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It was the second day of my, Aubrey, Kel and Hero’s stay at Sunny’s house for the Columbus Day break.
Despite the fact that last night’s thunder scared me wide awake to the point of many tears (the joy of having severe astraphobia, everyone), Aubrey’s loving efforts did succeed in letting me fall asleep again, and I had subsequently slept until 9 a.m., which is a whole lot, but also quite logical after having cried out of terror to the point of immense fatigue.
Today, the rain still poured like crazy all day (but thankfully, the thunder was no longer present), just like the most recent weather forecast had predicted. Because of it, the five of us Omoris had a very hard time thinking of what we could possibly do this morning.
Once we were about to run out of logical and weather-accurate ideas, however, Sunny suddenly got one. Soon after he said so, though, he swiftly added that he wanted to surprise us with it, so that we had to stay out of the kitchen at some point, logically enough disappointing the rest of us big-time because our curiosity got so hyped up beforehand.
Sunny would start with his secret activity as soon as everyone had left the kitchen after we all put our dishes away after having had lunch, and as a matter of fact, that was perfectly timed, for soon after having finished helping Aubrey wash my own plate and sippy cup at the sink, I was frozen stiff in embarrassment because my diaper was not just very soaked after two and a half hours, but it had also just become quite dirty, the latter of which I noticed a short while before my bowels and rectum decided that they were done letting me defecate.
“What’s wrong, Base?” Aubrey asked, shortly after which she sniffed for a bit, which made her face scrunch up for a bit. “Aww, did you make a mess in your diaper, sweetheart?” She finished drying off my plate, put it into the drying rack, and pulled me into a hug to comfort me, slowly rubbing my back with plenty of physical pressure as she did.
In response to the hug I got, I suddenly burst out into sobbing. Getting comforted for having a dirty diaper would always make me feel very young and vulnerable, especially whenever I already found myself in my toddler headspace.
“It’s okay, sweet boy… it really is…” Aubrey kissed my forehead for a few times. “It’s a good thing we’re done washing your utensils anyway, too. Shall we go upstairs to get you changed so that you can play in the living room worry-free soon?”
“Otay, Mommy…” I brought out after idly sniffling for a few times.
And with that, the two of us went upstairs, where my mommy escorted me to the bathroom to wait there while she’d fetch a fresh diaper and the changing utilities, soon after which she successfully set up the changing spot and let me lay down onto it.
As soon as I successfully laid down on the well-known combination of the disposable chair pad and the miniature pillow underneath my head, Aubrey locked the bathroom door, popped my pacifier into my mouth, handed Mr. Plantegg to me, and ruffled my bangs for a bit.
Next up, she loosened my dungarees, took them off, and unsnapped and adjusted my onesie, from underneath the latter of which it was soon revealed that my very heavy diaper’s wetness indicators had somehow become completely invisible, that’s how much I had apparently urinated beforehand.
“Goodness…! That’s one well-used diaper, my sweet boy…! It’s a good thing you didn’t leak yet, isn’t it?”
I nodded with quite frantic head gestures. If there was one thing that I absolutely hated since having become incontinent, it was leaking through my diaper, especially when I wasn’t near a bathroom or similar spot where I could get changed as soon as possible.
Aubrey then started the change by undoing the tabs of my diaper.
“Whew…! Such a big mess you made for such a little boy…!”
I promptly blushed quite hard in response to that statement.
“It’s okay, though, sweetheart. We’re gonna get you nice and clean, aren’t we?” Aubrey gently caressed the underside of my exposed belly, removed the worst case of ‘damage’ from my behind with the front of my diaper, and subsequently removed the diaper from underneath me to wipe the rest of the ‘damage’ off of my genitals and behind with plenty of baby oil wipes.
The cleaner my privates became, the better I gradually started feeling. My sobs had eased in the meantime, and I was instead found sucking my pacifier and cuddling with Mr. Plantegg in a contented fashion.
Once my privates were all spotlessly clean again, they got lathered into a nice, cooling layer of zinc cream, and lastly, I was provided with a nice, fresh, soft and significantly comfier diaper.
“Aaand all done…!”
“Thank you, Mommy…” I shyly brought out with a matching smile.
“Anytime, sweetie pie.” My mommy balled my used diaper up, put it into the nearby bin, thoroughly washed her hands at the sink, snapped my onesie back up, and hoisted my dungarees back on. “Are you ready to go back downstairs?” She gently helped me get back onto my two feet.
