✅ The Baby Makers

31. Bedtime Stories

Phil asked Stacie if she wanted to be changed again, and she realised that she didn't mind. Her diaper was warm, but she thought it was only a little bit and it didn't feel bad. So she shook her head, and Phil helped her to put her clothes on again. She had clean clothes this time, almost like the ones she had chosen before but she thought the words were a little bit different. The squiggles looked like different shapes even if she didn't know what they meant.

"Can we play gameth now?" Cass was saying. She couldn't remember the names of many games, but she tried shouting out all the ones she could think of. She wanted board games and card games, but she seemed to get a little confused when Mama Nat asked her if she was old enough to play those.

"We can play house!" Stacie offered. "Or dolls. Or we can go out in the garden and play tag. Can we?"

"I think it's getting a little dark for playing outside now," Phil pointed out. "It's late now. You took a long time in the bath."

"Well... we could play with a torch!"

"You could. But I don't think it's good to get too excited when it's getting close to your bedtime. How about we go and watch cartoons, and then I can read you a bedtime story. Would you like that?"

Stacie nodded. She couldn't remember somebody reading a story to her before, but it sounded like it would be a wonderful thing. Everything that Phil suggested sounded wonderful, so she knew she would be happy to do whatever he wanted now.

"And how about you, young lady?"

Cass pouted and crossed her arms, making a big sad face with her mouth turned down at the corners. But Stacie could still hear her laughing, so she knew she wasn't really sad.

"Look!" she squealed. "She's petending! She laughed!" That made Cass giggle even more, and before long the laughter had overtaken both of them. Cass even fell down because she was laughing so much, but Nat helped her up again, and they carried on walking down the big hallway. Phil and Nat moved like shepherds, telling the girls which way to go and providing a hand to help them stand up when they needed to. Stacie only tried to go the wrong way once, which seemed even funnier than Cass pretending to be sad.

The next room they reached was a little lounge. It wasn't a huge place like the nursery, or like the bathroom. The sofa was big enough that both girls needed help to climb up onto it, and their feet didn't reach the floor, but there was still only space for two or three people. There were cushions up there as well, that felt like it would be easy to sink into them, and a couple of different cuddlies. Stacie found herself snuggling a little giraffe, and it was so soft and warm that once she had picked it up she didn't want to let go. Cass had one that might have been a turtle, and a couple of teddies sitting in her lap.

Phil and Nat sat on big chairs at the sides, where they could see the girls and the big TV at the same time. And just like they had said, there were cartoons to watch. The first one was about a dog trying to be a singer, and after that there was one about a clever deer trying to catch a cookie thief. He was really good at working out who the bad guy way, but Stacie laughed every time he got his antlers stuck trying to go through a door.

She didn't understand all of the story, and she didn't know why the monkey was the thief. But she still cheered and clapped her hands when a police car driven by a panda and a zebra drove him away. She pouted when Cass said that she'd understood all of the story, because that didn't seem fair.

"I would of understood it!" she fired back. "I just fell asleep for a little bit. I'm still clever."

"Yes, you are," Phil reassured her. "Such a good girl. You're just getting a little sleepy now because it's getting late. Now, how about I read you both a story, and we'll see who can understand it best. Okay?"

Stacie nodded, but she still tried to sit up. She thought that if she jumped about a bit, she would be able to wake up more. And then she could really prove that she was the big girl, and win at understanding this story. She started wiggling her hands, trying to stay awake, just to make sure she would stay up until the story had finished. She knew that was a little bit naughty, and she wanted Phil to tell her she was a good girl. But she also knew that this had been the best day ever, and she didn't want it to end.

"Wow, you're moving around a lot now. Are you trying to stay awake? I think that when you get littler, it'll be so easy to get absorbed in my story, and once you are comfortable you'll forget to move. When you're littler again, you'll find it very hard to keep your eyes open once you feel sleepy, and you'll drift off into a nice deep sleep as you listen to my soothing voice."

Stacie giggled and laughed, and shook her hands. She noticed that her diaper got warm again as she got littler, but that didn't matter. She was a good baby, too little to hold it now. Phil still smiled at her, and she thought that was almost as good as being told she was a good girl. He started telling a story about a sweet little ladybug who was going to get a gift for her sister. He waved with his hands, making waving wings when the little ladybug flew, and wrapping his fingers in a shape like a little house when he talked about the spider's house. It was super cute, and Stacie really wanted to know what happened next. She was loving the story, and she squeezed her new cuddly friend tighter as she waited to see what the present was going to be. She had so many ideas, and she needed to know the answer.

Five minutes later, Phil stretched out his arms, and started to stand. Cass was laughing a little, but the grown up put his finger to his lips and whispered a "Sssshhh!"

Stacie was already deeply asleep, one thumb resting contentedly in her mouth. The rest of her adventures would have to wait until the morning.