✅ My Sister's Problem

18. Consequences

"Mom!" I was munching Vegemite on toast when I heard Lindy's yell from upstairs. Not our usual choice for breakfast; but we'd had to change plans a little. When we needed a lot of groceries, Mum would order online to have things delivered early in the morning; but this time she hadn't noticed that bottles of milk were missing until the driver had gone away. So we had an unorthodox breakfast, and I was drinking green tea with juniper and honey.

I was pretty sure I knew what my sister was yelling about, but I didn't say anything. I was enjoying my breakfast, and a little calm first thing in the morning. Mum got up from the kitchen table, but without any real sense of urgency. She had lived with us for long enough to instantly know the difference between a distressed scream and an angry yell. I glanced at her, and wondered how I could learn to be so calm in the face of a rage tantrum.

"Mooooom!" Lindy burst into the room like a tiny typhoon of irritation, and slammed a pack of overnight diapers on the table. "What's this?"

"Looks like a bag of Underjams," Mum answered calmly. "I got a bunch while I was getting stuff delivered. Oh, did you want the SleepSafe ones again? I'll get some later in the week if you prefer the designs. I didn't know if it was important, and these ones had a promotion. If it's important, I can nip out and get a couple of packs from Drügstør."

"No, Mom!" Lindy pouted. "You said I don't have to wear them anymore. You promised!"

"Not quite," Mum answered, sitting down again. "I said you can stop wearing them if you can go a whole week without any little accidents."

"I did! It's been way more than a week, and you told me I didn't need to... to..."

"Well, that's what I thought. Tomorrow would have been your last night, I think, so you'd have a couple of days to get used to normal clothes again before your trip. But when I took out the trash yesterday, I noticed the weight of your bin. I didn't mention it, because I don't want to draw attention to your little accidents in front of your sister. I felt you might be a too embarrassed, but if you want to lie to me–"

"I didn't!" Lindy kept protesting, and I felt a little bad for her because I knew it was true. I'd tried putting her hand in water half a dozen times now, more than I originally intended, but it hadn't always worked. Four wet nights over a month didn't add up to a lot, and it was certainly more than a week since the last time. I wanted to step in and defend her, but I didn't know what I could say. This situation was of her own making, and perhaps having to explain to Mum would make her think a bit more carefully in future.

"I really didn't," Lindy protested again, cutting off Mum's calm and measured response. There had been a wet diaper in the bin; so we had to keep on wearing them. "It was Sally! She wet herself Thursday night. You should check before you punish me."

"I don't think that's too likely," Mum said, raising an eyebrow. I lowered my head slightly, staring at my now-empty plate as she continued. Mum knew that one of us had wet, and that Lindy was the one having accidents. She didn't need to know that Lindy had forced me to wet myself before bed a couple of nights ago, and I wasn't going to tell her. Lindy would get in so much trouble for that if Mum found out, and I didn't think she deserved it. It wasn't as if it had really felt bad; once I got over the feelings of disgust, I realised that I'd woken feeling even more refreshed and alert than usual yesterday, and the sleep quality score from my watch's sensors confirmed that I had slept much more deeply than on an average night. Whether that was sheer coincidence or was somehow connected to going to bed in a warm, wet diaper, I still didn't know. But I could tell that it didn't cause any major problems.

"She did! Tell her, Sally."

"It's true," I said, nonchalantly. "I drank a lot and I was too tired to get up and use the bathroom." That was an embarrassing confession; but it was close enough to the truth. And I didn't know if this issue would be enough to make Lindy think about sending that photograph again. She obviously couldn't make the threat with Mum here, but she might have thought it was implied when she told me to confess. I couldn't stop blushing after I'd said those words, but I was sure Lindy couldn't be mad at me now.