Then theconversation would resume as if the interruption never took place.Sam contented himself to snuggle in closer to Jenny and listenquietly. Amy's voice was too far away to be understood but he caughtmost of Jenny's replies. “I will be fine with the baby... Yes Ipromise to call you should we need anything... No I won't push himtoo far... I don't know maybe a bottle or cereal if he prefers...Okay we will see you when you get home... Love you too.”

After that it was just Jenny and Samin the hotel room. Sam became aware of an urgent need to pee andbegan to squirm. Jenny's arms tightened around him. He looked up ather questioningly. “Bathroom?” he asked.

Jenny smiled down at him. “Yourwearing a diaper remember.” Sam looked down at himself and sureenough he was wearing a diaper. His legs were tiny and herealized he was no longer laying in bed next to Jenny, rather she wascradling him in her arms. He had shrunk down to the size of aninfant. “Now just let yourself relax and go, silly baby.” Samdid and was instantly rewarded with a warm spreading wetness betweenhis legs. “Is baby hungry?” Jenny slipped the strap to her topoff her shoulder and offered an exposed nipple to Sam, who greedilybegan to suck at it.




“Sam! Sam honey no!”

Sam awoke to Jenny shaking him gently. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and the dream from his head. Asthe reality of the morning washed over him he saw a shiny ring ofsaliva glistening on the breast of Jenny's baby-doll. Anincriminating string of saliva hung like a bridge between Sam's mouthand her top. “Oh my gosh!” Sam said with a start. He pushed awayfrom Jenny and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand lookingmore than a little abashed. “I am so sorry.”

“It's okay Sam you were asleep anddidn't know what you were doing.” Jenny placed a comforting handon his shoulder. “If we were all held accountable for what we didin our dreams Amy would have left me along time ago,” Jennylaughed at Sam's look of shock. “What, I can't help it if myappetite goes wandering in my dreams. Besides it's not like I am thesole star of her dream-world either.”

“How could you know that?”

“Because believe it or not kiddo,Amy talks in her sleep even more than you do. Enough talk of dreamsand sleep though. What do you say to some breakfast?”

Before Sam had a chance to sayanything about breakfast he found himself securely on Jenny's hip andbeing carried to the kitchen. Jenny deposited him in one the highstools at the counter and proceeded to put on coffee. “So whatwill it be this morning kiddo? Bottle of milk? Formula?”

“Actually that coffee is smellingreally good. Other than that I'm not really a breakfast person.”

“I'm the same way, just give me acup of coffee or four and I am good to go for the day.” As if toprove her point, Jenny removed the coffee pot from the maker themoment there was enough to fill her cup, before returning it tofinish filling. “So are we not feeling very sissy-ish today?Because your attire would speak to the contrary,” Jenny saidgesturing to him with her cup.

“No it's not that. I just don'tenvision that trying to drink hot coffee from a bottle would work towell. Although I am a little chilly.” Sam ran his hands up and downhis goose fleshed arms. The silk cami he was wearing offered littlein the way of protection against the morning chills.

“Oh. Let me get you a robe.”

Sam decided Jenny had the right ideaand poured himself a cup from the still filling pot as well. WhenJenny returned she was carrying a matching terry towel robe to theone she was wearing. Sam slipped it on and climbed back into hischair, the excess length of the robe dragging behind him. Jennythought he looked like he was playing dress-up given the sizedifference between him and the robe.

“So what should we do today?”

“Honestly, I'm up for whatever.”

“Well I know we both said we're notbreakfast people, but if you like donuts I know a great place in townthat makes them with a potato flour, they're really good.”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

“All right why don't you go showerwhile I change.”

“Kay,” Sam took a long pull of hiscoffee, before hopping down to head towards the shower.

“Oh, hey Sam,” Jenny called afterhim as he was leaving the kitchen. “How do you want to go outtoday?”

The question gave Sam pause. Thethought of going out as a girl was certainly a tantalizing if not ahorrifying prospect, but the odds of anyone he knew seeing him wereslim with it being a school day, and it had been such a thrill whenhe went out in a dress with Kayla's mother. “Ummm... girl,” Sam's cheeks grew warm with blush and his stomach roiled as he saidit.

Jenny smiled in approval, “Alrightcome see me then when you are out of the shower.” She left thekitchen, coffee in hand, to get ready while Sam showered. Jenny wasfully dressed and had a fresh cup of coffee by the time Sam walkedinto the master bedroom clad only the terry robe from earlier, andcarrying the silk jammies he had been wearing.

“Are we all squeaky clean?” Jennyasked as he entered. After having him disrobe she set about the taskof transforming Sam into a pre-teen girl. She laid out a denim skirtthat flared and had tattered edges, a tank top designed to look asold and worn as the 70's rock band whose logo graced the front, adenim half-jacket that appeared to have lost a fight with abedazzler, black leggings, and a pair of fluorescently coloredsneakers. Jenny first had Sam step into a pair of girl's Goodnites,then came the leggings and the skirt. Next she fitted a blacktraining bra, complete with hot pink polka-dots, around Sam. Itsgenerous padding made it look as though Sam had the beginnings of achest. The rock tee was next to go on. Acting on an impulse Jennydecided to add a pair of neon pink suspenders, citing that they wentwith the shoes so perfectly. Finally the half-jacket was added. Jenny then proceeded to do Sam's make-up, having him look up anddown, turn right and left, close one eye then the other, as sheapplied various shades, with the precision of an artist. Jennypaused when she came to the dilemma of what to do with Sam's hair. She settled on pinning it up tightly and then produced a top hat witha built in wig. Apparently happy with her efforts she lead same to afull-length mirror.

Sam voice caught in his throat as hestared at the reflection. Before him was a pre-teen girl who wasclearly expressing her freedom and individuality in her style ofdress as only a pre-teen girl can. The girl staring back at Sam hadmedium length jet black hair with the last three inches being tippedred. Her make-up was loud, with dark eye-shadow and liner, but stillmanaged to look expertly applied. Her ensemble seemed to be bothrandom and deliberate at the same time. Even her kicks didn't seemtoo ostentatious with their bright pinks, yellows, lime greens andsky blues when view with the rest of the outfit.

“What do you think?” Jenny'sreflection was beaming at him from over the girl's shoulder.

“I think... I think I look like I ama 12 year old girl on her way to an Avril Lavigne concert. I.. alsothink that no one could prove it's me short of dental records,” Samsaid as he turned around smiling. He wrapped his arms around Jennygiving her a big hug. “Thank you so much.”

“It was my pleasure kiddo. Now let'shead out.” Jenny grabbed various items on their way out of thehouse and to the car, among them were a large bag, a to go cup ofcoffee for her and a sippy cup of coffee for Sam, which she handed tohim after strapping him securely into the booster seat. With handlesextending off either side and mouth piece not unlike a disposableto-go coffee cup, Sam noted that the sippy cup was actually fairlypractical for coffee.

Sam was sucking happily on his cupwhen Jenny pulled into a space and announced that they had arrived. “You may want to leave the sippy cup in the car,” Jenny said asshe freed Sam from his restraints. Sam agreed that was a wise choiceas he followed in her into the donut shop. They located a booth nearthe back of the room and waited for a waitress to come by.

“How have I never heard of thisplace before?” Sam asked in voice barely above a whisper, as hesurveyed the packed little restaurant.

“Well it is a big city and those ofus in the know try to keep the secret from getting too big. As youcan see it is already packed in here and this is at nine on a schoolmorning. During the summer there is no available seating.”

“Well that's just selfish of you.” Sam teased.

“Sam, why are you whispering?”

“Because I doubt I can do aconvincing preteen girl's voice.”

“Fair enough. Why don't you tell mewhat you want and I'll order for both of us. That way we can justact like you're super shy and you won't have to talk when people arearound.”

“I'll have two chocolates and a cupof coffee.” Sam felt instantly better knowing he wouldn't have totalk to anyone.

As planned when the waitress came byJenny ordered for them both, moments later the coffee and donuts weresitting before them.

“You didn't tell me about that,”Sam pointed at the donut on Jenny's plate with his fork.

“What? my cinnamon swirl? You didn'task, but here help yourself,” she cut off a healthy chunk of herdonut and set it on Sam's plate.

The taste was like a cross between apancake and a cinnamon roll. “Thank you, that was delicious.”

“We can order you one if you'dlike.”

“That's all right. I'll just get itthe next time I come here.” Sam grew quiet again as the waitresscame by to refill their cups.

“So is someone playing hooky fromschool?” The waitress asked setting down the pot, while she gaveSam a knowing look.

Jenny smiled, “I figured we bothcould use a girl's day, so were both playing hooky.”

“Well aren't you a lucky littlegirl. Back when I was growing up we actually had truancy officers wehad to avoid and we certainly didn't have our parents helping us.” The waitress smiled as Sam only blushed and looked away.

“Then again schools back then werenever the competitive pressure cookers they've become today.” Jenny said.

“True enough. Well you two enjoyyour day off.”

Sam waited till the waitress wassafely away from the table making her coffee rounds before speakingagain. “Yes but back in her day you were liable to be eaten by adinosaur if you weren't in the safety of a school house.”

“Sam, be nice,” Jenny said withmock admonishment. “Speaking of dinosaurs, look at this monsterwalking in,” Jenny nodded discreetly at door. Sam pretended towipe something off the back of his leg as he turned to look. Amiddle aged man with sharp features stood in the doorway, craning hislong neck in search of an empty seat. His short gray hair was spikedand he held his hands clutched up against his chest, giving him theappearance of a raptor in search of prey.

“Yeah, and I'm the one whoneeds to be nice,” Sam said, turning back to Jenny.

They continued to people watch as theydrank down several more cups of coffee. They each got another donut,citing that it would be rude to continue to occupy a table with outordering more food. Their people watching only ended when Jenny'scell went off, glancing at the number she let out a silent swearbefore answering.

“This is Jenny, what can I do foryou... Really? Did they say why? Uh huh... But you shouldn't need mefor that, Richard can authorize it as well... Oh I see... Yeah I cancome. I'll be there in ten.” Jenny ended the call and let outanother silent curse. “Sorry Sam but I have to run into the officereally quick. We'll be in and out I swear, and then we can dowhatever you want.”

“It's not a problem.” Sam drainedthe remainder of his cup as Jenny pulled out a few bills to covertheir check, before returning to the car. Sam was once againfastened into the booster seat, “So what is your job, that theyneed you to come in on your day off?” Sam asked as Jenny worked ondoing the straps.

“I'm the district quality controlexec director. One of local branches had a computer crash thismorning so they need someone to come in who is high enough up toverify that proper prices got rebooted and that there wasn't ainformation breech on any of our customer files during the crash. Essentially they just need me to come in and sign off that oursystems are running properly again. Normally the store manager woulddo this but he is currently on leave for family matters, and I'm thenext closest person who is also authorized to do the sign off. LikeI said though this will really only take a few minutes, it's just mysignature they want.”

“Oh,” Sam said as he thoughtabout the first time he had seen Jenny. “If your job is so highup, how come you were stocking shelves that day I walked into thestore to buy Goodnites?”

“Well part of my job is toperiodically go to various branches under the guise of a floatemployee. Which is just basically someone who goes to whatever storeis currently under staffed. While there I do surprise audits of howthe store is performing in areas of customer interactions. It's anice change of pace from the normal office work of reviewing pricingreports and market saturation. Now you know about my boring job,and we're here.”

Sam followed Jenny around the outsideof the building to a side door, that opened up to small corridor withstairs going up and a door strait ahead which would take them to themain store floor. Jenny ascended the stairs and opened the door toan even smaller room which overlooked the store from behindreflective glass. The room was sparsely furnished, a metal computerdesk sat against one wall, a heavy set man who looked to be in hismid-forties sat in a folding chair in front of the desk. He wastyping away furiously on a laptop, tethered into the stores cputower. A younger man stood looking over his shoulder impatiently. They both turned toward the door as Jenny and Sam walked through.

The younger man had a thick head ofneatly cut russet hair and a deliberate two day stubble darkened hisjaw. He flashed an embarrassed smile as he walked over to them, “Ms.Bookwalters, I apologize to call you in like this, but as you can seeI had little choice, what with Rich being on leave and all.”

“It's not a problem, these thingshappen. This is my niece, Samantha,” Jenny placed a hand aroundSam's shoulder.

“It's nice to meet you Samantha.”

Sam gave a tentative wave inacknowledgment.

“Samantha sweet heart why don't yougrab one of those chairs off the wall and take a seat over there.”

Sam was all too happy to fade into thebackground. He felt as though he would snap at any moment being insuch close proximity to others, while dressed as a girl. He grabbedone of the chairs and busied himself on his phone. He heard the ITguy start going over what failed with their computer system and theyoung guy would interject periodically on how that had affected thestore. Jenny listened attentively and would ask the occasionalfollow up question for clarity. About the time Jenny was going overthe final program checks Sam felt his stomach begin to roil. He knewinstantly he had had too much coffee that morning. Sam shifted onthe metal chair as he tried to lessen the pressure he felt buildinginside him. There were bathrooms in the store of course but thatwould mean he would have to go into the girl's and 18 years ofconditioning told him that that room was strictly off limits.

Sam was getting more and moredesperate. He could fill himself perspiring despite the cooltemperature of the room. He was about to get up and make a bee linefor the little girl's room when he heard Jenny say she was ready todo the final sign off. Sam let out a sigh as he knew relief was nowin sight. He just needed to shift in his seat to let a little gasescape and buy him more time.

Jenny's eyes were torn from the pageof numbers she was going over when she heard the noise come fromSam's corner of the room. Jenny wasn't alone in staring at Sam, alleyes in the room were on him, besides for his own which were fixed onthe floor as tears streamed down his face. The moment stretched foran awkward eternity, the only sound was a soft whimper coming fromSam. Jenny cleared her throat, when her senses returned. “Wellgentlemen I believe you have everything you need from me, good workhere and good luck.” Jenny walked across the room without anotherword to where Sam sat. “It's okay sweetie,” she whisperedlifting Sam off the chair. They descended the stairs leaving onlythe click clack of Jenny's heels echoing behind them.

Sam buried his face in Jenny's neck,hiding his tears in her hair. He could feel the warm mess shiftingand spreading across his backside with everyone of Jenny's footfalls.His skin itched wherever it came into contact with the mess. WhenJenny set him into the car seat, Sam felt the warm sticky mush oozeup into the crotch of the Goodnite. His tears were coming faster nowthat they were in the privacy of Jenny's car. Jenny did what shecould to console Sam, giving him a pacifier and ensuring him that shewasn't upset and everything would be okay. They didn't make it morethan a block before the aroma in the car became over powering andJenny had to roll down the windows, and allow fresh air to circulatein. Sam struggled in vain to regain his composure. His failure tocontrol his emotion in addition to his bowels only served to fuel histears.

By the time Jenny pulled into thegarage she was worried that she wouldn't be able to get him quieteddown. She waited for the garage to fully close before taking Sam outof the booster seat, not wanting to risk humiliating him any further.

“Ssshhh, Sam honey it's okay now. We're back home now. No one but me can see you,” Jenny workedquickly to free Sam from the seat. “We'll have you all cleaned upin now time babe.”

As Jenny lifted Sam up and out of theback of the car he could feel the mess in the Goodnite shift withhim. Before he knew it, he was resting on Jenny's arm and beingcarried into the house. Sam's heart sank even lower as he felt themess squeezed out of the leg openings and began to drip down histhighs. Jenny must have felt it too, as she started a speed walkinto the bathroom. The constant stream of reassurance never stoppingas she went.

Jenny stood Sam in the bath tub,leaning over so she was at eye level. “It's okay baby, we're gonnaget you cleaned up now,” Jenny placed a hand on Sam's cheekbrushing away a tear with her thumb. As one tear was wiped awayanother emerged to takes it place. “I know baby, I know,” shesaid with a kiss on Sam's head.

Sam stood still, silently sobbing tohimself as Jenny stripped him down. Shoes first. Hat and wig second,then went Sam's tops and skirt. Finally only the tights and theGoodnites beneath remained. Jenny took ahold of the legging'swaistband and began to peel them off Sam. The stench in the bathroomgrew rapidly as more and more of the mess was exposed. The leggingsclung to Sam's flesh, with the mess serving as an adhesive. Jennypulled the leggings completely off, exposing dark brown rivers thatstained Sam's skin. Only the sagging brown Goodnite was left hangingfrom his hips. Jenny supported the center mass of the diaper withone hand as she tore the sides open with the other. Jenny was ableto keep most of the mess contained within the diaper and deposit itsafely in an awaiting plastic lined garbage can. Sam felt his skincrawling and itching wherever the mess had been in contact with it.

Jenny took a shower wand off its hookand turned the faucets till a warm stream came out the head. Shebegan the wand at Sam's naval and slowly worked the stream lower,back and forth, allowing the water to wash most of the mess away. Dark streams of brown water ran down Sam's legs like so many muddyrivulets.

“Sam babe I need you to slowly turnfor me so I can get your back side,” Jenny guided the warm streamof water over the small of Sam's back as he complied with herrequest. Sam continued to turn around for Jenny as the water run offslowly shifted from a murky brown to clear. Jenny lathered awashcloth and began to slowly work over Sam's irritated skin. Beforelong Sam's skin was covered in a soap lather from his naval down tohis toes. Jenny was diligent in her scouring of Sam as she finishedby washing his privates and in between his cheeks. Sam had regainedmost of his composure by the time Jenny was doing the final rinse. She toweled Sam off before wrapping him up and carrying him into thebedroom. Jenny laid him down on the bed, where he immediately rolledover and buried his face in the comforter.

“Sam are you starting to feelbetter?” Jenny asked laying a hand on Sam's back. Sam didn't turnto face her, he only shook no his head into the comforter. Jennyrubbed his back through the towel, working it up and down in longslow strokes. “Do you want to be put in another diaper?” Samshook his head no again. “What would you like to do?”

“Go home,” came the muffled reply.

“All right sweetie. Why don't youroll over and we'll get your make-up taken off. Then I'll drive youhome.”

Sam slowly rolled over and looked upat Jenny. Jenny cleaned up his make-up in silence, only speaking totell him to look up or close an eye. She brought over his clothes andleft him to dress himself.

Sam pulled on his clothes and checkedhis appearance in the mirror. His face was raw and red from acombination of the crying and having make-up scrubbed off it. He ranhis hand through his hair a couple of times to tease some life backinto it, after having it pinned down all morning. When he decided hewasn't going to be able to improve his appearance any farther, heheaded out to the kitchen to find Jenny. Little enough searching wasinvolved, as Jenny was leaning against the counter drinking areheated cup of coffee. “Ready,” he said.

“K,” Jenny said, taking the keysoff the counter.

Sam elected to climb into the frontseat of the car and buckle himself in. The drive to his house wasmarked by a tense silence. When Jenny pulled to a stop in front ofhis house she decided to break the silence. “Sam please understandthat I'm not upset with you, and me and Amy would love to have youover any time.”

Sam forced a smile and a nod before heclimbed out of the car.

“****,” Jenny said when the doorclosed behind Sam. She wished she wasn't leaving Sam under theseconditions. Jenny pulled away from the curb and headed for home. After bleaching the tub and cleaning up the mess. She tossed thesoiled clothes into a wash basin to soak and fixed herself a strongCape Cod. Sitting down in her overstuffed leather chair, Jennywaited for Amy to get home.


