Pre- (Ivy League) School

Chapter 14
3 Months Later

Chapter 14

Sarah realized that three months exactly had passed since Emily was reverted to infancy. Many things had changed since the early days of her 2nd infancy. A lot had changed since then. Firstly, Emily was obviously three months older, making her physically a whopping seven months old now, and has changed a lot since then, similar to any other baby. Her personality was shining through a lot more, before she couldn’t even move her head. Now, she was laughing and babbling to herself, grabbing onto things, and she could be sat up straight. When she was 18, three months would make nothing visibly different about her. Maybe she would cut her hair or change her nail color. Now, three months could me the difference between being stationary and helpless on the carpet, and a laughing little girl.

The media was no longer a constant presence, only occasionally checking in with different survivors and running stories. The focus was largely shifted to harnessing the ability to control human biology so completely. The world’s best scientists were examining the charred wreckage of the ridiculous metal tube that had been left behind, but had yet to make any massive breakthroughs.  Sarah thought it would be better for everyone not to try and reopen pandora’s box, after seeing what happened to her daughter, classmates, and teachers at the school. But there was untold money to be made in theoretical eternal life. Sarah hoped that neither her nor Emily would have to live to see it, but figured that they weren’t that lucky. The thought of this happening to another person, let alone being available to everyone the world over, made her sick.

Over the last few months Sarah and Robert had been brining Emily in to see the some of the very same scientists that were desiring to recreate the technology that regressed her daughter. She was in no position to object though, as this testing was government mandated, free of charge, and would make sure that her daughter was healthy. The government had set up a lab in their town, close to all of the babies. It mainly appeared to be a plain pediatricians office, but they were looking for much more than purely her daughter’s health. They had asked the parents any number of questions about their babies. How many diapers changes they needed a day, how many feedings they were receiving a day, how often they were crying. They measured their weights, heights, growth rates, anything there was to measure. The parents were informed that the sessions were recorded but they were classified, available only to government scientists and officials.

They had spent the last several months living in almost complete seclusion from family, friends, and the outside world. Robert had been going to work and Mason returned to school, but refused to talk about what happened to Emily. Mason had told his mother that he could see people staring at him and talking, a number of kids knowing his sister before and speculating what her life was like now. Only a few other kids at school had siblings turned into babies, but they never talked to each other about it, let alone anyone else. Robert’s coworkers were much more mature, doing the same thing as the 8th graders but much more discreet about it. A few offered condolences here and there and Robert tried to be graceful but did get across the point that he wasn’t looking for that aspect of his personal life to be brought into the workplace.

Sarah’s role as a stay at home mom was seeming less antiquated. Caring for an infant who would be a rambunctious toddler in a few months time, took a massive toll on her the first two times, and she certainly wasn’t middle aged then. Late nights with her formerly Harvard-bound bundle of joy, crying for no discernible reason, and sucking down formula milk from a plain bottle, hoping it would satiate the blue eyed babies needs. Only 16-18 months more of this she thought, humoring herself. The toddler stage will take about 3-4 years to get through she calculated, no longer than a high school or college education. Sarah thought back and those four years in High School and in College seemed like a long time, and could only hope that Emily can grow up fast. A sad thought as a mother, but Emily had already been through it once, and reruns were never as good as premiers.

They had spent a lot of time tearing up Emily’s teenage bedroom and turning it into Emily’s nursery. They were hoping that they could turn it into an office or exercise room over the summer, but its tenant had been forced to renew her 18 year lease. They could have Mason’s room in 5 years at least. Where her bed once sat, was a boxy white crib with pink patterned padding. Replacing the teenage heartthrob posters above her bed, was a mobile with a felt mini-solar system. Her full body mirror and clothes hamper was replaced by a changing table and a diaper genie, along with many diapers. Her pictures of her and her friends were hidden for the time being, before they reached a decision on her to tell her that she used to be a teenager. Also added was a much needed rocking chair, to help the squalling Emily fall asleep, even though she had a clean diaper and was full, as she was won’t to do. One of a few things that they could justify keeping were her stuffed animals. Some were from her first childhood and some she had gotten more recently because she thought they were cute, and it seems like her infant mind had similar tastes to her teenager mind in that regard, as she was always ready to snuggle with these animals that she could once easily carry in one hand, but now were the same size or bigger than her. If a stranger walked in, they likely wouldn’t be able to tell that this was ever anything but a babies nursery. 

