Picnic

Chapter 1
Leaks and otters

Chapter Description: Tommy and Daddy head to the picnic spot, and Tommy goes exploring.

"Arrre weeee theeeeere yet Daaaaddiiiiieeeee?" I ask with a giggle. Daddy looks at me via the rear view mirror so all I can see of his face is his eyes.

"Nearly little man" he says. I smile and cuddle Bastian, looking out of the window of the car pointing out all the interesting stuff to my teddy. The car slows down and pulls into a nearly empty car park surrounded by trees. Daddy drives to the far corner away from the few others parked up. I finish my sippy cup of juice wide eyed.

"Here we are!" Daddy smiles.

I can’t help myself "yaaaaayyyy!" I cry out excitedly. I’ve been looking forward to coming here ever since Daddy told me about his plan, this morning. I try to undo the seat belt but the mitts I’ve been put in stop me. I just cuddle my teddy instead and wait for Daddy to let me out. It’s funny how little I’m feeling. After the hard week at work, and the “accident” last night I’ve regressed completely. No big people problems for me!

Daddy opens the car door (it’s child locked of course) and reaches over me, undoing the seat belt. Released, I jump out and run about in the fresh warm air, kicking up the gravel in the car park and generally being silly. The scent of the forest is amazing, thick earthy smells, giving me extra energy. I love the forest and nature, and I’m raring to go exploring.

“Tommy!” Daddy calls “come here!” I run back quickly to car, stopping with a slide on the loose stones with a big grin.

“Calm down little man” he says, smiling at my antics. “You don’t want to fall over and hurt yourself do you?”

“Nuh, I won’t fall!”

“Ok, but before you go running off I need to check your nappy little man”

“Buh buh I’m still dry!” I protest.

“Well it won’t be a problem to check then will it?” He says. His cold hard logic winning out. I huff and cross my arms, my bear crushed between them and my chest.

“Ok then” I give in. Daddy kneels, and unbuttons my grey shorts before pulling them down. I stand there in my baby blue t-shirt with a rocket ship on it, shorts around my knees and skater shoes with batman socks. Daddy prods the front of my Crinklz.

“Hmmm this doesn’t look so dry to me little man” he says. I look down at my nappy and blush.

“Is only a little wet” I argue, I shuffle round and show him my butt “see!”

“You said you were dry!” He reminds me. “But I think it will last until we get where we’re going.” He then pats my butt, and fastens up my shorts again.

As soon as he stands up and walks to the back of the car I relax and flood my nappy. I didn’t want a change there and then so I held it in. The nappy swells as it soaks up the pee. Daddy opens the boot and starts getting out a picnic basket and my nappy bag. He passes me the nappy bag, an old laptop rucksack with space for a couple of changes, my changing mat and all the stuff to keep a little boy dry and happy. I put it on, struggling a little because of the mitts still on my hands, and then start jumping up and down wanting to go. Daddy puts a picnic blanket under one arm and picks up the basket with the other.

“Ok, ok! We ready? Lets go then” He says. I race off down the path out of the car park and into the forest, giggling. I stop every 20 meters or so to let him catch up but as soon as he does I’m off again. I run past a bewildered elderly couple walking their dog, I shout hello behind me as I speed off, Bastian still clutched between my arm and chest. The sheer fun of running as fast as I can, through the forest is exhilarating, a total abandonment of any sense of shame or embarrassment at what I’m doing, just doing it. Giggling as I go. I suddenly realise Daddy isn’t so close anymore and stop, flopping down in a sunlit patch of grass. I lay looking up at the sky, catching my breath. My bladder is starting to feel full again, after all the juice I drank on the way in the car. Daddy seemed quite insistent on keeping me well hydrated in the warm sun. I lay listening to the quiet sounds of the forest, the buzz of bumblebees laden with pollen, the tweets and songs of birds up in the canopy, my calm gentle breathing. A crunch comes from the path so I sit up, and see Daddy walk around a corner.

“Finally ran out of steam?” He asks.

“Nuh! Waiting for you to catch up slowpoke!” I say with a grin. I get up with a crinkle, not caring that I’m peeking out of the top of my shorts.

“Come hold my hand” Daddy says, offering his hand to me “We’re nearly there and I don’t want you running off again”.

“Aawwww but I wanna run alllll the way!” I say, yet putting my mittened hand in his.

“Plenty of time for running and playing soon little man” Daddy says and leads me off down the path.

We head down the path, me skipping and pulling a little on his hand. After 15 minutes the trees open out into a large clearing with a small river running through. I’m glad to see no one else is in the clearing. We wander over to our usual patch, a nice spot in the shade of a big gnarled oak tree. I put down my change bag as Daddy lays out the large picnic blanket, dropping Bastian on top.

