Cute as a Button

Pacified

The Other Mother had long since left Coraline to her thoughts. She had simply dressed the girl and gone. Coraline didn't let her guard down for a second. She took in her surroundings. Why had the Other Mother left her here? And what were her plans this time?

The key! Coraline grabbed her chest...and sighed with relief upon feeling the familiar lump of metal. She turned towards the window, both waiting for Cat and wondering what her chances of sneaking out were.

The second time would always be the more difficult of the two. The Other Mother wasn't about to let her go so easily.

And it was clear the entire place was baby proofed. The door, locked, the stairs, blocked with a baby gate. And Coraline could hardly sit up with this diaper around her waist, so just wandering away was clearly out of the question.

She tried to hoist herself over the bars of her crib, but her hands were encased in soft, pink mittens, making it impossible for her to grip anything. She fell back on her diaper, blushing as it screamed in protest. She HAD to get rid of this thing!

First things first.

The sound of wood against wood brought her attention back to the crib. What looked like a large, fluffy stuffed bunny was lowering the bars of the crib so Coraline could crawl out. The girl knew the door was locked, so she wasn't surprised about this small gesture of freedom. She eyed the rabbit cautiously. She had blue fur, a pink bonnet, a maid's uniform, and, of course, button eyes.

Coraline lowered herself carefully onto the floor, and almost sank in safety padding. There was a baby rug not far away, but she couldn't even take a step! The floor padding was eating her alive and walking was suddenly the worst chore ever. Not only was the diaper restricting her, but so were her new baby socks.

Finally, she resorted to crawling. Once she was on top of the rug, she really took in her room. The toys, like last time, were alive and ready to play. There were fairy tale paintings on the walls. Everything was colorful and decorated with buttons.

'What is it with her and buttons?' Coraline mused to herself, glancing around. The bunny had flopped motionless to the corner, like a large stuffed animal.

The telltale scrabble on the metal doorknob was enough to warn Coraline that her Other Mother was returning. She turned away from the door. She didn't want to face her right now.

"Well," the witchy woman smiled to herself. "Have we been exploring today? There's so much more for curious babies to explore outside." Coraline didn't say anything.

Chuckling, the Beldam knelt down next to her. "I'm sure you know...I know everything. There's nothing you can hide from me. Are you sure you ant to stay in your own little world, bored and neglected and mistreated...?"

Coraline whirled around. "You don't know anything! I won't stay here, and you can't make me-!" She was cut off by a white pacifier with a button on it. A suckle instinct she never knew she had came in to play, and she shook her head, trying fruitlessly to remove it. No such luck.

The Beldam giggled lightly. "You were the one who didn't want to speak," she teased. "My, you certainly ARE the fussy baby." She patted Coraline's head, and moved toward the nearby dresser. "How about Mommy does your hair?"

"You not my Momma!" Coraline lisped behind the pacifier, shock etching her features soon after. "What happened to my voice!?"

The Beldam smiled. What Coraline didn't know, was that her powers reached far beyond this little world in the closet. They spread all over the world of imagination, where children dumped their ideas and dreams in the closet, usually when they grew up. And that left a surplus of power for the Beldam. Power that could be used to make toys come to life, create houses and gardens out of nothing, and enchant pacifiers so that the user could only speak in baby talk.

Coraline fell onto her back with the effort. No matter how many times she tried to get her mouth to stop suckling, it just wouldn't do so. Frustration mounted inside her, and she wanted to scream.

The Beldam sat down next to her, and started doing Coraline's hair, which had gotten longer in the two years since their last encounter. Coraline fussed and tried to get away, but the pacifier emitted an oddly soothing sensation, causing her movements to become sluggish. Soon, she was passive and sweet and she felt oddly drunk. She let the Beldam do her hair.

The Other Mother giggled, not in evil, but in delight. She hoped having a baby would benefit her.

And Cat watched all this from the window.

He had to save her, but he couldn't do so. The Baby proofing had left him bedridden outside.

He knew someone else...