“Yeah…”
“Alright. I’ll be there soon, too.” Aubrey hugged me, patted my back, kissed my right cheek, and then briefly unlocked the bathroom door to escort me out of there, soon after which I carefully treaded down the stairs.
Once I found myself on the ground floor’s hallway, I wanted to head towards the door that led to the living room, but soon got slightly startled by the fact that the door to the kitchen suddenly opened up.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry” Sunny said, “did I startle you, Base?”
“A widdle…” I lisped through my pacifier, “juth’ a vewy widdle bit…” I took Mr. Plantegg close in my grasp and looked at Sunny with guilty-ish baby-doll eyes.
“Aww, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” With a kind smile, Sunny petted my head for a bit as an additional apology. “I’ve got something to drink for you here. You know that for as long as you’re not permitted in the kitchen, you can always ask for a refill, or even for a snack, simply by knocking on one of the kitchen doors so that I can grab some for you from there, right?”
“Yeah. You tell uth dat befowe.”
“Great job remembering it, little buddy.” My best friend patted my shoulder and handed me my clear sippy cup with a colourful, almost rainbow-like flower pattern and a green spout, which was filled with orange juice. “There you go.”
“Thank you, Thunny.”
“Now, play nice in the living room, alright?”
“I will.” And with that, I headed towards the living room, where I saw that Hero was currently watching some nature documentary on TV, and Kel, who sat next to him on the sofa, looked to be very bored. “Hewwo.”
“Hi, Base” Hero said with a kind smile.
“Ah, hi…!” Kel greeted me as he got off of the sofa. “Did your diaper change go well just now?”
I nodded with a sweet smile.
“Would you like me to play with you?”
“Weawy?” My eyes lit up upon hearing Kel’s request. “You wanna dat?”
“Yeah, really…! Shall we pick a toy together?”
“Otay…!”
And with that, my sporty friend and I had a seat on the floor, just near Sunny’s old toys that the latter had brought downstairs from the attic earlier today.
There was a plastic box full of building blocks, another one that contained a marble run kit and a bag of marbles for the final result, a rainbow-coloured mini xylophone, a toy piano, and a small stack of children’s books.
I placed my sippy cup on the floor a few inches away from me, took Mr. Plantegg close in my grasp again, and somewhat frantically sucked my pacifier as I let my eyes browse the toys individually. What would I possibly want to play with? Decisions, decisions…
‘Eeny-meeny-miny-moe’ I thought to myself, ‘grab a Sprout Mole by its toe, if it hollers, let it go…’
Eventually, I pointed at the box of blocks.
“Good choice” Kel said with an eager smile as he grabbed the box of blocks. “Avalaaaaanche!” He subsequently ‘released’ all of the blocks straight from their box into the corner of the living room just near the sliding door that led to the backyard, so that a chance of Hero potentially getting hurt by falling blocks if a block creation was accidentally tipped over was very slim.
I couldn’t help but giggle heartily at Kel’s energetic enthusiasm.
“Sorry, Hero, if I accidentally disturbed a very interesting part of whatever you’re watching…!”
“It’s okay, Kel” Hero simply chuckled. “It was not exactly a good part either with those infected zombie ants.”
“And you’re sure this isn’t some documentary about Hollow Knight behind the screens or something?”
“No, hahaha…!”
“Wha’ we gonna build, Kel?” I asked as I gathered some blocks for myself.
“Shall we build one of the biggest and highest castles ever? One for Prince Plantegg?”
“Yeah…! Pwinthe Pwantegg…!” I eagerly giggled and clapped my hands before starting with the base of the upcoming block creation.
Just as Kel and I had almost finished the base of the castle, Aubrey also came into the living room, placed her half-empty glass of sparkling water onto one of the smaller coffee tables, and had a seat on the floor just near me.
“Hi, Mommy…!”
“Hi, sweet boy” Aubrey greeted me back with a kind smile as she hugged me. “Are you and Kel building something for Mr. Plantegg?”
“No, Pwinthe Pwantegg…! Ith a cathtle…!”
“Prince Plantegg, huh?”
“That’s right” Kel chuckled. “I just declared him the prince of the castle we’re going to build. Would you like to help?”
“Of course. Oh, and do make sure to leave some room for a door formation.” Aubrey pointed at the base that was almost done. “…because how else is anyone going to enter or exit?”
“Oh yeah, good one…! A castle is kind of boring with just a prince who can’t receive his guests, right?”
I nodded and softly giggled in agreement. This was going to be so much fun…!
Time subsequently flew by like the wind, and before Aubrey, Kel and I knew it, we were almost done building the block castle for Mr. Plantegg, its prince.
