Simon's Journal - Thirteen Summer Days

My first thought was that I had yet another leak but that wasn't the case at all. The best guess any of us could come up with was that I must have got up in the middle of the night, taken off my diaper, tossed it in the diaper pail and then went back to bed.

When I pulled back my covers I saw that I was lying there wearing a pajama shirt and nothing else. No pajama bottoms and most importantly no diaper.

"Oh there he blows!" he announces as a stream of pee shot out of me, arched through the air and splashes my feet before I got a chance to cover myself with my hands.

Both mom and I were physically and verbally upset but dad stepped between us and said, "It's only a little salty water. Come on! It's not like it's spilt milk. I mean am I right or am I right? I'm right, right?"

Yeah it was a corny pun but it worked to defuse the escalating moment. Mom pulled my covers back over me until I finished peeing and dad went over to the diaper pail where he found not just last nights diaper but also my pajama pants.

Once my bladder had emptied again I threw off my covers and swung my legs out of bed. I was thankful that it was summer `cause any other time of the year getting out of bed when I was that wet would have been a truly chilling experience.

I reached up to run my fingers through my hair only to find my hair was wet too. One look at my pillow and I knew why.

"Dang I must have peed enough to fill a swimming pool." I said while pulling off my very wet pajama shirt.

"Hey you, drippy person," dad said while taking my wet pajama shirt away from me, "to the shower!"

I turned to see what mom was on about. She was looking down at my feet; I looked to. They were covered with mud.

In the space of a millisecond dad went from calm and jovial to a full burning mad.

"You were outside last night weren't you?" he asked so loud and so forcefully that I staggered backward as his words impacted my nude, clammy body.

"Wait, why aren't there any muddy footprints on the floor?" Mom asked and that seemed to puzzle dad enough to make him hesitate before killing me.

I scanned the floor along with my parents; except for five prints I'd made when I got out of bed, there was a complete absents of mud on the floor.

"You guys got to believe me!" I pleaded and was nearly on the verge if tears knowing that something weird was going on here.

Mom who had been stripping my bed stood up, dropped the sheets on the bed and headed down the hallway.

"Wait!" I nearly shouted, "If I went outside then the alarm would have gone off right?"

Not saying anything dad walked out of my room to go check that the alarm was in deed still activated. He stopped just outside my bedroom door, tossed my wet pajama shirt to me and then ordered me to, "Get your shower."

I first used my wet pajama shirt to clean my feet, boy was it cold too; tossed it into the laundry basket and then tiptoed to the bathroom just in case I missed some mud. Regardless of washing my hair twice, I was out of the shower in less than five minutes.

Wrapped in a towel and still mostly wet `cause I hadn't taken the time to properly dry myself I walked out into the living room where I found dad talking with... yep I should have guessed it, Tom Segal.

Dad turned around and was expressing his unprecedented confusion for the presences of mud on my feet with no logical means for it being there.

"Like I was saying," Tom said, "I will have the data double checked but as it looks right now, we have no record of Simon leaving his room last night let alone the house."

I didn't want to but I was so worked up that I started to cry. My reason was because though they said they believe me, I could tell they didn't really. In my head I could hear myself saying, "Come on now Simon! There's no use starting to cry!"

I swallowed hard against the forming lump in my throat and felt angry with myself for wanting to cry.

Mom moved toward me like she was going to comfort me but I turned and started to run back to my room, loosing my towel in the process.

I'd never heard Tom yell like that before and you can bet it scared the crap out of me.

One look and I could see that something I'd done or said had really pissed him off.

"Where the hell is your GPS band?" he asked and as one all four of us looked down at my ankle to see that the yellow ankle bracelet was gone.

I looked up at Tom first, then to dad and back to my ankle in utter disbelief. I lifted my foot off the carpet and shook it as though I could somehow make it reappear on my ankle.

Tom stepped forward grabbed me hard, spun me around and had clapped handcuffs on me so fast I didn't even know he'd done it until he pushed me down in dad's chair. And there I sat with my hands locked behind my back and an expression of surprise and terror on my face.

"Watch him and don't let him out of that chair!" he ordered dad as he pulled his cell phone out of his inside jacket pocket and made a call.

One minute later that same geaky FBI guy that had been here yesterday appeared. He looked like he had not slept all night and there was a large wet spot on the front of his suit jacket. I surmised that he must have spilt his coffee in his rush to come when Tom called him.

"The boys GPS band has been removed. I want his bedroom searched first and be sure to check every window and door in the entire house for any evidence that he has tampered with the alarm sensors."

"But Tom I swear..." I started to say but stopped when he looked at me with a flaming eye.

It was only then, after seeing Tom... "How many times since I got back from the camp?" I asked myself, only now did I realize Tom hadn't been wearing his eye patch anymore `cause he now had two eyes. I only had maybe one tenth of a second to check out his new eye but that was long enough to realize that he now had a new glass eye.

"Missed what?" Tom asked so mean that it wouldn't have surprised me if he had spit on me right then.

I was so surprised by his new glass eye that for several moments I had forgot about everything else.

Tom made a sucking sound through his two front teeth and I'll never know if he was going to say anything `cause right then that young FBI guy came back from my room carrying the ankle devise.

"It was inside a white bucket thing next to the dresser with a bunch of used diapers sir." He said to Tom.

Tom inspected the devise as the other guy said, "I thought these couldn't be taken off without the proper electronic key?"

Tom said something to the younger guy using some technical words and like a rabbit he hopped himself out of the house. The only parts understood were, "Check the tracking chip's data and the _____."

"Tracking chip?" I mumbled to myself as I recognized one of the words Tom had said and then it was my turn to get mad.

Still stark naked and my hands cuffed behind my back I jumped to my feet and tried to attack Tom by kicking him.

"NOW SIT THERE AND DON'T MOVE AGAIN!" Dad screamed at me so angrily I thought he might strike me.

Tom held up the yellow device, "There is a special electronic key that releases the locking pin on these and every one is different. There are only two people that have the key to this one."

"Tom?" I said pleadingly, "Why don't you guys believe me! I wasn't out of the house last night! I don't know how that came off and no one came to see me!"

"Fyer? Wait, you mean that little guy who..." Dad started to say but trailed off without finishing his thought.

Tom moved toward me but thankfully that young guy came racing back in with a small bit of white paper. He was also now missing his suit jacket and I could see he wasn't wearing a shoulder holster like Tom was.

He handed the paper to Tom and said, "There is no way that is wrong sir. The subject never left his bed last night."

The young guy paused, looked at me and said, "They're double checking it now, but it appears there was a two hour and fourteen minute signal interruption which started at 2:12 and ended at 4:26."

Tom mumbled to himself, "Fyer, what were you up to for over two hours this morning.

That young agent nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other and back again.

Sounding like a cartoon character the young guy squeaked out, "I don't understand how this is possible."

He then handed the paper back to the guy, said something I couldn't hear and then the guy left again. When he opened the screen door to go out my cat came running from somewhere in the back of the house; ran past everyone and vanished out the front door. However, what every one of us saw was that she was completely covered in filth and mud.

I should tell you that my cat Lil' Vera isn't like other cats. You can take any cat in the world, get it dirty and it will run off and start to lick itself clean. Lil' Vera won't; she is just like her mother used to be. Oh she's been known to do a little fur maintenance, but for the most part, she couldn't care less if she is clean or dirty. Most of the time mom has to catch Lil' Vera and bathe her in the kitchen sink and cut burs out of her fur.

Tom looked at dad and said, "Catch" as he tossed something shiny to him, "You can unlock those now."

"Why did you put them on me in the first place?" It was clear to all that I was still mad.

"To scare you." Tom answered unflappably.

"Yeah? Well it worked!" I shouted and then under my breath so that they couldn't hear me I called him a fatherless son of a whore except I used the single word which meant the same thing.

And as soon as dad released one side of the cuffs I was off. I stepped on the coffee table and launched myself through the air toward Tom.

Out of my mouth came all of my emotions in the form of a battle cry. "Ahhhhhh!" followed by the following words which, "I'm gonna rip your head off and crap down your neck!"

Yeah it was a suicide attempt at best but there was a small chance that I might at least make him bleed a bit before I died. Except I didn't even get to touch him `cause dad had thwarted my efforts by catching me around the waist and yanking me backward. As I hit the sofa I bounced once and heard a loud cracking sound. Thankfully it was the sofa that cracked and not me.

I was lost to my flaming anger as I struggled and flailed like a wild boy while dad attempted to restrain me.

"Come here so I can rip that other eye out of your effing head you lying..." and I was about to start spouting off more cuss words like BJ but dad's hand went over my mouth and stopped me. However only momentarily.

Like the beast I was emulating I sank my teeth into dad's hand. It worked, he dropped me and I got away but I didn't get to do any damage to Tom. Calm as can be Tom reached out and caught hold of me by that bit of muscle that connects the side of the neck to the shoulder. You know the place where Spock from Star Trek used to do that Vulcan Neck Pinch thing. Well that was all it took for Tom to paralyze me with pain. Boy it sure hurt.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as my nude body crumpled and I collapsed to my knees.

None of my limbs were working. I couldn't see or form a single word. All I could do was to scream through the pain. Without releasing his hold on me Tom knelt down and gripped the back of my head firmly.

"SIMON!" he shouted right in my face to get my attention, "Just stop this right now! Do you hear me? None of us are here to hurt you; we are here because we love you!"

Somehow I managed to nod my head and he released his nerve pinch. If he hadn't been holding me so tightly, I would have fallen the rest of the way to the floor. That pinch had taken the fight out of me.

"I did not lie to you and I did not place another tracking chip in you."

"Yes you did! I heard you tell him!" I whimpered as I rubbed and tried to sooth my aching neck.

"Your little friend missed one before." Tom said so calmly that you'd thought he just told me the time.

Like a flash of lightning my anger was gone leaving me feeling empty and discontented.

"But-but-but you're the one that put them in me in the first place!" I said.

Tom's scarred face twisted into a scary smile, "Actually, I, meaning the FBI, only put one in. I suspect the others were put there by..."

"Madam-M!" I said with venom.

Tom nodded his agreement. "And you received one curtsy of Children's Services before you were put in emergency foster care."

Dad leaned over and helped me up from the floor as I continued talking to Tom.

"Still you put one in me!" I said wiping my snotty nose on my bare arm.

"Oh Simon use a tissue!" mom groaned as she reached between us to pull a tissue from the tissue box on the end table between her and dad's chairs.

"Well if you want to get technical, I wasn't the one to do it." Tom said as he sat himself in dad's chair.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked after blowing my nose.

"Agent Morris did it when you were in the hospital after you were beat-up in school." Tom said.

"Who's Agent Morris?" I asked.

Dad pointed out the front screen door, "That chap that was here a moment ago."

I had a momentary thought, "Chap? Dad, are you going British on me or something?" but I let it go without giving life to the thought by verbalizing it.

