I left her there holding the bottle and wondering what she was going to do. I really hoped that everything would be ok, but you never really know what might happen. I don't even know. This future was made definitely the moment those two started hanging out together. I guess, only time will tell.
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Samantha's POV
He handed me the baby bottle, one that was meant for big kids or adults. I felt like a little kid holding this thing, something that I haven't held in my hands since I was a kid myself. I had about 2 hours here, just me and Max. He is my little brother, and I was just making sure that he got enough to eat, but why does this feel so weird? Is it because he is a teen and not a baby or toddler? Is it because I just don't understand him and what he has gone through? Or could it be that I'm jealous that he could find a different way to deal with all the stresses? A more innocent way. A nondestructive way to deal with all the craziness of the world. He was right when he said that I throw a temper tantrum when I'm stressed out, but how can I fix that? How can I be more like him? Not the baby bottles and stuff, but something.
I decided to get up and see if I could get him to drink his bottle before Jack got back. I thought that I could at least help Max that way. So, I got up and went into the bedroom. Max was still sucking on that pacifier of his. I had to admit, he did look like a cute kid when he was sleeping, holding on to his teddy bear, sucking on his pacifier. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world for once.
I walked up to the bed, but as I did, he started to twitch a little. I thought that he must have started to dream about something. I reached down and moved some hair away from his eyes and that's when the pacifier dropped out of his mouth. Then he started to mumble something I couldn't understand at first. It went from mumbling to whimpering, then back to real quiet talking. And that's when I could understand what he was saying. His dream, it was about his mother.
He kept saying "Peas mommy, no go, pease no go" and then he would whimper again.
I didn't know what to do. Or even if I should do anything. I've never been a parent, a mom, much less how to deal with this, but I couldn't just let him suffer this way. My first thought was to wake him up, so he wasn't stuck in this bad dream, but I think I read somewhere that you don't wake somebody from a bad dream or it could be worse. Or was that a sleep walker? I couldn't remember. So, I did the next thing that I could think of.
I sat on the side of his bed and cuddled with him. I kept saying "It's ok, I'm here now. It's going to be ok" while I was holding him and trying to reassure him that everything was going to be ok. He started to calm down and relax. I decided to see if he would take the bottle, because, in my mind at least, I thought it would relax him and maybe put him back to a dreamless sleep. And for the most part I was right. He did take the bottle and he did look relaxed, but what I didn't know at the time, was that he was fully awake by the end of the bottle. I was petting his hair, rubbing his back, and trying to comfort him with my words the whole time he was drinking the bottle. And he had his eyes closed and was just drinking his bottle. When he started to suck air from the bottle, I grabbed the pacifier and was about to swoop them when he said, "Thank you."
Those two little words caught me so off guard I almost fell off the bed. I stared down at him as he opened his eyes to look at me. But all I could do was smile and say, "you're welcome".
He yawned and brought up his fist to cover his mouth. Even that looked cute to me for some reason. And that is when I thought that he would look even cuter with his pacifier in his mouth. So, that's what I did. I put it in his mouth and said "For now that stays there." He looked a little shocked, but after a moment he nodded his head. I then asked "Are you ready to get up?" He nodded his head again and was about to get up, but my next question made him turn red.
"Are you wet?" He froze for a moment then his hands moved to his crotch. He felt what he was wearing and that's when the water works started. I instantly put my arms around him in a hug to try to calm him down. After a couple of minutes, he was calmed down enough for me to ask my next question. "I know this might be embarrassing to you, but can I try something please?" He stared at me confused but nodded his head again. I was nervous as I said "I have never had kids. And I know you're my little brother. And when you were younger, I wasn't there for you, but I'm here now. And you're here. And I think you need me right now or at least someone that could help you. And it would be helping me too. To understand, I mean to understand you better. And I have done a lot of research on the subject, so I'm not going in blind. I guess what I'm asking is... can I be your mommy for now? Or at least your big sister that helps her little brother out when he needs it?"
