Mitch

[Sandra B]

177.
What were the chances…?  Sarah usually went to her friend Daphne’s house and they would play in her room or the garden.  But the weather was so nice that day, she had asked her mother if she would take her and Daphne and Bea to the park.
“Maybe we’ll see Luke…”
“Maybe, darling…” replied her mother, doubtfully, not wishing to disappoint her.  Shame though, she thought.  She had enjoyed the encounter.  Fancy dressing such a big hulking boy up as a toddler!  The idea really appealed to her.  She imagined her fifteen-year-old nephew transformed – what fun that would be.  She must show the pictures she had taken to her sister.

Sandy, Helen and Luke were there first.  Luke heaved a sigh of relief to see only a couple of children in the playground, and no sign of Sarah or either of her friends. 
“Pity,” said Sandy.  “Never mind.  You may find someone else to play with.”
She and Helen led the way towards the playground and cafĂ©, Luke hanging in behind them as unobtrusively as he could.  He followed them into the cafĂ©.  There were only two tables occupied, each by two chatting women, presumably the mothers of the children in the playground.  It was quiet, and the rustling of his puffa pants attracted their attention.  Ignoring his embarrassment, Helen and Sandy chose a two-seater table and sat down, leaving him standing to one side, with the four women, all temporarily struck dumb, staring at him.  Temporarily, because the stage-whispered comments soon started.
“Ooh – he’s a big one!”
“Love his cute little panties!”
“Lovely puffy nappy, too…”
Under the scrutiny of the customers, Luke shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.  He removed the sissifier from his mouth.  “Please…  Can I go outside and play…?”
“Soon, darling.  Wait a minute while we decide what to order, and you can fetch it for us.”
Luke glanced nervously towards the counter.  The two young assistants, neatly attired in short black dresses and white aprons, were looking at him and giggling.  He turned red.  Somehow girls were much more frightening that grown women.
“And please put your dummy back in,” added Sandy, loudly.

They took their time deciding on two cappuccinos and a piece of chocolate cake to share.  Helen gave Luke her bank card and sent him off to the counter with a pat on the bottom.  He faced the assistants, blushing and blinking furiously, transfixed with fear.  Suddenly recovering himself, he snatched out his dummy.
“C-can I have…er…” he began.
“Ooh – what a nice big pacifier!” interrupted  one of the assistants, a brunette.
“What…?”
“Your dummy!  Look Carolyn!  Have you ever seen one like that?”
Quite rudely, she reached over the counter for the dangling sissifier and held it up for her colleague to see.
Her friend, a blonde with her hair tied back in a ponytail, gave a little shriek of amusement and covered her mouth.
“Oh my god.  It’s a…”  She hesitated.  “…quite a mouthful!  Why is it all purple and sticky?”
“There’s a nice sticky sweet inside,” called Sandy.  “I bet his tongue's all purple as well by now.”
“Oh!  So it is!  What’s your name, sweetie?”
Luke hung his head.
“Well?”
“L…Luke…”
“Luke.  Luke, I love your outfit…”
Luke grunted.  He would have liked to run away, but brunette was still hanging onto his sissifier ribbon.
“And…is that nice to suc-k on?  I suppose…being quite a big boy…you need quite a big dummy…”
“He does,” called Sandy.  “And that’s his favourite one.  Luke?  Place the order and then show the ladies how nicely you suc-k your special dummy.  Go on!”
By now Luke was squirming with embarrassment, and desperate to escape from the counter.  He pulled himself together.
“Er…  T-two c-cappuccinos, p-please….and, er…” he stammered.
“Drink in or take away?” smirked the blonde.
“I, er…yes, d-drink in, please…”
“Regular or large, sir?” asked the brunette, sarcastically, letting go of the ribbon.
“Er…”  He turned his head.  “A-auntie Helen?  R-regular or large?”
“Oh.  Let me think.  What about you, Sandy?”
“I think I’ll have a…”
They were dragging it out as much as possible.
“Maybe a large….no, regular…no, large.  Yes, large.  You?”
“Oh, I guess I’ll have…the same.”
“T-two l-large, p-please…”
“And which cake would you like, sir?”
“Ch-chocolate…  That one there.”
“Is it for you?”
“No…  It’s for…er, my aunties…”
“Oh.  I wondered, because we have this cake here which has pink icing the colour of your panty frills…  And sprinkles on top…  Nice and soft and sticky…”
Blondie looked him straight in the face, eyes twinkling.
Luke recognised the cake from his last visit.  He wouldn’t have minded a piece, but he wanted to escape from the cafĂ© staff as soon as possible.  “Oh!  I mean…oh, no, I don’t think…”  But Helen intervened.
“Lukie…yes, get yourself a piece of that.  You know you love sticky things.  Thank you for the suggestion, miss,” she called.  “And Luke?  Dummy in, remember.”
He did as he was told.  He was so nervous by now that despite himself he immediately started suc-king desperately on it, making a little dribble of purple juice trickle down his chin.  Brunette grabbed onto her friend’s arm in delight.  Luke glowered at them, making them splutter with mirth.  But they recovered themselves quickly and set about preparing the order.