Chapter 25




Sam was relieved tosee that he had the house to himself as he stepped his front door. He climbed the steps to his room, where he stripped and headed to theshower hoping to clear his head. Sam found no sanctuary beneath thesteady spray of the shower head. His thoughts were plagued by theimages from that morning. The water sluiced over his skin, leavingpink tracks down the length of his body. As time went on theindividual riverbeds merged until Sam was bright pink all over, andno closer to feeling better. He thought about how much his life hadchanged since the first day of school, both good and bad. He had agirlfriend now, something he never expected, but that just meant hehad one more person to lie to about his secret. He also had foundincredible acceptance in his teacher and Jenny and even Kayla's mom,but would Kayla understand? His mind kept coming back to thatquestion; the only question that mattered. Was it worth the gambleof losing Kayla to be honest with her? Sam lightly banged his headagainst the cool fiberglass of the shower wall. The air around himhad turned to a thick cloud of steam by the time he found his answer. As Sam drew back the shower curtain and stepped out onto the bathmat he watched the mist roil in the air about him. It was a goodthing no one was home, had his dad seen the bathroom walls withcondensed moisture running down them, Sam would have been dead forsure.

Sam toweled off andgot dressed having made up his mind on what needed to be done. Heretrieved his cell from his desk and selected Kayla from the contactlist. The phone barely rang twice before Kayla answered.

“SAMMIE! What'sup?” Kayla said his name as he were a long lost friend calling forthe first time in years. Sam was constantly amazed by the amount ofenthusiasm Kayla seemed to always have for life.

“Hey are you freethis afternoon?”

“Actually no. Isort of got a captain's practice scheduled for this afternoon. We'resupposed to meet down at the school around 3:30.”

“Oh.” Sam feltthe wind leaving his sails.

Kayla quicklypicked up on it too. “But that's not for another 45 minutes. Whydon't you meet over at the school and we can hang out before hand?And then we can do something once practice is over.”

“Sure that wouldbe fine.” Sam answered, quick to accept the offer. They hung upand Sam collected the goodnites he had purchased from their hidingspot. A wave of doubt crashed over him as he held the package, hewasn't sure if this was the right choice. Then taking a deep breathhe reaffirmed his resolve. Putting the goodnites in a plastic bag,he headed out to his car to go meet Kayla.

Sam slid into thestall next to Kayla and grabbed the goodnites off the seat next tohim. The parking lot was empty besides for their two cars and thehill leading up to the school was quiet and would remain so foranother 20 minuets until the final bell rang. Sam knew once thathappened students would be descending from the hill like a Mongolianhorde. Sam made his way over to the field where he saw Kaylastretching by herself. As he passed one on the trash cans thatflanked the path, he shoved the bag of goodnites down inside it. Heswore to himself he was throwing away all his baby fantasies alongwith it.

Sam seemed to befeeling instantly better about the day, having followed through onhis decision. He waved and called out to Kayla. When she waved backSam broke into a jog.

“What's with thespring in your step?” Kayla asked, not really used to seeing Samin this mood.

“I don't know, Iguess I am just happy that I have you and nothing in my life is evergoing to get between us.”

“All right...”Kayla gave him a look up and down, still not sure what was causingSam's mood. “Well since you have so much energy you can join mefor a warm up jog.” She had no sooner said it, before she took offin a steady sprint. Sam was left standing watching her shortponytail swish back and forth. He could have stood there and watchedher run away all day, especially since like most girls, Kayla choseto wear compression capris with nothing over them, leaving Sam with agreat image of her butt. Sam decided he better not stare any longer,lest Kayla should turn around and tackle him for ogling her. He hadto sprint the first portion but quickly closed on Kayla's methodicalpace.

“I figured I wasgoing to have to round a corner before you would stop staring at myass.”

“Sorry I wastransfixed. I think your butt might be part cobra, judging by thefact I couldn't look away.”

“Sam I think youshould be quiet now.” Kayla said, giving him a smile as shecontinued her pace.

“Yeah probably.”

Sam and Kaylafinished their warm up run around the entirety of the school'sathletic complex. By the time they returned to the start of theircircuit both had a healthy sheen across their brow. Kayla floppeddown in the grass and began doing various stretches.

“How far wasthat?” Sam asked pulling at his jeans at different places alongthe inseam.

“Two and a halfmiles why?”

“Because I thinkthat's two and a quarter miles too far to run in jeans.” Sam said,still adjusting the jeans in a futile attempt to get comfortableagain.

“I was wonderingabout that as we ran, but you seemed to be keeping up fine. What'syour max distance?” Kayla said as she grabbed the heels of herfeet straight in front of her and brought her head to her knees. “...Sam?” Kayla lifted her head when Sam didn't answer andimmediately began to laugh when she saw the look of terror andconfusion on his face as he watched the stretch. “It doesn't hurtyou dork, I am just that flexible.”

“I think youmight be able to literally kiss your butt goodbye, Kayla.”

Kayla grabbed herwater bottle and squirted at Sam with it. “Go sit on the bleachersSam,” she teased. The girls should be getting here soon. Don'tworry though the practice shouldn't take more than an hour. I amjust running them through some conditioning drills and I want tostart somewhat easy on them, until I know what kind of shape they areall in.”

“Oh all right.”

“And Sam, try notand openly stare at them too much.” Kayla flashed her smile beforegoing back to her stretches.

Sam walked over tothe bleachers and took a seat on the front row, leaning back againstthe next row and stretching his legs out in front of him. Hecontinued to watch Kayla stretch and thought about how graceful andyet powerful she looked. Sure enough before long other girls beganto arrive at the field in groups of two and three. They were dressedsimilar to Kayla, in various forms of work out attire. Most eitherelecting to wear just running capris or running shorts with a sportsbra for a top or a compression shirt. No matter what they wore Samthought they were the best looking group of girls at the school. Hewondered how the cheerleaders felt knowing they weren't as attractiveas the softball team. Then again Sam had always preferred strong andathletic to ditzy and bubbly.

Sam watched asKayla talked with a girl who was actually taller than her by a coupleof inches. They chatted for a few minutes before the tall girlturned to address the group. Sam guessed she was the team captainand was thanking the girls for coming out. She said something andthen indicated to Kayla, who lifted her hand in a sort of half wave. Something else was said and then the group did a short clap beforestarting a slow jog around the outfield. Sam only counted twelve ofthem as they jogged in single file. After the jog they broke off ingroups of three and started doing a station rotation. One group ofthree set up on the bases and practiced leading off and running. Another group was in the outfield running a karaoke drill from leftfield to center and then a dead sprint from center to right and thenback again doing another run style. The next group assembled in thedug our and did various drills jumping up onto the bench with firston leg then the other and finally both. The last group of three wason the base line doing sit-ups and push-ups. Kayla was in the grouprunning back and forth across the outfield. Sam watched them throughtwo rotations before falling asleep with the sun warming his face.

A loud metal bangnext to his head woke him up sometime later. Sam rolled off thebench onto the grass in a start. He squinted up from his back atthree dark figures, silhouetted by the sun. The central figure movedstepped into the sun's glare. Sam smiled as Kayla's features becamevisible. “Did watching us work out exhaust you Sam?” Kayla saidwith a smile as she offered him a hand up.

“Yeah somethinglike that.” Sam said brushing off a few stray blades of grass.

“Sam, this isCourtney, our team captain and starting pitcher.” Kayla indicatedtowards the taller girl Sam had seen her talking to earlier.

“Pleased to meetyou,” Sam said.

“You as well. And I'm only the starting pitcher until your girl steals the job fromme after our first official practice.” Courtney offered her handand a warm smile.

“And this isAngela, our catcher.” Kayla motioned to a girl who was about Sam'sheight but clearly had him beat in weight. Her frame once would havebeen called full figured and would have been the envy of any girl. Now though Sam could envision skinnier, insecure twigs calling hernames about her weight. If she had ever received negative commentsthey clearly didn't get to her, as she seemed quite comfortable inher own skin.

“I'm pleased tomeet you as well.” Sam smiled, forcing himself to be social andnot fall into his normal shy ways and stare awkwardly at his feet inorder to avoid eye contact.

“It's good tofinally meet the person Kayla's been blowing off her teammates for.”

“Uh yeah sorryabout that,” Sam rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “But Ican't win an argument with her. So believe me when I say everythingis her idea.”

“That's right,and since you can admit that, you won't object when I say we're allgoing out to grab some food, after we shower and you're coming with.” Kayla announced. “Now come on ladies lets get into the lockerbefore our stench scares off Sam.” The girls turned and began thetrek up from the fields to gymnasium. There walk was slower thanwhen they had come down. After a couple yards Kayla stopped andturned around to see Sam still standing where they had left him.

“You coming?”

“Well I can'tfollow you guys into the locker room.”

“No, but you canwait for us in the athletic lobby, now come on.”

Sam walked alongsilently with the girls and listened to them talk about the upcomingseason. Sam split ways with the girls as they headed into lockerroom to shower and change. He busied himself with a game on hisphone as he waited for their return. Sam was in the middle ofshooting the heads off Nazi zombies when he noticed some one standingin front of him. Pausing the game he looked up to see Amy smilingkindly at him. She was dressed in a track suit with a towel aroundher neck and earbuds dangling loose from over her ears. Her face hadthe flush of healthy workout. “Hey Sam. Jenny called me thisafternoon. How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Are you suresweetie?”

“Yea.”

“All right, I'llsee you back in class on Monday.” Amy said, heading for the doorand the parking lot.

“Ms.Easterfield?” Sam called, just before she stepped out.

Amy stopped withher hand on the door handle and turned back to him, “Yeah, Sam?”

“I won't becomingin early on Monday.”

“If that's whatyou want Sam.” She smiled again at him before stepping out intothe late afternoon sun.

Sam clicked off hisphone, no longer feeling like playing. Sam stared off absently atnothing, until his attention was captured by the sound of Kayla'slaughter. She, along with Courtney and Angela, rounded the cornergiggling at something that was said. Kayla's hair was pulled intoits standard ponytail and still dark with moisture. Angela andCourtney were equally fresh scrubbed.

“Ready?” Samasked, standing up. A smile came unbeckoned to his lips when Kaylalooked at him.

The four of themelected to pile into Courtney's two door Cavalier, which had thebenefit of being parked right outside of the athletic center. Giventhe space constraints of the little Chevy, Sam found himself in thebackseat next to Angela, so that Kayla could have the leg room in thefront.

“So Sam, are youlike a soph, this year?” Angela asked.

“Uh no I'm asenior just like Kayla.”

“Oh sorry. Ijust haven't really seen you around before so I didn't think you werea senior and I knew you weren't in my class which left only sophomoreor a freshy. Now I am really glad I didn't guess freshman.”

“No it's allright really. I've kind of made myself a ghost during my time inhigh school. I find survival is easier that way. Not that it seemsto be doing any good lately.”

“Yeah, I heardabout that thing with you and Derek. Just ignore him. He's onlypissed because he knows he'll be a nobody the moment he graduates. Besides you got Kayla and the rest of the softball team to kick hisass.”

“Hey thanks, butI would just be happy to have no more run ins with the guy.”

“Fair enough. Good luck with staying a ghost now that you're dating the future starof our team. Come spring she will be the school hero.”

Kayla broke off herconversation with Courtney, “All right that's enough of that talkback there. We will win and lose as a team and it won't be becauseof me or any other single player. Now I hope y'all worked up anappetite back there talking because we're here.”

“Green Things?” Sam asked, reading the name on the restaurant, which was little morethan a sidewalk cafe'.

“Don't sound soincredulous Sam, their food is great. Besides going for hamburgersafter a workout would kind of defeat the purpose.”

The restaurant wassmall with only seven tables and breakfast counter that overlookedthe grill. The tables were the wire kind that are meant for out dooruse, but they seemed right at home amongst the many potted plants andgarden decorations that gave it an out door feel. The group took atable in the back corner next to a small fountain. Only two othertables were occupied, one be a couple enjoying a quiet meal, theother by a hipster who was busily typing away on a mac. Thehipster was decked out in skinny jeans, Toms, wool knit sweater,scarf and hat. He even had on a pair of horned rimmed glasses.

As the group sat,Sam leaned in towards the center of the table and waited. The girlsfollowed his cue and leaned in as well. Sam waited till he was sureno one but the girls would hear him. “What do you bet that if Iask that guy what he's listening too, he'll say 'you've probablynever heard of them'?” Sam motioned at the hipster with his chin,and all three girls fell back into there seats in laughter. Thegiggling drew the attention of the couple but the guy at his Macremained oblivious. As the girls settled back down, a young womanappeared to take their order. Kayla, Angela, and Courtney allordered various salads. Sam chose to go with a fare he was morefamiliar with. He ordered a caprese panini. Panini as Samunderstood it, roughly translated squashed sandwich.

The Rest of Chapter 25

Sam sat at the table and primarily listened to the girls talk about the upcoming season, interrupting every so often to ask a clarifying question. After Sam asked about why the Newport game was so important, Angela broke out laughing.
“You don't follow our school sports much do ya?” Courtney asked with a disarming smile.
“No I guess not.” Sam took a sip of his water to hide his growing embarrassment over being lost in the conversation and he nearly spit it out as he felt Angela's hand slap him across the back.
“Don't worry Sam, you'll pick it up real quick. Once the season starts Kayla will be eating, breathing and sleeping softball” Angela said.
“Yeah, I'm starting to pick up on that fact.”
“Oh you have no idea Sam.”
Something about Angela's smile hinted that there was more that she was not saying. And Sam was determined to get to the bottom of it. “What are you alluding to? Kayla is good player, alright I get that, but you seem to be driving at something more.”
Kayla and Courtney exchanged a look, before Courtney spoke, “You might as well let her spill it. You know she's dying to and it's just a matter of time before she caves.”
“Fine, go ahead Ang.”
Angela's face lit up when Kayla gave her the go ahead. She looked like a child on Christmas morning. “Well Sam you see, Kayla is-” Angela was cut off by the reappearance of the waitress.
“Hey guys, I got your food here for ya.” Their waitress said, carrying the three salads on one arm and Sam's sandwich in her other hand. “The caprese was for you.” She said sitting the plate down in front of Sam.
After the waitress left, Sam lifted the top piece of french bread to peak inside his sandwich. His peak turned to confusion as he lifted the entire top off. Sam looked up from his plate and found three sets of eyes on him, all waiting for an explanation. “They forgot the meat.” Sam said. He turned crimson as the girls erupted in laughter. “What? What's so funny?”
“They didn't forget the meat, a caprese doesn't have any meat, ya dink,” Kayla corrected.
“Oh.”
“Just give it a try before you resign yourself to disappointment,” she said placing the top back on his sandwich. “And if your still hungry afterward, we'll get you a burger from some place. Now eat.”
“Yes eat,” Angela said. “Because I'm tired of being interrupted. Now as I was saying, Kayla's not just good Sam, she's great. Alabama, UCLA, U of W, Arizona are all desperate for her.”
“So a few colleges want her?” Sam said.
“Kayla, will you please try to educate him before the season starts. I don't want to hear him yell goal, when we score. Sam you're not getting it, those are the best schools. Before they canned Women's softball in the Olympics, the US team was already keeping track of her in middle school. ESPN named her number 1 senior to watch this season.” Angela's face was starting to go red with intensity.
“Okay, so let's say she is the best softball player of all time, why the hush-hush?”
This time it was Courtney's turn to answer, “we're trying to downplay it because some of the girls are rubbed the wrong way by it.”
“Bridget!” Angela, coughed into her hand. “I swear that girl is so petty.”
“Names aren't important,” Kayla chided. “What is important is that all the girls know they are just as valuable to the team as anyone else. So do me a favor and don't bring it up, please?”
“Like I could talk intelligently about this if I wanted.” Sam took a bite of his sandwich. As the girls returned to their own food and softball related chatter.
“Don't tell me you didn't notice Bridget's absence today?” Angela said.
“A lot of girls didn't make it to practice today,” Kayla said trying to curb some of Angela's annoyance.
“Yeah, girls who had basketball practice instead. Heck Courtney skipped basketball practice be there.”
Courtney raised a hand to cover her mouth as chewed before answering, “I needed to be there as the captain. The girls needed to see I was on board with these practices, and I'll only be going to a few more. Then I'm turning it entirely over to you, Kayla.”
“Oh goodie,” Kayla said.
Once everyone finished eating and the group consensus was they had wasted enough of their afternoon, they all left a ten on the table and left. Courtney dropped them off back off at the softball fields. “Now what?” Sam asked standing in between their cars.
“Well I have homework I need to get done. I know you don't, with that pathetic schedule of yours, but your still more than welcome to come over and hang out while I work on mine.”
“Hey don't be hatin' just cuz you're jealous.”
“Wow, so you coming over or what, cracka?”
“There you go hatin' again. Yeah, I'll follow you over.” Sam said laughing as he climbed into his car.
Sam flipped through various pscyh books on the floor of Kayla's bedroom, while she worked at her desk. Paul Simon was playing quietly in the background. “How do you think the world will end?” Sam said abruptly.
Kayla swiveled in her desk chair. “I'm sorry what?”
“How do you think the world will end? 'The Sun is Burning' was just on, that's why I asked.”
“I think your world will end when I crush you, for not letting me focus on my work.” Kayla through her eraser at Sam.
“Sorry.”
“No, it's all right. I need to stop for the night anyways. I'm seeing double after staring at textbooks for the last two and half hours. Are you getting hungry again?” Kayla said as she stood up to stretch.
“Surprisingly not very, that sandwich was actually pretty filling.”
“What even without meat?” Kayla teased. “Well come on, because I am.” Kayla didn't wait to see if Sam followed as she headed down towards the kitchen.
Sam watched as she took a blender down from the cupboard. She poured in a healthy amount of milk, two bananas and four scoops of chocolate protein mix. After blending the ingredients she poured two giant glasses full of the mixture and handed one to Sam. “Here we need to see if we can't put some meat on your bones. I don't want to loose you because a strong wind caught you outside.”
Sam sniffed at his glass and then took a tentative sip. “It's actually not that bad,” he said after a bigger swallow.
“After all this time and you still don't trust me.” Kayla feigned dismay.
“Hey, kiddos.” Sheryl said, walking into the kitchen and dropping her purse on the counter.
“Hi mom, Is it really eight already? I didn't here you come in.” Kayla said.
“Hi Sheryl,” Sam seconded. It was the first time he ever saw Sheryl in her scrubs. Even in stained pink scrubs, she looked a vision. Sam found himself jealous of all her patients.
“That's because you were running that ancient machine. You should let me get a new one.”
“Never. I've had this blender since middle school. I can't even guess at how many of these shakes I've made in it.”
“Whatever you say dear.” Sheryl walked over to hug Kayla.
“Eww gross mom, I don't think so,” she said slipping the hug, “you're covered in bloodstains.”
Sheryl looked down at her top. “Actually it's and Iodine stain but point taken. Why are you making Sam drink one of your awful concoctions?”
“They are not awful. Besides he is going to have to start supplementing his carb and protein intake if he is going to train with me in the mornings.”
“Say what now?” Sam said, swallowing the last gulp of his shake.
“I thought it would be fun if you came running with me tomorrow morning,” Kayla said innocently.
“Yeah, if you call sprinting five miles fun. Well I am going to get cleaned up and changed. Sam would you like me to fix you real food when I get out of the shower?”
“That's alright, the shake was really filling and I should probably be getting home.”
“You're not staying the night with us again?” Sheryl asked.
“Uh no probably shouldn't.”
“That's disappointing. Well have a good night Sam, we'll see you later.”
“Good night Sam. I'll be waiting outside your house at six tomorrow.”
“Six in the morning? Really that early?”
“I'm 'fraid so.”
“All right see you then. Good night gals.”