"That was before he was assigned as my partner." Tom said, "Besides being a good agent, or he will be when I'm done with him, he also has military medical field training. Bit excitable though and drinks coffee like a fish."

It didn't occur to me at the time but I should have said that fish don't drink coffee.

"Get it out!" I said vehemently.

"Can't," Tom said bluntly.

"Why not?" Dad and I asked at the same time.

"We'd have to break a bone." Tom said smugly.

"It's in my bones? Which one?" I asked knowing full well he wasn't about to tell me.

No, Tom clammed right up and began thinking. He then asked dad about Lil' Vera.

"Was that cat in here when you closed up the house last night?"

Dad frowned and looked at mom with concern.

"She went out and wouldn't come back in so I locked the door and set the alarm before going to bed."

Tom clapped his hands together and said, "Whelp that pretty much settles it for me then."

"Now wait a second!" I spouted off.

"Are you going to run around naked all day?" Tom asked in a failed attempt to ignore our concerns.

"Come on Tom, you can't leave us hanging like this." Dad said.

Mom added, "Especially if you want invited over for home cooking again!" and though she tried to make it sound somewhat comical, there was also the underlying melody of fear and anger still brewing just below the surface.

Tom hesitated while he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. He then sat down in dad's chair and said, "If you take everything into account it is clear that someone paid Simon a visit last night."

"You think someone broke in?" Mom asked beginning to shake.

"Now Sylvia, there is no need to worry. I only know of one person who could have pulled off everything needed to get in here and back out with out setting off your alarm system while at the same time not being heard or seen by us."

I began to smirk, which quickly stretched into a full smile.

"What?" dad asked while tossing the towel to me so that I could cover my nudity.

I stood up, wrapped it around my waist and tucked the corner tightly into itself so that the towel would stay in place without me holding it.

I then said "I forgot until just now. I had a dream last night that a leprechaun came to see me."

It wasn't a lie, at least not entirely. I did have a dream last about a leprechaun but that was only a small part of it. I had a dream about something totally different and weird. I had dreamt that I was trapped inside an enormous vanilla milkshake while a funny looking leprechaun drank it from a straw. I can't remember how it ended but I do sort of recall one part where I was frantically swimming through the cold milkshake to keep from being sucked into the straw.

Tom let go a hearty belly laugh, "If Fyer heard you call him a leprechaun!"

"Yeah I know. He would chop me up and serve me in one of his stew pots and grind my bones to make his bread." I chanted.

"Wait I don't understand." Mom said.

Tom held up a hand to stop her, "I suspect that Fyer came to check on Simon and make sure he was ok." Tom looked directly at me as he said, "After all he hasn't heard from you in a while right?"

I had to look away to keep from giving away that I had called Fyer when I got back from The Ranch.

"If I had any concerns about this whatsoever all three of you would be moved from this house and into a safe house. But I am sure that none of us need be concerned about this incident.

Tom stopped talking and looked intently at me before speaking again to me, "Why don't you go get dressed while I talk with your parents?"

"Why don't you kiss my snow white..." I started to say.

But dad had forcefully grabbed my left bicep and gave me a hard pull. "I have had just about enough of your mouth. Now do as you were told or so help me I will take off this belt right here and now."

When he released my arm I started toward my room but stopped at the entrance to the hallway.

"Ok before I go," I said while looking from dad to mom, "Tell me you believe me that I didn't sneak out last night."

"We believe you now shut up and get going." Dad roared.

"But I need help." I said referring to my need for someone to help me put on a diaper.

"Put on one of your GoodNites for right now." Mom said.

With a hand against the back of my neck mom pushed me toward my room.

"And close your bedroom door." Tom shouted after me.

Halfway down the hall I stopped and said, "I'm not allowed."

In a strong fatherly commanding voice dad almost shouted, "Simon! Do as you are told!"

So I did and try as I might, I couldn't hear a single word that was spoken out in the living room. It was quite frustrating.

If you overlook the monsoon in my bed and the Mongolian-fustercluck-storm Tom brought with him, Sunday morning started out kind of nice. The weather was positively beautiful and as the sun was climbing it colored the sky with Carmel and wisps of creamy white. However, by noon it was so freakishly hot that everyone in the Tri-State area was miserable.

Unfortunately when the temperature outside was climbing, me and my parents were sitting inside a packed church that didn't have air conditioning.

I had been so looking forward to seeing Lowell again but about halfway through the service I was sweating like a pig and couldn't wait to get out of there. Even my eyeballs were sweating. Now you have to bear in mind that we were at church which meant long dress pants, a dress shirt and a tie. Why on earth did mom make me wear such hot clothes?

I stayed in my room until that young agent guy came and opened my bedroom door. What had Tom called him? Oh yeah, Morris.

In his hand was the yellow tracking device and I knew he had come to reattach it.

"Why do I have to wear that if YOU already have one of those chips planted inside one of my bones?" I asked him while making sure he was fully aware that I new he was the one that had bugged me.

He gave me the evil eye as he spoke, being just as rude as I was being to him, "Shut up and give me your ankle you little brat!"

Oh man I so badly wanted to kick him in the face while he was kneeling before me. Tom had said that Agent Morris had been the one to implant the tracking chip in me. It was all I could do to resist the temptation to retaliate.

Without another word said between us he knelt before me, reattached the device and checked that it was working. As he was leaving my room he turned and stuck his tongue out at me. Seriously, a grown man, an agent for the FBI no less stuck his tongue out at me.

When Tom and his partner were gone the house fell back into some semblance of normal. It was still quite early in the morning so I decided to take Brother Vincent's advice and get back to working every aspect of my program. That included calisthenics, bible reading and praying. I did all that before breakfast in my bedroom. I have to admit though that when I was exercising my heart wasn't really in it. It had been bad enough doing it at camp with everyone else but now doing it alone was even more boring.

By the time I was done doing all that, I was in need of a change again. I don't know when I did it but then again I never do anymore, but my GoodNite was absolutely soaked. When I pulled it off it felt quite heavy as I dropped it into the diaper bin.

She noticed that all the wet bedding was still lying in a mound on my bed where she had left it earlier.

I think she was about to finish with my bed when she realized I was naked and surmised that I must have just taken off my GoodNite.

She went right to work pulling out all the diaper supplies she would need to get me ready for a thorough diapering. While she was getting stuff ready I took my towel and spread it out on the bed. I took up the diapering position on the towel to let mom do her thing.

She was applying the diaper cream when she made the observation, "You look pale today. Are you feeling alright?"

She also made an observation about how red my privates seemed to be and applied extra diaper cream. It kind of tickled too.

When mom had me snuggly taped into a disposable diaper she took both of my hands and helped me to my feet before leaving with my wet bedding.

Instead of getting dressed right then I walked out to the kitchen in just my diaper and found dad sitting at the table reading the morning paper and drinking a cup of coffee.

"Is that your idea if an apology?" he said when I gave him a quick sideways hug.

Realizing he must still be upset with me I quickly said a heart lacking, "I'm sorry."

It was clear he wasn't feeling it either but at least he gave me a somewhat agreeable grunt before getting up to refill his coffee cup.

Mom walked past with her arms loaded down with my wet bedding. She paused on her way to the laundry room to tell me that someone had called for me last night after I had fallen asleep.

"The nice man who now Coaches for the Panthers." She said while looking to dad for help remembering his name.

"Shaffer." Dad offered even though he hadn't seen mom looking his way `cause he still had his back to us while he doctored up his fresh cup of coffee.

A sudden spark arched across the two halves of my brain as yesterday conversation with BJ on the phone came back to mind.

My first thoughts and fears were that he had called to inform my parents that he nearly hit me with his car `cause I hadn't been paying attention to traffic and had run out in front of him. But it turned out that my fears were unwarranted. I'll also add that it completely escaped my notice that mom had, in a roundabout sort of way, just informed me that my old Junior High Athletic Coach had been given my friends, Bull and Jasper's father's old job of coaching our High School Football team. I hadn't given it much thought that the Panthers would need a new coach after their last coach was fired for trafficking in sports enhancing steroids and encouraging all of his players to take them as well.

I'll add that from the little exposure I had to Coach Shaffer's coaching methods, I think he'd be a perfect replacement for Bull and Jasper's dad.

Dad didn't seem to keen to talk to me about it so mom continued talking from all the way in the laundry room.

"Remember when he brought all those kids to see you when you were in the hospital?" Mom asked in a loud enough volume for me to hear her in the kitchen.

"He asked how you were and if you had any plans to get into sports again next school year."

I think that is when it clicked in my head what mom had said about him coaching the Panthers now and I couldn't help wondering, if he is coaching High School Football now, why was he still interested in Junior High athletics. I asked her about it and that is when dad rejoined the conversation.

"He's only filling in at the High School until a permanent replacement can be found."

"Doing a fair job of it too if you ask me." Dad said while sipping his coffee and without looking up from his paper.

"Did he say anything else?" I asked, fishing for any clue that he'd told about the car jumping incident.

Dad lowered his paper to look at mom; mom had crossed to the fridge and was preparing to make breakfast for us.

"Oh, well yes I did." She sat the carton of eggs on the stove as she ducked back into the open fridge, "He sounded disappointed."

"Would you look at this," Dad interrupted, "Says here that Lobsterman's Home Furnishings is going out of business."

"Oh no!" Mom exclaimed as she reemerged from the fridge recesses with her arms loaded.

"They are selling off their entire inventory at fifty to seventy-five percent off." Dad read.

I was both frustrated and relieved that the conversation had drifted away from Coach Shaffer. I would have like to have got more information about his call but at the same time, if they were so willing to leave the subject then he must not have told them what had taken place yesterday.

"You see, it's a sign." Mom said to dad in such a way as to make me think that she was alluding to some previous conversation of which I hadn't been privy to.

Dad groaned, pulled his paper back up and tried to divorce himself from the conversation.

Though I couldn't see dad behind his paper I could still tell by the way he let the paper droop a little that he wasn't happy about the idea.

"It doesn't need replaced. I told you I can fix it." Dad said almost in a growling sort of way.

"Honey you've fixed it twice before and it still keeps breaking." Mom reminded him.

I leaned past the edge of the wall separating the kitchen and living room. The sofa looked fine to me.

I should have kept my thoughts to myself `cause I set off a very long and very heated debate between the two of them. I'll add that dad should have surrendered to getting a new sofa `cause by the end of the argument mom had somehow managed to get him to agree to not just a new sofa but also two new chairs as well as matching end tables and a coffee table. However, I think dad felt as though he had won the argument `cause we weren't getting a new entertainment center. You know something; I think mom purposefully made him think she wanted that too just to get him to give in to her other demands. Boy she is clever!

The end of their heated debate came when mom changed the subject by saying to me, "When you are done eating I want you to get ready for church."

That is when I remembered that I was going to Lowell's church today. I gobbled down the last two bites of my eggs and hurried back to my room after depositing my plate in the sink.

