CHAPTER NINE -- A SCHEDULE CHANGE
About a week later, Michael was feeling how he always felt in math class: confused and overwhelmed. Mrs. Torsten had demonstrated some properties of parallelograms and then given the class a worksheet full of problems. The idea was for students to do most, or maybe all, of their homework in class, so they wouldnât have a lot of work to do tonight. Plus, sheâd be there to help and answer any questions they had as they worked.
The problem was, Michael hadnât taken good notes while his teacher had talked. Heâd tried to, but his little weiner kept trying to get hard and thus kept mashing up against the confines of its lavender plastic prison. Plus, he wasnât much good at taking notes anyways, even when he wasnât distracted. Mrs. Torsten was so intimidating: young for a teacher and blond like Michael liked, she was totally unlike any female teacher heâd ever had. She wasnât maternal or comforting at all. She was cold and businesslike and demanded excellence from her students. Because of his poor performance last year, as a ninth grader, Michael was having to retake Geometry, making him at least a year behind in math compared to his peers. In their brief one-on-one interactions this year, Mrs. Torsten had always made him feel intimidated and small, an unwelcome distraction sheâd rather not deal with.
But heâd vowed that things were going to change this year! And he knew that one of the things he needed to work on was asking for help when he needed it. That was something his Mommy had always encouraged him to do . . . or at least she had encouraged him to do it a lot last year. She hadnât really said anything about it this year. But still, Michael saw an opportunity to demonstrate his maturity and knew he needed to seize it.
âMrs. Torsten,â he said, knees shaking as he approached her desk. âI, uh--I had some questions about the homework?
His teacher looked up from the work sheâd been grading and brushed her long straight hair out of her face. She grimaced when she realized who had interrupted her. âLet me guess,â she said in a snide tone, âyou need help with the very first problem?â
âWell, uh -- actually, I -- y -- yeah.â
âWhy am I not surprised?â Mrs. Torsten said with a huge sigh. âStill, it doesnât matter.â
Thinking that she meant that it didnât matter what problem he needed help on, Michaelâs spirits lifted for a moment: âThank you for helping me, Mrs. Torsten.â
The teacher frowned. âIâm not helping you. Why would I help you on homework that doesnât even count for you?â
Michael was completely confused. âDoesnât -- ? I . . . I thought you said this was due tomorrow?â
âIt is. For students who are still enrolled in my class.â Mrs. Torsten was not whispering, and Michael was suddenly acutely aware of other students hearing their conversation.
âN -- not enrolled? Iâm . . . Iâm enrolled,â he stammered.
Mrs. Torsten rolled her eyes. âNot anymore youâre not, baby,â she said, putting an almost sinister spin on the word baby. âMathâs just too stressful for you, and starting after today, youâre going to use this period to get your special needs met.â From her tone of voice and the sneer on her face, Michael had no doubt about the contempt in which she held him.
âI -- I donât . . . Iâm not sure what youâre . . . â
âLook,â Mrs. Torsten said, âyouâve wasted enough of my time. If you have any questions, you can ask your little helper there.â As she spoke, she pointed, and Michael turned to see Lauren entering the classroom. This was deeply odd because Lauren was not in this math class. Michael had no idea what she was doing here.
âMrs. Torsten?â Lauren said, loud enough to project across the room, âIâm here to pick up Michael.â
âPlease,â Mrs. Torsten said, waving her hand, âtake him.â Several students giggled, shocked and delighted to see a teacher being so salty.
âCome here, Mikey,â Lauren said, using her pet name for him. âDo you have all your stuff? Oh no, you donât. Here, letâs get you all packed up and then weâll get you right to lunch.â She crossed to Michaelâs empty seat and began packing his backpack for him.
Michael rushed over to her. âLauren! Hey! I . . . you donât have to . . . â
âHey,â she said, reaching over and stroking his hair. âItâs fine. Let me take care of you a little, okay? There we are, all ready to go.â Instead of handing Michaelâs backpack to him, Lauren just lifted it herself, putting over one shoulder and extending a hand to him.
