Joe whimpered and suc-ked hard on his soother as his mother decided he definitely needed to wear his prettiest frilly pink dress for his first day in the creche. She fluffed up his petticoats just right, picked at the frills on his knickers to make sure they were straight and retied the bow on his bonnet a couple of times until she was satisfied. She had prepared a bag with clean nappies and plastic pants, his baby bottle, bib and plastic bowl for feeding.
“We have a little surprise for you in the car”, she told him as he looked up and down the street nervously, hoping nobody was witnessing his first outing in his baby dress and nappy.
He scampered quickly to the back door of the car when she opened it for him. He stopped suddenly. There was a large booster seat on the back seat of the car. “Mrs Lawson loves seeing if they can make baby things big enough for you.” His mum pushed him in so he had to sit up into the booster seat. She leaned in and pulled straps over his shoulder and around his waist and clicked buckles into sockets. She adjusted the straps until they held him firmly in place.
She went back into the house. He wriggled in the booster seat and tested the straps. He was undoubtedly held securely in place. His mother put his changing bag on the seat beside him and handed him his largest doll and a rattle before closing the door and climbing in the front.
She started the car and drove out onto the street. Joe felt like he was on display in his raised position in the back. His mother adjusted the rear view mirror so she could see him. She smiled as he suc-ked anxiously on his soother and clutched his doll tightly. He tried to focus on the little balls in his rattle as they tossed around.
On the main road there were more people around and two lanes on the road so that other cars came alongside. Joe appeared to be using the wide lacey brim of his bonnet to shield his face from onlookers, turning his face away.
They pulled into the car park and alongside another mum who was dropping her toddler girl off. Joe was cringing now, facing his first appearance in public. His mother opened the door, unbuckled his straps and tugged at his shoulder for him to get out.
Joe stepped out of the car, his petticoats all awry. He had a doll under one arm and his rattle in the other mitten so could do little but his mum smoothed his petticoats down evenly first and then fluffed them up nicely.
“Oh look, there’s Big Baby Joe they told us about”, he heard the mother tell her toddler. “Isn’t that a pretty dress?” The toddler stared at him. “He’s wearing a nappy!” She pointed to the unmistakable bulge under his frilly knickers. “Yes, a very thick nappy. He must be in cloth nappies, is he?” she asked his mum who nodded, smiling at the attention he was getting.
The toddler girl was wearing a tee shirt and jeans – nothing like Joe’s ultra-sissy baby dress. “Tanya is in pull ups now!” her mother explained and Tanya looked really pleased with herself. “Gosh, what a big girl.” Tanya clearly pitied Joe in his thick nappy.
His mother guided him in the door. Three of the young ladies all rushed towards him. “Oh my goodness, how pretty!” “Look at that dress!” “Such a cute bonnet!” Joe looked around. All of the other children wore fairly normal clothes – nothing like his very babyish outfit. None of the girls even wore skirts, let alone frilly dresses.
Then he realised that they were all toddlers – probably all in discreet pull-ups. He was the only one in an obvious full-on nappy. “I’m Marsie”, one of the ladies introduced herself. “We usually only take toddlers but we were happy to make an exception in this special case.” She smiled at Joe. She was very pretty. He could feel that dull pressure in his nappy.
“You look so snug in your tights”, she giggled as she led him to a corner of the room with various large blocks and rattles scattered on the floor. “Here you go”, she encouraged him to sit down among the toys. “Try this rattle”, she handed him a rattle in the shape of a bunny rabbit. He put down his own rattle, still clutching his doll anxiously. He was just about able to hold the rattle and shake it. The bunny’s ears flashed pink and blue. “There you go!” Marsie smiled at him.
He looked around. The toddlers were already busy building things with bricks and playing with much complicated toys than Joe could handle in his mittens. He looked gloomily at the rattles and soft blocks around him.
His mother smiled down at him. “See you at 6pm”, she waved. “Nnnnggghhh!” Joe whimpered as it sank in that he was going to be here for the whole day. “He’ll be fine once you are gone”, Marsie assured her and giggled. “Here look at this, it has three rattles in one!” she distracted him for a few moments. He looked up and his mother was gone.
Topic: Doll Factory (Read 3860 times)
