Part 2
Jenna and Beth each said their goodbyes to Aunt Tess as they prepared to finally bring me into the zoo, but not before Jenna grabbed my hand and forced me to wave, just as one would do with a reluctant toddler. Finally, after tossing the diaper bag over her shoulder, Jenna kicked the lock on my embarrassing pink stroller and our little public incursion truly began. As the the two girls pushed me closer and closer to the front entrance, I began to see a mass of people forming a line at the ticket gate. I knew in this moment that I was not prepared for what the rest of the day would entail.
Jenna could sense my nervousness and began trying to offer me words of assurance. "Don't worry princess, nobody can tell that you're really a teenage boy, so just act naturally. Honestly, you look so adorable and girlie that it would probably draw more attention if you did act like a big boy."
"Yeah", giggled Beth, "Just be yourself, Buttercup. You're waaaay more cute and convincing as a baby girl, so why not just embrace it?"
"I guess...", I replied to them, still unconvinced by their arguments. "But what if I need to tell you two something? Won't people know I'm a teenage boy if they hear my voice?"
Both girls gave a light chuckle at the absurdity of my response. "I highly doubt that, princess", Jenna responded, "but even if they did, we won't let anyone give you any trouble. We wouldn't be very good Aunties if we couldn't protect our precious baby girl, now would we?"
The feeling of Jenna cheerfully pinching my cheek afterward was like rubbing salt in the wound. They truly were planning on treating me like a little toddler girl. Not only that, but they were going to do it in public, in front of hundreds of people. I silently pondered why they still enjoyed doing this to me so much, even after it had been so many years. One answer came when we suddenly stopped in front of a large polar bear standie.
"Hey Beth, can you do me a favor and take a nice picture of me and Buttercup in front of this polar bear? I want to take lots and lots of cute pics today. That way, I can show off our little doll all my friends later", Jenna said to her sister as she held out her phone.
Beth smiled and took the phone from her sister's hands, ushering Jenna into a few different positions before taking multiple embarrassing snaps. When she eventually showed Jenna the end results, both girls put their hands over their mouths and suddenly became elated. They gushed on and on with each other about how adorable I looked, all the while I was parked in place in my stroller, my barely exposed diapers pointed towards the sidewalk for anybody to see. So that's why they were doing this. They thought it was cute!
We soon made our way to the back of the line towards the entrance and began waiting patiently for our turn at the ticket booth. A sinkhole began to open up in my stomach as I took in the ammount of people that were now idly standing around me. I suddenly became hyper conscious of every single instance where somebody began to stare at me, especially curious kids who would be prone to opening their mouth and speaking about what they saw without a filter. Thankfully, no such thing occurred, but I still ended up burying my head in my lap out of pure shame, almost as if I was trying to pretend this mass of strangers was simply not there. It was perhaps the one time in my life that I wish my cousins had dressed me in a baby's bonnet. At least that way I wouldn't see so many people around me.
After about five minutes of that particular aggony, we finally made our way to the front of the line. The lady who greeted us at the ticket booth was a cheery 20-something year old blonde woman with a friendly and welcoming southern accent. If this woman seemed a bit skeptical about the peculiar sight in front of her, she at least did not seem to outwardly show it. "Hey there y'all, welcome to the Upstate Park Zoo! What can I do for you fine ladies today?", she asked us with a warm smile. Whether the part where she referred to us as "ladies" concerned me or not, I was still unsure.
"Hello!", Jenna responded in an equally cheery tone, "I would like two adult tickets and one children's ticket please." The ticket lady eyed me up and down for a few good seconds before returning a wide smile.
"Certainly hun. Two adults and one little cub...that will bring your total admission fee to $16.59", she responded, before looking back down at me with yet more stares of curiosity. She quickly looked back at Jenna as she handed her the money for the tickets. "Your little one is so adorable!", she told my cousin as she opened the cash register and received the appropriate change, "Is she here for the 'Princess in the Park' event later this afternoon?"
It took all of my effort not to gasp in shock at what I had just head. I frantically looked around until I laid eyes on a poster hanging from the fence with a red haired, middle aged woman in a giant frilly blue dress on it. "Princess in the Park" was a special event held by a local children's entertainer named Princess Brittney every summer at the zoo, mainly attended by little girls aged 2-8 and their parents. However, the event itself was not Brittney's main foray. She spent most of her time as hired entertainment at children's birthday parties, which she called her "princess party package", in which she would sing, tell stories, do face paint, play games, and much more to entertain groups of young girls on their special big day.
Why did I know all of this? Well, I had been to one such birthday party when I was about 6 years old. It was Beth's 5th birthday party, and naturally she wanted it to be Princess themed, as all little girls do. Her parents went all out for her birthday that year, hiring Princess Brittney to entertain all the young girls who would be in attendance...as well as me. Naturally, by now Jenna had already started her embarrassing and sissyish treatment of me whenever she was around, and Beth was even starting to get in on the action too, enjoying having me as a big life size doll for her to dress up and play with. I will spare you the full details, but let's just say after that fateful day my mom kept a picture of me in a puffy lilac dress and a tiara perched upon the knee of a similarly dressed, ectremely feminine princess figure up on the fridge for much longer than I would like to admit.
I was snapped back to reality by the sound of Beth's voice. "Yes! She is actually. Our little princess loves Brittney! Isnt that right sweetie?" I was suddenly put on the spot and did not know how to respond, so I just nodded my head and looked down at the ground. The ticket lady cooed down at me in sympathy. "Awww, shy little one isn't she? Well that's okay sweetie, I hope you have a wonderful time!", she said to me in a sweet, reassuring voice. Soon enough the sound of a ticket machine went off and she handed Jenna our tickets, before wishing us a great time at the Park.
As we headed through the front entrance, we took in the sights, sounds, and most distinctly of all, the smells of the busy zoo around us. "Where should we head first?", Jenna asked Beth, who was busy studying a map she had picked up from a kiosk on the way in.
"How about we head west to the penguin exhibit?", Beth responded, "I know how much you absolutely love penguins. Plus there's lots of running water." They both seemed to giggle at that last remark, although I was not quite sure why. The stroller took a few seconds to start moving again, and I heard the sound of Jenna rummaging though the diaper bag she had brought with her. Before I knew it she was keeling in front of me and sticking a pink pacifier between my lips. With her other hand, she raised her phone and pointed her camera at me, snapping a few picturess of me in my stroller suc-king on a pacifier. Little did I realize, with my legs spread apart, my diaper was now in full view. "Awww, so cute", Jenna casually remarked, before once more grabbing my stroller and heading towards our next destination.