✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

86. My Quick Thinking

"No!" I heard Tess's voice, and I could tell she was getting upset about something. I immediately turned towards the lounge, and started to spill the bottle I'd been filling up. I cursed under my breath and hurried to mop up the spill. I could hear her voice, and she sounded somewhat upset. But not scared or hurt, so I had to hope it was just some kind of game. My mind filled with the worst possible scenarios, thinking of reasons for a little girl to raise her voice, and I dreaded finding that Tess was really upset about something I couldn't resolve. Or that she was upsetting Ffrances with the sudden burst of emotion; I wasn't sure which one worried me more. This was why I needed my girlfriend to help look after the little one; I couldn't be worrying about both of them. And I would have to tell Tess that afterwards; perhaps she would be more reasonable once she realised it wasn't just Ffrances's comfort that I was thinking about but her own as well.

In any case, it probably took less than a minute for me to mop up my spill sufficiently that I could see what was wrong. I strode quickly to the door, and heard that Tess still seemed excited, even if she had lowered her voice now.

"I didn't mean me!" she was whining as I opened the door. I quickly asked what was wrong, because I could see the baby wasn't happy. I almost finished the sentence before I saw the problem for myself. Tess was sitting in a puddle now, clearly having wet herself. I panicked for a second, hoping that this wouldn't upset her enough to put her off regression in the future. But I realised pretty quickly that it could also be a good sign. She'd had an accident without me triggering her, without me making it happen. Maybe it was just a consequence of all the suggestions to put her in a very little headspace, and she thought it was a natural thing for someone as small as her to do; in which case she must have overcome any resistance she had to the idea. Or it could be that she had decided to trigger herself, really buying into the role.

Whether it was intentional or not, I was sure that it would make it harder for her to object about being babied in the future, so I did my best to comfort and reassure her. I told her that she wasn't in trouble, that she was still a good girl, and I asked if she wanted to get changed. I knew it would have been a perfect opportunity to force her into diapers, and I would have a decent reason for doing that if she objected when she was back to her pretence of maturity. But I wanted her to be comfortable; if she was willing to take those steps on her own, I wanted to let her do it. Once she had chosen to go along with it, I would find it so much easier to stop her taking it back. So today I would only give her the gentlest of pushes, and see how far she would go voluntarily. She needed to understand that she really was a baby, and it wasn't just something I was pushing on her.

I didn't insist on anything. I asked her if she was big enough to get changed by herself, and to put her soaked clothes in the laundry hamper. I was kind of talking down to her like a little kid, but I knew that would work. She couldn't get angry, because I was offering her a chance to be a big girl. I was asking if she wanted to do something for herself, and clearly told her that she could be big if she wanted to. But as the same time I was a little condescending; so the triggers she still had from last time would make it easier for her to feel little, and to accept being treated like a kid. It made it easier for her to go along with it, so she didn't need to fight.

"I think I got super extra little," she said, "so I better have diapers." I was cheering on the inside, but I couldn't let my joy show. I patted her on the head and told her how mature that was, the decision to do what she needed. Using her perceived need to act mature as a way to convince her that this was the right choice. While at the same time, I couldn't get over how easily she had let it happen. She must have made peace with herself, I thought. She must have decided that she was okay with being a baby, even if it was only a subconscious choice. If I said the right things now, she would always be one step away from littlespace, one word away from losing control and being my little baby.

She dashed off upstairs to get changed, after I promised I would be with her soon. Then I looked at what needed to be done in the lounge. Ffrances was still turning a parcel over and over in her hands, looking at each side like she'd never seen it before. Even after a minute, she didn't seem to realise that she had searched for an open part on every face of the little cuboid. I could talk to her in a moment. First, I called up the home automation app on my phone and requested the vacuum to come in here, and then I directed it to the wide pee stain on the floor, and told it to dispense soap. It only took a few minutes to make sure that it knew which area it was supposed to clean, and then I could let it work. I was intrigued to see how well it would cope with the job; I had upgraded it when I first heard that Tess was coming, replacing a basic wet-and-dry vacuum with a high-end model that could shampoo the carpet and do a deep clean too. This was the first real chance I'd had to test it out. Once it started spreading a layer of suds behind it, I turned to Ffrances.

"You doing okay, babe? She went a little further than I expected there."

"I gotta..." she held out her present towards me, and looked confused for a second. Like she couldn't find the word. "Got a box!" I already knew just how powerful hypnosis could be, but it was still a shock to see her acting like that. She was supposed to be the one in charge, and it was hard to believe she would let it go so far no matter what Tess had found to coerce her with.

"Clever girl," I tried. It was so weird; I knew she wasn't a child, and it was hard to treat her like one. But what else could I do in the circumstances? "I think Tess wants to help you open it, but she needs to get cleaned up. I bet you could grow up now, she wouldn't notice."

"No!" she answered, and pouted. "I still got pes... perara... presents. Stuff to open! Gonna be a good baby."

"Are you sure? You could be in charge, and help me tell Tess what to do."

"No!" She shook her head so forcefully, I just didn't know what to say to her in that state. She was my Mistress, and I would do whatever she said, but she couldn't think clearly right now. And I didn't know how to pull her back to adulthood if she didn't want to start the process. It was something I'd never needed to think about before; I'd never been in charge with Ffrances, and I didn't want Tess to leave her littlespace.

I gave my girlfriend her drink, thinking how strange it was to see her acting like this. She'd always been smaller than me, but it had never reduced her presence before. Dressed like this, and sucking on a sippy cup, it struck me how much she looked like a toddler. The hypnosis really was powerful; if I didn't know better I could have assumed that she was a little. But I couldn't stop and speculate about that now. I needed to get upstairs quickly, and see just how eager Tess was to take her regression further.

"How about you play with some of Tess's toys while she's not here?" I said, and offered Ffrances a rattle from the pile of presents they had already opened. I couldn't remember whose that one had been, but I was sure it would keep Ffrances entertained for a few minutes. "Be a good girl, drink your juice, and make sure you don't make a puddle like your sister."

Ffrances giggled, and lifted up the frilly edge of her skirt. "I got a diaper, see! No leaks." And then she went back to playing with her toys. She seemed to be trying to feed the rattle to her new doll, with no concern for anything else around her. I froze in place, half standing and on the way to the door, but then I turned around again. Once she'd said that, I had to be sure.

"Yeah, and you're not that little, are you?" I asked, and she just chuckled. I couldn't tell if she was focused on some childish game, or if my words seemed funny. Was there something she knew that I didn't? "Did Tess make you have an accident?"

"Yep!" she grinned, and went right back to playing. "I'm a little baby!"

I sighed, and thought for a few seconds before responding: "I want Tess to have fun, but she needs to learn that's over the line. She can't degrade you like that. So what do you think would be an appropriate punishment? Well, I guess you're too little to think about that now. But first, let's get you changed."

"No!" She pouted for a second, and then went right back to laughing at her toys. I glanced over at the carpet cleaner, which was drifting back and forth in slow zigzags in the middle of a patch of suds now. It would probably be finished before I came back down. And then I realised I had to accept what Ffrances said. She'd be upset about it as soon as she escaped from those suggestions, and I was sure I would get spanked for saying "I told you so", but that was the only option left to me now. I could check on Tess, make sure she knew not to try something inappropriate like that again, and help the two little ones enjoy themselves until our second Christmas was over and Ffrances's wrath was unleashed.