Six a.m. was just as awful as Sam remembered. A thick fog hung just above the ground when Sam stepped out his front door to find Kayla stretching on his porch as she waited for him. “Morning, you ready for this?” Kayla asked, incredibly she seemed legitimately excited to go for a run.
“I guess.” Sam's answer was not nearly so enthusiastic. He had never enjoyed running and wondered at what sort of cruel joke it was that his only athletic ability was the very thing he despised. In middle school he had run cross country and while he excelled he never enjoyed an instant of it. He would listen to his team mates talk about the runner's high they got, and wondered what he was doing wrong because he only felt bored when he ran.
“All right then let's hit it.” Kayla was off Sam's porch and running down the sidewalk in a single lithe move. Sam was right behind her but he lacked her grace and didn't so much resemble the gazelle she did, he looked more like a robot in his stiff movements. The air was cold in the morning and stung his lungs on each inhale and the road was hard beneath his soles. Each impact jarred Sam until he found his rhythm and then it blended into the background beat along with his and Kayla's breathing. After four blocks Sam's eyes were watering from the cold. The morning was quiet, with only a few kids waiting at various bus stops with a musical instrument case at their feet. Sam was grateful that his parents had never subjected him to an instrument and morning practices before school started while he was in elementary school.
“Poor sap.” Sam remarked as they passed by a particularly miserable looking kid waiting with a trumpet case.
“Why? He's learning an instrument and will be better for it in the long run.”
“You mean like I'll be better for having gone on this long run?”
“Yes.” Kayla flashed a smile, “Besides when was the last time you could say you ran five miles before 6:30? Now shut up, you're ruining my breathing.”
By the time they were back in front of Sam's house, both had soaked their shirts in sweat and neither thought it was cold out. Sam was flushed and felt like a radiator. Kayla was slightly more put together still.
“You did good Sam. I was planing on having to cut the run short and count it wash until we got you conditioned, but we did the full five miles I wanted and at the pace I wanted.” Kayla took a water bottle from her front seat and swallowed a swig of it.
“Glad I was able to share this fine experience with you, now if you excuse me I am going to go cry in the shower under a stream of water.”
“Oh it wasn't that bad, and we'll take tomorrow morning off so your legs can recover. I bet you will be really tight by the end of today. See you in class Sam.” she said as she pulled a hoodie on and climbed into her car. Sam waved goodbye before heading into his house for that shower. “End of the day nothing, I can feel them tightening already.” he muttered to no one as he climbed the steps of his porch. Once in the shower as the adrenaline left his system he felt like his legs were turning to jello beneath him. He was grateful to not have a first period class allowing him to take his sweet time under the warm water.
Thirty minutes later found Sam toweling off in his room and preparing to face the school day. It seemed crazy that today he was dreading class when last week he was chomping at the bit to get there and transform into Ms. E's baby. Sam timed it so he was rolling into the parking lot just as the bell rang ending first hour.
“Morning Ms. Easterfield,” Sam called as he stepped into the classroom, his classmates were right on his heels. “What do you got for me today?”
“Morning Sam, I have stuff setup on the back table for study packets I need you to assemble.”
Sam didn't detect any malice, hurt or any other emotion in Ms. Easterfield's response. She treated him just like any other student. Sam was relieved to find there was no awkwardness between them, but there was also a sense of disappointment and Sam couldn't quite figure out why. Sam idly tried to figure out his feelings of disappointment as he assembled the packets. He finally decided some part of him was hoping that Ms. Easterfield would try to convince him to change his mind. How could there relationship switch from the closeness of last week, to the casual teacher/student relationship it now was, so easily. By the time Kayla's class arrived Sam was glad for the distraction.
“How are the legs?” Kayla asked in way of a greeting.
“Glad to be sitting in a chair, but I think I'll be ready to go again by next Wednesday.”
“Aw, are you trying to put on a brave face for me, Sammie? Well don't worry we'll will get you a high protein meal for lunch.”


That's how the next several weeks past, Sam going to class and fulfilling his TA duties and spending all his free time with Kayla, which started with their 6 am run.

Chapter 26

 

            Sam sat on Kayla's bed typing away on his laptop, while she worked at her desk, a Bob Dylan vinyl droned on quietly in the background.  Sam was filling out his umpteenth scholarship application of the day. 

            After a few afternoons of Kayla trying to do homework with Sam just hanging out, she discovered that Sam had never really developed a studious work ethic and therefore didn't see a need for her to have one either.  One afternoon in particular, Sam grew bored of playing on his phone while Kayla did her studies.  He sought to amuse himself by creating an elaborate Rube Goldberg device -its intended function was to fling a paper wad at Kayla and thereby distract her- with several different stages involving various springs, levers and fulcrums.  The contraption took more than a few disassembled hair clips, a hair scrunchy, two rubber bands, various pens, pencils, and markers and of course the old standby ruler.  The construction of the device did occupy the better part of two hours but when Sam went to set it off, he discovered a bent paper clip is a poor substitute for a proper crosshair sight.  The balled up paper went wide of its mark and hit Kayla's Starbucks' cup.  Sam watched in horrified slow motion as the cup fell over, spilling its contents across Kayla's biology homework. Kayla slowly swiveled her computer chair around glowering at Sam, tongue pressed firmly to the inside of her cheek.  A sheepish 'ta-dah' was all Sam could think to say.

            Kayla took a deep inhale and pinched the bridge of her nose before speaking. “Sam may I make an inquiry?  What... The.... Hell?”

            Since that incident, it has been understood that while Kayla does homework Sam is to busy himself with scholarship applications.  Thanks to Kayla, he had about a third of his college education now financed through stupid scholarship essay programs.

            “Hey Sam, do you know what day it is in two weeks?”  Kayla asked from her spot at the desk.

            “The day I finally snap from filling out these stupid forms and kill myself?” 

            “It's Halloween,” Kayla said, choosing to ignore Sam's juvenile remark.  “What do you normally do for Halloween.” 

            “Sit at home and pretend it is a day like any other day, because it is.”

            “Oh Sam, that's just sad, we have to do something for it this year.”

            “Well you're more than welcome to join me for my plans,” Sam said.

            “No, I think you will be joining me for our plans.”

            “Okay? And what pray tell are our plans?”

            “I was thinking we should throw a party.  Nothing huge, just the softball team and their boyfriends, and maybe a few of the girls from basketball.”

            “I'd rather spend the night with just you.  We could do a zombie movie marathon or something.”

            “Oh come on, you get along great with Courtney and Angela and this will give you a chance to meet the rest of the girls on the team, as well as help get you out of your shell.  Besides, I promise you will love my outfit.”

            “Fine,” Sam resigned, knowing it wasn't a discussion he stood a chance of winning and while he wouldn't normally choose a party for himself, he wasn't anti social-interaction.  “And what should I go as for this party?”

            “Don't you worry about that, I'll take care of everything.”

            “Yea, because that puts my mind at ease.”

            “I tell you what, I'll even make sure that we have plenty of zombie games and movies on hand, that way the guys won't have to really interact.  Now come on let's go tell my mom!” 

            Kayla was up and out of the room before Sam could even get his computer off his lap.  By the time he reached the living room, Kayla was finishing up telling her mom the 'exciting news'. 

            Sheryl turned to Sam as he walked in, “Oh Sam, you didn't agree to this did you?” She asked.

            “I did… well to the extent that I was given a choice. Why?”

            “You've unknowingly opened Pandora's box.  Kayla tends to go over board when it comes to planning and throwing parties.  Honestly she doesn't even like attending them half as much as she likes preparing for them.” 

            Sam turned to Kayla with a worried look and wasn't comforted by the fact that she was literally bouncing from foot to foot with excitement.  “Please tell me she's exaggerating.” 

            “Sorry Sammie, but she's not.  Don't worry though I promise it will be awesome.  However, I should warn you now, I become a bit of a control freak during the preparations.”

            “Sam you can always hide with me in the kitchen, if she gets too crazy.  Speaking of which, I think I should probably start dinner.  Will you be staying Sam, I'm making Cubano sandwiches.

            “He has to stay, we have SOoooo much planning to do.”  Kayla said grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him back up to her room, to begin finding ideas on the computer. 

            “Go easy on him dear.  He hasn't had time to get used to your crazy side yet,”  Sheryl called up after them. 

 

            The following days passed with a flurry of activity.  While at school, Kayla worked diligently to complete all her studies in class.  Everyday she and Sam would go to Panera for lunch so she could continue to work on homework while they ate.  After class and when Kayla didn't have something softball related to do, their afternoons were filled with running errands to all sorts of stores.  Sam became particularly confused when he found himself in Home Depot with Kayla looking for construction plastic.  Back at Kayla's house it purpose became clear.  Kayla sprayed a fine mist of fake blood on it.  She also added some bloody hand prints and smears for good measure. 

            Some of the other girls from the team also came by to help with the preparations.  Angela and Courtney were mainstays in the final days leading up to the party.  Kayla put Sam in a sort of gopher roll, after discovering that arts and crafts were not Sam's forte.  Prior to the discovery, she set Sam on task of cutting some of construction plastic into strips so that they could hang it in front of the door.  Upon examining his efforts, Angela remarked that Sam cuts a straight line about as well as a drunk walks one.    Thus Sam found himself driving around to all the Goodwill stores in the metro area looking for old tv's.  Angela and Courtney were with him for this particular mission.  Sam wasn't sure if Kayla had sent them along to keep him company or to make sure he didn't screw up.  Three hours and forty five miles latter they were driving back to Kayla's house, with the bed of Angela's truck full of various sized tv's.  They had managed to score eight of them for under $100 total. 

            “So Sam are you excited to see Kayla in her costume?”  Angela asked.

            “I guess.  Why what is it?”  Sam got nervous anytime Kayla was working on a surprise.

            “I can't say, but I am positive it will blow your mind when you see it.  I will say this though, it has to do with a very specific interest of yours and you don't know that Kayla picked up on it.”

            “Stow it, Angela, you’re not supposed to be saying anything.”  Courtney chided from her place on the bench seat next to Sam, who was riding in the middle given that he was the smallest. 

            Sam's mind began to turn over the various possible meanings of Angela's cryptic hint.  There was of course one very obvious possibility but Sam didn't think that Kayla had found out about that. 

            Kayla came out to meet them and inspect their haul.  Along with her was a sprite of a girl with magenta hair, sculpted at various angles.  She looked like she would be more at home in anime than the real world.  Her tiny frame made her seem like a porcelain doll next to Kayla and Courtney.  Despite her slight build she clearly had strength and athleticism as she effortlessly bounded into the back of the pickup.  “Sam, that's Chloe, our short stop and self-described nerd.”  Kayla said, joining Sam by the side of the truck, as they watched Chloe move about the tv's like a ground squirrel among boulders. 

            Suddenly she was out of the truck and beside Sam and Kayla.  “Not nerd, geek.”  She said. 

            Sam was surprised to see that he was actually taller than her.  “I'm sorry?”

            “Kayla said I call myself a nerd.  She's wrong.  I consider myself a geek not a nerd.  You can tell because my glasses are both stylish and practical.” 

            “Um, alright.”  Sam wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to laugh.

            “My mistake and my sincerest apologies.  Now, oh wise geek, will these tvs work for us or what.”  Kayla asked. 

            “Two of them are for sure completely useless, one I can partially use and the other five will work fine.  Which works out great since you wanted to trash a couple anyways.  Might I recommend pitching practice with those three, after we get the others inside.”

            “Now that's the best idea I've heard all day,” Courtney said grinning. 

            The group got the truck unloaded and set the three defunct tvs up on milk crates.  Courtney went first, counting off the forty feet between the tv and what would be the mound.

            “You want me to get back there and catch for ya,”  Angela asked, from where everyone stood off to the side watching.

            “Careful Ang, or I'll beam you first chance I get in batting practice.”  Courtney said, before getting into her stance.  Her wind up and delivery were a blur as Sam heard the screen on the tv shatter moments after ball had left her hand. 

            “Holy Crap! That was incredible.”

            Sam's comment drew a laugh from the girls.  “You really haven't watched much softball have you Sam?”  Angela asked. 

            “Thanks Sam.  It's good to know at least one person here is impressed by my talents.  Watch Kayla though, and then you'll be really impressed.  She has probably the quickest delivery I have ever seen.”

            Kayla took a softball and counted off the distance from her target.  “How come you don't offer to catch for me, Angela.”  She asked, while getting into position.

            “I've seen you throw, and I'm not going down range of you unless I'm wearing my gear.” 

            The comment drew a smile from Kayla, who then went into motion and less than a half second later was rewarded with the sound of glass shattering. 

            “What do say Sam, want to give it a shot?”  Courtney asked.  She handed him a softball.

            Sam manipulated it in his hands a few times, but no matter how he gripped it, it just felt awkward.  Growing up as a boy in America, he had of course played several years of little league, but quickly found he lacked the skills to play at the higher levels.  Kayla and Courtney gave Sam pointers on how to stand, the motion, and follow through, before stepping back and letting Sam give it a go. 

            “Hey Angela, why don’t you go stand behind the tv? I feel like we might need you to shag a few balls.”  Courtney suggested.

            “Probably a good idea,” she said as headed towards where the final tv was set up. “And don’t worry if you miss, Sam the ball won’t get by me.”

            Sam held the ball as Kayla and Courtney had showed him, he felt very awkward and self-conscious as he got into position and started the motion.  He found there was more information regarding pitching than he could hold onto in his mind at once.  Sam was so focused on his step placement that he forgot initially to release the ball, until it was too late.  The softball sailed through the air missing high of its mark by several feet. 

            Angela sprang up, getting just the top of her fingers on the ball, knocking it down.  Her eyes stayed with it and she snatched it as it fell.  Without missing a step she came down in a throwing stance. 

            This drew cheers from the girls, “There’s our wall!”  Courtney called.

            “I think you would’ve gunned him out at second,” Kayla added.

            “Agh, I want to play a real game so bad.”  Angela said as threw the ball back to Sam.

            Years of being picked on at gym class had programed Sam to step out of the way of any and all balls.  Chloe’s own instincts kicked in and she was already behind Sam and ready to bare hand the ball as he dodged the incoming projectile.  Chloe handed the softball to Sam, who was now feeling a little embarrassed over his evasive maneuvers.

            “Wow Sam, you’re a natural pitcher, they all do their best to avoid fielding a ball too.” 

            “Oh just you hush up, Angela,” Courtney said as she walked over to Sam.  “Not a bad first go of it, Sam just remember to release the ball here.” Courtney placed her hand over Sam’s and moved their arms through the pitching motion, being sure to highlight the release point. 

            “Kayla, how do you feel about sharing your boyfriend with Courtney like this?”  Chloe asked from her place next Kayla. 

            “Well since I have to share pitching starts with her, I suppose I can share Sam too.” 

            Sam felt his face growing warm at all the talk of him.  A fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Courtney.  “Just ignore them Sammie and focus on what I told you. Now bring the heat.”  She gave his butt a swat as she walked away, this caused Sam to blush hard and all the girls to laugh.

            Once he regained his composure, Sam made his second attempt at pitching, this time releasing too early.  The ball struck the earth two feet in front of the tv, before popping up and cracking the top corner of the screen. 

            “That’s perfect Sam!” exclaimed Chloe, “Well not the pitch, that still needs work, but the crack effect you made in the glass.”

            Kayla walked over to examine the tv.  “I couldn’t agree more, well done.” 

            They all carried the newly damaged tvs inside, and set about preparing for the party.  Courtney, Angela, Sam and Kayla rearranged furniture to make room for mingling, dancing, and of course watching movies and playing games.  Chloe was occupied with the A/V side of things, she was tearing into the wiring of the new tvs, last Sam saw her.  Everything was set by the time they all gathered in the kitchen to devour the food Sheryl had prepared. 

            “So when do I get my house back?” Sheryl asked from her place leaning up against the counter.  None of the girls or Sam had bothered carrying their plates into dining room, which was now decorated for the party.  Instead they ate around the island in the kitchen or holding their plates.

            “Late tomorrow night,” Kayla said, swallowing a mouthful of food.  “Well technically it will be early Saturday morning, but still.”

            “I can hardly wait,”  Sheryl took another sip of her wine, having already consumed a fair amount of food while preparing it. “And did you survive Kayla’s craziness Sam?”

            “Yea, she wasn’t too bad, besides I had the team here to help absorb some of it.”  Sam turned to grin at Kayla and caught a face full of coleslaw.

            “Eh eh eh.  There will be no more of that.”  Sheryl stepped into the center of everyone, trying to quickly diffuse the bomb Kayla had just set with her action.  The last thing Sheryl wanted was a food fight in her kitchen, with a bunch of softball players. 

            As Sam wiped the cabbage from his face he was greeted by the sight of Kayla sticking her tongue out at him and the other girls trying to suppress their giggles, Sheryl included.

 

Sam had serious reservations as he followed Kayla home, afterschool.  The big day for the party had finally arrived and Sam was still in the dark as to what his and Kayla’s costumes were to be.  Sam and Kayla parked across the street at the neighborhood park to leave room for the guests who would be arriving in the next couple of hours.  From the outside, the house gave no appearance of a Halloween Celebration.  Plastic skeletons, nylon spider webs, and fake headstones were all missing from the front yard.  However, there was no doubting the level of commitment to décor once one opened the front door.  Slits of plastic splattered with fake blood hung down from door way, giving the feeling that someone met their untimely and messy end in an industrial building.  The motif continued into the rest of the house.  Furniture had been replaced with packing crates and pallets, which were strewn about and broken.  Kayla had stapled the rest of the construction plastic tight over the walls, giving the illusion that the bloody hand prints were actually on the paint.  Breaking up the monotony of hand prints, smears and fine mist splatters was the occasional message of doom written in blood.  HELP! and Abandon all hope Ye who enter here could be found and served as the classic mainstays.  To that Sam had added his own references, You must ascend from darkness: Salvation lies above!, Dempsey was here, Power will reunite you and Samantha wants here monkeys had all drawn weird looks from the girls when Sam wrote them, but he had high hopes that the other guys who came would appreciate them.  If not, at least Chloe had laughed when she saw the messages, although she refused to back Sam and tell Kayla that others would understand.

            “Mom will get you set up in the kitchen. I’ll be getting ready in my room and no peeking I want it to be a surprise.”  Kayla said as she climbed the stairs.

“Do you realize how much anxiety you’re causing me?”  Sam asked, making his way to the kitchen.

“You’ll be happy I promise, I’ll see you in about an hour and half.”

“An hour and a half?”  Sam muttered to himself as he made his way through the decorations towards the kitchen. 

The kitchen was one of the few rooms on the ground level that remained untouched by Kayla. Sheryl was waiting inside with her cup of coffee in hand.  “Hi, Sam.  Good day at school?”

“Actually most of it was spent in dread of this moment.”  Sam said light heartedly.

“Oh don’t worry tonight will go over just fine and if you really feel like you need to escape you can always join me in the kitchen or just go upstairs, that will be off limits to everyone anyways.  Now why don’t you go and take a shower, but don’t dry your hair when you get out. I need to style it.  Kayla told you to bring basketball shorts, yes?”

“Yea, there in my bag.”

“Alright well you can just wear those down.  Go ahead and use my shower and just leave all your stuff up there when you’re done. I’ll be waiting for you in here whenever you’re ready.”

