*Tap tap tap*
Scootaloo stared blankly at her colour coated princess page- bored. It was exciting at first, so many possibilities, so many colours and colour combinations. But with every line filled to the brim with a shade of pink, hue of purple, or a dab of blue, there was nothing left to colour. Cinderella had been properly discoloured and she was beautiful… but there was nothing left to do.
Curiously, she lifted the black marker and uncapped it. A rush of insurgency took over her skin as she gazed longingly over the black-tipped marking apparatus; it was permanent ink. “You’re not Cinderella…” She said, glazing over the pre-printed name of the princess. “No, you’re C-A-D-A-N-C-E.” she spelt out to herself, marking over the letters into the paper on the header of the drawing.
Smiling a tad pridefully at her work, she glanced away from the paper and stumbled upon another surface free from blemishes or markings- her knee. Being that there was nothing to cover her leg yet, aside from whatever meager coverage her onesie gave her, she reached down with her marker and spelt the phrase, “Diaper butt.” On her knee.
“Scootaloo!” A voice came from far away, “I’ve got your bloomers sawn! Come look!”
Hopping to her feet, the child ditched the entire crayon and book setup she had and stumbled her way up the stairs and over to her aunty’s cot. “Ooh, ooh, how do they look?” she questioned, grabbing a hold of the door way before charging in.
“Welp…” Fluttershy smiled, holding up a pair of plain white ruffled panties in her fingers. She stretched the elastic of the equally as ruffled leg holes and let them snap back in place, “They look like they’re ready to cover up a little one’s tukis.” She geered, snickering a little.
Blushing a little, the child toddled over to her new underwear alighted, in fact she’d never been so happy to see new underwear. “Oh, wow! They’re so- so- so cute!” She exclaimed, squeezing on the side a bit.
The aunt smiled as she looked down at her niece’s figure. Noticing the upside-down phrase, she giggled, “Hehe, They’ll cover up your diapered butt nicely.”
“Oh geez.” Scootaloo squirmed a bit, lapsing in memory as she looked down at her leg, “I forgot about that.” A tad dejected, she tossed the bloomers aside on the table.
Smugly, Fluttershy laid back in her chair and commented, “You knoooow, when you were a real toddler, I would’ve spanked you for touching one of your aunt’s permanent markers. Buuuut, because you’re older and should know better than to write on yourself with ink, aunty Fluttershy has a different punishment in mind for you.”
The child’s eyes perked up a bit, bewildered by the word ‘punishment’. She’d forgotten the last time she’d been ‘punished’ by her actual mom- at least explicitly. “What do you mean? A-are you gonna ground me or something?” She asked, trailing her hand up and down her opposite arm.
“No no…” Fluttershy said, picking up one of her own black fabric pens from the table stand. She scoped it for a brief second before offering it to her niece, “Take this pen and write, “I’m a diaper butt” on your right hand.”
“What?” Scootaloo scoffed in an amourous way, “But I’m notta diaper butt!”
“Hehe. Go on, or else your little pizza dinner is gonna turn into mashed peas and potatos reeeal fast.” The aunt coursed her niece, gently brushing her hand through her hair.
Rolling her eyes, Scootaloo complied. “Ugh… alright.” She said, uncapping the black marker. She gripped onto the nearby work bench and ran the pen strokes up and down her tiny hand. “I-M A D-I-A-P-E-R B-U-T-T” in big capital letters.
The girl looked up with a bemused expression on her face, “Happy?”
“Hehe, a little.” Fluttershy answered, quietly snatching the marker out of her niece’s hands. “I wonder what the pizza place will think of it?” she said, rolling the pen back onto the table’s wooden surface.
Scootaloo’s eyes kept tracking the pen until her aunt’s words caught up to her. Her eyes open wide and she frowned, “Wait- what do you mean? I don’t wanna go inside with this on my hand. It’s just gonna make things super awkward.”
“Hehe… is it now?” Fluttershy said,walking past Scootaloo with a little superior swagger in her step, “Cause somebody thought it was appropriate enough to write on their thigh- so why not their hand?”
“Cause, nobody is gonna see my thigh.” The child answered in a ‘matter of fact’ delivery.
Fluttershy nodded a little bit, then patted the girl on her head. “I’d spank you, but you’re not wrong. But that’s not a particularly ‘big girl’ answer for you to give.” She said, setting her hands on her hips, “So you’re not eating at the big girl table tonight.”
Scootaloo stopped for a moment, quizzically gazing up at her aunt. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve got a big medical grade highchair that’s just the right size for a girl like you to sit in. I hope you like moon-scenery.” The aunt giggled, walking over to the bed. Reaching her arm down, she bounced her purse around her should. “Oh-“ She said, glancing down at her brown-leather tote.
“Wait-what? You have a highchair?” Scootaloo exclaimed, trying desperately to contain an amorous smile behind a mask of confusion.
“Yeah…” Fluttershy said, carefully resting her bag back on the bed. Reaching inside, she started cherry picking some of the more valuable objects; her cellphone, wallet, checkbook, I.D, tampons. “I got it free from the family who’s child I was taking care of. Here, follow me to the other room while I grab your diaper bag.” She said, picking up the various things in a bundle in her hands.
