✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

84. My Presents

This chapter is dedicated to Uwigi, my newest supporter on Patreon. Thank you!

Tess did a twirl for us, showing off her outfit before she sat down for breakfast. Any worries I might have had quickly faded away once it was clear she was happy to be little for me. I hadn't even finished putting some food on a plate for her when Ffrances repeated her trigger phrase, and Tess said her own. They were both partly regressing now, back to the ages that they had chosen. Ffrances said three, while Tess was more comfortable being eight. I wished she could have chosen a more suitable number; but this was always going to be a journey. I just had to make sure that she enjoyed it, so she would take a little step further next time.

Then it was my turn to try out the triggers. I hadn't had an excuse to test this one before, so I wanted to be sure I understood how it should work. I'd thought hard about what I wanted to say, and had decided that the best test would something simple. Something she had no reason to object to. I decided to go with the one that I'd decided on when I first found out that we wouldn't get a chance to do this before she came home. I told her that she was little enough not to realise that it wasn't actually Christmas now. Young enough to trust the adults to tell her what day of the year it was.

"Yes," Tess answered. "We're that little." And a second later the effect was clearly visible on her face. Her expression changed to one of pure joy, and she was bouncing up and down in her seat, eager to look at her presents. She just had to agree that she was that little, and she would feel whatever I had told her. A quick glance told me that Ffrances was feeling it too; she had already decided that she would leave Tess in charge of what she felt, and had said the extra trigger to make that happen. I was still nervous about what it would do to such a strong dominant to have all her choices taken away, but I could see that she was enjoying it that far. I would have to keep it relatively tame for now.

Still, I wanted to test how far Tess was willing to go. So I tried something I wasn't so sure she would want to try. I told her that she was too young to use cutlery herself, and would need an adult to feed her breakfast. This time Tess hesitated, but I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't say no. Instead, she said she might be interested in trying that later; but that only Ffrances was that little now. I wanted to argue that it wasn't fair, and that Ffrances hadn't agreed to anything like that. The suggestion was only made for Tess. But by then I had enough on my hands as my girlfriend made a spirited attempt to eat a plate of scrambled egg, beans, and waffles with her bare hands.

After a few seconds, I could see that Tess was as good as her word. She had dashed over the table and moved Ffrances's plate out of reach, before picking up the little plastic fork to help her little sister eat. I couldn't tell what was going through her head; whether she was genuinely in the mindset of a little kid looking after her baby sister, or if this was some kind of perverse power trip from being in charge of someone. Either way, I was sure Ffrances would be just as disturbed when she got back to adulthood. I resolved to offer her a break as soon as possible, if I could do that without disrupting Tess's regression.

"You can make breakfast," Tess said as she turned back to me for a moment. "I'll look after her." I couldn't argue, and finished serving up another plate for Tess and one for myself. On impulse I arranged sausage and mushroom on Tess's plate to make a silly smiling face. She giggled when she saw it, and seemed as happy as ever. And much to my surprise she had no trouble eating her own breakfast and looking after her little sister at the same time, grabbing a bite of her own when Ffrances was busy swallowing her food, and then making airplane noises as she conveyed the next bite from Ffrances's plate a second later.

Before long we had all eaten, and breakfast seemed more satisfying than usual when I could see my little enjoying it so much. Even Ffrances seemed to be happy for now. Dealing with her feelings when she realised how she had behaved would be tough; it seemed a completely degrading experience. But we could cross that bridge when we came to it. As long as she was okay, I could say "I told you so" and take whatever punishment she saw fit for my schadenfreude. That would make her feel better, I was sure. And for now, the important thing was to make sure that Tess decided she was willing to do this again.

The presents were all in the lounge, stacked up beneath the tree. And I could see Tess's eyes light up when she saw the pile. There were all kinds of things in there, and I was sure that if I could get her excited about them, I could lead her to a state where she would feel more and more childlike the more she played. Once it became a habit, she would start to slip into that littlespace more easily, and before long she would be my baby. It was all about taking the first steps on that path.

Ffrances dashed to the pile of shiny wrapped parcels first, crawling the last few steps. Tess was obviously excited, but she was still more concerned with making sure that her little sister was okay. I could respect that, but I knew it would diminish her enjoyment of the day considerably. She was being pressured to act like an adult again, even though it had all been her own choice. If she wanted to feel really little, I needed to take that responsibility away. But how could I do that? If I argued she would be hostile, and I couldn't use the new trigger because she had to agree to every suggestion. The only thing I could think of was my original plan. It wasn't perfect, but it would at least discourage Tess from giving Ffrances any really inappropriate suggestions. I put my hand on her arm and motioned for her to step back into the kitchen for a moment, where we could talk without Ffrances seeing.

First I tried the truth; pointing out that this wasn't really something Ffrances was comfortable with, and she shouldn't have to go through with it just to satisfy Tess's curiosity. But she didn't seem to understand me; perhaps she was already too little. So I asked just how small she wanted Ffrances to be. They were both babies, after all, and I was sure that Tess would be able to enjoy it more if she accepted my suggestions herself rather than forcing a dominant to go through with those degrading things. She argued, of course she did. Ffrances was still in diapers; Tess had big girl undies. And that meant she was older, so she should be the babysitter. And she said she loved it.

She was talking more simply now, using childish language and focusing less than usual. I wanted her to be able to understand, but I didn't want to make her grow up. But I at least reminded her of the obvious line in the sand; that Ffrances might be wearing diapers to help her look like a baby, but that was only to make the scene seem more real for Tess. She didn't need them, and there would be no suggestions otherwise. Similarly, she wasn't allowed to force Ffrances into using a pacifier, crawling, or being unable to talk. Even if she enjoyed using the trigger, Tess needed to respect Ffrances's limits.

"I know," she said, and then stopped to laugh again. But she said mmore before I could repeat myself: "I'll only play what she wants to play. I'm babysitting, and it's all about making her happy."

"Just so long as you understand," I said. "But you might think about putting a diaper on yourself. You'll be surprised to have an accident first if you try to make her. Just like a baby. And then I'll have to punish you."

She said she understood. I wasn't sure she did, but there was a deterrent now. I would let Tess play with Ffrances a little, but there were limits on what it was appropriate to do with someone who wasn't really into this stuff. And perhaps along the way, Tess would start to get used to little accidents taking her deeper into her headspace; slowly turning it into a habit.

Then we were back in the lounge, while they took turns to open their presents. Tess read out the labels on each one, making sure that Ffrances picked the ones that were for her, and helped her to get the shiny paper off. She really did make a good babysitter, but that wasn't as close as I might have hoped to being a good baby. Next time, something would need to be different. I was sure I would think of something.

Ffrances's first gift was a doll. Just a simple thing. That was one that I had bought; a lot of the things in the pile were accessories that would help Tess to feel more like a little kid. But I knew that Tess could get upset if she thought I was giving her baby stuff. So I labelled them as being for Ffrances, and trusted that at some point in the future I would be able to make Tess curious or jealous. She would choose them by herself, so I would face much less resistance from her perceived need to be a big girl.

Tess's present was a pacifier. It was a fancy one, and had come in a plastic box like a ring. I thought it seemed rather ornate when I'd taken it out of the outer cardboard packaging, but I was sure she would be surprised at what she found. I even managed to slip in another trigger; making her feel extra excited and eager to use it. If she thought it was a ring, she was more likely to agree; and it went exactly as planned. The only thing that seemed weird was when she opened the box and lifted it out. I apparently hadn't been as careful as I'd thought when ordering these gifts; and I really hoped my baby wouldn't realise what she was holding.