Neonato Ranch - A Regression Story (Chapter 5)

This was a story I was commissioned to write - it features some themes that I don't often explore, and is primarily a slow-burn mental regression story. It's seven chapters long, I'll be posting the complete story over the next couple weeks.

Chapter 4 can be found here. 

Jeremy yawned and stretched, blinking softly as his alarm clock beeped.

Five more minutes, he told himself, rolling over and pressing the snooze button, making justifications in his head for the time he’d lose. He could shower quickly, and a diaper change wouldn’t take that long with Karen doing it.

Blinking blearily, he dozed off again, dreaming of soft things.

When the alarm beeped again, he admitted to himself that he really did need to get up. Groaning, he rolled out from under the covers, sitting up in bed and feeling his diaper squelch.

Poking at the padding, he determined that he would definitely need a change right away - he was close to leaking, and it’d be embarrassing if his diapers leaked in front of everyone. Better to go find Karen and get changed right away.

So, he got up and waddled out of the bedroom, looking around for her. She wasn’t in the laundry room, or the bathrooms, so he shuffled all the way to the kitchen and poked his head inside. No Karen, but he did spot Billy at the stovetop, flipping up flapjacks.

“Hey there, buddy!” Billy said, smiling at him. “Looking for Karen?”

“Yeah, I- How did you know?”

“Because you’re looking pretty soggy there, mister!” Billy chuckled, pointing at the diaper that was sagging between Jeremy’s legs. “Check the front room, I think she was going through the mail.”

“Thanks,” Jeremy said, cheeks turning just slightly pink. Sure, he needed a change, but was it really that obvious? Not thinking too much of it, he wandered all the way back to the front room, where Karen was sitting on the couch, sorting a stack of envelopes.

She glanced up at his entry, smiled, and set down the mail. “Good morning, Jerry.”

“Morning.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Jeremy said, “Um, I need a diaper change.”

“It sure looks like you do,” Karen agreed, getting to her feet. “Let’s go take care of that, okay?”

Walking over, she took his hand and led Jeremy back to his room. This time when she went to the drawer, she produced a plastic-backed pad, which she set out on the bed before instructing him to lay down.

Smart, Jeremy considered, getting up on the changing pad and laying back down.

Karen’s movements were smooth, caring, and practiced. She pulled away his soggy old diaper, washed him clean with cool, damp baby wipes, applied a thin dusting of powder, and massaged it into his skin. Once he was all clean and dry, the new diaper was slipped beneath his hips, folded in place, taped snugly around his waist, and she was done.

With the diaper, at least. She still had to dress him for the day.

Walking over to the closet, Karen picked out a T shirt, retrieved Jeremy’s felt boots, and walked back to where he was still laying on the mat. “Up!”

“Er…” he said, obeying and raising his arms. Karen pulled the shirt over his head, and then he finished asking, “Don’t I need pants?”

“Nonsense,” Karen said, crouching to pull socks over his feet. “It’s a lovely day out, you won’t get cold, and this way I can see when you need a change right away. We won’t have to worry about your diaper getting too soggy and leaking!”

“... right,” Jeremy said, nodding as she tugged the boots onto his feet. He got up, looking down at himself, all dressed for the day.

With that all done, he supposed it was time for breakfast. Karen went with him to the kitchen, and when they arrived, she picked up a plate stacked with pancakes already prepared for him, drizzled syrup over them with a flourish, and began to cut the pieces up with a fork and knife.

Jeremy wasn’t sure what to make of the gesture, but he sat down and waited for her to finish cutting up his breakfast. Only once she was done, and she slid across the meal to him with a plastic fork, did he dig in and eat his fill. As always, Billy’s cooking was fabulous, and the extra touch of care with having the pieces all cut uniformly to shape seemed to make it even better.

He certainly wasn’t going to complain about the extra attention, giving that the other kids… That is, the other students seemed to mostly ignore him at breakfast, sitting at their own table and making no effort to include him in their conversation.

It didn’t feel great, to be left out. Jeremy was a big ki- a student too, he should get to pla- talk with them.

Once he was done eating, he resolved to do something about it. Getting up, he marched right on over to where they were all sitting, drinking coffee, eating their own pancakes. “Hi.”

One of the guys, Ned looked over at him and grinned. “Hey there, Jerry! How was your breakfast?”

“Er…” What? Since they’d been excluding him, Jeremy hadn’t expected such a friendly greeting. “It was good!”

“You sure seem like you enjoyed it,” one of the girls - Jess, he thought - said. “You’re wearing half of it on your face!”

A few of them chuckled, but it didn’t feel like mean spirited teasing, just a joke. Jeremy chuckled too, unsure how to respond to their friendliness.

“Here, lemme help you there Jerry,” Kimmy said, leaning in with her napkin. She rubbed it on his face, wiping away syrup and bits of pancake that he hadn’t even noticed were there. “There! All clean.”

“Thanks…” Jeremy said. They weren’t being exclusive, he realized, he just hadn’t been brave enough to sit with them. And, thinking about it, he didn’t really feel like he belonged. He’d interrupted their conversation, after all, even if they were being nice. “Er… I’ve got chores to do, so… I’ll see you all later?”

