RegressCo - Not a Baby

A bit of a self-indulgent story in the RegressCo universe with my other OC Jenny, a babysitter who’s been offered a job in Hazelbrook…

“Not a Baby”

Babysitting is a tough gig sometimes

Jenny could only remind herself of that as she walked up to the address she’d taken down the day before. You took the jobs you could get and didn’t ask too many questions when parents called you, after all there were plenty of others around who’d do it for less. She had a reputation to keep up, one of good service that was worth the price she offered. The wolf had done her make-up, got into some casual clothes to make sure she could move after the toddler she’d been put in charge of, and then had left with plenty of time to spare.

Walking up to the door she breathed out and reached for the doorbell, preparing herself for a rushing parent heading to the door in some formal outwear or a rushed outfit for a night out. The noise of footsteps greeted her ears just as the door opened to reveal the house's occupant.

“Hello? Can I help you?”

Her eyes didn’t meet with an adult. Well, not an adult that she could see at her eye level at any rate. Instead she had to look down to see the face of a rather perturbed looking bunny, his short hair and the inside of his long ears a dull beige while the rest of his fur was a deep red.

“Hi… I’m the babysitter!” She grinned as best she could “Are your parents in?”

The bunny glared back at her “I’m not a baby” , his cheeks puffed out with frustration “And I don’t need a babysitter. Dammit Rob…”

“Rob?”

“Yeah, my husband.”

Jennys mind managed to put the pieces together as she started to notice more about the bunny. He was clearly a regressee, not an uncommon sight in Hazelbrook by any means. He was dressed casually, cargo shorts and a t-shirt, but there was a noticeable plastic waistband poking above the belt that she’d seen many times with potty training charges. Pull-ups, ones that were no doubt on as a precaution rather than any need if the chipmunk’s demeanor was anything to go by.

“Well… this is the address I was given. He seemed like he really needed a hand on the phone and…”

The bunny sighed “Fine, come in. I’ll just make sure to have a chat to him when he comes back”

Jenny walked through the door to the house as the bunny wandered off down the corridor. He certainly seemed to care very little that his husband had apparently arranged for a babysitter without any consultation with him. Maybe this was a more regular occurrence than he was letting on, or perhaps he was just in need of a hand with a few things here and there.

She opened her changing bag as she saw him walk into what appeared to be a large lounge. Diapers, a full bottle of milk, a spare pacifier and a few sensory toys. No pull-ups had been mentioned and the father… well husband apparently… she’d been on the phone to had made a passing comment about “needing a change before bed”. She sighed and followed the bunny into the lounge, the regressed adult sitting on the couch and watching the news. There was a teddy bear next to him, one that looked well worn from regular hugging sessions.

“So… what’s your name kiddo?”

He didn’t look at her “Trevor. Nice to meet you I guess”

She walked over to the couch and sat down next to him “I’m Jenny, nice to meet you too” she moved the bear over towards him, which elicited a small yelp from the bunny as he immediately grabbed it off her.

“Don’t touch Bear”

She recoiled “Sorry!”

The bunny blushed a little as he realized his reaction might have been a little overblown. He looked back at the screen and shuffled a little on the sofa, his pull-ups crinkling as he did so.

“I… he’s just a bit worn out. Don’t want him to get hurt ya know?”

Jenny smiled and breathed out, her face becoming one of relief rather than the concern that had been all over it before.

“No worries, I understand. Plushies are pretty special”

“Yeah…” he kept the bear close to him in a hug as his other hand moved towards his mouth before quickly heading back to the sofa “He’s… he’s very important to me”

“Do you want a pacifier?” Jenny opened up her bag “It’s ok if you want to have…”

“No” the bunny shifted in place again, his blush coming back to his face “I don’t need a pacifier. I don’t need a babysitter”

Jenny sighed. She’d had plenty of older kids like this, ones that had ideas of independence but couldn’t cook or clean without her help. They’d have just lived off of whatever chocolate and cookies were in the house and never had anything healthy.