In my room I found my bed had been remade and my clothes laid out for me to wear.

I didn't even question the choice of clothes as I jumped into the pants and tucked the white shirt into them. I was so excited about seeing Lowell again that I couldn't tie my neck tie and had to holler for dad to come help me.

Thinking I was still worked up about this morning he asked, "Tom still has you rattled huh?"

Dad stood behind me and had my neck tie fashioned into a respectable knot in no time.

I sat in my desk chair to pull on my dress shoes while dad walked back out of my room without another word spoken.

With shoes on and Bible tucked under my left arm I strolled out into the living room only to find that neither mom nor dad was ready.

I could tell by his tone that the morning events were still weighing heavy on his mind. Part of me wanted to ask him if he really did believe me but another part of me thought it better to let the matter die for now.

Mom was walking past me to go get ready, or at least that is what I was assuming. Anyway as she passed she told me to go ahead and make my call to say when we were leaving and when we would be home.

"`Cause we're going out to lunch afterward." He glanced to mom who was still walking toward their bedroom as he added three last words. Those words came out almost like he had vomited just a little into the back of his throat, "And then shopping!"

When we arrived at church I hadn't expected it to be as big as it was. It was so immense and there were so many people that at first we couldn't find Lowell or his parents. Lowell's church isn't like one of those stuffy quiet churches. It is loud with everyone walking around shaking hands and swapping smiles. Little kids were darting through the adults laughing and having a good time. There was even a really nice lady who offered mom and dad a cup of coffee; Dad took one but mom didn't. That same lady offered me a juice box, which I wasn't really interested in `cause I was too busy scanning the crowd for any sign of Lowell or his parents. Actually it was Lowell's mom that spotted us from across the big meeting room. She waved her arms to get our attention.

"Over there!" Dad said as he took hold of the top of my head and pointed my nose in her direction.

For a moment I only saw Lowell's mom but then through the throngs of people I spotted Lowell's unmistakable platinum blonde head. In that brief moment our eyes met and as if a cannon had been fired everyone heard Lowell shout my name.

It was actually funny `cause the whole place went quite for a few seconds. Lowell, ignorant of the eyes on him, started running and pushing his way through the crowd to get to me. I hesitated `cause on the way to church dad had strongly warned me not to leave their side for even a second. Actually he had warned me a grand total of five times. Though dad didn't actually threaten me with bodily harm if I disobeyed, I did get the strong impression that would be the case if I dared stray from his and mom's side.

I looked desperately up at dad and he gave me a nod which I took as permission. I nearly knocked some twig of a lady in a flowery dress on her butt as I tried to get to Lowell.

And like he does when he gets excited Lowell began to talk at a thousand words per second. I laughed as I put a hand over his mouth and said, "You're babbling again!"

If you can imagine it; his enthusiasm at being together again was even greater than my own.

Mom and dad finally made it through the crowd to where Lowell and I were. Lowell's mom soon joined us as well. Mom and dad both hugged Lowell and his mom hugged me and gave me a big kiss. She then had to wipe her lipstick off my cheek which made Lowell roll his eyes.

I looked up at mom and dad for permission but Lowell's mom spoke up, "Why don't we all sit together."

"Where's your dad?" I asked as the five of us made our way across the meeting room.

As much as I had been looking forward to seeing Lowell, I think maybe I'd been looking forward a little more to seeing and thanking his father for getting me into The Ranch.

Lowell gave me a `Duh, how stupid can you get?' look before answering, "Preaching! What else?"

"He will be back later this evening." Lowell's mom added while we all sat together near the right side of the big meeting room.

As we were getting settled Mrs. Vandoan told us that her husband received a call late yesterday to come to Michigan `cause their pastor had developed the Chicken Pox.

Leaving the adults conversation, Lowell and I went off on our own verbal exchange.

Now that it is over I don't think Lowell and I should have had our first reunion at church `cause we kept getting into trouble for whispering during the singing and the message. Dad who was sitting to my left kept whacking me on the back of my head to shut me up. And Lowell's mom kept shushing Lowell.

He pointed up to a vent high on the vaulted ceiling and I assumed he meant the air-conditioning.

To keep from getting whacked and shushed any more we took to passing notes back and forth. We used the backs of the offering envelopes to write our short messages to one another. Our parents could see we were doing it, but I think they were just glad we finally shut up.

Feeling a little frustrated that I couldn't verbalize what I wanted to say I wrote instead, "I'm sorry!!!!!!."

He wrote, "What for??????" and added just as many question marks as I had exclamation marks.

Near the halfway point in the message something dreadful happened. I was hot and miserable. Lowell and I had stopped passing notes `cause it was so dang hot. I felt a small innocent fart come out of me and didn't think anything of it at first but a second later I completely soiled myself in one powerful gush. What was worse was that everyone around us heard it.

Mom and dad both looked at me as well as did Lowell, his mom and about ten or twenty other people. I thought my head was going to explode from all the blood that was filling it. I couldn't stand everyone looking at me so I quickly covered my face with my open bible.

Lowell let out a snort and his mom, cool as could be leaned sideways and whispered to my parents, "I'll take care of this."

She then took my hand and led me out of the meeting room. As we shuffled out of the seat I looked back to see Lowell grinning from ear to ear and waving like a goofball. Oh boy I thought I was going to die as everyone watched while Lowell's mom dragged me down the isle.

When we were out of the big meeting room she stopped, leaned down to my level, stroked my cheek and said with a smile, "You don't need to be embarrassed. This happens to Lowell all the time."

She then took my hand again and led me down a long hallway. I thought we were going to the bathroom and for a moment or two I had worried about her dragging me into the ladies room but I should have known better. She didn't take me to the ladies room or the men's room for that matter. No she walked me right past those doors to the end of the hall where we stopped in front of one of those double doors. You know the kind that is cut in half so that the top half can be opened and the bottom half can still be closed to keep little kids from getting out. Both halves were closed and on the upper half was a brightly colored sign with blue clouds and multicolored balloons with a single letter on each balloon. The sign read, `KIDDY KARE'. I suppose the odd spelling was intentional.

My heart was beating so fast and furious that I could feel the blood pumping in my ears. She reached up, knocked on the door and a gray haired lady opened the top half of the door.

"Oh hello there." she said to Lowell's mom. It was clear they knew each other well.

The lady then glanced at me and her smile faded as she realized I was not Lowell. I could tell she was confused, but I was so embarrassed that I could offer no explanation.

"This is Lowell's little friend Simon and we've had a little accident." Mrs. Vandoan said to the lady.

Understanding dawning in her eyes the gray haired lady opened the lower half of the door and invited us in.

From out in the hallways we all heard a high pitched voice cry out, "Wait for me!"

I was kind of half in and half out of the Kiddy Kare room so I was able to lean back, using Mrs. Vandoan's firm grip as a lifeline to support my weight. With my head and shoulders back out into the hallways I saw Lowell galloping down the hallway. He was running really weird; it was almost like he was riding an invisible three-legged horse pulling a wagon with a busted wheel.

"(Pant) I (Gasp) need changed (Gasp) too! (Pant)" he announced between breaths as though he were asking for a cookie.

And much to my horror Lowell's mom passed my hand to the gray haired lady she had called Muriel.

"Mind? Why should I mind? I'm glad to help." Muriel said in a sickeningly sweet grandmotherly sort of way.

I looked pleadingly to Lowell's mom hoping she wouldn't make me go with this stranger.

"Gee-whiz you are such a baby!" Lowell said and gave me a playful elbow to the stomach.

You know something, I think Lowell is probably the only person on this planet aside form maybe my brother that I would ever allow to get away with saying something like that. Heck, I didn't even think anything about him calling me a baby just then. Perhaps `cause I was so worked up over the whole pooping myself in church and having everyone hear it.

Lowell then said as he reached out and took the old ladies hand, "Mommy can change you and I will go with Muriel."

I can't believe I was relieved by that compromise. Only minutes before I had been dreading the idea of Lowell's mom changing my poopy diaper. Yeah she'd done it before, but that was over a year ago and even then it was one of the most embarrassing things ever in my life. OK I know I've had loads of ladies change my diaper, like Sister Sarafina, Cho, Marsha and heck I have lost track of how many nurses have changed me. It's funny actually; after everything I have been through and everyone that has either seen me in diapers or changed them, I still get weirded-out when someone new enters the picture. My head-doctor says that it is a good sign. I'm not sure what she means by that but... well I never came up with anything else. In fact, the only new person I never felt weird with when it came to my diapers was my friend Rico. Boy I sure miss him!

There were two other ladies, younger than Muriel, in the room attending to the countless toddlers and smaller children that littered the floor like Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz. As I became aware of all the tiny children I also realized that Lowell and I were the only two `Big Kids' in the room.

A small boy of maybe three ran up to Lowell and hugged his legs. Muriel pulled the small child away from Lowell, which was like trying to pry an octopus from its pray, and then she said to the small clingy child, "You boys can play after Lowell is cleaned up. Now get back to your toys."

"What you name big kid?" a pudgy little girl in a pink fluffy dress had asked me while tugging on the front pocket of my pants.

I knew she was pointing to my scar but I didn't have to answer `cause Mrs. Vandoan had taken my hand again and was leading me through the Munchkins and into a small bathroom at the back of the nursery.

"Bye Mister Simon I will miss you! Hurry back!" the little girl shouted after us.

I remember feeling relieved when Lowell's mother pushed me into a small room and closed the door after following me in. There is one good and bad thing about tiny kids, they say whatever the heck is on their minds and it was only a matter of time before one or more of them noticed my soiled condition and innocently announced it. Granted it was only a room full of Munchkins but that doesn't mean it wouldn't still be embarrassing.

The small room was a full functioning bathroom equipped with two very low to the floor toilets, one low sink and one regular height sink. And I don't know why I was surprised when I saw one of those fold-down diaper changing stations only this one wasn't plastic like you see in public restrooms. It had been hand-crafted, probably by one of the members of the church. It was constructed of wood and metal and painted in bright primary colored stripes. For that matter the entire bathroom was bathed in primary colors. There was also a large supply of disposable diapers on a shelf that was hung high enough that little hands couldn't reach. I also noticed that along the edge of the shelf going from left to right the diapers were labeled by size from `Preemie' to `7' but then there were two more stacks, one labeled `Tween' and the other generically labeled `Youth'. I'd figured out that the stack marked `Tween' must be for a big girl `cause they looked to be as big as Lowell and mine were but where every other diaper on the shelf was white, that stack was pastel pink.

I was surprised when Lowell's mom began to open the changing station. One thing that I thought was cool was that when the door closed a bathroom ceiling fan automatically came on and stayed on until the door was opened again.

"I'm too big." I said when I realized that she wanted me to get up on the changing table.

