✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

94. First Try

Tess sat on the potty and squirmed. It felt a little weird, but she was sure that she was going to use it like a big girl. And she knew that she knew how to use it, she just couldn't remember right now. This was like a game, and all she needed to do was remember it. But she wasn't doing too well. She sat there, and tried to work out what she was doing. She was sure that she was going to use the new potty, but the more she tried the harder it was to remember how.

"You just need to make tinkles," Gabby advised, and Tess nodded. That was obvious, of course she knew that. She was a big girl. She just hadn't remembered it for a minute. So she sat there and tried to pee. She tried it leaning forward, and then leaning back. She tried thinking about peeing, and imagining how it felt. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing happened. Was she doing it wrong?

"I can't do it," she eventually conceded. "No fair. It doesn't work."

Gabby was more sympathetic than she'd ever been before, reassuring Tess and telling her that she might be able to do it next time. She said that maybe the little girl wasn't ready to pee yet, because it wasn't long since she'd wet her diaper. That was super embarrassing, and it wasn't the easiest thing to admit. But Gabby also thought that she might be having trouble because they'd made her too little. That sounded like a better idea, because then it wasn't her fault. So she asked more, and Gabby did her best to explain. She said that sometimes, it might take a while to learn how to do it herself. Some kids might not learn to do it all by themselves, and would get into a habit of doing it at the right time. Like when she heard the sounds the potty made when she pressed the buttons. It was easier to make a habit than learn how to do it yourself. And that sounded sensible. And useful too, Tess realised. If she could make herself have that habit, she would be able to just press the button and her pee would come out. It would be so much easier.

"Yeah, I'm that little!" she said with a smirk. And then she reached for the buttons, pressing at them with her fingers. She knew now that if she could find the right one she wouldn't need anymore help.

"Behold the royal throne!" A speaker chirped, and Tess found herself laughing. She'd seen Bibi Babi Miko a few times, and she knew some of the characters, but she couldn't remember the name of that one. She knew who it was, though, and she could visualise the cartoon in her head but she had never learned his name.

"Take your seat, Princess. The court is ready."
"All hail her highness."
"You got this, M'lady."
"Such a clever girl."
"You can do it, Princess!"

When Tess heard the voice of Montoya Anguine cheering her on, she knew she could do it. Those were the magic words; that was what she had just agreed to. She felt a little twitch in her tummy, and she knew that she would pee now. Maybe she wasn't old enough to do it all by herself yet, but she could learn to do it by magic when she heard the right words. And she knew she was doing it right now, but still nothing came out. That could only mean that there wasn't any pee in her, and she needed to wait and try again.

She relayed this information to Gabby, who seemed disappointed. Maybe she'd been just as excited to see the little girl use her potty as Tess had been. But she didn't get upset, she just told Tess that she was still a big girl almost, and she could do it after. Tess nodded and smiled, sure that she would be able to do it now she had the magic buttons on the potty to help her. She didn't complain while Gabby put her in a diaper again, because she was too busy thinking about what she would be able to do later. She was too excited to pay attention then.

They all went back to the lounge. Even though the big present was open now, they still had a pile of lots of little ones. There were sweeties that Tess couldn't help eating whenever the grown up's back was turned, and little dolls. There was a wooden crocodile, with a head that moved just a little so it could snap its jaws. Tess lifted it up towards Ffrances and made it talk. She tried to tell some jokes, but she couldn't remember any good ones. So she decided that crocodiles don't know good jokes. She could just say something that sounded like a joke instead.