The TV was currently playing commercials, and Hero stood at the door that led to the kitchen to wait for a drink for himself.
“There you are” I eventually heard Sunny say.
“Thanks” Hero said, after which he sat back on the sofa and had a sip of his glass of water.
My nose soon picked up a sweet and even somewhat warm smell, in response to which I slightly frowned in incomprehension while sniffing the air in order to identify what it could be. It smelled familiar, and yet… quite different, too.
“What’s wrong, Base?” Kel asked. “Do you have another dirty diaper?”
I shook my head, shortly after which I took my pacifier out in an attempt to be able to comprehend the sudden smell better.
“You smell dat, too?” I asked.
“What would I have to smell?” Soon after Kel spoke, he, too, sniffed for a bit. “Ooh, I think I know what you mean. It smells pretty good, if I may be honest.”
Aubrey was the next one to sniff.
“It indeed does…!” she said. “It smells… yummy? Like sweet treats fresh from the bakery, I reckon?”
“Sweet treats, you say?” Hero said as he sniffed as well. “You might be right…!” He then inhaled slowly and deeply in order to take the mysterious smell in better. “Oh my goodness, I know this smell like over half a decade ago…!”
“You do?” Kel asked. “How? Can you describe it?”
“Ooh, that’s quite difficult…” Kel’s older brother somewhat frowned while he thought deeply. “All I can say that it’s indeed something in the way of sweet treats… but what, who, and how?”
I then inhaled deeply as well. Sweet treats… I could sense… something in the way of biscuits? Freshly baked shortbread? No, that couldn’t be it…
Just as I turned back to the block castle to think of a good way to finish its door’s height, I heard how the kitchen door opened up.
“You guys” Sunny announced, “you may enter the kitchen again. My time to keep secrets is hereby officially over.”
“Ooh, finally!” Kel said as he swiftly turned around to get up without accidentally tipping the block castle over.
Aubrey helped me get up and handed my sippy cup back to me before grabbing her own glass and heading towards the kitchen with me. while Hero turned the TV off beforehand.
Soon, all five of us sat at the kitchen island again, where Sunny first gave the rest of us and himself a refill of our drinks.
In the kitchen itself, Aubrey, Hero, Kel and I could also sense the smell from before better.
“May we take a guess what you did, Sunny?” Aubrey chuckled. “We could smell it all the way in the living room already…!”
“Did you bake something?” Kel asked without having awaited an answer from Sunny first. “Come on, it must be that! We discussed smelling sweet treats back in the living room!”
“Correct and correct” Sunny chuckled. “But what sweet treat did I bake?” He grabbed a large plate from one of the top cupboards and a spatula from one of the drawers.
“Ugh, I don’t know…!”
“Biccies?” I asked. “I think dat jus’ now.”
“I thought of cake or something” Hero said.
The black-haired teenager simply chuckled mysteriously in the meantime while he used the spatula to carefully put the oven’s contents onto the plate one by one.
“I think you’re likely right, Basil, with your answer of biscuits. Cake isn’t usually baked in slices, for as far as I’m concerned…!” Hero couldn’t help but chuckle while he got up for a bit to pat my shoulder.
“But wha’ biccies?”
“I don’t know…!”
Once Sunny was done filling the plate up, he carefully pushed the rack back into the oven with an oven mitt, left its door open just a crack, and then turned around with an eager smile to reveal the contents of the plate he was holding.
“Chocolate chip biscuits!” Kel eagerly shouted upon seeing the plate’s contents.
“Not just chocolate chip biscuits” Sunny chuckled as he carefully put the plate down onto the kitchen island. “There’s only one way to find out why and how. Be careful, though, since they’re still fairly hot.” He grabbed one biscuit from the top of the stack, carefully split it into two halves, gently blew some steam off of one of them, and ate it. “But they’re beyond good, I promise.”
Hero also grabbed a biscuit, blew on it, and took a very careful bite, soon after which his eyes widened significantly, as if he was surprised.
“Whoa, Sunny…!” he said, a while after which he swallowed his mouthful. “Any chance this is Mari’s recipe? Because…” He couldn’t help but tear up and sob a little. “…oh my goodness, I feel so nostalgic right now…!”
Kel immediately put an arm around his older brother’s body and pulled him close for a hug in an attempt to comfort him.
“I’m terribly sorry… I…” Hero returned his younger brother’s hug and rubbed the latter’s back. “I just got hit by a gigantic wave of missing Mari just now, even bigger than the ones I got hit by for the past months…! I never thought I’d ever taste chocolate chip biscuits according to her recipe again…!”