They gave him the coffees on a tray to take to his “aunts” while they cut the cakes.  Once he’d put them down on the table, Sandy decided it was time to test out his remote-control plug.  As he made his way back to the counter, she started it vibrating on the lowest setting.  But even that was enough to make him stiffen, spit out his dummy, and swing round with a pleading look on his face.  But Sandy was enjoying herself now.
“Go on – we  want our cake.  And I said dummy in, please!”
With a last pathetic grimace and a trembling lip, he turned back and minced over to the counter, trying (and failing) to act normal – or as normal as a big guy in puffy yellow and pink rubber baby pants can act.  He put the tray back on the counter, and blondie put the plates on it.  This was Sandy’s cue to try level two. 
Luke gave a cry and grabbed at his bottom.  The assistants stared at him in surprise.  Sandy added a mild shock, making him gasp and jump.  They looked from him over to the table.  Sandy winked and held up her phone.  Slowly they began to understand, and smiles of glee spread over their faces.  He turned again.
“Please don’t….”
“Dummy in, Luke!  How many times do I have to tell you?”
“Sorry…”
“Just bring the cakes.”

[Sandra B]

178.
He picked up the tray.  He had only taken a couple of paces when there was a cry of joy from the door.
“Luke!  Baby Luke!”
Luke turned.  No!  Sarah?  And Daphne and Bea too!!  Just when he thought he was safe!  In shock, his dummy fell out of his mouth, and he lost concentration.  The tray tilted forward, and a moment later the two plates of cake had slid off.  Plates and cakes hit the floor.  Fortunately the plates were plastic, but the cakes were ruined.
“Luke!  What are you doing?” cried Helen.
“I-I’m sorry…I…was…surprised…”
Sarah ran forward, quite indifferent to the minor accident.
“Luke!  You’re here!  Yippee!  We can play in the castle again!”
Daphne and Bea joined her.  Daphne looked him up and down.  “You’ve got a new outfit!  I like this one even more.  You look so smart, Luke!”  Boldly, she reached out and tugged at his pants.  “Proper baby pants, too.”
“And you have a real bow tie!” squealed Bea.
“And such a cute jacket, Luke.  Can I try it on, later?  Even if it’s too big…” added Sarah.
“Where’s the other ladies?” asked Bea.
Helen had risen from her chair.  “We’re looking after baby Luke today,” she said.  “Let’s get this mess cleared up first, then we can talk.”
But the assistants were already clearing and wiping the floor.
“Don’t worry,” said blondie.  “Accidents happen.  We’ll get you fresh cakes, and then you can play with your little friends.”
“Oh, thank you.  I’m sorry.  I think he was so pleased to see them he forgot what he was doing.”
To her colleague she whispered, “Oh my god, how cute!  He’s best friends with those three sweet little girls!”  She turned to Helen and Sarah’s mother.  “Would you mind if I took a photo of all of them together?  They look so nice together.”
Luke was forced to pose with his friends, holding hands and then effectively being mobbed like a pop star. 
“Thank you so much.  I’m going to have one of these printed and hung on the cafĂ© wall.  And we’ll give the kids free cakes whenever they come.”
“That’s so kind.”