Maybe she just had to go into that kind of mode. She’d been hired to babysit, so babysit she would!

“Trevor, I’ve been hired to be your sitter for the evening” she stood up and directly in front of him, blocking the screen “So don’t be a brat. Rob wouldn’t like you being a brat would he?”

A frown came to the bunny's face “He… Look, I’m not a child! I can take care of myself!”

“Oh really?” Jenny looked down at his pants “But you’re still in training pants. Doesn’t seem like your hubby was as confident as you are”

Trevor’s cheeks puffed out again as he put the bear down and stood up as well. All that did was make him look even smaller as he looked up at Jenny “I’m not a baby. They’re… they’re just in case!”

“Just in case you don’t make it to the potty?” Jenny replied, getting down to his eye level and pulling the front of his pants forward “Oh, you’re wearing big boy pants over them huh? Seems a little redundant…”

“Hey! I… I can get to the potty fine! So I wear briefs! I don’t need the pull-ups!”

She pulled the brief waistband out as well and looked down to see the front of the trainers “Looks like you’re dry! Great job!” ruffling his head fur, she stepped back up to her full height and looked down at him with her hands on her hips “Now, I’m going to go make your dinner. You stay here and be good, alright?”

The bunny looked like he was about to explode with embarrassment. Even under the red fur the blush was noticeable, his cheeks puffing out and his two front teeth pulling in front of his bottom lip as he audibly huffed.

“You can’t talk to me like that! I’M. NOT. A. BABY!” his left foot stomped on the ground at the same time, each word coming out with what Jenny could only describe as adorable anger.

“Uh-huh” she raised her eyebrow and started walking towards the door “And I totally didn’t just see you start throwing a tantrum.”

As she left, she looked back to see the bunny hop back onto the sofa, grab his bear and cross his arms, his face in a full pout. She giggled a little as she walked down the corridor, the kitchen greeting her at the end of it. It was pretty obvious that the place was well kept and that cooking was a hobby of one of the occupants. Neat spice racks adorned one wall, the large fridge was covered in little notes detailing recipes and shopping lists. Opening it up, Jenny took a look at the contents. It was full from top to bottom, recently stocked with a tray containing some leftovers on the bottom shelf. It was shepherd's pie, neatly cut from the meal it was originally made for and left with a nicely sized square.

“FOR ACE” was written on a post-it note on the front of it. Either he was very protective, or Rob wanted to let her know what to feed him this evening. Given how poorly he’d been responding so far to the idea of being babysat, Jenny felt like the second option was far more likely.

“Let’s get this heated up” she took the tray out and placed the contents of it on a plate, carefully removing it to keep its shape and putting it in the microwave. She took a look at her phone in the interim, checking to see if any other jobs for the week had popped up until the ding of the appliance let her know it was done.

She looked down at the cutlery in the drawers that she thought about taking through to the lounge. None of it looked suitable for a child to use, certainly not one as young as Trevor had become. She didn’t remember Rob telling her that he could feed himself, so there really was only one option, though she didn’t really look forward to the prospect of having to do it.

Still, it was her only choice at this point. She placed the plate down in front of a seat that had a booster left on it and headed back to the lounge. Trevor was still watching the television, only this time his thumb had become firmly wedged in his maw, directly underneath his two front teeth.

“Awww, gosh you look cute like that!” she cooed across the room. The bunny jumped and looked back at her, his eyes wide.

“I do notsh!” he noticed his thumb was in his mouth too late to respond without lisping. Recovering some of his sense he removed it before giving Jenny a glare “I mean… I don’t look cute!”

Jenny just sidled over to him and gave Trevor a soft pat on the head “That’s not up to you champ. I bet Rob just doesn’t mention it so you don’t notice…”

“He.. he would tell me if…” Trevor looked confused as to how to respond, his brain trying to decide whether to refute the assertion or not. Jenny took the opportunity to lift the toddler onto her arm, his shock suddenly taking him out of his stupor.