Sam left the kitchen to navigate the apocalypse in the living on his way up to the master suite.  It had been forever since he had used Sheryl ridiculous shower and he was anxious to plug his iPhone into it.  Sam selected Coldplay from his artists and climbed into the warm pulsating jets.

After the fourth song ended, Sam decided it was probably time his shower ended as well.  Stepping out, he felt refreshed and decided that no matter what the night held the shower made it all worth it. He toweled off and slipped on his basketball shorts, before heading back down to the kitchen.  Sheryl was ready for him. She had an array of product spread out on the island and set up a chair with a stool.  Sam was getting the feeling he was in for a long process. 

“Oh Sam your hair is still dripping wet.”  She said with a stifled laugh as rivulets ran down the strands and onto his chest.

“You said not to dry it.”

“That I did.  Here bend over and shake it out.”  Sheryl held out a towel around him to minimize the spray as Sam did his best wet dog impersonation. She then gave his head a very brief tousle with the towel. “Alright have a seat,” she said wiping a few errant streams from his chest with the towel as he did so.

Sam was momentarily taken back to the various times Sheryl or Amy had bathed him and was filled with a sadness and longing before he stuffed the emotions down. 

“You all right?” Sheryl asked.  “Your eyes looked blank there for a moment.”

“Yea, fine.  I just got light headed for a sec.”

“Okay, well have a seat and we’ll get this party started.”  Sheryl took a bottle of product from the island and began spraying a generous amount all over Sam’s hair. The mist from it had a tacky feel on his skin.  “Now, that I’m done dousing you in chemicals you can eat while I set to work on the rest of you.” She handed Sam a plate with two fresh slices of pumpkin bread, lightly buttered.

“Oh-uh, nourishment.  This really is going to be a long process isn’t it?”

“Unfortunately.” Sheryl took a block of costume putty from her impromptu make-up and costume work station.  “All right I need you to puff out your chest and flex your abs for me… Great now just hold it for a bit.”  Sheryl began sculpting a new and more pronounced upper rib cage line on Sam.  She raised it and spread it apart farther with the putty.  She extended the putty ridge up a bit under his pecks on both sides.  The end result was a sort of raised X feature that then faded down into his rib cage.  Sheryl worked at blending the putty edges down into his skin, so that if it wasn’t for the difference in color you wouldn’t be able to tell where the one ended and the other began.  “All right now we will just let that dry and form a strong adhesion. In the meantime let’s get your toes painted.”

“Say what now?”  Sam asked with a mouthful of food.

“Oh  just relax, Kayla chose a good outfit for you.” 

Sam watched as she painted his toenails black.  Next she mixed some body pigment in a cup until she had a dark blue, which she then started painting unto his legs working from his knees down.

“What am I going as, a goth smurf?”  Sam asked, he was becoming more confused by the transformation he was undergoing. 

“Patience, you’ll see.”  Sheryl said in a sing song voice, that only mother’s seem to be able to do.  She continued applying the blue dye to his skin.  Once a base layer covered him from his knees to his toes, Sheryl set about applying highlights and shadowing.  “And now for your face.”

Sam couldn’t understand how girls could go through the process of applying makeup daily.  He kept flinching and pulling away every time Sheryl brought the makeup sponge near his eyes, making Sheryl’s job that much harder.  With persistence though, she was able to get the dye applied around his eyes and to the lids.  Sam was better about sitting still while she did the rest of his face and his neck.  Sheryl traded the sponge and pigment, for four pointed pieces of acrylic and what appeared to be a small vile of clear nail polish.  “I need you to smile big for me Sam.” As Sam complied, Sheryl took a napkin and dried off his teeth before applying, what Sam now realized was adhesive, and the fake Canines.  Sam’s smile turned into a huge grin as he realized what his costume was.

“What are you grinning for?” Sheryl asked.

“Because I’m going as Michael Corvin for Halloween,” Sam said, still grinning.

“Yea? You think so?” Sheryl asked, not able to keep the smile from her own face.

“I know so.”

“Well, why don’t you stand up so I can finish doing the rest of you, Mr. Smartypants.”

Sam hopped up and Sheryl began the task of dying the rest of his skin blue.  Sam’s arms and torso were labor intensive, but eventually they too were turned a dark shade of blue.   Through the use of darker and lighter pigments, Sheryl turned Sam’s runner six pack into abs that would make a Spartan jealous. 

Sheryl tugged the waistband of Sam’s shorts a few inches lower, so she could insure that every inch of his skin that might show over the course of tonight was blue.  “Still as smooth as a baby,” Sheryl couldn’t resist making the remark. Sam was grateful that his face had already been done so she couldn’t see him blushing.  She finished up his torso and returned his shorts to their previous height.  “All right, now it’s just time for the finishing touches.” 

Sam watched with excited anticipation as Sheryl applied the long black claws to the top of his nails.  She then had him look up as she put blackout contacts in each eye.  “And here are your clothes for tonight.”  Sheryl said, handing Sam a pair of jeans.  “Put them on in the living room then come straight back in here. I promised Kayla not to let you see your reflection until she was present.  Plus I want to take some pictures.”

Sam took the jeans and hurriedly left the kitchen, he was back moments later.  The jeans were slung low on him but Sheryl had guessed his size right so there was no danger of them slipping off.  The pants were strategically torn and tattered with the bottoms being torn off just below the calf, ensuring Sheryl’s handiwork on his legs wasn’t for not.

“You could be Scott Speedman’s stunt double Sam.  I can’t wait for Kayla to see you.  Now come with me into the living room and let’s get some pictures.”

Sam was doing his best hybrid fight stance when Kayla peeked down from the top of the stairs.  Seeing as her mom and Sam were preoccupied Kayla decided to take the opportunity to make an entrance. She crept down the first several stairs before leaping to the landing.  The resulting crash drew curses from both Sam and Sheryl as they spun towards the noise.  There they saw Kayla in Selene’s signature crouched position.  Sam was so a taken back by her outfit he couldn’t think of anything to say or do other than just clap.  Sheryl was only slightly more creative with her wolf whistle.  Kayla slowly rose from her crouched landing, not saying a word just letting her outfit speak for itself.  Her black leather trench coat slowly reformed around her, hiding the rest of her skin tight outfit. 

 Sam finally came to his senses and found his voice.  “You look amazing Kayla, that outfit… it, it looks like it came straight from the movie.”

Kayla smiled and brushed a stray hair from her face. “Well it is an exact replica. I’m glad you like it, because I wasn’t too happy dying my hair black.” She walked over to where Sam was standing.  Each of her footfalls was accompanied by a large *clomp* of her heavy black boots. 

            “Well it looks amazing and you look amazing.”

            “Thanks babe.”  Kayla leaned in and gave Sam a kiss.  

            “All right don’t you two start that up. I want to get some good pictures before this party starts.”

            Kayla had a matching set of fangs to Sam’s and bright blue contact lens in to make the transformation complete.  That paired with her identical costume meant her and Sam were dead ringers for their big screen counter parts.  A fact that was confirmed when they stood side by side and looked into the mirror. 

 

Chapter 27

 

            Sam watched from the doorway to the kitchen as Kayla and her mom worked on various dishes.  Apparently the Zombie theme wasn’t carrying over to the food, which was fine with Sam because the tray of enchiladas Sheryl was sliding into the oven looked incredible. Sam had offered to help with the preparations but Sheryl insisted his lack of a shirt precluded him from any food handling.  So he contented himself just to watch.  Kayla was in the middle of layering a dip when the doorbell rang.  She looked over her shoulder at the clock on the stove.  “That will be Chloe to finish up the final techie stuff.”  Kayla said licking a stray dollop of sour cream and cheese from her wrist.

            “Techie stuff, huh?” Sam asked following her out into the apocalypse.

            “Careful, you may be a hybrid but I’m still stronger.” She said before opening the door. 

            Chloe and a guy Sam did not recognize stood on the other side.  To Sam their costumes looked like they had started off in Victorian England before heading to the 1850’s wild west and were finally attacked by some fans exiting a science fiction convention. 

            “Wow, great job with the steampunk.”  Kayla said by way of greeting. 

            “Oh why thank you. You two just look incredible.”  Chloe took a step back to get the full picture.  “And Sam, why didn’t you tell me you had such great sex lines.”  Chloe said tracing a finger from the top of his hip down to the waist band of his jeans.  She laughed as Sam became visibly uncomfortable.  “God, it is just too easy with you Sammie.  Anyways, this here is Patrick.”

            “Nice to meet you Patrick, are you Chloe’s guy?”  Sam asked trying desperately to pretend like the last 15 seconds hadn’t happened.

            “Nope, my step-brother.”  Chloe corrected.

            “Although I do like to think about her naked.” Patrick gave Sam an unsettling smile. 

            “Ignore him Sam. He just likes to say shocking things to see how people react.”  Chloe said. 

            Kayla moved to unblock the door. “Gee, I wonder who else we know like that?”  

            “Patrick will you grab my equipment from the back seat?”  Chloe said stepping into the house.

            Patrick bit down on his bottom lip, “I just love it when she bosses me around.”

            Sam was not sure what to make of the last few moments as he followed the girls in.

            “Really Sam, Patrick is harmless.  Now I wish I could say he will tone down if you just ignore him, but he really won’t.  Oh and if he does or says anything to you, don’t worry about it he’s not actually gay, he’s just…. Well he’s just Patrick.”

            “Great.” Sam tried to be as helpful as he could with the setup process, which meant he stood out of the way and occasionally handed Chloe something.  Kayla had returned to the kitchen to help there, leaving Sam on his own to try and make conversation. “So why steampunk?”

            “Because he’s a jerk and refused to go as Alice and Jasper.”  Chloe called from behind the wall of tvs.

            “I refuse to support such drivel writing that trades solely on the emotions of preteen girls and not literary merit.”

            “So what exactly is steampunk?” 

            “It’s a literary subgenre.” Patrick said, with no further explanation.

            “Yea, cause that was helpful.”  Came Chloe’s voice again.

            “Riiight?” Sam said in agreement with Chloe.

            “He’s just pretentious, and thinks anything written in the last fifty years is beneath him and incapable of being a literary classic.”

 “I don’t mean to sound argumentative but I somehow don’t think that steampunk would qualify as a classic piece of literature.”  Sam said.

“You are both right and wrong, my dearest Samuel.  You see while the genre is relatively new it is based on a rich literary history, borrowing heavily from both Victorian and science fiction writings.”

“Do you mean to tell me you don’t consider the Twilight sag to be our generation’s Gone with the Wind?”  Chloe said as she flipped through the channels on one of the tv’s.

“I think the dvds are the same length if you count the whole saga as one.”

Patrick rolled his eyes at them.

“I say Sam, I don’t think Patrick appreciates our banter.”  Chloe gave the tv a solid swat and was rewarded with it slowly blinking to life.  The conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, which drew Kayla from the kitchen.  Sam followed her to answer it.

They no sooner had the door open and Courtney and Kayla were gushing over one another’s outfits.  Sam noted that Courtney had also decided to take a cue from Underworld for her outfit.  She had on corseted dress with a heavy romantic gothic influence.  Her skin had been lightened and all of her make-up was dark.  Next to Chloe stood a tall guy dressed in army fatigues and carrying an airsoft replica of a Thompson.  Sam recognized him from the school basketball team. Even without the army drab Sam thought he would have looked like military with his neatly cropped hair and muscular build.

“Sam, my boyfriend Adam. Adam, Kayla’s boyfriend Sam.”  Courtney said gesturing between them. 

“I know who Sam is,” Adam said. “We’ve had some classes together.  You’re a pretty quick witted guy.”

“Basketball team, right?”  Sam said sticking out his hand.  “I don’t think we’ve ever actually spoken.”

“We haven’t, but I’ve sat behind you in class before and you’re always making a funny smartass remark under your breath.” 

“Oh, sorry about that,”  Sam was suddenly feeling self-conscious. “I don’t really mean for those to be audible.”

“No worries, I think I am the only one who hears them, and good thing to.  Half of what you say isn’t too kind to our fellow classmates.”

“Well why don’t we all get inside, instead of standing on the porch.”   Kayla said leading the way.  “Adam why didn’t you match Courtney’s outfit? We could’ve taken such cute pictures.”

“Sorry to let you gals down, but Craven is a total douche and I had to go as Dempsey once I heard the decoration scheme.  Speaking of, me and Sam will be firmly glued to the PS3 if you need us.”  Adam smacked Sam’s bare chest and the two peeled off for where the tv’s were set up.  The tv’s had been stacked with three across the bottom, with two on top.  Chloe was just turning the PS3 on as Sam and Adam entered.  The top left and bottom middle sets had the COD Zombies load screen on them.  The remaining tv’s had either a technical difficulties graphic or a running loop of news on zombie outbreaks, that had pieced together from several different movies. 

“Wow, Chloe! You did a great job. This looks amazing.”  Adam said picking up a controller. 

“Thanks, I figured I should put my nerd super powers to good use.”  She handed Sam another controller.  “The two TV’s showing the news reel are also hooked up if you want to do four player online.”

“That’s all right, we’ll be keeping this a strictly male three-way.”  Patrick emerged from the kitchen stuffing a quesadilla into his mouth. To Adam, “It’s about time my favorite lover got here.”

“What’s up Patrick,” Adam said, standing to trade fist pounds with him.  Patrick pulled Adam in for a slap on the back and finished it off with a pinch of his butt.  “Hey! None of that crap. I’m a classy broad and expect you to buy me a few drinks first.”

“Just giving you some extra love so you don’t get jealous when I’m swapping spit with Samuel latter on.”

“Say what now?” Sam’s tension was pulled from the game menu he had been setting up, at the sound of his name.

“Nothin lovebug.  Now someone toss me a controller and let’s kill some zom-bitches.”  Sam passed the evening and then latter the night, by mostly playing Nazi-zombies.  He gave up his controller as more and more guys made their way over to watch the carnage.  Kayla took those opportunities to snag Sam and introduce him to various girls on the team and their boyfriends.  Sam actually knew a fair amount of people at the party through classes, and more than one was clearly shocked to hear Sam introduced as the boyfriend.  When not on Kayla’s arm, Sam meandered back and forth between the kitchen and the flat screen which was currently showing Shawn of the Dead.   

The night progressed, and the house continued to fill with more and more bodies.  Every corner seemed to be packed with small groups talking amongst themselves.  Sam moved through the throngs.  The press of people swelled as Sam approached the living room.  Everything had been cleared from the floor and been replaced by a mass of people moving to music.  It was predominately girls who were dancing with each other as the guys gathered on the fringes to watch.  Every so often a guy would venture into the fray, often self-diluted.  Sam picked his way through the edges of pulsating crowd, making his way towards the stairs. 

He mounted the first two steps and then paused to survey the room.  In the center of the dance floor was Kayla, Chloe, and Angela.  Sam hadn’t seen Angela come into the party, but she certainly stood out in the bright red dress she was wearing.  She had her hair styled, Sam guessed she must be some character he didn’t recognize.  Towards the edges Sam could see Patrick bumping and grinding on various guys, to annoyance of the individual and the comic delight of his buddies. Finally, Sam spied Courtney and Adam slightly removed from the group dancing together.  A feeling of remoteness weighed on Sam as he climbed the stairs to the second level. 

The top level seemed like a quiet sanctuary after the constant din of the party.  Sam walked down the hall to Sheryl’s door.  His footfalls were silent and the hall runner was soft under his bare feet.  Sam rapped a knuckle  on the closed door.  A voice answered from inside the room.  “Party’s downstairs.”

“It’s me,” Sam rested his head against the doorjamb, his hair hanging over his face.

 There was some scurrying on the other side and then the door opened.  Sheryl was still dressed in what she wore while doing Sam’s outfit. “Come on in.  Is everything all right?”

“Yea, I’m just partied out so to speak.  I’ve had enough social interaction for one night.”  Sam took a seat in a plush chair at the end of bed.  He was careful to make sure that his exposed skin didn’t contact the fabric of the chair, fearful that the blue pigment my transfer to the fabric.

            Sheryl sat across from him on the end of the bed.  “What’s Kayla up to?”

            “They’ve started a bit of a dance party down there, mostly it’s just the girls but I don’t really… I don’t know. It’s not like Kayla is trying to pressure me into dancing or anything. She just seems so unaccessible amongst all those people and I guess I started to feel lonely and cut-off.”

            “Hmm, It seems like more than just that is eating at you.”

            “What do you mean?”

 “I mean you’ve recently given up something that had been meeting a need for you.  Presumably that is because you’ve been getting that need met through something else, chiefly your relationship with my daughter.  However, I think there’s more going on than just that. You’ve seemed preoccupied the last few weeks.  If I had to guess I would say something happened involving Ms. Easterfield.”

“Why would you think it has anything to do with Ms. E?” 

“Well, let’s see.  For starters Kayla has remarked that you and her seem to share a special relationship.  Kayla thought that maybe you see her as a sort of mother surrogate since you’re home life is what you might call hectic, a view which seemed to be supported by the fact that Ms. Easterfield was willing to help out with the police.  And I think Kayla is more accurate than she could even guess.  Then a few weeks ago she noticed that you seemed very cold and robotic at school.”  Sheryl smiled at Sam, who was looking more and more vulnerable as she spoke.  “I tried to warn you before that Kayla was very perceptive.”

“If she has guessed at all of this, why hasn’t she said anything.”

“Keep in my mind, she only knows half. That and she wants to give you space to work on your own stuff.  She figures you’ll bring it up when you want to talk about it.”

“Huh.”

“Well said.”  Sheryl watched as Sam chewed things over in his head.  She waited quietly giving Sam space to process.  After sometime Sheryl broached the silence. “Is it something you would like to talk about?”

“I’m, I’m not sure.  At some point yes, just not quite yet.” 

Sam cocked his head to the side, listening for something that wasn’t there to be heard.  “What happened to the party noise?” 

“Don’t know.”

“I should go see what’s up,” Sam stood and began heading to the door.  “Are you not coming.”

“No, whatever it is I trust Kayla to handle it.  If she needs me she will come get me.”

 

Sam stood on the steps and knew whatever had happened had been major and we was just seeing the resulting ripples.  Kayla stood at the front door and was thanking people for coming and apologizing for something.  Every so often she would stop somebody, talk with them intently and quietly before they left.  Soon everyone was gone, except for Chloe and Patrick, Courtney and Adam, and Angela. Now that just the core group remained the hushed voices were gone and Sam could hear the conversation.

“Don’t worry Patrick, I know you had nothing to do with it.”  Kayla said.

“Not that I disapprove.”  Patrick said.

“Yes, we all know your stance.”  Chloe added rolling her eyes.

“Well regardless, everyone who was questionable is accounted for and I’m not sure you could have handled it any better.”  Adam said

Courtney stepped forward and gave Kayla a hug, “Sorry you’re party had to end like this. It was a great party though.”

“Yea you did a great job, Chica.  We’ll see you in the morning.” Angela gave Kayla a hug as well.

 The group headed towards the door, pausing to say goodnight to Sam before they exited.

Kayla closed the door behind them and then turned to where Sam still stood on the steps, “Well it looks like you missed all the drama.”

“Yea sorry about that, I needed to escape for a little bit.”  Sam walked over and stood by Kayla. 

“I figured as much, and please don’t feel bad.  In some ways I’m kinda glad you missed it.  I’m not so sure Bridget wouldn’t have tried to drag you into it.”