Unfamiliar with the gainy bulk that separated the inside of her thighs from touching each other she ungracefully waddled forward, setting her sights on Fluttershy’s perky behind as she followed it. “Wait, you were taking care of a child as big as me?”
Fluttershy made it to the nursery and cracked open the door slightly, then made a full stride forward. “Yeah I did. There was a pretty rich French couple who had to go back to Lyon for some business emergency. For the two years they’d moved here, I’d been their family Doctor…”
Scootaloo nodded, quietly listening to the story as her aunt ventured over to the closet. Contently, she sat her cushioned behind on the soft white carpet below her and gawked her head up- she was tired of standing.
“Well.” Fluttershy swallowed, pulling out a pinkish-neapolitan ice-cream coloured cotton bag from the shelf. She pulled one of the stocked diaper bags from the closet and examined its size and style, “The kid- uh- Renne was an eleven year old boy with Angleman Syndrome. I tried to take care of him for as long as I could but- well he had a neurological failure of some sort.” She said, stuffing the diaper pack into the bag abruptly.
“Oh… I-I’m sorry.” The child frowned, rubbing a hand up and down her thigh.
Fluttershy gave a sympathetic grin, taking a quick glance over at the girl. “Oh, you don’t have to be baby. That was quite some time ago. It’s uh- part of the reason I quit my clinic. Ever since then I just take house calls and occasionally write text-books about different medical stuff- fun I know.”
“Oooh.” Scootaloo said, looking down at the carpet as she curiously bit her lip. “Wait-“ she craned her neck back up again, “Why do you keep all this baby stuff around here then?”
Smiling a little more fully, the mother teased. “Hehe, cause silly. I do care taking work still- I mean mostly babies, but still. Of course, with you around that option is out the window. It’d be awkward explaining to a three year old why my fourteen year old relative is dressing younger than she is. Let alone preteen or something”
“Hehe, it’s cause I’mma baby!” Scootaloo giggled, laying on her back. Sticking her thumb in her mouth more fully, she stared idly up at the white-speckled ceiling with a harmonious blush spread across her face.
“You’re not wrong there Scootaloo. I still haven’t-you know…” The women said, pivoting her hands around her head like it were miming a forcefield, “gotten my head around your whole affinity with being babied. But I’m sure I’ll come to enjoy it. It’s nice having an intelligent girl to talk to with no secrets.”
Scootaloo opened her eyes wide, looking up at her aunt as her profile began occupying the center part of her peripherals. “Hehe, what if I wanna keep a secret? Or better yet- what if I decide I don’t wanna be a baby after all.” She smirked.
“Well…” Fluttershy smiled, getting on her knees with the newly stocked diaper bag and a skirt on hand. “That’s all very good and well, but something tells me you’re pretty serious about this whole thing. I guess I’ll know for sure when I have to change your first poopy diaper.” The women said, tapping the girl’s leg, “Now come on lovey, raise your tushie in the air.”
Sticking her tongue out, the girl raised her padded but in the air very slightly.
“Good girl.” Fluttershy cooed, running the elastic of the pink-pleated skirt up and over the girl’s thighs. “You know, you’re the best baby I could ask for?”
“Hehe.” Scootaloo rolled forward on her padded tushie and panned her head up at her aunt with a big goofy smile, “Really?”
“Yeah.You’re the best little girl I’ve ever had. Hehe. Of course I usually end up babysitting boys.” Fluttershy said, slipping the child’s feet into a pair of flimsy pink flip-flops.
Scootaloo clutched her knees together and leaned her chin on them, “Oooh, that explains all this boy stuff. Not that I’m complaining, buuuuut I wouldn’t mind a non-race car bed.”
Gripping the diaper bag’s strap in her hand, the women stood up and grinned. “Hehe, well I’m sure we could arrange for you to get a more feminine nursery- err room.” She said, draping the thing around her shoulder again, “We can check when we get back, but I think you might fit in that cot. And if not- well I guess you can doze off with me tonight.”
Standing up on her own, the child waddled after her god-mother in an even more interpret way. “Ooh- oh wow these flipflops don’t make this outfit any easier.” Stopping for just a second, the child stumbled over to Fluttershy at an even more erratic pace, “Wait- can I really sleep with you? Cause I low-key don’t like that car-bed as much as I was letting on.”
Grabbing the girl’s hand, the motherly women smiled, “Well, you certainly would have fooled me. You were out like a light.”
Carefully, the child took small paced out steps down the stairwell.
Fluttershy continued to pace down the stairs with her niece, making sure that she didn’t stumble too gravely or take a tumble. “Hehe, this is what I get for having a two-story. As if the stairs weren’t inconvenient enough at night by myself.”
“Hehe. Yeah.” The child agreed, doing a small hop onto the base floor. She squatted for just a second then stood up on her shaky legs.
“You alright there Scoots?” The aunt questioned, curiously clutching onto the girl’s tiny palm a little tighter in a show of security.