“Sure thing, Jerry. Have a nice time with choring!” Kimmy beamed, and then the group of students returned to their friendly chatter.

Fed, face clean, with a fresh diaper, Jeremy toddled out the back door and went to get to work.

Karen had been right - It was a really nice day out, with a pleasant, warm breeze. Pants would have just been hot and uncomfortable, having just a diaper on below the waist was a lot nicer. Besides, it wasn’t like he needed pants for his work.

He busied himself sweeping, moving hay, shoveling out the stalls. This, at least, hadn’t changed since his arrival - His chores were the same, even if his outfit while doing those chores had become crinklier as the days went on.

It was around eleven when he felt the tug in his belly that said he needed the potty. He could have hurried on back to the ranch house, found Karen, gotten her help taking off his diaper, and gone on a toilet, but that sounded like a lot of work. Besides, there was still cleaning to do in the barn.

By the time he’d made the decision in his head, he was already squatting down, filling up his diaper with mush. By then, there was no point changing his mind anyways, so he just went with it, finished, stood up straight, and got back to work, his diaper hanging heavily between his legs as he finished up with his choring.

The dirty diaper didn’t really get in the way as he worked. Sure, it squelched a bit and sure, it smelled, but neither bothered him much, because he knew that he wouldn’t have to stay in it long.

Karen strolled in some fifteen minutes later, her little check-ups as much a part of the day’s routine as anything else. She had a large bag over her shoulder, and she spotted the condition of his diaper right away, pointing it out as she walked up to him.

“Well, it looks like someone used his diaper,” she said, getting close enough that she could reach around and squeeze the back of his padding, feeling the weight. “It looks like I got here just in time.”

“I didn’t want to bother you so I could use the potty,” Jeremy conceded, shrugging. “I’m just about done here.”

“You did a very good job,” Karen praised him, though it wasn’t clear if she was talking about the chores or about using his diaper. Either way, she took him by the hand and added, “Let’s get you in a fresh diaper, ok?”

“Okay,” Jeremy said, expecting that they’d walk back to the ranch house. Instead, she opened her bag and unrolled another portable changing mat, laying it right down on the dirt in the barn.

Oh, it’s a diaper bag, Jeremy realized, laying down obediently while Karen crouched and took out the other changing supplies.

Before she did anything else, though, Karen took out a pastel blue object from the bag, leaned over, and popped it into Jeremy’s mouth. His eyes widened as the pacifier was placed between his lips, but he didn’t argue - he couldn’t, without spitting it out, and it felt somehow appropriate to be suckling on it while she changed his diaper.

That done, Karen untaped him, wiped him up, and rolled up the old, soiled diaper, setting it aside and leaving him naked from the waist down.

While she got the powder ready, though, a few figures approached from the outside, strolling in through the open barn door. “Hey, Karen!”

Jeremy leaned up slightly so he could see a few of the students walking in. One of them waved, adding, “Isn’t it time for lessons?”

Karen smiled, waving back. “I’m just giving this lil’ stinker here a change, but you can get your horses ready now if you’d like. I’ll be out in a couple minutes!”

Jeremy turned pink, realizing that he’d be late for class again, that he was even making Karen late for class. Laying back down on the changing pad, he crossed his arms, hoping nobody would comment on the delay he was causing.

“Sure, we’ll see you out there,” one of the big kids said, smiling. “Take your time!”

“I’m almost done,” Karen chuckled, returning her attention to Jeremy.

It was true - she just had to finish applying powder, tape up a new diaper, and he was all set to go. The old diaper got wrapped up and put in the bag until it could be thrown away, the changing pad was rolled and stowed, and they were done.

“Now, let’s get you someone to ride, too, okay?” she said.

That was enough to get Jeremy excited, riding was still the highlight of his day. To his surprise, though, instead of walking over to one of the older horses he’d been riding on all week, Karen walked to the other side of the barn, where the ponies were stabled.

“No faiw!” Jeremy started to say, lisping as he realized the pacifier was still in his mouth. Taking it out, he repeated, “No fair! I want to ride one of the big horses!”

“Don’t be silly,” Karen said, opening a gate and leading out one of the tamer ponies. “You’re too young for that - one of the big horses would just be too much for you!” Getting to his side, she ruffled Jeremy’s hair, took the pacifier from his hand, and plopped it back in his mouth. “You do want to ride, don’t you?”

He nodded, emphatically. “Yeth!”

“Well, it’s a pony or nothing today. Maybe when you’re bigger, you can ride one of the horses.”

Fuming, Jeremy nodded. He couldn’t argue with Karen about it - if she said he wasn’t big enough, then he wasn’t big enough. The pony would be better than nothing, and it was still riding. So, he trudged next to her out to the yard, waiting until they were in the enclosed area before he took her hand, got up on the saddle, and started to ride.

It wasn’t particularly quick, and it wasn’t particularly fast, but it was still riding. While Karen taught the big kids more advanced riding techniques, he rode in slow circles around the yard, letting the pony do all the work. It knew how to walk, and didn’t take much direction to move around, though if he pulled on the reins it’d obey him well enough.

