Back to Basics

[antonia]

Chapter 7

The two women looked at Adrian and for a moment felt sorry for him. Sophie looked at his t-shirt and told him to lift up his arms so that she could take it off. She opened one of his drawers and pulled out a clean shirt for him to wear and went into the wardrobe where she pulled out a pair of trousers.

She fitted the pink t-shirt on him which had a picture of Mickey Mouse on it and encouraged him into the trousers with a bib front that had straps that crossed at his back and secured to two large buttons at the waist. The bib had a pocked fixed on the slant with another applique of Mickey on it. There were buttons on either side that barely prevented a glimpse at the plastic pants that covered his towelling protection within. It was an adorable outfit for a six-year-old but a totally inappropriate outfit for a teenager. Adrian was too weary to make a fuss as he was also under the influence of the sedatives which had far from worn off.

“Come on, let’s go and have some supper” announced Sophie and maybe we can play a game afterwards. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Adrian walked towards the door and caught side of himself in the mirror as he passed by – an overgrown toddler in bibbed trousers with a puffy bottom protected by the plastic training pants worn beneath. As he walked, he could feel the softness of the towelling caress his ‘bits’ and to his absolute horror he found himself becoming aroused by the fondling of his new underwear. This small protuberance caused him to walk awkwardly and that, to some, might be seen as a bit of a babyish waddle. It was not missed by Sandra or Sophie who followed behind him grinning.

The three of them laid the kitchen table, Adrian did the place mates, Sandra the knives and forks while Sophie checked the dish cooking in the oven. Adrian placed the serviettes by the side of the forks as Sandra put out the glasses. When Adrian came back from the cupboard with salt and pepper, he noticed the bright white towel put on his place mat by his auntie. She had a large packet of similar towels in a large packet.

“There are about a dozen in here” she said to Sophie “where do you want me to put them?” she asked. Adrian opened the draw next to her.

“We keep the dish towels in this drawer” he said helpfully “but it looks quite full”.

“Put them in the drawer below” suggested his mother “that is where we keep the aprons and bibs are a bit like aprons aren’t they? They both protect against spills and messes!”

Sandra took the pile out of the bag and as she unfolded the bundle of cloths, Adrian could see the tangle of tapes from all the bibs flop out. Sandra took them one by one, flapping them open and then carefully folding them in half before placing them neatly in the drawer. The pristine white towelling on the outside with the soft plastic vinyl on the inside with the strings carefully folded in between.

The penny dropped “I don’t need a bib” complained Adrian

“Look Adrian” said his mother sternly “you ruined your brand-new t-shirt at lunch time with cranberry juice and soup, do you remember? Well, we cannot afford to waste money on buying you new clothes all the time, can we? I have put your Flintstone t-shirt into soak but it doesn’t look like I can get all the stains out. So, here’s the deal. You will wear a bib tonight and if you can keep it clean, then we will review whether you need to have a bib on at meal times in the future. Is that fair?”

“Mum, I am fifteen years old for heaven’s sake” he remonstrated with her “do you have to humiliate me like this?”

Sophie strained the spaghetti out of the huge saucepan onto three large dinner bowls and stirred a knob of butter onto each serving. She then took the large pan out of the oven a began to ladle sauce over the pasta. Finally, she grated fresh parmesan over each plate. Spaghetti bolognaise was served.

“Everybody sit down” Sophie commanded

Sandra picked up the bib and flapped it out, then going behind Adrian pulled it to his neck and began to fasten the ties at the back in a large bow. She moved round to the front and smoothed it down. It covered him from his neck to his lap, fully protecting him, the top of the bib flopping over his shoulders and flowing down to cover his entire front. Adrian started to complain and wriggle but a quick slap of his head reminded him to behave.

Sophie put his dinner in front of him, the placed a bowl in front of Sandra, finally placing a bowl in her place. She poured out some Chianti and Adrian was more than pleased to see that he had been included. His mother smiles at him “that is because you did not make a fuss. Besides, it is not uncommon in Italy to see a bib used in a restaurant, especially if it is a shell fish or pasta dish, so please don’t feel badly”.