In the process of converting the teenager’s safe space to a nursery fit for a royal baby, they had discovered multiple things about their Emily that she had kept well hidden. As they cleaned out the drawers of her nightstand and dressers of her adult possessions, they discovered a few things of note. First, and less shocking, was a round pill holder which Sarah had immediately recognized as birth control. The parents were at first were shocked by the revelation that their daughter was sexually active, but their shock dissipated into relief that she was responsible enough to avoid becoming a teen mother. Emily was previously ardently making sure to avoid producing the very thing she had now become.

The second thing that they found, was a modest supply of Marijuana. This was considerably more shocking, but also not particularly upsetting. Emily used to be an adult and could decide what she did for leisure time on her own, although she wasn’t of legal age then and especially isn’t now. The two parents mutually decided to throw it out, and decided that her punishment would be light mocking, when her big brother wasn’t around. 

“Who’s my little pothead?” Sarah joked in a baby voice to her daughter who obviously had no idea what she was saying, as she put her toes in her mouth and Sarah made eye contact with the cartoon Cookie Monster printed on her diaper.

Technology had advanced since the last time Emily wore diapers. They had baby monitors, and indicators to see when a diaper was wet, but since the modern smartphone parenting had really changed. There was a sock that made sure Emily was safe that they could see just from a glance of their phone. When she was a toddler she loved watching the Wiggles and Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. Sarah thought that they could still show her some of that this time around, but she remembered seeing the kids that Emily would babysit. They had their own tablets that they would take with them, not even potty trained and they could operate complex touchscreen computers. She knew that as much as she wanted Emily to be entertained in a responsible way, that modern technology would create a path of least resistance. Sarah thought that Emily would most certainly end up watching that weird Cocomelon show that the toddlers and kids Emily babysat were obsessed with. 

Based on the amount of free stuff they had received, it outwardly seemed less like Emily had been turned into a baby, and had instead been turned into Taylor Swift or Michael Jordan. Taylor and Micheal were likely receiving less diapers and baby supplies though. Even Harvard sent a red onesie with a white H on it, along with a heartfelt letter. Emily had her acceptance deferred to when she was an adult again, which made Sarah so emotional that she was crying like Emily. Other things would come in the mail, more diapers than Emily could ever use although it did seem like she took it like a challenge. Baby bouncers that she could use right now, and baby jumpers that she could use in a few months. Pacifiers, Teething rings, Pampers, Huggies, even Pull-Ups for the relatively distant future.

The media coverage backing off made their lives slightly easier, but they still avoided bringing her out in public entirely. It wouldn’t be good for her psyche in the future for every person she meets to have seen her wearing Sesame Street pampers and mindlessly sucking on a pacifier. Applying for jobs 20 years from now, googling her name and seeing every stage of her life. They already had those pictures from the hospital and those might as well have been put on billboards.

But that couldn’t last forever, Sarah had come to realize over the months. They’d been hiding from family and friends as well as the media. The whispers had taken their tolls on the family. It was time to come out of hiding. They would try not to embarrass the 18 year old version of Emily, but it seemed like it couldn’t be helped, and that Emily no longer existed to be embarrassed. Sarah and Robert had to be looking out for the Emily 17.5 years from now, not the one 3 months and one day ago. Those scientists would almost certainly have a breakthrough soon-ish and Sarah was certain that once that pandora’s box was re-opened, it would never be closed again, and Emily and her classmates would certainly not be the last ones put into this position. With that, Robert and Sarah decided it was time to re-emerge and could hopefully give Emily a childhood that would enable her to once again grow into a well-adjusted adult woman.