“Well Bridget and a few of her cronies came, which was fine.  I mean I was surprised to see she came, cause she doesn’t really care for me, so I was a little suspicious but it was whatever.”  Kayla began absent mindedly picking up. “So anyways, as time went on I sorta forgot about her, and thought maybe she was trying to be… not necessarily friendly but at least amiable because we’re teammates.  Then while we’re dancing Patrick asked me if I knew the punch was spiked.  Which I obviously didn’t.  So he hands me a glass to try and I couldn’t really taste any alcohol.  I asked if he was sure and he said it wasn’t much but he was sure. Then as if on cue Tommy starts a fight with another guy.”  Sam had no clue who  Tommy was but he was sure if it mattered Kayla would explain.   “It was pretty clear Tommy had been drinking, but he insisted he was only drinking the punch here.  Of course Bridget had been close by waiting for the whole thing to unfold and then she made snotty remark about how she thought I was too much of a prude to have served spiked drinks.”

“Who do you think spiked it?” 

“Oh Bridget no doubt, but I can’t prove that obviously, so I just asked everybody to leave.  Which took some time as you saw, because we wanted to be certain everybody was either fine to drive or that somebody was driving them home.”

“That really sucks about the party.”

“Yea but it had to be done, that way if any coaches find out we protect the teams by saying we shut the party down immediately. Not that I think they will but you never know.”  Kayla threw away the stack of paper plates she had collected.  “OH! I love this song.”  She said turning up the volume on the speakers her iPhone was plugged into.”  The room was filled with the sound of acoustic guitar and Edwin McCain’s voice. “Dance with me Sam.” 

“I don’t really dance.” Sam said suddenly feeling quite self conscious.

“Come on, you can’t say no; my party got ruined.”  Kayla’s face went into a pout, which lost most of its power due to her costume and make up.  Then without waiting for a second objection from Sam she pulled him up from where he had been sitting.  Kayla had shed the leather trench coat shortly after the party began. 

Sam felt himself getting excited as he ran his fingers over her costume.  With her boots on she positively towered over him, making dancing a somewhat awkward proposition. Still Sam couldn’t think of any place he would rather be than pressed up against her.  I’ll Be ended and a significantly more upbeat song came on.  “Leave it to an ipod shuffle to kill the moment.” 

“I can think of a more appropriate song.”  Sam walked over to the stereo and replaced Kayla’s iPhone with his own.  He scrolled through artists for a moment and then selected what he had been looking for.  He smiled as the words to Air Conditioned Love started playing.

“Okay I’ll grant you more appropriate, but also definitely more creeperish.”

“We prefer the term compulsive shadowing.”  Sam smiled up at Kayla from under his hair.

“You know Chloe wasn’t wasn’t wrong earlier.” 

Sam froze where he was, suddenly on guard as he watched Kayla smile her imp smile.  The mischief was heavy in her eyes. “Wasn’t wrong about what?”  He asked almost afraid of what the answer might be.

“You do have great sex lines.”  Kayla traced one with her finger before pushing Sam down on the couch and pouncing on top of him.  Her face hovered above his, her hair acting as curtain to block them off from the rest of the world.  Wickedness streaming from her eyes, she pressed her mouth his. Sam gave himself over as he felt her tongue dart into his mouth. 

Sam had no clue how long their make out session had lasted; only that at some point Kayla had unlaced the corset, revealing the shiny material of her body suit. This she unzipped partially exposing a good deal of cleavage. Sam stared wide eyed as Kayla took his hand and guided it up to her breast.  He felt as though he was going to explode through his jeans as Kayla began grinding down on him.  The feeling didn’t last long.  Kayla smiled from her place on top of Sam, knowing what had happened. She leaned down and began kissing him again, first on the mouth, then the neck and finally on the chest.  Sam’s breath came in jagged inhales.  Kayla eased herself down so she was lying with her head on his bare chest.  That’s how they fell asleep. 

 

Chapter 28

 

            Sam awoke from a peaceful sleep, the sun bright on his face. Though the sleep had been peaceful and deep he quickly discovered it hadn’t been well positioned, his neck was stiff and his joints begrudged him movement as he stirred.  Swinging his feet to the floor, Sam blinked away the cobwebs. Already he found the room much changed since when he had fallen asleep, clutter had been cleared and arranged into neat piles.

            Kayla breezed in through the hall, with the grace that only comes after being awake and productive for some time.  “Good morning, my favorite hybrid.  Why don’t you go shower and return to your human form before the others get here.”  Kayla tossed him an old towel as she continued on her way to the kitchen. 

            Sam made his way to the guest shower upstairs, there he stripped out of his jeans from last night and removed the sculpting putty from his chest.  Climbing beneath the steady stream of the shower he lathered himself in bodywash.  The pigment stained the foam and a blue rill ran from his feet to the drain. Getting all the paint off his skin took some time but eventually he emerged victories and more than a little pink from his efforts.  Downstairs he followed the scent of the bacon to the kitchen.  Towel still in hand drying his hair and clad only in the jeans from last night he stepped into the kitchen to find five girls staring back at him.  Sam stopped, caught by surprise.  Sheryl smiled at him from her customary spot leaning against the island, her coffee cup ever present.  The girls all held paper plates full of eggs, sausage and bacon.

            Angela ventured forth an uninhibited “Ow-OW!”

            “Umm.  Good morning all.”  Sam said.  “I wasn’t aware we were expecting company so early.”

            “I did tell you this morning, that the girls were coming over.” Kayla said.

“Sorry, I guess it didn’t register.”

“Sam, I see Kayla finally marked her territory.” Chloe walked over and touched her finger to several different bruised spots on Sam’s chest and neck.  “A few times.”

“I’m going to go put on a shirt.”  Sam said; he left the room blushing. 

“But Sam, we’re still enjoying the show.” Courtney called after him.

When Sam returned he was wearing an old tee.  He scarfed a plate of eggs, while the girls formulated a plan of attack for the day.   Sam was assigned to Angela, to help with loading items into the pickup to run them to their various destinations.  For the most part their destination was the landfill.  This was fine with Sam, as it meant he had some guaranteed down time as they drove to and from various points.  The only downside was Angela’s insistence that they listen to country music.  So they day went on, with Sam and Angela in the truck and Kayla, Chloe and Courtney fixing up the house.  By one in the afternoon the house was clean and the tasks had shifted to putting things back in order and by 3:30 the girls had departed and everything was back in its proper place.

Sam flopped down on the living room floor after Kayla closed the door behind Courtney.  “Are you beat?”  She said tapping his rib cage with her toe.

Head nod.

“Are you glad it’s over?”

Head nod.

“Did you have fun?”

Pause. Head nod.  “So now what’s the plan Stan?”   Sam asked.

“I was thinking we shower, change out of these dirty clothes and then go watch the basketball games tonight.”

“Sounds good to me, but can we eat before we go to the game?”

“Of course, the games don’t start till 6:30 anyways.”

“All right, just one last question.  Will you help me up?”  Sam stuck out his hand.  Kayla took it and jerked him up and unto his feet.  Sam’s eyes flew open at the same time he was flung to his feet.

Sam showered and was first down to the kitchen.  He was setting out two plates when Kayla joined him.  “You shower a lot quicker when you’re motivated by hunger.”  Kayla said.

“It has less to do with hunger and more to do with not scrubbing blue dye out of my skin.”

“At least none of your costume was semi-permanent.”  Kayla took Sam’s plate of leftovers out of the microwave, and replaced it with her own.

“I like your black hair.”  Sam took a bite of his enchilada, if it suffered any for being reheated he couldn’t tell.

“Oh good Sam, you remembered your shirt this time.”  Sheryl said, refilling her coffee cup from the fresh pot she had brewed. “What are you two going to do with the rest of your day?”

“We’re going to the games tonight.”  Kayla said.

“Oh good for you guys, and thank you for restoring my house.” 

“Is it all right if I have seconds?”  Sam asked feeling a little sheepish.  Since he started working out with Kayla, he found his appetite was near limitless.

“Please do, I hate leftovers clogging my fridge.”  Sheryl took Sam’s plate and heaped it up with rice and two more enchiladas.     

Sam was full, almost to discomfort, by the time he had finished off his second plate.  With the dishes tended to and the leftovers once again stored, Sam and Kayla went into the living room to kill time until the game.  Kayla flipped on the tv and Sam laid down next to her, resting his head on her lap.  “I’m so full I think I could slip into a food coma.”

“Go for it, sweetie.  I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.  Oh look! Gone With The Wind is on.”

            “And now I am positive I will slip into a coma.”

            When Sam awoke, he was alone on the couch, Scarlet was still whining about something on the Tv in front of him.  Sam got up and shut it off, which made him happier than it probably should have and headed up stairs in search of Kayla.  He found her in front of the mirror, in the bathroom applying something or another to her face with the concentration of a thoracic surgeon.  For his part Sam could rarely tell the difference between the before and after.  Sheryl had once explained to him while he was waiting for Kayla to get ready, that was the goal of a applying makeup well.  This made even less sense to him.  Luckily he rarely had to wait and never long.

            “You didn’t have to get up yet, we still have a few more minutes before we go.” Kayla said spying him in the mirror. She was sitting cross legged on the counter, not an easy feat considering her long legs.

            “I woke up and you were gone so I figured I would come see what you were up to.  It was kind of you though to leave the tv on so Scarlet and Rhett could keep me company.”

            “Well I knew how much you love the movie.”

            Sam watched as Kayla finished getting ready and then they headed for the school.  Kayla pulled her car into the lot just above the gym.  The lot was packed but they were able to get a spot as a car pulled out.  Must have been a grandparent coming to watch a kid on the JV play.  Sam and Kayla joined the masses walking down to the gym.  They flashed their ASB cards and were able to avoid the longer line of parents buying tickets.  Standing for a minute on the hardwood of the gym floor they surveyed the bleachers for a spot.  Over the general roar of the gym they heard their names being screamed.  They turned to see Patrick making a general ass of himself as he got their attention.  Picking their way through the crowd and up the bleachers they joined him. 

            “What’s up Kayla?  Samuel?” Patrick, said Sam’s name in the sultry tone of a lover.

            “Patrick.” Kayla answered.

            Sam made a face at his name, “I’m doing all right Patrick.”

            Patrick shoved down the bench clearing space for them.  This drew a few glares from the girls he shoved into.  “I’m sorry babe, I couldn’t resist getting closer to your body.”  The comment drew even more glares.

            “Friends of yours, Pat?”  Kayla asked

            “Nope, I think they’re froshies.  Good thing too, otherwise they would have been so overcome with excitement when I spoke to them they probably would have stripped right here for me.”

            “See Sam this is why you don’t want to become a fifth year senior. You develop an over inflated ego and false sense of self and grandeur.”  Kayla said.

            “Sadly you’re wrong.  He’s been this bad ever since I’ve known him.”  Chloe said, standing in front of them, holding treats from the concession stand. 

            “Ladies ladies, if you’re going to fight over me, be classy about it.  Go get some buckets of fake butter from concessions, and wrestle in it.  First one to undress her opponent wins.”

            Chloe ignored her step-brother and turned to the girls bordering him, “Excuse me, but can I sit here?”  They quickly cleared room for her, grateful to have a barrier from Patrick. “Here’s your popcorn.”  She handed him one of the bags from her arms.  “But don’t get too excited, I told them who it was for and they made sure there were no seeds in it.”

            “Agh! What am I supposed to shoot at the refs with then?” 

            “You’ll improvise I’m sure.”  Turning from him to Kayla.  “You look cute.”

            Sam looked Kayla over, she was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt with the schools softball team logo on it and her name and number across the back.  He thought cute was selling her short.  She was radiant, exquisite… divine.

            Those three words from Chloe were enough to set the girls on an avid conversation about clothes. Patrick grew bored immediately and turned to talk to Sam.  “I don’t want to alarm you or anything Samuel, but did you notice you’re out at an actual school event?”

            “You know my name isn’t really Samuel right?”

            “Of course not, it’s a shortening of Samuelson.  But fear not I’ll stick to your full name from now on.”

            “Oh goodie-“

            “Now don’t avoid the question, like you’ve done with every school activity up until this point.”

            “I’m not avoiding anything. Okay, maybe I’ve been known to avoid the school stuff in the past, but it has never really interested me till now.”

            “Well I’m glad to see our little Samuelson is finally coming out of his shell.  I was beginning to wonder if and when you were going to shoot up the school.”

            Sam stared at him blankly.

            “What too soon?”

            “Yeah. And it will probably always be too soon.”  Sam said.

            “Well hey, if you ever do snap give me a heads up with the date. I got a couple pools going—“

            Patrick was cut off by a hard hit to his sternum. “Patrick!” Chloe hissed. “Behave yourself.  Jokes like that aren’t funny.”

            “Neither is causing a myocardial infarction.”  Patrick said on a sharp inhale trying to catch his wind back.  “Why didn’t you protect me, Samuelson?”

            “Samuelson?”  Kayla said, eyebrow raised.

             “Don’t ask.”  Sam said.

            Kayla was about to say something else but was cut off by the announcer over the PA system.  The gym became loud as the starting lineup was announced for the visitors.  The JV team formed a tunnel in front of the locker room and it grew even louder as the home team lineup began.  Sam watched as a few of the girls he recognized from the party came running out. 

            “And now ladies and gentleman your team captain… Couurrrtneeeyy HALLLL!”  the announcer called in a poor impression of Michael Buffer.  Still the gym grew louder.  Patrick stomped his feet in rapid succession, adding to the cacophony of many, while Kayla and Chloe let out with high whistles.  After that the noise died down for the National Anthem and the events started in earnest.  Kayla and Chloe kept up a constant stream of encouraging chatter for the girls on the court, punctuated every so often by something from Patrick, whose voice was always the loudest and the clearest when the crowd disagreed with a call.  Sam was surprised how well the turnout was for the girl’s game.  He later found out from Kayla that the girls had won state the last three years running.  Tonight they didn’t disappoint either, as Courtney led the team to a win with 22 points and 7 rebounds.  After the game there was a wane and wax in the crowd, but it was definitely more swollen by the time the guy’s game began.

            While the guy’s game had more fanfare to begin with, it was clearly a different crowd.  The die-hard school and sport supporters were replaced by a larger portion of the high school’s general population.  By the half, most of the audience was more interested in what was happening with those around them or the music on their phone than what was happening on the court.  Courtney emerged from the locker rooms freshly showered and dressed in streets to join them in the stands.  As action resumed, the guys were down by eleven and most of the crowd had stopped paying attention entirely.  By the time the game clock had worn down to the last two minutes the gap had widened to insurmountable and action slowed as it turned into clock management and keep away.  Patrick, having grown bored, produced a candy necklace from his pocket.  Holding one of the sugar beads between his teeth, he pulled the elastic string on which it was strung, tight with his thumbs.  Taking aim at the nearest opponent he bit down on the back quarter of the bead.  His shot came up short and the candy skirted harmlessly across the floor, unnoticed by all.  Taking aim again, and adjusting for elevation, Patrick’s second shot found the back of the player’s calf.  Patrick’s victim was unperturbed, which very much perturbed Patrick.  Undeterred, he took aim again and pulled the string still tighter.  This time he bead hit the nape of the neck and the player definitely felt it.  Patrick ducked his head; his shoulders shook as he struggled to stifle his laugh. 

            Chloe watched as Patrick wrestled to keep control of himself and then spied, the candy necklace in his lap.  “Patrick you didn’t?!”

            Patrick nodded.

            “When did you get the necklace?”                                            

            “At the half. You told me to improvise.”

            “I was being flip.  You weren’t supposed to take it as a challenge.”

            As Chloe and Patrick were talking the buzzer sounded and the game ended.  The group remained seated as the crowds filed out.  Once it had thinned some they made their way down to the court. The teams had gone into the locker room and general clean-up had begun.  “What are you guys going to do after this?”  Kayla asked as the group gathered on court.  Patrick grabbed a loose ball and started shooting threes.

            “I think me and Adam are going to lay low.  He’s not going to be in a good mood after the game.”  Courtney said.    

            “I need to get Patrick home,” Chloe said. “The parental units have imposed a curfew on him this year.  Apparently they’ve decided staying out late was what caused him to fail last year.”

            “And I’ll be sneaking out shortly thereafter to get ripped,” Patrick drained another three. 

            “My bet is that’s what really caused him to fail.”  Chloe said.

            “Ah, my sweet sister you couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Don’t you know apathy is the cross I bear?”

            “How about you Sam?  What do you want to do?”  Kayla asked.

            “Unfortunately, I should probably head home.  It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”

            “Probably a smart choice.” Kayla agreed.

            At home Sam had found nothing much had changed.  His mom was there playing Betty home maker. She asked where he had been and what he had been up to.  He told her and she replied with ‘well isn’t that nice’.  Things had been weird at his place for several months now. It was almost like he was living in Stepford or on the set of madmen sans the drama.  Both his parents were being polite and sociable to one another but it all had a disingenuous feel to it.  They had even been accepting of Kayla, not that she ever came over, but when he was going over there they said nothing against it.  The whole thing was unsettling and made Sam wonder what was really going on.

           

 

Chapter 29

            It was the second week of November when it all went to shit. Sam has gone to his room for the night, and was up reading in his bed when he heard the fight begin.  “And so ends the armistice,” Sam muttered as he stuck in earbuds. The music did little to block out his parents shouts which were steadily rising in volume and intensity.  1 am came and went. Sam was beginning to think the fight would last all night, when the noise dropped off.  The silence in many ways was more unnerving than the fighting.  Sam shut off his music and strained to hear.  He could make out the sound of his mother crying, and the quick footfalls of his dad moving about the house.  The next two sounds were much louder.  First was the front door slamming and then a truck speeding out of the drive way.

Sam’s dad had stormed off before, but somehow Sam felt there was a sense of finality to it this time.  He was overcome with an urgency to get out of the house.  He knew he couldn’t bear to listen to his mother’s sobs in the empty house.  Climbing out of bed Sam pulled on a pair of jeans and a dark sweatshirt.  Sam slipped out his bedroom window and picked his way along the roof to the ground.  Once out of his yard, Sam began to walk aimlessly.  The night was crisp and the sky clear, but he didn’t notice them. Sam walked through puddles of light spilling down through the streetlights above.  Every so often he would be illuminated as a car drove by.  After their passing the darkness would once again envelope him till he passed under another streetlamp. 

Sam had been walking with his head down and hands buried deep in his pockets, no destination in mind.  He was surprised when he realized he was no longer walking.  Looking up he found he was standing in front of Kayla’s house.  He walked up to her front steps and there he slumped down into a pile, back resting against the railing pillar.  Sam was still sitting there, staring off at nothing when Kayla emerged from the front door several hours later.  She was dressed in warm ups and running shoes, with her short hair pulled back into a practical ponytail. 

“Sam? I was just coming to get you for our run.”  Kayla walked over to him, noticing that he wasn’t dressed for jogging.  “Sam, where’s your car? How did you get here?” Kayla crouched down in front of him.

“I walked.”  Sam said, still looking off at the horizon. 

“Sam what’s going on?  Are you all right?”  She reached out a hand and lightly brushed back his long hair.

Sam’s eyes snapped to hers and began to fill with tears. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside.”  Kayla lifted Sam to his feet and guided him into the house.  “Did you sleep at all last night?”

“No.”

“All right, well you’re in no condition to run or even go to class.  You can sleep in my bed and we will talk after I get back, and you get some sleep.” 

Sheryl passed them on their way up the stairs.  She was dressed in scrubs on her way out to work.  She gave Kayla a curious glance as she helped Sam up the stairs.  Kayla returned the look with one of her own that said she didn’t know what was up either.  In her room Kayla eased Sam down onto her bed.  She pulled off his shoes before turning down the comforter and tucking him in.  Sam started to speak but Kayla cut him off, “Ssshh, we’ll talk later, right now you need to sleep.”  Kayla sat for a moment on the edge of the bed, rubbing Sam’s chest through the blanket.

