For Her Good

Chapter 11: Soggy Mousey

The rest of the day went by almost without incident. Mari's change in the Airbnb made her wish that Sir would materialize out of her phone like a genie so that she could wish for an entire shopping cart of wet wipes. Walking and squishing had taken her number two and added a few. Maybe she would wish for a hose too. Thankfully, there was no evidence that her diaper gathers had failed to hold it in. She did not think that she stained her leggings, but she put on a new pair anyway.

When she was clean, she slid her ruined diaper into a dark plastic bag. She walked around the Airbnb in just her diaper as she placed the steaming trash bag by the door. She forgot that the Airbnb had plenty of windows until she pulled on new leggings later. She realized then that this was the first time since living alone last year that she'd been able to be so freely diapered. Mari found her aloneness calming and she snuggled up with her phone on her couch for ten minutes, still wearing a diaper and still forgetting about the windows. Only her sense of appearances finally made her climb out of her stinky cocoon.

To tie up loose ends, she cracked a few windows before she left to rejoin Roseanna and Matthew.

The museum primarily covered the maritime history of the local community. In New England, that meant whaling, the Atlantic slave trade, and the nautical habits and seaside customs of the first nations that inhabited the regions. There were old threads of rope coiled under glass and chipped yet glossy anchors. There were dried fish hung up on wires and a small indoor movie theater that portrayed the grave cost of hunting the most beautiful creatures of the sea.

That's where Mari finally caught up with her fellow travelers. They were sitting arm in arm in the theater, which was little more than an oversized screen projector occupying a solemn inlet among the other exhibits. Mari slipped in beside them and was glad for her diaper, as the bench they were sitting on had no back and was made of tough wood.

Roseanna didn't turn. The reflection of the museum movie played in her eyes. "I love whales," Roseanna said. The grim topic of the film had depressed her and she leaned away from Matthew to bury her head in Mari's shoulder. "Also hi."

"Hi."
The couple never acknowledged the time Mari had spent away from them. They talked about whales and whaling and the exhibits of the museum and all remarked that though brunch was good, they were all already getting hungry. She thought about texting Harriet to ask her what excuse she'd given for Mari's absence, but she didn't want to bother the busy lawyer again. If they pressed her on her story, she was worried she'd crack like a criminal in a dilemma.

Roseanna and Matthew pretended that Mari had never left them at the museum.

They walked through the museum building, which was too expensive and ornate for how big it really was. They took a stroll down one of the piers and had seafood at a restaurant that had already unfurled its summer banners to boast an epic Fourth of July, which was still months away. Mari had been just a little wet when she sat down, yet when her glass of white wine and water had gone through her, she needed another change by the end of the meal. She was a big girl, she told herself, and she saw herself into the restaurant's solo bathrooms and took care of it. As she stuffed her wet diaper into the trash and buried it under some paper towels, she realized that this was her first legitimate public diaper change since starting her agreement with Sir.

She would need another one in a little over an hour.

They returned to the Old District and walked around the shops in which Mari had looked earlier for a place to change her diaper. They sampled candy and settled on ice cream. She wet herself trying sun hats in a store, and she wet again eating ice cream, and she wet again picking out refrigerator stickers with Roseanna. She changed in a shop that sold bathing suits and sunglasses.