✅3️⃣ Treating the Babysitter [Camp NaNoWriMo July 2023]

24. Dirty Girl

Adam rapped gently on the door of Lorelei's room, but waited only a second before stepping inside. Claudia was still lying on her side, knees pulled up close to her chest to fit in her little sister's crib. And, to his surprise, she was sleeping soundly. One thumb was between her lips, and the other hand was inside the front of her diaper.

"Are you there, baby girl?" he asked, and got no response. So he sat on the end of the bed, and waited for ten minutes, slowly flicking through news stories on his phone while he waited for Claudia to wake. He moved closer and she stirred slightly, but showed no signs of consciousness. And he didn't want to make her wait too long; he wasn't going to actually make her miss out on finishing the story of Forbidden Mission for the first time today. Instead, he stepped closer and unclipped the bars of the crib, lowering the side panel to the carpet. And then he rested one hand on Claudia's shoulder, and pushed gently. He didn't want to shake her, but he was sure that would be enough to wake her sooner or later.

Maybe another minute passed, before her movements seemed to gain the first impression of awareness. When she pulled her thumb out from her mouth, he knew that she was awake.

"Morning, baby girl," he said.

"Good morny!" she said, the tone of her voice changed completely by a wide grin. And then a second later, as the memories from before her nap came flooding back, the tone changed completely. "Ewwww!"

"Aww, did somebody have a little accident?" Adam teased. It just seemed like the right thing to say. "Just goes to show what a little baby you are. Somebody who needs a grown-up to look after her, yes?"

Claudia nodded. She was scrambling to get out of the crib now, swinging her legs over the side so that she could reach a standing position without sitting up first. She seemed desperate to avoid sitting on the mess in her diaper, and Adam could understand why. Even with a breeze blowing through from the window, the smell was pretty strong. He caught her arms and 'helped' her to stand, slowing her down and showing her that he was still in control. She wriggled against his grasp, but it was clear that she wasn't allowing herself to actually fight him.

Adam knew he would easily have pushed her further; he was completely in control here. But he knew this was pretty hard for her, and she must be under a lot of stress already. She seemed to be enjoying the helplessness, but he had to know how she actually felt about this before he made any more decisions.

He opened the window fully before they left the bedroom, and then closed the door and led Claudia to the bathroom. Once they were there he told her to lie down and untapped the diaper. He already had a bag with him, and hesitated for a moment to decide what he wanted to do next.

"Can you be a good girl now?" he said. "I think this baby could use another bath, but I also need to take the trash out so the smell is gone. Are you going to do anything while I go out for a few minutes?"

"Can I take a shower?" she asked, the pleading obvious just from her tone now. "Pretty please, Daddy? I promise I'll be good the rest of the day, and I won't lie to you again. I'll just get the water to a good temperature, and wait for you to come back. You can still help me get clean if you want." Adam considered the proposition, and then reached for her chin and tilted her head up so he was looking into her eyes. He stared for a long moment, and then nodded.

"Okay, baby," he said. "I think you've had enough punishment for today. Get the shower started, and I'll be back soon."

He took the bag with the diaper in, and went downstairs. Then he put it down for a moment and lifted out the big bag from the kitchen bin, which was almost full. There was a big bin at the end of the yard, and taking two bags rather than one would be less suspicious if any of the neighbours were home to see him. Then he pulled his shoes on, grabbed both bags in the same hand, and dashed outside. When he got to the bin he didn't see anyone watching, but for some reason he was more than a little paranoid about their little secret. So he put the last diaper bag on top of the others, and then pitched the big bag of kitchen waste on top. That guaranteed that Mrs Cartwright wouldn't catch a glimpse of the diapers the next time she took the trash out; which Adam felt weirdly paranoid about right now. He didn't want anyone else to have the slightest hint of what they had been doing.