Adrian took a large swallow of the wine and relished the grown-up moment. He was going to ask why then were they not all wearing a bib, but thought better of it. He was proud of his skill eating spaghetti and unlike the less confident who would use a spoon and fork, or worse still cut up the pasta, he could wind the pasta on a fork like a true Roman. He took his fork twirled the pasta and lifted the laden fork to his lips, he opened his mouth and the delivery of pasta and sauce was cleanly made. His confidence grew and he told himself that the other eleven bibs were destined to go home with his Auntie Sandra. He took another swig of his wine in celebration. Amazingly his aunt topped up his glass – he rarely was offered a top up.

His mother and aunt were being especially nice to him, talking about things that interested him and kept him distracted from the fact that he had a large bib around his neck. He took another mouthful, as it went up a small strand of spaghetti left its winding and flopped off the fork and onto his bib. His aunt was telling a funny story about the last time she had been rambling and been frightened by a cow that she thought was a bull. He never noticed his accident, nor did he notice the various splashes and other damages that fell on his bib. He was having such a good time together; they were all drinking the wine and a second bottle was opened. Adrian had another refill and was so happy that he could not remember a time when he had felt so joyful. He was mid sip when his mother made him laugh so hard that he nearly choked and he spilt a quantity of wine which fortunately was captured on his bib. Sandra patted him on the back to stop him choking, he was laughing so heartily. He looked down, the soft terry towelling pressing softly against his chin, and was shocked to see the state of his bib.

His mother noticed him looking at the damage and immediately encouraged him to have a sip of water to take his mind off his messy bib. Soon, they were back to laughing and telling stories and Adrian finished his dinner. He was given more wine and told to enjoy his glass while they prepared the desert.

The desert was profiteroles with cream and a side dish of chocolate ice cream. Adrian was getting a little bit tipsy and by this time was losing a lot of coordination. He was laughing, a profiterole fell off his spoon and ran down the entire length of his bib and miraculously ended up back on his plate. He laughed and laughed and his aunt and mother joined him.

Suddenly, he felt the need to go to the loo. He started to leave the table.

[Andlat]

Either Adrian is feeling a tad bit giddy or wearing a bib isn't the horrible ordeal he thought it would be. Who can say?

[antonia]

Chapter 8

His mother immediately noticed the starting of a potty dance “Do you need to pee?” she asked. Adrian nodded his head. “Come on then, let’s go. We need to measure the volume don’t forget”.

Everybody stood up from the table at once, Adrian clutched his groin to prevent any leaks, but he had left it quite late. He needed to be in a rush and the two women were less than helpful. “I’ll get the measuring cylinder”. “No, we need to go to Adrian’s bathroom there is more room and the kit is up there”. “You don’t need to come up, I can do it if you like”. “Look, you just sit down and I will do the tests and measurements because I do them all day long – it will be done in a trice”.

Adrian was getting quite desperate and was on his way to his bathroom as the women argued. A trickle escaped him, he struggled to find the buttons at the back to undo the straps to his bibbed trousers. There was another leak. His aunt came up behind him and undid the straps and pulled down his trousers. She held a graduated cylinder in one hand as Adrian struggled to pull down his plastic pants, not being helped by his aunt pulling one handed as well.

Eventually he managed to grab himself and tried to pee into the vessel. It was a messy process and half went in the receptor and the rest missed and fell either in the toilet or into his pants. “I don’t think that one will count” said Sandra “I think we might have lost a lot of the sample haven’t we poppet” she asked laughing.

Adrian retrieved his pants and pulled them up, they were wetter than he had expected. He decided to say nothing. Sandra noted the reading and wrote it down on her sheet. She also noted his dirty bib dangling over the top of the protective plastic pants as he grappled to recover his trousers. The translucent plastic showed that the previously pristine white terry towelling was now quite yellow at the front. She put down her pen and sheet and pulled up his trousers making sure that the bib front was beneath his baby’s bib.

In all that had happened Adrian seemed to have completely forgotten that he was wearing a bib and was far more concerned at the uncomfortable cold wetness in the front of his pants. He looked down to check the front and was pleased to see that there were no wet patches showing through. He felt relieved until he realised that the outer plastic pants would have stopped any leaks or seepages.

The two of them went back to the dinner table, Adrian was a bit wobbly and Sandra giggled with him as he tottered a little on the stairs. They went back to the dinner table where his desert was waiting to be finished. He resumed his place at the table, almost oblivious to his bib that was a canvas of different spillages. Even the clumsiest of toddlers would have been hard pressed to match his dirty bib. The final stroke, was a drip of chocolate that fell on his chin and then majestically slid off onto his bib. His mother leaned over and, using the bottom of the bib, wiped his face. “That bib had certainly looked after your new t-shirt hasn’t it?” asked Sophie “you should thank Auntie Sandra for being so kind to give them to you”.