For the record, I did notice that she had just called me a baby in an off-handed sort of way, but I chose to let it go since it was Lowell's mom and because I know for a fact that Lowell is what they call a Teenbaby in that he fully embraces everything that comes with the title from sleeping in a crib to sucking on pacifiers and drinking from baby bottles. I find it oddly perplexing that he and his parents are so religious and yet they subscribe to something that would surly be shunned by most any church. Then again most everyone knows that Lowell has always had physical health concerns since birth so I suppose they accept his diapered state as just another quirk of his medical condition.

I hesitated a moment then tried to get up on the changing table by myself but couldn't manage it. It was just too high even for someone my size. Oh I suppose if I really put my heart into it I could have got up there but let's face it, my heart wasn't interested in any of this.

So with more than a little help from Mrs. Vandoan I was able to mount the changing table. I felt the poop smear as it squished between my butt and the hard laminate surface of the diaper changing station.

That was the last thing I had to do. From there on out Mrs. Vandoan did everything. She unfastened my pants and pulled them down, lifted my shirt and began to pull at the diaper tapes.

"You will have to try the new diapers Lowell wears." She said, "They are much thicker and never leak no matter how much Lowell wets or makes poo-poo."

I knew my head and face were still beat red but I think they got redder when she opened the diaper and made a sound as the stench hit her like a slap in the face.

"I think we should also tell your mommy about Whiff." she said as she used the front of the diaper to wipe away the bulk of my poop from my bottom.

"Sure it is. Lowell takes one tablet twice a day; when he gets up and before he goes to bed and his poopies don't stink any more." She said.

"Really?" I said but when I said it my voice went about twelve octaves higher `cause Mrs. Vandoan had thrust a finger wrapped in a cold baby wipe right into my poop shoot.

"Sorry but we have to make sure you are nice and clean inside and out now don't we!" she said as she turned her finger this way and that.

In an instant all the blood that had been pooling in my head flushed out and went right to my...you know what!

My third arm went from dead-asleep to full attention in less than a second. It has been so long since I'd had any feelings down there, let alone an erection that at first I was confused by it, then happy to know that despite all the bad affects of Madam-M's drugs, which I had been chugging like soda pop for all those months, that I was still able to get hard down there. However, after the space of three seconds those good feelings were replaced by shear horror at knowing I had sprouted a rock hard boner in front of Lowell's mom. I wanted to die a thousand times over!

I suppose it was due to the sudden lack of blood to my brain that caused me to feel so light headed. I felt my head expanding and my brain sloshing inside my skull. The brightly painted walls seem to fluctuate in and out of focus for several seconds as she continued to clean my insides at finger depth. I'd have to say that Mrs. Vandoan did the most thorough cleaning I've ever received as part of a diaper changing. She worked steadily and thoroughly, making sure that any traces of poop and pee were gone before she began applying the aromatic diaper cream. The fact that I was sporting wood didn't seem to get noticed by her.

Just as she had done when cleaning she inserted a cream covered finger into my chute. She did that twice before wiping her hands with a fresh baby wipe and then applying the powder and rubbing it in to.

I must have nodded `cause she left me lying there for a number of minutes before returning to finish the job. While she was gone I tried to think of anything unpleasant to make my erection go away but to no avail. When she returned he was still standing tall and proud.

The only time she ever acknowledge my aroused state is when she gently pressed my penis against my belly and said, "We'll just lay your little candle down." and proceeded to finish covering him with the diaper.

It wasn't until I sat up that I realized just what she had meant by thicker. I felt like I was sitting on a cushion, that is how much padding these disposable diapers have. I'd even venture to say that they are thicker than a double layered cloth diaper.

She said they're called Bambino diapers from an Internet Company and she promised to tell my parents all about them as well as the Whiff stuff. Besides being infinitely thicker then my Attends Youth Briefs, the Bambino diapers also cover more skin. That is, they come up higher over my back and belly, covering my belly button completely. They do only have two tapes per side verse the three tapes that Attends have but with only two tapes it stays nice and snug all morning and afternoon.

I was surprised that after I was standing on my own two feet she produced a pair of translucent, fire engine red plastic pants, which she had me step into.

"I always keep a pair or two in Lowell's diaper bag just in case." She said and snuck a kiss to my cheek as she tugged them into place.

Luckily my pants were big enough to accommodate a double thick cloth diaper so they fit over the Bambino disposable diaper just fine. However, hiding the fact that I was thickly diapered was out of the question. The one good thing about cloth diapers is that after a while they kind of get squished between your legs so that you can almost walk normal but not Bambino diapers. They start out big and get bigger as you wet.

"Careful now," Mrs. Vandoan said as she took my hand and walked me out of the bathroom-slash-changing room.

We came out to find Lowell sitting in the middle of the floor playing with all the other munchkins.

"Willy, catch!" Lowell said as he tossed a multicolored beach ball at a little dark haired boy who giggled when the ball toppled him.

"Lowell, time to go;" Mrs. Vandoan started to say, "We've got to go back to the service."

"Ah mom can't Simon and me stay here? It is so boring when Elder Abernuckle preaches." Lowell complained.

She gave Lowell a look which I didn't see but it must have been bad `cause he reluctantly stood up and took my other hand.

And that same fat pudgy girl in the pink dress raced up to me and held out a naked baby doll.

Tickled that I accepted her gift she giggled and ran back to play. As we were walking out of the room I looked back to make sure the little girl wasn't watching and handed the naked baby doll to Muriel.

"Simon has a girlfriend! Simon has a girlfriend!" Lowell teased as he took my hand again.

"Now whose being the baby?" I whispered threateningly to him so that his mom didn't hear me.

Thankfully when we returned to the big meeting room everyone was standing up and singing so it wasn't as embarrassing waddling in as it had been when we left. We scooted into the seat and both mom and dad smiled at our return. I sighed a quite breath of relief knowing we'd missed out on a large chunk of the boring bits of the service and only had to endure a song or two then we'd be able to get out of that sauna...or so I thought. There was one more surprise in store for us all.

As I made myself comfortable next to dad, he leaned down and asked, "Everything ok?"

I started to whisper something to Lowell when I heard his name called out. I stopped in mid-whisper to looked up to the guy behind the podium who was saying, "...is going to grace us all with something special he has been working on for a number of weeks now."

He then scooted himself past his mother and was heading for the front of the big meeting room. He climbed the three steps at the side of the stage, walked up to a short microphone stand and then nodded to the band who all began playing.

Within just a few cords I knew the melody but for the life of me I couldn't place it right away. It wasn't until halfway through the song that I realized it was the music to an old rock and roll song called It's the End of the World and as I listened to the words I realized who had originally sang it and where the new words came from.

Talk about being blown completely out of my socks! Lowell opened his mouth and out came one of the most amazing voices! I swear I never knew he could sing like that. Let me tell you that he rocked that church like I had never heard anyone do before!

And at the end of the song all of the instruments went silent as Lowell spoke in a soft tone, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these... is love."

I don't know if it was right or wrong to do in church what I did but I am sorry, there was no way I could keep my diapered butt planted on that wooden pew. I leapt to my feet cheering and clapping. After a brief moment everyone else did the same thing. Amazingly Lowell blushed and made a hasty retreat from the stage.

That guy who preached got back up and we all prayed, then the service ended. I met Lowell at the far end of our row and hugged him. I was so happy for him that the only way I could express it was to hug him.

"That was... well... INCREADABLE!" I shouted as I gripped his shoulders and shook him.

"Why didn't you tell us? I would have brought my recorder." Dad said to him as he patted Lowell on the back.

Ian shook Lowell's hand and with a big grin asked, "Don't suppose I could get your autograph?"

Right then these two young teen girls who looked a bit older then us, walked up and butted into the middle of our little group.

I had time to think, "Oh brother not again!" before Lowell elbowed that same girl right in the boob.

I guess no one but the other girl and me saw him elbow Candice which I guess he should be glad off. No doubt about it, if his mom had seen him do that she would have killed him. At the same time the girls had walked up all of the adults had for a minute or two lost track of us while they blabbered amongst themselves.

"Gosh Lowell we only wanted to meet your little friend!" the other girl said with a snivel.

"I really don't care what you want Lindy!" Lowell said and he sounded like he disliked Lindy more then he did Candice.

I thrust my hand out, took hold of Candice's hand and shook it. My sudden action had caught her off guard and she looked visibly stunned.

"Yep you are right, I am THAT KID!" I said making sure I drove home the point that I was who they thought I was.

Lindy made an excited sound which was loud enough to draw the adults' attention back to us. Lowell's mom quickly inserted herself between the girls and Lowell and me. It wasn't until later that Lowell told me that Candice and Lindy were not nice girls. They used to tease Lowell when he was younger. He also told me that when he'd first come back to church, shortly after I had disappeared this last time, those girls cornered Lowell alone and were teasing him something awful. My blood began to boil at hearing this and it is a good thing I hadn't known about it before `cause I probably would have killed them girls!

With a warning that came out sounding like something she had said it many times before, Lowell's mom made it clear, well it seemed clear to me at least, that she didn't want Candice and Lindy anywhere near her boys. I thought crossed my mind that Lowell was an only child so she must have been lumping me in as one of her own kids and amidst the tense moment I felt myself filling with pride that she thought of me like that. Seemingly well warned those two odd girls ran off and vanished into the throngs of people.

At least out in the hallway and in the nursery it had been a little cooler `cause there wasn't all the hot people helping to warm it up but inside the big meeting room it was still stiflingly hot. It didn't help that my loins were now wrapped in what amounted to a heavy quilted blanket encased in plastic pants. And you would think that after the service was over we'd be able to get out of there fast, but nooooo. Mom, dad and Lowell's mom had to lollygag around chatting with just about everyone in the church. Apparently there are a number of people from my dad's work that go to Lowell's church which only meant we had to stand around in the hot meeting room that much longer.

Lowell and I wanted so badly to get out of there and get to where there might be a breeze at least, but like I said before, I had strict instructions to stay close to mom and dad. As a matter of fact Mom was holding my right hand tightly while Lowell held and swung my other.

I will say that one man and woman came up to shake hands. I remember them `cause the man did say something to me that kind of surprised me. Well not surprised, like a surprise party but surprised like I hadn't expected it at all. He shook all the adults' hands, then Lowell's and finally he took hold of my right hand and squeezed it.

"You are an incredibly brave young man and it is my sincerest honor to shake your hand."

By my reckoning it was at least another twenty-five minutes after the service ended before we started moving for the exit but then from across the room I spotted someone else I knew.

Lowell made this funny sound and jumped about two feet off the burgundy colored church carpet. He then looked in the direction I was waving and saw him too.

Ian is my biological father but that is really all the connection I have with him. I met him shortly before leaving last year. He's a really nice gay man who lives in my brothers building downtown. Oh and he is a very good artist. There are two of his masterpieces hanging in my bedroom. One is of my brother and the other is of me.

