Playing a Little (17 page)

The man grinned as the four-year-old jumped aboard his lap and he was handed the sleeping baby. Erik stood up to shake his hand and say goodbye to Kelly. He tossed the giggling youngster in the air and told him that his mama would need lots of help in looking after his daddy, and received a promise to do so. When they left, he had a strange sense of emptiness.

Erik had discovered something about human nature that evening. Tragedy brought people together and there was no room for putting on airs. He had witnessed strength and faith, in a life lost and a life saved. He saw childish innocence in all its glory. He saw grown adults being drawn into a world of make-believe and innocence, even when surrounded by pain, fear, and loss. He had read to the little boy as much to help himself as he did for the child, and he felt humbled in how it had affected all those people around him.

And Kelly. A woman who knew his identity had only cared that he was fed and comfortable, and that he had someone who would listen to him if he needed it. As exhausted as she was, she still was concerned for him, the man. Arthur always taught him the importance of paying it forward, and to give to others as others had given to him. He went to the front desk and asked if there was a way he could pay the family back for what they had taught him. The nurses looked at each other and nodded, relaying that Kelly’s family had no medical insurance and would be struck with a very large bill on top of multiple other hospital expenses. Erik informed them that this was a thing of the past and that he wanted all future medical expenses charged to his personal account, including those incurred with the birth of their baby. He also requested to remain anonymous, surprising the nurses even more with his generosity.

The clock read 4:25 a.m. when the resident physician beckoned for him. After assuring him that Camille would recover completely, he ordered Erik to grab something to eat before coming to see her. Erik laughed joyfully, glancing back at the grinning nurses, and admitted that he was been stuffed with food all night long. With a nod, the resident led Erik to Camille’s room and left him in the care of Dr. Gaidry, the attending physician.

Now on their way home, Erik contemplated his next step. He had already decided not to punish her for going onto the black ice. She had already suffered enough for that. She would, however, learn what it truly meant to be his little girl. His
very
little girl…

* * *

“Up you go, little one,” he cooed as he carried Camille into the house.

“What time is it?” she asked as she squinted her eyes to the sunlight, lifting her hand to cover her face.

“It is 7:30, baby girl. I am going to make you a nice warm bath and then put you in your pjs for bed. You are not to leave this room for any reason over the next three days, and only if I carry you.”

“But Erik…”

“Young lady, are you going to mind me or will I need to take extra measures to be heard?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Camille cowed. She knew it was not the time to argue with him. Besides, she still felt very weak and achy, like every muscle in her body had seized up. Erik nodded, hanging the bag from the hospital on his wrist as he brought her into the house and then the nursery. She frowned as he set her on top of the big, flat dresser.

“I don’t like it up here. It’s too high.”

“No whining from you. As of this moment, you have lost all privileges of a five-year-old. You are now two,” he stated, pulling off her boots.

“But…”

“Nineteen months?”

“Daddy!”

“Sixteen months.”

Camille clamped her mouth shut. Erik watched her struggle and raised his eyebrow. “This means some changes in your wardrobe as well as in your activities. To start with…”

“No!” Camille looked horrified as he produced a diaper with little yellow ducks on it.

“Oh yes. Now, if you are a good girl, I will only have you wet this. Anything more, you can use the potty.”

“This is so humiliating,” Camille grumbled.

“I suppose it is. Arms up,” Erik announced, pulling the sweatshirt from her, followed by the pants. Naked except for her socks, Camille shivered. After wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, he pushed her back on the changing table and looked down at her.

“I love you and this is for your own good. Dr. Gaidry said I had to closely monitor your core temperature and gave me this to use.” He produced a small box with a long probe attached to a cable. Camille’s eyes widened, realizing that it was a thermometer and what his words meant.

“Oh no, you don’t. You are not sticking that thing up my ass!
Oowowwwsss
!” she cried out as Erik lifted her legs into the air and briskly smacked her bottom and upper thighs.

He held her legs high in place and looked at her firmly. “Would you care to repeat yourself?”

“Noooo,” Camille whimpered, squirming on her back as she tried to wiggle some of the sting from her bottom.