Adrian had never felt so low as he did at that moment. It had been a wonderful grown-up evening with his mother and aunt, drinking wine and being all grown up, yet here he was sitting in a wet training nappy covered with plastic pants and wearing a dirty baby’s bib around his neck. He finished his wine and helped clear the table.

They went into the lounge for coffee, the women were going to have after dinner drinks, but clearly Adrian was not included, nor did he expect to be. He drank a cappuccino while his mother and aunt had espresso.
“You really like your new bib don’t you baby?” asked his mother “aren’t you going to take it off?” Adrian looked shocked, how could he have let himself not only wear the damn thing in the first place, but then not make any attempt to remove it at the first possible opportunity. His mother kneeled in front of him and reached behind to pull the tapes and undo the bow. She took it off and turned it around to show him the damage. “I think you will be wearing a bib for your meals now sweetheart, don’t you?” she asked kindly. “I had better get this one in soak, because some of these stains will be difficult to get out”.

Adrian had no argument; all his future meals would be spent wearing his new bibs.

The evening came to a close and they followed him upstairs to take a final urine reading. His mother undid his braces at the back and helped him step out of his trousers. She then pulled down his pants to allow him to fill the measuring cylinder. The pants lay around his ankles and his mother encouraged him to pull his feet through the leg holes as she held on to them. He clutched his mother’s neck as he tried to regain his balance. The pants were off and he peed into the vessel.

Sandra examined his pants “you know what Sophie? This idea isn’t working, there is as much pee in his pants as is making it to the measuring cylinder. I am going to fit a catheter to him and measure how much water I can get into his bladder”. In a few minutes, Adrian was lying on top of a thick white towel on his bed as his mother and aunt worked together to anaesthetise his small member and insert the tube of the catheter into him. It was quite a struggle but eventually urine began to flow from the end of the tube. Sandra explained that she was going to expand the end of the catheter so that it would be retained by pumping air into the bulb at the end in his bladder.

Adrian was almost in tears by this stage, because the process was very painful despite their attempts to eliminate any pain. His aunt told him to wiggle his toes as that often helped to make things less painful. One he had been drained of urine; his aunt started to use a very large syringe to force water up into his bladder. “You must tell me when it starts to hurt” she said “I am now going to add another 500ml, so you might be close to your limit soon”.

Adrian grunted and then squeaked as his bladder was stretched to its limit.

“As I suspected” reported his aunt “he is very under-developed both in his male equipment and in his bladder. I have seen toddlers with more in both departments” she smirked. She removed the syringe and released the clamp and the urine poured out into the jug. “I’ll now release the air in the bulb and remove the catheter” she said reassuring Adrian “this will not hurt at all and will only be slightly uncomfortable compared to when it went in”. She fiddled with the tubing, but nothing was happening. She gave it a little tug but it was still firmly fixed inside his bladder. She palpated his groin in an attempt get the air to release but after another sharp tug, it was clear that the catheter was not coming out.

Adrian was looking very disturbed. The tube was dripping urine onto the terry towel on which he was lying and things were beginning to feel very damp.

[Andlat]

Suppose a catheter makes sense with all the medical talk that's been going on. Poor Adrian! Looks like he's on the fast track to wet pants now.

[antonia]

Chapter 9

“I don’t have the tool in my bag that I need” explained his aunt “so Adrian will have to leak tonight until I can fix him tomorrow”. She said pulling the towel up between his legs and fastening it up with two large safety pins she carried for pinning arm slings. “He can wear his plastic terry pants over the top of this towel tonight and we will change him in the morning.”

“I think I might have his old nappies in the loft” offered his mother “I am sure I kept them in case I had another baby. Failing that, I could ask his father to lend him some from his children”.
Adrian was sat up, his legs forced apart by the makeshift nappy “Sorry Adrian” said his aunt “it will all be sorted out by tomorrow I promise. In the meantime, you can sleep in a t-shirt tonight until we can get you fixed up properly”. She helped him stand up and pulled back his bedclothes to help him into bed. His mother plumped his pillows and helped him to lay back. His protection felt enormous and he found it very difficult to get comfortable, so he lay flat on his back looking at his mother and aunt, who both leant over to kiss him goodnight. His aunt looked in her doctor’s case and opened a drawer in which she kept a small bottle of pills. “Here take one of these, they will help you to sleep” she said offering him a sip of water as she supported his head.