The last time Ian saw me I had long hair and was sporting an awesome tan, now I have short hair and could almost pass for a ghost. It wasn't until he was about twenty feet away that he realized who I was.

He wrapped his arms around my arms and back and lifted me off my feet as he hugged me.

He shook Lowell's hand and messed his hair at the same time. Then he greeted my parents, hugged mom and with a huge toothy smile he embraced Lowell's mom while kissing her neck. I didn't know at the time what that was about but I knew that Ian already knew Lowell and his parents from when they were all working on redoing my bedroom after it had been trashed last year when someone had broke in the house. I found out later that Mrs. Vandoan had played Cupid back then and fixed Ian up with the nicest guy.

"When did you get back?" Ian asked me as he petted my fuzzy head with his fingers.

"Well I just got back into town myself." Ian said and turned around to wave some guy over.

As the guy made his way to us I had a chance to appraise his appearance. He was young looking, maybe twenty but no more then twenty-five. His hair was styled with the bangs up and the rest combed flat the way I used to wear my own a year or more back. He was clean shaven and slightly bronzed. But it was his walk that gave him away as another gay man.

"This is my new husband Colin." Ian announced and I later learned his full name is Colin Jody Winters.

You would have thought that Ian had just announced he was pregnant the way my mother carried on. She squealed and hugged and congratulated them both several times.

"We've just returned from our two week honeymoon cruse to the

Bahamas

." Colin said.

OK at first I wasn't too keen on the idea of Ian being married but I quickly got over it and frankly Colin is a really cool guy. Except for his walk, which is extremely lady-like, he is `all guy'. He's into all the different sports, as well as hunting and fishing and to hear Ian tell it, Colin can't even boil toast. Yeah I guess I approve of Colin after all, but God help him if he ever hurts Ian!

I found out that Ian has been a member of Lowell's church for years but hasn't been a regular pew warmer for quite a while. It was Colin's idea that they come today so I guess I have to give Colin points for that.

This is a direct quote from Colin, "If I miss a Sunday of worship I feel like I'm cheating on God."

It also made me like Lowell's church more knowing that they don't condemn someone just `cause they happen to like someone of the same sex. That's one of my complaints about The Ranch, they were very anti-homosexuality; there were some teens that came or were forced to attend the camp just because they were gay; like someone can pray away their gayness or something...PLEASE!!

Mom ended up inviting Ian and Colin to join all of us for lunch today which was really cool. I sat between Lowell and Ian while we ate at the new Olive Garden they just built up by the new highway off ramp. The adults spent most of the time talking amongst themselves, which gave Lowell and I time to talk semi-privately.

"Bad and good but mostly good." I said as I chomped down on a deep-fried cheese stick.

"Did you find the treasure before you got caught?" he asked next, but he did so with his hand cupped over his mouth.

"Yep really. That's one of the reasons why I got to wear this." I said as I pulled my leg up onto my lap so that I could show him the tracking device.

"You can't tell a soul but before I left the ship we had been making plans for that money." I whispered.

"Uh, hello!? The Sister and Fyer!?" I said in such a way as to say, "You shouldn't have to ask that!"

Lowell had stuffed a whole piece of the cheese stick appetizer into his mouth so all he could do was nod his head to let me know I'd guessed right.

It was Lowell's turn to glance around the table before leaning close to my ear and whispering, "He don't kiss or wear diapers like we do though."

I humored him with a smile as I covertly glanced around the table to be sure none of the adults heard us.

Surprisingly Lowell laughed kind of loud. "Me and dad have been working on getting him to come to church but he really doesn't like it when we talk about church and stuff."

"Yeah he was giving me a heard time about it when he stayed over the other night." I said.

"Speaking of sleeping over; I am having a big sleepover at my house next Friday." He cupped his hands over his mouth again before continuing, "Just for us diaper boys."

Our waitress came by and brought us our food. I had sausage ravioli in a buttered Chipotle sauce. Ian had said it was `To-Die-For' and that was enough to convince me. He was right; it was so yummy that I ate every bite. When it was time to order dessert everyone thought Lowell and I would be too full for something sweet. They were so very wrong.

Lowell and I split a Hot Fudge and Carmel Brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and sprinkled with walnuts pieces. It was nearly big enough to be a meal by itself so it was good that Lowell and I were sharing it. Ooooh it was sooooooooo scrumdiddilyumptious! It was so sweet that it made our sodas taste kind of bland.

After leaving the restaurant we were all standing outside while all the adults were saying their goodbyes. At that same time Lowell and I were begging and pleading for permission for Lowell to come over for the afternoon.

Did I happen to mention yet how horribly hot it was? Oh man when we got into mom's van it was like going from a sauna into an oven.

"Going to take a minute before the Air Conditioning starts working." Dad said as he switched it on.

"Don't make me turn this car around!" Dad said and what really made it funny was the fact that we hadn't yet moved from the parking space at the restaurant.

From behind us there was a honk of a car horn. Lowell and I craned around to see Ian and Colin passing us. We both waved.

"I think my belly button is going to break open!" Lowell announced as dad was pulling onto the road.

"It wouldn't surprise me considering how much the two of you ate." Mom remarked.

We weren't too far from the restaurant when something bad happened. Dad was sitting behind several cars at a four way stop when another car was backing out of a driveway.

"Dad, look at that car!" I managed to shout right before it backed into the passenger side of mom's van.

Mom, Lowell and I screamed and shouted right before the loud grinding of metal against metal and the screeching of rubber against asphalt.

The whole side of the van had crumpled in, pushing the sliding side door in which had pinned Lowell's shoe between the door and part of the bench seat he and I were sitting on.

Dad was already out of the van and rushing around to the side that was now caved in. That is when I realized that both mom and Lowell were covered in glass from the side that had been smashed.

All the people that had been waiting for their turn to go had got out of their cars and were helping mom and us out while dad was checking on the other cars diver.

It turned out to be a teenager who had only recently got her license. She had mistakenly forgotten to look behind her before backing out of the driveway which is why she plowed into us. She never did say why she was backing down the driveway so darn fast.

What was kind of cool was that Lowell's mom had been a few car lengths behind us so she had arrived right as it all happened. She said she saw the car backing up too fast and knew it was going to hit our van. I am the only one out of the four of us that remembered the sound of the metal crunching and the squealing of the tires as our van was shoved sideways. However none of us could remember hearing it but Lowell's mom said she had blasted her horn to warn everyone of what she was seeing.

The police came and so did one of those red paramedic fire trucks. We were all checked to make sure no one was hurt. Actually Lowell and I thought it was all kind of cool; well except for mom's van.

Oh and right after the accident happened the girl who had backed into us, her dad and mom came running out of their house. I felt so bad for the girl `cause they were yelling at her and swearing and stuff. Sure it was dumb that she didn't look before backing up like that but nobody got hurt and she already felt bad enough. They didn't need to scream and cuss at her like that.

Everyone was fine, but man, mom sure was shook up over it. She was crying `cause she loves her van so much. It was the second time that it has been smashed up so bad. Mom kept calling it her baby and talking like it was a real person.

After like twenty minutes Mrs. Vandoan made the suggestion that she take Lowell and me home with her. That is when Mom remembered that we were supposed to be home by 2:00 p.m. for me to call. Dad looked at his cell phone to check the time. He flipped open his phone and made a phone call but I didn't hear what he was saying because he'd walked away from us.

Suddenly concerned I asked with a slight tremble to my words, "What time is it?"

"I'm dead!" I croaked and softly laid my hand to my forehead, trying not to envision what was about to happen to me.

Dad turned back around as he was closing his phone again and announced, "Everything is fine."

"Here's the deal. I just spoke with your Probation Officer and you may go." Dad was saying but was interrupted when Lowell let out a cheer.

Mrs. Vandoan quickly snatched Lowell's hand and gave his arm a yank to silence him.

Dad had momentarily moved his icy gaze from me to Lowell but now his eyes were frozen on me again.

"You may go over but you are to go no where else. Not to the neighbors, not to the park! You are not to cause any trouble and you will be on your best behavior. Do you understand me?"

"Don't mess up. You're taking a huge leap forward in being trusted here. And if you step out of line even a little bit you'll not be able to sit for a month. Is that clear?"

Mom gave me a hug goodbye but it was clear that she wasn't happy about letting me go anymore than she was for her baby�I mean her van. The accident had really shaken her up and she was feeling all kinds of maternal feelings like she had to protect me from the big bad world.

Dad gave me one last bit of instruction before we left, "When you get there you are to make your call just like you would do from home."

I chuckled and gave him a push toward their car as I said, "Gosh Lowell! Shut up would ya!"

Lowell and I were halfway to the car when I remembered my Bible was still in mom's van. I spun around and shouted, "Dad don't let them tow my Bible away to!"

It was one of those tow trucks that carry the wrecked cars on its back instead of towing them behind.

"Your mom and dad are going to get a piggyback ride home." Lowell's mom said trying to be lighthearted.

"Yeah, like Nemo's dad did on Crush the turtle." Lowell said referring to the movie, `Finding Nemo'.

"Oh," I said when I remembered which movie he was talking about, "I haven't seen that in a while."

I held out my hands as though I were offering up some kind of worship or offering as I said, "Welcome, brother Sharkbait!"

Lowell fumbled out his final line exactly the way it was said in the movie, "Sharkbait! Ooh..ba-ba-doo."

Lowell and I shared a quick glance, a smile and then in unison we sang out, "Shark Bate! Hoo-Ha-Ha!"

Unlike mom's van, Lowell's car was very cool inside; as a matter of fact it was so cold that by the time we arrived at their house I had my arms crossed over my chest in an attempt keep in some of my body heat.

Boy it was a shock going from the cool air of the car interior to the sauna outside again.

"Uuuugh! It's so hot!" I griped as I followed Lowell out on his side of the car.

Upon entering the house Mrs. Vandoan took my hand and walked me to her smallish home office so that I could make my phone call.

We met up with Lowell a couple minutes later. He had patiently waited in the foyer for me to return. Once I had, we both began to walk fast for their basement.

"Don't even think of going down there without getting changed out of those Clothes!" Mrs. Vandoan barked like a Marine Drill Instructor. Actually her tone was kind of unnerving.

"I don't have any other clothes here!" I whined as though I were begging her not to talk to me like that again.

Speaking to her son and not to me she said, "We still have Simon's special shirt hanging in your closet. It should still fit him." She paused only briefly as she eyed me from head to toe, "And as far as pants go, it is much too hot to wear pants today; so the two of you can just run around in your diapers."

"What's so funny?" Lowell asked as we charged up the stairs with him leading the way.

We were both stripped in record time. I was picking my clothes up off the floor while disappeared into his walk in closet only to reemerge a second later holding the t-shirt baring my initials, B.S.

Laughing he tossed it at me and started out of the room with his own shirt clutched tightly in his right hand.

That was that, for the rest of the day Lowell and I ran around in just diapers and t-shirts. Actually we didn't even keep our shirts on for very long.

