Chapter 124. Bedtime.
Nicola gained immediate celebrity as a result of her amazingly successful and impressive experiment. To tell the truth, she herself was rather taken aback at how easily sheâd been able to coax Robert to such an explosive climax, and though she was ignorant of his reputation, she did know that sexual over-activity was one reason boys ended up at the Infant Training establishment. She made a mental note to test the theory at their next meeting. As for Robert himself, he was still recovering from his ordeal, and feeling dazed and a little confused. He stood there blinking, swaying slightly, trying to regain his composure, the wee sloshing about in his pants, now inflated like a balloon â for not only did they retain urine, but air as well. Even Philip couldnât help smiling at the sight.
âRight girls. If you want to take a picture to illustrate your reports, thatâs fine. But we should take Robert to the bathroom now. The walk should tell us just how watertight these pants really are. Philip? Perhaps youâd like to hold Robertâs hand. He seems a little unsteady for some reasonâŚâ
Philip led his friend along the corridor â now thankfully deserted, all the girls being in lessons.
âThat was quite an orgasm, Robert,â he whispered. âWhat did it feel like with that thing on you?â
âIâm shatteredâŚtotally shatteredâŚâ was all he could say in reply.
They arrived at the bathroom door, which Miss Lovell opened, ushering everyone in; it was a big white-tiled room with a bath and shower on the far wall. The last girl closed the door.
Now, Robert,â said Miss Lovell, âletâs give those pants a good test, shall we? I need to report back to Millicent. Try dancing a little â go on, dance, jump up and down, twirl around, whatever you like. I want to see if they leak at all.â
Though weary, Robert complied, jumping and cavorting to the great amusement of everyone, and, discovering he was rather enjoying being the centre of attention, eventually joining in their laughter. The wee sloshed and splashed about noisily in his pants, but do what he might, not a drop leaked out! Miss Lovell was very impressed. âI think the Training Centre might be onto something here,â she remarked. âWell, experiment successful, I think. Good. Now take off those boots and climb into the bath, and lets get you sorted out.â
And so while Robert stood in the bath, Miss Lovell divested him of his clothes, after which one of the girls washed him down using the shower head. He was remarkably unselfconscious, thought Philip. But then, the transparent latex had really hidden nothing anyway. When he was clean, a couple of the girls towelled him dry, while another dried and powdered his pants, and helped him back into them and the rest of his outfit.
It was time to go. Miss Lovell promised she would be bringing the girls over to the training centre in a few days for their lesson. The boys said their goodbyes, and she took them back to the headâs office, where they found her, Millicent and Jackie chatting and laughing.
âMiss Lovell! Well? What is the result of your researches?â
âVery successful, madam, I have to say. Iâll be submitting a full report at the end of school.â
âOh, Iâm so pleased to hear it. Iâll have good news for Principal Mary then. Well, boys, very nice to meet you both. Youâll be seeing my girls again soon. In the meantime, behave like good little babies, if you can. If you have to be bad, make sure itâs baby-bad and not teenager-bad, all right?â
As they were being driven back, Philip ventured a question, on a subject he was feeling anxious about.
âNurse Jackie? After we get backâŚwill we still have to wearâŚthese things? I meanâŚâ
âDonât worry, darling. Theyâre only for those times you need to interact with visitors or outsiders. I mean, it would hardly be babylike if you started getting all hot and bothered when theyâre trying to change you or feed you or something. No, theyâll come off when we get home. And your plugs can come out too, for the time being. As to night times, I donât know whether Nurse Millicent is intending to impose any other restrictions⌠Youâll just have to wait and see.â
Nurse Millicent declined to take the cue, but in the rear-view mirror Philip caught a glimpse of her face, as she herself was in the process of stealing a glance at them, a wry and not altogether prepossessing smile on her face.
The meaning of that smile became apparent at bedtime. Nurse Jackie was fussing about, getting the boys into their night attire. Tonight it was nothing but towelling nappies of large dimensions secured by big safety-pins, and blue plastic pants. Nurse Millicent was in attendance.
âNow boys. I wonât say any more about the events of last night. I donât know exactly what went on here,â she lied, âbut clearly we need to guard against any repeat of similar occurrences.â She turned to Philip, with a malicious leer, and opened the bottom drawer of the changing-chest. Oh no, thought Philip, not those fuc-king mittens.
