From College To Cradle - New Life As A Toddler

Chapter 8
Chapter 8 (Saturday Secrets & Brotherly Bonds)

Chapter Description: Chapter 8: After a change in between episodes of Avatar The Last Airbender, I'm pondering with Brian what we can do today. I love Brian and I'm happy that we can be together as brothers…even if I'm a toddler. There's a secret I have though…I wonder how Brian will take it.

Date: Saturday 04-Dec-21 08:21 (Saturday, December 4, 2021, 8:21 AM)

Location: Brian’s Residence, Skyward Villas Apartments, Kirkwood, Missouri, United States of America

   I smile toward Brian as I march in place in front of him allowing my purple long sleeve T-shirt to flutter as it hovers above my belly button, “Thankies for the change, Brian.” I poke Brian’s belly while the crinkly waistband of my fresh Pampers peek around my blue jeans and I wiggle my toes, “Whatcha wanna do today?”

   Brian rubs his chin as he glances down to his blue jeans and bare feet. He wiggles his toes and tugs on his dark green sweater, “I dunno.” Brian heads to the bathroom to wash his hands. When he returns to the living room moments later, he kneels and boops my nose, “What ideas do you have?”

   I dart my eyes around the living room and scan the TV that’s streaming Avatar The Last Airbender Book 3, Episode 2. “Well, I was watching Avatar The Last Airbender, but…last Saturday I spent all weekend watching cartoons and we never left the apartment.”

   Brian chuckles as he slides the changing mat and supplies under the couch and turns to find me turning off the TV, “That’s because a certain tot didn’t want to go anywhere the week of Thanksgiving.”

   I pick up my phone and activate my Favorites playlist with OneRepublic’s Forgot About You, “That’s only cause…” I bob my head side to side with the music as I sit down on the couch, “I was adjusting to this new world. I…I was kinda scared to go anywhere.” I sniff and tears swim in my eyes, “I…I wasn’t sure about…about…”

   I sniff and shake my head before training my slightly teary eyes on Brian, “I’m better now though.” I smile at Brian as he sits down beside me, “I’m glad I have my big brother Brian watching over me in this parallel world.”

   Brian ruffles my hair, “I wouldn’t object to taking care of my best friend turned adorable little brother.” and pulls me onto his lap. He smiles down at me when I train my eyes on him and he kisses my forehead, “You’re a cute little toddler, and I love you even more than before. We were brothers as adults, and it seems that now that you’re a toddler with me as your caretaker, you get to be an adorable little brother in a world where everything is safe and normal.”

   I rest my head on Brian’s chest and smile as Pentatonix’s Easy Love begins echoing around the room, “I used to be emotional, but ups and downs would make you weary right now…Never let me breathe a little…” My words fade as I let the music console my soul, “I really love Pentatonix.”

   Brian nods as he sets me on his knee and bounces me slowly to the rhythm of the music, “I like them too.”

   I giggle as I slowly bounce up and down to the music and a smile sneaks onto my face. What would Brian say if I told him the real reason that I created this parallel world and ended up at his doorstep this past Thanksgiving. Would he think I’m weird for wanting to be his little brother and wanting the only person that ever cared for me in this world to be my big brother and deal with all my toddler issues. I just wanted to be a toddler and cared for and…and…

   A subtle whimper leaves my lips as Brian stops bouncing me. Tears swim in my eyes as I ponder the thought, oblivious to my shoulders shaking and silent tears inching down my face.

   Brian opens his eyes when he feels light shaking in his lap, “Stacey…” He taps my shoulder and raises an eyebrow when I shrug off his tap. He sets me on my feet and kneels beside me, “What’s the matter, Stacey?” When he turns me to face him, and his heart nearly breaks at my silent tears, “Why are you crying, Little Bro?”

   I hiccup and wipe my tears with my arm despite them still inching down my face, “I…I just…I just wanted a world where…where we could…where I could be…I always wanted to be a toddler, to be forget…to forget adulthood, but…no matter what world I created, I always came back to you cause…cause…” I sniff and whimper as I bow my head.

