The Faire, Part 47
Part 47
Elena tugged Cassidy along, up the stairs and into what was almost certainly a guest bedroom. Either that, or Elena’s bedroom was perfectly clean and devoid of any character or personalization that most girls her age aimed for.
Similar to the way Elena had pulled out the costume boxes in the basement, she made short work of finding a couple plastic bins in the bedroom closet that stored a rather large collection of her old clothes. “Here,” Elena said, “This should fit you and hopefully cover your diapers.” She set the simple skirt aside and took another minute to find an equally plain tee. “That should do for a quick outing. Arms up, Cassie.”
It was just like trying on all the costumes in the basement. Rather than letting Cassidy do it herself, Elena dressed her despite how there was nothing remotely complicated about putting on the two outfit pieces. As badly as Cassidy wanted to insist that she didn’t need help, she knew better than to argue at this point. That, and she was still reeling from the fact that Elena had taped and pinned her back up into the dirty diapers. If the only way to rectify her ongoing underwear situation was getting fresh diapers, then Cassidy didn’t want to do anything that would delay them. Which meant allowing Elena to dress her and fuss over both the skirt and the top just like before.
At least Cassidy was allowed to wear her own shoes, although the footwear she chose for the Renaissance Faire was definitely more for comfort than fashion. Now that she was wearing a more immature outfit than she’d ever be caught in at college, it looked more like she was dressing like any younger girl would for a casual summer outing.
Elena told Cassidy to sit in the back seat, as she wasn’t tall enough to legally sit in the passenger seat. Cassidy was skeptical about that, considering she drove all the time, but it was hardly a fight worth having. The sooner they made it to the store, the better. The skirt Elena had picked out for her had initially been fine, as it managed to conceal the sag of the double diapers. That is, until Cassidy got into the car. The moment she sat down, the skirt rode up and no amount of adjusting would cover up the newly revealed padding. Of course, Elena had already seen plenty of the diapers, which Cassidy took a little solace in.
Also, while she didn’t love what Elena had picked out for her, Cassidy was at least wearing clothes again. Just twelve hours ago, Cassidy never would have thought that she would be finding a silver lining in something as basic as being dressed. In her day to day life, that was supposed to just be a given.
As they drove through the neighborhood and towards the main road, Elena informed her that they were going to have to go to the pharmacy. There would be more options there for a girl Cassidy’s age, as department stores mostly catered to babies. Though Elena didn’t outright say it, Cassidy still ended up blushing at the obvious implication. The reason they had to shop at a less catch-all place was because it was out of the ordinary for a girl like her to need diapers.
It was a short-ish drive to the nearest pharmacy. Elena turned on the radio to fill the silence after a minute or two, leaving Cassidy to shift here and there in discomfort from both the still full diapers as well as the thought of being in public in an area where there was a much greater chance of running into someone she knew. She briefly considered the concept of asking for help if she did happen to run into an old classmate or family friend. However, Elena could easily shut something like that down by flipping up Cassidy’s skirt and explaining things from her own perspective. As long as she was in used diapers, there was no winning. It also wasn’t worth the risk of word getting out, as how could the average person not gossip about that the moment they could?
Any hopes of getting to stay in the car were immediately dashed as soon as they were parked outside the store. “I’m your babysitter, Cassie,” Elena said, in response to Cassidy’s request, “If I don’t trust you in panties, I certainly don’t trust you not to run off the second I look the other way. Now, come on. Unless you don’t want a diaper change . . . ”
That got Cassidy moving. After coming this far, it would be terrible to trip at the finish line. Just a little bit longer, and she’d finally be in clean underwear. As embarrassing as it was for Elena to suggest that diapers were the only option, Cassidy would prefer just about anything to what she currently had on.
The second Cassidy stepped out of the car, Elena took her hand again and walked her towards the entrance to the pharmacy. As they entered through the sliding glass doors, Cassidy whipped her head left and right to see if her worries were about to become reality . . . So far, so good. No one familiar was immediately within sight. Elena seemed to know where she was going, or maybe just had good intuition, as it didn’t take long for her to find the aisle with a myriad of diaper options and related supplies.
After browsing for a couple minutes, Elena pulled a pack of diapers off one of the shelves, “How about these, Cassie? They’re extra absorbent like the ones you’re wearing, so you won’t have to worry about leaking when you have an accident.”
Cassidy frowned at the word ‘when,’ rather than, ‘if.’ Since they were still holding hands, she couldn’t stray very far. Quickly scanning what she could see for a better alternative, she reluctantly pointed to a pack of pull-ups near the end. “What about those?” she asked. She couldn’t believe she was negotiating for what kind of protective padding Elena should get for her, rather than explaining how she didn’t need such underwear in the first place.
Elena glanced left and right, then lowered her voice. “If you had an accident like that,” she replied, gesturing towards Cassidy’s diapers that were once again fully covered by the skirt, “Pull-ups wouldn’t be enough.” She was at least being courteous enough to not broadcast Cassidy’s situation to anyone within earshot. As usual, Elena was a confusing combination of helpful and insensitive depending on the circumstance.
“But . . . ” Cassidy blushed. She glanced between Elena and the diapers on the shelf. ‘I’m not going to have another accident like that,’ was on the tip of her tongue. Yet Elena would never believe that Cassidy’s diapers were so full because a mean teenager compelled her to squat down and use them. Really, there was no excuse for such a mess at her age.
“Yes, Cassie?” Elena asked. She placed a hand on her hip.
For once, she was giving Cassidy an opportunity to speak for herself. And yet, Cassidy couldn’t think of a single thing to say that would make Elena change her mind. Not when they were literally at the pharmacy because Cassidy needed diapers for a diaper change. “Nothing,” she mumbled.
“Okay, then.” Elena took a second pack of identical diapers off the shelf, to Cassidy’s surprise. “They’re on sale,” she said, “Might as well. I doubt you’ll be out of diapers any time soon.”