In-Between (Diaper Dimension)

Chapter 54
Birdies

I HAD BEEN curious what would happen when Addy came to pick me up. If she had been in on the plot to shrink me, I figured that there would have been some shock at my still being my size. Instead, she didn’t display any knowledge of what had happened as she picked me up that day. Somewhat suspiciously to me, they didn’t try and tell her that I’d had a ‘traumatic’ day or anything either…

Out in the car she buckled me in, and unless she was a very good actress, seemingly didn’t have a clue about my day!

After dinner I asked, “Mommy, can we go swimming?”

She gave me a surprised look, but said, “Sure Princess! Let’s go get dressed.”

We floated in the open part of the pool for a bit before making our way to the waterfall nook again.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Besides everything?” I glared at her. “Do you know what happened to me today at that daycare?”

“Something happened? They didn’t tell me something happened?!?”

She seemed genuinely clueless at that point. I wasn’t about to tell her about my immunity to hypnosis, so I skipped that part and only spoke about the playground, “A Little tried attacking me out on the playground with an autoinjector…” I filled her in and watched her face turn ashen first, and then red with anger as I told the story. “So, if I’d been injected…”

“You’d be nothing but a tiny fake infant…”

I nodded.

“I can’t believe they didn’t tell me about this!!!!” She practically screamed, “Do you think my mother was responsible?”

I shrugged, “Seems like the most likely suspect to me, but he didn’t say who the ‘she’ was.”

“Well… no way in Hell you’re going back there before next week! I love having you in my life again, but I do not want you turned into some mindless baby!!!”

That earned a hug from me, and the two of us soon had to pretend life was sort of normal. She did call the daycare and chewed out Doctor Chester loudly in front of me. The notification that she was fired was included in that call! The incident freaked her out enough that she decided to skip the meetings her mom wanted her at that next week leading to the hearing. Her mom had been pissed, but she had instead spent the time with me at home, shopping, and even a trip to the movies one day to see a regular film. She’d dressed me a little more mature again for that outing so no one would think I was being babied unless they saw the diaper underneath the skirt of the dress that I was wearing. Instead of being seen as an overly large baby that day, I had just looked like a very flat chested Mid – not a completely uncommon sight.

Even though I was feeling absolutely embarrassed at being babied, hating the diapers, and hating the Little treatment in general; I did have to admit that it was nice to have a human connection again. Being with Addy like this wasn’t the same, but she wasn’t actively trying to make my life miserable. If she didn’t need to do something like breastfeed me to appease her mother, she wasn’t doing it. The worst times were when Mindy was around since she expected me to be breastfed after every meal and before naptimes… She was very insistent about making sure that Addy was being a good mommy! We got around that some by getting out of the house during the day and going other places instead of hanging out at home.

Finally, the day of my Maturosis Appeal was upon us, and to my surprise apparently her mother had suggested through her attorney that she should dress me in a suit and tie like I normally wore for court. I figured she had a nefarious plan when she insisted to Addy that I should also be dressed in my normal style of underwear as well.

It was the first time I had been out of a diaper in two weeks, and I did feel a little bit of apprehension that I might have lost some of my muscle toning already. I’d had clients and friends before that had suddenly been put back in real underwear, just to fail so their parents could justify the diapers… I made sure to use the bathroom before I met with David and Kendra for our pre-trial session! We had discussed motions and the presentation of the case for a few hours before another bathroom break, and then heading into the courtroom. I couldn’t help but note that while I felt much more confident and normal, my clothes were definitely stiffer and not as soft as those I’d been wearing the past weeks.

“Ready for this?” Kendra asked me as we sat down at the bench.

I shrugged, “As ready as I’ll ever be. It’s like dealing with a death penalty case… problem is it’s my death that would be happening…” I said morosely to her.

She squeezed my shoulder just as the judge walked in.

“All Rise!” I heard as Judge O’Connor walked in, “Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye, The Court of Appeals for the 6^th Circuit Court is now open according to law. The Honorable Justice Robert O’Connor presiding.”

“You may be seated,” he told everyone.

The bailiff stood and said, “The first case on today’s docket is Case number 61584903 Sylvester, Benson and Stein, and Harlan Law School vs. State of Ames, SafeFoods, and Harris.”

“We began this case two weeks ago on an appeal of the ruling of Maturosis of Mr. Sylvester, who I see is dressed more appropriately to his past status? Mrs. Stein I believe we had said we had to abide by the mother’s wishes on clothing?”

“Miss Harris dressed our client like this today, Your Honor. It’s a kind gesture that we do appreciate.”