I think he got that I was probably just as embarrassed as he was. But I was willing to try. And it seemed that he was willing to try as well. "Big sis, I wet. Will you help me please?" With that said, his bear went straight to his face blocking out the world. It was a little bit hard to understand him with the pacifier in his mouth, but I got the gist. He was willing to let me into his world and help him. I understood how hard that had to be for him to say and it made me so proud of him and that he would trust me.
"Ok little brother, I will help you out. Let me go and get what I need. I will be right back." I all but ran to the living room to grab his diaper bag. I went back to the bedroom with the bag and got out everything I would need. Max was still covering his face with the bear. "Ok, Max, I'm going to pull the covers off of you and get you all cleaned up, ok?" I pulled the covers back thinking I would need to strip him of the pajamas to change him, but the footies that he was wearing had little snaps from the ankles all the way to the crotch. So, I simply unsnapped them. And there it was, a diaper with cute little animals all over it. (I guess dad went all out.)
I had to get a little help from Max, but within a couple of minutes, he was clean and diapered and redressed in his footies. The whole time he kept the bear attached to his face. After I was done, I helped him out of the bed and back into the living room. As we were sitting down, Jack came in.
"Hi Dad, I just got Max up from his nap. He's all clean and ready to go." Me calling Jack 'Dad' was odd to my ears, but I think he got the hint because he looked at us both and then said
"Ok kids, time for dinner. Unless..." he trailed off.
I looked at Max putting out my hand and said "Come on Max, It's time for dinner. And yes you can bring your new bear. I bet you he's a little hungry too." Max looked at me then at my hand. Then he looked at Jack. Jack nodded with a smile on his face, trying to encourage him. Max looked back to me and slowly grabbed my hand. "Don't worry Max WE got you."
And that's how we walked down to the cafeteria. Max and I holding hands. Max had a bear in one arm and a pacifier in his mouth. And he had me and dad on either side of him. We looked, for once, like the family we were.
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Max's POV
Stress? Check.
Anxiety? Check.
Dry diaper? For now, check.
A family that's at least trying to understand me? Double check.
Hand in hand with my sister we walked to the cafeteria with Dad on one side of me and my sister on the other. I don't think they know just how embarrassing this is for me. I quite literally look like a toddler right now, but I do trust them. And for some odd reason, they both wanted me to look like this right now.
We walked in silence the whole way there. It wasn't that far, but still. It would have been nice to have some sort of conversation just to break up the tension. Sam kept looking down at me, I guess to make sure I wasn't going to bolt or break down, or something. Dad on the other hand kept typing on his tablet. I guess he was doing some last-minute work. It only took us about 3 minutes to get to the cafeteria doors, but when we got to the doors, he stopped us from going in.
Sam looked over at dad and asked "What's wrong? Why are we not going in?" I took the pacifier out of my mouth and tucked it behind my bear while no one was looking. I think dad saw, but he didn't say anything. Dad smiled and said "Nothing's wrong. Just a security update on the door locks. We should be able to go in, in just a minute or two. My watch will ding me when it's done. But while we're waiting. Sam, did you get everything you needed?" I looked at Sam confused. Get what?
Then I saw that Sam was sorta blushing as she said "I got everything. And thanks for the help with that too."
Dad said "Not a problem. Happy to help." Just then dad's watch pinged him. He looked at it and said "Ok, all clear. We can go in now."
Dad scanned his watch to go through the door and we walked in. We only got about 5 feet in before we had to stop. Well, Dad and Sam stopped. I sorta ran in to a giant fuzzy wall that knocked me on my butt. And for once I was glad that I was wearing a diaper since the floor was hard. I looked up at what I had ran into. And then I looked further up, and up, and up. I was staring at a really, REALLY big wall of FUZZY BEAR!
It had to be at least 9 feet tall. It was massive. But it wasn't a real bear, I hoped. Because the next thing I saw was a giant paw reaching down to me.
Dry diaper? Not anymore.
Then I heard a voice coming from the bear. "I'm sorry about that, Max. Here, let me help you up." It wasn't just one paw coming my way, there were two. This bear picked me up and tried to set me on my feet. When he did my knees gave out and he was stuck holding me there. Then he did the oddest thing. He shrugged his shoulders picked me back up and put me on his hip like I was just a little kid. I held on for dear life staring at this huge bear holding me. I dug my fingers into his black fur, and it was so soft and warm, but not hot, which was a good thing. Dad grabbed my teddy bear and my pacifier, that had fallen when I fell, handing my bear to, well, the bear. My jaw was hanging open. I couldn't believe that my dad just gave away my bear to a bear. Or to anyone for that matter.