âLauren? Wh -- whatâs going on?â he whispered, embarrassed. âLunch isnât for another 15 minutes.â
Lauren reached over playfully and beeped Michaelâs nose. âSure, for the rest of us. But sometimes special kids get special treats. Now, come on,â she said, forcibly taking his hand. Michaelâs face was crimson from blushing as they exited Mrs. Torstenâs room, which was alight with snickers and whispered comments as the students watched Lauren lead Michael out of the room while she carried his backpack and held his hand.
âLauren? Whatâs going on?â Michael asked again as she led him through the empty hallway. âMrs. Torsten was being weird and she said something about me not being in her class anymore?â
âThatâs because youâre not in her class anymore,â Lauren said, matter-of-factly.
âWhat? Everyone has to take math!â
âNot special kids,â Lauren said, as though that explained anything.
âBut -- but -- what do you mean? What does that mean? I have to take math! Everyone has to take math! And how do you know about any of this? And where are we going?â
âSsssssssshhhhhh,â Lauren said, stopping and kneeling in front of Michael. She physically put a finger over his lips as she continued: âyouâre getting loud, and we donât want to make a scene in the hallway, do we, baby?â The way she said baby made Michael both squirm with embarrassment and throb in his cage. âPlus, we donât want you getting worked up and having an accident, do we? Are you dry, sugarbear?â
âYes!â Michael snapped. âI told you, I donât really need those, my Mommy just --â
âRiiiiiight,â Lauren said with a gentle smile. âYou donât need pull-ups. Itâs just that your Mommy makes you wear them because sometimes you wet your pants at school. I see now. Hey--â she said, seeing Michael cringing, âstop that. I know youâre a little confused, but this is a really, really happy day. And we wanted to keep it a surprise so you could really enjoy it. I mean, are you really going to try to pretend that youâre not glad to be done with math? Now, come on.â
We? Michael thought as he trudged along behind Lauren, his hand still in hers. Whoâs we?
Lauren led Michael through a series of hallways, never letting go of his hand. Mercifully, they were largely empty because most students were still in class. Eventually, she took him to the front office, where the receptionist seemed to smile knowingly at Lauren as they entered. From there, Lauren positioned Michael in front of her and steered him towards the nurseâs office. Seeing Michael, the nurse smiled and, looking at Lauren, said âEverythingâs ready, you can take her on in.â
Reeling as he tried to process the school nurse calling him âher,â Michael followed along behind Lauren as she opened a door and lead him through it. The room was small but it was crowded: a small loveseat sat against the far wall, under a heavily curtained window. It was warm in the small room--which Michael vaguely realized must have been a small office for the school nurse--and the lights were low: no overhead lighting, just a small lamp on a small table next to the loveseat. On the couch, grinning ear to ear, sat both his Mommy and his wet-nurse, Linda.
âHiiiiiiieeeeeee, baby!â his mother squealed, rushing to him and kneeling to envelop Michael in a hug. Part of him was glad she was there to hold him; at the sight of Lauren and Nurse Linda in the same room, Michaelâs knees had buckled. He was so humiliated that he felt dizzy and flushed, sick to his stomach. This could not be happening! Heâd tried so, so hard to keep his two worlds separate, to have home be home and school be the place where he could be his own . . .
âHowâs Mommyâs special little baby?â his Mommy asked, pulling back from her hug to look at him. âDid you have a nice trip down here with your special friend, Lauren?â
Michael cringed. How could his Mommy expose his crush on Lauren so casually? As if it were nothing?
Melissa, by now used to talking over Michael or through his silences, continued: âAfter your little accident at school awhile back, Mommy had a meeting with the experts at A Caring Place, baby, and weâve all been working hard to set up this surprise for you. Since school keeps on being so hard for you, weâll just have you do less of it, honey! So instead of math class, now, every day youâll come down here and Nurse Linda will breastfeed you. You can have a nice long nursing session, and then you can relax and nap right through lunch. Then your special friend Lauren can pick you up and take you to history class right after lunch!â
âMom!â Michael shrieked. He could feel his world crumbling, and he was furious. âYou -- you told Lauren? About -- about -- ?â
âAbout your special needs and your special care? Of course, I did honey, I --â
âI HATE YOU!â Michael screamed, pulling away from his Mommy and slapping at her, ineffectually. âHow could you --? How could you tell her I -- I -- I HATE YOU!â
Melissa reeled back. His blows posed no danger to her whatsoever, but she was shocked by the degree of his defiance.