“Fair enough. Keep in mind that should any accidents happen outside of protective undergarments; it would be a severe strike against your clients Maturosis status?”

“Duly noted, Your Honor,” She replied.

“Today we have a representative from SafeFoods, who is also being contracted by Little Protective Services, supporting the ruling of Maturosis. I will allow for a fifteen-minute opening statement, consider the witnesses that have been requested, and then we’ll take a recess for lunch before continuing with arguments through this afternoon. Keep in mind everything about this case is highly unusual in my opinion, and I will not tolerate shenanigans.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” all of the lawyers responded.

“Very well, Mr. Johnson?”

I sat quietly as he began his opening argument supporting the motion that I was in need of extra care. In addition to reading the court reporter’s transcript to demonstrate that I was rude in court, he also showed a picture of the dirty wipe that had been pulled from my butt when Aubry was diapering me. He proceeded to then show a video of the ‘fight’ from the daycare a bit over a week ago. The odd thing to me was that it didn’t even seem to be nanny cam footage, more like someone was standing at the edge of the playground and recording. It was cut in such a way to put me in a negative light like I had instigated everything. More footage was shown of my two blowouts I had experienced, as well as an embarrassingly accurate pink princess themed star chart with the number of wet and messy diapers I’d gone through each day.

I was sure that it was more embarrassing watching it in my suit than it would have been in a frilly dress with a wet diaper underneath!

Thankfully their time was up for that phase and Doctor Chester and Miss Crystal then both testified that I was a ‘needy’ individual who clearly fit in better with the students of their daycare than I would in a courtroom. Miss Crystal in particular spent time talking about my blowout while I was sleeping, and that clearly, I was in need of diapers and care. She actually looked at me with concern since I was sitting there without one on.

“Doctor Nancy Dannigan,” was called to the stand next. I found it quite interesting that the daycare workers were their lead witnesses. Not surprised, but definitely interesting. Aubry Harris was showing too many of her cards in my opinion.

She was sworn in, and the questioning began. “Doctor Dannigan, please tell us about your background?”

“I hold a PhD in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis on Little Psychology. I have been practicing for three years now.”

“Your thesis work was based specifically on diagnosing Maturosis and aiding afflicted individuals with transitioning healthily to their new lives, correct?”

“Yes, I began my work during my master’s program at Emerson where I was a Residential Assistant for one of the Littles dorms. I discovered I had a passion for the field and was fortunate that Emerson had such an amazing psychology program.”

“Indeed, it does!” Henry said smugly. “We need to keep this brief for the time of the court, so I want to first ask you what characteristics you typically see in a patient with Maturosis?”

“Certainly! There are traditional symptoms that most people tend to focus on with potty issues. One of the earliest symptoms of Maturosis is an individual having accidents in their sleep, daytime accidents, or even in some cases choosing to use their pants instead of asking to use the potty. Most people tend to dwell on that one alone, but there are other symptoms that we look for as well including anxiety, depression, and difficulty controlling outbursts of emotion.”

“Thank you for that succinct description. As an expert in your field, do you believe Mids can have cases of Maturosis as well as Littles?”

“Certainly! It’s almost as common with them really as with Littles, but we see more of a stigma of treatment for those individuals because they’re taller. I even know of a few rare cases of Bigs being diagnosed with this disorder as well.”

“You have had a chance to meet and observe Camille Harris, also known as Cameron Sylvester, correct?”

“Yes, I was able to observe Cammie for several hours remotely, and met with her twice for therapy at the daycare she was enrolled in by her mommy.”

“Does she demonstrate the symptoms?”

I felt my face grow red as she nodded, “Most certainly! Pretty much every symptom has been observable in Cammie’s case. It started with her outburst towards Judge Taney. Soon after that she was using diapers without ever asking for a chance to use the potty at the daycare.”

‘This is going to be tough to get past…’ I worried. A hand touched my shoulder reassuringly, and I realized Kendra probably planned for this testimony. I listened to her going on for the next ten minutes about all of the times I presented symptoms in her presence, as well as an overview of my probably legitimate problems.

“In total I believe that Cammie’s early loss of her mother, recent orphaning with the deaths of all of her close relatives, and failed engagement to a Little who also clearly suffers from a more severe case of Maturosis, led to his developing a chronic case of his own.”

“Thank you Doctor,” Henry Johnson said as he concluded questioning.

“Do you have any questions for Doctor Dannigan, Mr. Benson? Mrs. Stein?”

“Not at this time, Your Honor,” David said to my surprise, “We do wish to reserve the right to recall her at a later time though.”

“Of course. Mr. Johnson, you have one remaining witness you’ve requested?”

