The Dandelion Promise

Chapter 2
Chapter 2

“Cheers!”

Wine glasses clinked, and Dave quaffed his drink with a single gulp. The vintage was unfamiliar, but it paired perfectly with the steak.

“It was way easier than I expected.” he boasted. “Tim is such a chump. It didn’t take me long to wrap him around my little finger.”

“Tim has a heart of gold.” Amy replied in a quiet voice.

“What? Do you still prefer him over me?” Dave’s face flushed, his hands clenching into fists.

Amy ignored him and continued slicing her steak. Dave opened his mouth, but before he could get the words out, his body was rocked by a violent convulsion. A blazing heat shot thru his chest, rippling out thru his arms to the tips of his fingers and down his legs and to the tips of his toes. Amy chuckled as he began to shrink into his clothes.

“Dave, I was so sad when my doctor told me I could never have children of my own. My husband and I decided to adopt, but I didn’t want to pick any random kid, since I had no clue about how he or she would turn out. When I first set my eyes on the two of you, I knew at once that you were the boys I wanted to raise. You’re both sweet, intelligent, and good looking, exactly what I was looking for.”

A feeling of sheer terror and hopelessness washed over Dave. His Brillo-pad beard thinned, receded and then vanished completely. The flaying heat closed in on him like a vise, his broad farmhand shoulders and crop-rows of abdominals melting away like hot butter, leaving him a scrawny, powerless string bean. He slid off the chair, his pants falling down around his knees, taking his underwear with them. Light red spots blossomed on his cheeks.

“You… you veech!” his voice cracked into a boyish tone, stripped of its former baritone resonance. His shirt billowed and became so large that it slipped off his body like a collapsing tent, leaving him pink and vulnerable.

“Me? A witch? I guess you could say that.” she let out a throaty laugh. “But I couldn’t have succeeded without your help. The two of you were so close that I could not pick you off one at a time without the other raising the alarm. Then you surprised me by how ready you were to turn on your friend, someone who trusted you and would have done almost anything for you. You didn’t so much as hesitate to reduce him into a helpless, thumb-sucking four-year-old for your own benefit. Clearly, I will need to pay extra attention to your character building the next time round.”

She reached into her tote bag and pulled out a pair of training pants.

“There’s no way I’m wearing that!” Dave tried to say, but instead the words "Me no wanna diapoo!" escaped from his mouth, much to his horror.

“Oh don’t worry, these are for Tim, just in case. Though I do not expect he will need them.” she said as she reached into her bag again. “Now these are for you.” She pulled out a tetra pack of diapers, adorned with a cartoon Tigger grinning with arms outstretched.

Right on cue, Dave’s pudgy legs buckled and he plopped down onto his bum like a collapsible tin camp cup. Struggling to stand, he squirmed and wiggled impotently atop his puddle of old clothes, staring up at Amy’s now enormous lavender heeled pumps.

“Nonono! Pweese,” he begged. “me….no...bah…bee” He blubbered and sobbed as his mind began to fog over, before finally screwing up his nutlike face and letting out a shrill and forlorn wail.

A door creaked open and there was the light patter of footsteps.

“Mommy, what is that noise?” Tim said, rubbing his bleary eyes.

“I’m sorry, darling. Your little brother is being fussy.”

Tim leaned over the bawling baby, who immediately stopped crying and stared up at the boy with his huge brown headlights. Reaching out his tiny hand, he seized hold of Tim’s finger, gurgling and babbling, as if seeking a salve for the fear burning inside of him.

“Aww… he is so cute.” Tim cooed as he stroked and tickled the baby’s plump body. Relief poured over Dave’s face, and he broke out into fits of giggles.

“Good job, Timmy.” Amy said as she raised up Dave’s chubby legs, slipped a diaper under his waist, and secured it snugly around his tummy. The baby spazzed and flailed, kicking his legs, pin-wheeling his arms, snorfled, and started to drool.

“I gonna take good care of him.” Tim announced as he turned towards Amy, radiating warmth and sunshine. Caught off-guard, she stood, stunned, for a moment, the boy’s angelic smile illuminating places in her heart she didn’t even know existed. Finally, she lowered herself to his eye level and wrapped her arms around him.

“Yes, Timmy, my dear. I know that you will.”