November Exclusive - "Trust" - Part 4

Mommy remains in the kitchen. Leo and Aria can hear the noises of washing-up, of putting-things-away.

The phone is in Aria’s hands. At first, Leo is jealous. He wants the phone, he wants to press on the screen, he would love to swipe and tap like a big boy. And who knows? Perhaps Mommy has games on her phone! Leo can feel a whine at the back of his throat; he’s ready to protest, he’s close to making a grab.

No. It’s best that Aria holds the phone. Toddlers are smarter than babies, and Aria said it herself; she knows how to call for help.

Leo watches his sister (Little sister? Big sister? Better not to make comparisons, the attempt makes Leo feel dizzy with confusion) frown at the phone. She shakes her head. “Fudge,” she whispers.

“What?”

“It needs a special number.”

Leo says, “You know it. You know your numbers.”

“No, it’s special.” Aria glances towards the kitchen and then back at the phone in her lap. “It’s a secret number,” she whispers. Tears fill her eyes. “Only Mommy knows it.” She passes the phone to Leo, and he holds it clumsily.

He doesn’t know the secret number. He doesn’t know any numbers, which is a thought that threatens to spill the contents of his bladder straight into his diaper. What are numbers?

He stares at the phone screen, as if enough focus will grant him understanding. There are squiggles at the bottom. Not numbers, but the other ones. The ones that tell stories. Leo likes stories. He points at the squiggles. “What’s it say?”

Aria shakes her head. “Dunno.” She rubs her eyes. “It’s stupid. It doesn’t work.”

“So what do we do?” Whadda-we-doo?

“I don’t know,” she whispers.

From the kitchen, there’s the sound of water filling the electric kettle. Mommy is making hot water for the French Press. They still have time.

But time for what? Leo looks at his sister, who seems like she’s ready to have an age-appropriate meltdown.

Trust me.

Leo would roll his eyes if he could. If there’s one thing he can remember vividly from his old life, it’s his sister’s lack of follow-through.

He might as well be on his own.

Leo looks towards the hallway. Is the front door locked?

He sighs. Does it even matter? Even outside the confines of the pack ‘n play, He couldn’t reach the doorknob. He’s not sure he can even stand up! Does he really expect to just crawl his way to freedom?

Besides, the idea of leaving the living room, or getting away from his mother, it fills him with childish dread. What would he do without Mommy? Mommy takes care of everything.

He stares at the phone screen, as if there might still be an answer inside the device, but the display promises nothing but confusion.

“How we getting on in here?”

Like a summoned spirit, Leo and Aria’s mother is back in the living room. She crouches down and plucks the phone from Leo’s hands.

“That’s not yours,” she says playfully. “That’s Mommy’s phone!” She smiles at both of her regressed children. “Did you want to make a call?” She laughs. “Were you guys ordering a pizza?”

Leo looks at his sister. There will be no pizza, just like there will be no police. They are at their mother’s mercy, and so it’s just as well that Mommy is so nice and sweet.

“Looks like you guys want to play, but Mommy’s phone isn’t a toy. Let’s get you back in the pack ‘n play. She takes Aria first of all, depositing her gently inside the portable crib. And then she picks up Leo, and she holds him against her chest. “Mommy’s chunky monkey,” she says lightly. “I’m going to take such good care of both of you.” She kisses his forehead. “But this is all thanks to you, honey. If you hadn’t let the doctor take your blood, Mommy couldn’t have made you both her sweet little babies again!” And then it’s Leo’s turn to find himself placed securely inside, and Mommy leaves them with a promise that she will be back before they know it.

He looks around and remembers the pacifier, the stuffie, and notices other objects; a fuzzy blanket, a baby doll dressed in a pink romper. The doll must be for Aria because she’s a girl and girls like dolls.

Leo looks to his sister, and wonders if she will play with the doll. Truth is, she doesn’t look playful right now.

“You,” she says. Red-faced and glaring, she repeats herself. “You.”

Leo looks at her questioningly. Why is Aria mad? Doesn’t she like her doll?

Aria points with a chubby finger. “You did it,” she whispers. You didid.

Leo blinks. Did what? He puts a finger of his own to his mouth. “Huh?”

“The blood!” hisses Aria. “The doctor! Mommy…” And then the color drains from her face. “You wanted…you helped Mommy make me little.”

And in Leo’s muddled mind, the penny drops. And it’s his turn to redden. “Didn’t know,” he pleads. Dint know.

Area shakes her head, her blond hair flying. “You did! ‘Course you did!”

Leo tries again. “Didn’t mean it.” And his mind goes back to all the times they tried this excuse with their mother, dropping a glass, spilling the milk. I did it on accident, you can’t get mad.

That argument was rarely successful the first time around, so Leo isn’t confident it will work now.

But Aria looks less angry, at least. In fact, she starts to smile. “Mommy tricked you.” She shakes her head. “You thought Mommy just wanted me be little. But she wanted you too.”

She sighs. “Silly baby.”