“Hero, it’s okay” Sunny said as he walked up to Hero to place a hand onto his left shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better, neither had I ever thought that in the more recent past. When I happened to find Mari’s secret biscuit recipe in one of Mom’s ring binder ‘cookbooks’ shortly after having moved and settled here, I never even had the courage to try baking it, because it just made me miss my dear sister so much just looking at it…!” His eyes also teared up a little, and his voice sounded more emotional as well. “…until three months later, I told my therapist about it, and she encouraged me to go for it… and so I did. Ever since, I’ve been working very, very hard on perfecting the utmost perfect and accurate replica of Mari’s biscuit recipe… for dozens of months on end, with a baking spree taking place every month.” He briefly wiped his tears on his sleeve. “And trust me, once I did discover the utmost perfect and accurate replica of the biscuits with the help of notes I made after every time I baked a batch of them, I had also been quite surprised to the point where I became emotional and overwhelmed with nostalgia… and this had only been last spring, go figure…”
“Hewo an’ Sunny otay…?” I asked as I got off of my seat to hug both of my friends, as well as Kel, who wasn’t in tears (yet).
“Aww, Base, you little sweetheart…!” My best friend rubbed my back with plenty of physical pressure to reassure me. “Despite the fact that I’m crying, I really am okay, I promise.”
“Me too” Hero said. “It’s not that I didn’t like the biscuit or anything. In fact, I love how perfectly sweet and soft it is…! Just the way Mari always made and served them…!”
“Don’t count me out of the hug force…!” Aubrey said as she also got up and swiftly did the best of her best to drape both of her arms around all of us as well.
All five of us missed Mari a whole lot after having lost her in the most painful way possible over 6 years ago. Losing and missing a loved one was never fun, as well as something that one would never, ever forget about, even if such a memory would merely find itself in the background of someone’s mind for any possible amount of time.
After having hugged it out for a while, we all sat back at our respective spots at the kitchen island, giving me, Aubrey and Kel a chance to try one of Sunny’s replica biscuits as well.
Kel was the very next one to have tried a biscuit, and his eyes also widened for quite a bit in response to it.
“Oh my goodness!” he said. “This is the utmost perfect replica of Mari’s biscuit recipe!” He stuffed the rest of his biscuit into his mouth and hummed in approval. “You did a great job at thith, Thunny!” He then rubbed the palms of his hands somewhat frantically to process what he currently felt and thought, his eyes being slightly teary because of it as well. “Whoa…!”
“Would you like to try one too, Base?” Aubrey asked as she took a biscuit from the plate and held it out towards me.
“Hawf a biccy, pwease…” I said with an obvious nervous tone in my voice. In the back of my mind, I already felt where this could be going.
“Aw, sweetheart… will it make you feel better if I’ll try half of it, too?”
“Maybe…”
“Alright.” My mommy broke the biscuit in two halves, handed the smaller one to me, and ruffled my bangs. “There you go.”
“Thank you, Mommy…” I took a deep breath, indirectly allowing myself to blow some steam off of my piece of biscuit before taking a safe bite of it.
My eyes, too, widened upon sensing all of the familiarities in only one (part of a) baked good. The soft, somewhat gooey inside hidden inside of the semi-hard exterior - which were a perfect combination of textures when combined -, the soft dark and milk chocolate chips… it was indeed as if Mari had baked them again for the first time in years, rather than Sunny just now…!
I then felt tears in the corners of my eyes in response to all of the familiarity I thought I’d never sense again, but did not let them flow until I had eaten the entire half of the biscuit.
Sunny came towards me in response to my tears and pulled me into a big hug with plenty of physical pressure, rubbing my back the same way again.
“Is a good biccy, Sunny…” I sobbed. “Is jus’…” I briefly stopped to let out some aimless sobs. “I miss Mawi a whole wot…! I thought I nevah eat hah biccies again…!” Another wave of sobs that emerged from me swiftly turned into louder ones. I wanted to say so much more, but all I could do was cry and wail like the baby that I truly am.
“Oh, sweet little boy…” Sunny said. “It’s okay if you have to cry. Let it all out. Words don’t have to describe how much you miss Mari. I, too, miss her a lot. Beyond words. All day, every day. Even if I don’t think of her every now and then.”
I tightly hugged my best friend back and allowed my cries and tears to roam freely into his chest.