While fresh cakes were being prepared, Helen invited Sarah’s mother to have a coffee with them.
“I’m Helen, and this is my friend Sandy.  We looking after Luke today.”
“I’m Joanna.  I’m Sarah’s mother.  Daphne and Bea are her best friends.  It’s quite fortuitous we met up here again – we only come her about once a week, when I’m looking after the other two.  Can I ask where the other two ladies are today?”
So Helen explained the whole thing to her, including the arrangements with P & S, and the reason behind Luke’s babification.  As she spoke, Joanna’s eyes widened little, and her eyebrows rose in accomodation.  When Helen had finished speaking, she remained silent for a few moments, staring at her and shaking her head slowly.
“Mummy?  Can we go and play now?” asked Sarah.  She had her piece of cake in one hand and gripped Luke’s hand with the other.
“Of course dear.  Just in the playground, all right?  Look after Luke, won’t you?”
“We will!”  And the four of them headed for the door.  Luke went willingly, glad to escape from the cafĂ© staff.  He was last out, and just as he was leaving, Sandy called after him.
“Don’t forget your promise, Luke, will you?  A kiss and a date!”
Joanna turned back to the girls.
“Is that what he promised?  Does he have a little crush on Sarah?  I wouldn’t be surprised.  Well, well.  I’m glad you’ve explained it all.  Now I begin to understand.  But…  I get now that Luke isn’t a baby by choice, and yet…”
Helen gave her an inquiring look.
“…and yet…well, he sort of suits the role…I mean, he doesn’t seem actually seem averse to playing the baby.  When I met him before he was doing baby talk, the whole thing.  It was really sweet.”
“It’s true,” said Sandy.  “My theory is that he feels a lot more comfortable as a baby.  I think he was badly behaved as a teenage boy because it didn’t suit his personality.  I think the idea is that he might settle down as a baby and live a happy life in nappies and rubber pants.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” cried Joanna.  “You know what, I’d love to have him myself for a week.  Sarah would be so happy.  And I think we could help persuade him to stay a baby.  Do you think there are any spaces left?”
“I don’t know.  Maybe,” said Sandy.  “I’ll give you Shirley Dearman’s number – she’s the boss of P & S – and you can ask.”
“You’re right about him, though,” said Helen.  “Sandy made a video of all the things he’s been up to.  You should see him singing baby songs, and everything!”
“Really?  Can I see it?”
“Well, I don’t have it with me,” said Sandy.  “I uploaded it onto my laptop and deleted it from my phone.  I may be able to send it to you…”
“Oh, please!  I wish I could have a peek now.  Tell me what’s in it.”
“Well there’s so much…”
“I can’t wait.”
“You have to promise not to share it – not with anyone.”
“I wouldn’t – I swear.  Just tell me about what he does in it…”
“We made him say the silliest things,” said Helen, “and in the end he started just showing off like a little kid.  So now he’s so scared we might show his friends, he'll do anything we tell him to!”
“That’s so clever.  I wish I could see it…”
Sandy hesitated.
“Helen?  Why don’t you ring your mum?  My laptop’s on the table, and the video’s on the desktop.  We could ask he to send a copy to Joanna now.  What do you think?”
“I guess.  She’s not great with computers though…”
“All she has to do add Joanna to my contacts and attach it to an email or whatever.  It’s simple.”
“Oh would you?  That would be so kind…”
“All right.  Hold on.”
She dialled her mother’s number.  “Mum?  Hi.  Are you downstairs?  Yeah.  Could you do us a favour?  You’ll find Sandy’s laptop on the kitchen table.  Yeah.  Okay.  Open it up…  Yeah.  Click on emails and add a contact.  I’ll text you the address.”
She texted her mother Joanna’s email address.
“Got it?  Great.  Now see on the desktop the icon called “Luke’s Baby Life”?  Never mind.  You can watch it later - or after this if you want.  Can you attach it and send please?  That’s right.  Yeah, subject “Luke”.  Great.  Okay?  Brill, thanks.  See you later.  Luke’s fine.  Happy.  Playing with his best friends.  Bye then.”
“I’ve got it!” said Joanna.  “Okay, now let’s see…  Ooh, this is when he first met the girls!  You filmed it!  I had no idea.  Oh, that sweet little romper suit…”
“It’s quite long,” said Sandy.  “Maybe watch it later?”
“I will.  Thank you so much.  How exciting!”

They sat chatting for a few minutes.  All of a sudden there was a crash, and Luke burst into the cafĂ©, looking distraught.
“What’s happened?” said Helen, rising.  “Are the girls all right?”
“They’re okay.  Why have I just got a text from one of the Tweed brothers calling me “Baby Luke”?”
“What?”
Helen and Sandy looked at each other, horrified.
“Mum!” screamed Helen.  She grabbed her phone.
“Mum?  What did you do?  What?  Wait a minute.  What did you press exactly?  Well, what does it say on the screen?  What?”  She put down the phone, groaned, and clasped her forehead.”
“Tell me, Helen…”
“It says…“sent to all”!!”