The Unlikely Daddy

• 15 •

Mr Dylan was gone for no longer than 5 minutes before he came back into the locker room with the backpack Mr Bentley had sent him to collect. He placed it down on the floor near to Alfie, smiling sympathetically as he did so.

"I'll leave you to it" Mr Dylan said, making a quick get away.

Once Mr Dylan was gone Mr Bentley began rummaging through Alfie's backpack. He pulled out some wipes, a pair of dry trousers and the dreaded pull-up.

"Buddy, are you ready to get yourself changed?" Mr Bentley asked Alfie.

Alfie stared at the pile of things that were on the floor, his eyes mainly focused on the pull-up.

"I need Logan" Alfie sniffed helplessly.

"What for?" Mr Bentley asked, confused.

He knew that Alfie and Logan had become quite close over the past few weeks, but he had no idea how dependent Alfie had become on Logan.

"Please" Alfie couldn't explain why he needed Logan, but he just knew he was the only person that could make him feel safe.

"You get yourself changed then I will go and check to see if Logan has finished his maths exam, deal?" Mr Bentley suggested.

Alfie nodded shyly, picking the wipes and the dry pants off the floor, ignoring the pull-up.

"And this" Mr Bentley said, holding out the pull-up for Alfie to take.

Alfie shook his head, refusing to take the pull-up from Mr Bentley.

"Alfie, if you don't take it, I will have to call your mum" Mr Bentley spoke sternly.

"But..." Alfie went to speak but was interrupted.

"No buts, Alfie. Put it on or I will have to let your mum know" Mr Bentley said, still holding the pull-up out in hopes that Alfie would take it.

He didn't agree with the forcefulness of it all, and he could understand why Alfie was being so defiant. But, he had to follow Alfie's mum's wishes regardless.

Alfie reluctantly took the pull-up off Mr Bentley and headed straight for the bathroom across the room.

"Good boy" Mr Bentley said as Alfie turned away.

Inside the bathroom Alfie spent some time feeling the pull-up, hating every second of it. As he prodded it with his fingers he didn't like the sound he heard. Although relatively quiet, Alfie felt like it was bound to be noticeable to everybody else.

After a while of inspecting the pull-up, he began taking off his soaking wet trousers and underwear, leaving them in a pile on the floor for the moment. He then started putting the pull-up on, pulling it so it was around his hips. He grabbed the front with his hand, disliking the thickness intensely.

Quickly he pulled his dry trousers on to cover the pull-up. Then he put his shoes back on. He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, feeling like the pull-up was completely obvious and feeling terrified to even leave the bathroom. He lifted up his shirt, which showed the waistband of the pull-up sticking out of the top of his pants subtly. He sighed to himself before picking up his wet clothes and heading out of the bathroom.

"Put those in here" Mr Bentley said, opening a plastic bag for Alfie to put his wet pants into before they went into his backpack.

"Can I make sure you've got the pull-up on, please?" Mr Bentley asked.

Alfie pulled up his shirt as he had done just before, confirming to Mr Bentley that he had indeed put his pull-up on.

"See, it's not so bad" Mr Bentley smiled.