The big bear looked at my little bear and said "That's a cute cub. It looks just like me, only smaller. Here you go, Max." And he handed me my bear.
My dad put my pacifier in my mouth and the bear said. "Now you're all set for dinner. You would look cuter if you were holding a bottle, but I guess this will do." All I could do is blink at him. I still had no clue who this bear was. I was still trying to get over the fact that I was being held by a giant 9-foot-tall black bear. He was so big I couldn't even wrap my legs around him. I tried. I was too small. I was literally just sitting on this guy's arm like a toddler. And he wasn't budging. He just stood there talking to Dad like I weighed nothing.
"So, boss, can I borrow Max here for dinner? There are like no kids up here. And he would be a perfect cub. He even has his own cub. Which would work out perfect if I could at least get a picture. The guys down below would love it."
My dad looked at me and he had an evil grin plastered across his face. I whimpered. But dad patted my back and said "How about we sit at your table for dinner? That way Max can see all of your guys and we will be right there with him, just in case."
The bear said "Great. We're right over there, but I'm sure you could tell that by the costumes." The bear started walking over to the table with me on his arm. Dad and Sam had to jog a little to keep up. I kept trying to make sure that this bear wasn't just trying to kidnap me.
When I looked over at the table we were headed to, I couldn't believe my eyes. They were all dressed up like animals. There was a wolf, a panther, a dog, even a bull with horns and all. They were all just talking as we walked up. Their conversation stopped as they all looked up and saw us.
"Hey, Theodore, I see you finally got a cub. Good job." One of them said. Another said "Yeah, and his cub has a cub. You two match, Teddy."
I snickered and everyone stopped and looked at me. I almost had a second accident when the bear, I guess Theodore, turned his head and asked me. "What's so funny little one?"
I didn't know what to do. I thought I would get in to trouble, but he did ask and I'm just no good at lying. So, I said "Theodore, and your nickname is Teddy. And..." I got really quiet when I said, "And you dressed like a teddy bear." I thought the moon was shaking apart when he tilted back his head and roared with laughter. The whole table was laughing by the end.
The panther got up and put his paw out to me and said "You know what, kid? You got some guts. If any of us would have said that to him, he would have mauled us."
"Ok, ok, enough of the bad jokes in front of the kid and the boss. And as for you, little one, I'm going to keep my eyes on you." He followed that with a boop on the nose. " But you can make any joke you want, little cub."
I smiled, but at the same time I put my bear up to my face trying to hide it. That's when I heard awes from around the table. One of them even went as far as to say, "O look, he's shy. What a cutie. Can I hold him next?" That's when I heard a growl coming from the bear.
"No. Back off. He's my cub."
"Papa bear? More like mama bear protecting her cub." They all started to laugh, all but my new giant teddy bear.
I thought that he might have gotten mad at the others. And I didn't want them to fight. So, I did what any cub would do and protected him. I reached up and grabbed the fur under his chin, or muzzle I guess, and said. "Papa bear, don't be mad pease. It was a little funny."
"Ok, for you, little one, I will let it slide. But that will cost you." I had no clue what he meant by that. Not until he brought my legs around to his front and sat down with me in his lap sideways.
Now I was sitting on a giant teddy bear. My legs were only partially hanging off his right side. And his left arm was behind my back holding me up. I had my bear in my lap and a pacifier in my mouth. With his size I really looked like I might only be about 3 or 4 years old.
"Now for some introductions. If we just go by our nicknames here, I'm sure you could guess them."
I pointed to the bull and said "Bull"
He took off his head, well the costume's head and said "Hi, my name is Chris." He put out his hoof and I shook it.
I pointed to the next one and said "Panther."
He took off his head and said "Hey, I'm Jax" He put out his paw and I shook it.