Once our movie was over we went back upstairs and Lowell asked if we could run through the sprinkler.

"Uh hello! That's why we turn on the water!" Lowell scoffed and I nearly slugged him when he pinched the back of my left arm.

Actually, I wanted to slug him but he did it so hard that it hurt more than a little and I was left dancing in place while attempting to rub the pain away.

I should have seen what he was up to long before I actually did. Since we got home the pinch was just another of the subtle things he had been doing to get him to his ultimate goal. And what was his goal? Well keep reading and you will soon see.

At church Lowell had been the same Lowell I knew and loved; now at home he was another Lowell altogether and this Lowell seemed to have been possessed by a malicious spirit or something `cause the way he acted the rest of the day was completely and totally out of character for him.

Lowell sighed loudly, "You know something... for the captain of a big ship you sure are dumb! You got on plastic pants; your diaper won't get wet!"

Stupidly I turned my back on the guy; wouldn't you have? I mean it was good ol' trustable Lowell right?

"OUCH!" I hissed when he grabbed the little bit skin which makes up the back of the arm pit.

I grinned, "I ain't sure yet but give me a minute and I'll come up with something. Oh wait I know; how about for calling me a dork?"

I was frantically rubbing the sore spot and frowning at him. He smiled as if to let me know he was only playing around. He glanced over to make sure his mother wasn't within earshot and then leaned in close to whispered into my ear, "And if you want we can take them off."

It wasn't what he said, but how he said it that made me look at him the way I did.

"What?" he asked when I didn't say anything, to which I simply shook my head at him dismissively.

"I have a better idea," his mother started out saying, "How about if you two wash my car?" she paused and waited for us to object but neither of us made even the slightest noise to the negative.

Lowell continued to negotiate for something more tangible than kissed until I grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him away.

We took to the task with enthusiasm, and with two of us, the car was washed and hosed down in less than thirty minutes. It took us another ten minutes to put the bucket and sponge away and then drag the hose from out front to the backyard. When we rounded the house we found his mom setting out two tall glasses along with a large glass pitcher of sweet ice tea and a plate full of frosted animal shaped cookies on a white plastic folding table by the back door for us.

After hooking up the hose to the back faucet we munched several cookies and guzzled some ice tea. While I was chugging down my second glass I noticed that lying on one of those collapsible director style lawn chairs were two nicely rolled towels.

"Someone must have forgot to close the gate `cause I think the hog got out." Lowell said with a sly grin.

I set my glass down and the two of us headed for the sprinkler laughing and shouting to each other.

I was oblivious to the way Lowell kept staring at me as we leapt into the sprinkler and at times standing directly over it. After a while we took another cookie and tea break. I had raced to and snatched both of the rolled towels. Turning to toss one to Lowell I seen he hadn't run up behind me like I expected but instead was making his way with a John Wayne style swagger, all the while keeping his eyes on me and smiling.

He walked up to me, but didn't take the towel from me. We were standing nearly eye to eye.

Without answering he reached out and jabbed me hard in both sets of ribs. His fingers were only inched from my pits and I reacted the only way I could. By screaming, laughing and staggering backward.

Lowell laughed at the way my voice cracked. Smugly he lowered himself into one of the lawn chairs while nibbling on a cookie and giving me playful gaze.

"You going to sit down chump?" he asked almost like he was challenging me to retaliate for tickling me.

My response was to scowl at him and hoisted up my plastic pants as high on my tummy as they would go.

We sat and rested long enough that my mind had time to drift off so I didn't see Lowell twirl up his towel in so that he to snap me with it.

After he attempted a second strike I retort, "Cool it! You do it again and so help me!"

Lowell waved me away, smiling mischievously. "Sheeze," he jeered, "lighten up would ya!"

I stood up from my seat, the waste band of my plastic pants slid down my tummy and back into its proper place. I wiped the sweat from my face, sipped a bit more tea and then went back to stand over top the sprinkler to cool down again. Lowell quickly followed and when he was only a few feet from me I decided to get him back for snapping me with his towel. Using only my foot redirected the spraying water so that it hit him right in the face. It worked better then I could have hoped, `cause I had caught him off guard and he fell backward with a wet plop onto the grass. I expected him to get mad but to my surprise he popped back up with an exaggerated smile, sputtering and coughing, and then looked at me with his eyes alight.

There was no anger or resentment as he leveled his eyes on me. His grin was devilish, his laugh genuine and innocent.

He dove at me and caught me by surprise; his hands went for my shoulders and shoved me backward. Grabbed the sprinkler he aimed it right at my face. I don't think he expected me to counter as fast as I did. I dropped to one knee, pivoted on that knee while sweeping with my other leg. As he was going down I launched myself at him. The sprinkler went one way, we the other, sliding and slipping across the wet grass. He moved like a ninja from my grasp and took a quick second to ready himself before jumping on top of me, arms wrapped around me, his smooth, slender body against mine. We flailed on the grass, each of us trying to get the upper hand. Being almost equally sized, but me having been trained to fight by Fyer it came easy for me to slither out of his holds and turn the tables on him. Each and every time I would knock him down he would come up smiling. And when I tried to head back over to the chairs for a break, he pursued me, trying to drag me back into the yard using my plastic pants as leverage. I found it annoying at first and sharply told him tom "Leave me alone!" but his strong-minded resolve and that mischievous grin was getting the better of me.

I found myself acutely aware of the presence of his hands groping for a handhold. I smiled even as I told him earnestly to give me a break, yet he tugged harder, successfully moving me closer to the sprinkler, and I found myself laughing. I finally gave up the idea of a rest and spun around, growling playfully at him.

He made a cute, "Eeep" sound and sped off to the other side of the yard. I gave chase and caught him from behind. With my arms wrapped tightly around his stomach I threw him face first to the ground, maybe too hard. He didn't get right back up and I had time to make it to the chair before he was grabbing at me again, dripping wet, laughing and taunting me.

When I looked at his face he looked like he someone had dunked his head in an unflushed toilet; but what struck me so funny about his appearance was a single blade of grass spanning his upper lip.

Somehow he figured out what I meant `cause he wiped at his face with both hands and then smeared the mud and grass on my thighs.

I groaned inside where he couldn't see or hear how much he was irritating me and yet there was something about that dang smile of his that wouldn't let me get mad at him. When I finally got tired of him pestering me, I seized an opportunity when he was looking the other way. I sprang, and put him in a half nelson wrestling hold and physically threw him sprawling and sliding across the grass toward the sprinkler. Lowell struggled to get back up, all the while laughing from his belly, and even when I had thrown him a second time he went sliding away from me on his back smiling, eyes bright with amusement.

I needed to rest. I was tired and out of breath. But when Lowell got to his feet again, I could tell by the devilish grin on his face that he had not yet surrendered. He stalked toward me, smirking and puffing himself up with boldness.

"Lowell, come on! I need to rest a while ok?" I said, almost pleading for him to take a break.

He squawked like a chicken, put his thumbs in his pits and flapping his arms and started to sing that chicken polka song by clucking like a chicken and strutting around with his dark hair dripping, his diaper hanging low between his sold legs.

Although, I was in no mood for any more horseplay, his ability to miss my subtle clues to that effect was most amazing.

He squawked louder and moved closer. I tried to maintain a serious face, but his absurd strutting was hilarious and I cracked a smile, a clear miscommunication to him regarding my willingness to continue his game. He made his move, grabbing my wrist, and I struggled to pull him toward me, bringing his wet grass covered body into my arms. I grabbed his wrists and pulled his arms across his chest so tightly he seemed to struggle to breathe. I held him captive or so I thought. His heal had found my left foot.

He shoved back against me, nearly knocking the chair over, and I had no recourse but to stand up, place my knee in his back and throw him back into the sprinkler. This time he didn't fall but he did slide on his bare feet which actually looked like fun. He slid about ten feet, whirled around laughing and I was aware that I had, once again, miscommunicated my willingness to play.

"Come on Lowell, that's enough!" I whined, but with that stupid smile on my face. I couldn't seem to get rid of it, even as I was genuinely irritated by his persistence.

Granted I could have stopped Lowell anytime I wanted too with just an elbow, knee, fist or foot strategically placed but really, what was going on was just normal boyish horseplay...at least as far as I was concerned. Lowell on the other hand seemed to have other ideas which I hadn't yet keyed in on.

Lowell frowned with some confusion, shrugged his shoulders and complained, "What did I do?"

I fired a strong frown at Lowell who was standing directly overtop the sprinkler, allowing the sprays of water to splash onto the underside of his diaper and out through his legs.

Thinking my only opportunity to get a break from his hyperactive state was to slip inside for a moment. Lowell didn't know it, but while we had been rolling around on the grass I had a small blowout in back and was in need of a change. It was one of those poops that was kind of soft and spread around quickly. Almost instantly my backside began to itch.

I found his mom sitting at her desk in her home office chatting away on the phone. She paused long enough for me to indicate to her that I needed changed which I did by pointing at my diaper and pinching my nose. She got the hint, smiled and ended her call. After hanging up the phone she politely took me up to Lowell's room where she changed me into a fresh disposable, clean plastic pants and sent me back out to play with a soft kiss to my cheek. I blushed a bit from the kiss.

When I went back out Lowell was sitting Indian style on the ground with the sprinkler wedged between his legs and spraying up his front. He had has face down, taking the full brunt of the water.

"I didn't think you were going to come back out." he said almost sad enough to make me think he was really upset. I should have known he was just bating me.

"Yeah well I shouldn't have! You play too rough." I said seriously, "And you don't know when to quit."

He didn't reply. He watched me as I sat down in a chair and began to sip my ice tea which by now was just slightly cold and watered down due to all the ice having long since melted.

I had meant it as an insult but that nutty friend of mine took it as complement. It also served to reignite his passion for the game.

I saw it in his eyes before he had even made any sort of move. He was like a wild beast looking for the weakest spot to strike.

"I'm serious Lowell! You better just leave me alone now!" I said, still with that dang smile of mine.

He seemed to think on that for a moment, staring down at his water glistening legs. Then he looked up at me.

He hoisted himself off of the sprinkler, water running down his torso, diaper and legs. He looked exquisite, his wet diaper hanging even lower on his hips and between his thighs. He must have been letting the water get inside his plastic pants.

He walked directly over to me and shook his head like a mangy mutt, sending a spray of water over me. He smiled again however, it is was possible, it seemed even more devilish while somehow managing to be unbelievably innocent looking at the same time. I closed my eyes and told myself not to give into his games.

He took that opportunity to flick water at me from his fingers. I kept took a breath and let it out along with my negative emotions. Only then did I open my eyes and looked at him. He was smiling roguishly. To my surprise, and despite myself, I smiled as well.