âPhilip, sweetie. We were thinking of mittens...â
Itâs always âweâ, he thought. They must have fuc-king meetings about this stuff.
âYes. But in the end we decided this was an insufficient deterrent. Please lie down in your cot. Go on. On your back, please.â
Philip did as he was bid. He was trying to divert his thoughts away from these humiliating proceedings. He was thinking about Rebecca. But all thinking of her did was to fuel his resentment and make him horny.
âGood. NowâŚâ
Millicent had produced cuffs and chains from the drawer. She advanced on him, lips compressed.
âIf you were thinking of resisting, donât. I can call half the staff in here if I need them.â
As it happened, he wasnât. What was the point?
The âcotsâ were low-sided, sitting directly on the floor, and of robust wooden construction. They were painted yellow, like most of the room. The vertical bars were circular in cross-section, and about an inch and a half thick. The near side was removeable. It could be lifted off by releasing two steel catches. At present it was propped against the wall. Philip huffed and puffed a little, but crawled in and lay down. The mattress at least was comfortable â plastic-covered, of course, and covered with a soft, brushed cotton, fitted sheet. No pillow. Babies donât need pillows. The cot must have been over six feet long, and accommodated him comfortably. Shit, he thought. Another night of frustration. How the hell am I going to be able to sleep?
Nurse Millicent strapped the cuffs onto his wrists with undisguised relish. She attached them to the bars at the head of the cot with short chains, looped around and fastened to the cuff-rings with little padlocks, so his hands were above his head, well away from the danger area. She did the same for his ankles.
âThere, dear. Comfy, are we?â
Philip glared at her.
âGood baby. I wonât replace the side. A little superfluous in the circ-umstances, I think. But Iâm afraid weâre going to have to deprive you of your naughty little companion. Youâve shown us we simply canât leave you two together in the same room.â
Robertâs face fell. For a moment he looked as though he was going to cry. Philip frowned. âIâm gonna be all alone here, too?â
âWeâll try and find someone else. Someone a little lessâŚexcitable. Someone from downstairs, maybe.â
Philip brightened up. âMatthew?â
âWeâll see. Now go to sleep, Baby Philip. Sweet dreams!â
As they left, Jackie dimmed the lights and turned on the light show.
Philip lay there in subdued light, watching the cartoon animals travelling happily around the walls. Yeah, it would be good to see Matthew again. At least they could talk. But he needed relief. That was for sure. Withholding it was all part of the regime, that much was obvious. He was beginning to understand. There were two distinct elements in this imposition of babyhood. The first was denial. Denial of freedom, denial of identity, denial of personal responsibility, denial of adulthoodâŚincluding denial of sex, aside from that childish relief bestowed at the whim of the nurses. Even that would have been something, he thought, squirming and tugging at his restraints. The second, seduction. Seduction into the soft, meaningless world of the baby, where you had to do nothing for yourself, where you were coddled in warm, sexless clothes, cuddled and kissed like a helpless, mindless being, stroked and changed and bathed and fed mush you didnât even need to chew. You needed to do nothing, except submit. He could see how it might appeal to some. He recoiled at the thought on grown men being slowly, inexorably turned into babies. Could that possibly be what was going on here? But if so, what happened to them? Then he remembered some reference to babies being farmed out to families, being âadoptedâ. He shuddered. Did some of them end up there for life? Perpetual babies? Surely such a thing couldnât happenâŚ
His thoughts were interrupted by a shaft of bright light from the corridor. The door opened. Nurse Jackie crept in.
âPhilip? Darling? Are you still awake?â
âYes.â
âIâve brought you a new companion.â
Philip tried to raise himself. âMatthew?â
âNot Matthew, no. You remember Billy? Heâs so excited to be sharing a room with you.â
âBilly? That littleâŚ?â
âNow, make him welcome, wonât you? Billy, dear? Off you go. Your cotâs right over there. Say hello to Philip.â
Billy slipped into the room. âPhilip?â he said eagerly. He was wearing a short pink nightie, fluffy pink socks, and puffy pink plastic pants with little yellow frills around the legs. âIâm so happy they chose me! Iâve been looking forward to seeing you so much since we met in the hall. I like youâŚa lot!â
Philip slumped back and closed his eyes. He heard Jackie say, ânight, night, boys,â and the click of the door closing. Then the muffled patter of Billyâs feet as he approached.