   “Cause what, Stacey?” Brian ruffles my hair, “You can tell me. You’re already a toddler and I’m caring for you. What do you mean?”

   I hiccup as I train my teary eyes on Brian, “I created my story world mirrored from this one, but…I was never satisfied…I realized that…that…I always wanted a big brother instead of a big sister. A genuine big brother, not a person I created myself. I loved Amada but…but…”

   I hiccup again as fresh tears stream down my face, “But I wanted you. I didn’t wanna bring you to a world I created, so…so I found a childhood revival site that used the Hadron Collider to create a parallel world of the real world. I just…I just wanted to be your little brother and be cared for like an adorable toddler. I wanted to be a kid again and never had any worries. But…but I didn’t want to ruin your life, I didn’t want to force you into a fake world.”

   Brian blinks twice as he watches my breakdown and pulls me into a warm hug whilst rubbing my back, “Oh Stacey…you didn’t ruin my life. Everything in this parallel world is the same as the world before, albeit without all the chaos and worry of other nations. I don’t hear much on the news anymore. I stopped watching it a long time ago. But…you said…”

   Brian brings me out of the hug and wipes my eyes with his gentle thumb, “You created a parallel world to our own?”

   “With the help of that website, yes.” I sniff and whimper as my eyes fall to the hardwood floor while I backpedal from Brian, “This world is parallel to ours; it exists on its own timeline. The only difference is the change made when I inserted my toddler self into it. The world changed a little match my toddler self perfectly.”

   I train my teary eyes on Brian and sniff, “I have you, my brother. You’re the only one in this world that ever truly cared about me. The only one that made time for me.” I sniff and tears inch down my face, “No one else…no one really cared. They…they said they did but if they saw me right now, they’d abandon me.”

   Brian ruffles my hair, “So let me get this straight, you created your story world, lived there for a while, and then you decide to abandon your story world to live as a toddler in this parallel world with me?”

   I nod, “Uh huh. This world didn’t change much since I entered as my toddler self via that website, and my local pediatrician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital just sees me as a normal healthy four-year-old diaper-clad toddler who has an underdeveloped bladder.”

   I giggle and rub the back of my head, “That’s the only thing he sees. If he were an astrophysicist or metaphysicist that specialized in research of the soul, he’d see that I sealed away a power that the rich and powerful would want. But…but I gave up all that…I…I just wanna be a toddler and…and be loved and cared for by you.”

   ……

Date: Saturday 04-Dec-21 08:31 (Saturday, December 4, 2021, 8:31 AM)

Location: Brian’s Residence, Skyward Villas Apartments, Kirkwood, Missouri, United States of America

   I hiccup and sniff as I wipe my eyes and hissing echoes around me, “This parallel world is just a different way that things could have gone…heh…if I discovered an actual fountain of youth and never aged again no matter what. But…but…that’s how all this happened, and it didn’t seem off at all. Except for maybe you first seeing me as a toddler of course.” I sniff as I train my teary eyes on Brian while the hissing dies down, “Are you mad at me?”

   Brian blinks three times as he tries to wrap his head around everything that I’ve just told him, “Wait so…you’re a toddler that much I get. I was confused about that at first and I rolled with it, but this is the real world. How…how exactly were you able to maintain this toddler form and everything again?”

   Brian shakes his head and smiles at me, “Forget all that. I can’t think too hard on it, I’ll get a headache. No, I’m not mad. I have my family, my friends, my job, and most importantly…” Brian boops my nose and smiles when my giggles reach his ears, “I have an adorable baby brother. I love you, Stacey. I’ll never be mad at you. My life didn’t really change and the only thing that really changed was how old and tall my best friend is.”

   Brian lifts me into his lap and lifts my T-shirt, “And you know what?”

   I raise my eyes to Brian as he inches close to my tummy, “What?”

   Brian raspberries my belly, “I love you regardless.”

   I giggle and kick my legs as the raspberry’s tickling energy surges through my tiny body, “BRIAN!”

   Brian smiles as he raspberries my belly again while adjusting me so I can lie on my back across his lap, “Yes, Little Brother?”

