✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

77. My Last Day

Author's Note: I can't remember if I previously mentioned that Tess was leaving in the morning or evening, and if it's there I can't find it. If you remember that part, please let me know. Hopefully I won't have to change it.

I woke up and stared at the ceiling, knowing that it was the last time there would be a baby in the house for a while. That was slightly sad, but then I heard movement in the room downstairs and I realised that the day had already started. I carefully lifted Ffrances's arm and slipped out from under the covers. I padded through into my little office before getting dressed, not wanting to wake her any earlier than I had to. I didn't bother with a fancy outfit today; just a tasteless sweater and old jeans. I took a moment to smile at my girlfriend before I headed downstairs; she might be sleeping, but her smile still brought me a rush of happiness.

When I got to the landing, I could already hear Tess's footsteps at the bottom of the stairs. I thought that she wouldn't have heard me coming down – I was still treading lightly so as not to disturb Ffrances – so I should check that she had packed everything correctly before coming down for breakfast. I was surprised to find that the door to her room was locked today; the only times I could remember her locking up were when she first started waking up wet and wanted to hide her new interest from us.

There was nothing in the room that particularly justified hiding. Most things were in their usual places; the toyboxes had been pressed into service as extra shelves, but I noticed that one of them had been opened since the last time I was in there.

Tess's bed was stripped, her sheets all in the laundry basket. For a moment I wondered what had happened. Had she wet the bed even though I'd told her not to? Had she changed her mind and asked Ffrances again without me noticing, or had Ffrances chosen to surprise her? Or... a thought that made me hesitate. I knew that the drugs she'd been using to make herself pee before we introduced her to hypnosis were supposed to have side effects if overused. That was one of the big reasons I had wanted to take control of her accidents: so that she wouldn't be endangering her health. But if she'd still been taking diuretics without me noticing, could she have permanently damaged her muscles? The thought was terrifying, it would have meant that all the effort I'd put into helping her admit her little side just wasn't enough.

I walked over to the laundry bag, and found that the bundled-up sheets were still dry. That was a big relief, but I knew that I would have to take more care to ensure it stayed that way. I needed to make sure that my baby stayed happy and regressed, so that she wouldn't feel the need to experiment with other ways of making herself feel smaller.

With that dealt with, I took another look at the room. It seemed more chaotic than usual, but with a kind of underlying order that only became obvious after you started paying attention. There were cupboards and drawers open, and things spread over the floor, which wasn't exactly Tess's style. But then I could see that there was a kind of separation. There was a small cluster of trinkets on the desktop, which I was sure she would want to take with her. Toiletries and accessories, the kind of things that she wouldn't pack in her bags until she had used them today. And the things on the floor were all something that might have made sense to keep close to hand while she was staying here. Things to take with her, and things to put away before leaving, in two separate piles. Thinking back to my days in university, when every change of accommodation had degenerated into barely-controlled chaos, I had to admit that Tess was more organised than I had ever been. She was putting pressure on herself again, trying to act mature as if it were the only way anyone would care about her.

The most important things were in in the centre of her bed, laid in a neat line on the plastic mattress protector. Two suitcases with wheels, a backpack, and a tote bag. All carefully packed, although with enough space left for the other things she meant to add. She had probably packed everything once already, to be sure it would fit, and then lifted the things that she would need this morning out again. I couldn't even imagine being that organised, and I was sure it couldn't be healthy. But I knew I could trust her to have everything she needed. Still, it couldn't hurt to check.