Erik lowered her legs and read the instructions given by the doctor. “It says that while you are awake and active, we can take your temperature every two hours as long as it remains normal, and every hour if it drops below 98.2. While you sleep, it is supposed to be ongoing and will alarm if there is any significant drop or elevation. Hmmm, I wonder… Oh, this
will
work nicely,” Erik stated, pulling out a long, flexible tube that had a bulb attached. He squeezed the bulb several times and watched the base of the tube swell.

“What is that awful thing?”

“An inflatable butt plug. It will hold the temperature probe in place while you sleep.”

“Oh God,” Camille groaned, “you should have just let me die.”

“You take that back or, I swear, I will get the hairbrush.” His eyes were dark with anger at her careless words.

“I’m sorry! It was just an expression!”

“Camille, if you had seen what I did last night, you would never say anything like that again.” He told her what had happened and Camille bit her lip, apologizing again.

“I don’t hafta like it, do I?”

“No, but it won’t change what needs to be done. Lift your knees to your chest.”

“Noooooo, please? Owie!”

“Camille Loren, you will let me take your temperature either with or without a sore bottom. It is digital and will only take a few seconds.”

Camille whimpered as she slowly pulled her knees up, stretching her bottom hole to his view. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt him smooth lubricant over the tight area and then the hard, plastic probe pushing past her tight sphincter. He made certain to insert it to the line, which felt, to Camille, like it was ten inches long instead of four. To add to her discomfort, Erik leaned across her knees to pin her legs to her chest while he held the probe between his index and middle finger, hand flat across her bottom. Camille held her breath, waiting for the ding. Finally!

“You are still a little low, so we need to repeat this in an hour. That wasn’t so terrible, was it?” Erik asked, tossing the probe cover in the trash as Camille groaned loudly in protest while nodding. Her humiliation grew as he secured the diapers around her bottom parts after tenderly applying powder to her skin. He then lifted her leg and slipped on a one-piece pink sleeper with snaps on the insides of the legs to give him access to her diapers without having to completely undress her. Despite her protests, Camille snuggled into the thick, soft fleece, knowing it would guarantee ongoing warmth to her still slightly chilled body.

“Such a good girl,” he said, sitting her up and pulling her hair into a tight braid that fell down her back. “How do those diapers feel?”

“Weird. I am telling you right now that I am not gonna pee in them.”

“You silly, stubborn girl. Let’s lay this out on the table. You have had at least two bags of IVs put into you, plus that lavage of warm water in your tummy, plus all the warm fluids I can get you to swallow. How long do you think you can go without piddling?”

“Long enough. I didn’t go in the hospital.”

“They had a catheter in for a while and filled your bladder with warm water. The discharge instructions said that once your organs return to normal, they are going to be dumping all this extra fluid real fast. ‘Urinary frequency every ten minutes is not unusual,’” he read. “Since the doctor does not want you to do any walking to prevent tissue damage to your feet until full circulation returns, how are you going to make it to the bathroom?”

“I… Well…”

“You are tiny, but even my back can’t take the strain of lifting you back and forth for the next two or three days. So suck it up and wear the diapers.”

“It’s not my fault you’re so old,” Camille grumbled.

“I will show you how old and feeble I am after you get better, missy,” Erik shook his finger in her face, yanking it away as she snapped at him. “Brat. In my arms now. Daddy is going to take you to get you some warm tea and then we can go cuddle in the aviary for a while.”

“Why there?” Camille asked, accepting his arms.

“It is the warmest room in the house. And the air is nice and moist. We just have to look out for Arthur’s flying darts.”

Camille closed her eyes to listen to the sound of the tinkling drips of water that fell from the wide-leaved trees into the small ponds below. The buzzing of the hummingbirds mingled with the sloshing of the central fountain, and a small running stream gurgled happily under the platforms on which the lounge furniture rested, splashing into a lily pad pool laden with tiny green frogs and turtles. By the time Erik returned with warm drinks, Camille was squirming uncomfortably in her chair.