   I smile toward Brian and kick my legs while he raspberries my belly again, “Hee…I’m hungry. And…and…” Brian raspberries my belly again, “EEEEEEEEEEEE! I love you, Brian. Glad…” Brian raspberries my belly again, “HA! HA! HA! HAAAAAAAA! I’m glad you’re my big brother.”

……

Date: Saturday 04-Dec-21 09:42 (Saturday, December 4, 2021, 9:42 AM)

Location: Brian’s Residence, Skyward Villas Apartments, Kirkwood, Missouri, United States of America

   Brian exhales as his breathing returns to normal while I sit up in his lap with a big smile, “So basically my life was changed so slightly that I didn’t realize it and couldn’t feel the change. Like when Denis and I were building your room in my apartment. Or…or when I woke up in my new apartment one day and just went to work. It was all so seamless.”

   I stand in Brian’s lap and boop his nose, “That’s how smooth parallel worlds can diverge. I never really understood it either.” I wobble when I step forward and smile when Brian’s strong hands steady me in his lap. I giggle and smile at Brian, “Your life and the lives of your family and friends had the smoothest change possible while I just appeared at your doorstep.”

   I turn my head to the right and sneeze. I sniff and wipe my nose with my right hand. Seconds later I find myself being held at arm’s length while the living room is quickly zooming by, “Brian? Where are we going?”

   Brian scoffs as he carries me to my bedroom and stands me atop my changing table, “Cleaning your snot covered hand, Silly. I don’t need you getting sick.”

   I giggle as I watch Brian grab a Pampers Complete Baby wipe and clean my hand, “Brian?” I squirm as he cleans my hand and hissing echoes around me, “Um…you’re not mad at me?”

   Brian tosses the baby wipe into my diaper pail and pulls me into a warm hug whilst patting my bottom, “Of course not.” He smiles when I rest my head over his shoulder and he alternates between patting my bottom and rubbing my back as he slowly walks out of my bedroom and across the apartment, “How could I be mad?”

   Brian stops in front of the couch and sets me on my feet. He kneels and boops my nose, “Boop. I have an awesome job. I have an adorable little brother whose smile brightens my every morning. I can help customers when I do go into work, and I can take you with me so you won’t be alone.”

   Brian smiles as he ruffles my hair, “You made my life better and less hectic when you made this parallel world. Me getting to care for my friend as an adorable little toddler is a nice little job. I took a while to adjust to it, but…” Brian pulls me into a warm hug and subtly checks my diaper while patting my bottom, “I wouldn’t wish for a better life. Thank you, Stacey.”

   I smile as happy tears swim in my eyes, “Hee…I’m glad you’re not mad at me, Brian. I’m so happy. Living in a world where my bestest and most trusted friend that’s also my big brother and caretaker who loves me no matter what is the bestest thing ever!” I giggle when Brian releases me from the hug with a loving pat on my padded bottom, “I love you lots, Brian. Let’s watch more TV.”

   Brian sits down on the couch with the remote and turns on Nickelodeon, “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday.”

   “YAY!” I waddle-run toward the kitchen to grab a baby bottle of lemonade and waddle back into the living room. I set the bottle down to the right of my brother and crawl into his lap. I drive the bottle toward my lips and smile toward Brian as Rugrats begins to play, “Yay! This the bestest Saturday ever!”

   Brian nods as he watches Tommy and his friends go on an Egypt themed adventure, “I agree.”

   I jump off the couch, “Darn it! I wanted to go somewhere.” and waddle-run toward the balcony door. I sigh and giggle as the neighborhood slowly passes me by, “Nah…I don’t feel like it.” I waddle back over to the couch and giggle as I crawl back into Brian’s lap, “I wanted to go somewhere but I don’t feel like it. You ever get like that, Brian?”

   Brian chuckles as he watches Tommy and his friends as the episode progresses, “It happens sometimes.”

   I smile toward Brian and giggle when he ruffles my hair. Brian is the bestest friend and big brother I could have ever asked for. I’m glad he accepts this new world and I’m glad that I can enjoy this parallel world as a toddler with my best friend of ten years watching out for me. This is the best idea I ever had. No more worries, just happiness and carefree toddler life with my brother Brian watching over me.