“He… hey! Put me down!”

“It’s dinner time kiddo, there was lovely shepherd's pie in the fridge for ya! Did Rob make it?”

“I made it! Put me down now!”

Jenny tickled the bunny's tummy, eliciting a sudden bout of giggling that put his protests on hold while she got him to the kitchen.

“You made it? Wow, well done kiddo! A positively adorable little chef!”

As they got into the kitchen, Trevor breathlessly tried to detach himself from Jenny before she got him into the booster seat. He looked down at the meal in front of him and immediately turned his nose up.

“Did you microwave this?”

Jenny nodded “Of course! It was clearly just some leftovers, nothing that needed much more than a reheat for…”

“You can’t just do that! You’ll ruin the texture of the meat!”

Jenny was temporarily taken aback by the confidence in her voice. Maybe he really had cooked this… Still, no need to start treating him like an adult when he was being this childish anyway.

“Oh shush, I’m sure it’s fine” she took a spoon and started to scoop some of the shepherd's pie onto it, making sure to get a good mix of meat and potato “Open up!”

“Wa..” she managed to get the first spoonful in as the bunny went to respond, his mouth chewing and swallowing just before she’d prepared the second one “I can feed myself!”

“There wasn’t any suitable cutlery in the drawers” Jenny responded “You’re barely going to be able to hold this fork! And you might hurt yourself! What sort of babysitter would I be if I let that happen?”

“That’s… mmmfff!” The second spoonful went in as he tried to respond again, his mouth desperately trying to finish up the soft pie.

“Do I need to make airplane noises? Would that help, little guy?”

Trevor swallowed and crossed his arms, looking at Jenny with another glare that, at this point, just made the babysitter giggle.

“Ok ok, no airplane noises' ' she took another spoonful and directed it towards the bunny's mouth, only for him to keep it firmly shut.

“Oh come on Trevor, it’s just some shepherds pie, it’s not going to hurt you”

He shook his head and continued to glare. Clearly he wasn’t going to give in easily to the trap of being made to talk.

“You cooked this huh?” She took the spoonful and tried some. It was delicious, just the right mix of seasoning was on the meat, the mashed potato soft and buttery. But she had an idea, avoiding a smile as she looked at him again with a curled up muzzle.

“Ick, I can see why you don’t like it. What did you do to the meat?”

He looked insulted, his eyes going wide “What?! That’s one of my best… mmfmfff!”

Jenny got another spoonful in as her charge went to refute her, his face once again going bright red as he realized what she’d just managed to get him to do.

“It’s your best huh? Then finish it up kiddo come on!” she grabbed another spoonful “Besides, I’m not letting you out until you eat it all”

He shook his head again, pouting and looking away. There was still half of the pie left, but it was clear he was enjoying the food even if he wasn’t enjoying the experience. Jenny just sighed and put the spoon down, going back to her bag on the table and taking out the bottle of milk

“Do you need something to drink? I’ve got a bottle here you can have…”

It was almost comical how quickly the glare reappeared on his face. Jenny giggled, putting the bottle in front of him and letting him look at it. It wasn’t a particularly babyish bottle, just a plain transparent container, but Trevor looked at it like it was a cup of poison.

“It’s not going to make you a baby if you drink it, Trevor. It’s milk, it’s not some magical potion”

He just sat there, looking back and forth between the food and the bottle. Evidently he didn’t trust her not to just put either of them straight into his mouth if he responded with words.

Just as Jenny was about to get up and give up, albeit with a smile at having got him to eat anything at all after earlier, Trevor burped loudly.

“Goodness! Is someone a little gassy?”

“I am not ga…” he stopped, his eyes going wide as if something had just occurred to him. Jenny cocked her head and gave him a curious look.

