The French Exchange

Chapter 1

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"Wakey, wakey sleepy head. Time to get up!" Jacqui called out as she walked over towards the window. She drew back the curtains which filled the room with a ray of sunlight and abruptly ended Will's attempt to prolong his lie-in.

"Mummm, it's the weekend. I want to have a lie-in. It's 8am!" he replied half asleep as he reluctantly opened his eyes.

"Well it's your choice Darling, you can stay in bed and waste the day, or you can get up and help your Dad take that table down to the garage."

His eyes opened as he excitedly responded to his Mum's words: "Is he going to do it? Today?"

"Yes but only if you get up... he's got golf later this morning so you know you father, it's best you let him get started now before he gets distracted by something else."

Will jumped out of bed and flipped his duvet aside. He grimaced as he heard the familiar rustling of the plastic sheet that his Mum had insisted remained on his bed.

Despite turning eighteen last week and now officially being an adult, his childhood bedroom had hardly changed from when he was at primary school. He had grown up with a love of dinosaurs and this was still reflected in his bedroom today.

The curtains featured a series of adorable dinosaur illustrations on a crisp white backdrop with a fun, jigsaw print reverse and the word 'Roar' splattered across them. The theme continued with a bright dinosaur mural on the four walls. Each was brightly coloured in shades of blue, red and yellow, adding a splash of colour to the room. And with dinosaur names prominently featured, the design had been chosen by Jacqui so that it was educational as well as fun.

Completing the childish theme was a plaque above Will's bedroom door which spelled out his name. Will didn't like the plaque and had often wanted to take it down but it had been given to him as a present by his Aunt when he was younger and she would often come into his room and comment how lovely it was that he had kept her sign. Will didn't want to upset his Aunt's feeling so he had left it in place.

He knew in his heart that it was not normal to have a bedroom like this at his age but it had never been a priority for Will or his parents to decorate it. There had been several discussions but it had always been put on the back burner.

It might have been different if Will regularly had friends to come and stay but during his time at secondary school, he had never invited a friend to the house because of his bedwetting issues. Even if his friends hadn't of found out about the plastic sheet on his bed or the nappies he wore, there was an obvious giveaway in the room that revealed his secret.

In the far corner of his room, next to the wardrobe, there was a changing table, just like one you would normally see in a baby's nursery, except much bigger.

It had been one of the worst days of Will's life when he came home from school to find his Dad and Uncle building the table together. At the time, he had cried and protested profusely but to no avail. Jacqui had explained that having to change him on the bed was beginning to hurt her back and suggested that the 'temporary' addition would make it better for 'everyone'..... everyone but Will perhaps!

The table had been custom built by Jacqui's brother who was a carpenter. Much to Will's dismay, he had received it as a tenth birthday present. To this day, it remained the worst present that he had ever received.

Will had often insisted he didn't need the help of his parents but despite these pleas and Will's desire to be independent, there was good reason why his parents still helped.

There had been several occasions in the past when Will had fallen asleep without his nappy on and when he had been given the opportunity to put it on himself, it had often leaked, especially after his Mum decided to move from disposables to cloth in order to 'save the planet and save some money'.
Will had never been able to grasp how to put cloth nappies on himself and had defaulted to asking for help from his parents. He didn't like to admit it but it was much easier when they did it.

The changing table was very embarrassing and he had campaigned for it to be removed from his room ever since its arrival. His Mum had been reluctant to authorise its removal until she was certain that her son had outgrown the bedwetting phase and no longer needed nappies at night.

With the exception of a brief spell in his early teens, Will had consistently wet the bed and worn some form of protection at night. It was only in recent months that his parents had finally agreed that he didn't need to wear nappies anymore after several months of dry nights.

After such a long period of wearing nappies, Will had accepted having to wear them and become accustomed to their role in his life, even if he still disliked the embarrassment they brought him. He could deal with the nappies but he had always hated that his parents didn't trust him to deal with the issue himself and that they treated him like an infant who couldn't look after himself.

Will was a kind and thoughtful boy so while he would never wish his condition on anyone, he did sometimes resent the fact that his younger brother Tom had never experienced any problems. When he was lying on the table being changed into his nappy by Mum or Dad, he would often think about how it should be his younger brother in his position.

Tom had never displayed any empathy to his older brother in relation to his nighttime issues. Rather than being sympathetic, he took every opportunity to tease Will, and found it especially amusing to remind his older brother when it was 'time for the baby to go and get his nappy changed by Mummy'.

There had been several warnings from his parents that he would regret it, if he kept teasing Will, but the words always seemed to have little substance behind them and there had never been any form of serious consequence despite the threats.

Tom had turned thirteen earlier in the year and had just entered year eight at secondary school. Unlike his brother who was timid and well behaved, he was often in trouble at school and took pleasure in challenging authority. That led to a fractured relationship with Jacqui because she liked to be in charge and did not enjoy being challenged by her thirteen year old son.

Their appearances did not suggest that there was a five year age gap between them. Tom was often assumed to be the older of the two brothers, partly because he carried himself with more confidence than his older brother.

Will had often wished that he was more like his younger brother - confident, popular, sporty and most importantly, dry at night. While Tom was out seeing friends and inviting them to stay, Will had sat in his room keeping a low profile and playing games on his own.

He took a sip of water from the cup of water on his bedside table as he continued to process what he had been told by his Mum. He was out of nappies and after today, the changing table would be gone meaning that any visible evidence of his legacy nighttime issues would be gone.

Today was freedom day. He could move on and begin doing things that were never previously possible. He couldn't wait to invite a friend to come and stay and enjoy his newfound freedom but as he looked around the bedroom, he smiled and thought to himself that it might finally be time to get his parents to re-decorate. After all, he didn't want his friends thinking he was a baby.