The Unlikely Daddy

• 17 •

Alfie waddled into the bathroom, his mum following closely behind him. Once inside he stood, looking cluelessly around, not knowing what he was supposed to do having never worn a pull-up before.

"Mum?" Alfie said sheepishly.

"Yes, sweetheart" Alfie's mum smiled.

"I don't know what to do" Alfie admitted.

"Can you tell me what happened to make you have an accident?" Alfie's mum asked warmly.

Alfie shrugged, very embarrassed.

"Come on, sweetheart. I won't be angry, I just want to understand so we know what to do next" Alfie's mum explained.

"I didn't even realise" Alfie sighed.

"You didn't realise you needed a wee?" Alfie's mum clarified.

Alfie nodded, not wanting to say it again.

"Listen, the doctors said this would happen when you started your new medication, so we don't need to worry about it too much" Alfie's mum said softly.

"But Mr Bentley told me to go potty and I said no" Alfie confessed.

"Okay, so now you know next time to listen when somebody tells you to go potty" Alfie's mum reassured.

Alfie nodded. He knew at the time he should've listened to Mr Bentley, but he really just wanted to get home and forget all about how mean Logan had been that afternoon.

"So, what you're going to do is take that wet pull-up off, have a nice warm shower, try on the potty again, then put a dry pull-up on" Alfie's mum explained.

Usually Alfie would argue about having to wear a pull-up, but the fact he had uncontrollably wet himself on the drive home without any warning scared him, and he didn't want that to happen while he wasn't wearing a pull-up. So, Alfie listened carefully to his mum and followed her instructions.

While Alfie was taking a shower Alfie's mum went downstairs to talk to Mr Bentley.

"He'll be fine once he's all cleaned up" Alfie's mum sighed as she came down the stairs.

"It was always bound to be a little bit rough when he started taking his new medication" Mr Bentley said as he saw the exacerbated look on Alfie's mum's face.

"It just doesn't seem fair to be giving him a medication that I know for a while will make things worse for him" Alfie's mum confided in Mr Bentley.

"But, once this difficult period is over it should be much better for him" Mr Bentley reassured.

"I hope so" Alfie's mum said as she sat herself down in the living room.

"I just wanted to come over to talk about how you wanted us to handle the situation at school" Mr Bentley began addressing the real reason he was here.

"What has he been like at school lately?" Alfie's mum asked.

"So, it's evident that he struggles with telling the teachers or myself that he needs to go to the bathroom, which means he often finds himself in the situation where he is waiting far too long and having an accident" Mr Bentley began.

"He had a strong relationship with another student who seemed to be supporting him, but I think something has gone on between them that is making their relationship difficult. This student would take him to the bathroom and Alfie was okay with that" Mr Bentley went on to say.

"What happened?" Alfie's mum asked curiously.

"That's something you'll have to ask Alfie about because I'm really not sure. But, I'm predicting it will have a knock on effect on Alfie's accidents if they don't repair their relationship quickly" Mr Bentley explained.