The two women left Adrian who tried lying on his side but the padding was too big, then lying on his front, but the catheter seemed to ache in that position. In the end he fell asleep with his legs spread wide as he wet in an endless dripping stream and the protective towelling became wetter and wetter.

His mother had a loft that was easily accessed by a small staircase at the end of the landing. They had intended to convert the loft and had had it boarded out and professionally made ready for the partitioning, plumbing and wiring to be installed. The large cupboard at the end of the roof was a huge storage area, where everything was stored in clear plastic boxes with tight fitting lids and catches – they were all neatly labelled and stacked.

There were baby clothes year one, year two, up to the age of four. On the very top was a large 35L box that contained two dozen gold seal nappies made by Harringtons (only the best for her baby and the same brand of nappies used by the royal family). They were carefully wrapped in clear plastic bags and as she removed the lid of the box, she could still smell the laundry powder from all those years ago. She removed one of the nappies from the bag and held it to her face – it was still beautifully soft and fragrant. Another crate had a yellow potty and packets of plastic pants that had not been used along with other paraphernalia like nappy pins which she carefully retrieved. She put the nappy pins in the crate with the nappies and refixed the lid and carried them down to Adrian’s bedroom.

Sandra was monitoring Adrian to ensure that he was alright. Adrian was deep in sleep. His mother took the nappy she had taken out of the bag and folded it into a rectangle. She lifted back his protection and carefully slid the nappy into his pants ensuring the clean, dry terry was next to his skin. Little had she expected that she would have her son back in one of his nappies again after all these years, let alone that he would be wetting it.

The next day Adrian was a very wet boy indeed and everything had reached saturation point. His mother came into his room with a bowl of warm water, some scented soap and a flannel to clean him up. He was very embarrassed to discover that he was wearing one of his old nappies, in addition to the towel and training pants. His mother unpinned the wet towel and put the silver pins into the strap of her apron. Adrian noticed that on the other strap she had proper blue tipped nappy pins. The pants, towel and wet nappy were all plopped into the lidded pail at the foot of his bed with a dull thud. She washed him gently and carefully - apologising for having to do what she was doing. She put two of his nappies together and slid them as unfolded squares beneath his bottom, she then folded two more nappies in half and laid them across his front. She pinned him at the sides and then pulled up the two unfolded nappies between his legs and pinned them to the nappies at the front. It wasn’t perfect but he was safely protected.

“This is your last pair of protective pants” she explained “hopefully your aunty will have you mended before you need another change. She had gone to the surgery to pick up a special tool. I am going to wash all your stuff now and hopefully we can get it dried off in time in case there are any complications”.
Adrian was too stunned to speak.

His trousers would not fit over the bulk of his new underwear and so it was decided that he could spend the day just wearing his dressing gown, tightly secured of course, while he did his homework.

“Your Aunty will be coming at lunch time to remove your catheter. I have to go to work now and see a new prospective client, so you press on and do your school work”, she told him.

As soon as the door had closed and his mother’s cart had left the drive, Adrian had retrieved his packet of cigarettes and lighter from under the drawer in his desk. He rushed downstairs, unlocked the back door and stood outside relishing the first puff that he had enjoyed in a few days. He lit the cigarette while inhaling deeply, he was no beginner to this habit and was quite a seasoned smoker for somebody who was only 16 years old. Having started a couple of years previously (around the time his father and Tania had produced yet another baby). He luxuriated in the smoke, being careful to tap his ash in the small drain that lay next to the wall and captured the waste from the kitchen sink. He finished the cigarette and disposed of the stub by poking it through the grating. He took another from the box and lit it – it had been a long time since he last had the opportunity; especially with all the weird stuff happening to him at the moment. He dragged the smoke deep into his lungs when suddenly he felt a heavy hand clamp down on his shoulder……

[Andlat]

No doubt about it, Adrian is in trouble now. Having to quit smoking is sure to make him irritable, even if they try to replace his oral fixation

[dolly bo peep]

Antonia,

I'm just catching up now and enjoying your story.

It looks like Adrian is getting in deeper and deeper.

I'm eager to read what happens next.