The Dark Influence

Chapter 14
14: It's Not So Bad After All You Guys...

The daycare explained that John simply wasn't ready to be potty trained when Chloe came for him, "We've tried, you've tried, he'll learn when he learns." The receptionist said grimly, handing back the stack of supplies Chloe had left, along with his files.

This would have been a huge problem for Chloe, but she didn't seem to mind to much. As it turns out, reporting your husband dead when he's been regressed to a toddler and then collecting the life insurance gave them enough windfall for Chloe to stay at home for a couple of years, hopefully enough time for John to grow up enough to stop peeing his pants.

Though he missed the kids at the daycare, John started to take to his new life better. He got used to the rhythms of feedings, changes, and naps. His tastes seemed to change as well. When he was a man, he loved shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. But whenever he managed to pull those shows up on the TV (mostly when Chloe was showering and he could sneak over to the remote,) they didn’t do it for him anymore. He couldn’t understand what some of the adults were saying. Bluey and Cocomelon though, those were bangers. And of course he made Chloe play The Lion King for him over and over until she would leave the room when "I Just Can't Wait to be King" would start playing.

Chloe had brought toys and books into the house finally, which he enjoyed. Legos were his favorite. She also had toned down on the filming like he asked. Now it was mostly skits where she pretended to be him, with titles like “Things My 2-year-old Actually Said” or “TFW Your Two-Year-Old Wakes Up Before You’ve Had Coffee”, which was mostly fine by him.

In fact, he had grown fond of Chloe in a different way than before. Seeing her face more than the camera made him smile whenever he saw her. She was his mommy, and he loved her.

The cyclops was gone, replaced by his mommy’s face with those beautiful, red curls.