The morning was pleasant like that. Suckling on his pacifier, he rode around, oblivious to whether or not his diaper was getting any wetter. It was relaxing. Fun. When he got the pony up to a trotting speed for a short moment, he giggled and waved at Karen excitedly, a gesture that she returned pleasantly.

All good things had to come to an end, and when Karen wrapped up the lessons, that meant his own riding was over, too. She helped him down from the pony while the students led their horses back to the barn.

“Hmm,” she said, looking down at him.

“Wha’?” he asked, moving the pacifier to one side of his mouth so he could respond.

Karen licked her thumb, and then rubbed the digit on his cheek, wiping away some dirt. “You’re filthy, Jerry. Did you shower this morning?”

“Erm… no,” he admitted. “I fowgo’ too.”

“Well, let’s get you back inside and we’ll do something about that,” Karen suggested, taking his hand. “Okay, Jerry?”

That did sound nice. He nodded. Holding hands, they walked back to the ranch house, and instead of the communal bathrooms with the showers, Karen walked him up the stairs, to her own bedroom.

Inside, she had her own private bathroom, and in there was an old, cast iron tub, big enough to lay down in comfortably. It looked to be as old as the ranch house itself.

“Wait here a moment,” she said, leaving him in the bathroom and walking out. When she returned, she had a fresh set of clothes that he’d be able to change into, a baby blue t-shirt and a pair of sandals, along with a pair of fluffy towels and a washcloth.

Karen set aside the clothes and towels, then ran the bath, testing the water with her hand to make sure it wasn’t too hot. While the tub filled, she helped him get undressed, discarding his old diaper, pulling his shirt over his head. She left in the pacifier.

Once the bath was ready, Karen held his hand while he stepped in and got down, laying back in the warm-but-not-too-hot water. Lifting a washcloth and soap, she began to scrub him down, washing away the day’s grime and dirt, getting behind his ears, lathering him up.

Squirting a dollop of shampoo into her hand, Karen scrubbed it into his hair, humming softly. “You’ve got such pretty hair,” she commented, fingers running through, lathering up the shampoo. “But you’ve let it get all tangled up. It’s just a mess.”

Jeremy looked at her apologetically, suckling on his pacifier while she finished up cleaning him.

Karen continued washing him, taking her time, letting him soak in the comfortably warm water. She rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, using a plastic cup to run water over his head without getting it into his eyes, then repeated the process with conditioner, trying to get all the tangles out, tangles that Jeremy hadn’t even noticed until she mentioned them.

She didn’t spare him any dignity when it came to washing around his privates, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, given that she’d wiped him up down there half a dozen times by that point, changing his pullups and then his diapers.

He couldn’t place the tune she was humming, but it sounded familiar. Comforting. Like something from his childhood, that he hadn’t heard in decades but still had an inkling of in the back of his memory.

Eventually, she decided he was clean enough and pulled the plug, letting the water drain out. He watched the little vortex of water spin as the tub emptied, while Karen got up and got a pair of fluffy towels. She sat on the edge of the tub, draping one towel over her lap, holding the other one up. “Come up, sit on my lap,” she said.

He got up, obeying, sitting on the towel. She ran the other towel through his hair, drying him vigorously, then started patting down the rest of his body. It felt nice to be on her lap, to be close to her. He felt safe.

Once she was dry, Karen held an arm around him and produced a comb. “Now hold still, Jerry. I’m going to get all those nasty tangles out.”

He nodded, sucking down on the pacifier. She ran the comb through his hair, and he felt it gently against his scalp as she pulled the tangles loose one at a time, still humming her soft tune. It was slow going, but there was no hurry. Jeremy didn’t have anywhere to be, except in Karen’s arms.

When his hair was all straight and neat, Karen adjusted her grip on the comb, moving her hand and running it gently through the hair down over his privates. Jeremy was surprised, but it felt nice, and he didn’t object.

“Shh,” Karen said, quietly whispering in his air. “Karen’s gonna get you all nice and clean, baby. You don’t have anything to worry about. Just let me take care of you. Okay?”

He didn’t respond, just leaning back into Karen’s body as she rocked him back and forth, clean, naked, running the comb through his pubic hair.

“Is that okay?” Karen asked.

Jeremy hadn’t really thought about the question as anything more than a hypothetical until she’d asked the question again, but now that she had, he gave it some thought.

His past few days had seen their fair share of embarrassment, sure. He wasn’t sure why he’d started having accidents, but nobody was making a fuss about it. The days hadn’t been perfect, but they’d been comfortable, relaxing, pleasant. And, through it all, Karen had always been there for him, always willing to help.

Yeah, it is okay. He nodded, gently, and Karen gave him a soft hug from behind.

“I’m so proud of you, Jerry,” she whispered, holding him close and rocking side to side in a soothing way. “You’re doing such a good job, and soon we’ll be all done and you won’t have any more worries.”

Jeremy didn’t know what Karen was talking about, but it didn’t matter. He understood that Karen was going to keep him safe, and that was enough.