The Third Wish

Chapter 5
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Tom stood quietly in the corner of the room, facing the wall. He'd been standing in the 'naughty corner' for at least fifteen minutes and he had forcefully protested against the punishment before finally relenting. Evelyn had eventually persuaded him to comply by threatening to use her third wish to make herself social media famous.

But in retrospect he wished he hadn't bothered arguing with her, because being in the naughty corner wasn't really much of a punishment at all. Unlike a real toddler, he was patient and not easily distracted, so fifteen minutes flew by.

He could hear Evelyn and Levi in the bathroom, she was helping him to brush his teeth. Her phone was blaring out a song by Taylor Swift and Evelyn was signing along to it.

"Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit, they said 'babe, you gotta fake it til you make it' and I did," she sang.

Tom was struck by the absurdity of the situation and for a moment he almost laughed out loud. Of all the people in the world who could have found a magic lamp it was Evelyn. She had already squandered her first wish on a million dollars in cash, money which she wouldn't be able to spend because who in their right mind would accept thousands of dollars off of a twelve year old?

She had used her second wish to turn her big brother into a toddler and Tom thought that it would just be a matter of time before she started to regret that.

Although the worst case scenario, that she would use her third wish to do something kooky like erase his memory, still frightened him, he thought that she would regret that too. If his role as the youngest member of the family became permanent then their mom would devote a significant amount of attention to him and Levi. Would Evelyn like that? He didn't think so.

But he had more pressing problems, his need to urinate was growing hot and urgent, he didn't think he would be able to hold it in for much longer.

Once Levi had finished brushing his teeth and was dressed for the day, Evelyn returned to the bedroom and found Tom where she had left him, he was still standing in the 'naughty corner'.

"Have you learned your lesson?" she questioned.

"Yep," he replied, he rolled his eyes but was still facing the wall.

"Do you promise to be a good boy?" she quizzed.

"Sure, I promise," he answered.

"I can't find any more clothes that will fit you, so I guess those PJs will have to do," she said.

Tom turned to face her and shrugged his shoulders, "okay then,".

Having changed out of her nightwear, Evelyn was now wearing a pair of jeans and a pale yellow t-shirt. The sleeves of the shirt were slightly frilled, giving the garment a feminine appearance.

Tom bit his lip and hesitated for a moment, then said "by the way, you do realize you can't spend that money right".

"I can when I'm older, if mom doesn't find it," she countered.

Tom considered explaining the concept of money laundering to her, but he wasn't entirely sure that he fully understood it himself, other than what he had learned by watching TV. But he knew that people couldn't just walk into the bank with a briefcase full of cash and deposit it without any questions being asked. Then it occurred to him that if she learned that her first wish had been fundamentally flawed, that third wish would become all the more valuable to her. So he remained silent.

"Oh and Camila will be here soon, I'm gonna tell her that you're my little cousin, it will make things easier," she said.

"Uh why?" he asked.

"Coz I don't want the whole school finding out about my magic lamp, duh!" she replied.

Evelyn motioned for Tom to follow her and then led him back into the living room. He walked behind her gingerly, feeling that any sudden movement might set off a chain reaction in his body that would make his bladder practically explode.

When Tom arrived in the living room he saw Levi sat in front of the television, his brother was now wearing a pair of jeans and blue t-shirt that was emblazoned with pictures of Star Wars characters.

Levi looked over his shoulder at Evelyn and asked "when are we getting McDonald's?".

"For dinner," she answered, before slumping down onto the couch.

Levi was watching Nickelodeon again, but Tom didn't join him, instead he stood still and quietly weighed up his options.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the front door and Evelyn leapt to her feet to answer it. Tom guessed that it was probably Camila and he wanted to draw as little attention to himself as possible, so he considered sitting down next to Levi and watching TV with him.

Tom stared at the back of the boy's head, but he was paralyzed by indecision. He was worried that any movement, even the act of sitting down, might cause his bladder to give way.

Evelyn opened the front door and greeted Camila, who stepped into the hallway before following Evelyn into the living room. Camila was wearing a white t-shirt that was emblazoned with a pink sequin love heart, her skin was olive and her dark hair was tied back in ponytail.

Camila glanced at Levi, smiled and said "Hi Levi,".

Levi smiled timidly at her and said "hi", before turning his attention back to the TV.

Camila looked at Tom and flashed him a quick smile, before turning to face Evelyn, "who's the baby?" she asked.

Evelyn paused and appeared momentarily flustered, "oh that's my little cousin...I'm babysitting," she replied.

"Awh, he's so cute," Camila said, then she stooped down to talk to Tom and asked "what's your name little guy?".