“You ok? Do you need…”

“I need the potty!” he jumped off the chair, trying to run towards the door. Jenny grabbed his arm as he went, concerned that he might hurt himself overriding the protests of the bunny.

“Woah, slow down, I’ll take you there just…”

“No no! I don’t need help I just…” he used his other hand to grab at the waistband of his trousers, trying to start the process of pulling them down. He managed to get them down to his knees as Jenny quickly picked him up, the pants dropping off Trevor in the process.

“Ok, ok, let’s go. Which direction is the bathroom?”

“Gah! Let me… let me go!” he grasped at his stomach as an audible toot came from his rear. Blushing he looked at Jenny, realizing that he just needed her to take him there overcoming his clear desire for independence.

“It… it’s just… just down the corridor there… please…”

Jenny went a mild jog towards the bathroom, Trevor groaning a little on the way as she reached the door. Opening it up to see the toilet directly in front of her, she asked the first question that came to mind.

“Where’s your potty?”

Trevor looked at her “I’m not a bab… I don’t…. Please put me down!”

Jenny did so and the bunny immediately tried to waddle over to the toilet. Except he only took two steps before he stood stock still, his legs bending down and his butt pushing outwards in front of Jenny.

“N…Nooooo….”

The underwear he had on over his pull-ups started to move down the plastic backing of the trainers as what was beneath them started to be weighed down by what the bunny was adding to his underwear. His tail was bobbing up and down with each little push, his fists balling up and his bottom lip disappearing beneath his two front teeth.

“Oh dear…” Jenny muttered under her breath “Poor little guy”

As Trevor started to stand back up straight he looked back to examine what had happened. His briefs were now stretched slightly by the distended weight beneath his butt, the pull-ups waistband only just staying on by virtue of his tail. They were clearly not designed to deal with a toddler having such a large accident in them for very long.

“Stay still Trevor, I’ll be right back”

His thumb went into his mouth as he sniffled, nodding as she left. Jenny rushed to the kitchen and grabbed her changing bag, taking the diaper and changing supplies out.

Before she could head back, her phone started to ring. Taking it out of her pocket she answered, trying to calm herself down a little.

“Hello, Jenny speaking”

“Hello! Where are you? We were expecting you an hour ago to babysit our boy?”

Jenny’s eyes went wide “I’m sorry, I’m here right now? I’ve been…” she stuttered “You gave me this address?”

“Oh my goodness, I’m sorry! We’re next door! You’re there right now?”

“Yes I…” she realized that she still had Trevor down the corridor, in dire need of her attention “Sorry, I’ll be over in fifteen minutes, is that ok?”

“Of course, are you…”

“Great, sorry I have to get another baby into bed!”

She put the phone down and rushed back to the bathroom. Trevor was no longer standing up, instead he sat on the floor on his knees, looking at the doorway with his thumb in his mouth, his pull-ups and underwear totally unable to disguise the droop or smell of his accident.

Jenny could only sigh as she looked down at the poor boy.

“It’s ok, I know you’re not a baby Trevor” she laid him down and prepared to change him into the diaper she took out of her bag “But I think it’s time for you to head to bed isn’t it?”

Without complaint, the bunny nodded as he let her start the process of removing his briefs. He stayed quiet as Jenny removed his full pull-up, throwing it in a nearby pail before wiping him down and powdering him up. The new diaper fit him perfectly, it’s adorably babyish designs and thick padding giving Trevor a totally different look to his previously formal get-up. A much more adorable one, at least for Jenny.

She picked him and took him towards his bedroom. Inside was a toddler bed, a rail up one side and a couple more plush toys next to the pillows. Laying him down, she realized one more thing was needed before she left him to sleep. It didn’t take more than a minute for her to collect Bear and hand it to Trevor, who immediately pulled it into a full hug.

“Night Trevor, I’m sure Rob will look forward to the stories when you get back”