Mari was such a sweet big sister of Sunny’s, and honestly, it was almost like she was my, Aubrey and Kel’s big sister, too. She was very good at listening and giving advice, and even gave very loving hugs when one of us cried.
Additionally, I now understood all too well why Hero also cried in response to the biscuit he had the other minute. Mari was his girlfriend, as well as his one true love. The two barely, if ever, bickered, and to anyone - familiar to us or not - who was present near them, it was obvious that they had a very good chemistry with one another, which could be described without words just as much as how much the rest of us Omoris would always miss her after losing her in such a painful way.
Though I missed Mari a whole lot, I did cherish even the littlest memories that I made with her and the other Omoris.
Once my loud cries had eased back into soft sobs, Sunny let me blow my nose into a paper tissue and have some sips of apple juice from my sippy cup, which calmed me back down a little.
“Thank you, Sunny…” I quietly brought out after having drank. “You my best fwiend…”
“Aww, you’re my best friend, too. Would you like to have a forehead kiss?”
“Yes, pwease…”
Sunny then pressed a gentle kiss onto my forehead, rubbed my left shoulder, and gently took my pacifier out of the grasp of my right hand to pop it into my mouth.
“Once you feel better, you may have as many biscuits as you wish, I promise.”
“Otay…”
“They’re beyond amazing, by the way, Sunny” Aubrey said, also having tears in her eyes now despite the fact that she tried very hard to smile kindly rather than sadly. “Thank you for baking them and having perfected them so well, too.”
“No problem, Aubs.” Sunny gently pulled Aubrey into a hug as well, in which I swiftly joined because I felt bad for the fact that she cried as well.
“Aww, Base, you’re way too sweet…”
“I wove you too, Mama…”
“I think all of us feel the same way, vividly having relived a pleasant memory that we never thought would ever resurface again. You should definitely bake those yummy biscuits for us more frequently when we come to stay at your home, Sunny.”
“Yeah…”
“That’s a very sweet offer of you guys.” Sunny readjusted his right arm so that he could rub my back again. “But having experienced your reactions to it just now, I might want to have to think about it for a bit first, is that okay?”
“Of course. I know our reactions were probably quite intense to you, so…”
“Aubrey, it’s okay. All of us have to process it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We should take all of the time we need to do so.”
“That’s absolutely true.”
After some more seconds of hugging in peaceful silence, Sunny let go of me and my mommy, and patted the shoulders of the both of us.
“Would you like to take a break, sweet boy? Shall I assign Prince Plantegg the royal duty of comforting you? I can sense that you definitely need it right now.”
I quietly nodded, in response to which Aubrey picked me up into her arms, from where I noticed that my diaper had become quite wet due to all of the emotions I felt the other minute, but not wet enough for a change yet.
The two of us soon found ourselves in the living room again, where I got settled onto the sofa where Hero previously sat to watch TV and was given a throw blanket so that I could unwind.
Afterwards, Aubrey had gone to the kitchen once more to fetch our respective drinks, which she placed onto the nearby coffee table, and like she promised, she had also fetched Mr. Plantegg from his still nearly finished block castle so that I could cuddle with him, after which she settled herself onto the sofa as well, made sure part of the throw blanket also found itself over herself, and took me into her gentle grasp, from where she slowly rubbed my back, just the way I liked it.
I couldn’t help but close my suddenly heavy-feeling eyes in order to take everything in that I currently felt and had. Aubrey’s loving grasp, her soothing back rubs, the soft throw blanket, Mr. Plantegg’s soft surface against my right cheek and the palms of my hands, and the fact that I slowly but contentedly sucked my favourite pacifier. I definitely needed all of this after feeling such unexpected intense emotions the other minute, which, in turn, suddenly made me feel so little and vulnerable, too…
“Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur…” Aubrey then gently sang to me. “Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr…”
My mommy’s gentle singing voice promptly made me relax a little more and even smile. Her singing to me always made everything better, no matter how I felt, and no matter what song it regarded.
Aubrey repeated the same nursery rhyme once more, a few seconds after which she planted a few small and gentle kisses onto my forehead.
“I love you so much, my sweet little baby boy… you know that, right…?”
I quietly nodded, still smiling from behind my pacifier as I did.
“I’ll always love you, no matter what the situation calls for, no matter how either of us feels, no matter where we find ourselves… no matter any given condition.” Aubrey gently kissed my forehead once more.
After a few more minutes of getting my back rubbed and being very relaxed overall, I eventually fell into a brief but somehow much-needed slumber. Nothing would ever beat falling asleep for a nap with such heavenly sensory stimulations.