I pointed at the dog and said "Um...Husky or dog"
He pulled off his head and said "You got it in one. Either works for me, I get called both. Real name is Matt" He put out his paw, and I shook it.
I pointed to the wolf and said "Wolfey" That got a laugh out of everyone including Wolf.
"Funny, kid. Most people around here just call me Wolf. Real name's Ottis." He stuck out his paw. And like the others I shook it.
Teddy took off his head and sat it on the floor next to us. "Well, you already know who I am. And these guys just call me Bear."
Everyone was already taking off their paws, or in bull's case his hooves. I shifted a little to get more comfortable as Teddy or Bear took off his paws. He didn't seem to mind and I was having a little padding problem. It was a little wet and I didn't want Bear to find out what I was wearing. He did look down at me when I shifted, but I didn't think much about it at the time.
I looked around and saw that Dad was seated on my left, Sam on my right. If I reached my foot out a little bit more, I could kick her to get her attention. I was starting to do just that when Bear moved me back on to his left leg. Now only my feet were off his lap. I very quietly huffed and tried to make myself comfortable. I ended up putting my head on Bear's chest and tried not to fall asleep. He was very comfortable. He was soft, and fluffy, and warm. And then someone said something about food. And at that exact moment my stomach let out a loud growl. Somebody, I don't know who, said "Well baby bear sounds like he needs some food." Laughter went around the whole table, myself included. I hid my face in Bear's fur due to being embarrassed, but yes, I laughed too.
Menus were passed around and we all figured out what we wanted. Everyone except me, Bear, and Sam got up to go get the food.
After they left Bear looked down at me and asked, "So Max, how old are you today?"
I looked at him and said "15"
"Ok, let me try that again. What age are you playing, or wish you could be today? Maybe 2 or 4?"
I looked at him in shock. I had already pulled the pacifier out of my mouth when he asked me my age. And I'm glad I did, otherwise it would have dropped to the floor. I couldn't say a word. I tried, but they wouldn't come out.
"Relax, Max. I know some people that like to age regress. I even know a Little or two. Your secret is safe with me."
I looked over at Sam and it looked like she was shocked as well. "Look Max, we all know what's going on up here. We also know that you're the only one that will remember anything about it. Also, the guys and I have all seen you slip a little. You need to know that you're safe with us. If you don't believe me, then ask your dad. He's the one that set this dinner up for you. Everyone thinks we are big and scary guys, so they won't come anywhere near us. But your dad looked at our records and talked to each one of us in private before he hired us. He knows us and our backgrounds. And we are the first guys he goes to after he time travels. We are hoping you will do the same, but for now, we just want to make sure that you're not over stressed. So please, how old are you today?"
A tear came to my eye as I heard up 3 fingers.
"Good boy. And I'm assuming that you're wearing protection under your footies?" He looked at Sam and she nodded. "Well that's good. Now if or when you need a change will you please tell one of us? We don't want you getting a rash or being uncomfortable." I nodded my head yes. He looked over to Sam. "Sam, will you do me a favor and run back to your room and grab his diaper bag please?" Just then our food came along with the rest of the guys and Dad.
Wolf piped up with "I'll give you a hand with that. I know how heavy it can get." He looked at me and said "Your daddy likes to pack a lot of stuff into little packages. Just like you." He said with a grin and then bopped me on the nose. I was still a little shocked, but it tickled so I grinned and giggled. But just a little.
They took off and my stomach growled at the smell of the food. "Yep, the little guy is hungry. I'd better feed him before that monster comes popping out of his stomach." And with that Bear grabbed a fork full of my spaghetti and put it up to my mouth. At first, I opened my mouth to tell him I could feed myself, but as soon as I did, he put the food in. So I had to chew and swallow. I tried to tell him again, but once again the food was in my way. The third time, I didn't open my mouth, but that's when he missed and got the side of my mouth. Now I looked like I couldn't even stay clean if somebody else fed me. I huffed and tried to talk again but the food was there instead. After that I just gave up and let him feed me.
After he was done feeding me, he grabbed a baby wipe and wiped my face. I didn't like that, but what could I do? I was full and warm and being held by a giant teddy bear. So, what was I to do? I passed out just like a hibernating bear.
To Be Continued