With one quick movement, he stomped on my toes with of his bare heal; thankfully it wasn't the same foot as before. Nevertheless, it still hurt like mad and I let out a small cry of pain and surprise. I heard him laugh. My temper momentarily getting the better of me, I lunged at him suddenly, but he scurried away like a fleeing bunny-rabbit. I had no recourse than to give chase, I mean my toes demanded justice. After a couple times around the back yard, into the front yard and returning to the back again I caught up with him as he was trying to grab for the sprinkler to use it against me. I didn't even try not to slam into him when I finally caught up. I hit him hard from behind and we both skidded across the wet grass like Superman; him face down on the grass and my lying on top of him. When we came to a stop I pushed myself up so that I was sitting on the backs of his knees.

With a single raised knuckle I delivered three hard blows with my fist to his thigh.

His face contortion in pain and he cried out but his voice was muffed by the mud as I smashed his face into the grass. I think he was finally getting the idea that I was though playing around. I thought it was time to show him that he too had limits with how rough we could play.

When he rolled over to protect his sore thigh, I nailed him on the other with two hard punches, and he howled in pain. Even with my hand partially covering his mouth he was able to let go a maniacal laugh. Mixed within his cried and laughter he begged for me to stop, "Aaaaaah, no more! No more! Uncle! Oh god uncle! Please uncle!"

When he didn't answer fast enough for my liking I gave him too more thumped to his right leg.

I slunk back to my chair and watched as he rolled in the grass for a while, holding his thighs, rubbing them, pulling his baggy diaper up to look for bruises. I stared at his thighs with pride. The blows hadn't been my hardest, but on that muscle, it doesn't take much to cause pain. He was smiling, rolling to his knees, stretching his legs as if making sure they were still working properly. He got tentatively to his feet.

"That didn't hurt," he spouted while smirking and trying to hide his limp. "You're suuuuuch a weeeak LITTLE baaaaaby."

That `little' crack almost got me to jump up and pop him in the mouth, but I had a feeling he was seeing how far he could push me and I didn't want to let him know he was so close to my button.

He walked up to me, standing right in front of me, his diapered crotch just a foot from my face. Fyer's voice blared in my head, "If you ever want to immobilize a guy, one solid blow to the ol' family jewels. The harder you hit them the longer they will stay down."

He caught me off guard with a punch into my left shoulder just above my nipple. It was a quick jab and he immediately did some sort of ballerina move away from me, cackling as he did so. It hurt less than a lot and more than a little. I was temporarily stund by the pain, but only for a moment. Now it was genuine anger that drove me to my feet and sent me chasing after him again. He seemed to allow me to catch him this time after just one lap around the yard. He fell next to the sprinkler. The cold water actually felt good on as I went down on him. I'm sure he was enjoying it too.

This set of blows which I delivered to the meat of his thighs were still not my full strength but they were considerably harder and meant to be more memorable then the last.

Lowell shouted so loud in pain that I fully expected his mother to come out but she never made an appearance whatsoever. As he screamed I really thought for a moment that he was really crying, but then I saw that he wasn't crying at all. His face was half submerged in the soggy grass but I could still see that he was grinning and laughing through the pain.

This time he lay in the grass for a substantially longer period. I on the other hand returned to my chair, poured myself the last bit of ice tea from the pitcher and ate the last cookie. My shoulder was a little sore from his surprise punch. I was just hoping that I didn't end up with a bruise. That would be difficult to explain if either his or my own parents were to notice it.

I sighed hard and actually said aloud but to myself, "If he tries something like that again, friend or not I'm putting him down once and for all!" and I meant it too.

Sipping the now warm tea I watched him rolling around in pain as the sprinkler rained water down on him. I figured...no I hoped that he was not game for another round.

Sadly, I was wrong. When he struggled to his feet again, he shook each leg as if shaking off the pain. He then did an odd sort of jumping jack without the arm movement. He did it again and then started wiggling both of his index fingers in a `come here' manner.

I could see by the way his legs wobbled while trying to keep him erect, that he was still smarting from my blows. And then I thought, "What if he ends up with bruises?"

Lowell saw me shake off that last thought and misread it as me being scared of him.

I figured he could talk smack all he wanted to from way over by the sprinkler but if he came at me again he was going to regret messing with me.

He taunted me, danced from foot to foot, all the while slowly inching his way closer and closer.

My words had suddenly ended `cause he had come at me again, but this time I was ready for him.

Right hand to God, I caught his right fist as he had attempted to punch me in the same shoulder. I guess Lowell hadn't expected that either `cause he froze long enough for me to get the upper hand. Without removing my freshly diapered butt from the canvas seat I twisted his arm around and into a chicken wing hold. It was a hold I had known before Fyer had taught me how to defend myself but Fyer showed me how to use it to break someone's arm or even to dislocate my opponents shoulder. Lowell was squealing like a stuck pig and with his arm bent almost to the breaking point, I led him back to the sprinkler and kicked his feet out from under him. He did a belly flop onto the over saturated grass and let out a gushing sound as all the air was forced out of his lungs by the impact.

I lowered my diapered butt onto his while still keeping pressure on his chicken winged arm.

"That's the general idea. Oh and you can thank our pal Fyer for showing me how to rip someone arm off while they are still awake to feel it."

Lowell bucked and tried to throw me off him but I only had to apply a small bit of extra pressure to his arm and his body would go limp again.

"I should snap it off and feed it to you," I said, almost serious about doing just that.

There was something amusing in the way he provoked me and then became so submissive. I couldn't help smiling.

"Oh god Simon please let me up!" he cried but still there was that hint of laughter in his words too.

After a moments thought I let his arm free; however, I remained seated on top of him. He twisted his arm back around and pulled it under his chest protectively.

I was just about to stand up and let him go free when he suddenly gave me a surprisingly powerful bucking that nearly separated the two of us. I only managed to stay on top of him by reaching down and grabbing his diaper like a cowboy might grab the rope of a bucking bronco. However, he had managed to flip himself over so that he was lying on his back, looking up at me. He was thrashing about so wildly that I had to throw myself on top of him, grab each of his arms by the wrists and pin him to the ground to keep him from getting away or from trying to hurt me again.

We were diaper to diaper, belly to belly, chest to chest and face to face. And there we were, lying in the wet grass, water falling all around us, grass and mud stuck to our wet bodies, him trapped beneath me, his body moving, struggling against mine as he growled through gritted teeth. I was horrified when I felt a stirring within my diaper. I started to jump up and run away but Lowell, he somehow managed to keep hold of me. In the end we ended up with me lying on the grass and him lying spread eagle on top of me. Unlike he had been, I wasn't pinned down and I didn't secretively want to be captured like he did. So when I tried to get out form under him we both rolled but he still held onto me. The two of us rolled on the grass, belly to belly, chest to chest, diapered crotch to diapered crotch. He grunted with the effort and thrust against me and even through all that saturated padding I felt his hard penis pressed into me. I again pinned his arms down, and after a few attempts to wriggle free, he lay still in my arms, panting.

Conscious of the increasing electricity building up within my diaper, I attempted to pull my pelvis away from him while still trying to keep him pinned. However this maneuver only served to move my face closer to his.

I had suddenly seen what Lowell had been up to all along. Everything since I walked into his house had been a game to get the two of us into this very situation, this very position.

He raised his head and kissed me on the lips. It wasn't long but it was enough that I knew I had to get the heck out of dodge. My heart was racing and not because of the wrestling or the sexual feelings we were both feeling. My heart was racing because the instant our lips touched something came over me. It was like someone had pulled a black hood over my head and in an instead I was gripped with shear terror! What was worse, I didn't have a clue why!

My body and brain had switched into flight mode. I don't remember thinking of how to get away from him I just remember almost doing a handstand right before bringing both knees together and with all of my weight behind them I brought them down into the front of his diaper with full force.

Oddly Lowell didn't cry out. He made a throaty grunt, rolled onto his side, curled into the fetal position and lied perfectly still with both hands lost inside the front of his diaper. His mouth hung open in a silent scream and his eyes were squinted tightly closed.

That had done it. I stood over Lowell's pain ridden body and realized I had managed to find the only way to end Lowell's little game... for the moment anyway. With zero emotions for how Lowell was feeling I went over picked up a towel, rapped it around my shoulders and went inside leaving him agonizing from a double knee blow to the groin.

I didn't see Lowell's mom in the house but I could hear her nails clicking away as she typed on her keyboard. I went straight to Lowell's room where I stayed until Lowell joined me.

When he found me I was sitting in the corner of his room wedged between the wall and the headboard of his crib. I was writing in my electronic journal and trying not to think about what had happened, not between us, but inside my diaper.

I had just recorded the following passage: "I wish I could explain�no I wish I could understand what happened today. I wish I had the brain power to figure out how things went from a joyous reunion between two friends to fists and pain and sexual feelings. Why does everyone that grows up think that everything in life as to be, at its core, sexual? I wish I could go back in time and stop the last year and a half from ever happening."

He stopped in the door way, leaned his right shoulder against the jam, crossed his arms over his chest and crossed his right leg in front of the other. His head slowly tilted to the side until it came into contact with the door frame.

I then noticed that he was wearing a different diaper now and wondered how he managed to get changed without he and his mother coming up to his room to do it. He was also cleaned up; no more grass or mud and his hair was dry and neatly combed with a ruler straight part on the right side.

Apparently reading my mind he said, "I washed up in the basement bathroom and Mom diapered me while she was on the phone in her office."

He lifted his head off the door frame, "I'm supposed to ask you if you need changed again too."

I looked down at my own diaper. Thanks to all that ice tea I was indeed in need of a fresh diaper.

"You left a trail from the back door all the way up the stairs." He said with a glance over his shoulder.

"I didn't want mommy to freak out and I didn't want you to get in trouble for tracking up the house."

I shouldn't have answered as fast or as forcefully as I did, but it came out before I knew I had thought it.

He looked away from me and allowed his gaze to fall on something outside his bedroom window. It appeared that he was about to say something when we both heard someone calling from downstairs.

Lowell nearly fell over backward trying to do an about-face from his semi-reclining position. Utilizing the doorjamb he had been leaning on he caught himself, spun and charged back down stairs while shouting, "Daddy's home! Daddy's Home!"

When I reached the bottom of the stairs I found Lowell wrapped around his father like an octopus.

Reverend Vandoan spotted me coming down the stairs and exclaimed loudly, "Oh no! Who let that wild animal in here?!"

To which I reacted by dropping my head and pouting. Yeah, I was only faking and he knew it `cause he whacked me upside the head with his Bible. He didn't do it hard or anything remotely violent but I played along and acted like I'd just been hit with a ball bat.

I did a full spin on the tiled floor, shook my head and said, "May I have another sir?"

Mrs. Vandoan stepped up to him, gave him a quick peck and said, "You're home early."

As I was rubbing my head from the Bible thumping, Lowell dropped off his daddy and I was pulled into an enormously welcoming hug.