He hesitated and although he didn't want to talk to her, he wondered whether Evelyn had ever mentioned to Camila that she had an older brother.

"Tom," he replied, sheepishly.

"That's a nice name," she beamed, then she turned to face Evelyn and asked "isn't your big brother called Tom as well?".

"Uh yeah...yeah they're both called Tom," she stammered, "it's funny because we call them big Tom and little Tom," she added, chuckling nervously.

Camila laughed in unison, then grinned at Tom and asked "how old are you?".

He didn't reply, not because he couldn't think of anything to say, but because he was now distracted by the stream of urine that was gushing forth into his diaper. He was fidgeting nervously and trying desperately to regain control of his bladder, but the damage was already done.

"Don't you know?" queried Camila.

"He's two," Evelyn interjected.

In that moment, he felt as though he was two years old, he could feel the diaper sag between his legs and he wondered whether they would notice. He squirmed uncomfortably, he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Evelyn eyed him suspiciously for a few moments, but he tried to avoid meeting her gaze and looked down at the floor.

"He's cute, is he shy?" Camila asked.

"Yeah, he'll get used to you though," Evelyn replied.

The two girls plonked themselves down on the couch and then started to talk about school, so Tom decided to sit down on the floor and watch TV. But when he walked towards Levi the diaper rubbed between his thighs and he wondered how long he would be able to keep his secret.

Not long after he had sat down, Levi turned to him and whispered "she told me to say that you're my cousin, why does she keep saying you're my cousin?".

Before Tom could respond, he realized that the girls were no longer talking about school, they were talking about him.

"Do you think he'll let me?" Camila asked.

"Sure," Evelyn answered.

He had hoped that they might leave him alone if he appeared to be watching television, but Camila's interest in him hadn't yet waned. He braced himself for whatever was about to happen.

"Tom," Evelyn called, "come over here for a minute."

He looked over his shoulder and hesitated for a moment, then clambered to his feet and traipsed towards the couch.

"Hiiii," Camila beamed.

He glanced at them both, but couldn't bring himself to look them in the eye, so he focused on the gap in between them.

"Camila wants to know if she can have a hug," Evelyn announced.

He glared at Evelyn and shook his head, then she nodded her head slowly. He understood that it wasn't a question, she was going to insist upon it.

"Don't be shy, come up here and give me a hug," urged Camila.

"He likes hugs, he's always like this around people he doesn't know," added Evelyn.

He hesitated for a few moments and considered his options. Just play along he thought, you can do it for one day, just play along, you can get back at her another day.

So he climbed onto the couch in the space between the two girls, then he stood upright. The fabric beneath his feet was soft and spongy, he realized that he could bounce on it, it would be like being on a trampoline.

Now that he was stood on the couch, he was actually slightly taller than Camila, who was still sat down. She leaned towards him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, then hugged him tightly. Tom half heartedly placed his hands on her shoulders in a gesture of reciprocation.

"You're so cute," she said as she squeezed him.

Camila released him after what felt like an eternity and he blushed. Then she pointed at his chest and asked "who's that on your pajamas?".

Tom shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"Is that Spider-Man?" she asked.

"Yeah," he murmured.

"Is Spider-Man your favorite superhero?" quizzed Camila.

Tom nodded his head and mumbled "yeah,".

Then he felt a gentle tug on the back of his pajama top.

"Tom, have you wet your diaper?" Evelyn asked.

His muscles tensed up and his blood ran cold, his secret had been discovered, but his first instinct was to issue a denial.

"No," he replied softly.

Then Camila smiled knowingly, as if to say 'yeah right'. Was it really that obvious?

"Do you need your diaper changing?" Evelyn questioned.

"No," he repeated, this time more forcefully.

"Are you sure?" Evelyn challenged.

He was about to turn around to face Evelyn when he felt her fingers on his pajama bottoms followed by a sharp tug downwards. Before he had time to react the waistband of his pajamas had been pulled down to his knees, revealing a sagging pull-up diaper.

"No!" he squeaked, before quickly grabbing the waistband of his pajamas and yanking them back upwards.

"He definitely needs changing," Evelyn remarked.

He balled his hands into fists in impotent rage, he couldn't unleash his fury onto Evelyn, one wrong move and the capricious twelve year old might condemn him to permanent infancy. With no outlet for his anger, his frustration seemed to turn inwards towards himself and transform into sadness. His eyes started to fill up with tears and he struggled to compose himself.

"It's okay little man, there's no need to cry," Camila said in a soothing voice.

He sniffled and took a deep breath, his vision became blurry. When Camila reached out to touch him he recoiled away from her and then climbed down from the couch, before storming out of the room.

"He'll be okay," Evelyn said, then rose to her feet and followed him into the hallway.