The child grimaced a little as she continued to stand. “Man, I swear my legs around getting weaker or something. Was there something in that sandwich you gave me?”
Fluttershy burst out in a short humorous scoff. “Heh! No. You’re probably just nervous, or it could be the diaper, or both.” She commented, taking some slower paces towards the door, “I’m sure the car ride will help relax you though. I think the baby-car seat I have in there is a bit too small for you. But, I do have a pretty cozy blanky and baby CD if you wanna listen to that.”
Scootaloo gushed a bit, “R-really?! I mean, sure- I-I’d like that.” She admitted as her aunt opened the big crackly wooden front door.
“I thought so. Babies need plenty of rest after all.” Fluttershy teased, stepping her way down the asphalt stairs and onto the dirt-path that lead to her parking spot.
Scootaloo listened patiently as every step of her mother’s tennis shoes and her own flip-flops rang out with a loud cacophony of crackling granite rocks. It was still light enough that she could see the rocks pop up from around her feet and the blades of grass dry out in the fleeting golden sun.
“Easy baby.” The aunt said, escorting the child right up to the open silver car door. Offering a hand, she watched as the child climbed inside and sat.
Leaning back, the child rested her admittedly well rested head on the interior of the Tesla. Her back formed well into the gray leather exterior and the backseat propped her legs up just enough that her feet were left dangling in the air.
From the back of her peripherals, her mother immerged with a white rainbow-confetti coloured throw blanket. “I know it’s not much, but with as toasty as it is outside. I think it’s probably all you need, even with the A.C” she head, as she took the blanket from her mother and tossed it lightly over her lap and clutched the rest of it tightly against her chest.
Fluttershy shut the door gently than moved on to the front seat where she took charge of the vehicle. Turning the key in the ignition, she reached into her glove box and pulled out a rather brightly coloured jewel case that simply read, “Acoustic Masterpieces”.
Quietly, the child smiled leaning her back against the car seat. Lazing her body to the side, she rested the temple of her head against the railing of the car window, taking a piece outside. She couldn’t help but gaze upwards at the sky.
Pulling the car in reverse, Fluttershy pulled out into the city street and started heading down the road. Being slightly after rush-hour, the road was just one vacant stretch of decayed asphalt with the occasional pit of moss or crab grass peeking into the air.
“Fluttershy?” The women heard from behind.
Looking into the rear-view mirror, the aunt took a quick peak at her little one. Scootaloo, who was still glancing out of the window, had eyes absolutely elated; like they’d been sprinkled by fairy dust.
Scootaloo blinked, glancing all around at the overgrown forest and then down at the caste-iron siderail for which it overtook. “Don’t you love the way plants and stuff grow? It’s so unkempt- so natural- so wild. Like no matter what the circumstances, the plant just melts over everything it surrounds- kinda like cheese on a cheese sandwhich.”
“Psst.” The aunt snickered at her child’s remark. “Hehe, that’s one way of looking at it. But I know what you mean. Uh- it’s part of the reason that my first priority when I got my house back in 11’ was to grow a garden.” The women smiled, glancing back at the road as she pulled onto the interstate.
“Hmm, I don’t think I’ve really taken a look at it yet. Hehe, I guess I really haven’t been paying attention to outside lately.” The child said, closing her eyes as she shifted back into her seat. Uncomfortably, manually pushed herself back with her hands, trying to get around the clingy fixation of her diaper to the seat; like trying to adjust a bed sheet while laying on it.
Looking back at the girl in her rear-view mirror, she grinned. “I know, it’s easy to miss with as dense as the forest is it’s practically impossible to grow veggies. I do have a couple of things back there for you if you’re ever interested- uh, like a sandbox and swing set.”
Scootaloo bit her thumb a bit, looking out wondrously at the window as her mind stirred with drowsy images of her aunt’s garden. Thoughts of running through unkempt grass with her bare feet. The warm sun beaming down on her back, staring down at all the pretty arrays of green weeds and pastel flowers as she sank her diapered butt into a mud pit. “Y-yeah. Maybe.” She said, fawning attention.
The women waited for a second then sprung the question, “If you want, I could take you out for a walk in the forest tomorrow morning? Would my favorite baby like that?
There was no response.
“Scootaloo?” The women questioned, peaking her eyes up at her mirror again just long enough to get a sense of what was going on. To her delight, Scootaloo was clearly spaced out, staring out of her window with her thumb half planted in her mouth.
Continuing to seemingly stair awestruck at the plentiful green pastures of the forest floor, Scootaloo couldn’t help but glance at the reflection broadcasted in the hollow curvature of the backseat window. There she was, a girl who she’d long since seen- staring her back at her crystal like magenta eyes, with her thumb stuck in her mouth, so unfamiliar with what she was seeing.
Smiling, Scootaloo tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy and began making silly expressions to herself. Completely oblivious to her real surroundings.
Curiously, the women tapped the steering wheel with her index finger, amazing her niece’s zen like state. She figured it was time to get the girl a pacifier, but it was almost like she preferred her thumb. Staring up at the road, the women switched on her turn signal and split for the highway.