I have absolutely no idea whatsoever why I started to cry. I buried my face in his neck and began to sob softly. He pulled my face away so that he could look me in the eye.

He kissed her once more and answered, "Starved! They neglected to tell me they were observing a fast."

Lowell leaned toward me, put a hand to his mouth and whispered, "He is always loosing his wallet."

"Why don't you boys head upstairs while and I'll let you know when dinner is ready." Mrs. Vandoan told us.

She grimaced, "Oh I am sorry. I forgot to tell you Simon. I talked to your mommy and daddy a little while ago. You are going to be sleeping over here tonight."

Her voice went high there at the end which set Lowell of like she had just lit his fuse. Wow you should have heard him chearing.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Bring it down a few octaves!" Reverend Vandoan said humorously while grabbing his son by the hair and pretending to lift him off the floor.

"Alright, you two head upstairs so the misses and I can make with the kissy-face." Reverend Vandoan said humorously.

"Daddy, Simon and I were in a car crash after church today." Lowell spouted out really fast the way he does when he gets too excited.

Mrs. Vandoan explained that it wasn't as bad as Lowell made it sound. She finished up with, "And that is how we ended up with an extra child for a day or two."

I don't know if Reverend Vandoan was trying to do a Tarzan impression or what when he said, "Ungowa! Up to your room! Ungowa!" but at any rate I got the message when Lowell took off running up the stairs leaving me standing there looking sheepish.

He was halfway up the steps waiting on me when I caught up to him. I grabbed the back of his diaper waistband and held on as he climbed hand and foot up-up-up.

We were carrying on all the way up and into his room with how happy we were to be allowed to sleep over. The other day I was told that under no circumstances was I allowed to be alone with Lowell but through unbelievable circumstances that rule had been thrown out the window.

In his room he turned to me, got right in my face so that our noses almost touched.

I cocked both eyebrows. "You kicked my butt? I do believe you were the one left lying on the grass moaning in pain."

I looked over Lowell's right shoulder to the door, smiled and said, "Oh hey Fyer."

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Lowell absolutely jumped out of his skin. He had leapt a good two feet in the air and spun around. He actually thought Fyer was really standing behind him.

Instead he grabbed the front of his chest. He pretended to pull his frantically beating heart from his chest and held it in his head.

I reached out, snatched the invisible beating organ from his hand and popped it into my mouth. With an exaggerated, "GULP!" I swallowed it down.

Once more Lowell leapt out of his skin only this time he crashed to the floor and looked like he was about to cry!

I lost it. I absolutely lost it. I fell back on the bed laughing my head off. I saw Lowell's dad standing there when I had taken Lowell's hearts and ate it but Lowell hadn't had a clue that he was behind him.

Of course that only made me laugh all the more, which earned me a missile bombing in the shape of a yellow stuffed ducky.

Lowell's dad changed him after he banished me from the bed. Lowell whimpered and moaned the whole time `cause he didn't like the fact that we conspired to scare the bajeebers out of him.

Once changed Lowell was sent downstairs so that the Reverend could have a word with me.

I expected the talk to be deep and profound but all he asked was how I was doing with my program.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling. I animatedly cleared my throat, tucked my chin and repeated in as deep a voice as I could make, "Really!"

That seemed to appease the Reverend. He hugged me and then pushed me backward on the bed. When I came back up he was walking out of the room.

I was left sitting alone on the bed, stunned by that observation. It wasn't until Lowell came bouncing back in that I snapped out of my daze.

"It's been like a year or something since you seen him. Why would you think he was here now?" I asked.

He must have been deep in his closet `cause he sounded like he was talking from inside a whiskey barrel.

"Uh... Duh! Why else do you think they keep sending me to a shrink! But that is not the point! Why was Fyer here?"

Lowell walked out of the closet wearing a lime green button up shirt with black shorts.

We decided it wasn't a good idea to keep talking about that subject right then. Instead we were content to play in his room for over an hour without any idea of the passage of time. It wasn't until his mom called us down for dinner that we realized how long we had been playing.

"Do you think after dinner that we can maybe watch another movie?" I asked while following him out of his room.

I had turned my back on Lowell and he sucker punched me in the kidney and I ain't talking about a fun and games tap, it really hurt.

I spun around, fist cocked back and ready to let fly. Lowell saw this sudden move on my part and he sincerely looked scared. And I'm here to tell you he should have been. It took every ounce of my will power to hold that punch back. I didn't have to say a word to him; he had got the message loud and clear.

It had been the first time ever that diapers had come up directly between the Reverend and I and to be honest it totally threw me for a loop.

In the presents of his father there was no way I could retaliate but I sure wanted too.

"No, that really hurt!" I whined back. I hadn't been expecting another hit and that one went right to the bone.

However his eyes were not on me at the moment. They were on Lowell and man I am glad he wasn't looking at me like that.

"I'm good too!" Lowell said however he knew that wasn't what he was getting the icy stare down for.

As Lowell was sitting down at the table the Reverend came up behind him, swatted him firmly on the diapered tush and said to him in a completely calm voice, "If I ever see you hit Simon or anyone for that mater whether serious or in jest you will be feeling my belt�again!"

Lowell had frozen with his hands firmly grasping the back of the chair. He turned his head but not his shoulders so that he was looking at his dad and looking like a wounded puppy.

His mother interjected with, "I think you should apologize to your friend for hitting him."

Just by the expression on his face I knew Lowell was having an internal struggle to try to keep from saying something that would get him into more trouble.

Lowell was about three full strides away from me. He turned all the way around, crossed back over to me, leaned over and gave me a kiss right on the spot where he had hit me.

"Alright you two. Sit your padded butts and let's say grace." The Reverend commanded.

I was asked to offer the blessing for the food, which I did. After which Lowell leaned over and said softly, "I really didn't mean to hit you that hard. Please don't be mad at me."

I finished the mouth full of chicken I had been chewing, swallowed and then said, "I wasn't mad and by the way, you have to sleep sometime tonight."

Lowell tried to hide his emotions but he wasn't really doing all that good of a job at it. He was remembering the time when we were on the Banachelli somewhere off the coast of Florida and headed for home when I had exacted revenge on Jonathan who was one of the other boys from our cabin room. Jonathan had pranked me and I didn't take it too well. I wish I could remember what it was he had done to me, but I do remember what I had done to him. While he slept I had snuck out of bed, found my way to the pantry of the ship, located a jar of glue I had seen Fyer use to mend a cracked cast-iron cooking pot. I returned to my sleeping bunkmates without ever having been missed. While everyone was in dreamland I lifted the waste band of Jonathan's diaper and emptied the contents of the jar. The next morning he found that the glue had oozed and spread to every crevice within his diaper and had leaked out as well. I hadn't planned or counted on the leaking but that just make the revenge all the more sweet. He had woken up to find that the glue had dried and he was efficiently attached to both his diaper and his sheets. The glue had even soaked through his bottom sheet so that he was glued to his mattress as well. We all left him lying in his bed and it was hours before we let Fyer, Cho and Sister Sarafina know he was glued to his bed. After successfully cutting him from his bed, Fyer made Jonathan soak in the biggest pot for several hours. I don't know what he was soaking in but whatever it was it dissolved the glue well enough that they were able to remove his diaper. Needless to say Jonathan never attempted to prank me again.

I never did do anything to Lowell that night but that doesn't mean I never will.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for your first visit to our church this morning." Reverend Vandoan said to me.

I didn't respond right away but sat there thinking `cause I honestly didn't want to say what I was thinking.

"What?" he finally asked when he realized I was having some sort of internal conversation.

The Reverend smiled at his wife before asking me, "Are you trying to say that you liked Elder Abernuckle's style of preaching over mine? `Cause if you are I..."

Before he could finish I was shaking my head. I looked at Lowell and then Mrs. Vandoan before I responded.

"Please don't tell him but that guy was really boring. You are way lots better than he was."

I was glad when Lowell jumped in with, "Daddy, nobody likes when Elder Abernuckle preaches! He always preaches about the same thing every time!"

"I promised not to say anything but even Simon's parents commented on how bad it was." Mrs. Vandoan said.

"Daddy you are never there so you don't see how everyone falls to sleep." Lowell said.

"We have a library of every service on CD or tape since the church was established." The Reverend said and then a light bulb went on for him. "Ah, that is a good idea Simon."

"Oh well yeah that is a good idea." Lowell said, "But you should drink lots of coffee first."

"The singing was good though." I glanced Lowell's way; he was grinning from ear to ear, "Oh and I liked that one lady who sang at the start." I paused only for a second before adding, "Lowell's song was ok too."

I chuckled and then amended my complement, "Nah, really Lowell's song was the best part of the whole service."

Lowell's mom looked over to me, "That was Hillarie Swan that sang at the start. Doesn't she sound like someone who could be a famous singer?"

"Well how about a subject change?" The Reverend asked, "What have you been up to since you came home?"

I was taking a bite of a buttered biscuit as I answered, "Robbing little old ladies mostly."

Lowell and Mrs. Vandoan thought it was funny but the Reverend? Oooooh boy! He got this really serious look.

The rest of dinner I shared bits and pieces of the past few days. I talked about seeing BJ, Mary and my brother again. Conveniently I left out all the negative stuff like the little spat between BJ and I, the odd happenings of this morning and about waking up the past couple mornings in a soaked bed and missing my diaper. Lowell and his parents also filled me in on some of the stuff they'd been up to since I left a year ago.

"We went to Paramount's Kings Island with BJ and his family for last years Halloween Fest. That was the best time." Lowell said.

When we were done eating Lowell and I were both given bottles and sent to the basement where we spent the better part of the evening watching DVD's from their vast library of DVD's, drinking milk and juice from baby-bottles and eating popcorn which his mother made us later in the evening. We watched two movies that evening. The first had been the newest Peter Pan movie, boy that was good; and the second one was a Disney movie called The Kid but we didn't get to see the end of that `cause we both fell asleep.

Lowell's parents woke us up, sort of. We were more like the walking dead as they guided our bodies up both flights of stairs and into Lowell's room. When we arrived Lowell laid himself on the floor, his mom stuck a bottle in his mouth and that was the end of him. I on the other hand started to wake up when Reverend Vandoan tried to put a bottle into my mouth. When I reached up and took it from him he began to change my diaper while his wife tended to Lowell's wet and messy diaper.

I remember thinking to myself, "How long had Lowell been all poopy? Gosh and he was just sitting in it like that."

As he was wiping me down after having removed my diaper he said something to his wife but I didn't hear what he said. She looked over and examined my diaper area. She even reached over and fondled my boyhood for a second or two before responding back to him.

I don't remember anything after that so I must have fallen back to sleep `cause the next thing I remember I was waking up lying next to Lowell in his big baby bed; the two of us were snuggled tightly together; our limbs wrapped around one another like ropes.

Want to know how work on the next chapter is coming? Want to know when it will be available? You can check the progress by reading my blog at talkhard.5u.com.