“Here you go, my love. Nice, warm tea with plenty of raw sugar,” he said, handing her a sippy cup. “What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”

“You jerk! You did this on purpose!” Camille whined, crossing her legs with discomfort.

“Drink your tea and don’t call me names, please. Did what on purpose?” Erik asked innocently.

“Got the one place in this house that is surrounded by sounds of running water! You knew this would make me want to pee!”

“Really? I just thought it would be warm and comfortable for you to breathe in. Drink.”

“You are a real butthead, Erik.”

“Not a nice way to talk to your daddy. Drink.”

“I told you, I refuse to wet myself.”

“Then hold it. Drink.”

“I will!” Camille snapped, downing the cup of warm tea. Her eyes widened, realizing that the beverage added to her discomfort. “Please! Let me use the bathroom!”

“No, honey. There is nothing to be ashamed of. We all pee. Just let it go and let yourself be comfortable.”

“You know how humiliating this is! Why are you doing this to me?” Camille whimpered, jamming her hand between her legs and breathing deeply as she tried to push back her need.

“This has nothing to do with doing anything to you, honey. It has to do with necessity and practicality. Just tell me when you need changing.”

“I will change myself!”

“Those little ducks turn blue when you are wet. If I find out that you are choosing to be stubborn and not telling me right away, you will have that diaper changed with a red bottom for extra color. Is that what you want?”

Camille refused to answer, becoming even more uncomfortable as the minutes ticked by. The sound of living water around her worked its magic, making her urge more pronounced. She could not do this!
Oh, Lord, nooooooo…

Heat spread through her body as her bladder won against the battle of the wills. She closed her eyes, pretending that she existed in another universe, in another time and space than this one. She could feel Erik watching her, waiting.
Is there no end to this?
she asked herself as the flow just continued like a broken dam that had been blocking Lake Erie.

“Feel better, baby?” Erik asked gently, standing over her. “I know that was hard for you, but you did it. I brought supplies in here with me and…”

“Please just go away,” Camille begged, her shame deep.

“You know I refuse to go anywhere. Let’s get these unsnapped. Lift your bottom for me, kitten. Oh my, you poor thing. You must have felt awful to be holding this much,” he said, tossing the heavy wet diaper into a bag. Tenderly, he cleansed her wet skin with a soft aloe wipe and then patted it dry before applying talcum powder. He smoothed it in, running his hand over her silky smooth, pale skin and along the folds and creases of her bright pink pussy. With as much care as he could muster, he slid the clean, fresh diaper under her hips and pulled the tabs shut. After resnapping the legs closed, he pulled the abashed girl into his arms.

“You did very well for your first changing. I am proud of you.”

“I hated it.”

“I didn’t. Would you like to watch TV?”

“I’m hungry,” Camille whined as he lifted her.

“I have some soup heating up. Do you like clam chowder?”

“For breakfast? Yeah! With French bread?” Camille asked hopefully. She pouted when Erik shook his head. “It’s not fair! I like bread.”

“No solid anything for three days. I made sure that I pureed everything to make it easier on you. And let me know if it is too rich. Your tummy needs time to rest.”

“My tummy needs real food. Don’t give me your ugly look.”

“Then behave yourself.”

“Yes, Daddy dear.”

* * *

Erik caught Camille yawning less than an hour after she ate and, ignoring her protests about not being tired, took her into her room. He set her on the changing table again and took out the flexible thermometer wand.

“No, no,
no
!” Camille kicked her feet on the table, unable to rise as Erik held her in place with one hand while reading the instructions with the other. She fought him as he unsnapped her pajamas and pulled her legs out to remove the diaper. Two smart smacks on her outer thigh made her stop the kicking, but not the fight.

“I don’t want you to make me do that!” she cried out as he slipped the probe into the wand and covered it with lubricating gel.

“Camille Loren, you are making me very upset. We are both very tired and this behavior is unnecessary. Don’t you even think of biting me, young lady,” Erik reprimanded firmly, holding her chin in his hand. “You have the choice, my darling; you can do it the easy way or the hard way, but either way, it has to be done.”