âIâM NOT A BABY!â Michael shrieked, âI donât want to breastfeed or wear a pull up or miss lunch! I want to go to school! Like a real boy, a normal boy!â Unable to maintain his anger for long, Michaelâs energy began crashing into sadness as he turned to face Lauren. âWhatever they told you, I didnât -- Iâm not -- I didnât want --â
Michael suddenly felt a deathgrip around his right upper arm. Surprised, he turned to see that Nurse Linda had stood up and crossed the short room to where he stood. Her left hand was wrapped around his skinny upper arm with a vice-like grip, and heâd never seen Linda--whom he associated, up to this point, only with love and nurturing--like this before. She was furious, her face set in a scowl and her eyes glassy with rage.
âListen here, Missy,â Linda said, pulling Michael past his mother and over to the couch. âYOU are a sweet baby GIRL, and sweet baby girls are not hateful, ungrateful little wretches. When Mommy and her friends go out of their way to do something nice for a sweet baby girl, SHE is nothing but grateful and appreciative.â
Michael, stunned by the intensity of Lindaâs reaction, toddered in helpless shock as she sat down on the loveseat and jerked down his shorts, dropping them to the floor and exposing the pull-up his Mommy had dressed him in this morning. This one was Tianna-themed, from The Princess and the Frog, and even though he wasnât facing Lauren, he cringed to think of her seeing him in it. But that thought was short-lived, as Linda soon slid Michaelâs pull-up off and pulled him down over her knee, his bare bottom exposed and vulnerable.
âI donât know where this flare up of male ego is coming from,â Linda ranted, âbut believe me, I will not tolerate it.â With that, she swatted Michaelâs bare butt, hard. He squealed in pain and kicked, but she held him in place easily. Punctuating the pauses in her words with hard spanks, she continued: âYou--Missy--need to learn--that special little girls--are best seen and not heard--And they definitely--do NOT--backtalk their Mommy--because--Mommy--knows--BEST.â
Never one with a high tolerance for pain, Michael was already in tears, just from this brief onslaught. He begged that he was sorry, that he hadnât meant it, but that didnât slow or deter Linda in any way.
âI know this is hard to watch,â Linda said to Melissa and Lauren, both of whom had approached the loveseat to get a close-up view of the spanking. âBut this is exactly the kind of thing we talked about.â
Lauren nodded. âMrs. Harper said that sometimes Michael was going to struggle with the transition.â
âYes,â Linda agreed, hammering in another series of hard blows to Michaelâs reddening behind. âItâs not Melissaâs fault--she didnât know any better at the time--few women do--but our little sugarplum here -- has spent -- far -- too -- much -- time -- thinking sheâs a boy -- and a big boy at that -- so she has this sense of --â
âA false persona,â Lauren said, âitâs just like we talked about on the phone, Mrs. Harper!â
Melissa smiled and touched Laurenâs hand. âLauren, you are such a blessing. Itâs such a huge help to have a helper with a foot here in Michaelâs school world, especially one who understands as well as you do.â
âOh, I love Mikey,â Lauren said, âheâs always been like a little brother--or I guess I should say sister now--to me. Iâm so happy to do anything that will make things easier for him. Er, her.â
Michael, still bent over Lindaâs broad thighs, noticed that while his Mom didnât disagree with Lauren calling him a girl, she didnât object either. He felt their words sting ever harder than the punishment Linda was doling out to his backside. All the work heâd put into keeping his two worlds separate--home where he had to be babied and school where he could be normal--had failed. Lauren knew. And even worse, she seemed to be sympathetic to these older womenâs plans for him! He went limp across Lindaâs lap, staring at the floor and sobbing helplessly.
âThere now,â Linda said, finally stopping her assault. âThere. All better now. Iâm sorry I had to do that, buttercup. But when little baby girls misbehave, their Nurses have to help them get back in line, donât they? Yes, they do, come here, baby . . . â
Michael had no resistance left. He was limp as a rag doll as Linda pulled him to his feet, once again standing him in front of her, though this time she spun him around. He was facing his Mommy and Lauren, naked from the waist down except for his cage, as Linda got a tube of cooling lotion out of her purse and rubbed it on his blazing backside. He was in physical pain, yes, but that was just a distant ache compared to the humiliation he felt, knowing that Lauren knew about his baby treatment, about Linda calling him a girl, about Linda being his wet-nurse. His hands rushed to his front to try to cover his tiny, caged weiner, but his Mommy gently moved his hands away, leaving him totally exposed to Lauren.
