Done Adulting Vol. 2 Ch. 12

Jamie woke up inside to the sound of running water. He could tell Amanda had him in her arms from the way she felt different than Becky, thinner, firmer, and more slender body.

“Hey,” he said as she stretched and yawned.

“Hey, Jamie Bear. Figured you’d want a bath to get all that salt and sweat off you.”

“Thanks. Where’s Mom?” Amanda set him in the water.

“She ran to the store to get more stuff for dinner. Four extra people to feed.” She started with his hair first, and he lowered his head for her to pour the water over.

“Ya know,” Jamie said, “I can do this on my own sometimes.”

“How would you get in and out?”

“Well, I could call you when I’m ready to get out.”

“I thought you liked this,” Manda said, wondering where this was coming from. “I thought you liked getting baths.”

“I do. I just … want people to remember I’m just as capable as I was when I got here.”

“We remember,” Amanda told him, though she asked herself if they hadn’t fallen so deeply into the pattern of their life that they forgot sometimes that Jamie wasn’t an ordinary little. They hadn’t meant to forget, if they had; they took care of him tenderly because they all seemed to enjoy it. When she thought on it, there were only a few things Jamie did for himself that regressed littles didn’t, though she knew he could do more.

“Is this because of this afternoon, going into the wrong house?”

“It was just a mistake.”

“I know.”

“Not like I wandered off and fell into a well.”

“I know, Jamie. Really.” She wondered if it wasn’t a bigger deal in his mind than anyone else’s. Maybe he was questioning his own capabilities. “I know you can do everything you did before you came here. Have we done something to make you feel different?”

“No. I guess I just … I don’t know. That woman was a little patronizing, and if her daughter weren’t so young I’d call her a very rude name for talking about ‘petting’ me.” He made an ugly face. “And then Mom kinda acted like Kim rescued me. She could’ve just let me walk back out the door.”

“Well, she doesn’t know you. She doesn’t know you’re not regressed. She was just being cautious.”

“Yeah.” He understood that. What did Becky mean by ‘I’m glad she did.’ Not like I’m gonna walk up to the wrong person and call her ‘Mom,’he mused. “What did Mom mean when she said she was glad Kim brought me back?”

“I’m not sure. That she was glad she got to meet her?” Jamie hadn’t thought of it like that, though he wasn’t sure she was right. “Look, if you want me to tell Mom to uninvite them, I’ll text her right now. She’ll do it. Do you want me to?”

“No, I guess not.” That seemed like it would be an overreaction.

“C’mon, then. Let’s get you dressed, and then I’ll get cleaned up, too. What do you wanna wear tonight?”

“Is Mom gonna insist I dress nice for company?” Nice by little standards. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d worn a shirt that buttoned at the throat.

“Not on vacation. Besides, I don’t think we packed anything like that.”

“Just shorts and a t-shirt then.”

“Do you want to stay up late tonight, maybe go for a walk after dark? I bet we can see a lot of stars if we walk far enough from the lights.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Amanda laid him on the changing table and made quick work of getting a new diaper on him. She left him there with his feet hanging over the edge and got an outfit for him from his dresser. She opened the shorts for him and stopped herself. “Here,” she said instead and helped him to the floor, “You can put these on yourself, if you want.”

Jamie felt awkward. “Thanks.”

“I’m gonna go shower and change.”

“I’m gonna find something to do in here.”

“Mom should be back soon.”

“Okay.”

Amanda left Jamie to his own devices and thought on how she liked getting him dressed. What he wanted was more important, but she didn’t want him to be more independent. She liked things the way they were, with those intimate moments and her getting to take care of him. It scratched an itch and made her very happy to do it. It was one way she gave love, and for Jamie she had a lot of it to give. She didn’t want to lose the small, seemingly inconsequential ways to do that, not when there’d be times not too far away when she would, for the first time in four years, go an entire day without seeing him.

Jamie tried to read his book some more, but set it down. Maybe I’m just being defensive for no reason, Jamie asked himself. Becky hadn’t done or said anything to make it seem like she trusted him less or thought him less capable, and it seemed like all that was long in the past. Maybe I’m just being defensive because I felt stupid. But that girl better behave herself.