“Yes, Your Honor, we would like to call Cameron Sylvester to the stand.”

“Your Honor?” David said then.

“This is a perfectly reasonable witness to call,” Johnson argued.

“Objection! We have concerns that this violates Mr. Sylvester’s rights, Your Honor,” Kendra said beside me.

“Your client may invoke his right to remain silent of course,” Judge O’Connor said, “But he loses a valuable opportunity I believe to tell his side?”

Kendra looked at me and I shrugged, “Withdrawn,” she said.

I stood up and was sworn in before being questioned. ‘It’d be nice to have a recess here soon… I really could use a bathroom,’ I thought as the questions began.

“Your name?”

“Cameron Sylvester,” I told Henry, curious to see where he was going to go with things.

“Chronological age?”

“I’m twenty-eight years old,” I responded.

“Former profession?”

“Well, my current profession is a lawyer.”

“You realize that a diagnosis of Maturosis disqualifies you from the bar association?”

“Only if it’s upheld,” I smiled.

“And just why wouldn’t it be? Clearly the past few weeks you have behaved as a healthy baby girl?”

“It shouldn’t be upheld due to the clear criminal misconduct that was involved in getting that diagnosis. And don’t take my compliance with the treatment as a sign I need it, I was simply not fighting it because it would have been more cause to continue labeling me with Maturosis, wouldn’t it? The daycare room I was placed in didn’t even have a potty to have as an option to use if I’d asked.”

“Your Honor, the witness is being combative?”

“You were the one who called him, Mr. Johnson, and you did ask the question. Move on.”

I looked at Henry’s facial expression and could tell he was annoyed. Clearly, he hadn’t expected to have to put up with me.

“Since you have been diagnosed with Maturosis you have had an accident in your sleep, correct?”

“I wouldn’t fully label it as an accident. I was poisoned by one of the daycare workers – something that resulted in that worker nearly being terminated.”

He scowled, “You pooped so bad in your sleep that it went out of the diaper, a blowout, correct?”

“Between the laxative she fed me with a sleeping agent, and the breastmilk in the bottle, I was unconscious as my body processed that, yes.”

“Is that the sign of a mature adult?”

“I don’t know of many adults who have been forced to take that? Maybe you could undergo the same treatment to determine how a mature adult would show that?”

“Mr. Sylvester,” the judge said, “You are being borderline combative now.”

“My apologies, Your Honor, I was merely making a suggestion for an experiment since Mr. Johnson is clearly known as an adult?”

I looked up at the judge and saw a twitch of a smile that he tamped down.

“Clearly,” he said, “Mr. Johnson, move on?”

“Mr. Sylvester, is it true that you were engaged to Elizabeth Fehler?”

I stiffened, but nodded, “Yes, I was engaged to her until she was irreparably damaged by a client of yours through an unethical testing scam.”

“Your Honor?”

“My apologies,” I said. “Yes, I was engaged to her.” I squirmed a bit, thinking I really could use a bathroom soon. ‘Has my control gone that quickly?’ I wondered.

“Is Ms. Fehler a fellow Mid?”

“No, she’s considered a Little by two inches.”

“A Little currently treated as an infant, and previously given a Maturosis ruling here in Ames?”

“She is…”

He interrupted, “And one whom you have had intercourse with?”

“She was emanc…”

“You know having sex with a minor is illegal, correct?”

“She was emanci…”

“Your Honor, Mr. Sylvester is admitting guilt here. I request the ruling of Maturosis be reinstated fully?”

“Hold your horses Mr. Johnson! Mr. Sylvester, care to explain without his interruptions?”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said, hoping I could get out of this without admitting to our first time. “I grew up with Beth living a few houses down from me. She went to college with me at Emerson and I never ever had considered dating her because of my own fear of being seen as a Little. During our first weeks of college, she ended up offering herself up to Student Services instead of demeriting out. Sadly I only realized when she had done that that I had secretly loved her all of those years. As you mention she became a minor, and was sentenced to significant modifications in order to return home with her dad instead of the random rich woman who paid the university for her. Years later when the restrictions lifted, her dad helped her to grow back up, and we spoke here in Ames frequently. While I went to law school her dad moved with her to New Albany and helped her earn a degree from a community college, and the State of New Albany granted her emancipation. She came to visit me, surprising me with that document, and then I asked the love of my life to marry me.”

“I heard a little birdie said you did have sex with her though?”

I saw him smirk, and Aubry Harris who was sitting in the courtroom now also smirked.

I could just hear the voice, ‘I heard a little birdie went poopy! Be a good little Birdie and go poopy!’

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Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think about the past few chapters! Many thanks to NxK for doing so regularly! :-)