Mrs. Fulton led him over towards an arm chair in the corner. She motioned him to sit down. He went to sit down and then wondered should he smooth his dress underneath his bottom as he sat. He swept an arm under the back of his dress but realised that it was so short, there was no point. He sat down and his dress spread out around him.
The two women fussed over him, setting his bonnet just right, fluffing out the lace on his socks yet again, straightening the hem on his dress. His mother made him close his knees together and tilt them to one side daintily.
Then Mrs. Fulton set up her camera on a tripod. They wanted him to smile but he could barely manage it. Since the big soother hid much of his face it didn’t matter that much. The camera flashed and a Polaroid slid out. He was relieved to see that at least there would only be no copies.
They made him pose in the high-chair, in the play-pen and in the cot. He had to straddle the rocking-horse too, while Mrs. Fulton clicked away happily.
As he stood beside the cot he noticed his mother looking pensive. “Do you have a shorter dress?” she asked. Alan’s eyes widened in surprise. Even shorter than this dress? “We can’t see those pretty panties”, his mother said.
Alan had a really hurt look on his face as they pulled off his baby dress. One might have thought that he’d be relieved to get it off but not if it meant he had to wear one even shorter.
The second dress was a powder pink and it was puffed out even further with layers of what his mother called petticoats. When he was turned towards the mirror he was distraught to see that three rows of pink lace on his frilly panties were clearly visible. “That’s much better”, his mother said. “We can see his nappy clearly now.” There followed another round of photos.
Alan was so relieved to get out of that dress. His mother pulled down his plastic pants and unpinned the nappy which was quite moist with sweat. He was never so glad in his life to pull on a pair of trousers again.
The next day the play-station was delivered and he spent nearly all of his free time playing on it. About a week later at school he noticed a gaggle of his classmates in a corner of the schoolyard. They were gathered in a circle all straining to see something in the middle. He could hear roars of laughter.
He ran over to see what was so funny. One of the children in the huddle saw him approach. “Here he is!” she shouted. Alan froze. The huddle broke up. They all turned to look at Alan and they roared laughing. Many of them pointed at him while they held their sides with the laughter.
He only caught a glimpse of one photo but it was enough to tell him that they had somehow obtained photos of his day in the nursery. Alan turned and ran. He could still hear the laughter as he sprinted out the school gate and down the road.
He was in tears when he got home. He roared at his mother. How could she let anyone get copies of the photos? His life was over. How could he face his schoolmates again after they had seen him dressed in a nappy and baby dress posing like a baby girl?
He spent the whole evening splayed out on his bed. He could hear kids out on the street shouting up at his window. “Is the big sissy baby in his cot?” “Is your nappy wet?”
The next morning he refused to even get out of bed. His mother told him he had to go to school eventually. She had no idea how they had obtained the photos but it would soon blow over. Alan did not think it was that simple. He would be mortified. Even the sissiest girl in school would give him a hard time. There was absolutely no way he was going back and that was that.
He heard his mother on the phone downstairs. A while later a car pulled up outside. He heard his mother talking to a woman who sounded familiar.
They came up to his room. It was Mrs. Fulton. “This is your last chance”, his mother told him. “You have to go to school.” He shook his head firmly and buried it in his pillow.
“Alright, well there is one way you can stay at home.” Alan looked up in curiosity. “Only babies stay at home with their mother”, she said, “so if you stay at home then it’s back into nappies for you.” He buried his head again in frustration. How could she be so stupid?
“For the last time, are you going back to school?” she asked again. “There’s no way in the world that I’m going back to that school”, he said, though it was muffled by the pillow.
“Right”, his mother said. The two women pulled at him and removed his tee-shirt and shorts. Mrs. Fulton pinned his shoulders down while his mother wrapped the cloth nappy around his bottom and pinned him in. Then she pulled up the plastic pants and carefully tucked the cloth inside the elasticated legs.
Mrs. Fulton held out one of Alan’s hands by the wrist. Alan looked up wondering what she was doing. His mother pulled a fingerless mitten over his hand and tied it tightly at the wrist. They then did the same with his other hand.
The two women stood up and looked down at the boy who was studying the mittens. He struggled to get them off his hands but it was pointless – they made his hands useless.
His mother crossed her arms on her chest crossly. “This is you’re final chance. Are you going back to school?” Alan scowled at her. No matter what predicament he was in here, it was nothing compared to going back to face his schoolmates who had all seen him dressed and acting like a baby girl.
“Right, it’s your choice”, his mother concluded. They pulled the powder pink dress over his head and he was soon dressed in the frilly panties and bonnet. He didn’t put up much resistance. He was determined to prove his point by demonstrating that even this was better than having to go back to school.
Mrs. Fulton left the room while his mother put the frilly ankle socks on his feet. He just watched grimly as she fastened the t-bar shoes on him.