Despite how he looks, despite how he feels, Leo still bristles at the name. “Notta baby,” he insists. “Only pretending.”

Aria raises her eyebrows and then nods. “Uh-huh. The plan. Pretend, and then we get help.” She smiles at her brother. “We call police and they come and rescue us, right?”

Leo nods enthusiastically. Because they’re a team. Because it’s far better to think about the plan than how he’s let them both down.

“Okay,” says Aria. She looks Leo up and down. “You have to pretend better.”

“Huh?”

Aria smiles. “It’s okay. I help.” She picks up the pacifier and thrusts it towards him. “Suck on your Binky.”

Leo tilts his head at her. “Don’t wanna- “

Aria pops the pacifier between his open lips.

“Hmmph!” Leo protests. But just for a moment. Because there’s something so reassuring, so simplifying about having his Binky. He sucks on it experimentally and finds the stress and anxiety melting away. Binky is magic. Baby loves his Binky. Leo smiles around the pacifier.

“See?” Aria says playfully. “Better, huh.”

Leo nods, continuing to suck on the nipple.

“And here’s your whaley,” says Aria, putting the gray stuffie in her brother’s lap. “You love your whaley, he’s so soft, and he’s so nice.”

Leo clutches the toy to his chest, stroking the fur as he sucks on his pacifier. Yes, all of this is so much better.

Aria giggles. “Look at you! Now you’re a real baby!”

Leo keeps smiling. He doesn’t even feel self-conscious at the drool running down his chin. He just feels so much better now. He looks adoringly at his sister. Isn’t Aria smart! Doesn’t Aria know just what to do! Because she’s a big girl, not a silly baby like-

“You’re all drooly,” Aria says. “Perfect.” She crouches in front of him and grins, showing off her perfect, tiny teeth. “I’m gonna pretend,” she says, managing to sound sweet and fierce at the same time. “I’ll pretend until I can tell a grown-up.” She suddenly sticks out her tongue at her brother. “But you’re not pretending. You’re a baby for real.” And she half-says, half-sings, “Silly bay-bee! Leo the lion!”

Leo swallows. There’s something not right. Something’s gone over his head and so far away that he can’t get it back. Wasn’t there a game? Aren’t they just playing?

“Go on and make your poopies,” Aria says in her sing-song voice, “so Mommy can know what a baby you are. Silly, poopy baby!”

And at least Leo understands one thing: he’s not the lion. Aria is. She’s the brave one, the smart one. She’s the survivor.

“I’m gonna ‘scape,” Aria sings. “But you’re all squishy. Squishy in your diaper, squishy in your head!”

But Leo doesn’t want to be squishy. He looks around the mesh walls of the pack ‘n play and it’s never felt more like a prison cell. He throws the stuffie at Aria, and she responds with a giggle.

“Baby getting’ mad? Baby need his mommy?”

And that’s exactly what Leo wants. With an almighty mental and physical struggle, clutching at the memories and motor controls that have faded almost completely away, Leo gets to his knees and then pulls at the wall of the crib, grunting in victory as he succeeds in getting to his feet.

Standing, like a big boy. Not a silly baby. He’ll call for Mommy and he’ll tell her all about how naughty Aria’s being. How mean she is. And then Leo can be the big boy again.

Here comes Mommy, with her immaculate timing. She carries a mug of coffee into the living room, and as soon as she sees Leo, her face brightens. “Look at you! What a big boy, standing up all by yourself!”

Leo grunts and mumbles around his Binky, drooling and babbling his story to Mommy, telling her all about his mean sister, and for a moment he’s not sure if Mommy understands, but then he feels more confident. She can see him standing like a big boy, she knows exactly what he’s saying, even as he hears Aria giggle beside him, even as his legs bow, and he allows a mess of pee and poop into his waiting diaper.

“Baby duh stinky!” Aria announces gleefully.

Mommy puts down her mug and approaches the pack ‘n play. “That’s just what babies do,” she says sweetly.

Leo looks up at his mother’s face. No, she’s got it wrong, he isn’t a silly-

Mommy picks him up, as if he weighs nothing, as if she’s the strongest person in the world, hugs him to her chest and pats his rear.

“Oh my,” says Mommy, and she sniffs the air. “Somebody did do a stinky, didn’t they.” And she kisses Leo’s cheeks, cradles the back of his head, and tells him the absolutely truth.

“What a good boy you are,” she says softly. “Mommy’s best, sweetest boy.”

And Leo knows that his mother is right. Even if he can’t say it, his language all gone, he relaxes against her, smelling her scent and filling up with affection.

“And Aria’s such a good girl,” Mommy says. At the mention of his big sister’s name, Leo turns his head to see her sitting in the pack ‘n play, holding her baby doll and smiling angelically.

Such a good girl, Leo agrees. And then Mommy takes him upstairs to change his diaper.

THE END

A man is eager to help his mother regress his little sister to a toddler, but is less excited about his own return to infancy - Rick