Once in the safety of Kayla’s presence, Sam felt the effects of his fatigue. His eyes burned and became heavy.  The sleep that had eluded him all night was now was quickly claiming him.  Kayla got up when she saw Sam’s eyes closing.  Sam forced his eyes back open, when he felt Kayla’s weight leave his side, but his exhaustion was too great to be fought off for long.  The next couple of moments were like snapshots for Sam.  Every time his eyes closed he would force them open again, only to have them begin drifting down immediately.  Sam watched through these snapshots as Kayla changed from her workout gear to school clothes.  Her back was turned to Sam as she stripped.  The images were few and far between.  Kayla was pulling off her sweatshirt exposing her pale back with the glossy black fabric of her sports bra. Another was of Kayla deftly fastening the clasps of a purple bra.  The black spaces between the pictures grew. One of the last images Sam had, was of Kayla kissing his forehead.  He heard her whisper, “Night, you little pervert.”

            It was two thirty when Sam woke up feeling quite hungry. Sam perused the fridge; there was always plenty to eat in Sheryl’s kitchen.  He placed a promising look casserole in the microwave.  Sam started a pot of coffee while he waited for his food to reheat.  Sam ate at the island and counted the minutes till Kayla would get home.  Sam only got to twenty three when the front door opened.

            “Sam, sweetie?”  Kayla called tentatively.

            “In the kitchen?”  Sam answered.

            Kayla set her bag down on the kitchen table and pulled up stool across from Sam.  “I’m glad to see your up, I wasn’t sure you would be by the time I got home.  You wanna talk about what happened last night?”

            “He left.”  Sam said, staring down into his coffee.

            Kayla got up and poured herself a mug as well.  She didn’t have to ask who “he” was.  She sat back down and waited for Sam to continue.

            “They had a huge fight last night, and then he just left.  After that I just felt like I had to escape the house.  And I ended up here.”

            “What are you going to do now?” 

            “I don’t know, but I don’t want to go back.  They’ll just use me to get at each other.”

            “You can always stay here.”  Kayla took Sam’s hand and gave it a squeeze. 

            “Thanks, but that won’t work for the long term.  We’ll eventually drive each other crazy.”  

            “I can think of another person who would let you stay with them.”  Kayla took a sip from her mug, letting the statement hang.

            Sam grew quiet and shifted about in his chair.  “I don’t really think that is an option anymore.”  Sam said, staring into his cup.   

            Kayla walked around the island and placed a hand on Sam’s back, gently rubbing in small circles.  “Sam, I don’t know what happened in that relationship, but I can see how negatively it has impacted you.  I’m pretty sure that regardless of what happened, if you desire to have restoration there, you can.”

            “Maybe.”

            “Well hey, you don’t have to figure it all out tonight.  For the time being you can stay here.  Have you called either of your parents yet?”

            “No.” Sam let out a heavy sigh. Just thinking of making the call seemed to drain the life out of him. 

            “That’s something you’re going to have to do, and time isn’t going to make it any easier. I’ll be right here for you.”

            “Gee thanks,” Sam said as he dug his phone from his pocket.  He selected his dad’s name from the contact list and listened to the line ring on the other end.  “Hey it’s me.  Yeah I know. I heard you guys last night. No… No I don’t care… Listen, that’s not why I’m calling… I don’t want to… Can’t we talk about that later… Whatever… LOOK, I’m just calling to say I’m staying at Kayla’s.   Fine… I’ll get my stuff this weekend.  Yeah same thing to you.”  Sam tossed his phone onto the counter.

            “See that wasn’t so bad was it?”  Kayla asked, beaming a big smile.

            Sam glared at her.

            “Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood.  Sam continued to stare impassively. “Oh, drink your coffee it will make you happy.”

            Sam and Kayla broke their staring match, when they heard the front door open. Sheryl breezed into the kitchen.  Even coming from work and dressed down in scrubs, she still looked more like a model, with her hair and makeup expertly in place.  “Hey guys, how we doing?”

            “Fine.”

            “Sam’s moving in with us,” Kayla said in a sing song voice. 

            “Excellent.  Did you two elope well I was at work?  Because I must say, I am hurt I didn’t get a save the date.”

            “No, my parents finally split and I am trying to avoid as much of the fallout as I can.”  Sam said, retreating back inside his cup.

            “I kind of guessed that when I saw you come in this morning.  Actually, that’s the reason why I’m home early.  I figured we could use a night out to discuss things and also to relax.  So whataya say? You guys want to go get some food?”

            “Always!” Kayla’s constant enthusiasm for food was somewhat reminiscent of a dog’s, although Sam would never vocalize such a thought. Besides, he had eaten within the hour and food still sounded good to him as well.

            “Sure,” Sam said.

            Kayla selected a steak a house for their dining option, after first giving Sam a choice, who per his style was decidedly unhelpful in picking.  The restaurant was largely deserted at 3:35 in the afternoon, making the country music being played over the speakers unnecessarily loud.  The hostess smiled a lot and chatted pleasantly as she led them to a large booth.  Sam noted that given the space between the back of the booth and the table the restaurant must be used to a much more rotund population.  An equally smiley waitress brought over a basket of hot rolls and took their drink order.  By the time she returned with their beverages they were ready to order.  The server’s constant use of “y’all” matched her high boots, short cut-offs, and tight checkered shirt. Her straw blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. 

            Sheryl wasted no time, once the waitress had left with their order “So, Sam how are you handling everything.”  Sam retold the story of his morning and the night before.  Sheryl’s gaze was intense but not pressuring as she listened.  Kayla also listened as though it was the first time she was hearing the story. 

            “That’s just awful Sam.”  Sheryl gave Sam’s hand a squeeze.  “And next time knock or ring the doorbell for heaven’s sake.  No need for you to be sitting on our porch all night like a gargoyle.”

            Sam made a weak smile at the comment. “I’ll try to remember that.” 

The mood lightened as they ate their meals and talk centered on practical next steps.  Sheryl had ordered a skirt steak salad.  She cut a miniscule piece of the still dark red meat and paired it with a single leaf of spinach and crumble of blue cheese.  The whole process was as efficient as it was delicate. Sheryl swallowed the morsel after thoroughly chewing it and washing it down with an equally minute sip of her Cabernet Franc.  “So here’s what I suggest. Tonight we don’t worry about it.  Tomorrow I’ll drive you and Kayla over to your house so you can get your stuff.  Also I want a chance to talk with your mom.  That way you can stay with us until we figure something long term out.”

            “So what movie should we go see?” Kayla asked between bites.  She was completely done with her side dishes and most of the way through her steak, as Sheryl continued to make imperceptible headway on her meal.

            Sam didn’t know if it was deliberate, but was grateful for the topic change regardless.  “I’d like to see Ender’s Game,” Sam ventured.

            “Sounds good to me, but I think mom is going to need to get a box if we want to a see a movie yet this decade.” 

            “Oh hush, Kayla. Some of us like to taste our food instead of just inhaling it, but yes I will get a box.”  Sheryl got her box and paid the bill.

            Kayla and Sam sat on the back bench as Sheryl drove them to the movies.  Sam was resting his head against the cool window as he watched the darkening world pass by outside. Kayla watched him from a world away.  Kayla wondered if she spoke Sam’s name would he her. 

            Sam seemed to come out of his trance as the car pulled into the theater.  His speech became rapid and the thoughts seemed to flow out in constant stream, as Sam talked about various aspects of the book.  It wasn’t until the theater got dark that Sam grew quiet.  When the movie ended Sam seemed distant again. 

            Sheryl tried to draw him back out again, asking questions about the movie. He enjoyed the movie and was glad to see how well they captured various aspects of the book.  He only wished they had made it in two parts to they could show more. Sheryl remarked on the psychological aspects and said she would have to read the books.

            As they pulled into the garage, Sheryl asked Kayla to bring in the to-go box and put it in the fridge. 

            “I could do that but it wouldn’t really make sense.”  Kayla said.

            “What do you mean?”  Sheryl gave her a quizzical look in the rearview mirror.

            “Well I sort of ate in on the ride back.”  Kayla offered up a sheepish grin.

            “When I gave it to you to carry, I had meant for you to keep it from bouncing everywhere, not to eat it.”

            “True, however we both know it would have sat in the fridge until I ate it anyways.  I figured I would just skip the fridge step.”

            “Fine, just make sure you throw away the trash.  I don’t want that box bouncing around back there for the next two weeks.”

            Kayla opened her mouth to make a smart comment, thought better of it and shut her it again.  However she couldn’t resist making a show of throwing away the to-go box as she got out.

            Sam followed the girls in through the door that connected the garage to the house.  Both Kayla and Sheryl dropped their purses on the kitchen island, in a motion that had long ago become automatic action.  “Me and Sam are going to hang out in my room.”  Kayla took Sam by the elbow and escorted him towards the stairs.  Sam went along passively. Sam sat down on the edge of the bed, his eyes following Kayla as she placed a vinyl on the player and lowered the arm.

            Kayla joined him on the bed, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a hard squeeze.  “So when are you going to talk to me?”  Kayla had to work to keep the emotion out of her voice.

            “How do you mean?”  Sam asked, a little startled by the question.

            “I hate to burst your bubble sweetie, but you’re a horrible actor.  You’ve been distracted all night.  Talk to me. Tell me how you’re doing with all of this?  What are you thinking? What are you feeling?”

            “Honestly, I don’t know.  I’m still trying to process.”

            Kayla gave Sam another squeeze and then let herself fall backwards on her bed taking Sam with her.  “Well just know you can always talk it through with me if you like.”  She pulled Sam’s body closer into hers, placing a kiss on the nape of Sam’s neck. 

            The light touch of Kayla’s lips made Sam’s hair stand on end.  He didn’t know how he was feeling about his current family situation, but he knew regardless of what happened he felt loved and cared for in Kayla’s arms.  He tried to empty his mind by focusing on the warmth and strength of Kayla’s body as they lay spooning on the bed.  Her breath was warm on his neck and seemed to keep rhythm with the soft melody of the music coming from the stereo.  Her fingers aimlessly traced random patterns on his arm, and had an almost hypnotic effect on Sam.  

 

Chapter 30

 

Kayla waited until the rhythmic rise and fall of Sam’s chest told her, he was asleep.  She slowly slipped her arm out from under him and slid off the bed.  Downstairs she found her mom reading on the couch.  Kayla joined her.  “Sorry for being a turd earlier tonight,” Kayla said. 

“You wouldn’t be my daughter if you weren’t.”  A smile touched the corners of Sheryl’s mouth as she spoke. She looked up from her book, saw the far off look on Kayla’s face and decided to go back to her reading until the other shoe was ready to drop.  It took a full five minutes before it finally hit the floor.  Sheryl put her book aside and turned to give Kayla her full attention.

Kayla was picking at an invisible spot on her jeans as she began to talk.  “I’m just upset right now, and I guess I took it out on you.”

“Who are you upset with?”

“No one,” Kayla said surprised by the question. “I’m upset about this situation with Sam.” 

“Sweetheart, that’s a lie we tell ourselves to protect us from admitting that we are upset with someone we care about.  But here’s the dirty little secret, you’re allowed to get upset at people, even the ones you love and care about.”  The words weren’t anything new, but she saw Kayla hadn’t yet allowed them to apply to her and Sam’s relationship.

“Fine, I’m upset with Sam…  He just seemed so distant tonight, and unwilling to let me in.”  Kayla looked up from the spot she was scratching at.  “And I’m upset at myself for being upset with him.  I mean he’s going through a difficult situation and I’m feeling pissy because he’s understandably distracted.  That’s not fair to him.”

“Fair or unfair, it doesn’t change how you feel or make those feelings any less legitimate.  Frustration and anger both stem from unmet expectations.  It would seem that you had expected Sam to handle this in a more open way, and you expected yourself to be able to handle his closed manner in a more empathetic manner.”

“Thanks for the insight Dr. Phil, but self-understanding hardly makes me feel better in the moment.”

“Oh well, if that’s all your after there’s Ben&Jerry’s in the freezer.”

 

            Sam’s eyes bolted open as his hand shot to his crotch, “God please no.”  He propped himself up into a sitting position with his left hand, as his right stayed clamped down on his cock.  He saw a dark spot extending from his fly to his the upper portion of his thigh, noticeable but definitely not as bad as it could have been.  Sam was suddenly very grateful for the troubled sleep and the fact he hadn’t been sleeping harder. 

            He scooted off Kayla’s bed and after a furtive glance down the hall he made an awkward dash to the bathroom.  With the door safely shut behind him, Sam faced his larger problem.  A clamp was crushing down on his piping, and his body was sending him messages that back pressure was quickly building.  Meanwhile his hand was cramping at an alarming rate, telling Sam his time to resolve the situation was running out fast. 

            Sam fumbled with the top button and zipper of his jean, his obstinate left hand struggling with the task.  Eventually he got them open.  Sam switched his clamped hand to his left, adding a small stream of hot liquid to the dark spot in his jeans.  Sam blew out a sigh of relief as he finally freed his c*ck from his jeans and emptied his bladder.  Peeling off his clothes, he stepped into the shower to wash up and figure out what to do next.

 

Sheryl looked up from her book and Kayla from her ice cream, at the sound of the shower running. “I guess Sam’s up.” Sheryl said.  

“That or we have a very large leak… Sorry by the way.”

Sheryl raised an eyebrow at that.  “Now what are you sorry about?

“Well, I didn’t exactly ask you for permission before inviting Sam to live with us.”

“You know I like Sam, and I am more than happy to open our home up to him.”

“Still, I should have talked to you about it first.” 

“I appreciate that, but don’t worry about it.  You were in the moment and responding to the situation.  You acted on your gut feeling with what you knew would be okay.  However, I do wonder if you have fully thought this situation through.” 

Now it was Kayla’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Yes. You realize that if you and Sam should not work out, I cannot simply kick him to the curb.”

“Mom,” Kayla’s voice carried an exacerbated tone with it, “Sam and I are getting along just fine.  We’re not going to break up.”

“I know you believe that, but so does every teenager in every relationship since time has begun.  That may change when Sam moves in.  You will be seeing each other almost constantly and that might seem great now but it can just as easily cause a great deal of stress.  I just want to make sure you have thought—“

Kayla put a hand on Sheryl’s knee cutting her off, “Mom, I love him.”  Kayla’s eyes went wide as she realized what she had just blurted out. 

Sheryl barked a laugh at Kayla, “I’m sorry dear I am not laughing at you honestly.  It’s just your face as you said that was so great.  I wish I had a photo of it.”  Sheryl wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and recomposed herself.  “You know what honey? I believe you really do.  How long have you known?” 

Kayla was about to answer when they heard Sam coming down the stairs.

“Known what?” Sam asked descending the last step. 

“That my mom is a dork.”  Kayla quipped.  “Sam are you wearing my sweats?”

“Yeah, I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course it is.  You look quite thuggish in them.”  Kayla said and he did.  Even with the elastic waist, the sweatpants hung low on Sam’s hips.  The long inseam meant that there was significant stacking in the legs.  Adding to look was an oversized tee-shirt, also Kayla’s.  “Well thuggish except for that hair.  Man it’s getting long.  Ooh! You should let me straighten it.”  Kayla leapt up from her spot on the couch and ran to get a straightener. 

“She certainly excites easily.”  Sam said.

“Probably my fault.  Gave her too much sugar as kid.”  Sheryl returned to her book.

Kayla returned with the straightener, and had Sam sit on the floor in front of her as she set to work on his hair.  Sam spent the next forty-five watching tv from the floor.  He did his best not to fidget too much as his Kayla positioned his head this way and that.  The process was mostly painless, despite the constant sound of hissing as the hot plates moved over his damp hair.  Every so often he would wince as Kayla worked through a snag, and twice when the straightener came in contact with his skin.

“There. Finished,” Kayla announced leaning back from her work.

Sam’s hair felt warm where it lay against his skin.  He had a mental image of someone taking his hair out of the dryer and setting it on his head.  Sam ran his fingers over it. The heat had made it smoother and silkier.  “It feels softer,” Sam said. 

“That’s cause it’s the first time it’s been straightened.  If you made a habit of it, it would dry out your hair.”  Kayla ran her own fingers through Sam’s hair. 

  Not to be left out, Sheryl leaned forward and combed through his hair a few times as well.  “You’re wearing the wrong outfit now Sam.  You should have on a pair of skinny jeans, Vans sneakers and a Volcom jacket.” 

“Props for knowing the right brands mom,” Kayla said.

“Totes McGoates, Kayla.” 

“And just like that you lost them.  Good try though.” Kayla gave her mom a pat on the shoulder.  “Anyways I don’t recommend that look for you Sam. Actually I don’t recommend that look for anyone.”

They spent the rest of the evening watching tv, while Sheryl continued with her reading.  At 9:30 Kayla got up, “Well I should probably let you get to bed, huh Sammie?  Since you didn’t get any sleep last night.” 

“Sounds like a great idea to me.” Sam let himself fall over on the couch so he was sitting with his head resting on the cushion Kayla had been occupying shortly before. “I nodded off a couple of times during that last episode anyways.”

“All right, well I will go grab you some bedding and pillows,” Sheryl said getting up. “And Kayla will you please remember to have me setup the guestroom tomorrow.”

“There’s no need to go through all the trouble.”  Sam said.  

“Nonsense, you’re staying with us for the foreseeable future and we can’t very well have you crashing the couch every night.” 

Sam knew Sheryl was right of course, he just hated to be an inconvenience; apparently he hadn’t thought this whole running away thing through. He got up from the couch to give Kayla a hug and kiss goodnight. 

“I’ll see you in the morning Sam.”  She said heading for her room.

Sheryl returned with some large blankets and a pillow for Sam.  “Here you go sweetie, if you need anything else… well you pretty much know where everything is at this point.”  She said smiling.  “Have a good night, and don’t worry about tomorrow. It will see to itself.”

Sam laid down, covering himself with the blankets.  Despite his exhaustion, sleep wouldn’t come.  He wasn’t thinking about tomorrow, rather his thoughts kept going back to how he had woken up from his nap that evening.  What if he had another accident, but didn’t wake up this time.  If he was lucky he would just soak the blankets, but more than likely he would get the cushions as well and he couldn’t just toss those into the wash.  The more he thought the more worried he became.  He decided to talk to Sheryl about it.  Sam lay still waiting to see if he could hear anyone moving around upstairs.  After what he guessed was five minutes and hearing nothing, he got up.  

Sam stood on the top and peered down the hall.  There was soft light and music, softer still, coming out from under Kayla’s door.  Farther down, Sam saw light peeking out from under Sheryl’s door as well.  Sam walked by Kayla’s door as quietly as he could, doing so in such a manner as not to look suspicious should Kayla’s door suddenly open. Sam quietly rapt a knuckle on the door.  He waited a moment, and began to wonder if he had knocked too lightly.  He was about to knock again when the door opened.

Sheryl stood aside so Sam could enter.  She waited until she had closed the door before speaking.  “You okay sweetie?”  She asked.

“Yea, I just wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“Of course Sam, anything.”  Sheryl sat down on the bed and invited Sam to come join her.

He sat crisscross (applesauce, his 1^st grade teacher would have added) from where she was sitting with her back on the headboard. Not really sure how else to begin, Sam just dove in.  “This evening when I took my nap I started to have an accident in my sleep.” He then hurriedly added, “I woke up in time to stop myself but not before I made a wet spot on my jeans.”