“Daaaaddddyyyy?” I say in my best puppy dog asking cutely voice.

“Yes boo?” He replies looking at me.

“Do I hafta wear these?” I say flapping my mittened hands at him. Daddy smiles and comes over taking my hands.

“I wondered what that old couple was talking about. I guess not, but only if you promise to be a good boy” I nod lots. Daddy undoes the locks quickly and pulls them off my hands.

“And before you go running off” He says, handing me a bottle of water with a sports cap on it “make sure you drink this. We also need to keep the sun off you.” I pout, all this messing about is eating into my exploring time!

“Do I have to Daddy?” I whine

“Well I’d rather have a little boy then a big red lobster on my hands” He says, putting a Lilo & Stitch baseball cap on my head and rubbing some spray suntan lotion into my arms and legs. I hope against hope he won’t notice my swollen nappy through my shorts and he makes no comment. I pull up the top of my bottle with my newly freed hands and gulp down a big slug of water. This reminds me again of my quickly filling bladder, but I still don’t say anything. My excitement is making me squirm where I stand, I’m sure Daddy is taking his time just to make me more squirmy and excitable.

“There we go” He says after an age, “off you go and play, but make sure you stay where I can see you. OK?”

I quickly grab my teddy and run off towards the stream, shouting “I will! THANKS DADDY!!”

I hold Bastian by his paw and slow down as I approach the fast flowing river. I crouch down on the bank looking into the clear cool water for all theotigns of life. At first I see nothing, then suddenly I spot a small fish swimming against the current. I point it out to Bastian chatting away pretending I’m narrating a nature show just for his benefit. Once I see one and know what to look for it becomes easier to spot them all. I try to make out the crayfish I know also live in here, but they are very hard to see in between the plants and rocks. I glimpse one and gasp at the tiny lobster shape, but almost instantly it scuttles behind a rock. I watch the Dragonflies dance above the surface, and the small birds across the stream fluttering about. Totally enthralled by it all I don’t notice one important thing until it’s too late.

The water and my concentration means I start peeing without even realising. By the time I do it’s too late, my saturated nappy has no chance and there’s a black wet spot spreading on the front of my shorts. I quickly stand up but can’t stop going, it starts to run down my legs, the shorts becoming darker and wetter. I look round at Daddy who I can see still sat far away under the tree. He waves when he sees me looking, I wave back but don’t turn hoping he can’t make out the wet patch from over there. I sit down with a squish as the wee cools on my legs. It isn’t too unpleasant in the heat of the day, but I’m not best pleased.

“Oh no” I say holding Bastian and looking him in the eyes. “What are we going to do?” Bastian stares at me blankly.

“You’re right Bastian!” I say with a smile, “keep on exploring!” I get up, and glancing back towards the tree just to make sure Daddy doesn’t know, I waddle along the bank. I try to ignore the squish and wet shorts. As I go about looking for more cool stuff in and around the river.

I stop suddenly, wide eyed at what I can see.

“shhhhhhhh” I whisper at my teddy, pointing gently “look there” swimming lazily in the water near the opposite bank is a pair of otters. They seemed to have noticed me but aren’t too bothered by my presence. They swim gently against the current. I again sit down, this time more carefully and watch them. I don’t know how much time I spend sat watching them play and swim about. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I hear the sound of someone striding across the grass of the meadow towards me. With a start the otters look round, then dive under the water and disappear.

“What you up to little man?” Daddy asks as he stands over me.

“You scared them off!” I say in a shocked voice.

“Scared what off hmm?” He asks. I can’t help noticing that he seems more interested in my shorts then the antics of mother nature.

“There was otters! Swimming and playing!” I say excitedly, “they was brown and there was a big one and a small one and they was just in the water right there!”

“Oh really?” He asks “That’s really cool, I didn’t know we had otters here”

“They was awesome” I proclaim.

“I bet they were little man” he says with a smile, “however what isn’t awesome is the state of your shorts…”

I quickly stand up, and look down. They are even wetter now, I can feel the back of the legs are damp. I must of gone again whilst watching the otters.

“Ooops” I say with an embarrassed smile, “I didn’t know I went again”

“It’s ok, I should have checked you when we got here. All that running about.” He sighs “It’s just I forgot to pack a change of shorts. Come on, we’ll get you cleaned up and have some lunch, how about it champ?”

“Yea!” I say, glad that Daddy isn’t angry at me. I grab his hand and we walk back to the picnic blanket. I’m not sure why he’d bring up not having a change of shorts through…