The Diaper Bag

Chapter 5
Part 4

The door to Lynn’s room opened with nary a creek.  Fresh off her late shift at the hospital, Laura Gilligan peeked in, ready to tell her daughter to go to bed.  Turns out she needn’t bothered; poor thing was already passed out.   

Her little girl must’ve been tired:  She’d passed out on top of her covers with the lights on.  Lynn hadn’t even managed to put any kind of pajamas on, instead she lay spread eagle in the bed, still in her…

In her…?

Her flower t-shirt?

Her frilly ankle socks and sneakers?

Her diaper?

Laura opened her mouth to scream; to holler; to ask what the fuck was going on here.  Then she blinked.  She blinked and shook her head. Lynn had probably been so busy playing that she’d just passed out.  That and she probably hadn’t figured out how to take her shoes off.  Velcro or no, those things went on tight.  Good thing Lynn hadn’t, too; when little ones figured out how to take their diapers off, it was a new kind of havoc to deal with.  At least she hadn’t rolled out of bed again.

With tired, yet practiced ease, Laura slipped her daughter’s shoes off; placing them gently on the floor so as not to wake her little girl.  Gently, she checked Lynn’s diaper.  The girl was wet, but not in any danger of leaking.  No hint of brown or smell of anything too nasty.

That decided it.  No point in changing the girl.  Lynn didn’t sleep through diaper changes these days, and putting her in proper pajamas would just disturb her sleep even more.  Besides, Laura was plenty tired too.  Why put the baby to bed a second time?

As if Lynn were one of her patients she rolled the sleeping girl gently over to one side so she could peel back the covers.  Just in case she gave her daughter one last check. Yup.  That diaper would definitely make it through the night. Then she rolled her daughter over and tucked her in; all snug as a bug in a rug.

“Oops,” Laura whispered when she noticed the pink binky laying by Lynn’s head.  Skillfully, she took the pacifier and brushed it lightly against the girl’s cheek.  Lynn turned her head accepted the paci in her mouth as naturally as if she were latching onto her mother’s teat.  A contented hum, almost like purring came out of her while she suckled anew.  

With a final kiss on the forehead, Laura turned out the lights, closed the door behind her, and retired to her own room, mentally counting down the hours until dawn.  Thank whoever invented blackout curtains.