âMikey?â Lauren said, kneeling to be at face-level with him. âItâs okay, Mikey. Itâs okay. It really is. I think itâs a beautiful thing that you need your cares lifted, and you donât have to be embarrassed in front of me. You really donât.â
Michael had no words left. No thoughts. He was sobbing now, harder than heâd been sobbing when he was being spanked. The humiliation coursing through him felt like it was going to break his chest in two. He couldnât even keep his eyes open. He just squinted his eyes shut and looked down at the floor, knowing that whatever these powerful women, Lauren included, wanted to happen was going to happen. He simply had no say in it.
His bottom coated in cooling lotion, Michael was spun around again by Nurse Linda and taken down into her arms. At this point, even though he was humiliated to know that Lauren was there, Michael responded immediately to being put in the nursing position. Lindaâs arms were strong and comfortable and heâd been in them often enough now to know that when he was here, he didnât have to think. And not thinking sounded perfect right now because thinking was painful. All he had to do was close his eyes and latch on to Lindaâs huge, milky breast and suc-k. No thinking, just suc-kling. No worrying, just jets of warm breastmilk in his mouth.
âOh . . . WOW,â Lauren said as she watched Michael latch on and begin to nurse. âI mean, you told me that he -- she -- you told me Mikey was nursing, but -- â
âSeeing it yourself is really something else, isnât it?â Melissa whispered as she dimmed the lights in the small office. Lauren nodded. âMichael needs this,â Melissa said. âMichael really needs this. When Dr. Thurman, his therapist, first suggested this, I -- I didnât know . . . â
Lauren let out a small, quiet laugh and nodded. âWhen you first explained things on the phone, I . . . â
âThought I was crazy?â Melissa laughed. âItâs okay. Sometimes I still think Iâm crazy, but then I see how Michael responds to this treatment.â
Lauren nodded as they looked down on Michael. Things got quiet in the room and all they could hear was the wet, slurping sounds of his nursing and Lindaâs gentle words of encouragement as she stroked his hair: âThatâs it, baby girl. What a good baby. Thatâs Mommyâs sweet baby girl. Yes, it is. Iâm so sorry we had to spank, baby, but isnât everything better now? Yes, everythingâs better now, isnât it? All you needed was your wet nurseâs nipple, wasnât it? Yes, everythingâs better when you stop thinking and just nurse. Thatâs why youâre going to come here every day. Yes, no more math class for Mommyâs little angel. Your special friend Lauren is going to bring you here every single school day so your wet nurse can give you what you need. No more bagged lunches and lunchtime with the big kids âcause youâre not a big kid, are you? No, of course youâre not. Youâre Mommyâs special baby girl, and youâre going to be breastfed every single day at school from now on, yes you are!â
This continued on for another ten minutes or so, Lauren and Melissa watching intently but settling into an awed silence at the beauty of what they were witnessing. Over this time, Michaelâs crying finally subsided, and he turned towards Linda, almost seeming like he wanted to crawl so deeply into her arms that he disappeared. Over time, he almost seemed like he was sleeping except for the faint, slow, suc-king motion of his mouth. Eventually Linda moved him off of her left breast and put him on her right. Not long after that, the women in the room heard a strange rushing sound and were shocked to see a small jet of pee erupt from Michaelâs caged coc-k. Given the downward facing angle his cage positioned his weiner at, the spray mostly soaked Michaelâs own thighs, though some of the mess ran on to Lindaâs lap as well. Lauren and Melissa were both shocked, but Linda just smiled.
Michael, for his part, barely stirred from the blissed out trance Lindaâs breast milk had put him in.
âSsssshhhhh,â Linda whispered, reassuring the others. âDonât wake her. This is a good thing. Itâs a really good thing, a really important step, one I thought we were still months away from. Melissa, just hand me her pull up, weâll clean up with that. And donât worry about me. Believe me, you work around babies long enough, a little pee is no big deal. And truly, this is the sign of something really beautiful beginning for our special girl.â