Sheryl placed a hand on top of Sam’s in his lap.  “That’s not surprising.  Your body was having a physical reaction to an emotionally laden day.  It’s certainly nothing you need to feel bad about.  Then there is also your unique history to consider.  I wonder if under your current duress some part of you isn’t trying to communicate a need for some way to cope.”  Sheryl watched as Sam thought through this. 

Sam started to speak a couple times but always closed his mouth again without uttering so much as a single syllable.  Finally he spoke, having either found the words he was looking for or simply given up his search.  “It’s just that I haven’t worn in so long, but what if I have a bigger accident tonight? I’ll ruin your couch.”

“Sam regardless of what you decide to do, if you wet tonight I promise you, you won’t be in trouble.

“I was starting to think I was done with that part of my life.”

“Are you done with them?”  The question was simple, as many of the most powerful ones are.

There was no long pause or deliberation this time, Sam knew the answer in his heart of hearts no matter how he might have tried to deny it.  Tears began to pool in the wells of his eyes as he shook his head.

“Ssshh, it’s okay Sammie.”  Sheryl pulled him into a hug until he started to quiet down.  “Now first thing first, what did you do with your wet clothes?”

“They’re in the laundry hamper in the upstairs bathroom.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure they get into the wash.  Will you be okay if I leave you here a minute?” 

Sam nodded yes as Sheryl slowly lifted him off her and lowered him down onto a pile of pillows.  She draped a blanket over him from a nearby dressing chair.  Sam lay propped against the pillows wishing more than anything he could just be numb, but numbness eluded him.  Sheryl returned with diapering supplies in hand, and humming a lullaby quietly. She moved Sam to the edge of the bed before stripping him of Kayla’s tee and sweatpants.  There were no boxers as the pair he had been wearing were now in the wash with the rest of his wet clothes.  Sheryl took a bottle of Johnson&Johnson’s bedtime lavender baby lotion and poured it in her hands, where she let it warm before rubbing Sam down.  She continued to hum her lullaby as her hands glided their way across his naked body, massaging the lotion into his skin.   It took twenty minutes for her to complete the process, such was the methodical, loving nature in which she performed the task.  Not rushing, but slowly working her way over every inch of his body giving the lotion and warmth of skin to skin contact time to take effect.  Sam began to quiet and was in a trance like state by the end.  Only once Sam was still did Sheryl begin to diaper him. This too was down in the loving manner of one imparting their calm to another through touch. With the diaper securely in place, she pulled the sweatpants back on. 

Sheryl lifted Sam from the bed and turned down the covers before climbing in with him.  She sat perched once more with her back propped up by the headboard and pillows.  She wrapped her left arm around Sam where he clung to her side and rubbed his back with her right.  She kept up her lullaby till she was sure Sam had dropped off.  Sleep brought him no relief from his agony though.  Sam cried out often that night and each time Sheryl would begin to hum her lullaby and rub him till he quieted again. 

Sam startled awake from a particularly upsetting dream to find himself still in Sheryl’s room and clutching desperately to her side. “A really bad one huh?”  Sheryl asked looking down at him.

“Yeah,” Sam replied in the harsh voice of morning. 

 “Well you can go back to sleep for a couple more hours or you can get up, it’s a little after five-thirty.”

“I’ll get up.  Kayla will be up in a little bit anyways.”

“You don’t shower before your guy’s run do you?”  Sheryl asked as she slid out of bed.

“No, just after.”

“K, then why don’t you follow me to the bathroom and we will get you out of that diaper and cleaned up a little bit.”

Sam had completely forgotten about the diaper he wore to be bed.  “I’m wet?”  He asked as he started to become aware of the clamminess around his loins.

“You are indeed sweetheart, not heavily but enough.  You had a pretty rough night.”  Sheryl took his hand and led him into the master bath. 

“Did you get any sleep last night?”  Sam felt a wave of guilt and shame crashing down on him.

“Not much, but don’t worry yourself about it, I’ve functioned on much less.  Kayla must have been the world’s most colicky baby.  I often went without sleep when she was still little.”  Sheryl pulled the sweats down to Sam’s ankle and unfastened the diaper.  Sam saw he had indeed wet himself but was far from having flooded the diaper.  Sheryl wet a wash cloth with warm water to clean Sam with.  It was short work and they were both down stairs having the morning’s first cup of coffee less than ten minutes after Sam had awaken. 

Kayla didn’t appear in the kitchen until a quarter after six.  “You’re up?!”  She said surprised to see Sam sitting at the breakfast counter. 

“And you’re late,” Sam said good naturedly.

 “I figured you would have wanted to sleep in a bit.  Let me eat a banana and get changed and then we can get after it.”

“Okay, but I’ll need to borrow some running clothes.”  Sam said.

“No worries.  I see your hair is trying to go back to its normal wave.”  Kayla pulled a small strand away from his head and watched it fall back into place.

“It almost looks more like the seventies feathered style now,” Sheryl observed.

“Oh my gosh, that gives me such a great idea.  Sam come with me!”  Kayla grabbed her banana and headed out of the kitchen.

Sheryl toasted Sam with a raised coffee cup.  “Every day is a new adventure.”

“Yeah, Carpe Diem.”  Sam slid off his stool and followed after Kayla.

Kayla was already tearing around her closet when Sam entered her room.  “Your legs don’t get cold when we run right?”  Kayla didn’t stop her scrounging as spoke.

“No, not unless it is really really cold.”

“I think it’s about 42 out there so you should be fine.”  Kayla emerged from her search with hands triumphantly full.  “Here put on these.”  She dropped her trophies on the bed.  “I figure my old volleyball shorts would work sufficiently well as compression shorts for ya.  I’m going to go change too.”

Sam picked through the articles of clothing as Kayla left for her bathroom.  In addition to the volleyball shorts was a pair of green girl’s running shorts with yellow piping.  Sam had seen a lot girls wear this style of short over their other work out gear, but Kayla generally went with a longer cut of shorts than these for working out.  There was also a school sweatshirt, red, white and blue sweatbands and matching headband.  Finally Kayla had pulled out a pair of her white softball socks with two horizontal bands of yellow at the top.  Sam put on the clothes feeling quite ridiculous as he did so. When Kayla returned she was dressed to run in the current decade, with compression everything, including a very tight fitting pink jacket.

“Here put these on to finish the look.”  Kayla handed him a pair of smoke lensed aviators.  “Oh it’s so perfect.  You will be the most ironic jogger in history,” Kayla beamed. “I only wish I had a fake mustache for you to wear.”

Sam walked over to the full length mirror.

“Don’t you just love it?”  Kayla asked from behind him.

“I feel like I’m going to go work out with Starsky and Hutch.”

“Come on let’s go show mom.”

Sheryl choked on her coffee as Kayla and Sam walked in.  “Looking Super-fly Sam, but you’re not really going out like that are you?”

“You bet he is!”  Kayla responded.

Sam had to admit her enthusiasm at times over the stupidest things could be quite contagious.  And he was starting to feel a little bit better about the day.

“Well I need a picture first.”  Sheryl snapped a quick shot of Kayla and Sam with her iPhone and then they were out the door.

As Sam and Kayla ran side by side down the street, his mind began to clear.  The pain from last night was gone.  It had been replaced with anger.  Anger at his mom.  Anger at his dad.  Anger at himself for caring.  By the time they had complete their first half mile, Sam was up closer to a run than a jog.  Kayla, who normally set the pace, recognized Sam’s gait for what it was at once.  She had often taken to the streets in a mad run herself in years past.  Every footfall a vehement declaration, every exhale a silent curse, yes she had run that way many times before.

  At mile three their pace still hadn’t slackened.  Sam’s sweatshirt, or rather her sweatshirt that he was wearing, had a dark circle around the neck and along the spine.  She was sure beneath her own jacket, she had much the same pattern. A few times she wondered if Sam would remember which road to follow, each time though his feet made the proper turn in the automatic fashion of one on an old familiar path.

Sam was oblivious to his surroundings as he ran.  He was aware only of the hatred eating its way through his gut, the hard smack of pavement as it rose up to meet his feet and the warmth radiating out of his calf muscles.  His memory played over each interaction with his parents from the last few months with bitter clarity.  To further fuel the flames it began projecting ugly scenarios of the future.  It wasn’t until the last half mile and a steep hill leading back to Kayla’s house that Sam’s pace finally dropped off.  With each lessening stride his emotional fuel drained.  He began looking around at the surroundings for the first time.  As the resentment waned to annoyance, the exhaustion of his body swelled to take its place.  The cool morning air set his lungs on fire, and his leg muscles felt as though they might snap at any minute.  Tears from the wind made icy paths down his face, despite the sunglasses.  When he hit Kayla’s yard, Sam let his hands drop to his knees and bent over gasping for air. 

Kayla stopped beside him.  “Did you get it all out?”

“Most.”  Sam’s heavy breathing turned to a barking cough.

“Helluva run,” Kayla said.  “Stand up straight and put your hands on your head. It will help.”  She pushed Sam back upright and gave him a swat on the back as they walked up the stairs to the door.  “Helluva run.”

“Back so soon?”  Sheryl stepped into the front hall from the living room. “Oh.”  Sam’s face was heavily flushed and looked like he had just sweated out the fever of his life, as he stepped inside.  “Why don’t you go take a shower, and toss those clothes in the laundry.”

Sam nodded as he slowly climbed the stairs with his remaining energy.  Sheryl and Kayla stood at the base and watched him go.  Sheryl waited till Sam disappeared around the corner upstairs.  “Did you do that to him or did he do it to himself?” 

“He did it to himself.” Kayla also had a hard sweat going but didn’t look near as flushed as Sam had.

“How was it on you?”

“I will deny saying this, but I was glad we slowed up once we hit the last hill.  I don’t know I could have kept up with him on that incline.”

“You should take a shower too. You’re both ripe.”

“What? You mean you don’t want a hug right now?” Kayla through her arms open to embrace her mother, but Sheryl half expected it and was able to turn aside in time. 

“Shower and clothes in the laundry.”  She said retreating to the safety of her kitchen and coffee pot.

His clothes from yesterday were clean, folded and waiting for him on the bathroom counter when Sam emerged from the shower in a suit of bright pink skin.  It’s funny, at home he always locked the bathroom door, but here in someone else’s house he never felt the need to.  Sam stepped into his boxers and jeans.  He stuck his head back in the shower to shake the excess water from his hair before pulling on his shirt.  In the shower the rest of Sam’s anger seemed to have rinse down the drain with his sweat.  Now the morning’s chore seemed less like climbing Mount Doom, and more like a trip to the dentist. Unpleasant? Yes. Uncomfortable? Yes, but just something you had to put up with. 

Sam poked his head into Kayla’s room, but found it empty.  He found her downstairs pouring a protein shake from the blender into two glasses.  She reached across the island handing one of the glasses to Sam.  “Thanks,” He said taking a sip.

“You’re also going to need to make sure to rehydrate, or your kidneys will scream at you later.”  Kayla rinsed out the blender and disassembled it, leaving it on a towel to dry. 

Sheryl joined them in the kitchen, from whereabouts unkown.  “Sam shall I start another pot of coffee.”

“No need to do it on my account.”

“Okay, next question.  What time would be best to go over and get your things?”

Sam looked at the clock above the stove; it read 703 in green numbers.  “Well if she didn’t drink last night, then she will already be up.  On the other hand if she did drink, we could wait till two in the afternoon and still find her asleep.”

“Well I guess there really is no time like the present.  Last question, how many cars should we take?”

“We only need to take one.  I can put my clothes across your back seat and put the other items in the bed of the Camino.”  Sam tossed back the rest of his shake, as if to say let’s go and be done with it.  “Kayla, can I borrow some headphones?”

“Sure, there should be some earbuds sitting on the hall table.”

 

Sam rode in the backseat with earbuds in, while Kayla sat up front with Sheryl.  “He looks like you getting in the zone before a particularly tough game.”  Sheryl said, glancing at Sam in the rearview.

“Only difference is I always have the possibility of winning.  Sam’s playing a no win game, his only objective is to get through this with as little pain and as much… I don’t know, class as possible. “Class’ isn’t quite the right word, but I guess it works.”

Sheryl was quiet a moment before speaking again.  “We never got to finish our conversation last night.” 

“Oh? What else did you want to say?”  Kayla had no idea where this conversation was going, but its answer caught her so off guard she actually laughed.

“I just need to make sure you realize there is a difference between Sam living with us and you two shacking up.”  Undeterred by Kayla’s laughter, Sheryl pressed forward.  “Obviously as your mother, I would like to believe you would wait until marriage, but I am also not naïve. If you two are doing it, I ask that you would respect my wishes and not do it under my roof.”

Kayla collect herself before she could respond, “Mom I don’t think you have to worry.  My gut tells me that at this point Sam would be terrified of the thought of actually having sex.” 

A smile touched Sheryl’s eyes at Kayla’s answer and she considered how painfully shy and reserved Sam was.  Yes, she supposed Kayla was right.

“Turn here.”  Kayla said, pointing left at a stop sign. Pulling up to a stop behind Sam’s car brought back the reality of what they were doing and any traces of the lightheartedness from the previous moment died with the engine.

“Sam honey,” Sheryl turned to the back seat and spoke loud enough to get Sam’s attention.  Sam pulled an earbud out and waited. “How do you want to handle this?” 

“If it’s okay with you, I would like to let you do all the talking and me and Kayla will just work on packing up my room.”

“Of course.”

The three of them existed the car.  They approached the house with Sheryl taking lead, and Kayla walking beside Sam to give support.  Sam walked with his head down, pulled in on himself and headphones in, creating a barrier between him and the world.  Sheryl rang the doorbell, and the three waited for the answer from the steps.  If no one eventually came, Sam could of course let them in.  Sam’s key wasn’t needed though as the door opened with a little too much speed.  A Clearly drunk woman stood in the doorway peering out into the bright light of a sunny morning, waiting for her eyes to adjust.  Sam felt instant embarrassment at his mother’s condition.  Sheryl felt a pang of sadness for the woman, and then more deeply for her son.  Kayla was the only one who was unsurprised. 

“Looks like she never stopped tying them on,” Kayla muttered quietly to herself.  Sam didn’t hear the comment with his music playing but Sheryl did, and responded by discreetly stepping on Kayla’s toe. 

“You must be Sam’s mother,” Sheryl said stepping forward, hand extended.  “I’m Kayla’s mom.  I’m sorry it’s taken so long for us to finally meet.”

“Yeah and what do you want?  And you, where’ve you been?”  She turned her eyes towards Sam, who kept his head down giving no indication that he had heard.

“I’d like to chat a bit,” Sheryl said.  “Might we come in?”  She didn’t wait for an answer but walked past the still gawking woman into the house.

Kayla waited a moment till Sam’s mom had followed after her own.  Then she and Sam went in and turned the opposite direction towards his room.

“I’ll go grab some boxes, if you want to start with the clothes in the closet.”  Sam said before disappearing.  Sam entered with three empty apple boxes, as Kayla was about to head out with the first load of his clothes.  Packing up his room went really quick.  Aside from clothes he didn’t have much in the way of possessions.  A few cd’s, a couple of dvd’s, his outdated cd player that Kayla had found when she snuck into his room, a laptop and few miscellaneous knick-knacks. 

“Sam are you some kind of ascetic” Kayla asked as they carried out the last of his stuff.

“No, I just usually ask for cash instead of presents and most of my music and movies are exclusively in electronic format.” 

“Whatever you say, Spartan.”  Kayla said smiling. 

Sam closed the camino’s tailgate after sliding in the last box.  “Oh yeah and a lot of gifts go into fixing this up.  Should we wait for your mom?”

“We can if you want, otherwise she’ll be fine without us.”

“Naw, let’s get out of here.” 

“I kind of figured that’s what you would want.”

 

            “You have a lovely home,” Sheryl said from across the dining room table.

“You want to cut the shit and tell me what you’re doing here and where the F*ck my son has been?”

This is going to go over splendidly Sheryl thought.  “Well as I know it, Sam left your house sometime in the night or early morning two days ago and walked over to my house.  He had heard you and your husband fighting and felt like he needed some space.  He spent yesterday and last night at my house.  It is his wish to move in with my daughter and me.”

“Like HELL!” Came the roaring response from across the table.

Sheryl kept her voice soft and spoke in an even measure, hoping to deescalate the situation. “Listen, you don’t really have a say in the matter.  Sam is 18 and can legally make his own choices.  I’m here trying to talk to you because we are both mothers and I would want the same courtesy extended to me.” 

“No you listen B*tch!”

Hope in one hand, as they say.  Sheryl pushed her chair away from the table and stood.  She now spoke in a voice that would broker no argument.  “I would like to imagine that at one time you weren’t this pitiable creature that now sits before me, that you were once a pleasant and nice person, that something somewhere went wrong in your life and transformed you into this.”  Sheryl gestured at her with an open hand.  “In fact I have to believe that because despite having a drunk for a mother and from what I hear an equally deplorable father, Sam is a good kid.”  Score one for nature over nurture.  “However in recent years… let’s just say your parenting skills have fallen off, as you and your husband competed to make the other more miserable. Sam has reached his limit.  So he has decided to leave.  The only reason you are even fighting it, is because you are a small child who can’t bear to have a toy taken from your room no matter how long you’ve let it sit neglected.”  Sheryl could feel the color rising in her cheeks and had much more she would like to say but decided it best not.  She turned from the woman and strode out of the house.

 

Chapter 31

            “So are we ever going to talk about it?”  Jenny asked from around the black straw sticking out of her whiskey sour.  She and Amy were sitting at a martini bar, a plate of prosciutto wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese between them. Jenny had hoped that a little alcohol might help to grease the wheels of the conversation.  She ignored the plate of hors’ d’oeuvres and took a long pull on her drink.  The server had given her a look of shock and horror when she asked if they had wings.  The thought of washing down goat cheese with Jameson just seemed wrong.  So she contented herself with just the drink, uncouth barbarian that she was.

            “We don’t need to talk about it.”  Amy said in dismal.  She was drinking a Belvedere martini neat, which did go well with the little morsels on the plate.

            “The very fact that we don’t need to say what ‘IT’ is and we both know what we’re talking about, means we do.”

            Amy nibbled at a one of the dates. “He’s made clear what he wants and there is nothing I can do but respect that.  See nothing to talk about.”  Amy popped the rest of the date into her mouth in punctuation.

            “That may all be true, but don’t you think we should talk about the impact it has had on us?”

            “There’s been no impact, but if you want to talk I cannot stop you.” 

            Jenny finished what was in her glass.  The ever attentive bartender gave her a look asking if she would like another, to which she nodded. Whatever respect she lost with the server, she seemed to have recovered with the bartender by how fast she drank.  Jenny removed the straw from her new drink, deciding it would only slow her down.  “To say there’s no impact is bullshit and you know it, so let’s just dispense with that notion right now.  You are one of the strongest, most driven, and amazing women I have ever met.  This thing with Sam though is causing you to seem… I don’t know thinner is the only word I can think to describe it.  You don’t smile as often anymore, you don’t laugh as deeply, you don’t share as freely, and you don’t love as wholly or honestly.

            Please don’t think I am in anyway disappointed or unsatisfied with our life together though.  If I only had access to one percent of you, I would still wake up every day and think I am the luckiest woman alive.  But I would never want to see you satisfied with living only a percentage of your life, because you deserve so much more.” 

            Amy stared straight ahead while Jenny talked and continued to do so after she fell silent.  Great, I’ve made it worse.  Jenny thought taking a drink waiting for any sort of reaction.

            When Amy turned to Jenny they were tears in her eyes.  “You’re absolutely right.  How could I let my self-deception blind me so.  I must be the most unhealthy counselor ever.”  Amy dapped at the tears with the corner of her cocktail napkin.

            “I’m glad your unhealthy babe.  If you weren’t, there’s no way you’d still be hanging around with a mess like me.” Jenny gave Amy’s knee a squeeze. A smile filled Amy’s face and Jenny knew they would be okay.

            “Want to get out of here and find someplace that serves wings?”  Amy asked, looking back at the woman she loved, who drank tea and read Steinbeck but was more at home in a sports bar shooting whiskey than in a martini bar.

            “Gawd yes!” Jenny said.

            Amy tossed back the rest of her martini.  Not to be out done Jenny drained her drink as well and slid cash under their empty glassware before they headed out.  Jenny snagged the cocktail pick with three olives on it from Amy’s empty glass for good measure as she walked by.

            Jenny and Amy went home and made love that night.  As they lay together afterwards, their bodies melded into one.  Amy allowed herself to cry.

 

            Sam and Kayla drove back to her house.  With every block they put behind them Sam’s mood improved.  By the time they were parked in front of the house, he was smiling.  “All right  let’s put your stuff in the living room until we get the guest room cleaned out,” Kayla said.

            As they set about their task, Kayla was glad her mom wasn’t there.  Sheryl undoubtedly would have wanted to gone through every box and drawer.  The room had originally been set up as a craft room for Sheryl and Kayla to do their projects in.  As it turned out, Sheryl wasn’t s crafty as she once considered herself and Kayla preferred to do her projects at the kitchen table.  It wasn’t that the room was too small, she just felt closed off and isolated whenever she had tried to work in there.  Then as they unpacked the rest of the house and ran into items they weren’t sure what to do with, they ended up here.  The result was a menagerie of items that Sam and Kayla were now stacking in the living room. 

            Kayla stood in the center of the empty room, hands resting on her hips, eyes scanning the empty walls and clearly seeing something Sam couldn’t.  “Hey Sammie, how do you feel about sleeping on the couch for one more night?” 

            “Umm that’s fine I guess… Why?”

            “I was just thinking if we are going to make this your room, we should do it right.  You know new paint, window trim, carpet, the works.”

            “That sounds great and all, but you really don’t need to do any of that for me.” 

            “Okay, but what if I said I wanted to redo this room since we moved in, but mom wanted to leave it alone at least until we were settled, and now I have the perfect excuse.”

            Sam smiled as he listened to Kayla’s scheming.  He was so used to just acquiescing to whatever Kayla wanted (provided it didn’t involve any more water towers) that he never considered anyone telling her no.  “Hey whatever you want to do is fine by me, just don’t go telling your mom I asked for it.”  Sam raised his hands in a manner that said he was washing himself of the situation.

            “Deal!”  Kayla continued looking around the room with her mind’s eye, deciding just how it should all be done.  The sound of the front door opening below them snapped her out of her designer trance.  “All right just let me do all the talking.”

            “It’s your show,” Sam said.

            “Spare room!”  Kayla hollered, letting Sheryl know where they were and extending an invitation for her to join them.

            Sheryl looked like she had already had enough of the day despite it not yet being ten.  “I see you’ve been busy,” she said in reference to her now very cluttered living room. 

            “You don’t know the half of it.”

            “Uh-oh.” Sheryl could sense Kayla wanted her permission for something, and if Kayla was actually asking permission that only meant one thing.  Whatever it was, was going to be big.

            “Don’t say uh-oh yet, hear me out first.”

            “Oh this is going to be very bad.” 

            Sam stood quietly watching the byplay.

            “Oh stop it.  It will be painless I promise.  I was just thinking that we should take this opportunity to redo the room right, new paint and what not.”

            “Yeah? And what’s the ‘what not’?”  Sheryl raised her eyebrow in a mistrusting manner.

            “Well I think it’s silly that we have hard flooring in the rest of the house but not in here.  Who knows there may even be some under the carpet.”  Kayla tapped her toe on the floor as if indicating buried treasure.

            “I doubt it, and even if there is it will most likely need to be refinished.”

            Kayla dropped her head waiting for the swing of the axe that would mark the death of her idea to renovate the room.

            “But I’m fine with redoing it if Sam doesn’t mind sleeping another night on the couch.” Sheryl turned to Sam to see what he would say.  At the same time Kayla’s head snapped back up as the situation turned from a defeat into victory.

            “I don’t mind.”  Sam said    

            It would actually turn out to be two more nights, but projects like this often have a way of running out of hand.

 

            Sam unloaded the cars, while Sheryl set about trying to bring some order back to her living room and Kayla made a list of things they would need from the store.  With the help of a utility knife she discovered the only thing hiding beneath the carpet and under padding was the subflooring.  With their various tasks finished they regrouped in the living room.

            “No hardwood under the carpet,” Kayla reported sounding more than a little bit dejected.

            “No real surprise there,” Sheryl said.  “So here’s what I am thinking.  We obviously will need to take Sam’s car.  We can either all three squish into that or we can take two cars.”

            “If we just take mine, know that it will be tight.”

            “I’m up for a little bonding.”  Kayla said, not about to let a little thing like that dampen her spirits. 

            The issue in Sam’s car wasn’t so much the amount of space across the bench seating, as all three adults were slim (with Sam being on the verge of being tiny).  The issue came in the form of available leg space. Kayla sat in the middle with her legs tucked to right so they would be out of the way of shift lever, giving her the appearance of someone riding side saddle.  Sheryl sat with her legs over the top of her daughter’s.  Sam was the only one who was truly comfortable, not that Sheryl or Kayla would ever complain, being afforded the necessary space of the driver.

            Stepping into Home Depot brought forth the pleasant scents of cut lumber and a slight underpinning of oil.  The first stop in the store was paint.  Sam occupied himself by selecting various rollers, brushes and other application needs, while the girls went back and forth between colors.  Sam had them sufficiently stocked on painting supplies by the time a color was agreed upon. 

            “All right, on to flooring,” Sheryl said, taking control of the cart.

            “Flooring?”

            “Yes, flooring.  You said you wanted hardwood floors.”

           

            With the materials purchased and the back of the car/truck loaded down with them, the trio returned to what Sam was already thinking of as home.  Two additional vehicles were parked out front when Sam backed into the drive.

            “I thought I would call for reinforcements,” Kayla explained as Courtney and Angela emerged from Angela’s truck. 

            “You gals don’t have anything better to do with your weekend than help redo a guest room?”  Sheryl asked.  They had all congregated around the bed of the Camino.

            “Basketball games were last night,” Courtney answered, grabbing two of the paint cans and then passing them off to Angela. “We missed you there by the way. But I suppose you had other things you were dealing with.”  She gave Sam a knowing smile, which left him wondering how fast news had traveled. 

            “I saw an excuse to get out of going with Chloe to that comic con thingy.”  Angela, transferred the two cans to one hand and then took the remaining two out of the bed. 

            “Ang! You ditched Chloe?”  Kayla was dismayed at the thought of being partially responsible for Angela ditching.

            “Relax, she still has Patrick.  I think they were going dressed up as characters from that Dr. Whom show.”

            “I’m pretty sure it’s Dr. Who, Angela,” Courtney corrected.

            “No it’s British, and you know how proper they are over there.” 

            Courtney chose not pursue it farther and rolled her eyes as response instead.

            Sam struggled to get a couple of bundles of flooring from the bed.  “Where’s Adam?” Sam asked with a grunt of effort as he got the flooring clear of the bed rail.

            “Practice. The guys played like crap last night so Coach Nyghe scheduled them an extra practice this afternoon.  Here Sam, carry them on your shoulder like this.”  Courtney took the bundles from him and repositioned them so they were sitting balanced on his shoulder. “You’re going to hurt your back trying to do it the other way.”  Then to solidify her point she hefted two bundles of her own onto her left shoulder and had Kayla load two more unto her right. 

            Kayla collected the remaining items from the back and Sheryl led the procession of adolescent contractors into the house.  “All right you gals... and Sam can just unload all that stuff upstairs in the hall.  Kayla do you know what you are doing up there?”

            “Yea mom, I’ve seen them tear up carpet like a thousand times on DIY and the floating floor thing seems pretty straight forward.”

            “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I helped my dad install this stuff in our basement last winter. It’s just tongue and groove.  It goes together like a snap, literally,” Courtney said.

            “All right.  Just promise you’ll get me if you run into trouble. If I have to hire someone to finish it, I’d just as soon do it before more damage is done.  And honestly girls thank you for your help.  Lunch and dinner will be on me, just let me know when and what.”  With that Sheryl left them to tackle Kayla’s upstairs project while she set about trying to restore some order to the living room. 

 

            “Okay boy and girls what’s the game plan?”  Angela asked, setting the cans of paint down in the hall and stepping into the empty room.

            “I figure divide and conquer.” Kayla said.  She was helping take the bundles from Courtney and Sam.  “Courtney you’ve done the flooring before so I figure we’ll let you spear head that.  Sam no offense but I’ve seen you try to cut a straight line so I think it’s best if you’re on demo with Courtney. Which leaves prepping to you and me, Angela.  Everyone dig?”

            “Oh we dig sista.” Angela said in a soulful accent.

            Courtney and Sam had amassed a respectable sized pile of cut up carpeting and under-pad, and the tapping was all but finished when Kayla called a halt to the activities.  “What is it?”  Courtney asked without looking up from the splinter she was trying to dig out her palm, delicately using an X-acto knife as a surgeon’s scalpel. 

            “I still think we are halfassing this makeover.”  Kayla said staring up at the ceiling.

            “It certainly is dated,” Angela agreed.

            “OW! Shit.” Courtney hissed dropping the knife and sucking at the blood that was welling up.  Grimacing she bit down on the cut.  Angela, Sam and Kayla watched, their attention drawn by the noise of the knife clattering across the floor, as Courtney chewed on her palm before spitting out the now extracted splinter. 

            “Yeah… so that just happened.”  Angela gave Courtney a look that said ‘I’m afraid to ask.’

            “Sorry, what?” Courtney pressed her palm into her leg to stanch the blood flow.

            “I was thinking that we should take this project one step farther.”  Kayla lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

            Courtney followed her gaze and instantly knew what her friend was thinking.  “I’m not sure how your mom would feel about that.”

            “I was kinda thinking we wouldn’t ask.”

            “If you give a mouse a cookie,” Sam muttered. 

            Kayla laid out her thoughts for the group.  The plan was simple enough; a little misdirection and a few stall tactics just so they could get to the point of no return.  Kayla didn’t really think her mom would have an issue with it but better safe than sorry in such situations.  Sam and Courtney finished tearing out the last few pieces of carpet and under pad.  Then all four of them pitched in to get it all loaded into the back of her truck so it could be taken to the dump.  Angela and Kayla started work on getting all the staples up.  When Kayla got a text saying Sam and Courtney were done at the dump and heading to the store, she had her mom order them all pizza.

 

            “Find everything okay?”  Kayla asked as Sam and Courtney got back.

            “Yeah, pretty brave of you trusting me to pick it out, though.  Oh, and here is your card back.”  Courtney handed back a debit card to Kayla.

            “Eh, you know the basic look I am going for.  I’m sure it’ll be perfect. Now come on, let’s go get washed up. The pizza will be here any minute.”

            Sheryl popped her head in to see how the group was progressing on tear down.  “Wow guys it looks really good in here.  Are you all prepped and ready to start paint then after lunch?” 

            “Yeah should be,” Kayla said.  “Tack strips, carpeting and all the staples have been pulled up.  We’re going to get all the painting done first though before laying down any wood.  No point in risking the new floor just to be getting in one another’s way.” 

            “Was it getting a little warm in here?”  Sheryl asked, pointing at a box fan sitting in the window.

            “No just thought we would have it handy in case the paint fumes get a bit strong.”

            Having presented their progress for inspection and passing with flying colors the girls (and Sam) all headed down to await the arrival of food.  The living room did indeed look a little more put together, but it was clear that Sheryl was far from finished with her project as well. 

            When the pizza arrived they ate standing in the kitchen, which Sam realized was pretty standard protocol for when Kayla had company, unless Sheryl had cooked something.  Talk focused on what still needed to be accomplished and how they were going to go about it, with the obvious omission of Kayla’s recent decision.  Once everyone had eaten their fill, or in Sam’s case well beyond their fill, they decided to get back at it. 

            With Sheryl safely distracted by her own work, Kayla set about leading the party to round up necessary supplies.  They forged a drop cloth, dust masks, eye protection, scrappers and a 6 litre piston spray pump from the garage, as well as some of the left over construction plastic from the Halloween party.  “Here Sam, go fill this in the bathtub.” Kayla handed him the sprayer. “And then meet us back in the room.”

            The door leading into the room had been shrouded in drop plastic by the time Sam got back with the sprayer.  Pushing it aside, he entered.  The girls had already spread out the drop cloth beneath the ceiling and had two step ladders and a chair ready to go in different corners. 

            Angela stapled the construction plastic tight across the door frame after Sam stepped through, while Kayla stepped over to the window and turned the fan around so it would be sucking air out of the room. 

            “Sam do you want to work the sprayer while we scrape?” Kayla asked.

            “Sure no problem.”

            “All right, the objective is to get the popcorn texture on the ceiling good and damp but not so wet that you soak through to the sheet rock beneath.”

            “Got it.”  Sam diligently moved about between the three girls keeping the area just ahead of them wet.  The water helped to make quick work of the ceiling and keep the dust to minimal levels.  Although all were grateful for the eye protection as they were quickly covered in a layer of white.  With all the ceiling texture down, the girls traded their scrapers in for sanding blocks and started on the more laborious task of getting the whole ceiling smooth (at which point all became equally grateful for the dust masks and fan).  Even this didn’t take too long with the group effort.

            “I think we can call it good,” Kayla said stepping off her ladder, pushing the hair her back and pulling off her safety goggles, which left her with red raccoon eyes.

            “Good cause my neck is getting stiff.”  Angela said rubbing at its base with both hands. 

            “Bad news there, we still have to repaint it.  But you’ll get a break while I get the new light installed.  Speaking of which, Sam would you take this drop cloth out to the truck and bring back the new light.  Meanwhile I’m going to go flip the breaker switch so we don’t fry ourselves installing it.”

            Sam did as he was asked and then slumped down against the wall as he watched Kayla and Courtney go through the directions.

            “Come on guys you don’t need those. How difficult can it really be?”  Angela asked.

            “And that’s why you’re not helping install it.”  Courtney said not looking up from the directions.

            Sam’s head fell to his chest, eyes closed, while the girls were still looking over the materials. 

 

            “Well I think he’s done helping for the day.” Angela said throwing a chin in Sam’s direction.

            Courtney and Kayla looked up from the lighting diagram.  “Yeah, he didn’t get much sleep last night and none of it restful.  We’ll leave him be and see if he wakes up on his own.  If not I’ll carry him out of here.”  Then turning to Courtney, “Okay I think I got this all figured out.”

            Sam was indeed still asleep when Kayla and Courtney finished installing the new light fixture.  Kayla scooped him up from where he lay; chin still resting on his chest.  Sam stirred but never really woke up and aside from muttering a few incoherencies offered no protest.  Kayla answered his mumbling with hushed words telling him to stay asleep.

            Angela got the door for them.  “You better hope you’re a light sleeper if you two ever get married.  Because he certainly isn’t going to wake up if someone breaks in,” she said.   

            Sheryl was coming up the stairs to see how they were progressing when Kayla came out carrying Sam.  “Do I even want to know?”  She asked walking up to them.

            “He crashed about 20 minutes ago. I thought we’d just let him sleep since he clearly needs it.”

            “Alright, well take him to my room.  I’ll put an old sheet down on the bed.”  Sheryl grabbed some old linen from the hall closest and then followed her daughter into the master bedroom.  “How did you guys get so filthy by the way?” She asked unfurling the linen above the bed.

            “Um, I sort of called an audible. You should go check it out and let me know what you think.”

            “Absolutely, let’s just get Sam squared away first.” Sheryl helped Kayla ease him down onto the bed.  He let out a few more mutters and then fell silent.  Sheryl quietly pulled the door closed behind them.  She was a more than a little surprised when she stepped into the room.  “And when did all this happen?”

            Angela and Courtney gave sheepish smiles as answers and both were glad to see Kayla step through after her mom.  “I had Courtney pick up a few supplies when she and Sam hauled off the carpet.”

            “The light looks very nice.”  Sheryl flipped the light switch and when nothing happened she raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

            “The breaker’s off.” Kayla answered the unspoken question. “Safety first and all that.”

            “I’m glad to hear it, but might I ask just one more question?  Why didn’t you wait to put the new light in until after you painted the ceiling?”

            “That would’ve been smart,” Kayla conceded.

            “It looks really good girls, keep it up.”  Sheryl said in final approval before exiting.  She paused in the hall long enough to listen for the girls opening up the paint cans, before heading back to her room. 

            Sam was still asleep where Kayla had laid him down.  Sheryl walked over to her closet and retrieved a disposable diaper from a package hidden at the back.  Sam began to stir and wake up as Sheryl pulled his shorts and boxers down.  “Ssshh its okay little one, I’m just putting some protection on you.  Go back to sleep now.”  She encouraged rubbing him lightly on the chest.  She had him securely taped up and dressed in no time, not wanting to chance one of the girls walking in while he was in a compromised position. Not that she thought that was very likely.

 

            It was past 6:30 by the time the girls put down their brushes, having got a first coat done.  They walked into the kitchen speckled in paint and dust from their afternoon’s labor.  “Calling it a night?”  Sheryl asked stirring a big pot of chili on the stove.  She had finished with her cleaning project quite a bit earlier.

            “Yeah, we got the first coat done, figure we’ll do the second tomorrow along with the floor.”  Kayla answered.

            Courtney sniffed at the air, “Whatever your cooking smells really good.” 

            “It’s chili for supper.  I also have fresh bread I just need to pop into the oven about fifteen minutes before y’all want to eat.”

            “We were actually thinking of heading over to the school and doing some work in the batting cages and then showering up over there.”  Kayla said.

            “No problem, I’ll just put it in when you come back.”

            “Cool, we shouldn’t be gone too long.”

 

            Sam awoke shortly after the girls had left.  He followed the smell coming up from the kitchen downstairs expecting to find everyone gathered around the dining table. Instead he found Sheryl in the living room reading a book. 

            “Good nap?” She asked.

            “Indeed.  I’m assuming this was you.”  Sam patted the front of his diaper through his shorts.

            “You assume correct.  Did you need them?”

            “No, but I’m glad you did all the same.  Especially given how dead tired I was.  I don’t even remember you putting them on me.”

            “You’re very welcome.  There is chili in the kitchen.  I can get you a bowl for you now if you’re hungry.  Or you can wait for the girls to get back, they went to the school for a bit.”

            “I’ll wait.  I popped my head into the new room on my way down, it’s looking good.  I feel bad though that I didn’t help more.”

            Sheryl reached up taking Sam’s hand, she pulled him gently down into her lap.  “They understand that you’re going through a lot right now.”

            “Well I think I am going to flake on them tomorrow too.”

            “Oh?”

            “Yeah, I think I am going to go over and see Ms. Easterfield.”

            “I think that would be good.”  Sheryl kissed Sam on the top of his head as she cuddled him to her.